The Monty-Grunt Household: Week 6

For the previous week at this household, click here.

Hello and welcome back to the Grunt-Monty household, where we have already spent a week during this round because of those household members whose surname is Grunt. Now we are here for the Montys.
       

Beatrice Monty and Buck Grunt have been firm 3-bolters for a long time, but strangely enough, neither has so far rolled the wish to get engaged or married.
Buck is on Permanent Platinum, still holding the office of Mayor of New Maximiliania. Beatrice's lifetime want changed at the start of this round from being Rock God to becoming Hall of Famer, but she has not yet been successful in finding a job in the Athletic career.
       

Buck's half-Alien son Graham is fast asleep when I enter the lot on Monday morning.
      

And so is Benedick Monty, Beatrice's twin brother. His LTW has changed, too, and just like his sister, he has not yet found a job in the Law Enforcement career, which he will need to become Captain Hero.
       

Their father, Antonio Monty, is now 71. His LTW changed to being Celebrity Chef instead of maxing out 7 skills. As he never quit his job as Executive Chef, he has a good chance of making his new LTW come true in spite of his advanced age.
      

On Monday monring, Antonio maxes out his creativity skill (not that he still needs it for his LTW), while his "grandson" Graham (they are not related, but since Graham's human father lives here with Antonio's daughter, he is like a grandson to him) keeps him company, using the telescope on the balcony to look for ships on the horizon.
       

Gavin Newson walks by and is greeted by Beatrice.
       

He joins Beatrice and her visiting cousins Romeo and Mercutio Monty for a game of "Don't wake the Llama".
       

At the same time as the schoolbus is pulling up in front of the house, some more relatives of the Montys begin to arrive: Bianca, Antonio's sister, closely followed by her husband Kent Capp, as well as family friend Tara Goth, née DeBateau. Why are they here, and what are the party balloons for?
       

It is Graham's birthday!
       

He is now a teenager. The lot has decided for his aspiration to be Fortune, and his LTW turns out to be that of owning 5 top-level businesses - a true challenge which no Sim in my game has yet fully mastered. Will Graham be the first to succeed?
      

Meanwhile, Benedick makes use of the free time he has while still being unemployed, and makes his Golden Badge in Robotics.
      

Early on Tuesday morning, Antonio fulfills a big wish by learning Physiology.
       

Beatrice greets Benvenuto Broke, while her twin brother welcomes Tara Gieke (née Kat).
       

Graham returns from school accompanied by one of his half-sisters, Fenya Hart (formerly Furley - her father was Phineaus Furley, but her whole family tragically died in a house fire when she was a little girl, and she as the only survivor was adopted by Matthew and Jane Hart).
      

Yet another house guest for the day is Jonah Powers.
      

The two teenagers talk about their Alien father whom, in all likelihood, they will never meet.
       

This is what happens when a MunchieBot breaks: it leaves dirty plates all over the place!
       

On Wednesday, Benedick finally secures himself a job as Detective and is instantly given the career rewards objects. He scans the whole house for fingerprints, making sure his skills are up to the level required for promotion as soon as possible.
       

Jessica Greenman (formerly Picaso) is greeted by Beatrice.
     

As soon as Graham turned into a teenager, he wanted to get into private school. Today, he made the call to the Headmaster himself, but it is Benedick to greet the man upon his arrival.
       

A tour of the house, some schmoozing and an excellent dinner later, Graham gets into Private School with an impressive 144 out of the necessary 90 points.
       

He does not have much time to dwell on this success, because he has just bought his first business: "Inner Child Toys & Gifts", which used to be run by Priya Ramaswami, until she died in the front yard of the shop while trying to burn piles of leaves.
So the first thing Graham does (without me telling him to) is sweeping the small piles of ashes that were left from the fire.
      

To start with, Graham sends all the toys back to wholesale. Instead, he stocks the shelves with all the robots and pottery items made by Benedick and Beatrice.
       

Thursday morning sees Graham donning his brand new school uniform and heading to the school bus.
       

He returns with Gerlinde Greenman in tow.
      

Beatrice, who still has not begun working on her new LTW, has invited her closest girlfriends (Sharla Ottomas, Silvia Singles and Lilith Ottomas, née Pleasant) over and is hosting a "girls' afternoon" with snacks, drinks and salad.
       

