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Too Good at Goodbyes (Updated 06/25/2021)

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  • AdamsEve1231AdamsEve1231 Posts: 7,035 Member
    Bookmarked and following.

    Interesting it starts with the Villareals. I've got them somewhere in my lore, but they haven't made it into an actual story of mine yet.
    With these forums closing down, stay connected.

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  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    @AdamsEve1231 Thank you! I'd never played with the Villareals either. This story wasn't planned at all. I fell into it after my own created sim Lucy married Jacques because I found out he was the richest sim in the game. Who knew they could be so interesting? They're all incredibly different but so fun to play.
  • AdamsEve1231AdamsEve1231 Posts: 7,035 Member
    I like your Max Villareal makeover. :)
    With these forums closing down, stay connected.

    Find me elsewhere:
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  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    @AdamsEve1231 Thank you! I feel Max was meant to be a badboy so his look had to reflect that. Picking out tattoos was fun. He got fat from all the quick meals he's eating, but that might change in the future. A criminal might need to keep fit to get himself out of particular situations after all.
  • mercuryfoammercuryfoam Posts: 1,156 Member
    Duvelina wrote: »
    Hugo

    Hugo's half-brother Neal became a teen and he honestly has the most lanky and unusual body type I've seen so far!
    05-16-20-9-00-23-PM.jpg[/spoiler]

    Watcher lol! I actually read the character intros on my phone last night, then decided to reread it on my pc the next morning. Neal's body type scares me living daylights out of me. I want to drag him to an all-you-can-eat-buffet and force him to gorge down food every day for at least a month.

    Anyway HI! Thought I'd familiarise myself with the main characters before diving in to your story! :smile:
  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    edited June 2020
    @mercuryfoam Hi! Thank you so much for already reading. 💕

    I think Neal might have inherited Jacques' body type. I remember him looking super thin as well, but Jacques has been dead for a while and I completely forgot how scarily thin he was. Maybe also because of the whole elder hunchback. Anyway, Neal looks like he could hide behind a tree. 😂
  • mercuryfoammercuryfoam Posts: 1,156 Member
    Duvelina wrote: »
    @mercuryfoam Hi! Thank you so much for already reading. 💕

    I think Neal might have inherited Jacques' body type. I remember him looking super thin as well, but Jacques has been dead for a while and I completely forgot how scarily thin he was. Maybe also because of the whole elder hunchback. Anyway, Neal looks like he could hide behind a tree. 😂

    @Duvelina No problem. And Nelson is Groot incarnate! :p Don't look like much now but I bet when he ages up he'll snag all the hearts.
    Also, gosh Sofia's transformation is so sad, but so true. Addiction is a mental disease that thankfully we're putting more focus and efforts on. (though arguably not enough.) I'm thinking to myself: HUGO don't you see what's happening to your fiance?! But I know of people irl who are not observant to these signs at all. Can't wait to see what happens next.

    Question: Just to be sure, Sofia is Hugo's fiance right?

    Ok this is to tag myself so I know where I stopped reading at and have to reread. (I'm bad with names, and I don't play premades so this update confused me. I'll have to go do some research abt the Villareal family tree) :lol:
    Checkpoint 1
  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    edited June 2020
    @mercuryfoam Neal has quite the handsome face! Most of the kids look like Jacques, so their profiles are pretty horrible but from the front they're unique eyecatchers.
    I so agree with you. I wanted to portray this addiction as humanly as possible. There's still such a stigma on addiction being a mental disease you just can't shake that easily. It should be something people are allowed to feel and talk about so they can heal in due time.

    Sofia is Hugo's fiance, you're right. I get how it's confusing because I was already playing this family for a while when I decided to start this storytelling adventure. Lucy Villareal is the sim I started with and created. She married Jacques because she had the custom golddigger aspiration and he was the richest sim in the game. Shortly after their wedding, she won the lottery (😂). Jacques was never the love of her life but she did start to care in some way and wanted to become a good mother to their children. She had two children with him, Jacqueline (the oldest and a YA now) and Neal (teen, almost YA). They all lived together in the Villareal mansion with Jacques' kids from a previous marriage: twins Hugo and Luna (both end of YA stage) and Max (beginning YA). At a certain point, Jacques passed away from laughter and Lucy was left taking care of the kids. She ended up meeting Paolo Rocca and falling in love with him. They had one child, Juliana. That's the whole Villareal main house. So, Hugo, Luna and Max are Jacques' kids, unrelated to Lucy. Neal and Jacqueline are half-siblings of the other kids because Jacques is the father and Juliana is technically unrelated to Max, Hugo or Luna. Hope that clears up some things!
  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    Max

    Laughing-Maniacally-While-Waiting-for-Gang.png
    This time the gang met up at the old ruins. All the gems had been collected and the entire place had been stripped, so it was time for the others to come over. Max had already lit up a bonfire in anticipation of his fellow members arriving. He was excited about whatever mischief was going to go down today.

