A Lyffe-Staite Dynasty (Not HoF)

[hazelnut]

1. Menus and Mishaps
2. Genie and Genius
3. Which Witch?
4. Elixirs and Ectoplasm
5. Lone Wolf
6. PI and PT
7. Vamping It Up
8. Nocturnal Novelist
9. Fairy Godmother?
10. The Power of Imagination
11. Art and Architecture
12. Baby Dolls
13. Of Big Bangs, Bait and Bugs
14. Alienation

Family tree

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

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[hazelnut]

Menus and Mishaps

Turns out I couldn't stay away from dynasty-style play for very long…

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This is Jasmine Lyffe-Staite, genie and would-be dynasty founder.  She's an eccentric natural cook with a good sense of humour, who has a teeny problem with keeping her hands off other people's property.  Oh, and she's scared of water.  Not at all a bad set of random traits.  Of course, natural cook's pretty useless for a genie but hydrophobic makes a certain sense.  After all, if you can clean people and houses by magic, why bother having anything to do with water?

Jasmine moved into the biggest empty lot in Barnacle Bay…

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...and went to apply for a job at the bistro, in pursuit of her wish to become a famous chef.

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Then she bought herself a minimal kitchen set-up and started churning out sandwiches and salads in front of a puzzled University mascot.

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Why make all that food and throw it straight in the bin?  Mascots have clearly never heard about skill challenges.

As for Jasmine, when she got too hungry and tired to cook any more, she built herself a small but colourful house, summoned some baked angel food cake and had a much better meal than she could have made the long-winded human way.

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After an uneventful week or so, with her cooking skill and career both progressing nicely, she expanded her tiny house a little and splashed out on an upgraded kitchen.

Then the lights appeared in the sky.

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Back on the hob, her very first attempt at a hot meal boiled dry…

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…and her brand-new cooker went up in flames.

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At least she had a fire alarm – but where were the firefighters?

Eventually, the flying saucer landed again…

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…and Jasmine rushed indoors.  Thank goodness genies are fireproof.

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I don't think I want to know what she was saying about aliens at this point  .

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It took her a very long time to put out the fire.

At long last, there was the sound of a siren from outside and a firefighter came running in to help extinguish the last few flames.  Yep, couldn't have done it without you  .

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At least the insurance payout was unusually good  .

[KRae]

The aliens should have paid.

[hazelnut]

They really should  .


Genie and Genius

Towards the end of her second week of existence, Jasmine bought and read a couple of cheap recipe books and completed her cooking supermax.

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Now what?  Well, the house could do with brightening up some more and she still needed another three challenges.  Why not take up graffiti?

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And then there was the rather trickier matter of finding a partner. She spent her next two days off work touring the town and meeting new people.  She made a lot of friends and met quite a few other supernaturals – but almost all of them were female.  Dude La Mer and Alec Trebo had both become fairies (Alec looked particularly fetching with bright pink wings) and might well join the family later but it would make more sense for Jasmine herself to marry a shorter-lived being.  Unfortunately, mermaids were noticeable by their absence, while all of the werewolves and two out of three witches were female.  The remaining witch was someone she'd known since her first day, who'd often come over to visit and share her baked angel food cake: Jake Coastal.

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Unfortunately, there was one little problem: his wife, Josephine.  I don't like breaking up married couples – and I didn't particularly fancy Jasmine having a werewolf for an enemy.  On the other hand, there didn't seem to be much choice  .

Jasmine and Jake had lost touch recently – although he was also in the culinary career, he must be working at the diner or coffee shop.   So she went round to the Coastals', reintroduced herself and invited him over.

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Within a couple of hours, Jake had joined the household.  With skill points in fishing, gardening, handiness and cooking, he was definitely an asset.  Add to that his bookworm and genius traits, plus the alchemy boost from being a witch and he was pretty much the ideal spouse for this dynasty.  He left his job and concentrated on developing his skills, while Jasmine finished off her requirements.

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Jake had his elder birthday at the elixir shop a couple of days later.  Jasmine clearly goes for older men – she suddenly popped a whole series of romantic wishes.

