happy new year, 2088!

Happy New Year, 2088! Vicky Garth is 23, Vale Akiyama is 27. Shaina Halston is 29, Asher is 27, Poppy Grimes is 25.

previously: sweeties got sick // Melissa met Hudson // who are Asher and Poppy?

The performer’s lounge at the Subterranean Flare was calm, while a frenzy of party goers gathered downstairs. In twenty minutes, Vale would go on stage to begin his New Year’s Eve show, and he wouldn’t finish until long after midnight. “But hang around close by at midnight,” he asked Vicky, “and I’ll try to sneak you a kiss.”

A consolation prize, she thought. Vicky had a VIP ticket to the hottest party of the night. Shame she wouldn’t get to spend it with her boyfriend.

“It better be a great kiss,” she said. 

While she and Vale would technically be in the same room together, Vicky was preparing herself to spend the evening alone. She had hoped that April and Beau might come out, but they couldn’t make the trip happen on such short notice. Tyler and Maya might show up, they said, but Vicky wasn’t great friends with them either. George and Blossom, Blair and Amy, Vale’s parents, her old roommate, her plants, everybody she knew was back out east. The only other person Vicky knew in this entire half of the country was Summer-fucking-Phoenix. Suddenly, Vicky felt very alone out here.

“You won’t be alone,” he said. “You can hang out with Asher and Poppy and Shaina.”

“But I don’t know them,” she said. 

“In a few minutes, you will.”

Vale invited them up to the lounge to meet her, and Vicky was already sure they were going to hate her. She kept putting off this inevitable meeting, because from what she’s heard of them already, how wealthy and cultured and fashionable they were, she knew she’d have nothing in common with them. They’ve known each other for almost two decades, give or take. How would she ever fit into all that?

“I just know they’re going to hate me,” she pleaded with him. “Nobody ever likes me. I’m not a squishy and bubbly person. I’m not likable.”


“Then why do I like you so much?”

Which charmed the nerves right out of her. For a minute, at least. But good question, to be honest. She wondered why he liked her all the time, and she wondered at what point he would realize he had made a terrible mistake and make his apologies and quickly exit before it was too late.

“I don’t know why you like me. I’ve had two friends my entire life, and you’re one of them. April is the other. You guys are crazy, I guess.”

“Well, maybe they’re crazy, too, because I’m not squishy and bubbly either, and they like me. Let’s give it a shot.”


A knock on the door, and Vale buzzed them in. They were sparkling and tailored in designer party-wear, looking her up and down with curiosity and surprise. She wasn’t what they expected, maybe? Was that a good thing or a bad thing? 

“Oh, gosh, Vale, isn’t she’s darling,” the girl in the blue dress said, like Vicky was a little toy poodle. Vicky disliked her immediately. 

Vale introduced them. “This is my buddy, Asher. In the middle is his girlfriend, Poppy. And then his sister, Shaina.”

Vicky lifted her hand and waved an awkward hello. 

But Vale had to go. She felt a small panic set in, like she’d been thrown into a pack of wolves. Maybe there was still time to catch a train back to the garden center and hang out with the plants to ring in the new year? 

“You have fun, okay?”

He didn’t say it like an order. It was more like an apology, like he hoped he didn’t just set her up to have the most miserable night of her life. He gave her a kiss and went down to start his show.


The New Year’s Eve crowd was dressed and dancing. Lots of couples. Lots of friends. Vicky felt a terrible pang of jealousy and missed her best friend. April always brought Vicky out of her shell, meanwhile Vicky tried to keep April out of trouble. They would have had the best time at an event like this. 

But Vicky gathered up some resolve and made a vow not to sulk. She took a comfy seat on the sidelines with something strong to drink. She could just about see Vale’s head in between the bobbing bodies. She could see Poppy better, even as a big crowd circled around her. Vicky had never known a professional dancer before, and her whirlwind moves and tight little body in a tight little dress made Vicky feel prickly. Well, she never knew a DJ before Vale, either, and now she was meeting all kinds of people. 

This wasn’t her scene, but she found it all intriguing, loud and vivid and pumped. 

“Hey,” Shaina said. “You’re not a dancer either?”

“Not until I’ve had four or five of these,” Vicky said. “Then maybe.”

“Ha, my kind of girl. May I?” Shaina pointed at the empty seat across from her.

“Yeah, please,” Vicky said.


“Wow, does she always dance like that?”

“Poppy? Yes, indeed. She’s clamoring to be noticed, like any of them are.”

Vicky watched Vale play, whenever she could get a peek of him, in awe, the center of all this movement and light and sound. He looked energetic, so sure of his work, all those buttons and sounds, in complete control of all this energy. He was commanding, and it was quite hot to witness. Some girls were swooning in the front of the crowd. That’s my boyfriend, Vicky thought, feeling a mixture of smugness and disbelief. That’s my boyfriend? Yes, indeed, he was. He insisted upon it, for whatever reason he did. Maybe someday she’d get used to it.

