Three Times a Lady: A Rival Dynasties Challenge Story

[commasplice]

This is so much fun! My favorite part was this
“Jillian’s still a marvelous nanny/trainer, though she came to me earlier this week and suggested, in hushed tones, that she has a suspicion that Felix is an alien. A darling girl, really. Just a treasure. But not too bright.”

[FrancescaFiori]

@oshizu Thank you for the compliment, but I confess I snuck back and re-read the beginning of your RDC, just to take the temperature of how I'm doing and realized my trio are so far behind yours it's embarrassing. You not only moved Gen 2 out in week 3, you got Megumi to top-notch toddler! How on earth? Anyway, I'm very humbled, and have an even greater appreciation for your skillz than I did before.

I'm glad I could tell you about the incense, though! I didn't think mood-altering items worked on toddlers, either, but I think I discovered the incense accidentally when he toddled through the bathroom when Eve was having a pre-work bath. It's so nice to have at least a little bit of control over toddler emotions!

As for Felix, isn't he though? I'm thunderstruck. I don't think I've crushed this hard on one of my own sims since Thaddeus. I take a ridiculous number of screenshots of him doing mundane things. *sigh* Truly, no one will ever be good enough. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed for an abduction pregnancy.

@Heart Foam Oh my hat, indeed! I don't know what they're doing at that painting studio, but I'm glad Corey at least has adequate head protection. I like Rhonda's blue skin as well. She even has decent traits. There's just something . . . off-putting about her. I can't put my finger on it. Oh, well. She'll probably make her way into the bloodline eventually since she's the only alien female in the world (other than Eve) at this point. I'll just have to give her a fabulous disguise.

@PeregrineTook Thank you, thank you. The alien bloodline is the most straightforward for me, so they do seem to zip through things pretty well. Mary and Tati are no slouches, though, as you'll see fairly soon. I think you'll be pleased with how they do.

@commasplice Oh, Jillian. She's a dream of a helper, but she really cracks me up sometimes. She's constantly shocked (shocked!) to discover the completely undisguised aliens everywhere are actually aliens. Glad you enjoyed the update!

Ponsonby, Week 3, Part 1

Dear Ladies,

Well, I know I used to say this all the time back in our old lives, but I loathe Mondays, and as far as our new lives are concerned, Sunday is the new Monday. It’s so disorienting to find oneself up out of bed at midnight with a long list of tasks to be accomplished and no idea whatsoever where to begin! I think we took the first full day just to get our heads on straight!



I feel much like our beloved Domino here, learning to walk. It takes more than a few staggering paces before we all hit our stride.



We got our first critic in at the G&K first thing Sunday during the lunch rush!



I thought we had everything in the bag, especially as the much-desired 5-star ratings had started popping up amongst some of our best customers and then, just as the guest of honor was seated we got word our rating had increased to 4 stars overall! A fantastic first impression!



But then . . . disaster! I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture, but to tell the truth I was too shocked to fully understand what was happening, let alone record it.



This is the aftermath, and if you see a few stars floating around that gentleman’s head it’s because he’d just been soundly slapped across the face a few dozen times by our food critic! It seems she showed up for work only to happen upon her boyfriend on a romantic night out with that bearded ginger fellow seated by the window! What a scandal!

The soap operatic drama notwithstanding, she held on to her 4-star rating, as did the G&K overall, putting us in a good position moving forward with the week.



Domino and Daddy spent some quality time with one another. She’s firmly a Happy Toddler, and I imagine we could have got her up to Top Notch by week’s end if we’d set our mind’s to it, but our minds were all quite occupied with other pressing tasks, so once we knew she was going to be more or less all right we let her fend for her independent self, which suited her just fine.



Here you see her tiny triumph at mastering the potty. No need for Mummy and Daddy anymore! She was immediately off and running.



Mother Geeta, bless her, popped by for frequent visits.



She picked up right where she’d all left off with Domino, and I think we all breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she was back and taking care of things.



