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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.3]

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The only exhibit the Villareals had left to visit at the Oasis Springs Botanical Gardens was completely underground.

What kind of plant exhibit does one build underground? Great question, I would love to show you.

Jacques led his children into a dimly lit stone room with a dirt floor and thorny vines crawling up the walls. Somber stone statues and morbid fauna dotted the main room, with a smaller room sitting along the back wall.

“Isn’t this exciting?” he announced. “I wonder what we’ll discover in here.��

Luna was excited to discover she still had cell reception underground.

Max was also excited to discover something – gravestones.

“Dead people,” he said, grinning. “Nice.”

Hugo, however, had possibly made the most exciting discovery of all.

Cake.

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [3.17]

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Wolfgang was acting even weirder than usual, and Luna was convinced he knew something about her mystery knight that he wasn't telling her.

And this mystery knight Luna had been texting was, like, definitely the love of her life, so this boy needed to start talking.

“Do you know who my knight is?” she asked. "Or are you pranking me?"

“N-no, I wouldn’t prank you,” he said, suddenly shifting uncomfortably. His eyes flitted to the side.

“I just don’t think you can really get to know someone over text,” he added hastily. “Maybe your Prince Charming isn’t as charming in real life as they are in your imagination.”

Luna narrowed her eyes at him, staring.

She couldn’t tell if he was actually trying to look out for her, or if he was hiding something.

His light gray eyes flitted back to meet hers. Gray eyes, she noted. Uncommon. And they were piercingly clear, or maybe it was the raccoon eye makeup that made them seem so.

A raccoon with gray eyes. A trash panda. With gray eyes.

“Well?” he said. “You never answered my question.”

“Question?” Luna suddenly snapped out of it. Good Watcher, how long had she been staring? He probably thought there was something wrong with her.

“Yeah, about hanging out with m–"

“I can’t,” she interrupted quickly. “It’s a violation of Paragon Pronunciamento #14.”

(But seriously, why would he ask her to hang out? Did he want to get beat up again? What was his plan here, exactly?)

“Pronuncia-what?”

“It states,” she explained as she walked away, her cheeks feeling warm for no apparent reason as she brushed past him, “that Paragons are only allowed to hang out with boys that are nice and cute. But you’re a Renegade, and Renegades are known for not being nice.”

“So you think I’m cute,” he said after her.

What!?

“I never said that!” she shouted back frantically in a shrill voice she didn’t recognize.

Watcher, what was going on? Why was she feeling flustered? She was a Paragon. Good thing she was already walking away.

Whatever. The boy was probably back to whatever he was doing before she got there.

Despite the kerfuffle at the end, Luna found herself walking home in a ridiculously happy mood.

She had accomplished two good deeds today – she’d set up two Misfits and apologized to a Renegade. She didn’t even get anything out of it, except for the confidence that she was a good person.

Too bad her brother didn’t agree.

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.1]

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“Do you smell that, offspring?”

Jacques said, sniffing the air outside the Oasis Spring Botanical Gardens.

“You mean the flowers?” said Luna, a dreamy look in her eyes.

“No,” he corrected. “The smell of dirt and decay. It’s a nice reminder that we'll all eventually be worm food. Now let’s get this Family Fun Day started!”

He ushered his reluctant children into the main building of the botanical gardens, Hugo trailing behind nervously.

“So, is the plan to burn down the botanical gardens…?” he asked his father. Typically, Villareal Family Fun Days involved arson of some kind.

“No, not this time, Hugo,” replied Jacques. “Because I am definitely not a criminal.” He said this part loudly enough for everyone at the gardens to hear.

Jacques lowered his voice again. “Enjoy the day like it’s your last, offspring… just remember, we’ll be visiting all the exhibits.”

And with that, the children peeled off to explore the gardens.

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Luna was looking for something.

She was looking for the most romantic spot in the botanical gardens, and she think found it.

She settled herself onto a loveseat in a cute little garden. Sigh. If only her crush, her mystery knight, were here to share it with her.

So she did the next best thing and texted them.

I have a confession, she wrote.

Is that so, princess? they texted back.

Yes. I have decided I would still date you even if you are ugly

Wow, that’s huge, they responded. Thanks, I’m so honored

Luna smiled to herself and typed back, You’re welcome 😘

They continued, They should throw a parade for you. Luna Villareal, Princess of the Paragons: Cares about more than just looks. And give you some kind of award for being NOT shallow

She paused.

Wait, you’re making fun of me, aren’t you

😉😉😘, they replied.

She giggled.

