The Honeyheart Short Dynasty

[Beks]

Chapter 31 - The End of Blue

Things are busy but happy in the Honeyheart household these days. The overall mood in the family is more pleasant than usual, I feel, largely because of the presence of two adorable cats.

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Daisy and April are the most enthusiastic animal lovers. I’m not sure why April spends so much time with the cats--maybe her Mean-Spirited trait makes it hard for her to be around people? In any case, she seems pretty enchanted by Zelda in particular.

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Kip and Zelda also get along well with each other. Better than I ever expected.

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And yet, even with all their cuddling and nuzzling, I still find them having very dramatic battles in the garden sometimes.

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Kelvin is settling into the family nicely. He pops a wish to learn the athletic skill soon after moving in, and takes the opportunity to slim down a bit on the treadmill.

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The skilling continues at all hours of the day and night (the rocking chairs throw everybody’s sleep schedules off). Kelvin moves quickly through the lower levels of alchemy, while Minnow paints masterpiece after masterpiece as a level 10 painter.

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And, yeah, the rocking chairs are popular as ever, especially for the older gentlemen of the house.

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Raymond is still going strong at 42 days old, more than 13 days past when his life bar first filled. He’s lived longer than anyone else in this dynasty so far. He still goes to work at the Van Gould Merchant House & Cafe, where he’s been a Five-Star Chef for a third of his life. He still rides his bicycle home at night, smiling serenely as the lights of the town glint around him.

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Fern spends much of her pregnancy practicing the art of zeneport. She enjoys zeneporting from the upstairs loft downstairs into the kitchen, where she scares the bejesus out of her family members. (Okay, I enjoy seeing her do it. We must remember, after all, that Fern has No Sense of Humor.)

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When she’s not practicing magic or playing with the cats, our actual animal lover, Lilac, spends HOURS in front of the mirror in one of the upstairs bedrooms. I’ve never seen a Snobbish sim admire themselves so incessantly. Yes, Lilac, your bunny slippers are very cute, but I really need you to max out the magic skill before you die? Pretty please?

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Okay, she also spends some time listening to the baby squirming around in her sister’s belly. But not very much.

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And April and Minnow are as in love as ever, if you were wondering. They autonomously flirt and make out many times a day. I think they’re one of the cutest couples in this dynasty.

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Fern goes into labor surrounded by a throng of screaming men. Why is it always the men that freak out? All the women continue doing whatever task they're doing and don't give Fern's moans of pain a second thought.

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Kelvin takes Fern to the hospital, and a literal few seconds later, Fern pops out with a baby boy in her arms. Everyone, meet Cricket, our generation eight heir! (Don't worry, Fern's happier than she looks. She and Kelvin both wished for a boy. )

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It’s not just Cricket’s birthday. At long last, it’s time for Daisy to become an old woman. Sorry, Daisy--it had to happen eventually.

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When I go in to change Daisy’s outfits in CAS, I have trouble finding her old floppy beret, for some reason. So I give her a new hat and decide it looks pretty cute on her. A little more distinguished, perhaps.

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Kelvin makes an adorable daddy and plays with Cricket constantly. I'm not worried about this baby's wellbeing at all--he's surrounded by a big, loving family and a daddy who makes (potentially dangerous) elixirs about ten feet away.

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Well, almost constantly. Great Grandpa Raymond is just as attentive, if not more so.

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Raymond is tucking little Cricket into his crib when death comes for him at last.

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The family runs to say goodbye. The chorus of weeping is almost deafening. But hey, at least Grim made it into the room this time!

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Zelda stands outside the room, looking in, wondering why she suddenly feels so sad. Even animals in The Sims seem to have an idea of what’s going on, even if they don’t fully understand it.

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RIP, Raymond Honeyheart. As the longest living member of the Honeyheart family to date, you have achieved much, and will be missed greatly.

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P.S. Thanks for the medium headstone. We’ll need that.

[Beks]

Chapter 32 - What Do You Even Title A Chapter Like This

After the death of Raymond in the last chapter, there is a need for good news in this household. Fear not! There are TWO good newses.

The first good news is that Kip and Zelda have decided to take their relationship to the next level and share their first woohoo. Or, more specifically...their first Try For Kittens. Hooray! (April stands guard and pretends not to notice what is actually happening behind her.)

