#ts2 hc

[crossingsj]

To me it's so important that none of the Grunts realise that Lyla's actually dead.

I feel a lot of people overlook it but it adds to the misery that is their household.

Like all three of her sons are hoping she'll come back for them...

Tank is hoping she comes back so he can be himself because he remembers how soft she used to be with him and he's idolised his mother to this near perfect human being. To Tank she's something she never was.

Ripp is hoping she comes back so he can stop fighting. He doesn't want to argue with his dad but knows if he doesn't put up a fight against Buzz's expectations no one else will. Ripp believes his mother will fight for them so he can just be a teenager again.

Buck is hoping he can get to know her. She left when he was so young he barely remembers her and wants her in his life. He remembers her as the only parent that cared for him.

Tragically none of them will get what they want, the only one who does is Buzz.

And Buzz is terrified Lyla will come back for their sons. He's spend the better part of a decade trying to mould his sons and control them. He might not like Tank, but Tank has met some of his expectations, Tank's desperation for Buzz's approval will have him joining the military in the blink of eye if it means Buzz will be happy. And Lyla could come back a ruin it all, for all he knows Lyla's spent years getting her shit together so she can win custody of them when she couldn't initially.

But because she's dead she never will, so Buzz can keep being Buzz. Buzz can keep torturing his sons physically and mentally because they just need to "toughen up." And the boys just have keep dealing with it until they're old enough to get out of there (but if the Sims 2 for PSP is to be believed, they never will).

[crossingsj]

@c0ldestmoon made a post saying the Curious Brothers are unfuckable and mentioned Pascal's hair line in the tags... It made me realise that not once had I considered any of the premades in The Sims 2 to have a receding hairline, so I've gone away and thought about it, and here are the results (of Strangetown after thinking about it for a grand total of 10 minutes, give or take...)

Pascal Curious: hard agree with C0ldestmoonthat man has a receding hairline and a comb-over he thinks is successfully hiding it (it's absolutely not; a light breeze and you're seeing scalp).

Vidcund Curious: Bowlcut-mullet aside, his hairline is somehow still going surprisingly strong; it's receded a little bit, but as about as much as you'd expect for a guy in his early-mid 30s. He's like a midpoint between Pascal and Lazlo.

Lazlo Curious: Genetically blessed because we know he's not looking after his hair properly, he's washing it with whatever his brothers are using. It's definitely thinning around the temples, but not yet fully receding. He's still got time to make the most of it before it starts fully creeping back. The thinning is noticeable, but he doesn't care; he keeps his hair long and rarely ties it back (it's a big health-and-safety thing in the lab; his supervisor hates him).

Pollination Technician #9: Put it down to it actually being a wig, or alien genetics, that hairline hasn't moved an inch since he was in his early 20s. It's gone grey, but even that was a slow process. Redheads, am I right? It is thinning around the crown, but very few people are tall enough to see up there. He jokes that it's where Jenny has him under her thumb, and she doesn't appreciate it.

Loki Beaker: The Sims 2 for PSP tells us Loki wears a high-tech toupee, whatever that means... That man's hair started receding in high school, and he's been completely bald since the end of his bachelor's degree. He's rocked a toupee ever since, his first one was cheap because he was in denial believing he'd find a way to grow his hair back (he absolutely did not find a way to grow his hair back and invented his own toupee instead. And yes, Circe knows he's bald, but looks are temporary, evil is forever.)

Buzz Grunt: The buzzcut somehow hides the the fact his hairline is creeping back and he's going grey too. Definitely thinned, especially at the temples and around the crown, but the shortness of his hair makes it hard to differentiate where the hair is no longer growing versus where it's shaved. Good thing he has his little General's cap to hide under in between haircuts.

Ajay Loner: Lush, thick hair, no signs of thinning or receding. Ajay will wake up one day and realise his hairline is creeping back when he pushes his fringe up, and on that day, he won't care.

The Teens and children and how I think they'll go...

Johnny Smith: much like his dad, his hairline will stay firmly in place, and it will take him a while to realise he's going grey, mostly because his hair is blonde, but he'll start going grey in his mid-thirties, opposed to his father, who took forever. It might thin out a bit more than Pol's in the long term.

Tank Grunt: Like his father, the short hair will make it hard for him to realise his hairline is retreating, but it will start thinning noticeably in his late-twenties, and he'll panic about it, growing his hair a touch longer to compensate for it.

