Falling to Masterpieces 3.2

Welcome back to Falling to Masterpieces, an artistic alphabet legacy.
Angie, wife of gen. B heir Bassano, has just discovered she’s pregnant.
After a long chapter that all led up to this point, we are finally ready
to progress with the family.

First, though: a character study. This is Charlie. I think he is an AL
townie, but don’t quote me on that. What I do know, however, is
that he is a customer at the Masterpiece house and runs around in
his underwear like many other customers. He also likes checking out
any female sim that crosses his path.

Charlie forsakes the poker table
to play in the leaves that Anjolie
has painstakingly raked. That’s a
bit annoying.
When he’s done, however, he
does rake them back up
himself. Hmm.

Charlie is also very bad at the piano, but likes to play it for hours
on end because there is a snapdragon next to it. Go home,
Charlie. You’re annoying me.

Anyway, enough of Charlie for now. The other three adults in the
house discuss Angie’s pregnancy and speculate whether it will be a
boy or a girl. Exciting times! Generation C is coming up, which makes
me realize what a very long way I have to go with this.

Angie’s One True Hobby is nature, and I hardly ever cater to
that one, so I decide to let her explore it. I built her a cute little
greenhouse over where her wedding was, and she gets to work
tending the trees and plots. Right now it’s all tomatoes, of
course. Also, the treetops don’t technically fit in the
greenhouse, but I’m not going to let that stop me.

Can you tell that Bassano really wants a car, you guys? He wants
a car so badly, but it has to be really expensive. Top-of-the-line. I
guess the family bug that’s been here for generations isn’t good
enough for this fortune sim. I bought him a blue CC convertible
that fulfilled all his car wants at once, except for the one of those
that is actually for a helicopter. That is so not happening,
especially on a small lot like this one. Bassano also just got done
selling another successful novel in this picture.

Charlie! Go home already. You’re disturbing the cats.

In between Bassano’s noveling and Angie’s gardening, they make
some time to coo over their baby-to-be. Since neither of them has
any family aspiration, they aren’t really anticipating the birth, but
they’re still a little excited.

“Whoops! Didn’t see you there.”
HA! I caught you!
“Doing what? Nothing’s going on here.”
You were reading while you were walking. Why couldn’t you do
that when Anjolie was painting your portrait?
“Just frustrating you. It’s payback for making me boring.”
Grr.

“Sigh. Another day, another delivery of my husband’s smutty novels.”
He doesn’t only write romance, but when he does, they’re consistently
higher selling than his other novels.

“Hey, Bellini. It’s good to see you again!”
“You too. How’s the natural science job going?”
“Oh, good. I got that thing from the lab that you asked for. It was a
little hard to sneak it out, but I’ve got it here for you.”
“Excellent. I have to get home now. I have . . . business . . . to
attend to.”
“Okay. Well, be careful with it, y’know?”
“Of course.”

Over at Bellini’s house, she’s invited Bell over. Bell only
ever picked on Botti, so they had a good enough
relationship that she came over. Once there though,
mean ol’ Bellini gave her a few irritates and argues to
warm her up for what was to come.

“Bell! Come see this awesome new plant my sister-in-law gave
me.”
“Okay. Hey, is that dog digging a grave over there?”
“What? No! Don’t be ridiculous. Just come check out this
plant.”

“Dear Diary,
I have found a way to avenge my dear sister. Bell is just dumb
enough to take the bait. This will be satisfying.”

“Dear Diary,
Yup. That was good.”

The dog tries to dig Bell up again, which we are so not having.
She was a terror in life; I don’t even want to see her in death.
Bellini fills the hole in again to make sure Bell stays put.

She then calls over her formerly-bullied sister for a little catch up.

“Well, at least we can both breathe a sigh of relief. Bell is no more.”
Thus, Bellini avenged her sister and prevented Bell from tormenting
any of my sims in this future. This plotline is resolved. Fin.

Back at the main house . . .
Dammit. Now he’s stinky. GO HOME, CHARLIE!

Anjolie and Corwin are not too psyched about getting old. They
had an extra-long adulthood thanks to the genie, but their time
has finally come. They’ll just stand around cracking their knuckles
and looking pained forever if I don’t urge them towards the cake,
however.

