The Straud Dynasty (new -- Dec 11)

[MarianT]

@PeregrineTook, Well, he is evil.

@Whirligig, That's right -- Vlad is just bored and needs something to do. That his "something" involves young women is pure coincidence.

@FrancescaFiori, They probably would keep him on the island. He's certainly popular in this story.

[MarianT]

Chapter 10 -- Halfway



What does vampire training involve? some of you lovely viewers have asked. I have shown you some of the basic physical moves, and a few failed attempts at mind control. But here, M.L. did manage to penetrate my considerable defenses, although you can tell by the expression on his face that it took a great deal of effort.



Once a vampire has advanced beyond the fledgling status, he or she can spar with a partner of the same age. Here, I was happy to accept the challenge of D.L.



Initially, sparring has the same appearance as an ordinary fist fight.



But then we take it to a higher level.



A spar ends with a handshake. A fight between vampires can end more disastrously for the loser; he or she can even be "cured" of vampirism if the winner is a hunter.



Some of you would like to know what else I've been doing, besides advancing in my career, of course. I enjoy painting, and hope to do more of that.



I love playing the organ and have composed my third piece, "Raucous Reverberations."



Learning the guitar is not a pastime I approached with pleasure, as I have always considered it an instrument for peasants. It is not so very different from the lute, however, and combining it with singing, I can emulate the troubadours of my grandparents' age.



A shared interest in music has led to my becoming good friends with one of my vampiric offspring, Miss S.B. Tutoring her in the piano went a long way towards cementing our relationship.



I've spent some time reading to the children (poor Gretchen had some illness that caused her to break out in a rash; oddly enough, her formal gown was the only thing she could wear that didn't make her itch.)



Balthazar asked me to be his best friend forever, and I granted his request. I'm afraid he doesn't realize though that "forever" is an elastic term in his case.



And Zoe and I have become reconciled.

Since you lovely viewers have shown an interest in the children, I decided to let Gretchen take over for a little while.



Hello. My name is Gretchen Straud, and I'm an A student.



I enjoy playing with the puppet theater, and my favorite puppet is the pink monster. My brother Balthazar says he would like the monster better if it wasn't pink.



Like Nadia and Balthazar I enjoy playing on the monkey bars, but now that I've completed the Rambunctious Scamp aspiration, I have fun in other ways.



I used to feel cross because Father made me dress up for school, but Balthazar has it worse than I do. I just have to wear a dress, but he has to wear a vest and tie. That's all for now. Bye!

Vlad's Second 50 Points
Skills: 9 -- piano, 3; violin, 2; guitar, 3; singing, 1
Promotions: 14 -- Vlad, 2; Gavin, 2; J, 2; Mitchell, 1; Zoe, 2; Gretchen, 2; Nadia, 2; Balthazar, 1
1000 Satisfaction Points: 7
Good Friends: 1 -- Sofia Bjergsen
$30,000 Added: 2
Maxed Skills/Aspirations: 24 -- Vlad, piano and violin; Gretchen, social and motor; Nadia, thinking and social; Balthazar, potty training, imagination, thinking, and communication/Vlad, Musical Genius; Gretchen, Rambunctious Scamp
Places Visited: 3 -- Municipal Muses, Rattlesnake Juice Bar, Burners and Builders Gym
Negatives: -10 -- controlled vampire

[oshizu]

I am glad that Vlad and Zoe--mother of his three children--are reconciled!

And I wish to humbly request that Nadia and Balthazar also get their turns as narrators.
I wonder what Nadia thinks of her life in that house with the Roomies.
I wonder what goes on in the head of Balthazar, a boy who realizes (or not?) that he will grow up to become a vampire.

[Whirligig]

I take it the children don't really appreciate being made to dress up in all those fancy costumes like that? I wonder if they'll continue in their fathers' ancient traditions, or modernise the family to some extent, when they eventually set out on their own in the world.

So Balthazar has a thing against pink? I think that eliminates S.B. for him...

