This Evil Cupid is unable to cause trouble with the Father-in-Law

[KnightSkyKyte]

OK, I'm going nuts trying to get the son-in-law to flirt with his husband's father (father in law) when the father in law (FIL) visits.

But, no flirting options (other than "check sim out") are available. And NONE of the romantic interactions are available either. SimPE does not have them marked as family.

So why the heck can't he flirt with his FIL??? 

It's all OK if he's the one visiting the FIL. FIL has all romantic options available to try out on the son in law, oh yes indeed. So, I think it should be able to work the other way around. Particularly since he has wants to flirt with the FIL.

Can anyone give some good advice as to what I need to do to enable this to happen? (Hacks, fixes etc.)

[Lythdan]

I think the game sort of flags them as family members, so they can't initiate romantic relations. If you have a hood like mine where pretty much everyone is related by marriage, this is a problem. I get around it by using Holiday Kiss on the mistletoe and hoping they get crushes, because that seems to unlock the full range of romantic interactions.

[KnightSkyKyte]

Thanks for the suggestion... I haven't got the holiday pack because I thought I'd steer clear of it.

They are not blood relations, nor related in any way (original CAS sims, first generation) - the son in law married the father in law's son. He used to have the romantic options open when they were all living together but when he moved out with his husband into their own house there were no romantic options available to the son in law when the FIL came to visit, so he couldn't initiate. But if I get the FIL to invite the son in law around, he DOES have romantic interactions available towards the son in law.

SimPE has not got them flagged as family. If there is a flag set somewhere, it's not showing in SimPE.

[simmiecal]

If having the crush heart unlocks the interactions for Lythdan, than you might try the Insimentor and add the crush hearts to see if that helps. Or if you have SimPE, you can set the crush flags in that.

[Ancient Sim]

I had exactly the same problem with Alexander and Dina after Mortimer died.  They had 3 bolts for each other, but they couldn't perform any romantic interactions.  They were all over each other in every other way, but the romantic stuff was out.  There were no family markers anywhere, but still they couldn't do it.  JM said once that this happens if one of the parties witnesses the wedding of the other and that may well be the case.  I solved it by giving them a crush with the Insim. 

I had an even sillier situation in my original Pleasantview.  John & Jennifer Burb's son Jonathan was married to the daughter of Lilith & Dirk Dreamer, which meant they were some sort of cousins.  He had 3 lightning bolts for Desdemona Dreamer, daughter of Cassandra & Darren, who he wasn't related to except by marriage (she was his wife's Auntie).  They had no romantic options either and as it happens, Desdemona had attended Jonathan & Melinda's wedding.  When I gave them a crush in the Insim, they were instantly all over each other just like Alexander & Dina.  Again, they had no family markers either.  In both cases, they had the lightning bolts, which normally don't appear for family, so the game is clearly marking them as family in one sense but not in another.  It's all very mixed-up.

Have you actually got the father-in-law to flirt with the son-in-law seeing as he has the option?  That might 'unlock' the interactions and enable the son-in-law to flirt himself.

[KnightSkyKyte]

Thanks for the short and sweet advice, Simmiecal, and the great, full explanation, Ancient Sim, that helped a lot.

Actually, the Father-in-law HAD witnessed his son's wedding, so that explains it.  I did end up getting the father-in-law to initiate, and the crush/love happened instantly. Then, when I went back to the son-in-law's house, all romantic options were unlocked and available.

Thankyou very much for the great advice

I began having a lot of fun with it - at the grandson toddler's birthday party (became child), the father-in-law sueezed the son-in-law, and both married spouses were present... slap and slap, in front of all the guests (mainly family - lots of furious people all round) and, because the party was too loud, the cops showed up... and the child cried... it was amusing. But then, I didn't want discovery at that point, they hadn't even woohooed yet. So, exited w/out saving. But now I know what mischief I have to look forward to

Thanks again