Charlie, stop checking out Bazille and GO HOME!
Ahem. I decided to do the birthdays one at a time instead of
spreading them out awkwardly across the kitchen like I have
before.

Anjolie gets old, but the party is really all about Charlie. First
he’s checking out Angie, then he’s stinking up the joint for the
revelers. Bassano is just glad he got a promotion today.

Corwin’s turn! We’ll get a closer look at Anjolie in a minute.

And while Corwin gets old, 3/5 thought bubbles are about how
Charlie stinks. Sigh.

Here’s our elders! They missed out on desiring their kids’
engagements and weddings, but they’re just in time to roll
wants for Bassano’s upcoming kiddo.
On another note, I like the skins I use but I wish they
looked different for the elder faces at least. Ah well, they
make beautiful elders, right? Corwin’s going to stick with
that hat, respectability or no, but he changed to a black
one now that he has white hair.

Oh, wonderful! Second bump! Now go change. You clash terribly
with the bedroom and you’re giving me a headache.

“Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. What a wonderful customer you are.
Could I possibly influence you to take advantage of one of the two
marvelous showers we include in our amenities?”
“Why, how flattering! Of course I’ll shower when you ask so
nicely!”
Thank you, influence points.

This is just your reminder that Bellini makes some of the
best smustle faces. As you were.

Angie’s garden is doing well but
doesn’t need much from her at the
moment, so she spends the last day
of her pregnancy cheering on
Anjolie at the piano, playing with
our perpetually socially-deficient
cats, and napping out in the snow.

“Mmm, these snapdragons smell almost exactly nothing like
Charlie.”

The family is all together for the birth of Bassano and Angie’s first
child, which is conveniently happening in the nursery.

“Charlie.”
“Anjolie.”
GO HOME!

Of course, it just wouldn’t be a Masterpiece family
event without some random townies and various
distant family members milling about.

Just like the last generation, the first birth is natural twins.
Also like last generation, it’s two girls. S3 girl on the left is
named Cézanne, and S4 girl on the right is named Caravaggio
and will be known as Cara for short. Both girls have black
hair and Bassano’s eyes, which have been carried down from
the founder, Hieronymus.

Paul Cézanne was a French Post-Impressionist painter whose style of
short brushstrokes and simplified geometric forms is highly
recognizable. His work is said to have contributed to the birth of
Cubism, and Picasso said he is “the father of us all.”
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian painter who was well-known
for the dramatic lighting and naturalistic tenor of his paintings,
and he is credited with beginning a focus on “tenebrism,” which is a
transition from dark to light with little intermediate value. He was
reportedly a combative figure and died in mysterious circumstances
after a number of fights.

As Angie gets to know one of her new daughters, both Corwin and
Anjolie are fielding random, baseless complaints in the background.
Yeah, this is the downside to a home business.

Bassano immediately jumps in as a
great dad, and even when he’s
away working on his novel, he’s still
thinking of his new babies.

“Hi! I have no idea why you showed up, since no one called you,
but we’d like to end your services.”
“Sure, I understand. So, tomorrow then?”
“Um, no. Never. Go away. Thanks.”
“Right. See you next time!”

Cézanne and Cara are very adored as babies. Anjolie is the
only one with a family aspiration and hers is a secondary one
at that, but the kids are not neglected at all.

Angie reaches her goal of becoming an eco guru, and promptly
quits. She’s going to be staying home to focus on her garden
and raising the kids, and then she may get a job again when
they’re a bit more self-sufficient. Her next LTW is to be a
celebrity chef. I forgot to mention last chapter that after
becoming a cult leader, Bassano aspired to be Captain Hero.
He found a job in law enforcement just after the girls were
born.

Bazille, put down that baby. I really don’t need you walking
off lot with one of them or something.

Angie’s mom-instincts kick in and she
realizes her offspring are in danger.
Limited danger, but it’s a kind of
danger, ok?
“Oh, Bazille! Come here! That ought to
make you drop my baby.”
Bazille: “Okay, I’m here. Say, do you ever
think about going steady? Because I do.”
Cézanne: “Mommy! Help!”
Angie: “Okay, Bazille. Just hand her over.”
Bazille: “Like, I know you can with hacks,
but why can’t we have a dating-but-not-engaged
stage as adults? What’s up with
that?”

