Malcolm Landgraab IV: Week 1

Many years ago, the Landgraab family came into a LOT of money. They began to call their male heirs Malcolm and settled in Bluewater Village, which in my game is associated with Pleasantview. Malcolm III and Margaret were a devoted couple who loved their son, Malcolm IV. But they died when young Malcolm was only a schoolboy, now to be raised by... well, Maxis does not make it clear, but the white-haired man could be his granddad, Malcolm II, as his maternal grandfather, Blair Buckingham, wears glasses and has different hair in his picture in the family tree.

Now Malcolm IV is on his own. He has inherited the mansion and the money. Here, he is seen with a lady in a hot tub (his own, I suppose), but when the game starts, he has no romantic interest and no friends.

Here Malcolm is pondering the deed to one of his two businesses, the Electronics Supercenter and Club Dante.

This looks like the Electronics Super Center, and Malcolm seems to be having a friendly conversation with an employee. It's the last pre-made picture for him. 

The house at No. 74 Gondola Way can justly be called a mansion, and it is really HUGE for one single Sim.

On the ground floor, clockwise from the bottom left corner are a dining room, bar and kitchen; a spacious hallway with wide staircase and a door leading to the generous back porch, a toilet, another toilet, a small sitting room which also has a door to the back porch, and a sitting room with fireplace and book shelf. 

Next to the house on the left stands a small empty building, obviously meant as a garage, but only with a regular door. On the right, an extension holds an indoor swimming pool as well as the hottub seen in one of the premade pictures. 

Upstairs we find a large bedroom with en-suite bathroom, an aquarium on the spacious landing and an office/study. Doors lead to a balcony facing the road. 

Most of the furniture is expensive, and Malcolm still has more than 28,000 Simoleons in funds - calling him wealthy is certainly no understatement, although I would not go as far as to call him "ridiculously rich", as Maxis states in the family biography: 

"Ruthless. Cunning. Brilliant. Ridiculously wealthy. These are just a few words the locals use to describe the Landgraab family, whose entrepreneurial ambitions can't be stopped by anything but their own mistakes. When you have this much money, you're your own worst enemy." 

According to his personal bio, "The young, handsome, and naïve Malcolm Landgraab has huge ambitions, as well as the lofty expectations of his family to satisfy. With practically endless capital and few scruples, is there anything that will stand in his way?"

The Fortune aspiration suits him, but I am not overly happy about his lifetime want: He is an aspiring Criminal Mastermind.

On this Monday, he looks for a job immediately, but does not find an opening in the Criminal Career. 

The welcome committe consists of Brandi Broke and Checo Ramirez - and a stray dog named Fred! Of course the guests head straight for the hot tub, with Fred looking on.

Malcolm can't cook yet, so he prepares sandwiches for everyone. Later, during a phone call he makes his first friend in John Burb. I shall also look out for townie Pierce Buckingham, who I have never been interested in playing - but since Malcolm's mother was a née Buckingham, I might treat townies by that name as relatives. 

Tuesday is quickly told: Malcolm gets up and goes to work - he found a job as Pickpocket. By the way, isn't it odd that someone as rich as he does not have bedside tables and lamps in his bedroom? I have replaced the ugly masks on the wall with pictures (as he was wishing to "buy a painting" anyway) and am certainly going to make the room a bit nicer altogether. 

For now, though, Malcolm concentrates on his career. He returns from the first day on the job as Bagman and has the next day off - a good chance to acquire skills, make friends and visit a community lot. 

One of Malcolm's big wishes is to have a car, and since there is plenty of money, it is no problem to buy him one. Also, using his day off for a visit to a community lot, he drives himself to "Le Magnifique" on Wednesday morning for a spot of breakfast.

The breakfast turns out (as per his wish) to be salmon, and is truly "magnifique" :-) However, there are hardly any neighbours about, mostly townies Malcolm is not interested in, and so he leaves soon afterwards.

He seems just the red sports car type, doesn't he? The garage is now fully functional, of course. 

Tessa Ramirez walks by; she has obviously heard from her husband Checo that Malcolm is a nice person to meet. Well, she certainly did not expect THIS greeting!! Honestly, Macolm, you should be ashamed of yourself - it does not matter how attractive (or not) you find Tessa; a simple "good afternoon" would have been fine! 

Funnily enough, even though he has an indoor pool, Malcolm has no body skill, and when I send him to "dive", he is too scared to jump in. But a little later (it is autumn), he leaves the pool with three body skill points - they will come in useful for advancing in his career. 

Trying to "maintain" (instead of just "wind") a big grandfather clock is not a good idea when one has zero mechanical skill, as Malcolm finds out on Thursday morning. 

It is already Friday when Malcolm returns from work in the very early hours. Thanks to a promotion to Bookie, his good mood persists even though he finds that someone has kicked the bin over. Gang rivalry, perhaps?

Later the same day, he is just about to leave for work when the gardener arrives. He is glad he caught her so that he could give her a generous tip, motivating her to give his garden her best attention.

At 6:00 pm, he is dropped off by the car pool with a promotion to Con Artist (and a colleague who is sent home immediately).

The man who was his first friend here, John Burb, comes visiting on his own accord, followed a little later by Stephen Tinker.

But Malcolm needs two mechanical skill points for his next promotion, and so it is a good thing that John and Stephen have each other to talk to while their host is studying. 

Finally, he can put the book aside and join his guests in the hot tub.

One of Malcolm's closest friends is Brandi Broke, and since he has the weekend off, he invites her and the boys over on Saturday. What a contrast his mansion is to their humble abode! 

He orders pizza, knowing full well that Beau and Dustin will appreciate this much more than anything he could rustle up himself.

Of course, the indoor pool is a huge hit with Beau, while Dustin and his Mum soak in the hot tub, later joined by Angela Pleasant who happened to walk by.

Malcolm begins Sunday with a long, leisurely bubble bath.

He then invites his best friend John Burb over, and of course Jennifer and Lucy are very welcome, too. Over their grilled cheese, Lucy starts to talk about crime - and although Malcolm keeps suspiciously quiet, he does join in when it comes to the topic of justice and punishment. (They really talked nothing but crime all through the meal!) 

Gilbert, his second best friend, is invited over as well. And what looks like the setting for a romance between him and Malcolm turns out to be just Gilbert thinking romantic thoughts all the time, but not about Malcolm, and although Malcolm lights the fire and sits next to his guest on the settee, he does not roll any romantic wishes, and so the two men part as the two friends they've been before this visit, nothing more. 

Malcolm's days were filled with work and skilling, but it was nice for him to share his luxurious mansion with several friends and other guests. As expected, the hot tub was what almost everybody made a beeline for, but there were also some nice meals and conversations. 

So far, there is no love interest on Malcolm's horizon. This may change when I play him next time and spring rolls around, and I can imagine doing something about his two businesses later on, too.