I Hart Space! - Chapter 4: Rising Star, Part IV

Hi there! I've got another chapter of I Hart Space! for you to read. This time we'll finally be introduced to Mira's other kids besides Io, and see the family continue to grow and change. Follow me this way . . .

Last chapter saw the birth and subsequent child birthday of firstborn Io, as well as plenty of other Hart shenanigans. Mira is close to bursting with her second baby, and both she and Brandy are working on Renaissance Sim. Denzel is living the semi-immortal former bodybuilder life, and Eris splits her time between upgrading everything and hanging out with her little buddy, Io. They're all keeping busy, basically. Let's check in and see what we find them up to today.

These two are literally lining up to go give Mira hugs. That's what in both their queues. Harts, never change.

Looks like Io beat them to the punch, though. She's semi-excited and semi-afraid to meet her new sibling. She has really enjoyed being the firstborn who gets all of the attention, especially from her grandmother, but she's old enough to know that these things change somewhat when other kids enter the picture.

Brandy is there to support Mira when the time comes to give birth. She looks so anxious, doesn't she?

And she, Mira, and I are all confused when that baby arrives. Here's what I think happened: the game tries to find an intermediate skintone between the two parents, right? So it must be treating green as on the dark end of the scale. Or it's a complete glitch, but I think the first is more likely based on how the next baby turned out too.

Regardless, after that first moment, everyone regains their composure and agrees that the new baby is absolutely perfect. Mira is delighted to welcome a second daughter, and thus another eligible potential heiress. This is Callisto. Callisto is another moon of Jupiter, this time the second largest, and it is also the third largest moon in the solar system. It might possibly have a sub-surface ocean. It has a very interesting origin and features, which you can check out on Wikipedia if you are so inclined. Callisto from mythology was a nymph of Artemis "seduced" by Zeus, who gave birth to a son named Arcas. Both Callisto and son, after the usual Greek tragedies, were turned into bears and set into the sky as Ursa Major and Minor, and thus we've come full circle back to space.

After tending to Callisto's needs, Brandy and Mira sneak away to the observatory to celebrate their new daughter.

And, as often happens in a legacy, one celebration leads to another. Thus, Mira found out she was pregnant for the third and last time. We've got two eligible potential heiresses, but our rule is to have at least three children.

While Mira was taking her pregnancy test, Brandy was cuddling Callisto. Both moms are wonderful with their kids.

Mira: "Brandy! Brandy! I'm pregnant again!"
Brandy: "What?! But you just had Callisto not even two hours ago. How is this possible?"
Mira: "I thought you had gotten asking that out of your system by now."
Brandy: "The laws of biology - or the lack thereof - will never cease to amaze me."

Io, you have a new sister. What do you think of that?

"Send her to the airlock! No stowaways aboard my ship."

Well, alright then. Maybe she'll come around later.

Denzel's working his butt off to reach the top of the mixology career, and sometimes he comes home absolutely miserable, with several needs orange or even red. This is really not a great career for elders.

The next morning sees Best Buds 4 Lyfe Eris and Io hanging over breakfast. It's so funny that Eris can be so domestic when she's such a holy terror most of the rest of the time. She really does seem to enjoy being a grandmother, though.

She also gets to know Callisto. I'm hopeful that they can be friends too, and that Eris will get to meet the third baby, but her life bar is perilously full.

"You're very small! Was I that small? So weird. I guess you're ok, Callisto."

Verdict, Io?

"I like her! When can I play with her already?"

That was a fast turn-around.

Pregnant but still with a flat belly, Mira completes Renaissance Sim by getting level 8 in painting. Congratulations, Mira! That was a fearsome aspiration, but it helped that she spent practically her whole teen years skilling. Her family has been honored and her aspiration completed, so I set Mira on a path that seems natural for such a sweet sim: Friend of the World. Everyone likes her anyway and she's got a gazillion charisma points, so this shouldn't be too hard.

Sensing their time is short, Eris and Denzel make time for each other. Theirs is a love story that stretched out of this world and back, but it's not completely over yet.

