The Buslingthorpes: A Life States Dynasty (Complete)

[Beks]

Chapter 32 - Squalor

Peanut came out to haunt a few days later, wandered down a couple floors, and abruptly stopped in confusion.



“This isn’t one of the several dozen bookshelves I’m used to seeing! WHERE AM I?!”



He adjusted quickly. He was overjoyed to be with Mildred again. He also went around meeting the various members of Mildred’s family and got along well with everyone.

Well, almost everyone.



“Ah, Mrs. Blanche Buslingthorpe! I don’t believe we’ve met yet. Are you…are you quite all right?”
“I’m fine. Just resigning myself to my new reality of living with a ghost.” *sob*

Poor Blanche is going to have a rough go of it from now till forever.



But mostly, Peanut stayed in Mildred’s room. He kept her company during long nights of painting.



He put up with her weird wolfy ways; she put up with his occasionally glitchy float paths. It was a match made in heaven. Or rather a tomb.



Enoki had a birthday whilst outside for a pee.



It’s always such a fun surprise when they grow up to be enormous.



Enoki grew up with a weirdly floofy hairdo that made him look like a poodle, when he is pretty clearly not a poodle. So he got a quick makeover in CAS to more closely match his appearance as a puppy.



He was Mildred’s dog, so she spent plenty of time with him. A werewolf and a dog, isn’t that cute?



Well, it was cute until Mildred used the “Growl at” interaction and scared Enoki half to death. Poor Enoki got the “Terrified” moodlet and I basically had a mental breakdown.



A few pets, treats, and hugs returned things to normal. Enoki was a very forgiving boy. Even so, I vowed never to let Mildred growl at him ever again. She still does it anyway whenever I’m not looking but IT’S FINE



Peanut made friends with Enoki, too. He was the one who taught him how to sit.



Peanut also got along splendidly with Cornelius, which I should have expected considering they both have Good Senses of Humor.



Peanut ended his first full night at the Buslingthorpes’ by haunting the wedding arch in the backyard. All right, sir, message received, but Mildred hasn’t finished her requirements yet!



It probably wouldn’t be long, though. Mildred made rapid progress in her requirements, supermaxing painting at superfast speed and blah blah blah she was doing great.



She got to do some renovations for family members. One of her first was for Aubrey, who still lived across the street with her grown-up twins Myra and Anderson. Mildred had to do this renovation four times because Aubrey kept complaining about “living in SQUALOR”, even though all her actual demands had been met. Why? Because her house didn’t have enough beds for all the residents. Which is NOT MY FAULT, EA.

Mildred also got to do some architectural work for her own twin sister.



“Thanks for updating my bedroom, Mildred, but why did you add an attic? I didn’t ask for one.”
“Apparently the watcher’s boyfriend was looking over her shoulder as I was renovating. He suggested the addition of a ladder.”
“Oh. Well, it’s nice.”
“Yeah, I kinda wish I’d thought of it myself.”



The next night, a burglar showed up for the first time in I don’t even know how long. (Maybe ever?! I’m too lazy to go back to previous chapters and check.) As you can see, we’re still dealing with glitchy pet urns that periodically eject themselves from Cornelius’s inventory and land on the ground near the mailbox for no discernible reason.



Luckily, we had a burglar alarm installed. Also, we had Enoki to bark at the burglar. Go Enoki!



..Then Enoki turned around and barked at the alarm instead. I guess the noise bothered him more than the threat to his family. Also, the cops showed up and got summarily subdued by the burglar.

Mildred: “WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.”



“Boy, living here is really something. I can’t wait to go hide in my gypsy wagon tomorrow.”
“Yeah. I have so many knots in my shoulders!”
“Those will go away in approximately two hundred years.”
“Oh, really? Did you just have a vision or something?”
“No, that’s when the dynasty is set to end.”
“Oh.”

[Beks]

Chapter 33 - Master of the Living

Welcome back to the Buslingthorpe Life States Dynasty, where we keep discovering new things about the Supernatural expansion pack. Such as the fact that there is basically a knockoff Narnia. I mean. Are you kidding me? The Sims 5 who???



After a brief scare in which I thought I’d failed the challenge but actually didn’t, we are back. Bailey is playing blind chess against nobody. We are thriving! Everything is great!



Mildred was tying up the last few threads of her requirements. Her final opportunity was to have a cameo in one of her dad’s films. Normally I skip these repetitive celebrity opportunities, but this one felt sorta special, so I let her do it.



“Sooo, Great-Great-Grandfather Cornelius? Greatest doctor who ever lived? Master of the living and the not-yet-dead?”
“That’s me.”
“I was wondering if you could help me with something.”
“Ah, I thought you might ask me sooner or later. Does this have anything to do with your boofriend?”
“My…what?”
“Your boo-friend.”
“Do you mean…my boyfriend?”
“I would if he was a human. But he’s not - he’s a ghost. Therefore he’s your boo-friend!”
“Oh, I get it!"



“I have to say, Mildred, I’ve been waiting for this moment for centuries, and not just to tell you that ghost joke. The Oh-My-Ghost opportunity is the epitome of medical science! I have always wanted to try it. Especially being surrounded by supernaturals who can raise the dead with a wave of their wands, and such. Sometimes people forget the power of science.”
“So you can make Peanut a permanent member of the household?”
“That I can. And we don’t even need any magical powers! Of course, as a human, I don’t have any. And that’s what makes me special. Remember that.”
“...Okay. I mean, I’m a werewolf, so I can’t really relate. But I will remember that."



That very evening, Dr. Cornelius took Peanut’s urn to the hospital. A few hours later, out he came with a newly permanent ghost in tow. Welcome to the family, Peanut!



Yes, good job, Cornelius. You are indeed very special.



Under the eerie moon, Mildred took her new housemate on a date to an old haunt of theirs. Heh heh.



In the dingy, chilly basement where they’d first fallen in love, Mildred asked Peanut to marry her, and Peanut eagerly said yes.



Here he is in CAS. I know this doesn’t really show us anything new, but it feels weird to have a new household member and not give them a CAS screenshot.



