The Buslingthorpes: A Life States Dynasty (Complete)

[officialghosts]

Nice to see other people still doing Sims 3 Dynasties! I have to admit, every time Matilda rolled another terrible trait it got even funnier. At a certain point the game's just adding insult to injury.

Good luck with the vamps, their fast skilling can be as much a curse as it is a blessing when you're trying to get those 5k wishes.

[Beks]

Nice to see other people still doing Sims 3 Dynasties! I have to admit, every time Matilda rolled another terrible trait it got even funnier. At a certain point the game's just adding insult to injury.

Good luck with the vamps, their fast skilling can be as much a curse as it is a blessing when you're trying to get those 5k wishes.

Thank you, officialghosts! Matilda turned out to be a pretty ridiculous Sim. I'd love to play her again in the future and really let her shine. Or maybe I never want to play her ever again. I can't decide.

I knew that vampires had faster skilling but I never knew how fast before this challenge. It's insane! I'm trying to set things up so that there are more options for 5k wishes this generation for that very reason. Here's hoping it works.

[Beks]

Chapter 22 - The Joy of Plasma

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The vampyboos completed their childhood requirements in no time, then celebrated a simultaneous birthday once again.

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Barty got the Lucky trait.

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And Dorcas got the Computer Whiz trait.

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In case you’re wondering, no, I did not know who the heir was going to be at this time. I was a big fan of Barty’s traits (and his appearance wasn’t bad), and a big fan of Dorcas’s appearance (and her traits weren’t bad). This was shaping up to be one of the hardest heir decisions I’ve ever had to make. So we did the usual thing and pretended they were both the heir, for the time being.

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I also took the opportunity to test out all of the vampire interactions I’d never tried before. This one, “Talk about the joy of plasma”, was so stupid I couldn’t stop laughing.

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Like, what even is this?? “Hey, have you heard of plasma juice?” “Yes, I love plasma juice!” “Dude, me too!” “Hooray!” “Hooray!”

I followed that up with “Confess to being a vampire.” And this one just made me mad.

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“Dorcas, I…I have something to tell you. I can’t believe I’m sharing this deep dark secret, but…”
“What is it, Bart? Come on, I’m your sister! You can tell me anything.”
“It’s just that I…I…oh, I can’t stand it a moment longer! I’m a vampire, Dorcas.”

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“Oh. My. God. You’re a WHAT?”

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Both triplets whirled into their work outfits (both formal suits lol) and headed off to work after this, in decidedly sour moods. I don’t know, man. I haven’t tried “Deny being a vampire” yet. I’m kind of afraid to.

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The vampyboos started school and work, and in their spare time, they started picking away at one of the designated skills for generation four in their new office on the third floor.

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Dorcas went over to a friend’s house after school one day. Joey Knox was in fact a girl, in spite of her name, and she was rather horrific personality-wise (I already knew of her solely because she’d gotten into a yelling match with Matilda at one point). And sure enough, her first act was to yell at Dorcas out of the blue for absolutely nothing.

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I didn’t capture the hearts. But um, there were hearts. Dorcas was smitten immediately. And Joey responded in kind, even though her face was hilariously frozen in a frown.

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“I hate how attracted to you I am right now.”

Dorcas got a little hasty and tried to go in for a first kiss before the two girls were even friends. Upon being rejected, Dorcas took a more dramatic route.

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“If you won’t kiss me, Miss Knox, FINE! I am the daughter of a dynasty family, and of the oldest vampire family in Moonlight Falls, and you WILL be hypnotized by my purple gaze!”

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Yeah, it didn’t work. Points for bravery, though, Dorcas.

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As luck would have it, Joey came home from school with Bartholomew the next day. Dorcas, of course, scooped her up, did a few friendly socials, and nabbed that first kiss. Romantic interest acquired!

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Later that night Dorcas got Tragic Clowned, the first Buslingthorpe to do so. And her glinty eyes really don’t show up in this photo, but can you imagine anything scarier than a Vampire Tragic Clown?

[Beks]

Chapter 23 - Angry Mopping

Shortly after Aubrey moved out, Macavoy expressed a wish to have a child with her. I thought this was very sweet for a man who was technically like 150 and already had several teenage grandchildren. And then I thought, Of course! He should totally impregnate Aubrey now that she’s out of the house! Blanche will have siblings she can go visit! It’ll be great!

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The attempt was successful. Aubrey became pregnant for the second time in her life, and the first time in many many years. Macavoy spent every moment he could at her side, and I sighed contentedly over the idea of Aubrey having another baby, in spite of the fact that SHE DISLIKES CHILDREN.

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Yeah, I completely forgot about that fact. I’m so sorry, Aubrey. And the funniest thing was that whenever Macavoy went over there during her pregnancy, he found Aubrey dancing in the garage to kids’ music. Which was not even her favorite genre!

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There was no going back now, though. Macavoy escorted Aubrey to the hospital at 3 a.m. on a Wednesday or something random like that.

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And she had twins! I take no credit for the twins. She was the one rocking out to kids music at all hours. Anyway, Aubrey gave birth to twin witches named Myra and Anderson. And this was the moment when I remembered that Aubrey hated children. You know, when she left her babies sprawled all over the floor like that.

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But back to the true stars of our story, our vampyboos! Who were very much not boos anymore. Barty and Dorcas’s last few teenage requirements were wrapping up nicely. Barty locked in his romantic interest and they both reached level 3 of the graveyard job.

I also found time, before they aged up, to try out that “Deny being a vampire” interaction I was so nervous about.

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“I just wanted to tell you, Bart, in case you didn’t already know. I am totally not a vampire. This pale grey skin? Genetic mutation. These fangs? I hewed them myself by gnawing on rocks as a child. Those juice boxes you always see me drinking out of the fridge in the middle of the night? JUICE. Regular juice.”

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“I fully validate your status as a non-vampire, Dorcas. Thank you for sharing that with me.”

Ugh. *eyeroll*

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Anyway! Requirements done, our vampyboos stepped up to their cakes. (That’s Joey, Dorcas’s romantic interest, standing behind her. Joey may or may not have had a run-in with Blanche’s inner beauty curse a few moments before this.)

