Tag Archive | lancelot

2.3 Time to Face the Music

Once Lancelot had a (literal) taste of Layla Lufti, his thoughts cleared up about Malika. It was just going to have to end.

He went to her house this time. Jogging, because that paunch was starting to show again.

She was still living in her parents house.

She met him with unsuspicious joy. Despite the fact that he hadn’t talked to her for about a week, Sim time, her relationship meter was near the top. In her eyes, Lance walked on water.

That made this all the harder.

He tried to soften the blow. Tell her it was him, not her.

But it didn’t go over well at all.

She didn’t want to be friends after he’d betrayed her. Their friendship, which had shown such a high meter a minute ago, dropped through the floor. She kicked him out of the house immediately.

At least he was free now.

2.2 That’s Because the Hot Babes all Went to Egypt

Apr3

Uncle Jared never did get off Lancelot’s ass.

Um, wow, Jared, he can really kick your butt into next week now. Did you notice that?

Lance took his next trip to Egypt and set himself up at the base camp.

He hunted up a bit more treasure.

And found some secret passageways.

And hit on chicks. He met a few completely incompatible ones, including the relics dealer in the bizarre, who just immediately hated everything about him. I have seen Sims take to each other immediately, but never to hate each other immediately.

So he called up an Egyptian chick he was already acquainted with from the hotel he stayed at in France.

She turned out to have recently been dumped.

Was this an opportunity? Was there chemistry? She turned out to be Childlike, like his mom, and they spent a lot of time that evening playing tag. He talked her up until she was his friend, so he could call her later and invite her to visit him in the States.

Then, another alluring woman, this one Chinese, at base camp.

Also single! He stayed up until five in the morning, engrossed in conversation with her, and then slept into the afternoon.

Then, as he was puttering around, trying to do something with the next day before it was totally wasted, he found an Egyptian girl wandering through the camp.

Her name was Layla Lufti. She was a Vegetarian like him. She was also Excitable and Flirty.

Yowza.

2.1 There are no Hot Babes in China

Apr3

Lance was still torn about Malika. The more he got to know her, the less he really knew here. He took her out on a hot date to a French Bistro, and she didn’t even dress up.

They never really got past smalltalk, and yet she seemed to hang on his every word.

(Seriously, I was trying to see if Lance could actually learn any of Malika’s traits. From her behavior, I was pretty sure we she was Bookworm, Absent Minded, and a Slob — two traits I’ve already played and one that wasn’t very appealing. Lancelot is the strong, awkward type; he doesn’t have any Charisma by design. But you’d think even without it, he’d’ve been able to learn something about her by himself. Seems like the Game Powers were trying to tell me that maybe they weren’t meant to be together after all.)

He escaped his confused ambivalence with a trip to China, where he got his white belt in Sim Fu.

And he explored Chinese tombs with secret underwater passageways.

Way to swim in the slimy, scary water, brave Lancelot.

But mostly he hit on chicks. The first four hot Chinese chicks he hit on were all married. Married! Argh.

Then he met this one at the dojo, and she turned out to be single. Woot!

(I think the mirror in this pic is awesome.)

Then she started yelling at him for no reason. Oh, wait, that’s pretty much what Uncle Jared does. He hightailed it out of there.

The book dealer looked a bit more mature, but she was also single.

Except that the hated each other almost on sight. Every attempt at conversation he made annoyed both of them.

Ah, well, the search for love would go on, but at least he had a bunch of cool swag to sell.

2.0 Passing the Torch to Lancelot

Apr3

Connor helped Lance finish the last homework he would ever hand in. Isn’t that a great feeling?

Because it was time for his birthday too.

I give you Lancelot, now adult, on his day inheriting the Sample empire.

Um, wow, Lance. Let’s get you to the wardrobe before you’re arrested by the fashion police. And maybe a bit of time lifting weights too.

1.13 Indiana Jones Lives

Apr3

Lance has been working out, and you can tell.

Mrrawr.

