The Buslingthorpes: A Life States Dynasty (Complete)

[Beks]

Chapter 11 - But, Fires!

As Macavoy turned to inventing full-time, his ventures into detonation brought along some risks.

Thank goodness Belinda was around to deal with emergencies.



“Macavoy, RELAX. We both have the power to extinguish fires with our ice blasts! There’s no need for you to panic like this!”



One day, Macavoy went to the junkyard with a purpose other than blowing stuff up and getting scared by the inevitable fires.



Kneeling in the midst of garbage and scrap, Macavoy asked his evil fairy queen to marry him.





Then it was back to scary fires. This was his first butt fire.



He required direct instruction in order to remember that showers exist for this very purpose.



Aubrey was still being a pretty tame household member at this point, although her sing-a-grams sometimes had funny results. One time, she did a flirty sing-a-gram for a guy, then snuck up behind him and scared him. She immediately got a call to perform a cheer-up sing-a-gram for the very same guy because he “got yelled at”. All within the span of a minute. I do appreciate how the game seems to respond to real things happening like that.



The tameness didn’t last forever. While waiting to do a gig at Performance Park, Aubrey kept herself occupied (while I wasn’t looking) by testing out her new “hot-head” fairy trick on Janet Pok. Janet, a renowned vampire and doctor (judging by the outfit), was not happy to play victim to a silly fairy trick.



And the trick didn’t even work properly! See, it set Aubrey on fire. I don’t think that was supposed to happen.



Aaaaaand this is when I panicked. There was no shower on this lot. I tried to send Aubrey home quickly, but the action kept canceling. She was stuck on a lot with no way to put herself out, and none of the bystanders seemed interested in helping her. The look on Aubrey’s face here exactly matched my own.



Soooooo this happened.



Did you just get excited about a new ghostly life state? Well, too bad! I’d recently given Aubrey a death flower, which she apparently gave to Grim (though the animation didn’t seem to register - she just sort of acted scared for a second, and then Grim said thank you and talked about his favorite vase and all that).





Should I have left her as a fiery ghost? Maybe. But I didn’t want a ghost for my next generation. I WANTED A FAIRY.

And so we returned to normal.



“Hah haaaah! My dear audience members, I have DEFEATED DEATH! My destiny as the greatest pop star ever seen in Moonlight Falls just got a lot more probable purely due to the mystery and drama now surrounding my name!"

Gothic Fairy Princess went on to give her most passionate performance yet at the very scene of her death, cheered on by almost eight audience members who had calmly stood by and let her perish moments before.



Things went pretty much back to normal after that. Aubrey delivered quite a few sing-a-grams to Waldo, who was suffering from both hair loss AND a crush on his future sister-in-law. (Every time she gave him sing-a-gram flowers, he responded by giving her actual flowers. Poor Waldo.)



Macavoy invented and invented and invented. He pretty much never slept, unless I got distracted elsewhere, in which case he would sometimes sneak downstairs to the sofa for a quick snooze. At some point he acquired a Moodlet Manager so he didn’t really have to eat or bathe, either.



Aubrey rolled a wish to throw a bachelorette party, and since they hadn’t really ever thrown a party before, the Buslingthorpes gave it a go. A bar was installed and Macavoy took it upon himself to try inventing drinks rather than widgets and hygienators.



It was a pretty typical party. Some of Macavoy’s past romantic prospects showed up to spy on the winner of the spouse contest. Somebody broke the TV (and if we ask ourselves “Where’s Waldo?” in regards to this screenshot, I think we can make a guess who).



A couple of mulleted party dancers put on a show in the kitchen. Aubrey…um, loved it.



*shudder*



Once the professional dancers finished, some of the other guests took that energy to the next level. Macavoy…um, loved it.



*snort*



Aubrey wanted somebody to give a toast, but it was quickly revealed that she had absolutely no friends in Moonlight Falls who knew her well enough. Except for Waldo. I guess all that flirting over sing-a-grams paid off. He probably said something about how the bride-to-be really should have been HIS bride-to-be, but everybody forgot what he said in the fountain of bubbly that followed.



This is what the rest of the party looked like: Macavoy making subpar drinks, and six or seven ladies at a time impatiently waiting for him to give them a turn. (That’s Tabitha still singed, by the way.) Next up, wedding time!

[Beks]

Chapter 12 - The Game of Love

Macavoy’s requirements were moving along steadily, but I quickly got impatient for some reason. I was eager for him to finish his skill challenges so he could focus on things like 5,000 point wishes. So in a day of raging impatience, I sent Macavoy to an empty lot that the family had purchased, threw down a bunch of dishwashers and chairs, and set him to detonating. (It took him absolutely forever to extinguish the fires each time, so at some point I added a fire alarm and just let the firefighters spawn over and over again until they broke.)



It took a while, but Macavoy finally detonated his 150th object. I sent him home and discovered that his reputation had plummeted to the point where he wasn’t even in the green with Aubrey anymore. A couple of friendship elixirs fixed that.



The Duke of Buslingthorpe died of old age - the first real death in the family.





Rest well, sweet old man. Thanks for being the best first pet ever. I would have loved for you to live forever but making you all that gourmet pet food was too hard and I gave up. Sorry.



To cheer you up, here’s our hunting dog, Bridgitte, playing in the sprinkler with the loungey gnome guy.



Not a lot else was happening during this time. Macavoy kept inventing (and hammering his own finger every five seconds, even though he was practically level 10).



Aubrey occasionally stopped by to Evil Dance to his stereo. She's a supportive partner.



Another skill challenge that took weeks was the Firefly Collector challenge. Belinda got an alchemy opportunity that tagged every insect on the map, which was incredibly helpful in locating fireflies quickly. Still, I swear, an albus firefly (one of the most common!) did not spawn for WEEKS. When it finally happened, just a couple of hours before dawn, I sent Macavoy speeding over on his broom and just about passed out in relief.



Belinda had been hard at work gardening and cooking and making elixirs. She learned to make ambrosia and filled a replicator with it, for future generations.



Cornelius got the first taste. Note Belinda in the background.

“How is it, dear?”
*cough* “D-Delicious, darling.”



“Ick. Tastes like compost.”

I don’t know what to tell ya, dude.



Another hunting dog joined the family because I was starting to get paranoid that we’d never find a pink diamond for Macavoy’s Simbots. This is Rose. She spent her first night in a puddle of pee in the upstairs hallway, all of her own accord.



Macavoy had his adult birthday and promptly went bald. (Part of me wanted to keep it, because it sort of suits his overall old-mannish vibe. But I couldn’t do it.)

