Gen 4 Ch 17: Long May She Reign

Evelyn had her own room now and even though it wasn't big, it felt awfully empty without her siblings' beds.

They were all very busy with their new jobs and lives. It was a rare treat to randomly bump into them around town.

As Dolores had predicted, Eric soon found out that most of the local police were corrupt and on The Organization's payroll. He did, however, meet another police rookie with the same idealistic views as himself. Bridgette Moore-Funke, Emily's best friend from high school (and distant cousin), had finally managed to snatch up her teenage crush Eric. They quickly got engaged and married, without any fuss or a big ceremony.

While both Eric and Esteban had begun climbing the ladders within their chosen careers, Emily seemed less sure about her future. She had always loved music and was very skilled at several instruments, but she didn't seem to think that following her passion was something she could do.

After a few brief attempts at taking random jobs around town, she had finally found something more steady, apparently.

When asked about details, however, she became very evasive.

Leisure Day called for another one of Dolores' famous parties. This, at least, was something Evelyn could get behind.

It was another one of those rare chances to see her older siblings again.

Emily brought some home-made sushi.

And Dolores had a whole plate of it! Was this a good sign? Had the two of them made up somehow?

Even Eric came by, though he preferred to stay as far as possible from his mother and spent time training with Trent instead.

Evelyn loved parties. The best stuff always happened at parties. Dusty Lorenz even asked her to be his date for prom!

She wondered how her sister could look so miserable at a party.

"You won, mom. This town is too corrupt for a rookie like me to make any difference anymore."

"Told you," Dolores grinned. "So you come crawling back to me now..."

"No! You misunderstand," Eric tried hard to keep his voice steady. He had prepared this conversation in his mind for a while, but somehow his mother always managed to get under his skin. "I'm leaving Hidden Springs, mom. And I'm taking your new pet with me."

And then finally it came out. All the signs had been there, and Evelyn chided herself for being so naive. Of course, Emily had not been able to withstand their mother's pressure. All she wanted was a harmonious, happy family life - so she had given in to her mother's demands and joined The Organization.

"I'm fine, trust me," she tried to reassure her younger sister. "It's not that bad, really. Eric's just making a fuss about it."

 The next day, Evelyn went over to Emily's house under the guise of getting help with her homework. Really, she just wanted to know more about what had been going on in her siblings' lives.

Eric was going to leave town with his new wife, and he insisted on taking Emily along. He wanted to get her out of the criminal career and away from their mother's influence. As much as Evelyn hated the thought of her siblings leaving, she couldn't help but agree with Eric that this sounded like the best option for them.

She quirked her lips into a smile and encouraged her distressed older sister. "Em, this is going to be great! You can start a new life and finally get into music!"

"Oh, I don't know," Emily started chewing on her nail. "I'll just get a normal job, you know? Something simple. In an office or something."

 "But you're so good at playing the guitar! People were giving you so many tips when you were busking in the street the other day. And don't even get me started on your piano skill! You should really do something with that. You could be famous!" Just thinking about it got Evelyn all giddy and excited.

"Oh Evie, I..." Emily was now fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. "'Following your passion' is something for people on TV. I just want a quiet life."

Evelyn bit her lip. She could not disagree more, but she did not press the matter. Emily's resolve to leave with Eric was shaky at best and Evelyn did not want to be responsible for making her skittish and backing out now.

Business as usual. Making sure no one forgets who the resident Empress of Evil is.

So. Evil.

Dusty Lorenz had the misfortune of running into Dolores and Dancer when he came to pick Evelyn up for prom.

 Evelyn took her sweet time getting ready. This was going to be one last epic party with all of her schoolmates, so she wanted to make sure everything would be perfect.

"My father used to have a dog named Dusty."

The teen laughed nervously. "Hehe, yeah, it's a pretty stupid nickname, but somehow it stuck..."

"Stupid? I loved my father, and that dog. They've both passed away now," Dolores said, stony-faced.

"Uh -- oh, no! I- I mean for a Sim... I mean... uh... so, so sorry, Ma'am!"

"Just yanking your chain, kid. It really is a dumb name you've got there."

 Evelyn came running before Dolores had any more time to make Dusty uncomfortable.

"Don't worry about my mother," she tried to reassure him. "Let's have fun tonight!"

