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abbysimsfun · 3 days ago

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Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 160 (Blast From the Past)

Felix pulled back anxiously as the blonde woman read his rights, a righteous anger creasing her dark brows. "Last I saw you, you floated up to me on my wedding day and begged me to run from my husband to join you as a ghost!"

"You what?" Lilith looked between them with a nervous smile.

"I..." Felix stammered. "I was still processing everything, Lil. I've had more than enough time to let go; it's been a century and a half."

"At least we hope so," she lamented, remembering they were here without Emit. She turned to the angry woman she suspected was her great-great-grandmother, Maude Alcorn Ruggbyrne. "Ma'am, do you know what day it is?"

The blonde cocked her head sideways. "July 13, 1920, of course! How don't you know that? Are you both dead?"

Felix reeled. "July 13th? You're certain?"

Maude pointed to a newspaper strewn across a nearby bench. "That's the paper I write for. Today's edition."

"We're a day early," he said to Lilith.

She frowned. "I must've set the wrong date on the device after we jumped from January 13th, 2020."

"What in blazes are you two talking about?" cried the blonde. "Felix, are you dead or not? And who in Watcher's name is she with all those nails in her face?!"

Felix and Lilith glanced helplessly between themselves. They weren't supposed to do anything that might change history, and they weren't supposed to tell anyone who they were, either. But Felix couldn't exactly lie to someone who knew beyond a doubt who he was. "They're piercings. Maude, and her name is Lilith Pleasant. She's my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend!" she cried. "You...you were dead!"

"I was! For almost a century and a half," he said, leading the three of them to a nearby bench. "But a few years ago...In the future, I...I was still a ghost, and I made some friends who cooked up some ambrosia for me. You know how much I wished I could live again. Where I came from, Britechester looks pretty much the same as now, but it's been a long, long time."

"That old wives' tale about fish cakes is real?" He nodded, and Maude's face softened. "Why are you back here?"

"Lilith and I are helping a friend catch a time thief, but we overshot our landing by about 24 hours."

Maude looked at them as though they had two heads. "Felix, are you telling me tall tales? You sound like they just rolled you out of the asylum!"

"I promise it's not like that," he vowed. "But everything we tell you, we need to you to promise never to tell another soul."

"I'm a reporter, Felix! Telling the world the truth is my job."

"The world isn't ready for this. I'm not sure you're ready for this..."

"Spill it," she demanded. "Convince me your painted jumpsuits weren't issued by a psychiatric ward!"

"Could we go somewhere more private to talk? Maybe find a change of clothes so we don't stick out too much?"

Maude thought for a moment, studying Lilith with a discerning glare. "You're sure we can trust her? She looks spiky."

Felix laughed. "She's a lot like you."

Backhanded compliment or not, Maude appreciated the thought, studying Lilith with keen interest. "Berend's in Komorebi trying to become the first sim to scale the mountain, and Bruno's with his governess. I think she could fit into some of my roomier skirts."

Lilith laughed, unfazed. "She's not like me. She's more like Angela!"

"And who's Angela? Another girlfriend?"

Felix shook his head. "No, she's your great-great-granddaughter. And so's Lilith."

Maude's stunned expression remained until they'd made it to her two-storey home in Britechester. She lived here with her husband and three-year-old-son, but the elegant rooms were empty of voices when they entered.

Maude quickly found some clothes for Lilith to change into. "That hat hides the metal on your face quite nicely," she enthused.

Lilith forced a smile. None of the clothes she was wearing were her style, and she hated tucking her bright red hair under a hat. But she and Felix were stuck here waiting for Emit and the time thief to arrive the next day. She had to make the best of this.

Despite the rules they were supposed to follow, Felix and Lilith told Maude almost everything - about the ambrosia, about falling in love and Maude's connection to Lil's family tree. They showed her the time travelling device, and explained their mission to prevent a time thief from changing too much about the future.