The next day a wedding was held, and all the far-flung Buslingthorpes convened at the old house where they’d once grown up at lightning speed. Here we have Dorcas signing an autograph for her niece, the bride-to-be, with Macavoy and Aubrey’s daughter Myra in the background. In the foreground, we have Ayden and his daughter Emilie each remembering, in a rush of horror, that the other exists and they haven’t conversed for centuries. Ah, family reunions!



I think this sums up this relationship pretty well.



Mildred and Peanut exchanged their vows in the glow of the setting sun.



Look, more family! Well, that’s Dorcas again, obviously, because we can't have too many screenshots of her, and in the back are her brothers, Uncles Edgar and Seymour.



Here we have Zelma, twin sister of the bride, and also Uncle Leopold, who bawled throughout the entire ceremony.



And here’s the lovely mother of the bride with Myra and Emilie behind her. I’m sorry, but I cannot stop laughing at this screenshot. I think we’re very lucky Mildred did not inherit that mouth.



Congratulations to the newest Mr. and Mrs. Buslingthorpe! (Please ignore Gator Wolff tearing up the chairs in the front row.)



Mildred and Peanut spent their wedding night doing wedding night things.



Bright and early the next morning, Mildred was planted in front of the television, where she would remain almost constantly for the next few days.



In no time, she discovered she was pregnant and shared the happy news with Peanut.



Back to the TV she went, with a stereo playing children’s music nearby. This generation is our last chance for twins, and we’re going to get them no matter what if we have to die trying! And we might lol



Meanwhile, Barty went to the Red Velvet Lounge to hang out. He was about to become a grandfather, after all, which definitely merits a drink. That’s where he discovered his wedding cake, which had been sitting on the bar giving off rotten fumes for nigh on thirty years or something ridiculous. I think we’ll leave it there forever. It’s immortal!


Generation 5 - Mildred Buslingthorpe
Life State: Werewolf
Traits: Artistic, Athletic, Never Nude, Born Saleswoman, Good Sense of Humor
Favorites: Rap, Stir Fry, Black
LTW: Visionary
Spouse: Peanut Bahl (Jelly Bean Ghost)
Toddler Requirements: Level 3 in two skills (xylophone, painting books), best friends with both parents
Child Requirements: Honor Roll, one opportunity (Archaeology Exhibit)
Teen Requirements: Honor Roll, romantic interest (Noel Novak), level 3 of cemetery part-time job
1 Best Friend: Sharla Cheng (witch)
2 Career Rewards: Architectural Designer’s Honor Trophy, Painting Skill Certificate
3 BlackOps: Deliver a Painting to Egypt, The Sphinx, Cameo in Film
4 Lifetime Rewards: Raised By Wolves, Extra Creative, Alpha Wolf, Fearless Voyager
5 Regular Wishes: Master the Photography Skill, Take a Photo Worth $2500, Take a Photo Worth $3500, Master the Painting Skill, Reach Level 10 of the Architectural Designer Career
6 Skill Challenges: Architectural Eye, Photog, Human Form Expert, Proficient Painter, Brushmaster, Master Painter
7 Items for Museum: Photographs

[Beks]

Chapter 34 - Cool Colors

Mildred went into labor under a portrait of her grandfather, a.k.a. my favorite photograph any of my Sims have ever taken.



In due time she gave birth to a human boy. Yeah, just one. Yeah, a regular human. Somehow this kid managed to not inherit any supernatural qualities whatsoever. I didn’t even know that was possible!



Anyway, he was named Hobart and immediately began his lengthy journey through several cakes and Age of Instant potions.



Poor Hobart was in the household for less than two days, but he grew up cute and happy all the same. His traits were Heavy Sleeper, Evil, Kleptomaniac, Grumpy, and Hates the Outdoors. Okay, I wrote the first sentence of this paragraph before looking back at his traits. He did not grow up very happy after all. His favorites were Latin music, chile con carne, and the color spice brown, and as a young adult he decided to Become a Master Thief.



“Ughhh…again, already?”

Yes, dear. We need a ghost! Give me a ghost or this will go on forever!



Round two resulted in two baby girls (Peanut had been wishing for a daughter, so he was happy). Both werewolves. Not ghosts.



Harriet inherited her cool blue skin from her father and her blonde hair from nowhere. Her traits were Neurotic, Light Sleeper, Loser, Great Kisser, and Perceptive, and she liked classical music, veggi rolls, and the color purple. As a young adult she chose to be a Pervasive Private Eye. Also I'm sorry that her child picture is weirdly not centered but I am too lazy to fix it.



Her twin sister Esther had the Brave, Perceptive, Kleptomaniac, Equestrian, and Vehicle Enthusiast traits. She liked indie music, grilled cheese, and yellow, and she chose The Jockey as her Lifetime Wish. (I’ve been hoping to get an Equestrian in this challenge so I could try out the horsemanship career. Of course the only one so far is a spare.)

Harriet and Esther were moved out of the household even faster than their older brother. Maybe the third time would be the charm?



“Siiiighhhh...”

I really am sorry, Mildred.

This poor woman had now spent almost an entire week plunked in front of the TV watching cartoons and listening to nursery rhymes. Her family members were very kind, though, and kept her company when they weren’t otherwise occupied.



“None of your predecessors had this much trouble conceiving the correct life state, Mildred. I suppose in my case, as a vampire, I’m just better at this sort of thing…”
“Dad. GROSS.”



And sweet Enoki was always there to watch over the tired mama.



A few days later, Mildred went into the hospital for the third time…and voila! Another set of twins, a boy and a girl. The girl melded right into her father’s arms, almost as if she was a part of his ectoplasm. WHICH SHE WAS. Finally, we had an heir!



The twins were brought home and force-fed cake.



Duncan revealed himself to be a werewolf with one of the coolest hair colors I have ever seen in my life. He was born with the Loner and Evil traits, and his favorites were rap music, crepes, and the color black.



Lavinia, the heir, showed up solid in CAS because apparently ghosts are weird. And she was pink! I am not an expert on ghost genetics, so I cannot explain this to you. At any rate, Lavinia was Neurotic and Disciplined, and her favorites were soul music, firecracker tofu, and the color purple.



And, uh…she was also a werewolf. And a ghost. At the same time. Once again, I find myself in Sims School, learning new things that are possible in this game.



A doggy birthday crept in between all the human ones. Enoki aged up to elder and chomped a few sparkles for the occasion.



