Jules: "You ready to beat the boys?"
Ruby: "Bring it on."
Meanwhile, Bryon and Sonia (Theo's mom), joined the Pranksters.
And Hugo and Kaori joined the Jokesters.
Classic Lily...
Whoops, I forgot Ruby is on the soccer team for uni, guess Jules will have to carry the Jokesters on her own haha.
Robin made some new friends (all autonomous actions haha)
Let's get some t-shirts. Or just strip down completely
Lydia showed up again and joined the Pranksters.
"Come here, I have a secret to tell you..."
"Hahaha, got you!"
"Wait, why isn't it working??"
"Oh no..."
"AHHHHHHH!!!"
"Serves him right...."
In the end, the Jokesters did win though, but something glitched and there were no fireworks?
But then there was just this random firework sitting out in the middle of the torn down festival, so Emmett decided to light it.
Sofia was still at the art gallery, so Jules decided to give her their apartment key, since I need to tick off that part of the aspiration.
Some funny stuff happened when they got home, but I'll save that for my update tomorrow
So sorry that I'm behind on commenting. I've just been so incredibly busy. I will definitely start commenting again as soon as I have a spare minute. I haven't even played my game for a few days, I'm just spreading out screenshots I had saved
Josh and Essa traveled to the Honeypot Karaoke bar again to practice their singing, maybe have a few drinks and just hang out for awhile. They were able to do a duet together this time since I put a Mod back in that allows Sims to choose anyone on the lot for a partner.
Their first duet was a Pop song and they killed it! Josh knows they sang well together, look at him hamming it up for those watching them sing.
They did so well with that song, why not try another? This time they chose a Ballad. Love how they touch hands like that.
And link their hands together.
Essa is Level 7 now and Josh has been Level 10 a long time, I think since January.
Probably just part of the song, but I loved how they kept looking at each other that way.
Giving it their all! Josh was really, really getting into it.
The song ends and I can tell by the look on his face how moved Josh is by the experience. Well, again, probably just part of the song, but they're in love so I imagine if this were real, they'd both be feeling very loving toward each other right now.
Aww, an autonomous kiss at the end... okay, maybe he was really feeling it after all.
"You were wonderful Beautiful, we make a great duet don't you think?"
"Oh yes, I do, we're a great duet at many things, I have an idea for one of them right now. What do you think?"
"You know what I think, you always do."
Vlad just ignores these two and sings some country song behind them. LOL!
I bet you can guess what Essa suggested autonomously, yep, third time on their own. It was just a Make-out session though. At first...
I guess it wasn't enough...
"Whoa! We need to sing together more often!" "Ohhh Yeahhh!"
All those, um, duets made them hungry so Essa cast Grand Delicioso for them. Hey, why pay for bar food when you can just conjure up a meal eh?
They grabbed a serving together and went back inside to eat at the bar. They left the platter there so hopefully someone else will enjoy the leftovers. It'll be interesting to see anyway when they go back if it's still there.
"I can't believe we did that, again."
"I can, and you want to know something else?"
"What?"
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat, just say the word. Wouldn't you?"
Essa answers Josh in her best Meg Ryan impersonation.
"Yes, yeS, yES, YES! YESS!! YESSS!!! OH GAWD YESSSSSS!!!!"
"I think that's clear enough how I feel about your question." (Gawd! She is so HOT!)
(And uninhibited too, you hit the jackpot of love Dude!)
They're not finished here yet. I played a long time tonight/this morning and took so many screenshots here and at home after, I have enough for three updates for the one day. This update featured fun autonomous behavior and today's update will be completely autonomous. I gave them some full autonomy free time. Still on full autonomy, the third update tomorrow happens still at home with a surprise visitor who added to the fun!
Of course she couldn't sleep, how could she with her life turned upside down? Ah plasma packs, yeah, she'll need a bunch of those if she doesn't want to bite anyone. Cordelia was certainly being a bit snippy. o.O But Melody snips right back. Whoa! Glad Greg stepped in. Aww man, poor Melody, she's so angry! Uh oh, look out dear, she blames you! O.O
Very pretty library, did you build that? Or is it the default library? The default seems darker to me, so I'm guessing you built or downloaded it. Wow that Librarian is pretty angry too. Dance studio? Sounds like she and guessing Judith, Damon and...not sure who would be the pigtails, were being a bit rebellious, as teens tend to do. Glad the Librarian finally gave in and let Melody read.
Uh oh, talkative little girl better watch out. Wow! Blue? Must be Red wasn't always Melody's favorite color. Maybe? Anyway, she should've known it would scare the little girl and make her scream. And yep, here comes the Librarian to kick her out. Gah! Melody lost it, she just couldn't take it anymore and snapped. I bet hunger had something to do with that too. She looks satisfied now at least. Poor Librarian... wait, what's Inna doing there? Probably clogging toilets or something? hehe
Ohhh, the pig-tailed girl is Meredith, Damon/Nik's older sister. That makes sense. Ah, she took the book she was reading. Well, it's a library, books get 'borrowed' all the time, it's what it's there for, right? Yeah, she's got the right idea about the crypt or 'bedroom' being undisturbed at night. Who in their right mind would break in and go down there? Plus, the vamps would be gone out hunting. Good choice for a quiet spot. Aww, man, those last two screenshots choked me up. Of course she misses Malcom. Sitting on the edge of my seat for more!
Cute daily shot with Rowan and the sparkler! I keep forgetting those are available. Never had any of my Sims use them. Ah, girls against the boys. Bummer Ruby had to leave for soccer practice. Forgive me, but who's Theo? Classic Lily indeed, she always has an annoyed look on her face. LOL! I see the wild child is at it again! Good idea buying some t-shirts. Sometimes I remember those, sometimes I don't. I don't like most of them though so mostly don't bother.
Of course Lydia is there again keeping her eye on Jules. Oh Rowan, you little stinker! HAHA! Opps, backfired! What!? No fireworks!? Dang! That bites! Did you cheat the milestone goal then or did the firework Emmett lit work to complete it? Ah, good idea giving a key to Sofia. Can't wait to read what funny stuff happened later.
As you can see from my daily pic, an uninvited vistor decided to let himself into the apartment. No one seemed to notice him though
I was kind of hoping Markus would drink someone's plasma, since I've never had that happen before, but he got distracted by the dryer and ended up setting himself on fire instead
After that, he bolted from the apartment, leaving everyone untouched.
Super short update today, but that's all the screenshots I have left, hopefully I can play again soon!
Gonna hopefully do comments later this evening. My sister is in town with her kiddos so I haven't really been sitting down at my computer much, especially since I've been dog walking as well. As I've said, I apologize for getting so far behind on comments - I love all your updates and have been reading them, even if I don't get a chance to comment in a timely fashion
i forgot to reply to that Batuu credit thing. Playing Sabacc, in home, naturally do not change the amount of simoleons or credits for them, as they are both from same household They do not take money form their household funds and put it right back
If you use the table in communitylot, or invite someone else non family member to play, then you will win or loose simoleons (in normal world) or credits (Only in Batuu) .
Ah well , who else she would blame but me? I am the cruel watcher who does not even respond anymore
Library is original one, I only did some tiny changes, benches and changed colors of bookcases, added more candles. Nothing more I just like to send my vamps there to learn the lore, as it looks like an old church, remodeled to a library (as many old churches in Europe at least are). And where else in sims worlds you could reach to such old books?
Red still is her favorite color ans always was, that blue was just a personal choise.
Haha ,no Inna was there for another purpose, but who knows, I did not control her, how many toilets she pranked
-- Very lovely animations indeed when they sang the ballad
And of course, woohoo
-- nice time in the festival, sweet that they divided boy and girl teams HAha, that joke went totally down on you Rowan Nice to give that key to Sofia
-- Hehe yes, it looks like Markus was gonna do proper thing, but some bug as they were awake funny anyway getting burned
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
I like Essa's cold weather outfit. That's a cool sweater she's wearing. Fun nails too! It makes sense for Essa and Josh to both join the jokesters, and that sun setting in the background is lovely in your first shot! Did you add the stage and microphone to the festival area, or did it come with that? Just curious since I don't remember seeing those at my festival. Totally understandable that she'd take the key back from Roxanne too. Gotta have some boundaries haha. I love that you write the dialogue for their jokes/stories too, very creative and fun. So nice that they won. Now I'm extra bummed my festival glitched haha. Those firework shots are really cool!
Fun that you are exploring the game from the Batuu pack I really love Essa's new hair. I don't remember if I asked you or not, but is that from a pack or is it CC? Haha, always funny when our sims try spicy food Do sims ever have a good time bubble blowing lol? I feel like they always choke and look miserable. Those windows in their loft are really cool too!
Aw, such cute karaoke shots. The karaoke animations are really a lot of fun to watch. That's fun that they can use a spell just to summon some food. It's like the grilled cheese aspiration reward but with more options haha. And nice that they autonomously put that closet to good use haha.
Answering your questions from ages ago, sorry I'm just getting around to it now. TS3 had a tattoo chair that you could put on any lot, I believe. It's been a while since I played, so I forget if it was a lot type as well and if your sims could be tattoo artists by profession. But the tattoo chair was really cool.
Maybe Robin will be an artist one day, I don't have specific plans for her yet. If I continue this challenge in any capacity next year though, I think I'll use Robin though
Really no worries that you forgot who Theo was, I actually wasn't sure if you guys would remember who he was since I don't mention him often. He's that toddler Ruby used to play with in Britechester, and Kristine is dating him now. I'm just having them wear a shirt at each festival if I remember to do it. I'm actually gonna give them a separate outfit category that is just for their festival t-shirts so I don't have to keep going into CAS to switch them back haha. So as far as the milestone goes, I didn't make it to that stage yet, kind of annoyed at myself for not looking ahead because now I'm probably gonna have to go through this festival cycle twice to get this aspiration done. I hope I can finish by the end of this month....
