#and of course the observatory print had to go in the party barn

[victorluvsalice]

With photographic memories preserved, and Alice having used up her sparkler, I decided to have the gang decamp to the nearby karaoke bar, Planet Honey Pop! Smiler naturally arrived first (bat form being very useful again) and got themselves a nice Plasma Jane, with Alice following shortly behind -- but for some reason, I noticed whenever I switched to Alice, Smiler had this odd sort of glow on them, and Alice had an angry moodlet. Clicking on the moodlet finally revealed what had happened -- I’d had Alice use her new Enhanced Smell powers to try and sniff out any diggable goodies at the festival (no dice), and now she was reacting to Smiler’s vampire smell. And even with my Occult Preferences (by Spinning Plumbobs) mod ensuring that she likes vampires, she thought their smell was corpsey and icky. :( I guess it’s only natural she wouldn’t like dead body smell, but I never though that should apply to Sims 4 vampires, they don’t actually die. . .

Anyway -- the moodlet was VERY MUCH overriden by Alice’s general happiness and confidence, so it actually wasn’t a big deal (especially when Victor showed up and his rainbowy spellcaster scent took precedence XD). The gang hung out at the bar for a while, having drinks and chatting (though it took a while for Alice to get hers -- I had her order her “favorite drink,” but I don’t think she ever received it, so I eventually settled for a Fruity And Fizzy -- Victor had a root beer float, fyi), then Smiler and Alice went to watch some awful karaoke while Victor hit the men’s room and got to know the toilet a little bit. XD Smiler decided to show everybody how it was done and took the stage for a peppy pop song. There weren’t many people in the bar at that point to enjoy it, but Victor and Alice certainly did! :D

And then, finally, with the festival over and everyone a little on the tired side, it was time to head back home -- and start hanging up their new pictures! Alice found a spot in the living room for the new GeekCon snaps, while Smiler put Victor’s beautiful observatory print up in the party barn. :D Hey, look, I know the observatory is too big for its own good, and that having small telescopes in the game is great, but give me that it produces some gorgeous pictures!

[autolovecraft]

But he could be gained from the house, barn and sheds.

Then, when it was oddly soft. Then, when it was pouring out; and it was now the only person who ever visited the place from which the dark its luminosity was very inexplicable, for superstitious rustics will say and believe anything. He said he seen it in the spring. Ammi said, with a long pole must have brushed the coping and knocked in a healthy world. Nahum.

How clearly he recalled those dying words of his house by neighbors told on his wife consoled the stricken man as best they could not tell what it might not have told the men clustered round the window as she watched the swollen boughs of a fire; but they could not say; but it ain't no use, either, in part, though; and they gouged rather than chipped a specimen to take back to the laboratory as its predecessor. The veterinary shivered, and all three professors from Miskatonic University who hastened out the next morning to see something not quite right about that evil water Zenas never come back empty-handed, shrieking and waving his arms, and the distant Gardner place bagged a very peculiar specimen.

He said it was not more imaginative. It's somewhat from beyond had not faded with the ripening came sore disappointment, for the footprints and frightened horses—of course useless, and sending forth to the open meadows. There was too much silence in the end he could best be launched on his tales, I thought the evil must be Nahum's, the sense of doom and abnormality which far outraced any image their conscious minds could form. They were twitching morbidly and spasmodically, clawing in convulsive and epileptic madness at the bottom seemed inexplicably porous and bubbling, and his right forefinger began to undergo loathsome changes which no wind seemed ever to blow about. There could have made both boys jump into the Milky Way. At least one Boston daily also sent a scribe, and then Merwin’s screams were answered faintly from the lantern and pail for water, and the Poles have come and departed.

He said he was a thunderstorm, and sometimes let Ammi do their errands in town. I came upon it at the bottom of the notice his place, and Thaddeus nearly fainted at the bottom seemed inexplicably porous and bubbling, and nearly drowned its owner's faint quaver as he knew. What was it?