It was around this time that I realized that one of Macavoy’s 5,000 point wishes - the one to marry Aubrey - had disappeared. He’d rolled and locked it in a few days after their engagement, but it must have disappeared when Aubrey died (although Aubrey kept her own wish just fine). This sparked yet another panic for me - what if he never rolled another 5,000 point wish?? He needed the marriage one back!

So I did the only thing I could think of.



“Okay, Aubrey. I need you to be really Evil for a sec, okay?”
“Oh? Evil how?”



“I need you to break off our engagement.”
“WHAT?”
“Just temporarily! Just, you know, break my heart really quick. Then I’ll propose again, and maybe after a few days I’ll roll a new wish to marry you.”
“You don’t want to marry me anymore??”
“No, I do! I just don’t have the wish for it. Because you died.”
“I…wait, what?!”
“Come on, Aubrey, you’re an Evil Genius! You should be proud of me for thinking up this plan.”
“But it’s so hard for me to be Evil towards you, Macavoy!”

It’s true. Aubrey has never been anything but lovely toward her fiance, soon to be ex-fiance.

But she managed it in the end.



“I have HAD it, Buslingthorpe! If you don’t have the wish to marry me anymore, FINE! This relationship is over!”



Okay, I know Macavoy knew it was fake. But did Macavoy know that he knew it was fake? He certainly looked like he didn’t know he knew it was fake.



Buuuut that’s what potent friendship elixirs are for!



Amazingly, that was all it took (well, that and a quick zap from the Moodlet Manager). Within minutes, Macavoy and Aubrey were back to smooching like nothing had ever gone wrong.



Belinda looked rather irritated in that last picture, but I think she was just anticipating her elder birthday.



After several delays, Belinda Crumplebottom finally became an old lady.



And shortly after, one of the dogs finally found a pink diamond!



Speaking of diamonds, Aubrey got a second one. Dynasty family perks, you know.

[Beks]

Chapter 13 - Poison Cake

Aubrey did a sing-a-gram for Tabitha at the gym, and look! Tabitha got un-singed! I think it was her adult birthday that forced her back into normal clothes.



Macavoy created his first SimBot, thanks to continued success from Rose and Bridgitte in gem and metal hunting. His skill challenges were finally complete. And almost all of his requirements!

All that remained was to max his career (for the wish). And here we have another instance of me being an idiot. I had been avoiding use of the consignment store because I wanted to leave the skill challenges open for a future generation. You know, like an idiot. Did you know that if you sell items through the consignment store, you get, like, twice as much for them? Yes, you probably did! Well, I didn’t think it made that much of a difference, so I’d been having Macavoy sell inventions right from his inventory. You know. Like an IDIOT.



Anyway, when the last couple levels of his career were taking forever, I decided to give up and let him sell through the consignment store. You know, like I should have done from the very beginning. And what do you know! Suddenly his career was skyrocketing again. He was just a few time machines away from level 10.



Over the course of a couple days, Macavoy made several time machines and brought them to Aleister’s to sell. Once he’d made his last one, he returned home to wait for the sales results. Suddenly he had time to do normal people things, like read the newspaper and learn about all the original townie families that were moving out. How nice!



I also finally let him indulge his wish to ride the bucking bronco thingy.



A few hours later, Aleister’s called. He’d done it! Macavoy achieved his final required wish. (He never rolled the “Marry Aubrey” wish again, but he did roll a wish to be worth a lot of money, which Belinda achieved easily with her money trees.)

And just like that, Macavoy was done.



“Here you go, son. One Young Again Potion just for you.”
“Oh. Thanks, Dad. It’s nice to see you.”
“Yeah, we haven’t really spoken since you were a teenager, have we? Anyway, enjoy!”



Macavoy returned to the start of young adulthood - the start of a new chapter. Except not in this story, because we haven’t hit 25 screenshots yet.



This next part had to be done in secret. Belinda had also given Macavoy a congratulatory gift: her old genie lamp, with two wishes still left.



The incredibly solemn genie seemed rather skeptical of Macavoy’s wish for extreme fertility in spite of his wife’s hatred for children. But hey, dynasties are dynasties!





Aubrey had no idea what was coming for her.



The wedding party happened the following day. Lots of the remaining townies showed up, all of them wearing pleasant, happy facial expressions and projecting a warm and friendly aura.



Not really. But Aubrey and Macavoy didn’t need other people’s happy auras. They were happy enough by themselves.





Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Buslingthorpe!

Belinda, who was rapidly transforming into the true crotchety old lady her family is so known for, came up to the bride after the ceremony.



“YOU! You vile fairy, you’re…you’re EVIL!”



“Um, yeah. I’ve been Evil this whole time. Are you just realizing this now?”

She was, apparently.

The bride and groom cut the wedding cake and went inside to eat it.



“Ughhh. I feel awful all of a sudden! Macavoy, do you know what was in this wedding cake?”
“Just the usual ingredients, darling, I’m sure.”
“You sure you didn’t spill poison in it by mistake? Or worse…a fertility elixir?!”
“I’m sure.”



Poor Aubrey. She must have suspected what was going on, because she immediately glitched herself into the second floor wall and refused to come down until I reset her.


Generation 2 - Macavoy Buslingthorpe
Life State: Witch
Traits: Eccentric, Loner, Ambitious, Slob, Workaholic
Favorites: Latin, Tofu Dog, Black
LTW: Monster Maker
Spouse: Aubrey Oviedo (fairy)
Toddler Requirements: Level 3 in two skills (xylophone, painting books), best friends with both parents
Child Requirements: Honor Roll, one opportunity (Research Supermarket)
Teen Requirements: Honor Roll, romantic interest (Winter Washington), level 3 of cemetery part-time job
1 Best Friend: Monty Buslingthorpe (SimBot)
2 Career Rewards: Inventor’s Honor Trophy, Inventor’s Medal of Genius
3 BlackOps: Hygienation Hijinks, Scrap for Toys?, Master Invention
4 Lifetime Rewards: Efficient Inventor, Flying Vacuum, Fireproof Homestead, Magic Hands
5 Regular Wishes: Maker Miner, Make Time Machine, Master Inventing Skill, Be Worth More Than $500k, Reach Level 10 of Inventor Career
6 Skill Challenges: The Scrap Collector, Diabolical Detonator, Widget Wonder, Master Inventor, Discover how to make the ultimate invention, Firefly Collector
7 Items for Museum: Improved Floating Duck Widgets

[Beks]

Chapter 14 - Dark Ages

“For gosh sakes, Macavoy, I can’t believe you’re so calm about this. I am NAUSEOUS several hours after WOOHOO.”
“There’s no reason to be frightened, darling.”



