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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.10]

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“Do you think I’ll have that dream again?” said Max.

Luna made sure Max had brushed his teeth and changed into his PJs, then prepared to tuck him into bed.

“And what dream is that?” she said.

“The one where the pretty lady shows up and makes Dad’s arms bend the wrong way and then his eyeballs pop out,” he answered, crawling into bed.

Oh, Watcher. Luna was horrified.

Max was also having terrifying nightmares? She thought it was just her.

“No, don’t you worry, Max,” she said earnestly. “I’ll tuck you in extra tight tonight and make sure you won’t have that nightmare again.”

She kissed his forehead goodnight.

Max closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, but he was secretly frustrated with his sister.

Who said anything about a nightmare? He was hoping to have that dream again. Luna didn’t understand anything.

Luna turned off the lights and headed to her bedroom.

Her little brother having graphic nightmares like that? That couldn't be normal, right?

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Just because it’s a dream doesn’t mean it’s not real (movie credit to the phenomenal @feroshgirlsims, seriously you do not know how much I screamed and cried when I first watched this machinima)

[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.11]

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It was concerning that Luna's little brother was having horrifying nightmares, because she also had horrifying nightmares.

Luna didn’t know if was normal for children to have horrifying nightmares. But she also didn’t know who to talk to about it.

She sat down and pulled out her phone.

Hey I have a random question, she texted her mystery knight.

Shoot, princess, they answered.

Do you ever have… She paused. How honest should she be? She didn’t want to come off as weird.

…disturbing dreams? Like, about your parents? she finally wrote.

Sure, they answered. Sometimes I dream that my dad comes home, and it feels like so real in the dream, you know, even though it’s been like six years, but then I wake up, and it just… feels weird

Weird how, she wrote.

Idk, I mean, HE was the one who left, why would he come back? Anyways, I turned out fine, but my older brother didn’t. Dad walking out made him soft. But me, personally, I never needed him anyways. I don’t miss him at all

But you still dream about him, she pointed out.

There was a pause in their typing.

Guess so, they answered.

There was another pause. Then, the three dots starting blinking as they typed.

Ugh, idk, that whole thing was kinda dumb, sorry, they wrote.

No, it’s not dumb, she replied. I dream about Mom all the time, sort of

What do you mean

Luna sighed, then wrote, I have this recurring dream where I’m her, and I’m trapped in a burning building, and I can see myself and the rest of my family but they’re just standing there, watching me and not doing anything

That sounds terrifying and awful, they answered.

She suddenly realized something. I never told anyone that before

Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me, princess ❤

And Luna found herself inexplicably crying again,

-only snapping out of it when her phone buzzed again.

Hey princess?

Yeah? she answered.

The three dots appeared, blinking for a long time.

They disappeared. She waited.

They appeared, then disappeared again.

They reappeared and suddenly her phone buzzed.

Good night, princess ❤, said the text. It was a long wait for such a short text.

She gave a sad smile. Good night ❤, she answered.

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Luna crawled into bed, and all was quiet in the Villareal house.

Even Jacques eventually tired himself out yelling at the sky and went to bed.

He especially needed his beauty rest, because tomorrow he had an important meeting with a powerful client, one who could help him with his problem.

His three problems, that is.

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.6]

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It was a Very Normal Night in the Villareal household, except that Luna was still refusing to talk to her brother Hugo.

But at least they were back to working together silently on their homework.

They were quietly filling out their workbooks, when Luna felt someone shuffle up behind her.

“Is that you, Dad?” she said, but he didn’t respond.

Jacques stared around at nothing, wild-eyed.

He suddenly gasped.

“Do not disturb me,” he growled.

“What?”

“Do not,” he repeated.

Luna turned around, bewildered.

“Dad, we’re literally just sitting here quietly, doing our homework. How are we dis–“

“Do NOT disturb me!” he yelled again into the distance, as though he were looking straight through Luna.

He suddenly reached out a hand,

and grasped at something in the air, even though there was nothing in front of him.

Before Luna could react, there was a pattering of feet as he turned and ran away.

“That was… weird.” Even Luna had to admit something was more off than usual.

