#I forgot to recolor the stairs

[slyndseyy]

An old house for a young couple and their twin girls in Pinedale

Love how this turned out except the living room is quite large and atm unfurnished because they ran out of money pretty fast. Inspired by this houseplan here.

[slyndseysims]

3 September Way - 2bed 2bath Family Home

As requested! This on a 2x3 lot. I forgot to see how much it costs, ope. This lot does have CC, so please use clean installer! CC includes walls, floors, and white stair recolors. Please keep in mind I am using default shrub&flowers, so the gardens will look different in your game!

Minimally furnished just to show layout ideas. I don't actually decorate like that I promise lol

Meshes from Verankas Thorpe build set are required! I believe everything else should work fine.

Download -> SFS | Mediafire | Verankas Thorpe Build Set

[yuichen]

I forgot how much gets thrown into the lot package. I’m not sure I even used a custom modular stair in the apartment building, much less a recolor, and of course there’s an insane amount of files appearing. So I’ve got it loading up now to check. Needless to say, seeing all the extra shit packaged in, I don’t think I’ll be doing a furnished version of the other ones. The build content alone will be a lot.

[goodbyenorthernlights]

I have been spending an excessive amount of time recently making over the Downtown lots in TS2. Picspam time.

This is P.U.R.E. I gave it a bit more color, because. idk. The endless concrete wasn't doing much for me? I wanted it to be kinda fancy and brutalist architecture isn't all that fancy, right?

Also got rid of all the fire jets.

The reception area got a new coat of paint also (in fact pretty much the entire building got recolored everywhere) and there are some closets for people to hang up their coats in which unfortunately look kind of weird and flat in this lighting.

Front hall. Bathrooms have been made gender neutral and there's an elevator installed since I took out the stairs out front.

Here's one of the bathrooms. You can pee here ig. There are two more upstairs as well but I forgot to take screenshots of them? They're just small rooms with toilets though, so you're not missing much.

The green room. A place to take a drink, hang out, and watch people faceplant in the electro dance sphere. With a bunch of mirrors now added so you can watch them faceplant from every angle.

This is probably where I'd put the sexy dancers if I had that kind of game.

The red room/proper dance area, which is admittedly kind of small for dancing. This is where you buy your booze, however.

Upstairs front hall where you can take a break from the bass and contemplate how the transparency of the window acts weirdly with the neighborhood deco building outside.

And the hot tub areas! Kind of went for a "party in progress" vibe via scattered alcohol bottles. And clothes, because you normally take some clothes off before getting into a hot tub, right?

[rosemints]

Dream Journal 1

I had a weird dream last night that my dad and I were walking around the downtown of some far off city when I heard music and lights wafting up from down a set of stairs. I wanted to know what it was, but also wanted to stay near my dad as he looked over the city from the balcony we were on. He encouraged me to go investigate on my own so I did. As I was walking down the stairs I got entangled with some Christmas lights. I noticed that as I walked down the steps(coincidentally in time with the music) that some of them fell off my body, leaving a trail of lights on the stairs behind me. I suddenly realized I was walking into the makeshift stage of a concert, and the crowd thought I was part of the show. If I turned around I would kill the vibe so I tried my best to continue descending with the music. As the song ended all the Christmas lights fell off and I hid in the shadows so I wasn't noticed. I realized this was a Taylor Swift concert and therefore needed to leave imdently. As I crept back up the stairs Taylor Swift's security officer went to question me about why I was there. I explained it was an accident and Taylor swift forgave me.

When I returned to my dad, I discovered that TWO Taylor swift concerts were playing at the same time. I told him that the people were getting scammed cause one of the Taylor swifts was fake. He responded that that was part of her brand, for she was too busy to actually show up to most of her concerts in person.

As the concerts ended the tour group we were with left on the bus, except for my dad's work friend. They began to carve spoons, though they wouldn't let me join in cause "I wasn't skilled enough". (They would not do this in real life). They did let me mold some plastic to be the basis for a new spoon though.

most people from the concerts left the area, but some college students began messing around and pestering us to join their cult. We said no many times even when they were very persuasive. The leader of them must have struck a nerve, because my dad began to cry. But not like a normal human, no. His eyes turned into roses and petals began to fall from his eyes. Everyone who wasn't him was very shocked.

*cue dream backstory segment* I realized that she was the witch who had cursed my father in childhood to cry rose petals, keeping him from making very many friends. Her face changed to look like a weird combo of Ceaser and Billie from Bigtop Burger.

some other things happened and for some reason they chased us around the lawn to their favorite tree to worship their "god" . At this point we all looked like muppets or recolors of that one yellow Don't Hug Me Im Scared character. Also we were all college students and my dad was no longer my dad but a sibling. it was discovered that the tree was covered in little red and yellow spider called "chigger bugs" whose bites could be deadly. We were all bitten, and one branched off to bite a small child who flew off on a panic, spreading the bug to some birds who spread it to some sheep-and needless to say it was clear a problem had started.

But we weren't worried about that. We were worried about getting to the student medical office on campus so we didn't die of chigger bug bites. We made it, told the skeptical nurse that weyd barged in and bypassed the check in counter just outside the door cause it was an emergency and we were all dying of chigger bug bites, then asked politely of we could by pass the waiting room process and get treatment now please, as the bites work fast.

The nurse was mildly annoyed at us but understood the urgency and called for six or seven(I forgot how many of us there were)cures to be made. We were walked to a corner of the hospital like nurses office to a red and blue muppet lady who gave us special cakes made out of foam(which we could eat because we were muppets). The cure was that we had to eat the cake upside down while nodding our heads, then ask her about the cvs we were in.

A cvs sign suddenly appeared behind her and I asked why this student hospital was also a cvs. She explained that it was because it was so close to the only tree the chigger bugs lived in, and they were the only place specialized for the treatment of chigger bug bites. All of us cured, I woke up.

[littlelittlesimmies]

Catherine TCJD Wallpaper overlay recolors with TS4 Vintage panels

Mesh not included (you might want the build or buy one, idk). Grab it here. Stairs overlays slaved to wallpaper overlay are here.

