Morgan McAlister has always found happiness in life's simple pleasures. Living in Henford-on-Bagley, she loves tending to her garden, caring for her animals, and cooking homemade meals with fresh ingredients from her own harvest.
Kind, gentle, and a little reserved, Morgan prefers the peaceful countryside over the hustle and bustle of city life. She enjoys chatting with the villagers, taking part in the local fairs, and spending quiet evenings on her porch with a good book and a warm cup of tea.
Her dream is to build a peaceful life, grow her little farm, and prove that the simplest life can be the most rewarding. 🌾🤎
Sims In Bloom: Generation 3 Pt. 57 (Make Yourself At Home)
Brea felt at home in a smog-covered container a lot faster than she expected. Amid bursts of inspiration, she produced large volumes of quality artwork to send to galleries all over Simlandia. The notable newcomer was building a name for herself in the art world, and private collectors had even started calling for one of a kind pieces.
LavaKnits thrived as Lavender tried to keep pace with Brea's output, but she could paint three stunning paintings before Lavender could finish a single infant onesie. She wasn't that much faster with her custom rug orders on the fabricator, but she was happy with her perfectionism; she'd rather take her time to perfect a piece than rush through something that wasn't her best work.
She also got comfortable diving through dumpsters, separating compost and recyclables to take to the depot at the edge of Port Promise. She even found discarded dyes and other materials to use with her fabricator, which gave her custom rug orders more variety.
A wild soy bush not far from her front door also pulled Lavender's attention. She'd seen job listings for custom candles but she didn't have the materials or the equipment. But she collected wax and beans from the wild bush, and planned to plant a few seeds in the standing planters Layne Wise had helped her install.
Besides that, she thought she could teach herself candle-making, eventually - once she'd sold a few more rugs, at least.
Lavender's mother, Heather, paid a surprise visit a few weeks into Brea's stay. The vet grimaced at the thick orange skies, frowning as her daughter invited her inside.
"Your dad warned me about the pollution, but I don't think even he thought it would be this bad. Ash's shipping robots did this?"
"It's not just the robots. Their efficiency brings in more ships and that adds to the problem. The town has some ideas, but they all cost a lot of money to implement, and no one's sure if it'll matter against the Landgraabs' pursuit of profits, anyway."
"Why haven't you talked to your brother?"
Lavender frowned as she climbed down the ladder. "At this point, it's because he hasn't even looked in on his dumb robots to see how they're performing. He's a genius! How could he not know? If he doesn't care, and the Landgraabs don't care, we'll just change things here in spite of them."
Heather frowned. She didn't want to get in the middle of a dispute between her adult children, but one glance out the window proved Ash needed someone to give him a wake up call. But Lavender was headstrong like her mother, and Heather knew better than to press the issue today.
She stayed for almost a week, but she hung out with the girls mostly indoors. Brea spent hours painting at the easel, and Lavender taught her mother to knit. Heather knew she'd likely never create knits as good as her daughter, but it was nice to know she could put together some simple socks and hats once she had some grandkids to knit for.
(Lavender is very close to completing Lady of the Knits and this knocked off her 'teach someone to knit' requirement. She just needs to finish a few more legendary knits and she's done.)
The day Heather left, she tried again to convince her daughter to reach out to Ash. But stubborn Lavender had made up her mind, and she offered her mother a smile.
"If he cares, he's smart enough to figure it out. As a town, we're still going to do what we can to combat the smog."
At least this conviction was well-placed. There was no gym in Port Promise, so one morning, Lavender and Brea decided to try to go for a jog. But the smog made a good workout impossible, and they were both happy to stop and talk to local civic planner, Knox Greenburg, before they'd even left the dockland plaza.
Lavender happily introduced her best friend as a talented artist, and Knox smiled with interest. "Are you planning to stay in town long?"
Brea smiled. She could paint from anywhere and had no reason to leave yet, but she didn't want to overstay her welcome. "At least until Green Harbour Day, I should be here. Lavender says it's a big deal out here."
"We've always used the day to celebrate community and sustainability," said Knox. "This year, the locals voted to restore the abandoned quarry building and turn it into a Maker Space just in time to celebrate."