Honey began work as a barista, and I think she looks rather smart in the uniform.



Raj mastered the art of the motivational speech. Here you see him laying it on rather thick with Waylon Vo, one of our waitstaff. I’m not sure what he said to him exactly, but it really seemed to light a fire within the young man and he positively sparkled the rest of his shift.



Your Jillian has become quite the regular diner here, Eve, and we’re very grateful. I’ve seen her more than once with the blond fellow with the interesting glasses, Bronson Vo (a relative of Waylon’s, if I’m not mistaken). Do you think there’s anything going on there? He seems like quite a nice fellow, and it would certainly be nice to see some of the helpers well-settled once all is said and done. Do keep me posted! You know I love a good romance!



Particularly since a lot of the romance has gone out of my own life. Raj and I are still fine, don’t worry about that, it’s just that the hectic pace of life means I’m often caught doing decidedly unromantic things like making business calls while on the loo. I’m rising quickly in the ranks of the business world, though, so it’s all worth it in the end.



Honey spend the majority of her week doing some lonesome grinding of her own. Even her beloved nanny couldn’t mentor her once she began writing songs, so that pink bunny guitar and Blarffy the Bear were her main companions. She ended up writing a lot of mournful laments with some rather stunning animal imagery.



Our dear Jessica is active, and has held on with us all week, despite being the same age as Mother Geeta. Her main task of gardening is largely finished, but she’s still a great help getting Honey ready for school by giving her compliments and helping her to focus her mind. Going from inspired to focused in the hour between work and school is a rather quick emotional turnaround, but with Jessica's help she manages quite well.



A juggling bottle trick Honey learned that Mummy is none too fond of. The restaurant’s losing money right and left as we’ve kept prices low to encourage positive reviews. It’s working, but the trail of broken bottles that led to her mastery of that particular trick did our balance sheets no favors. We’ve still got to raise the value of the G&K to $100,000, and I’d much rather those simoleons had gone into our restaurant rather than buying our juice vendor a summer home. Ah, well. So it goes.



The sisters found a bit of time to play with each other this week, and I’m very glad. They’re awfully sweet together.



I had to bite the bullet early this week and dispose of Mother Geeta’s beloved talking toilet. She loved the thing and brought it all the way from San Myshuno to install it in our bathroom, but it’s just become too much of a distraction. I paid twice for every aromatherapy bath because I couldn’t stop myself from leaping out of the water to exclaim about the loo every time. It’s much like your basketball hoop, Eve. I can’t explain it, but I’m much more content now that it’s been replaced with a simpler model. I do miss those massages, though. Perhaps we’ll put it back after Honey’s out of the house.



Now that Mother Geeta’s gone I’ve started giving Marc Zaragoza, the massage therapist, career advice every morning as part of my preparation for work. He’s polite about it, but he did assure me that since he’s the official masseuse for all three of our households that he’s actually doing quite well for himself, thank you very much. With what he charges for a lotus blossom aromatherapy treatment, I can certainly believe it.



Here’s Erika, our hostess, giving a very enthusiastic greeting to a customer. We’ve trained all the staff up about as high as we can get them, including the new chef we hired this week, which makes for great reviews, but has its drawbacks as well. Once the staff realize what they’re worth they quickly become unsatisfied and we have to promote them two or sometimes three times in a single day just to keep them from walking out the door!



Honey managed an A in school midweek, the same day our reviewer returned for a second visit. With the improvements we’d made to the restaurant, along with the notable absence of any romantic drama, she raised her opinion of us to 5 stars, which gave us the push we needed to gain a five-star rating overall! I’m happy to say it never fell below five stars again the rest of the week, so Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday gave us our three days needed at five stars! One item checked off the list!