I love your alternate universe that you have going for Melody! Such a fun idea - it makes me want to make something exciting happen in my own gameplay haha. Such a cool idea to make her a vampire too. I'm curious to see what your plan is with the story, and if she'll eventually make it back to Malcolm and her kiddos.
I love Melody's new hair style! Love all of Melody's angry expressions haha, it's perfect for the story you're telling. Love that she's screaming at her watcher too Good idea to have her go to the library to read the tome, and funny that the librarian is scolding her for doing stuff with her friends she doesn't remember. Ooh, I love Melody's hair in her dark form! Haha, that's one way to get a kid to leave And one way to get that thirst need filled, haha. But poor Melody. She's just so confused. I wonder how she'll get back to her kids and Malcolm...
@lilypadmeulin Good to see you around, and thanks for comment
October - Day 10:"Secrets always come up for air. They're never content to stay buried for long..."
Notes
The first thing Essa did when I gave the couple full autonomy was take a nap on a couch. I hadn't been paying enough attention to their needs so her sleep need had slipped into the yellow on the verge of orange. I could've woken her up and had her read the Book of Life to fill her needs, or drink a potion of Plentiful Needs, but I wanted to see what Josh would do, so I let her sleep.
Josh decided he wanted to sing again. He doesn't look as into it though without Essa. (It's just not as fun by myself anymore.)
When the song finished, he walked over to the bar and grabbed their empty glasses to wash in the restroom. I wondered if he'd be shocked about the talking toilet like a lot of Sims seem to be. But he ignored it. Probably because it's nothing new to him, they have one of their own at home.
Coming out of the restroom, Josh saw a blond guy staring at Essa sleeping with a look of such longing on his face. He looked familiar, like he should know him. But couldn't place him. It's Kent Rockwell, one of the members of Essa's old dance club. If you remember, he had a crush on her and brought her a present, a carved horse, when she was still living in Windenburg and Josh was gone singing with Adam. He let her know how he felt about her, and tried to make a move on her, but she turned him down flat. Of course.
"She's taken Dude."
"The good ones always are, aren't they?" Kent said with a pout and a sigh of resignation. He walked away and left the bar after that.
Josh sat down, ordered a drink and waited for Essa to wake up. It wasn't more than a few minutes after he received his drink Essa woke up and walked over to the bar. "Hey Beautiful. Or should I call you Sleeping Beauty?"
"Hey Babe, sorry about that. It just hit me like a load of bricks. I hope you're not upset."
"Nah, it's fine. We've been out and about a lot lately."
Essa ordered a drink and sat down at the bar to wait for it.
"Why are you sitting way down there? Don't you want to sit with me?"
"It's more fun to sit here and tease you from a distance." Essa said and laughed.
"Oh, so you want to play, is that it? Alright." "You can sit here Miss if you'd like. I don't mind moving."
"It's okay, we're good. But thanks."
Essa blew Josh a kiss and that poor guy looks like he's thinking, 'this isn't awkward at all, nope, not at all.'
"Seriously Dude, let's switch seats. The two of you are obviously together."
"The lady is coming down here to sit next to me, right now. Aren't you Beautiful." Josh said in a voice a little more firm than needed.
"Sheesh, okay, sure."
(Did he have to be so testy about it?)
(He just likes you near him.)
(I guess that's sweet, and fair since we are together.)
"Would you like to sing together again?" "Yes! I'd love it!"
They sang another ballad together and sounded even better than the first time.
"Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you"
"Every little thing that you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better"
"I wanna spend the rest of my life
With you by my side" "Forever and ever"
"Every little thing that you do" "Oh, every little thing that you do"
"Baby, I'm amazed by you"
"I love you Essa, my Beautiful, always."
I sent them home after the song and had Josh get the mail while Essa went inside. I don't know what she did at first, I was watching Josh watching her.
Usually the only mail they received was bills, sale flyers, political ads and StrangerVille fan mail. But today, there was something else in the mail. Looking at the return address and more importantly the name, Josh could not believe his eyes.
(What do you want? You left me years ago, just disappeared. And how the heck did you get our address anyway?)
(Oh man, this can't be good. Not good at all.)
(Just open it and find out what she wants.)
(Who cares what she wants? She betrayed me. She lied to me, she tricked me! I don't want anything to do with her.)
(You thought you loved her, remember?)
(Of course I remember.)
(No one ever forgets their first love.)
Comments/replies coming up next! Hope y'all had a wonderful day/night!
-- okay lovely sleeping, lovely drinks, lovelyloveylove karaoke! And so "lovely" townie!
Now to the main point... WHO IS "SHE" !?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
Nobody noticed him? How could they not? Especially with those red eyes and his history with Jules. He started playing with the dryer? What the heck? I guess it serves him right he caught on fire. Dude's lucky Emmett put him out! Sheesh!
I'm pretty sure that top came with the Fitness SP. She wore it in Windenburg too. I love it, obviously. Honestly, I'm having second thoughts about those long nails. I like the pattern on them, but they're sooo dang long! I think next time I play I'll give her shorter ones. Thank you, I love that screenshot too, it's so colorful. Nope, I didn't add the microphone/stage. Those come with the festival by default.
It's fun writing dialogue for these two. That joke Josh told I found online, I didn't make it up. But I thought it was hilarious! I agree, the fireworks are lots of fun and so pretty to see! I especially loved the shot of them standing kind of sideways to each other looking up at them together. Bummer Jules will have to attend again because of the glitch. Essa and Josh will be going again though too since when they went, that milestone hadn't happened yet. I should've read ahead for the aspiration too. Oh well.
Essa's new hairstyle is CC. I think you're right, I don't remember any of my Sims enjoying the bubble blowing, they all choke on it. Bummer. Yep casting Delicioso is somewhat like summoning Grilled Cheese, except one big difference. Grilled cheese they summon is always just 'normal' quality. The Delicioso meals are usually excellent in quality.
Very cool about the tattoo chair in TS3. Would be nice if TS4 got something like that one day. Perhaps we will. Thanks for letting me know. Very cool you might use Robin for the challenge next year. Not sure who I'll use if I play it again. Oh, that's who Theo is, the name sounded familiar, I just couldn't place him. Good idea about the t-shirts.
Ah, okay that all makes sense about the Sabacc table. I should've had them play with their houseguest you'll see in my next update. hehe Oh well, thanks for letting me know how it all worked.
Aww, you're not cruel! I can see how she would think you are though, but I'm sure she'll change her mind once whatever is going on has been resolved. Oh I love the little changes you made to the original library, it does look somewhat like a church inside now. And yep, naturally an ancient library would have records/tomes of such things amongst it's shelves.
Okay, thanks about the dark mode color explanation. Another purpose, okay. Yeah, she probably clogged all of them since she's got the goofball trait, right? Unless you changed that trait that is.
I loved those too! Of course, being who they are, it didn't really surprise me they decided to use the closet on full autonomy. Especially since they were both flirty already.
Sorry, didn't see your comment about my update until after I finished comments. Yep, such a lovely evening/early morning together and then BAM! Uh oh... o.O You'll find out soon!
So Ruby is officially enrolled in Foxbury and is majoring in Psychology. She had her first day of classes, and she's getting a head start on her project board now.
Seriously, Lydia keeps inserting herself in all my updates
Lydia, what does YOUR heart desire though?
"Hi there. Wanna see my toy?"
Meanwhile, Jules was more than happy to pass the ball around with Ruby to help her with her soccer promotion milestones.
Ruby headed off to practice, and Dell randomly showed up. We can work with this, let's let Dell babysit and give Emmett and Jules a night out.
So they changed into their fanciest attire and headed for the Stargazer Lounge.
Lily was out for blood.
So Jules still needs to introduce herself to 2 more sims in different neighborhoods to finish this first stage of the aspiration, so let's get this done...she looks pretty desperate to leave this conversation though haha.
Time to dance
Oh no...
Guess Dell bolted as soon as Ruby got home from practice and wanted to do some partying of her own
I noticed a karaoke machine, and after seeing how much fun Josh and Essa had with it, I decided that Jules and Emmett definitely needed to give it a go.
Jules still had to introduce herself to a sim in one more neighborhood, so let's go do that, even though it's now 5am haha.
Might as well grab some breakfast too
"This was such a fun night! I had such a great time with you."
I love the sims karaoke. When they are good, I love to hear them sing together. When they get better at it, with the ballad, when they touch hands, there are little hearts that pop up. I think that is the sweetest thing that happens. It's the one that Sakura and Wolfgang did together. How do Essa and Josh sound together? Does Josh have a deep voice? lol In the Sims 1 there was an expansion pack...maybe Superstar...I can't remember, but they could become a singer, and I just loved that pack. Anyway, great chapter Also read about your power woes and glad everything is back and running again.
October - Day 11:"You can always find a distraction if you're looking for one..."
Notes
Memories have a way of clouding the truth. We'd rather remember the good things, than the bad. Such was the case for Josh as he let his feelings for a girl he once knew and loved take over his thoughts. She had been his whole world at the time.
She treated him like a King, showering him with love, boosting his ego, catering to his every need. She made him feel special. She had been so beautiful and demur, so young and innocent. What boy could resist such a girl and want to do anything in their power to make her happy, protected...and feel loved? He had been blinded by her seemingly endless love and devotion to him.
It had been nothing but smoke and mirrors, a trick to deceive and get what she wanted. He'd been a fool for falling into her web of lies...and her bed. Too young and naïve to really know what was in her rotten black heart, he'd fallen victim to her alluring ways. She hadn't been innocent at all. She'd pretended to be innocent, but he knew. Oh yes, he knew she wasn't. But he'd ignored it. And that would be the beginning of the end.