They plan to spend some time making out in front of a movie that I don't think either of them saw much of, but . . .

"Hey, Grandma and Grandpa. Whatcha guys doing? Are you watching a movie? That's cool. Want a fish taco?"

. . . in a house with kids, plans can change pretty quickly.

Mira is in the phase where she has to meet a bunch of people. This is Maximillian, husband of the bartender that Sirius tried to court before finding out she was married, and also the guy that mysteriously became a friend of Eris's somehow when I wasn't looking. He's . . . interesting. The game sure spawns some weird sims sometimes. Majestic beard, though.

Early one morning, Brandy's skilling guitar because I plan to have her go into music eventually, and, as a creative and music-loving sim, she gets some pretty great moodlets from it. Io stops to listen on her way to the kitchen for breakfast.

Meanwhile, that awful music starts to play and I knew exactly what was happening, so I popped down to the basement to find Eris.

Sure enough, her time had come. She barely had gotten up out of bed before it was time to lie down again. The rest of the family was upstairs preparing for their day.

I sent Denzel downstairs. As much as the moodlets suck, I don't like sims to die alone. It's too sad for me. So Denzel said goodbye to his wife as Grim did his duty.

While I was watching this, I noticed Io's portrait turn blue. I checked on her, wondering if she had somehow sensed her grandmother's death, but it was just her gloomy trait acting up. Still, I think this was the result of their great connection. You can't lose someone that important to you and not be affected.

Eris was laid to rest near her hideout, and right beside her lovely dead cowplant. We've got urns and now a grave in various places all over the lot. Although the urns don't carry information any longer as a result of the house being put in the Gallery, I still remember whose was whose. Galaxy and Jorge are in the elder bedroom next to a bust, Andromeda and Collin are near the back of the house next to a space rock. Someday, Eris and Denzel will be reunited under this tree and cowplant.

Eris was an amazing sim, in my opinion. Fun to play when I had her, fun to read about when I didn't. She was an absolute menace to the neighborhood, but she loved her family and took good care of them. She topped the criminal career and maxed a few skills. She certainly left big shoes to fill character-wise. I'm going to miss her.

Only Denzel was affected by Eris's death, since only he witnessed it, and the rest of the family is carrying on as if nothing ever happened, which will never not be weird to me. Anyway, Mira is heading off to her technician job in the astronaut career, and is finally showing a little, meaning she's in her second trimester.

Although Denzel is friends with Io and had helped out with Callisto before, Eris did the majority of the grandparenting. With her absence palpably real in these early days, he tries to step in to fill the void by caring for the children like Eris would have.

Io grew up right before a weekend, so she is only just now returning from her first day of school. She seemed to like it okay.

Denzel, newly rededicated to child rearing, spent some time with Io when she broke my heart by rolling a late whim to cloudgaze with Eris. Instead, she spent time with her grandfather.

Oh my god, Brandy, that is a hideous shirt.

"Oh, really? It's what all the business assistants are wearing these days. Very professional, you know."

Just get promoted so I can send you out of business and into your third career and never have to look at that thing again.

Caught Callisto in a very odd moment right in the middle of her transformation from baby to child. It looks uncomfortable.

Anyway, here's Callisto after her makeover. She'll be neat and creative yet materialistic, so I went for a fussy but artsy vibe with her. I see her overall as a bit concerned with appearances (thus materialistic and bodybuilder), but she also has an undeniable artistic side. Perhaps she just wants to cultivate beauty in her art, her body, and the objects around her. As a child she wants to be an artistic prodigy, so it would have been nice if her child and teen traits were reversed. However, the real kicker is that she wants to be a bodybuilder eventually. I bet Kristina is just champing at the bit to play yet another bodybuilder. ;) I guess we'll see if that's in the cards when the heiress decision is made. Callisto looks even more like Brandy than Io does. Io has Mira's nose bridge and brow line, but it looks like Callisto has almost all of Brandy's features. It'll be interesting to see these girls when they grow up.

