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The Whittaker Saga - 1938: A death, a birthday and the last post on this forum (6/18)

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    EleriEleri Posts: 594 Member
    edited January 17
    @flauschtrud the push for women's suffrage had been building slowly but surely for some time. Worth noting, California gave women the right to vote in 1911 (before WWI even started) and Louisiana gave women the right to vote in 1918.
    -No, my almost-elderly mother, I don't think it's a good time for you to try for a baby.
    -Yes, person I barely know, you have my blessing to hang out with Johnny Zest.
    -No person with the mean, hot-headed and self-absorbed traits, I don't think you should get married.
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    @Eleri You are right, women could actually vote locally in a lot of places. Here I have chosen to simplify matters to the federal level even if it's not 100% accurate.
    Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
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    Kellogg_J_KelloggKellogg_J_Kellogg Posts: 1,567 Member
    I like the way you haven't chosen a successor yet; I like seeing all the different lives of that first generation of children because there's a lot of variety there.
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    @Kellogg_J_Kellogg Thank you! I have to admit I find it quite entertaining too, and different, as I have never been a rotational player before. It's a bit of a learning curve, but I think I'm getting a hang of it, even if it does mean that I miss a birthday or two here and there. What that said, here is the next leg of the story:

    Life in Britechester

    In Britechester, Josephine is settling into her role as the perfect housewife. She cooks and cleans and wash clothes and take the time to chat with the neighbors. She's getting quite friendly with Olivia, who lives just under them. When Nash is off to class, she invites her new neighbor over.
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    When Nash returns, he needs his quiet time for his homework and studies. As he works, Josephine prepares dinner, cleans up after dinner or spend time working on her needle point until he is finished for the evening. Only then does she disturb him with tales of her day and gossip about the neighborhood.
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    But as they are asleep one night, the unsafe radiator causes a fire in the kitchen. Luckily the two wakes up and as Josephine screams in terror, Nash springs into action with the fire extinguisher.
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    The need to vacate the house to air it out, and Josephine rewards her hero with a massage. Nash in return replaces the destroyed furniture, even though he really cannot afford it. Josephine needs a proper kitchen, after all, and when it's time to pay for the next semester he can just take another loan.
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    The next night they invite the Petersens over, and Josephine tells them all about Nash's bravery. Their new acquaintances are fairly impressed, and grateful that the fire didn't spread to the entire house. While Josephine still does not like the cramped quarters and simple accommodation, she has come to realise that she can live with it for a while. It's just a few years after all. In her alone time, she is dreaming about the house she and Nash will one day buy, or perhaps even build, when he has come into some more money.
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    Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    Alice and a rise to fame

    In Del Sol Valley, Anna has started to get to know Cora. At first, it does feel strange for her, even though she knows about her sister's leaning for women, but she forces herself to put away any doubt she has. It's bad enough that Alice will never be able to tell their parents, get married or live a proper life together with the person she loves, she will not add to the things that are difficult. And so she does her best to embrace Cora, and get to know her sister's girlfriend well.
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    But Anna is also getting ready to leave for Selvadorada. Alice's hallway is a bit cramped as she packs all the things she has acquired. "Do you really need all those things?" Alice asks, but Anna just nods. "I do if I'm going to make it in the jungle."
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    As they spend their last nights together, Alice brings up the idea of a going away party. "Why?" Anna asks. "I don't really know anyone here but you and Cora." Alice however is adamant. "People like you, and you cannot just leave. You need a proper send off!"
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    She invites all her friends and some not so close movie stars she knows, and Anna gets to tell them all what she is going to do and where she is going to go. She's a bit uncomfortable at first, but the party ends up being really nice in the end.
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    As Anna sets off for Selvadorada, Alice is left alone again. She immediately puts her focus back into her career, landing an audition that might just be out of her reach. The instructions says to have a fitness of 7, but Alice's is only a 3. "Well, so work out then," her agent tells her, and sends her on her way with barely a day to get fit enough. Alice does her best. She goes jogging, runs up and down the stairs of the building, swims in the fantastic pool they have in the day. When she cannot possibly work out any longer she buys books on fitness and reads them to the point where she is boring Cora to death.
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    At the end of it, she's gotten up to five, but she knows that isn't enough. Will she even stand a chance? It's the first bigger audition she has gotten, and the part could make her career. She gives herself a pep-talk before going. Then one more just to be on the safe side.
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    And somehow, by some miracle, she lands the part!
    AVvXsEi1REBV0PKkaTygwIxv_wygOJZxaY0HYTTRLpDvEduhQ1PoZtEn23NketrrCLygQ9hFsfJ9VEMHaHhckZ82HB1k6pGzP2nCeqHYAXpYKKtXpiTjwUF4SGXBzP8eL7G_ljFcOa8cvlQG1_lZ1F78v3zFLuriG2iZ1m2pF-0oJk2JnR1O3R02-vO79zvEkYNM=w640-h565

