About four years ago, I last played these two households. Therefore, I did not remember exactly what had been going on, and had to re-read their first weeks before I started to play them again now. If you want to do the same, simply click on the labels "TS4: Fogel" and "TS4: L'Amour" and scroll down to their first weeks.
Last "week", Steve and Babs decided to live togehter at Steve's house here in Oasis Springs. It is a pretty little house; the small pool was added by me as per Babs' wish in 2015. Together, they have 11,009 Simoleons.
Here they are. Babs still wants to have romantic relationships with more than one Sim, and one of her milestones is to kiss 10 Sims. Steve is determined to advance further in the entertainment career; he is working on his comedy skills mainly.
On Monday, they have breakfast together. Babs is rather tense as she feels "smothered" in her relationship with Steve, who has no idea of his girlfriend's discomfort.
When Steve is out for work, she invites a passing townie in, Abel Alcala. Here she is striking a flirtatious pose for him.
Ooops! Were is Abel's hand?! Don't worry, he wasn't really grabbing her breast, the camera perspective just makes it look like it. But there is certainly something going on between these two.
When Steve comes home, he spends hours at the computer, writing comedy routines and jokes in order to refine his skill and get promoted.
Babs lingers outside and talks to almost everyone she meets. Here she is doing what she likes best - chatting to a group of admiring men!
Not everybody instantly falls for her charms, though!
On Tuesday, she repeats her look-out for new acquaintances. Bradley Milton - we've seen him before, I am sure - is interested, though. And in the distance you can see an NPC I am certainly going to try and make playable: Summer Frost. Why her? Because, if you remember, there was playable student Ellen Frost in TS2, and I want to include all TS4 Sims who have "playable" surnames from TS2.
Nancy Landgraab comes visting on her own accord. Although Babs is not interested in female friends, she politely sits and chats with Nancy for a while.
On Wednesday, a bit of house work is called for. Babs repairs the broken shower, while Steve mops the floor. I must say that both of them are rather good about cleaning, putting plates away and so on.
Another sunny afternoon for Babs, spent talking to her male neighbours.
Thursday starts with breakfast taken standing around in the kitchen. I have not yet worked out what makes a Sim decide where to have their meal - at the table, on the settee, even on the bed, or just standing near the fridge where they took the food from.
I send the couple to the "Solar Flare", a community lot not far from their house.
Here, Steve uses first the open mic and then the guitar to attract a small audience.
Babs prefers to explore the vicinity, and finds a time capsule.
Later, they meet at the bar for a drink and some chips/crisps before heading home.
On Friday, Babs invites Summer Frost over. Travis Scott is also there.
The man whose back you see here is one of Babs' many conquests, I believe it is Deandre Bundy, whom she met during her first week while she was still single. The two of them have just shared a kiss when Steve comes storming in, rightly accusing his girlfriend of cheating on him. Poor Steve! He walks around very angry for the rest of the day, and the next. Babs' attempts to apologise are not well receipts.
Here she is on Saturday morning, chatting (to a man, of course!) while Steve practises the guitar, his back to her.
By the way, "Zombie Carl" was in the time capsule. It is a deco object putting Sims in a playful mood.
The week ends with the couple reconciling in bed, but Steve can't help feeling sad - it slowly seems to dawn on him that what he considered the love of his life will probably never be entirely and solely "his".
Still, he completed several milestones and was promoted, so it wasn't too bad a week for him.
Travis Scott has met Summer Frost, so I hope to see more of her when I'll play his household again.
Oh no, not yet another single household...! Well, I'm afraid it is true. This house is next door to the BBF's (the three friends whose household this round started with), and it is home to one single Sim:
Babs L'Amour.
Babs is - surprise, surprise! - a Young Adult. If this was TS2, she'd be a Romance Sim. In TS4, she is a Serial Romantic.
On this Monday, she visits the park - not only because it is one of her short-term wishes, but also because she hopes to meet someone there to have a date with.
Nancy Landgraab, an unknown Townie, Deandre Bundy (we saw him at the Goths', I think) and Travis Scott soon form a little crowd of Sims chatting. Babs can't help noticing Deandre's well defined leg muscles.