Download : SIMFILESHARE

EDIT : I forgot to make the separated top mouldings, so here they are ! Only 4 colors (black white gold and lilac) : SIMFILESHARE

[strawberriestyles]

Chapter 18

(Banner made by sweet sunshine @harry-nofookingway-styles​)

Harry X OFC (AU)

Sequel to Brutality: In which Melody and Harry must relearn how to navigate one another among a flurry of changes.

Read previous parts here.

Author’s note: YAY FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. When you’re finished reading, please sign this petition to reopen Sandra Bland’s case. (If you’re somehow not familiar with her story, a simple Google search will give you any info you need.) Then please come talk to me about Ferocity. Enjoy, boos! Xx

Harry was almost elated, throwing jabs at a punching bag. There was some high to be found in the monotony, the routine of training, even though he no longer had anything to be training for.

It was late afternoon and the street outside glowed, dunes of snow glistening where they had been packed along the edges of the sidewalk. Melody had told Harry that she and Sean liked to train in the morning, but today, Sean has pushed their time back. And Harry was grateful that he’d been allowed to tag along.

Melody was in the ring, sweat dripping down her torso as she slammed her gloves into Sean’s mitts. Harry, as much as he tried to focus on his own swings, was watching her form—the space between her feet, the twist of her body, the rippling muscles in her arms, the way her lips formed around each outlet of breath. It was almost surreal to see her employing everything he’d shown her, back before she’d been anything more than mildly interested in boxing. Sean had really shaped her up.

The pair paused. Melody stripped off one of her new, customized gloves and took a long gulp of water. She passed her bottle to Sean, who squirted a mouthful past his lips, and then nearly choked as he laughed at something Melody had said. Both of their faces lit up. Melody turned toward Harry and he whipped his head around, returning to his punching bag with a new intensity.

He was still throwing hooks when he felt a gentle tap at his shoulder.

“I’m done,” Melody said. She dropped her bag on the floor beside him and pulled a thick hoodie over her head, freeing her ponytail from the collar. “I’m running home. You can take a cab if you want.”

Sean passed them on his way out the door and lifted one hand in a wave of farewell, pointedly avoiding Harry’s eyes. They’d spoken, but the strange tension had yet to diffuse.

“No,” Harry answered with a shake of his head. “I’ll run with yeh.” He didn’t yet believe that she’d imagined Colton outside the grocery store, and even when her anger and hurt over her birthday was fresh, he’d had trouble letting her out into the city on her own.

Melody nodded. Harry tucked his gloves into her unzipped bag and then pulled the strap across his body. He’d kept his sweatshirt on during his workout and it was drenched in sweat, his hair sticking to his neck. He still hadn’t grown used to the inability to tie it back.

Cold air rushed past them as Melody opened the glass door out onto the street. A light flurry had begun. Clumped snowflakes swirled around them, churning up their hair, melting against their cheeks. Harry blinked against a bitter wind and Melody kicked off the pavement, picking up a steady pace in the direction of the apartment. Harry stole a deep breath and followed, swiveling her bag around so that it beat against the bottom of his back in time with each step.

The city was dimmed and muffled. All Harry could hear was the drag of his lungs and the slap of his sneakers against the sidewalk. He kept his eyes on the soles of Melody’s shoes and hopped beside her when they reached busy intersections, only for her to take off again when the lights changed, leaving him in her wake.

By the time they reached the apartment building, Harry had to drag himself up the flights of stairs, panting. He fell through the door to the kitchen, kicked his shoes off, and dropped Melody’s bag at the entrance to her room.

Melody was already tearing her hoodie over her head and stripping off her pants as Harry sank into the edge of the mattress. She shivered as she removed her underwear. And she could feel Harry’s eyes on her but when she turned around he was staring at his feet, combing his fingers through his hair, still trying to catch his breath. She tugged on the hair tie holding her ponytail.

“Are you coming?”

Harry glanced up, confused. Melody was naked, skin glistening, with color in her cheeks from exertion.

“What?”

“The shower,” she said. “Are you gonna shower with me?”

Harry let out an uneven breath. “Yeh want me to shower with you?”

“Sure.”

Rising to his feet, Harry yanked his own clothes off. He wasn’t going to wait until she changed her mind. Melody was waiting in the doorway when he finished and she grasped his hand as he reached her. He was too stunned to say anything. And then they were in the bathroom and the water was running, and Melody stepped into the stream.

Harry hung back, watched her wet her hair. Dye colored the rivers that ran down her back, pink-tinged red, from when Bea had recolored her hair the week prior.

“Harry,” Melody prompted. She pulled her hair over one shoulder and held a hand out to him.

Harry nodded, more to himself, and stepped over the lip of the tub. He drew a sharp breath between his teeth as the water scalded his shoulder, but he pulled the shower curtain shut behind him.

“Sorry,” Melody whispered, lowering the temperature. She pressed Harry back by the chest once she’d adjusted the water.

Harry placed his palm over Melody’s fingers. It probably wasn’t the case, but it was like he hadn’t felt her touch since dinner that night, when she’d kissed his cheek, tugged on the ends of his hair. He closed his eyes as water ran down his cheeks in rivulets.

“You didn’t really think,” Melody uttered, “that I forgot your birthday, did you?”

Harry sighed. He let his head fall forward as her hands looped up, around his neck, stroked the top of his spine. That wasn’t exactly what he thought. More so that she was ignoring his birthday, not that he had an incredible desire for a celebration.

“Happy birthday, Harry,” Melody whispered, barely above the thunder of the water. She stood on her toes to wrap her arms around his shoulders. He held her close to him.

“Thank you.”

Melody’s mouth settled at the top of Harry’s chest, just below his collar bone. She scattered a few kisses across his skin, until he nudged her with his chin. “Mel,” he whispered.

She sighed and took a step back, lifting one of his hands to press her lips against his scarred knuckles.

“I shouldn’t have just ignored you,” Melody said. She cradled his hand to her chest. “There are other ways for me to—”

“I don’ blame yeh for ignorin’ me, Mel.”