But they didn't mention the young Landgraab behind the device - even in 1920, the name was too well known, and they'd promised Heather and Conrad they'd help protect him.

Maude listened intently, sitting before a portrait with her husband and young son - Lilith's ancestor, Bruno Ruggbyrne. "I never met my great-grandfather," said Lilith, but my grandmother Coral used to tell us he was the biggest charmer you'd ever meet."

"That sounds like Bruno." Maude smiled intently as she glanced at the portrait. "But Felix has been around a long time. It's a bit strange he's never found another soulmate except my own kin."

Lilith shook her head. "I think it makes sense. If he married you, my sister and I would have never been born. Bruno would have never been born."

Maude's face fell. "So this was meant to be? I was always supposed to be with Berend and you were supposed to live happily ever after with a girl with piercings in her face?"

"Lil's beautiful, Maude. She's your kin, after all."

"I think...you really love her," Maude said, rapidly processing this new information.

"I do. As much as you love Berend. Maybe more."

Maude smiled proudly. "My boss wanted me to quit the Times when Bruno came along, but Berend marched right downtown to insist I keep reporting to show our son what a hard worker looks like. When the boss promised to let me keep my job, Berend told him I'd take his job one day, too."

Felix was well aware of the future and he knew this was true, but he refrained from mentioning it. As long as things stayed the same, he didn't need to tell Maude what she would accomplish in her life. "I know I wasn't happy for you before, but a lot can change in a hundred-fifty years. I think you and Berend truly were meant to be."

"And I think Felix was always meant for me," said Lilith. "Before I met him I was stuck in a cycle dating an endless stream of losers and dreamers who didn't really care about me, but Felix showed me what it was to be really loved."

The corners of Maude's mouth turned upward. "Felix was always a good man. He let me pursue my career and didn't rush us into marriage, and I appreciated him for it every day...until the day he died on me. It's hard to overstate how important it is for a woman to be seen on the arm of a man to survive in this world, and after Felix' death, Berend offered opportunity. And I do love him, Felix. I know you said I never could as much I as I loved you."

"Maude, I was wrong. I'm sorry I tried to put you on the spot that day," said Felix. "You deserved better and you deserve this life. This beautiful house and your beautiful family suits you better than even I could have done."

She laughed. "You think you can date my great-great-granddaughter with that attitude? I know you, Felix. You were the best man I knew. I can see you haven't changed much, but I don't know you anymore. I don't know anything about this world you say you came from, with time travelers and computers and websites and eyeball phones, or whatever you called it. I don't know what a podcast is and my editor never puts my stories on the front page. Just his own tripe with spelling mistakes. A story like this could make my career overnight."

"If you tell anyone, you'll change the future in ways no one could possibly know," Lilith pressed. "Simanity doesn't figure out time travel until Emit appears in 2060. Even then, no one's saying much about it because it's so dangerous."

"That's why it's been so important to put the component together to catch the time thief," added Felix. "But if we get discovered here by anyone else, or you tell anyone about this, everything we've been though could be for nothing. Will you help us wait out our friend's arrival tomorrow?"

"I can't let you stay here tonight. My son and his governess will be home soon, and I don't know how to explain you to either of them, but I can help you find a room that'll let to unmarried men and women. I do need to work tonight at the Foxbury Jazz Club - why don't you come with me?"

Felix perked up at the mention of the club. "Foxbury Jazz Club was the place to see and be seen in the Roaring Twenties! I went once or twice, but never let anyone see me as a ghost."

"If you stick with Lilith tonight you shouldn't be recognized. Tonight's event's mostly out-of-towners who've come together for the Simlandia Builders' Club gala, and everyone's so well-known, they won't be looking at either of you. My editor wants me to take photos and sniff out content for the gossip page. You two could help me find a story to make up for the one I'm not allowed to tell."

Lilith, a loner at heart, didn't love the idea, but it would probably be a more interesting experience than sleeping on a park bench waiting for Emit to arrive the next morning. "I don't know any of the dances," she said sheepishly, but outgoing Felix grinned.

