Eliza Pancakes, Supervillain

It was Sunday though. She was hungry, sad, and hadn't had her first day of work yet. Fortunately an understanding bartender took pity on her.
https://i.postimg.cc/yNkN0pL8/chips.png
"Please never mention to anyone that you had to do this for me," Eliza begged the bartender.

Eliza had always aspired to climb higher in society, and now that she was rid of that embarrassing Bob, she felt confident and free to do it. Some of her old jogging buddies invited her into their club.
https://i.postimg.cc/q7SvwcFX/club-invite.png

They were very understanding of her complaints about the divorce
https://i.postimg.cc/hvqPWDcX/club-help.png

Especially a handsome fellow who, it was rumored, owned a big and beautiful home in which he lived as an eligible widower.
https://i.postimg.cc/3RGJc45M/club-jacques.png

Eliza appreciated big beautiful homes.
https://i.postimg.cc/4NsNWxWM/club-jacques2.png

Perhaps she could come to appreciate the owner of one.

He called with a deeply personal question one evening shortly after they met. Eliza's heart pounded.
"I think I have a crush on...
...
...Julia Wright."

https://i.postimg.cc/XqcNnRYQ/crush1.png

"Who?"
Jacques told Eliza a little bit about her.
"A university student? At your age?" asked Eliza. She hoped the edge in her voice sounded playful and not mean.
Jacques hung up.

Things looked brighter after Eliza's first promotion.
https://i.postimg.cc/bwFyYHqc/promoted.png

And she suddenly came into an inheritance from a peculiar-sounding relative who had specified what to do if she asked whether there were conditions... so she splurged on a beautiful sculpture for her garden
https://i.postimg.cc/Nj0GwPqk/sculpture.png

There aren't actually any plants in the garden yet. But the sculpture looks very fancy.

Fortunately there is a food stand in the plaza right outside her house. She isn't ready to admit that life without Bob's cooking might be a little bit harder
https://i.postimg.cc/Dy6fH3Dz/food-stand.png

Fortunately, Julia wasn't willing to give an old man the time of day.
https://i.postimg.cc/h49t8d1T/crush2.png

Eliza was. She invited Jacques over. She didn't come on too strong but she made him feel welcome. She learned that he was a Genius, and kind of Childish at heart. (One more big kid? Maybe a big kid with a big house is another matter...)
https://i.postimg.cc/VNxznfSK/visit-shower.png
I wonder what his other trait could be?

Tomorrow is Harvestfest. Eliza plans to put on her best dress and impress Jacques with her cooking. And drop by and perhaps get a peek at that house. Oh, and learn to cook. Better add that to the list.

until the boo is Jacques instead of Malcolm Landgraab

There were some weird things going on with this family for sure. Not sure which was weirder: the way Luna wandered the house on a cold fall day in her white bikini, or the way her dad lit into her.
https://i.postimg.cc/DzRjjsbG/hfest-j-and-l.png

But they managed a dinner
https://i.postimg.cc/wxLPrW2j/hfest-dinner.png

And then Eliza managed some personal moments on the couch with Jacques when there were no children wandering around to bother them
https://i.postimg.cc/j5J9tvrv/hfest-couch.png

And then the old man needed a nap.

Eliza did a little private dance. "It's only a matter of time," she sang to herself.
https://i.postimg.cc/SR6vzsRM/hfest-matter-of-time.png

By the end of the workweek, Eliza was promoted to Secret Agent level 3. She has cool and somewhat creepy office furniture, and she can shake people's hands in a way that renders them unconscious. I feel like this could be helpful for a supervillain. Not quite sure how it translates into earning money yet exactly.