Angie uses the “talk to baby” interaction after trying all sorts of
interactions to try to get Bazille to drop Cézanne, and that of all
things is the one that makes her set the baby down. Sims are so
difficult sometimes.

Cézanne is returned safely to her crib, and the door to
the nursery is locked against visitors.

Meanwhile, Bassano is out back drinking and talking
makeup with a coworker. After rescuing her daughter,
Angie heads down to an expanded greenhouse. Her plants
were growing too nicely and it wasn’t giving her enough
opportunity to increase her nature enthusiasm, so she
doubled the number of plots in her garden. She now has a
gold badge, so she plants all kinds of things in the new
plots.

Bassano makes best friends with little Cara, who has so far lived the
more quiet life of the two babies.

Angie! That is not how we parent!

More best friend-making. Angie and Bassano have spent a
fair amount of time in the nursery, but they also started with
high relationships to their two daughters.

Birthday time! I finally had the bright idea to move the knife block
deco and put the cakes next to each other, so we can get some
better twin birthday pictures. It starts out with just the family . . .

. . . and ends up as a pajama party.
Charlie finally decided to go home
after this, by the way. Finally.

Here are the twins! They have the same nose and mouth,
but otherwise look quite different. Cézanne is really mean
like her aunt Bellini, with a personality of 6/10/9/8/1. Cara is
similar except for being nicer, and she actually has the exact
same personality as her daddy at 6/10/4/8/7.

Speaking of Bellini:
Bellini, I love you.

Because of Angie’s primary
knowledge aspiration and Anjolie’s
secondary family, they’re the only
two that care about training up the
girls. “Grandma” was the first word
for both girls.

While teaching Cézanne, Angie begins to question whether she might
be pregnant with her third child.

“I learned to talk to the toilet!”
So you did. What did you have to say?
“Mostly ‘blerg’ with a bit of ‘ugh.’”
Lovely.

This is our maid, Fake Kaylynn. She looks like Kaylynn but she has
brown eyes and a different name, and she is a total pain in the ass.
Right now she’s mad that Angie’s throwing up in the toilet she
wants to clean. Give her a minute, Fake Kaylynn!

“We’re adorable!”
The girls did this on their own before they were even
friends. How cute is that?

Fake Kaylynn! You pick that up right now!
“Don’t wanna.”
It’s your job.
“Fine. For now.”

Fake Kaylynn! Stop dropping trash all over my house. You are a
terrible maid.

Angie, I don’t know what you think you read in that parenting
book, but stepping on your daughters is really not cool.

“We’re best friends! That’s it! That loses you a star!”
“Wha . . .?”

Bassano is Captain Hero and Corwin is a hall of famer. Now
Bassano wants to also be a hall of famer like both his parents.
Corwin wants to have 20 pet best friends. Nooooooooo.

“No, Anjolie can’t come to the phone right now. Stop calling!”
Anjolie’s loves from college are starting to wear off so she gets
nonstop calls day and night. It makes it very difficult for anyone to
use the house phone.

Just another cute little toddler pic. The girls haven’t really revealed
their personalities to me yet.

After a very barfy pregnancy, Angie finally pops.

Have I mentioned that I love Bellini? Because I love Bellini. Here she is
having a water balloon fight with a man in a chicken hat. After all her
pranks, the fact that she has water balloon fights with relative strangers
cracks me up.

Another pop. I guess nothing really interesting happened between the
last pop and now except for the water balloon fight.
Also, Angie, you’ve got to do something about those orange pjs. They
do not go with your greenhouse.

“Well, well, well. What have we here? . . . Sorry, I’ve always
wanted to say that. Anyway, yeah, a well. Here’s one for you.”
“Thanks. Say . . . are you a zombie?”
“No, it’s just a skin condition I have. Enjoy your well!”

Bassano is now a hall of famer and wants 6 pets to top their
careers. I don’t know why he and Corwin decided to roll pet LTWs,
but it’s a great way to ensure they don’t get filled. He’ll stay as a
hall of famer, along with both his parents.