Benedick comes home from work with a promotion to Lieutenant and a colleague, Frances Hart. Hart? Yes, that's right. She is a townie but has the same surname as playbles Matthew Hart and his family. Therefore, I think I'll treat her like a relative of theirs, and allow Benedick to befriend her.
       

After Buck's helicopter has dropped him off after work, he joins Beatrice and sisters-in-law Sharla and Lilith at the gaming table.
       

Meanwhile, Graham's shop makes Rank 1, and he gets his Bronze Sales Badge after making a sale to Bottom Summerdream.
       

That same night, Antonio becomes Celebrity Chef and is now, at the age of 75, on Permanent Platinum (which means I will not control him any longer).
      

It is Friday already (of the second week since her LTW changed!) when Beatrice finally lands a job in the athletic career, starting immediately as an All Star.
       

Benedick is promoted to SWAT Leader.
       

His colleague Frances Hart must have heard about it; she rings and invites him for an outing downtown to celebrate.
      

Have I really never played on this Maxis-made community lot? It is "Rodney's Hideout", and I can not remember ever having sent a Sim there before.
       

When the taxi with Frances Hart and Benedick Monty arrives, several other townies get off with them. Benedick is only interested in Frances, however.
       

The outing is a bit strange; Benedick sits at the bar on his own, while Frances and her friends play poker, and some other townies take turns in occupying the dining tables. As you can see, nobody is dining at the moment, and yet, every time Benedick asks to be seated, the Restaurant's hostess tells him that they are fully booked and would he mind coming back later.
      

Back home, Fenya Hart has once again come home from school with her half-brother Graham.
       

Benedick, back from his strange outing with Frances and her friends, sits down for some Chinese takeway (courtesy of the MunchieBot) with Buck.
      

On Saturday, Graham heads to his shop straight after breakfast. Today, there are no hours taken up by school and homework, and he is determined to make it a successful day in business terms.
       

Strangely enough, he leaves the house in his normal clothes, but arrives at the shop wearing his school uniform. He must have changed in the taxi :-)
(This picture is from the break room, where Graham can retreat when he needs to sit down and have a bite to eat.)
       

Beatrice, still in her work outfit, repairs the sink in Graham's bathroom at home while his Dad wipes the floor on his own accord.
      

Just as Graham's taxi delivers him back from the shop, Benedick greets Castanea Landgraab. He seems to be quite attracted to her, but upon checking their chemistry, I find that there are only 2 bolts for her, the same as for Frances Hart. And unlike Frances, Castanea is married and therefore taboo for Benedick.
       

After a refreshing nap, Graham heads back to the shop. Altogether, he manages today to rise his business - now transformed into "Graham Grunt's Greenery" - through ranks 2 to 5, and gets his Golden Sales Badge as well as his Bronze Cash Register Badge, the latter having taken 16 single transactions to achieve.
      

Graham can't wait to open the shop again on Sunday, but first, he has to restock nearly everything. It takes him until 6.00 pm before he can let customers in, but he is rewarded with the Bronze Restocking Badge.
       

A slice of pizza in the redecorated break room is very welcome. Have you noticed how neatly arranged the slices are? The pizza box was originally brought to the house by the MunchieBot, and I put it into Graham's inventory before he went to the shop. When I took it out of his inventory and placed it on the table, it looked like this!
       

Benedick has invited Frances Hart over and tells her about the burglar whose apprehension lead to his latest promotion. The two of them are now best friends, but so far, there have not been any romantic wishes or interactions.
       

Beatrice is now and MPV.
       

She needs two more body skill points and sets to work at once.
      

Antonio is now 78 years old. A look at his lifetime bar reveals that he won't be around for much longer.
       

Did I say there have been no romantic wishes for Frances from Benedick? It is still true, but there he is, enjoying a hamburger with his friend and talking about kissing :-)
       

The week ends with a proud and exhausted Graham waiting for the taxi to take him home. His shop is now on Rank 6, and he has made 33 single transactions at the cash register since he made his Bronze Badge, resulting in him now having the Silver Badge.

Will Beatrice and Buck ever want to get married? Is Benedick going to take his friendship with Frances to the next level? How long until Graham's first buisness reaches top level? Will Antonio still be alive then? And is Benedick going to make a Servo? (It would be the 2nd Servo in New Maximiliania.)