Raj, dear fellow, took up yoga to fill his time between watering plants and motivating restaurant staff. He’d pause now and then to get me focused for my never-ending chess grind, and then get back to it. To be honest, we ought to have had him work on handiness, or anything else that might generate some income. We’d been banking on the dragonfruit plants and, well, as you can see in the background, they weren’t producing. We kept hoping to see some bright pink buds but were forced it admit at this point in the week that more than half of our plants were somehow barren. It was too late to plant new ones, so in a last-ditch effort we put them all into the family inventory and took them back out again.



This gave us a couple of new fruits, but not really enough to make a difference, so at that point we chained poor Raj to the workbench and gently suggested to Advik (Jessica’s beau, our mischievous painter, he of the bright yellow sweater) that he step up his production of profitable Classic and Abstract works.



Eve, you’ll already know this part of the story, but Mary, have I got a tale for you! Geoffrey Landgraab, a well-known married man, is seen here being glowered at by a roomful of people after making a rather brazen (and soundly rejected!) pass at our darling Eve.

There’s more to this tale, but I’ve got to keep you in suspense as it’s time to close this missive. Mary, you won’t believe what happened next! Eve, I don't know how you keep acquiring these dauntless admirers, but please never stop! It's so entertaining it almost makes me forget the stress I'm under.

Love and crumpets,

Loelia

[oshizu]

Another lovely update!

In the shot of Honey leaving for work, we see the Raj chin in its full glory. But Honey pulls it off with style--she's simply gorgeous!
What a scandal with the food critic! Too funny!

It's so hilarious that, among all the possible male premades in the simverse, the potbellied Geoffrey turns out to be such a player. Cracks me up every time.
Erm, is he making eyes at Raj in that last shot, tooooooo!?

I'm just sad that Felix didn't drop by G&K for a cameo. Oh wait, omg, an entire update without Caleb and his violin....what does this mean?

P.S. I soon abandoned the pursuit of top-notch toddlers in my RDC. For one thing, the heirs do just fine as Happy Toddlers.
Secondly, toddler skilling was making me dread and procrastinate the weeks when all three households had toddlers to raise. I do value my remaining shreds of sanity.
Like Loeilia, I choose to get tots to Happy Toddlers then give them a few days to enjoy toddler life.

[commasplice]

I love your writing. This is great. Each of your ladies has a very different conversational style and it comes across beautifully.

[PeregrineTook]

The early shot of Domino learning to walk looks like she's in the midst of a dance routine  :=)  Of course, her triumphant shot by the potty chair was just priceless!!
When I saw the shot of Loelia on the toilet, I thought we were about to hear the announcement of another pregnancy!  I mean, Honey and Domino are both lovely, so I can't say I'd blame you for wanting another, but it would certainly have added another pleasant distraction for Loelia (and would have given Mary that much more of a chance to take the lead, so I'm all for this idea). 
Another lovely update, and I'm looking forward to all the things she has to share in the next one  ;=)

[FrancescaFiori]

@oshizu I do love the Rasoya chin, and I'm excited to say I think I've found a partner for Honey who should be able to assist in carrying that strong jawline forward!

Geoffrey is so shameless! I think in my first RDC attempt it was Bob Pancakes who was the town Romeo. That was before they'd fixed the autonomous romantic relationships forming with people outside the household, and I'd return to each household every week to find at least one member had some pink bars going with ol' Bob. It's always the ones you'd never suspect! Hilarious!

A couple of shots of Felix in this one to tide you over until Eve's next update.

Glad to hear your advice on toddlers. Grinding all of their skills up is so draining! From here on out, I'll be guiltless about getting them to Happy and quitting!

@commasplice Thank you so much! Keeping their voices distinct is the real challenge for me, so it's very reassuring to hear I'm being somewhat successful!

@PeregrineTook Domino is pretty priceless no matter what she's doing. She's a peach.
Raj and Loelia do pop frequent whims to "try for baby" with each other, and I'm sorely tempted, but I'm trying to keep my eyes on the prize. I think it's very cute that they're still so much in love.

Ponsonby, Week 3, Part 2

Ladies,

All right, I've finally got another moment to myself, so back to the dirt!