The whole family came together to raise the twins. That photo booth was placed outside the house because Mildred kept rolling weird wishes to do non-toddler things with Lavinia. This included “take photo in photo booth with Lavinia”. Also “sing karaoke with Lavinia”. I mean, I wish those things were possible. And I tried to make them happen. Tried.



Lavinia couldn’t exactly party with her mom yet, but she could learn some toddler skills and grow close with her family anyway. She spent lots of time being all matchy-matchy with her father.



Duncan was absolutely super adorable, and happy as a clam to boot, in spite of his Evil Loner tendencies.



He wreaked plenty of havoc around the household on his way to childhood.



…which was approaching quickly! Time for more cake.



And more cake.



Duncan became even more of a recluse, acquiring the Hates the Outdoors trait - plus some rather intense eyebrows.



Lavinia became Excitable. She had lots to be excited about. Such as a cute new headband. And a lot of stuff to do in the future. So fun!

[Beks]

Chapter 35 - Cream Puff

Lavinia was a child just long enough to get good grades in school and complete one opportunity. Cornelius played his favorite role of Ancient Park Tutor, as he’d done for all of Lavinia’s ancestors.



Here’s another shot of Lavinia playing with her dad, because I have a lot of screenshots like this. Like I said: they match, which is adorable, so it's worth screenshotting EVERY TIME. OKAY?



As the focus on Lavinia intensified, Duncan had to be dragged unceremoniously up through the age brackets like so many spares before him. As a teenager, he became a Night Owl.



He finally got a promising trait for his young adult birthday: Lucky. He decided he wanted to be the Emperor of Evil, in spite of his rather grandpa-esque fashion sense.



And off Duncan went to join his older siblings in the Realm of Spares. See ya, Duncan!



Okay, back to Lavinia. Her childhood really wasn’t very eventful, except that she did werewolf things a lot. Exhibit A.



Exhibit B. (Her hair grows longer when she’s wearing her pajamas. It’s not a CAS thing, it's a werewolf thing!)



And Exhibit C. Oh wait, that’s just Cornelius whacking Harriet with a newspaper for some reason. Good to see you, Harriet!



Lavinia took ballet class, too. “Look, Mom, I’m Giselle! Woooooooo!”



Let’s take that spooky energy into teenhood, shall we?



Lavinia grew up hecka pretty (and did indeed lean into the whole ghostly ballerina thing). Her teen trait was Absent-Minded. Now she’s anxious, focused, excitable, and forgetful, all at the same time. At first I was like “how is that possible?” and then I was like “oh wait, I’m like that”.

There were just a couple of hours left until midnight, so Lavinia zoomed over to the graveyard to apply for a job. I know everybody gets every job in The Sims because it’s The Sims, but I like to think Lavinia had a special “in” because, well, you know. She kind of fits the vibe.



Aaaaand I forgot about curfew. Again.



“Sorry, kid. You’re not supposed to be here.”
“But I’m a ghost. In a cemetery. At night.”
“I don’t make the rules, kid.”



Lavinia quickly revealed herself to be a passionate and sweet young lady, rolling constant wishes to experience more of life. Her first wish as a teen was to get a part-time job, and then all she wanted to do was talk about said job, and then she wanted to join an after-school activity (she re-rolled the wish multiple times even after I canceled it), and then she wanted to hang out with her dad, and then she wanted to play with Enoki, and when she wasn’t doing all of that she was exuberantly singing karaoke. I wish I had this girl’s energy.



Karaoke was the family activity of choice these days, probably because I had to delete the TV since people kept gaining unauthorized athletic skill points. Mildred and Blanche were the most enthusiastic singers. The maid (here mopping up what I assume to be a puddle of Enoki pee) was a reluctant spectator.



Still, at this late stage of the dynasty, everybody was getting pretty antsy with not much to do. Even Peanut, a newer household member, started acting out by flirting with his wife’s grandmother.



“How could you accept my husband’s advances, Grandma?! I SANG KARAOKE WITH YOU!”



The flirting continued to such a point that I got fed up. Blanche was temporarily banished to the Isolation Cabin across town.



That’s right, Blanche. Sit there among your father’s dirty dishes and think about what you’ve done. I hope some of those flies go into your open mouth! (Macavoy was still living there. He was just asleep in the other room.)

A slightly more wholesome romance unfolded at Crumplebottom Park that weekend. Well…more wholesome, but no less weird.



“Oh, Lavinia, I remember how it felt to hold your great-grandmother in my arms, but that was NOTHING compared to this!”

Is he talking about Blanche? Yes he is. How is Waylon Wolff still a teenager all these years later? I do not know.



Lavinia kindly ignored the age difference and enjoyed a lovely date with Waylon. They’d actually be cute together, I think, in another lifetime. (The guy on the left is a paparazzi. He was polite enough to snap photos of their entire conversation but walk away during their first kiss.)



That evening was prom. Lavinia whirled into her formal dress while Waylon was momentarily distracted by the water slide. For a few minutes, she floated about like an adorable ghostly cream puff - until the clock chimed 5 and she had to go to work at the graveyard instead. Sorry, Lavinia.

[Beks]

Chapter 36 - Dine & Dash

Things were chugging along in the Buslingthorpe dynasty. And then we got everyone’s favorite notification: that someone in the family was going to die of old age soon. In this case, it was Bailey. Anyone remember Bailey? Just barely? Yeah, same here.

Bailey (the wife of Barty, in case you forgot) had moved out around the time of her elder birthday, and as of the writing of this chapter, I have realized that I did not mention this in the story anywhere. Now I feel guilty. But anyway, Bailey had moved out to make space for Lavinia and her siblings. She’d been living alone in a house across town and was looking a little rough around the edges in her old age.



“Ick! What has happened to this place in my absence?! What, are we cavorting with ghosts now??”
“I live here, Mrs. Buslingthorpe. I’m married to your daughter Mildred?”
“Oh. Well…that hat looks stupid on you.”
“...Thanks.”



Barty, who had invited her over, came running out of the house to greet his wife. It had been way too long since they’d seen each other. I’m really bad at keeping up with family members who move out, okay?

“You look beautiful to me, Bailey, no matter what the watcher says.”



Barty and Bailey spent a long afternoon reminiscing together in the vampire lair they knew so well. Their younger selves watched over them from the photograph on the wall.