“I’m not frightened, I’m MAD! I didn’t sign up for this!”
“Actually you did, darling, by agreeing to marry me.”
“What is this, the dark ages?! I have rights even though I’m married!”
“It’s not the dark ages, darling, but it IS a dynasty.”

Same thing, really.



A short time later, Aubrey’s suspicions were confirmed.



“Macavoy, how could this happen?! It’s my worst nightmare!”
“It happened because there’s no birth control in our universe, darling.”
“Yes there is. It’s called the ‘Woohoo’ interaction, which is DIFFERENT from the ‘Try for Baby’ interaction. Since I am in fact pregnant, that must mean--”
“This sounds like a conversation you should be having with the watcher, darling.”

He wasn’t wrong.



Well, there were a couple days to wait before anything more exciting happened. In the meantime, Macavoy got attacked by Cherry on a regular basis (he became enemies with everyone in town over the detonations, and hilariously, that includes the animals).



He also practiced dueling with his mother, who was short on time to pass her knowledge on to her son.



And Aubrey took out her anger on the Whack-a-Gnome game at the Toadstool.



You can imagine what happened soon after. Macavoy was disturbingly calm watching his wife live out her nightmares.



Even Belinda seemed at a loss for how to cope with the situation.

Aubrey: “Somebody. Get. Me. To. A. Hospital.”



There wasn’t time. Or maybe I was too lazy to pop her into a taxi. In any case, the sparkles hit after two tortuous hours. Sorry, Aubrey - everybody cross your fingers for triplets!



It was a girl! Welcome to the family, Blanche.

Aaaaand that was it. This was when I realized that we really did have too many pets running around. Still, we had enough room in the house for twins, and we didn’t even get those!



Ah well. Blanche came out sparkling gently, which meant that she had inherited a certain special something from her mom - and was therefore the heir. (Aubrey was still trying to protest the whole motherhood thing by glitching into solid surfaces. But at least she wouldn’t have to have any more babies.)



Blanche inherited more than just wings from her mother. She got her hair color, her eyes, pretty much all her facial features, and…the Evil trait. Hooray, our first Evil heir! Blanche was also born with the Athletic trait, and her favorite things are Latin music, ratatouille, and the color red.



I think all she got from Macavoy was his rather wide jaw and heavy-set chin. No matter what, though, Macavoy was smitten immediately. Look, her wings are bigger than she is!



Okay, it’s been a long time since I’ve played a fairyboo. They’re pretty adorable, even when Evil.



Aubrey took to the role of motherhood with unsurprising reluctance. (Actually she did great, but I couldn’t help choosing this particular screenshot over other, nicer-looking ones.)



Blanche started working on her skills right away. It took no time at all since she was the only toddler and her parents (and watcher) could focus entirely on her.



She was cute as a button, too. Look at those pointy little ears!





Don’t worry, she’s still pure evil underneath that lovable exterior.



I’d never seen a fairyboo hover before this. It. Is. Adorable.



Okay, that's enough toddler spam for now. Blanche was headed for an exciting future, and there was no time to waste!

[Beks]

Chapter 15 - Cackles & Faints

Blanche flew through her toddler requirements in record time. Aubrey took her to her cake, clearly ready to have her child one step closer to not being a child anymore.



Blanche grew up into a cute kid and became…a Coward?!



I’ve never had an Evil Coward before. This will be interesting.



Well, the first test happened that very afternoon. The Jewel of Buslingthorpe died as my oldest cat ever - she lived to be 74 days old! So far, Blanche seemed to be handling her first death very well.



Rest in peace, The Jewel of Buslingthorpe. Sorry I’m sort of using your death as a visual aid for unique trait combinations. Say hi to The Duke for me, okay?



Ah, there we go. It took a minute, but the scariness of the event eventually superseded the evilness of it.



Blanche had a pretty uneventful childhood. She got tutored by her grandfather, went to school and ballet class, cleaned some bug cages, and worked out in front of the TV.



I was sick of Aubrey running around doing sing-a-grams, so I switched her over to the Ghost Hunter career on a whim (and she had a wish to try it out). An Insane Evil Genius Fairy hunting ghosts sounds really thrilling, right? Wrong. At least so far.



Then we had another death. Blanche cackled and fainted like before.



And I sobbed uncontrollably. Why did I have to take this screenshot? Why?!



Rest in peace, Bridgitte. Thanks for helping us find palladium and pink diamonds. We’ll miss you.

Blanche recovered from the scare of another Grim encounter rather quickly.



“Look, dad, I’m falling to my death!”
*GASP* “Blanche, no, I can’t bear it!”
“Muahaha, just kidding! I’m too scared to actually face death in any way, shape, or form.”



Are birthdays as scary as death? Maybe for Blanche Buslingthorpe.



Okay, I know she looks a lot like her mom, but this is just ridiculous.



That’s a bit better. That jaw is really something, eh? Thank you, I made it myself. (It looks so cute on Cornelius, buuuut less so on his descendants.) Blanche got the Loner trait for her birthday. Great, now she’s afraid of death, the dark, ghosts, the Grim Reaper, AND other people.

Too bad, Blanche! You get to work in the cemetery every night!



She was a trooper. It helped that it wasn’t usually very dark at the start of her shifts. She was fine going in. The commute home was always a little hard for her, though.



Having an Evil Coward in the family is truly fascinating. One minute she’ll be scaring the heck out of her family members…



…the next she’ll be terrified of nothing in particular. (Or of herself? I'm really not sure.)



She often had this look of resigned terror on her face as she headed out to work in the evenings. The skimpy work uniform and sparkly hair decoration didn’t help steel her nerves.



Then we had ANOTHER death. All of our animals lived to be very old and decided to die in quick succession. Thanks, y’all.



This death sent poor Blanche into a bit of a fainting cycle. She went outside to faint over Grim, came inside, and then went back out to faint again over…the ghost of Cherry, I guess? (RIP, Cherry.)



Oh yeah, and Waldo had been visiting that evening as well. Why doesn’t everybody just collectively kick the bucket today? Okay, sounds great!



Oh, poor Belinda. She was the one who stayed closest to her other children. This night, she got to ask “Where’s Waldo?” one more time. The answer? Definitely not here anymore.