“It’s immature, Harry. It’s stupid. I could’ve gotten over it while still talking to you. I’m sorry.”

“Yeh don’ need to apologize to me for shit,” he insisted. “I don’ care. I deserved it. ‘M so sorry.”

Melody blew out a breath and dropped his hand. “You didn’t. You didn’t deserve it. Ignoring each other is not how we should be handling our problems. I really am sorry. But thank you for trying to fix it, Harry.” She reached for his face, tucking the curling edges of hair behind his ears. “I know it’s only been a few weeks but I’m really proud of you. For talking. Even if it’s not to me. It’s important.”

Harry grunted. She smiled at the familiarity of the sound and tugged on him, until she could meet his lips, water running into her mouth. It felt like tension drained from her body, and the way his shoulders relaxed, the way his arms gathered her up, it was like he didn’t have a single other care.

“Missed yeh,” Harry mumbled. He twirled the ends of her hair around his hand and tugged, tilting her head back, deepening the kiss against her smiling mouth. “Think I owe yeh birthday sex. And maybe a redo for New Year’s.” The thought of it still made him cringe.

Melody laughed, clinging to one shoulder as he kissed down her jaw, tracing the side of her neck with his tongue. “I think I still owe you from your last birthday, actually,” she responded.

Harry frowned, but Melody was sliding between his arms before he could ask, settling gently on her knees at his feet.

“Only done this once before, remember? You always have other ideas.”

“Because yeh don’ need to, love.” Harry watched her blink up at him, lick the rolling water from her lips. He pressed his teeth painfully into his tongue.

“Want to,” she said. Her fingertips raked up his thighs as she kissed his lower belly. He rested a hand against the wall of the shower, suddenly lightheaded.

Melody stroked the length of Harry’s dick, feeling it grow between her fingers. She swept a sheet of dripping hair back from her face. The water fell hard against her back. Harry sighed from above her and let his eyes fall closed, reluctantly, as she sponged kisses up the underside of his cock.

“Really don’ need to—”

“Shh,” Melody whispered. She pulled the hand that hung limply at Harry’s side to her head. Her mouth slid over the tip of his dick as his fingers laced into her hair.

“Oh, fuck,” he muttered, blinking down at her. Melody’s eyes were closed, but her fingers were tight around him, her mouth warm as she fed more of him past her lips. Her tongue roved across his skin and he groaned.

Melody shimmied forward on her knees, shifting out of the water until her back was to the wall, turning Harry with her. She lowered her head until he reached the back of her tongue, and then pulled away for a quick breath, pumping her hand up and down his cock.

“Ah, fuck,” Harry uttered, leaning his forehead into the shower wall and screwing his eyes closed. If the stream of water hadn’t been washing him clean, he was sure his skin would be slick with sweat.

Melody’s chest ached with her next inhale as she watched his tongue swipe along his lips, the divot between his brows deepening. She kissed the head of his dick and then closed her lips around him again, bobbing her head. The fist in her hair grew tighter, knuckles bumping against her scalp, and it only spurred her on. She pressed herself forward until her nose touched Harry’s belly, until she felt his muscles jumping beneath his skin.

“Baby,” he moaned. His throat tightened. How many times had he called her that without realizing? “Mel, stop.”

She pulled off of him with a gasp, tilting her face up toward him, blinking in confusion. “What?”

Harry blinked back at her, water running from his hair. Her face sparkled with droplets like jewels beneath the bathroom lights.

“I just wanna fuck yeh, love.”

Melody’s hands curled into fists against his thighs. She licked her lips, amusement playing at their edges. “Harry, you stopped me last time too because—”

“Because it feels like a waste when I could be fuckin’ yeh. Please,” he muttered, loosing his grip on her hair and sliding his thumb down her jaw. “Feels so good but ‘s been weeks since I felt yeh on me.”

Melody groaned, but she let him pull her up against the wall, fitting his hands to her waist, licking into her mouth. She clasped her fingers at the back of his neck and reveled in the familiar feel of his lips against hers. His palms slid up her ribs. The pads of his thumbs pressed into her nipples and she hummed, stretching her spine, filling his hands with her breasts.

Harry squeezed at her indulgently but his cock throbbed with impatience. His hands hurried back down her sides, grasping the tops of her thighs and hoisting her up onto his hips.

“Go on then, birthday boy,” Melody whispered, kissing the edge of Harry’s jaw and then drawing her teeth along his neck. “Fuck me.”

Harry’s cock twitched again. He pressed his body against Melody’s as he guided himself inside her. “Christ,” he hissed into her ear. “Fuck, yes.”

Melody sighed, linking her ankles together at the base of his spine. When she was fully seated on him, her breath caught.

“I hate when we’re mad,” she mumbled, pressing the back of her head to the wall of the shower. “Please, let’s not be mad again. Fuck.”

Harry shook his head and shifted his hips, testing his point of balance and making sure that his feet wouldn’t slip. “Fuckin’ torture when yeh won’ let me touch yeh.”

“Torture for me, too,” Melody said, wrapping one arm around his shoulders. “Always want your hands on me. Watch you do anything and it feels like I’m gonna catch on fire if I don’t feel you touching me.”

Harry groaned, lifting her weight and aiming his first thrust. Melody’s lips fell apart as she sank back down around his cock.

“Touchin’ yeh enough now?”

She nodded quickly, turning her nose into the side of his neck. “Yes.” Her voice cracked as he bucked against her.

“Miss my cock when yeh’re not talkin’ to me?”

Melody only now felt her skin flush, despite the constant, stifling heat of the shower, the burn of Harry’s skin where it met hers. She clung tighter to him and hummed a quiet sound of assent.

“‘S okay,” he mumbled against her shoulder. His mouth closed around a spot of flesh, teeth prickling as he sucked on the skin. Melody winced and then released a strangled moan when he fucked into her. “Takin’ me right. Cunt’s nice and tight on me. Can feel how much yeh missed it.”

Melody’s shoulder pulsed, even as Harry pressed gentle kisses to it. She shivered as he continued to whisper to her. And her belly tightened when his fingers pressed greedily into the flesh of her ass.