Ripp Grunt: Some time around his mid-twenties, he'll go completely grey for no logical reason (it's stress, Ripp, that's the reason), his hair will just stop producing pigment, he'll dye it, but it never lasts long. Eventually, he'll give up and call himself a silver fox. His hair will start to thin, but he'll use the light colour and length to compensate. That boy loved his hair, and he's not giving it up without a fight.

Buck Grunt: the light colour will make the thinning/receding less noticeable than his brothers. But unfortunately, his hair started thinning out by his late twenties. He blames Lyla's side of the family.

Tycho: That child is cursed with his human father's hairline. He'll have a strong widow's peak by his late twenties, but will choose to either rock it or shave it off. He saw how embarrassed Pascal got when his scalp was on show and wants none of that for himself.

Atom Beaker (Yeah, I know he's not in TS2, but this is my post, I include who I want): He's Loki's clone. What do you think?

Never in my life did I think I'd talk about the Premades hair in this way, but here we are... As always, I'm open to ideas and hearing what other people think, and none of these are set in stone!

[crossingsj]

It's been a little while since I showed the Smiths some love... So here are some headcanons I have for them...

I've also already mentioned that PT#9 and Johnny are tall (6ft6-ish to be precise), but what I didn't mention was that Jill is also pretty tall compared to other girls/women in Strangetown. Jill stands humbly at 6 foot after hitting puberty, placing her exactly half way between her parents' respective heights. Jill does wish she was little shorter but there's no changing that without drastic measures.

Unlike his PSP counterpart, PT#9 is fluent in Simlish (shock horror, I don't agree with the PSP lore for a change). But, the thing that makes him stand out is that he doesn't use words that a typical native/fluent speaker would choose. Like instead of saying "be careful" he would say "apply caution", or instead of "what did you have for breakfast?" he'd say "what meal did you consume at first light?" Whatever he says, you can guarantee he's using Simlish in an interesting/creative manner that perhaps follows the grammatical structure of the language used on his home planet. And yes, no one corrects his usage (expect Buzz).

While we're still on PT#9, he understands "Pollination Technician #9" is a bit of mouthful, but he'll only accept "Pol" as a given name, he's not interested in a more human sounding name, he's proud of where he's from and already 100% convinced he's blending in well without one (even though he's very clearly an alien). Though sometimes he does lie about what "Pol" is short for, he does a sense of humour after all.

Jenny Smith doesn't have a lot to do with her brothers for a several reasons, mostly the age gap that basically made her an only child in the family dynamics, and then the lack of common interests with her brothers. But, she knows that her brothers would be obsessed with PT#9, and while her husband would happily answer all of their questions, she knows that the list of questions would be never ending. There'd always be a new question or something her brothers would want more clarification on. Sometimes you got to protect your family from your family, y'know?

At the start elementary school, everyone wanted to be Johnny's friend, everyone wanted to be friends with the green kid because they thought he was cool. But by the end of elementary school those friendships disappeared except for a select few, as biases and xenophobia started creeping in, something that would follow him throughout his life. Heartbreaking, I guess we can blame the Grunts for that.

Johnny, even with his average grades gets into college/university on a Sports scholarship. Personally I see it for basketball, but it can be for whatever sport suits the plot. I like the idea of it being a team sport so Tank Grunt can be Johnny's rival while they still have play on the same side. But it's more likely to be swimming.

I don't know whether this happened in other people's games, but after aging up without Ophelia Johnny would still have thought bubbles about her. To me his means Ophelia is his soulmate either platonically or romantically depending on the story you want to create. If they break up there's no hard feelings and they do remain friends, but things are awkward for a while afterwards.

Like their mother, Johnny and Jill have some contact with their uncles, but they mostly ignore them. This is their choice as Johnny and Jill think they're weird, and don't like the questions their uncles ask about them or their biology. Johnny normally texts back with one word answers, or emojis. Jill doesn't text back at all.

Jill is the primary reason the Smiths have multiple fire extinguishers and fire blankets around the house. Jill has good control of the pyrokinesis now but when she was little she was just starting fires left right and center. PT#9 and Jenny even took fire safety classes. PT#9 wasn't aware pyrokinesis was an ability his species had so it came as a surprise to him too.

Speaking of Jill's pyrokinesis, she has accidentally used it in front of Buck Grunt when he refused to play dolls with her. Buck has never disobeyed Jill since. Jill's just grateful Buck has never told his dad.

