boxes and squares #5.3: hindsight is a bitch (1/3)

November 2088. Colette Marin is 31, Audrey Roseland is 48, Vicky Garth is 24, Darwin Hadley is 35, Felix and Milo are 9, Gabby Roseland is 16. 

previously: so, I have been seeing someone… // going on a date with a doctor, she said

optional background music: “fake plastic trees” as covered by Phoebe Bridgers

* warnings: long (as it goes lately...), bad decisions, briefly NSFW: obscured toplessness, spicy memories (text-based), and obscured self-pleasure

The boys were in school for another hour or two, and they had their activities after. Colette had no showings booked, and neither did Audrey. Nobody wanted to buy or sell a house a week before Thanksgiving.

Colette liked this swanky lounge by the water. She liked the smell of new renovation overlying its aged frame. The place served coffees and croissants and an assortment of music. By now, even Colette was tired of pumpkin spice everything, but peppermint wouldn’t be on the menu until after the holiday, so she ordered a frothy plain cappuccino. Audrey took one last pumpkin spice latte in her to-go cup. “Thanksgiving is next week,” she excused herself.

“You do you,” Colette said.

“Friend,” was a loose term for Colette, as in “keep your enemies closer.” But Colette didn’t think of Audrey Roseland as an enemy, either. A competitor, sometimes—there was only so much premium real estate to go around—but they tried not to step on each other’s toes. And that Colette tried at all for this woman probably made her more of a friend than Colette ever had before.

“I really loathe that he’s fucking someone before I am,” Colette confessed.

look how they shine

* collected gameplay and mini-stories from the Akiyama/McCarthy families

Fall 2088. Vale Akiyama is 28, Vicky Garth is 24. Blossom McCarthy is 29, George is 34, Abe is nearly 2. And welcome baby Abigail.

content warnings: childbirth, and... menstrual blood, I guess?

previously: Vale and Vicky get engaged // Blossom is the golden child in this family




🎶 Look at the stars

Look how they shine for you 🎶

—

In September, Vale and Vicky finished the last tour stop of their whirlwind musical summer. Being home again now, they were quite happy to settle into a cocoon of warmth and rest while they daydreamed of what might come next for them.

As for their wedding, they were both in agreement about one thing—it would be intimate but lavish. And if they kept the invite list small, they could spring for a destination wedding. Think of a swanky hotel on a tropical island, a long flight to somewhere they’ve never been before, sparkling waters and sandy beaches.

But that was all just talk for now, so they let the talk be as fantastical as they wished. No date set, no deposits paid. They’ve been too busy and too tired to make anything official. For now, they’re just enjoying their engagement and their raging musical success.

head over feet

June 2088. Vicky Garth is 23. Vale Akiyama is 27. Melissa Fortney is 21.

previously: Vale and Vicky prepare for a hot summer of music // with a monumental oops on her hands, Melissa makes a difficult decision to free up her future.

soundtrack: "Head Over Feet," by Alanis Morissette.

With dreams of freedom and sunshine and festival summer in her head, Melissa never imagined she’d be tempted by a summer job offer.

That is, until it turned out that her boss at Halston House Studios is actually best friends with Vale Akiyama, and Vale needed a roadie and media manager for his tour this summer.

Do you mean to say that Melissa isn’t just going to some festivals this summer…? She’s going to ALL the festivals this summer? And she’ll be paid to do it?

“Can you film in varying lighting conditions and weather elements? Can you edit videos and navigate social media platforms? Can you carry thirty—okay, fifty pounds of musical equipment?”

Hell fucking yes I can! Melissa thinks. Well, she’s never tried to lift fifty pounds before, but how hard can it be?

“Totally! When do we start?”

superstar

May 2088. Vale Akiyama is 27, Vicky Garth is 23, Patrick Nova is 37, Raine is 9.

previously: Vale and Vicky make some big moves together // packing up // and celebrate nephew Abe's 1st birthday.