Nonetheless, she decides to have her first date ever with Travis Scott. The date does go well enough for her to reach bronze status and get a book as a reward.
Babs starts Tuesday morning by reading her brand new book.
And look who turns up on his own initivaite - Deandre Bundy!
The two of them have a "Gold" date, first kiss included. Could Deandre be "The One" for Babs? Hard to say - one of her characteristics is that she is a non-committal Sim, so I am not sure how well a close relationship will work for her. She does want to have a boyfriend, though.
After Deandre leaves, Babs grills hot dogs at the park.
Just as she is about to go home, she meets Steve Fogel. I can't let her pass this opportunity: Steve is a Foodie Sim like her, and he is a playable single Sim...!
On Wednesday morning, Steve is invited over. In TS2, Sims will only accept an invitation to come over when they are already friends (or nearly there) with the inviting Sim. In TS4, it seems, not only do they come visiting much more often on their own accord, they also accept invitations very early on during the acquaintance stage.
The two of them get along very well.
So well indeed, that Steve does not hesitate one moment when Babs asks him to move in together.
Because Steve's place is bigger, they decide to live there from now on. As opposed to TS2, the week does not reset to Monday after a move. Together, Babs and Steve have now quite a substantial sum on their joined bank account - Babs brought the full 20k starter money with her.
On Thursday morning, Steve officially becomes Babs' boyfriend. Look how thrilled they both are!
Steve has had the wish to join the Entertainment career. In TS4, jobs can be chosen via the mobile phone each Sim automatically owns. It seems like all careers are always available all the time. The entry level seems to be depending on the skills a Sim has acquired so far.
Before Steve is going to start on his first day as Amateur Entertainer, he makes pancakes for breakfast for himself and his brand new girlfriend.
After he is gone, Babs' materialistic side (another one of her characteristics) kicks in: She wants a pool, and I build a tiny one in front of the house. The lot actually is very small; it ends close to the walls of the house on each side.
When Babs goes for a dip in her new pool, I get the first full view of the tattoos on her back.
Still in her bikini, she crosses the road when she spots Nancy Landgraab and Don Lothario there.
At night, Steve practises new comedy routines at the microphone I bought for him, fulfilling a wish of his. Babs seems to love all his jokes :-)
It is Friday, and Babs does some cleaning while Steve heads off to work.
Nancy Landgraab appears on her doorstep and is gladly invited in. We'll see a lot more of Nancy soon; her family is the next name on the alphabetical list.
The toilet breaks, and although there is enough money to have it simply replaced, I want Babs to spend her time doing something useful and make her repair it.
Steve has the weekend off and uses Saturday morning to write more comedy routines on the newly acquired computer.
Babs meets Vivian Lewis. I have "met" this elderly lady a few times now since starting this game, and every time, she was either enemies with the Sim I was playing or she was quickly bored with the conversation. Looks like playing her could be a bit of a challenge!
Back at the house, Babs' friend Susana Olivares (a Townie she was friends with from the start) comes visiting. Katrina Caliente just happens to walk by, but she is invited in as well.
On Sunday, Steve and Babs have breakfast together. Babs' mood is not the best, I'm afraid. Less than a week into her relationship with Steve, she feels smothered already and wishes to schedule a date and kiss someone else.
Someone like Travis Scott, for instance. He befriended Steve during his first week, if you remember; today, he has come visiting on his own accord.
Steve is in the next room, writing jokes on the computer (that's important if he wants to progress towards his lifetime want), and Babs shamelessly takes advantage of his inability to see through the wall and makes a move on Travis. Nothing "happens", though, and the young man leaves soon afterwards.
Poor Steve! He feels that Babs is the best that ever happened to him, but I'm afraid he'll be in for some severe heartache.
Well, this was an interesting week! Romance Sims (I still call them that, I am so used to this from TS2) certainly can be less boring to play than Sims that are merely career-focused. I do feel for Steve, but I also want Babs to achieve her goal. We'll see how things turn out for this unlikely couple.
We are more than half way through the list now. Only six more households to play - and then I'll see what I can do to revamp New Maximilia so that it'll be free of overlapping lots and weird graphic bugs!
