Welcome back to Falling to Masterpieces, an artistic alphabet legacy. I dropped this in the middle of a generation and it got left behind for so long thanks to Sims 4 and the new stories I’ve been writing there, but I came back for it! When we left off, Bassano and Angie had four children named Cézanne, Caravaggio (Cara), Canova, and Cassatt. Elders Anjolie and Corwin, as well as cats Oil and Acrylic, are hanging around too.

Canova, who is under the delusion that he is Casanova, was looking forward to his first day of school. However, there is a problem . . .

“What do you mean I can’t wear formal wear to school? I need my tux!”

Sorry, bud. It made you change into everyday. I can’t help it. Maybe we’ll get you into private school sooner rather than waiting for Cassatt to grow up so you can wear something a bit fancier.

Back inside, Angie is doing . . . this. Whatever this is. She allegedly learned the hula on her honeymoon, and yet four kids later she still has no idea what she’s doing. She manages to dance with customers just long enough for them to have no idea what they’re doing, and I end up with pictures like this one.

“Hey, sweetie! I have no earthly idea what you’re doing there, but keep at it. I like it!”

Cassatt, who just grew into a toddler with a fauxhawk last chapter, is being taught all her skills and attended to by the family. Anjolie has secondary family and Angie is knowledge, so they actually want to teach Cassatt things, but Corwin and Bassano chip in with some of the socialization.

Well, someone’s looking cheery after his school day. Did you survive without your tux?

“Did I ever! The girls love me!”

So does that mean you can give up the fancy dress?

“Never. That will just make me even more attractive. Chop chop on that private school, okay? I need to be looking sharp for recess.”

Three Masterpiece kids coming home from school means three cousins coming home too, but they have to pay to hang out at the house. Mwa ha ha! I love venues.

Bassano attempts to teach Canova how to do his homework, but Canova is a little distracted and keeps staring out the window. Probably daydreaming about all those new friends he met.

Anjolie channels her daughter Bellini and pranks one of her grandchildren, who had just finished buying a ticket to hang out. Luckily, he loved it. This family and water balloons.

“Quick, Thomas, get out of here before the headmaster sees you soaking wet. He might think we do a less than stellar job of parenting around here.”

No. Why ever would he think that?

“It’s so nice to meet you, headmaster-whose-name-didn’t-get-written-down. I’m excited for you to meet my grandkids. They’re great students, and we have a lovely dinner for you . . . Oh great. You’re bugged. Sigh, controller, can we get a little batbox action down here?”

Sigh indeed. I am so sick of this bug that freezes my headmasters some of the time once they’ve been greeted. I have to remember to invite them over with plenty of days left in the kids’ age bar in case they freeze at inopportune times.

“So, kiddo. How you doing on the being difficult front? Are you learning from your big sis? Gonna create havoc for the controller?”

“Yay, havoc! Havoc, havoc, havoc. Hammock?”

“No, havoc. Trust me on this one. Way more fun.”

Cézanne continues her indoctrination of Cassatt into her annoying ways.

“Hey guys, can I play? What are you talking about?”“Havoc! Hee hee hee.”“What? What are you teaching her, Cézanne?”“She said hammock, Cara. We were just . . . uh . . . talking about backyard recreation items.”“Sure you were.”

Cassatt, being the last child, gets a lot of attention now that her parents don’t have to worry about the next baby. Much like Botti from Bassano’s gen, Cassatt is universally adored by her family.

Canova is working on his skills, and he is a very dedicated skiller. Even Aubrey’s pajama smustling can’t distract him, though he does take a break to change into his tux.

Bassano is still doing his noveling and not sleeping much thing. I still can’t make him interesting, guys. I’m sorry. I just can’t.

“You know, Cassatt, it can be good to be gentle and quiet too. Not everyone has to be like Cézanne. You could turn out like me and slip nearly silently through the background of the story . . . on second thought, maybe you should act up.”

I am also not doing a great job characterizing Cara. She’s very good and nice, but so far that’s kind of it.

Though they may be at odds when it comes to influencing Cassatt’s personality, the twins are actually the best of friends. They spend nearly all their free time together playing. Just a few more days until they turn teen, though.

And then one time I found them here, in the corner of the room, doing poses from the loading screen or something. I was very confused, especially since their queues said they were playing cops and robbers. I canceled that out and they snapped out of it. Very odd indeed.

Geez, Canova. Got enough books there with your one neat point?

