A Wacky Way of Learnin' - Starting out

nospam@example.com (Kathi) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:32:23 +0200

This is Ben. Ben Wacky. He is going to help me to get to know all the features of the new Expansion Packs I just installed.
See, I'm back at Sims 2 after a bit of a break and basically I don't know any EPs after Seasons. My poor Sims never experienced vacation, had hobbies or lived in an appartement. And I'm pretty clueless about everything that's new with those EPs, too! Apart from the stuff I read in other Sims stories.
So I decided I have to playtest all these new thingies! And what better way to do that than starting an Official Wacky Boolprop Challenge? None, of course! Hence, Ben's last name. Though you probably guessed that already. ;)

Of course, I picked the BV, FT and AL bonuses to play with. And I took on the following Mini challenges:
Boolprop Naming Scheme
The Golden Trio
Quad Pod
Family Scrapbook
Witchy Good Time

Not more, because I'll be busy enough managine all the new EP stuff, I guess. Also I'm not thinking plots right now, I really want to go the learning by doing route and don't want to have to concentrate on plotty stuff. ;)

And Super Mini Mini Challenges:
Workaholics Anonymous
Monster Mash (because who doesn't want an Alien-Zombie-Vampire-Servobuilder-Werewolf-PlantSim-Witch who gets three wishes from a genie? I mean, really.)

One more thing: English is not my first language so I might miss a mistake here or there... Please be kind. :)

But back to Ben. I decided to let him start out at college. He's an Aries with 5/6/6/3/5, turned on by red hair and good cooking skills and turned off by stink. Good luck with that one in the dorms, Ben!
He rolled Popularity and wants to be a Hall of Famer. I'm going to roll for a Secondary Aspiration later.

Hi Ben, how are you doing?

Ok, he can't hear me right now, he's busy making his first friend.
Poor guy, for some reason he's having a hard time making friends. He's pretty impressed by everyone he meets and gains relationship points fast, but they obviously don't because it takes up to 70 points or something to have the little Smiley appear.

At least they'll talk to him. Uh, Llama, he's behind you. Maybe you want to turn around.
"Voooo Gerbits!"
Maybe not.

"So, how about us being best friends, Spence?"
"Don't call me Spence. My name is Spencer. And who are you again?"
Way to make friends, Ben.

"I'm really into Music, you know? And Dance. I love ballet!"
"Wuss."
Oh, Camryn Ebadi here does not seem to like music. Or ballet.

"Voice, why does no one like me?"
Oh, Ben. It's not like that. They just need a bit of time to get to know you. You can't jump into people's faces like that, ok?
"Ok..."
Aw, Ben, cheer up. I'm sure you'll make more than enough friends at uni!
"If you say so..."

Side note: His face is glitched, notice the different colours of face and body? It's not the skintone itself (default replacement) because I tried pulling them and that didn't help. I think it has to do with the face template, I tried removing the other CC I have to no avail. But I don't want to pull the face default replacements I have and he's the only Sim who has that happen. It later fixed itself, too.

Spence...
"Spencer!"
Sorry. Spencer here has the same skintone but no glitch.
"Is that why you added a picture of me in the shower? To prove it wasn't the skintone?"
Yep. That's the only reason.
"I'm not sure if I should be greatly disturbed or annoyed."

I like Spence. :)
"Spencer!"
Yeah, yeah.

Ben certainly didn't lie when he said he loves Music & Dance. It's his predestined hobby.

And he's a hell of a smustler!
"Wooooo!"
Ok, Ben, stop it now, get your butt downtown. We're going wife-hunting.
"I want a redhead."
Me too, Ben, me too.

Here we have Holly Anderson. She and Ben have two bolts, but the talking didn't went so well. (As if that were news... ahem.)
Anyway, after a bit of looking around Downtown I decided Ben should have a wifey with a degree, so we went to a uni community lot instead.

And there she was! Sandy Forgotherlastname. Red hair and all!

They hit it off pretty good, you know, actually gaining relationship points while talking. Even though weird cheerleader chick clearly does not want them to end up together.

"Vooooo Gerbits!"
Buzz off! I'm trying to get those two together - they're supposed to be able to look at each other while hanging out!

Luckily neither Sandy nor Ben did mind, they got along great. Way to go, Ben!

I sent them on a date downtown. No pesky cheerleaders there.

Aii! They both can't sing to save their lives but aren't they cute together? *happy sigh*
It was a very chaste date. Playing, joking, singing and a bit of holding hands. But it was still a Dream Date.

And Ben managed to meet the Count here. Better befriend him, Ben, we'll need his bite later on in this challenge!
"I'm supposed to make friends with a guy called Count Scot Stompel?"
Beggars can't be choosers. If he's willing to be friends with you, take him!