Callisto starts in on her art right away.

She also gets some help with her homework in preparation for her first day of school. Meanwhile, Mira is having to fix the broken computer since Eris isn't around to do it. :(

Now that they can finally interact meaningfully, Io and Callisto hit it off pretty well. They enjoy their chat over breakfast so much that they forgot to sit down.

Meanwhile, Denzel is still missing his wife terribly. These sad days of watching a widow or widower cry it out and mope around are torturous.

Mira does her best to comfort her dad, and a Hart hug does go a long way towards that. Because of his completed bodybuilder aspiration, Denzel will undoubtedly far outlive Eris, so he's going to have to learn to go on without her.

After talking with her father, Mira spends some time reading up on rocket science. She'll need to go on missions someday, so it would be good to have some skill. Eris finished all but two or three of the higher upgrades on the rocket, so the lower-tier ones aren't available for Mira to skill on. Books will have to do for now.

The fact that Mira is already pregnant does not dissuade this pair at all from having a little fun. Clearly they believe that woohoo is for more than just reproduction!

"Oh no! I've lost my wife! She was in labor and now she's gone!"

Did you check the nursery?

Brandy: "Good thing I thought on my own to check the nursery."
Mira: "It's another girl!"

Amazing! We now have three potential heiresses to choose from. How cool is that? Like I said previously, this baby is the same skin color as Callisto, which leads me to believe it's a pattern that has to do with Mira's alien skin.

Mira: "Hey, Dad. I want you to meet our youngest daughter. This is Sao."
Denzel: "She's beautiful. I just wish . . . *sniff* . . . that your mother had been here . . . *sniff* . . . to see her last grandchild. *protracted wailing* She would have loved her so much!"

Denzel is getting me down, guys, so let's focus on Sao's namesake. I originally was going to go with all moons of Jupiter, and I picked Io and Callisto because I liked them as names the best, but then I noticed they ended the same. I scoured the solar system for another moon that ended in 'o' that would make a good girl's name, and thus the comparatively minor moon of Neptune, Sao, was chosen. Sao is notable for an "exceptionally inclined and eccentric" orbit around Neptune. The mythological Sao is a nereid associated with sailing and rescuing, presumably from the results of poor sailing. So no tales about Zeus being a jerk this time around.

With Denzel's non-spoiling level 10 dishes and Mira's level 8 dishes, this house is never wanting for good food. The fridge is particularly stuffed with Denzel's meals since they never go bad. In real life, I would not feed my family leftovers 80% of the time, but in the sim world, it is mighty convenient.

Mira heads out to the beach to meet and greet random townies. I feel like I'm playing the grown-up version of the kids' social aspiration, and I don't like it. I kind of regret choosing this.

Meanwhile, Denzel is being an attentive grandfather to Sao while everyone else is out of the house.

"I love you, Sao, and your grandmother loves you. If she were here, she'd give you a big kiss, so here's one from me."

Aw, just break my heart, why don't you?

With Sao's needs tended to, Denzel also heads down to the beach to socialize. He needs level 8 (I think) charisma to top the mixology career. He's at 6 and skilling so slowly, so I thought maybe actually talking to people instead of the mirror might be a good idea. It certainly takes more micromanagement, but I do think it raises the skill faster. Meanwhile, I am waiting for Brandy to come home with a promotion to level 2 in the music career, which she has entered as her third and final career for the aspiration. It's also the one she'll stay with. I got the notification that she got the promotion, so I checked in on her . . .

. . . and she's back in that damn blouse! UGH! Why is it in two different careers? No wonder you're a C-lister, Brandy. Go change!

"I like it."

I said go change!

After school, I had the kids get to know Sao a bit. They keep pretty busy and haven't made it up here on their own yet, but I'd like the three kids to be friends. Io is up first, and she is still pretty astounded by the idea of babies, judging by her face.

"Ew! Keep it away! It's so messy!"

