Queer as Sims: A Sims 3 playthrough

Discussion in 'Sims - My Tank Flying Through The Air' started by Creole Ned, Jan 17, 2012.

  1. Creole Ned Being Nice For A Week

    Queer as Sims: A Sims 3 playthrough

    According to Wikipedia The Sims 3 has sold over 10 million copies since its release in June 2009, making it one of the best-selling computer games of all-time. The#1 and #3 best-selling computer games are The Sims and The Sims 2; combined the three titles have sold over 39 million copies, more than one copy for every person living in Canada.

    I live in Canada and by coincidence own a copy of The Sims 3. I picked it up about a year after release. My usual routine when I get a new game is as follows:

    1. Open game package (if applicable)
    2. Read game manual (if applicable)
    3. Install game
    4. Play tutorial (if applicable)
    5. Continue to play for 30-60 minutes
    6. Abandon game and repeat process with another game

    In the case of The Sims 3 there was an actual manual and I eagerly read it before installing the game. After installation, I was presented with the option to create a Sim and start the game in a seamless tutorial mode that shows you the basics then lets you continue on your own.

    I resisted the urge to go to step 6 and the result is what you are reading here, the experiences of the Sim I created. As the title suggests, I declared my Sim to be gay (the game does not formally record this) and set forth with a few basic goals:
    • find my Sim a good job
    • get him a nice home
    • have him meet someone he could settle down with
    I did no research beforehand so I had no idea if gay couples were even possible. This isn’t a BioWare game, after all. I was determined to give it my best effort, however.

    And so I present:

    The Simple Life of Ferris Wheele

    The Basics
    My first task is to select which town to settle down in. There are two choices, the default Sunset Valley and the free expansion town of Riverview. I settle on Sunset Valley, even though it sounds like a place for retirees. The description promises Peyton Place-style drama.

    [IMG]
    The saga begins.

    Next up is creating the Sim I will be steering through life. The game defaults to young adult, which works for me because it avoids the issue of bladder control at the opposite ends of the life cycle. I choose male and the game presents a random Sim. Something like this:

    [IMG]
    Hello, my name is Dork.

    I just don’t know. It’s a nerd in a snakeskin jacket. I don’t see any pockets for him to keep his pens in. This won’t work. I begin to play around with the many controls to shape this guy into my nerd.

    After tweaking his facial features, physique and wardrobe, I come up with a red-haired young man with a slender build and a brave attempt at growing facial hair. His one nod to prevailing trends and/or rebellion is a tattoo on the back. I call him Ferris Wheele, because all of my characters must have terrible names.

    His looks settled, I move onto shaping his inner self by choosing five personality traits from a large list that ranges from mundane (bookworm, athletic) to a bit more out there (kleptomaniac, insane). It’s quite easy to create a Sim that is destined to be a loser (that’s an actual trait) or otherwise doomed to never fit in and while that would be amusing it is not for Ferris. Instead he gets some fairly boring traits:

    [IMG]

    His favorite color is blue. His favorite food is sushi. He loves computers and longs to become a world famous author. He seems very easily excited.

    [IMG]
    Dude, you're getting a Dell.

    With $16,000 in starter funds, I buy Ferris a dumpy little house in Sunset Valley for about 12 grand and move him in.

    [IMG]
    A nice house. Also empty.

    The tutorial advises that Ferris wants a couch. As the house is unfurnished, I buy him a couch and have him sit on it. This makes him happy. Ferris is a simple man.

    He then wants to go grocery shopping because he knows there’s a 20% off special at the store. Apparently Ferris is psychic, too. So he goes out and buys food fit for a king:

    [IMG]

    An impoverished king banished from his kingdom, that is. I need to save money for the rest of the furniture. Ferris has no job!

    After buying the groceries Ferris bumps into Stiles, a young man with a penchant for flannel shirts. Ferris tells him amusing stories and makes funny faces. Stiles is entertained and I think they may be friends now. Aw.

    Once home, I buy a desk, chair and computer so Ferris can begin his writing career. Instead he sits down and starts playing a computer game. I swear I didn’t go into this intending to make a Mary Sue character.

