jothirteen

Welcome back to this crazy little OWBC!
(The chapter title is a reference to this My Brightest Diamond song, by the way.)
Last time in "Hark(er)! An OWBC": Olive fell in love with Fergus Graves (the streaker she'd gone on a date with some chapters back), and the two got engaged shortly before Olive and Oil's graduation. Börje and Yvonne welcomed a son, Hector, and a while later, twin boys Lorens and Ravi, bringing Nisha (and Cody)'s total number of grandchildren up to 3. Olive and Oil moved back with their parents, being quickly joined by Fergus, and Olive and Fergus got married in a chilly but lovely winter night ceremony. The newlyweds and Oil then started doing their part for the Workaholics Anonymous mini-challenge, earning 5 CRs between the 3 of them. Disaster almost struck when Olive was scared to death by Donna's ghost, but thankfully Fergus was able to plead for her successfully.
And now, back to the present chapter...

Sadly, we begin this chapter with a sad note, as Grim comes for Cody. :(

Cody Harker (né Crichton) died at the age of 74 sim days (though technically he was older due to the elixir of life). He left money to a total of 16 sims, including Nisha (20000 simoleons), Olenna (10000 simoleons), Bruna (9200 simoleons), Olive (9000 simoleons) and Oil (8600 simoleons). Other sims that received some of his inheritance money were Börje, Yvonne, sim Jo and Amylu (

amylu1988) and Candi (Candi020765)'s simselves.

The whole Harker clan was, of course, devastated.

Despite her still very present grief, Olive soon earned the Paranormal career reward, quitting her job afterwards (similarly, Fergus had quit his job in Military after he got his 3rd CR last chapter).

That left only Oil - as the total number of CRs was now up to 15, I only needed her to get hers, so that she could move out and Fergus and Olive could get started on generation 2. (That'll leave me with 4 CRs to earn after the no-promotions generation is over, which doesn't seem too hard.)

Oil earned the Artistic career reward shortly after Cody's death as well...

...meaning she was now free to move out and live the glamorous life of a spare.

Fergus and Olive wasted no time, and soon their first child was on the way.

Olive's pregnancy wasn't very easy. Not as bad as Nisha's had been, mind you, but still pretty hard on her. Fortunately, unlike Nisha, Olive was frequently in the gold or platinum, and was able to get some motive relief via the energizer.

Poor Nisha kept having terrible luck as always, getting electrocuted once again when going to fix the dishwasher one day at noon.

As Nisha's life bar was sadly close to the end as well, Olive took charge of the plants, and started working on that gold gardening badge.

Annoyingly, her dress seems to have a pregnancy mesh when in fact it doesn't. I think it might be a combination of her extra grilled cheese-related weight, plus being only at the 2nd trimester, plus the actual outfit shape. I only noticed she needed some actual maternity wear after she reached the 3rd trimester.

"Fergus, go put some clothes on, please. I know you feel comfortable wearing nothing around the house, but my mom's right here."
"Aww, okay then, if I really have to...sorry about that, Mrs. Harker. By the way, Liv, I think the bunny wants some grilled cheese too, so could you give him a sandwich after you finish yours?"

"Bunny? What bunny? There's no bunny here, Fergus, you must be seeing things."

"I remember Bruna talking about some bunny only she could see once...you better watch your aspiration level, Fergus, we don't want you having a breakdown."
"No, everything's fine, Mrs. Harker, really. Besides, the bunny's cool, he won't annoy anyone, I promise."

"Isn't that right, Mr. Blue? You're an awesome bunny!"

"Olive, dear, I'm starting to get worried about your husband."
"Don't worry, Mom, I'll make him call someone he can become friends with after I finish this sandwich. That way, he can get a better aspiration level and get rid of that pesky invisible bunny soon."

"I've been feeling so tired ever since Cody died...I don't think I'll be around for much longer, though I hope I can be here meet Olive's oldest children at least. But it's better not to tell them anything, poor dears, they have enough on their minds already."

Grilled Cheese sims always look like they're about to pop the moment they reach the 3rd trimester.

Though Olive doesn't look nearly as big when wearing this sundress. Oh, different pregnancy meshes and their contrasts...

Olive eventually goes into labour right after preparing some grilled cheese.

And the newborn baby girl joins the Harker household just in time for lunch.
The random naming theme chosen for the "L" pregnancy was "Greek Mythology". This little lady is named Lethe Harker.

"Wow, we have a daughter! Awesome. I wonder if she'll want some grilled cheese already..."

"Your daddy is a very silly man, Lethe, but we love him for that. I bet you wouldn't want some grilled cheese even if you could eat it, being nourished by nothing but it in the womb, right? But that's alright, I'll try to change your mind when you become a child."

Lethe gets a cute stork crib, and Nisha just can't leave her alone. She's such an adorable grandmother.

It's party time again at the Harker household, and Nisha takes this chance to ask Bruna about those weird invisible bunnies, even if her answers make little sense.

