#old al

The throne room was as opulent as the palace itself. Arwan had to remind himself to close his mouth as he looked around - it was unseemly for a prince to be seen slack-jawed!

People were milling about, but when the queen showed up everyone took a seat. Arwan settled primly into a gilded chair, looking up to the throne podium where his aunt - Queen Aruena, he corrected himself - stood in all her regal splendor. Elegant yet commanding, she looked every bit the monarch.

Once the queen's speech concluded, Arwan moved through the hall to meet his subjects. He'd never seen so many different people in one place: some were clever and charming, others a bit peculiar. Nearly all bowed deeply once they realized who he was. One man even had a cool metal arm!

The first day of the new workweek starts with a horde of customers flooding The Smithy the moment Tom unlocked the door. The guys could barely keep up!

Reporter Hannah Oshiro was also back (in a cute new dress!), and still as subtle as a sledgehammer in her 'secret' investigation of Tom's business. Unsurprisingly, Tom got another Good Review for his awesome work. One would think he was paying Ms. Oshiro, what with the constant praises she kept singing The Smithy! 🤣

Now let's take a look at what else is going on at the shop...

Great lighting going on here with their opposing auras. Also, the way Marcus & Aruena aligned! 👌🏻😂 You two are NOT being subtle!

Lucian (eyeing Rosalind): "My, my, what a stunning specimen!"

Roland: "Eh, to each their own."

Contrary to popular belief, Tom did remember to let loose every once in a while. Growing his business may have been as fulfilling as it was time-consuming, but that didn't mean Tom never craved any other fun activities - because he did (like, totally!)

With the shop doing as well as it did, he could afford to close up earlier every now and again and treat himself and his partner to a bit of leisure time. Today, Tom wanted to go fishing, so the guys made plans to go down to the clearing in the woods for a fun day out.

Another Simstober extra post, feat. - Old Al!

Only the middle pic is a leftover from Al's photoshoot (he was featured in one of the pics for Day 3, "Cobweb"), while the other two are random shots of him I had lying around. Like his bio suggests, he has a penchant for showing up in the weirdest of places!

Also, a fun fact: I moved him into the old fishing hut in order to take my simstober pics, and now he just... kinda lives there. Which essentially means that the homeless townie is neither homeless nor a townie anymore!

🎃 Not-so-Simstober 2024 - Day 3 🎃

"Cobweb"

After its previous occupants moved away, the small fishing hut by the sea fell back into a state of disrepair. Now, only spiders dwell within, and it's rarely visited except by the occasional vagrant seeking refuge from the elements.

(Featured location: Not-so-abandoned fishing hut)

It was a rainy afternoon when Dominick Irving dropped by the Blackbirds' for his promised study session with Gabriel. Gabriel wasn't expecting him today (he knew how Dominick felt about being exposed to water), so he was all the more grateful for his presence.

As the two neighbors shot the breeze before their session, Old Al entered the room, freezing mid-step without a discernible reason. Gabriel watched with the corner of his eye as the vagabond wobbled his shaggy gray head, frantic eyes darting back and forth between Gabriel and Dominick as if they were jailers denying him his freedom. Finally, he charged forward, running in manic panic past the two men and out of the house, hands covering his head as if he was expecting a beating. Whatever had gotten into the old bum?

Having had enough of his daughters' constant fights, Adam wrangled them out the door one day for a family trip to town.

It may have seemed odd to reward the unruly girls with an outing, but Adam knew his daughters' misbehaviour was caused by sheer boredom. He knew the move was tough on them and they weren't making friends as fast as they'd hoped. His attempts to bring the townspeople into their home didn't quite pan out, either.

So he figured, if he could break the rut of their daily routines even for a moment, surely they'd feel less inclined to bicker. And he just so happened to hear that Gatehouse Inn was the IT spot in town!

Winona was in the middle of a half-hearted poker match with some bum when she spotted a familiar figure entering the inn. If it wasn't her dear pen pal, Marcus!

She wasted no time. Leaping up, she threw her arms around the boy. Marcus seemed pleasantly surprised to find her there, wrapping her in a big hug. Wynn blushed, suddenly very aware of their bodies pressing against each other. Had he always been this tall?

Lifting her gaze up to his face, she was relieved to notice that his cheeks were just as red as hers. "So this is where we stand", she thought, a smug little smile playing on her lips.