(What could she want from me after all these years? Why should I even care?)
(I should just tear it up and be done with it. All she's ever given me is pain.)
(But what if...no, I won't think about it right now.)
Josh stuffed the letter into an inside pocket of his jacket and finally went inside.
Meanwhile, Essa was working out on the treadmill. They'd been eating lots of decadent food lately and she felt a bit soft.
(You know you're gonna read it, don't try to kid yourself. No other reason for not immediately throwing it away.)
(Tell her!)
(I will, she deserves to know. Just not yet...)
Josh kept occupied picking up discarded dishes they'd neglected to take care of in their pursuit of fun and pleasure. Any distraction was a good distraction to avoid the inevitable. At least for a little while...
Essa finished her workout and was also cleaning up. Unlike Josh, she wasn't trying to avoid anything, she just felt bad for neglecting their day to day responsibilities. The front door buzzed as Essa walked toward the elevator vestibule to stuff a bag of trash in the chute.
They waited for the visitor to announce themselves so they could buzz them inside the building. But, there was nothing but silence.
"I'll go see who it is." "Okay, I think I'll go play some video games for a bit."
"Don't forget that new TV show premieres tonight. You wanted to watch it, remember?" "Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me."
"I'll let you know when it's about to start Babe." "Thanks Beautiful."
"Hey Damon, so good to see you! Why didn't you say your name when you buzzed the door?" "Oh, didn't know I was supposed to do that, sorry. I'm not that familiar with Penthouse protocol I guess."
"It's okay, neither am I, but we're learning. Can you stay awhile? We were just about to watch the premiere of a new show. Maybe you'd like to watch it with us?" "Sure I can stay, sounds good."
Damon was a slowpoke in following Essa up to the Penthouse which gave her time to gleefully jump in the pile of trash she'd thrown on the floor instead of putting it in the garbage chute.
Josh was trying to play Sim Scuffle. But his mind kept drifting to the girl and the letter in his pocket crinkling every time he moved. (Just read it already.)
(Not yet.)
(Why not?)
(I'm afraid, okay? I love Essa and she really loves me. I don't wanna mess that up.)
(What if...no, I won't think about that right now.)
Essa called out that Damon was here for a visit and the new show premiere would start in minutes. He shut down the computer and went downstairs.
"For you and Essa from all of us; me, Molly, the boys, Nik and Inna. Everyone sends their love and hopes that you both enjoy it."
"Thank you Damon. So nice of you to come all this way to hand deliver it. You could've just shipped it."
"I know, but it's fragile, I had some free time and wanted to catch up with you guys too. Go ahead, open it. Careful, it's heavy."
Josh opened the box while Essa and Damon watched. Inside was a beautiful, antique 18th century crystal cake dome and stand.
"It's a family heirloom. We thought perhaps you could use it for your wedding cake."
"Oh Damon, it's absolutely gorgeous, what a thoughtful gift. I don't know what to say."
"I agree, I'm speechless. This is something you'd only hand down to a family member." "Well, we think of you as family. Even though Essa is no longer a practicing vampire, she will always remain my offspring in vampire terms, so she's family and you will be too."
"Thank you so much Damon and thank everyone else for us too. We'll treasure it."
"Yes, we will. I just might cry." "Tsk, don't do that! You'll make me cry and nobody wants to see that." Damon laughed.
Josh put the cake dome and stand back in the box and took it into the kitchen to store in a cupboard until their wedding reception. Meanwhile, Essa gave Damon a warm hug and Josh did the same when he returned.
"Are you guys ready for the premiere? It just started. Why don't you both come sit with me." "Okay, sure, but first, I've been wondering about something, hey Josh, what's that over there?"
For some unknown reason, Damon thought it would be a good idea to scare Josh. What is it with the guys in this save? Most of them think they have to scare people.
"BOO!"
Josh wasn't falling for it. He'd had that tired old trick played on him more times than he cared to count.
"Seriously Damon? I would've thought you'd be past such immature shenanigans by now. You're a Dad with kids old enough to give you grandchildren, you have a wife, you're freakin' over 200 years old, not 10!" Josh yelled angerly at Damon who looked sufficiently embarrassed for his actions.
Essa watched what was going on, confused by the actions of both of them. Damon was just playing around, Josh didn't need to yell at the guy. Especially considering how nice he had just been to both of them.
A tense moment of silence followed as Josh and Damon just stared at each other in disbelief.
"Muwahahaha! I'm just yanking your chain Dude, you're hilarious! No harm, no foul."
Whether Josh really meant what he said or just felt bad for yelling at Damon, Essa would never know. But she was glad he didn't seem to take it as seriously as she thought.
(Whew! That could've ended badly.)
Then they both broke out in song, singing Maisey Grobe in unison! What!? Oh, right, full autonomy. Ah well...
"Alright guys, can we watch the show now?"
They finally joined Essa on the couch, but moments later, Damon jumped up and sprinted for the stairs saying, "Dangit, I almost forgot!"
"Where's he going?"
"Upstairs, apparently." "Why?"
"No idea, does it matter?" "Well yeah, who does that? Just takes off to snoop around in someone's house."
"You don't know that's what he's doing and why would you think that anyway? Are you okay Babe? You seem a bit on edge since we got home." "I'm fine, just a lot on my mind."
"Anything you want to share with me? Maybe I can help?" "Later, when we're alone, okay?"
"Alright, that's cool."
(Hmmm, what's he got to worry about?)
Damon was using their computer. Just like any other visiting Sim. I thought it was set for use by only household members, I must've forgot or it lost the setting when they moved.
Essa got a thought bubble to 'See what's happening!' and went upstairs. Perhaps to yell at Damon for using their computer?
"Hey, what are you doing Damon? Can I help you with something?" "Oh hey, sorry. I forgot I told Molly I'd text her when I got here. My phone's dead. It's charging in the car."
"Oh, well okay. Come back down when you're done." "Won't be long, I promise."
Essa told Josh what was up, nothing to worry about. Damon could've asked first, but since he's family he must've thought it would be okay.
"I've been working on lyrics for another song, can I sing it for you and get your opinion on it?" "Sure, I'd love to hear it. You have such a beautiful voice."
"Aww, you're so sweet, okay, here goes."
She was actually serenading him. Sometimes full autonomy Sims do things that make me smile.
Damon came zooming downstairs right past them into the bathroom. I guess he really, really had to go. Except, vampires don't have a bladder need. "What's he doing now?"
*singing* "And I will always, lo-- huh, what? Who? Oh, Damon. What the heck?"
Just like back in StrangerVille when they invited him over to ask him to help defeat the Mother, Damon felt it was perfectly acceptable to take a soak in their tub.
"He's taking a bath Essa, a bath! Why does he keep doing that?"
"Um, I don't know, maybe he felt dirty from the long, dusty drive here?" "Uh huh. Sure, whatever."
"I should take out this trash right now though. You can go deal with him if you like."
"Oh yeah, I'll deal with him alright."
"Be nice Babe, please?" "I will, don't worry Beautiful."
(Maybe.) "I need to contact my old CO after that. I'll be upstairs on the computer if you need me."
"Okay Babe."
(Contact his CO? Aha! I bet he got called up to active duty again and doesn't know how to tell me. That's gotta be why he's been acting so weird.)
"Who put that there? How disgusting!"
Tsk, oh come on Essa! Really?
Josh had a quick talk with Damon who indeed insisted he was dusty from the road and didn't think they'd mind. Supposedly, his hotel room shower was busted. He said he'd probably be leaving afterward, but would come up and say good bye first.
Damon soon zipped into the bedroom and started talking to himself in a full length mirror next to Josh's Medals Display case.
"What the heck are you doing now? I thought you had to go?"
"Practicing a speech."
"A speech, what for? You can't even see yourself."
"I know, but I can pretend, right? It's for a PTA meeting with Sam tomorrow."
"You're giving a speech?"
"No, yes, not really. I just want to get right what I need to say to the teacher."
(And Essa thinks I'm acting strange.)
(You have been! And you know why, you should rea--)
(I know, I KNOW! Get off my back!)
(Just sayin'.)
Essa came upstairs to sit on a pouf next to the desk and read a book. "Hey Beautiful, what're you reading?"
"Well, the cover says it's about Flower Arranging, but I'm gaining skill for Juice Fizzing. Weird huh?" "Yeah, weird."
(Like everything else around here tonight.)
(Stop staring and judging me like that, cat!)
I thought Damon was finally ready to go home. He tried, but instead was caught in a loop speeding in a circle there. Before I could reset him he finally stopped and zipped over to stand behind Josh.
"Hey, what're you doing on there?"
"It's personal, business, if you don't mind."
"Oh, okay, sorry. Just curious."
"It's okay."
"Annnd, finished."
"Hey Damon, we haven't really had a chance talk tonight. How's Molly and the boys? They must be getting so big by now." (Gah! Essa! He was just leaving, don't chat with him now.)
But it was too late. They were fully immersed catching up now to the extreme annoyance of Josh. He just wanted to be alone with Essa.
Damon sat down on the bed for their chat and my play session abruptly ended. My computer crashed to the desktop, closing the game. *sigh* I'll probably just pick up the story using a time jump after Damon left for tomorrow's update.
This is a bit longer than I usually write. At least lately. I'll get started on comments/replies next. Hope y'all had a wonderful day/night!
Good for Ruby getting a head start on her project board. Cute Robin wanted to show Lydia one of her toys! Boy that Sim just will not let go will she? Lydia, Honey, Jules is married with two kids and another on the way, give it up girl! Aww, nice that Jules can share her love of kicking the soccer ball with Ruby. Like Mother like Daughter eh?