Oil acts super enthusiastic about everything, congratulating her sister on getting some woohoo as it is to be expected of a Romance sim...

...and then she goes and feeds Lethe a bottle, apparently trying to be seen as the cool aunt from very early on.

"Why, Fergus, if only I was a Romance sim who liked guys, being complimented by a naked man could end up being interested. But no luck here, seriously. Try Bruna."

Damn it, Oil, why did you have to go and encourage Fergus on possibly cheating on your twin sister?
Thankfully there weren't any actual romantic interactions between Fergus and Bruna, though I'll have to keep an eye on them from here on, I don't want Fergus cheating on Olive.

And the party was another success, even if Oil was trying her best to replace sim Jo as the troublemaking guest.

The ghosts keep trying to kill Olive, which is particularly infuriating given that she's pregnant again, and her motives keep slipping into yellow and orange levels. I don't want any surprises, so it was energizer to the rescue right after this scene.

Fergus twirls poor forgotten Lethe into toddlerhood that night. Sorry, kid, trying to make sure no one gets scared to death here.
Lethe has interesting genetics - she's cute, but doesn't look that much like either parent overall despite clearly having features from both. She's a Capricorn 10/8/1/10/6, by the way, so yet another neatfreak who's fairly nice.

The toddler spam makes its triumphant return for this second generation. See how cute she is after a makeover, these Harkers do have great genes.

I regret nothing, toddler spam will always live on.

Fergus decides to get started on Lethe's toddler skills, but he "forgets" to put some clothes on again. Lethe is apparently embarrassed by it and won't even look at her father's face. I can't wait to see her reaction to her father's streaker coding after she reaches her teen years.

Nisha invites the Garden Club over again, giving that wishing well a last shot before she dies of old age (she doesn't have that long left, and she has the want to have a perfect garden score locked, too).

Tiffany Zarubin and her cronies have no compassion for making sweet old ladies' dying wishes come true, so they complain about the flamingos yet again and end up giving the garden a "meh" score.
I'm seriously starting to hate these guys.

Lethe is pleased that her father decided to put some clothes on, and finally cooperates. One toddler skill down, two to go. I really don't want her to end up like her mother, aunts and uncle, so fingers crossed here.

Olive was rocking on outside, but is interrupted by the onset of labour.

She gives birth to a baby girl, with black hair like her father and sister, grey eyes like her grandmother (and cousin Ravi) and a custom dark skintone (not sure if it's glitchy or geneticized).
The "P" theme: "Colours"! This list at Wikipedia comes in very handy, and the new arrival is named Peridot Harker.
I also decide she'll be the Bad Apple for this generation, as Bruna was also the second born child, might as well make it a tradition.

But wait, there's more! You really didn't think Triplets&Quads would let me off the hook so easily, did you?

We have another girl, with the same colouring as her sister Lethe. The list of colours is once again helpful, and this little girl is named Phlox Harker.

Nisha is now permaplat, so maybe the Triplets&Quads hack isn't that bad.

I spoke too soon. What are you doing, Olive, your mother's already permaplat! Enough babies already, you still need to go through another pregnancy!

*sigh* At least it wasn't quads, I guess. The youngest of the triplets is a boy, with black hair and Cody and Olive's eyes just like Lethe and Phlox, but with skin #3 like Fergus. His name is Pomp and Power Harker, which is a very grandiose-sounding name; a nickname is in order as soon as I come up with one.

I'm not upset at the Triplets&Quads hack for long, because look at how happy they are. And besides, Nisha is already so close to death, I don't mind she'll get to meet more grandchildren than originally thought.

Even if my loading portrait looked like this after the triplets' birth.

Back at Börje, Yvonne and Bruna's house, Hector has become a child.

His little brothers have had a birthday as well (Lorens - with the lighter skin tone and brown eyes - is a Capricorn 10/8/3/7/7, Ravi - with the darker skin tone and grey eyes - a Gemini 2/7/10/5/7.)

Nisha got to make friends with her oldest grandchildren, unlike poor Cody (Börje's sons being still very young when he died). Hector didn't seem to be too impressed by his grandmother's creepy 10-nice-point smile, though.

Everyone is also very close in this household. Oil might end up as the cool aunt to Olive's kids, but Bruna definitely holds that title as Börje's sons are concerned. They love her to pieces, which is very sweet.

I played their house until Lorens and Ravi became children (they were born before Lethe after all, I didn't want them staying younger than her). Nisha also became friends with them eventually.

And, at Börje's house, Fergus met Contessa Stephanie Morrison (who they had lost as a friend after Cody's death), thus bringing back my plan to have a vampire in the OWBC household soon.

At sim Jo's lot, Olenna had built up her skills quite a bit, courtesy of the Education career reward, and headed off to college around this point. She still looks a lot like her father (just with Nisha's hair colour and skin tone).

Back at the main house, Nisha enjoyed her last days with her youngest grandchildren by spoiling them rotten.

And here's more Lethe toddler spam, since things will be plunged into chaos when the triplets become toddlers, meaning I won't be able to pay her as much attention. She's still doing well as her toddler skills go.