“Oh, fuck,” Harry breathed. He forced an arm between her back and the wall, pressing her chest forward, chasing the weak spasm of her pussy with eager thrusts. “Gonna squeeze me again? Make me come, baby?”

“Please,” Melody choked out. She placed her hands on either side of Harry’s face as he pulled back from her shoulder, pressing his forehead to hers, watching her eyes flutter, wet hair clinging to her cheeks.

“So fuckin’ close,” Harry said, fingers curled against Melody’s hip. She kissed him messily, water still spilling between their mouths. It only took another few strokes for her to gasp, tipping her head back, moaning loud enough for the noise to echo between the walls of the bathroom.

“Yes, tha’s it.” Harry grunted, nose to the underside of Melody’s chin, slamming forward to empty himself into her. His legs trembled and the hand at her hip turned, palm flat against the wall. “Fuck.”

Melody caught her breath and then twisted her head, lowering her face until she could meet Harry’s lips. She kissed him slowly, stroked his wet cheeks with her thumbs. His chest heaved against her and his breath came in wild rasps over her face, down her neck. She pulled her lips between her teeth, biting at them.

“God, what the fuck is wrong with me?”

Melody blinked in confusion, her nose bumping Harry’s. “What?”

He ducked to slide his face into the curve of her neck. “Makin’ yeh upset enough not to have sex with me,” he elaborated. “Three fuckin’ weeks. How the fuck did I go three weeks without that?”

Melody smiled lazily and ran her fingers down his spine. The water was beginning to grow cold as she wiggled in his arms, and he set her back on unsteady feet, flinching away from the stream.

“Love you,” Melody whispered, reaching to turn the temperature up. She stood on her toes to press a final kiss to Harry’s lips, stroking his cheek, and then stepped beneath the water to soak her hair.

***

The sheets laid in a heap at the end of the bed. Melody’s cheek was pressed to Harry’s shoulder, her ankle looped around his leg, fingers tickling the skin of his chest, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so at ease.

He was full of cake. Bea had baked it for him, surprisingly. And she’d given him a wig that had been disturbingly reminiscent of his long hair—“I realized the longer your hair, the less of your face I have to see, and it just seemed like an all-around win.” Sean had sent a present for him, too, despite his cool attitude earlier in the day. There was a brand new gym bag in Melody’s closet.

Melody’s gifts were scattered about the room. A fresh pair of training shoes, a set of wireless earbuds, and a couple of Fleetwood Mac records to play on her turntable. Harry had snorted when he’d opened those.

“You do like them, don’t you?” she’d checked.

“Yeah, yeah. I do. Love Fleetwood. They’re my mum’s favorite.”

He glanced across the room at the cover of Rumours, propped against the wall on top of Melody’s dresser, the picture of them in a brand new frame right beside it, as he raked his fingers through her hair. He was so close to sleep. But on the other side of the bedroom door, he could still hear Bea and Josie laughing at whatever film they’d chosen for the night.

Still no luck with Josie. The wig was strictly a gift from Bea, although Josie had snuck a large slice of his birthday cake. She took her food seriously.

”Harry,” Melody spoke, suddenly very much awake.

“Hmm?”

“My, um...” Her fingers stilled on his chest and then she scratched the tip of her nose. “My mom wants me to invite you to her party.”

“Your mum’s throwin’ a party?” Harry chuckled. “Is she still that young?”

“It’s not what you’re thinking.” Melody smiled and then let it fall away rather quickly. “Its for her birthday. In April. It’s like...my mom is kind of flashy. She likes to have this sort of mixer thing every year with her rich friends. And everyone gets all dressed up and she pretends we have even close to the amount of money they have. It’s kind of embarrassing. And I have to go. I haven’t seen my parents since July, I think. But she wants you to come.”

”Oh.”

“You don’t have to go. I told her you probably wouldn’t want to. It’s honestly—”

“No, I’ll go, Mel. I’ll go with yeh.”

Melody tilted her head back. “I’m serious. You don’t need to.”

“D’yeh not want me to come?”

“What?” She shook her head. Harry saw the dark bruise on her shoulder, remnant of his mouth on her skin. “No. I mean, of course I’d love if you came with me. But it’s the first time you’d be meeting my parents and I know that’s a lot of pressure. I didn’t know if you’d want that to be at some snobby party.”

“Yeah. I’ll come with yeh, love.” He didn’t tell her that meeting her parents would be one of the most uncomfortable experiences he’d ever had, no matter the setting.

“I don’t know who you are,” Melody said with a gentle laugh, delivering a hard kiss to his cheek. “But they’re dying to meet you.”

Harry hummed, running the tip of his finger over the purpling mark on her skin, watching it change shapes in the dying light.

Chapter 19

[feverinfeveroutfic]

chapter thirty-four: one of us

Sam spent the next night at Joey's apartment before he offered to drive her back to the Bronx, complete with the painted canvas in the back seat. He also offered her to take a week off from school and spend it with him, but she turned it down.

“I worked too hard to get into school and claim my spot here in the Northeast, Joey,” she explained to him as she nestled down in the passenger seat next to him, “I mean, really. There's no way I'm giving that up. I wouldn't be here right now if not for school.”

“We gotta hang out again, though, Sam,” he insisted. “I like hangin' out with you. I feel more like myself when I'm hangin' out with you.”

“Maybe we can do something together over Thanksgiving—I have a four day weekend then.”

“Nah, I can't. We're gonna be touring over in Europe.”

“Dammit! Well, what about Christmas?”

“Christmas, I dunno. I think we have it off? I'll have to run it by Scott when I see him in a bit. Although—I do think we go back to Poughkeepsie after Thanksgiving, though. Poughkeepsie and also Providence.”

“Providence! So Zelda will be able to see you guys just fine.”

“I hope she does, yeah!”

Another few hours and soon the New York skyline emerged in their view: the cold gray clouds only made all those skyscrapers as well as the Twin Towers off in the distance appear even colder. Seeing the clouds made her think of that cat she and Marla had found outside of their new rehearsal space, especially given it was pouring rain when they found her. As Joey took to the next lane over to keep up with the freeway, she turned her attention to him.