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Bartholomew added the Vehicle Enthusiast trait onto his Hates the Outdoors, Friendly, Snob, and Lucky traits. He chose Turn the Town as his Lifetime Wish.

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Dorcas became Family Oriented, in addition to her Couch Potato, Genius, Hot-Headed, and Computer Whiz traits. She also chose to Turn the Town.

Both vamps turned out amazing. I was deeply conflicted over who should be the heir. Dorcas's clear interest in women definitely sent her a few paces down Not The Heir Avenue, but I still wanted to give her a fighting chance. Maybe if I sent them out to find spouses, they'd make their own decision?

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Dorcas seemed to realize her shot at being heir was in jeopardy. Before her makeover, she angrily mopped the bathroom floor with her joints all askew. Somehow it felt like an act of resentment.

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The triplets graduated really quick in their upstairs writing office. Barty got Highest Honors and was voted Most Popular; Dorcas got Valedictorian and Most Likely to Have a Big Family.

And then it was time for spouse hunting, and Dorcas's last chance at being heir. That evening, both Barty and Dorcas drove across town to the Red Velvet Lounge in an attempt to meet some potential spouses. I wasn’t convinced Dorcas was going to suddenly fall for anyone that would change the game, but I wanted to give her the chance. And see if Barty would find someone, too.

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Barty started off strong by attempting to drink, rather than get a drink, from the bartender. For some reason the bartender was really not okay with this. Yeah, I don't get it either, Bart.

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“Well, Miss Buslingthorpe, what can I say for myself? Perhaps that I have had flirtatious interactions with several of your predecessors, but none of them have managed to win my affections yet. I must confess, the idea of copulating with a vampire does excite something in my--”

Yeah, there were no sparks. Dorcas listened amiably before walking off to play whack-a-thingy in the back room, and I didn’t blame her.

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Bartholomew, however, was doing great for himself. When Bailey Swain appeared on the lot, he walked right up and smiled bigger than I knew was possible in The Sims. I think we have a winner!

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Then he rubbed Bailey's belly in the carpeted foyer, and all of us covered our eyes.

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Then he drank some of her blood to see if he liked the taste. He did.

Then he went home with Dorcas to discuss the status of things.

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“The irony is beautiful here, Dorcas! I, a vampire, have fallen in love with a woman based on a human character in a vampire romance novel, who in THIS universe is actually a werewolf and wears a silly hat. Isn’t that amazing?!”

Dorcas seemed consistently resentful about not being chosen as the heir, which honestly made me love her all the more. I was very sorry to see her go.

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The vampyboos bared their fangs for one another in one last gesture of siblinghood.

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I think we can give Dorcas the assurance that hers are better, and always have been.

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Then they said an amiable farewell…

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…and Dorcas ran off into the night.

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It was officially Barty’s time. And he was ready. I don’t know what you think you’re seeing in that mirror, Barty, but…okay, yes, you are beautiful. Yes you are.

[officialghosts]

Good luck with Barty! Hopefully he's agreeable to your 5k wish plans. The parts about Bailey Swain and her silly hat and Dorcus and Barty both denying and confessing to vampirism were hilarious.

[peach]

Great updates, Beks! Dorcas turned out so beautiful and I was rooting for her to be the heir. I hope, with her extended lifespan, she'll be around for many Sim years to come and still pop in the story from time to time. And somehow miraculously end up with Joey, because I'm convinced they're soulmates.

I followed that up with “Confess to being a vampire.” And this one just made me mad.

“Dorcas, I…I have something to tell you. I can’t believe I’m sharing this deep dark secret, but…”

“What is it, Bart? Come on, I’m your sister! You can tell me anything.”

“It’s just that I…I…oh, I can’t stand it a moment longer! I’m a vampire, Dorcas.”

“Oh. My. God. You’re a WHAT?”

This sort of stuff makes me laugh so hard. I've had a similar situation arise in my own game, where one of my Sims was able to "Confess to Cheating" to... the person they were cheating with, who then argued them down to nearly an empty relationship bar. Like, huh?

I had another question I wanted to ask. I noticed you decided to play this dynasty without University Life, and I was wondering what inspired that decision, especially after the pack played such a prominent role with the Branches. I often find myself wishing I had UL installed with the Stones, and I'm just curious if there was a particular reason you decided to remove it for the Bustlingthorpes.

[Beks]

Good luck with Barty! Hopefully he's agreeable to your 5k wish plans. The parts about Bailey Swain and her silly hat and Dorcus and Barty both denying and confessing to vampirism were hilarious.

Thank you so much!

Great updates, Beks! Dorcas turned out so beautiful and I was rooting for her to be the heir. I hope, with her extended lifespan, she'll be around for many Sim years to come and still pop in the story from time to time. And somehow miraculously end up with Joey, because I'm convinced they're soulmates.

Dorcas will definitely make some more appearances. She won't let me forget about her, if nothing else.

This sort of stuff makes me laugh so hard. I've had a similar situation arise in my own game, where one of my Sims was able to "Confess to Cheating" to... the person they were cheating with, who then argued them down to nearly an empty relationship bar. Like, huh?

I had another question I wanted to ask. I noticed you decided to play this dynasty without University Life, and I was wondering what inspired that decision, especially after the pack played such a prominent role with the Branches. I often find myself wishing I had UL installed with the Stones, and I'm just curious if there was a particular reason you decided to remove it for the Bustlingthorpes.

Yeah, I've never had pleasant results from "Confess to Cheating". You would think there would be some variation in how Sims react, but it's a guaranteed way to ruin that relationship forever, regardless of how the Sim being confessed to is associated with the whole thing.