Music lessons, because: 

“I already wrote you a love song,” she said. 

“But I want another one,” he said.

postcards from your Valentine

February 2088.

* briefly NSFW

Here’s what a few special couples are doing on this romantic day.

—

Vale & Vicky, together 6 weeks – officially moving in together


“So it looks like your neighbor didn’t water the plants then,” he said.

say it

February 2088. Vicky Garth is 23, Vale Akiyama is 27.

Even though they’re in the same time zone now, Vicky still can’t compete with Vale’s super late nights. If she thinks he’ll make it home by midnight, she might try to wait up. But more often she’s out cold when he tiptoes into the bedroom at 3am, tie still on, ears still ringing, buzzing with adrenaline and caffeine, and cuddles up behind her. “You awake?”

She turns her face to him, eyes closed, voice soft and dreamy, and says, “Not very.”

Which makes him smile, because he always loved that dreamy, sleepy voice, remembering her on the phone for all those months. Now she’s here in his arms.

She’s listening, and there’s nothing more he loves than ending his night telling her every scandalous and exciting moment of his gig. Her sleepy fingers pull at his tie, shirt buttons, and belt buckle as he tells her everything while she slowly strips him down. It’s more intimate than erotic. 

“Marc Hall was being a total attention whore. Everyone was pissed. The food was awful—I was too busy to eat anything, but everyone said the ceviche was rancid. Gonna be a lot of people puking in toilets tomorrow morning. Poppy said she was disappointed you didn’t come, she wants to hang out sometime. And Asher told me that Shaina told him that Drew Bradshaw was there, and he totally raved about the music, and he might write about me in his arts column in the newspaper.”

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.

better tragedies

December 2087. Vicky Garth is 23, Vale Akiyama is 27.

previously: thank you, part 4

* warnings: briefly NSFW, gratuitous cuddling! *

In their first thirty-six hours as a couple, Vale and Vicky didn’t leave the apartment as much as they could have.

thank you, part 4

December 2087. Vicky Garth is 23, Vale Akiyama is 27.

previously: thank you part 1 // part 2 // part 3 // part 3.5

*** warnings: very long, NSFW, deliciously gratuitous kissing! ***

Vicky got on the train right away. She apologized profusely to Beau that she needed to take some time out to go to California to see about a boy. 

“How long?” 

“I don’t know,” she said. “Three, ten, twenty days?”

“Hmmm,” Beau mumbled, sounding like she was the biggest flake alive. He was probably already writing up a want ad for her job.

She called her neighbor and asked her to water her plants. Again, this question, “For how long?”

The plants were so dead. May they rest in peace.

There was a sense of urgency. Since Vale was on the verge of begging, she guessed that he felt it, too. All these questions that needed to be answered now and not later. 

The ride was long, but he booked her tickets in the first class car. It had big, spacious windows, personal TVs, and cushy leather recliner seats that still smelled new and not like old sweat and spilled soda. He said, “Can’t have my girl riding in economy.” 

My girl, he called her. It was so sweet that she didn’t dare snark back at him. It had been a really long time since she was anyone’s girl, so if he insisted, she figured she should probably try. 

thank you, part 3.5

December 2087. Vicky Garth is 23, Vale Akiyama is 27.

previously: thank you part 1 // part 2 // part 3

It wasn’t that Vale slept peacefully. No, in fact, he got into bed and lay there, listening to angsty music and thinking about things. He needed to make a decision. If she didn’t want anything from him, what should he do next? So, yes, he slept finally, heavy and rock-like, for maybe six hours. He woke up early—early for Vale—at the bright and hazy hour of nine a.m. And he did expect to find something from Vicky on his phone in the morning—an angry apology, probably, or an excuse. But he never expected a song.