    She first tells Cora, making up for more or less ignoring her for two days.
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    Then invites over the co-stars for dinner, followed up by dancing in one of the up and coming hotspots in town. Everyone who is anyone is there, and Alice drops down in bed as she returns well after two in the morning.
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    Somehow, due to some miracle, she is still not exhausted the next morning. Not only does the shoot go well - it goes far better than she expected. As she returns home, she does it with a promotion and added fame. She is now a B-lister, and can hire a better agency and can skip auditions. Finally, she's really on her way. Soon even her parents won't be able to tell her to come home and settle down, but will understand that this is her life from now on.
    AVvXsEiS2NneueykRB4_NiqIjTE9aNcvPkeM6Wnx2BazA04EjME5NuD8gaMZbXu-Umy2QXdYdjhoKnN8IeylD5es-NkcNTaD5bZCeY9vUGkmbcHVQlwJO1L2yjmBuLFzatPJMUc7oHYMwqO7Uki4xuH3EPQb2EvnJvyKCgKo3GyvPcdt7i_bXU6eQYXe7Yj4WIgA=w509-h640

    Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
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    flauschtrudflauschtrud Posts: 254 Member
    @JAL :smile:
    Great that Alice was successful! It the movieRole28 placeholder a bug or do you use a mod for movie roles?
    I make gameplay mods! You can find them at CurseForge.
    My first attempt at creating a Sims comic: The Parker-Goth Legacy.
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    edited January 20
    @flauschtrud I think it's a bug, but I honestly doesn't know. As it doesn't really matter, I haven't cared too much about it. I changed agencies now however, so I'm hoping that will clear it up.

    Anna in Selvadorada

    While Alice moves forward in her career, Anna has finally arrived in Selvadorada and rented a small property to stay at between her jungle expeditions. She spends the first night settling in, getting a feel for the place she's rented.
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    Then heads into town (well the village center at least) and stocks up on food and supplies and meet the locals.
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    In the local bar, she tries to find a guide for her expedition, as well as learn all there is about the jungle.
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    And when she gets back home, she takes the time to write to her sister, first at night, then after church the next morning.
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    Dear Alice,

    I've arrived safely (yes I'm sending a letter to our parents too), and have rented a small cottage on the outskirts of a small village. Oh, Alice it's so beautiful here, you would not believe it! The trees are greener and the flowers bloom more beautiful than anything you've seen back home. At first, I reacted to how quiet it was, but the longer I sit listening to the jungle the more sounds I hear. Birds calling to each other in voices I've never heard. Monkeys screeching. Cicadas playing and calling each other. Sometimes I can even hear a distant roar of a jaguar!

    It feels as if a weight has been lifted off my chest since arriving here. I breathe more easily in spite of the heat. Life is simpler, somehow, less complex, less moving parts. You'd hate my little house! It's small and cramped and has the most simple amenities. But I love it and for me, it's perfect. A bit cramped, perhaps, as I think I brought too many books in the fantastic little bookshop I found here. They fill up most of the bedroom, but I don't mind. I've never been one to mind books, after all.

    At the moment I'm trying to find a guide. It's a bit difficult as I do not speak Portuguese. Some speak English, others French, which I learnt well during the war, but otherwise we make ourselves understood by pointing and gesturing. My guide does need to know English, however, which means it takes some time in finding one. I have a contender, who speaks English well enough. Perhaps I'll have him teach me Portuguese as well. After all, it can't be too different from French.

    It's Sunday today, and I woke up to the church bells ringing. It was the most beautiful sound you can imagine. The church is right next door, and as there is no other church here I joined their mass. I have to admit I liked it. I understood nothing of course, but the music had a magical quality too it that transcended language and words. It was nothing like the ceremonies back home, not at all, but it was beautiful. Restful for the soul.

    I do hope you are well, and that Cora and you are good to each other. For me, I feel at peace for the first time since Maurice died. I think I will like it here. I'll enclose a few of my photographs for you to see for yourself.

    Your loving sister,
    Anna

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    In another day, and with another trip into the village, Anna thinks she's ready to start her adventure. She and her guide, George, heads out to the Belomisia Trailhead to start the journey. She starts with telling George what she wants to do, and asks him about what she needs to know. His answers disappoint her, however, as he more or less just tells her to read the sign at the entrance to the jungle. As she does, and as she starts chopping away at the vines covering the entrance, he lazily lays down on the ground and watches the clouds.
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    Anna is undeterred, however, and rushes on into the jungle, being rewarded with the most spectacular view from a bridge that should not be able to exist after so long. She stops and takes photos, and excavates some dirtpiles to bring artefacts with her home. George doesn't help, he mostly just hangs around. It's nice to be paid for doing nothing.
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    As the day starts veining, George takes his leave and simply heads off, and Anna is stranded in the jungle with no food. She had been told there would be fishing spots, but there are none, and even if there was, she has nothing to make up a fire. She thought George, as her guide, would take care of such things. Reluctantly, she has to admit that she's simply not prepared enough. She returns home to her little house, tries to authenicate her findings (one is a fake) and writes another letter to her sister.
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    Dear Alice,

    I had my first foray out into the jungle today. I brought a man named George that I met in town with me. He speaks excellent English, seemed to be very trustworthy and offered to go with me as a guide. It turns out he was much better at teaching me Portuguese than teaching me about the jungle. As nice as he is, he was also rather useless at dealing with both the animals and dangers of the jungle.

    The jungle was a far better teacher, however, and what it taught me was that I, in spite of all my efforts, was woefully unprepared. I had hoped to be able to stay in the jungle for several days, but the task was too daunting, there were too many things that I had not thought about. Luckily, all is not lost.I got some really good photographs taken already, and in town you can restock on almost any supplies, so I will be heading out again as soon as I can. Tonight, my sore limbs get to relax in a hot bath and I get to authenticate the few things I have already found. Unfortunately one of them is a fake, but I still have one more to authenticate. I have high hopes that I will have more luck with that one.