The awkward pass Mr. Landgraab made at our precious Eve, right in front of her handsome son was, in fact, just first of several he made during that highly uncomfortable lunch service.



Enter Corey! The husband to the rescue, arriving late for lunch, but not too late to defend his wife’s honor, and stake his claim by seating himself at her table.



At which point, enter Nancy Landgraab! The villain’s wife!



The disgraced Mr. Landgraab attempts to save face and prove his marital fidelity by planting an ostentatious and lewd smooch on his purported beloved. The entire dining room, with the possible exception of Mrs. Landgraab, remains disdainfully unconvinced.

While I’m terribly sorry for the drama on your end, Eve, I must say, these little episodes are the reason I absolutely adore running a restaurant. One never knows what kind of stories might unfold right in front of one's eyes during a simple meal! It’s fascinating. Between Eve and our food critic, we may have to start adding popcorn to the menu! You just keep attracting the weirdos, Eve, and Mary, I’ll save you a spot next to me at the corner table!



The achievements came fast and furious towards week’s end. Honey maxed guitar soon after we returned home from our second 5-star day at the restaurant. She’d already written her four songs, so now all she needs for her aspiration are a few more simoleons to roll in from the one she licensed, and a good mentoring session with a willing member of the household. We’re drawing lots.



I myself maxed charisma not long afterward, and, taking a tip from our demanding restaurant staff, I immediately phoned up my superior to insist I be given a bonus, which I received.



With the accompanying performance boost, I was promoted to CEO (level 9) after my next shift and expect to reach level 10 of my career early next week.



Honey maxed her own position a few hours later. She phoned in a vacation day from school and proceeded to mix drinks as if her life depended upon it.



We moved the bar into her room where all the inspirational objects are, and placed a speaker blaring right into her face so that her music-loving soul could remain contented. Didn’t do much for her perpetual loneliness, I’m afraid, but there will be time for all that next week!



Darling Domino became a darling child. She’s adorable, and quite adventurous, so you’ll no doubt see her traipsing about your neighborhoods on your weeks.



She’s creative like her sister, and has set to work to follow in Honey’s footsteps (though at a much more relaxed pace) with her childhood aspiration.



As for the rest of us, we spent most of our remaining minutes literally waiting for the plants to grow. Raj is good enough with his tools to bang out dining tables now, which bring in a pretty penny, and Advik and Jessica are both accomplished painters, so we’ve seen our bank balance creep ever upward.



Honey maxed mixology at 1:19 a.m. Sunday, at which point I gathered up all of Advik’s priciest masterpieces, sold the meagre offerings of our dragonfruit patch, and headed over to the restaurant to see what could be done to raise its value.



I added a handsome back patio, and a room for children to play alongside it while their parents dine. Also, a rather ridiculous and gauche suit of armor in the main dining room. Raj assures me the customers will adore it. The value when I finished was $80,641.

We’ve accomplished a great deal, and we’ve certainly got our work cut out for us next week. I need one more promotion, Honey needs to mix up a collection of drinks for the museum, which, by the by, also needs to be built. Honey also needs to sort out her friends and enemies (though she and I are already good friends, thank goodness, and it’s possible your two will sort out the enemies bit for her), tie up the loose ends on her aspiration, and have her portrait painted. And I’ve got to pull $20,000 out of somewhere to pour into the restaurant.

It sounds daunting, but I think we can manage to do it in the first couple of days. You’re right, Eve, that Honey hasn’t given a thought to a spouse as of yet, but one step at a time is all we can manage at this breakneck pace! A whirlwind romance was good enough for her parents and it will have to do for her as well. I’ll do as you ask, Eve, and put in a good word for Paolo, but I can’t make any promises about the amorous Mr. Landgraab!

