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Epilogue š Atlas

The rest of the year flew by in a rush of one event after another.
First, there was Spencerās birthday party. It was the first family event that Ezra and I were both present at, and overall, it went okay. I focused on spending time with everyone else and just let him exist in the same space as me, which was the best I could do at the time.

Dawn also saw Ezra for the first time since high school that day. She did try to be kind and talk to him, as is her nature, but it was quite satisfying that Phoenix didnāt like him from the moment she introduced them. Maybe thatās petty of me, but itās true.



The important thing though, is that, even though we all walked away a bit sore, Spencer had a great birthday, ice skating and celebrating with her family and two best friends.



When Winterfest came around, we stuck with our original plan to visit Phoenix and Dawn in the city. It was fun to see Aspen getting excited and opening presents. I know our little ones wonāt quite be old enough to properly enjoy the holiday, but Iām still so excited for next year and our first Winterfest with them.
Dawn also surprised us with an amazing gift. She knitted two little onsies for Sadie and Simon, which Iām happy to report, theyāve both finally grown into!

That afternoon, when they were ready to head to Copperdale to see Pheonixās uncle, Ash and I decided to spend the rest of the day with the Goodes after all. Iām glad we did. Even with Ezra there, it was nice to have our usual evening of games and music.
Iām absolutely in awe of Spencer with her violin. She finally mastered Einaudiās Experience and wanted to play it for us, a duet with Pop on the piano, of course. The performance brought tears to our eyes. Listening to her play with such skill and emotion, she should be in a concert hall, not standing in our living room in her little mis-matched socks.
As happy as I am to have our own place again, I wouldnāt trade the time we spent living there for anything.

For New Yearās weād planned to take it easy. Watch movies and likely fall asleep well before midnight. But, as you can see, that isnāt what happened.
We got a call from Lex saying that Evan had been dumped, so we cancelled our plans and drove to the city. Charlee raced to Evanās apartment and dragged them to Lexās where we were all waiting for them. After a bit of venting and a few tears, we were able to cheer them up, and we all celebrated the new year and good things to come. Charlee was even able to convince them to move to San Sequoia with her and Jay, which I know Ash is happy about.
Iām really grateful we ended up spending New Yearās with our friends because the going away party they had planned for us the following weekend ended up being canceled because⦠wellā¦

The next morning, I woke up on Lexās couch being jostled by Ash. He was in a panic because our phones were blowing up, and with the way I was laying on him, he couldnāt get to either of them. He was worried something bad had happened, that someone had been hurt.
But, when I sat up and checked my phone, it was the opposite. Li was in labor. All at once, everything became real.
We drove to the hospital as fast as we could and barely made it in time. But we made it. And now that our twins have arrived, life will never be the same again.
I suppose you want to meet them now. You will. Soon.

