Ever since Persona 5: Royal came and destroyed my life, I haven’t felt the urge to play any other video game. So, The Sims and writing it is! I will say straight up I will not write any of this update in a sober state of mind, so be forewarned that though I will comb through the post when I’m done, that’s for grammar only! I’ve been a little down in the dumps about my writing lately, so of course, my brain says, “Why not try writing completely inebriated? Maybe that’ll give you the confidence you need!”
Well, it does! I’m feeling great about every single word I type out onto the screen, even if I have no reason to feel such a way!
By the way, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR!
Last time on the Rainsworth Legacy…
It was a long entry, but if I have to be honest, not much happened! Everyone had a great time at the winter festival to make way for Jasmine’s birthday. Emma learned how to drive a car thanks to Trista. Penelope brought home a kid named August, hoping to be his friend, but he ended up canoodling with twin Emma. Gertrude also aged into a teen, and she was a regular stick in the mud. The family got robbed for the first time, but was caught by the po-po; Justina used her connections at work to make sure that silly robber never thinks to try again. The generation draws to a close with Penelope and Emma’s birthdays, because Emma takes the reins of the family as the new heiress.
And on with the show!
Emma: Oh, hey, Grandpa! I’m Emma, your granddaughter, and I’ll be the new head of household. Mom already gave me the bank cards and stuff. Do you have any words of advice for me?
Holt: Buy plasma fruit and keep some with you at all times.
Emma: Um, okay, but I meant advice for me as an adult…
Holt: You won’t be an adult for long if you die of plasma starvation and trust me, it’s probably the worst thing you’ll ever experience in your life.
Emma: Um, thanks, Grandpa…
Holt’s not the only ghost to be out and about this night. Oriana’s here as well and for once, she’s interested in actually interacting with the household.
Oriana: Alright now, say ‘cheese’! DD doesn’t believe that the Justina Langerak has married into the family and so I have got to show him he’s wrong.
Why do ghosts even care about celebrities…? Whatever.
Gertrude was kind enough to paint the heir portrait for us! It’s not great, because I was dumb and did it at night, but I think it actually looks very unique next to the brighter portraits of past generations! I’m keeping it!
Emma: You’re still here, huh.
Penelope: That eager to chase me out of your house?
Emma: Well, no. I just figured you’d want to hurry up and start finding an old rich guy to marry and drain.
Penelope: Ugh, don’t be gross.
There are unfortunately no rich old guys in Sunset Valley quite willing to subject themselves to Penelope, so our girl might have to do thing that most of us normies have to do: get a job.
Penelope’s registered as a self-employed writer. She pretty much exclusively writes trashy novels.
Justina and Trista aren’t troubled at all about anything their kids do when they’re in one of their dopamine-infused exercise binges. Want to write novels about women taking it up by the butt by psychically controlled dildos? Hey, as long as they pay the bills.
Emma wants to be a CEO, and the quickest way to do so is through getting a university degree! So I let Emma take the aptitude test, which granted her essentially a full scholarship! Nice job, Ems! In retrospect, my decisions surrounding Emma and university are kind of dumb. I feel dumb just thinking about myself playing this part.
The man-maid apparently really likes exercise. Especially when said exercise is being done by Trista. So much that he even feels the need to glue our dirty china onto his hand and use it as a tambourine.
Trista’s been going through a bit of a midlife crisis. She’s the first vampire to have actually grown up in Sunset Valley, and Holt’s no longer around to teach her what’s normal for one. She certainly never thought it possible for vampires to age, and she desperately wanted a little bit of an image change, to restore that youthfulness she was so proud of.
So she went and dyed her hair. She actually looks pretty good with blue hair!
Gertrude was sent to the salon along with Trista, in hopes that she could decorate herself a little with some tattoos. UNFORTUNATELY, teens cannot get tattoos or something, and I couldn’t figure out how to let it happen using the mods in my game. No matter how much Gertrude wheedled and whined, she could not get the tattoo artist to come down and paint her up.
Considering one of her moms is the town vampire and the other mom is part of the criminal underworld, I wouldn’t be surprised if half the town avoids interacting with these girls on principle.
Essentially a NEET at this point (since she doesn’t have a job and isn’t enrolled in a school), Emma’s taken to practicing elevator pitches on hapless members of the public. The day previous, she tried selling a mop to the mailman.