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Not that Jake was an older man for long.  He quickly maxed logic and made a Young Again potion on his second attempt.

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He grew his stubble into a full beard and chose a new wardrobe to reflect his Indian heritage, including a turban for formal wear.  Jasmine took advantage of their new mirror and dresser to revamp her own formal outfit to match.

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Soon after, she was promoted to five-star chef and achieved her lifetime wish.

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All of her requirements were now in place, apart from one 5000-point wish – and that would be easy to fulfil.

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It was a thoroughly occult wedding.  All of their supernatural friends and acquaintances were invited – and Josephine gate-crashed.  I was surprised that she'd want to see her ex marrying his new partner but she seemed to have a good time  .

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The ceremony was a little short on frills but the food was excellent, thanks to the bride's genie powers, and a number of the guests went back for second helpings.

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It was evening before the last of the guests left, saying what a great day they'd had, and the newlyweds were left alone together.

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There were chimes.


 Jasmine

Life state: genie
Traits: eccentric, good sense of humour, hydrophobic, kleptomaniac, natural cook (and heavy sleeper from rebel influence)
Lifetime wish: Celebrated Five-Star Chef
Spouse: Jake Coastal (witch)

Occult best friend: Odessa Cross (witch)
Two career rewards: cooking certificate, food processor
Three unique opportunities: The Dish Showdown, Working Alongside Friends, Learn a Recipe
Four unique Lifetime Happiness Rewards: Born to Cook, No Bills Ever, Bookshop Bargainer, Collection Helper
Five unique 5000+ point wishes: Master Cooking Skill, Learn All Recipes, Master Street Art Skill, Reach Level 10 of Culinary Career, Marry Jake
Six unique skill challenges: Star Chef, World-Class Chef, Menu Maven, Master Muralist, Precision Sprayer, Always Wanted
Seven items for museum: street art

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[wa-wa-world]

I've never seen anyone actually use the street art in a Dynasty before it looks great! Those wedding outfits were also cute as heck best of luck to you

[KRae]

So nice of her to wish to marry Jake by name, good to leave that generic get married wish for later.

[hazelnut]

I've never seen anyone actually use the street art in a Dynasty before it looks great! Those wedding outfits were also cute as heck best of luck to you

Pretty well everyone seems to use street art in Domination Dynasties, for the parents as well as the kids, but it does seem to be ignored otherwise.  I suppose it's because museum value counts in most of the dynasties and street art is worth peanuts.

So nice of her to wish to marry Jake by name, good to leave that generic get married wish for later.

I hadn't thought of that .  Wishing to marry at all is a nice change - I don't think any of the Gooles rolled a wish to marry, either a specific person or in general  .

[hazelnut]

Which Witch?

The revelation of Jasmine's pregnancy was interrupted by her phone ringing.

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Jake seemed more bothered about admiring his wedding ring anyway  .

Jasmine went into labour outside the bookshop, where she'd been buying alchemy recipes for Jake.

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She rushed home and had her first child just inside the front door…

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…but then wandered outside in the customary Simlish fashion and put the poor baby down on the grass while she produced another two  .

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Jamal, the youngest triplet, was the only genie (and the only one to inherit Jasmine's skin tone).  He had four birthday cakes in quick succession, grew up and moved out while his siblings were still toddlers.

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Jafar, born an eccentric genius, was the most likely candidate for heir, although grumpy, outdoors-loving Jadis wasn't entirely out of the running (and she'd inherited Jasmine's red-black hair, which put her in my good books, especially since Jafar randomly got that horrible greenish hair colour).

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Both little witches completed their toddler requirements and were taken to cakes in the early hours of the morning, to maximise the time available for tutoring (but it does mean that the screenshots are horribly dark – sorry  ).

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Jafar became a light sleeper, while Jadis was now a sailor, so both continued to be raised as potential heirs.  Jadis took an early lead when she was asked to take some permission slips to the town hall after their first day of school, but Jafar soon caught her up and they qualified for their teen birthday cakes on the same day.

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Jadis became a slob…

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…while Jafar settled the heir question by acquiring the perceptive trait.  He dyed his hair black, started growing a beard and, like his father and brother, took to wearing a turban.

