Simtopi is a Machinomic made with The Sims 2. It started off as a Legacy
or Prosperity Challenge, but becomes more plot driven around the 3rd Generation, with flashbacks and references to events that happen in previous generations. The story can be considered an Urban Fantasy, as it involves witches, vampires and zombies. It focuses on a college student named Willow Marlen who happens to be a witch, her relationship with her friends and a strange vampire named Wesley.
You can read it here.
Tropes
- Amateur Sleuth - Wren and Raven Marlen like snooping around Simtopi so they can solve "mysteries" and explore the paranormal activity that so often takes place in their town. Jasmine even gives them an assignment—to stalk Clara St. Julien, her father's girlfriend. Still, for always being so nosy, they don't really seem to know a lot about everything's that's happening.
- Annoying Younger Sibling - Somewhat inverted, in that the siblings in question are actually cousins. Wren and Raven Marlen try to track the paranormal activity in Simtopi and annoy the heck out of Simtopi's residents and Willow Marlen and Jasmine Baird, the twin's older cousins.
- Anti-Hero: Rowan Marlen. He's tattooed, drinks, crude, vulgar, can be mean, sleeps around...and has no problem with saving everyone's lives.
- Brainy Brunette - Willow. She's not just brainy in terms of school, but also knows her way around the witchery park.
- Can't Hold His Liquor - Willow gets pretty drunk off a few glasses of wine in one of the earlier chapters. This leads to the First Kiss of her and Gabriel.
- Color-Coded Wizardry - Evil witches, those associated with the Coven, tend to wear dark reds, purples and black.
- Dumb Blonde - Some tend to think this of characters like Cecilia Baird and Heather Huffington. However, all the blondes in Simtopi are, if not smart, not dumb.
- Easter Egg - Occasionally, but not always, pointed out to readers by the author. This includes using Sims 2 premade characters as background characters in a scene, as when the Summerdream couple Titania and Oberon were portrayed as stars within Simtopi.
- Everybody Has Lots of Sex - While most do develop relationships with the people they are sleeping (or simply slept) with, there are occasions where things move quickly. Cecilia and Malcolm, for example, or even Jasmine with the boy who fixed her car, as well as with Adrian. They've pursued each other for a while, but they only wait a few seconds after he says he wants her, not Willow, before they go to bed. Willow and Gabe also seemed to move quickly, but they had a very solid foundation. Meadow and Rowan go at it right after meeting again. Rowan just...just impressive, sir. Most of these examples are fairly realistic, though. The author doesn't overdo this trope to the point of everybody having lots of sex.
- Fallen Princess Cecilia, all the way, even if she's not a literal princess. She's got everything—money, beauty, a killer body, popularity—but "falls" when she is possessed by a ghost and loses it.
- First Girl Wins - Inverted, in that Adrian got to Willow before Gabriel did, yet Willow and Gabriel date.
- Or is it even more inverted, in that the first guy to chase after Willow (to the reader) was Gabriel, even if Adrian was technically the first guy to Willow? Either way, Willow and Gabe broke up, which seemed like it could lead to some Willow-Adrian love. Instead, Adrian's gone after Jasmine.
- Frames of Reference - Inverted with Willow. She wears rectangular glasses, but has a very kind, shy personality.
- Functional Magic - Humans are occasionally born as witches. How their magic works and/or witches are created hasn't yet been explained, but magic and witch's covens have existed for a long, long time.
- Hot Witch - Inverted. Clara is considered hot, is a witch, but has also murdered humans, vampires, pets, and raised zombies. So, you know, she's not good.
- Important Haircut - Cecilia gets one after she is possessed by the ghost of Brittany Upsnott[1] and chops off her hair. Doubles as a Traumatic Haircut.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies - Willow and Gabriel. She thinks that dating him could put him in danger.
- Jeanne d'Archétype - Willow Marlen. She's shy, quiet, and doesn't realize she's a witch until she's a teenager. Still, she takes on the role of being the Heir and sacrifices much of her normal life— Gabe, living in the dorms, etc.—to pursue magic.
- Jerk Jock Averted with Adrian Duarte. He's a jock—handsome, popular with the ladies, and athletic. Yet, he has a heart of gold and genuinely cares for and protects his friends and love interests.
- Just Friends - Willow and Adrian have been friends since they were kids. Both, at one time or another, want a Relationship Upgrade but it hasn't happened.
- Katanas Are Just Better - While Jasmine and Adrian are using their fists to beat down zombies, Rowan shows up with, no big deal, a katana. And kills. Everything.
- Ladykiller in Love - Hints of this with Meadow and Rowan—he can't seem to quit her, even though he has a reputation as a ladykiller. Of course, that might change, as the realization that Meadow kept his child from him could sour things.
- Law of Inverse Fertility Even though Rowan quite regularly seems to have sex, and Meadow and Rowan (seemingly?) had regular sex in college, it isn't until the two break up and they would least want a child that Meadow realizes they have conceived Sage.