[PeregrineTook]

Gretchen is so my favorite!  I mean, I love them all equally.  I just love her equally more.
How nice that Vlad and Zoe have reconciled.  Nice for Vlad at least.  I'm looking forward to seeing if their relationship develops more or continues to be a footnote in his updates.  Realistically, I think it will be really fun either way  :=)

[MarianT]

Chapter 11 -- Going Online



"Okay, Balthy, it's your turn," Nadia said one morning.
"My turn for what?"
"To go online. Father's viewers want to know what it's like growing up vampire."
"As if. No way am I going to write about my life. What if Mother and Father read it?"



"That's not going to happen," said Nadia. "Gretchen and I talked to J -- he's a tech guru, you know -- and he said he'd set up a sub-folder so only the three of us would have access.



"And he showed us what to do to make it look like we're doing schoolwork or playing a game if there's someone else in the room that we don't want to see what we've written. So it's all cool."
"Well, okay, but I really don't have much to talk about," said Balthazar.



"You could say something about becoming friends with Alexander Goth," Nadia prompted. "How Father said you needed a boy to be friends with and Alexander was the only one with a suitable background."
"Yeah, well if you know so much about it, why don't you tell them about my life?"
"Because they want to hear from you."



"All right. Alexander and I watched a really cool movie the other day. It was about zombies, and then Alexander pretended to be a zombie..."
"Balthy! You know Father doesn't like us to watch that movie. He says it's filled with inaccuracies."



"So I went to play on the spaceship the other day, but I'm not really a spaceship kind of kid.



"While I was playing I saw this lady turn into a vampire. It looked kind of painful. I'm going to be a vampire one day, but Nadia and Gretchen aren't."
"Hmph. Well, I know something about you that hardly anybody else knows."



"I suppose you're talking about my setting the chemistry lab on fire. But I still think that's your fault for not cleaning the test tubes properly."
"No, that's not it."



"And if you're talking about the time I passed out --"
"In a green cloud. I'm surprised there weren't flies. And that's not it, either."



"--The reason for that is that you and Gretchen were in my way so I couldn't get to my bed in time."



"Oh, and you forgot to mention that Father got us some voidcritters and their battle station when we all got A's," said Nadia.



"And that you and I have been playing chess lately to raise our mental skill. We've also been playing with Mother because she needs to learn logic.



"Also that Gretchen and I became BFF's."
"Like I really care," said Balthazar. "Where is Gretchen anyway?"



"She's trying to finish her Artistic Prodigy aspiration before the weekend is over," said Nadia. "By the way, has Father had any weird conversations with you lately?"



"Weirder than normal?" asked Balthazar. "Yeah, he pulled me aside one evening to tell me that Cassandra Goth was really nice and the Goths have a house that's appropriate for vampires."



"And he had a conversation with me about the Landgraabs and how they were the finest family in Oasis Springs," said Nadia. "I think something's up."



Indeed, something is up. Vlad has started making friends with his vampiric offspring. He's already good friends with Cassandra Goth, but Malcolm Landgraab is going to take a while.



And he's just getting to know Paolo Rocca.

[oshizu]

Haha, this chapter was so funny.
I guess Balthazar is a boy of few words. Nadia ended up telling most of B's story. Which is fine with me, because I love Nadia, too!
How clever of Nadia and Gretchen to enlist J's help to keep their blogs on the down low.

Balthazar and Cassandra--how perfect! Nadia will have her hands full with Malcolm, but I'm rather fond of him, too.
And I think Nadia's going to age up into a very lovely teen!
I'm eager to see the three children in their new lives. Are they able to move out as teens?

[MarianT]

Haha, this chapter was so funny.
I guess Balthazar is a boy of few words. Nadia ended up telling most of B's story. Which is fine with me, because I love Nadia, too!
How clever of Nadia and Gretchen to enlist J's help to keep their blogs on the down low.

Balthazar and Cassandra--how perfect! Nadia will have her hands full with Malcolm, but I'm rather fond of him, too.
And I think Nadia's going to age up into a very lovely teen!
I'm eager to see the three children in their new lives. Are they able to move out as teens?

I'm not sure 'lovely' will be the word to describe Nadia. She does seem to have inherited Vlad's features, but at least she won't have the minimal chin of most TS4 women.
The only time they move out is when they get married, so no, they won't be moving as teens.

[Whirligig]

Hmm, Cassandra Goth, Paolo Rocca, and Malcolm Landgraab? I wonder why Vlad is suddenly interested in these three? Very interesting.