Eliza has unlocked the Workaholic lifestyle. This indicates only that the lifestyle system is not broken. All supervillains ought to be workaholics. Here she is burning the midnight oil.
https://i.postimg.cc/PrM7XPBG/midnight-oil.png

Friday night came. Time to get Iggy for the weekend. He arrived with basically no skills. Eliza toted him straight upstairs for a potty training session and a lecture. "Has your father taught you nothing?"
https://i.postimg.cc/dtRbhWZx/has-your-father-taught-you-nothing.png

Jacques invited himself over. Eliza ordered Zoomers and introduced him to Iggy. It seemed to go well.
https://i.postimg.cc/ZKmgzrsF/j-meets-i.png

On Saturday, Eliza saw that Iggy ate his leftover Zoomers, and then called a nanny so she could go to the gym with Mila Murch.
https://i.postimg.cc/vZQpfWWH/gym.png

She was enjoying the scenery when... oh, a sudden phone call. Sorry, Mila, gotta go.
https://i.postimg.cc/3wq6sVzd/gym-sorry-mila-gotta-go.png

Eliza hopped straight over to the bar without thinking to change first. She felt embarrassed when she arrived and Jacques was looking so natty, but, he said he thought she was cute in her trucker hat. The date turned to flirty talk
https://i.postimg.cc/qqVFRnJr/date-flirty-talk.png

And a first kiss.
https://i.postimg.cc/VLcyLyvt/date.png

Eliza went home with plans swirling in her mind.

The party was fun. It was the Good Timers and the Villareals. Eliza conveniently forgot to invite Bob, even though he was due to pick up Iggy Sunday night right after the party. She got to know Jacques' last trait...
https://i.postimg.cc/BbBmnV75/you-dont-say.png

You don't say.

Eliza gave herself a pep talk in the mirror. "Now is your moment. You can do this."
https://i.postimg.cc/2yhPFGc3/bday-peptalk.png

And the big moment...
https://i.postimg.cc/nhcPCnJX/move-in-big-moment.png

Jacques was delighted. "I would love to have you move in!"

(Here I had to do some trial and error. Turns out, if a scenario household moves into another household, the scenario ends. But I knew it would work to add sims into Eliza's household since I had already done that with Iggy for the weekend. What I ended up doing was: evict the Villareals so they'd keep their money and the furniture would stay in place, move them into Eliza's house, and then move the whole household out of Eliza's and back into the Villareals' home.)

Eliza felt very fulfilled in her new home.
https://i.postimg.cc/g2SBh1zN/move-in-milestone-complete.png


In turn, Jacques had a question to ask her.
https://i.postimg.cc/59B7gX9H/proposal.png

And then he had to run off to commit and/or supervise some crimes.
https://i.postimg.cc/V6M736jV/proposal-off-to-work.png

Eliza decided she might as well text Bob, if only to give him the new address for where he should come pick up Iggy.
https://i.postimg.cc/zvrd5r7X/proposal-text-bob.png

"Huh, Eliza, this is interesting. It feels like only a week since we split up. Oh wait, it has only been a week. Kiddo! You got so much taller over the weekend!"
https://i.postimg.cc/bvZV9Ld8/proposal-not-any-easier.png

The beautiful house doesn't make this moment any easier.

She said goodbye to her son and took out her frustrations on the local annoying teenagers.
https://i.postimg.cc/MKzsFzX9/proposal-took-out-frustrations.png

Eliza and Jacques had both already done the big white wedding thing. They eloped on the bluffs instead.
https://i.postimg.cc/Ls5w02Cc/elope.png

As a wedding present, Jacques gifted Eliza a new wardrobe, plus a boutique haircut, makeup consultation, manicure, and contact lenses.

It's Eliza Villareal now.
https://i.postimg.cc/FHDwZ7Zb/eliza-villareal.png

And that is how she made her first 100k.

Well, 90k after Jacques paid the bills on his way home. Those bills are substantial. He didn't think to have that conversation with Eliza. She hasn't thought to have that conversation with him.

https://i.postimg.cc/50W84s61/lair-show.png

"Have you ever noticed that this charming basement room is much smaller than the actual foundation of the house?"
"As a matter of fact, I had. I notice things about houses."
"Have you ever looked behind the Baron's armor?"
"What do you mean, behind the Baron's armor?"
https://i.postimg.cc/FzZyn0Fv/lair-behind-the-knight.png

"Oh..."
"It's amazing what you can hide from people if you put a big weird distraction in front of it."
https://i.postimg.cc/X7sKfKDc/lair-ever-wondered.png