Fainting with exhaustion,

Loelia

[oshizu]

The Posonbys had such a stellar week!
So many maxed skills, so many career promtions, and so many five-star ratings!
Excuse me, but the knight status is never out of place! LOL 
Cash spent on costly flooring and wall coverings is also money well spent (their value never deteriorates).
And, of course, Domino is adorable!

Thank you for Felix's little cameo!

[PeregrineTook]

Oh man, that final comment got me thinking how funny it would be if Honey did choose Geoffrey "The Playboy" Landgraab  ;=)
A lovely update.  Dear Domino is a treasure.  I know Honey's supposed to be in the spotlight, but little sis is just a natural charmer.
I really enjoy Loelia as a narrator.  She's a nice blend of observer, sarcastic commentator, and caring mother/wife. 
Looking forward to hearing about my darling Mary's line again soon!

[commasplice]

It's hard to choose because they're all such fun, but I too love Domino.

[FrancescaFiori]

@oshizu Oooh! I didn't know that about the wall and floor coverings not depreciating. I'll definitely take that into account next time! Thanks!
Domino really is a darling. I'm going to have to figure out a way to keep her in the story somehow. She's so cute!

@PeregrineTook Oh, dear. Honey and Geoffrey! Unfortunately, he's going to have to keep his unappealing genes to himself. No potbellies in my dynasty! He does make for a very amusing side-character, though.
Mary's update coming up!

@commasplice So glad you like Domino! Everyone else seems to as well. I came back the next week and she had about fifty friends (including Geoffrey Landgraab!) Whenever anyone calls to congratulate the other households on promotions or new friendships, it's always Domino. She's the dynasty's Miss Congeniality!

Goodnight, Week 3, Part 1

Darlings,



We begin this week with a moment of uncharacteristic serenity from my darling girl. She’s as lovely as ever, but I think I have perhaps the teen-iest teenager ever to walk the earth. Even while practicing yoga she has the disapproving pout of one who is just SO over absolutely everything. I’ve had my hands full this week. May I vent? I plan to.



Things started out well, though I definitely sympathize with your feelings about Sundays and Mondays, Loelia. I practiced my vampiric skills at every opportunity, attempting to raise myself to Grand Master by sussing out the mundane contents of the minds of passersby. Nothing juicy to tell about this fellow. *sigh*



Tatiana set to work making enemies of everyone she met, beginning with my progeny. “We’re in a hurry, Mum. I can’t exactly be choosy!” she says. It’s made for some tense club gatherings. Matter of fact, all of our gatherings are tense because Tati’s membership in a notorious club makes everyone nervous around her. It’s such a headache.



At least the garden’s going well. Jana’s chummy with the cowplant now that she doesn’t have to see the inside of it anymore, and we’ve managed to keep up a regular feeding schedule. We goofed last week and grafted a pomegranate to a lily instead of an orchid, but rectified the situation first thing, and had a healthy, skull-faced blossom to plant in no time.



My horrid luck with the wishing well seemed to have skipped a generation at first and Tatiana got a full promotion in her babysitter job on her first try. She only has shifts on weekends, but we figured we’d have her keep up a regular wishing schedule and she’d be sure to strike gold one more time before the big switch. Does that sound like ominous, hubristic foreshadowing? It’s meant to.



Another of these faces. I can’t tell if it’s her mother’s tiny rosebud mouth, or her perpetually arched eyebrows, but she’s really become an expert at cynical disapproval in an astoundingly short time. I see this face often.



Club gatherings are a bit difficult. I summon my progeny round for training and sparring every evening, but they usually arrive smoking and exhausted, and head straight downstairs to the coffins.



They do get a bit of work done, however, when pushed. I’m never going to get the stains out of the ceilings. I just refuse to look up.



Dear Caleb has been having a bit of trouble relating to his biological offspring. Aidan (and it is Aidan, and not Ethan, as I’d originally said. Oops! Bad Auntie!) is a darling little thing, but I don’t think he and his Daddy have a great deal in common. Aidan enjoys blocks. Caleb enjoys being admired and doted upon. Aidan appreciates storybooks. Caleb prefers posing majestically in pools of moonlight. The relationship between father and son is, sadly, in the red. Naturally, they went on a brief camping trip to attempt to bond with one another (and so Caleb could learn the woodworking schematic). They were less than successful.