Then Bailey went down the hall to Mildred’s bedroom to tear apart a gnome. Like I said, she’s a little rough around the edges.



Tearing apart a gnome would be the last thing she ever did.



Grim: “Fiiiinally, I return to the esteemed Buslingthorpe Manor! It’s about time one of you bipeds kicked the bucket.”

This was when I realized that this was only our second human death in the entire dynasty. The previous one was Belinda. All the other deaths have been pets, or else distant family members that moved out and were forgotten anyway.



“Oh hey, Grandma Bailey. So you’re a ghost now too?”
“I’m trying to be. Apparently Mr. Reaper here has to escort me downstairs first.”



“Well, nice seeing you, Grandma!”



Bailey ended up evaporating at the bottom of the stairs. I think Grim is a little out of practice at reaping humans. Well, rest in peace, m'dear.



He made his way out of the manor, glancing with disdain at a passed-out Blanche on his way to the street.



But he didn’t leave before feeding Enoki a treat. Grim, get your hands off our dog! I mean it!!!

Barty was, of course, heartbroken at the death of his wife. Their “date” had ended rather badly, after all. As for Bailey’s reaction…



YOU’RE THE ONE WHO DINED AND DASHED, BAILEY.



Okay, that made me laugh so that I felt better. And Bailey got her due revenge for her neglect by haunting Mildred’s bedroom and scaring the crap out of me, Peanut, Mildred, and everyone within a forty mile radius.



It was an awkward moment for everyone.



But enough about the older generations. Lavinia got on the honor roll, became an Epitaph Writer at the cemetery, and even completed one of her BlackOps (allowing her to start on one of her chosen skills), all before the halfway point of her teenage years.



So naturally, it was birthday time!





Well ain’t she a pretty thing. Lavinia’s final set of traits: Neurotic, Disciplined, Excitable, Absent-Minded, and Snob. Her LTW was Martial Arts Master, totally giving away her other designated skill. Not that one of her born-this-way traits didn’t give it away already.



But before she could do any of that, Lavinia first had to go to City Hall and change her name. Why? Because as Mildred was popping out tons of non-ghost babies, I’d broken my usual pattern and decided to name the babies AFTER each birth. And Lavinia, for some reason, was the only baby who could not be renamed by her parents at City Hall. It must have been due to her ghost life state. The poor thing was technically named “Girl” for her entire life until she was old enough to change her name herself. Sorry, um, girl.



With that out of the way, Lavinia was free to focus on her requirements. To the guppy pond!

[CeresIn]

I'm finally up to date with this story! Yesterday I finished reading it and what a surprise today there was a new update.
Girl, I mean, Lavinia is beautiful.

[Beks]

I'm finally up to date with this story! Yesterday I finished reading it and what a surprise today there was a new update.
Girl, I mean, Lavinia is beautiful.

Thank you so much for reading! I'm trying to power through to the end of this dynasty, so more updates should be a little more regular from now on.

[Beks]

Chapter 37 - A Fearsome Thing To Behold

Lavinia’s first couple weeks as a young adult were mostly spent fishing. Actually trying to fish. It took her a weirdly long time to even reach level 1 of the skill. I don’t use the fishing skill very often, but I kind of assumed she’d at least get to level 1 the first day.



Ah, well. She had time. Our girl was quite a spectacle, displaying her double-supernatural status in scenic locations around town.



Gradually, Lavinia leveled up and started catching more advanced fish. Here she is catching a White-Tailed Deerfish.



Lavinia’s werewolfiness also helped out in a pinch if she got hungry. Once again, I learned a new thing about The Sims 3 here. (They really thought of everything, didn’t they?)



Instead of dragging her entire family to graduation, Lavinia opted to graduate mid-fishing-session at Stone Troll Fishing Hole. She was voted Valedictorian and Most Likely to Be a Millionaire, which is hilarious because the household funds crossed the three-million mark that very same day.



And so Lavinia fished. And fished. And fished. Thanks to old Van Helsing, the beat-up-but-well-loved family Motive Mobile, Lavinia was out at various bodies of water around the clock, which meant she got to see some pretty cool things - including multiple unicorns.



She also made a spontaneous friend while on her fishing expeditions, which almost never happens in long-term files like this. This tourist from Egypt was a big fan of Lavinia’s, and after following her around for several days hoping for an autograph, he finally picked up his own fishing pole and got to know her the organic way. Lavinia was so excited to have a new friend that she got her own pole stuck in her forehead, but it’s fine.



The rest of the family was doing well. I started to feel bad about keeping Macavoy in isolation for centuries on end or whatever, so I let him move back home provided his behavior improved. He meekly returned to his workbench for the first time in a couple generations and succeeded in not casting any pestilence curses. For now, anyway.



Everybody else was kind of just hanging around. Peanut worked hard in the journalism career, then came home to goof off with the ancient and esteemed Cornelius.



Dorcas (who lived in a little cabin just down the street) threw a swimsuit party, and while I typically avoid sending the Buslingthorpes to parties to prevent them from accumulating too many friends, I couldn’t resist sending Barty to visit his sister. And do this “yay plasma juice” thing again. It's grown on me, you know?



Grim had already warned us about the impending loss of Enoki, but that didn’t mean anyone was ready.



Enoki was a sweet and well-loved doggo, and while his humans (er, well, actually mostly non-humans) wept over his death, Enoki himself was very excited to go play fetch in dog heaven. Rest in peace, Enoki.



Lavinia was employed as an angler, and once she’d amassed a decent stack of fish in her inventory, she ventured into the old consignment shop to sell her wares. And look who was waiting for her behind the counter: her twin, Duncan!



“Good to see you, bro. How nice that unlike the rest of our siblings and ancestors, I might actually get to see you sometimes!”



Lavinia’s fishing was progressing steadily, especially once she unlocked the ability to fish in the cemetery. But she had a whole ‘nother skill to learn, too. So when a new set of martial arts equipment appeared on the lot one night (retrieved from the depths of an old travel trunk brought back from Cornelius and Belinda’s honeymoon), Lavinia ventured in to, uh, kick up her heels or whatever.



Fairly quickly, Lavinia moved on to breaking boards. She would be doing a lot of this.



And meditating. For hours. She would also be doing a lot of this.