The main reason I chose not to use University Life is because I was very tired of dealing with the social groups. All the Branches were constantly insulting each other for not being nerdy enough or whatever, purely because some of them played video games or chess more than the others. It drove me nuts. That's pretty much the only reason, to be honest. Of course, now that I have a bunch of Supernaturals in a house together, they're finding plenty of other ways to ruin each other's days. In retrospect, it would have been nice to have a couple other skill options (though I'm doing fine without them), and I've never really played PlantSims before, so that might have been an interesting Life State to experiment with. But ultimately I decided to simplify in the Expansion Pack department, at least a little bit, and so far I'm happy with that decision.

[Beks]

Chapter 24 - Sunscreen & Silly Hats

Barty received his very own Motive Mobile as a “congrats you’re the heir” gift. Naturally, he painted it black and named it Van Helsing.

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His first time behind the wheel, he drove over to Plumbob Pictures Backlot and got hired as a Background Extra.

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Then he retired to his candlelit lair and started learning alchemy. He zoomed up multiple levels in one night, so fast that I had to stop him before he reached level 10 without first rolling a 5,000 point wish.

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Barty also received Vampiric Sunscreen as a “congrats you’re the heir” gift. He probably wouldn’t need it very often, but I wanted to ensure that he wouldn’t evaporate into ash while doing outdoor activities, such as wooing werewolves.

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Things were going well with Bailey Swain. Barty had a wish to kiss her, and he did, whilst surrounded by sunscreeny sparkles.

There was one other potential spouse I wanted him to meet, though. Homeless townie Rachel Gandillon was still floating around town and had recently befriended Cornelius. After Bailey left, Rachel stopped by to meet her friend’s dashing vampire descendant.

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“Uh, hi. Who are you supposed to be?”

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Rachel played it smooth by telling him she was just an excited fan looking for an autograph--an easy in. Barty cheered right up and happily signed his name on a scrap of paper for her.

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Yeah, Rachel really did play it smooth. It turned out she wasn’t even interested in Barty. Cornelius was more her type. And…Cornelius seemed to agree. Although it hurt my heart a little bit to see him holding hands with someone who wasn’t Belinda, I remembered that Belinda had been gone for a while now and Cornelius was probably lonely. He could be allowed to have a bit of romance in his life again.

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“So, Bailey, do you want to move in?”
“And get out of this horrifying outfit and ridiculous hat? Obviously!”

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I’d been really excited to bring Bailey into the household--I’d been curious about her genetics for a while. Apparently I, uh, never really looked at her mouth before. It’s atrocious. Her personality is also kind of dull: Loner, Clumsy, Light Sleeper, Supernatural Fan, and Can’t Stand Art. I had a hard time figuring out what her “look” was supposed to be. In any case, here she is. Even if I don’t like her much, Barty certainly seemed to!

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Your zest for life is contagious, Bailey.

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She already had some guitar skill, though, and the purchase of a new electric guitar immediately gave her something to occupy her time with. She did seem to enjoy entertaining her new household members in this way.

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Bailey’s Lifetime Wish was related to fortune telling, so off she went to sign up as a Horoscope Reader.

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Mostly, though, I left Bailey to her own devices. She ended up spending a lot of her time teaching Daikon to do tricks. The eyemask helped her to play dead more convincingly. (I finally downloaded Master Suite recently and couldn't wait to watch my Sims go about their everyday lives with no ability to see right in front of them. It's about as funny as I imagined.)

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Barty was happy to have his girlfriend in the house with him, but he didn’t have a lot of free time to spend with her. He spent long days and nights at his computer in the upstairs hall. Sometimes Blanche joined him to fix smoking keyboards or complete upgrades (and her Aura of Creativity was useful too).

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Daikon died of old age soon after.

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It always seems like pets haven’t been in our family long enough, doesn’t it?

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Rest in peace, sweet Daikon.

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Macavoy’s twins aged up to toddler. Myra was certainly starting to take after her mother, Aubrey, at least in appearances.

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Anderson reminded me more of Macavoy.

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Bailey ran into Dorcas at the park one evening and decided to try out her entry-level fortune telling skills on her. Dorcas, surprisingly, was kind enough to play along, although I could tell she didn’t believe a word of it.

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And Barty kept on writing. He had a loooong way to go before he’d be able to reproduce. *sigh*

[Beks]

Chapter 25 - Spacey, But Spicy

Bailey Swain doesn’t give off a very strong first impression. She comes across as kind of spacey, dull, a little austere. But a few days after moving in, she rolled a wish to propose to Bartholomew. Suddenly she was a little bit spicy in the midst of being spacey!

She took Barty out to the edge of the lake near the manor on a cool moonlit night.

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“You’ll never guess what I’m about to do, Barty. No, really, you won’t.”

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“Drop something? Babe, I already knew you were Clumsy.”
“No, not that!”

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“Oh, you’re...you're proposing?!”
“Bartholomew Buslingthorpe, will you do me the honor of--”
“YES!”

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Barty took a celebratory drink from his true love. It’s a vampire thing.

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“Are you ready for a few more centuries of this, baby?”
“Well, my lifespan is a bit shorter than yours, but…mmmm, yes.”

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It was early in the week, so the family had a few days of work and skilling to get through before the wedding could happen. Cornelius stayed up to date with extended family happenings by running into his descendants at his vaccination clinics. (Great use of those eyebrows, Edgar.)

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Blanche ran into her daughter Matilda at the pool, and they spent a few moments proudly showing each other their (completely identical) wings.

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Matilda ended up following Blanche home that evening - I guess I grouped them up and didn’t realize it or something. Macavoy provided a lovely welcome to his granddaughter by autonomously casting a Pestilence Curse upon her. I’ve never seen this before, and despite, you know, the real-life pestilence we’re all enjoying, I was very curious to see what would happen. (Spoiler alert: Matilda coughed for a second, then stopped. Nothing else happened. I think further experimentation is needed.)

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Matilda then went around insulting and scaring her family members for the rest of the day. I no longer mind that this little problem child is not the heir.

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While her fiance was hard at work on his writing and film career, Bailey practiced her fortune telling skills on the nearest unoccupied Buslingthorpe. Usually this was Macavoy. Or maybe I was just trying to prevent him from cursing the town into oblivion.

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Barty reached level 6 of the film career and chose to go into the directing track.

