Hi, sorry to necro, but this is my favorite subject when it comes to The Sims 2, so, I have a lot to say about the matter.
First of all, I think it's very interesting that Olivia Riley, of all the dead ancestors in Belladonna Cove, is the only one who's not (supposed to be) buried at Gamesend Grounds, the actual cemetery. Instead, her grave is located at the art museum, which makes her death being a "freak accident" rather suspicious, don't you think? Sure, it could be because of an oversight on the devs' part, but since is the same game that has Olive Specter in it, and since this game would be succeeded by the same game that would have Macy and Lacy in it later down the line, I honestly doubt it was an accident that her grave ended up there. Plus, there's the fact Timothy moved on to Vivian VERY quickly, what's up with that? It could all be coincidental, that's for sure, but I like how it's framed in a way that leaves room for sinister implications...
![Giggler](//static.modthesims2.com/images/smilies/icon_giggle.gif)
I just really wish people talked about this more! The TS2 lore involving the neighborhoods other than Pleasantview & Strangetown, and sometimes Veronaville, tend to get left to collect dust.
Speaking of Veronaville, I find the implication that the feud reached a point of people being murdered to be deeply fascinating, and I wish people talked about Veronaville as much as they do the other two basegame 'hoods. Like, sure, it gets brought up semi-often, definitely more often than the EP 'hoods do, but you'd think that "A bunch of people were very likely killed in a feud that started likely because of two men fighting over the same woman" would get a lot more attention! On that note, I forget who exactly in this thread said it, but I 100% agree the mystery behind Hero's death should be talked about just as much as Bella Goth's disappearance, if not MORE, because the thing is, we already know the full timeline of what happened to Bella, thanks to TS3 and multiple interviews on the subject, but there's just no closure for Hero's death. Veronaville also has lots of other oddities worth discussing, I think, such as Contessa, Claudio, and Olivia all having pre-written bios indicating they could've once been intended to be playable, especially since Claudio and Contessa's bios in particular seem to indicate they could've played a major role in Romeo & Juliette's romance and uniting the families.
...on that note, I absolutely love the entirely fanmade lore people have given Viola Monty. I know, on a technical level, there's NOTHING indicating that's who she was meant to be, but I still love how people came up with that lore for her anyway, especially the idea that her deletion is actually because Viola faked her death to escape the family feud, or the idea that she's some sort of glitch ghost still haunting the narrative and the code. I'm not sure how many of you here are familiar with Touhou Project, but the fanon lore for Viola gives me the same vibes as Touhou fans running along and making up their own lore for the scrapped third protagonist, Rin Satsuki. I think this sort of thing is truly within the spirit of what these games and their lore are about; we're just out here, playing with our Barbies and giving them elaborate storylines.
Next, I want to talk about the Tricou family, and also bring in TS3 lore and ways this could coincide; I have to wonder, since the Tricou's family patriarch is named "Jon Smith," which is also a placeholder name for unidentified men, akin to "John Doe," and since the House of Fallen Trees is particularly notable for its large basement, if the Doe family from TS3 is meant to be a callback to the Tricous, or possibly even related to them directly in some way? Since they all have placeholder names, an air of mystery, and their house apparently once had a basement. Speaking of the Tricous, I love the idea of Rainelle Neengia moving into a haunted house, only to die from fright upon seeing ghosts. I especially love this because the devs put a lot of care into everything around the House of Fallen Trees, and Rainelle herself having big eyes as a way to indicate her eyes bulged from sheer fright. The Tricous and Rainelle do pop up in lore discussion quite frequently, but I do wish more people talked about how neat the "haunted house" aspect of the House of Fallen Trees itself is, and I really wish at least TS3 had touched upon this again, but alas!
Finally, does anyone else get a very uncanny vibe from the Roth household? Sure, almost every family in Riverblossom Hills is a parody of Pleasantview families, but the Roths in particular stand out to me just due to how incredibly blatant it is, with all of them having similar appearances and incredibly similar names... it gives the family really uncanny, sort of "creepy perfect family" vibes, not unlike the aforementioned Does from TS3.
Ah, in general, I just wish there was more lore discussion around the EP 'hoods! Hopefully my own contribution to this thread will inspire others to talk more about it!