────────✦───────

Meanwhile, Hugo wanted to talk to Luna, but he had run into a problem. A chest-high, neatly trimmed problem.

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Credits: Botanical gardens by @mdianasims Romantic garden by @seabens-simbler

[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.4]

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It was cake.

A moist, decadent, fluffy slice of layered cake, dripping with rich chocolate ganache.

Hugo Villareal ran straight towards it. After having skipped both second breakfast and first lunch, he was ravenous.

He reached out in bliss, deciding that everything would finally be ok, once he stuck that delicious slice of cake into his mouth,

and the cake was right on his fingertips when he suddenly found himself swept off his feet,

and everything went dark.

Everything continued to be dark.

It kept being dark for a little longer.

And then suddenly it wasn’t dark anymore as Hugo came tumbling out of a slimy and dingy maw, regurgitated onto the ground like a gloopy hairball.

Hugo gulped for air.

Green goo dripped down his face.

He felt like he was coated in a layer of mucus, his entire body smelling like a mixture of barf and rancid milk.

Hugo shivered in disgust.

What just happened?

Above him, something unfurled and floated above his head.

Oh, would you look at that? The slice of cake was back!

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [3.1]

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It was finally the weekend at the Windenburg community pool, and it always started with a certain sound.

Flip.

Flop.

Flip.

Flop.

Flipflopflipflopflipflop.

Savvy poolgoers knew to get out of the way when they heard the march of the flip-flops, because it meant the Paragons were coming.

The Paragons descended in concert, perfect skin and teeth gleaming in their coordinated pink bathing suits.

Their entrance at the community pool was a power statement.

Normally, Luna would bask in the attention, but today she was daydreaming about someone: a mysterious knight she had recently met. Her little crush was still a secret from the Paragons, but she was sure they’d approve of her Prince Charming – once she figured out who was in that suit of armor.

The Paragons turned the corner and seated themselves at the front of the pool in perfect synchronicity. The Paragons were club royalty, and the pool was their kingdom.

But they were also benevolent, allowing Windenburg’s peasants to share the community pool even if they were less-than-perfect.

So, shall we take a tour of their kingdom?

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“On days that end in ‘y’, we wear pink.” - Paragons

Of course, at the head of the pool sit our favorite club in Windenburg, the Paragons. Popular, pink, and perfect, one does not simply admire the Paragons – one worships them.

“Hey, we’re not Partihaus *all* the time. Right now we’re just don’t-talk-to-us-we’re-hungover-haus.” - Partihaus

In the northeast corner sit Windenburg’s biggest party club, Partihaus. They throw the best ragers, and while they’re all hot messes, they typically don’t have beef with other clubs. (Their drama is mostly internal and probably due to the fact that they’ve all hooked up with each other at some point).

“So, would you rather fight 10 duck-sized llamas, or one llama-sized duck?” - Misfits

At the east side of the pool loiter the Misfits – townies who belong to obscure clubs, or worse, who don’t belong to any. These are the kids who bring their homework to the pool and then complain when their books get wet from people splashing near them.

Luna’s twin brother Hugo was regrettably a Misfit, but she still loved him. Not everyone’s jib is cut out to be a Paragon.

“I’m ugly and dumb and like to break things.” – a Renegade, probably

And finally, we have the Renegades. If the Paragons are perfect, then the Renegades are the exact opposite of perfect. They’re a group of no-good criminals who enjoy harassing people, breaking things, and vandalizing the city.

And the Renegades and Paragons hate each other.

So, I'm sure it'll be another peaceful, drama-free day at the Windenburg community pool...

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [3.19]

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While Luna and Hugo were upstairs fighting, their dad was in the basement.

Jacques Villareal was antsy.

The offspring were yelling, and he did not like the offspring yelling. Normally, their mother would deal with that, but she was dead.

What would a normal father do, scold them? Talk to them? Wrap their mouths with duct tape until it was time to go to school?

He hated nagging. He hated how his wife used to nag him. Please don’t make the children commit arson, she’d plead. They might get hurt. How obnoxious.

But he wouldn’t worry about them much longer, because he had a place to put his children where they would never bother him again.

He’d even built them a shelf, right next to his dead wife and above his dead father.

Soon, there would be no more annoying voices. Aside from the ones in his head, of course.

Back in the day when his family annoyed him, he would go to the Von Haunt Estate and play chess in his jingly-jangly knight suit. But, thanks to his infernal offspring, he was now banned from that cherished tourist destination. No longer could he cosplay as a chess-playing tin can to soothe his nerves.