Jadis had another cake the following morning (in daylight, for a change)…

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…and moved out.

Jafar, meanwhile, was making a start on his skills…

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…and teen requirements.

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Some more successfully than others  .

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He did eventually find a girl who'd let him qualify for another cake:

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And he got unflirty as his final trait.  Of course .

[KRae]

Unflirty is good. It will keep him from causing trouble with future dynasty spouses.

[hazelnut]

Unflirty is good. It will keep him from causing trouble with future dynasty spouses.

True.  I've already started having minor problems with his wife and Jake  .


Elixirs and Ectoplasm

Jafar graduated as valedictorian and Most Likely to Take Over the World but was too busy working on his alchemy to attend the ceremony.

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Once the stir-craziness set in, he went into town with a rucksack full of elixirs…

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…and achieved his lifetime wish (irritatingly, having forgotten to dose himself with Wish Enhancing Serum first).  On the way home he called in to visit Juliet Verona, because I'd just noticed that her portrait in Jasmine's relationship panel was now grey-haired.

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Jafar chucked a Potent Jar of Friendship at her feet and invited her over.  Despite his parents dancing embarrassingly in the corner, she agreed to move in.

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Then Jafar retreated to his alchemy room, leaving Juliet alone with said embarrassing parents, apart from when he popped back out with a Fountain of Youth elixir for her and Vials of Bliss all round, thereby finishing off the elixir-throwing challenge.  A couple of days later, he'd supermaxed alchemy, and, with perfect timing, maxed the alchemist career almost immediately afterwards.

He was still short of wishes and challenges, so went off to the science lab to register as a ghost hunter.  Thanks to a liquid job booster, he reached level 10 simply by reading logic books in the library.  He got home just in time to intercept the paper boy for some tutoring – probably much needed since the poor things don't seem to have any family to help them with their school work  .

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After a quick snack, he went off to start catching spirits.  After all, that was supposed to be his job.

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He slept late and was just up in time to be summoned to the town hall for a presentation (oddly, it was the Paranormal Memento rather than the key to the city, which he didn't get until a few days later).

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Rather sweetly, his brother and sister were both at the ceremony, even though hardly anyone else bothered to turn up.  Jadis may have regretted that decision – after a quick 'hello', Jafar decided that what she really needed was some skill tutoring.

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He returned home to find that Juliet was also there, for once (with her political career and the various skills she was learning, she was out of the house nearly as much as he was).  As the hopeless romantic of the family, she initiated a romantic interlude, which culminated in Jafar getting over his unflirtiness enough to propose.

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Then he was off again – the paperboy had become a teenager and so was eligible for more tutoring.  Juliet shrugged and spent most of the rest of the day in front of the mirror and dresser, sorting out a new hairstyle and outfit, which Jafar probably wouldn't even notice  .

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And, of course, if the old paperboy was now a teen, that meant there must be a new child delivering the papers.  Jafar lay in wait and went into tutoring mode again.

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That was enough to finish off Teacher Extraordinaire, no doubt to the great relief of the child NPC population of Barnacle Bay.  Jafar went off in search of assorted adult friends and acquaintances, so that he could tutor the heck out of them instead.  When it was too late to visit anyone else, he returned home – and the aliens appeared again .

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Fortunately, there were no lasting consequences of the abduction.  A wedding with a pregnant bridegroom just isn't right  .

Oh yes, the wedding.  Despite his unromantic nature, Jafar obligingly rolled a wish to marry Juliet, which meant that I could save the logic wishes for someone else.

Unlike his parents' wedding, the day was far from being a resounding success.  It took about a dozen attempts to get them both to the wedding arch and almost all of the guests had given up and gone home by the time the vows were exchanged.  Most of the rest had discovered the water slide and changed into swimwear.  Dude, bless him, was in the front row smiling through his sobs yet again.

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Even the groom's mother wandered off in mid-ceremony (although that was largely my fault for forgetting it was one of her work days.  She quit her job soon after this, to avoid further social embarrassments and to prevent her from jeopardising future heirs' best friends.  Although she hasn't learnt charisma, Jasmine makes friends entirely too easily.)