- Like Father, Like Son - Willow, as soon as she sees little Sage Thayer, can pretty much tell the boy is Rowan's son. Sage and Rowan look very much alike, and both have even shown they're at least a little bit rebellious.
- Love Potion A variant. Willow uses magic to make Carl from the Secret Society fall for Cecilia when they're checking out the Secret Society house.
- Love Triangle - Oh, there are several examples of this:
- Willow, Gabriel, Adrian and Jasmine. Gabriel loves Willow, who loves Gabriel and Adrian, who loves Willow and Jasmine, who loves Adrian, because Gabriel's her cousin. Yeah. Currently, Willow and Gabe are broken-up, both of them unhappy about it. Still, Willow is somewhat pining after Adrian, who finally made a real move on Jasmine. This has caused a rift in Jasmine's and Willow's friendship.
- Rowan, Linden and Meadow Thayer. Meadow and Rowan started dating in college but it didn't work out because Rowan was an adulterer. Meadow made a pass at Linden but, being a loyal brother, Linden turned her down; still, it seems like he cares for her a great deal. Currently, Rowan has realized Meadow and him have a child, which she kept a secret from him because they'd broken up.
- Wesley, Cecilia and Malcolm Landgraab. There's no real, true love here yet, but Cecilia slept with Malcolm soon after meeting Wesley. The night didn't really do much for her, and there's been
Word of God hints of a Wesley-Cecilia relationship looming, except that Cecilia just agreed to meet up with Malcolm again. - Clive, Denise and Clara. Denise and Clive ended things after Denise had a very-publicized, if not very real, affair. Clara and Clive started dating not too long ago, but in tenderer moments, Clive seems to still care for Denise. It's just the rage spell that makes him hate her. Ditto Denise— she seems to care for Clive still, too.
- Magic Mirror - One of the objects that the Coven wanted Willow to gather as part of their plot. It's an old artifact that allows the looker to see different people and places. It also appears that the mirror can be used by Helene, an old witch, to look out through at Willow. This doesn't bode well....
- Manipulative Bastard - Malcolm Landgraab. Uses his money, influence, good looks, charm and powers to manipulate the lives of numerous witches and ordinary Simtopi citizens, like poor Cecilia Baird.
- And Clara. She toys with Clive's emotions—it's even been hinted that she uses her magic to do so, as Clive had a spell put on him that made him despise Denise. Readers aren't certain by who, yet; Clara seems the obvious choice.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits - Rowan with Gabriel, over Willow. He warmed up to the couple, though.
- Mysterious Protector Since Willow was a child, Wesley has been around bringing her home when she was lost, and generally keeping her safe from harm
- Older Than They Look Malcolm Landgraab seems to age either not at all, or very slowly, probably due to his magic. He looks just as old today as he did more than 20 years ago, when he had an affair with Denise's stepmother. Denise is now middle-aged, and though she was a child at the time of Malcolm's dalliance, Malcolm looks very young. She verbally notes this.
- Our Vampires Are Different - Sibyll and Wesley aren't truly evil or even bad—they avoid killing, and only get involved in Clara's machinations because the witch entraps Wesley and Sibyll loves him. They are like vampires in the other ways, though: they bite to turn humans into vampires, drink blood, sleep in coffins, and are killed by the sun's light.
- Polar Opposite Twins: Linden and Rowan. Not only do the twins not look alike, they act very differently. Linden is responsible, patient, kind, and fairly serious. Rowan is...just not.
- Somewhat averted with Samantha and Kimberly Cordial. They work for opposing witch factions—the Coven and the Circle, respectively—but they share a close bond and seem more alike one another than is first let on. For example, they both wish to protect Willow, do what's right, and Samantha says she regrets many things she did during her life.
- Red Shirt some of Willow and Gabe's nameless roommates were introduced in the aforementioned Zombie Apocalypse chapter, and die in the same chapter.
- Sharing a Body - This happens to Cecilia, with Brittany Upsnott. The ghost takes hold of Cecilia's body, resulting in some rather insane shenanigans and sister bonding time.
- Theme Naming - The Marlen's names, starting with the second generation, all seem to have more "out there" earthy/plant names—Elf, Willow, Linden, Wren, etc.
- Town with a Dark Secret - Simtopi. It's even Wordof God: "But the earth they've thrived on, the city itself, is tainted with an old secret."
- Understanding Boyfriend Gabriel seems to be okay with Willow's abilities until she uses it adversely on him.
- Wicked Stepmother Cecilia and Jasmine are worried that Clara St. Julien could turn into this if she marries their father, Clive.
- Another example, you say? Denise, Clive's ex-wife and the girl's mother, lost her own mother at a young age. An unknown blonde became a Wicked Stepmother to Denise and sister Lydia, though she was eventually removed from the equation when Denise's father found out she was cheating on him with Malcolm.
- Wicked Witch - Wilhelmina. Very old, wrinkled skin, dresses in black, wears a pointed black hat, cackles and curses people. This is a bad case, boys.