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The second good news is that it’s Cricket’s first birthday! Ah, I love the short lifespan when it comes to infants. Because I hate playing through the infant stage. Sorry not sorry. (Also, if you’re wondering whether Kelvin is okay in this picture...I’m not sure. I am not sure at all.)

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Cricket ages up with his mother’s eyes, his daddy’s facial structure (maybe), and his daddy’s hair color. He’s a cutie!

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Cricket is Eccentric and Athletic, and his favorite things are country music, tofu dogs, and the color black.

The full moon rises that night. I’ve gotten to the point where I pretty much ignore the Weekly Backyard Zombie Apocalypse, but this time, I get to witness the answer to a question I never knew I had: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A ZOMBIE BITES A GHOST?

Here’s the answer: pretty much the exact same thing that happens to a human. First, the ghost gets sucked oozily into the mud:

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Then, the ghost rises again with a new hunchbacked posture:

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And finally, the ghost makes its SCARIEST FACE and goes “Rawwrrrr!”

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Yes, Alfie, you’re very scary. Good job. *applause*

For some reason, on this particular Weekly Backyard Zombie Apocalypse, I have a hard time keeping the family indoors (and the ghosts in their graves). They all pick this one day to have dinner outside, and then Kelvin and Daisy stay out long after everyone’s done eating. It's actually kind of aggravating. I will say, however, that Kelvin makes the cutest faces when a zombie gets to close to him. (I imagine these faces are accompanied by some high-pitched screaming.)

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Ida comes out that same night to say hello to Kip and give him a nice brushing.

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Lilac is becoming a well-practiced witch, but I realize around this time that she hasn’t actually cast a lot of spells in her life. Or...any. Because I’ve never played an accomplished witch before--and because I am so, so naïve--I decide to let her try out a love charm on her Aunt Daisy. Daisy still has to date nine more people before she accomplishes her LTW of being a Heartbreaker, so a love spell will probably help with that, right?

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Kelvin knows what Lilac has done. Even before I do.

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Kelvin: “I can’t believe you cast a love spell on your own aunt. You have no idea what you’ve just done!”

Lilac: “Mmm, don’t I?”

Well, either way...surely SOMEONE could have warned me about THIS:

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So, uh...yeah. This is the moment when I learn that a love charm makes a sim fall for the very first person they talk to, regardless of who they are or whether they are family. Which, in this case, is Daisy’s sister-in-law April.

Naturally, other members of the family are a LITTLE freaked out at this occurance.

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Fern: “I will fight. I am ready to fight. I will INCAPACITATE whoever caused this abomination to happen!”
Lilac: “It must have been an elixir. Or a potion. It was Kelvin. Yeah, it was Kelvin!”

My open-mouthed shock is briefly interrupted by the innocent Kelvin having his adult birthday in the next room.

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Kelvin: “Whoops, I guess the horror that I’ve just seen has made me age a decade. *sigh*”

I check back in on the love charm disaster and find Fern and Lilac standing in the exact same place looking utterly perplexed.

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Fern: “This is so screwed up.”
Lilac: “I don’t get it--did I cast it wrong? Maybe I can claim ignorance if they figure out it was magic. Wait a second, April’s a witch, maybe I could say it was her--”

I sit here for a little while, pretty perplexed myself about what to do. I try to tell myself that this isn’t that bad. I mean, it could be worse--Daisy could have fallen for one of her nieces, or her own brother. She and April aren’t technically blood relatives--just relatives by marriage. It’s not THAT messed up. Right?

Then I spend some time trying to figure out how to fix this. After all, April's a married woman, and her husband lives in this household! (It's Minnow. Remember Minnow? Yeah. Poor guy.)

Luckily, Daisy pretty much takes care of the situation herself. She starts mocking and insulting April moments after their first flirt interactions. You know, that Inappropriate trait comes in handy sometimes.

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And April, being Mean-Spirited, is more than happy to shout right back.

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April: “Hey! YOU’RE the one who kissed ME, smartypants. I just went along with it because my feelings and body were suddenly out of my control!”

At this moment, Daisy goes a bit out of character and bursts into tears. Is it an act? We’ll never know. But when Daisy goes to cry on April’s shoulder, April backs away apprehensively.

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Daisy: *sniff* "I didn't MEAN to. I have this rule wherein I don't date buskers, but--"

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April: “Okay first of all, that was a low blow. Second of all, this can’t be right. I’m married to Minnow, remember? I love Minnow! This doesn’t make any sense!”