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At last, Jafar and Juliet were safely married.  While the wedding paraphernalia was being cleared away, Jafar took his bride over to a quiet corner of the lot and tutored her in logic.  Every girl's dream honeymoon .

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While I was in build/buy mode, I decided it was time for a rebuild.   The Lyffe-Staites were pretty well-heeled by now and the little starter home, despite several extensions, wasn't really adequate any more.

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A small Djinn Palace appeared at the back of the lot, for Jasmine and Jake to retire to…

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…with a museum basement to replace the old temporary one.

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(And I discovered that I had accidentally placed eight pieces of street art in there, not seven, so one was deleted.)

The family home was replaced with a gingerbread house (identical to Holly's on the outside, although rather different inside), which seemed appropriately fairytale-ish.

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Not that Jafar was quite ready to have his own family yet.  He still needed one more skill challenge.  I considered collecting but eventually decided that stargazing made more sense.

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I came to regret that: more than any of my previous Sims, Jafar spent inordinate amounts of time admiring his previous discoveries instead of making new ones.  And, of course, telescopes attract aliens.  Sorry, Jasmine  .

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Several days later than I'd expected, Jafar discovered his twentieth celestial body and completed his requirements.


Jafar

Life state: witch
Traits: eccentric, genius, light sleeper, perceptive, unflirty
Lifetime wish: Alchemy Artisan
Spouse: Juliet Verona (werewolf)

Toddler requirements: best friends with both parents, reached  level 3 in two skills (xylophone, writing books)
Child requirements: on honour roll, one opportunity completed (Quest for the Lead)
Teen requirements: on honour roll, reached  level 3 in mausoleum clerk part-time job, had a romantic interest (Jill Simons)

Occult best friend: Coral Goldbeard (werewolf)
Two career rewards: Spooky Trophy, Ghost Hunter's Paranormal Medal
Three unique opportunities: Puzzle Panic, Logic 101, Taking Down Sinclair
Four unique Lifetime Happiness Rewards: Flying Vacuum, Magic Hands, Moodlet Manager, Motive Mobile
Five unique 5000+ point wishes: Master Alchemy Skill, Reach Level 10 of Alchemist Career, Reach Level 10 of Ghost Hunter Career, Donate 100 Spirits to Science, Marry Juliet
Six unique skill challenges: Master Alchemist, Alchemists Anonymous, Excellent Elixirs, Teacher Extraordinaire, Skill Professor, Celestial Explorer
Seven items for museum: elixirs

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Note 1: I always intended all of Jasmine's descendants to have names beginning with a J but it's a complete coincidence that both spouses and Jafar's teen romantic interest also have J names.  I don't intend this to be an additional requirement for future Lyffe-Staites  .

Note 2: the pink scalloped roof tiles are by Amarysauce, from Mod the Sims.

[hazelnut]

Lone Wolf

This update starts (of course) with an alien abduction.  Clearly Jake wanted to get in on the act  .

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A few hours later, Juliet realised she was pregnant.

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The contractions started in the library.  Maybe books induce labour in Lyffe-Staites women .

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She arrived home in plenty of time to send Jafar into a screaming panic…

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…before producing her first child.

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And her only child, in fact.  I sat staring stupidly at the screen, waiting for the other two babies to appear but, despite both parents' twinkling eyes at the time of conception, there was only the one.  I'm definitely going back to old-fashioned Fertility Treatments or kids' entertainment for future generations  .

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I think Juliet was as disconcerted as I was.

At least the baby was a werewolf – and heir apparent to the Lyffe-Staites.  Inevitably, he was named Jacob.  Apart from the obvious, Grandpa Jake was getting on a bit and it seemed like a nice idea to name the baby after him.

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Despite all of the empty space around the lot, Juliet chose to teach Jacob to walk in his grandparents' home.  Maybe she was sensitive to his dislike of the great outdoors, which seems a little inappropriate for a werewolf.  If he hadn't been born athletic as well, I'd begin to doubt his species.