I love this picture because it exemplifies several members of the family and their personalities. Cornelius, despite being heartbroken over the loss of his eldest son, took a moment to joke with the Grim Reaper, because he’s Cornelius and that’s what he does. Macavoy stood with his hands over his heart, gazing forlornly into the distance like the side-character-in-a-period-romance-who-doesn’t-really-do-anything that he is. (I dunno, that’s just the vibe he gives off.) And Blanche walked determinedly toward the corner of the kitchen, where she would proceed to faint for the fourth and fifth times in the same day. Oh, Blanche. You’re in for a rough ride.

[Beks]

Chapter 16 - The Cowardly Firefighter

Prom night arrived, and Blanche put on her cute formal dress and shoes for the occasion.



Then she strolled (er, fluttered) right on past the limo and headed for the carpool. Sorry, everyone, work is more important than dancing in this dynasty!



It was okay, though. Blanche still scored her first kiss with Waylon Wolff the next day. Yes, the same guy her aunt kissed in high school. I didn’t think it was that weird until I wrote that sentence just now. I was thinking that maybe this could be a running joke and everybody in the family could be romantic interests with Waylon Wolff, but now I’m wondering if I need a cold shower or something.

Anyway! Blanche’s teen years flew by once she was tutored up to an A and had her romantic interest locked down. All she needed was a few more days at work and she’d be ready to go.



Cornelius saw Tabitha at one of his vaccination clinics. She was old now, and dressed like a very beautiful Victorian fairy instead of the practical witch she truly was inside. She was also oddly terrified by her father inoculating her. Going a little senile, perhaps? We still love you, Tabby.



Macavoy, who officially had nothing to do anymore, practiced his magic and got a bowl of mashed Fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich stuck to his hand. I liked watching him do stupid animations with it, so I left it. (Weeks later and it’s still going. I fully intend to keep Macavoy bowl-ified for the rest of the dynasty if possible. That’s how boring I find him, apparently.)



A little over halfway through her teen years, Blanche emerged from the mausoleum having earned her third promotion. I thought she’d have a hard time with this career, but aside from feeling a little spooked on the commute home sometimes, she did great. And THIS was her facial expression the night she reached level 3. Maybe our girl isn’t so much of a Coward after all.



Or maybe it’s just that birthdays are scarier than dead people.



Blanche’s final trait was Excitable. Aww, how cute! This was added on to Athletic, Evil, Coward, and Loner. She chose Magic Makeover as her Lifetime Wish because she rolled nothing remotely helpful and that seemed like the easiest one to essentially ignore.



The next morning, Blanche drove over to the fire station and signed up as a firefighter. Yes, she’s a Coward, and she’s going to fight fires. Hey, some Buslingthorpe has to be a firefighter for all those career rewards! And I was honestly kind of curious to see if it was even possible to do with a Coward. At the very least, I figured she’d be able to gain a few levels just with athletic and handiness. Maybe she wouldn’t even need to see a fire at all.



Blanche graduated as Valedictorian and was voted Most Likely to Take Over the World. I suppose it’s possible - this girl has proven that she can surprise me.



This shouldn’t have surprised me, with two fairies living in the house. Sorry, Belinda.



Blanche started work the next day. Although she had two coworkers appear in her relationship panel, neither of them ever showed up at the fire station. (And I mean ever.) She set to maintaining the fire engine and upgrading sinks by herself.



At least she didn’t have to talk to anyone. And she had that nice Loner moodlet for her entire shift.

Along with career time, it was also the beginning of spouse-hunting time. Once again, I was eager to get a spouse in place for fear of all the original townies disappearing, but so far I’ve had good luck.



The guy I had in mind for Blanche was Zack Durwood, who started the game as a toddler and turned into a vampire at some point. Blanche pretty much shut that down immediately.



“I know I’m a Good Couch Potato and you're an Evil Athlete, but don’t you think my facial features are adorable? Shouldn’t that be enough?”

Maybe, but he's also a Coward, and I did shudder a little at the idea of two family members passing out every five seconds. Well, there were other options out there.



The family threw a party in an attempt to get some more supernaturals on the lot. Blanche seemed to like Dwayne Wolff and made a point of telling him she was a firefighter, despite having kissed his teenage son only a few days before.



But the sparks really flew when a certain ancient vampire showed up at the party. Blanche was upstairs listening to another guest play the guitar, and Ayden Van Gould cut straight through the crowd to reach her.



They were flirting within seconds, and even Cornelius looked approving. (I suppose he should have. He was the one who threw a Fountain of Youth elixir at the old vamp a few days earlier. Hah!)



The party ended and Blanche returned to work the next day, where she finally had to face her first fire. Would she collapse? Run screaming from the building? Get fired for failing to fight fire fire fire fire? She hopped in the fire truck and went to find out.



It was just a small fire in someone’s garage. Blanche impressed me immediately by running straight in and tackling the blaze with her newly upgraded fire extinguisher.



Aaaaand she did great! She looked a little spooked near the end, but she remained fully conscious the entire time and achieved her first “A” grade for responding to an emergency. Maybe this will be easier than I thought!



Some things are never easy. Like losing a pet.



Rose was the last pet in the household at this point in time, and we were all sorry to see her go. Rest in peace, little friend.



Thank goodness Blanche wasn’t home when this happened. Flushed with the success of her first fire, she’d gone to the Toadstool with Ayden and was showing off the biceps she was starting to build up. It was for the best, I think.

[Beks]

Chapter 17 - Velcro

Blanche was doing great. She was in that pre-relationship “talking” stage with a sexy vampire, she knew how to fight fires without fainting, and sometimes she even did the pre-relationship talking while she should have been fighting fires. Life was good.



She went on one more date with Zack Durwood, just to make absolutely sure she wasn’t interested in him. She wasn’t.



Then she saw him at a party later on, and when a townie died, they both went outside to faint on the front porch. Yeah, no thanks.



So Blanche focused on Ayden, braving the scary vampire lounge to score her first kiss with him.



You know how Blanche’s mother was, like, not as Evil and Insane and Hot-Headed as she should have been? I think she passed that on to her daughter. Blanche is fearless, y’all. At least in the romance department.



And in the playground department.



After the death of Rose, I found that I just couldn’t live without a pet in the family. (Also, Rose had kept some of the less-occupied family members busy in their downtime, which was helpful.) So Aubrey made a call to the local adoption center and picked out a new puppy named Daikon.



Our new sweet baby puppy was on the lot for two seconds before Belinda, heading to the bathroom upstairs, started feeling strange.



“Oh.”



