poll: who needs the biggest hug right now?

Whoa, holy 96 votes, Batman! I think some of y'all figured out how to vote twice ;)

So, who needs the biggest hug right now?

this is the sorry excuse for why I've got nothing...

Well, this is how I spent my Simming time this weekend, but unfortunately, it did not amount to much shooting of the next story update.

But... Lakeside Heights now has skies!!!

from myself, part 2

November 2083 - Micah and Mariah Buchanan are 25, Quinn is 15 months. (Madison Riley is 61.)

* warnings: NSFW/kids. Soundtrack: "Songbird," by Fleetwood Mac *

Micah looks out the window because he can't bring himself to look this man in the eyes. What he has to say isn't good news, and Micah already knows this. Out the window there's a dumpster, the street below, and his car parked with forty-five minutes left on the meter. "Your ideas are good," the team leader says. "But I don't know what you think we can do for you. We can't reasonably offer a place on the team without the proper certification."

"Oh, of course," Micah says. The room feels devoid of air. There's a plant in the corner, but it must be fake, because he imagines the lack of air would cause the veins and capillaries of the thing to collapse upon themselves, cause the leaves to shrivel and fold and wilt.

But they don't.

LH stuff: Anjali Shaw

This was prompted by the Sim-Project for July at N99, and since I'm going to share her there, I wanted to give her to all of you guys too.

I've always been kind of heartbroken that she'd never get to grow up here in Lakeside Heights, but you know, that's the sucky thing about death, especially when it happens so young. She died in my hood, from a tragic ROS roll, when she was only seventeen. But here she is at 22 and I'm hoping you guys might be able to give her a future that she never got in my dimension of the universe. Maybe you can give me updates on how she's doing and what she's done in her life, lol!

If you want character details, she was a popularity Sim, gemini, outgoing and a little bit snobby, but was always well-liked and had lots of friends. But of course, your game, so do whatever you like with her.

from myself, part 1

November 2083 - (part 1 of 3) - Micah and Mariah Buchanan are 25, Quinn is 15 months. (Jane Hudson is 25.)

* soundtrack: "Songbird," by Fleetwood Mac *

Micah is still working on city council, but he's starting to get the feeling that it won't really go anywhere. Blake Miller has been on city council for almost ten years now and hasn't gone anywhere. Politics is what it is sometimes. The people want who they want, and there's really no room to move otherwise. So Micah is supposed to be working up some sketch ideas with the city planning committee, as part of the Lake City downtown revitalization project. It's kind of a test run for a new career direction. He's always had a knack for doodling things, and they humor him with the task of plotting out stops on the new public bus lines. It's more exciting than you might imagine.

He feels like he's walked straight into his entire life. He only landed his current job because of who his mother-in-law is, and maybe because of his dimples. His wife only finally agreed to marry him because he knocked her up. From the outside, it might appear as if he's had some good luck, but that isn't the way it feels to him. He always tries to work hard, but it's never his hard work that pays off.

So if he can plot out the perfect frequency of bus stops for the new Lake City Transit plan, then he'll feel like he's accomplished something. Maybe next time they'll let him design a courtyard or something.

one day, Carly gets a little spend-happy...

One day, Carly Cook gets a little spend happy. This is her shitting-a-brick face, because she just got the invoice for the reconstruction of the roof on her new boutique. "I didn't know a roof could cost $15,000," she says.

"Sure," I tell her. "That roof can. You want me to send it back?"

"Well, no," she says. "It's cute. Can we charge it?"

And so it begins...

You guys still have a story update coming this weekend, but Carly's boutique will be featured in one of the scenes, and I thought you might like a better look at it than just story shots. Carly's gone a little bit spend-happy in here, but you know, it was cute.

the brick, four vignettes

November 2083 - James Porter is 26, April Hutchins is 20 // Mariah Buchanan is 25 // Berjes Monif is 38, Jodie Larson is 28 // Beau Jackson is 20.

*soundtrack: "Brick" by Ben Folds Five *

11:13 a.m.
This is only the second time James has been back on campus since he left it, and it's bringing back memories both good and bad. These apartments weren't here when he was, and neither was the sculpture park and coffee bar on the corner. They've still got the student pub though. And that building at the end of the street, that old stuffy Academy Hall, was where he spent his senior year with Mariah.

This is only the second time he's been back on campus, and the first time was for her, the girl with the warm dark skin and bright blue eyes, the first girl he ever loved. He loved her and she spun him for one hell of a loop. He doesn't do drama. He doesn't do games, and Mariah is the reason why.

Maybe if he'd have met April a few years earlier, he might be up for it, but not now. Not after Mariah. She broke him good and clean. It's a shame she never seemed to do the same for herself.

poll: low key couples you'd like to hear more from?

The low key couples you'd like to hear more from?

poll: LCU student least likely to make it to graduation?

LCU student least likely to make it to graduation?

LCU, landslide, part 4

November 2083 - LCU, fall semester (part 4 of 4) - Vicky Garth and Summer Phoenix are 19, April Hutchins and Beau Jackson are 20.