    [IMG]
    All play and no work make Ferris something something (poverty-stricken).

    With barely enough food for a single meal, a nearly unfurnished house, no job and no prospects, Ferris is very happy. Ferris is a strange man. I fear his bubble is going to burst soon.

    [IMG]
    Easily contented, thy name is Ferris.

    Next time: Ferris and his wishes, trying to get a job and having a shower.
  2. Athryn Despondent Fancybear

    Damnit, you beat me to it. Of course, I spend so much time modding the crap out of towns before I start, it would take forever for me to set it up.
  3. Mirriam Hard Cider Gal

    Location:
    Ireland
    Oh, I like that. The nice thing about Sims Let's Plays is that every story ends up different because of the sandbox aspect. I recently uninstalled this after it stopped working for me all of the sudden. I'll follow this with interest, and will try and resist the urge to reinstall ;)
  4. Calistas Elitist Negative Nancy

    Yay, more Let's Plays! I wrote one up ages ago where my guy led a cult. It was pretty fun :D
  5. Creole Ned Being Nice For A Week

    I remember that one, Calistas. Good culty fun, it was. Don't forget roBurky's classic tale of Alice and Kev, the homeless father and daughter.

    I should have the next chapter of Ferris' adventures up tonight.
  6. Creole Ned Being Nice For A Week

    The Simple Life of Ferris Wheele, Part 2

    He works hard for the money
    Getting Ferris a job is easy. All he does is search online, choose a medical career and bam, he’s hired. The position is cryptically described as ‘organ donor’. I think he’s supposed to be a candy striper but to be safe he’ll circle all his vital organs with a felt marker, adding the notation “Do not remove.”

    Once Ferris has a weekly routine imposed on him things begin getting trickier. For example, he is now sleeping until fully rested so his job performance doesn’t slip. This rarely gives him enough time to prepare anything beyond a bowl of cereal for breakfast. He likes to eat cereal, usually in his underwear. And not just for breakfast, almost any time he’s hungry. Ferris is a confirmed bachelor.

    [IMG]
    Breakfast of Champions.

    Sometimes he gets ambitious and reaches higher, making waffles. The beaker above his head indicates progress on the given task. He is happy making his waffles.

    [IMG]
    Delicious waffles (hopefully).

    For some reason he puts the waffles in a pan and bakes them in the oven. Each attempt results in an inedible blackened lump.

    [IMG]
    Charcoal.

    He has more success with Mac & Cheese and delicious grape pancakes. While Ferris is a mediocre cook, he is an even worse cleaner. The first batch of briquette waffles are left to fester on the counter until the odor makes him nauseous. This brings him down and for the first time Ferris is not stupidly happy. I instruct him to clean up and he obediently does so. I’m hoping that he’ll eventually get into the habit of doing it on his own. His autonomy slider is all the way to the right, after all.

    Wishing
    Periodically wishes appear in your, uh, wish bucket, which can hold up to four at a time. They offer lifetime happiness points when fulfilled and enough points lets you buy a perk from a menu like this:

    [IMG]

    In this case I choose the somewhat sucky Office Hero, which makes everyone at work like Ferris all the more. I'm hoping it will cut him some slack if he arrives a little late because he was busy torching breakfast. If Ferris continues to burn more than cook I may get him Discount Diner next — free meals at restaurants forever. The batteries in his smoke detector will last longer.

    The wishes themselves range from things like Read 3 Books and Visit the Art Gallery to Cook Waffles Without Destroying Them (actually, that last one is not a wish, just a vain hope). Ferris has visited the local graveyard, art gallery and more as part of his wish fulfillment and taken tentative steps in learning how to cook better and do simple repairs. The latter has seen limited success, as evidenced below.

    [IMG]
    I don't sink so.

    This particular incident ultimately results in a call to the plumber, but I was pleased to see Ferris mopping up the kitchen floor on his own and without setting anything on fire in the process.