Shaina noticed and offered a knowing smile. “Him, too. But he’s finally got it, I think. He’s wanted to be famous since he was a kid.”


“I’ve seen him play before, but not like this,” Vicky said. “It was a much quieter scene.”

“He loves the big crowds,” Shaina said. “It feeds him.”

“Yeah, it does. Doesn’t it?” Vicky wondered what secrets Shaina must know about him, his childhood best friend’s big sister, having known him that way for seventeen years. Vicky felt threatened by it, but also not. As it turned out, Shaina seemed genuine.

“Well, I don’t think I could ever do all that,” Vicky said.

“He said you wrote a song?”


“Oh, god, more like a poem with a tune. But he wrote some music for it and now I guess it’s a song.”

“Just do your own thing,” Shaina said. “Some of us aren’t center stage types.”

“You play music, too?”

“No, I’m a writer and director.”

“Oh, the vampire movie? He told me about that. The one with Summer Phoenix.” Vicky laughed. Then she quickly stopped laughing, worrying that Shaina would take offense. That wasn’t how she meant it. “No, I mean, I’m sure it’s an awesome movie, but I went to high school with Summer. We weren’t exactly friends.”

“Kind of a diva, isn’t she? Totally absorbed in her own glow?”

Vicky nodded enthusiastically. “Wow, yeah, that’s Summer. I guess some things never change.”


“To the wallflowers,” Shaina said, raising her glass for a toast, and Vicky raised her glass, too.

She hoped Vale wasn’t too worried about her out here. It turned out that at least one of his friends wasn’t so bad. It was a start.

—

Elsewhere in the club, Melissa and Hudson were having their second date.


It was going well enough.


Poppy was still dancing up a storm.


Carlos is making eyes at a woman who is not his wife. His wife is here, somewhere, by the way.

Still, Poppy. You might begin to wonder whether this was Vale’s show, or hers?

Tyler and Maya did show up, after all.



Scott and Leigh Turner. 


Sarah and Raquel.


Most of the SNU crew, minus Fiona because they “accidentally” forgot to invite her. From the left: Andre, Calvin, Raquel, Sarah, Melissa.

Not to assume Andre and Selena are on the rocks by her absence here. She’s just working elsewhere tonight, like any lowly culinary employee who never gets a New Year’s Eve off. 


Cousins. Both looking more and more like Lucy the older they get. 


Melissa with her date. He’s so polite, she can hardly stand it. 

No, truly, she can’t stand it. What more can a girl do to get a guy to have his wicked way with her already for crying out loud!


Leigh tries to pick a dance battle with Poppy, which Poppy would be happy to oblige, but Leigh is twenty years her senior and three sheets to the wind. 

“You think you’re hot stuff, don’t you? But I was a disco queen when you were still in diapers, little missy!” 

Thankfully, Scott gets her to back down from an all-out war before she puts her back out or something.



Poppy and Asher, who refused to take a decent romantic picture together tonight, so went with a quickie default.

—

The crowd only grew as the night went on, and everyone loved the music. Everyone also had much more fun dancing once Poppy left center stage. Who wants to feel like an uncoordinated klutz next to a prima donna like that?  

Finally, Vicky and Shaina made it out onto the dance floor after a few drinks. They could hardly get close to the stage through the crowd.



It feeds him, Shaina had said. And that was so true. Vale shined from the center of this crowd of collective energy, the energy his music created, the energy of so much movement and adrenaline and euphoria. Vicky understood it now. She was a piece of it all, sharing him with all these others. He was the center of everything that was pulsing and alive here. But he was also so unreachable. Even to her. 

She was happy for him. 

She was proud of him. 

She was also just the tiniest bit sad.  

Count down. Burst of confetti. Happy New Year, 2088!


As everyone else rang in the new year, distracted with their own hugs and kisses, Vale played a stock prerecorded “Auld Lang Syne” and pulled Vicky up from the crowd for her kiss.


She wished it could last longer, but it was a kiss worth waiting for.


He played for another half hour after midnight to wind everyone down before the stereo system took over, but that wasn’t quite where his night ended. For the first time, to his surprise and delight, he drew a crowd.

Vicky snapped a picture and sent it to their friends and family group chat, with commentary: “In this exhibit, you will find a wild playboy in his native habitat, surrounded by a posse of drooling new fans. Notice how his head is growing larger and larger by the second.”



There were more fans, more pictures, more autographs.

Finally, the man of the hour was just her man again.

“Holy shit, did you see everybody? Did you see that crowd? That was the best show ever! Did you guys have fun? Did you dance?”

I missed you, Vicky didn’t say. He was riding so high right now, and she didn’t want to be a buzz kill. His excitement was starting to brighten her up. Being in his arms again brightened her up, too.

