Pictures of My Cat

Beginnings and Endings

Calliope was so excited to tell Mnemosyne that she was pregnant with Alvaro’s child.  Mnemosyne was excited to meet her grandchild.  She hoped all the books she had written and pictures she had painted of life on Mt Olympus would help keep her memory alive through the generations.  She couldn’t wait to hold Calliope’s daughter - she was so sure the baby was a girl!

And sure enough, the baby was a girl!  She was named Clio and Alvaro came to the hospital to be with Calliope and help bring the baby home.

Seeing the baby convinced Alvaro that it was time to break up with Hetal and commit to Calliope and their family.  She proposed and he accepted.  (Also, coincidentally, Hetal Anjali died a few days after the baby was born - maybe Alvaro just wanted a new place to live!) Calliope was still a little worried that he would break her heart one day, but she wanted her baby to have a daddy.  

Branch and Mnemosyne reconciled but never re-formalized their union.  They were close companions and as Mnemosyne aged that was more than enough for her.  She wanted to focus on the children and now grandchild! Mnemosyne took care of Clio once Calliope pursued her music career.  Mnemosyne, Branch and Uncle Cronos all helped little Clio learned to walk, talk and use the potty.  

Then, on a Wednesday, Calliope looked at the calendar and realized that she, her father and both siblings were actually all off work!  A quick call had all their friends coming to the house in their best duds for a  wedding. Calliope wore a short white dress, new shoes and earrings.  She looked lovely and happy. Cronos was so thrilled for his sister.  Phoebe was too, even though she wore sweatpants to the wedding.  

After the ceremony, everyone headed to the buffet to enjoy a lovely meal together.  But there was an uninvited guest at the wedding.  Death arrived to claim Mnemosyne. 

The family mourned.  Branch chose to move out rather than continue to live in the home they had built together, and leave the business of raising baby Clio to her parents and aunt and uncle.

The family all coped with the loss in their own ways.  Phoebe took solace in the garden.  Cronos was so upset he forgot he was a vegetarian and ate a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Calliope was comforted by her new husband.  

The Second Generation Grows Up and There Are No Secrets when you are married to a Goddess

The twins soon grew into teenagers. Mnemosyne worried about their health since both girls had inherited Branch’s somewhat “jolly” physique. She encouraged Phoebe to be play outside and be active.  Calliope still hated to be outside so she just cooked more instead.  Calliope would remain “Rubeneseque” throughout her teens.

When the twins were in high school. there were rumors in town about things that happened at Fae Ray Gardens at night.  What was going on in those tiny fairy houses?

Mnemosyne was busy and she didn’t want to believe what she heard. She and Branch had three fairy children together.  She didn’t realize that Branch missed his old friends, and when she thought of the future only focused on the girls. She didn’t think about the fact that Branch would long outlive her.  Cronos and the twins both graduated HS with honors and had lovely graduation parties.

Hey Zombie! That cake is not for you!  Please Leave!

Each child had set lofty aspiration for themselves.  To help Cronos and Calliope reach theirs, with a little therapy, the both overcame their - let’s call them youthful personality quirks. (Storyteller note - Used the Midlife Crisis LTH reward for both of them to help them development more beneficial traits - Charismatic and Brave for Cronos and Hopeless Romantic, Ambitious and Artistic for Calliope)

Cronos began pursuing his dream of becoming a famous surgeon. Phoebe wanted to follow in Branch’s footsteps and become a scientist and one day breed robot-creature hybrids.  With this ambition, the fact that she was a little crazy might be to her advantage.  Branch had perfected his garden and all kinds of strange and exotic plants grew there.  Phoebe took over the tending of it so she could be a better botanist as well as ichthyologist. 

Omni Plant growing Books!

Calliope wanted to follow in Mnemosyne’s footsteps and paint but she also loved music.  She pursued a career in the theater.  Now that she was out of school, she was also starting to think about the stories her mother had told her about Zeus. When she was a child they seemed like bedtime stories but in her heart she knew it was true.  She was determined to give her mother a granddaughter.  

She had seen distance growing between her parents in recent years. At first none of the children understood why their loving parents relationship seemed so strained.  Then one day the truth came out. Branch was a cheater and the goddess’s heart was broken.  She told her children they were getting a divorce, but their father didn’t have to leave, he was just relegated to sleeping in the Garden every night. 

In light of this, Calliope was somewhat leery of marriage, but she did want to experience love. She met a beautiful man at a Mnemosyne’s “not dead yet” birthday party and started spending time with him. He had a girlfriend, but Calliope never met her.  Soon she invited him to spend the night - maybe the third generation is already on its way! 