But somehow, Dolores had managed to intimidate Dusty enough to keep a safe distance from Evelyn.

... at least during the limo ride!

"Did you know Dusty has the Great Kisser trait?"
"No way!"

It was a wonderful night for Evelyn - being voted prom queen was just the cherry on top!

 Dusty, on the other hand, was not rewarded for his gentlemanly behavior. Bringing Evelyn home before curfew and coming in to greet her parents again had him finding Dolores pointing a strange contraption at him.

 Dolores still found the Cloud-Inator 9000 hilarious.

She could have thought that one through better though. Dusty left puddles of water all over the house.

Dolores may have managed to manipulate any kind of rainfall or snow, but the temperatures still changed. When they started to drop and leaves began changing colors, Dolores decorated the house for autumn.
Soon, it would be her youngest daughter's time to grow up and leave the nest - not like Dolores had ever been much of a mother hen, but somehow she still felt a little sentimental.

 In this strange mood, she felt like it was time to visit the family museum.

 Her own mother had been grown from one of these seeds, apparently. This was an embarassing secret Dolores planned on taking to her grave.

 She herself had put her parents' ratty old tents on display. She had no idea who had painted those abstract paintings, but they had been around ever since she could remember.

 They really had accumulated a lot of crap over the years.

She had to admit, though, she was quite fond of her grandfather Bloom's old paintings.

Especially the one of herself riding Dancer had turned out nicely.

It was time for another dramatic gesture.

She had hoped for an inferno of a bonfire, but unfortunately those aspirations died at the steel-reinforced doors.

 Ever since prom night, Dusty had not been answering Evelyn's phone calls. She thought they had gotten along really well. Had she done something wrong?

 It didn't take long to find the true culprit behind this, however.

Especially since Dolores seemed pretty proud of herself for it, too!

"Can't you see I did you a favor?! That dope was a babysitter, for crying out loud! Probably a klepto, too. All those service Sims are. A plumbobdamned babysitter," Dolores snorted derisively. "That's not the kind of man you'd want around!"

"Well, what if I want someone who is good with kids, huh? If you hadn't had dad around, no one would have taken care of us!" Evelyn was fuming. "And don't talk about service Sims like that. That's insensitive!"

"And don't you talk to your mother like that! If anyone outside this household even dared---"

"Soon I won't be in this household anymore, Mom. And you know what? I. can't. wait."

"Well, me neither!"

It wasn't clear how much Trent actually noticed about Dolores' strained relationships with their children. Maybe he just kept quiet, as usual.

Since it was so close to Spooky Day, Evelyn' birthday was celebrated with a costume party.

Evelyn grew into a Young Adult and announced that she was going to leave with Eric and Emily right after her graduation ceremony.

Even Esteban was coming along, apparently. He said something about better opportunities in politics in a bigger city, but Evelyn wondered whether it was that elusive triplet bond again.
For once, Dolores looked a little distressed at the thought of her children leaving town.

Freedom!

The goodbye was not a tear-filled one, but Evelyn felt like crying all the same.

 At least her father gave her one last hug.

"Be sure to call us every once in a while, ok?"

"Sure, Dad."

Just like her big sister, Evelyn would have loved to have a good relationship with her mother. But in the end, it seemed like an impossibility with Dolores.

And so Evelyn left Hidden Springs.



___

Dolores, Empress of Evil.

Long may she reign.



_____________________
Notes:
Bridgette is Broccoli's granddaughter, while Eric is Bloom's great-grandson. Distant enough to not be weird? StoryProgression thinks so. I don't know. Bridgette is cute though, and we've had worse inbreeding in this legacy.

Emily! At first the game assigned her as a festival food merchant, then a paparazzi. Nope and nope. I removed those jobs, hoping she'd pick something fun for herself next time. Maybe education or music. Something fitting, you know? But no, she went for the criminal career. Dolores always gets what she wants.

Had to have that lengthy museum visit in there because - spoilers - I'm moving the legacy to a new town again! For a while I debated dragging all this stuff along, but then I figured that some screenshots should suffice. So here they are :)

Evelyn's Spooky Day birthday was Dolores' last seasonal party. I've been playing with her under the A Sim For All Seasons requirement since she was born. I like the idea of changing outfits more frequently, but at this point, the Sims would get all glitchy or crash every time I tried to play after editing a Sim's wardrobe. Too much content to load!