He took a couple of glimpses over at her, the second of which he raised his eyebrows at her.

“What's up?” he asked her.

“Is it too much trouble to ask if we could swing by Marla and Charlie's place? They don't live too far away from my building.”

“I was just thinkin' about them,” he confessed. “The two of them and that little black kitty cat that she found.”

“Actually it was me who found her—Marla and Charlie took her in.”

“Oh, I see! But yeah, we can go see them for a little bit. I'm not the one with school after all.” He flashed her a wink; the freeway spanned out into a long flat stretch and they made their way towards the Bronx and all those familiar neighborhoods. For a few moments as they rounded the bend, she had forgotten what they had named the cat but she wished to find her something the next time they saw each other.

Joey took the next exit into the very heart of the Bronx and Sam shivered in the seat despite the blast of warm air from the heater vents. He flexed his fingers even though he barely held onto the wheel the whole ride there. She had had the gloves tucked away in her pocket, but she wondered if he had another pair perfect for his own hands, and one that was perfect for driving.

He flexed his fingers again.

“Tired?” she asked him with a raise of her eyebrows.

“Nah, just cold hands. I don't have those drummer gloves with me.”

“Drummer gloves,” she said in a flat tone.

“Yeah. When I was first starting out as a drummer, I'd wear this little pair of white leather gloves that protected my hands from the drumsticks. They also kept my hands warm against the cold. I think I forgot them back at my place. Louie has a pair, too.” He somewhat grimaced at the mention of Louie's name. “They're almost like gardening gloves.”

“Oh, I see. Speaking of which, I had already seen you in a hockey get up, I should see you drumming next.”

“Playing hockey and drumming at the same time,” Joey challenged her with a smirk on his face.

“Playing hockey and then drumming,” Sam added.

“Or drumming and then play a round of hockey. I'm that active, after all.”

They snaked their way through the side streets of the Bronx, and towards her apartment building, but they continued onward to Marla and Charlie's building nearby. She had a flashback to when she and Frank were in that closet together and she drew those cartoons in her journal. She could still feel the fine lush hair against her fingers. She wished to do more of those same types of cartoons in her journal, and it made her think of the ink drawings she had made in the past October. She missed doing it that time around given Cliff's passing and her filled schedule that fall as well, but she wished to do it again.

Lars encouraged her to do it with the ink at Cliff's memorial after all.

The rain had fizzled out by the time she and Joey made their way up the steps and inside of the dry, warm building.

“Do you remember where they live?” Joey asked her as he ran his fingers through his black curls.

“I do as a matter of fact!”

Sam reached the apartment first and she knocked on the door panel three times. Silence ensued.

“Are they even home at all?” Joey wondered aloud, and the door swung open. Marla greeted them, and complete with a towel wrapped around her hair.

“Hey,” she said with a surprised expression on her face. “Hey, you two!”

“Who's here?” Charlie hollered from the kitchen.

“Joey and Sam,” she called back to him, and she returned to them.

“We should'a called first but—we were just coming back home, though,” Joey explained.

“Just wanted to see how the two of you were doing,” Sam added with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Aw, that's too kind—come on in, you guys.”

Joey ran his fingers through his jet black curls again as they padded inside of that cozy front room. They had rearranged the furniture at some point: the couch had been moved over to the wall opposite from the front door and they had tucked a cat tree into the right corner of the room. Charlie emerged from the kitchen with his dark curls tied up at the back of his head, a plain white shirt, and bright red shorts rounded out by knee high white socks.

“Cute,” Sam chuckled with a gesture to the shorts.

“What, these? I found these literally right after we came back home from the tour.”

“I thought he looked good with them,” Marla added as she took a seat on the couch. The cat jumped onto the arm, right next to her, and something jingled in junction with it.

“There she is!” Joey declared.

“What'd you name her again?” Sam asked her.

“Genie,” Marla filled in.

“Genie, that was it!”

“Dream Genie,” Charlie added as she slunk past the back of Marla's head to the other end of the couch. She squatted down there and glanced over at Sam: those golden eyes shone under the soft light of their apartment. She spotted a black and green collar around her neck: right in the middle was a circular silver tag that resembled to a coin, and right behind that was a silver bell.

“She's our girl,” Charlie declared.

“I kinda wanna do something for her,” Sam confessed.

“Yeah, me, too—” Careful not to frighten her, Joey strode over to the couch.

“She's not too particular about men, Joey,” Charlie told him. “It took her a bit to warm up to me.” Joey bowed forward and extended his hand to her: Genie hesitated and her pupils dilated a bit. Sam held still for her; but then Genie tapped her dark nose on Joey's fingertip.

“We good?” he asked the cat in a gentle voice. He raised his hand a little bit to pet her head: she closed her eyes, and Joey moved in closer to her. Genie lifted herself in a seated position so he could pet her more.

“Yeah, we good,” Marla replied as she adjusted the towel on her head.

“Are we dying our hair again?” Sam asked her.

“Not yet, no—I'll dye it a different color over Christmas, though.”

“She did recolor it,” Charlie pointed out.

“Yeah, I recolored it a tiny little bit just to fix the roots and make it look even for the rest of the quarter. I'll leave the actual color a surprise, though.”

Joey meanwhile took his seat on the couch so Genie could come closer to him. Even just standing there next to Marla, Sam could hear the rich purr from inside of her throat: Joey petted her head and her back, and her tail shot straight up in response.

“I envy you,” Charlie muttered as he folded his arms across his chest. Genie rubbed up against Joey's arm and purred even louder. It was right then Sam knew that all of his problems were trivial: if that cat acted like that towards him, there must be a way to help him heal and overcome it all. She even turned around and let out a soft little meow for him.

“I really envy you now,” Charlie followed it up.

“You wanna pet her, Sam?” Marla offered.

“I'd love to—” she said as she gingerly stepped closer to Joey.