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Then she handed the childcare over to Jafar, who barely seemed to know his son.

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That was all very well for meeting the 'best friends with both parents' requirement but it did leave hopeless romantic Juliet to her own devices.  Which apparently meant flirting with her father-in law  .

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Maybe that was why Jafar and Jake suddenly took to duelling with such enthusiasm.

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Jacob was my first toddler werewolf, so please indulge me with the cute howling and hunting pics:

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Soon he was ready for an early cake (not at night, because I felt I ought to be able to manage a single kid without the advantage of the 'and what hour do you call this?' start):

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He became neat.  Really?  Given the way transformed werewolves eat and their fondness for scratching furniture, that seems even less appropriate than the 'hates the outdoors' trait  .

Jafar took him off in their new motive mobile for a thrilling night of tutoring in the library.

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The child opportunity was touch and go for a while (note to self: enrol everyone in after-school clubs in future) but at last Jacob was ready for another cake.

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And he became irresistible.  Look out, future spouses!  At least it made acquiring a romantic interest into the easiest teen requirement:

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With the help of the motive mobile, the job wasn't much of a problem either.  So, as soon as he'd made it on to the honour roll (slightly delayed by an inconvenient weekend), he had another cake.

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His final trait was brooding, which actually seems quite appropriate  .

[hazelnut]

PI and PT

Jake died aged 97 – and I missed it.  I had the camera on Jacob, who was at the library, and heard Grim's music but assumed he was somewhere nearby.  Certainly, the camera didn't pan across.  It was only when I noticed that Jake's portrait had gone that I realised what had happened .

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He never really made a start on his Zombie Master wish but had a long and happy life anyway, mastering several skills and completing about a dozen challenges – and he and Jasmine were Eternally Faithful, despite his tendency to flirt with Juliet given half a chance.

His young namesake was also unlikely to achieve his lifetime wish any time soon.  He wanted to join the police force but temporarily had to make do with a less official form of law enforcement.

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Like his father, Jacob got most of the way through his career by learning logic, but also took on a few investigations.  As an athletic werewolf, he'd probably have been terrific at beating up suspects for information, if only he'd had the chance.

With his career and the logic skill both maxed, he turned to chemistry, despite a notable lack of aptitude.  He must have averaged something like two singeings per successful potion.  It was a huge relief all round when he finally discovered all ten and could turn to the athletic skill instead.

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Going to the town gym wasn't ideal: he really could do with his own place to train, without needing to go out into the hateful outdoors.  And so the lot acquired another building and his parents moved out into the new Astronomy Tower.

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Jafar's old alchemy room was now locked to Jacob and became a small gym.

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And Jasmine was abducted yet again .  (Well, it must have been a whole two weeks since the last time.)  At least she managed to become acquaintances with the alien, which might come in useful for a future descendant.

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After a blissful few days of indoor workouts, Jacob had to venture outside to be presented with the Key to the City.

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While he was there, he took the chance to introduce himself to potential spouses.  The number of original townie options was shrinking rapidly and he probably ought to make a decision very soon.  Jasmine Noon, a vampire, had just aged up to elder, which almost ruled her out – quite apart from the potential confusion of having two Jasmines in the family.   Flora Annan, who'd become a fairy, was well into the elder life stage.  That left Patty Abe, another fairy, and the vampires Agnes Seabottom and Luisa Libros.  Patty and Agnes were both at the presentation.  Jacob was attracted to both of them but there was no real spark.

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Luisa presented a bit of a problem, in that she was Juliet's boss – and Juliet had just got her final promotion by becoming enemies with her.  Somehow, Juliet was still able to invite Luisa over – and that was it.  Jacob was smitten.

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So, it appeared, was Luisa.  Almost as soon as she'd moved in, she rolled a wish to propose…

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…and followed it up with one to get married.  They had a private wedding at Founder's Beach the following day.  An outdoor venue's a little unconventional for a vampire and a Sim who hates the outdoors, but the bride was protected by Vampiric Sunscreen and I enjoyed the change of scenery.  And Jacob jogged back home afterwards, racking up a few more kilometres.