Meanwhile, Mnemosyne was content to have Branch out of the house working most days.  She was afraid the end was coming soon for her and still had so much she wanted to do.  More art to create, more novels to write.  One day, a purple potion bottle struck her in the back.  She turned around and was hit by a blue potion bottle.  Branch was standing there, looking at her with longing.  He wanted to be close again.  And just as she had started their relationship with a friendship potion during her first days in Moonlight Falls, he was doing the same to win her back.  The gesture alone thawed her heart.  She wanted to repair their marriage and ask that he give up his wings and grow old with her.  

#This will be a long one as I’ve been playing more than blogging.  I’m finding the Legacy challenge rules quite.... challenging.  In particular, I don’t like not being able to pick traits as my Sims age up.  It’s led to some rather interesting combinations.

But days past and Mnemosyne could not seem to do what mortals had done so easily for millennia - conceive life. She had a fae named Baby’s Breath cast a spell on her, but no matter how long she had her husband stay in bed with her, she felt no quickening life in her womb.

Then one morning she woke up with the strangest sensation in her lower abdomen. It felt like popcorn popping in her stomach! A visit to the hospital confirmed she was already several months pregnant. 

Soon after she was at the grocery store and began having contractions. She took a taxi to the hospital and Branch arrived in time to witness the birth of their son. Mnemosyne named him Cronos, and worried about having a girl to pass her memories on to meet Zeus’ challenge. 

When Cronos got a little older, Mnemosyne quit her job at the hospital and worked from home as an artist. She painted many still live paintings of Branch’s flourishing garden.

Soon she was pregnant again and this time she gave birth to twin girls, Calliope and Phoebe.

 It was hard work caring for a toddler and two infants but Branch was a huge help to Mnemosyne. All three children were born with a golden green sparkling aura the same color as their father’s wings. Mnemosyne could breathe easier knowing her children would have long lives and fairy magic to protect them.

Time passed quickly, life was busy and exhausting and soon it was the twins birthday and many of Branch’s old friends came. Soon after that it was Cronos’ birthday, and he would begin school. Cronos was a very thoughtful boy and like his mother good at figuring out puzzles and strategies. The twins loved playing side by side with their xylophone and peg box. 

The second generation grew quickly.Differences in the twins became apparent. Calliope hates the outdoors and preferred painting or reading to partying in the fairy house with her siblings. Phoebe loved to explore and wanted to learn to fish. Cronos concerned his parents the most. He took a part-time job at the cemetery, he dressed strangely and stayed out past curfew. It was though he sensed that there was something he didn’t know, some secret being kept from him. Mnemosyne had never shared her history with her eldest, as the geas set to her by Zeus was to pass her memory through 9 generations of women.

Soon the twins were teenagers too. Both worked hard in school and had good birthdays. Mnemosyne worried about Calliope making friends, she hated sports or any outdoor activities and was quite arrogant about being the child of a fairy and a goddess. Phoebe was more fun by far, always wanting to have people over and dance. Mnemosyne also had a birthday. Her mortal days were slipping by in a blur. She just wished to live long enough to see a granddaughter born to carry on the divine legacy.

For the first several days, she showered at the local gymnasium. She found the local alchemy shop had not been keeping their bees so she soothed them and collected honey and wax to sell. With her still impressive if no longer godlike memory, she pursued a medical career initially. To keep her mind as sharp a possible, she often played chess in the park.  It was there she realized this town, called Moonlight Falls, was home to a number of mythical beings, including lycanthropes and members of the Fae. She saw one she liked the looks of, a merry fellow with wings and glasses. She traded for a friendship potion at the alchemist to jumpstart their relationship. His name was Branch Timbley. Romance bloomed on its own after that and they were soon dating and then engaged.

The mortal world was filled with fascinating distractions but Mnemosyne did not forget that to return to Mt Olympus she needed to start a family and fast.  She went to the local salon to get a makeover and wedding gown. She and Branch were soon married and trying for their first child.

 But days past and Mnemosyne could not seem to do what mortals had done so easily for millennia - conceive life. She had a fae named Baby’s Breath cast a spell on her, but no matter how long she had her husband stay in bed with her, she felt no quickening life in her womb.

This is my first attempt at storytelling for a legacy challenge - I am bad at taking screenshots to go with. This story is based on Greek Mythology.

Mnemosyne, titan, goddess of memory was propositioned by Zeus one day while reading in a field of forget me nots on Mt Olympus. Not liking his tone, or the fact he had killed her brother Uranus, she coldly refused him. Zeus kicked her off Mt Olympus to live as a mortal. Mnemosyne could feel all of her memories, too many for her now mortal mind to hold, slipping away. When she realized what was at stake she begged Zeus to relent.  Zeus set her the challenge to pass on all she remembered through 10 generations of women. If the tenth generation retained the memory that they descended from a goddess, then her entire family line could be raised up to Mt Olympus again and live as gods.

 Mnemosyne agreed and was left standing alone in a strange town on a bare patch of land. She had a few items with value in the mortal world a bartered them to have enough to build a tiny shelter with just enough room for a bed, a refrigerator for food, a sink and a toilet to avoid public humiliation.