“It’s Casanova! And I don’t see the big deal. You piled up a bunch of books behind me.

Yeah, but those are decorative. They’re called ‘clutter.’ It’s different.

“Sure it is.”

“Hmm. This family seems nice, though the business is a little nontraditional and kooky. They certainly make tasty dinners, though. I am a little worried about those odd girls pantomiming death, but they’re already students at our school, so I guess I can’t judge based on that. I suppose I should deliver the verdict, but where have all of the adults gone?”

“Ah, here’s two. Could I trouble you for a moment, ma’am?”“I suppose. I fold, guys, but I totally would have won that hand.”“Sure, Anjolie. Whatever you say, sis.”“Anyway, what did you want to say, Headmaster V.2?”“Your grandchild, Canova, is accepted.”“You stopped my winning streak just for that?”“Sigh.”

“YES! I’m in! I get to wear a suit again! Casanova, intriguing man of mystery, is in business once again.”

Yeah, yeah. Just . . . why don’t you pick up that book you threw down and are now dancing on?

“Oh, that’s not a book. It’s clutter. Two can play this game.”

I see Cézanne has taught you well.

“And then you called it clutter?”“Yeah! It was awesome, Cara! You should have been there!”“I’m so proud of you, Casanova.”“Thanks, sis. I’ve learned from the best.”“HAVOC!”“Ugh, Cézanne, can’t you teach her to be annoying a little quieter?”“Heh. Everything is going according to plan.”

The family assembles for the soon-to-be-teens’ birthdays, and, as usual, we wait for the pajama parade to filter in and take the other spots in the kitchen.

Although I’m not super fond of the grey, they actually managed to grow up into outfits that match their personalities. Cézanne is kind of sporty and irreverent, and Cara is sweet and a little twee. Perfect.

Chaos then erupts in the corner of the kitchen. Just another birthday in the Masterpiece house.

Here are the twins. Is it just me, or did Cara get like, a lot prettier as a teen? I’m pretty impressed by both of them. Cézanne’s t-shirt says “Sarcasm: Just one of the many services I offer.” That t-shirt was made for her!

Anyway, Cézanne’s aspiration is popularity/romance, and she wants to be a celeb chef. Cara is family/popularity, and she wants a golden anniversary, which is perfect for such a sweet sim.

“What the hell are you doing, Mrs. Masterpiece?”“Pipe down, Fake Kaylynn! I’m dancing the hula.”“Yeah, right.”“Go clean or something, would you?”“If I feel like it.”

Fake Kaylynn is still the worst maid ever, but she does have a point here.

Cézanne takes after her mother in the dancing skills department, but in her defense, she just started.

“I’m quietly having a pleasant phone conversation with a friend!”“I’m apparently wildly pretending I’m a chicken!”

Great encapsulation of the twins here.

Cara is still working on her skills. Cézanne finished hers as a kid, but Cara is the designated slow skiller this generation. Canova is set to outpace her eventually. Meanwhile, their dad continues to write more novels in the background. Exciting stuff.

The next day brings about Cassatt’s birthday, and I am incredibly impressed to see the family and visitors form a semicircle around the birthday girl with little fuss. I’ve seen that this is possible from other legacies, but I’ve never seen it in my game before. Now that I know it’s possible, I’m going to judge all future birthdays by this standard. You have been warned, sims.

“Aw, look at your beautiful hair, Cassatt. I’m so glad it grew out.”

“I’m not, Mom! I want it short again!”

“Just try it for a while. You’ll like it. Why, I’ll bet we’ll turn you into a girly-girl before long. You’ll see. Just give it a chance.”

Later that day . . .

“Cassatt, have you seen my good scissors?”

“Uh . . . no, Mom. Definitely have not seen the scissors.”

“I was thinking maybe we should head to college, Cézanne.”“Not until I get the dance scholarship and we’re overachievers. On that note, watch this move.”“Um, yup, that was a move all right. But seriously, you of all people want to get a job?”“Yeah, it’ll be easy. We’re private school students, aren’t we? Wherever we work, they’ll promote us before you can say ‘boo’ and then we’ll check out, okay?”“All right. I suppose that makes sense.”

Canova is delighted to have a playmate. These two really remind me of Bassano and Botti last generation, and not just because they’re staying in the same room. They’re very close and have a lot of fun together.