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A day or two later, he became a Fitness Nut and completed his requirements, which meant he could join the police force at last.  First, though, he and Luisa tried for a baby – her elder birthday was only a day away, so they couldn't afford to wait any longer.

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Jacob

Life state: werewolf
Traits: athletic, hates the outdoors, neat, irresistible, brooding
Lifetime wish: International Super Spy
Spouse: Luisa Libros (vampire)

Toddler requirements: best friends with both parents, reached  level 3 in two skills (xylophone, writing books)
Child requirements: on honour roll, one opportunity completed (Stinky Bugs)
Teen requirements: on honour roll, reached  level 3 in mausoleum clerk part-time job, had a romantic interest (Natalia Shell)

Occult best friend: Melissa Vela (fairy)
Two career rewards: Investigator's Trophy of Honour, Investigator's Key to Barnacle Bay
Three unique opportunities: Bye Bye Flamingo, The Case of the Tattooed Thief, The Case of the Bermuda Triangle Love Triangle
Four unique Lifetime Happiness Rewards: Opportunistic, Alpha Wolf, Steel Bladder, Hardly Hungry
Five unique 5000+ point wishes: Reach Level 10 of Investigator Career, Master Logic Skill, Discover All Potions, Master Athletic Skill, Work Out For 12 Hours Straight
Six unique skill challenges: Master Chemist, Gem Collector, Metal Collector, Body Builder, Marathon Runner, Fitness Nut
Seven items for museum: potions

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[hazelnut]

Vamping It Up

Just for a change, Luisa had a book-free pregnancy and gave birth in Jasmine's bedroom.

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Or, at least, that's where her first child was born.  Then she felt the irresistible pull of the mailbox and walked out to the front of the lot to have her second.

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The third triplet appeared back where mummy had started producing babies and was rescued by Grandpa Jafar.

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Jyoti the eccentric virtuoso would have made a terrific heir, as would her insane, artistic sister Jamuna.  Unfortunately, they were both werewolves.  Which left Jilaiya the clumsy couch potato as de facto heir  .

Random hair colours seem to be becoming a bit of a theme in this game.  None of the girls inherited Luisa's non-standard brown hair.  Jyoti was black-haired, like her dad…

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…while Jamuna had bright blonde hair that looked as though it had come out of a bottle.

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Jilaiya was also blonde, although at least her hair was a paler shade that went quite well with her vampy skin and eye colours.

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The two younger triplets had a succession of cakes and Age of Instant elixirs, grew up and moved out.  Jamuna's hair didn't get any less incongruous with age, so she had it dyed to match Jasmine's.

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Jyoti grew up beautiful without any intervention.  I really wish she'd been a vampire .

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Jilaiya completed her toddler requirements and had a cake…

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…and, since couch potato was looking as though it was going to be her most useful trait, settled down to reading though the family's collection of books, in preparation for writing some of her own later.

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Luisa, meanwhile, had been pursuing her Jack of All Trades LTW.  She'd quit politics (much to Juliet's relief, no doubt) and become first a ghost hunter and then a lifeguard, without doing a single day at work in either career.   Once the triplets were born, she took a job at the school and had now reached level 5 of teaching.  Unlike my previous Jacks of All Trades, she didn't roll a wish to get to the top of her fourth career, instead wishing to retire.  I let her.

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A couple of days later, Juliet reached old age and also retired.

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Which left the two enemies at home together  .  Fortunately, they both had high enough charisma to be able to have a civil conversation despite their differences and soon reached the point where they could call a truce.

That didn't stop Luisa from being a complete liability.  Even before the babies were born, I'd found Jacob marching off to accuse her of cheating, an action that I couldn't cancel from his queue.  Since he was the only lover in her relationship panel, I assume it must have been something in her past that he was objecting to.  After that, accusations of cheating (usually by Jafar, for some reason) became almost a daily occurrence.

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As if to make up for her father's lack of childhood opportunities, Jilaiya had four before she'd finished her other requirements.

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Her teen trait was irresistible.  Another one! 

Since that didn't point towards anything useful in terms of skills or careers, she joined the Newspaper Club and continued reading in her few free hours between school, the club, her mausoleum job and bed.  In fact, reading became the whole family's favourite activity.