“Are you ready to talk to me again?” said Hugo.

Luna sighed. “Ugh, I dunno. Maybe.”

She looked back down at her homework right when the door creaked open and someone walked in calmly.

“Offspring!” announced Jacques jovially. “I have planned our next Family Fun Day.”

If Jacques had been acting erratically before, there was no sign of it now. He spoke with the utmost calm and composure.

“We will go on a hike, in a blizzard. I’ve heard it builds character.”

Hugo looked up incredulously from his work.

“Dad, we can’t go hiking in a blizzard if the forecast is warm and sunny every day. We don’t have Seasons.”

“Fine! I’m going outside!” he roared. “I can’t get anything done with the four of you disturbing me!”

Hugo was pretty sure there were only two people sitting at the dining table.

And even though it was 9PM at night, Jacques stormed out of the house.

Once Luna heard the front door slam shut, she leaned in towards her brother. “Hugo, I think you were right about Dad. He’s losing it.”

Finally, finally, his sister was listening to him. He'd been saying that for weeks.

“Ok, so what do you think we should do?” he said. “Should we go to the police–“

“–and risk them discovering what we’ve done?” Luna interjected. “You know they’d only arrest us. Then who’d take care of Max?”

She sighed. “I think the best thing we can do is try to avoid Dad and his Family Fun Days, at least until his mood swings blow over.”

Hugo fell silent. He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t think of anything better.

“Speaking of Max, I need to put him to bed. Where do you think he runs off to, anyways…?”

Good question, where was Max at 9PM on a school night?

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.8]

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It was a glorious morning as the ghost of Lord Bernard poured himself a cup of joe.

He drifted outside to take a sip, basking in the sunshine, listening to the birds chirp, when he spotted something dark in his periphery. It looked like something was written on the walls of the Von Haunt Estate building.

He drifted down the steps to get a better view.

There were letters written on the front of the Von Haunt Estate, all right - some kind of graffiti.

He narrowed his eyes, reading them aloud.

“B-E-R-N-A-R-D I-S A F-O-P-D-O-O-D-L-E"

While the graffiti only took about 30 minutes to wash off, the Von Haunt Estate unfortunately had to shut down for the entire day, as multiple complaints were lodged from families startled by the uncontrollable yelling and cussing of a certain splenetic ghost roaming the estate.

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.7]

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It was 9PM on a school night and Max was running somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be.

“Stop,” he commanded. The Renegades came to a halt, and Max inched ahead to poke his head around the corner.

Around the bushes stood the Von Haunt Estate, which Max and his father were technically banned from.

He glimpsed the ghost of Lord Bernard drift by the entrance and felt a swell of adrenaline. He had missed seeing his sworn enemy.

Max turned back and looked up at the Renegades.

“Here’s the plan,” he said. “You’re going to burn down the Von Haunt Estate.”

"What, burn it down?” Wolfgang suddenly protested. “But this is a cherished tourist destination and I have a lot of happy mem– I mean, some people have a lot of happy memories here. I didn’t agree to burning it.”

The others murmured in agreement.

Coward.

Max narrowed his eyes.

“Fine. Then you’ll slash all of Bernard’s paintings.”

This time, Ulrike hesitated.

“I– I don’t know,” she said in a small voice. “I kinda like Lord Shallot’s paintings…”

Seriously? Who could like that man’s paintings? Only bonkers people.

“All right, then release a swarm of flesh-eating cockroaches.”

The Renegades muttered uncomfortably. None of them wanted to touch flesh-eating cockroaches.

“Bury explosive mines in the gardens for unsuspecting tourists to step on?”

The Renegades grimaced and shifted among themselves.

Max was livid now.

Since when were the Renegades a group of sissies? Did they forget he was their leader? He would show th–

Morgan interrupted his thoughts.

“Look Max, I don’t think the rest of the group is comfortable with these suggestions, so why don’t we stick with our original plan? We’ll still let you pick what we write.”

Max loathed Morgan’s patronizing babysitter-talk. Any monkey with a spray can could graffiti a building.

But tonight, his opinions were outnumbered by these fraidy-cats.