And with that, the week was wrapping up and it was almost wedding time. But before we get to that exciting event, we have to watch Blanche do a little dance in front of Ayden while he’s trying to watch TV.

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“Um, Blanche, sweetheart - if you wouldn’t mind, I cannot quite see the television with you, er, prancing around like that. Do you think you could move--”

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“Move…like this?”
“WHOA! That is, er - actually, that’s…that’s just fine, dear.”

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“Aaaaand how’s this?”
“I have changed my mind, Blanche. Your undulating body is much more entertaining than the cooking channel.”

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“I am the luckiest vampire in Moonlight Falls! Dance, my darling, dance!”

And that concludes one of the funniest scenes I have ever witnessed in The Sims 3. I cannot do it justice. Next up: the wedding!

[Beks]

Chapter 26 - Wed & Undead

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Bartholomew and Bailey hosted their wedding at the Red Velvet Lounge. Where else? (Well, Bartholomew did roll a wish to visit the graveyard on his wedding day…and I totally would have thrown it there if the game had let me.) Bailey set the scene by playing guitar for her guests as they settled in with drinks and chatter.

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Everybody showed up looking lovely…except for Aubrey. Yep, the grandmother of the groom showed up in a bra and panties. At least Bartholomew’s reaction was appropriate.

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I’d set up a vampy little wedding area in the foyer of the lounge, and once all the guests (85% Buslingthorpes) had arrived, I sent the happy couple over there to start the ceremony. Sweet Bailey seemed so gracious and excited to see everyone - even Dorcas, who I think intimidated her a little bit.

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She even took a moment to say hello to the problem guest. Aubrey was rude to her, naturally, and the look on Bailey’s face…oh no, am I starting to like Bailey?!

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In all the chaos of guests mingling and autographs being signed and photos being taken (pretty much every Buslingthorpe is a celebrity), something went wrong with the wedding arch. Although they started out in the right spot, Barty and Bailey ended up separating and reconvening in the middle of the crowd of spectators, where they started exchanging vows before I could stop them.

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Blanche: “Um, you GUYS! Everyone! The bride and groom are back here! You’re oohing and ahhing over nothing!”

Nice try, Blanche. At least she noticed.

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And so, Barty the vampire and Bailey the werewolf exchanged vows and rings behind all their wedding guests, with Aubrey’s butt as the backdrop. You just...you can’t make these things up.

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There, it almost looks like they’re standing where they’re supposed to. Congratulations to the newest Mr. and Mrs. Buslingthorpe!

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In spite of the rather backwards ceremony, it was a lovely wedding. Barty took a moment to admire his beautiful wife, and…what are you up to back there, Dorcas?

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“Me? Oh, just reminding everyone what things would’ve been like if I’d been the heir.”

Okay, yes, thank you, Dorcas.

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It was a heck of a party. Bailey once again picked up her guitar - she seemed intent on making sure all her guests were happy and entertained. (Did I mention I’m starting to like her?)

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Barty cut the wedding cake, cheered on by a crowd of family and friends (and an openly bored and under-dressed grandmother).

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When the cake stampede began, Bailey looked a little spooked and once again retreated off to the sidelines with her guitar. Same, girl, same.

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And so the party went on late into the night. Guests danced, mingled, drank, and ate, all of them squinting through the sheen of countless pairs of turquoise wings that seemed to cast a haze over everything.

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Dorcas got over her I-should’ve-been-heir complex and congratulated her brother over a clinking of plasma juice boxes.

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And Barty spent most of the evening going around and admiring himself in all the mirrors. You know, this would be a lot funnier if Sims 3 vampires actually...you know...didn’t show up in mirrors. *sigh*

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At some point, Bailey reached her socializing quota and ran home without me noticing. I found her behind the home bar, anxiously making tray after tray after tray of drinks for the guests she’d left on the other side of town. Or maybe for herself?

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“That should be enough.”

Barty came home soon after.

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“Are you ready to show me what those claws can do, babe?”
“Oh, stop it, Barty. The moon’s not even full!”

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Yep, it's official. I’ve fallen for these two, hook, line, and sinker.

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“Wow, Barty, that was…amazing.”
“I’m pretty sure you didn’t even see anything, but okay.”

[Beks]

Chapter 27 - Pestilence & Paparazzi

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Life went on in Moonlight Falls with all its usual weirdness as Barty dove fully into his requirements. The latest drama for the rest of the family involved Macavoy’s new ability to cast a Pestilence Curse (I guess after years and years of conjuring apples for hours at a time, he finally got there). His first attempt at cursing Matilda didn’t seem to do anything - or at least, I thought not, until a couple days later when Matilda showed up at one of her great-grandfather’s free clinics.

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“Everything looks good, Matilda! Keep on keepin’ on.”
“But--*cough*--I don’t feel very well…”
“I said everything looks good! And I’m a doctor, so I know! All right, people, who’s next?”

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Over the next week or so, the sickness did indeed spread through the family. It resulted in two or three days of bad moodlets for anyone who caught it, but the truly annoying part was the “Coughing Fit” action, which automatically canceled anything else the Sim was doing at the time. This meant that nobody was able to get more than an hour’s sleep at a time because they kept waking up to cough. A little too real am I RIGHT

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Eventually, I got so fed up with Macavoy casting curses all the time that I banished him to the family’s other lot across town. This was the same lot where Macavoy had blown up a million pieces of furniture for his inventing skill challenges. The charred remains were cleared away and a small hut was built.

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…Where Macavoy went right back to playing with magic (and occasionally cursing himself with the pestilence out of pure boredom).

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Don’t worry, I still let him visit his wife and his younger kiddos occasionally. He was pleased to find that the twins, Anderson and Myra, had grown up and Anderson was now a zombie - at least on this one occasion.

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Yeah and apparently Aubrey is only capable of producing female children that are exact clones of her.

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Since our next generation was going to be a werewolf, I started spending a bit more time with Bailey, having her go out hunting to see the results. She didn’t make the most convincing huntress ever with that prim-and-proper vibe, but she did manage to collect an impressive array of valuable collectibles in her first few outings. (I’m nervous to have our future werewolf heir do any collecting, though, since the categories of items hunted are random up to a certain level.)