Instead, he had to spend the entire day lounging in his enormous mansion, playing Jenga in his boxers, mixing cocktails in his man cave.

It was a tragedy.

Actually, this past weekend had been an exception – since his first attempts at murder were thwarted, he’d spent the entire weekend researching. However, it turned out the Willow Creek library did not contain any books on how to kill your children and make it look like an accident.

But Jacques was an alleged genius.

He’d figure it out.

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.2]

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Hugo really needed to talk to his sister Luna about life-or-death matters, but she was still mad at him and not talking to him.

He trudged around the Oasis Springs Botanical Gardens, looking for her. They had just gotten there, but he was already starting to feel peckish.

He passed by a row of hedges.

A row of neatly trimmed hedges.

In fact, several rows of neatly trimmed hedges arranged in a labyrinthine configuration.

Oh Watcher, no, not another hedge maze!

Memories of being trapped in the Von Haunt Estate hedge maze for hours came flooding back to him,

and he started sprinting as fast as he could.

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Max, however, hadn’t changed his opinion about gardens.

Boring.

He preferred the zoo. The last time they were there, he’d come this close to convincing a kid to climb into the gorilla enclosure before they had to move on to the next exhibit.

But there was no danger in the plants here. At their most heinous, they could give someone a bad case of hay fever.

Max sighed and sullenly followed his family into the next room, one that confused him because it was a desert exhibit and they were already in the desert.

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Hugo had calmed himself down and caught up to his father, because now his stomach was growling loudly.

“Dad, we’ve been walking around for hours,” he complained. “When are we gonna have lunch? I’m starving.”

Jacques’ eye twitched involuntarily. He hated nagging.

“Soon,” he replied, barely keeping his voice calm. “After we finish seeing the gardens.”

“Now follow me, offspring. The last exhibit is underground.”

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [3.16]

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It was a lovely Sunday afternoon, but also a lonely Sunday afternoon, and Luna found herself walking home alone.

Sadly, she was wrong about the identity of her crush, so her knight remained a mystery.

So when would she get to complete her own love story?

She stopped abruptly when she recognized a face behind some bushes.

It was a face she should not be talking to – Siobhan had made that very clear yesterday. But there was a twist of something in Luna’s stomach, something that compelled her to disobey.

“Hey!” she called to Wolfgang. “I wanna talk to you.”

The boy yelped and scrambled to his feet. “How did you know I’d be here??”

“I didn’t,” replied Luna, jogging over to him. “I just happened to walk by and– were you playing chess?”

Wolfgang blanched. “Pff, no! Chess is for nerds.”

He glanced to the side. “…I was jerking off in the bushes.”

“Ew,” said Luna. Wolfgang was acting weird again, like he was nervous or something.

“Look, I– I shouldn’t be talking to you, but about yesterday–” she stammered. “I– I didn’t–”

Wolfgang squinted at her, baffled, as she stumbled over her words. What on Earth was she mumbling about?

“At the pool, I shouldn’t’ve–” she stammered. “I never meant for you to get– I mean, the Paragons weren’t– it just got out of, like, hand, and you know–“

It suddenly dawned on him.

“Are you trying to apologize?” he said. “Because this is the worst apology I’ve ever received from a Paragon.”

It was the only apology he’d ever received from a Paragon, but that was beside the point.

Luna grimaced.

“I’m sorry, ok??” she blurted out. “It’s my fault you got hurt and I’m sorry.”

This was unprecedented for a Paragon. Paragons weren’t supposed to apologize to anyone, because they weren’t supposed to make mistakes (this was Paragon Pronunciamento #5).

Luna would have to keep this a secret.

He chuckled, and she almost balked. Now he was laughing at her apology?

“You’re not the one who should be apologizing,” he said. “It’s not your fault the Paragons are dicks.”

Luna started, surprised.

“Don’t sweat it, Luna, I’m fine,” he said. “Honestly, your face when they started talking about trauma-healing crystals made it all worth it.”

“Right, well. That’s squared away then.” Luna wasn’t sure what else to say, so she started to scoot back. Her stomach was feeling kinda funny.

“So,” he said quickly, as if he had noticed that she was about to walk away. “Any updates on your mystery knight?”

Luna frowned.

“Not exactly, but we’re doing great,” she said warily. “I’ll figure out who my Prince Charming is eventually and then we’ll have a romantic happily ever after.”

Wolfgang suddenly smirked, as if a mischievous thought crossed his mind. “How about you ditch your loser knight and hang out with me instead?”

A Paragon hanging out with a Renegade?? The audacity of it! That kind of talk would get him beaten up again!

