Asylum - Chapter 1

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Welcome to the Asylum



Ah, you're back. Good, the victims er patients are getting antsy waiting out here for me to finish taking pictures and turn free will back on. Controllable sim Lizbet has been extremely gesticulative about her impatience for me to get my act together and get things started.

That or she's not happy that I have her standing here like a bump on a log while a hailstorm is raging. Demanding, isn't she?

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And with that we're live. Lizbet is the only sim I can click on or control, so I sent her off to greet the paperboy. While I should send her to greet her roommates, being friends with her them won't help her career; being friends with the paperboy can. Family friends are important for the career.

The rest of Lizbet's asylum-mates seemed to have paired off (or tripleted off, as the case may be). Let's review who is who again quick, shall we?

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In the red dress is Marie, the closet romance sim whose family mysteriously disappeared. Next to her in pink is Lorna, the workaholic popularity sim. The fellow about to have an unfortunate encounter with the kicky bag is Raul, a Pleasure sim singing sensation-wanna-be whose dreams were shattered when his superstar idol told him that he, frankly, sucked.

Here we also get a glimpse of the apparel the Wainwright Asylum staff has chosen for our residents. They've tried to stick with casual, easy-fitting clothing without a lot of complex fasteners to confuse the confused. Basic, slightly feminine gowns for the ladies with mules and for the men, baggy shirts and wrinkle-proof poly-cotton trousers. Pyjamas too are intended to be loose and comfortable for the patients while undergarments are modest and supportive. (We'll be seeing a lot of modest and supportive)

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Just down the sidewalk, and a little less active, are three more Asylum residents. The lone lady in the group is Wanda, a Family sim whose dreams of a white-picket kid with 2.5 dogs and a home were dashed when her husband left her for a big haired blonde with plastic perky bits. Earl is across from her in blue, a Wealth Sim from a slacker family but with big business desires. Finally in the middle is Popularity sim Van, a champion surfer who, after a catastrophic wipe-out, is now scared of the waves in his bathtub.

Hmm... aren't we missing someone though?

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That someone would be our anti-social Knowledge sim Parson. Seems he discovered the telescope in the living room... and the reason why we don't use the telescope during the day.

Yeah, Sim-Keth came over and gave him the beat down a few minutes later.

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After she got done chatting up the paper boy, Lizbet headed inside to look for a job. Her lifetime want it to reach the top of the education career (Education Minister I think?) I was shocked that it was the very first job in the paper. The last time I tried an asylum challenge, it took three days before the job showed up. Hopefully the education career being immediately available is a good omen for the rest of this challenge.

For the moment, Lizbet is a playground monitor and her carpool will be here for her at 7 a.m. She's thrilled, I'm sure. But 7 a.m. is a good ways away and a lot can happen between now and then.

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Lizbet, you haven't even eaten anything yet. How can you be feeling urpy and sick to your stomach already?

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Oh, it's Parson's musical ability (or lack thereof) that's causing the nausea. She was so polite about it too. The other residents will boo and whine and hold their ears at Parson's playing, but Lizbet just quietly stood behind him and made little throw up gestures.

Why don't you head back outside Lizbet? There's more important things to do today, like...

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Greeting the Welcome Wagon, headed by Captain Angelia herself. I was not surprised to see her leading the show. She runs the Welcome Wagon in Strangetown too, I swear.

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And here's the rest of the Welcome Wagon. Ah... sorry Lisa, I haven't had a chance to change you out of the banana tunic yet. I've got to do that from Keth's lot, since she has all the hacks and I haven't gotten back there yet.

I thought this was pretty cool. Two sim-selves and an (infamous) sim-creation in the Welcome Wagon. Lizbet will be able to make all sorts of hook ups once she gets to know them. Except...

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Except sim-self and (infamous) sim-creation were more interested in each other than in socializing with the loonies, er residents. *facepalm*

Wait a moment... do you hear something?

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Don't look so surprised Van. You brought it on yourself.

Anyway, back to Orrin and Sim-Lisa...

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Orrin took a break from soaking up the attention Lisa was showering on him to attempt a little petit larceny. Fortunately there were still too many people outside for him to feel confident he could get away with it. Gnutzo the Asylum Gnome is safe for the moment.

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Orrin was too distracted to try to steal him a second time.

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I thought this was cute. Stereo Slouching. Captain Angelia seems to approve.

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That or she was just waiting for them to move aside so she could try her luck at stealing Gnutzo. Like Orrin, she felt there were too many people outside for her to be successful either. I'm not sure Gnutzo will be lucky three times running through.