Through the door was the rest of the basement. Or shall we say, the lair. For it was full of objects Jacques acquired and used in his criminal life.
Apparently the gold bars and duffel o' cash put Eliza in a flirty mood....
https://i.postimg.cc/GhLJTgzm/lair-inside.png

"Does that ATM work?" she asked in a breathy voice.
"Sadly, no," said Jacques.
"What are those urns on your desk?"
"I'd prefer not to talk about that," said Jacques.
(Okay, so obviously I built the lair, but I have no idea why those urns are in the Villareal household inventory. Bit spooky. Perhaps related to the wife who died in mysterious circumstances? If so, why are there two urns?)

"I always thought this would be my realm alone down here," Jacques said. "But it would give me great pleasure to have your company."
Eliza agreed. They had her desk brought down. Apparently, it got ever so slightly dirty in transit.
https://i.postimg.cc/mZNyDWYn/lair-clean-desk.png

Eliza continued to pick on Luna and Hugo, but she developed a soft spot for Max. He was so close in age to Iggy, but he didn't have Iggy's sweetly daydreamy qualities. Instead he was observant, intense, purposeful. More like Eliza herself. She read to him about great adventurers who seized opportunities.
https://i.postimg.cc/FzmbZT4G/eliza-reads-to-max.png

Winterfest came. Jacques the criminal tried to fight Santa for presents. And failed.
https://i.postimg.cc/CMNb0HYT/santa-fight.png

"Perhaps this would be more effective," suggested Eliza.
https://i.postimg.cc/yY8c8gYJ/santa1.png

He went down like a sack full of toys. Not that there was any way to get presents out of him after that. Still, Eliza found it satisfying. And hey, he had left a big pile of presents in the middle of the room anyhow.
https://i.postimg.cc/9FgTRmrL/santa2.png

They got the usual figurines and seed packets... except for Luna of course, the girl who gets everything handed to her, got a karaoke machine.
https://i.postimg.cc/Mp4y46wn/lunas-karaoke-machine.png

And then one morning, Jacques woke up feeling not so well.
Eliza, wipe that huge smile off your face. Perhaps she's thinking about becoming the lady of the house
https://i.postimg.cc/13zH27Nj/death-smile.png

When Grim arrived, Eliza managed to squeeze out one tear
https://i.postimg.cc/B62cHddX/death-squeeze-tear.png

And then she thought of the lost income now that Jacques can no longer go to work... and the tears really started flowing. She wailed to Grim
https://i.postimg.cc/Wb889ctZ/death-relented.png

Oh.
https://i.postimg.cc/h49pddBp/death-saved.png


"It's so wonderful to have you back, my love! You gave us quite a scare!" Eliza said, cheerily and shakily. They had a nice chat with Grim after that. Jacques' chilly breath was a nice touch, I must say
https://i.postimg.cc/yNMyJVpM/death-talk-and-breath.png

But when your number is up due to old age, it's only a matter of time... that night, Jacques came home partway through his work shift feeling not so well
https://i.postimg.cc/T1q0MZ9Z/death-next-day.png

Eliza tried the wailing routine again but Grim said "oh, stop it, we both knew you were faking the first time"
https://i.postimg.cc/rwYJkG1F/death-next-day-oh-stop.png

So now it's real.
https://i.postimg.cc/dtwnmVQv/death-lady-of-the-house.png

Feeling a little bit more bitter about "lady of the house" in reality

Course, now that he's gone, he won't stop calling

https://i.postimg.cc/43qBzvyF/death-club.png

I'll visit you, Dad, but I am not sure how
https://i.postimg.cc/V6t44Sbs/death-not-sure-how-to-visit.png

Thanks, Iggy, you're a good kid
https://i.postimg.cc/Xq0LPVwf/death-iggy.png

The slightly less good kid is more of a comfort right now
https://i.postimg.cc/CxdGmZ3y/max-a-comfort.png