    Moving beyond the necessities
    Artistically, Ferris is working on a couple of things. The first is a painting and I expect a fine piece of art when he’s done, especially after getting a lamp to put next to his easel. Until I added the lamp he was literally working in the dark, perhaps using the opportunity to dabble in abstract impressionism. The other project is a novel called The Loneliest Yeti, sure to be a future bestseller.

    Socially, he’s chatted with a few people who have become acquaintances, including flannel-loving Stiles. Striking out boldly, Ferris phones Stiles and invite him over, but bumbles the whole ‘going to the door and letting the guest in’ part because I thought Ferris would do that on his own. By the time I figured out that I had to help Ferris along Stiles had given up and abandoned the doorstep for work. Oh well, Ferris can always hit on him later.

    Er, I mean, invite him over for a nice drink later. I should probably get Ferris a stereo so he can play soft music, but he’s getting a bit low on funds. Being an ‘organ donor’ doesn’t pay well.

    His modest home has a few furnishings now. Observe Chateau Wheele at night:

    [IMG]

    A creaky old bed with a blanket that looks like it was rejected from the Salvation Army donation pile, an unfinished dresser that is probably being devoured by termites, a modest couch, a computer workstation, a (mostly empty) bookcase and a rack for the econo bike that will probably put him in the hospital with traction after it falls apart while negotiating a small bump on the road. Ferris works in the hospital, so that’ll be convenient, anyway.

    Finally, the shower. I discovered that you don’t need to follow the normal morning shower ritual, just shower when the ol’ hygiene bar gets low and the reports of stinky start coming in. And yes, I applied the nude patch. Not because I have a prurient need to see naked video game guys, more because I wanted to see if Sims were virtual Ken dolls. Turns out they are. I think I was better off not knowing. He does have nipples, however, just like George Clooney’s bat suit.

    Next time: Opportunities, improved cooking and a little (b)romance
  7. Creole Ned Being Nice For A Week

    The Simple Life of Ferris Wheele, Part 3

    Opportunities (Let’s Make Not So Much Money)
    One of the random things that pops up in The Sims 3 are Opportunities. These can come from work, an acquaintance or as a result of your reputation/skills and give assorted rewards when completed.

    Ferris’s cooking skill has improved to the point where he successfully prepared waffles that were not burned black. Hooray!

    [IMG]
    Waffles, edible!

    His cooking triumph leads to an Opportunity. Ferris is asked to make and deliver a group dinner for a neighbor. I can’t figure out how to do this. I think I’m missing a proper group recipe or ingredients or something. All I know is Ferris never runs out of cereal or waffles but neither is apparently acceptable for a bunch of party guests. Oh well. This may become a Lost Opportunity.

    Some like it hot
    Continuing on the food theme, Ferris’s eventual success with waffles may have been premature. His next meal ends with the stove on fire. As you might imagine, this is not a good thing, as expressed by Ferris’s reaction below.

    [IMG]
    Well-done. Very well-done.

    Fortunately, Ferris keeps his cell phone in his boxer shorts and calls the fire department immediately. He eats ice cream on the couch for dinner instead, as always in his underwear.

    [IMG]

    Even Ferris can only eat so much cereal, so after a few stove-free days I relent and buy a replacement stove. There is an upgrade option to make it fireproof, so I try that. It consists of Ferris banging away on it for a very long time. This is still a work in progress. I’m willing to bet there will be another fire before it’s done.

    Buying a new stove put a dent in the Wheele household budget but fortunately Ferris got promoted at work.

    [IMG]
    Quite the promotion.

    Bed Pan Cleaner! Still, money is money and more money means he’ll have the funds for when the refrigerator explodes or the couch somehow gets swallowed up by quicksand.

    Along with the promotion, Ferris gets some new work clothes. It’s like the game is reading my mind.

    [IMG]
    Pretty in pink.

    Things go so swimmingly at work that Ferris soon gets promoted again to paramedic. Apparently the skills needed to clean bedpans transfer directly over to saving people’s lives. Who knew? His paramedic outfit is not pink.