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Meanwhile, back at the Asylum...

For being an ice queen at work, Lorna doesn't seem to be having any problems making friends here. Those hearts are a little one sided though.

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Oh no Lizbet. You didn't...

"What?"

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I guess she did. And Lizbet becomes the first person to cry when Sim-Keth shoves them. Everyone else so far has shoved her back.

Once she's stalked back to her own place Lizbet, why don't you call the Welcome Wagon in out of the rain and chat them up a bit.

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Insert Handcuff joke here

Hey, don't look at me. You brought it up Lisa.

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While Lizbet was hanging out with the Captain, Lisa, and Orrin, the rest of the patients gathered in the kitchen to witness the first fire of the challenge. I think Earl started this one. I forgot I have a couple custom foods (soups) that sims with 0 cooking skills can cook. Earl was trying to make some tomato soup when he wandered away from the stove to stuff his face.

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Hurry it up and call the fire department Lizbet, before one of your new roommates burns to death. I can't handle a vengeful ghost this early in the challenge.

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And here comes just one of many firemen who will become frequent visitors here, no doubt. This is Corey Spitzig. He's blond, has somehow managed to score a pair of Enayla's eyes (did I townie-ize any of those? I can't recall), and we're in his way as he rushes to trigger the inevitable.

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Wow, not one, not two, but three nervous breakdowns. I wasn't expecting that many for the first fire. No one else knows quite how to handle it. Lorna and Fireman Corey think the cheese has definitely slid off their crackers.

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Two gorillas and a chicken. Great. I'm not sure if the Asylum is doubling as a zoo or a farm. Will one of you guys take that burned pan off the stove. I need to go check on something. My Simmy Sense is tingling.

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Captain A! Please tell you didn't just gnomenap Gnutzo!

"What? Who, me?" *cackle*

Great. Get yourself back inside right now.

Lorna went right out and stole Gnutzo back, even though the Captain was still on the lot. That's when I realized I had a small issue... how to get a stolen gnome out of an patient's inventory when they weren't the selectable sim. My executive decision was... to collapse Lizbet's want panel, switch to the inventory view, select the gnome-recoverer only long enough to move Gnutzo back to his spot on the lawn, then switch back to Lizbet before returning to play. This way the game will be paused the whole time the other sim is selected, and the most I'll see is the levels of their aspiration and needs (both of which I could guess at from the background colour of their icons).

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Once I was done returning Gnutzo to his rightful place on the front lawn I sent Lizbet in to get the burned pot off the stove... and the stove promptly burst back into flames. *facepalm* I've still got stinky sims from the last fire! Quick, Lizbet, call the fire department! Lizbet?

Lizbet?

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Aw Frack.

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Come'on Doc, hurry it up. I need her to call the fire department before someone goes up on flames. Have her do the chicken dance and let's get going here.

I knew we shouldn't have let Fireman Corey leave yet.

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By the time Lizbet got off the phone with the fire department (Firebabe Katerina is on her way) the fire had spread to the counters, so I sent her over to start extinguishing them. The Captain is getting some synchronized panicking in with Raul there in the back.

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Here's one of the times that it's worth it to leave the walls dropped. Everyone is in the kitchen freaking out over the second fire of the evening. Everyone except Lisa and Orrin that is. They're in the living room talking about kissing.

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And right on cue, the same three (Wanda, Earl, Parson) who lost it before lose it again. Hoo boy are things going to be interesting here the next few days. The stove was a total loss and, with only §100 in the bank, they can't quite afford a replacement one yet. Unless Lizbet gets a promotion on her first day they won't be able to afford it tomorrow either. Since she needs 1 family friend for promotion, which she doesn't have, I don't see that happening.

Captain! Don't make fun of the fruitcakes!

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I see someone has taken advantage of the chaos and stinky confusion caused by the fire. Orrin! What the Frell?

"Quiet Woman! I've been waiting all evening to abscond with this."

*sigh* Now I remember why I don't have garden gnomes in Strangetown.

I think Van stole Gnutzo back after this gnomenapping.

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And so Lizbet beats her asylum-mates to the shower and will probably get an actual bed this evening too. It's a good thing, since needs to be up bright eyed and bushy tailed in order to leave a plate or two of gelatin out for the others and then catch her carpool at 7 am.

Well, that wraps it up for this chapter. We're through the first day, yay! No, I don't plan to blog every single day, but it just happened that this worked out to be a great place to split my screenshots up. After all this, it's got to get easier right? Right?!