    Tomorrow, I shall restock, try to find another - better - guide, and head back out there. Perhaps I'll even find someone to mail my letters for you.

    Your loving sister,
    Anna
    Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    edited January 21
    Anna's jungle adventures continued

    The next day Anna spend some time finding a new guide and restocking supplies, then she head straight back out into the jungle. The new guide is a bit better when it comes to helping her excavate, but he too proves useless in the jungle and soon gives up and leaves her alone. This time, Anna is prepared. As she writes in her exploration journal:

    March 25, 1921:
    Both guides have given up on me, but I have not, and the jungle hasn't either. Today I faced real dangers, a jaguar even, and I withstood the test of the forest. It has found me worthy, as have I, and I will go at it alone if I cannot find someone trustworthy enough to come with me. I will find that temple or give my life to the jungle trying!

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    March 27, 1921:
    I have found the Omiscan Royal Baths! It's beautiful enough to make you cry. And to think no one has set foot on these grounds in hundreds of years. It's daunting. The entire system of man made waterfalls still work, keeping the water in perfect condition and safe for swimming. Perhaps I shouldn't have, but I could not help but to take a swim. It was the most refreshing thing I have done since arriving here and for the first time in days I feel clean and refreshed. I will make this my campsite for the night, before pushing further into the jungle. Still no fish, but I have plenty of provisions still.

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    March 28, 1921:
    Today I pushed on. I found what has had to be the royal orchard. There was an artefact there, of some significance, and I excavated some objects that I will examine more closely when I return to what I now think of as my home. But most importantly I can confirm the myth of the sacred fruit. They are berries that grew all over the orchard, and they truly to lift your spirits when eaten. I do not believe they are magical, as people here used to, but I will bring samples back home and offer to the science institute for further testing. On a personal note, it's getting lonely here. I do miss having company and will feel fits of homesickness. Not so much for the place, I do love it here, but for the people. A guide would have been nice even if it was just someone to talk to, but I will not give up until I find what I am looking for. A lot of backtracking today otherwise. The entrance to the temple was not from the baths.

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    March 30, 1921:
    I found it! The hidden Omiscan temple. Months of work and preparations, but I found it, and it's so beautiful that I cannot stop staring! The day is already waning and I know it would be careless and potentially dangerous to explore the temple after the night has fallen. I must wait until tomorrow. I have made my camp here, outside its walls and save the temple for tomorrow. I do not have long, my provisions are running dangerously low, and I must make sure I have enough to return through the jungle. Still, I cannot turn back now. I will establish excavation sites and see how far I can get into the temple tomorrow, map it for future visits. Then return to civilisation to stock up on supplies before returning here. Perhaps get a dog. The loneliness of being alone in the jungle is getting to me. I feel it dampening my mood even when it should be at its highest. A dog would be welcome company. And more loyal than any guide. But that is for later. Tomorrow the temple awaits me, and I will be the first to set foot in its halls for centuries.

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    March 31, 1921:
    Today I made my push into the temple. It's secrets are carefully guarded, traps were to be found everywhere. I made careful documentations of each and every fantastically crafted mechanism and how they worked before moving further, disabling trap after trap as I went along. There were a few mishaps, a few times when I thought I was done for, when my pulse raced and I believed the temple would swallow me and leave me forgotten in its halls. But I pushed on, I trusted my logic and my instinct and I reached the core of the temple. I, Anna Whittaker, reached the most sacred room of this ancient place, where no one has been since Omiscan times. Now I must leave this place. It's with a reluctant hart, but I must return before my supplies run dry. I will stock up, rest, and catalogue my findings, then return for a second time to the temple. The trip should be easier, as I know the way now, and then I can unearth its remaining treasures.

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    As she returns to her house she takes the time to write to her sister, and to send her copies of her journal:

    Dearest Alice,

    I did it! I actually did it. I send to you a copy of my journals from my trip. Take good care of them, as I hope to publish them on my return. It is good to be back in civilisation again, if for no other reason than to see and talk to people again. I don't think any place has ever seemed more beautiful than this little village center on my return. The people here are so friendly, and though the lack of a guide in the jungle means I have not yet mastered the language, I manage to make myself understood most of the time.

    I asked if there was a letter from you in the bookstore that also handles all mail, but the owner said that there was none, but that I shouldn't worry. Postal services here are apparently known to be slow. I do hope you are getting mine, and that you are well. I miss hearing from you, and long to know how you are. A part of me wishes you were here, but I also know you would hate every minute of the trip where I enjoy the struggle.

    I have learnt more about the culture here, and the more I learn the more at home I feel. They have the most amazing soft fabric shoes that I think I now own in every imaginable color. I think I will stay in the village for a few days before returning to the jungle. Make sure all my artefacts are authentic and catalogued and packaged before I head back out. And get a dog. I really do need some proper company here.

    Your loving sister,
    Anna

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    Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    edited January 25
    Anna's jungle adventure - her final expedition
    (Side note: as long as Anna is in the jungle, I have decided to follow only her, partly because I do not know what happens with the expedition if I rotate sims, but also because as remote as the jungle is, Anna would be unawares of what happens to everyone else. This will be the last explorer post, however, and after this I will return to the rest of the family and find out what happened to them while Anna has been away).