"That's a great idea!" said Lavender. "I was just thinking about trying my hand at candle-making, but I don't have the equipment."
"You'd be able to with a space like this. Fabricating, candle-making, a kids' play space. We want to make eco-friendly skills and technologies accessible to everyone in town. And the locals insisted on some juice fizzing stations, if you're into that stuff. I love a good bottle of kombucha, myself, but it's not everybody's cup of tea."
"If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask," said Lavender.
Knox turned to Brea with a hopeful grin. "I know it's a different kind of painting gig, but we're looking for people to help get rid of the graffiti and give the building a fresh coat of paint, if you're interested. It doesn't pay, but we cover lunches and materials for everyone and we won't make anyone work too long in this heat."
Brea nodded thoughtfully and checked her phone for her list of commissions. She could paint so quickly, she'd have more than enough time to volunteer, and she liked the thought of cleaning up Evergreen Harbour as much as anyone who lived here full-time.
"I'd love to help. Just tell me where to sign up."
"I'll put your name down and see you at the Quarry Building on Monday!"
He pulled out a bag of trash and Brea smiled at her best friend. "No wonder you like the people here so much, Lava. Everyone loves the environment as much as you do."
(Brea joined the painter career as a level one palette cleaner, even though the bulk of her income comes from painting at home, so I'm pretending the community space rebuild - which is instant - is part of her rabbit hole day job.)
Just like that, Brea ingratiated herself deeper into the fabric of Evergreen Harbour, but she and Lavender didn't speak as though she might stay forever. That was still a conversation Brea wasn't ready for.
Not yet. Not now, with a community space to help revitalize.
She'd held her feelings close for so long; if Lavender could go forever without telling her brother about his robots, Brea could go at least half as long without putting their great friendship at risk. Right? ->
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Gen 1 Start | Gen 1 Summary | RIP Neal
Gen 2 Start | Gen 2.1 Summary | Gen 2.2 Summary | Gen 2 Finale
🎨: The sun rose to remind us the party had to end at some point. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d partied through the night, but this had been an experience.
Most of the guests stayed to help clean up while the exotic dancers rounded up their coworkers from various areas of the property to travel back to their hotel. Some of them were too drunk to walk, so Mom called them a taxi (hard to come by in Henford if you didn’t know who to call) to take them back to Finchwick. I thanked my mom and sisters a million times because the party had been absolutely amazing and I was more than ready to become Mrs. Prescott.
*This was an amazing party even for me. I will say the secret to this was moving most of the guests into the same household as you can see in the last photo. But, I will say all the additional guests and the exotic dancers all showed up immediately. The only sims who were late or didn’t show up at all were the hired bartender (whonever showed up) and Erik the (exotic dancer) who seemed to be lost and was walking up to the house from the bottom of the hill that leads to Cordelia’s Cottage, which is where Leah lives.
The only thing that was disappointing was I planned to have take control of all the guest and have them release sky lanterns (thanks to the everyone can release sky lanterns mod). Unfortunately they had been autonomously doing it through out the night and there is a cooldown period so only a few guest were able to do it when I planned. But that’s pretty minor compared to all the disappointments from the first party.
🎨: My family hired exotic dancers?! Men and women alike were strutting through the yard in their underwear and bathing suits, sliding on poles, dancing, drinking, or popping out of cakes! Jun-bug must have gotten bored in her hotel room with her dad and siblings because during all the excitement, Sasha found her daughter amongst the women cheering on the half-naked dancers. She was going to be grounded forever.
I was all for the entertainment. I whooped and hollered as the dancers showed off their skills. One of the ladies offered me a lap dance, which I kindly turned down but offered my spot to any willing participant. In 2 weeks, I would be Mrs. Prescott.
🎨: The party was in full swing by 6:30p.m. And just when the sun set over the rolling green hills of Old New Henford the boys and bunnies came out to play.
*Now tell me this isn’t a better party than the first one, and it’s only just started.