“Plumbbobs of Passion? What kind of degenerate writes this tripe?”
You do.
“Oh.”

Here’s a picture of the identical twins from generation A, Andrea and
Arthur, in the same frame. Even though they’re doing different things, I
thought it was notable since they led pretty different lives starting in
college and it’s nice to see them in the same room again.

I heard that “boing” love lost sound, saw these two standing
together, and freaked out until I zoomed in and saw Anjolie was just
breaking up with an old college love over the phone. Her
relationships with her college sweethearts have gotten low enough
that one bad conversation can kill the love. Luckily she doesn’t have
any fears concerning that.

Birthday time for Cézanne and Cara! Both of them are of
course thinking of Grandpa Corwin, because he is just so
interesting. The family takes up all of what the sims
apparently consider the “good spots” in the kitchen, so the
pajama parade vies for other spots while the birthday is
getting started.

Here’s the girls as children. One of Cézanne's first wants
is to torment someone, and I can guess who she has in
mind. Cara, for her part, is calm and has no outstanding
wants to help me start painting a picture of her
personality.

What are you doing studying up here, Cézanne? I checked and
there’s two empty spots on the couch next to Cara, down where the
bookcase actually is.
“Eh. I didn’t feel like it. I’m a free spirit! I’ll study where I want to!”

Angie’s very tired from being pregnant, but Bassano only sleeps
about every other day or so. I think it’s because he has all his lifetime
perks, is surrounded by snapdragons, and sits by the journalism
reward when he’s working on his novels. When I direct him to relax
next to his wife since it’s almost time for her to give birth, he of
course pulls out his trusty book to read.

Right on time, Angie goes into labor.

Angie’s in-laws are there for the birth, but where is Bassano? Well,
he’s there making the bed, of course. He finally got tired and went
to bed after waiting most of the night, so when he wakes up it’s
more important to make the bed than attend to his child’s birth.
Please ignore the plumbbob in the picture. Unfortunately, I didn’t
notice it and this is the only picture I have of the actual birth.

Their third child is a little boy named Canova, with S4, brown hair, and
Corwin’s eyes. This generation’s age and gender distribution is closely
following that of last generation. The third B child was Bassano himself,
of course, the only boy of the generation.
Antonio Canova was an Italian sculptor whose specialty was delicately
sculpting graceful nude statues of mostly classical figures. He also did a
commissioned statue of Napoleon.

With Canova cuddled, checked on, played with, and placed safely
in a locked nursery next to a snapdragon, his parents are free to
check each other out. That, quite naturally, leads to . . .

. . . this. Yes, we’re going for four children again. I want to see if
the generation repeat will be complete, i.e., whether we have a
fourth child that is a single birth and a girl. Plus I have another
name I want to use.

“We’re going to have another baby! Isn’t that exciting? . . . Girls?”
“Mom, we’re studying.”
“Since when do you study down here, Cézanne?”
“The controller was watching. I don’t want her to know my secrets.”
That girl is a wily one, I tell you. Meanwhile, Cara studies quietly.

It’ll be a while before Canova or the baby-to-be are in school,
so we work on getting the girls in just before their first day of
school. It goes off without a hitch, and the next morning
Cézanne and Cara head down to the bus in their new
uniforms.

Another pop. Those orange pajamas are going to be the
death of me. I really ought to have her wear everyday clothes
to avoid such problems, but it’s just easier to let her stay in
pjs. Meanwhile, the one-square lane in the greenhouse has
replaced the upstairs hallway as the preferred catch location.

Even with a huge garden, Angie wasn’t gaining nature
enthusiasm fast enough, so I dug a pond and had her start
fishing. As you can see, she didn’t start out too great, but
she did finally get to the zone in nature. She never desired
it, which was annoying, but she is already permaplat, so I
guess it doesn’t matter.

The twins come home with homework, and since Bassano is busy
writing and Angie is napping, it falls to the grandparents to teach
the girls their homework skills.

Just in time for Canova’s birthday, the girls earn their first $5,000. I
haven’t figured out whether everyone is accruing “earned this much
money” or whether it just happens to the kids, but the home
business is earning money regardless.