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Bailey kept running into some sort of routing issues while hunting. Sometimes she’d run growling to a certain location, arrive, and stamp her foot and wave in frustration because she couldn’t actually hunt the thing that she was trying to hunt. Or something.

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Cornelius was keeping busy at the hospital, as usual, but he was also rather busy with his love interest, Rachel Gandillon. He’d rolled a wish to kiss her shortly after meeting her a few chapters ago. Weeks later, he finally asked her out to Mick’s and kissed her on the lawn before they went inside.

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The rest of the night was spent singing very, very badly together.

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Rachel was a most gracious supporter of her date. Hey Cornelius! I think we found a keeper!

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And Barty? Well, he was neck-deep in requirements 24/7. The man hardly ever slept thanks to Van Helsing, his Motive Mobile. He spent nights clacking away at his computer, writing satire books, and days working in the directing branch of the film career.

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Once in a while he got to spend an afternoon somewhere scenic filming B-roll footage. I don’t know what B-roll footage even is, but apparently paparazzi are not allowed to be in it.

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Barty supermaxed the writing skill much quicker than I expected. He’d shot up to level 10 within about two days of young adulthood, but even after that his progress was impressively quick. After only a couple of in-game weeks he was able to turn his attention to alchemy, which he supermaxed soon after.

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The writing skill comes with lots of high-point wishes and plenty of opportunities. That, plus constant use of Van Helsing, an unending supply of plasma fruit (which gives a +50 moodlet when eaten raw), and 150 Vials of Bliss made of pure lettuce, pushed Barty through the rest of his requirements at impressive speed. He reached the top of his career and completed his final wish well before his adult birthday. (Which will never happen anyway because he became Immortal for one of his Lifetime Rewards, but hey! It felt impressive.)

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Once everything was nailed down, it was time for another genie encounter.

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And then a Bailey encounter.

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And then a paparazzi encounter. This paparazzi guy was a witch who was almost as bad as Macavoy when it came to casting curses on anyone within a half-mile radius. Suddenly I had nothing for Barty to do anymore, so he got to "Intimidate" the paparazzi for fun. Worth it.

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You can probably imagine what happened next.

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Bailey walked into the fortune telling wagon for work the next day, then pivoted and walked right back out just in time to spin into a new outfit. Generation 5 was nigh!

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Barty and Bailey were excited to be parents. I tried not to worry about that slightly hungry gleam in Barty’s eye.

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Bailey was pampered to the max during her pregnancy. She hardly moved from the couch and the kids’ TV show she was forced to watch. (Genies are supposed to guarantee triplets, but with room for only two additional Sims in the household, I wanted to be extra-sure we'd get twins.)

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I did let her escape the house one night when she had a wish to read a pregnancy book. Once she arrived at the library, however, she turned right around and made a beeline for the Vault of Antiquity, where she autonomously chose to Research the Supernatural. It turns out that Supernatural Fan is actually a hilarious trait, especially because Bailey’s ultimate discovery in the archives was that “the Supernatural is nothing but a bunch of hogwash”. (Suuure, Bailey, suuuuure.) She also had some kind of encounter with ghost broccoli? I think I need to send my Sims into rabbit holes more often.  (And my favorite part of Bailey being a Supernatural Fan? The fact that she still gets the “Wow! A vampire!” moodlet whenever she’s around her husband. So cute.)


Generation 4 - Bartholomew Buslingthorpe
Life State: Vampire
Traits: Hates the Outdoors, Friendly, Snob, Lucky, Vehicle Enthusiast
Favorites: Soul, Tofu Dog / O Positive, White
LTW: Turn the Town
Spouse: Bailey Swain
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 (Tabitha Herrington), level 3 of cemetery part-time job
1 Best Friend: Shonna Knox (vampire)
2 Career Rewards: Sim Choice Award, Green Orb Award
3 BlackOps: Emergency Interviewer, A Little Bit Of Drama, A Few Pages Of Satire
4 Lifetime Rewards: Acclaimed Author, Immortal, Map to the Stars, Watering Hole Regular
5 Regular Wishes: Master the Alchemy Skill, Marry Bailey, Make At Least $15,000 In Royalties, Make At Least $25,000 In Royalties, Reach Level 10 of the Film Directing Career
6 Skill Challenges: Specialist Writer, Speed Writer, Prolific Writer, Master Alchemist, Excellent Elixirs, Alchemists Anonymous
7 Items for Museum: Satire Books

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[Beks]

Chapter 28 - Not With a "W"

Soon it would be baby time. And Ayden, the oldest and wisest vampire in Moonlight Falls, knew exactly how to prepare the household for the arrival of a new generation.

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“Party drinks. We need more party drinks.” (I started him learning mixology as a way to keep him occupied. Naturally, being a vampire, he shot up to level 10 in like two seconds. I suppose it was nice to have trays of decent-quality drinks right off the bat, instead of the fuming glasses of sewer water that my Sims usually make.)

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“Bailey, quick! We should go to the hospital! I’m a World-Renowned Surgeon and I can sense your incoming contractions from here! Quick! QUICK!

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“...But first, I need to accuse your father-in-law of being a vampire.”

Ah, Cornelius. Always demonstrating your top-tier observational skills.

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Cornelius and Ayden went ahead and argued for the full duration of the birth. Should I have sent Bailey to the hospital? Probably, but I was having too much fun watching Ayden “Confess to being a vampire” whilst his grandchildren hovered on the cusp of existence three feet away.

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And grandchildren it was! First was Zelma, most definitely a vampire.

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A few minutes later, Mildred appeared on the floor in the next room with a distinctly normal skin tone. Looks like we have an heir!

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Bailey was given a chance to recuperate from the birth, and then it was birthday time. In spite of the boys’ appalling behavior during the labor, they both got front-row seats for the cake.

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Zelma the vampire was born a Heavy Sleeper who Loves the Outdoors. Her favorites are kids music, fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and the color red.