"Aw, my Sandy girl sent me a love letter! Oh, Saaaandy, Saaaaandy.... yi-yi-yi..."
Don't go Grease on me, boy. Besides, he sings that song after she left him, so not a good comparison.

Ok, now I'm getting excited. Ben has gotten his first invitation to a secret hobby lot! I've no clue what they can do here... skill and all?

Ah. I see. Competitions! That's fun!
Ben actually won three times in a row. Great job, Ben! I guess he really is a talented dancer.

In the meantime, Sandy comes to drop off a dating gift.
Wait, a salt and pepper set? Lol. I guess that's her way of replying to Ben's want to have a wifey who will cook lots of yummy meals - Do it yourself! *snicker*
I heart you, Sandy! You're awesome.

Because I love them as couple, they get another date downtown. Aren't they adorable? :)

And Ben even pays for Dinner.
You know, he never goes to class or does an assignment but there's still Influence, right? So thanks to other people writing his term papers he has a bit of money saved up by now.

And after dinner, it begins...
"He's wacky, isn't he?"
Why, Sandy, whatever gave you that idea? His last name, perhaps?

"You want me to go in there? Are you crazy? There is not enough room and it smells like old socks!"
Do you want a Dream Date or not?

"Oh, fine."

The following woohing and hooing was enjoyed by not only Ben and Sandy but quite a few other guests as well. And right afterwards, Ben gets on his knees and serenades to Sandy. Isn't that sweet? I didn't tell him to do that. Awww, so romantic.

Though Mrs. Crumplebottom does not think so.
"Nasty young man, declaring your love in the public, how dare you?"
"Lady, we live in the 21st century and there is a woohoo option programmed to that photo booth, so deal with it."
"Wait, woohoo? You actually woohooed in there? And there I thought you only serenaded here... young people today, the nerve!" *wack*
Ouch. That must have hurt.

Ben decided to escape the wrath of Crumplebottom by going outside - she hit the bar again - and there, see? My first witch! And she has a great name, Autumn Wren. I don't care if she's atrociously evil, go get her number, Ben. We'll need a witch later as well...
"Do I have to? You know how I am with people I just met."
I don't care. Go greet her!

She didn't turn him into a frog or anything so I guess he's getting better at the whole socializing thing.

This picture only serves the purpose of making me squeal with joy because Sims can now dance ballet. (Yeah, I know, I'm late, FT has been out for a while.) I just love that!

Ben seems to be getting more and more popular. He got asked on an outing and I thought, ok, I can do this.

I usually am not very good at outings but luckily Sandy came along so we had a way to make sure everyone was properly... entertained. ;)

"She's wacky."
Oh, Ben, not you, too. Honestly, all my Sims do is this. Telling everyone they meet that they are crazy. Great.
Oddly, Ben made friends with Ericka Fairchild here after that. Hm.

I felt lucky after this successful outing and thought I'd give Camryn Ebadi another chance to become friends with Ben. Glasses and all.
"Hey, Camryn, how are you doing?"

*wack* "How dare you ask me such a question? That's unbelieveable!"
Um. Wow. That is a crazy girl, Ben. You better stay away from her.
"She... hit me!"
Yup. I really did not see that coming, honestly.

"What is she doing in my room? On my computer?"
I don't know, Ben, but if I were you, I'd back away slowly...

We have other business to take care off, anyway.

"Don't you want to make a joke about the handcuffs?"
No. They've all been done already.

Ben gets introduced into the Secret Society. And who would he meet when stepping out of the limo? Camryn, the crazy girl! She looks thrilled...

"Woooo! New food for the cow plant!"
Ok, that's it, Ben, now show her!

"Hey, missy, I don't know what your problem is, but leave me alone, ok?"
Go, Ben!
And now let's have a look around.

Are you sure this is wise? You only have one logic point.
"Don't spoil the fun, Voice. What could possibly go wrong?"

Well... this. See, I told you.

"Yay, I met someone new!"
Ugh.
Let's go home.

And as soon as Ben gets back home...
*wack* "That's for getting our Secret Society into trouble, stupid!"
Sheesh, Camryn, give Ben a break!

"Waaaah, she slapped me!"
Oh Ben, come on. Don't cry. Wait, I know what'll cheer you up!
"Wha.. what's that?" *sniff*

Group smustling, of course!
Despite his tough time in the beginning, Ben has made quite a few friends already. And they regularly smustle together. All synchronized.
"Woooooo!"

"Waaaaaa!"
Ok, now what? What did he do now, Camryn? Why did you have to slap him again? Can't you leave him alone?
"No. He annoys me."
But how?
"He's... tall."
He's just as tall as you are, you dumb nut.
"That's annoying!"

Ok, I've got a plan, Ben. You'll work out and then you are going to beat the crap out of that girl, once and for all!
"Can I beat him up already?"
Sheesh, let him get some body points first!