I was always impressed when the paparazzi found her, even in the most remote locations on the map.



“Tell me, Miss Buslingthorpe. What would you say are the biggest obstacles to your fishing goals?”
“Um…”



Before she knew it, Lavinia was a full-blown martial-artist-werewolf-ghost, and a fearsome thing to behold.



And she knew it. I have no idea why she was naked here. But she spent a good hour checking herself out. We love some body positivity, even for those without bodies!



Peanut: “The ghost under the library had not seen another soul for hundreds of years…until that fateful night. A mysterious vampire dressed like a rock star descended those haunted steps and came to awaken the long-sleeping soul of the man who’d eaten a jelly bean…”
Bartholomew: “Oh, the horror! I can’t POSSIBLY imagine what happens next!”

[Beks]

Chapter 38 - Floating

Lavinia worked hard on her requirements until she’d maxed both the fishing and the martial arts skills. She still had a long way to go, though, with several wishes to fulfill and skill opportunities to complete. The time had come at last for a long-awaited trip to Shang Simla.



Peanut: “Ugh! There are ghosts here?!”
Lavinia: “Dad, you have a Good Sense of Humor and that’s literally the most overused joke in the book.”



I’d packed both Van Helsing the Motive Mobile and a high-speed broom in Lavinia’s inventory. But that didn’t help her very much on her escapades.

Lavinia needed to catch some dragonfish for an opportunity, and the best place to do that was Dragon Springs. The broom got her about 1/4th of the way there. The rest of the way, she had to float. And float. And float. It took her about four hours to get from base camp to the fishing spot. It was going to be a looong vacation.



But she got there eventually, and look at that scenery!



Lavinia used plums as bait to catch some Tancho Koi, then used the koi to catch the elusive dragonfish. I’d never seen one before and hot dang, this game is cool. Lavinia caught the three she needed for her BlackOp, then a few extra to add to the museum.



I was going to have Peanut do some adventures and rack up some visa points (since I had pretty much exhausted all previous heirs’ travel days), but I ended up just focusing on Lavinia. She had a tendency to forget what she was doing while floating in the middle of nowhere (ah yes, we all love that Absent-Minded trait). She required close supervision. And so Peanut spent his entire vacation hovering between Base Camp and the market. He read lots of books, learned some new recipes, and resisted the urge to flirt with the local merchants.



Meanwhile...just imagine a lot of this.

After completing her work on dragonfish, Lavinia headed to the Martial Arts Academy. She had to win the tournament to fulfill one of her big wishes and a skill challenge. I had no idea if she’d be able to do it in the few days we had. Especially when her very first opponent, Maya Wang, refused to show up at the academy, claiming that “Actually something came up and I can’t make it, sorry!”



With a deep sigh, I decided to send Lavinia to the Wang household to try and spar there. It worked. But of course Madam Wang here was an elderly lady who walked with a cane and had to use the bathroom and wash her hands before Lavinia could even talk to her.

At some ridiculous time like 2 in the morning, Lavinia defeated Maya Wang, then returned to the academy for her next match.



The next few days were spent sparring and sparring and sparring. The best days were the days when her opponents consisted of the same family of three or four people, all of whom stayed on the lot for hours and allowed Lavinia to cycle between them with great efficiency.



Lavinia was a top-level martial artist, but she still had to work hard to defeat her opponents. And she lost about a third of the time, especially once she passed rank 3.



The matches grew more and more intense. Spectators gathered to watch! Opponents peed themselves, then fought through their own puddles! Locals changed into monochromatic outfits to use the workout machines!

Lavinia won 19 matches with one day left of her vacation. Only one match remained for her to become champion. Can you guess who her final opponent was? Maya Wang, of course! Can you guess whether Maya Wang was available to spar at the Academy? She wasn’t, of course!



So Lavinia had to visit Maya’s house in the middle of the night again. She waited outside for, oh, six or seven hours before Maya answered the door.



“THIS is for sitting in the bathroom for six hours when you should have answered the DOOR!” *SMACK*



“Well, THIS is for refusing to respect my limitations as a VERY OLD LADY!” *WHAP*



“All right, then, very old lady. Let’s see what those creaky bones are made of.”



I don’t know why the game selected old Maya Wang as Lavinia’s final opponent, but she certainly put up a decent fight.



It wasn’t enough, though. Lavinia defeated her fair and square, completing multiple requirements (plus her Lifetime Wish) all in one glorious moment.



“It’s been an honor, Lavinia Buslingthorpe.”
“I guess it has. Thanks for letting me barge into your house at 3 a.m. on three separate occasions, Ms. Wang.”

And with that, everything we needed to accomplish in China was complete. And we still had a whole day ahead of us!



Lavinia had been holding onto a wish to visit the Scholar’s Garden, so off she went to get in some meditation time. (She still needed over a hundred hours.)

Then she invited Peanut to meet her that afternoon.



“I won the tournament, Dad! Now you get to be my full-time sparring partner!”



So Peanut was relegated to the training dummy - for all of five seconds, before he jumped up to level one and gained the ability to spar.



“So Dad, this is a good starting attack move--”
“Lavinia, that isn't fair! I won’t have the ability to leap out of screenshot frames until at least level five!”



He learned quickly, though. By sunset, Peanut and Lavinia were sparring like pros. Peanut even won his first match against his daughter.



But by that time, it was time to say farewell to China. China, thank you for not causing any game-breaking glitches even at this late stage. I really am very very grateful.



The Buslingthorpes returned home. A couple days later, Lavinia was able to complete her museum additions. (I am sorry - I could not figure out a way to arrange the fish on the wall in anyway except a very long, very stupid-looking row. Believe me, I tried.)

But we were nowhere near done yet. Up next: a lot more fishing, and a lot more martial arts! Yay!

[CeresIn]

I never caught a dragon fish either. It looks very cool! I love this game so much.

[Beks]

Chapter 39 - Lover's Lamp

Lavinia and Peanut continued to spar, whenever Peanut wasn’t at work. (I love this screenshot because it reminds me of that shot from the 1998 Parent Trap where LIndsay Lohan and Lindsay Lohan are practicing their secret handshake at camp.)