"I can lead."

"Berries!" said Maude with a grin. "I love the new jazz, and the Foxbury Club is heavenly!"

As they chatted, the front door opened and Maude stood, with a beaming greeting for Bruno and his governess.

"Mama!" Bruno raced into his mother's arms as the governess slipped quietly upstairs. "Mama we went park!"

"Did you have a nice time?"

"We threw rocks at pond!" Bruno laughed while he recounted his morning, looking up with curiosity when he spotted Lilith and Felix. "Who they, Mama?"

"These are friends of mine," said Maude, careful not to name either one. "They're going to work with Mama tonight to help me get a headline!"

"Mama Headline!" he celebrated, half understanding what it meant, but happy enough to join his mother in laughter.

Felix smiled at Maude with her son. He'd wanted children and a family of his own for so long, but he couldn't begrudge Maude for achieving her happy ever after. Not the way he once did.

"Motherhood suits you, Maude. Just as well as your career."

He felt Lilith's hand wrap around his own as they looked back to the portrait, and he wouldn't take for granted how their lives - or second lives - had thrived in recent years. In different timelines.

Felix knew his own happy ever after was just a proposal away. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 2.1 Summary

Gen 1 Start | Gen 1 Summary

FUN FACT: When I was putting together the newspaper, I looked up real history on July 13, 1920 and picked the weirdest piece of real news I could find. On this day in history, the US Postal Service had to ban people sending children through the mail because enough people were actually doing it.

WCIF: Thank you @deardiaryts4 and @matchalovertrait for letting your sims stand as models for the top right photo on the newspaper! I was so, so excited to play with them, you have no idea! And they look so good in some amazing period cc pieces, like Antoinette's La Maison Blanche coat by @javitrulovesims, Flapper Fabulous by Kiara Zurk (Antoinette's headband and Lilith's '20s hairstyle), Chorus Curls by Retro Pixels (Antoinette's hairstyle), Dmitri fashion set by @happylifesims (Antonio's hat), and happylifesims' Blessan jacket with @pleyita's matte trousers (Antonio's suit and Berend's portrait outfit in different swatches).

Lilith is in happylifesims' 1920s Cloche hat and Lady Mary's Day Dress, while Maude wears the 1920s Guest Dress in the family portrait on the wall. In the scene, she's wearing another happylifesims' Cloche hat and Day Dress 03. If you get the urge to set some scenes in the past or throw a costume party, happylifesims has incredible cc from many eras that I can't recommend enough. I couldn't have done any of this without their work.

I used @beto-ae0's Imperial Dynasty posepack for the portrait of Maude, Berend, and Bruno, and Maude and Bruno are posed in the living room with Guess How Much I Love You (Part 1) by @simmerberlin. The Ruggbyrnes' house can be found on the Sims 4 Gallery by JoaoDiBarro, and the Governess was aged up to elder and can be found on the Gallery by NMinnow.

And finally, I did not create Maude. A whole plate of cookies for after Iftari goes @purplesimmer455, who knew it was Maude when she showed up last episode! She guessed that this might be Mimsy, if not Maude - and fun fact - I used a Gallery-submitted version of Mimsy called 'Mimsy Von Haunt Teen Fix' and aged her up. I thought it looked nothing like OG Mimsy, while also resembling her just enough to be a sister (and the sim is beautiful), so Gallery-user mariuopole put up a good one!

I could not have put this installment together without the combined forces of everyone mentioned in one of my longest WCIF postscripts ever. Thank you so much, everyone!

#sims 4 #sims 4 gameplay #sims 4 screenshots #sims 4 legacy #sims in bloom #ts4 #ts4 gameplay #ts4 legacy #ts4 screenshots #sims 4 story #ts4 story #legacy challenge #sims legacy #ts4 legacy challenge #gen 2 #felix psyded #britechester #lilith pleasant #blast from the past event

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abbysimsfun · 22 hours ago

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Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 161 (The Scoop of the Century!)