I loved the chapter. Even though Nadia did most of the narration for Balthazar, we got a good sense of both of their personalities. Balthazar is so very 'ugh, sisters.'

[FrancescaFiori]

Hehe. Balthy. I love his dignified young gentleman wardrobe. I also love his face when Vlad is trying to talk up Cassandra Goth to him. That's some serious skepticism.

He does seem to be costing more points than he's earning, though. Two pass-outs and a fire? Get it together, kid!

A very entertaining set of chapters, overall. Nice that the kids get a chance to tell their own story.

[MarianT]

Chapter 12 -- Research



Lately, Vlad has been playing chess with Zoe to help her gain more skill in logic.
"I know what you've been up to," she said early one morning before she had to go to work.
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Vlad, "but I can't stand here and discuss it with you -- the sun is starting to burn."



Zoe explained that evening. "I heard all about you and that purple floozy in the Rattlesnake Juice Bar," she said.



"Don't think you can get away with anything. I have spies all over this town."
"But that was nothing," said Vlad. "Just research.



"I've been trying to discover whether alien plasma has any harmful properties before recommending it to my offspring," said Vlad. "One interesting thing is that aliens vanish immediately after they've been imbibed. That might make them a better source of nourishment than normal Sims, who tend to collapse."



Zoe was not completely convinced, so Vlad set about regaining his position in her affections.



"I do love it when you go all old-world and courtly," Zoe sighed. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try and beat you at chess."



"What's that light in the sky?" Zoe asked. When Vlad turned to look, she moved his piece to a more advantageous place.



"Aarggh," he groaned when she won. "I'm pretty sure you cheated."
"And I'm pretty sure you did too," she said.



Now Vlad was angry. What was that old Transylvanian saying?-- you might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb? He went into the bathroom down in his basement and dialed the phone. "Midnight, at the Bluffs," he whispered.



His new friend showed him the whereabouts of the planet Sixam.



"Here's the address for my website," Vlad told her.



The alien took his phone and typed in a few lines of code of her own. "What was that?" Vlad asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," the alien said with a sweet smile.



They went swimming afterwards.



The alien agreed that it was necessary for both of them to be able to make a full report on their research.



When he returned home, Vlad suddenly found himself being raised higher in the sky than he'd ever been, even during a sparring match. He couldn't remember much about his sojourn on the alien ship. Luckily, he wasn't there long, and the whole household was asleep when he returned.

[oshizu]

Vlad, you dawg, you! You arrange a tryst with your alien "friend" because your wife trounced you at chess?
I was surprised to see Vlad wearing the zebra-pattern speedo. Totally wasn't expecting that!
Oh Vlad, Vlad, Vlad! You present yourself as an Old World gentleman vampire. But deep down, you're just a player! tsk, tsk!

What? Vlad wasn't on the alien ship long? Noooo, I'm hoping that Vlad will give birth to an alien toddler!
That would really give him something to "research."

I'm so curious about what his alien friend typed into his phone!

[PeregrineTook]

I'm loving how Zoe called Vlad out on his risqué behavior.  She's on to you, Vlad!
Of course, I'm always more interested in what Gretchen is up to, so it was lovely having the prior update focused on the kiddos  :=)

[FrancescaFiori]

"Aarggh," he groaned when she won. "I'm pretty sure you cheated."
"And I'm pretty sure you did too," she said.

Nice one, Zoe! Solid burn! Too bad Vlad doesn't take well to being bested, verbally or in chess, but as you say, he's evil.

*fingers crossed so hard for a Vlad-incubated alien baby*

[Whirligig]

Aww, it was so lovely to get a glimpse at the relationship between Zoe and Vlad. I'm still not convinced that he's not still using her to some degree, but I'm glad she's happy. Well, somewhat happy. That relationship with the purple lady definitely does look suspicious.

"Aarggh," he groaned when she won. "I'm pretty sure you cheated."
"And I'm pretty sure you did too," she said.

Mmm, giiiiirl!

Hmm, why do I get the feeling Vlad wasn't the only one doing 'research' in that relationship? Also, after what happened in my dynasty, I caught myself trying to figure out whether or not Vlad could come back pregnant. But 4 Roomies + Vlad + 3 Kids = Full House, so I guess not? Haha, @oshizu glad I'm not the only one who thought of that.