    ***

    The day before her birthday, Anna gets a pleasant surprise as the mail arrives with letters from home. She reads with great curiosity about the fire in Josephine's and Nash's apartment, and how proud Ida is of her youngest son starting school. She especially enjoys reading about Alice and her success as an actress. Taking time off her chores she sets down to pen a reply.

    Dearest Alice,

    I finally got your letter, and just in time too because I am heading back out into the jungle the day after tomorrow. I am so pleased to hear of your lead, and cannot wait until I get the chance to see your movie. I just know that you will land many more roles after this, when people see how very talented you are.

    I received letters from mother today too, as well as Ida and Josephine. The mail really is slow in getting here, it did not take this long for your letters to reach me in a burning war in Europe. I have to admit, I had almost forgotten Austen's birthday, or Ida's, Beatrice's or even my own! I swear I would not have remembered had mother not mentioned it. It is a bit hard to fathom that I am now turning 30. Not that it feels any different than 29. My birthday will not be a wild bash, but a quiet affair down in the village square. They have this large barbeque in the square, and several of the people in town are already showing up to see me off to my next jungle tour. I cannot believe it has taken this long. It was in the first week of April as I returned, and we're now seeing the middle of May! I dare say preparations has taken longer than expected, but so has authenticating my artefacts. I am still not done with them all.

    Of course, my newest companion has taken my time as well. He's just a stray, and smaller than I'd have wished, but smart and independent and quick to learn. I have named him Omisco, from the temple. I felt it fitting seeing his purpose is to keep me company there. He's just learnt to heel, which means he too is ready. I couldn't possibly bring him with me on a leash, and need to know where he is so that he won't get lost in the jungle. I will bring your letters with me for added company, and read them when I feel as most lonely. I fear you won't hear from me until I return again, but I will keep you in mind, and send you copies of my journal when I return again.

    Your loving sister,
    Anna

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    The day after her birthday, Anna sets off again, this time with more provisions, and with Omisco in tow. She writes in her journal:

    May 11, 1921:
    Day 1 of my second, real, expedition into the jungle and I cannot believe how fast those vines grow. A little more than a month from my last visit, and the entrance to the jungle is already overgrown. I thought I would use my machete less this time around, but that does not seem to be the case.

    I found a new site in the jungle, of a crashed plane. There were several things to excavate, so I made camp here for the night, and got to work. Omisco is doing so well, and loves the freedom it brings to be out here, just like me. Tonight we take it easy, tomorrow we work harder. I plan to vacate this sight soon, to continue onto the temple and the secrets I am sure it still holds.

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    May 17, 1921:
    Today we pushed onwards into the jungle, into areas I have never seen before. We found this one area by a lake, which was a welcome site. The crocodiles, I do believe the locals call them snappers, made it impossible to swim there, which I otherwise would have enjoyed, but there was ample fish in the water. I have never been one to go fishing, in spite of my father's efforts when I was a child I always found the activity too stationary for my disposition. That has not changed, but the idea of eating fish for dinner instead of the same old provisions made all the difference. I managed to caught two fairly big fish, and one was dinner immediately. I hope the other one will keep until tomorrow.

    Omisco is enjoying the jungle, and chasing its squirrels. Mostly they run away, or he has the upper hand, but he did get bit once. I'm keeping an eye on him, and have my antidotes and ointments ready should he seem to suffer an infection. I hope they work if he has one. So far he seems fine.
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    May 20, 1921:
    I am starting to fear that this expedition is going to take much longer than the last. At least I have plenty of provisions with me this time, and Omisco is still having the time of his life. All the food and the comfort of the campsite but with the freedom to roam like he has been used to all his life. He is good company, and I am not plagued by the sense of loneliness that I had on my first expedition. I keep getting distracted by new sites, in stead of pushing steady onwards towards the temple. But I am in no rush, and the temple is not going anywhere.

    June 2, 1921:
    I am finally here again, standing in front of the temple that has so heavily featured in my dreams. It is just as magnificent as last time, if not more splendid now. I do not know why I lingered elsewhere, when this is where my heart wanted to be. I will make my camp tonight, and venture into the temple tomorrow. The sun sets fast in the jungle, and when it's dark it envelops you entirely. It's a kind of darkness not found elsewhere, and I think I will miss it when it's time to return to civilisation again.
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    June 3, 1921:
    I ventured into the temple again today. It is amazing, the ingenuity and skill the ancients had. Not only where the traps reset, the very contraptions seems to be run by some sort of randomized mechanism. It is quite fantastic, but not a single trap in the entire temple aligns with my original notes. In each and every one, the solution to opening the portals were new and different, putting me through quite a challenge. I found some chambers I had missed last time, and lingered longer on some excavation sites that I had previously ignored. My luggage is getting heavy and hard to carry now, and I fear I will have to set on home to manage to bring it all with me. Tomorrow me and Omisco will set out on our journey back home, and then begins the work with authenticating everything.
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    Finally back after her adventure, Anna writes her sister again, sending her copies of her journal.

