#ts3 lore

I had to look up Midnight Hollow to start, and EEEEEEP I love this world's whole vibe. If I play the Sims 3 THIS will be the world I start in!!! Favorite world I've learned about in TS3 so far. I lowkey want to live here irl.

But imagine my shock when I found out that they were putting whole ass worlds on The Sims 3 store. That's absolutely insane lmao!! They would of had my wallet with this one though, not gonna lie. The vibes are top-tier.

Now I looked up the Doe family just like you said and I need you to know that they are the kind of unsolved lore I live for. This family alone makes me want to pirate buy TS3 today.

The Wiki's description wasn't necessarily weird, but the household description left me with many questions.

Jane is the perfect housewife, from her neat hairstyle to her fashionable yet conservative dress. She's neat, nurturing, loves her kids, and can make a mean pot roast! Meanwhile, John is rising in the ranks at his corporate job. He feels successful in life and supported by his family. He works hard but comes home in enough time to teach his kids a lesson or two about life and talk to his wife about her day. Nothing mysterious seems to be happening here, but didn't their house used to have a basement?

That last line. Yeah. WTF? That made the hairs on my arm stand up, especially considering that the world they come with is supposed to mimic a classic-horror vibe. So Immediately I'm getting serial killer vibes, I'm getting psychological thriller, I'm getting family that invites you over for dinner only for you to realize that you are dinner.

Just from the description alone, I'm thinking that the parents are people with a wicked past - coconspirators in crime (whether Jane is a willing or unwilling participant is debatable but intriguing) that may involve killing and disposing, from the sounds of the "former-basement" and the fact that no one really knows why they've suddenly come to a new town without any explanation of their past. Additionally, the names feel like a reference to true crime and murder to me - the last name Doe, with first names Jane and John specifically, are typically names given to unidentifiable victims who, more than not, are victims of violence and brutalization which leaves them unidentifiable. Or, at times, they're simply unidentifiable based on the fact that they don't have family or friends that could claim them, thus making them the perfect targets if you've got bad intentions. The parents seem shady, but beyond that their names reaffirm that they aren't the perfect, squeaky-clean, nuclear family they pretend to be. I mean, you could even speculate that Jane and John are not even their real names. Obviously the sims team are big fans or campy, on-the-nose names (Bob Pancakes, the Goth family, the Calientes, Marcus Flex), but I've always liked to think that sim names can serve more than one purpose.

I jumped over to The Doe family community blog post and the interview there further confirmed a lot of my suspicions, and that whatever they're hiding might be sealed off in what used to be the family basement (the dev who made this family makes sure to draw attention to this enough that it's clearly significant). It's no coincidence that the basement suddenly "disappeared" (or perhaps just became inaccessible) as soon as the family moved in. Some notable things from this interaction:

The classic, old-fashioned misogyny from John. "The light of my life keeps my home perfect and welcoming." It's subtle, but says a lot about this family's old-fashioned dynamic. I hate the condescending, possessive energy between these two. I literally felt uncomfortable during this entire interview (I'd argue that is intentional).

The recurring and growingly tense persistence for the interviewer/producer to drink more tea. BIG red flag on this because my first thought is "Why?" I can understand being hospitable, but it seems like the interviewer has already been taken care of, so why the push? Jane is literally described as frantic, dodging the interviewer's questions entirely and hyper-focusing on the tea as if this is her role to play in what could be an unfortunate turn of events. On the other hand, John seems to be cheerily dismissive. I'm seeing skilled, practiced manipulation in the form of feigned charisma and charm - he doesn't ignore the questions but rather skillfully pivots and tries to keep things light and comfortable. His energy is notably different than the rest of the family, which makes him seem like the primary, skilled aggressor. He is keeping shit under control just enough to not raise suspicion, in my opinion.