Very astute, April. And someone else in this house has figured out that a mistake was made, and is about to try and make it right.

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Lilac: “Hold still, Aunt Daisy. This will make things go back to normal, okay?”

Daisy: “What? Wait, how do I know you won’t just turn me into a t--”

*FWOOOSH*

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“Aieeeee!”

So uh, yeah. That happens.

Daisy the Toad flees on her vacuum to who knows where, to cause who knows what mischief.

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Next chapter: the adventures of Daisy the Toad.

[mpart]

I absolutely adore the cats and are living for them.
Cricket is such a cute toddler! Just look at his little cheeks!

Ah, the evil of the love charm. I know that way, way too well. It could have been worse at least? I mean...it could have? Sims are weird. Oh and I have a tip for maxing out the spell casting skill! If you have two witches reach level three of the spell casting skill then you can just spam the dueling interaction nonstop until they max it. I found that's what works best. Best of luck to you and I loved the chapters!

[Beks]

I absolutely adore the cats and are living for them.
Cricket is such a cute toddler! Just look at his little cheeks!

Ah, the evil of the love charm. I know that way, way too well. It could have been worse at least? I mean...it could have? Sims are weird. Oh and I have a tip for maxing out the spell casting skill! If you have two witches reach level three of the spell casting skill then you can just spam the dueling interaction nonstop until they max it. I found that's what works best. Best of luck to you and I loved the chapters!

I'm pretty much living for the cats too. Don't worry, there is a lot more animal action in the future!

Oh my gosh, THANK YOU for the tip about spell casting! I realized that I actually don't know anything about the skill after the whole love charm fiasco happened. I've just been having Lilac "practice magic" all day every day, and it doesn't seem to get her anywhere (she's only at level 4 or 5 right now I think). I didn't even think of having Lilac and April work together. Thank you so much!

[Trident]

I am FASCINATED by the ghost zombies. Holy cow.

Ugh. Sims! How do they get into these messes?! At least Cricket it cute. Good luck with love spell shenanigans. I can't wait to see the kittens!

[KRae]

Some of your screenshots in chapters 31 and 32 are not coming up for me, not all, just some. Is it just me?

[deedee_828]

No KRae, some didn't show up for me as well, yesterday, and today, pages and photos are loading very slowly.

[Beks]

I'm sorry you guys aren't seeing all the screenshots! Everything's working fine on my end, so I'm not sure what to tell you. Hopefully it's a temporary issue.

[Beks]

Chapter 33 - The Adventures of Daisy the Toad, Except Not

I may have set you up for disappointment in regards to this chapter. The adventures of Daisy the Toad are actually only one adventure. And it’s only a little exciting. Oopsies.

Daisy rides her magic vacuum downtown to--where else?--the Toadstool. Now that she’s an elder, it really is crunch time for her LTW. She’s only managed to break one heart thus far. Best get crackin’! (Kind of literally. Ouch.)

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At the Toadstool, Daisy runs into this lovely purple lady whose name I never wrote down. Daisy quickly woos her with literally nothing but the power of the Master of Seduction lifetime reward (though let’s let Daisy continue to believe it was her own slimy charm), and convinces Purple Lady to grace her with a kiss. (I love how Daisy looks straight at me when this happens. Like, “Ha ha, I win!”)

Daisy the Toad and Purple Lady are very cute together, but alas, hearts must be broken if we want to win another point. So, fully human and heartless once again, Daisy ends their five-second relationship.

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“That’s it, Purple Lady. We’re OVER. Maybe if you’d kissed me on the LIPS like you were SUPPOSED to, things would have been different!”

Aaaand because Purple Lady’s kiss cured Daisy’s toad-ism, such is the end of the adventures of Daisy the Toad. Ah well...maybe she’ll come back someday. (Can toadified sims die in their toad state and become TOAD GHOSTS? So many unanswered questions…)

Things are decidedly normal back at the Honeyheart house, at least for the moment.

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Fern is celebrating her adult birthday.

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And somebody else has a birthday--Kip and Zelda’s kitten! Yes, they only had one kitten. This is Majora, and she is a teeny beauty. She is born with the...Neat and Destructive traits? How. How is that possible.

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Fern and Cricket bond as mother and son. Cricket has precious few days as a toddler, so Fern gets in lots of cuddle time.