They returned quickly to accompany Tati to a club meeting at the Bathe de Rill. As you can see, Nancy Landgraab was deeply impressed with Caleb’s jumping and splashing abilities.



Fortunately, Caleb is a bit more in his element around his niece, and returned home to assist her with her homework before school began Monday morning. He was so passionate about helping he refused to take the time to change out of his swimwear. At least that’s his story.



My dearest Lilith has recently mastered The Oshizu Technique for painting portraits and spent many an hour in front of her easel, attempting to produce a masterpiece.



Caleb spent an equal number of hours in front of his workbench, grinding out camping mascots to pad the family finances so that we might toss his earnings gaily into the wishing well. Again, his passion and haste forbid him from donning a shirt.



Tati lucked out and brought home a school project, which gave her grades a nice boost early on.



It did little for her relationship with Mummy Lilith, however. Even besties it seems are not immune from the mood swings of Hurricane Tatiana.



Tatiana did master the ironic squee of joy, however. I was not aware that it was even possible to “applaud” in quotation marks, but our Tatiana has a way of finding the sarcasm in any situation.



We got another stroke of luck when the Humor and Hijinks festival rolled into town. We had to wait until sundown to make an appearance as Tati and Jana are still sensitive to sunlight, but that left plenty of time for our girl to get on Geoffrey Landgraab’s nerves.



Being a teenage vampire offers a number of extra mischief socials, which works greatly in Tati’s benefit. She can not only throw shade and spread urban legends like most teens, she can also pretend to bite people.



And then actually bite them . . . At any rate, she ended the festival with level 6 mischief and a marvelous new voodoo doll to play with.



She bound it to dear Johnny, who I must say has been a particularly good sport about all of Tati’s mischief-making.



They’re both goofballs, so they’ve got a lot in common, and no matter how many times she zings him with the hand buzzer or accuses him of breaking wind, their relationship seems to only get better and better.



We managed to get Aidan to a cake in time to celebrate his birthday (though only just). Poor boy. His mother hates children and his father . . . is Caleb, so he doesn’t get a great deal of attention, despite being a dear little boy.



I imagine that will change as he ages, however. Just look at that handsome mug. He’ll have more attention than he can stand once he’s a teenager.



Oh! At this point, we built a museum. I attempted to base the design on an old mausoleum, but it somehow came out more quaint than creepy. I’ll try adding some more cracks and vines at a later date, but for now it does the job, and should continue to do so for the coming generations.



Tati, brilliant girl that she is (and savvy user of wishing wells) achieved an A grade by Tuesday, and took the rest of the week off school. She settled down in front of the computer and began to teach herself video gaming, of all things! She’ll need it for her career, and it’s nice to have a head start, but I’m troubled by that particular skill’s lack of any tangible rewards of the type that might fill her slot in the family museum.

That’s her club chum, Wolfgang, in the back. He does spend a good deal of time staring at my lovely girl in that puppy-dog fashion. He’s not a vampire, though, . . . yet, so if he becomes a member of the family it will have to be down the road. For now, having a fawning admirer seems to aid Tatiana in maintaining her focus for long gaming sessions (so she says), so we keep him around.

Oh, if only we could have ended the week on Tuesday! Or just continued at that frenzied, successful pace through Saturday night! I'll stop here before the tale gets dismal, darlings, and let you all believe for a few more days that the Goodnight line is destined for victory.

The axe drops next time.