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Mildred the werewolf was born Athletic and Artistic and loving rap music, stir fry, and black. (Since her father already held ownership of the Dark And Edgy Aesthetic, she got a random color combination instead. Mildred would grow to have her own opinion on this, but that’s a story for another chapter.)

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After a good night’s sleep, the girls started building up those parental relationships.

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Blanche took every opportunity to rob her grandchildren of the lollipops they inexplicably carried in their onesies.

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As most of us know, toddler werewolves are just about the cutest thing in this entire game. Mildred was no exception.

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She also had a talent for tearing apart pieces of furniture from several feet away. She is descended from several different supernatural types, so I suppose a little extra oomph in her werewolf powers makes sense.

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I’d never tried this before. Did you know that baby werewolves can “Practice Hunting”, wherein they go into a little squat and just sort of scratch the floor with their squishy little hands? It broke me. The cuteness actually broke me.

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Mildred went all around the house howling and scratching things, and Zelma was just sorta…there. Doing her thing.

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I don’t really know how Bailey felt about motherhood. It’s hard to read her emotions when she’s in werewolf form and wearing a pale pink vintage-style swimsuit. It’s part of the weird paradox of her existence that I haven’t yet untangled. At any rate, she looked really weird carrying her daughters around and so I took a picture. The end.

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Mildred aged up as soon as she finished her requirements, and became Never Nude.

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I was a little worried that this showed evidence of some kind of wolf-related self-esteem problem, but she demolished that theory real quick. Her first transformation was a fearsome thing to behold.

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Zelma got a birthday shortly after her sister and got the Neurotic trait. I could have aged Zelma up faster and kicked her out immediately, but I made the decision early on to raise the two girls together as much as possible. There might not even be room for siblings in future generations, after all.

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Zelma still ended up alone much of the time, but she made do in her own way.

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Mildred received an opportunity at school to contribute to an archaology exhibit. Off she went on her first trip to Egypt with Blanche and Cornelius. Mildred was a little young to be raiding tombs, so Blanche took her to the relics shop at the market to pick up a few pieces of pottery to bring back.

Cornelius also made a purchase - a special gift for his great-great granddaughter.

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“Mildred, I got you a camera! It's the very best there is. You can travel all around the world and take photos for your skill challenges!”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Buslingthorpe. I’m afraid I don’t know you well enough to accept this gift.”

Well, that’s my bad. Fortunately, Cornelius knew how to smooth over any awkward social situation.

“Say, Mildred, what kind of music do mummies like best?”
“What kind?”
“WRAP music!”

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“You’re so funny, Great-Great-Grandpa! I love rap music too, except not with a ‘W’!”

And just like that, they were friends.

[Beks]

Chapter 29 - The Goldfish Incident

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After coming back from Egypt, Mildred and Zelma went to school just long enough for Mildred to get on honor roll.

It was a short time to be children, but Zelma in particular made the most of it.

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Cornelius: “Mildred, sit down with me! Your sister is SO GOOD at telling ghost stories!”
Mildred: “Maybe for you. I’m not scared of mummies anymore because I know that they like wrap music.”

(That was the only joke she knew at the time. Cut her some slack.)

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Bailey’s adult birthday crept up on her. It was actually the second time she’d celebrated it - she’d received a Young Again potion shortly after moving in, but the clock was ticking away again. She still had many years ahead of her.

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And so did Mildred and Zelma!

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Zelma went first.

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Mildred had a moment of existential awe before whirling into her older self.

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Zelma looked good in the Agnes Crumplebottom hair, so I let her keep it. (And she is indeed descended from the Crumplebottoms, so it works.) Zelma became a Loner.

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Mildred became a Born Saleswoman. And remember that thing I said about not letting her have an Edgy Aesthetic because her dad already filled that category? Well…she looked so good in this hair I couldn’t resist.

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The twins started school the next morning, Zelma looking cute as a button and Mildred looking ready to stomp on some bugs. Or something.

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In spite of their differences, the twins got along beautifully thanks to a strong start in toddlerhood. They became BFFs and were constantly running over to chat and enthuse with each other.

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The first day of school was a Friday, which gave Mildred a whole weekend in which to start working on her requirements. She completed a couple shifts at the graveyard, then became the first Buslingthorpe to visit the art gallery in Moonlight Falls. After admiring the array of artwork, Mildred settled in with a photography skill book and read the day away.

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Zelma had a wish to learn the fishing skill, so she slapped on some Vampiric Sunscreen and hit the ponds.

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Bailey was having a little bit of a rough time these days. Her adult birthday hit her hard, and she got one of the worst midlife crises I’ve ever seen. (Also one of the longest. I don’t remember them being a week long before…?) For days on end she did nothing but sprint from mirror to mirror, examining her wrinkles and having mental breakdowns.

Designing a new outfit made her feel better - until she got some kind of terrifying glitch that caused her skin pigment to vanish.

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“As a werewolf, Mildred, you must learn how to intimidate your antagonizers. Something like THIS--”
“Mom! This is FAR beyond normal intimidation levels!”

Yeah, I don’t know what happened with that. Bailey’s skin went back to normal when she returned to human form, thank goodness.

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In spite of that horrifying example set by her mother, Mildred was adapting to her wolfiness quite easily. At one point I looked away from my screen for a minute, then heard an aggressive slurping sound. Alarmed and confused, I zoomed in and found Mildred standing on a kitchen chair wolfing down some mac and cheese for breakfast.

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Speaking of wolfing down food, how was Macavoy doing, you ask? Oh, just fabulous. He was spending almost all his time at the Isolation Cabin, happily immersed in his own filth, casting curses and spells on himself every five seconds, and refusing to sleep in the comfy bed I placed there for him.

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He did manage to raise his spellcasting skill enough to do a Restoration Ritual, which was cool for about five seconds until I discovered that the ritual deletes all leftovers from the magic fridge. But it’s fine! It’s fine. Someone had already eaten the last plate of Belinda’s perfect fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches anyway.