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Lilac is doing well, if you were wondering. She continually preens in the mirror and otherwise gets lots of magical makeovers. I like this shot because it almost looks, as she spins in midair, like she’s feeling guilty for turning her aunt into a toad. But that’s all speculation.

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After her fourth magical makeover of the day, Lilac finally makes some actual progress on her lifetime wish and adopts a dog! (She’s had three different “Adopt a ___” wishes locked in for days now, but I went with the dog one because, well, I like dogs.) This little fluffer is an adult named Misushi. At least, I think it’s Misushi. My notes are a bit unclear. But Misushi is cute, and sounds like “my sushi”, so we’re going with it.

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Misushi is Quiet and Lazy, and Loves Swimming. Basically, he’s a sweetheart, and takes to Lilac like a...dog to water?

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Lilac starts popping dog-related wishes like the attentive pet owner I knew she would be (though I probably shouldn’t trust her with toads). The first one: to take her sushi for a walk. They spend the whole rest of the day exploring Moonlight Falls together.

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The birthdays ain’t over yet. It’s Cricket’s turn to age up!

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Cricket gets his sparkles in the midst of what looks like mild chaos. I don’t remember why Fern is crying in this photo...unless it was still within the mourning period after Raymond’s death? I’m not sure.

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Here’s Cricket as a boy. He decides to become a blond Harry Potter a Kleptomaniac. (Hey, that is kind of Harry Potter-ish.)

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Cricket was born Athletic and Eccentric, and since I find the athletic skill to be smelly and boring, I decide to let him become an inventor, like his Great-Great-Great-Aunt Olive.

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Alas, a chapter full of birthdays cannot come without some losses. As Majora the kitten nears adulthood (which happens really quickly), the family decides to give her up for adoption so that another nice family in Moonlight Falls can love her and care for her. It’s sad, but it’s necessary. I can only handle so many pets at one time, even in The Sims.

I don’t know if it’s because she had to give Majora up or what...but Lilac has the most depressing birthday I’ve ever witnessed.

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“Oh, that’s funny. Suddenly I feel an uncontrollable urge to clap.”

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“Yay, I am about to become an adult. Such cause for celebration.”

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“Oh look, some sparkles.”

The birthdays just never stop, do they?

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Misushi, who somehow ran home on his own while Lilac was aging up, has his own birthday when he tries to eat dinner. He’s now an elder dog. He looks so traumatized! Luckily, even on the short lifespan, Misushi has quite a bit of time left. At least, more than I expected.

April, on the other hand...

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“Who’re you? You’re Death? Huh, that's cool I guess.” *YAWN*

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April Honeyheart passes away pretty much right on schedule, but that doesn’t make her loss any easier. April was one of the nicest Mean-Spirited sims I’ve ever played. She was kind, stylish, and had a mysterious way with cats. Rest in peace, April.

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Kip consoles himself by plunging face-first into the toilet.

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Zelda--who was perhaps closest to April, between the two cats--has a more constructive approach to mourning, as does her BFF Kelvin. The two of them play together for hours and manage to raise each other's spirits.

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And Lilac dedicates herself to caring for Misushi. She’s determined to make the rest of his life as fun and full of belly rubs as possible, in memory of her mother. (Wow, I almost wrote “aunt” there initially. It might be time to break out that family tree again...)

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The next morning, as dawn breaks foggily over Moonlight Falls, Fern and Daisy depart together on a very particular mission. Where are they going? You’ll just have to find out next time. Au revoir!

[Beks]

Chapter 34 - *insert moody break-up song here*

Where are they going, you ask? To China! Fern and Daisy catch a plane to China together and arrive bright and early with plenty of time to get things done. For they each have a purpose here. Fern needs to max both martial arts and athletic to complete her LTW, so she needs all the extra time and practice she can get. And Daisy needs to break eight more hearts in order to complete her LTW. And the nice thing about China...everybody’s single. At least, the unmarried ones are. There are LOTS of hearts to be broken here. So let’s get to it!

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The moment they set foot on foreign earth, Daisy and Fern start fighting.

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You know, I’ve never really seen these two interact much before. They’re not very close, and thus, Daisy’s negative traits come out in a blaze of glory. They’re probably fighting about stuff they forgot to pack, or something.

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“Ugh, you know what, Aunt Daisy? You’re screwing up my zen. Just leave me alone.”

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Fern makes a beeline for the Martial Arts Academy, where she does some angry quad lifts until she calms down.