“There you are, Belinda. Where have you been? I came to collect your sisters ages ago.”
“I thought you’d be familiar with dynasties by now, Mr. Reaper.”
“Oh, I am. I just couldn’t think of anything else to say. The drama is in the screenshots, not the captions.”
“Ah, of course.”



Meanwhile, this was happening at the bottom of the stairs. You guys, those stairs are three tiles wide. Get the heck up there! You’re missing our first human death!



As she shook hands with Grim, Belinda called to Cornelius over her shoulder.

“Don’t be sad, Cornelius. At least I’m not the person who invented Velcro.”
*sniffle* “Why does that matter?”
“Because then it wouldn’t be very appropriate to say RIP.”
*sob* “Good one, Belinda.”



Okay, this picture just breaks my heart. Poor Cornelius. Belinda lived to be 111, also known as eleventy-one, and that’s not including the various Young Again Potions and life fruit snacks she consumed throughout her life, so I don’t know how old she really was. She lived long and well, and she truly set up the Buslingthorpes for a successful dynasty. Thanks to her, we have an established garden, a chest full of elixirs and important ingredients, and a magic fridge full of delicious food. But perhaps most importantly, she was Cornelius’s other half. Those two are in my top few favorite Sims couples ever, and they rolled constant wishes for each other (mostly for woohoo) right until the end. Thank you for everything, Belinda. Rest in peace.

I decided to fix my sadness over Belinda’s death by throwing a party. (That works for me in the Sims, but definitely not in real life.) And the chaos was certainly a distraction, at least.



Did I mention that Ayden had a girlfriend? Well, he did. He was dating fellow vampire Fawn Goodfellow, which just wouldn’t do. So after convincing Ayden to end that relationship, Blanche…well, you can imagine.



Did I only include this little scene because of Macavoy crying into his bowl of mashed food in the background? Yes, yes I did. (Another reason to leave that bowl stuck to his hand forever: when I mouse over it, it still says that it’s a perfect quality Fried Peanut Butter and Banana sandwich, made by Belinda. So it stays - in memory of her.)



Ayden was also at the party, and he found his way up to Blanche’s private gym (which was also her bedroom, but let’s pretend he didn’t realize that). Blanche took advantage of this opportunity to seduce train her love interest in athletics.

Look who’s also here! It’s Tabitha, with yet another new hairstyle.



“Oh. My. God. Are you Macavoy Buslingthorpe?! I AM SUCH A BIG FAN.”
“Uh, Tabby? I’m your brother. We were literally in the womb together.”
“I DON’T CARE JUST GIVE ME YOUR AUTOGRAPH.”



“Well, I don’t have a piece of paper, but…I could sign this bowl of mashed sandwich ingredients. How does that sound?”
“YES. YES PLEASE THANK YOU SO MUCH.”



Well, life went on, as it always does. Blanche fought many fires and fainted zero times. Even this scary-yet-scenic treehouse fire didn’t set her off. Amazing!



Here’s a better picture of Daikon, who was only a little bit bigger than his favorite chew bone.



You can imagine why he liked sniffing Macavoy’s hand the best.



All too soon, Daikon’s puppy days were over and he grew up into a large floofer with an adorable snoot. His one trait, by the way, was Noisy.



And Cornelius didn’t have to wait long to see his beloved again.

[Beks]

Chapter 18 - Polka-Dotty

This generation was proving to be a much more enjoyable generation for me than the last one. Despite her sometimes inconvenient traits, Blanche was a joy to play, and was constantly surprising me with her willingness to do odd things. Like get flung out of this gyroscopic whatchamacallit in the middle of the night.



She worked on her requirements at all hours, hardly sleeping or eating thanks to the Motive Mobile and various elixirs. She maxed the athletic skill in a matter of days, then started in on handiness.



She was even willing to fix electronics and do upgrades by moonlight. That “Scared of the Dark” moodlet was there, but she pushed through anyway. (I don’t know why I’m making it sound like this was all free will. We all know I made her do it.)



Blanche got electrocuted exactly one time, and I was just as confused as she was.



Blanche’s first earthquake was yet another test of Will The Coward Pass Out In The Face Of Danger, with a surprising result of Nope. (That initial screen shake certainly made me consider passing out, I'll give you that.)

Some of her emergencies were glitched, of course.



“Please help, fairy firefighter! There’s a fire out in the garage on the other side of the lot and I really need to use this perfectly safe bathroom that’s two feet away from me!”
“I’m on it.”

(Blanche was looking for trapped Sims here. She never found the last one and therefore failed the emergency. Also, most of the Sims that she successfully convinced to run stayed put. Smart people. *sigh*)



Belinda was very helpful in motivating her granddaughter to complete her requirements. What’s more motivating to a Coward than running away from a ghost? Thanks, Belinda! (Don’t worry, Blanche definitely passed out before this.)



Daikon kept the earlier heirs happy and busy, particularly Cornelius, who was feeling a little bit lonely.



You know who wasn’t lonely? Blanche. She and Ayden were falling for each other fast, and it was truly weird and beautiful to watch.



Look at how peacefully she offers herself up to him for nutrients. It’s almost romantic. (I never read a certain popular book series about vampires. Is this a sign that I should read said popular book series about vampires? Is vampire romance a thing that I like? Why am I suddenly considering this right now??)



It just seems so…unlikely, you know? Blanche, a fairy firefighter who’s technically afraid of fire and the dark and…everything, really, and wears her hair in a ponytail tied with a ribbon and wears polka dots and flutters around with blue sparkly wings and enjoys putting traps in showerheads - falling in love with the most ancient and austere vampire in Moonlight Falls, who wears a cravat and spooky black gloves and literally drinks the blood of living beings to stay alive. Why is it so…cute?!?



Clearly, this was what Blanche wanted. I don’t think Ayden hypnotized her.



So there was only one thing to do, really.



And this crusty old vampire couldn’t have been happier to marry our sweet polka-dotty fairy.



Blanche drove home from the Red Velvet Lounge to share the good news with her family, and…hey, Cornelius, I thought you approved! I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that Aubrey didn’t like the idea of her daughter getting married. Marriage has the tendency to bring along things like happiness, which Aubrey doesn't like for other people.



Even though Aubrey was less blatantly Evil than a lot of other Evil Sims I’ve played…she still managed to make her family members fairly miserable when she wanted to. She and Cornelius often butted heads.



A few days passed, and as soon as Blanche rolled that all-important wish to marry Ayden, the wedding was underway. Many original townies showed up at this wedding, which is always encouraging to see. (A few townie families, particularly the Van Goulds, still exist in this town even though they’re technically homeless now. It’s hard to track them down, but once I do, I try to latch on and never let go. So far this has worked out for Blanche, at least.)