At some point, I realized that Peanut’s elder birthday was approaching. I wasn’t ready to see him get old yet, so I fed him some ambrosia from the replicator. And, uh…



…this happened. I completely forgot that if a ghost eats ambrosia, they will become un-ghosted. Thank goodness this doesn’t break the rules since Lavinia was already born. Yikes!



…and THEN, like one day later, THIS happened. He still had his elder birthday! Even though his age bar had been set back to the start! Ugh. At this point I gave up and left him as an elder. He couldn’t stay around forever, anyway.

This era of the dynasty consisted of a lot of grinding. Lavinia fished, sparred, meditated, fished, sparred, and meditated. Finally, she reached a point where the completion of her requirements was sort of visible in the distance. She just needed to catch about 100 more fish, meditate for about 75 more hours, and roll one more 5,000-point wish. I’d hoped she’d roll a wish to meditate for X number of hours because she’d have to do that anyway, but she refused to express such a desire.

So there was only one thing to do. It was time to get this girl a man!



“Why did I come up to my bedroom again…? Definitely not to sleep, because I haven’t done that since I was a teen…”

*sigh* Check your inventory, Lavinia.



“Oh, right!”

Apparently there wasn’t enough space in her very picturesque bedroom for this task. Ah well.



*POOF*
“Hi.”



“Ewwww, a ghost!”

Well, that won’t work. Let’s try this again. New lamp, please!



“Ewwww, a ghost!”



“Don’t be afraid, Mr. Genie. Yes, put your hand right there. Perhaps you’d like to reconsider?”



Hey, whatever works! Lavinia introduced herself (and her bosom) to Jermaine Kwinn, who definitely came around once he got over his initial shock.



Oh, yes. This will do fine.



Lavinia: “Mr. Kwinn, for my first and only wish, I would like...to free you!”
Jermaine: “......”

Seriously, he just stared into the distance for a while with all the existential boredom of a fourteen-year-old in English class.



Eventually he snapped out of it and did his whole magical poofy thing. This was the first time I’d ever seen Lavinia scared.



“There. Now you go do a bunch of silly things to my lamp and then come back here and we’ll talk.”
“Okay! Thank you!”



Don’t worry. She got him back for the fright. This girl always has to win.



Going downstairs, Lavinia did the customary deeds, sticking her lover’s lamp in the fridge and then the oven.



Meanwhile, Jermaine got to know his future grandparents-and-great-grandparents-in-law over a rambunctious game of foosball.



The final task for Lavinia was to take the lamp down into the catacombs. I’m sure she enjoyed the adventure, being a ghost, but she still came out singed (and with a rather, um, unfortunately placed jelly bean).



Back home she went. By this time Jermaine had gone back into his lamp, somehow, and had to get over his shock at seeing a ghost all over again. *sigh*



But the tasks were complete, and the magic was in motion. Jermaine twisted and writhed in a swirl of sparkles and then poof! He was free.



This was the first thing he did as a free genie. He stuck his face right into Lavinia’s and BOOED. Sir, if you are to be a part of this household, you must behave yourself!



Just kidding, nobody in this household behaves. Welcome to the fold, Jermaine! As an arrival present, Jermaine received a trip to the hospital for some plastic surgery. Now he was free of his lamp and from pudding-face syndrome. (I left his obnoxiously blond hair, though. And his eye color. And his body shape.) Jermaine was Athletic, Flirty, Clumsy, Lucky, and a Loner, and he enjoyed Chinese music, vegetarian chili, and the color lime. His Lifetime Wish was Master of Mysticism, which I suppose was very fitting for a genie.



On his first morning at Buslingthorpe Manor, Jermaine glided down the road to the gypsy wagon and acquired a job as a fortune teller.



Then he continued getting to know his new (uh, future) family members. Blanche was way too excited to have a new peon to mercilessly train. At least Jermaine had a cute workout outfit. (You can't tell in this screenshot, but he was wearing short shorts and knee pads.)

[Beks]

Chapter 40 - Stone Troll Doesn't Care

Now that Jermaine was in the household, it was time to use him for his primary purpose: inspiring one last 5,000-point wish. Quick! To the most scenic spot in town!

Once they arrived, Jermaine’s enthusiasm ramped up.



“Race ya!”

He won. By a lot.



By the falls, a ghost and a genie shared their first kiss. At least I think it was their first. My memory’s a little fuzzy.



Then Lavinia got down on one insubstantial knee.



He said yes, of course. Jermaine, with all due respect, I never want to see the inside of your mouth again.



The Stone Troll approves of this romance. Or maybe he just doesn’t care. He’s probably been sitting there, not caring, for millennia.



Lavinia returned to her requirements. The end was in sight, but we weren’t there yet. She still had fish to catch and sparring matches to complete.



At least it gave Peanut something to do. He really did seem to enjoy sparring at all hours in between shifts at the journalism office. (And this, in turn, gave Mildred something to do. She had a thing for cheering them on with the snake charmer basket. Or whatever. I don’t know what she was trying to do here, honestly.)



Meanwhile, I had some fun with Jermaine. I’d never played a genie before. It was indeed very, very nice to have the entire house clean with a snap of his fingers.

The food was nice, too.



“Look at this perfect baked angel food cake I made, Peanut. Aren’t you going to have some?”
“I prefer this plate of normal-quality waffles that Mildred made ten years ago. But thank you, young man.”



Jermaine’s flirty trait did cause the occasional hiccup. Edgar was his boss at the gypsy wagon, and when I sent Jermaine to Edgar’s house to get to know him he, uh…really tried to get to know him. Sorry, Edgar.

A few days later, Lavinia rolled her magic wish to marry Jermaine. That could mean only one thing: time to throw the last wedding of the Buslingthorpe Life States Dynasty!



We invited every Buslingthorpe we could squeeze into the roster. Most of the houses around town were occupied by Buslingthorpes now, mostly because the game doesn’t give you the option to move a kicked-out Sim in with other people. Lots of past Buslingthorpes were living alone in drafty old Victorian mansions or quaintly-colored fairy huts.



They all seemed to be doing well, though. I caught Matilda sneaking up to scare Mildred while simultaneously yawning. I feel like this is a rare sighting and I should get a "Congrats, You Play The Sims 3 Too Much" award or something.



Oh hey, look who’s still a teenager after all these years!

“I just want you to know, Lavinia…you were my favorite Buslingthorpe girlfriend.”