They could not fancy what for, since the strange days. For he had roamed all his life. When he was about. No one will ever know what was it? The Dutchman's breeches became a thing of sinister menace, and a rabbit had run away when they put it in the nasty brittle globule found embedded in the end of the baffling bands were precisely like those which the men from the yard, who first noticed the glow about the trees first begin to get very thick. Ammi thought that most of the standing democrat-wagon were unstirred. They were commencing to shine, too, seemed to be bad. It was really lucky for Ammi that he showed; relief at the same odd bands at first, though not for any sound which they could consciously name. At least one Boston daily also sent a scribe, and that wild things leave queer prints in the stone had entered the soil. They gouged deeply this time, and even such grass and leafage; but could not pass that well. The proportions of its body seemed slightly altered in a democrat-wagon were unstirred. The six men drove out in a way which could not be exact; and as the rambling voice scraped and whispered on I shivered again and again since Zenas was took where's Nabby, that of the normal spectrum there was not large, but stood there trembling at the police station, and the way it works ain't like no way o' God's world. He went much against his will, for an instant that very morning against the foetor they were far from the well I seen it time and again since Zenas was took where's Nabby, that ran straight where the blasted heath will slumber far below blue waters whose surface will mirror the sky. It is necessary to premise that there was a horrible brittleness, and foxes as they ate their meager and ill-cooked meals and did not accompany him.

All around the house, but this new glow was something definite and distinct, and upon tapping it appeared highly malleable, and for a moment the visitor was apprehensive of the tests the college in a mad cosmic frenzy, till it became common speech that something was wrong with all Nahum's folks. I vaguely wished some clouds would gather, for one thing; and Ammi, on one of his house the horses and buggy had not a present horror numbed him he must be this which keeps the foreigners away, and is jest a cloud of color like that light out there, it must be something which grandams had whispered to children through centuries.

Twilight had now most certainly shrunk, Nahum said, with squat, moss-coated cottages brooding eternally over old New England wood. As was natural, the darkness had been disputed in country gossip was disputable no longer, and Nahum declared it had come the runaway in the valley and the boys grew afraid of her, and seemed thoughtful when Mrs. Pierce remarked that the span of frantic grays had broken their sapling and run off with the greatest reluctance, and Nahum sadly saw that his entire crop was lost. There was once a road over the hills and through the stony soil of the great sweep, half-obscured by the entire case, and nearly drowned its owner's faint quaver as he now clearly saw was the last—said it was still hot, and removed to some wooden sheds and bee-hives near the archaic well-sweep in his ears. They walked and stumbled home by the great sweep, half-hour, but their going was scarcely noticed since there now seemed to me very odd and theatrical, and Nahum's place became a nightmare of buzzing and crawling. The next morning both chips and beaker were gone without trace, and upon tapping it appeared highly malleable, and Ammi, when he had taken on an expression which no one but Ammi laid a red checked tablecloth on the way it works ain't like no way o' God's world. Ammi advised his friend to dig another well on higher ground to use the tainted supply, drinking it as listlessly and mechanically as they paint thick woods whose mystery is as much of the skunk-cabbage had been suddenly choked off, being at school each day; but this gas obeyed the laws that are not of earth can pass through solid obstacles? No rural veterinary would approach his place had attracted, and the path, for one thing; and it burst with a bitter disappointment. The failure was total; so that nothing would do but that dignitary did no more. Just ooze and slime at the same strange ailment which had brushed past him—and the few that are not of our observatories. Aside from being almost plastic, having heard that he lived alone in the air.

All this the professors felt scarcely sure they had taken on an expression which no one but Ammi to look after his wife into fits of anxiety. He dared move neither backward nor forward, but he has never been able to move away?

There were also a small deer and a feeling of vague disquiet.

One of the colors had a sort of liquid splash—water—it must be this which keeps the foreigners away, and from a vapor glimpsed in the yard then, but only verbs and pronouns. When twilight came I had dreamed. They were the usual winter prints of red squirrels, white rabbits, and a large dog in about the deep skyey voids above had crept into my soul. It was just that.

It must be fed and tended, and he felt that age was beginning to tell people about the deep skyey voids above had crept a stealthy bitterness and sickishness, so Ammi had to wait trembling while pail after pail of rank water was phenomenally low. Even the flowers last spring the well. It must, I shall be glad, too, for the window as she was being drained of something that is all.

The pears and apples slowly ripened, and Nahum feared that the fragment was growing to phenomenal size and unwonted gloss, and nearly drowned its owner's faint quaver as he pointed out the next day.

Unfortunately such moments increased week by week, till soon the trembling party realized it would quickly spread. Ammi or his horse liked. He had seen something feebly rise, only God knows.

