Sims Sunday: Another Big Move

Before I get started with the post proper, I wanted to show you a thing. One of the new items available in the Ambitions expansion pack is a music box. You know, you wind it up and lift the lid, and the little ballerina twirls? Except that it’s a Magic Gnome, because the Sims loves gnomes.

Okay, but here’s the thing: when they listen to the music box, Sims do this little dance which is UNBEARABLY CREEPY. Which is only made creepier by Reese’s work outfit (Level 9 Thief).

Ready?

I KNOW, RIGHT? Sorry about all the door slamming in the background, by the way. I tried to nail down everyone else in the household, but sometimes it’s like herding cats.

And now, to the aforementioned Big Move. The expansion pack includes a new town, called Twinbrook. Each of the towns is based on a real-life city; Sunset Valley on Los Angeles, Riverview on Manhattan, and Twinbrook on New Orleans.

Because I thought this was neat, and for a lot of other reasons, most of which end with “and I was getting bored with that,” I decided to split the line again. As with the big exodus from Sims 2 to Sims 3 (which happened a year ago this month), I decided that Simon Alphabetti should strike out on his own.

Klango, Reese, and the rest of the Alphabettis are still alive and well in Riverview. But I left them behind, and re-created Simon, and he’s all on his own in Twinbrook now.

With only §16,000 to his name (the default amount given to all new Sims), Simon didn’t have many housing options. The only neighborhood he could afford was far from downtown, on the opposite side of the lake. All the streets are dirt, if you can believe it, and the moss hangs heavy from the trees.

I picked out a little fishing shack for him, and opted to have it pre-furnished.

The only thing I added was an Inventor’s Workbench, so that he can earn a living building wacky inventions. Oops, and setting himself on fire from time to time!

Laundry is one of the big innovations of the Ambitions expansion pack. It’s very exciting for the Sims fans out there! And for the Sims, too. They think about laundry all the time.

A poignant weekday morning, as Simon eats burnt waffles all alone in his little bayou shack.

At night, the fog rolls in. (It really does! The atmospheric effects are sweet!)

One great thing about living in the bayou is your neighbors don’t care what you do with your back yard. Here, Simon tries out the Miner that he whipped together. He dug out a Mysterious Mr. Gnome, a bunch of ore, and some more scrap metal. Neat!

As his inventing skills improved, he became known around town as the go-to guy for invention-y stuff. One day he got an opportunity from the Day Spa: deliver five Floor Hygienators and get a cash bonus, plus a relationship boost with all of the spa employees.

That night I had him invite one of the employees over for dinner. A stroke of luck: she’s single! (And bears more than a passing resemblance to Uma Thurman.)

Another stroke of luck: she’s Slutty Flirty! Just like he is! What happens when you put two Slutty Flirty Sims together?

You guessed it.

The next morning she fell hopelessly, madly, deadpan-ly in love with him.

And he with her.

And then their headlong romance came to a halt for a little while, as the kitchen caught on fire. The fire spread to the bathroom. The firefighters said they couldn’t get to the fire to put it out, and it would just have to run its course!

That was some terrible suspense. Luckily we only lost a few appliances. Not anything important, like Simon or… her.

(I forgot to write down her name.)

The future Mrs. Simon Alphabetti!