Bartholomew continued to work as a film director, write books, and assuage his wife’s constant neuroticism with kisses and woohoo. He also got a new kind of opportunity-type-thing at the film studio - a chance to audition people. The event was kind of glitchy and he only auditioned two Sims, but they both did this stupid little dance for Barty, hoping to land a part.

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“Hmmm. That’s good, Francisca, but I need to see a little more booty shaking. And wing wiggling.”
“Like this?”
“Perfect. All right, thanks for coming! We’ll be in touch!”

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Mildred and Zelma stayed busy with school and work. Zelma met a boy named Judson Luna at school and rolled a wish to give him a gift. When he invited her over after school, she took the opportunity to give him something very special - a goldfish she’d caught at the pond the day before.

That’s when she learned that Judson was hydrophobic.

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“STAY AWAY, Zelma! Didn't I tell you that I’m terrified of water?”
“But this isn’t water. It’s a fish! And it’s not even in a bowl of water, it’s in a box!”
“That fish symbolizes your insensitivity to my phobia. Get it away from me.”

Well, that didn’t go well. Thankfully, Zelma had enough social grace to apologize and get their relationship back into the green in no time. (She also had a friendship elixir in her pocket. Which helped.) And, it just so happened that prom was that night. In spite of the goldfish incident, Zelma and Judson got together at prom and were making out on the dance floor less than an hour later. Zelma was also elected prom queen, a shining honor that her sister would never experience.

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Where was Mildred? Well, she tried to go to prom, and even got as far as changing into her formalwear and werewolfing halfway to the limo parked in the street. But alas, she had a shift at the graveyard, and I wasn’t going to let her give that up. Sorry, Mil.

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It didn’t take long for Mildred’s teenage requirements to fall into place. She was rewarded for missing prom by getting her final promotion to Epitaph Writer. On her last day of high school, in addition to getting on the honor roll, she met an attractive boy who readily agreed to kiss her in the park after school.

With everything settled, it was time for cake! Everyone come gather in the kitchen for--

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NO WAIT MILDRED NO! No bonding with your grandmother over living room workouts! No athletics for you! Stop! Stop!

Oi. I think I’m going to have to get rid of TVs and stereos in common areas. Mildred’s Athletic trait is going to be tough to ignore.

[Beks]

Chapter 30 - Twilight Zone

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Mildred celebrated her young adult birthday on the night of the full moon.

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She didn’t even get to eat a bite of cake before having to go feral. It’s okay, Mildred, everyone goes feral in the presence of cake sometimes.

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For some reason this particular werewolf transformation was a little too much for Zelma to bear. Zelma, dear, you’ve known your sister and her wolfy ways from birth, and you are a vampire yourself! What gives?!

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After regaining consciousness, Zelma had her own spooky transformation.

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Zelma’s final set of traits was Loves the Outdoors, Heavy Sleeper, Neurotic, Loner, and Perceptive. She chose Pervasive Private Eye as her Lifetime Wish. I wasn’t able to have an heir as an investigator in this dynasty, so I’ll just have to send Zelma off into the world and live vicariously through her.

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Mildred, to my delight, acquired a Good Sense of Humor in addition to her other traits. I guess that lame mummy joke her great-great-grandpa told her on her first trip to Egypt left an impression! Her other traits were Artistic, Athletic, Never Nude, and Born Saleswoman. She locked in Visionary as her Lifetime Wish - a perfect pathway for her future as heir.

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Graduation was set to happen the next morning, but the Buslingthorpes all took so long to get into the limo that I got impatient and canceled the outing. Zelma and Mildred tossed their diplomas on the side of the road while Bailey freaked out about putting on her best dress for nothing. Zelma was voted Most Likely to Burn Down Their Own House, for some reason (I think there might be a hidden pyromaniac trait floating around in this family, although I haven’t found proof yet); Mildred was Valedictorian and Most Artistic.

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Mildred quickly launched into the weird twilight zone of Life States Dynasty heirship, wherein she drove around in her father’s Motive Mobile (still called Van Helsing) and completely disregarded normal times of day for doing things. She applied for a job as an Architectural Designer around 2 in the morning while out photographing places in town.

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Around 4, she stopped by the grocery store to pick up some raw meat. This was her first experience with bloody steak. It kind of made me want to be a vegetarian.

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And the next night, in the weeee hours of the morning, she got a call from her Aunt Matilda asking if she wanted to adopt a puppy.

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How’s Matilda doing? Uh, great. Really great. Yeah.

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Mildred ended up choosing a puppy named Ramie, but she changed his name to Enoki. He was a Quiet Hunter who immediately filled the puppy-shaped void in the Buslingthorpe household.

Between long journeys around Moonlight Falls snapping photographs of strangers and benches, Mildred started doing renovations. Her first one took place at the old Van Gould mansion.

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“Hi, Mrs. Luna? Your book nook is ready for inspection. I took the liberty of not changing the aesthetic of the room at all, since I am a descendant of a Van Gould and this is the Van Gould mansion and that just wouldn’t be respectful of my ancestry. And I’m a Buslingthorpe, so you can’t argue with me. Hope you love it!!!”

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Between renovations, Mildred sketched in her new little corner of the third floor.

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But we couldn’t stay in Moonlight Falls for too long. Not with photography skill challenges to do, anyway!

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Blanche and Mildred returned to Egypt for Mildred’s first REAL travel experience (she was only here for a day as a child). Blanche mostly hung out at the market, swimming in the fountain and harassing locals, while Mildred explored the sandy dunes and the well-worn paths and ruins.

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“I can’t believe how many things there are to paint and photograph!”

Yeah, me either. You need to take like 900 photographs, girl, so get moving!

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While working on some visa points and looking for cool things to photograph in the Pyramid of Burning Sands, Mildred encountered her first mummy. I never seem to run into these guys, so I was very excited to meet Raymundo Rodiekhkare.

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“This is where you live, Raymundo? Wow, you are in desperate need of a reno.”

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Ah, this takes me back to my first time seeing mummies and being scared out of my mind. Mildred put up the best fight she could but was still knocked unconscious for a while.

