Mason Steele moved into town with his wife Elizabeth, their son Micah, and his younger sister Gayle, with no familial connections, no friends, and very little money.  However, despite their initial hardships, Mason very much appreciated the peace and quietude of Old Town.  It was a welcome change from the atmosphere of their previous residence in the big city.  On the other hand, while the Downtown area was filled with its share of unique individuals, it was a little difficult for the Steeles to fit into Old Town's social scene.  After all, it wasn't every day that Old Town welcomed a man with purple hair, his wife who wore blue lipstick, and his sister who wore her dark blue hair in tails.  Despite this, they did their best.

Mason, a Theorist, had been the victim of a malicious practical joke by rivals of his at the university he'd been working at--he'd been on the fast track to tenure while others, who were not as intelligent or as hard-working, had been bypassed.  While in the gym, they'd added a permanent dye to his shampoo.  By rights, it should have eventually grown out, but one of his meaner rivals had added a little something extra.  The end result was that his blonde hair was now purple...permanently.  Angry and embarassed, Mason had left the university and taken a new job in a new town, bringing his family with him.  Old Town residents had been surprised by his hair color, but after the truth was circulated, they accepted him readily enough.  After all, Magic Town was quite nearby, and those residents were much stranger.  By those standards, purple hair was rather tame.

To show her support of her husband, Elizabeth adopted a less than conventional style than she'd previously had.  Now her already dark hair sported midnight blue highlights, and she wore blue lipstick which, surprisingly, matched rather well with her new preference for blue clothing.  Added to her dark eyes and darker mascara, she gave an impression of being exotic and otherworldly, an asset to her in her profession as an Exorcist.  Although she wears a business suit for work, everything still matches, since the suit itself is black.

Compared to her brother and sister-in-law, Gayle is much more individualistic.  She deliberately dyed her blonde hair a dark blue while in her teens, all the better to demonstrate her uniqueness.  She maintained the trend throughout college and into her journalism career, where her dyed hair helped her appear younger, thus giving her an "in" with the younger crowds.  Although she has since risen to become a National News Anchor, the dark blue hair with the two tails has become her trademark, and sets her apart from the rest of her rather drab, generic, clone-like peers.  She's still a professional, and does her job with the same degree of dedication as any of her colleagues, though she does tend not to draw high-visibility assignments (such as dealing with politicians and business leaders) when she's not at the anchor's desk.

While his friends in school are waiting to see what he'll do, Micah chooses to do nothing spectacular with his appearance.  Although he was initially a little embarassed by his father's irreversible appearance, he's come to accept it, and is even pleased that so many of his new Old Town friends think his dad's cool for having such wild hair.  Besides, with an aunt whose fame and notoriety was practically birthed by her unconventional appearance, Micah couldn't help but admit that sometimes standing out was the best way to get ahead.  Not that he would worry about that for the time being...he just wants to get through shool.

Unfortunately, the Steele family couldn't escape less-than-good notoriety for long.  Because Gayle didn't usually draw political interviews, she had no idea that a man she met and fell in love with while on assignment just happened to be a powerful Senator, and a married man in addition.  In her defense, he never told her who he was, only that his name was Grant.  Although she thought he looked familiar, it wasn't until she became pregnant and told him that he revealed himself and promised to divorce his wife to marry her.  Upset, she tried to break things off with him, and the resulting stress of a broken heart and restless mind caused her to miscarry (though the doctors told her that it had really been because of the fall she took when she'd been knocked down while doing a news report at a football game).  Despite the loss of their child, Grant followed through with his divorce from Gertrude Silver and persisted in pressing Gayle to marry him.  Finally, unable to come up with any further excuses and still in love with him, Gayle agreed to marry Grant and he moved into the Steele home.  (Not, however, before Mason told him in no uncertain terms that if Grant ever did anything to hurt Gayle in any way, he would find a way to humiliate Grant far worse than simply having his hair color permanently changed.)

Shortly after Gayle and Grant's wedding, Mason and Gayle's brother Ivan moved in with them.  Of the three of them, he was now the most normal looking, having his natural blonde hair untouched by dye (or whatever had been done to Mason's hair).  And since he was more normal looking than them, Ivan decided he wanted a profession that catered to the normal looking and didn't have to take into account a person's odd taste in appearance (therefore, the majority of people).  To that end, he went into the fashion industry.  Soon realizing that he was wrong about his reasons for his job, he amended his outlook on fashion and has now become a Fashion Columnist who focuses on those same unusual tastes.  While he is a little critical of those who do odd things to themselves just to stand out, he primarily offers guidance on utilizing fashions that stand out without standing out--or at least don't stand out in a negative way.

It was in the course of his work--and his commentary on rock star fashions--that he met, interviewed, and fell in love with an upcoming Rock Star named Sophie.  He helped guide her away from gimmicky outfits and overly revealing outfits and outfits that just didn't work on stage.  Together they crafted her new look, one that tantalized and tempted without revealing, that fit all genres and styles without conforming to any one.  Their collaboration led to their marriage, and Sophie moved into the Steele family home.  It was only on their wedding day that Ivan and the Steeles learned that Sophie was actually part of the wide-ranging Verde clan, which extended to the wealthy Gold family, the well-known Adonii family, and the exceptional Venii family.  For Grant it was a difficult wedding to get through since Sophie's younger brother, Jean-Claude, had replaced him as Gertrude Silver's husband and, despite the relative amicability of their divorce (she spoke with him, albeit coolly and never about their sons), he couldn't help feeling jealous that she had moved on so quickly after their split.

Aurora, Ivan and Sophie's daughter, has thus far grown up much as her cousin Micah did, though without the same stresses he did (relatives with dyed hair caused him a bit, even if he accepted it and others did as well).  She has no plans to dye her hair either, though when she is older she does want to use temporary dye to see how she'd look with pink or green hair.  On the other hand, she knows perfectly well that if she did anything permanent like that, she'd be hit with criticisms on several different fronts since she, like her 3rd cousin Elaine Gold, arguably has the most familial connections in Old Town.

Family Base Income: $5695 (Theorist--$870; Exorcist--$1000; National News Anchor--$975; Senator--$700; Fashion Columnist--$1050; Rock Star--$1100)