Hi Dell, nice of you to stop by to babysit! hehe Emmett and Jules look so nice in their fancy clothes. Whoa Lily, calm down dear. Sheesh! Jules does look like she wants to run away from that convo. "Watcher, uh, a little help?" Nice they were actually dancing facing each other! That rarely happens in my game. I have to laugh at that one screenshot of Jules dancing sticking her baby belly out. hehe Oh cool! Karaoke duets are so much fun eh? Glad they got a chance to sing together too! Was Jules having a hot dog for breakfast? hehe Hey why not, right? Aww, sweet moment at the picnic table.
Yes! I do too. But only when they're good. I mute low level Sims singing. Yeah, I like the hearts, but not for screenshots. I have a mod that turns those off, that's why you won't see any animations like that when Josh and Essa sing. Or anyone for that matter. Oh man, they sound glorious singing together, thanks for asking. No, he doesn't have a very deep voice. He has the Clear voice type with the bar all the way to the left, so the deepest possible for that voice type. Essa has a somewhat deeper Lilted voice type. The bar for her's is to the left as well, but halfway back toward the middle. I never had the Superstar pack, but from what I've seen in others games, it looked like a lot of fun. Thanks about our power, I'm glad it's back now too. So frustrating when it's out, I can't play!
Super intrigued by the girl in Josh's past. I love that you and Ellu have these twists up your sleeves! Makes me want to add something fun to the narrative of my story haha, but I'm out of ideas and unfortunately short on time, but maybe something will come to me. I like the suspense you're building up too with only telling us a little bit about her. Definitely makes me eager for more! Damon's visit was a lot of fun too, gotta love that he always uses their tub, and not just quickly, but for a full facial Sorry my comments are a bit short too, just trying to get them done when I have small pockets of free time instead of getting too far behind again.
Lydia inserting herself into all my updates makes me wonder if I should try to make her part of the story more or something, but I really do like Jules and Emmett together and with almost 4 kids together, it seems cruel to ruin their happiness haha. Also Jules was eating something fancy from one of the food stalls, so probably the fancy version of a hotdog lol. So definitely not breakfast food
Really just a series of random screenshots I captured for today's update, even less of a story than usual. Perhaps I will come up with something for my narrative soon, but for now I'm kind of just letting things happen in my game and going from there. I play with full autonomy on so really everyone is making a lot of their own decisions these days which is a relaxing way to play when I've been so busy lately.
In the morning, the first snowfall flurried lightly to the ground.
And about two minutes later, it began to violently storm instead...I enjoy how chaotic things get when it starts to storm lol, these sims just lose their minds
Emmett had been working on a mural before the weather took a turn for the worse, and he unhappily continued despite the inclement weather.
The weather cleared up as quickly as it had started, and I noticed that someone had "defaced" Jules' mural, but honestly, I like the addition
Sakura called Jules after that and invited her over, so I decided to accept since nothing else was going on. She took Robin with her so she could play with Kiki (tagging @SoulGal7 since this next bit features your sims )
Jules: "I'm so sorry, she's going through a phase where she strips down whenever she has the chance..."
Wolfgang, why are you beating up the bear so violently lol?
@Karababy52 Also forgot to add in my comment, sorry your game crashed, I hope you didn't lose too much progress!
Also, as far as continuing this challenge goes next year, I wanted to offer a suggestion. I totally would love to keep playing in this universe I created and using one of Jules' kids to do similar challenge next year, but since the daily posting is a lot, what would you think of making this challenge a bit more casual, like maybe posting 2-4 time a week (or even just once a week if that's more doable for some) instead of daily, but we could still keep up with each other's stories in a thread? Just a suggestion for anyone who wants to continue but might not want to commit to a daily post for another year
Thank you for your comments I needed something fresh, as sometimes I feel myself out of motivation to continue. But that is natural in this long challenge
-- Lovely first pic (karaoke one) I see ruby is taking her studies seriously.
Oh.. Lydia .. she never give up , doesn't she Well, maybe she will have to (regarding what you mentioned that you don't want anything to happen to Emmett, what is most likely the best solution, all the kids and so ) .. ah well.
Nice time they had in that karaoke bar!
-- Haha yes , all are so weirdo's when storming I think I have a mod for that, that only certain type of sims do that, not all
Nice from Sakura and Wolfie to invite them Windenburg really looks beautiful there And yep, Wolfie beating up the teddy, when ever there is no dollhouse to break
Thank you for your comments
-- Oh.. a mystery lady who is Josh's first love, who did something bad bad.. wants something from him.. Very interesting, I admit I am very curious!
Josh, just read the letter! Seriously.
Hi Damon! Aww, how nice of you to bring a gift like that!
JOSH! I hope you were only tense because of the letter! These dudes in that save do that scary BOO stuff! It is Veera and Melody in mine, and you have not yet been angry to them
Looks like Essa was too busy by waching the dudes that she barely even looked at TV
LOL, so then singing together.. okay.. boys shall be boys..
Using computer, taking a bath and facial treatment.. oh my DAMON!! But yes, that is so you.
And tehn after all.. hey let's chat
Okay, I am sorry that your game crashed, but it was trying to tell you that Damon has spent too much time there and Josh need to talk with Essa! So as you refused to make him to leave, game did Just logical, right?
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
What a lovely time Jules had with Sakura. Robin and Kiki are so cute together. I actually haven't played Sakura since the last time I was here. It's so nice that she still pops up in your game
October - Day 12:"We'll walk this road together, through the storm. Whatever weather, cold or warm!"
Notes
Damon left and Josh asked Essa to come sit with him on the bed. He had something important he needed to tell her.
"What's up Babe? I know something's been bothering you, you've been acting so strange today. Whatever it is, it'll be okay, I promise." "I hope so..."
"It's about a girl I met when I was overseas on my first tour of duty. I was just a naïve kid far from home feeling full of himself on my first day off in months. I went with a few of my buddies into town looking for some fun and excitement. And hopefully some female companionship."
"Okay, but, tell me something. Why are you telling me this now? For what purpose? Why do I need to know about some girl you knew when you were overseas ages ago?"
"I'm getting to that, just, let me get through this okay? I have to tell you the whole story so you'll understand why when I'm finished."
"Alright, I'm listening."
"So, anyway, we went into this bar to have some drinks, joking around and flirting with any girls that seemed interested. After I'd had a few, I noticed this exotic beauty sitting in a corner staring at me with the most gorgeous golden brown eyes I'd ever seen. She smiled and then looked down, but then back at me under her lashes in that coy way that girls like to flirt, acting like she was embarrassed at being caught staring, but couldn't help herself to look at me again."
"I had a drink sent over to her and asked the server to give her a message for me. I told her to say I thought she was beautiful and wondered if she'd like to get to know each other, maybe come over and join us if she was interested."
"She refused the drink saying she didn't drink alcohol, but she thought I was cute too and would I like to spend some time with her in her room? The server placed a key in front of me. I looked over where she had been sitting, but she was gone. Well, of course I left the bar to go find her. The server said her name was Samara and told me where I could find her."
"When I unlocked the door, I saw her posing on a bed with candles all over the room. She was naked, but using her long, silky black hair and hands to cover herself. I thought I could see her blushing, but she gave me such a sexy yet demur look of invitation, I just couldn't refuse. We spent the night together, as I'm sure you've guessed by now."
"After that, we were inseparable. Every spare moment I could steal, I spent with her. She had me under her spell, showering me with her devotion, treating me like a King, catering to my every need and desire. She acted as if she worshiped and loved me. Heady stuff for a young inexperienced boy. Well, I wasn't innocent, but had never experienced anything like her."
"One day she confessed I was her first, that she'd never been with anyone else. I knew she was lying, a guy can tell. I mean...well--"
"You don't have to tell me, I get it."
"Okay, well, anyway by this time I was so in love with her, I didn't care. I would've done anything for her and did. I bought her presents and gave her money for whatever she needed. She didn't seem to have much money or anything of her own. Other than the candles and the bed, her room was quite bare. I learned she lived with her Uncle since all her other family members had been killed in the war."
"One night, we were lying together in her bed and she started to cry. I asked her what was wrong, whatever it was I would fix it for her. She should just tell me why she was crying, it broke my heart seeing her cry like that. She told me her Uncle had beat her, again, because she'd accidentally burnt his dinner. She cooked and cleaned for him, was more like a servant than his niece."
"I grabbed my gun intending to threaten him to leave her alone or I'd kill him. She begged me not to do that saying it would only make things worse for her since she had no where else to go and he'd take his anger out on her."
"Well I wasn't going to leave her there with him after that, but what could I do? I couldn't take her back to the base with me. The military would not stand for that, of course."
"She told me the only way she'd ever be able to leave her Uncle is if she got married and could then get a green card and leave the country to be free from his abuse forever."
"I wanted to say, okay, no problem, I'll marry you. But I was just a kid, a soldier in a foreign country, the military had rules against such things, of course, very strict rules about how something like that could take place. What could I do, right?"
"Huh, yeah, it's puzzling. She had to know you couldn't marry her."
"Well, she told me to just go, she loved me, but if I couldn't help her, she'd find someone else, even though she hated the idea, she had to get away from her abusive Uncle. I left her there sobbing her eyes out, calling out that she loved me, would never forget me and that she was sorry."
"Gawd, it tore me apart leaving her like that, but I didn't know what else I could do."
"I went back to the base and spent the next three days just a miserable wreck, wondering how she was, if she missed me as much as I missed her and trying to think of some way, any way to make things work so we could be together. I even called my Father. He had connections in high places, so I thought maybe he could pull some strings for me."
"As luck with have it, he could and did! Though he really didn't want to do it. He tried to talk me out of it, but I begged him. I told him if he didn't, I wasn't coming back and I'd go AWOL to run away with her."