Even Macavoy was allowed to attend. That is, until he started casting pestilence curses and making everybody cough. Macavoy, we have TALKED about this! *sigh* Thank goodness for that Sunlight Charm.



The sun was starting to set, so everybody scurried out to the chairs facing the archway in the front yard.



And a lovely wedding was enjoyed by all.



“BOOOOO! Down with genies! Ghosts forever!”

PLEASE be careful what you wish for, Mildred. We need to conceive a genie, like, really soon?



Anyway...congratulations to the final Mr. and Mrs. Buslingthorpe!



As darkness fell, the bride cut the cake, and the rest of the family mingled about happily.



The groom escaped indoors to the bar. Honestly, I’m glad he missed what was about to happen next.



No, not Waylon Wolff nosediving into cake...



It was this. Macavoy had cured all infected Sims of the pestilence he’d wrought, but he still managed to cast a love spell on himself when I wasn’t looking. As luck would have it, his accidental kiss target was...his son-in-law, Ayden Van Gould.



“Hey Mom, why aren’t you outside joining the festivities? Don’t you want to spend time with Dad?”
“Not really. It’s dark out there. I’m scared of the dark.”
“Oh, right. That's, um...probably for the best."



Macavoy: “That was very nice, Ayden, but I think we should just be friends.”
Aubrey: “Are you KIDDING ME? This is the first truly evil and chaotic thing to ever happen in this dynasty!”



Okay, everybody go bleach your eyes. Actually, just look at Jermaine and Lavinia being all lovey-dovey. Yeah. That’s better.

[Beks]

Chapter 41 - A Very Blue Betrayal

At long last, Lavinia was closing in on her requirements. She completed her 75th sparring match against Peanut…



…meditated for a total of 150 hours…



…and caught her 350th fish, a black goldfish at Fae Ray Gardens.



It was an exciting time for Peanut, too. He reached the top of his career and decided to retire, both from journalism and from sparring.



I am not sure why Mildred cheered him on while holding a picture of a yeti. A picture of a peanut, or maybe a jelly bean, would’ve made sense.

There was only one more thing for Lavinia to do. A while back, she’d made friends with a ghost on one of her long nights of fishing in the graveyard. Now she just needed to make sure their relationship hadn’t decayed too much.



She attempted to awaken her old friend using the age-old trick of Exploding Stuff So All The Ghosts Wake Up.



It worked! Marco Dolor was happy to see Lavinia again, and a quick chat brought them back up to best friends status.

And that was that. Lavinia was done.



“It’s time for the fun part, Jermaine. Are you ready?”


Generation 6 - Lavinia Buslingthorpe
Life State: Jelly Bean Ghost
Traits: Neurotic, Disciplined, Excitable, Absent-Minded, Snob
Favorites: Soul, Firecracker Tofu, Purple
LTW: Martial Arts Master (Complete)
Spouse: Jermaine Kwinn (Genie)
Toddler Requirements: Level 3 in two skills (xylophone, logic books), best friends with both parents
Child Requirements: Honor Roll, one opportunity (Pile of Permission Slips)
Teen Requirements: Honor Roll, romantic interest (Waylon Wolff), level 3 of cemetery part-time job
1 Best Friend: Marco Dolor (fire ghost)
2 Career Rewards: Fabulous Angler Medal, Fishing Skill Certificate
3 BlackOps: A Fishy Science Project, To Hunt a Dragon, The Ultimate Challenge
4 Lifetime Rewards: Hardly Hungry, Excellent Groupie, ExtraordinAIRE-Inator, Eye Candy
5 Regular Wishes: Master the Martial Arts Skill, Break 500 More Boards, Win a Martial Arts Tournament, Master the Fishing Skill, Marry Jermaine
6 Skill Challenges: Amateur Ichthyologist, Commercial Fisherman, Grand Master, Master of Meditation, Sim Fu King, Timber Terminator
7 Items for Museum: Mounted Dragonfish






Before the seventh heir could arrive, somebody had to move out of the household. Unfortunately, it had to be Peanut. He moved down the road to one of the empty houses, dodging some oval-shaped graphical glitches that are now permanently dotting the lot. Bye, Peanut!



A short while later, Lavinia learned that she was expecting.



She had an uneventful pregnancy. Jermaine couldn’t wait to see what would hopefully be a very blue baby.



No matter how many different kinds of supernatural powers you gather into one house…still, nobody ever knows how to handle a woman in labor.



Ghostly rabbit face!



It was indeed a blueboo. Welcome to the family, Percival!



Okay, so here’s the thing. I got all excited at the birth of Percival. Because he was blue, and solid, I naively assumed that he was a genie, and therefore the heir. There’s no way to tell for absolute certain whether a Sim is a genie until they’re a child, but I figured that the blue skin was a dead giveaway. (Clearly, the maid knew better.)



So I happily entered Percival’s info into my dynasty heir spreadsheet, then prepared to age him up. (But not before Blanche snuck a lollipop out of his swaddle. Thanks, Blanche.)



Percival was indeed a total cutie, an Easily Impressed Couch Potato. And his favorite color was blue! I went bananas dressing him. I was all like, “I think this might be my favorite heir in this whole dynasty! Purely because he looks so cute in that hat!” I was in a flush of baby heir fever, baby.



So Percival got a nice long toddlerhood, full of snuggles and skills and screenshots.



Like, how could you not love this kid?! (I did notice here that his skin tone was actually not the same as his genie father’s. Did it worry me? Maybe a little bit. Did I stuff that worry deep down into my subconscious and plunge ahead anyway? Yes!)



Lavinia had her adult birthday the same day her son was due to age up.



She brought him to the cake. He was skilled, best-friended, and ready to go!



…aaaaaaaaaand he wasn’t a genie. Y’all, I got so mad that I didn't take a CAS screenshot, saved and quit the game, and didn’t come back to this file for two weeks. Percival, how could you betray me like that?! I was rooting for you!!

It’s fine. I’m over it. I’m still sad that Percival wasn’t the heir (mostly because I’d been saving the name Percival for quite a while), but this is just how dynasties go. When I came back to the game refreshed, I aged Percival up and sent him off to live in town with the other spares.