He had to listen to it a few times. 

thank you, part 3

December 2087. Vicky Garth is 23, April Hutchins is 24.

previously: thank you part 1 // part 2

Vicky slept badly—there were no dreams, just fits of darkness between tossing and turning. Finally, there was daylight and the chirping of birds. Her alarm hadn’t gone off yet. She tried to focus her ragged eyes on the time, but she found a troublesome cell phone on the nightstand instead. How unassuming it seemed now, but what havoc had it wreaked last night? 

Please tell me you didn’t really sing a whole song into his voicemail. Please, just don’t let that be real.

thank you, part 2

December 2087. Vale Akiyama is 27, Vicky Garth is 23.

previously: throwaway girl // real music, part 3 // Thanksgiving // the worst show ever

The show was the worst. Vale was booked on a Thursday night, the week before Christmas, playing a holiday party for an investment firm. Old, stuffy financial people. Young brown-nosing financial wannabes. He couldn’t say no, because the bank manager was the wife of his club manager, who basically pimped him out for the night. 

A paycheck is a paycheck, right? Well, maybe not always. 

"Can't you play more Christmas music? Can't you make it a little more festive? No, not that Christmas music... No, that’s too loud... No, that’s too fast... Can you just, like, put this album on?"

The lights were garish, and the decor was nauseating. They asked him to wear red and silver. Vale hated wearing red. He was pretty sure he hated Christmas forever now, too. 

the life of Vicky—an island in the sun

I could have sworn I did a history/backstory post for Vicky, but it seems I did not. I can’t find it anywhere if I did. But Vicky is a character that I’ve been writing about since 2008, and she has a lot of history between many blogs and game versions. It feels important to collect it all, especially since some of her future stories will begin to draw on her experiences a lot more. I can even see the possibility that her birth parents might come into the story a little bit down the line.

Her backstory was always “her parents were rich and couldn’t be bothered with her.” 

Well, okay, but family drama is never really that simple. That was a fine enough backstory for a townie ex-girlfriend whom we didn’t think we’d see again. But here we are, thirteen years and three game versions later, and Vicky has earned a little more detail to her backstory than that.

thank you, part 1

November 2087. Blossom McCarthy is 28, George is 33, Abe is 9 months. Vicky Garth is 23. Amy Jones is 21, Blair is 20. Nobuo Akiyama is 55, Mayumi is 53, Vale is 27. 

previously: the dirty French song // what would you do with it if it happened?

Thanksgiving for the McCarthy and Akiyama families was a cheerful time. This was Blossom’s first year hosting the holiday as a mother—baby Abe’s first Thanksgiving. They couldn’t be more thankful. Both sides of the family were expected in full attendance. The feast would be delicious. Blossom’s mother was the star chef today, although Vicky and Amy helped, too. Blossom wasn’t much of a cook, so she put herself in charge of refilling drinks and lifting spirits. 

This blend of blood-family and friend-family had grown together so beautifully. Blossom's parents loved George and his siblings. The McCarthy clan all adored Blossom's parents and even her unruly little brother, Vale. In-laws became friends. Friends became family.  

And there were three vegetarians in one family, so it was decidedly a convincing tofu roast on their menu. The meat-eaters didn't dare complain. 

The day couldn’t have been more perfect. 

real music, part 3

June 21, 2087. Vale Akiyama is 26, Vicky Garth is 22, Lauren Sanders is 14, Blossom McCarthy is 28, April Hutchins is 23, Ariel Beech is 19, Josie Booth is 20, Lara Nova is 34, Patrick Nova is 36. 

"real music, part 1," "real music, part 2"


Vale still had his bags to pack and a flight up north to catch for the long-awaited Copper Island Summer Solstice Festival. But first, he wondered what to wear for his big night. He tried on a few combinations and texted the selfies to Vicky.

     Vale: Which one says “musical superstar”?

     Vicky: I don’t know, but that vest says arrogant and pretentious.

     Vale: And the other one?

     Vicky: I don’t know, just pretentious I guess.

