#simmichele

Two things happen in quick succession -- Vlad goes out to see Greg and is immediately beaten down into vampire goo. AND, he takes some comfort with full-time friend/part-time lover L.Faba, which ends...not in a way he expected.

Surprise, Vladdy Daddy!

Vlad immediately takes to his bed and pulls up the covers to hide.

But, given that he's about to have a child, and Greg is unceasingly angry about vampires, Vlad makes a difficult decision. After centuries of unlife, it's time to try...life. He spends much of L.Faba's pregnancy attempting (and failing) at new approaches with Greg, as well as researching and then gardening to accelerate the re-humaning process.

Finally, the day arrives. He has pockets full of garlic and wolfsbane and plasma fruit. He mixes a drink that looks like sunshine in a glass...

And with that, Vlad is a man again. But NOT for long. An immediate attempt to show off his human self to Greg does not end with the romantic realization Vlad hoped. Instead, Vlad provokes Greg into biting him. He's tried vampire, and now he'll try werewolf. All to be with this intense, hairy potential boyfriend:

Vlad doesn't adjust easily to his new wolf state, especially combined with the pressure of L.Faba giving birth to TWINS! Vlanise is a wee little spell-caster, while Vlonathan is a vampire-to-be, unlike his now-wolfy father. Vlad and L.Faba ease away from their previous romantic relationship into friendship and co-parenting, which seems to suit both of them.

Do Wolf Vlad (WereVlad) and Greg immediately find common ground? NOPE. But that doesn't mean Vlad won't stop trying. And after more fights, more misunderstandings, and kids aged up into cute little supernatural moppets...

...we leave Vlad protecting Greg after *winning* a fight for the first time. Greg gets some well-earned sleep out in the open, instead of in his trailer hidden away from the world. And Vlad looks over him, like a good potential boyfriend.

I do a lot of occult/crime/weird/wacky gameplay, and my collaborations have always reflected that. We've created an urban amusement park in Windenburg, a fairy circus, a post-apocalyptic settlement, a World's Fair (the Newcrest Exposition!) and so on. What we haven't really tackled is family gameplay.

Why? Spoiler: I don't do much of it. I love legacy families, multi-generational sprawls, organically created characters, and so on -- but that is a LOT to create alone. So...we did it together. This legacy has two brothers, their spouses, and their children, grandchildren, their spouses, some of their spouses' families... All together, it's going to be six elders, about eighteen adults, six young adults, ten teens, a few kids, a toddler or three, and one Pomeranian just because. It'll be available on Simsfileshare fairly soon -- with families and age groups placed into clubs for easy socializing, some community lots created just to be part of this family's history, and SO MANY empty lots and available Sim slots for you to bring to life your own way.

Whoops.

Despite his ex-girlfriend and co-parent's objections, Vlad decided it was time for even MORE drastic action. He sold the mansion in Forgotten Hollow to townhouse developers and bought a little plot of land in Moonwood Mill. It took a little while to build a house that suited him, L.Faba, and little twins Vlanise and Vlonathan, but finally Vlad was fully established in the werewolf settlement.

He researched...

He got the werewolf zoomies...

And he tried, night after night after night, to sway Greg to his side. He and L.Faba tried the 'infatuate' spell. Vlad beguiled. Vlad learned more charisma and became the most smooth-talking ex-vampire werewolf ever...

I'd like to think that eventually one of the toddlers (who aged into children during this episode) said in an adorable lisp, "Father, he's just not that into you." Vlad didn't care. L.Faba, increasingly, did.

"Mama? What does 'stalking' mean?"

No matter what Vlad tried, whether companionable, stalkery, or downright unsavory, Greg was uninterested.

Finally, one night after Vlad tried unsuccessfully to have a Simlish conversation with Greg, Greg followed him home. The family was having a birthday celebration for the twins, and even Vlad seemed to be enjoying himself. Until....ding-dong!

Greg was in a feral rage. Greg burst into the house, scratched up some furniture, and ate cake.

And then he growled and yelled at Vlonathan.

Growled. At. Vlonathan.

Approximately sixty seconds later, Greg was on the front porch, having been turned into a cactus via L.Faba's "Morphiate" spell.

Vlad defended Greg. And that was the last straw. Family meeting (including the butler)!

As cactus-Greg eventually slunk away (2 hour spell duration), the family came to a decision: Vlad hearts Greg. Vlad doesn't heart L.Faba. And while Vlad does heart his children, he's too erratic, stuck-in-his-ways, and evil for full-time parenting. They bought him a little house halfway between Greg's trailer and the family home. They reinforced the doors and windows because of frenzies. They set up a visitation schedule.

And then Vlad learned to journal. And got on with his werelife.

Attempt 3: Rather than get another beating, Vlad decides to pump up the volume so he can become as strong as his would-be love. Werewolf love languages are violence and raw meat; he chooses violence. One bike ride raises his Fitness by 3, because we play a balanced game.

Interlude:  A community member uses channel points to bring drama into the story -- Vlad is to also fall in love with L. Faba, the Sage of Mischief. Super awkward flirting ensues.

Attempt 4 with Greg: First, Vlad beats up a human because he can. FLEX. Then he tries Rory as a practice werewolf and is flattened again. SIGH.

Vlad decides he needs to become more beguiling, so we work on his aspiration points until he can purchase Beguile. He has an afternoon to kill, so he helps train Caleb as a vampire.

On his way back to his house for a shower, he forgets to use mist form. RIP Vlad.

(time passes)

The Straud estate goes to L. Faba and supposedly Greg, though Greg can’t be approached.  So L. Faba gets the house.  By then, it’s been completely emptied by the needs of the estate.  Time to try and resurrect Vlad!

But, she doesn’t know the necessary spells.  She learns them.

She finds a journal in which she discovers that Vlad had feelings for both her and Greg, and that he felt both sad and bruised (literally) by Greg’s rejection.

L. Faba goes to Moonwood Mill to give Greg a piece of her mind on Vlad’s behalf.  He growls.  He poses.  She gets frustrated with Greg’s stubbornness and uses magic to “shut him up.”  Greg turns into a teddy bear.  Greg is just as non-responsive as an inanimate object.

Greg turns back into a wolf and runs away. L. Faba heads home, Necrocall spell in her pocket, to try and resurrect Vlad.