    The write way and the wrong way
    With the new stove and the career going well, it’s time to get Ferris back on his lifelong wish to be a famous author. He resumes work on The Loneliest Yeti and completes it, earning a few royalty checks. He also finishes a painting (painting makes Ferris very happy for some reason — I suspect he is getting high on oil paint fumes) and sells it for $12. Not bad. He can buy a tuna for $12 and still have change left over.

    His writing skill reaches level 4, good enough to get a commission to write a biography. I cannot figure out how to do this, as there’s no option at the computer. This could be shaping up as another Lost Opportunity. He also gets the opportunity to meet with a chef due to his cooking skills (news of the stove fire did not get out, I guess). This I can do. Ferris goes to the chef’s house and learns a few new recipes. This is good. But the chef is a very serious man and Ferris’s jokes don’t go over well. The chef becomes angry (the balloon above his head suggests violence is imminent) and Ferris gets the heck out of there while he can. Ferris’s social skills -1 or Chef is a crankypants +1? I’m not sure yet.

    The Stiles Project
    And then we come back to Stiles. The game informs me that Stiles no longer considers Ferris a friend because they haven’t chatted for a few days. Talk about fickle. Still, Stiles is his only friend, so Ferris calls and invites him over. Then they dance.

    [IMG]
    Dancing.

    I’m not sure why Ferris is thinking about painting while he dances. Probably the fumes again.

    The dancing seems to evolve (or devolve) into a strange sort of interpretive thing.

    [IMG]
    Squat dancing in the USA.

    Later, Ferris cooks a fire-free dinner but as he still has no dining table, he and Stiles must sit on the couch to eat. Not ideal but Stiles doesn’t seem to mind. The couch apparently makes Ferris sleepy, though. Best to move on quickly to dessert if you know what I mean. And I think you do.

    [IMG]
    A romantic din—zzzz.

    As the night marches on, they chat some more and Stiles begins to think Ferris is flirting with him. I take advantage of this by directing Ferris to actually flirt, which is one of the convenient actions you can choose from. How did it go? Well…

    [IMG]
    A different kind of kitchen fire.

    This is what the game calls an Amorous Hug. Stiles feels things are going so well he asks Ferris to move in with him. Suddenly everything is steaming along at a whirlwind pace.

    [IMG]
    A potentially moving experience.

    However, it turns out that Stiles lives with five other roommies in a large house and Ferris is too independent to deal with that kind of situation. Plus the stove is still only 23% fireproof. It’s practically his lifetime goal right now. There’s no way he can leave that unfinished. Fortunately, Stiles does not show any visible reaction to the rejection.

    Having turned down moving in, Ferris nonetheless invites Stiles to stay the night (the tramp) and Stiles accepts (also a tramp). These two are made for each other. However, Ferris only has a single bed and it can accommodate but one person at a time.

    With no room for two, Stiles spends most of the night shifting around between the rooms reading books, playing on the computer and briefly sleeping on the kitchen floor after he collapsed there from exhaustion. He leaves for work early in the morning and is again indifferent to the night’s events. Stiles is a charitable man or possibly a robot.

    The final event of this episode is Ferris reaching his first life milestone. That means when the current day rolls over he will transition from being a Young Adult to an Adult. Although he seems to be doing well in many ways, the lack of an actual table to eat on is a bit embarrassing at this point. I’m going to see how much it costs to add a room onto the house. I expect this to cause the house to fall into a sinkhole.

    Next: Growing up, new furniture and mad plans.
  8. jellyfish This Is SEWIOUS

    I can confirm from past experience that this is indeed possible. For reasons that should be clear to anyone on the internet, I experimented with a lovely lesbian couple.

    If you must know the sordid details, I (the red-head) married the blonde girl, kicked her entire family out of the mansion they were living in, sent them to live in my one-room caravan, and then moved in to their vacated castle. Oh, I let the blonde girl stay. We were married after all. The pics below are from before the marriage and the events that followed it. You can tell by the tacky furniture. But I assume nobody was looking at the furniture.