Hugs and Kisses,

Mary

[PeregrineTook]

Tati is a delight!!  I think Mary might choose a different word, but I'm going with delight  :=)
Caleb and his dislike for shirts was quite an amusing bit of running humor.  Mary is a delightful storyteller (meaning her Watcher is a great storyteller, of course).
How lovely to see the Oshizu method of painting show up!  Quite a bit of cleverness, that.  I fully plan to steal it...I mean...borrow it in the future as well  ;=)
Yay!  Next update means even more Mary!!  Out of curiosity, did you have her go the vamp route so she could be Bloody Mary?

[oshizu]

Wow, Tati seems like quite the handful! A holy terror, in fact!
I rather like the chemistry between her and Johnny Zest--she pranks him to pieces and their relationship just gets better?
Sounds like a keeper to me!

I'm surprised that Caleb and his beautiful son have a bad relationship, in the red zone, even. What caused that, I wonder.
Repainting a good portrait is our only defense against being forced to choose a painting of the back of someone's head, just because it's worth the most.  Haha.
(Yes, I've done that. I'm not proud, okay?)

Toddler skilling is so demanding yet I'd still choose that over teens and their mood swings--mine are constantly enraged...
I must protest about the Moneypennys only getting one update per week while Eve's rivals get two!
Lovely update!  #TeamMoneypenny

[FrancescaFiori]

@PeregrineTook Tati's definitely an acquired taste, but I'm glad she's pleasing to you.
The Oshizu technique is a lifesaver. It takes so long to get a sim properly posed, and once you do half the time they dart off to wash their hands or do sit-ups (*cough* Eve *cough*), so it's very nice to Paint from Reference when your reference will actually hold still! I highly recommend it.
I didn't think about Bloody Mary when I chose this route for her, but that's clever. I just thought she seemed like the most adventurous one and would want to try the most dangerous and exciting route.

@oshizu A holy terror, indeed, but she maxed mischief in record time, so I'm not complaining. Johnny Zest is a total keeper. I tend to forget about him, but he's really a super-solid sim with an excellent sense of humor.
I think I may have given Caleb the uncontrollable hissing weakness, which damages his relationship with anyone who witnesses it, and he doesn't get much chance to mitigate that damage since I force him to make camping mascots instead of parenting. So . . . red relationship with Aidan. Oops!
I remember that lovely, enigmatic portrait of the back of Megumi's head. I'm so glad you figured out a better way for all of us to get these portraits done. As usual, I'm very much in your debt.
I think all houses are getting multi-part updates from now on, as I've gotten pretty screenshot happy and I'm not great at editing myself. Mary only got two parts last week because of my silly Snow White interlude, but she and Eve are both on track for three-parters this time, don't you worry!

Goodnight, Week 3, Part 2

Dear Ladies,

So Wednesday was when things started to go a bit sideways for the Goodnights:

Our first thought for Tati’s museum items had been fish, but she doesn’t have sun resistance yet, and it was a full day before we all remembered we could make sunlight resistance cocktails. At that point, Tati was already well into her video gaming skill, and she also declared fish to be “gross” so we took to spending our evenings out and about in San Myshuno so that our girl might collect posters and find people to torment.



Loelia, I believe this fellow is your nanny. He looks like a fascinating bloke. I can’t make heads or tails of his outfit, but somehow he’s pulling it off.



Speaking of Loelia, we caught you singing karaoke! You looked like you were having a delightful time. i would have popped in to say hello but . . .



I was busy at that moment becoming a Grand Master Vampire at last! I even had enough points saved to buy my two level-5 powers (Tamed Thirst and Beyond the Herd, in case you were curious)!



Lilith also managed to get back at Morgan Fyres for being such a snob to our lovely girl last week. She got a highly well-deserved nap.



Maaike Haas is another surprisingly good-natured victim. Tatiana slapped her silly more than once, and their relationship was still in the green by the time she was through. I’m so glad others have got patience for my daughter, because I confess mine wears quite thin after a few rounds of “What’s that Spot?”



I don’t know whom she imagines she’s intimidating here, but whatever gets her head in the game, I suppose.



Wednesday I brought home my final promotion! Level 10 scientist! And to think I thought the career would be the thing holding us all back!