* warnings: difficult conversations, and maybe a tissue or two? Soundtrack for all parts, "Landslide," by Fleetwood Mac *

Close your eyes, she tells herself, don't look yet. It's what she tends to do, pretend things aren't really happening. Close your eyes and remember a time when things were simple.

The first thing she remembers is a fall day, seven years ago, playing basketball at the Lake City Community Center with Beau and Tyler, running through the crunchy fallen leaves, a crisp chill in the air. It was soon after she started working at their family's arcade, and their parents brought them all out from the suburbs to hear a concert across the street at the Sound Stage. Instead, Beau and Tyler chased her around the back of the concession stands. They were too old for tag, but those boys, silly as they are, took their sweet time growing up. She liked Beau better, even from the start, with that army-print fisher's hat, and an unspoken gentleness that he never wanted to admit. She always wondered, why should he be so ashamed of it? It was her favorite thing about him. Tyler gave her a bunch of noogies that day, but Beau gave her a kiss.

Of course that isn't the first memory she has of her life, but it's the earliest she can recall when anything ever made sense. It's the most beautiful, the one she wants to stay in, to let linger in permanence. She didn't feel like a child the way they were that day, but they made her feel childlike again. So that day, she began her life, as if she could press a reset button and start over from there, as if all the rest could be lost like an unsaved video game. She really thought that could work. She was barely thirteen years old.

LCU, landslide, part 3.5

November 2083 - LCU, fall semester (part 3.5 of 4) - Vicky Garth and Summer Phoenix are 19, April Hutchins and Beau Jackson are 20. (Corbin Gray is 33.) * soundtrack for all parts, "Landslide," by Fleetwood Mac *

Vicky actually waited until three months after the legal drinking age to have her very first drink. April made it for her, a sex on the beach. She didn't taste the vodka so much going down, but it she sure did feel it in her head about ten minutes later. It wasn't that she was afraid, or opposed, or even prudish. It was mostly that she just hadn't even realized she was old enough finally. 

LCU, landslide, part 3

November 2083 - LCU, fall semester (part 3 of 4) - Vicky Garth is 19, April Hutchins and Beau Jackson are 20. (Heather Huffington is 37.)

* soundtrack for all parts, "Landslide," by Fleetwood Mac *

April doesn't think she's ever had a friend, male or female, who she didn't want to sleep with. And Vicky? No, April doesn't want to get in bed with Vicky. Not in the least. The girl has a stick up her butt the size of an oak tree! But there's something in this poor, friendless girl, that April feels drawn to. She can't help but reach out to her. And honestly, she doesn't see why nobody wants to help the girl. She's in college, not a freaking nunnery! She needs to be saved!

So she digs her new friend out of her biology books and brings her to work with her one night. "So, you're not drinking because you're allergic, or because you're studying to become a nun?"

"Drink?" Vicky says. "I don't know, I've never had one before."

"Oh, geeze, you've probably never had sex before either."

"Sex? Well, if you mean, all the way-"

"Oh my God, I was right!" April says. "We gotta get that taken care of!"

LCU, landslide, part 2

October 2083 - LCU, fall semester (part 2 of 4) - Dallas Deppiesse is 19, Fenton Dyer and Iris Barton are 20. (Lucy Harris is 17.)
* soundtrack for all parts, "Landslide," by Fleetwood Mac *

The residence hall at Takemizu Academy has an ancient wishing well hidden among some trees, but Dallas won't touch it. He refuses to touch it! Because the first and only time he touched it was the first day he got here - the first hour he got here, before he'd even unpacked his bags - and this is what it told him: "The time will come for you to make a decision."

What the hell is that supposed to mean???

He also didn't know that a swarm of bees had taken up inside it. The coin he tossed disrupted their sleep, and in the space of seconds, they woke up and rushed toward him. He was stung thirty-two times.

LCU, landslide, part 1

October 2083 - LCU, fall semester (part 1 of 4) - Beau Jackson and April Hutchins are 20, Summer Phoenix and Vicky Garth are 19. (Lucy Harris is 17.)

* soundtrack for all parts, "Landslide," by Fleetwood Mac *

Summer doesn't know much about college yet, but she does know that Lucy is going to love it! They've somehow convinced her mom to let her stay for the weekend. Lucy's mom teaches computer science at LCU, so she knows the campus is largely safe, but she's still worried about the co-ed dorms.

"Don't worry Mrs. Harris," Summer says. "I'll bring her back safe and sound." Then she adds, with a wink, "And not pregnant."

"What?" Lucy's mom says.

"Kidding," Summer says. "I mean, my floor is all girls. We've got an RA - she's a girl. Keypad access and everything."

Lucy's mother is paralyzed.

"Rape alarms?"

"Bye mom," Lucy says, tugging Summer by the arm, pulling them out of the house before Summer can convince her mother to change her mind.

and one for the happy...

Because these people are breaking my heart around here lately. (Just wait until we get to the next chapter - it's like everybody decided to fall apart at the seams simultaneously.) So I decided to do a collection of happy and uncomplicated moments from happy and uncomplicated couples. Okay, so maybe not all of these couples are (or will be) completely uncomplicated, but they're all very happy together, for sure!

A lot of these were going to go in my extras at the end of the chapter, but it feels called for now :)