    [IMG]

    [IMG]

    [IMG]
    Elyscape likes this.
  9. Dufresne Armchair Designer

    Location:
    Charlestown, MA
    Is it possible to create a sub-forum in the Games forum for Let's Plays? If people are planning on doing these frequently, (I have an idea for a Skyrim one,) I think it would be nice to have them all in one place as an archive, rather than mixed in with the regular game threads.
    Caya, Mirriam and XenoCrash like this.
  10. ChuckJ Hard Cider Gal

    Location:
    San Francisco
    The Sims (the original) was the first game I ever played that allowed gay couples. In fact, it outed me before I was fully aware I needed to be outed.

    The game gave you a few starter families; one was two women called the "Roomies" family, who "wanted to make friends in the neighborhood." I got the idea of starting a separate family with two male roommates; I'd introduce them to the Roomies, they'd eventually pair up and then get married, get careers in the music industry, and it'd be just like ABBA.

    The guys started out not liking each other very much, though, so I decided to spend some time getting them socialized. One of them ("Logan," since he had a shirt just like the sandmen from Logan's run) started chatting with Tubbs (because he was dressed like Phillip Michael Thomas from Miami Vice), and then... it went on, and on, and on. They hit it off immediately, and wouldn't stop chatting. In fact, they went from roommates to friends just from that one initial conversation.

    At that point, there was a new option "Give Back Rub." I figured that seemed like a nice, friendly thing to do, so I had one of them try it out. To my surprise, hearts started floating up over their heads. (This was before The Sims explicitly divided interactions into friendly/romantic categories, and apparently before I realized that giving a dude a back rub was crossing a line). They'd started developing a major crush on each other. I was intrigued.

    I was a little worried that my original plans were going astray, so in an act of desperation I invited the Roomies over to get acquainted. Tubbs got along fine with the ladies, but Logan just made some small talk and then sat on the couch and pouted. He kept trying to get some alone time with Tubbs (without my intervention) and then just make out on the couch with the Roomies still around. Logan eventually got fed up with the constant interruptions from the women trying to chat, and he went into the kitchen to make dinner.

    That started a kitchen fire. Everybody freaked out. Tubbs tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher, but it was too late, and Logan was immolated. Tubbs got an urn with his ashes, that I put into the back yard to turn into a gravestone.

    Tubbs cried about it for a little bit, but then started chatting with the Roomies to cheer up. Still despondent, he left the women alone in the house and went to the back yard to cry over Logan's tombstone. Meanwhile, one of the Roomies got bored being left in the house and went into the back yard. She asked Tubbs to dance, and he agreed, so they both began to dance on his dead boyfriend's grave. It was like every late 70s/early 80s "perils of the gay lifestyle" movie I'd ever seen (or every Santorum speech I've ever heard) writ large on my computer screen.

    Years later I was telling my boyfriend at the time about that story, and how even though I'd been completely preoccupied by those characters, I still didn't at the time believe I was gay. His response was: "You didn't realize you were gay? You bought a computer game and the first thing you tried to do was to recreate ABBA."
    Sighkick, Kaneda, DoomMunky and 26 others like this.
  11. Creole Ned Being Nice For A Week

    Ha, that's a great story.

    Ferris has only had one stove fire so far. I am hoping he doesn't immolate.
  12. Aeon221 Despondent Fancybear

    Location:
    G:\HAW HAW HAW
    What I learned in this thread: apparently every man who plays the Sims is either gay or destined to become gay.

    Oh well, at least it's entertaining!
  13. ChuckJ Hard Cider Gal

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Hey, that's a really offensive stereotype. There are plenty of straight men who play The Sims because they're developers working on The Sims.
    Sighkick, Soli-chan, Aeon221 and 4 others like this.
  14. Equis Armchair Designer

    I think they should go to a front page, where we can, if we want to, invite new readers and posters!
  15. Hanzii Magister Mundi Elyscape

    Thanks for the info. I'll go inform my wife, so she can plan ahead.