Angie: “Alright, who put this hat on Canova?”
Corwin: *snicker*

Canova gets a bit of a makeover, and he looks very nice in a little tux.
“Isn’t my son handsome? More like Casanova than Canova, am I right?”

“Me Casanova! Me debonair! Eh hee hee hee hee!”
Leaving aside where he learned “debonair” when he doesn’t actually
know how to talk yet, I think Bassano might have put some bad ideas
in Canova’s head. He doesn’t have a bad personality for that persona
though. Canova is 1/7/7/2/10. Not sure where the messiness came
from, but if he aims to be a cultured, desirable man someday, the
niceness and outgoingness will serve him well.

You’re doing it again! Why do you keep coming up here to study,
and why do you only do it when I’m not looking?
“Just to vex you. It’s working, right? You wouldn’t let me torment
my sister, so it had to be someone.”
Grr.

Bassano helps a little, but as
usual, Angie rolls the most
wants to teach Canova.

Cézanne: “So what you have to do is this: insist you’re Casanova. Don’t
let up, and don’t let the author talk you into your real name. Stick with
whatever will annoy her. I promise you, it is deeply satisfying.”
Canova: “Yay! Me Casanova! No Canova! No no!”
Cara: “. . .”

Angie gets back into the orange pjs with the most enormous pop I
have ever caught on camera. Quite impressive there.

“Hi! I don’t know why you nannies keep showing up since we keep
ending your services, but we really, really don’t need you. I’m a
stay-at-home mom right now and I’ve got it under control.”
“Okay! We’ll be back next time!”
“I’m not sure you understand . . .”
“Yep! See you another day! Nice pajamas, by the way!”
“Sigh.”

Angie keeps fishing and the girls both rolled wants to fish
too, but they didn’t get to stay there long because they
also rolled a fear of catching a boot, which is almost
inevitable for a beginner. I just let them fish long enough to
get the little aspiration boost. Sorry, girls!

Canova is pretty self-sufficient now that he’s potty-trained and
Angie has a store of smart milk in her inventory that I can plop
down in the nursery for him. The girls are very self-sufficient
and mostly spend their time skilling. Angie fishes and Bassano
writes. Where does that leave Anjolie and Corwin? Well, when
they’re not playing poker, they’re mostly just loving up on each
other. They’re a very sweet couple, and I love them in their
matching pjs.

Corwin gets juiced up then peeps in the windows of his own
house at his own wife and checks her out. Sure, that’s
normal.

Friend-making with Canova. He’s a sweet little guy.

“Hall of Famers, assemble! Let’s go sign some autographs!
The safety of the free world depends on it!”

Unfortunately, with everyone else at work, school, or asleep in the
nursery, Angie is left to give birth in the greenhouse alone.

Not totally alone, though. Fake Kaylynn and a placeholder for the first
chapter (which was on the Exchange) named Laura rush over from the
house just in time.

Also, despite there being only one door and it being blocked by
Laura and Fake Kaylynn, Avery and Edwin somehow teleported into
the greenhouse to welcome the newest member of the
Masterpiece family.

Welcome to little Cassatt, who has Angie’s eyes and skin, and Corwin’s
black hair that Bassano was carrying recessively. Cassatt makes a
striking baby with all that bold black.
Mary Cassatt was an American painter, but she mostly lived and worked
in France. She was an impressionist who focused on the lives of women
and children. She used the fluid, colorful style that the impressionists
were known for and painted beautiful portraits.

Oh dear. Looks like the single-lane walkway in the greenhouse is not
ideal for birth celebrations. Fake Kaylynn is too haughty to join in the
complaining, or maybe she’s just hogging what they all consider to be
the best spot. Either one would be just like her.

Angie, seriously, you’re good with toddlers and children, but you suck
at baby-rearing. You’re supposed to hold and cuddle infants, not
levitate them ahead of you while you walk.