    Overthrown-by-Brodie.png
    The meet-up didn’t go according to plan. At all. Max thought he had been reigning with a firm but fair hand, but as soon as everyone arrived, they announced to Max he was overthrown. Brodie would be their new leader. Brodie looked at Max smugly and a certain rage overtook him. He wasn’t about to let it show, but he was going to win this gang back. Whatever it took. Maybe not today, but it wouldn’t be long. Brodie could not win.

    Being-Taunted-By-Outsider.png
    Shoving-Pregnant-Lady.png
    Something had to be done about this mood Max was in, so he set out to make someone’s life miserable. No matter who. An outsider came up to him bravely (or stupidly) and started taunting him. Max needed to show leadership, although he wasn’t a leader anymore, and couldn’t let this slide. He needed to show the whole group who was boss. A random outsider, who just turned out to be pregnant, wouldn’t throw him off. She was going to be the example. Max ended up shoving her which scared her and made her run off. Max didn’t even feel bad after. An evil glee filled his entire body. He knew how he was going to get the others back to his side.
  • _sims_Yimi_sims_Yimi Posts: 1,747 Member
    Don't mind me, just slowly catchin' up during work breaks... :p

    1.5
    Whoa, that’s Max Villareal? He grew up into one grumpy teenager! I love the tattoos that you gave him, they suit his personality very well I think. And I’m totally on his side in being bothered about the wedding, though my gripe would be that you’re not supposed to wait until THE DAY OF to tell your guests! XD
    There’s a picture between Max making himself a drink and Paolo touching Lucy that isn’t visible in the post. I think the [ img ] at the end is missing, maybe?


    1.7
    I think it’s adorable that Hugo doesn’t realize he has a crush on Nelson. Complicated a bit by the fact that he has a fiancé… but the guy doesn’t even realize what his feelings are, so I’ll give him a pass. Hugo’s a lot taller though – are you using height sliders, or is Nelson still a teenager? 0.o
    Sofia’s addiction is a pretty heavy subject. Seeing her slowly change in the pictures is so sad – very well done. I hope Hugo can get her some help, or Sofia snaps out of it on her own, but… that’s usually not how the story goes.
    J6AKQqX.jpg
    Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    @_sims_Yimi
    1.5
    Max is already a YA! But yeah, he changed a lot. He hated his father and the constant fighting made him very bitter. Add the bad relationships with his siblings to that and it makes for an angry, hateful person. I love how you agree with him on the invitation to the wedding. He had a right to be grumpy, but wow, he held on to that emotion until he had to go to work.You'd think he'd at least try to be nice, but I guess that's just not Max.

    Thank you for telling me about the missing picture! Very easy to miss. I had to look twice to even find it now, but it's been fixed.

    1.7
    Hugo has always been a loyal and truthful person. Throughout all of this, he'd never purposefully hurt Sofia. She was a huge part of his growing up and helped him a lot with becoming the man he is today.

    I do use height sliders. Sims automatically get assigned a height because of it and Hugo turned out to be a giant! Nelson is also still a teen in the beginning of the story, but he'll turn into a YA quietly throughout. They will always have a major height difference though.

    Thank you for the compliment on handling the addiction storyline. I try my hardest to portray her as a very flawed human, but still try to keep her likeable by humanizing her later on.
  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    Sofia

    Lying-On-The-Bed-Wondering-What-To-Do.png
    After the run-in with Hugo, Sofia started spiraling. She was in heavy withdrawal with no way to get the bubbles she desperately needed and craved. She lay on her bed, which she now shared with her sister, staring at the ceiling. She couldn’t make sense of her own thoughts, could barely keep up with them. One thought lingered. Luna. She needed to see Luna.

    Ended-Up-at-Luna-s-Doorstep.png
    Sofia ended up at Luna’s front door. It was quite the journey including a ferry ride. She was exhausted. She never even thought about the fact that Luna might not have been home, but luckily, a light was still on. It was late at night, but consequences were the last thing Sofia was thinking about. She put her face against the cold mosaic in Luna’s front door. It brought her some peace and eased the pounding headache.

    Luna-Comforting-Sofia.png
    She didn’t have to knock. Luna heard sounds outside and left her bedroom to investigate. She was surprised to find Sofia in front of her door. Her daughter Allyson was already in bed, so she felt it was safe to let her in. Obviously Luna knew about Sofia’s problem and she wasn’t sure in what kind of state she’d be here, especially so late at night. They sat down on the couch together and Luna comforted Sofia while she was sitting there, massaging her own scalp. After a while, they started talking. Everything was laid out into the open. The addiction, the withdrawal, the break-up with Hugo and moving back in with the Bjergsens. It had been a tough rollercoaster.