Meanwhile, across town in Blank Canvas, gen. 2’s Andy, his wife, and his four daughters actually get played for a short time. When I loaded them up, Lora had book clutter stuck to her hand for some reason, and this was the result of being told a good joke. It was too creepy/funny not to share. The real reason I was there, though, was that Katara and Korra were teens, and I wanted Cézanne and Cara to use the well for dates. This reminded me that these two sets of twins are far enough removed despite being related that they might show up, so I sent the cousins to college instead. Even though I plan on getting the girls boyfriends, I can now safely use the well in the future without risking distant, space-time-bending incest. On another note, Korra and Katara are some of the least similar-looking twins I’ve ever had in my game.

Oil and Acrylic got old. In their advanced age, they’ve finally – finally! – figured out that they can play with each other when their social is low. About time. However, they mostly just nap these days.

“Snerk. You’re really heading out like that?”“Hey, you’re the one that wanted to get jobs.”“Yeah, but like, cool jobs.”“This is cool.”“You keep telling yourself that.”

Cara gets the first job, in architecture, but she’s a landscaper or something so she got this atrocious outfit.

The weekend had passed since Canova got into private school, so today was his first day getting to wear a suit all day! He is understandably psyched about it.

“I’m too hot for elementary school!”

That’s weird and creepy, Canova. Knock it off. Anyway, how was your first day of school, Cassatt?

“What do ‘rambunctious’ and ‘boisterous’ mean?”

Instead of getting that promotion to level 3, Cara got a demotion back to level 1! How ignominious! She comforts herself by playing with the cats, which has always been her go-to activity. Maybe that’s her personality. She’s a quiet, shy cat lady. Could do worse.

“Grandma, I need to learn how to do homework and everyone else is busy.”“Wait, does that mean I’m your last choice? I did fine in school, I’ll have you know.”“Yeah, maybe, but the only math you do these days is adding your winnings at the poker table.”“True, but I get plenty of opportunities for it!”

Bassano reserves his hula-ing for when his wife isn’t looking. He wouldn’t want to look like he’s showing off when she still hasn’t mastered the skill.

Cézanne got her promotion as a gamer and is now an overachiever, but more importantly, she has learned a trick that has thus far been reserved for us controllers: queue-interrupting distraction. She wanted to play on the swings, but her cousin Addison was playing, so she gave her a hug and then jumped on the swings as soon as Addison was distracted. This is the moment in sci-fi movies where you realize with horror that the AI is more intelligent than it was ever meant to be. What has she become?!

We invite the headmaster over again, and luckily there’s no freeze this time, but he doesn’t much like conversing with Bassano. They come to terms eventually and Cassatt is accepted into private school. Finally! I’m done with headmasters for another generation!

And here’s our final schoolgirl heading off the next morning. Gotta have those uniform shots!

On her day off from work, Cézanne tries out our well, and gets a mediocre redhead. They kissed, made out, talked a little, and then she sent him on his way. She got her first kiss and fulfilled the want, but she didn’t seem really impressed by him.

Meanwhile, Cara is *still* working on her skills, but is now joined by Cassatt since Canova is done. Yes, that’s right, Canova finished before Cara. She’s a slow reader, I guess.

Cézanne is kind of freaking me out here. Right after her boyfriend left, she rolled a fear of him dying *and* a fear of Cassatt dying. I . . . was not really aware that it was enough of a possibility at this age to worry about. Kind of a strange and ominous fear there.

Oh, god. Not you again.

“Mwa ha ha.”

“Hello. Will you guys ever stop showing up? We really don’t need a nanny. I’m still a stay-at-home mom, and no one called you. You don’t seem to be attuned to anyone’s schedule. You nannies just keep coming. Why? WHY?!”

“Heh. That’s a nanny secret. See you next time!”

My front yard is positively littered with Hall of Famers today.

Cara’s turn at the well! She gets another redhead, and this one, named River, is actually pretty cute. They share their first kiss and chat for a while before he goes and buys a ticket to hang out. She actually liked him enough to want to go steady, so they did.

Meanwhile . . . just another typical snapshot from the party basement of the Masterpiece house, Blank Canvas’s premier venue.

I was watching other sims and Cézanne was running free since she’s done with her skilling, and when I checked on her, she was talking to River, Cara’s boyfriend. Innocuous enough. However, when I checked on her around bedtime, I noticed that they had been hanging out for hours and now Cézanne had just as high a daily relationship with River as Cara did. Hey, Cézanne, your twin already staked her claim here. No one likes a boyfriend-stealer. They kept it platonic, but I’ve got my eye on her. This sim can’t help but cause trouble wherever she goes.

