Week 2Several people hang around the sitting area after the elimination and Georgie tells ghost stories. (Well, she ought to be good at that.)
At midnight, the swimming pool suddenly becomes accessible and assorted other items of athletic equipment appear around the lot. It takes Sara about five minutes to notice.
Everyone else just goes to bed. Well, everyone apart from Lea and Jake. They choose to spend the night in the hot tub and don’t go to sleep until after dawn.
Shortly afterwards, Sara is up again and trying out the driving range in her nightshirt.
In fact, golf becomes something of an obsession with her over the next few days. Every time someone else hits a respectable drive, she rolls a wish to set yet another course record and rushes outside.
This week sees far more people trying out the skilling objects.
The combination of better weather and fun activities tempts almost everyone outdoors.
Even Alys the couch potato joins in once she discovers that swimsuits aren’t compulsory. By Wednesday, she’s also become pretty competent at riding the mechanical bull.
The proper gym equipment is largely neglected. Only the real enthusiasts, Sara and Diana, take working out that seriously.
For most of the others, socialising is still more important – and the kitchen/dining area remains the place to be, even when, like Ro, you’re only talking to yourself.
Amusingly, Grim accuses Ro of impropriety when she’s the only one who’s wearing formals – everyone else is in nightclothes or nothing. Maybe he thought the polite thing to do would be to join in
.
Alys seems to have slightly odd ideas about endearing herself to her housemates.
And talking of scary things, You Know Who discovers the joys of skinnydipping.
I really don’t want to think about that too much.
The Head of House this week is no great surprise. Sara and Di have been far more devoted to exercise than any of the others and Di has the advantage of her athletic trait. By Wednesday evening, she has five points to Sara’s four.
Diana Bernal has definite opinions and she’s not afraid to state them. She nominates Grim and Voldemort for eviction.
And what do the threatened two do? Well, band together for mutual support, obviously.
Or not. I love that Lea, India and Terry didn’t let the fight disrupt their girly chat.
They’re not the only ones fighting: India and Ro really can’t stand each other.
India’s quite extreme in her relationships generally compared with the others, possibly because she spends so much time socialising. Most relationships are still pretty neutral; India definitely likes or dislikes almost everyone. I can’t help feeling that this will be a disadvantage if she’s ever nominated for eviction – it won’t matter how many good friends she has if half the housemates hate her.
Di spends far more time in the Head of House’s suite than Simon did, becoming remarkably sedentary for such an active Sim.
Somehow, everyone else has now become aware of the delights to be found behind that locked door and there are almost continuous traffic jams in the corridor outside.
The housework seems to be being neglected this week, possibly because mechanical bulls and moaning about locked doors are more fun. The men’s bathroom is particularly grimy…
…and Grim somehow takes a wrong turn when trying to find a shower that’s fit for use by someone of his delicate sensibilities and has to be teleported out.
Sunday evening rolls around again and everyone gathers for another voting session.
The result is much more clear-cut this time. Despite their reluctance to name one of the candidates, nine out of thirteen vote him off. Surprisingly, Terry is quite fond of The One Who Must Not Be Named and Lea likes both of them but slightly prefers His Lordship.
LV takes out his phone, calls the estate agent…
…and walks out, appropriately enough, into a raging thunderstorm.
I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised that he doesn’t take eviction as calmly as Burl did. He stands outside the gates for the next hour or two, cursing everyone (and particularly Vish, for no obvious reason).
(Sorry about the screenshot quality, by the way. It was a dark and stormy night...)
Then, as the rain eases off, he starts patrolling around the boundary fences, apparently trying to find a way back inside.
Eventually, he gives up and just stands there by the pool, looking pathetic. I never thought I’d feel sorry for Voldemort but his despair is oddly appealing…
…especially when he contemplates the lovely view he’s being forced to leave behind.
Maybe he’ll become a reformed Sim in future – although I rather doubt it.