Neat little Callisto is not as impressed. She is actually talking to Sao here, but it sure looks like she is trying to ward her off.

Brandy, I thought we talked about this. Why are you still in that godawful outfit?

Sirius: "I kinda like it."

No one asked you!

"I don't feel so hot."
It's probably the blouse.
"I think I'm sick."
Nah, probably just the blouse.
"I'm covered in spots and I'm dazed."
Okay, you might be sick but I still hate your blouse. Go take some medicine and change.

Brandy's not the only one feeling not-so-great after work that day. This is a face of pure misery and frustration right here. Tense + uncomfortable + bad work moodlets = this. It is so hard to keep sims happy at the jobs and still get promoted in reasonable amounts of time.

Since it's late at night and no one is walking by the house, Denzel returns to storytelling in the mirror. Kinda looks like he's telling scary stories. Probably about whatever's going on with his fingers. That's pretty scary. All he needs at this time is one more point in charisma and he'll be able to work on his promotion. He has two days on, which might be enough to get promoted if he can just earn this skill, but if he doesn't succeed, he has several days off afterwards. I'd really like him to get promoted so he can retire.

Meanwhile, Sao's birthday has arrived. I totally missed her growing up, but here is her initial child appearance. Once again, I really like the hair she grew up in, but the outfit isn't really doing it for me.

Here's her makeover. So cute! She looks a ton like Callisto, and thus like Brandy, but she somehow got green eyes. I think this is maybe a glitch, because in The Gregory Legacy, Faye got green eyes despite no one in her family having them, and they were the exact same shade of green. Weird. Brandy has hazel-ish eyes and everyone on Mira's side has some shade of brown eyes pretty much. Anyway, let's talk about Sao. She got what I think is a fantastic personality! She also loves the outdoors like Io, but she's got plans for her life. As a romantic teen, she'll be looking for a partner, and as an ambitious adult, she'll want to succeed in her job. Meanwhile, her aspiration will be to see her children succeed too, and she plans to achieve all this by starting out as a Whiz Kid. Ambitious indeed! Sao seems earnest and driven to me, with a softer side reflected in her love of the outdoors and her eventual love of . . . well, love. What a wonderful roll! It aligns very well with legacy living.

Here's a comparison shot of the three girls with Sao in her pajamas so you can see past her glasses. Io looks a little different - mostly around the nose - but all three are very similar. They definitely look very related this time around. I'm glad that someone got brown hair too. Black hair has had a bit of tyranny in the Hart line. Altogether, I am delighted with these three kids, and I don't know how we're going to make a decision on who should be heiress! It'll have to wait until they're teens and we know them all a bit better, but it's going to be a hard decision.

Sirius is hanging around (again!) while Mira busts out two games of chess with Sao. Not only is this required for her aspiration, but Sao is also getting a chance to get to know her mother better. Meanwhile, Sirius just stares and stares.

In the next room, Brandy is supervising Io and Callisto while they do their typing and violin practice, respectively. Skilling all around!

When Eris haunts for the first time, Denzel is allowed a break to interact with her for a while. As you can see, it gave him a happy green aura. I love that the ghosts can be such a part of life when they visit. It makes the losses a little less bitter.

The next day, Denzel is madly trying to finish skilling charisma before he has to go to work, and the kids are at school, so only Mira and Sirius (visiting! again! always!) are there to welcome Brandy into full adulthood. She looked exactly the same, so I didn't bother with a picture. Happy birthday, Brandy!

After school, Sao gets help with homework from Brandy. Between the tutoring and the effects of the mood room, Sao is very focused, which is good for her speed and her aspiration.

Sao's third chess game is played with Brandy. I believe Mira was at work at the time, plus it's Brandy's turn to bond with their youngest.

Meanwhile, out back, Io finishes Rambunctious Scamp just before the midway mark of her childhood. Way to go, Io! Her next aspiration is Artistic Prodigy because I figured a nature lover might also appreciate art. Plus, eventually, she's be able to draw animals, and according to her t-shirt collection, she likes those!