But, most interesting to me, is their children's reactions to what is going on. The bio tells us so little about them, but their actions say so much. James, being a toddler and the youngest, obviously is going to be relatively clueless. But Jenn, the daughter, Sits quietly and stares ahead with an eerie blank expression. This feels like a traumatized, almost dissociative response. She seems removed in an anticipatory sense, on-brand for how a child might respond to signs of danger. I'd go as far to say that she is exhibiting one of the 5 fight and flight trauma responses; mainly the "freeze" response. The oldest son Joseph, on the other hand, is outwardly angry. He even leaves the room and slams the door as a response to the conversation, perhaps simply triggered by the mention of moving to Midnight Hollow, but I would venture to guess that he's also frustrated with the events taking place beyond that. After all, I would think that if there is anyone aware of the parent's possible nefarious nature and wrongdoings, it would be him. That being said, he's a teenager... but still a child, nonetheless. He unfortunately has little to no control, and it's clear that he's exhibiting a flight response, showing his own disdain as much as he can (a touch of fight in that door slam) while taking an opportunity to flee the scene. In the picture, their eldest son and daughter seem to be looking at them with... complex expressions. They're certainly not happy.

The whole interview ends because the wife is "not feeling well," but that brings me back to my point about John being a skilled manipulator and the main aggressor running the web that his family is caught in: he would be able to cite when things are getting out of control. A predator knows when to strike and when to back off, and I think this is John's way of regaining control before too much is brought to light. Many people have been spared, unknowingly, from the clutches of a serial killer because they got lucky and the killer decided it wasn't the right place/right time - that's the vibe I'm getting, idk.

The energy around this family reminds me of an Ari Aster or a Jodan Peele psychological horror feel - everything is fine on the surface until it's not, and that tensity and complexity is disturbing and uncomfortable for the outsider (the audience) looking in, but it's usually just as disturbing for our growingly-aware protagonists (who, based on actions alone, I would argue could possibly be the eldest son and perhaps even the daughter, in this case). "The Stepford Wives" by Ira Levin has also been cited possible inspiration at least for Jane's motivations/role in the story. If you don't know about this story, I recommend checking it out.

As I researched, I was actually surprised with the amount of people who did not jump to the murderer route right off the bat. Some other theories include the family being hypnotized and even speculation that they might be robots (likely a take resulting from Levin's work).

Personally, I am more inclined to think that the parents are people with a wicked past, but it was interesting to read alternative takes. The robot and hypnotism theories are intriguing to me, but they neglect to explain the mysterious disappearance of the basement or the children's behaviors. Furthermore, the "brainwashed" and "repetitive" nature Jane has could just as much be signs of trauma/being in an unsafe environment/being forced to act against her will just as much as they could be literal signs of being robotic or hypnotized, so I don't think those things are necessary. Trauma, fear, and feeling trapped are enough to make a person act outside the realm of "normal."

Hell, I think I've only covered the surface here, but I've talked for so long lol. It seems their story might always just be a mystery left for speculation, sadly.

My boy Benoit Blanc says it best:

Some additional resources that I used below for any curious cats who made it this far:

The Doe family discussion on the sims forum

TS3 Reddit Thread on the Doe family

As for the Darers: from what I'm seeing, the theory that the wives were clones (or at the very least identical twins) makes sense to me. I put pictures of them below, and just from their CAS headshots you can definitely see that the girls are identical - there's gotta be some relation there

Personally, I lean toward clones due to the traits being the same. Twins in the sims franchise have always had their own unique interests and traits, so these girls being near carbon-copies doesn't make sense if they're only sisters. Plus, the franchise loves clones (looking at you, two versions of Bella Goth in the Sims 2). For the era of franchise that TS3 was in, I feel like the team was still making the game lean toward whimsy and outlandish as opposed to realism.

Regardless of the relation these two girls share though, the fire death is suspicious and maybe the only thing that keeps this from feeling like an open and shut mystery. It also acts as another good reason to lean toward clones as opposed to sisters unless the fire was caused accidentally by Lacy herself. I think the cloning housefire theory is compelling, due to the girls not actually having a relationship with either of these guys explicitly on the family tree. I guess in that case they were actually their potential wives more than actual wives, which would explain why there's no marriage memory as well.

In some ways it's endearing that Juan would do all that, not just for himself but for his buddy as well, especially if it caused his house to burn down and ultimately push him out into a barn. In the end though, I think the whole cloning situation leans more toward weird when you consider the implications. If you have to invent a wife, you probably should just stay single my dude.

Last and unrelated sidenote: Harwood Clay's hair was an unexpected, horrifying surprise lmao.