Often I had expected; but these are all vacant now, and once more, while at one moment a detached piece of the old one can still be found amidst the weeds of a fire; but having no love of wild gossip, for even the sober professors could not go. Then there was a crushed and apparently somewhat melted mass of iron which had killed the live-stock. The pears and apples slowly ripened, and a family had disappeared. Two in one feverish kaleidoscopic instant there burst forth a frantic shriek from the soil, but stood there trembling at the doom of the countryside. Meanwhile I hope the water—it must have stirred up something intangible. Certainly, however, restlessness was in a month, the darkness, the medical examiner admitted that there was not so long a job as they paused at his door, and Thaddeus nearly fainted at the fluid, and what was meant by that well-sweep was shining with the hideous thing shot vertically up toward the road.

As it was against Nature—and merciful Heaven!

Yet the outcome of a spacious valley; for no other name could fit such a phenomenon as the aerolite would be uncannily shriveled or compressed, and in response to an inquiring look Nahum said as he pointed out the next moment called swiftly to earth by the north road and the floor downstairs now sounded distinctly, and asked vague questions about the district. No doubt it is, only one who still remains, or face another time that gray blasted heath was to him, and nearly drowned its owner's faint quaver as he did enter he saw something dark in the crazy vegetation of the sky. It was really lucky for Ammi that he puzzled even at that hour of the rural tales are queer.

With an associative sense goaded to feverish heights, he said, with a bitter disappointment. He said he was anxious to be heard. Something was taken away—she was slightly luminous in the air?

[victorluvsalice]

Welcome to another episode of "I have decided to upgrade the Valicer farmhouse!" It's been a while since Victor, Alice, and Smiler's home got a refresh, and this particular one was prompted mainly by the following two facts:

A) Thanks to all their various side hustles (Victor selling the produce from his greenhouse and occasionally licensing songs, Alice writing books and selling paintings, and Smiler making SimsTube videos), plus the profits from their grocery store and Alice's brief career as an official Artist, the gang had LOADS of money to spend on new furniture and the like

B) My parents agreed as a birthday present to buy me 100 bucks worth of Sims 4 packs, and I spent a good chunk of that on them purchasing Horse Ranch and Home Chef Hustle, so I had some new Build/Buy items to play with!

So yeah -- figured it was time to upgrade some furniture and add some new fun stuff for the trio to use in their daily lives! Let's take it room by room:

Smiler’s Party Barn – This space was pretty much all about the furniture upgrades -- I updated the couch by the stairs to the most expensive and comfortable one (in of course the most wild swatch I could find – purplish-pink with zebra print details on the frame); changed out the chairs around the games table to more expensive and comfortable ones from that actually matched the puzzle table and were still just as colorful; and updated Smiler’s bar to a bigger one (it’s now a three-tiler, black with glowing yellow lights along the bottom -- aesthetic!) and got the most expensive and comfortable barstools to go along the front. Gotta make sure the guests are comfy! :D Even more importantly, though, I ended up changing around a bunch of the pictures and posters – the two sky prints the trio’s picked up from observatory visits are now behind the bar with a couple of space-themed posters; the DJ posters previously behind the bar are now above the ottomans on either side of the karaoke machine; a cute purple painting of a woman previously above the bar is now over the stairwell; and the big portraits of the Valicer wedding (Victor and Alice kissing and Victor and Smiler kissing) are now by the ping-pong table, in a collage with the two biggest pictures of the trio posing in their swimsuits on their honeymoon. :) But where did the other pictures of the wedding and honeymoon go? I’ll tell you shortly...

Cow Paddock – But first, let’s go outside and around to the back of the barn to Moory’s pen! Where, with the power of Horse Ranch, I added some patches of prairie grass and a proper water trough for our cow (moving the CC bucket fountain from "Cottage Garden Stuff" by @plumbobteasociety I was using to represent a source of water for Moory over to the corner of the pen for decoration purposes...though it occurs to me it might be nice to put in the chicken pen to pretend it’s now a drinking fountain and bath for the chickens). The water trough is probably just going to be for decoration (it’s intended for the horses that came with Horse Ranch and I’m not sure other animals can drink out of them), but the prairie grass actually serves a purpose – I know from seeing the option grayed out on the shed previously that you can refill a cow or llama’s feed with the stuff! So that’s cool. :) (And yes, I saw that option BEFORE I owned Horse Ranch, so, uh, great job Sims team.)

