Week One
It’s Sunday, the day before the challenge officially begins. The contestants have today, and today only, to explore their new dwellings and get to know each other without the pressure of voting or eliminations. Let’s set ‘em loose!
The gang spreads out across the property to explore. Except Cyan, who sees the hot tub and immediately decides that that is the place for him.
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Our first attraction happens very quickly: Tangelo and Sage.
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It doesn’t take long for Carmine to realize what a horrifying situation she’s in. A Neurotic sim, locked in a giant house with seven other crazies, is not a good setup for emotional wellbeing. Hopefully some old-fashioned skilling will distract her and calm her down.
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One of the most popular activities on this first day involves the mirrors. There are three of them around the house, and they’re quickly occupied by the snobs admiring themselves––and by childish Violet, who just makes faces at herself. (I ended up deleting all but one of the mirrors because half the contestants hardly did anything else that first day.)
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The other most popular activity is, of course, the hot tub. No surprises there. Cyan doesn't budge from his seat the whole day, and is soon joined by a couple of others who are inspired by his laid-back attitude. (Honestly, I find it kind of inspiring myself.)
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Sage, our Flirty Hopeless Romantic, is eager to flirt with everyone she meets––including Khaki, her first and most frequent target. Their relationship quickly launches into a rapid-fire back-and-forth of flirts and insults. Sage flirts with Khaki. Khaki insults Sage. Khaki flirts with Sage. Sage insults Khaki. And on and on and on.
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After all this, Sage rejects Khaki’s last feeble pickup line, and then doesn’t understand why he isn’t receptive to HER pickup line.
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Carmine and Watermelon are the first contestants to form a friendship––and also the first pair to pop wishes to kiss each other. Awww! These two are among the most well-adjusted in the group (despite Carmine’s occasional freakouts). They actually sit together and talk like civilized human beings, and spread positivity among the other contestants. Meaning they actually have normal interactions with them. Thank goodness for these guys.
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After the first day, only one friendship has formed, but everyone else has started working their way into the green with their fellow contestants. (Even Sage and Khaki’s interspersed flirts-and-arguments have kept them stuck right at the center of the relationship bar.) No disasters have happened yet. No fights. We’ll just have to see what happens when the skilling begins tomorrow!
* * *
Monday morning dawns and Cyan is already naked.
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Most contestants sleep in and take the morning to eat breakfast and shower. At noon sharp, the first skilling objects appear: chess tables! Yes, week one is logic week. I figured it was only...logical. Heh heh heh heh.
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And the first two contestants to try their hands at chess? Carmine and Sage, at almost exactly the same time. Carmine is the first to get a skill point. Sage, it is quickly revealed, is more easily distractible by social interactions, and leaves the table as soon as she gets her own first point.
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A few of the other contestants trickle in and out of the room through the day, but Monday is not a very popular skilling day overall.
Cyan is proving to be a very diligent and passionate hot tubber. He gets in first thing in the morning and typically stays out until he can’t keep his eyes open––sometime after 4 in the morning. If hot tubbing was a skill, Cyan would be dominating. Even getting his clothes stolen doesn’t stop him. He proudly parades around the house in his low-slung towel, not seeming to mind the opportunity to show off his abs.
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The next day, the skinny dipping becomes a bit of a trend. Raven becomes the first female contestant to ditch the clothes, and is soon followed by Tangelo. These three are easily the most frequent hot tubbers, and now they all prefer to do so in the buff. Just call them the Dippers.
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When the Dippers head to bed, though, it’s Watermelon and Carmine who decide to take a turn. Things are really getting steamy between these two. Heh heh.
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Khaki appears to be having a hard time with this challenge so far. With so few options for entertainment or fun, he spends most of his time having arguments with himself. When he’s not doing that, he’s scaring his housemates or...uh, cleaning. Well, that’s nice, Khaki, but do you really think that’ll make your housemates like you more?
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Wednesday sees a little more collaboration between the contestants, and some more socializing. (This is a record––six people playing chess at once!)
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As more and more contestants move up in the logic skill, friendships are growing too, mostly between the more functional members of the group. There remain a few social outliers, including Violet (who still plays with the mirror most of the day), Sage (whose love for scaring people sabotages her every attempt to make friends), Raven (whose Genius trait is not enough to overcome her dedication to the Dippers), and Cyan (who hot tubs more than any other sim I’ve ever played in my life). By Wednesday night, Tangelo is the only contestant without a single skill point in logic. He doesn’t seem to care, though, spending every moment in the hot tub admiring his big feet while his fellow Dippers look on. (Side note: So many of my screenshots are of various people hot tubbing. Why did I think I would need this many pictures of the same thing??)
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Thursday morning is the last chance for the contestants to get their logic skill up. And by noon, the winner is clear. Can you guess who?
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I bet you can’t. It’s Violet! Although she was slow to start, Violet was by far the most persistent chess player over the last couple days, and went on to surpass Carmine (who was a late bloomer in the Dippers club and has hardly left the hot tub since Wednesday afternoon) and Raven (who skilled up faster than everyone else, but didn’t spend enough time at the chess tables to make it matter). Violet finished up with 4 points in logic and was getting impressively close to 5. Great job, Violet!
Violet’s two least favorite housemates are now up for elimination. And they are…
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…not surprisingly, Khaki and Sage. Hey, they don’t look too surprised themselves.
Violet moves into the fancy Head of House suite and immediately immerses herself in some video games.
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Over the weekend, the contestants have a chance to relax and have some fun. A couple of new activities are added to the newly expanded front yard––a trampoline (I took it away for a few days but brought it back), a water slide, a sandbox, and a gnubb set. There are also two new items in the skilling room: a shuffleboard and a foosball table. (Don’t worry about Carmine in her bath towel. Half the household has been pranked by this point.)
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I speed through most of the weekend because I can only watch sims jump on trampolines and slip on the waterslide for so long before I get desperately bored. Our two sims up for elimination make limited effort towards staying in the competition. Sage makes some attempts to make friends, but mostly she just goes around scaring everyone. And Khaki continues to do little more than yell at himself and mop the floors.
Finally, Sunday noon rolls around and it’s time to tally the votes! Everyone gets dressed in actual clothing and teleports to the Super Secret Voting Room, where they are seated on couches to await their doom.
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(Well, Sage and Khaki await their doom, at least. Sage certainly looks nervous; Khaki sort of looks like he's passing gas.)
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One by one, the votes come in. Tangelo, Watermelon, Cyan, and Violet all vote to eliminate Khaki, while Raven and Carmine vote to chuck Sage. So, the first sim to be eliminated from the competition is…
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Khaki! Khaki Karlyle was one of the most Insane Insane sims I’ve ever played (or not played). I really think he’ll do well outside of the Big Brother house––see, he looks so happy to be leaving! Good luck in the world, Khaki. Go become the mad inventor you were always meant to be. We won’t really miss you.