    Is Roburky here? I met one of the developers at the Pets release and talked to him about Alice & Kev (which he knew) and then told him about how we played the game by sending the save game from player to player on the forum (I'm still bummed, that nobody discovered the Mt. Awesome I built) - he really loved that idea and would introduce it once he returned. So if a bunch of (possibly gay) Sims developers are playing The Sims QT3-style (possibly with a house full of Kierons), this community is to blame.
  16. kerzain Beardy Magnificence

    Location:
    Job 3:26
    I once wrote a short story about The Sims.

    Also, I only played Sims 1, I had to stop because it distressed me though. I modeled my Sim's life after my own, action for action, relationship for relationship. My Sim went crazy and started crying all the time and went crazy. There was no saving him.

    This game sucks. Thanks a lot Creole Ned, thanks a whole lot.
    Sighkick likes this.
  17. Aeon221 Despondent Fancybear

    Location:
    G:\HAW HAW HAW
    Kerzain, your Sim went crazy twice? Bizarre!

    An interesting theory that should be investigated. Thoroughly. With pictures n stuff. Also more stories!
  18. Nebty Magister Mundi Elyscape

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    I was totally addicted to The Sims 2 for about three months before losing all interest and never playing again.

    Loving this so far, I can't wait to see what happens.
  19. Matt Bowyer Beardy Magnificence

    I've barely played The Sims 3, but my wife adores it. I DID adore The Sims 2 and probably poured 50+ hours into it all told. It creates some wonderful stories.

    The reason I've barely touched The Sims 3 is because I'd like to play my other million games and not spend another 50+ hours in another world with no end. That, and I think installing it plus the expansions will take about 50+ hours.
  20. Creole Ned Being Nice For A Week

    I have made my peace with this. I like open-ended games. My backlog will remain a towering digital monolith.

    I don't have any of The Sims 3 expansions and haven't even spent the 1,000 points the game came with. Since I installed through Origin I don't even need to find the disc, which makes it that much easier to check in on whether Ferris's stove has caught fire again.

    And speaking of which, I should have Part 4 up later today.
  21. Matt Bowyer Beardy Magnificence

    Again, Meghan is a huge fan of the series. We have everything minus one stuff pack, and Sim Points are a regular random present in our house. I do love hearing about the crazy happenings in her games, so it works out well (and I get more time to play Skyrim, where I spend as much time, if not more, decorating houses).
  22. Otterloop Beardy Magnificence

    Played Sims 3 on the XBox. Quit when I realized there was never going to be a patch released that fixed the dozens of game breaking bugs but still had to reject buying an EA account every single fucking time the game started. Not to mention it actually took longer to start up if you weren't connected to the net. Also no expansions.
  23. Nebty Magister Mundi Elyscape

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    In my experience, The Sims on consoles are terrible. They don't necessarily have to be, but they always are.
  24. roBurky Despondent Fancybear

    I'm here. Mostly lurking.

    I really enjoyed the Quarterville game. It's a shame it would be a bit difficult to do again, with all the expansion pack compatibility problems.
    Caya, Hanzii and BobJustBob like this.
  25. Elyscape Already Beat BF's New Expansion

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    A possible solution there would be to just say that all participants should install just the base game. Perhaps not ideal if you've got ten expansions on there that you love, but then no compatibility issues.
  26. Athryn Despondent Fancybear

    Impossible to do if you have the steam version.

    I do have the quarterville family in my game though, little Leia ended up married to one of my sims and is a secret agent.
  27. Elyscape Already Beat BF's New Expansion

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Well that's frustrating.
  28. Creole Ned Being Nice For A Week

    The Simple Life of Ferris Wheele, Part 4

    Birthday (I would like you to dance)
    It’s Ferris’s birthday. Hooray!

    He has made the transition from Young Adult to Adult. On the plus side he has a home, a career and a good buddy, Stiles.

    On the negative, he didn’t get any presents, still has a potentially explosive stove and remains a virgin.

    But it’s the weekend and time for fun, where the only fire shall be of the romantic sort. Ferris is prepared to rock out with his pixelated manhood out.