Daisy, meanwhile, gets to heartbreaking.

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“Why hello, lovely lady. Do you want to spend our twilight years locked in luxurious romance together?”

“Do I ever!”

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“Just kidding! Ha ha! We can break up now.”

“But--what? I--”

Daisy goes for a variety of Shang Simla townies, from female to male, clean to stanky.

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“Oh, Miss Daisy, I am so pleased that a woman of hygiene such as yourself has agreed to enjoy physical closeness with a man of filth like me!”

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“Pssst. Guess what? I actually think you’re gross.”

Poor old man. Now he has to watch his son get wooed in the same, unforgiving way.

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“Your father was too smelly, young man, but YOU--! YOU wear too much cologne!”

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After destroying this family’s relationships, Daisy gets hungry and swipes some mac and cheese before she leaves. Might as well, right?

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“So you see, young man, the great thing about dating is that it allows you to see the whole spectrum of human emotions, from euphoria to devastation. I just orchestrate things so that I see that whole spectrum in a matter of minutes. It’s much more efficient that way.”

“Don’t listen to her, boy. She eats her food AND her dishes WITH HER HANDS.”

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A few of Daisy’s victims show up to base camp of their own accord, which essentially means they’re walking right into a trap.

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Daisy runs into this beautiful lass in the bathroom and breaks her heart before anybody gets a chance to pee. I mean, how sad is that?

Because all this breaking up is making me depressed, let’s take a brief break and see how Fern’s doing.

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Ahh, there she is, zooming through the wooded hills of Shang Simla on her quietly humming vacuum. At least SOMEONE in this town is having a good time.

Daisy next goes to the home of two single sisters.

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First she woos one (maybe she does have a thing for smelliness)…

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“Wait, you have a SISTER?! WHERE IS SHE I NEED TO TALK TO HER RIGHT NOW!”

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...And then she woos the other.

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“No, you can NOT have a bowl of my mac and cheese. Get out of my house, lady.”

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And Daisy does. But only after using the girls’ shower to hose down her armpits while still clothed. *sigh*

Only two hearts left to break. On their last night at base camp, Daisy latches onto a fellow tourist. Like, she really latches on.

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“This is the man. Yes. This man’s heart is MINE!”

Thank god the tourist manages to escape before Daisy can say a word to him. I’ve never been so creeped out in my life. *shudder*

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The next day, Fern really goes hard at the martial arts thing. The whole “getting fatigued after working out” thing is really costing us on this trip--Fern isn’t making as much progress as I had hoped. But she’s getting there, little by little. At least she breaks a bunch of space rocks and reveals a ton of gems that I completely forget about and leave behind without selling.

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As the last day in Shang Simla winds to a close, Daisy makes her penultimate conquest via a mountaintop massage.

And after breaking up with that guy, she tracks down one of the only remaining single female sims in town.

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Daisy actually has some real chemistry with Wu Xio--so much so that I strongly considered having them stay in a relationship long-term. Unfortunately, the Heartbreaker LTW doesn’t register until the sim dates and breaks up with ten sims. So...she has to end it.

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But when she does...Daisy finally completes her Lifetime Wish with a whole thirty minutes to spare before she has to head back to Moonlight Falls. Hurrah! Aaaand I’m never doing this LTW again. Probably.

And on that note, my sincerest apologies to every resident of Shang Simla whose heart was cruelly ripped out and stomped on. We're going away now. Please forget us.

[Trident]

Majora is SUCH a good kitten name. Congrats (?) to Daisy! A shame that you're now banned from China

[Beks]

Chapter 35 - Fire & Ice

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Fern and Daisy arrive home from China and find Lilac practicing magic in the yard, as usual.

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...And Kelvin digging in his own trash can. Uh...okay. I don't think he's been doing too well without Fern around. Poor guy.

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Daisy goes straight for the animals. She’s missed them, and they seem to have missed her, too.

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The boys are busy in the skilling room. Kelvin has a lot of alchemy still to learn; Cricket is working his butt off trying to invent something for the first time.

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And he does it! After many hours of hard work, Cricket finally creates his first dog toy. Into the family toybox it goes, to be treasured forevermore.

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Fern made a good amount of progress in her Martial Arts skill in China, but she still has a ways to go (and a long way to go with athletic). She spends every spare moment in front of that board breaker. At least we’re making some good money from all those space rocks!