“You did find her outside of Montana after all—”

She extended her hand to Genie and she tapped her nose on her fingertips as well: she then ran her fingers on the crown of her head, and she continued to purr. Sam looked over at Joey and his brown eyes softened at the sight of her. The cat liked both of them almost immediately, and she knew there was a way in there with him.

Indeed, he walked her back to her place and up those stairs together. Aurora was descending the stairs with a plastic bag in hand.

“Oh, hey! There you are, Sam!”

“Were you waiting for me?” she asked her.

“Yeah, me and Zelda both. I was just gonna go down the block to ask Marla and Charlie if they knew where you were.”

“Well, I'm here now,” Sam told her, “with Mr. Bellardini here, too. What's going on?”

“Halloween and Day of the Dead, that's the deal.” Aurora flashed her a wink, and Sam thought about that one song that the Cherry Suicides did for their Halloween show the year before. “Day of the Dead.” She had a feeling but she had no idea if it was at all true. Aurora ambled closer to her and Joey, and she gestured for them to lean in closer to her.

“I was gonna tell Zelda after I came back,” she explained in a low voice, “but Metal Church, the band that opened up for Metallica and—” She turned to Joey. “—you guys, on their tour—”

Joey nodded in response to that.

“Metal Church cancelled the remainder of their dates for the remaining stint of the tour,” Aurora continued. “I called Morgan of the Cherry Suicides if she wanted to fill in for their spot and she accepted without a shred of hesitation.”

Sam gasped and Joey's face lit up.

“But don't tell her, though,” she lowered her voice to a near whisper to them, “I want it to be a surprise.”

“And you want to let it come from your mouth, too,” Sam added.

“Exactly, yes! She's been awful moody lately, too, so I wanna see the joy come to her face when she hears it.”

“Aw, that's so kind of you, Aurora,” Joey told her with that lopsided smile on his face.

“Anyways, what's in the bag?” Sam asked her with a nod. “It's for Halloween and Day of the Dead?”

“Well, it specifically is for Halloween. Day of the Dead has something else in a different bag out in the my car.”

She opened the top side of the plastic bag to show her the collar of a beige jumpsuit. The inside was line with black satin.

“From that movie Ghostbusters,” Aurora explained, “I even got this one personalized—” Indeed, she took it out part of the way, and they both noticed a black name tag embroidered there on the side of the chest: inside of the rectangle was Aurora's name in red lettering.

“I can get you one, if you'd like, Sam,” she added.

“I'd love one,” Sam replied with a smile and a raise of her eyebrows.

“One for me, one for you, one for Marla, and one for Belinda if she wants to join in with us. I tried to offer it to Zelda but she told me she didn't feel like dressing up. I told her, 'it's Halloween—you ladies own Halloween', you know to try and lift her spirits and whatnot. But I dunno.”

“She's probably waiting for us,” Sam remarked as she adjusted the lapels of her coat.

“Probably waiting for you in particular,” Joey added, “here, Aurora—lemme help you out with that—”

Sam continued on to the stairs, to the third floor and her apartment. Zelda had taken her seat outside of the front door: she flashed back on the time Cliff had taken his seat there outside of her door. But Zelda had more of a distant look on her face in comparison to him: he awaited her presence; she awaited some sort of comfort. She sighed through her nose and she bowed her head a bit, but when Sam stood above her, she peered up at her. Her eyes were large but far away.

“How you doing?” she asked her, to which Zelda shrugged. “Is everything alright?”

“I think my band might be breaking up,” she confessed in a small voice. “We haven't been able to do anything—Aurora hasn't gotten us anything. I can't put the blame on her, though. I feel like it's my fault.”

“Well—how 'bout you come on in? I can put on a kettle and make you a cup of tea.”

Zelda sighed through her nose again.

“Okay,” she almost breathed that out, and she climbed to her feet. “I do feel a little bit better saying that, though. I haven't been able to tell that to anyone else.” Sam unlocked the door and let her inside of the apartment. Zelda took her seat on the couch and she leaned back against the soft cushion. She still had that distant look on her face as Sam fetched her a clean mug and a bag of green tea. Her slender, toned legs separated a little bit: she looked a little bit thinner than usual.

“Would you like some sugar in your tea?” she offered her in a gentle voice.

“Sure, why not.”

“Um—Aurora is gonna get us some costumes for a Halloween party,” Sam recalled. “We could all go together in an ensemble of sorts.”

“Yeah, maybe we should,” she muttered. Something else bothered her, and Sam took her seat next to her on the couch.

“What's wrong?” she asked, and Zelda sighed through her nose again.

“I feel bad about breaking it off with Louie,” she confessed almost without taking a single breath.

“Well...” Sam fell short with that. There was no way she could console her because she had lost Cliff to something she couldn't control, whereas the whole thing with Louie hit a brick wall. And yet they both lost their boyfriends: she nestled up closer to Zelda, who kicked off her shoes and she pulled her knees up to her chest. She bowed her head and rested her lanky elbows upon her knees; Sam considered putting her arm around her shoulders so as to console her but she had no idea how Zelda would react to it. She smelled of cinnamon, that smell of Christmas. That smell that made her think of Cliff.

“You know Cliff used to sit right there whenever he came over here,” she told her in a low voice.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. He would just sit there and relax, and he let me come closer to him.”

Zelda's bottom lip trembled a bit.

“Do you miss him?” she asked Sam in a broken voice: tears lined her eyes.

“Every day. I think I'm gonna miss him every day.”

“At least you have him all to yourself now, though,” Zelda pointed out. “I just don't have it with Louie anymore.”

“Well—you guys broke up for—for—for some reason.”

“For some reason, for sure.”

“Would you be willing to listen to Legacy's new album, though?”

“Of course. I wanna know what it feels like on his end. He's also a drummer—I like my drummers.” She sniffled.

“You like your drummers even if they leave,” Sam pointed out.

“I do. I do, I do, I do, I do... I still love Louie even with him not next to me anymore.”

Sam extended her arms for her and Zelda moved in closer, and they embraced each other.

“Thank you,” Zelda breathed into her ear.