"A week later I had a marriage certificate in hand and Samara and I were married at City Hall in a quiet ceremony with just us and my best buddy at the time."
"Say what now?" "We got married and after my tour was over, we flew back home together."
"You? And she? You've been married before? What!? You have an ex wife!?! "Yes, I do. I'm so sorry Essa, I should've told you a long time ago."
"Yes, you should've and I'm wondering why you didn't. There has to be a good reason for it."
"I'll tell you why, because it was all lies! LIES!! She tricked me, she deceived and used me! I was such a fool. The military warned guys about girls like her, but I ignored the warnings, I ignored the red flags, I ignored everything that was telling me deep inside, something wasn't right. I thought no way was SHE like that. I loved her and she loved me."
"But she didn't. As soon as we got through customs, she said she needed to use the restroom and would be right back. I waited a long time, longer than it should take, but she didn't come back. I looked for her all over the airport until I thought I saw someone that looked like her walking with a man. The girl turned, it was Samara, and saw me, said something to the man and pointed at me. They started to run then, away from me. Just before they disappeared through a door, she looked back and silently mouthed, "I'm sorry."
"Oh Josh...I don't know what to say. Did you go after her, of course you did?" "Yeah, I did, but they had a car waiting for them. I saw it speed away when I ran out the door where she'd gone."
"Of course I told airport security, customs, and the military police what had happened. Airport security checked their cameras to see if they could identify the man Samara had left with or the car. I later learned the man was on a 10 Most Wanted list for sex trafficking. Samara was 'sent' to this country to be, to be...well, you get the idea."
"I was duped and fell for everything hook, line and sinker. Can you imagine how ashamed and embarrassed I was for being such a fool? I got an unmarked letter from her a few days later saying not to look for her, thanks for the memories but she didn't really love me and to forget about her. I had the marriage annulled without any trouble at all with that letter, airport security tapes and all the other evidence gathered by the local, federal and military police."
"I tried to just put the whole thing behind me and forget about it. I knew I'd never see her again. She's still a wanted person, as is the man she came here to work for, and her 'Uncle' who of course wasn't her Uncle at all. He'd also disappeared."
"I'm so sorry Essa, that's why I didn't tell you. I just wanted that nightmare part of my life to stay buried forever. I hope you can understand and forgive me?"
"Oh Babe, I wish you'd told me, but I understand. There's nothing to forgive. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. It wasn't your fault, you were just a lovestruck kid." "I love you so much Beautiful, I knew you'd understand."
"Wait, so, why are you telling me now? You could've just never said anything and I'd never be the wiser." "Well, we're getting married soon and I didn't want any secrets between us, I felt you deserved to know."
"And... when I got the mail this morning. There was a letter from her in there."
"Oh my God! What did it say? What does she want? Why would she be contacting you after all this time?" "I don't know what she wants, but I emailed my CO about it. I'm supposed to bring it to the base after I read it."
"You don't know? You haven't read it yet?" "No, I haven't. It's in my jacket pocket. I've been carrying it around all day, sick inside what it might say. I don't know why I didn't just tear it up and throw it away and just forget I even saw it. Why should I care what she has to say?"
"Oh Josh, you know what you have to do, don't you?" "Yes, it scares me to death thinking about what it might say and all the 'what ifs' swirling in my head, but..."
Not much happening in this update again, but I still find I enjoy playing my game, even when there's not a lot going on
Tomorrow is Harvestfest, and since it's been a while since I've acknowledged a holiday in my game, I thought I'd let them prepare for a proper celebration.
*Updated my October 12th post above! I apologize for the large amount of text in this one again, but it was needed. Perhaps I could've cut it down, but...well anyway. It's way past my time to get some rest now and I still need to feed my cats. I hope you understand comments/replies will have to wait until later tonight. I hope you like Josh's story! It was fun writing it anyway. Have a great day/night!
Don't worry about long text , it is needed in some situations, like this
-- Oh.. Josh.. what a heartbreaking story Now I am more curious than ever, curious what is in that letter!!!
-- Lovely first pic They all seemed to enjoy their day I do not know why all my sims hate that bubble blower so much
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
Comments
While Emmett and Rowan joined the Pranksters.
Jules: "You ready to beat the boys?"
Ruby: "Bring it on."
Meanwhile, Bryon and Sonia (Theo's mom), joined the Pranksters.
And Hugo and Kaori joined the Jokesters.
Classic Lily...
Whoops, I forgot Ruby is on the soccer team for uni, guess Jules will have to carry the Jokesters on her own haha.
Robin made some new friends (all autonomous actions haha)
Let's get some t-shirts. Or just strip down completely
Lydia showed up again and joined the Pranksters.
"Come here, I have a secret to tell you..."
"Hahaha, got you!"
"Wait, why isn't it working??"
"Oh no..."
"AHHHHHHH!!!"
"Serves him right...."
In the end, the Jokesters did win though, but something glitched and there were no fireworks?
But then there was just this random firework sitting out in the middle of the torn down festival, so Emmett decided to light it.
Sofia was still at the art gallery, so Jules decided to give her their apartment key, since I need to tick off that part of the aspiration.
Some funny stuff happened when they got home, but I'll save that for my update tomorrow
So sorry that I'm behind on commenting. I've just been so incredibly busy. I will definitely start commenting again as soon as I have a spare minute. I haven't even played my game for a few days, I'm just spreading out screenshots I had saved
Notes
Josh and Essa traveled to the Honeypot Karaoke bar again to practice their singing, maybe have a few drinks and just hang out for awhile. They were able to do a duet together this time since I put a Mod back in that allows Sims to choose anyone on the lot for a partner.
Their first duet was a Pop song and they killed it! Josh knows they sang well together, look at him hamming it up for those watching them sing.
They did so well with that song, why not try another? This time they chose a Ballad. Love how they touch hands like that.
And link their hands together.
Essa is Level 7 now and Josh has been Level 10 a long time, I think since January.
Probably just part of the song, but I loved how they kept looking at each other that way.
Giving it their all! Josh was really, really getting into it.
The song ends and I can tell by the look on his face how moved Josh is by the experience. Well, again, probably just part of the song, but they're in love so I imagine if this were real, they'd both be feeling very loving toward each other right now.
Aww, an autonomous kiss at the end... okay, maybe he was really feeling it after all.
"You were wonderful Beautiful, we make a great duet don't you think?"
"Oh yes, I do, we're a great duet at many things, I have an idea for one of them right now. What do you think?"
"You know what I think, you always do."
Vlad just ignores these two and sings some country song behind them. LOL!
I bet you can guess what Essa suggested autonomously, yep, third time on their own. It was just a Make-out session though. At first...
I guess it wasn't enough...
"Whoa! We need to sing together more often!"
"Ohhh Yeahhh!"
All those, um, duets made them hungry so Essa cast Grand Delicioso for them. Hey, why pay for bar food when you can just conjure up a meal eh?
They grabbed a serving together and went back inside to eat at the bar. They left the platter there so hopefully someone else will enjoy the leftovers. It'll be interesting to see anyway when they go back if it's still there.
"I can't believe we did that, again."
"I can, and you want to know something else?"
"What?"
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat, just say the word. Wouldn't you?"
Essa answers Josh in her best Meg Ryan impersonation.
"Yes, yeS, yES, YES! YESS!! YESSS!!! OH GAWD YESSSSSS!!!!"
"I think that's clear enough how I feel about your question."
(Gawd! She is so HOT!)
(And uninhibited too, you hit the jackpot of love Dude!)
They're not finished here yet. I played a long time tonight/this morning and took so many screenshots here and at home after, I have enough for three updates for the one day. This update featured fun autonomous behavior and today's update will be completely autonomous. I gave them some full autonomy free time. Still on full autonomy, the third update tomorrow happens still at home with a surprise visitor who added to the fun!
Very pretty library, did you build that? Or is it the default library? The default seems darker to me, so I'm guessing you built or downloaded it. Wow that Librarian is pretty angry too. Dance studio? Sounds like she and guessing Judith, Damon and...not sure who would be the pigtails, were being a bit rebellious, as teens tend to do.
Uh oh, talkative little girl better watch out. Wow! Blue? Must be Red wasn't always Melody's favorite color. Maybe? Anyway, she should've known it would scare the little girl and make her scream. And yep, here comes the Librarian to kick her out. Gah! Melody lost it, she just couldn't take it anymore and snapped. I bet hunger had something to do with that too. She looks satisfied now at least. Poor Librarian... wait, what's Inna doing there? Probably clogging toilets or something? hehe
Ohhh, the pig-tailed girl is Meredith, Damon/Nik's older sister. That makes sense. Ah, she took the book she was reading. Well, it's a library, books get 'borrowed' all the time, it's what it's there for, right?
@permanentrose
Of course Lydia is there again keeping her eye on Jules. Oh Rowan, you little stinker! HAHA! Opps, backfired! What!? No fireworks!? Dang! That bites! Did you cheat the milestone goal then or did the firework Emmett lit work to complete it? Ah, good idea giving a key to Sofia. Can't wait to read what funny stuff happened later.
I was kind of hoping Markus would drink someone's plasma, since I've never had that happen before, but he got distracted by the dryer and ended up setting himself on fire instead
After that, he bolted from the apartment, leaving everyone untouched.
Super short update today, but that's all the screenshots I have left, hopefully I can play again soon!
Gonna hopefully do comments later this evening. My sister is in town with her kiddos so I haven't really been sitting down at my computer much, especially since I've been dog walking as well. As I've said, I apologize for getting so far behind on comments - I love all your updates and have been reading them, even if I don't get a chance to comment in a timely fashion
That's a hilarious turn of events! Enjoy the family visit!
