Chapter 3: The Mars Family Curse...

Oh hai thar mystery stranger from the future, how very nice to meet you.

Now I'm guessing a great deal of you readers have already figured out who this guy is, so I wont keep up the suspense any longer. He is indeed Winter and Zuma's child from the future! How very exciting for us all.



It's fair to say that I'm pretty accustomed to my legacies throwing unplanned and often insane events at me (usually deaths) but this one is something new. I reallllllly should have read the manual on that time machine eh?

Nevermind though! We'll just have to roll with it wont we, so without further ado let's just introduce Zion to his parentals.



...Yep, he's definitely Winter and Zuma's son isn't he? They always go straight for the trampoline.



On his way into the house Zion's first introduction to modern day life was that clapped-out caffeine junkie Humperdink, which I'm sure is what anyone wants to see on their first day in a new world *rolls eyes*



And after that Zion went inside to find Zuma and Winter sound asleep in the middle of the day, because they're lazy bums yanno.



Pretty soon Zion, the delicate little flower that he is, started freaking out a little bit at seeing his parents for the very first time.



But in due course the lazybones woke up, and Winter introduced himself to his son in a somewhat awkward manner (and in his pants, as is custom).



Not long after, Zion also got to meet his future little brother or sister.



After settling into the house as much as feasibly possible, Zion soon took up the painting skill due to his Artistic nature.



Humperdink meanwhile continued to court the coffee machine...



I did try to wean him off the stuff, honest I did, but in time it became clear that it just wasn't going to work. If you're willing to consume your essential beverage alone on a filthy toilet, I think you're willing to do all you can to get it.



Speaking of doing all you can to get it... I guess it is true what they say- pregnancy does give women the horn.



In time though said pregnancy was up as Zuma began the joyous legacy tradition of labour, oh yeah.
It wasn't too dreadful though as, although Winter was out on one of his time travel expeditions and Zion was at school, Humperdink was on hand to help out in any way he could.



...Perhaps I spoke too soon. I should have known Dink would ditch Zuma for coffee.



Well everyone, say hello to... well, I was going to say the first child of the second generation but that's not really true anymore is it? Regardless, say hello to Bellamy Heart.



Following Bellamy's birth it was time for the Heart family to up-sticks and move to a brand new house. They'd been saving for a while, in between repossessions, and now they were able to afford a new place.



S'alreet ennit?



Ah, only problem though is that with more floor space comes less actual stuff, on account of my crappy planning and lack of budgeting (heyyyy, just like real life).



After getting settled in their new home the majority of childcare responsibilities seemed to fall on Humperdink. It made sense really as he's Family Oriented, so he didn't mind taking care of Bellamy at all.



Meanwhile Winter, Zuma, and Zion spent their time skilling in order to build up their household funds (which are, as always, on the brink of bottoming out).



But hey, on the sunny side Zuma was able to make another ice sculpture of Winter, and she'd now made at least 25 of them it wont ever melt.
Winter's statue of beauty is here to stay! I'd imagine there are revised legacy points for this sort of thing, but I'm just gonna give myself a pat on the back and a cup of tea. Well done me.



Outside the house, the actual Winter was off having another adventure. After a whole bunch of drilling he'd come across some sort of glowy... ness, and promptly he investigated it. Now I don't actually know what Winter's supposed to find down there- I think this time he just came back with some money or something? Eh, I dunno- I'll look it up at some point.



These new Ambitions skills are a bit confusing thus far cause I don't fully know what you can achieve with them, but at least Humperdink's chosen hobby is straightforward. By now he had reached level 6 in the gardening skill and was growing all sorts of interesting things.



Oh, but not all was good for Humperdink...

I did a bad thing. When the Hearts moved house I kind of... forgot about Dink's precious coffee machine *shame* For a while after moving they couldn't afford a new one, but as soon as they had enough funds I splashed out on the latest model.



Humperdink wasn't happy though... For some reason he didn't warm to the new coffee maker at all really, and it didn't help when it suddenly sprayed him with hot steam. I didn't even know it could do that!



I'm sorry Humperdink! Is it weird that I feel genuinely bad for leaving the coffee machine behind? I don't think Dink will ever forgive me :(



But leaving Humperdink's coffee trauma to one side for a minute, let's have a looksie at this cutie. Bellamy here had aged into a toddler, though I'm crap and I completely forgot to take a picture of the transition.



Oh my, it seems the Mars moody child syndrome has found it's way into this legacy too...



One thing that did make Bellamy happy though was Humperdink- he again took charge in looking after his... niece? Of sorts.



I did have to draw the line though at Humperdink teaching Bellamy to talk- I really don't want her first words to be 'bleep bleep *grinding noise* gimmeh some coffee'.



Ah yes, I think Winter is much more suited to the job- look at how excited he gets. Bless him.



Whilst mother and father and robot were occupied with childcare, Zion was revealing his secret identity... Whenever he hops in the shower he pops out some cat ears and a tail. Mebbe it's his kitteh genes coming through from Zuma...



He's not the best kitteh-shaped superman though- once he wet himself then cried about it for a good few hours. Ha!



In between crying, Zion did manage to pull himself together a bit in order to celebrate Zuma's birthday and transition into an Adult.



A few days later in the junkyard Winter also aged up.



As time went on the Hearts were able to build up a good amount of money which meant they could afford a number of small luxuries, like the sprinkler here.



But as you've probably figured out water + robot = bad. Guess who got a tad too close to the sprinkler whilst gardening?