🎨: My bachelorette party was set to commence at 5 p.m., but guests began arriving around 5:30. Samara and Mya were the first to arrive. Apparently, they’d ditched Avery and Capri at the hotel because they were taking too long to get ready. Eventually, my aunts arrived with Capri and Avery in tow. We spent the time joking, eating, and dancing.
Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this party. I wasn’t even sure all the guests would make it. However, that turned out to be the least of my worries because the party took a wild turn once everyone arrived.
*This was the whole point of the entire party. Did she finish with gold? Yes. Was I happy about the lame-ass bachelorette party I’d just thrown for my girl? No. Thus, why I used it as an introduction. Everything that follows this was from the second party, and boy, can you see the difference.
🎨: Being in Henford was like a literal breath of fresh air. I think the change of scenery was good for everyone. Lizbeth’s grief seemed nonexistent at this point. Mom was more than pleased to have the house full again. Tiny feet on every level along with the sounds of adventure and fun. Paisley and the twins were getting along lovingly (so far). Mom helped Lane practice her Komorebi (she’s actually rather fluent). Sprig was excited to be home too. He needed a bath nearly every other day when he would return to the house to prove it.
He got to roam free in Henford without my fear of someone calling animal control on us for owning an overgrown fox. He even started bringing me gifts. Old toys, gems, harvestable anything he could dig up from the lush Henford soil that he deemed worthy of his human. Sometimes on our morning walks, we would encounter other foxes. I still loved the foxes of Henford no matter how old I got. Like Sprig, they were intelligent and had the ability to be kind; they weren’t just wild animals. Before Sprig, the foxes of Henford had been my childhood pets.
My Plumbob has been on red since yesterday, and my moodlets range from embarrassed to cardiac arrest anger.
I leave for a week tomorrow to travel. (All pleasure, no business, so hopefully that will get my bar. I don’t have much in the queue, but I will have my computer, so I’ll be around at least some.) 😬
PSA: Get your IRL plumbob green. Life is too short, and there’s so much to be happy about if you just look for it.
While Evergreen Harbour sank beneath a layer of industrial grime, the San Myshuno Ballet Company was hard at work in studio on their latest production, a fresh spin on Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper.
In a bid to use their two best dancers in innovative and inclusive ways, the Princess would be played by prima ballerina, Pearl Richards, and the female pauper, her love interest, would be played by the company's young ingenue, Amora Reese.
Choreographer Dani worked with the couples in their costumes by the mirrors - next to Pearl and Amora were Lando and Evan, who played Tom and Edward, secret noblemen lovers who help the women in their tale of star-crossed love and mistaken identities.
Both Evan and Lando were content in their own relationships offstage. Evan was still happy with the mysterious spellcaster, Raven Ouellette Landgraab, and Lando had recently invited girlfriend Miriam - and all her fashion design tools - to move into his studio apartment in the fashion district.
Even though the place was small, it felt spacious, and Lando thought Miriam brightened up the space even more.
His sister, Ari, and her husband, Lou, still lived nearby, but when the redhead ballerina wasn't working, she was usually off enjoying the great outdoors with her beloved wolfman.
And Katrina was back at work after maternity leave, missing her infant son, Atticus, but grateful she could still find her feet and keep up with a company where she, at 32, was now the oldest member.
At least her experience in pointe shoes counted for something; she was far better at this than casting spells. Ari had helped a little, but Katrina still felt like a hopeless cause. At least when she danced with the company, she didn't feel like such a dunce.
The reimagining had been dreamed up by director Marina Glumova, who had finally wrested the lion's share of creative control from the president of the company board, Nancy Landgraab.
Marina's family life was the happiest it had ever been, and not just because the husband of Marina's soulmate, Ophelia Coffin, was so busy these days in the recording studio.
"Layne's been working on music for that romance novel series for weeks now. Says he's finally found his muse again, and that makes us all happy. But as peaceful as our little polycule is most of the time, it's given Ophelia and I more time alone, which has been the best part."
Her stepdaughter, Willow Coffin, was old enough to watch her young daughter, Natalia, on her own, leaving Marina feeling more freedom to produce great ballets than she had in years.