Honestly, Camryn here followed Ben around all the time, various fight actions appearing in his queue. She sure has a grudge against poor Ben even though I have no idea, why. He didn't start it, that's for sure.

Take her down, Ben!

What? No! Oh, Ben.
"Hehe, I beat up the mama's boy."

Ok, that's it. Ben, we're moving out. Right now!

Actually I wanted to wait until he had finished Sophomore year, but Camryn became really annoying. So here we are, at the soon to be Wicky Wocky Greek House. (Aren't I creative? Hehe.) I wanted Ben to found one, anyway.

It's small, but Ben is a straight A+ student and with the money from finishing Sophomore Year we can add a bit to it. What do you say, Ben, do you like it?
"I like it! How about we celebrate this with a party?"
Great idea.

I invited over all his friends... and that's how it all started...

To get the party score up there's nothing better than a bit of woohooing your love, right? Well... who can guess what happened next?

Right. See, Ben wants to be a Hall of Famer, remember? And the only major that feeds into Athletic is what? Drama! And I totally forgot that when I invited his Professors.

Prof. Zeeshan Turner was not amused when Ben and Sandy did what couples sometimes do in the hot tub....

... and neither was Prof. Brittany Nale. Who oddly took her rage out on Sandy, the poor girl.

Needless to say that party was a dud. But what was worst was that this happened a few hours before final exam! Ben's grade progress was completely lost. I managed to make him pass with assignments, barely, but he only got 300,-. And I was counting on the money from Dean's List! *sigh*

So, Plan B. Ben had to go and win a few dancing contests. That worked ok.

(For some reason, I find this picture most adorable... *blush*)

"No, Spence hasn't moved into the Greek house, Sandy. No, I just told him he could if he writes my term paper. Hehe."

"You know I'm sitting right next to you and can hear you just fine, Ben? And my name is Spencer!"
"Sandy, could you repeat that? I didn't hear you, Spence is mumbling something right next to me."

Can you believe those two are best friends? I can't.

"Gooooo, Spencer!"
"Finally, someone who remembers my name!"

Even though Ben won a few dancing competitions, we still need money. So let's see if he can find a treasure!
"Nope, only bones here."
Great.

He found all three maps for the different secret vacation spots, though! But no money.

Next try to earn money: DJing.

It could have been worse.

And for a break, Ben gets to blog about his hobby. I wanted to know what he's writing but he won't let me read it... *sigh*
"Well, I deserve a last bit of privacy, don't I?"
Ben, I could post pictures of you going to the loo.
"Exactly."
...

I admit, I was very confused when I saw the Gypsy sneaking up to the door and opening a big black bag... but yay, look at this!

I got my first genie!

"Actually, it's mine."
Oh, shut up Ben, and wish for something. Money and stuff.

Well, that paid off. I also wished for Peace of Mind or whatever that's called... I only realized later that this meant Ben was permaplat. Hm. Ok then.

We got a bigger house and patio out of it!

And Ben finally got his hot tube date with Sandy!
... while Llama Ravi Kody (gotta love the name!) there is cheering alone in the house.

Ok, I was wrong. He's hitting the juice keg. Right, it's a party!
No Drama teachers were invited this time.

And thanks to the genie we were able to affort this nice friend who also helped to make this party a roof raiser!

Everyone was happy, even Ravi the Llama because he got to beat up the Cow. And won!

After the party, Ben gets a bit of alone time with Sandy... and yes, we have a double bed now!

By the way, I thought I'd try a reroll of Aspiration at the end of Sophomore Year. And guess what? He rolled Popularity again. I took this as a sign and let him stay that way. Then I rolled for a Secondary Aspiration and he got Fortune. Ok, I guess.

I said I really like Sandy and Ben together but they hardly ever roll wants for each other. So I thought maybe there is another girl Ben is destined to be... and we called the Matchmaker.

First try. 5000,- and she has red hair. But she and Ben didn't really hit it off... and she's Romance. I don't think she wants to have three pregnancies after marriage.
"Marriage? Pregnancy? I'm outta here!" She practically ran.

Oh, well, one more try.

*rolls on the floor laughing* She cost us 3000,-. Both Ben and I preferred Sandy.

"Sandy, I'm so glad you're here!"
I guess she is the right choice, after all.

She even loves to dance with him! You're a lucky guy, Ben!

"I know, Voice! And she's a good dancer, too!"
Yup, that she is.

Picture of proof that Ben has maxed his Dance interest! Ben's in the zone.

By the way, I don't really notice a difference in need dropping there. Is it just me or is this borked? Hm.

Oh Ben, now you got Sandy to write your term paper? Not very nice of you.
"Na, Voice, I volunteered. He needs to get his picture painted. You know, being the Greek House founder and all."
Oh? You volunteered?
"Yup."
I... wow. Don't let that girl slip through your fingers, Ben!

"I won't."

And yay for the portrait!