    Dearest Alice,

    I am back in civilisation again, and cannot wait to write to you. The feeling of a hot bath and a proper bed is never as satisfying as when you've lived for weeks on end with nothing but the clothes on your back and the ground to sleep on. Yet I feel more invigorated than ever and pleased to say I have now uncovered what there is in the temple. Tomorrow my work of authenticating the many artefacts begin. I do expect that to take a few more months, at least, as they are many. Only when that is finished will I return home. Tomorrow I will set out to town to stock up on food and see if there are any letters waiting for me. I hope there is, as I am dying to hear word of you and everyone else.

    Your loving sister,
    Anna
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    Post edited by JAL on
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    edited January 25
    Josephine wants to move

    While Anna has been in Selvadorada, life has continued for those who were left behind. In Britechester, Nash has just finished his studies in economics and just landed a job as an investor for Dewey, Cheatem and Howe. Josephine is delighted! Not only is she proud of her husband, but now they can finally get a new home and start a family! This is definitely a cause for a celebration, so Josephine has invited their friends and neighbors to celebrate.

    The women naturally gather in the (small and cramped) kitchen, while the men socialise in the living room.
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    Dinner is served, but as their place is small, some has to eat sitting in the sofa. Josephine looks forward when this is no longer the case.
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    Still everyone seems to be in a good mood, and Nash is in a very flirty mood. Overall, the dinner is a success.
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    The next day, Josephine brings up the thought of a new house. She's been looking in magazines for the latest decorating trends, and in the Sears, Roebuck and Co house catalog to get inspiration. "Besides, daddy said that they're tearing down the art museum back home. The lot will be sold, and it's right next to Ida and Nathaniel. You'll be close to Morgan too. Wouldn't it be perfect?" she asks.
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    Nash is a bit more hesitant. He has large loans to pay back for his education, and as he just started working he has not been able to save any money yet. "We need to be sensible," he argues. "And wait a little while longer."
    "But what if the lot is sold?" Josephine argues. "Of if I get pregnant? We can't raise a family here."
    "If that happens, we'll figure something out. But it hasn't happened yet, has it?" Nash concludes. Josephine is disappointed, but there isn't much to do about it, and she can't really explain to her husband why it "hasn't happened" yet, not when she knows he would not agree to the reason. Because like so many other women at the time, Josephine has resorted to illegal means to avoid pregnancy. Diaphragms were invented as early as the mid 19th century, but is illegal to sell, advertise, ship or own, yet many doctors still fitted their patience with these devices, and Dr Byron in Britechester is one of those doctors. Josephine hates it. She hates breaking the law, she hates the immorality of using something to prevent the birth of a child, but the thought of having a child in such a cramped home is something she hates more. In her internal struggle, the practical issues of a cramped apartment has won out over her moral objections to contraception. But as she has not told Nash about this, raised as he was in part by a conservative reverend, she cannot very well use that as a means of argument. She has to abide by his will.
    "So how long do you think it will be?" she asks instead.
    "A year or so, perhaps," Nash answers.
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    After dinner, the two sit down to listen to their favourite radio program, and Josephine knits the baby clothes she knows she won't need for quite some time to come. Perhaps if she did allow herself to become pregnant, Nash would change his mind? But that is a risk. Is she willing to take it?
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    The next night, however, as Josephine and Nash return from a night at the theatre, the radiator in the kitchen, again, has burst into flames! It seems the landlord has done nothing to make the radiator safer after the last fire.
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    "How can you expect us to live here when it's so unsafe?" Josephine asks, having now a new argument for why they need to move, and soon. "What if we hadn't woken up? We could have died!" This time, Nash agrees. Two fires in two years is enough to scare him, and he doesn't want his beloved Josephine to be scared.
    "I'll talk to the bank. A loan should not be hard to come by," he says, caressing her cheek. "You should not need to be afraid in your own home."
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    That night, Josephine leaves the diaphragm where it is as she and Nash heads to bed. He has promised her a house, and she can't wait to start building.
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    flauschtrudflauschtrud Posts: 254 Member
    History of contraception is another interesting thing that the original rules probably don't get right! I'm watching a series set in the late 1920s right now and have been wondering about that topic. I hope Josephine will be happy!
    I make gameplay mods! You can find them at CurseForge.
    My first attempt at creating a Sims comic: The Parker-Goth Legacy.
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    You're right, it is really interesting, and something I wish I could get into more detail with, but Josephine is so the wrong person for manning the barricades on women's right to contraception. She's such a traditionalist, but I needed a good reason for her not being pregnant (which is because I forgot to turn on neighborhood stories for her, which I figured is sort of a birth control).
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    flauschtrudflauschtrud Posts: 254 Member
    Haha, that's right, neighborhood stories are so extreme sometimes it would be unlikely that she didn't get pregnant :D (funny that they are rather tuned to fit the Decades Challenge than modern society)
    I make gameplay mods! You can find them at CurseForge.
    My first attempt at creating a Sims comic: The Parker-Goth Legacy.
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    edited January 27
    Frank takes to crime