“They’re not a loser,” she deflected. “And you forget that my knight and I share a beautiful, perfect connection that you wouldn’t–”

Luna suddenly froze. Why did Wolfgang have so much to say about her knight?

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.5]

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It was cake again.

Hugo Villareal was just about to get up and reach for the slice of cake again when a voice interrupted him from behind.

“Hugo, what are you doing?” Luna hissed at him. “Get out of there!”

“What?” said Hugo, still disoriented. He blinked. “…are you talking to me again?”

Recently, Hugo had yelled at Luna and cussed her out for what he thought were very valid reasons.

“Yes,” said Luna. “I mean, no, I’m still mad at you. But, like, I obviously don’t want you to get hurt.”

“What?” Hugo repeated.

“The cowplant, Hugo. Those things are deadly,” she said, leading away her discombobulated brother. “You should know better than to approach a cowplant.”

“But… there was cake,” he replied, feebly gesturing behind him.

Luna slowly shook her head at him and walked away.

As she left, Hugo suddenly had the unpleasant sensation that someone was glaring at him.

“Uh, Dad?” he said. “You ok?”

“I’m fantastic!” Jacques started yelling for no reason. “You’re still alive, so everything’s fantastic!”

“Then why are you yelling at me??” Hugo replied, bewildered, but Jacques ignored him.

“That’s it!” he roared. “Family Fun Day is over!”

Jacques stormed out, shouting behind him, “Offspring, we’re going home!”

Luna turned to follow him without much thought. She didn’t really care where she was, as long as she had her cell phone with her.

Hugo shuddered as he trudged out next, still reeking of vomit and spoiled milk with a hint of chocolate.

He would have to add cowplants to his growing list of fears, which also included hedge mazes and pools. Hugo was collecting phobias like they were collectible trading cards.

Little Max was the only one upset to be leaving.

“Aww,” he said. “Family Fun Day always ends too early.”

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But don’t you worry for little Max.

Jacques had done his research and was still full of inspiration for Family Fun Days.

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [3.15]

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Luna had just abandoned her brother Hugo in a coffeeshop with a girl that he'd barely ever talked to before.

How could Luna do this to him? Trick him into socializing like this?

Typically, Hugo liked to spend his time alone and saw no reason for that to ch–

Yuki suddenly glanced up shyly, her eyes as wide as a doe’s, her cheeks turning scarlet when she met his eyes.

“Hi,” she said.

Hugo started.

Then, just as quickly, she looked back down and began hiccuping violently.

“Hi,” he replied, barely managing to slip the word in between hiccups.

She suddenly blurted out, “Sorry about the – hic – hiccuping, I can’t control it – hic – when I get nervous…” Her voice trailed off. “And sorry – hic – about – hic – stalking you at the – hic – Von Haunt Estate.”

“Oh!” Hugo’s eyes suddenly widened. “Were you the knight chasing me around the hedge maze?”

“I’m sorry – hic,” she said. “You looked so – hic – lost, I just wanted to help…”

So Yuki was the knight in the hedge maze with him, huh.

Hugo felt himself dissociate for a brief moment. He was remembering being trapped in the hedge maze all night, convinced he would starve to death in there.

“I dragged you out when you fainted,” she explained, and that snapped him back. Ah, that explained how he woke up on a bench outside the estate the next day.

“Well, you saved my life,” said Hugo. “So thank you.”

Yuki gave a small smile at the table and hiccuped.

They fell into silence as neither could think of anything to say. Well, not quite silence. Yuki was still hiccuping uncontrollably.

“Ok, so…” Hugo racked his brain for conversation starters. He really was not good at this sort of stuff, but he was kinda hoping she would look at him again.

“Do you like cooking?” he asked.

“No,” she said, then hiccuped.

“Oh.”

“Uh…” Hugo hesitated, about to exhaust his list of conversation topics. “Do you wanna trade Voidcritters?”

Yuki looked straight at him,

and lit up like a beacon. “Yeah!”

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While Hugo and Yuki found themselves knee-deep in an animated trade negotiation concerning Hugo’s Dicoatl, Luna was sauntering home – and that’s when she spotted a familiar crop of hair on the other side of some bushes.

What was the boy doing?

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [2.3]

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The Villareal children were in for a treat they didn’t want.

They arrived home from school, already feeling collectively below-average. Hugo staggered in like a zombie, having barely slept. Luna kept checking her phone and sulking because a certain someone wasn’t texting her. And Max – actually, Max felt ok. Maybe a little bored.