Daughters of Hesperia
If you use the table in communitylot, or invite someone else non family member to play, then you will win or loose simoleons (in normal world) or credits (Only in Batuu) .
Ah well , who else she would blame but me? I am the cruel watcher who does not even respond anymore
Library is original one, I only did some tiny changes, benches and changed colors of bookcases, added more candles. Nothing more
Red still is her favorite color ans always was, that blue was just a personal choise.
Haha ,no Inna was there for another purpose, but who knows, I did not control her, how many toilets she pranked
-- Very lovely animations indeed when they sang the ballad
And of course, woohoo
@permanentrose ,
-- Hehe yes, it looks like Markus was gonna do proper thing, but some bug as they were awake
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
Fun that you are exploring the game from the Batuu pack
Aw, such cute karaoke shots. The karaoke animations are really a lot of fun to watch. That's fun that they can use a spell just to summon some food. It's like the grilled cheese aspiration reward but with more options haha. And nice that they autonomously put that closet to good use haha.
Answering your questions from ages ago, sorry I'm just getting around to it now. TS3 had a tattoo chair that you could put on any lot, I believe. It's been a while since I played, so I forget if it was a lot type as well and if your sims could be tattoo artists by profession. But the tattoo chair was really cool.
Maybe Robin will be an artist one day, I don't have specific plans for her yet. If I continue this challenge in any capacity next year though, I think I'll use Robin though
Really no worries that you forgot who Theo was, I actually wasn't sure if you guys would remember who he was since I don't mention him often. He's that toddler Ruby used to play with in Britechester, and Kristine is dating him now. I'm just having them wear a shirt at each festival if I remember to do it. I'm actually gonna give them a separate outfit category that is just for their festival t-shirts so I don't have to keep going into CAS to switch them back haha. So as far as the milestone goes, I didn't make it to that stage yet, kind of annoyed at myself for not looking ahead because now I'm probably gonna have to go through this festival cycle twice to get this aspiration done. I hope I can finish by the end of this month....
@Ellupelluellu
I love Melody's new hair style! Love all of Melody's angry expressions haha, it's perfect for the story you're telling. Love that she's screaming at her watcher too
@lilypadmeulin Good to see you around, and thanks for comment
Notes
The first thing Essa did when I gave the couple full autonomy was take a nap on a couch. I hadn't been paying enough attention to their needs so her sleep need had slipped into the yellow on the verge of orange. I could've woken her up and had her read the Book of Life to fill her needs, or drink a potion of Plentiful Needs, but I wanted to see what Josh would do, so I let her sleep.
Josh decided he wanted to sing again. He doesn't look as into it though without Essa.
(It's just not as fun by myself anymore.)
When the song finished, he walked over to the bar and grabbed their empty glasses to wash in the restroom. I wondered if he'd be shocked about the talking toilet like a lot of Sims seem to be. But he ignored it. Probably because it's nothing new to him, they have one of their own at home.
Coming out of the restroom, Josh saw a blond guy staring at Essa sleeping with a look of such longing on his face. He looked familiar, like he should know him. But couldn't place him. It's Kent Rockwell, one of the members of Essa's old dance club. If you remember, he had a crush on her and brought her a present, a carved horse, when she was still living in Windenburg and Josh was gone singing with Adam. He let her know how he felt about her, and tried to make a move on her, but she turned him down flat. Of course.
"She's taken Dude."
"The good ones always are, aren't they?" Kent said with a pout and a sigh of resignation. He walked away and left the bar after that.
Josh sat down, ordered a drink and waited for Essa to wake up. It wasn't more than a few minutes after he received his drink Essa woke up and walked over to the bar.
"Hey Beautiful. Or should I call you Sleeping Beauty?"
"Hey Babe, sorry about that. It just hit me like a load of bricks. I hope you're not upset."
"Nah, it's fine. We've been out and about a lot lately."
Essa ordered a drink and sat down at the bar to wait for it.
"Why are you sitting way down there? Don't you want to sit with me?"
"It's more fun to sit here and tease you from a distance." Essa said and laughed.
"Oh, so you want to play, is that it? Alright."
"You can sit here Miss if you'd like. I don't mind moving."
"It's okay, we're good. But thanks."
Essa blew Josh a kiss and that poor guy looks like he's thinking, 'this isn't awkward at all, nope, not at all.'
"Seriously Dude, let's switch seats. The two of you are obviously together."
"The lady is coming down here to sit next to me, right now. Aren't you Beautiful." Josh said in a voice a little more firm than needed.
"Sheesh, okay, sure."
(Did he have to be so testy about it?)
(He just likes you near him.)
(I guess that's sweet, and fair since we are together.)
"Would you like to sing together again?"
"Yes! I'd love it!"
They sang another ballad together and sounded even better than the first time.
"Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you"
"Every little thing that you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better"
"I wanna spend the rest of my life
With you by my side"
"Forever and ever"
"Every little thing that you do"
"Oh, every little thing that you do"
"Baby, I'm amazed by you"
"I love you Essa, my Beautiful, always."
I sent them home after the song and had Josh get the mail while Essa went inside. I don't know what she did at first, I was watching Josh watching her.
Usually the only mail they received was bills, sale flyers, political ads and StrangerVille fan mail. But today, there was something else in the mail. Looking at the return address and more importantly the name, Josh could not believe his eyes.
(What do you want? You left me years ago, just disappeared. And how the heck did you get our address anyway?)
(Oh man, this can't be good. Not good at all.)
(Just open it and find out what she wants.)
(Who cares what she wants? She betrayed me. She lied to me, she tricked me! I don't want anything to do with her.)
(You thought you loved her, remember?)
(Of course I remember.)
(No one ever forgets their first love.)
Comments/replies coming up next! Hope y'all had a wonderful day/night!
Now to the main point... WHO IS "SHE" !?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
I'm pretty sure that top came with the Fitness SP. She wore it in Windenburg too. I love it, obviously. Honestly, I'm having second thoughts about those long nails. I like the pattern on them, but they're sooo dang long! I think next time I play I'll give her shorter ones.
It's fun writing dialogue for these two. That joke Josh told I found online, I didn't make it up. But I thought it was hilarious! I agree, the fireworks are lots of fun and so pretty to see! I especially loved the shot of them standing kind of sideways to each other looking up at them together. Bummer Jules will have to attend again because of the glitch. Essa and Josh will be going again though too since when they went, that milestone hadn't happened yet. I should've read ahead for the aspiration too. Oh well.
Essa's new hairstyle is CC.
Very cool about the tattoo chair in TS3. Would be nice if TS4 got something like that one day. Perhaps we will. Thanks for letting me know.
@Ellupelluellu
Aww, you're not cruel! I can see how she would think you are though, but I'm sure she'll change her mind once whatever is going on has been resolved.
Okay, thanks about the dark mode color explanation.
I loved those too! Of course, being who they are, it didn't really surprise me they decided to use the closet on full autonomy. Especially since they were both flirty already.
Seriously, Lydia keeps inserting herself in all my updates
Lydia, what does YOUR heart desire though?
"Hi there. Wanna see my toy?"
Meanwhile, Jules was more than happy to pass the ball around with Ruby to help her with her soccer promotion milestones.
Ruby headed off to practice, and Dell randomly showed up. We can work with this, let's let Dell babysit and give Emmett and Jules a night out.
So they changed into their fanciest attire and headed for the Stargazer Lounge.
Lily was out for blood.
So Jules still needs to introduce herself to 2 more sims in different neighborhoods to finish this first stage of the aspiration, so let's get this done...she looks pretty desperate to leave this conversation though haha.
Time to dance
Oh no...
Guess Dell bolted as soon as Ruby got home from practice and wanted to do some partying of her own
I noticed a karaoke machine, and after seeing how much fun Josh and Essa had with it, I decided that Jules and Emmett definitely needed to give it a go.
Jules still had to introduce herself to a sim in one more neighborhood, so let's go do that, even though it's now 5am haha.
Might as well grab some breakfast too
"This was such a fun night! I had such a great time with you."
Notes
Memories have a way of clouding the truth. We'd rather remember the good things, than the bad. Such was the case for Josh as he let his feelings for a girl he once knew and loved take over his thoughts. She had been his whole world at the time.
She treated him like a King, showering him with love, boosting his ego, catering to his every need. She made him feel special. She had been so beautiful and demur, so young and innocent. What boy could resist such a girl and want to do anything in their power to make her happy, protected...and feel loved? He had been blinded by her seemingly endless love and devotion to him.
It had been nothing but smoke and mirrors, a trick to deceive and get what she wanted. He'd been a fool for falling into her web of lies...and her bed. Too young and naïve to really know what was in her rotten black heart, he'd fallen victim to her alluring ways. She hadn't been innocent at all. She'd pretended to be innocent, but he knew. Oh yes, he knew she wasn't. But he'd ignored it. And that would be the beginning of the end.
(What could she want from me after all these years? Why should I even care?)
(I should just tear it up and be done with it. All she's ever given me is pain.)
(But what if...no, I won't think about it right now.)
Josh stuffed the letter into an inside pocket of his jacket and finally went inside.
Meanwhile, Essa was working out on the treadmill. They'd been eating lots of decadent food lately and she felt a bit soft.
(You know you're gonna read it, don't try to kid yourself. No other reason for not immediately throwing it away.)
(Tell her!)
(I will, she deserves to know. Just not yet...)
Josh kept occupied picking up discarded dishes they'd neglected to take care of in their pursuit of fun and pleasure. Any distraction was a good distraction to avoid the inevitable. At least for a little while...
Essa finished her workout and was also cleaning up. Unlike Josh, she wasn't trying to avoid anything, she just felt bad for neglecting their day to day responsibilities. The front door buzzed as Essa walked toward the elevator vestibule to stuff a bag of trash in the chute.