Stoopid Humperdinkle.



Fear not though, Winter was on hand to repair his bestest buddy.



After Humperdink was all ship-shape and Bristol fashion, Winter set off for another adventure through time (with me saving before he left every time, just to prevent anymore mystery child accidents).



When he came back though unfortunately the time machine had suffered a fatality, as I discovered when I found Humperdink crying his little metal eyes out as he mourned it.
It made me laugh quite a bit...



What did not amuse though was Winter and Zuma's willy nilly smooshing, right in front of Bellamy and Humperdink! Bell's already going to have enough problems growing up in this family, let's not make it worse for her please?



Oh Mr Bunny, I'm sorry but it's bad news- we're going to have to remove your face.



But it's nothing a little open-heart surgery can't cure...



Yes, you're dead now. How marvelous.


I've never seen a kid more sullen and scary whilst playing with a toy...



Oh my, you leave Humperdink alone for one minute whilst you watch a demon child, transfixed, and look what happens. I guess replacing his Hydrophobic trait was a bad move on my part...



Mm, a very bad move indeed. Come on Winter you're meant to be my handyman, you're not supposed to get shocked.

Ack, I'm reticent to show you what happened next...



Okay okay, form an orderly line if you wish to slap me... Why do I always do this?! Why do I think that, if a Sim gets shocked once, it can't possibly do them any harm to have them give it a second try? I should know by now- THEY ALWAYS DIE. How many fucking times did this happen in The Mars Family Legacy or on my blog? WHAT WAS I THINKING?



For fucks sake, I may as well just jump out of the window right now...



Oh great it's Casual Grimmeh, just what I fucking need. Don't you think you're getting a bit olde for this now? Piss off.



As Casual Grimmeh floated into view in his usual mocking style, Zuma suddenly realised what was happening and came running over.



Immediately she started to sob, and I was there clicking off her freewill like a fucking madman as I prepared to swoop in on the Grimmeh and get him to give us another chance. I even hurriedly bought a chess table for the occasion.



But you know what? He left, HE FUCKING LEFT. Casual Grimmeh just prodded Winter into oblivion with his big scythe and then facked off! What a dick!



:( You tell Bellamy the bad news, I can't bring myself to do it...



After Winter had gone it seemed for a while like we were going to have another death on our hands as Humperdink- still in a state of disrepair- was stuck shorted-out with his motives decaying. Eventually though he just came back to life, which was a bit of a bloody anticlimax. Immediately after that he began to cry. FEELING GUILTY ARE WE?



Hmph. For the next few days the Heart household were in a proper mourning state. I've never had a bunch of Sims so completely cut-up by another's death; it was actually really bad. Zuma spent most of her days just sobbing by Winter's grave :(



When she did sleep it was brief and fleeting, the few hours of nap time barely enough to sustain her for the upcoming harrowing days. I felt so bad for her- she and Winter never even got the chance to be married :'(



Humperdink too was devastated, and he burst into fits of anguish often.



If Zuma blamed him at all for Winter's death she didn't show it, instead turning to Humperdink for comfort in her time of need.



Even Zion took time out to console the mother he barely knew about the father he never would.



I think this is the first time I've actually felt genuinely saddened by the death of one of my Sims. I mean, they live and they die and it's no big deal, but with Winter just having the remaining Sims react so badly to his death made it really terrible to watch. Poor bastards.



A short while after Winter's passing, and with no sign of him since then, the family attempted to pull themselves together as they celebrated Bellamy's birthday.



Wow, she actually looks pretty happy for once.



Oh. Well that didn't last long did it?



You know, one of the things that really bugs me about this game is the lack of things for the kids to do. I was hoping that with Ambitions I've get some more activities for them, but nope. I bought Bellamy a styling... whatsitcalled, but she couldn't makeover anyone- instead she just posed in the mirror for a while, which is a very disturbing thing to see a young child do...



Oh, she does have this though- a little bakesale table. Lots of random weirdos flocked to the house but no one ever bought anything :( Cheapskates!



Ah, and of course the fricking repoman went and nicked Bellamy's oven after that didn't she. Stealing a poor child's toy, honestly?



With Bellamy now a child Zuma had a lot more freetime to herself. She began to take a lot of trips into the past, possibly looking for Winter :'(



Bellamy spent a lot of her freetime with Humperdink and they particularly enjoyed playing tag together- though IMO it's a little one-sided, Humperdink having rocket feet and all.



Bellamy also spent quite a bit of her time by her father's grave, probably wishing he'd appear. Well, you know what they say about good things coming to those who wait...



It was a night like any other when Zuma awoke suddenly, a creeping feeling coming across her as she heard a noise from downstairs...



Ahhh, reunited at last ^_^







With Winter back for one night only there was really just one thing to do ;)



And after Zuma was satisfied and sleeping, Winter got to spend some long overdue time with his daughter.



They played outside together until the sun came up, and then Winter was gone.



The following day life in the Heart household returned to normal. Bellamy spent most mornings clipping out coupons from the newspaper, being Frugal as she is.



In the cold light of day it became all the more clear to Bellamy that her father was truly gone.
Now I'll be honest, when Winter died my first instinct was to use the Oh My Ghost opportunity to bring him back, but it's been days and days and the opportunity just hasn't come up. I think we need to accept the fact that Winter is really gone.



Well... maybe not completely ;)


You can find the storyboard version here if you'd like to rec.