But none were in the mood for another attempted Family Fun Day, even though their father had spent the entire day preparing for it.

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While the children were at school, Jacques Villareal had taken the day off from doing nothing to redo the pool.

"There, much better."

“Come, offspring!” He called out to his children, cackling to himself. “I remodeled the pool. Let’s have a Family Fun Day pool party!”

“You remodeled the pool?” said Hugo. “It doesn’t look any different to me.”

“Well, it is,” said Jacques. “Now get in.”

Meanwhile, Luna was still anxiously checking her phone,

but there were no new messages. Anguish welled in her chest.

You ok? she typed woefully. Did I do something wrong? What’s going on? I miss talking to you.

There had been no response all day from her mystery knight about why they never showed up to their rendezvous, but maybe this 127th text in a row would finally do the trick.

She put her phone back and resisted the urge to pull it out immediately again. After all, she didn’t want to come off as desperate.

“Do we have to go swimming right now, Dad?”

Hugo threw up his hands in exasperation. “I’m so tired. I slept like two hours on a bench outside the Von Haunt Estate because you forgot about me and left me there yesterday.”

His father rolled his eyes. “Of course I didn’t forget about you, Hugo. I ignored your calls on purpose. Now quit complaining and. Get. In.”

Hugo groaned. Fine. He was too tired to argue. He teetered from exhaustion as he headed towards the diving platform.

Jacques turned around and set up a chair at the edge of the pool. “You kids go first. I’ll join later.”

The kids changed into their bathing suits and lined up. Hugo was first.

“You’re doing swell, Hugo,” said Jacques in a rare moment of paternal encouragement. “Luna, you’re next!”

“Ugh, whatever, Dad.” She didn’t care about anything anymore.

Little Max was last to cannonball in, and he was the only one who was having fun. Besides Jacques, that is. Jacques was still chuckling to himself, watching his children swim in circles.

Hugo’s arms started to feel very heavy, as did his eyelids. He relaxed his muscles, his head lolling for a moment, just a moment, and rested his eyes for a moment, just a moment, when

his eyes suddenly snapped back open.

Whoa! Almost fell asleep there, big guy. It was definitely nap time for him, one way or another.

Hugo swam to the edge of the pool and grasped the ledge to pull himself out.

“What are you doing?” asked Jacques, shocked.

“I’m going to bed,” said Hugo. “I’m so tired–"

“No, I mean, how did you get out of the pool?”

“… by pulling myself out over the ledge? Look Dad, I just really wanna sleep–"

But Hugo didn’t get a chance to finish, because Jacques suddenly broke into a scowl and stood up furiously, slamming his chair into the ground, mumbling under his breath.

“Guess they don’t make pools like they used to.”

And Jacques stormed off into the house, livid, leaving behind his three bewildered kids.

Hugo was baffled. What was up with Dad? He had gone real quick from being excited about the pool to having a full-blown conniption.

“Aw, does this mean Family Fun Day is canceled again?” said Max behind him, disappointed.

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [2.1]

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In the early morning before all the tourists arrive, the Von Haunt Estate is especially palatial and romantic. But it did not feel so romantic for Luna, who found herself standing outside, alone.

She checked her phone.

Luna and her mystery knight had texted until late in the night, and this morning, she’d suggested they meet up at the Von Haunt Estate before school.

But they hadn’t replied to her text. It was still early, so maybe they hadn’t seen it yet?

She sighed.

Luna anxiously checked her phone again, when she heard footsteps behind her.

She raised her head, grinning, as a voice said,

"Hey."

She screamed.

“What? WHAT!?” The boy also yelled, eyes wide and fearful. “Is it a ghost?!”

“No,” said Luna, catching her breath and narrowing her eyes. “It’s something scarier than a ghost. It’s a Renegade.”

She’d heard of this boy, well, of his reputation. Wolfgang was a member of Windenburg’s notorious gang of thugs called the Renegades. They were a mean club, always going around the town, menacing the townspeople, vandalizing their landmarks… and they happened to be her club’s biggest enemy.

The boy’s eyes flitted to meet hers, and she realized she’d been staring at him a second too long.

“Very funny,” he said. For some reason, he seemed nervous, which was odd given his reputation as a juvenile delinquent. “What are you doing?”

Luna cleared her throat and quickly looked away. “Not that it concerns you, but I’m waiting for someone – a gallant, chivalrous knight. Like, the exact opposite of a Renegade.” She checked her phone again. “What are you doing here?”

“This is on my way to school,” he explained. “And I could totally be your knight,” he added defensively.

Luna glanced up at him again.