Emma: Imagine a world where food poisoning’s a thing of the past, because with my patented food-mometer, you can check if a food’s expired or not. The technology is accurate 99.9% of the time!
Maid: Why not just use the nose? It seems to be a little bit of a useless product.
Emma: Look, I’m just trying to get the hang of selling something in four sentences or less. The product doesn’t really matter, does it?
Jasmine: Why do I need to do my science homework when I’m supposed to be graduating today? So stupid…
Uhhh, yeah! It is! Although you’re the one who autonomously sat down and started working on it, so…
Considering Jasmine’s birthday is literally a day after Penelope and Emma’s for no reason other than I think I made Trista and Justina switch during woohoo a little bit too long for the game’s taste, I really could’ve made Jasmine age up the day of the twins’. I’m not quite sure why I didn’t, to be honest!
It was a pretty shitty turnout for Jasmine’s party because Justina was at work, Trista was…somewhere, and Gertrude was out trying to get as many girls to fall for her as possible. Liliana here is straight, unfortunately, but she does get the dubious honour of being Gertrude’s first and only friend outside the family.
Oh, Emma, you should have known better to talk to Penelope about fucking reading! It’s the only thing I know she actively dislikes.
Trista: So how’s heir life treating you? Pretty sweet, isn’t it?
Emma: I guess. Not much happening right now, since I’m still waiting to hear back from Sims U.
Trista: Cool, cool.
Emma: …
Trista: …
The two of them don’t have much in common, unfortunately. Also, I realized a little too late how bad Trista looks with her dyed hair when she’s wearing her everyday outfit. The colours just….don’t complement each other lol.
Justina: Oh, shoot! My little girl’s birthday’s today!
You’re way way way too late, Justina… :(
I mentioned above that I was planning to send Emma to university, so I made her take the aptitude test. As Emma’s BFF, of course Jasmine would’ve tagged along! She doesn’t seem to enjoy taking the test as much as Emma did, but then again, she’s not as big a nerd.
Penelope: A one-bedroom house with only a bathtub and no dining table? I’m in!
Penelope’s the first to move out of the house. I interrupted her daily Play With Yuki For Three Hours Straight session, which explains why the shrew’s in her hand. Not even buying a house trumps Yuki time.
Penelope: Bye, Ems! Have fun getting some weird vampire disease from this roach motel of a house!
Jasmine’s going with Penelope because this was before I decided to put more houses in Sunset Valley, and at the time I was real worried about the game rendering her homeless and then moving her out of town. So she went with Penelope! Really, in retrospect, I think I was just high out of my mind or something when I played this part.
The house is two steps closer towards being an empty nest, and Justina and Trista celebrate this with copious amounts of woohoo. You two know that at the very least, Emma will still be around, right? Right?
With Jasmine gone because I’m a big fool, Emma had to go to university alone. I actually played a few days but before the first week even ended, I was like “no”, and just quit. It was so boring and tedious with only one sim; I really don’t know why I decided to move Jasmine out instead of just sending her off to university with Emma like I originally planned to.
I don’t like to cheat much when playing this game but Emma had enough lifetime happiness points for the Honorary Degree, so at least she has the business degree. Even if it means she only has like 1000 happiness points left oops.
Emma applied for a job at the local business StockKitty Ltd. and immediately got a job as a corporate drone, of course.
It’s a little bit of a rough adjustment to the change in command. Trista’s not too happy about the majority of the household money is being spent partnering with businesses around the Valley, and Emma’s frustrated at being an adult in general.
Gertrude’s the same as usual, so when Emma’s with her, she can pretend that everything’s the same as when she was carefree in high school.
Gertrude: So, for this one, I suppose I do this?
Emma: Ol’ Mr. Wolff is still using these worksheets! Ha, I remember when he would just copy these questions onto the tests, too. Is he still –
Gertrude: Oh my STARS, you graduated literally last week! Can you just help me with my homework or not?
Emma: I’m sorry for acting like a nostalgic grandma. It’s just that I can’t believe I’m already 20 years old. I have to think about having kids, and my career, and paying bills, and –
Gertrude: Hey, I get it. I also can’t believe Jazz and Penny are gone, and that I’m only a final test or two away from graduating high school myself. Seems like yesterday we were just making snowmen in the park, huh?
Emma: YES, I’m glad you get it. You’re not as bonkers as you used to be, huh?
Gertrude: Ever since Snoozy trapped himself in his doll form, I’ve been quite lucid, yes. The new pills Mommy got for me from her work helps a lot too.