Denzel is still skilling charisma, but is now in his work outfit. Why? Because he didn't finish before his shift! He had the barest little bit left to do, but I couldn't get it done before his work, so he didn't make much progress today, and definitely will not be getting promoted before he has several days off in a row. Darn it. He did get to the required level in the skill almost as soon as I started skilling him again. He was so close!

Once that's done with, it's time for child portraits. Io goes up first, with Denzel taking the pictures. So that he wouldn't waste my time with bad pictures, I had him skill a bit in photography first. This is a hard skill to build, not because it goes slowly, but because it involves so very much attention from the player. I just had Denzel take over a hundred pictures of the floor and presto! He is now level 4. I forgot it topped out at 5, or else I would have just had him finish it, but oh well.

Besides individual shots, I also took group shots with the girls. They're cute, but this one was exceptionally adorable and I just wanted to share. Their faces crack me up!

Here's the finished kids' wall. With three potential heiresses, I wasn't sure how best to space it and get everything up on the wall, which is why it looks a little haphazard. Interestingly, Sao was sad from a school moodlet, so her portrait can potentially (in my game at least; I don't think it will travel through the Gallery) give off a sad aura if turned on, even though her pose doesn't reflect that. Callisto apparently really likes the peace sign/bunny ears, since she did it both in her individual portrait and to Sao. She's smart enough not to pick on her big sister in their portrait, however.

Here's the full photo wall. Extra pictures go down into the storage basement, but we're going to have to start finding some other places to keep some of the ones we want in the house soon. This wall is overflowing.

Sao gets help from Denzel on the next part of her aspiration, which is of course being read to by an adult. The initial level of Whiz Kid sure does make them very needy!

"What? You won't read me that one again? Life is horrible!"

Actually she got sick right after the book ended and is frowning from a fever, but she looks like a kid protesting the end of reading time.

Speaking of life being horrible to kids, I was also watching Io play with toys for Artistic Prodigy. She poked herself in the eye with the toy three times in a row! I'm not sure toys are safe for Io. At least not the small ones. All those pointy parts. Very dangerous.

This is just a nice family dinner photo, where everyone was eating and sitting down together at the same time. With no mean/evil/hot-headed/insane/etc. sims (at the moment - Io will be insane as an adult, remember), there is no yelling or insulting going on. This is a big change for this family and honestly a little strange considering the kinds of sims I normally get to play. There is no black sheep in this generation, it seems.

After her kids were tucked into bed, Mira went out on the town for an epic friend-making mission for her aspiration. With the 'cheerful' introduction and the Incredibly Friendly trait, Mira is able to make a friend instantly from introducing herself. By speed-friending a bunch of people, I didn't have to worry too much about decay, and she was able to complete this requirement.

All she had left to do was reach level 10 in charisma to complete the aspiration. I was a little worried about this considering how hard skilling this with Denzel was, but for some reason, Mira breezed through it and completed Friend of the World. Her next aspiration is Nerd Brain so she can finish the upgrades that her mother didn't get to before her time was up.

Brandy . . . is still in the blouse. Ugh! I wish she would get promoted high enough that I don't have to look at it any more.

Eris has graced us with her presence again. On my last turn, Jorge only haunted a few times and Galaxy only once, so I didn't get to see much of the ghosts. Eris seems determined to make sure no one forgets her - as if we ever could!

See? Even Max Villareal remembers the greatest evil sim to roam this neighborhood despite never meeting her. Max is part of the League of Adventurers, which Sao got asked to be part of. While they were having a gathering, Max broke away from the playground toys to come mourn Eris.

Anyway, this bring us to the end of another part of chapter 4. Next time should (probably - no promises!) be the last one, as we see the girls grow into teenagers. Will Denzel make it back to Kristina's computer? Will he ever get promoted? Will Brandy finish her aspiration in time? Will Mira finish her third? Only time will tell, so be sure to check back soon for the fifth installment. In the meantime, check in with Kristina and me at SiMania! Thanks for reading!