His high school gave him a surprise project: interview someone from France. In France. Seriously? Well, hey, why not? Two celebrity parents left him with a bit of disposable cash. So he booked a three-day trip to Champs les Sims.

The food was pretty damn good, even for a Vegetarian.

(Lance can pick up the contents of an entire cheese plate and eat it like a sandwich. My physics-stomping boy.)

Someone here has great taste in cargo shorts.

Then someone hired him on a mission to find her missing lucky baseball. Yes, that’s baseball. And he was launched into the secret world of underground catacombs.

Lance excavated.

He hauled around ancient statues to open secret passageways.

He found ancient artifacts hidden in strange places.

He mourned the hundred-years-dead.

He found the baseball and returned it to the weird lady who lost it. In addition to her gratitude and her endorsement for him to get a longer visa for visiting France, he had a pile of antiquities to sell. To museums, right? These things should go to museums. More than that, he’d found his calling in life — to loot ancient tombs for priceless antiquities that he could sell for a ton of cash.

Lancelot, only heir of a rock star and a celebrity author, had a bit of a trust fund set up. He could afford the travel, and he didn’t need to get a day job. Eventually these trips would start paying for themselves. Who wouldn’t want to be Indiana Jones?

1.10 Conspicuous Consumption

Apr3

Connor dabbled in writing Science Fiction and Drama, which didn’t bring in much money. Then he launched the Whodunnit mystery crime series, and his writing career took off. (Whodunnit, Whatdunnit, Whendunnit, Wheredunnit, and Howdunnit. Whendunnit made a nice showing on the NYT Bestseller list and maybe be optioned for a movie.) With that, his respectable journalism career, and Susie’s superstardom, the money really started rolling in. It was time to upgrade their lifestyle.

They shopped around for quite a while. (Read: I browsed all over fan sites to find a house I really liked and they could actually afford.) But eventually they found one that worked for them and me.

The whole family packed up and said goodbye to the cottage across the street from the beach.

Piled into Susie’s limo.

And said hello to a three-story Victorian on a cliff overlooking the bay. The third story was unfinished, but it was ready for expansion in the future. It was perfect for their new budget.

The move in was confusing, of course.

Lance jumped on the space-themed kid’s room, because, you know, you don’t have to be a LITTLE kid to appreciate that. Jared got bumped to the lavender room. Connor and Susie bunked down in luxury in the master bedroom.

Lance moved his weight set the to the attic and turned that into his gym.

To top it all off, they went green and bought a 2010 Prius. Time to stop relying entirely on bikes and car services.

(An exact clone of the car that we bought this year, down to the color and the tinted windows. I’m sure that was part of Toyota’s marketing reasoning in releasing the car as a game object. I am probably not the only hybrid-interested Sims player.)

1.9 Into Success a Bit of Failure Must Fall

Apr3

Everything was coming up roses for Susie.

She drew crowds wherever she played. People recognized her on the street. Her band became popular and changed her role to make her more and more prominent. With every role change, from backup guitarist to lead guitarist to front woman, she had a new sexy absurd costume to wear.

Then she maxed out her guitar skill and was promoted to Rock Star (that’s a promotion, eh) in short succession. There was much rejoicing.

Oh, yeah, the rejoicing.

We’ll close the curtains on the rest of that.

If she turned the charm on to a few more people, she would max out her Charisma skill, which would mean she met her lifetime ambition — to be the best, most charming guitarist possible.

So, why not throw a party, where she would have a whole lot of people to charm? That would take let her reach her goal with the ultimate style.

She threw a formal party at Simplicity Wedding Garden (a cute public lot download that I wanted to try out).

The family drove there in her chauffeured limousine, which befits a proper Rock Star.

Yes, that’s a pink limousine.

Lancelot arrived, resplendent in a white dinner jacket, with Malika on his arm.

Um, Malika’s dress kind of stole Susie’s look. Imitating bitch.

But the real problem was noxious green haze surrounding Malika. She showed up smelling like she’d rolled in a sewer and then forgotten to shower for days. From the look on her face, even she could stand the smell of her.