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“That. Was. Amazing.”

If only I’d remembered to have Mildred take a photograph. *facepalm*

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Mildred spent the rest of her vacation raiding tombs and fulfilling wishes for high-value photographs. She spontaneously turned into a werewolf a few times while tomb-raiding. Naturally, she had to leave her mark on Egypt in a particularly wolfy way.

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Another highlight: taking a bath in a thousands-year-old bathtub. Mildred has a Good Sense of Humor, and so, apparently, did the ancient Egyptians. (Or the mummies just...needed a bathroom.)

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And Blanche? She went for jogs around Al Simhara and made friends with a turtle. Truly adventurous stuff.

[Beks]

Chapter 31 - Tomb Picnic

Mildred returned from Egypt having completed three photography skill challenges, three 5000-point wishes, and all seven of her museum additions. Next up was painting and her architecture career. Oh, and one other thing.

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“I see you’re doing fabulously on your requirements, Mildred. Now, as your father and the previous heir, I am obligated to initiate a slightly awkward conversation with you. Have you thought about who your future spouse is going to be?”

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“I’ve thought about it, but I’m stumped, Dad. Most of the people in Moonlight Falls these days are ineligible life states. There’s not really anybody left that I could marry, is there? Besides the mummy I met in Egypt, I mean…”
“You can’t marry the mummy.”
“Yeah, I figured.”

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“But if you’re interested in the dead…well, there are no mummies in Moonlight Falls, but there are some ghosts. I happen to know of one, actually. I met him in my early days writing at the library. He already knows about the dynasty and is very open to meeting you.”
“You told him about me?”
“Well, you weren’t born yet, but yes, I told him that there might come a day when a young Buslingthorpe came along to awaken him from his slumber.”
“Sounds promising. Where can I find him?”

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Later that night, Mildred went to the library and followed her father’s instructions. She checked inside first, but found no hidden doors or secret passageways.

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“Oh, the stairs are outside. I should have guessed.”

(She was used to trickier tombs. This one was rather suburban by comparison.)

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Mildred wandered to the end of the passageway, past the study rooms and alchemy equipment that sat silently behind rusty doors. She found the bookcase Bartholomew had told her she’d find, down at the very end.

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It didn’t take long for this experienced tomb raider to find her way through into the small chamber beyond. There was a table with an urn, a creepy painting on the wall, and a scattering of candles, like a shrine. And also some easels. Mildred had a feeling those hadn’t been there originally.

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She stepped up to the shrine, inspected the urn, and dutifully shed a tear over a man she’d never met who’d lived and died long before she’d ever existed. She wasn’t sure it would help, but Barty had suggested it just to be safe.

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Candles lit and easels prepped, Mildred settled in for some long hours of painting. For three straight nights she lived in the tomb under the library, painting hilariously goofy paintings and waiting for her ghost to appear.

On the third night, just before dawn, I’d gotten distracted and was watching the other Buslingthorpes back at the house. When Mildred finished her latest painting, I came back to make her sell it...

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...and there he was! Having a picnic! In the secret tomb under the library!

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“GYAHH! How long have you been there, dude?!”
“Begging your pardon, miss. I just sat down. Would you care for a sandwich?”

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“Actually, I just…well, I’ve been hoping to meet you. My name’s Mildred Buslingthorpe.”
“Peanut Bahl. It’s a pleasure, miss.”

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“So…how long have you been down here, Mr. Bahl?”
“Please call me Peanut.”
“Right. Peanut.”
“It’s a fun word to say, is it not?”
“What is?”
“Peanut.”
“Oh. Yes, it's lots of fun, Peanut.”

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“To answer your question, I don’t know exactly how long it’s been. But it feels like a very long time. I’ve been pretty lonely down here with just these candles and a ghostly painting for company.”
“I can only imagine.”
“Meeting your father was the first exciting thing to happen to me in decades. And when he told me about the challenge you all are doing, and that one day you might need a ghost in the family…I couldn’t help but feel some hope for the first time since my death as a young man. Maybe I’d get to finish my story, or at least start a new one. And now, that day is here, and there’s a beautiful woman painting colorful cats in my crypt, and--oh, dear. I am getting rather ahead of myself, aren’t I?”

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“Not at all, Mr. Bahl.”
“Please, Miss Buslingthorpe…call me Peanut. It sounds so poetic when you say it.”
“Is that so, Peanut?”
“Ahh…”
“Well then, you need to call me by my name, which sounds poetic when you say it.”
“Is that so, Mildred?”
*giggle*

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Peanut and Mildred talked and flirted for hours, long past normal ghost-return-to-the-urn time. The sun was well up when Mildred kissed Peanut for the first time (not that either of them could tell from inside a basement).

Then Peanut had a little bit of an accident.

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“Ghosts can pee???”
“You will learn much about ghosts in this relationship, Mildred. My sincerest apologies - I’m usually back in my urn by now.”

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“I want to learn everything there is to know about you, Peanut."

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Peanut returned to his urn at last around 10 in the morning. Thanks to their extensive flirting and also the use of a Potent Friendship Elixir, Mildred could now exercise some control over Peanut’s resting place.

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So she picked up his urn and took him home to her bedroom. (Zelma had recently moved out, and her old bedroom was merged with Mildred’s to create a little painting studio.)

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Mildred still had a long way to go before she could marry and have children, though. After a nice long nap in her cozy bed (she’d been Moodlet Manager-ing in a dank basement for three days, after all), she got back into her usual routine, doing renovations and painting and playing with little Enoki.

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As I mentioned, Zelma moved out around this time, after signing up to become a Private Investigator. Household space was growing ever tighter and we must be brutal with spares. Sorry, Zelma! She moved into a lovely house near the old Van Gould, the same one Tabitha had once occupied long ago.

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Look, a shot of everyone in the household in one picture! Minus Macavoy, who was still spending 90% of his time at the Isolation Cabin due to his addiction to Pestilence Curses.

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And here’s a shot of Bailey and Mildred baring their teeth at each other. They did this a lot. Almost constantly. Ah, motherly love.