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Lilac is still trying to level up in her magic skill, and it’s not working too well. April, our other witch in the family, passed away before I was able to try out the dueling trick that @mpart suggested , and as it turns out, the rest of the witches in Moonlight Falls have pretty much died out. The only other witch in town is Brittany Bertiger, a homeless child who’s been in the game since day one and whom is virtually impossible to locate, even with MasterController.

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Lilac’s only remaining option is to cast spells on her family members. Aunt Daisy is a common target, since she doesn’t really do anything all day.

I’ve never tried out the ice blast or fire blast spells before. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the fire blast...um...lights your sim on fire.

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Daisy does a wild dance of terror, looking very comical in her tweed pants and oh dear I just realized how awful those shoes look with her outfit. Anyway, priorities!

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You probably didn’t notice in the last screenshot, but Kelvin sneaks into the room whilst Daisy’s butt is alight. Does he sneak in to help with the emergency? Nope. He sneaks in to ride a wave of fire-quelling agent up into the sky get a Magical Makeover. A true Honeyheart, this man is.

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Kelvin: “Oh, yikes, I didn't realize what was...uh...I mean, is everything okay?"
Lilac: “Yup. Under control.”

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Poor Daisy. Always the victim of awful spells and pranks. Luckily, she’s about as good-spirited as she can possibly be. She can finally make good use of the shower-in-a-can that’s been passed down through the family inventory for who knows how many generations.

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The pets are doing well, as always. Misushi (turns out that’s actually not his name, but I can never remember the correct one and I’m not about to try now) and Zelda have become good friends via some curious nuzzling.

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Cricket’s teen birthday arrives, and he demonstrates his powerful lung force by blowing out his candles from several feet away.

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He’s looking more and more like Kelvin, isn’t he?

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Cricket adds No Sense of Humor to his rather all-over-the-place list of traits. (His other ones, in case you’ve forgotten, are Eccentric, Athletic, and Kleptomaniac.) Because all hairstyles look funny (heh, get it?) on him, he opts to hide his hair altogether beneath this rockin’ beanie.

More birthdays! It’s time for the cats to become elders.

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Zelda tries to hide from the sparkles, but alas, age comes for all of us eventually.

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And Kip ages up with an impressive display of feline acrobatics.

Kelvin: “Jeez, this cat-aging-up thing takes forever. I became an elder in about three-quarters of a second.”
Daisy: “Yeah. I don’t think anyone even noticed it was your birthday.”

(I definitely didn’t. Just now I looked through these screenshots and went, “Wait, since when is Kelvin OLD???” So, yeah. I’m as confused as you are.)

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Remember how I said that age comes for all of us eventually? Well…

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Daisy is out tending to our very neglected money tree when death comes for her for the second time.

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Fern: “So, how’ve you been?”
Grim: “Oh, about the same as I was two days ago. Or whenever I was last here.”
Fern: “Yeah, I can’t keep track either.”

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Daisy departs this life rather unglamorously, in the dark and the mud, with only Fern as a witness (I’m not sure where the rest of the family is at this moment in time). Her life, however, was anything but unglamorous. Daisy was a wild, funny, and very special sim who brought a great deal of fun and hilarity to the Honeyheart household. I enjoyed every second of her life and every one of her ridiculous antics. She will go down in history as one of my favorite sims ever, and she will be dearly missed. RIP, Daisy Honeyheart.

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At least she has a lovely cohort of ghosts-that-are-afraid-of-ghosts to welcome her home.

[Beks]

Chapter 36 – Vampire, Fairy, & Dog

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Cricket is now a beanie-wearing teenager, and it’s about time we find him a lady. I find someone pretty early on that I personally am VERY interested in. Eileen Van Gould meets Cricket in the park one evening and seems to feel just as interested in Cricket as I am in her. Heh heh.

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Of course, the very next day, she’s become a young adult, which makes her several days older than Cricket--basically a whole life stage. Still, Cricket forcefully befriends her via a friendship elixir.

See, this girl is special. Very, very special. I only came across this while snooping around in MasterController, but as it turns out, Eileen Van Gould has two traits that she should not, by the laws of The Sims 3, possess at the same time. Want to guess what they are?

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Eileen is a vampire. That much is clear. But she’s also, apparently, A FAIRY. Or at least, she has the fairy trait. It must be the result of her no-doubt-very-complicated-by-this-point family tree, but somehow, she possesses both occult traits. Which is probably why she’s screaming in terror most of the time.

