The Straud Dynasty (new -- Dec 11)

[MarianT]

@PeregrineTook, I can't believe I've had City Living since it came out, and only now have unlocked the beret.

@FrancescaFiori, Diego is always watching the kids' channel, and Travis Scott, too, which drives me crazy. There's got to be something which makes it addictive for adults, but I don't know what it is.

[MarianT]

Chapter 89 -- Agatha -- Second Quarter Report

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When Travis finished his aspiration to become a Computer Whiz, he turned his attention to becoming a Soulmate. I gave him a hug, and declared that we were best friends.

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It was Tuesday, which meant that the GeekCon was happening. Since we both didn't have to work on Tuesdays, we both went. I was hungry, so I grabbed a veggie burger and sat with a couple of cosplayers.

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I'd expected Travis to head for the gaming rigs, but when I went over there, he was nowhere to be seen. I signed up for the Ultimate Gaming Test, but didn't win any prizes. Next time, I promised myself.

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Back at home, we bought a rig for ourselves. Travis needs to pick up points in video gaming for his job, and we all enjoy having something fun to do.

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That evening we had an odd visit from Nina Caliente. She wanted to talk to Rudy, of all people. He went outside and chatted with her for a few minutes. When I asked him what they had talked about, he said that Nina had wanted to know if he'd thought about who he might marry.
"And what did you say?" I asked.
"I told her I was going to marry the lonely girl in the big house with all the bushes around it," he said.
I don't think that was the answer Nina had been hoping for.

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Besides the gaming rig, we also got a basketball hoop. I need to work on fitness, and Rudy was finishing up the Rambunctious Scamp aspiration.

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Once he started shooting hoops, he didn't want to stop.

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I made a cake for him and called him in to blow out the candles.

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We made a couple of changes in his room, getting rid of his science project and putting up a few posters. Dad sent him a decorative plate, which Rudy dutifully displayed. I was a little concerned about the poster with the girl on the rocket ship, so I asked him why he wanted that one.

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"Because of the rocket," he said. "I'm planning to have adventures in space and collect space rocks."
I guess that makes sense -- he won't be able to become an astronaut like me, and the trips are fun. And it's not likely any of my future descendants will own a rocket ship.

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Rudy still likes to eat, even though he's a vampire now. I bought some plasma packs for him on the computer, and Travis contributed the ones that he had leftover from his vampire days.

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Now that I'm the mother of a teenager, I decided to get a new wardrobe. Aquamarine is still my favorite color, but I'm less interested in mini-skirts, even though I still have the legs to wear them.

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Before I forget, Scott is doing very well. He just finished his Whiz Kid aspiration, and is moving on to Social Butterfly.
Oh, and one more thing -- I remembered that I am in a competition after all. The first of Rudy, Vanessa, and Mort to move out will be able to build a new house when they get married. Argus is slightly ahead of us, so we have to hustle.

Agatha's Second 50 Points
Skills: 4 -- rocket science, 2; mischief, 2
Promotions: 12 -- Agatha, 4; Alyssa, 3; Travis, 3; Scott, 1; Rudy, 1
Satisfaction Points: 2
$30,000: 2
Good Friends: 2 -- Aarav Gupta, Jocasta Straud
Places Visited: 5 -- Vital Climb, Burners & Builders, Casbah Gallery, Spice Festival, GeekCon
Maxed Skills: 12 -- Agatha, rocket science, logic, gourmet cooking, 6; Rudy, creativity, mental, 4; Scott, social, 2
Maxed Aspirations: 12 -- Agatha, Nerd Brain, 2; Travis, Computer Whiz, 2; Rudy, Art Prodigy, Whiz Kid, 4; Scott, Art Prodigy, Rambunctious Scamp, 4
Negatives: -1 -- Rudy pass out

[oshizu]

How adorable that Rudy is devoted to marrying "the lonely girl." Crossing my fingers that she reciprocates his ardor.

When I read Agatha's comment about redoing her wardrobe now that she's a mother of a teen, the first image to pop to mind was Bella Goth, haha.
Agatha, you are mellowing! I didn't read about you nicking a single thing this update!

Gluttonous vampires are tricky! I have one with the Withered Stomach power and he constantly cooks, eats, then throws up. Good thing he cleans up after himself, but still annoying.

Thank you for sharing what the competition offers the victor.
Agatha's household did really well this week, but I look forward to seeing Argus and family in his new house, hehe.

[Magz from Oz]

I've finally caught up on this again MarianT.  So much has been happening in real life that I'd forgotten most of the characters.  You wouldn't have a handy family tree somewhere in your notes, would you?  It would an enormous help those of us in catch up mode. 