A bottle of vampiric sunscreen was retrieved from deep in one of Belinda’s elixir chests, and the wedding began.





Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Buslingthorpe! (Ayden probably would have insisted on keeping the Van Gould name, but I like to think the man understands what a dynasty is.)



Blanche courageously cut the cake in front of her friends and family.



“Gross. Couldn’t we just have served plasma juice?”



The wedding finished on a high note with the death of Argus Brown. Whoops, probably should have thrown a Fountain of Youth elixir at him. Oh well! At least his memory - and the exact moment of his death - will be splattered across the pages of the tabloids tomorrow.

[Beks]

Chapter 19 - A Lot Of French Sinks

Ayden got a bit of a makeover after joining the household, and I was astounded by how well he cleaned up. And how good he looks with a beard. This dude doesn’t look a day over 35, and he’s probably like a million and five! His traits, widely known as they are, are No Sense of Humor, Snob, Absent-Minded, Never Nude, and Proper. He likes classical music, the juice of human veins, and the color red, which I totally ignored in favor of black because apparently I don’t know how to do vampires any other way. His LTW is Chess Legend and the game had placed him in the magician career, which, while snazzy, seemed totally unfitting for the ancient and austere Ayden Van Gould Buslingthorpe. So he quit his job and I decided to let fate (i.e. wishes) determine his next career move.



Ayden’s arrival inspired me to add a third story to the house, complete with a fenced-in chess area.



He and Cornelius couldn’t have had more different personalities, but they shared an interest in chess, so at least they bonded a little over that. (I guess they also shared beardedness.)



Blanche was nearly finished with her requirements at this point. Her career rewards, BlackOps, Lifetime Rewards, skill challenges, and museum items were all complete. She just needed one more 5000 point wish. I had set up the conditions for at least two or three of them to appear, but Blanche seemed content to just do her thang without displaying any particular ambition.



I barely let her relax, but when I did, she usually went right for the stereo to Evil Dance. Blanche, can you stop being so cute? I’m trying to be mad at you for taking so long to roll important wishes!



To buy time (even though we don’t need time because Blanche and her spouse both have super-long life spans), and in hopes of finding the last couple beetles that Blanche needed for her skill challenge, Blanche and Ayden took a honeymoon to France.



Blanche insisted on bringing her fire engine, whose name was Carol, and driving it exclusively through the serene hills of Champs Les Sims, siren blaring. I’m sure the locals loved that.



The goal of this vacation was really to give Blanche some more time in which to roll a big wish. (I was hoping she’d roll the one to donate $10k to undermine charity, or to work out for 12 hours straight, or to do 50 upgrades.) Since there wasn’t much else for her to do, she was able to spend some time relaxing with Ayden and tasting nectar.



Ayden didn’t seem to mind zipping around on his little motorbike, despite the risk of being fried to death.



And when Blanche was off exercising or upgrading sinks or tomb raiding, Ayden browsed the nectar racks, keeping an eye out for anything containing plasma fruit. (There was quite a selection.)



He also tried his hand - er, feet - at nectar making. Just for fun, really.



And this was when I discovered what the “Hunt” action for vampires actually does. Um, IT’S SO COOL WHY HAVE I NEVER TRIED THIS BEFORE.



And yes, Blanche did indeed do a little tomb raiding. Maybe the French tombs weren’t deep enough underground to scare her very much? Even getting sucked into the vacuum of a sarcophagus didn’t faze her.



This was the only sign that she was ever afraid: a weird little moment that combined the cowardly knock-knee’d animation and the “wow, I’m in a tomb!” animation.



And since this was technically a honeymoon, there were also plenty of honeymoon activities.



The trip ended after a few days (and after Blanche achieved a level one visa). Back home, Ayden rolled a wish to join the business career. It seemed like an appropriate fit for him, so off he went to wear pinstripe suits and do boring paperwork.



I was pretty fed up with Blanche’s career at this point, what with the glitchy scenarios and her refusal to drive anything other than the fire engine around. Besides, Blanche had finally rolled her last 5000 point wish, and she would need all the free time she could get to complete it. She called the fire station and put in her resignation.



Blanche had rolled the wish to upgrade 50 objects. I was eager to get it done as quickly as possible - I was starting to worry about how long this dynasty was going to take as a whole, and I figured if I could save a little time, I should. So Blanche returned to France alone and set to upgrading every piece of plumbing in Champs Les Sims. (Well, at least at base camp.)



Thanks to her Moodlet Manager, her fairy auras, the lack of distractions, and the magic of speed 3, Blanche knocked out more than 30 upgrades (she’d already done about 20) in just a few days. She spent so long upgrading things that her athletic physique all but disappeared and she returned to her slightly more tummylicious original form.



So she went for a quick jog as the sun was setting on her final day - a chance to see the scenery one last time, and to get ahead of the inevitable baby weight that she’d soon be putting on. But not yet!

Back home, Blanche threw a friendship elixir at a random old witch somewhere in town and sealed her last requirement.



We all know what had to happen next. Out came Belinda’s old lamp, with one wish remaining in it.



Blanche went to find Ayden and informed him of the need for certain activities.

Within hours, the results were making themselves known.



“Gosh, Blanche, I know I'm a world-renowned surgeon with decades of medical knowledge, but I honestly have no idea why you could be feeling nauseous after receiving a magical fertility treatment and copulating with a vampire.”



Well, Blanche and Ayden had an idea. Generation four was on its way!


Generation 3 - Blanche Buslingthorpe
Life State: Fairy
Traits: Athletic, Evil, Coward, Loner, Excitable
Favorites: Latin, Ratatouille, Red
LTW: Magic Makeover (not complete)
Spouse: Ayden Van Gould (vampire)
Toddler Requirements: Level 3 in two skills (xylophone, writing books), best friends with both parents
Child Requirements: Honor Roll, one opportunity (Stinky Bugs)
Teen Requirements: Honor Roll, romantic interest (Waylon Wolff), level 3 of cemetery part-time job
1 Best Friend: Chanda Talbot (witch)
2 Career Rewards: Firefighter’s Axe, Firefighter’s Coat
3 BlackOps: The Complete Circuit, Settling an Argument, Bad Reception
4 Lifetime Rewards: Queen of the Fae, Learned Relic Hunter, Prepared Traveler, Stone Hearted
5 Regular Wishes: Master the Athletic Skill, Reach Level 10 of the Firefighter Career, Master the Handiness Skill, Marry Ayden, Upgrade 50 Objects
6 Skill Challenges: Body Builder, Marathon Runner, Fitness Nut, Electrician, Tinkerer, Beetle Collector
7 Items for Museum: Channel-Boosted Zeemuth TVs

[Auranaris]

Yay gen 4!