As it turns out, though, that rogue Fairy trait doesn’t manifest in any way. At least, I can’t figure out if it does. She has no fairy wings, no fairy abilities. On paper, Eileen is a vampfairy (fairpire? vairyfamp? vampairy?), but in action and in everyday life, she’s 100% vampire. And also too old. So...Eileen is out of the running, to my severe disappointment.

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All hope is not lost, though. Cricket has a friend from school named Shawn Goth. Shawn Goth really IS a fairy, and is NOT a vampire. (I also have this cute memory from Cricket’s childhood--after meeting Shawn at school and learning that she was a fairy, Cricket popped a wish to collect fairy dust. Like, how sweet is that? Or...or maybe that was just his Kleptomaniac trait kicking in. I didn’t think of that until now. )

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Shawn shows up to Cricket’s spouse-hunting party teenage sleepover, and they get reacquainted.

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Cricket and Shawn start flirting immediately, whilst the other two party guests stalk around and growl. (Evidently Cricket only knows werewolves from school, Shawn being the exception.)

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By the time the full moon rises, Cricket gets his first kiss.

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Look how cute Shawn is! I think she and Cricket will make a perfect match. So long, vampfairy. We’ve found ourselves someone better--a real fairy. (Of course, she’ll have to lose her fairy-ness once she joins the family...but let’s not think about that yet.)

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Alexandra Singh and Camilla Brown are not thrilled at being passed over for dynasty spouse. They seriously spend almost the whole party lurching around like this, looking like they want to eat Shawn for being Cricket's favorite.

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Or...maybe they’re just lusting after Cricket’s pizza?

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Yup.

Camilla: “Ex-CUSE me! This perfect dynasty spouse stole my second slice of pizza!”

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Yeah, can you believe only three other teens show up for this party? Ah well. Aunt Daisy is here to liven things up and make sure Cricket doesn’t get any sleep.

Daisy: "Ooh, which sleeping beauty is yours, Cricket?"

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Oh hey, Raymond is here too!

“Haha, you’re only friends with WEREWOLVES!”

“Shut up, Grandpa!”

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Since Cricket can’t sleep for the ghosts anyway, he decides to get some inventing in. Guys, never try to invent at 3 in the morning. It doesn’t end well.

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Amazingly, nobody else wakes up during all of this chaos. Looks like Shawn will fit into this household quite nicely, if she can sleep through butt fires and ghost wanderings.

In other news, Lilac still has a long way to go with her LTW. She needs to adopt a total of six animals, and so far, she’s only adopted one (Misushi--whose actual name, by the way, is Musashi). She spends the next few days adopting animals in need, giving them some love and baths, and then sending them on their way to new loving homes. (I’d keep the animals, all million of them, but on the short lifespan, it’s just too hard.)

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Her first new acquisition is this grumpy-looking fluffer named Mateo, a Playful Hydrophobic.

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Mateo stays in the household long enough to have some play-fights with Misushi. They do this all on their own, and are absolutely adorable together.

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So remember in a previous chapter when I was like “Whoa, when did Kelvin become an elder???” Well, turns out he wasn’t actually an elder before. He was just in his work outfit, which includes a stupid hairstyle. And he was in shadow, so his hair looked gray. And I hadn’t played this file in a while, so I didn’t remember what was actually happening. Basically, I’m an idiot. Anyway, look, he’s still young and cute!

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...For about three more seconds.

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Kelvin becomes an elder for real, and immediately goes for his Fern to give her a kiss and tell her she’s beautiful. Awww. What a sweetheart.

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Another member of the family is getting up there in years. Misushi gets his first real bath from his dear Lilac after one of many play-fights with Mateo.

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Wait...wait what?! I said he's getting up there in years, not that he's all set to die!

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I’ve never seen a pet death in the Sims before, and I have to say, I was rather impressed by how...well...humane it was? How uplifting, aside from the fact that it was deeply and irrepressibly sad?

Grim nuzzling Misushi doesn’t make it any easier for Lilac, though. She’s absolutely heartbroken. God, this picture just about tears me apart. I’m so sorry, Lilac!

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After giving Death itself a friendly lick, Misushi is taken up into the happy hunting grounds of dog heaven while the rest of us sit here on this stupid earth and bawl our eyes out.