Prev // The Goode Life
A/N: I will try to introduce everyone to Sadie and Simon this weekend.. just know Iām completely obsessed with them! But this wraps up this part of my story. From here, I plan to split into two stories: The Good Life will focus on Atlas & Asher (and occasionally the extended Goode family) and my Star Sign Legacy will go back to Phoenix, Dawn, and Aspen as the main focus. Iām currently writing their next big arc, which will take some time, so for now Iāll be sharing sporadic gameplay of the boys (cos infants are my favorite thing in game)
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Previous // Next
Manager: Levi, tills! Levi: But-⦠Manager: Theyāll wait ātil later, move your ass! [Levi sighed wearily, tossing his greasy rag upon the counter with a classic amount of teenage enthusiasm] Levi: I barely know how to work the tills. Manager: Well, youāre the only one on shift with half a brain and Mel called in sick, so todayās your lucky day-.. again. ⦠Bianca: I promise itās not as bad as it looks⦠[Penny grimaced, sheād smell like burgers for a week if she so much as stepped foot in such a disgusting place] Penny: I canāt eat carbs, Bianca. Bianca: I literally saw you eating waffles for breakfast the other day. Penny: Do we have to? Bianca: My sister insisted on having her dumb party here and it was actually pretty good, I swear! ⦠[overlapping chatter] Bianca: [giggling] Hi, stranger. Iāll have⦠[Levi stared straight through Bianca; his gaze locked on Pennyās look of utter horror and contempt. How was he supposed to talk his way out of this one-.. what on earth was she even doing here?] Penny: This is where you work? Levi: No, Iām just-.. I, uh-⦠Penny: Ew. Levi: Wait! Penny: Donāt touch me. Levi: I can explain, okay? I-⦠Manager: Levi! Levi: One second! Manager: Erm, no-.. leave those poor girls alone and get back to work, thereāre people waiting. [Levi remained rooted to the spot, impervious to the chatter around him and his managers impatient yelling] Levi: Iām gonna throw up⦠Manager: Oh, for godās sake-.. not there! ⦠Levi: Penny! Penny: Go back to work, Levi. Levi: My parents just wanted to teach me the value of money or whatever-.. I donāt want to work here. [Levi wrung his hands together awkwardly, even he didnāt believe his own words anymore. Sure, the Grease Trap was disgusting and the hours sucked, but at least it got him out of the house. His co-workers were kinda fun too, and he got free food most nights; hell, even his manager treated him fairly and somewhat appreciated him] Penny: I know Iām not the cleverest person ever, but if you think Iām stupid enough to believe that⦠Levi: Youāre not stupid. Penny: And since when did you need glasses?! Levi: [sighs] Can you just give me a chance to explain everything? Penny: Why, so you can carry on lying and avoiding me? I think Iām over-⦠Levi: Trust me one last time, then you can decide, please..?
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Bystander Intervention Training
so, the US just attacked Iran, and that is fucking terrible. Something we all need to think about right now is how we can stop the harassment and violence against Muslims and Arabs in the US that got so much worse in the early 2000s from happening again to people now.
To that end, I wanted to share some resources on Bystander Intervention. One of the biggest things I learned from training like this is that there are many ways to intervene, and they don't all involve putting yourself in front of the person who may harm you or others. It's ok if you feel intimidated by that because there are more ways to help! And once you do the training, it might not be so scary.
Right to Be has Bystander trainings based on the 5Ds of Bystander Intervention (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct). The trainings are free!! sign up here.
I took one of their trainings a few years ago (when the org was called Hollaback!) and it was really very good, they have trainings at multiple levels and focused on various topics. They also partner with other orgs to focus on specific issues (like anti-AAPI harassment and with CAIR Chicago for anti-Muslim harassment, etc.).
Here are a few more resources:
APA Bystander Intervention Tip Sheet
RAINN Practicing Bystander Intervention
I think I'll sign up for one as a refresher.
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This Must Be the Place Prologue: 7
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This Must Be the Place Prologue: 6
Even though we were now engaged, the waiting game didnāt end. I knew Paul wanted a longer engagement so we would have time to plan the wedding of his dreams. Besides, with him being in school still, he didnāt have much time for planning. We knew it would take a lot of effort on both of our parts to pull this off.
I never knew how right people were about the stresses of wedding planning until I was engaged myself. Adding to my stress was deliberating over whether or not to invite my estranged mother to the wedding. I kept in minimal touch with her over the years, but I doubted she would approve of my relationship given her past homophobic views. I decided to simply let her know that I was getting married and go from there.
Her reaction was what I expected; she expressed disappointment that I couldnāt find a nice girl to settle down with. Obviously, I didnāt bother extending an invitation, but the reality of not having my mom at my wedding dampered some of the excitement of planning.
When it came to the wedding, Paul didnāt want to skimp out on much. Both my dads and Paulās parents were helping us with the costs, which helped a lot. However we still found ourselves getting into little disagreements over the details. Iāll admit that a lot of it was me being dismissive of Paulās grandiose visions. I just didnāt see the point of caring about place settings or floral arrangements.Ā
I was frustrated over his attention to pointless details, while he was hurt by what he saw as a lack of interest in our wedding. I handled this by deciding to take over picking out the invitations.
I spent weeks searching for something that I felt would match both of our tastesānot an easy thing to do, by the way. I thought Iād found something that fit the bill, only for him to reject it because the envelopes were ātoo busy.ā
What followed was our most explosive argument to date, which culminated in me throwing the envelopes at him. He just started in shocked silence until we both started laughing at how ridiculous the whole thing was.Ā
After that, we both took a more relaxed approach to wedding planning. I stepped up more, while Paul became more willing to compromise on the details. After all, the most important thing was vowing to devote ourselves to one another for the rest of our lives.
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the couple that bakes together stays together <3. Utonne and Moses are having a friendly (?) competition on whose dessert is superior!
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I heard there was a simblr Juneteenth cookout!
Mr. and Mrs. Drake came with a spread baby. While Darren handled the grill, Indya took care of the baking! Here's what we have:
BBQ ribs (beef)
Grilled Mahi Mahi
Hennessey (obvi)
Homemade Croissants w/ honey & fig butter
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Red Velvet Cake (with hand-piped florets - she's a beast)
Sweet Tea
The first pic is right after Darren dominated the spades, bones and dice games - leaving everyone penniless - and right before everyone sat down to eat. Y'all uncles HATE to see him comin!!
Happy Juneteenth from the Drakes!!
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"None of us are free until all of us are free"
June 19th is Juneteenth in the United States! In case you are unfamiliar with this super Black holiday, learn about it! <-
I don't have much, except for a recolor of @awingedllama's wall flag!
Found in Misc Deco
Three Swatches
Custom Thumb
Searchable using "Juneteenth"
Mesh included per AWL's generous TOU
Download
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Juneteenth / Levesque Edition