They waited for the visitor to announce themselves so they could buzz them inside the building. But, there was nothing but silence.
"I'll go see who it is."
"Okay, I think I'll go play some video games for a bit."
"Don't forget that new TV show premieres tonight. You wanted to watch it, remember?"
"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me."
"I'll let you know when it's about to start Babe."
"Thanks Beautiful."
"Hey Damon, so good to see you! Why didn't you say your name when you buzzed the door?"
"Oh, didn't know I was supposed to do that, sorry. I'm not that familiar with Penthouse protocol I guess."
"It's okay, neither am I, but we're learning. Can you stay awhile? We were just about to watch the premiere of a new show. Maybe you'd like to watch it with us?"
"Sure I can stay, sounds good."
Damon was a slowpoke in following Essa up to the Penthouse which gave her time to gleefully jump in the pile of trash she'd thrown on the floor instead of putting it in the garbage chute.
Josh was trying to play Sim Scuffle. But his mind kept drifting to the girl and the letter in his pocket crinkling every time he moved.
(Just read it already.)
(Not yet.)
(Why not?)
(I'm afraid, okay? I love Essa and she really loves me. I don't wanna mess that up.)
(What if...no, I won't think about that right now.)
Essa called out that Damon was here for a visit and the new show premiere would start in minutes. He shut down the computer and went downstairs.
"For you and Essa from all of us; me, Molly, the boys, Nik and Inna. Everyone sends their love and hopes that you both enjoy it."
"Thank you Damon. So nice of you to come all this way to hand deliver it. You could've just shipped it."
"I know, but it's fragile, I had some free time and wanted to catch up with you guys too. Go ahead, open it. Careful, it's heavy."
Josh opened the box while Essa and Damon watched. Inside was a beautiful, antique 18th century crystal cake dome and stand.
"It's a family heirloom. We thought perhaps you could use it for your wedding cake."
"Oh Damon, it's absolutely gorgeous, what a thoughtful gift. I don't know what to say."
"I agree, I'm speechless. This is something you'd only hand down to a family member."
"Well, we think of you as family. Even though Essa is no longer a practicing vampire, she will always remain my offspring in vampire terms, so she's family and you will be too."
"Thank you so much Damon and thank everyone else for us too. We'll treasure it."
"Yes, we will. I just might cry."
"Tsk, don't do that! You'll make me cry and nobody wants to see that." Damon laughed.
Josh put the cake dome and stand back in the box and took it into the kitchen to store in a cupboard until their wedding reception. Meanwhile, Essa gave Damon a warm hug and Josh did the same when he returned.
"Are you guys ready for the premiere? It just started. Why don't you both come sit with me."
"Okay, sure, but first, I've been wondering about something, hey Josh, what's that over there?"
For some unknown reason, Damon thought it would be a good idea to scare Josh. What is it with the guys in this save? Most of them think they have to scare people.
"BOO!"
Josh wasn't falling for it. He'd had that tired old trick played on him more times than he cared to count.
"Seriously Damon? I would've thought you'd be past such immature shenanigans by now. You're a Dad with kids old enough to give you grandchildren, you have a wife, you're freakin' over 200 years old, not 10!" Josh yelled angerly at Damon who looked sufficiently embarrassed for his actions.
Essa watched what was going on, confused by the actions of both of them. Damon was just playing around, Josh didn't need to yell at the guy. Especially considering how nice he had just been to both of them.
A tense moment of silence followed as Josh and Damon just stared at each other in disbelief.
"Muwahahaha! I'm just yanking your chain Dude, you're hilarious! No harm, no foul."
Whether Josh really meant what he said or just felt bad for yelling at Damon, Essa would never know. But she was glad he didn't seem to take it as seriously as she thought.
(Whew! That could've ended badly.)
Then they both broke out in song, singing Maisey Grobe in unison! What!? Oh, right, full autonomy. Ah well...
"Alright guys, can we watch the show now?"
They finally joined Essa on the couch, but moments later, Damon jumped up and sprinted for the stairs saying, "Dangit, I almost forgot!"
"Where's he going?"
"Upstairs, apparently."
"Why?"
"No idea, does it matter?"
"Well yeah, who does that? Just takes off to snoop around in someone's house."
"You don't know that's what he's doing and why would you think that anyway? Are you okay Babe? You seem a bit on edge since we got home."
"I'm fine, just a lot on my mind."
"Anything you want to share with me? Maybe I can help?"
"Later, when we're alone, okay?"
"Alright, that's cool."
(Hmmm, what's he got to worry about?)
Damon was using their computer. Just like any other visiting Sim. I thought it was set for use by only household members, I must've forgot or it lost the setting when they moved.
Essa got a thought bubble to 'See what's happening!' and went upstairs. Perhaps to yell at Damon for using their computer?
"Hey, what are you doing Damon? Can I help you with something?"
"Oh hey, sorry. I forgot I told Molly I'd text her when I got here. My phone's dead. It's charging in the car."
"Oh, well okay. Come back down when you're done."
"Won't be long, I promise."
Essa told Josh what was up, nothing to worry about. Damon could've asked first, but since he's family he must've thought it would be okay.
"I've been working on lyrics for another song, can I sing it for you and get your opinion on it?"
"Sure, I'd love to hear it. You have such a beautiful voice."
"Aww, you're so sweet, okay, here goes."
She was actually serenading him. Sometimes full autonomy Sims do things that make me smile.
Damon came zooming downstairs right past them into the bathroom. I guess he really, really had to go. Except, vampires don't have a bladder need.
"What's he doing now?"
*singing* "And I will always, lo-- huh, what? Who? Oh, Damon. What the heck?"
Just like back in StrangerVille when they invited him over to ask him to help defeat the Mother, Damon felt it was perfectly acceptable to take a soak in their tub.
"He's taking a bath Essa, a bath! Why does he keep doing that?"
"Um, I don't know, maybe he felt dirty from the long, dusty drive here?"
"Uh huh. Sure, whatever."
"I should take out this trash right now though. You can go deal with him if you like."
"Oh yeah, I'll deal with him alright."
"Be nice Babe, please?"
"I will, don't worry Beautiful."
(Maybe.)
"I need to contact my old CO after that. I'll be upstairs on the computer if you need me."
"Okay Babe."
(Contact his CO? Aha! I bet he got called up to active duty again and doesn't know how to tell me. That's gotta be why he's been acting so weird.)
"Who put that there? How disgusting!"
Tsk, oh come on Essa! Really?
Josh had a quick talk with Damon who indeed insisted he was dusty from the road and didn't think they'd mind. Supposedly, his hotel room shower was busted. He said he'd probably be leaving afterward, but would come up and say good bye first.
Damon soon zipped into the bedroom and started talking to himself in a full length mirror next to Josh's Medals Display case.
"What the heck are you doing now? I thought you had to go?"
"Practicing a speech."
"A speech, what for? You can't even see yourself."
"I know, but I can pretend, right? It's for a PTA meeting with Sam tomorrow."
"You're giving a speech?"
"No, yes, not really. I just want to get right what I need to say to the teacher."
(And Essa thinks I'm acting strange.)
(You have been! And you know why, you should rea--)
(I know, I KNOW! Get off my back!)
(Just sayin'.)
Essa came upstairs to sit on a pouf next to the desk and read a book.
"Hey Beautiful, what're you reading?"
"Well, the cover says it's about Flower Arranging, but I'm gaining skill for Juice Fizzing. Weird huh?"
"Yeah, weird."
(Like everything else around here tonight.)
(Stop staring and judging me like that, cat!)
I thought Damon was finally ready to go home. He tried, but instead was caught in a loop speeding in a circle there. Before I could reset him he finally stopped and zipped over to stand behind Josh.
"Hey, what're you doing on there?"
"It's personal, business, if you don't mind."
"Oh, okay, sorry. Just curious."
"It's okay."
"Annnd, finished."
"Hey Damon, we haven't really had a chance talk tonight. How's Molly and the boys? They must be getting so big by now."
(Gah! Essa! He was just leaving, don't chat with him now.)
But it was too late. They were fully immersed catching up now to the extreme annoyance of Josh. He just wanted to be alone with Essa.
Damon sat down on the bed for their chat and my play session abruptly ended. My computer crashed to the desktop, closing the game. *sigh* I'll probably just pick up the story using a time jump after Damon left for tomorrow's update.
This is a bit longer than I usually write. At least lately. I'll get started on comments/replies next. Hope y'all had a wonderful day/night!
Hi Dell, nice of you to stop by to babysit! hehe Emmett and Jules look so nice in their fancy clothes. Whoa Lily, calm down dear. Sheesh! Jules does look like she wants to run away from that convo. "Watcher, uh, a little help?"
@SoulGal7
Lydia inserting herself into all my updates makes me wonder if I should try to make her part of the story more or something, but I really do like Jules and Emmett together and with almost 4 kids together, it seems cruel to ruin their happiness haha. Also Jules was eating something fancy from one of the food stalls, so probably the fancy version of a hotdog lol. So definitely not breakfast food
In the morning, the first snowfall flurried lightly to the ground.
And about two minutes later, it began to violently storm instead...I enjoy how chaotic things get when it starts to storm lol, these sims just lose their minds
Emmett had been working on a mural before the weather took a turn for the worse, and he unhappily continued despite the inclement weather.
The weather cleared up as quickly as it had started, and I noticed that someone had "defaced" Jules' mural, but honestly, I like the addition
Sakura called Jules after that and invited her over, so I decided to accept since nothing else was going on. She took Robin with her so she could play with Kiki (tagging @SoulGal7 since this next bit features your sims
Jules: "I'm so sorry, she's going through a phase where she strips down whenever she has the chance..."
Wolfgang, why are you beating up the bear so violently lol?