I have hundreds of pictures like this. Did I already mention I love Sims doing ballet? :)

Since the FT bonus states we only may have a car that we fixed up ourselves, Ben now has a new project going on.

And I think he enjoys it.
"*cough* Sure, I love the smell of the paiiiiiiiiint..."
*glances at Ben's eyes* Ok, time for a break!

Yes, Ben is still friends with the Count.

"Finally! A mobile phone!"
Yeah, now you have one. So go Downtown and then call Sandy for a date!

For some reason, after Ben moved whenever he tried to go on a date with Sandy Downtown he got the message he stood her up before the taxi even pulled up. And home dates were kind of dangerous, with all the stalking Drama Professors and such.

So Ben went ahead and they met up at Londoste's.

Argh! Seems even Downtown we're not safe from those annoying Drama Profs! Sheesh... I mean Zeeshan, buzz off!

Ben managed to buy him off with 50,-. (Lol! Never noticed that option before. It worked like a charm! What a cheap guy.)

I realized Sandy was still angry with Ben because he stood her up (the taxi didn't come!) so he had to apologize to here...

... and she accepted. So now this is out of the way and no Drama Professors around, let's have some dinner.

By this time of course all the cosy places for two were taken and they ended up at the big table in the middle of the room... ah well.

"Sandy... I've gotten slapped twice by my professor for it but I can't help it... I love you, not him. Will you dance with me into our adult lives?"
Strange way of proposing but it's kind of cute, I guess.

"Oh, Ben! I knew the first time Professor Nale slapped me after seeing us together that I'm completely in love with you! Of course I'll marry you!"
Awww.
"But you can cook for yourself!"
That girl has her priorities straight.

And a happy evening was spent after this. Dream Date and all. *happy sigh*

And now Ben also has the number of Sharlene Bertino, good witch with nice sparklies. This is going to come in handy... :)

*humms happily while spraying*

Et voila! Car finished! That's fun, I like that they are able to do this now!

And because of that, I had Ben fix up another. That way he can leave one at uni and take one home.

Eye candy shot. 'nuff said.

Second car! In green, this time. It can stay here until the kids come to college.

Sharlene and Ben became close friends as well. I know some people don't like the sparklies but I do... given, I haven't even played a witch yet... I might get annoyed by them later on. But so far I think they are pretty!

And then I realized that Ben had finished Senior year and only a few days left at campus without having picked a placeholder! Woops.

So we called Marisa Dennis (member of the smustle group at the dorm) over and asked her to pledge... I didn't remember how long this takes because I'm so used to Apocalypse playing without any college at all by now, but it all worked out well.

"Thank you for agreeing to take care of the place until my children come to college, Marisa."
*shy smile*

She's not much of a talker, but very nice.

And that's the Greek house by the end of Ben's college time. Not bad, don't you think?

Time for Ben to grow up, move back to Strangetown and get this wacky challenge really started!

"See ya next time, readers!"

I hope so! :)
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this little story. I know I loved playing this challenge so far and it's a great break from my Apocalypse (even though now I'm beginning to miss them!). I'm also very excited about the new (well, for me!) features of the game!

Join me again next time to see what Ben and Sandy's babies will look like. :)

Rules of the OWBC can be found at forum.boolprop.com

Apocalypse in Death Valley - Chapter 4.2 - Life Goes On

nospam@example.com (Kathi) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:04:09 +0200

Apocalypse in Death Valley - Recap

nospam@example.com (Kathi) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:43:05 +0200

Apocalypse in Death Valley - Chapter 3.3: Expect the Unexpected

nospam@example.com (Kathi) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:50:00 +0100

| View | Upload your own

Uh, I have no idea why the font on the cover and the end page has changed to this one... must have happened with the upload. I used the same font as with the chapters before... drat.
I tried to re-upload but now the site is completely down (or really, really slow... I'm not able to open it), so I just thought what the heck.
Enjoy nonetheless!

Apocalypse in Death Valley - Chapter 3.2: Answers and Questions

nospam@example.com (Kathi) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:48:00 +0100

Apocalypse in Death Valley - Chapter 3.1: Going On

nospam@example.com (Kathi) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:40:00 +0100

Apocalypse in Death Valley - Chapter 2.2: Changes

nospam@example.com (Kathi) — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:31:00 +0100

Apocalypse in Death Valley - Chapter 2.1: Another Dream

nospam@example.com (Kathi) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:20:00 +0100

Apocalypse in Death Valley - Interlude

nospam@example.com (Kathi) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 15:26:42 +0100

Apocalypse in Death Valley - Chapter 1.2: Childhood Tales

nospam@example.com (Kathi) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 20:25:02 +0100

Apocalypse in Death Valley - Chapter 1.1: Marie's Dream

nospam@example.com (Kathi) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 15:21:13 +0100

Kathi's Sims Blog