    To better lay the groundwork for a little amour, Ferris needs more furniture, specifically a dining table for romantic meals and a larger bed for romantic sleeping. His funds are low but he has enough to buy a chintzy dinette set. He also splurges on a double bed to better stretch out in. It’s as hideous as his previous bed, but bigger.

    Pursuing Passions in Pink
    Ferris isn’t ready to make another move on his man Stiles just yet so he indulges a few less prurient interests first, one of which is painting.

    His effort pays off with his first handsome masterpiece:

    [IMG]
    Eat your heart out, Rembrandt.

    Ferris elects to keep this painting rather than sell it. He’s not prepared for the inevitable fame that would come and besides, it will make for a stunning conversation piece in the living room.

    He moves on to reading. It’s unexciting but something that makes him unnaturally happy. For some reason he always reads at the computer desk instead of on the comfy couch. As Ferris takes in his book the computer becomes all sparky and smoky. Uh oh.

    Knowing the consequences of letting the blue smoke out, Ferris starts stabbing the computer with a screwdriver.

    [IMG]

    This fixes it and increases his handiness skill to boot (that was not a computer-related joke, I swear).

    As Ferris resumes reading I look over his Opportunities and hey, the computer now offers the option to start that woman’s biography. Since Ferris’s lifetime goal is to become a famous author, this is a very good thing. I immediately set him to work on writing the book.

    [IMG]
    Future bestseller or future mega-bestseller?

    It turns out this is kind of like upgrading the stove, a task that will take a very long time. Ferris keeps going at it even as his wrists cramp, his stomach cries out and his bladder fills up. He is rewarded for his effort!

    [IMG]
    This book will have 1,000 chapters.

    It’s been a day of self-fulfillment and accomplishment for Ferris but something is missing. Well, other than his bike, which is mysteriously absent from its rack.

    [IMG]

    Appreciating Art (and Connor)
    He needs to get out and socialize. Conveniently he has a wish to visit the art gallery and it turns out Ferris also has an Endless Pocket of Holding which contains his bike. Off he goes to drink in some of that public art thing.

    The gallery is filled with odd people and stranger art.

    [IMG]
    Dad's old globe, grandma's old chair and the neighbor's toilet: Art.

    Ferris chats up a nice beardy man named Connor Frio and impresses him by doing an interpretive dance.

    [IMG]
    I was out by myself at the graveyard.

    They hit it off and become instant friends. Ferris resists the urge to flirt but puts Connor’s phone number into his list of contacts. He can be the backup plan. No no, that’s not right. Connor will just be a good friend, someone he can do guy stuff with, like fishing or hunting bears or something.

    A portrait of a giraffe family inspires Ferris. He wants to get home and paint again.

    [IMG]

    But the weekend is already half over. Painting must wait. Now it is time for the Man Date.

    Ferris and Stiles Sitting in a Tree…
    Ferris nervously calls Stiles and Stiles agrees to come over. As always they dance.

    [IMG]
    Illegal in the state of Alabama.

    Stiles is not wearing a flannel shirt this time and that throws Ferris off a bit. Stiles also seems a lot pudgier than before. Has he been laying into the donuts since the last visit or did Ferris just not notice?

    And there’s something else about Stiles. Something not quite right.

    [IMG]

    Next: Odd things with food and an evening with Stiles.
  29. Matt Bowyer Beardy Magnificence

    This is exactly what I do on the weekends.
    Elyscape and Candied Citrus like this.
  30. wisbechlad Hard Cider Gal

    Ferris is a chubby chaser!
  31. Nute Already Beat BF's New Expansion

    Location:
    KC MO
    I see what you did there.
    bladekind, Uncle McNasty and Elyscape like this.
  32. Erik J. Hard Cider Gal

    Book title should have been "The Donner Party, no not THAT one."
    Sighkick likes this.
  33. Merneith Oh, Come On

    I've always wanted to play more of the Sims 3 but I can't really afford it. I'm a competitionist, which means I want all the expansions, plus every time you open the game you have to look at the download center where you can buy things individually. I always end up feeling nickel & dimed, and resentful about it. Just because I enjoy that in the game doesn't mean I enjoy it in real life.
  34. Aeon221 Despondent Fancybear