He glared back at her from pools of dark eye makeup. A scowl was fixed on his face, as if someone were permanently holding a rotting fish under his nose. Luna couldn’t think of anyone who looked more like a criminal than Wolfgang Munch.

There was nothing gallant or chivalrous about the boy, she decided. He was a Renegade.

“Leave me alone,” she said. “Like I said, I’m waiting for someone.”

He suddenly made a weird choking noise that he tried to disguise as a cough.

But Luna was already done talking to him. She turned away, craning her neck to watch the people walking by the estate.

“Fine. Whatever,” said Wolfgang, leaving.

Luna waited as long as she could without being late for school, constantly checking her phone, but her mystery knight never showed up.

Hey, is everything ok? she texted the knight. I waited at the Von Haunt Estate all morning but you never showed up.

But she got no response.

Her heart sank as she finally trudged to class, alone. Why didn’t her mystery knight show up? Did they not like her anymore?

But aside from Luna and her broken heart, there was one other Villareal child present at the Von Haunt Estate in the early morning.

In fact, Hugo Villareal never made it out of the estate…

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [1.4]

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Night had fallen on the Von Haunt Estate, and Lord Bernard had just come upon an extremely unsettling scene.

“You!” gasped the ghost of Bernard. “What are you— Unhand my portrait, you rampallian! Get down from there this instant!”

Max hastily let go of Bernard’s portrait and climbed down.

“Shut up, old man!” he yelled, but it was too late. Bernard knew exactly what Max was trying to do.

“You were going to burn my portrait, weren’t you?” He blew up at the child. “That’s it! I’m calling your father! And yes—I know who you are! I checked the museum registration!”

“You wouldn’t. You’re bluffing.” Max scrunched up his face with as much animosity as a child could muster.

But Bernard wasn’t bluffing.

Jacques Villareal was contacted and immediately summoned. Bernard explained that he had caught Max trying to burn his portrait, and Jacques shook his head in disappointment.

“I can’t believe you’ve done this,” said his father in a low, disgusted voice. “You’ve ruined everything.”

It was true. Jacques had to abandon his own plans of setting fire to this cherished tourist destination. He would now look suspicious if the Von Haunt Estate burnt down, now that Max was caught attempting the same thing.

Plum. This heist would’ve been his greatest moneymaker, if only his damn kid hadn’t ruined it. It was time to kiss his dreams of early retirement goodbye.

Meanwhile, Max was glaring at his father, studying his face,

when he suddenly wrung his hands.

“I’m so sorry, Dad. It won’t happen again. I promise I’ll never get caught again.”

Jacques sighed.

“Fine,” he said. “We’ve learned our lesson. Next time, this won’t happen.”

“Of course, Dad,” said Max. His mouth twitched for a brief second.

“Hold on,” said a voice behind them. “There’s not going to be a next time for either of you.”

“What?” Jacques whirled around.

“You’re banned from the estate,” said Bernard.

“But just my son, right?” said Jacques, panicking. This was his favorite establishment! “I can still come here to cosplay and play chess, right?”

“No. Both of you are banned. Permanently.” Bernard was adamant.

Jacques froze, then flared, pulling himself up to his full height.

“Do you even know who I am and what I’m capable of?”

Bernard raised his eyebrows. “Are you trying to threaten an immortal 120-year-old ghost infamous for his foul temper?”

Jacques bared his teeth. “I’ll make you regret this, phantom.”

“You don’t scare me, fopdoodle.” Bernard smiled. “I’ll show you scary.”

The ghost lunged forward, eyes wild, spittle flying out of his mouth.

“I will not allow you or your hell-born babe to defile these premises and potentially endanger others here ever again! You are hereby permanently banned from this cherished tourist destination!”

Jacques recoiled and stayed quiet.

Max watched the ghost in awe. Bernard was a formidable foe, indeed. It was now Max: 1, Bernard: 1, but Max knew this was far from over.

Meanwhile, Jacques couldn’t believe what had just happened. As he stood there, cowed by a ghost and banned from his favorite establishment because of his kid, he realized something.

His children were a liability.

As long as his kids existed, he would never achieve true happiness. A heinous thought crossed his heinous mind for the second time tonight.

Jacques knew exactly what he had to do.

───────────────✦───────────────

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [1.2]

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The Von Haunt Estate is a wonderful tourist destination for families, and Jacques couldn’t be happier to finally be away from his.

With his annoying kids out of the way until their secret meeting tonight, Jacques could get back to his second-favorite hobby:

Playing chess,

-while in cosplay. And, miraculously, he wasn’t the only Sim in Windenburg with this hobby. There was a whole club devoted to it.