How do you like my menacing pose? I was more than a little full of myself at this point, so couldn’t resist celebrating with a bit of drama. The mad vampire scientist! Will she drink your blood or perform experiments on your DNA? First one, then the other? Run! Hide!



The cowplant and I celebrated with a sparring match. In the end we agreed that she’s the scariest.



Tati stayed out all night starting preposterous rumors and asking the due dates of women who clearly aren’t pregnant. When dawn came she started to smoke and sizzle, but was only a few ticks away from mastering mischief.



So she came home and sent chain letters to everyone she’d ever met. No doubt you’ve received yours. I’m terribly sorry, but she was a girl on a mission.

And mission accomplished!



Poor Aidan. He doesn’t seem to take good care of himself while we’re out, and he got a bit lost in the shuffle of things. I find this picture rather painfully prophetic, because this was the point in the week when things started to really go downhill. We got a bit cocky with my career and Tati’s aspiration both finished so early on, and we began to think we might actually get her moved out before Saturday night! Ah, hubris! You saw us coming.



Every now and then Tati would start to suffer from video game fatigue, so to keep her spirits up and her skills growing we bought a console for the downstairs, and since my own requirements were complete by this point i joined her for a few rounds of MySims Racing.



And then the curse of the well struck again. And eight hours later . . . again.



Tati drowned her sorrows in a Sunlight Reversal Cocktail and hit the city again, seeking more valuable posters.



None had spawned.



Aidan wondered where everyone had gone.



I tried to cheer Tati up by gifting her the posh new computer I’d received as a bonus with my final promotion, but even blinky lights and infinite RAM can’t make up for continued glitchy wishes, so our girl decided to go and take out her frustrations on other people.



Felix happened to be standing outside when she arrived, so that took care of the decision as to whom she’d make her enemy.



Also, I gather you were indisposed at that moment. I do hope everything worked out all right for you, Eve dear, and that they sent you back home in one piece!



Tati sneered her best sneer, but Felix bested her easily in their fight. It pains me deeply to know that our children are enemies, darling, but I suppose it can’t be helped.



Tati traveled to your place, Loelia, and found Honey in the backyard.



She got to “vampire fight” that time, and I know she was rather excited about it. I guess it’s more dramatic, and she says it’s more fun, but I think she might only be saying that because she won.



Unfortunately, she became so angry at that point that she had to seek out somebody to bite. The plus side is, Geoffrey Landgraab happened to be walking by.



The minus side being that she made an unintended enemy that night in addition to your two kids. It would seem the Grim Reaper doesn’t take kindly to eating one’s feelings when the thing you eat is plasma. Either that or he was hoping to pick off our dear Tatiana due to rage death and didn’t like being foiled. Who knows? All I know is that Tatiana’s relationship panel is a veritable sea of red!



At any rate, she used her vampiric entrance power to break back into your home and finish the job with poor Honey, who appeared to be eating a few feelings of her own (thought I imagine Raj's famous chocolate cake tasted a lot better than Geoffrey Landgraab), and then came home for a nice, hot bath.
I've a few more bitter tears to spill about this week, but they'll have to wait for next time.

Hugs & Kisses,

Mary

[oshizu]

Mary and Tati have been making great strides!
Doing a weekend-only teen job is tempting fate, Tati!
But thanks for making an enemy of Felix already. It will give him more time to look after his other business. *evil grin

How odd about Tati's red bars with Grim! Maybe ask Tessie to put in a good word for her? Or not?
Congrats, Mary, on maxing your career! You did it without Connections or Entrepreneurial--we're all very proud of you!!!
It's a huge achievement since, as the founder, you don't have the accumulated support mechanisms that your heirs will.  Hats off to you, Mary!

I'm glad to hear that the Watcher's been screenshot-happy lately. It means more reading enjoyment for the rest of us! Yay!

[commasplice]

I've missed a couple of updates I see! Your ladies are coming along very nicely!