—

business profile: Iceberry Cafe // Cloud 9 // Potomac Herbal

venue: residential // home cafe, home bar, AirBnb

location: Potomac Heights

owner: Aura Jackson (managed by Beau Jackson and April Hutchins)

Since so much of my last update took place on this lot, I thought I'd throw together a little lot tour. This lot has grown quite a bit since I showed it off before in a profile for April's cafe. 

As far as the books go, neither the Jackson boys nor April own any of this. They manage it all for their mom. In TS2, Aura owned a fashion boutique, Jolie Jolie, which did exceptionally well until one day when she "sold it" (game glitch) to run for office, a position she still holds today, Treasury Secretary. Then Adrian did well for himself, too, running a very popular arcade. Between the two businesses, their home and vacation home, the Jackson family had amassed somewhere around $400,000 simoleons in net worth, a nice tidy fortune among my sims, probably second only to the Riley family in riches. But the boys won't inherit that for a long while still—although Adrian passed away, I expect Aura to stick around for a long time. 

In TS4, the Jackson family owns two properties now, and this is one which Beau and April manage. (The other is the Adventure Fitness Park in Sierra Nova, which Tyler is working on.)

real music, part 2

April 2087. Vale Akiyama is 26. Vicky Garth is 22.

real music

January 3, 2087. George McCarthy is 32, Blossom McCarthy is 27, Vicky Garth is 22, Vale Akiyama is 26.

* Where we left off with Vicky: making her peace about Dallas, but not about Summer. Her island in the sun. 

* And meet Vale. 


After his wildly successful New Year's Eve gig, Vale planned to stay with his sister for a few days before they traveled up north together to visit their parents.

Blossom's first pregnancy was an alarming milestone in their family, considering they were less than two years apart. It seemed too soon, although of course it wasn't soon at all. Blossom had been married for three years. He and Blossom had always had a lot in common until now. He'd been following her well-charted path for most of his life, exactly eighteen months behind. Now her path diverged from his in a way he couldn't see himself following any time soon. His career was fun and frivolous, his apartment in Catalina was small and possibly toxic, and he hadn't had (or wanted) a steady girlfriend since high school. He wondered if it was a switch that just flipped at some point, the desire to finally settle down?

Amy & Blair: the wedding

June 2086. Amy Jones and Blair Schehl are 19.

wedding song: "You Make It Real," by James Morrison

Vicky

Victoria Constance Garth, "Vicky"

story tag
simblr tag

born: October 26, 2064 — Scorpio

toddler trait: clingy
child aspiration: social
aspiration 1: family, super parent
aspiration 2: health, wellness guru
traits: creative, hot-headed, vegetarian, bookworm, neat, domestic, collector, argumentative, hero, caregiver
MBTI: ISFJ

religion: Neo-Druid
politics:

loves: floral prints, cardigans, painting her nails, winning a good debate, winning a good fight
hates: sunburn, dogs, being cold, rejection, being abandoned

education:
- Lakeside Heights High School, class of 2083
- Lake City University, 6 credits, Pre-Med (dropped out to go travelling)

career:
- aspiring songwriter maybe?

career history:
- campus bookstore, 2083

- gardener/apprentice, Beau's Apothecary

skilled at: 

- singing 8, gardening 4, logic 4, writing 3, cooking 3, wellness 3, herbalism 2

wanted to be when she was a child: a doctor

orientation: straight
IFS: 1.5

romance:
- Vale Akiyama, flirtation/crush since January 2087, together December 2087, engaged June 2088

romantic history:
- Dallas Deppiesse, together April 2079, broke up October 2080
- Matteo Torres, unrequited crush/scandalous affair, 2085-2086

parents: not local
siblings: (foster) George McCarthy, Blair Jones
children: --
grandchildren: --
friendships: April Jackson
enemies: Summer Phoenix and Lucy Deppiesse

DNA: skin shade #3 // hair, black // eyes, green // adult height, 5'7"
weight: + 9.0
fitness: - 19.7

health history:

legal history:

- legal guardian, Uncle Victor Garth, age 7-10

- foster home, age 10-18

—