Nevertheless, I really like your writing style.  Have we met Rudy's proposed beau before.  I am intrigued.   

[PeregrineTook]

Poor Nina.  Not gonna lie, I've got a soft spot for her.  The Sims 3 version was a focal character in two stories I had going way back when and I think the Sims 4 version is so incredibly cute!
Lonely girl in the house surrounded by bushes...I feel like I should know which girl that is...
I'll be sad when we're no longer focusing on Agatha.  Adoring her so much made it easier when we transitioned away from Gretchen.  Ah, Rudy, I hope you choose to visit mom and grandma a lot  ;=)

[MarianT]

Chapter 90 -- Argus -- An Uneventful Week

No one died this week; no one became a teen; nothing much happened. It was a week of small accomplishments.

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I came across Mom playing for tips in Uptown one evening. She still has her job and she and Dad haven't run through the Landgraab fortune, she assured me; she just wanted to hang out and play the violin for a while.

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Max beat me in our dunking competition. He has this whirling around move to the basket that I can't even begin to imitate. I'm trying to play basketball with him more often to increase his fitness skill so he can get promoted at work.

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I took Vanessa to the park after school one day. It's too distracting trying to help her with homework at home -- Arianna is always wanting attention.

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After homework, we were able to get in a game of chess before it got dark.

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Vanessa is aware that she's going to become a vampire one day, so she asked her Aunt Justine for some tips.

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"You want to stay out of the sun," Justine said. "It can burn you right up -- seriously. And if you don't believe me, you can ask our ghost, your cousin Rudolfo.

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"So you have to wait for dark to do outdoor stuff like fishing or going jogging." "I'm never going to go fishing," Vanessa said. "Fish are just too yucky."

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Britta's practice on the violin has enabled her to become an artistic prodigy, and now she's working on becoming a whiz kid like Vanessa. She became an A student this week, so that's one less task she has to worry about.

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Luna is in line for another promotion -- and so is Justine. She doesn't get to spend as much time with Arianna as she'd like, but Arianna is doing well.

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Justine gave her a bath on our last free day.

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She gets plenty of hugs from everyone -- even when she's awakened them from a sound sleep.

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And in a showdown with a ghost, she's the one who's likely to win.

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All in all, Arianna has only one gripe -- she doesn't know how to turn on the TV.

[PeregrineTook]

Oh my goodness!!  Arianna frightening the ghost was priceless!
It's so nice that Vanessa is helping out as a vampire tutor for Britta. 
I must say, Argus' family is quite sweet and enjoyable.
For an uneventful week, it was a pretty adorable update!

[oshizu]

I enjoyed Nadia's cameo appearance very much. She doesn't seem the same without her red hair!

Very clever of Argus to engage Max in a way that builds Max's career-related skills.
How funny that Argus has to help Vanessa with the homework at the park to escape Arianna. Someone must have told Arianna what Argus said about wanting to play with his bumblebee all day, haha.

The born-vampire children are safe from death-by-sunlight until their teen birthdays.
The uneventfulness of Argus's household is actually quite peaceful and nice. No mood swings, no phases, no acne, no unexpected jogging outdoors in daylight, and so on.

May Argus, Luna, and Justine enjoy this happiness continuously. Or does their watcher prefer a little more risk and drama? ;-)
Vanessa may be the heir but the adorable Arianna is sure snatchhing all the spotlight, haha.

[FrancescaFiori]

Arianna is too adorable. I love her sitting on the couch, willing the TV to turn itself on. And her face when scaring the ghost is to die for.

The shot of Max dunking is pretty great, too. For all the autonomous "dreaming big" my sims do, I find it very hard to get a good shot of them doing it.

I think Justine in the suit is my favorite shot, though. She's so expressive! I'm really glad she joined the household.

[saltpastillen]

Would love to see a showdown between Arianna and a ghost irl. Arianna has that smirk from her father I think.

[MarianT]

@Magz from Oz, I tried screenshotting the family trees, but that didn't work. So here's what happened:

Vladislaus Straud married Zoe Patel, and they had Gretchen, Nadia, and Balthazar(a).
Gen 2:
Gretchen married Paolo Rocca, and they had Agatha, Rudolfo (dec.), and Alyssa.
Nadia married Malcolm Landgraab, and they had Argus, Andrew, Tabitha, and Justine. Malcolm is also the father of Austin and Rolando Fonseca.
Balthazara married Alexander Goth, and they had Jocasta, Gavin, and Chiara. Cassandra Goth is also the mother of Lotharia Goth.
Gen 3:
Agatha married Travis Scott, and they had Rudolf and Scott.
Argus married Luna Villareal, and they had Vanessa, Britta, and Arianna.
Jocasta married Diego Lobo, and they had Mortimer and Michael.