He grew up really handsome, didn’t he? No, no, I said I’m over it! Anyway. Percival’s traits were Couch Potato, Easily Impressed, Frugal, Never Nude, and Hopeless Romantic. He liked Latin music, Firecracker Tofu, and the color blue, and his LTW was to be the CEO of a Mega-Corporation.



Farewell, Percival. Hello, raccoon walking on water.

[Beks]

Chapter 42 - Risky Sparkles

Okay, round two! And this time, I had a very very brilliant idea.



“I’ll be just a couple blocks away, okay love? Call me the minute the baby gets here.”
“Babies, you mean.”
“Right. Babies.”

My brilliant idea? To move Jermaine out, making room for twins. With twins, we had a higher chance of getting a genie. I still wouldn’t be able to tell if either of them had the genie gene until childhood, but at least with two of them, we’d save a little time. Have you figured out the problem with this idea yet? Don’t worry, we’ll get there eventually!



So Jermaine moved out temporarily, and Lavinia was relegated to the top-floor hallway to watch kids’ TV. While sitting on a stack of pancakes. Because this is the almost-end of a dynasty and I just don’t care anymore.



It would be a rather boring three days before the hopefully-multiple-babies arrived, and I would’ve sped through if not for another one of those delightful notifications about an old family member on the cusp of dying.



This time, it was Aubrey. Aubrey had been around since the beginning of Moonlight Falls and had been married to Macavoy for five generations. They’d grown apart in recent years thanks to Macavoy’s semi-permanent state of isolation, but they were quick to recover their old romance when Macavoy stopped by to visit.



He’d changed into his pajamas and curled up on the couch for a nap when Grim arrived. Macavoy ran to the foyer for one last sighting of his wife.



Aubrey was ready to go. She’d lived for centuries, wreaked havoc and mischief, contributed very persistent genes to the Buslingthorpe family (I think her facial structure is still somewhat visible even in Lavinia and beyond), and stolen countless lollipops from unsuspecting babies. She also refused to fade from the family’s memory, showing up at every party and constantly calling various family members to invite them to adopt one of her dogs. (She had a lot of them in her elder years.) This old fairy was ready for a nice sleep. Rest in peace, Aubrey Oviedo Buslingthorpe. Thanks for being your wild, incomparable self.



Lavinia had already been parked on her pancake stack for many hours when she discovered she was pregnant. Now sit back down and keep watching, girl!



The usual time passed and Lavinia went into labor. Jermaine floated to the hospital to be with her, sporting a new headscarf sorta thing (which I later discovered was his fortune teller work outfit, because of course).



It was twins! I failed to get a good screenshot outside the hospital because Lavinia disappeared into a limo holding the baby girl and Jermaine disappeared into thin air holding the baby boy, which sent the baby boy zooming automatically home to his crib. But both babies arrived home eventually. Say hello to Albertha and Orville Buslingthorpe!



Both babies were blue, but they were slightly different shades of blue. Albertha had a true bright blue that I could only think of as “genie blue”, the same as her father’s. She also got her father’s blonde hair. I was pretty convinced that Albertha was a genie, but as before, I couldn’t be sure. Albertha was born a Brave Loner who liked pop music, Firecracker Tofu, and the color pink.



Orville had the same blue skin tone as his older brother Percival, making me suspect that he was just a regular human. He was born Clumsy and Perceptive, and he liked country music, hamburgers, and Irish Green.

Now it is time to discuss my mistake. If you haven’t figured it out already…moving Jermaine out of the household was kind of a terrible idea. Why? Because all Life States Dynasty heirs have to be best friends with both parents as toddlers. I wasn’t sure if either kiddo was eligible for heir, which meant that I had to act as if they BOTH were. And it’s very, very hard for toddlers to become friends with anyone outside their household.



It was even harder than I imagined. I realized my mistake almost immediately after the toddlers’ birthday, but I decided to see if I could make it happen anyway. I sent Lavinia to the park with the twins (Barty came along for transportation purposes) and had her call up Jermaine. Maybe he could meet them at the park, and autonomously interact with his kids a bit?



Nope. He didn’t feel like going out right now. I saw in map mode that he was in his house, so off the Buslingthorpes went to try and catch him there.

Lavinia, Barty, and the twins were able to get inside for some reason, even though Jermaine never actually came to the door. Lavinia found him upstairs on the computer.



“...so if you could just come down and play with your son and daughter, that would really help.”
“K. Maybe when I’m done with this forum post.”



Jermaine did not interact with his kids. He sat upstairs for a while, then spontaneously threw a party while the Buslingthorpes were visiting. He came down to greet guests and sign a few autographs (marrying Lavinia had made him extremely famous). Lavinia sat on the couch and watched TV, leaving Albertha and Orville on the floor. She hoped that their hungry cries and need for fun would draw Jermaine over to take care of them. Instead, poor Albertha just sat on the floor while her Uncle Duncan tore apart the sofa a few inches away.

I was stumped at this point. I didn’t really blame Jermaine - he hardly knew his kids and had never shared a household with them, so maybe the game wouldn’t even permit him to interact with them in the first place. There might have been other ways to try and force friendship, but I couldn’t think of any. He repeatedly refused to group up with his family. It was starting to look like fulfilling the best friends requirement was going to be impossible.

So I did the only thing I could think of. Because Orville had the lighter, more ghostly skin tone, I had a feeling he wasn’t a genie. I decided to age him up early, trusting and hoping that he was indeed ineligible for heir. If he proved to be human, he could grow up quickly and move out, leaving room for Jermaine to move back in and become best friends with Albertha (if she proved to be a genie). If Orville turned out to be a genie after all…well, that would be the end of the dynasty, at least for the Hall of Fame.



I took the risk. Orville had some early sparkles…





…and revealed himself to be a regular human. Hooray! I thusly let out the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding (to use an overused romance-novel cliche).



Orville aged up quickly, as planned, into another very handsome young man.



His final set of traits: Clumsy, Perceptive, Snob, Workaholic, and Coward. Orville chose Pervasive Private Eye as his LTW, then promptly moved out to join his older brother in sparedom.



It was all down to Albertha. Would she prove to be the genie we’d all been waiting for?

[Trip]

That's clever and lucky! After being pretty stupid...(I'm sure you'd admit it too) I've never had genie babies in this game either due to challenges or not feeling inspired enough to change their faces. Do their purple genie motives only show at a certain age then?