    While Josephine dreams of a new house, Emily and Frank's situation has, if possible, gotten even worse. While Emily has gotten into the routine of being a housewife without a made, cleaning clothes and tending the garden as well as caring for their youngest, the married couple lead more or less entirely separate lives, only really talking to each other at dinner time.
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    Emily tries to keep the children, in the dark, but obviously they too notice, and now that summer makes it possible, spend as much of their time as possible outside playing with each other, avoiding the tension in the house.
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    Frank experiment with moonshine in the basement has only grown, and recently shady characters has started to come to the house. These are not people Frank introduces, nor invites over for dinner, but people he meets in his study, and who leaves with a handshake and the exchange of money. Emily pretends not to understand just what kind of business Frank has gotten caught up with, but she is, unfortunately, neither unsmart (the forum seriously censors he word starting on stu and ending on pid!!! Oversensitive much?) or blind. She knows where the sudden influx of money comes from, but dares not say anything. There has been too many arguments and she know their marriage is hanging on a very thin thread. In the 1920s divorce rates spiked in the US, and though Emily in this case has more reason for divorce than Frank (his illegal activities could be held as a reason for a divorce), she is terrified of the very notion.
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    Frank on the other hand, feels utterly lonely in the family. He had a vision of what marriage and family would mean, but this isn't it. Not a wife you does not support his choices (even as she says nothing) a son who carries a grudge for something which Frank barely remember, and kids who actively avoid him. As Emily has not had the same luck as Josephine, with a doctor offering contraceptives, she only has one way to keep from getting pregnant. Utterly convinced that another pregnancy will kill her, she does what she can to avoid the marital bed. Almost to her disappointment, Frank has stopped nagging. Gone are the days when he'd come home drunk at night and wake her up because he wanted her. She hated that he did it, but she hates it more that he doesn't. Mostly, she's convinced he found someone else to give him what she no longer will.

    She's not wrong. Frank might not be fit, but he's rich, influential and something of a local celebrity. It goes a long way, and at the speakeasy that is run from the basement of used to be the local bar but now fronts as a respectable restaurant, he finds all the company and pleasure he wants. Lately he's taken up with the very much younger Caroline Daughtry. A bit starstruck, flattered by the attention, and longing to leave her father's household, she falls head over heals for Frank and can only too easily ignore the ring on his finger.
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    On the weekend, as Frank sleeps off the late night (morning) and too many drinks, Emily takes her children to the park. There, her children can live up and play on the new jungle gym, invented just a few years ago. Especially the boys love the new playground equipment, while Beatrice prefers the swings. John too, so often on the receiving end of Frank's bad mood, can relax in the park. He dabbles at painting, and goes roller skating while Emily finally has the time to play with her baby boy, giving him the attention she rarely has time for at home where something or another always needs cleaning. It's a few hours of blissful relaxation, before they need to head back to a home filled with problems that just won't be ignored.
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    Melanie Preston turns 15

    Mid summer, it is time for a milestone as Melanie Preston, Ida's eldest turn 15. Ida has a hard time realising that her little girl is now growing up. That it's time for her to starting thinking of a future as an adult. "She was just born the other day! How has it been 15 years?" Still, she is proud, and of course Melanie deserves a big birthday party with the entire family present.

    As Tess, their maid, cleans the house, bakes the cake and prepares the food, all under Ida's careful supervision, The kids take the chance to play outside in the sun.
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    Then the family arrives. Anna, still in route from Selvadorada, and Alice are of course not able to attend, but Josephine and Nash are, since they've been staying in Willow Creek as their house is being built. The building is moving faster than Josephine would ever have dared hope. It has gone from just a foundation, to the walls being visible, to paneling in just a short timeframe.
    AVvXsEiAuWUJk8f5fKhpFOBY5_A3LK7cl6d4An5i19kB-2j1ZuRrDOBT9kyJanfqj9dkhHcccMgpUYZ7sXasiqUvF0GQ4BDI1CKvUvhuP1JZEkePGcKlZlP6ma_kFjTLxbD0G2O2dYkNx9trXCgneDTB_fYem71iKfZJLdbJOvPassldV4CftrGps8XkOeiQAi5Z=w640-h318
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    Better yet, the house is right next door to Ida's place, Josephine's favourite sister, and the only successful woman in the family so far. Well apart from mother and herself, at least once she too has children. "Soon", she tells her mother, as Abigail nags her for grandchildren. "Hopefully soon." The diaphragm has been passed to the back of the drawer now that a house is finally on the way.
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    The party is a huge success. Tess has outdone herself, as usual, and the food is delicious. They eat both in the dining room and the living room, as by now they are too many to fit around one table. But the mood is good and no one minds eating in the sofa.
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    Then it's time to blow out the candles. Melanie makes a wish, everyone cheers and sings and Melanie is now officially 15 years old! The first things he does, is cut her hair short, just like auntie Alice in the movies. She's so beautiful, if only Melanie could look like that! Of course, Ida thinks her daughter is beautiful. She has her mother's blue eyes, and her father's dark hair. "But I'm not movie-star beautiful!" Melanie insists.
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    And as there has been quite a few changes to the family lately, I think it's time for an updated family tree (although Josephine is protesting and saying that we should wait until she has a baby). I couldn't stop myself from adding Maurice to the tree too, even though he officially never made it in. Anna is insisting on that one.
    AVvXsEjFOi4d2B6mw9wLrt-PVf2ujsy488Hn5a5PsT61HevtymSp4IUcBKY9mntYI4AmfmI4BbywkCo5j01S9J6CZR1lUetCmx-0ous8xYBxUs77fwxDbes-_RXcua8kF4J83KeaUAVF14wqljcdWhLLUHmbK7rSlZ8Y83wzzvklv7pVDXdc8XDPEZFlvRiFRhuT=s16000
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    flauschtrudflauschtrud Posts: 254 Member
    @JAL
    Good to see Maurice on the family tree!
    I make gameplay mods! You can find them at CurseForge.
    My first attempt at creating a Sims comic: The Parker-Goth Legacy.
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    edited February 2
    Josephine gets her house, her baby and a funeral