    Offering-to-Sleep-Over.png
    It was after midnight when the conversation died down. Luna didn’t want to let Sofia travel back home by herself during the night. It was bad enough she had to come all the way over here in the first place. Sofia could stay the night, but she had to make sure to leave early and catch the first ferry out. Luna didn’t want to uproot her daughter’s life. The situation had to be as normal as possible and a person in withdrawal sleeping on their couch was not what could be described as normal. They hugged each other good night and Luna left for bed.

    Sleeping-On-Couch.png
    Sofia stayed behind on the living room couch. She took off her winter sweater, revealing another sweater underneath. She was always cold nowadays. Underneath her warm jeans, she was wearing some shorter joggers. It was overall a more comfortable outfit. The lights were off and Sofia felt as tired as ever, but it took a while for her to fall asleep anyway, the thoughts from earlier swirling back through her mind. Luna silenced them for a while, but now she was gone, it was like the plug was pulled out and a gigantic wave came towards Sofia, overwhelmed her, and made her drown. In the end, it was sleep that pulled her into unconsciousness.
  • _sims_Yimi_sims_Yimi Posts: 1,747 Member
    1.8
    I honestly can’t imagine what it’s like to be living with an addict. To have to look after them to the point of needing to make sure they’ve even eaten that day. If Hugo wouldn’t have offered her breakfast, would she just have gone without anything until she collapsed?
    I wonder. What would happen if he just… got rid of the bubble blower while she slept?
    J6AKQqX.jpg
    Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    @_sims_Yimi
    I'm lucky I've never had to live with an addict either, so I'm purely writing from what I've seen and read online. But there is a very real possibility that without the care Hugo is providing, Sofia would not make it. She is going down that route.

    Removing the bubble blower would have been option, but confronting Darrell about his cheating was bad enough in terms of confrontational behaviour. Sofia would know Hugo was the one that got rid of it and I don't think he's ready for that kind of fall-out. Not to excuse him of anything though, there is definitely a selfish aspect involved on all sides.
  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    My blog is online! It's the only place updates will follow from now on. I will still update this thread whenever there's a new chapter and you're welcome to reply here as well as comment on the website.
  • mercuryfoammercuryfoam Posts: 1,156 Member
    I love your blog! So easy to navigate and so clear and organised! I prefer browsing on WP so I'll be leaving most of my comments there but Ill come over and bump each time I do and ask additional questions I forget then or do additional comments here.

    Also thanks for clearing up my Villareal confusion earlier. I was able to empty all preconceptions and go with the flow of the story. Loving it. Im at 10 (saying this for my benefit again haha) 😄
  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    @mercuryfoam Thank you for your feedback! It cost some work but now we have an actual working blog, so worth it. I saw you left some comments and I can't wait to get to them all later. 😊

    I'm glad I could still clear up the confusion. The family tree on the blog is very clear and everyone is in it, whenever you're caught up. You can look at it after chapter 20: Life As We Knew It. There would be no further spoilers!
  • AdamsEve1231AdamsEve1231 Posts: 7,035 Member
    Seeing your organized bios got me thinking I really need to organize my character bios again for my stories.

    I said it over in the reading circle, but congrats on creating a blog. :)
    With these forums closing down, stay connected.

    Find me elsewhere:
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    My Worldbuilding Blog
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  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    @AdamsEve1231 Thank you! I'm glad I could remind you of more work to do 😂
  • SkeilahSkeilah Posts: 1,762 Member
    I love the simplicity in your new blog. I've seen blogs where I just can't figure out where to click first, and with your blog I just knew where to go in an instant. I still need to read a lot until I'm caught up again, but that shouldn't be a problem :) Keep up the good work!
    koppTCP.pngSubscribe to my WordPress blog to stay updated!
  • _sims_Yimi_sims_Yimi Posts: 1,747 Member
    Ooooh, I'm all caught up!
    I loved the latest chapter. Hugo is finally having a good time, and on a date with his crush <3 he deserves some happiness. I really hope those two work out. Fingers crossed!
    J6AKQqX.jpg
    Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    edited June 2020
    @Skeilah That's so good to hear! I definitely went for simplicity. I wasn't very happy with the way I did things in this thread, constantly trying to optimize the system. The blog took some hard work, but it was worth it in the end. It's also so much easier to post things over there and link to it here.

    @_sims_Yimi
    I'm glad you loved it! I had so much fun exploring the Dine Out pack. I'd never been to a restaurant before and it ended up being a very cute date. I'm rooting for them too. :)
  • _sims_Yimi_sims_Yimi Posts: 1,747 Member
    Duvelina wrote: »
    Chapter 27 is up.
    Looks like both Hugo and Sofia are moving on! I like how they're both doing better, Hugo with renovating his house and Sofia with getting over her addiction. I just hope that Sofia can stay ahead of her cravings, and that possible setbacks in the future don't send her spiraling down again.
    Good chapter :smiley: I'm looking forward to their date!
    J6AKQqX.jpg
    Hosting D&D sessions on the side. Interested in playing through some fantasy-themed shenanigans? Send me a message 😘
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