The suit was stifling hot, you could barely breathe in it, and it was very hard to see the chess pieces, but Jacques loved it nonetheless. And, it was more socially acceptable than his other favorite hobby, murder.

Tonight, Jacques would have to work (they say evil never sleeps, and neither do level 9 criminals in the criminal career), but for now, he had the whole afternoon to play chess in his clinkity-clankity suit of armor.

───────────────✦───────────────

Meanwhile, Luna and Lady Mimsy were getting along like peanut butter and jelly.

She was just teaching the ghost how to slide into someone’s DMs when a voice startled them.

“Ghost!” shouted the voice, muffled by the suit of armor. “Go away, ghost! You leave her alone!”

Luna burst out laughing. “Relax! Mimsy’s, like, not even a little scary. And we’re besties, actually.”

“…besties?” said Mimsy.

“It means we’re BFFLs,” explained Luna.

“…biffles?”

The figure in the suit stiffened. “Well, I uh, thought you were maybe in trouble. Do you always laugh at people trying to help you?”

“Only when they’re wearing costumes from a Halloween store,” she retorted. “But thanks for the noble gesture.”

“Hey now, this is custom-tailored plate armor.” Was it just Luna or did this knight sound cheeky?

“Okay, nerd.”

“Yo, I am not a nerd. You’re the nerd.”

“Said the person wearing a custom-made knight outfit.” Her mouth twitched with a smile. Two could be cheeky.

She searched the face of the suit for a reaction, but couldn’t see anything behind the visor. She could swear the knight wasn’t taking their eyes off her, though.

Behind her, Luna heard Mimsy suppress a giggle. “Well, I must attend to some ghostly business, bestie. Have fun with your knight in shining armor!”

“Wait, I’m not looking for like, a savior or anything,” she said, but Mimsy had already floated away. Luna placed a hand on her hip.

The knight tutted, shaking their head. “And here I thought you were just a nice, boring girl.”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m just saying, you’re not what I expected. I didn’t know a pretty, popular girl like you could be so savage.”

“Well, I’m full of surprises,” said Luna with another coy smile. She didn’t know who was in this knight suit, but they certainly had her attention. And it didn’t escape her notice that they had called her pretty.

───────────────✦───────────────

“Hey Mister.”

Max had found his own ghost to talk to, a translucent figure standing at an easel.

The ghost of Lord Bernard turned, tensing as he saw Max. “Yes, child?” he said.

“Is that your art?” said Max, pointing at the piece on the easel.

The ghost raised his eyebrows, but then puffed his chest up proudly. “Why yes, it’s only half-finished, but-"

“I now see why you killed yourself.”

Bernard stood frozen in shock for a brief second, then descended upon the child like a raging tempest.

“Listen here, you little ratbag,” he spat. “It was an accident.”

“Yeah, right,” said Max.

“The fire was never supposed to spread-“

“The painting you threw into the fireplace was waaay too big to fit in there and you knew it. Of course you knew the fire would spread.”

Bernard spluttered in shock.

“Ooh, burn!” said Max. “Literally! Haha!”

And the more Bernard quivered with rage, the more Max grinned.

───────────────✦───────────────

Just past the seething ghost, over the railing and below the walkway, lay a vast collection of hedges, and within those hedges, a certain teenager was lost.

Hugo checked his Voidcritter Go! app on his phone.

“Let’s see, this is where I found the Dicoatl, which means I want to turn right to get out of here – wait, there’s no right-"

The sky was darkening, Hugo’s stomach was growling, and he was pretty sure he’d passed this spot of hedges before. And he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched.

“Oh plum,” he said to himself, getting worried. “I gotta get to Dad’s Family Fun Day, but I’m all mixed up now…”

───────────────✦───────────────

Luna was still with the knight who had “saved” her from Mimsy’s ghost. Somehow, the entire afternoon had slipped away while they were talking.

“So, why were you so aggressive towards Mimsy? Are you afraid of ghosts or something?”

“No!” said the knight quickly. “And I’m not aggressive. I’m tough. I don’t want anybody messing with people I care about.”

“So you saw me and decided you cared about me? That’s why you were acting tough?”

“No,” said the knight, a little too quickly again. “You know, just because you act like a princess doesn’t mean every knight is fawning over you.”

Luna paused, frowning for a brief moment, before slyly raising a finger to the knight’s helmet.

“So, who is my tough knight in shining armor who doesn’t care about me?” she said, slowly lifting their visor,

but the knight stepped back before she could reveal their face. “H-hey! Hands off the suit, princess,” they stammered.