    Location:
    G:\HAW HAW HAW
    This thread needs a new, super like button. "I like this post so much I want to take it on a date and maybe make out with it awkwardly in the back seat of a Volkswagen."
  35. Creole Ned Being Nice For A Week

    The Simple Life of Ferris Wheele, Part 5

    In order to better suss out just what makes Stiles tick, Ferris adds the Lifetime Reward of Observant. This allows him to pick up on the traits of others much faster than normal. He discovers a little more about Stiles:

    [IMG]

    He’s neat. Sure, Ferris has occasionally left meals to rot on the counter until it literally made him ill, but opposites attract, right? They’ll be like a gay Odd Couple. An Odder Couple, if you will. Stiles loves the outdoors, so romantic walks in the woods seem likely. But he’s a loner. Will that doom a potential relationship? Does he just need the right person to pull him out of his shell?

    Intent on some shucking, Ferris pushes on and gets all flirty. Stiles is receptive! He gets a wish to kiss. Go for it, Ferris!

    Except Ferris can’t figure out how to kiss. He doesn’t want to be a tease but can’t help it. Stiles is thinking about a gunked up mouse ball or a gas giant or whatever that thing is so it’s no biggie that the first smooch does not happen.

    [IMG]
    Kiss me you fool (if you can figure out how).

    His brush with romance unwittingly averted, Ferris cooks a lovely meal of fish and chips and then has another one of those moments by forgetting to call Stiles over to the table when dinner is ready. Ferris eventually figures out how to invite Stiles before finishing and proceeds to get another full plate for himself. He’ll learn proper manners eventually. (And yes, the food dish mysteriously changed when Stiles came over. Spooky!)

    [IMG]
    What could be better than a romantic meal?
    Remembering to ask the guy you’re macking on to join you.

    It’s late by the time dinner is done. Ferris coyly invites Stiles to stay the night and Stiles accepts, but this time there is room for two, hubba hubba. Ferris then goes to bed, leaving Stiles to play games on the computer.

    I’m beginning to understand why Ferris is still a virgin.

    [IMG]
    What is wrong with this picture? Everything. Stupid Ferris.

    Eventually Stiles joins him and they engage in a night of heavy…sleeping.

    [IMG]
    Dreaming of home and uh...overdosing?

    In the morning Stiles makes the bed. What a nice man. Or is it just part of his sinister plan, whatever it may be? It’s Monday morning and Ferris has got to catch his ride to work so he leaves Stiles alone in his house. Ferris is a trusting man.

    Stiles mills about for a bit in his boxers then mysteriously puts the food Ferris had been preparing the night before on the front door step, as if in ritual offering. He then leaves. This can’t be good.

    [IMG]

    And with that, Ferris is back to the workday grind, with little time left for other pursuits. His income is slowly rising so he may be able to afford a nicer place just before he’s ready for the grave. And speaking of graves, who knows how his next date with Stiles will go. If things don’t work out, will beardy man be there for the rebound? Will Ferris be there for the rebound?

    [IMG]

    Next: A Bad Date, new wheels and magically slowing metabolism
  36. Elyscape Already Beat BF's New Expansion

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
  37. roBurky Despondent Fancybear

    I approve of this.
  38. jerri blank Despondent Fancybear

    I wish Ferris all the best. The last time I played any Sims game, I had Xena and Gabrielle in love and all snuggled in domestically, and then Gabs killed herself in a cooking accident. It was devastating for all concerned.
  39. Merneith Oh, Come On

    I think Stiles sets the food outside because you don't seem to have garbage can? Or a garbage disposal? Maybe I'm just missing it in the screenshots. Also, I think Ferris reads at the computer desk because there's no lamp by the sofa. Although there is a window .... Sims are weird. This is going to end with me buying half a dozen sims games, I just know it.
  40. Creole Ned Being Nice For A Week

    Ferris has a garbage can (you can see it in one of the upcoming shots). I think you pretty much summed it up, though: Sims are weird. And good idea on the lamp.

    Part 6 should go up sometime today.