The Foxbury Club pulsed with the sounds of jazz and clinking champagne flutes, as well-dressed society types poured in and out of the roped-off doors.

Tonight's Simlandia Builders' Club gala brought the wealthy to Britechester - Simlandia's most famous families were considered the 'builders,' and this was their chance to pat one another on the back for all their society-building projects. This year, the Builders' Club was particularly proud of itself for the brand new, but spectacular, San Myshuno Bridge - a steel marvel, integral to helping the city recover from natural disasters that recently devastated the city.

"I read about San Myshuno's natural disasters in history class back in high school," said Lilith. "I know it's hard to believe, but I really think the story about the monster emerging from the sea is real."

Maude looked at her strangely. "Is that really the story that makes it through time? The whole city was cut off from the outside world and no one knows the truth. But monsters are just fairy tales."

Lilith was defiant. "And time travel was just science fiction. But they think the builders poured concrete into the monster's footprints to cover it up. There's a story you could research!"

Felix knew Maude would eventually make her career exposing Britechester's secret societies for everything from buying test scores to murder, and she seemed uninterested in trying to dig up concrete in San Myshuno. "Monster or not, now the builders' can say they brought the city back to life. That's what these galas are for every year."

"It does smell a bit like old money in here," chuckled Felix.

Maude glanced toward the stage, where saxophonist Miles Morrison entertained the crowds with his jazzy style. She hawkishly scanned the room, spotting a woman in a blue gown and stunning gold necklace chatting at a corner table with a man in a grey tuxedo and leather brimmed hat. The ambitious reporter gasped.

"That's Lady Ravendancer Goth and Admiral Landgraab! Rumour has it they've been having an affair for years. An anonymous tipster sent us a photo of the two of them on a beach, and they looked cozier than I've ever been with any man - even Berend! Certainly cozier than she's ever looked with her husband, and Admiral's marriage is just for show." Her big eyes burned with excitement. "My editor will have to put me on the front page if I catch them together tonight!"

"Lady Ravendancer? Isn't she a spellcaster? I didn't even know she was a real person!" said Lilith, glancing curiously in their direction.

"Most people think she's just eccentric, not a spellcaster. She released a book of spells and made a huge profit, but she doesn't need the money. She's married to Lord Samuel Goth, the founder of the Builders' Club, but he's a recluse, and she ends up hosting most of these events herself. Malcolm "Admiral" Landgraab went west to build up Simlandia and grab as much land as he could. Apparently he's out there looking for oil, using his family's money - and his wife's family's money - to build an even bigger empire."

"Sounds about right for a Landgraab," said Felix.

"Are they still wealthy and horrible in a century and a half?"

"Yes," Felix and Lilith replied in blunt unison. "Well, most of them," tempered Felix.

"Money can't buy class." Maude sighed. "I know my parents tried to make it look like it, but they were using money they didn't have to hold all those parties to find Mimsy and suitor. If I hadn't been so rebellious as a teenager, they'd have forced the same fate on me. And then maybe I'd have died in a fire set by my own husband, too."

Lilith frowned. "You really think her husband killed them both, just to have her for eternity?"

She nodded. "And if one day I can find her ghost, I'll prove it, just like I'm going to prove Lady Goth and Admiral Landgraab are having an affair."

Felix froze. The Goths and Landgraabs were well known in his day. He knew little about the necklace Heather and Spencer had seen in the jungle (and nothing of the photographs found hidden in the Goth Archives). But he did know the truth of Lady Ravendancer and Admiral Landgraab's affair was never made public and shifted nervously.

"You two stay here," said Maude. "Enjoy the music; I'm going to get my camera."

Unsure what to do, Felix danced with Lilith on the dance floor while Miles hummed his sax and singers stood before a golden microphone. Maude's large camera was an eyesore, but she told gala attendees she was taking snaps for the society pages, and no one noticed when she turned the camera toward two people who thought they'd found a quiet place inside the busy nightclub.