“If it's any comfort at all,” Sam started again; she moved back so she could look right into her tearful eyes, “I feel my heart opening again.”

“Really?” Zelda brushed away a tear.

“Yeah. To Joey.”

“Whoa, really.”

“Yeah. And—I wanna tell you to keep it under wraps, too.”

“What for?”

“Because—I honestly don't know how to break it to him yet. Or to anyone, really. I'm also not really sure of it myself, either. I keep thinking, oh, it's nothing serious. I just love him out of necessity. I don't necessarily feel that sort of love for him. But—all things equal—I do feel love for Joey. But I don't really want it to leak out as of yet. Mine and Cliff's relationship leaked out onto him and so I don't want me and him to leak out.” Sam extended her pinky finger to her, and Zelda hooked her own around it.

“I won't tell a soul,” she vowed to her a low voice. “And the amount of times you said 'leak' makes me wonder if there's a leak in here.”

“Nah, that just—sort of happened.” A soft whistling noise emerged from the kitchen.

“There's your water.” Sam lifted her gaze to the door and at the sight of Aurora and Joey. “And there they are, too.”

“Speaking of leaking—” Zelda turned around and Sam stood from the couch and hurried into the kitchen before the kettle whistled even louder. She heard their voices in the next room. And she switched off the burner and she picked it off there; before she could make her way back into the front room when Zelda let out a shrill yelp.

“OH MY FUCKING GOD, AURORA, I LOVE YOU!”

Joey burst out laughing right then. Sam hurried into the front room with the kettle in hand; Zelda threw her arms around Aurora's body and she began to push her back to the door. Joey set down the plastic bag and he clapped his hands. Even with his darkened skin, a soft blush bloomed in his face from his laughter.

“Well, don't suffocate her, Zelda!” Sam chuckled again; Zelda pressed her lips to the side of Aurora's face, and her smooth almond shaped eyes widened a bit at the feeling.

“Oh, my god, that just made my life!” she tearfully declared.

“I told—Morgan—but I wanted it to be a surprise—” Aurora stammered.

“So you coming to the Halloween party thing now? I don't even know what it is, to be frank,” was all Sam could ask as she poured the hot water into her mug.

“For sure!” She wiped away more tears. Joey clapped his hands some more before he extended his left to her. She gave him five down low and threw her arms around him. Aurora ran her hands under her black hair and let out a low whistle.

“I can't even remember the last time I had a bear hug with someone,” she choked out, “not even when I grew up out in San Diego. I don't remember the last time I had that.” And Sam almost dropped the kettle from laughing so hard.

Over the next couple of weeks, things seemed to lighten up once again. Sam could focus more on her art and her classes. Indeed, her watercolor paintings seemed bolder and brighter than before, with the washes looking as though she had taken the paint straight out of the bottle and applied it onto the heavy grained paper. The lines on her graphite drawings looked cleaner and smoother, and she was finally getting the hang of the extra dark shading. Belinda made a joke that it came from the weekend together with him.

“His last name is Belladonna, you said?” she asked her the day before Halloween.

“Yeah. A play on his real last name of Bellardini.”

“You know belladonna is deadly nightshade, right? Genus name belladonna atropa?”

“He took me to his hockey rink and he actually had a ball that actually said 'atropa' on the side, and he told me that was what sparked the idea for it.”

Belinda leaned in closer to Sam's ear.

“He's injected you with his venom, Sam I am,” she whispered.

“Injected me with his venom,” Sam chuckled and rolled her eyes at that, but Belinda's face remained serious. She never elaborated on that for the rest of the day, or even the next day before the party. The thought did linger in the back of her head as she returned home after school: she took a glimpse in the window next to her, at the black hat upon her head. She gazed into her own dark eyes, and she thought of Joey's big brown eyes. As brown as the earth. As dark as venom.

But it wasn't possible

But on the other hand, Sam felt relieved that it was Friday again, especially when Aurora swung by and they drove down to L'Amour together, wrapped in their jumpsuits no less.

“We're missing the little ghostie symbol on the door panel,” Sam said to her as the familiar neighborhood appeared from around the corner; she adjusted the black leather gloves that Frank lent her earlier that morning.

“The siren, too!” Aurora laughed. “Let everyone know that we've arrived.”

They rolled up to that spot before the side door, which hung fully ajar: as Sam climbed out of the car, she spotted Scott and Dan inside there, both with no shirt on. Lush dark hair sprouted all over Scott's chest while Dan looked as though he had just come from several rounds at a nearby gym. And she thought Joey was trim and fit!

“Looks like we've got some manly men, Aurora,” she announced in a loud voice. They both looked in their direction and burst out laughing: Sam strode inside first and she stepped to the right. Aurora followed suit and put a pair of black goggles on top of her head, and she stood to the left. Both girls pressed their hands to their hips.

“Lookin' badass, ladies,” Dan remarked with the points of finger guns; he then ducked away for something. Once they had come inside, Sam realized that their faces had been painted a pearly white, as if they had walked right out of a spa. Both men had clipped their bangs back to put more emphasis on their masks.

“Yeah, kinda puts our costumes to shame, to be honest,” Scott added with a raise of his dark eyebrows.

“Aurora, Marla, Belinda, and I are the Ghostbusters,” Sam explained. “We're just missing our version of Ecto-1 is all.”

“The lasers, too,” Aurora added.

“What about Zelda, what's she dressing up as?”

“No idea—I hope it's something good, though,” Sam confessed. “After Aurora said that the Cherry Suicides will be opening up for Metallica in Providence next month, she's just been on cloud nine lately.”

Dan returned with a handful of jars and some flexible stencils in his arms, and he set them down on the little table in between them.

“What's all this?”

“We're gonna be dancing clowns,” he explained. “Kinda glad you girls showed up, too.”

“Why, you need a couple of girls' help?” Aurora teased him, to which she took a step forward.

“If you don't mind at all,” Dan replied with a shrug of his bare shoulders.

“You girls are one of us,” Scott added as he took out a pair of plastic vampire teeth from his shorts pocket, “—we really need you.”