    As summer start moving towards fall, the work on the Sinclair residence is moving along quickly. Soon it's time to choose which color and which panel to use, and Josephine uses the opportunity to ask her family for help in choosing. She shows them the different options, but also the unfinished house. Where the walls will go, what rooms will go where, how she will decorate the place. She has grand plans, and can barely wait until it is time to move in.
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    Yet wait she must, and by the time the house is finally finished, Josephine is waiting for something else. A very longed for baby! As she takes the first official tour of the house, with everything from wallpaper to furniture in place, she is almost ready to give birth. It was worth it, though, she thinks. The house is everything she dreamed it would be!
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    She loves her new life. Having a spacious kitchen to cook in, a garden to tend, having people over for dinner and her favourite sister next door. Mom and dad are of course the first guests, and Ida is frequently there. At night, Nash and Josephine sits together in their new living room, listening to their favourite talk radio programs. The radio theatre is their favourite.
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    The only dent in her happiness is the sudden news that Nash's mother passed away, and almost at the same time as her husband the reverend too. Nash is of course heartbroken by the loss of his mother (he cares less about the loss of a stepfather he never really liked), and Josephine does what she can to support her husband both at home and at the funeral, now led by the late reverend's foster son and the previous reverend's son who now takes over what was once his father's parish.
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    The day after the funeral, Josephine goes into labour. Nash panics, Josephine sends for her mother, and Abigail comes and happily takes over the house for the day. First she sends Nash out of the house, then tends to her daughter and helps deliver the new child. It's a boy and they name him after Nash's father Thomas.
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    Josephine is in love, but also exhausted. Abigail sends her to rest, and takes care of the baby until Nash has calmed down enough to meet his son. Look at the proud father.
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    At the end of the day, Abigail quietly slips out, letting the new little family have some quiet time for themselves. For Josephine all her dreams has come true, and life truly doesn't get better than this.

    A note about Josephine's house, for those who are interested
    To build time specific houses, I've used sources from that time period. For Emily and Frank's house, I used a blueprint from 1911 that I found here and in this case I used a blueprint in Sears and Roebuck Modern Homes from 1923, that I found here. On the same webpage I've gotten inspiration on everything from furniture and colors used. The wallpaper used here (and in Alice's and Anna's apartments) are made by landverbunny who makes beautiful vintage wallpaper reproductions.
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    edited May 10
    Alice and Anna

    Meanwhile, in Del Sol Valley, Alice is the new starlet of the year. Gone are the days of nervous auditions and begging for parts. Instead she has steady employment with a major studio, who also monitors her marketing and crafts parts to suit her strengths. Lately, she's been shooting a historical movie, against one of the two most leading male stars in town. Everyone says it's going to be a major hit and Alice definitely takes it serious, practicing her acting in the mirror and inviting over the director and co-stars to talk over their parts:
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    At the set, Alice knows well that she can demand to wear whatever she wants to wear, but she is not that arrogant, but start in hair and make up just like everyone else. She isn't sure about the hair-do (did they really have braids like this back then?) but she never complains. It's one of the things the studio really like about her. Instead she focuses her energy on the part, and it really is a part for a lifetime, offering her plenty of opportunities to show off her acting skills. Everyone is happy with the wrap, and Alice just knows it's going to bring her one step closer to being a global superstar.
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    Back home, Cora has let herself in and is practicing her guitar playing for an audition she has. Unfortunately, she has not managed to get over that stage yet. In fact, Cora's career seems to have hit a stand still. She's always the extra, never the lead or even the side kick, and she cannot help but to be a bit jealous of Alice success. Not to mention that she wants more than what they have. Alice however is terrified. "We can't!" she replies absolutely terrified as Cora suggest they live together. "We'd never find work again, the studio would wash their hands of us. We can't!"
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    But even if they do not see eye to eye, the two love each other and when they are on their own, there is certanly no lack of romance. It's only in public that Alice is scared, understandably so, given her history.
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    She writes to her sister:

    I don't know what to do! I can't risk anyone finding out, it's my entire career, my future, my reputation. And yet I love Cora and want to be with her, not just stolen moments when no one sees, but the way others can be. To be honest, I simply don't know how to reconcile the life I want with the life I can have.

    I wish you were here! San Myshuno is too far off. I miss you.


    ***

    Because it is in San Myshuno that Anna has settled as she's returned from Selvadorada. She knows both her sister and her parents wanted her to live elsewhere, but this is where she wants to be right now. This is where she can make money off publishing her photos and where she can most easily sell her many artefacts, which is selling faster than she can authenticate them. She's timed her return well, as there is a bit of a craze for antiquities at the moment. Just months before her own return, the news broke of how Howard Carter found King Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt. Now everyone wants all things Eqyptian, and in lack of that, old. It does bug her a bit that Carter's discoveries so outshadow her own, as she thinks the discovery of the biggest Omiscan temple is just as important as the discovery of some previously unknown minor king in Egypt. There is nothing she can do about that, however, and so she tries to focus on what she can do.