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(Does anyone else find it thoroughly incongruous that Jil has a tan in that screenshot?)

The game was threatening to become boring.  Fortunately, Jacob reached the branching point of the law enforcement career and took to wearing disguises for work, which cheered me up quite a lot.

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And it seems that irresistibility isn't all it's cracked up to be  .

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Jil's first attempt at teen romance was a dismal failure.

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Even when her charms were effective on the second victim, neither of them seemed entirely convinced.

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At last, she qualified for another cake and the family gathered around to cheer.

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Her final trait was 'dislikes children'.  Oh joy  .

[hazelnut]

Nocturnal Novelist

Jilaiya graduated as valedictorian and Most Likely Never to Leave the House.  Well, she probably wouldn't be leaving it much in the daytime from now on...

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She spent the next few nights driving around the town, taking photos and catching fireflies.

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Then she settled down to some serious writing.

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She tried every genre as it became available to her but specialised in sports books: as a couch potato who'd once visited the stadium to take a photo of the entrance, she was clearly perfectly qualified  .

A combination of stir-craziness and a sudden spawning of rare fireflies eventually drove her out of the house – which meant that she wasn't around to say a last goodbye to her mother .

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Like Jake, Luisa died at an official age of 97, although thanks to her vampire life extension she was actually much older.  Her death came as something of a relief to me – she and Juliet had never done more than tolerate each other and Jafar was still regularly accusing her of cheating.  Poor Jacob was devastated: after that first accusation, he'd never doubted his wife – or appeared to notice that his Eternal Faithfulness was one-sided.  He moved out of the family home they'd shared and into his own little house – or kennel.

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It was actually a lot bigger than it appeared on the outside.  The kennel held only a fridge and a chess table but a concealed and locked door in a false wall at the back led to a spiral staircase and an underground apartment where he could pursue his hobbies in peace.

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The following day, Jacob got his final promotion and achieved his lifetime wish.  Surprisingly, Jilaiya completed hers only a few hours later.  For both of them, though, the joy was overshadowed by the loss of Luisa.

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Even worse, just as the mourning period ran out, Grim showed up again and took Juliet, whose age bar had only just filled up  .

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RIP, Juliet Lyffe-Staite: Leader of the Free World, skilled  handywoman and inventor, expert gardener and thoroughly nice Sim.

Her death was a reminder that Jil ought to be thinking about continuing the line.  She invited over Jasmine's old friend Dude La Mer and started chatting.  They immediately discovered their conflicting traits but that didn't stop them from becoming instant good friends.  A promising start.

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A hesitant first kiss…

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…led to a rather more confident first drink.  This was so much better than plasma juice from the fridge!

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While he was still dazed by the blood loss, Jil asked Dude to go steady and invited him to move in…

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…but even the delights of new love and fairy plasma couldn't distract her from her grief for long.

Far sooner than I'd expected, Jilaiya finished her requirements and popped the question.  The wedding was attended by Patty Abe and Jonah Lai, the only other surviving original townies…

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…and by two aliens, who seemed fascinated by this strange Earthling custom.

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Sadly, it's doubtful whether either of them will join the family later – notices of impending death keep popping up for both of them.


Jilaiya

Life state: vampire
Traits: clumsy, couch potato, sailor, irresistible, dislikes children
Lifetime wish: Professional Author
Spouse: Dude La Mer (fairy)

Toddler requirements: best friends with both parents, reached  level 3 in two skills (pegbox, writing books)
Child requirements: on honour roll, one opportunity completed (Pile of Permission Slips)
Teenager requirements: on honour roll, reached  level 3 in mausoleum clerk part-time job, had a romantic interest (Rodrigo McWhorter)

Occult best friend: Olivia Rapp (werewolf)
Two career rewards: Writing certificate, Author's Honour Trophy
Three unique opportunities: Correcting Past Mistakes, To Boldly Go, Paparazzi!
Four unique Lifetime Happiness Rewards: Acclaimed Author, Carefree, Fireproof Homestead, Immortal
Five unique 5000+ point wishes: Master Photography Skill, Be Worth More Than §500,000, Master Writing Skill, Make At Least §7500 a Week in Royalties, Write 10 Best Sellers
Six unique skill challenges: Architectural Eye, Photog, Firefly Collector, Sports Writer, Prolific Writer, Speed Writer
Seven items for museum: books

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[hazelnut]

Fairy Godmother?