“Here, Danny, let me help you,” Aurora volunteered.

“Which means I get Scott.” Sam turned her attention to him. “Would you like some help with those false teeth?” she offered.

“Nah—I do need a li'l help with the false blood on this, though.”

Sam took off the black leather gloves and tucked them into her pocket. Scott held still as he let her paint that bright red and jet black paint over his skin: the stencil stayed in place upon his skin, but her hand remained steady. She followed the elaborate groove of the stencil and the thick solid black onto the white foundation.

“Scott and I were making a joke,” Dan began in a mumbled voice, probably from the stencil on his skin as well, “he should shave the word 'not' into his chest hair.”

“Pffff, why?” Aurora laughed.

“Kinda fits the whole mood of things,” Scott added with his teeth barred together. “We lost a good friend so we wanna lighten up for a bit.”

Sam dipped the brush into the paint again, and she thought about the red shorts Charlie wore when she and Joey visited them for a bit. She wondered where they were going with it all, especially since it had been a touch over a year since their record dropped. She placed the other stencil on Scott's face but she kept her free hand on the free one.

“They're sticky so don't sweat it 'bout it fallin' off,” he assured her.

“I see.”

“And I see Zelda over there—in a dress.”

“In a dress, really? Run for the hills!” Sam laughed, and Scott gritted his teeth to keep himself steady. His eyes darted across the room and he raised his thick dark eyebrows a little bit.

“Oh, my,” he muttered without moving his lips.

“What's it like?”

“I can't—really describe it.”

And with that, Sam peered over her shoulder and there was Zelda in the doorway. She had put on a big long white lacy dress with a skirt that fell down to the floor. She had on a smooth silken ribbon around her waist and torn lace gloves. But right in the middle of that fitted bodice was a false butcher knife, and fake blood spattered across her skin and a good part of the dress itself. The floppy hat upon her head had splatters of blood across the brim.

“Oh, deary dear,” Sam remarked.

“Oh, my god, Zelda, you look amazing,” Frank called from the other side of the room.

“Yeah, I know right?” Zelda said with a big smirk across her face. “Thank my ladies for this. We're not called the Cherry Suicides for no reason. We got the news from Aurora just yesterday and there was no way we couldn't not celebrate by dressing up like a bunch of bloody Victorian ladies!”

“Bloody Victorian ladies,” Scott echoed in a fake British accent.

“Hold still,” Sam encouraged him as she brought the paint brush back to his face for some more stenciling. His thick dark eyebrows complimented the black and red paint, and within mere minutes, she peeled off the stencils for him.

“Deliciously evil,” she remarked, and he stuck the fangs into his mouth. She then turned to Dan and Aurora, the former of whom had stars painted all over his face. “Excellent!”

She recognized that head of purple on the other side of the room, right by the bar and wrapped up in a beige jumpsuit herself. She had a black backpack on: it wasn't the laser, but it looked as though it did the trick.

“And there's the third member of our party, Aurora,” Sam declared.

“Thank you, Sam I am—this feels fantastic,” Scott told her.

“My pleasure, Scott—” She jogged across the wooden floor to meet up with Marla. She already had a Bloody Mary before her, and her face lit up at the sight of Sam.

“Hey, I was just thinking about you. Want a drink?”

“Nah, I'm good—Bloody Maries aren't really my thing.”

“No, no, I want to get you something.”

“Oh, yes please! One of those black and purple drinks with the club soda inside.”

Marla asked the bartender for just that, and Sam took her seat next to her.

“Belinda's on her way right now,” she promptly said, “apparently the suit was a little too small for her.”

“Too small? She's like a living doll.”

“I know, right? But I guess it was a bit too snug around her chest so she had to wing it a little bit on her sewing machine. She's like a mad scientist sometimes, I swear...”

Sam's drink arrived and they clinked their glasses together. She took a sip when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Aurora had finished up Dan's face paint and she met up with the heavy gentleman with the black suit and the black fedora atop his head.

“And there's Aurora and Emile,” she remarked. “He looks like a dark Colonel Sanders.”

“What's going on between them, do you know?” Marla asked her in a low voice.

“No idea, to be honest. All I know is he's separated from his wife and they're friendly with each other.” She turned her head towards Marla. “A little too friendly, if you ask me. That's just from what I've seen, anyway.”

“So there's whole thing between you and Joey and now we have Aurora and Emile.”

“Right. And I have no idea what's going with any of it, either.”

Marla squinted her eyes at the sight of the couple on the other side of the room. She didn't move or say anything for a good long minute.

“Let's see where it all goes from here on out,” Sam suggested.

“It's all we can do,” Marla added as she picked up her Bloody Mary and took a sip. Sam held her purple drink up to her mouth but she kept it there.

With Cliff's passing came a whole new world. Almost two years had surpassed since Sam came to New York and it felt as though so much more had happened to her. Everything seemed to be moving so quickly and she couldn't hardly stop to rest a lot. Emile quipped something to Aurora, who then burst out laughing. He set a hand on her upper back.

There was definitely something in between them. No way it was just friendly. Sam didn't have much experience with the whole thing but she knew that that extended beyond mere friendship. She finally took a sip from her glass, and Marla did it in unison with her.

[asktoseeoutfit]

Why did EA make a jab/joke abt lilsimsie for critiquing their builds...they literally sell their half ass builds and then get upset when people critique them for being shitty.They forgot toilets for houses in Get famous and made an nonfunctional house in strangerville. In ROM you have a house with no functional back stairs, and a mismatching roof on the bar. Like, I just don’t get it. How do you SELL packs with half ass builds... like.  Please watch lilsimsie’s new video, she rlly just shows how much the sims snub us on builds, and in the build buy catalog. We were missing the island living islands, and when we get them, the swatches don’t match. They literally reuploaded a basegame house and copied it into strangerville... like the exact same house. Also we didn't get cabinets for the counters in ROM. How are you going to make me PAY money... for an incomplete pack. That’s why I buy a majority of my packs when they’re on sale, because I don’t know if recolors and reused animations are really worth the price they’re selling packs for.