@FrancescaFiori, Justine was getting fried when I took that shot, but there weren't any little flames shooting out yet. I couldn't get her into the house, so I sent Argus off lot. I don't know why, but all my Sims stand around in front of their houses when they come home from work. It's really tiresome when you can only control one of them.

@saltpastillen, Arianna looks very much like her aunts Tabitha and Justine as toddlers. But she may look more like Argus as she gets older. She definitely has the Straud eyebrows.

[MarianT]

Chapter 91 -- Jocasta -- Second Quarter Report

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Mort has been getting better on the piano, to the point where we can actually identify the tunes he's playing. After a few hours' practice, he soon maxed his creativity skill and became an Artistic Prodigy.

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Mick took longer to finish up his Rambunctious Scamp aspiration, primarily because he was more interested in talking to people and hanging out with his cousin Scott than he was in playing on the monkey bars.

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Nevertheless, we somehow garnered enough points to get a free day when GeekCon came to town. I was hungry, so I grabbed a tofu dog and sat down to eat. A cosplayer joined me. He turned out to be Uncle Malcolm. I'm not going to say what he said to me...

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...but it was definitely creepy that he stood behind me while I was trying to win the UGT championship. I didn't even come close; the winner was Agatha's husband, Travis.

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The boys spent their time playing video games.

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By the evening, they were both working on Whiz Kid, so we started playing cards together. They soon mastered Go Fish, but Hearts was a little more complicated.

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I had a disappointing day at work. I'd received a ton of mail begging me to bring one of my characters back to life. My publisher said it was a ridiculous idea, but I went ahead and wrote a book in which it turned out that the character's death had all been a bad dream. It bombed -- the reviews were terrible, and sales plummeted. So the promotion I'd been expecting didn't happen.

Mama and Papa came over to commiserate, and Mama suggested that I might do something fun with my siblings to take my mind off the setback.

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The "something fun" was bowling. It was Gavin's first time -- and the last, he claimed.

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I had great form, but the ball unaccountably went into the gutter instead of knocking down any pins.

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Chiara told me that I should wear bowling shoes like she did. Her score wasn't anything fantastic, but it was better than mine. I'd been considering using bowling as my next designated skill, but after that experience, I think I'll take something easier, like rocket science. (Except that I can't build a rocket in our apartment. Hmm...)

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We soon got another free day, and used it to increase the boys' mental abilities. Diego read to them from The Lord of the Swings.

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Later he helped Michael with his homework.

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While I was at work, the two of them experimented with their chemistry set. I'm not sure who was to blame: Mort was the one actually using the set, but Mick was trying to tell him what to do...

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Anyway, a fire was the result. The two of them evacuated the apartment, and Diego extinguished the flames ("And looked good doing it," he told me).

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As the week ended, we decided not to push them to make progress on their next aspirations, but to just let them play voidcritters each other.
 
Jocasta's Second 50 Points
Skills: 1 -- Writing, 1
Promotions: 6 -- Jocasta, 1; Diego, 1; Mort, 2; Mick, 2
Satisfaction Points: 3
$30,000: 8
Good Friends: 7 -- Mizuki Sasaki, Akito Yamamoto, Britta Straud, Stewart Frey, Nobuya Maeda, Valentin Hardy, Huy Allender
Places Visited: 2 -- Desert Bloom Park, Magnolia Blossom Park
Maxed Skills: 16 -- Jocasta, cooking, writing, painting, photography, 8; Diego, dancing, 2; Mort, creativity, 2; Mick, Social, Motor, 4
Maxed Aspirations: 6 --Jocasta, Best-Selling Author, 2; Mort, Artistic Prodigy, 2; Mick, Rambunctious Scamp, 2
Maxed Career: 2 -- Diego, Art Critic, 2

[oshizu]

Congrats to Jocasta for completing Bestselling Author and to Diego for reaching the pinnacle of the Art Critic's career.
Look at the family's points, everyone seems to be pulling their weight. Wow, 8 points for income (must be Jocasta's novels?).

How do you like playing in Diego's apartment?

[MarianT]

Diego's apartment is great! It's a good size for a small family.

[PeregrineTook]

The whole "extinguished the fire 'and looked darn good doing it'" bit just cracked me up!  Your writing of Diego manages to fit exactly how I thought of him the first time I saw him.  Kudos!
I imagine house space is quite an interesting issue with the TGTD.  As much as I love micromanaging my Sims, I'm just not sure I could ever manage to play this dynasty.  I mean, I really really want to, but I just know I'd be frantic and twitching by the end of the first Simday  :=)