Dani smiled. She'd known Marina a long time, and she usually suited her name a fair bit, but true happiness looked good on anyone. "If you're looking for a great place for a romantic dinner date, this place in the Fashion District could be perfect. No seafood; I know you hate it. My daughter's friend works there; I can get the name from Delilah if you're interested."
(Of course Marina hates seafood, she's a mermaid. But Dani doesn't know that part.)
Ash and Pearl were as happy as ever, and the only member of the company still single offstage was Amora. Young, graceful and dedicated, she dated for fun, mostly - which was exactly why she'd avoided addressing her roommate's feelings for her for well over a year.
Living with Jaden was easy - even in their dingy, broken down apartment. He and Amora were great friends who communicated well to keep the space livable, and she feared what addressing their feelings might do to their friendship and their living arrangements.
Jaden had given her the larger bedroom, with the balcony view, insisting he'd be too busy working to worry about where he slept. And he worked hard, already assistant to the manager at a trading company Uptown. Amora liked his ambition, but she was hellbent on establishing herself in the world of ballet before she'd ever consider settling down.
And Jaden understood this about Amora, so he never pressed the issue and nursed his crush on her with a respectable silence.
But the day he lost his grandfather, Simon Scott, changed everything between them.
He was devastated, already tired from a long day at the office, and Amora was relaxing after a long day of rehearsals. She hadn't dealt with loss since the deaths of her parents, but she innately understood what he was feeling.
"I can cancel my date if you want. We can just hang out and watch a movie or something."
"You don't have to do that," he insisted. "I'll be fine."
"When's the funeral?"
"In about a week, probably."
"I'll take the day off rehearsals and come with you," she said. "For moral support."
"You want to be there for me?"
"I know you'll have your family there so it's not like you'll be alone, but when my parents died I was glad to have people like Lucy around to distract me when I was overwhelmed."
"I'd love that, Amora. Thank you."
A week later, the roommates were in Henford to bury his grandfather, Simon, at the Old Henford Church, and Amora had the chance to meet his family. His widowed grandmother, Sara, was sweet. His younger brother, Maverick, took the rainy night in stride. Amora even met Jaden's parents, Dr. Jamar and Malia Pancakes Scott, and his two aunts, McKinley and Ayesha.
She understood how they'd raised such a respectful young man. As sad as they all were, she could see that he came from a good, loving family. It stirred feelings she'd tried to ignore.
She tried to pretend the interest between the roommates was completely one-sided, but the more she got to know Jaden, the more there was to like. And that scared her.
Back in the city, Jaden surprised her after work with some unexpected gratitude. "I just want to say thank you for being there for my grandfather's funeral. It really meant a lot that you took time for me."
"It's nothing, really. It's the least I could do to help you grieve."
"You're sort of magic," he admitted. "I haven't really had any bad days since you moved in."
"Aww, Jaden. You're a great roommate."
"Would you ever think about letting me take you out on a date sometime?"
"Jaden, I...I would."
"Because of pity?"
The question barely settled in her mind before he leaned in for a surprising kiss. At once, they both felt the urge to pull themselves away, but instead they melted into each other's touch, savouring their lips against their skin.
Suddenly, Amora forgot her plans and they fumbled their way to the bedroom.
"It's not pity," she assured him, and this was their tacit agreement before they'd removed their clothes and found themselves under the covers.
It wasn't pity, but something electric and indescribable. Their bodies melted together as if they were one, and they pulled apart with satisfied smiles.
But as Jaden drifted peacefully beside her, Amora stared anxiously at the ceiling. ->
<- Previous Chapter | Gen 3 Start
Gen 1 Start | Gen 1 Summary | RIP Neal
Gen 2 Start | Gen 2.1 Summary | Gen 2.2 Summary | Gen 2 Finale
Daniela Delarosa appears courtesy of @changingplumbob, and both she and Amora Reese were created by @mdshh
WCIF: The recording studio/room where Layne and Miko are working on music for Buzz of Desire is on the Sims 4 Gallery by GrammyStorm, and the final shot of Amora and Jaden was posed with @somneasims Morning Regret posepack.