    In her own home, she is constantly reminded of her Selvadoradan adventure, as she has kept a lot of artefacts for herself, and covered her walls with some of the photos she took. The apartment is small, somewhat cramped, but Anna has never cared much for things anyway. The first few weeks after returning from Selvadorada she slept on the floor with her sleeping bag. The one thing she miss is the opportunity for Omisco to run lose, but to compensate she brings him to San Myshuno Meadows once a day so that he can run around free for at least a while.
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    She's befriended one of the neighbors, Johnny Lamotte, and though she is slightly hesitant about his evil streak, he is fun and easy to hang out with and even plays with Omisco at times. She figures that if Omisco likes him, he cannot be all that bad, and a lot of men who returned from the war has issues that they have a hard time getting over. Still, she wish he wasn't so flirty. He tried to seduce her the very first time they met, and has been noisingly having sex in his apartment. Honestly, the man seems to have no shame. Which might be why it's so fun to go with him to the local speakeasy, hidden in a basement under a nearby closed factory. As others are inspired by Egypt, Anna makes a point of showing up in clothes with a distinct Selvadoradan, and Omiscan, design.
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    To her own surprise, she find herself taking up her father's profession as a writer. Not the same way, of course. She does not write fiction, nor is she tied to a publisher, but instead write freelance articles about her time in Selvadorada to accompany the photographs she sells. She, who has a hard time staying stationary for too long, now spends her days by the typewriter, or by the archaeology table. She have to admit that the daily trips to the meadows and the botanical gardens, is as much for her own sanity as it is for Omisco's.
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    Restless as she is, she has already started planning her next adventure. She's read about this mountain called Mt Komorebi in Japan. Supposedly a real challenge that only a few master. So of course she has to master it. Not that she knows anything about Japanese culture, or climbing mountains, but if she could learn to deal with the jungle, surely she can learn to climb mountains? She tackles it the same way she did the jungle, by reading about others who has done it. Yet she does take her time to respond to her sister's letter, because in the end, what could possibly be more important than family?
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    I know you wanted me closer, as did mother and father, which is why I chose to favor neither of you. Besides, it would only be so much harder when I leave again, and you know I will. I cannot stand to be cooped up for too long. I need the nature, the struggle and the danger to feel truly alive. I started dreaming of the mountains already when I was in Selvadorada, and you know I cannot stay away from a dream for too long.

    I cannot advice you properly on your situation with Cora, other than to not give up. Love is worth holding onto for you never know when it will be snatched away and lost forever. Find a compromise, one you can both live with (and the studio too), and do not give up.

    Your loving sister,
    Anna
    Post edited by JAL on
    Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
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    DaraviDaravi Posts: 1,168 Member
    edited February 5
    I do wonder if Anna could become a member of the national geographic society and make some trips with other members? Or did NGS didn't allowed women then? She would be fit perfect with her experience after the selvadora Trip.
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    @Daravi I have been imagining that she writes for them, but didn't want to name a specific magazine or organisation. They did in fact allow women into the society, and the first women to serve on the board did so already in the 1890s (although women were rare in the magazine or in the society). Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, who wrote quite a few books about her various trips, and undoubtedly would be one of the people who Anna has read and who inspired her trips.
    Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
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    DaraviDaravi Posts: 1,168 Member
    Haha, that's great and nice to hear! I have bought several magazines from them since they startet to publish in Germany for all non-members in 1997(?). I loved that map from our Universe. That's why the organization came into my mind. Thank for the cIarification. These stories were really inspiring, I do understand Anna. :)
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    EleriEleri Posts: 594 Member
    I hope you don't mind my nitpicking, but there's a bit of inaccuracy in the Anna-Cora conundrum. Two unrelated people of the same sex moving in together would not have automatically attracted suspicion, at least, not enough to endanger their careers. In the 1930s Cary Grant and Randolph Scott lived together and it didn't hurt their careers at all. The studio even allowed them to do an interview about their "bachelor establishment."
    If they lived together as wife and wife in private, but as friends/roommates in public no one would have cared. On the other hand, the decision to come out and acknowledge their relationship would have been difficult, whether they lived together or not.
    -No, my almost-elderly mother, I don't think it's a good time for you to try for a baby.
    -Yes, person I barely know, you have my blessing to hang out with Johnny Zest.
    -No person with the mean, hot-headed and self-absorbed traits, I don't think you should get married.
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    JALJAL Posts: 1,128 Member
    @Eleri Oh I don't mind at all, and I am aware that many lived together like that and everyone pretended not to know. In this case, it's more a consideration of Alice's personal history and fears than the actual real life consequences of them living together. She is simply extremely afraid, and people who are scared aren't always logical and reasonable.
    Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
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    Kellogg_J_KelloggKellogg_J_Kellogg Posts: 1,567 Member
    Hollywood in the 20s had lots of scandal and shenanigans going on...as long as no one died (see the Fatty Arbuckle and Thomas Ince cases as examples) there were plenty of "open secrets" in the showbiz community that remained secrets. As long as Anna and Cora don't fall foul of William Randolph Hearst and his two gossip columnists: Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, they should be OK...a sham marriage to a gay male actor might help them as well.
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    DaraviDaravi Posts: 1,168 Member
    @Kellogg_J_Kellogg I don't know a time where Hollywood hadn't have an atrocious reputation and no scandals. People's went there for gaining fame and making big money, some scandal might have been placed on purpose, like the celebrity couples in the 90's. Sooner or later the fame will took toll on the mental health an an actor.
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