“Yeah, I danced. I couldn’t get very close, though. It was so packed.”

“Nice show, Vale,” Shaina said. “This girl has been pining over you all night.”

“Aww, were you pining?”

Vicky blushed. Yes, take me home, she wanted to shout, but she also felt called out and put on the spot.

But he read her mind. “Want to get out of here?”

Vicky nodded enthusiastically.

“Nice to meet you, Vicky,” Shaina said. “Let’s hang out sometime.”


They just stopped to pee before going up to the lounge to grab their jackets. He finished faster than her, and as he waited for her outside the bathroom, fans crowded around. 

Could Vicky take any longer washing her hands? Yes, probably, she was in fact the cleanest girl alive. 


The fans circled in on him like sharks smelling blood in the water. One of them attacked. “I just love your music so much, it makes me feel young again!”

Then another. “I haven’t had so much fun in years. I feel so indebted to you. Can I offer you a hug?”

“How about a handshake?” he said. 

As soon as one left, another took their place. Camera flashes and squeals. Could Vicky’s hands get any cleaner?


Finally, Vicky finished in the bathroom. 

“Babe, you gotta get me out of here. They’re rabid.”

“Oh, stop,” she said. “You love it.”

“I don’t know. It’s a little scary. And weird. I didn’t think it would ever happen, and then it happened so fast. I think I need a bodyguard. I think you might need to grow out your nails and start lifting weights.”

Vicky laughed. “Well, I have been known to kick ass before. Come on, let’s sneak out the back way.”




They grabbed their jackets and escaped down to the reservoir pier. Vale thought they should let the first few trains go, so not to get mauled by the rabid drunken party goers, and take a later train that was less crowded. It was two in the morning now and they had the night to themselves, finally.

But it was way past Vicky’s bedtime. “If I pass out, you might have to carry me home.”

“Deal,” he said. “Are you cold?”

“No,” she said. “But you can keep me warm, anyway.”

He wrapped his arms around her.

Vale was still riding the highs of that amazing show. The best show ever. 

No, the best show yet.

He felt giddy from it. But it was more than just the show. He missed Vicky tonight, though he saw glimpses of her from the stage, on and off. He needed to focus, so he couldn’t seek her out too often, and even when he could, he could hardly see through the flashing lights. He just hoped that she was having fun, enjoying the night, enjoying his music. He knew it probably wasn’t her favorite style, so he mixed in a little just for her, whether or not she realized that.

Then maybe she was the reason everyone loved the music tonight. His muse came to his show and brought magic out of him. He played her a love song without words. The song said that he wanted her to stay and stay and stay, and travel with him, and make music with him, and sleep naked every day until noon. 

Marry me, is what he wanted to say. Goddamn, I fucking love you, and marry me.

Then, shortly after, he thought: Calm the fuck down, Vale! Holy shit, get a fucking grip!

They’d only been a couple for ten days. He had to beg her to even come visit him. Chances are she didn’t want to get married. And since when did Vale want a wife? He didn’t, unless it was her. Then he did. Specifically and only her. She was turning his entire world upside down.

And he felt giddy over it. He didn’t reject it. He wasn’t afraid of it. Turn him inside out and make him brand new. He was ready for it.

“What are you laughing about?” she asked.

Oh, no, that would definitely send her into a panic attack, and he promised he wouldn’t do that. 

“I can’t,” he said. “But I’ll tell you later, I promise.”

“Hey, that’s my cop-out line. You can’t steal it!” 

“Just did,” he said, snuggling her tighter. “Happy New Year.”

“Yeah. You, too. I think it’s gonna be a good one,” she said. 

“It already is,” he said.

—

outtakes and gameplay: first impressions mod // Vale is a 3-star celebrity!!! // why we don’t have friends

story notes: so many notes! 

Vale became a 3 star celebrity at this party! My baby! I’m so proud, lol! He’s my first sim to reach that level of fame that I started from scratch without cheating. He’s really kind of winning at life right now. 

Then, in light of his current train of thought, I updated my gameplay notes post on “love and marriage” at the bottom of the post. Nothing has changed, actually, but I’ve expanded on the topic after 6 years of TS4 gameplay and a few new additions to the game. My benchmark for proposal is still about 5 whims, as it has been since I first wrote that post. 

And hot damn, if this silly boy isn’t rolling up a storm of engagement whims. Like, what? Calm down and go take a cold shower, lol! 

He also has three positive sentiments for her, which is the most any of my sims have ever had at once, one of which is “smitten.” It’s really kind of precious.

So, at five whims now, by my gameplay rules, he’s ready. They’ve only been a couple for ten days, but he’s been in love with her for much longer than that. However, I think he’s also well aware that she’s probably not quite there yet, so let’s let that simmer a little while. 

It feels a little spoilery to declare Vicky’s whim count and sentiments for him, but you’ll know after the next time I write about these two.