“Fine,” he conceded. “I’ll tell you what to write.”

They asked if he was going to join, but he reminded them that he couldn’t read or write.

While that was true, the real reason he stayed behind was that he didn’t want to get caught. Letting others do the dirty work for him was a trick he’d learned from his dad.

It was just a shame he couldn’t stay to see the look on Bernard’s face when he discovered the graffiti...

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.9]

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It was late, and the littlest Villareal still wasn’t home.

Luna stepped out to look for her brother, passing by her father who was still yelling to himself.

Luna constantly worried about Max – he always showed up in time for bed, but she never knew where he went or what he was doing.

One time, he’d even shown up covered in blood, but luckily, it all washed out. She had no idea whose blood it was, and Max wouldn’t say anything more about it.

“Max!” she called out. He should’ve gotten her text and come home by now. “Max, where are you?”

Panic crept up inside her.

“I’m right here,” he said, strolling out from behind a copse of trees.

Luna let out a sigh of relief.

“Where do you go running off to, Max?” she asked, but he only shrugged.

“I hope you weren’t hanging out with those Renegades again,” she pleaded.

“I don’t hang out with them,” Max scoffed, offended. “They hang out with me.” At least, they were supposed to.

He glanced behind Luna.

“What’s wrong with Dad?”

“Uh,” Luna hesitated. “Let’s avoid Dad for now. Let’s just go inside and get you to bed.”

Jacques was still standing outside, yelling profanities at the sky.

Max was curious and wanted to watch, but to his annoyance, his sister insisted that he get himself to bed.

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.3]

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The only exhibit the Villareals had left to visit at the Oasis Springs Botanical Gardens was completely underground.

What kind of plant exhibit does one build underground? Great question, I would love to show you.

Jacques led his children into a dimly lit stone room with a dirt floor and thorny vines crawling up the walls. Somber stone statues and morbid fauna dotted the main room, with a smaller room sitting along the back wall.

“Isn’t this exciting?” he announced. “I wonder what we’ll discover in here.”

Luna was excited to discover she still had cell reception underground.

Max was also excited to discover something – gravestones.

“Dead people,” he said, grinning. “Nice.”

Hugo, however, had possibly made the most exciting discovery of all.

Cake.

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[mannylikessims]

The True Story of the Villareal Family [4.1]

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“Do you smell that, offspring?”

Jacques said, sniffing the air outside the Oasis Spring Botanical Gardens.

“You mean the flowers?” said Luna, a dreamy look in her eyes.

“No,” he corrected. “The smell of dirt and decay. It’s a nice reminder that we'll all eventually be worm food. Now let’s get this Family Fun Day started!”

He ushered his reluctant children into the main building of the botanical gardens, Hugo trailing behind nervously.

“So, is the plan to burn down the botanical gardens…?” he asked his father. Typically, Villareal Family Fun Days involved arson of some kind.

“No, not this time, Hugo,” replied Jacques. “Because I am definitely not a criminal.” He said this part loudly enough for everyone at the gardens to hear.

Jacques lowered his voice again. “Enjoy the day like it’s your last, offspring… just remember, we’ll be visiting all the exhibits.”

And with that, the children peeled off to explore the gardens.

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Luna was looking for something.

She was looking for the most romantic spot in the botanical gardens, and she think found it.

She settled herself onto a loveseat in a cute little garden. Sigh. If only her crush, her mystery knight, were here to share it with her.

So she did the next best thing and texted them.

I have a confession, she wrote.

Is that so, princess? they texted back.

Yes. I have decided I would still date you even if you are ugly

Wow, that’s huge, they responded. Thanks, I’m so honored

Luna smiled to herself and typed back, You’re welcome 😘

They continued, They should throw a parade for you. Luna Villareal, Princess of the Paragons: Cares about more than just looks. And give you some kind of award for being NOT shallow

She paused.

Wait, you’re making fun of me, aren’t you

😉😉😘, they replied.

She giggled.

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Meanwhile, Hugo wanted to talk to Luna, but he had run into a problem. A chest-high, neatly trimmed problem.

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Credits: Botanical gardens by @mdianasims Romantic garden by @seabens-simbler