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Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

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Introducing the First Challenge

Free-roaming simselves aside, Middlington was intended to be a hood where I could play out some smaller challenges and test a couple I've been working on. And as my very first challenge for Middlington, I decided to go for one that tends to keep simmers on their toes...



Welcome to the Asylum
(you crazy person you)

Middlington's Wainwright Memorial Asylum for the Slightly Deranged was built nearly fifty years ago by Gertrude Wainwright to provide a safe residence for her husband, Hugo. Rumors floated around Middlington for years after Hugo's commitment that Gertrude did it only to take control of the vast Wainwright business enterprise, but most everyone who knew Hugo agreed that he had an unnatural attraction to llamas and that, regardless of whether motivated by greed or concern, his commitment to the asylum was for the best. If there was any truth to the rumor, Gertrude got her just desserts years later when her son, Hugo Jr, had her committed to the same asylum.

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The Wainwright Asylum was designed to provide a gentle, home-like residence to a low volume of patients who are functional and non-violent, but still require supervision. In the past only one to three patients lived there at a time, with one nurse or caretaker in residence with them. The most patients the Asylum has housed is four, when a hyperactive young scientist with a severe case of constant insomnia was admitted. When she finally succumbed to lack of sleep, she was sent to a more medically oriented facility in Sim City.

Let's take a tour, shall we?

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The kitchen is spacious, with plenty of counter space as well as room for a dinette. There is only one stove, to keep cooking mishaps to a minimum, but both a dishwasher and trash compactor to assist with keeping the kitchen clean. As the past residents here have been non-violent, for the most part, the management has allowed them to use knives and other potentially dangerous kitchen implements (such as the stove) To the far right is a small pantry with a sink, for those times when the dishwasher is full or unavailable.

(I will also note at this time that the building is rather... compact... making screenshots with walls up rather tricky. So you're apt to see a lot of shots with the walls dropped, floating telephones, and things like that. I'll try not to make it too jarring for those of you who are wall-sensitive, but there are a few shots where it reveals some pretty interesting things.)

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Here we can see the dormitory for patients, currently set up for 3 residents (there's space for 4 beds) The movie posters found throughout the room are legacy of a previous resident, who believed himself to be a famous movie star. Since more than 3 patients are slated to take up residence here, sleeping accommodations may be a bit on the tight side.

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The caretaker's quarters are spartan but provided a small zone of privacy for those assigned to watch over the residents of Wainwright Asylum.

(or at least it did until the door was replaced with an arch, allowing everyone access to the room)

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The bathroom facilities are basic, with the toilet in one room and the shower located in another. There is plenty of space in each room to aid residents who may need assistance with caring for their personal needs.

(and also plenty of space for those stalkers who like to watch their quarry as they shower or piddle)

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The living space of the asylum offers something for every resident. Television (albeit with a limited selection of channels) for those who wish to keep up on their favorite sports teams or follow along with the amazing chefs on the Yummy Channel. A piano for the musically inclined (or for that resident who believes himself to be Simzart). Even a telescope for the more scientifically minded patient. Since residents are allowed only limited access outside, the telescope is kept inside for everyone's safety. The chance to peer out through the windows seems to bring out the hidden voyeur in many patients, however. Not visible is a weight bench, which is just out of the shot at the bottom of the screen.

(As a side note, I've found that sims will autonomously use a weight bench or other body-building equipment (exercise machines, treadmill) if they have gotten cold outside and there is not another readily available means to heat up (shower, hot chocolate, etc.))

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All the rooms open onto the central hallway. The Asylum's lone bookcase and easy chair are also located here, as well as a couple of the building's many phones. Alarms are not installed in the Asylum because their presence resulted in residents triggering numerous false alarms and their loud klaxons traumatized several patients in the past. As a result phones are located in every room of the building (two, in some rooms) to allow for swift calling of emergency personnel, should they be needed.

(Actually, the easy chair started as a recliner, until I remembered that I couldn't have both a recliner and a couch. Luckily I caught it before I started playing, but I didn't feel like rearranging the living room to fit the bookcase and chair in there. So in the common room they stayed.)

Thank you for touring Middlington's historic Wainwright Memorial Asylum for the Slightly Deranged. The tour bus should be pulling up shortly. Please don't make any eye contact with patients as you leave the building.