Luna doubled over giggling. “You said you didn’t care about me, but suddenly you’re too shy to show me your face?” She straightened back up, still giggling, and handed the knight something.

“Here,” she said. “Because I like you even though you’re shy.”

“Uh, what?” The knight stood there, flustered, holding Luna’s phone.

“I’m asking for your number, genius. It’s almost nightfall and I have to go.”

“Oh!” If the knight was blushing, Luna couldn’t tell. They struggled to enter their number on her phone with their clunky metal fingers, finally handing it back after several painstaking minutes.

“There you go. Don’t text me anything too savage, princess. Or do.”

Luna wondered if the knight was smiling.

She giggled. “Goodbye, my knight in shining armor.” Luna blew them a kiss, betting it would send them weak in the knees,

and she was right.

“Bye, princess…”

Luna sauntered away, butterflies tingling in her stomach.

As she walked off into the sunset, she could barely concentrate on her Family Fun Day obligations. All she could think about was her mysterious knight in shining armor.

───────────────✦───────────────

While Luna was making friends, Max was making enemies.

It was official now: The ghost of Lord Bernard Escargot Shallot IV was afraid of a 10-year-old.

When the sun started to set, Max finally walked away from his new enemy, triumphant.

It was Max: 1, Bernard: 0.

───────────────✦───────────────

But the day wasn’t over yet, and Jacques was waiting for his children. The real work of Family Fun Day was just about to begin.

───────────────✦───────────────

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [3.11]

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Luna was surprised how calm and quiet the Windenburg community pool suddenly was, considering a fight had just broken out in its basement.

When Luna got back upstairs, the Paragons were waiting for her.

Ugh. Ok. Time to deal with them.

Luna approached hesitantly,

but Siobhan pulled her into a tight hug. "It’s ok, Luna. It’s over now."

"Look, Siobhan,” said Luna, trying to pull away, but Siobhan was still hugging her. “I think we went too far and–"

Siobhan pushed her out to arm’s length and held her there. “Luna, listen. He’s a criminal Renegade and you don’t deserve to deal with him. He’s had this coming for a while now. Today was just the tipping point.”

Did Wolfgang deserve to get beaten up for something he didn't do? Luna thought this, but stayed silent.

Siobhan looked at her intently, then leaned in to add, “Luna, if he ever tries anything, call for us and we’ll come protect you. You are a Paragon and You. Don’t. Deal. With. Criminals. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Paragons were royalty. Paragons were perfect. Paragons were right. You didn’t disagree with Paragons.

“Yeah. Understood.” Luna nodded meekly.

“Good,” said Siobhan, letting her go. “That’s settled.”

"–didn’t stand a chance,” Sergio was saying. “I basically knocked him out with a single punch in seconds–"

And Luna tried to smile – the Paragons were victorious after all – but all she felt was a simmering desire to throw up those six chimichangas all over the Paragons.

────────✦───────

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [3.9]

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Wolfgang was descending to the pool showers when he spotted someone waiting in the hallway.

Sergio turned with a glower, torso gleaming under the fluorescent lights, shorts radiating pink.

“There you are.”

Wolfgang sniffed and pretended to ignore him, strolling in undaunted, but Sergio stepped in front of him to block his way to the bathroom.

“What the plum, dude,” scoffed Wolfgang. “What bee got into your pretty pink bonnet?”

“You need to stay away from us,” warned Sergio in a low voice. “Leave the Paragons alone. Leave Luna alone.”

“I didn’t do anything,” retorted Wolfgang. “You leave me alone.”

“Didn’t do anything? Bull!” Sergio flared. “We’ve had it with your Renegade pranks.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Wolfgang, not even trying to lie convincingly.

Sergio took a step forward, all the muscles in his upper body twitching with rage. “You’re always sneaking into our clubhouse while we’re trying on outfits–“

“–riiight, ‘trying on outfits’ is what you were doing–“

“–putting Nair in our shampoo – Siobhan still has a bald spot on her right side–“

“–heh, that was Ulrike’s idea–“

“–but attacking one of our own? That’s the last straw.”

Wolfgang frowned. “Ok, that one’s not true.”

Sergio stepped forward, seething, so close that Wolfgang could feel him breathing down his face.

“You know, they should really be cleaning the scum out of the pool.”

“Whatcha you gonna do about it, pretty boy?” Wolfgang sneered back. “I bet your guns are fake like the rest of you.”

────────✦───────

By the time Luna arrived, she was too late.

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