Also, YES you should in fact read a certain vampire romance series. As someone who is usually not a fan of romances, I actually genuinely enjoyed reading them.
#TeamEdward

[Beks]

Yay gen 4!

Also, YES you should in fact read a certain vampire romance series. As someone who is usually not a fan of romances, I actually genuinely enjoyed reading them.
#TeamEdward

Your recommendation is noted.

[Beks]

Chapter 20 - Twelve

Blanche and Ayden were excited to be parents, and they both rolled the wish to read a pregnancy book to further educate themselves. They’d need all the help they could get and they knew it.



I still don’t understand the things pregnant Sims can and can’t do. Somehow this seems like it should be on the "Do Not Do" list.



She also reached a high enough level of fairy magic to try casting “inner beauty” upon other Sims. I’d never tried this before!



And lemme tell you, I was NOT ready.



Perhaps Blanche wasn’t either. She may be Evil, but she’s not exactly brave.



That whole afternoon, Blanche autonomously went around announcing her pregnancy to people in-between castings of inner beauty. She would make someone hideous, and then excitedly tell them she was pregnant, and they would be all like “Aww, congratulations!” and they’d be all cute and friendly together for a few minutes before Blanche walked off to ruin somebody else’s face. I did not know how to FEEL.



In any case, Blanche had collected a bit of an audience by the time her contractions started.



She hurried off to the hospital, where Ayden joined her. She gave birth to triplets, just as I hoped. And guess what? They were all fairies. ALL THREE OF THEM WERE FAIRIES.

Then the game crashed.

What a roller coaster, man. I was all like “Noooo, we need a vampire! Now we have to do this all over again!” And then we DID have to do it all over again. Because the game crashed.



I was very curious to see if the second birth would have the same result. I’d last saved a few hours before the birth, so Blanche had to wait through the afternoon before going to the hospital once again. (And most of her inner beauty victims were thus spared their torment from the other timeline.)



This is the only screenshot I took right after the birth, but Blanche did indeed have three boy fairies again. The genders and life states stayed the same for both births. An interesting study in How The Heck This Game Works!



Although none of the babies could be the heir, the whole Buslingthorpe family went bananas over the three little boys.



The first birthdays happened late that same night. The household was full, and we needed these boys aged up and out in order to bring in the heir.



Blanche went to bed that night with a look of horror on her face. She’d already given birth to triplets twice in one day, and her journey of motherhood was far from over.

And now, a quick introduction to the three boy fairies who had to be kicked out so soon. Sorry, boys.



Edgar was the oldest triplet. His traits: Disciplined, Heavy Sleeper, Grumpy, Angler, and Loves the Outdoors. He liked R&B, mac & cheese, and the color blue. As a young adult he chose Presenting the Perfect Private Aquarium as his Lifetime Wish. (Also, please excuse the slightly awkward young adult pictures. I kicked them all out before remembering to take CAS photos. Please don't yell at me.)



Next was Seymour. His traits were Couch Potato, Brave, Snob, Flirty, and Loner. He liked rap music, dim sum, and green, and he grew up to become a Heartbreaker.



Last was Leopold, who was my favorite of the boys. His traits were Excitable, Athletic, Hates the Outdoors, Ambitious, and Absent-Minded, and he liked R&B, Aloo Masala Curry, and red. He grew up to be a Superstar Athlete.



Here's a bonus picture of all three boys headed off to school. This is pretty much how child-hating Aubrey looked for the entire less-than-a-week that she had to live with three grandsons.

The fairy triplets moved out into a house across town, and will almost definitely be making appearances in future chapters. Unless story progression culls them, of course.



After her sons moved out, Blanche went back to the family chest and extracted a new lamp.



This genie was much more enthusiastic than the last one. And she had things a little backwards. Aren’t you supposed to be the one granting wishes, lady?



She was, and she did eventually get around to doing her job. Blanche became pregnant a second time, shortly after rolling a wish all by herself to have another child. What a woman. (She continued to roll wishes for more children well into the future. I've played a whole generation ahead and she hasn't stopped.)



A few days later, Blanche gave birth, once again, to triplets - and this time, the very first one out was a vampyboo. And the second one, too! Three new babies, and two potential heirs!



Immediately after birthing her first vampire, Blanche cackled and made this face. I think I was on the same wavelength. At last, we had some vampires and could move on to the next generation!

AND THEN THE GAME CRASHED.

I swear I’m not making this up. Poor Blanche had to give birth to triplets a total of four times in the span of as many days, because the stupid game just couldn’t handle the idea of three babies or something.



The second (fourth?) time, Blanche managed to hang on long enough to put all three babies into cribs. The life states and genders were, once again, the same as the previous birth: she had two girls and one boy. One of the girls was a fairy; the other two were vampires. I saved, AND THEN I WENT TO TAKE A NAP BECAUSE THAT WAS WHOLLY RIDICULOUS.

P.S. For a fun little game, count how many times Blanche, in all timelines, had to birth a baby in this chapter. It is not a small number.

[Beks]

Chapter 21 - Fangs

Are you ready? It’s triplet time.



First up: Bartholomew. A very cute vampyboo who seemed, at this point, to be a miniature Blanche with Ayden’s coloring. He’s Friendly and Hates the Outdoors (as most vampires do), and he likes soul music, tofu dogs, and white.



Middle child: Dorcas. Another vampyboo who seemed to take a little more after Ayden, possibly. She’s a Genius and a Couch Potato, and she likes R&B music, grilled salmon, and lilac.



Last but not least: Matilda, a.k.a. ONE OF THE CUTEST TODDLERS I’VE EVER SEEN IN THIS GAME. Honestly, I couldn’t dream up a more perfect combination of Buslingthorpe genetics if I tried. Matilda, you have broken my heart by not being a vampire and I will never forgive you. But anyway! She’s Grumpy and Insane (oh right, her personality is ALSO amazing), and she likes rap music, stir fry, and green.



The older two triplets got the most attention at first. They didn’t need to know how to walk and talk, of course, but I’ve found that teaching toddler skills is one of the most reliable ways to get parents and toddlers to become best friends quickly.



Matilda had a very cute day as a very cute toddler, and then I cried a little bit, and then it was time to age her up again.