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Farewell, Misushi. You were adorable, lovable, and a great first dog for the Honeyhearts and for me. You’ll always be my sushi. RIP. <3

[Beks]

Chapter 37 - Ghost Chain

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As Lilac approaches her elder birthday, her time to max the spellcasting skill grows shorter. So naturally, she goes completely bonkers casting spells on her family members in an attempt to raise the skill. Look out, Fern!

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At some point, Lilac learns how to do the Haunting Curse. Daisy makes the mistake of sticking around long after dawn one morning, and...well, haven’t you always wondered what happens when you create a ghost to haunt a ghost?

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Daisy: “Oh, the horror! Lilac, how COULD you?!”
Ghost: “Eww, an actual dead person? Gross.”

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Yeah, Daisy does not approve. She gives such an aggressive thumbs down that she plunges her whole arm through Lilac’s ribcage in protest.

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Lilac still has a long ways to go, so...she tries again.

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And again.

Lady ghost: “Oooh, wow, there are THREE of us! How spooky!”

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Lilac casts haunting curses again and again, until there are something like five ghosts hanging around the backyard, all bound together in a haunted chain of ghosts. They’re all booing each other and being grossed out by each other. Lilac keeps her cool until the last one appears, and then she decides that she, too, is deeply disturbed by what she’s seeing.

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Daisy takes refuge inside before it gets too crazy.

“I’m just going to stay in here and never go near that niece of mine again. Yes, that sounds good.”

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With that experiment over, let’s look into Lilac’s other hobby--adopting pets! (And putting them up for adoption again that same day...but I digress.) This gorgeous newcomer is Rose, a Neat little poodle-like puppy with mismatched eyes. I like her so much I strongly consider keeping her in the family. As in, she’s currently still with the Honeyhearts in-game. Oops.

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Short Tail is the next adoptee, a Shy, Skittish, Noisy miniature silver leopard. (Yes, that’s a real breed that I just made up.)

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And next, we have Mags, the tiniest Playful, Friendly kitten there ever was. (Ignore the raccoon. He tried to get adopted but did not succeed.)

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Fern's elder birthday hits before we know it. Sadly, she ages up in the middle of working out, so she actually gets to watch her muscles deteriorate in front of her eyes.

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Ah, well. She keeps a positive attitude. All that meditating's gotta pay off somehow, right?

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It’s about time we invited Shawn to join the household. She and Cricket are both due for a birthday. Cricket pops over to her house to ask her over for an impromptu birthday party.

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But first, a certain transformation needs to take place.

“Cricket, wait! We didn’t discuss this beforehand! I’m allergic to Potent Cure Elixirs! I’m going to swell up and die!”

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“Shawn, we literally had this conversation yesterday. I said you had to become a human in order to marry me. You said ‘okie-dokie’.”

“Okay, fine. I was just trying to be funny, but I guess you have No Sense of Humor.”

“Duh.”

Oh, Cricket. You’re going to be such a fun dad.

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Surprise! Before the kiddos can age up, Lilac has to become an elder. (Old lady pictures not included because I can’t see Lilac as an elder and I refuse to even try.)

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Then it’s Shawn’s turn. She’s really, really excited.

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“Yay, I can't wait to grow up and experience mortality for the first time and then die.”

You have no idea, honey.

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Then it’s Cricket’s turn. Shawn seems more excited about this one.

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And here are the torchbearers for Generation 8 of the Honeyheart Short Dynasty! (Can you believe we’re almost done? Cricket’s grandchildren will be the last generation…)

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Cricket takes on the Handy trait (and a beard), to be added to his Eccentric, Athletic, Kleptomaniac, and No Sense of Humor traits. His LTW is Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law, which is probably impossible, but I’m not too worried about it.

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Shawn’s traits are Absent-Minded, Can’t Stand Art, Unlucky, Genius, and Athletic. She likes Country music, Potato and Truffle Torte (dang, woman), and the color Red. Her LTW is to become a Superstar Athlete. Again, impossible, but we’ll see what we can do.

Next time, we’ll get these two hitched and start on some nooboos! See ya then!

[Trident]

Goodness! I always forget how much HAPPENS in Short Dynasty updates. (Different from short, dynasty updates, where nothing much tends to happen at all). Is Shawn part Goodfellow, somewhere? Or am I just projecting? (Fawn Goodfellow is one of my favorite townies, hehe).

You're so close to the end! Good luck!