These two had a grand time together
It was truly a gorgeous evening in Windenburg.
Also, as far as continuing this challenge goes next year, I wanted to offer a suggestion. I totally would love to keep playing in this universe I created and using one of Jules' kids to do similar challenge next year, but since the daily posting is a lot, what would you think of making this challenge a bit more casual, like maybe posting 2-4 time a week (or even just once a week if that's more doable for some) instead of daily, but we could still keep up with each other's stories in a thread? Just a suggestion for anyone who wants to continue but might not want to commit to a daily post for another year
@permanentrose ,
-- Lovely first pic (karaoke one)
Oh.. Lydia .. she never give up , doesn't she
Nice time they had in that karaoke bar!
-- Haha yes , all are so weirdo's when storming
Nice from Sakura and Wolfie to invite them
@Karababy52 ,
-- Oh.. a mystery lady who is Josh's first love, who did something bad bad.. wants something from him.. Very interesting, I admit I am very curious!
Josh, just read the letter! Seriously.
Hi Damon! Aww, how nice of you to bring a gift like that!
JOSH! I hope you were only tense because of the letter! These dudes in that save do that scary BOO stuff! It is Veera and Melody in mine, and you have not yet been angry to them
Looks like Essa was too busy by waching the dudes that she barely even looked at TV
LOL, so then singing together.. okay.. boys shall be boys..
Using computer, taking a bath and facial treatment.. oh my DAMON!! But yes, that is so you.
And tehn after all.. hey let's chat
Okay, I am sorry that your game crashed, but it was trying to tell you that Damon has spent too much time there and Josh need to talk with Essa! So as you refused to make him to leave, game did
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
Notes
Damon left and Josh asked Essa to come sit with him on the bed. He had something important he needed to tell her.
"What's up Babe? I know something's been bothering you, you've been acting so strange today. Whatever it is, it'll be okay, I promise."
"I hope so..."
"It's about a girl I met when I was overseas on my first tour of duty. I was just a naïve kid far from home feeling full of himself on my first day off in months. I went with a few of my buddies into town looking for some fun and excitement. And hopefully some female companionship."
"Okay, but, tell me something. Why are you telling me this now? For what purpose? Why do I need to know about some girl you knew when you were overseas ages ago?"
"I'm getting to that, just, let me get through this okay? I have to tell you the whole story so you'll understand why when I'm finished."
"Alright, I'm listening."
"So, anyway, we went into this bar to have some drinks, joking around and flirting with any girls that seemed interested. After I'd had a few, I noticed this exotic beauty sitting in a corner staring at me with the most gorgeous golden brown eyes I'd ever seen. She smiled and then looked down, but then back at me under her lashes in that coy way that girls like to flirt, acting like she was embarrassed at being caught staring, but couldn't help herself to look at me again."
"I had a drink sent over to her and asked the server to give her a message for me. I told her to say I thought she was beautiful and wondered if she'd like to get to know each other, maybe come over and join us if she was interested."
"She refused the drink saying she didn't drink alcohol, but she thought I was cute too and would I like to spend some time with her in her room? The server placed a key in front of me. I looked over where she had been sitting, but she was gone. Well, of course I left the bar to go find her. The server said her name was Samara and told me where I could find her."
"When I unlocked the door, I saw her posing on a bed with candles all over the room. She was naked, but using her long, silky black hair and hands to cover herself. I thought I could see her blushing, but she gave me such a sexy yet demur look of invitation, I just couldn't refuse. We spent the night together, as I'm sure you've guessed by now."
"After that, we were inseparable. Every spare moment I could steal, I spent with her. She had me under her spell, showering me with her devotion, treating me like a King, catering to my every need and desire. She acted as if she worshiped and loved me. Heady stuff for a young inexperienced boy. Well, I wasn't innocent, but had never experienced anything like her."
"One day she confessed I was her first, that she'd never been with anyone else. I knew she was lying, a guy can tell. I mean...well--"
"You don't have to tell me, I get it."
"Okay, well, anyway by this time I was so in love with her, I didn't care. I would've done anything for her and did. I bought her presents and gave her money for whatever she needed. She didn't seem to have much money or anything of her own. Other than the candles and the bed, her room was quite bare. I learned she lived with her Uncle since all her other family members had been killed in the war."
"One night, we were lying together in her bed and she started to cry. I asked her what was wrong, whatever it was I would fix it for her. She should just tell me why she was crying, it broke my heart seeing her cry like that. She told me her Uncle had beat her, again, because she'd accidentally burnt his dinner. She cooked and cleaned for him, was more like a servant than his niece."
"I grabbed my gun intending to threaten him to leave her alone or I'd kill him. She begged me not to do that saying it would only make things worse for her since she had no where else to go and he'd take his anger out on her."
"Well I wasn't going to leave her there with him after that, but what could I do? I couldn't take her back to the base with me. The military would not stand for that, of course."
"She told me the only way she'd ever be able to leave her Uncle is if she got married and could then get a green card and leave the country to be free from his abuse forever."
"I wanted to say, okay, no problem, I'll marry you. But I was just a kid, a soldier in a foreign country, the military had rules against such things, of course, very strict rules about how something like that could take place. What could I do, right?"
"Huh, yeah, it's puzzling. She had to know you couldn't marry her."
"Well, she told me to just go, she loved me, but if I couldn't help her, she'd find someone else, even though she hated the idea, she had to get away from her abusive Uncle. I left her there sobbing her eyes out, calling out that she loved me, would never forget me and that she was sorry."
"Gawd, it tore me apart leaving her like that, but I didn't know what else I could do."
"I went back to the base and spent the next three days just a miserable wreck, wondering how she was, if she missed me as much as I missed her and trying to think of some way, any way to make things work so we could be together. I even called my Father. He had connections in high places, so I thought maybe he could pull some strings for me."
"As luck with have it, he could and did! Though he really didn't want to do it. He tried to talk me out of it, but I begged him. I told him if he didn't, I wasn't coming back and I'd go AWOL to run away with her."
"A week later I had a marriage certificate in hand and Samara and I were married at City Hall in a quiet ceremony with just us and my best buddy at the time."
"Say what now?"
"We got married and after my tour was over, we flew back home together."
"You? And she? You've been married before? What!? You have an ex wife!?!
"Yes, I do. I'm so sorry Essa, I should've told you a long time ago."
"Yes, you should've and I'm wondering why you didn't. There has to be a good reason for it."
"I'll tell you why, because it was all lies! LIES!! She tricked me, she deceived and used me! I was such a fool. The military warned guys about girls like her, but I ignored the warnings, I ignored the red flags, I ignored everything that was telling me deep inside, something wasn't right. I thought no way was SHE like that. I loved her and she loved me."
"But she didn't. As soon as we got through customs, she said she needed to use the restroom and would be right back. I waited a long time, longer than it should take, but she didn't come back. I looked for her all over the airport until I thought I saw someone that looked like her walking with a man. The girl turned, it was Samara, and saw me, said something to the man and pointed at me. They started to run then, away from me. Just before they disappeared through a door, she looked back and silently mouthed, "I'm sorry."
"Oh Josh...I don't know what to say. Did you go after her, of course you did?"
"Yeah, I did, but they had a car waiting for them. I saw it speed away when I ran out the door where she'd gone."
"Of course I told airport security, customs, and the military police what had happened. Airport security checked their cameras to see if they could identify the man Samara had left with or the car. I later learned the man was on a 10 Most Wanted list for sex trafficking. Samara was 'sent' to this country to be, to be...well, you get the idea."
"I was duped and fell for everything hook, line and sinker. Can you imagine how ashamed and embarrassed I was for being such a fool? I got an unmarked letter from her a few days later saying not to look for her, thanks for the memories but she didn't really love me and to forget about her. I had the marriage annulled without any trouble at all with that letter, airport security tapes and all the other evidence gathered by the local, federal and military police."
"I tried to just put the whole thing behind me and forget about it. I knew I'd never see her again. She's still a wanted person, as is the man she came here to work for, and her 'Uncle' who of course wasn't her Uncle at all. He'd also disappeared."
"I'm so sorry Essa, that's why I didn't tell you. I just wanted that nightmare part of my life to stay buried forever. I hope you can understand and forgive me?"
"Oh Babe, I wish you'd told me, but I understand. There's nothing to forgive. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. It wasn't your fault, you were just a lovestruck kid."
"I love you so much Beautiful, I knew you'd understand."
"Wait, so, why are you telling me now? You could've just never said anything and I'd never be the wiser."
"Well, we're getting married soon and I didn't want any secrets between us, I felt you deserved to know."
"And... when I got the mail this morning. There was a letter from her in there."
"Oh my God! What did it say? What does she want? Why would she be contacting you after all this time?"
"I don't know what she wants, but I emailed my CO about it. I'm supposed to bring it to the base after I read it."
"You don't know? You haven't read it yet?"
"No, I haven't. It's in my jacket pocket. I've been carrying it around all day, sick inside what it might say. I don't know why I didn't just tear it up and throw it away and just forget I even saw it. Why should I care what she has to say?"
"Oh Josh, you know what you have to do, don't you?"
"Yes, it scares me to death thinking about what it might say and all the 'what ifs' swirling in my head, but..."
"I have to read it."
Tomorrow is Harvestfest, and since it's been a while since I've acknowledged a holiday in my game, I thought I'd let them prepare for a proper celebration.
"Hey look, I finally got this hang of this!"
"Okay, let me try..."
"Yeah, no, this is still terrible."
Lenny came out for another visit too
Still one of my favorite animations
Gotta put this lovely piano to good use.
A morning dawned, she serenaded Emmett.
And that is where I stopped playing for now.
-- Oh.. Josh.. what a heartbreaking story
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..