Frustrated by being unable to interact with her own newly-minted boyfriend, Cara settles down to talk algebra with a really ugly teen wearing underwear. Well, that sucks. Cara is placid, though. Nothing ruffles her.

Cézanne is doing more queue-stomping to get what she wants. This time it was to dance with Canova, and the weapon of choice was a noogie. I’m really starting to feel bad for Cara.

More dancing. I usually let my sims go about their own business in the mornings, and good parents Angie and Bassano usually wind up talking with the twins or messing around with the younger two. It’s very sweet.

“Money. Am fortune sim. Earn money. Money good.”“Follow Bassano to work.”“Follow Bassano to work.”

“Um, guys? What is this, a bathroom break? That’s cool. I’ll just wait here till you get back. Don’t be long, okay?”

After probably causing some mischief at work, Cézanne is demoted from level 3 back to 2. This is just the motivation she needs . . .

“Hey, Cara? I just randomly, with no provocation at all, decided it’s time for college. Get your butt out here!”

And so the twins head off to college.

Once there, Cézanne is wearing Cara’s cardigan set and some major mom jeans, and Cara is wearing some entirely different person’s pantsuit. After a quick change, Cara fuses with her cousin to produce this monstrosity and give me nightmares.

Once they’re all sorted out, the girls look lovely. Angie has some interesting genes, especially around the eyes, but all of her kids turned out cute.

Cara is the first to befriend a cute walk-by. His name is Gustav.

“… and that’s why rats are the noblest of their rodent brothers. Hey, are you okay?”

“So hot I forgot my own name. I wonder what it was.”

“I’m going to back away slowly now.”

Cézanne, meanwhile, talks to a dude from the directory, named Carl, but sparks don’t really fly. I like my sims to have at least two bolts and these two have just one.

Katara: “Wait, isn’t that Cara’s mark? Talking to and making googly eyes at Cézanne? Oh, shit is about to go down.”Korra: “I’ll get the popcorn.Cara: “She can’t be stealing my guy again!”

Well, to be fair, you didn’t really have him locked down this time. But yeah, Gustav and Cara had one bolt, but Gustav and Cézanne have two. Luckily the jealousy is all in my head as they didn’t socialize enough for that yet.

Cara utilizes the directory herself after that defeat, and she meets Harold here in the process. They have two bolts, and her first tentative flirts with him actually earn both of them points. It worked out okay in the long run, Cara. This is a much better match for you.

Pretty much the entire freshman class then comes back from lecture, and I decided I’d had just about enough of college for now. Certainly enough of the dorms. When Canova and Cassatt join the twins, they can work on getting into the ancestral Greek house.

Back home, Canova regales a teen, again in underwear, with his mighty skilling and friend-making prowess, and hints that he too might be an overachiever someday like his sister briefly was. She was mildly amused up until this, but apparently overachievers are her thing. I see our little Casanova is honing his skills.

Just a sweet, autonomous sibling kiss between the first child born in the legacy, Avery, and the heiress of that generation, Anjolie. The best reason to have the business is to see family members more often and facilitate these kinds of interactions.

“I don’t like that little girl hanging around. Her hair’s all scraggly and she’s way too energetic. Do something about her or you’ll lose my business!”“Um, she’s my granddaughter and you’re a random angry guy we’ve never seen before, so gee, let me think that one over.”

Later . . .“The girl has got to go. She’s a nuisance.”“No, YOU have to go.”

This guy really doesn’t like Cassatt for some reason!

This provided the final motivation I needed to close the business down for a day or two. Besides random dude having a meltdown over Cassatt for some unknown reason, we had days and days’ worth of coworkers and teen school friends clogging up the house and refusing to go home. I needed a break.

For the first time in their entire lives, Cassatt and Canova can do their homework in peace.

Peace didn’t last, however. I only made it less than a day before I reopened the business. What can I say? I like the madness. I just like it to not be so crowded that it lags the lot. We have to manage the customer flow occasionally.

“Hello, mother. What brings you here?”“I was about to ask you the same thing, dear.”

And that finally brings us to the end of the chapter. We’ve got just one more for this generation and then there will be an heir poll, so be sure to check back for that. In the meantime, come find me at SiMania or Boolprop. Thanks for reading!

SiMania http://z12.invisionfree.com/sim_maniaBoolprop http://boolprop.net