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A couple of days after the wedding, Jilaiya gave Dude the good news: she was pregnant.  Or, I suppose from her point of view as a child-hating Sim, the bad news.  For now she seemed happy enough, apart from the vomiting.

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She went into labour in her study but very sensibly wandered out between contractions into the living room, where there was plenty of space to have a baby.  Her firstborn was a boy, who was a vampire like his mum.

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Then, of course, she ignored the waiting cots and went out to the postbox to give birth to his sisters, who were both fairies.

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The babies in this game are all given numbers at birth, poor little things.  A parent is sent off to the town hall the following day to change their names to something appropriate.  I'd been planning to use jewel names for the fairies, since Jasmine had taken the only flower name beginning with a J that I could think of offhand.  Once it became apparent that red-winged Dude would be their father, red gemstones were the obvious way to go: Jasper for a boy and Jacinth for a girl.  I'd had Jezebel lined up for a girl vampire but now the only vampire was a boy.  What could I call him? Looking for inspiration on baby name sites (um, why would you want to name your kid after a vampire?) I discovered that I could use Jasper after all.  Yes, I really am that ignorant of Twilight.  I knew about Bella, Edward and Jacob – and, heaven help us, Renesmée – but that was it.

Like the other spares, Jasper grew up fast and left.

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One of the girls was duly named Jacinth, while the other, whose sparkles were unexpectedly green, was named Jade.   Both were potential heirs: Jade was good and perceptive, while Jacinth was an artistic heavy sleeper.


Imaginary friend dolls have been in short supply this game.  Normally I'd be happy about that but I was planning to marry someone to an IF now that I'd run out of original townies.  Fortunately, "the triplets' godmother" sent them dolls.  Given that two of the three are fairies, would that make her a fairy godmother?


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Jade grew up to have wings that were a different shape from Dude's, as well as a different colour, although she had the family colouring otherwise.  I thought at first that Jacinth had inherited Luisa's hair but it turned out that she was carrying on the family tradition by getting a random hair colour.  (Jasper also had random hair – that horrible greenish-brown again.)

Jade and Jacinth had a longer toddlerhood than previous Lyffe-Staites because they had to bond with their dolls as well as completing the normal requirements.

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Becoming best friends with their parents also seemed to take longer than usual, perhaps because fairy toddlers are so independent.

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Jilaiya and Dude largely ignored their careers and concentrated on their daughters.   Oddly, Jil was the one who kept rolling wishes to teach them skills.  Maybe she thought that the sooner they could do stuff, the sooner they'd be grown up and inoffensive.

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Even so, it was Jasmine who was closest to Jade and helped her to blow out her birthday candles.

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Dude took Jacinth to her cake.

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Jade suddenly acquired star quality, which is completely useless since celebrities are turned off in this game.  Jacinth became a computer whiz, which ought to be useful but doesn't really fit with the vague plan I have for her if she becomes heir.

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Soon after the girls aged up, the notification appeared that their dolls would like to come out and play.

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First, Jade's doll Jarvis became a true imaginary friend…

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…and then Jacinth's toy, Josh.

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Jacob was just leaving for work.  His highly trained super-spy senses detected the almost invisible disturbance at the side of the house.  What was that?

Sadly, he was so distracted that he crashed his car.

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Jilaiya and Jasmine carried on with their conversation, oblivious to the police car that had just appeared through the front wall.

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When I'd finished laughing, I tried to rescue Jacob.  Except he wasn't in the car.  In fact, he wasn't in the world at all.

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Maybe he'd gone to Sim Heaven.


Fortunately a reset brought him back to earth.  He continued to behave oddly for a while, particularly when leaving work, but a series of restarts and resets seems to have cured the problem, for now at least.