Cassatt settles in to a nice, neutral yellow crib. You may have noticed that I
haven’t used a pronoun for Cassatt yet. That’s because, at this point in the
game, I didn’t know if Cassatt was a boy or a girl. I had saved and quit right
after the birth, and then I didn’t play for several days afterward, so when I
came back, I had forgotten Cassatt’s gender, and I had intended to use the
name for a boy or a girl, so that didn’t help clue me in either. Thus I’m
keeping it secret until Cassatt’s birthday, so you can wait to find out just
like I did.

The girls are happy to have a new brother . . . or is Cassatt a sister?
No one knows, but Cassatt is loved nonetheless.

Finally, Cassatt’s birthday rolls around and we can clear up this
mystery. It’s also Canova’s birthday today, and everyone is apparently
very impressed that Andrea decided to attend the party.

Yay! Cassatt is a girl . . . with a fauxhawk. Angie doesn’t think that suits
a little toddler girl very well, but we can deal with that. The generation
repeat of birth order, number of children, and genders is complete!
That probably doesn’t mean anything to anyone else, but it amuses
me.

Angie decides to just cover up Cassatt’s spiky hair until it’s grown out a
little. Cassatt looks a lot like her mom except for the dark hair. Her
personality is 6/8/4/2/7, which is a delightful little personality.
Everyone except Cézanne is pretty nice this generation, and everyone
except Canova is on the neat side. I like these kids!

Canova: “Daddy, daddy! This is horrible!”
Bassano: “What’s wrong, Canova?”
Canova: “Well, first of all, the name is CASANOVA, man of mystery.”
Bassano: “Right, little guy. What else is wrong?”
Canova: “There’s no tuxedos or even suits in everyday child wear!
What will I do? My image is ruined!!!”

Is that better Cano- . . . I mean, Casanova?
“So much. I just have to change into formal every morning. I can’t wait to
show all the girls at school my suave bow tie and my sophisticated
boutonniere.”
Yeah, I bet they’ll be all over that. Right after hopscotch. They’ll probably
be thrilled to know you sleep in the bug- and flower-themed nursery, too.

Angie takes over completely
when it comes to teaching Cassatt
her skills.

Angie had been harvesting a lot of fruits and veggies, but when
I went to look for them, they weren’t in her inventory. Turns
out Anjolie was hanging on to them, I guess because she’s the
inherited “owner” of the family business. She stocked the juicer
and the refrigerator completely full, and then we sold all the
rest. I’ve never actually used the juicer and I still didn’t this turn
around, but it is fully stocked and ready for it next generation!

Edwin and Laura have been hanging around the house in
their undies the last few days, and I suspect them of having
an emotional affair. Edwin is married to poor Botti and
Laura has a wife as well, but they spend all their time at the
house – in their underwear – chatting together. They don’t
even play poker! They just hang out and chat. And they’ve
climbed into bed together more than once, but luckily I
don’t have any mods that might complicate things, so all
they do is sleep side by side.

Then again, Edwin will climb into bed with just about anyone, so
maybe that doesn’t prove anything. I still am keeping an eye on him
and Laura, though. I don’t need them tarnishing the fine reputation of
the Masterpiece house. Okay, wait, I can’t actually say that with a
straight face, but you know what I mean.

Canova: “So you see, you just have to pick a quirk and stick with it, and
if it’s difficult, all the better. This wisdom has passed from our oldest
sister to me, and now I pass it on to you, young one.”
Cassatt: “Difficult! Yay! Me difficult?”
Canova: “You sure will be, sis. You sure will be.”

Speaking of difficult, this is her majesty, Queen Annoyance of the Realm of
Obstinate Children.
“Whee! I’m jumping on the bed! Watch me overheat!”
I don’t think so, missy. You get down right now.
“You’re no fun. Welp, I’m gonna go cause trouble somewhere else. Check you
later, wet blanket!”

Thank goodness I have one child in this family that behaves.
“Yeah, well, that’s just because you haven’t bothered to give me a personality yet.
Maybe someday I’ll deserve one.”
Ooh. Now I feel bad. Ahem. I’ll try to work on that, Cara.
In the meantime, I’ll also be working on the next chapter of Falling to Masterpieces,
and everyone, Cara included, will get some more face time. Promise. Check in with
me in between chapters at SiMania or Boolprop! Thanks for reading!

Falling to Masterpieces 3.2

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