Emma: O…kay…
Gertrude: You’re so nice to me, Ems. None of my other older sisters helped me with my homework. I’m going to try and be just like you. Literally just like you.
Emma: What are you talking about? Please don’t do that.
But Gertrude would not be deterred! And actually, she looks really good with short hair!
As the daughter of rock star Trista, the girls have always enjoyed a pretty good amount of fame. Now that Emma’s grown up, she’s trying to make sure at least one or two of her celebrity stars are properly earned.
Even if it means looking like a total goober while trying to pull off some hip dance moves. Kids are into Fortnite, right?
I’m not quite sure which mod I have is responsible for this, but sometimes I get the ugliest auto-generated career outfits imaginable. You can bet that Emma wasn’t in this get-up for very long. Seriously…
Trista: Between the four of you, your mother and I are a little unsure of how we should divide things up in our will. Of course, I’ll be around to make sure everything’s fair and stuff. But, you know, your grandfather was a vampire too and he died quite suddenly, so nothing’s an absolute in this world. Would you like the Volkswagen or the –
Gertrude: I’m not going to sit here and talk about how we’re going to divide things after you and Mommy die. Thanks for the breakfast. Not.
Trista: I’m just trying to stay realistic, Gertrude. Time flies, you know.
Gertrude: Yes, I know. As if I don’t get enough of this nonsense from Ems.
When did the one insane sim of the household become everyone’s on-call therapist? Leave her alone, you guys.
Lady: Special delivery for Mrs. and Mrs. Rainsworth?
Justina: My, aren’t you particularly bitey today? Teehee.
Trista: I haven’t fed from you in over a week, I’ve been dying to sink my teeth into you, sweetheart.
Lady: Um…
Lady: They know I’m here, right? Is this some sort of weird kink thing?
Honestly, I doubt they’re aware of anything except each other at this point. Just leave the package and go for your own mental health.
This is little Haru! I never actively talk about it, but this is still technically a Chinese zodiac legacy lol. Emma represents the Year of the Ox, but there aren’t any cows in The Sims 3, so horses will have to make up for that. I will come to regret this decision, as I do most gameplay decisions out of the norm that I make.
Trista: Well, aren’t you a cute one?
Haru: *sniff sniff*
Trista: Hee hee, do I smell like bacon? Not yet, I hope!
Eventually, Trista did start roasting under the sun, so she had to go back inside. As you might imagine from this picture, Emma wasn’t much too interested in interacting with the little pony (not because she hated animals but more like she’s allergic to anything related to fresh air). Poor Haru had this bad habit of trying to follow sims into the house, but getting stopped by the front door :( Made me feel real bad for the little guy.
Not gonna lie, Emma has some pretty odd priorities. A party where the guests are milling about watching my mom play FIFA v.s. a literal pony on my front lawn? I’d go with the pony a hundred times out of a hundred.
Of course, her boy-toy August Keith being inside might’ve been one of her main motivating factors.
Penelope: There’s Emma again, with the guy who was supposed to be my date…
Hush, Penelope! You guys never would’ve worked out! It’s better this way, I promise.
Er, Gertrude, what’s that?
Gertrude: This is how I feel right now, carrying the anxieties of my family. Unable to unload the burden upon another’s shoulders. The weight…the pain….this is me….
Uh, okay. Sure.
Gertrude doesn’t even have to worry about having to be the family’s sounding board for much longer. She’s aging up alongside her ol’ mum!
Of course, since it’s a double birthday, the entire house is in quite a state of uproar. Please ignore Trista still playing video games in the back. I forgot to cancel the action but rest assured, she was there to be supportive and loving as soon as I wrestled the controller out of her little hands.
August: How come Trista gets to play video games while I have to sit here and watch these two losers grow older? I barely know them.
Because Trista lives here and if she wasn’t so busy trying to beat Emma’s high score, she’d be cheering right alongside her family? August is kind of a shit. Good thing that only makes me like him more!
Gertrude: Do the red sparkles hurt? I feel…tingly.
Emma: The tingly is good. That means you’re growing up. Now make sure to step to the side once you’re done – I want to try a bit of the strawberry cake.
Justina looks like just a regular sweet old grandma, doesn’t she? Well, don’t be tricked! She was once middle management of Sunset Valley’s seedy underworld, you know.