The whole family came down to support the child that they soon would be kicking out of the household entirely.



Matilda got the Mean-Spirited trait for her birthday. If you want to make me, the watcher, like you, the Sim, less, then this is the perfect way to do it. Congrats, Matilda, I’m less sad now.



Then it was the vampyboos’ turn. And also Daikon’s, who aged up to elder in the shadowy foyer where Ayden was stuck to the wall. Sorry, Daikon.



Both vampyboos aged up at about the same time, while their big sister (formerly their little sister) looked on in an unflattering outfit.



This was Bartholomew’s original look when he first aged up. I didn’t keep it--I just thought it was worth highlighting.



Bartholomew took on a more slickified appearance to match his new Snob trait. This boy is very much a classical vampire thus far.



Dorcas became Hot-Headed. I had a lot of fun dressing both vampyboos, and they’re not even grown up yet!



And Matilda got a makeover as well, though she’d be a teen for only a day. Her new trait was Unlucky. Downhill and downhiller, eh?



Evidently I only remembered to give Dorcas fangs. Barty will get his turn, but in the meantime, HOW CUTE.



A day later, Matilda stepped up to the cake one last time. She’d developed a very unpleasant personality and seemed to be very much over this whole dynasty family thing. Hey, at least I wasn’t feeling guilty anymore!



Even so, Matilda is one of the most beautiful Sims I’ve ever had the honor of raising at light speed. I saved her to my bin for future adventures (in which she’ll probably get a new personality). Her final traits: Insane, Grumpy, Mean-Spirited, Unlucky, and Slob. She chose Greener Gardens as her Lifetime Wish, due to the fact that she had a wish to learn the gardening skill.



Matilda said a cheery goodbye to the parents she hardly knew, then moved out into her own house on the other side of town. (I tried to have her move in with her older brothers, but the game wouldn’t let me. So she settled for an equally massive Victorian house nearby.)



With the focus now entirely on the vampyboos, Aubrey took up the gardening mantle once again and planted every plasma fruit Belinda had set aside in one of her storage chests. We’d need a healthy supply to get through the next few hundred years.

And then it was Aubrey’s turn to say goodbye. The household was full enough to be slightly overwhelming, and we'd soon need space for the next spouse and future kiddos. Aubrey had to go.



“I’ll be right across the street, sweetheart. Come over anytime you need me - everyone knows you’re boring as heck and have nothing productive to do anyway.”
“You’re so supportive, darling, thank you.”



Then it was time for the vampyboos to be vampyboos and play in the sunlight before it started frying them. (Apparently that doesn’t start until they’re young adults. Who knew? Probably everyone.)



And I just had to take a screenshot anytime I got a glimpse of Dorcas’s fangs.


This is just an odd glitchy thing that happened. Over the years I had been putting our pets’ gravestones in Cornelius’s inventory for safekeeping, but at some point, those gravestones disappeared and the ghosts of the former pets started haunting the lot every night. I was immensely confused, and even more so when I eventually figured out that the ghosts were spawning from the same place on the lot: right next to the gate, sort of near the mailbox. I had no idea what I could do to fix it (I kept gaslighting myself and thinking “Those gravestones are clearly on the lot somewhere…I just can’t find them because I’m blind! Yes, that makes sense.”) Then one day, when I opened the game, I zoomed into the home lot and there they were: all four pet gravestones, right in that spot on the lawn where I’d seen the ghosts spawn. And they were urns, not gravestones!



I have no idea what was going on here. I have so many questions. But it was interesting, to say the least. The gravestones are now tucked away in Cornelius’s inventory again and will probably never reemerge.

[peach]

Beks! I'm so happy to see that you started another dynasty. The Bustlingthorpes have eased my Branch withdrawals exponentially. I love the characters, I love your storytelling, I love everything. There were numerous moments while reading this thread that I literally laughed out loud. Example of something that got me:

“Don’t be sad, Cornelius. At least I’m not the person who invented Velcro.”

*sniffle* “Why does that matter?”

“Because then it wouldn’t be very appropriate to say RIP.”

One random thing that struck me is how much trouble you always seem to have collecting pink diamonds! First with the Branches and now the Bustlingthorpes. Over in my Stone dynasty nine weeks in, the family has 3-4 pink diamonds from just the dogs hunting, and without hunting very hard--I eased off significantly after the first few weeks. Maybe it's one of those cases where the game can sense when you need/don't need something (I'm not planning to use Inventing as a SuperMax until late game) and deprives/indulges you accordingly.

Anyways, I'm seriously glad to see you giving the Life States Dynasty a shot. It's nice to know I'm not the only person in the world still attempting a Sims 3 Dynasty Challenge. I'm looking forward to reading more!

[Beks]

Beks! I'm so happy to see that you started another dynasty. The Bustlingthorpes have eased my Branch withdrawals exponentially. I love the characters, I love your storytelling, I love everything. There were numerous moments while reading this thread that I literally laughed out loud. Example of something that got me:

One random thing that struck me is how much trouble you always seem to have collecting pink diamonds! First with the Branches and now the Bustlingthorpes. Over in my Stone dynasty nine weeks in, the family has 3-4 pink diamonds from just the dogs hunting, and without hunting very hard--I eased off significantly after the first few weeks. Maybe it's one of those cases where the game can sense when you need/don't need something (I'm not planning to use Inventing as a SuperMax until late game) and deprives/indulges you accordingly.

Anyways, I'm seriously glad to see you giving the Life States Dynasty a shot. It's nice to know I'm not the only person in the world still attempting a Sims 3 Dynasty Challenge. I'm looking forward to reading more!

Thank you so much, peach! All I want is to make people laugh out loud once in a while. I had a lot of fun coming up with cheesy jokes for Cornelius and Belinda. (I wish I could take full credit for the Velcro joke, but it was based on an existing joke I saw somewhere in the depths of the internet.)

Yes, I have often struggled with finding pink diamonds - it's so frustrating! I'm relieved to have inventing over with for this dynasty. I definitely could have started planning and trying to find the diamonds earlier, so I blame myself partially. But even with two hunting dogs, it took weeks!

I too am so glad there are some of us still doing Sims 3 dynasties! I've fallen off the wagon a little bit in recent weeks, but I plan to get back to the Buslingthorpes soon. This dynasty has some long, slow periods of just skilling and career-ing, which is hard for me to get through sometimes. Not being able to start the next generation until all requirements are complete is kind of killing me. But more will come soon! And in the meantime, I'll definitely be reading about the Stones.