"If we let her publish those photos, she'll change history," said Lilith.

Felix nodded. "She'll hate us for trying to block another headline. But if I tell her she'll be fine without this story, she'll ask more questions."

Lilith sighed. "We've already told her enough to make Emit confiscate our time travel suits and the device. What if you just nudge her in the right direction, instead?"

"I think we have to try."

"Time travel is a lot less fun than it sounds," she lamented. "There's so many rules, and too much could go wrong."

"I'll always be happy enough in our own time," he said easily, spinning her out of their embrace. "The only reason I'm happy to be here is because you're with me."

Lilith smiled as Lady Ravendancer approached the stage. "Once we catch the time thief and get back, we can stay there. This adventure's been more than enough for me."

As expected, Maude was beside herself to hear this was yet another story she was not allowed to break. "Why am I even listening to you?" she cried. "I'm helping you and you're just standing in the way of the scoops of the century!"

"Maude, I swear to the Watcher, you don't need these stories," Felix insisted. "If you publish, you'll change the future. You might change Bruno's future, which might change Lilith's future, too." He could see his words softening her reaction and continued carefully. "I won't tell you what you write, but if you look into Britechester University's secret societies, you'll find the headlines that will make your career."

"Those secret societies are just a bunch of drunken goofballs!"

Lilith shrugged. "Maybe some, but how can you know there's nothing more to them if you don't look?"

"I still have work to do," Maude sneered. "When do you leave again? I hope it's soon."

"Hopefully Emit and the time thief arrive tomorrow morning."

"Good," she sniffed. "You should have never come back here."

"Yeah, we're starting to agree," admitted Lilith.

Having overstayed their welcome, Felix and Lilith headed back to the rooming house Maude helped them find, hoping to pass the night without further issue until Emit's arrival in the morning. They woke and Lilith dressed again in the inconspicuous white blouse and pleated skirt, heading to the commons outside the Laurel Library.

But when they arrived, they were surprised to find Maude waiting for them, instead. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 2.1 Summary

Gen 1 Start | Gen 1 Summary

THANK YOU for putting up with this little spin-off from the main household for this long! I promise things happening now will mean a fair bit to the main timeline. And remember Ash who hasn't been seen since (checks notes?) March 10th? One more main fam-free post centred on Felix, the Pleasants and the Blast From the Past event is scheduled for Wednesday, and then Ash will be back on Friday, I promise! (please don't judge me if I break up Wednesday into two posts and Ash doesn't return until Sunday! I promise either Friday or Sunday but the event arc is concluding this week!)

NOTE: Is Miles Morrison just Malik Morrison with different hair and a saxophone? Why yes! Judge Morrison's great-grandfather Miles was a renowned musician who performed all over Simlandia at the height of the Jazz Age!

WCIF: That functional sax comes from Necrodog's Into Music Stuff Pack cc. Pretty cool, I like that it adds variety to the instruments you can have in game, with custom sounds (but no skill building). Both Lilith and Maude are wearing different swatches of @happylifesims' 1920s Evening Dress 03, and Lilith is wearing @magnolianfarewell's Adaline headband. (Same creator who made Lady Ravendancer's Venus dress!)

Felix and Lilith are posed on the dance floor with @simmerberlin's Moments pose pack. (Since the creator is retired from pose making, I found this pose at this SFS link from her main tumblr page which houses a bunch of her old poses). And this installment shows more of the 1920s Jazz club lot by EmersedCrown on the Sims 4 Gallery/ @greatbritishsimchallenge on Tumblr.

(They're doing a really cool historical legacy challenge over there, by the way. I think the story is at the Stuarts but I found it while looking for historical cc and builds and got into it from the start. I just finished the Iron Age and I haven't read ahead, but I totally recommend it if you're itching for a legacy read with juicy drama and historical touches in short installments. But fair warning, it's a lot of death and war and famine, as historical gameplay tends to be!)

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