#and so now they're all Van Liddelton :D

[victorluvsalice]

We've hit Fall Saturday in the Chill Save, and instead of more store times today, we instead have a party! Because Smiler needs to have more parties, and I wanted the specific rewards you got from this specific party. :D However, before we had party times, we had to get through a few things --

-->Firstly, Victor had to discharge again upon waking up -- wouldn't be good if he magically exploded during the party! He and Alice hung out with the cats for a little bit -- Victor getting a song from one of the kittens by the phonograph (as said kittens are very Talkative) and Alice giving Kelly some time with the laser pointer -- then I sent Victor to the mirror to make an important change. Not to his wardrobe --

But to his, and everyone else's, last names. I THOUGHT I might have to go into "Manage Worlds" to change this, but as it turns out, you can update a Sim's name right from the mirror. So everyone in the household is now surnamed "Van Liddelton," like their grocery store! :D I was very happy to be able to do that -- while I wasn't exactly UPSET with them all ending up with the last name "Always" from the web of weddings we've had in this save, I genuinely prefer being able to give them a name that reflects all of them. :)

-->With THAT sorted, it was time to get to chores! Smiler set up the party, then popped into the greenhouse to make some sadness alleviation lotion before heading back to their robotics bench to tune up Bugs and Elmer. Alice spent a little more time slathering Kelly with love (gotta make sure mama cat is content), then headed to the computer to start a new Playful book ("What's One And One And One And," a book on Wonderland mathematics -- think those Wayside School math puzzle books), and Victor bought a bunch of dyes and started making more candles to put in the store later -- before getting distracted by Shadow wanting some attention. Victor felt the love from the dog, then decided to continue "Play Dead" training. As you can see, Shadow's got it down pat! :) Good girl, Shadow!

[victorluvsalice]

And, with everything in pocket, they finally arrived at the store -- where I promptly had them stand outside in the rain for a while while I dumped a bunch of their money into the place and spent a good chunk of time doing a bit of remodeling! Namely -- remember how, in a previous update, I complained about not having enough processing space, but didn't want to make the store significantly bigger? And then remembered in the tags that basements exist?

Welcome to the new Van Liddelton Groceries employee break room and basement processing center! XD Yes, I decided that the best way to get more space for everything I wanted was to go down and expand THERE. So the previous processing room was turned into a chill out area for the trio and any future employees they may have (complete with fridge and microwave for meals, some seating, a bookcase for those who like to read, and a TV for those who like to watch -- it still feels a little unfinished and empty to me, but I'll figure it out as we go along), and all the processing stuff was moved into the basement area! Now they have a nice long kitchen with plenty of counter space and TWO fridges and stoves to play with; two bulk processing machines; the juice fizzer and the cupcake machine; a cauldron for Victor should he want to to make potions while on the lot (once he actually learns a few more recipes); and -- well. I know it looks like a science bench. . .

But it's actually an APOTHECARY bench. Because that's one of the mods I downloaded from @simsonianlibrary -- The Apothecary Kit! This mod allows a Sim to make gummies based on herbalism recipes, and tablets based on Scientist serums -- you need roughly twice the amount of ingredients, but you get six gummies per bag and six tablets per bottle, so, kind of a deal? I spotted this while perusing their Patreon for a different mod (which I will get to in just a moment), and was like "okay, that'll be PERFECT for Smiler -- I was originally gonna make them a Scientist anyway to learn those serum recipes!" So now the store can have a pharmacy section too! :D

However, first things first -- we still had room on those front shelves for flower arrangements! So Smiler started making one final one of those while I sent Victor and Alice downstairs to do a little more processing and clean up any spoiled food hanging about. Alice made a few boxes of tomato sauce, then started working on milk products while Victor filled up the juice fizzer with some lemons --

And then started making some deodorizing perfume! For THAT is the mod that I originally went to Simsonian's Patreon to download -- Perfumery! Because it's another good use of all the flowers the gang grows. This mod adds a ten-level "perfumery" skill that allows you to eventually create a variety of perfumes with different effects -- mostly triggering different emotional buffs. And since they're scents, they effect not only the Sim wearing them, but any Sims who smell them (to a lesser degree. . .and, naturally, this doesn't work with the deodorant. Unfortunately. :p). I thought it might be fun to have my Sims get into, so Victor brewed up a batch of deodorant from a bunch of snowdrops and brought it upstairs...

Where I ran into a rather weird problem. Namely, the perfume just will NOT go onto the SrslySims consignment shelves I'm using in my store. Or, rather, it won't go DIRECTLY on them -- but it WILL stack onto items that are already ON the shelves (like a box of sauce, or a bag of flour). Which is -- puzzling, to say the least. It WILL go onto other custom content shelves, so I'm not sure what's going on with Srsly's. I think mayhaps I may have to make a custom display for any future perfumes! O.o

For the moment, though, the perfume went on the front counter (along with one of the spare decorative eggs from Easter -- look, all the ones in the store are duplicates, I may as well sell them), and while Smiler finished up their flower arrangement, I started Victor on another important task -- namely, seeing what in the store could be hit with Copypasto! I already know the bulk food items can't be copied, but what about animal treats? Herbalism potions? Smiler's baby robot toys? Science must know!