Living Room – I changed out the rug under the couch, coffee table, and TV stand for one of the new colorful Horse Ranch ones (doesn't it look cool?), and upgraded the couch and the two chairs in front of the fireplace into more expensive and comfortable models (though I made sure to keep the bright and wacky colors -- the Get Famous and Growing Together furniture have really good swatches in this regard, I'm pleased to report). Again, though, the big change was updating all the stuff on the walls -- mostly because I absolutely had to clean up all the photos around the house so I actually had room for NEW snaps. Plus I'd started looking at some of the photo collections and going “Do we really need this many pictures of you guys in front of your house at the family reunion?” XD I mean, I like them, but maybe some variety would be a good thing. And look a little less self-important. XD So what I did was remove the four-picture collage of the gang doing various poses in front of the house at the family reunion from one side of the TV, grabbed one medium-sized photo out of the set to keep, sold the rest (and the frame), and moved into its place the picture of everyone posing in front of the store that was upstairs by Smiler’s room previously. And THEN I moved the collage of photos of them on their honeymoon that was previously in the little notch next to the kitchen (which no longer exists as I made the kitchen bigger -- more on that later) over to the corner by the phonograph! So it’s right near the other big wedding collection. :) So THAT’S a little better!

Study – Mostly more picture rearranging in this room, though I did upgrade the chess set and chairs on the left wall to fancier versions – and discovered that the black and red chessboard also has black and red pieces, so I decided to go with that as a color theme. *shrug* If I can’t have white and red, I’ll go with black and red! Anyway, over the chess table, I stuck four of Victor and Alice's original Selvadoradan honeymoon snaps into one of the four-photo collage frame sets I unlocked, then arranged the remaining two photos on top of them in a way that made them look like part of the set (you can tell they're not because the frames aren't as thick, but still works). Then, over by Smiler's guitar, I got two more three-frame collage sets, put the photos from the trip to Granite Falls in those, and arranged them appropriately behind the rug, next to the window. The picture Alice painted of Smiler playing their guitar and the the one she painted of the Granite Falls ranger station sign then went up on the side wall next to the rug (because Victor has the picture Alice painted of him playing piano next to his piano, so I wanted Smiler's portrait to be next to THEIR instrument). After that, I moved the picture of Alice scratching herself that Victor did on the Valicer Honeymoon out of there and upstairs to the attic rec room (I couldn't bring myself to delete it, it amuses me too much XD), then moved the sketches and fancy light Alice unlocked from the Artist career over a little, into that space. Making room for a little photo collage of sorts next to her fancy easel -- the photo of her painting at their old house that Victor took on the top, one of the photos she took of Rory to become friends and get her to turn her into a werewolf on the bottom –

And one of those Moschino Stuff slideshow photo frames in the middle! Because I've been meaning to start using those for AGES now. This is where a bunch of the smaller photos went – I put all the little photos of the wedding from the party barn, one of my favorite little photos from the family reunion, a snap of them posing in front of the store, and a snap from their New Year’s Eve trio date into there and turned on the frame to display them as a slideshow, changing once per hour. :D So now I have a spot to keep tiny photos that I may like, but don’t have room for on the wall! Yay! :)

First Floor Hallway – Bunch of little changes here -- first up, I made the washer and dryer brighter colors (because why wouldn't I?) and put the MySim trophy of Yuki Alice found recently on top of them – turns out that WASN’T a duplicate after all! Nice! Then I got one of the three-photo-frame collage sets I unlocked with the family reunion, put the best three photos of the scenery around their honeymoon island in it (and sold the fourth, which was of a rainy miserable day anyway), and slapped the set up next to one of the windows beside the study. Wasn’t sure where else to put them, and they looked good there! And finally, I grabbed myself the egg-shaped decorative egg display shelf I downloaded from @somecreativecc (seriously, if you need displays, they are the place to go) and slapped it up where the previous hanging shelf with all the eggs had been (right by the entrance to the kitchen and the cats’ downstairs scratching post), moving all the eggs (with the help of “moveobjects on” to access all the slots) onto there! So now all ten eggs fit properly on those shelves, and there’s a dedicated space for the remaining two that need to be found, yay.

Downstairs Back Entrance/Mudroom – I had to move one of Alice’s paintings out of here into the kitchen, and rearrange the boots so they were along the wall next to the coat rack – reason being, the room is now smaller! And why is it smaller?