āļø Iād already queued up before I saw the post, so they arenāt in dress code. But theyāre bringing platters from all over the diaspora š¤āš¾š³š¬š³šŖšøš³šæš¦š
š© tip to @noir-pixels
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so long and goodnight~
when u get inspired after putting a sim in the Helena dress and then go dress another sim up like ur early 2010s dream emo boi. š
#reblog#:)#im reblogging this to main because im unwell about these sims#axel with long hair does something for me O.O
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THE BIG DUMB SMILE I HAVE ON RN š„°ššš
This Must Be the Place Prologue: 5
On our second anniversary, Paul had a surprise planned. At first, it seemed like a typical anniversary date. He wanted to take me to his momās restaurant, which was one of my favorite places to eat. Iāve never been able to resist Lucindaās authentic Tartosan cooking.Ā
When we arrived, I noticed the staff was setting up for some type of event. There were candles everywhere and it looked very romantic. āI wonder what thatās about?ā Paul had asked, dashing my hopes that it had to do with us.Ā
āI donāt know. Maybe someoneās getting engaged,ā Iād replied, rather pointedly.
We got inside and hadnāt yet ordered when Lucinda approached and asked Paul for some help. She explained that she needed him to help her carry something. He helped his mom with things like that all the time, so I didnāt really think much of it.
Until, that is, Iād been sitting there for several minutes with no sign of my boyfriend returning. Lucinda eventually came back and apologized, explaining that it was taking a bit longer than planned and asked if I could pitch in. I agreed, and she lead me outside to where weād seen the candles earlier.
There, I saw Paul standing expectantly and slowly realized what was going on.
āThis was for me?ā I asked incredulously. I saw a smile spread across Paulās face. āThis was for me.ā I said again, only this time, it wasnāt a question. I knew I was right. I felt tears of happiness rolling down my cheeks as Paul got down on one knee.
āJohn, I know I said I wanted to wait, but I realized you were right. I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so why should we wait any longer for the rest of our lives to begin? Will you marry me?ā
āOf course I will!ā He placed a ring on my finger. We embraced and kissedāa lot.
There was a table set up outside with our favorite dishes, and we sat for our first meal as an engaged couple. It was one of the happiest moments of my life, with many more to follow.Ā
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Prev // Next
Transcript below the cut:
Atlas: Thanks for meeting me. Ezra: No problem. Iām glad you called.
ā¦
Atlas: I mustāve thought about all the things I wanted to say to you about a hundred times, but now that weāre here, Iām coming up empty. Ezra: Would it help if I start? Atlas: [shrugs] Go for it.
Ezra: Atlas, I am so sorry. For everything. For how our last conversation went. For interfering with you and Henry. For outing you at school. I had no right to do that. None. And I wish I could say that I didnāt know what I was doing, but I did. I knew the people I told would spread the word fast. I knew the way everyone would react, and the way theyād treat you. Itās the cruelest thing Iāve ever done, and Iād take it all back if I could.
Atlas: Well, you canāt. Ezra: I know. Is there anything I can do? Atlas: [shakes his head] Not really.
Atlas: Iāve been doing a lot of thinking over the last few months. And a lot of talking to friends and family and my therapist⦠and Iām tired. I donāt want to do this. I donāt want to have a big conversation about how much you hurt me, and how sorry you are for it. I donāt need that. And, frankly, I donāt care. Iām not afraid of you anymore. You or what you represent, and thatās enough.
Ezra: Okay⦠So, what does that mean exactly?
Atlas: It means⦠The Goodes are the best thing that ever happened to me. When Asher and I first started dating, he invited me over to spend Winterfest with them. His parents were so warm and welcoming that it made me anxious and I spent an hour hiding out in Meganās greenhouse. I thought theyād be angry or offended, but they werenāt. They were so kind. I wasnāt used to that, and it took me a while to trust it, but eventually I did. They became my family, and I love them. I love them so much that I took their name. And their home, it became such a safe place for me.