Eliza leaned on Max more and more throughout the week. And then overcompensated by gifting Iggy a nice new toy box
https://i.postimg.cc/Hkfyz605/toy-box.png

and a lovely new sunny art room, as a surprise for when he came over for the weekend. Eliza had always wanted a house full of many, many big windows. It brought her some satisfaction.
https://i.postimg.cc/9Q49y69C/sunny-art-room.png

https://i.postimg.cc/mDXpcYsk/happy-new-year.png

They are both marginal students. Hugo is very good at cooking and loves food though, so he applied to the Distinguished Culinary Degree at Britechester, and got in. Luna, the girl who gets everything handed to her, was offered admission into almost every distinguished degree. Even though her grades aren't good, and she doesn't have much skill in much of anything. She picked Art History at Britechester and moved into the same dorm as her brother.

Eliza immediately sold their beds and began converting Luna's room into a library, on Rebate Day of course.

Yet she's always tense about missing work... even when she's at work...
https://i.postimg.cc/yx3jk2jp/tense-at-work.png
https://i.postimg.cc/9z3pT1Nm/tense-at-work-2.png

(This is probably a bug, but maybe it makes sense for a supervillain-in-training to be tense all the time?)

He met Lilith, a beautiful young woman whose mischievous sense of humor appealed to him. She seemed to get along well with ghost-Jacques, too. She shared what she was studying at college
https://i.postimg.cc/sXD0Dnbb/festival-villainy-degree.png

"Really? That is a thing you can study?" Max asked.

Just then a firework went off nearby. A woman stumbled away from it, looking dazed. She had been singed pretty badly, but didn't seem hurt.
Max recognized her. "Octavia Moon! Look this way!"
https://i.postimg.cc/d3qddD2x/octavia.png

Max scampered over to Lilith and they snorted in laughter over the photo
https://i.postimg.cc/Qtg1HcT7/octavia-photo-share.png

"You should sell that to a magazine!"
"Maybe I will!"
"Naughty boy!"
After some more flirting he tried to ask Lilith for her number.
"I'll write it down for you. Here you go," she said.
https://i.postimg.cc/Kvgpz3sc/lilith2.png

Okay, should have expected that.

"No, seriously dude, you are way too young for me," she laughed. "But all right, we can stay in touch and be friends. Maybe you can visit me at college sometime."
https://i.postimg.cc/bY5Fp9gF/lilith.png

After it was final, they went for a friendly neighborly visit to the Bjergsens.
Max distracted Clara in the yard with some friendly neighborly conversation.
https://i.postimg.cc/HkDZ7Wfw/sharing-max-distracts.png

Eliza skipped the large public rooms and checked out a first-floor bedroom.
Who keeps a grand piano in their bedroom?
https://i.postimg.cc/GmFMPwCZ/sharing-piano1.png

No one, anymore.
https://i.postimg.cc/MTTd8nQS/sharing-piano2.png

Eliza's purse was now full, so instead of swiping anything else, she traded distraction duties with Max. "Let's chat by the pool, Sofia dear."
"Okay!"
https://i.postimg.cc/W4s5XWpt/sharing-eliza-distracts.png

Max didn't bother looking for an out-of-the-way room. He opted for speed.
https://i.postimg.cc/zfp0MC37/sharing-tv.png

And pouted. That was such a rush, but in the end, way too easy.
https://i.postimg.cc/QNBZQtnw/sharing-tv2.png

They said a polite goodbye and went home. Eliza slid the grand piano gently out of her purse. Max removed the TV from his inside jacket pocket.
"We did good!" Max crowed.
"And technically this was all legal," Eliza observed.
https://i.postimg.cc/Kj1qt1GN/sharing-nice-work-and-technically-legal.png

"Did we make the 11k yet?" asked Max.
"Maybe a little less than halfway."
"Awesome!"
"Why is that awesome?"
"Because that means we need to go on another neighborly visit tomorrow!"
"Max, don't forget that we need to be careful here."
"Right. No one can ever come over to our house again."

(That wasn't what Eliza meant, but he had a point. Eliza also took the extra step of having their home registered as a private dwelling, to discourage visitors.)