Party time at the Harker house once again...

"I'm so glad I wasn't chosen as heir, eating so many grilled cheese sandwiches would put me off them for life after the first 20 or so. Plus, I heard eating nothing but grilled cheese is not very good for your health."
"I'm pretty sure that's just propanganda spread by the anti-grilled cheese movement, Börje."

Nisha has a moment to enjoy the fact that they threw yet another great party...

...and that's the very last thing she gets to enjoy. :(

Nisha Harker died at the age of 82 sim days (even though, like her husband, she was technically older). She left money to 18 sims, including Bruna (10000 simoleons), Olenna (10000 simoleons), Börje (10000 simoleons), Oil (8400 simoleons) and Hector (1800 simoleons). Others that benefited from her inheritance were Olive, Lorens, Ravi, Lethe, Peridot, Phlox, Pomp and Power, sim Jo and David (

tyjet92's simself).

Her death was a very hard blow for the family.

Even if they all got a little something to remember her by.

Nisha and Cody are now together in death (along with the three Ghost Hunt townies). Let's hope they don't haunt the family too much.

As it always happens in TS2, Lethe had a birthday right after her grandmother died. She still managed to grow up well, though.

And promptly rushed to the kitchen for some comfort food after I gave her new clothes.

Fergus and Olive then had the dreaded task of growing up the three toddlers. (Four days of complete madness beginning in three, two, one...)

Peridot (who'll be nicknamed "Peri" from now on) is pretty cute, and I can see Cody's eye shape in there. Bad Apple, though, so no clue about her stats.

Phlox, on the other hand, looks very much like her sister Lethe. She's a Libra 0/10/6/3/10, so while she might be like her sister in looks, she's her opposite in other things, namely, neat points.

Pomp and Power, who's a Libra 3/10/1/6/9, seems to take after Fergus (except for the eye colour). I think I might nickname him "Double P", though that might still change.

And I'll leave you here, with our Bad Apple for our generation asleep on the floor.

Goodbye and happy simming, but just before you go...

...here's a little memorial for Cody and Nisha. A very sweet couple, and two amazing sims who did a great job of setting up the foundations for this OWBC.

R.I.P. Cody and Nisha, you will be missed.

[Note: Olenna has now been added to the "Download a Harker" entry.]

***

Current challenge stats:

Base Game Bonuses:
-Obtain an alien through a legit abduction
-Go one whole generation - from birth to birth - without getting any promotions
-Have a gnome to guard the flamingos [Glycogen]

Nightlife Bonuses:
-The heir(ess) for every generation must go on a date via gypsy matchmaker and see it through to completion [1st generation: Olive's date with Fergus; ...]
-Every heir(ess) is turned into a Grilled Cheese sim [1st generation: Olive; ...]
-A sim must be turned into a vampire

Seasons Bonuses:
-Throw a party once per season [spring: Nisha and Cody's wedding, Olenna's toddler birthday, 3 house parties (1 at college); summer: Börje & Bruna's toddler birthday, 4 house parties (1 at college); autumn: Olive & Oil's toddler birthday, 5 house parties (2 at college); winter: 3 house parties (1 at college), Olive's graduation, Olive and Fergus' wedding]
-Earn a wishing well
-A sim must be turned into a plantsim

Story Bonus:
-Finishing the challenge and posting it online [work in progress]

"Boolprop Naming Scheme" Mini-Challenge:
-First generation: children resulting from the 3 mandatory pregnancies must have names starting with B, O and O respectively [Börje & Bruna, Olive & Oil, Olenna]
-Second generation: children resulting from the 3 mandatory pregnancies must have names starting with L, P and R respectively [Lethe, Peridot & Phlox & Pomp and Power, ...]
-Third generation: children resulting from the 3 mandatory pregnancies must have names starting with O, P and C respectively

"One Bad Apple" Mini-Challenge:
-Every generation, one child (chosen at birth) must be uncontrollable (8 commands per day from college or adult birthday onwards) [1st generation: Bruna; 2nd generation: Peridot; ...]

"Cowforbrains' Ghost Hunt" Mini-Challenge:
-Three sims must die every generation, and every cause of death must be different [1st generation: Dustin (death by starvation), Donna (death by fire), Reese (death by drowning); ...]

"Family Scrapbook" Mini-Challenge:
-Every member of the family must have their picture taken or their portrait painted and hung somewhere around the house [Nisha, Cody, Börje, Bruna, Olive, Oil, Olenna, Dustin, Reese, Donna, Fergus, ...]
-The founder and each one of the 3 heirs/heiresses must write a novel [Nisha, ...]

"Workaholics Anonymous" Super Mini-Challenge:
-Earn all the career rewards available [16 out of 20: 2 earned by Cody, 2 earned by Reese, 2 earned by Börje, 2 earned by Bruna, 1 earned by Donna, 3 earned by Fergus, 2 earned by Olive, 2 earned by Oil]