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For those who like that sorta thing, here's the top down floor plan of the whole place. Starting at the top right, we see the Asylum minivan, which has sat idle for the past couple years. Continuing widdershins, the big pink room is the great room/living room/rec room with its telescope and row of windows overlooking Middlington, just calling to the voyeur in every patient. To the left of that is the entrance foyer, then the pantry and its sink. Below the pantry is the kitchen, and the long room along the back of the building is the dormitory. The caretaker's room is the green room in the lower right and above that are the rooms with the shower and toilet. In the middle of it all (the dark green area) is the center hallway and commons. With the exception of the front door, all other entryways are arches, double-wide arches wherever possible

But wait, what's that fenced in off to the lower left there?

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Why, the four major sim-affecting hacks/cheats I hope I don't have to use in this challenge. I had to place them before I started game play because I'm not opening the buy/build screen after I start. I built the asylum before I moved everyone in and then family funded them the money so, with an exception or two, I'm not going to buy them anything more until they've earned back the initial cost of the place (§56548). The only thing I will buy is replacements for things lost to fire... and I may replace any stolen gnomes that aren't retrieved.

Admittedly, these objects cost next to nothing, but it's the principle of not opening that buy/build screen so I won't be tempted to use any of the other cheat objects I have (InSIMenator has so many too). These 4 I felt might be needed in an emergency, the only time I would use them. Everyone should hopefully recognize the Bat Box, the FFS Lot Debugger from MATY. I can't live without this box. Clockwise next to it is the Personality Adjuster from InSIMenator, just in case I messed someone's personality up when I created them (doubtful, but it also lets me change turn ons and turn offs, and if someone's are causing problems in the Asylum, I'll change them and take the hit). Clockwise from that is InSIMenator's time controller so, if elderhood starts looming near, I can turn off aging. Finally there is InSIMenator's wardrobe controller. Nobody will be buying new clothes with it, but this way if I absolutely have to have someone in a specific outfit, I can switch them into it without needing to select them. I don't expect to have to use any of the InSIMenator items, and hopefully I won't need to use the Lot Debugger. This paragraph was edited post-publishing because blogger borked it up royally.

There are 2 other hacks/mods what will get a little more use.

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The ACR adjuster and the Teleport Shrub. The Shrub is still for emergency use only. If a townie or visitor get stuck or something, I can use it to clear them off the lot. The ACR adjuster is needed to allow some autonomous actions, and it allows me to get an idea of who's attracted to who. I'm going to let the other patients develop their own relationships between each other, and with ACR I can at least get an idea of who they've got the most hots for at the moment. With 8 sims in the asylum, no one's going to be trying for baby but if something unfortunate happens, I can use the adjuster to turn off that option and fix the risky woohoo odds so there are no surprises there.

Now that we've seen the residence, let's meet the residents.

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Wanda Hawgshead was the happy wife of an up-and-coming politician and wanted nothing more than a "whole passel o' kids". Unfortunately, her husband told her after every election "Not this year honey. Let's wait until I'm elected to [insert political position here]" He explained that it wouldn't be fair to the little one to have daddy running all over campaigning, and Wanda believed him every time. When he finally did land a prestigious role in state government, he promptly divorced Wanda and found himself a trophy wife. Wanda was found wandering a "Baby, Bassinet, and Bottle" store, cuddling the mannequins, and was transported to Middlington Asylum to gently recover.

Wanda is a Family Sim and a Libra.

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Earl Chilton had dreams of being a business tycoon from the day he opened his first lemonade stand. Never mind that his parents weren't the overly motivated type; he was going to success where they hadn't. Not that it would be hard; his mom worked ay a gas station and his dad edited "home movies" (if you know what I mean). He skipped over college for work experience and over time sold everything from used cars to furniture to flowers. Hard work and a savvy sales pitch allowed him to finally round up enough money to open his own store, but a bad business decision cost him his fortune, his store, and -- for a short period of time -- his mind. It was his folks telling him "well we tole ya so son. We Chilton's ain't cut out for bizness" that finally did him in. He checked himself into the asylum to put himself back together and try to determine if his folks were right.

Earl is a Wealth Sim and a Taurus

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Marie had the perfect life with a devoted husband and three adorable children, but she had a secret. She was a closet romance sim. While she never broke her wedding vows by taking another man to bed, there were few men in the neighborhood she hadn't flirted (and a little more) with. She thought her husband was none the wiser, until the day she returned from the store to find him and their children gone. To this day she hasn't seen hide nor hair of him, though she's seen the hide and hair of a great number of other men. After she told her analyst she couldn't count the number of men she'd been with since her family disappeared but that she still felt like she was missing something, he suggested she get away to sort herself out and try to find some purpose in her life. This isn't the lavish spa retreat she was expecting however.