The party started going downhill as soon as she arrived. The guests just couldn’t get over the stink.

Trying desperately to salvage things, Susie got out the guitar and tried to serenade the crowd, but it didn’t help much.

(Note Susie’s formals match Malika’s down to the hair.)

People left quickly, before Susie had much chance to charm anyone. Susie was furious, but Lancelot was crushed. This was Malika, the love of his life. How could she do that?

Susie tried to console him, but he had a lot to think about. The bloom was off the rose just a little too soon.

Eventually, in the twilight, after everyone had left, Susie sat alone and tried to clear her head.

There was a silver lining. The fiasco was the doorway to some long-needed mother-son bonding. So Susie kept Lance company while he painted… and played with his old dollhouse.

The next day they did what he wanted and spent a while playing catch.

Career isn’t everything, after all.

1.8 Massive Collision Detection Failure

Apr3

Lance aged up and became Brave just in time.

The morning after Malika stayed the night, she attempted to make breakfast for him and set the stove on fire.

While all the rest of the family panicked, Lance grabbed the fire extinguisher and put the fire out right through the wall.

Lance, you are so awesome you defy the laws of physics.

After Malika left, Lance had sudden desire to take up painting.

Tough but sensitive, that’s my Lance.

1.7 Sometimes You Get a Second Chance

Apr2

After his disastrous birthday party, Lancelot figured his best route was to stay as far away from Malika Williams as possible. There weren’t a lot of ways to recover from that kind of humiliation.

Then, out of the blue, she turned up at his locker and asked him if he’d like to come home with her after school to hang out. Hell yes!

They had a nice time playing catch in her yard, and after that they became friends.

Lance had no idea what he could possibly have done so right. He used to call her before, but she’d never have time to talk. Now he tried to call again, and she was eager to talk to him. It was almost as if his public humiliation was what had led Malika to notice him. He didn’t want to let the moment slip away.

He invited her over to his place as soon as he could come up with a good excuse. Both his parents were at work, and Uncle Jared was off being Uncle Jared, so he had the place to himself.

What would they do together? How could he impress her? Maybe she likes chess?

Or maybe foosball?

She kept smiling at him, and she seemed to enjoy anything he suggested. With all that encouragement, he was able to nerve himself and confess. He’d loved her since middle school.

Her eyes lit up. She loved him too.

Lance couldn’t believe it. He had a girlfriend. He had Malika as a girlfriend. Who could be more fortunate?

There was only one person in the world.

(This kiss was totally spontaneous. Clearly they were so crazy about each other that even the bathroom was fair game.)

Lance invited Malika to stay the night and even slept on the couch so that she could have his bed. (Wherein I discover that Sim teens are not allowed to sleep in the same bed.)

1.6 Speaking of Uncle Jared

Apr1

Jared Frio entered his twilight years the same way he’d led the rest of his life: an obnoxious, mean-spirited, bully.

He played practical jokes on his family, like sneaking up behind to scare them (though this one, being in plain sight, didn’t go off as planned).

He danced around naked (OK, here he’s actually changing clothes after a bath, but it’s funny anyway).

He left the stereo running non-stop, all hours of the day. When there was music playing near him, which was pretty much all the time, he danced. When anyone was near, he’d pull them away to dance with him, whether they liked it or not.

And I mean anyone.

He hit on the hired help.

He yelled at people and insulted them he’d had a bad day, or because he was bored, or because it amused him.

Sometimes he blew things up.

He terrorized little Lancelot when he was a kid, but now that he was a teenager, something fundamental in him snapped. He stopped putting up with Jared’s crap and started lashing back.

If Jared so much as attempted something mean to Lancelot or the rest of the family, Lancelot was on his ass. And Jared could dish it out, but he couldn’t take it so well. Soon, even the pretense of family affection burned away.

Things got a little bit tense in the Sample household. Susie and Connor laughed and changed the subject whenever Jared and Lance looked like they might blow up at each other. The less time they spent in the same room together, the better.