Atlas: And then you showed up. You. The person who destroyed what little sliver of joy and safety I had back then, which wasnāt much to begin with, was sitting in the living room of my home with my family. I wasnāt just angry at you. I was terrified. Terrified that youād come back to do it all over again. Ezra: Atlas, Iā Atlas: Donāt. Donāt apologize to me again. Please.
Atlas: I get it. I know why you did it. I know youāre sorry. I know that you being here isnāt nothing. And I know youāre not going to destroy what good I have in my life⦠again. Even if you tried, you couldnāt. I know that now. But itās going to take a lot more than an apology for me to forgive you. I donāt know what it will take, to be honest, but whether I like it or not, youāre a part of this family too. So, Iāll give you one chance. Starting now, we can leave the past in the past, where it belongs, and get to know each other as the people we are today.
Ezra: I appreciate that. I know I probably donāt deserve it. Atlas: Weāll see, wonāt we? Either way, Iām not doing it for you. Ezra: Understood. Well, in the spirit of getting to know each other, thereās a coffee stand across the road if youāre interested. Atlas: Not today. Iām not quite ready for that yet. But Iāll see you at Spencerās party on Saturday. And youāre welcome to come by the house anytime. Ash and I will be in town through the holidays. Ezra: Okay. Iāll see you soon then. Atlas: See ya.
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This Must Be the Place Prologue: 4
It wasnāt too far into our relationship that I started thinking about the future. I was still young, sure, but I knew Iād found the one and I didnāt want to waste any time moving things forward.
Paul was likewise serious about me, but falling in love with his roommate and building a life with him wasnāt something heād planned for. As easygoing as Paul could be, heād spent a lot of time thinking about his ideal life and what order things would go in.
First, heād focus on school and starting his career. He didnāt want to wait until after school to start a relationship, but he did want to be more settled before taking a big step like marriage. Then, heād want to be married for a couple of years before starting a family. Very traditional and responsible, and not at all what I had in mind.
I was ready for marriage a year in. Paul still had a few more years of school left at that point, and he tried to impress on me the benefits of waiting. I wasnāt buying it. We were in love, what else did we need? Naive, for sure, but what can I say? Iām a dreamer.
Still, I knew I had to be patient. Paul did make some good points, and I had to admit that I had the habit of acting without considering the consequences.
As for Paul, he agreed to consider getting married before he finished school, but he didnāt want to rush things. I would have gladly eloped, but I knew Paul wanted to take time to plan the perfect wedding.Ā
One thing we agreed on was that we'd like to take some time to enjoy married life before having kids. That didnāt stop me from dragging him to the baby section when shopping ājust to lookā or giving him The Look whenever we were around his niblings.
How could I not? He was so good with kids; he was very patient and knew how to explain things to them in a way that they could understand. He was even leaning towards working in Pediatrics. Still, we both knew kids would have to wait.Ā
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#reblog#johnny tapping his watch impatiently like that judge judy gif on getting married TEEHEE#i love to see it ;-;
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āæĢ©Ķā±ą¼ļøą¼»ā±ą¼ŗą¼ļøā°āæĢ©Ķdoes it make me bad?āæĢ©Ķā±ą¼ļøą¼»ā±ą¼ŗą¼ļøā°āæĢ©Ķ
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2k25 Juneteenth Simblr Cookout!
Lets celebrate Juneteenth and come together as a sims community. Whether you are MM or alpha. a sims newbie or sims veteran- YOU are invited to the cookout.
Post your sims in their best hot weather outfit and what they bringing to the cookout (drinks, food ,dessert -hell even ice! don't matter).
spades (card table), dominoes (simbles) and line dancing on the dancefloor is encouraged! the kegs are ready and we got a slip and slide for the kids! June 19-22. See you there!
reblog to boost and use the tag #2k25jsc or #2k25 juneteenth simblr cookout
before you hop in my inbox or in the comments ( im (non-black) can i post my (non- black) sim. Yes of course, you are welcome but do your research as to what Juneteenth is and its significance if you join us
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