Marie is a Romance Sim and a Capricorn

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Raul Vertpliski had dreams of being the next great superstar. His idol was Marco!, the debonair singer who had made a name for himself through the Latsim music world as well as appearing on Sim Idol, Simming with the Stars, and SimTV. Marco!'s fans adored him, men wanted to be like him, and women wanted to bear his children (maybe Quavi should speak with him). When Raul sang, however, children cried, dogs howled, and women ran screaming into the night. He mistakenly assumed their trauma was merely their expression of their fanlike obsession for him. After much stalking and many emails, voice mails, letters, gifts, and outright begging for an audition before Marco!, the superstar finally relented and listened to this man who wanted to be like him. After sitting through an ear shattering 15 minutes of Raul butchering of his top hits, Marco! gave him an uncensored opinion of his singing and told him that if even mentioned the name Marco! again, Marco!'s lawyers would be paying him a visit. After his bodyguards collected Raul from the gibbering heap on the floor, the superstar was nice enough to pay for Raul's stay at the Asylum.

Raul is a Pleasure Sim and a Scorpio

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Lorna Stafford worked hard to be a success. Hours studying in high school and college followed by hours of overtime at work to earn promotion after promotion. She quickly got the reputation as a hard-nosed woman who should not be crossed. She'd worked hard to claw her way to the top and she wasn't going to let anyone knock her down now that she was there. Then one day when she was putting the together the guest list for her birthday party (and celebration party for her latest promotion) she realized that she didn't have enough friends to fill the smallest private room at her favorite French restaurant. What few friends she had taken time off work lately to do things like get married and have children. She was suddenly struck by how alone she was and how empty her life seemed. On her analyst's advice she is taking "a little Lorna Time" to try to unravel her cut-throat business attitude and discover her friendly, social side.

Lorna is a Popularity Sim and a Gemini

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People aren't quite sure why Parson Quincy asked to check into the Asylum. The Asylum doctors noted he seemed "fine and quite normal" during their interview... when they were able to get him to talk to them. He was more engrossed in the magazine he brought from the waiting room (the latest National Simmographic) and showed little interest in talking with them about his request. Reading the notes in his file, they determined that, like Lorna, he wasn't an overly social person but unlike Lorna, he wasn't overly concerned about it. He was happiest reading or stargazing or puttering away at the research lab where he worked. He made efforts to avoid social situations, or to stay as short as possible if he had to attend. His family has been after him for quite some time to seek some assistance and who knows, maybe they finally convinced (or tricked) him into it.

Parson is a Knowledge Sim and an Aries

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The surfing community as Simmy Sur is a big popularity contest, as Van Luff found out the hard way. He'd been the Big Kahuna among the surfers there, but it all changed the day the biggest waves Simmy Sur had seen in years rolled in. While showing off in the dangerous high surf, Van wiped out, got knocked unconscious, and nearly drowned. It was a month before he tried to get back on his board, but he wasn't the same. After losing the surfing competition he'd easily won the past five years (to a punk kid who'd just picked up a surfboard six months ago) and having his ex-girlfriend tell him to "go grow a ¶@!^ of %&#*!&@" as she dumped him, Van decided it was time to do something about putting his shattered confidence back together and looked into a stay at the Asylum.

Van is a Popularity Sim and a Leo

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Like Parson, people weren't quite sure why Lizbet came to the Asylum. No one remembers interviewing her, but her paperwork was there in the stack with the rest of residents'. No where does her paperwork mention why she's there or who referred her. When this was pointed out to her, she grumpily replied "Why am I not surprised?" Could this be why she is at the asylum? Has she been a victim, a scapegoat, one too many times and this stay is an attempt for her to break from this trend? Is she perhaps in hiding from someone or something, and her mysterious and sudden inclusion in the Asylum is her attempt to disappear? Perhaps because she is destined to hold the green plumb bob aloft, I didn't feel like developing a backstory for her. Whatever the reason, she's not happy about being a resident at Middlington's Wainwright Memorial Asylum for the Slightly Deranged

Lizbet is a Knowledge Sim and a Cancer.

Lizbet is also our controllable sim. Her LFW is to reach the top of the Education Career.

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Well, we'll wait till next chapter to poke the play button and see what these freaks... er patients do when left to free will. If anything, it's bound to be interesting.

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Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

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