Gertrude looks very sneaky like this, and I think even if I’m fumbling a little in terms of playing the game, I still did a good job when it came to giving Gertrude a bit of a makeover. It’s not convincing since she’s still stuck in some sweaty athletics clothes, but! I swear, she looks good when she’s wearing her everyday stuff.
Gertrude gained the Dog Person trait and wants to be a Master of the Arts. To recap, Gertrude is an insane artist (arguably, you could say she’s just a normal artist) who doesn’t have much of a sense of humour, but has a strong sense of ambition. She loves dogs as much as she loves a good session of watercolour.
I think this was more or less the moment I went “fuck it” and cheated Trista’s charisma and guitar levels to max in order to complete her LTW. The skill stagnation glitch was just way too annoying (it was apparently real easy to fix but I just wanted to play, I was real stressed around this play session IRL) and she does so much guitaring and speech practice she would’ve naturally maxed it anyway.
LTW #1 completed for the reboot of the Leap Wishes challenge~ *woot woot*
We’ve got other things to focus on other than my horrible cheaty ways. For example, Justina feeding Haru! She’s the only one who has oodles of time and can also stand to be out in the sun for longer than thirty minutes. So she’s automatically promoted to unofficial Haru wrangler.
Yes, a little bit like this beautiful man…
(SOUND OFF IF YOU STILL STAN TACHIBANA MAKOTO IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2020)
Trista: UGH, how can I give Gertrude her gift if Gertrude is in my way?!
PLEASE, I purposely made the house uncomfortably large so this kind of shit would stop happening! Why are you guys so dumb, AAAAHHHHH.
But Trista managed to figure out the oh-so-difficult task of first letting Gertrude out from in front of the table before giving her her prized rock star guitar.
Trista: Keep on shining bright, my little star. Or you could sell this on SimBay so you can buy a house. I’m sure it’ll go for, oh, let’s say, a trillion simoleons.
Gertrude: Teehee, no way am I selling this! It’s going to be a family heirloom for generations.
Trista: Ha, maybe if you can snag yourself a partner, I’ll be more inclined to believe that.
Gertrude: …You don’t think I can find someone, Mom? With my looks and charming personality?
Trista: There aren’t many single men or women left in Sunset Valley, is really what I meant.
Gertrude: You think you’re special? That you’re the only one who can get themselves a pretty girlfriend from the day spa? Well, I’ll show you. Maybe I’ll go ahead and dye my hair pink or something. Just to show you.
Trista: …? To show me up or just literally you want me to see your hair once it’s been dyed?
Gertrude: YES.
Trista: Oh…kay, then. You know, Gertie, I’m starting to remember why we don’t talk much.
Trista: UGH, dishes everywhere. What a mess. And not a single smidgeon of that cake is vampire-friendly. Why is this town like this?
Jasmine: Mom, you don’t have to keep on living here if you don’t want to. Didn’t Grandpa come from Bridgeport? Why not just move there? I hear they’re real vampire-friendly.
Trista: But all my friends and family are here.
Also, I remember in the Starling save, moving to Bridgeport was essentially the last thing I did *eyeroll*. My poor laptop can’t handle cities at all in this game…but hopefully that’ll all change once my new laptop arrives…!
Since I’ve decided that Emma and August are going to marry, I just asked the guy to move in. His first act as an unofficial (for now) Rainsworth? To autonomously clean the table. He’s really sucking up to me Trista.
August: Maybe I just like being clean. Not everything has to do with pleasing people.
But that was a lie! August spent the entire time doing the dishes just glancing up to Trista as if he wanted her to notice him and say something. Sorry, August, but vampires don’t have eyes on the backs of their heads :(
I said this to my roommate while playing but I felt pretty bad adopting Haru at this point, because no one in the family save Justina can do anything with her for too long, and she doesn’t have room on this lot for much of anything. She can’t even play with the horse ball! I usually have her camp out in the horse park and exercise or play, but then it’s like, why do I even have a horse. Poor girl.
With Gertrude unceremoniously moved into the house all the spare girls are sharing, and the generation 2 spouse a saggy old elder, Emma has officially taken hold of this family’s reins. What will the morning bring for her? We’ll have to wait until next time to find out.
And that’s all for now!
With only around 65 jpegs and less than 4000 words, this has been a pretty short entry for me, but it ended at such a nice place that stretching it would be foolish. I lied in my introduction; the last little bits, I wrote completely sober LOL.
Plumbobs & Bob-ombs 