The eyes on the back of Jill's head are non-functional, as in she can't use them to see. They can still blink and move, but there are no advantages to having them. Jill hates them with a passion.

One of the reasons Jill was fine with being trapped at Division 47 (in the PSP game anyway) was because Buck was there, even if he doesn't make an appearance in game. She had a friend behind enemy lines with her. She even had Ripp looking out for her.

There are two main reasons the Smiths ended up trapped in Division 47. PT#9 considered Buzz a friend and in naiveity trusted Buzz's judgement. Jenny, having known Lyla Grunt, trusted that Buzz wouldn't betray her. Both of them were wrong, and Johnny can't forgive them for their misjudgement, it even affects his friendship with Ripp.

As always these are subject to change, but this is just how I'm feeling about the Smiths atm... What are your headcanons for them?

[crossingsj]

It might be because I'm dealing with a bunch of nerds, but I have nothing witty to say here... Here are some headcanons I have for the Curious Brothers.

Pascal and Vidcund have dust allergies and suffer from asthma. It's part of the reason they're clean freaks; they feel itchy around cats, though neither of them will say they're allergic to cats. Pascal frequently forgets his inhaler, while Vidcund always has at least two inhalers on him at any given time.

Pascal is a snorer, and I'm talking a real snorer, like you can hear him through a shared wall. To double the trouble, Vidcund is a light sleeper and is the one who shares a wall with him. He's asked Lazlo to switch rooms with him multiple times. Lazlo always says yes but never moves his stuff. (Lazlo is also a snorer, but he usually sleeps on his front.)

We all know Lazlo loves a bit of the green stuff, but sometimes, despite his asthma, Vidcund partakes too. Pascal refuses, mostly because he doesn't like the smell.

I saw someone say Vidcund had the opposite of "a hoe's never cold," which is "Man's not hot." And I 100% agree, because literally no one else in that town is wearing a shirt and a sports coat. (Though I would argue, Loki, Circe, and Lola also have a serious case of "man's not hot." Jumpers in the desert? During the day? Insane behavior.) Man's not hot. Man's never hot.

All three brothers get massively obsessed with new interests. Pascal's loved painting for a while; he used to sit at the breakfast bar with his watercolors when he felt he needed a break from the conspiracy forums. He doesn't really have time anymore now he has Tycho. Vidcund, as well as loving his African Violets, goes through stints of being obsessed with chess; he plays against himself. (If that man finds out about 3D chess, he'd be all over that shizz.) Lazlo, despite his shocking hygiene habits, adores cooking/baking. It's one of the few times he cares about cross-contamination, though you may occasionally find one of his hairs in your food. I heard his brownies are otherworldly 🍃

The one place in the house Pascal and Vidcund both refuse to clean is Lazlo's room. It's a tip; think of the messiest teenager you know and make it worse. Old plates growing stuff, dirty clothes, bongs that definitely need to be thrown out... There's a weird smell coming from it, and it's not the weed.

All three brothers hold PhDs, and yes, they all use "Dr." as their titles. I shift around what specialism they settled on, as having three physicists is boring (though it makes for great arguments)! And I don't know, everything about Vidcund screams chemistry to me, probably inorganic to boot. Vidcund would be super interested in studying chemicals in space.I recently learned about Maya Blue, and damn, Vidcund would be all over that, seeing what it could do in space. Pascal is usually an astrophysicist (thanks, PSP game), but I like the idea of him being an astrobiologist as well. Lazlo shifts between physics and biology, but he's never an astrophysicist. In fact, Lazlo has little to do with studying space professionally; it's a hobby for him.

When you start the game, Lazlo is a rank higher in the scientist career compared to his brothers. The reason? He's more likable than his brothers and less likely to kick up a fuss when things don't go his way. Lazlo isn't a "yes man," but when he disagrees with something, he keeps his head down. Meanwhile, his brothers are more vocal in their disagreements, which is probably what's holding them back in their careers because they act like they have tenure and are untouchable (they don't, and they aren't).

The whole Lazlo-Crystal Vu dynamic changes for me all the time. Crystal is always aware Lazlo has romantic feelings for her, and I flip between Lazlo being self-aware and self-conscious, or completely clueless about his feelings towards her. Like everyone thinks some of their friends are hot, right? Right?

The Vidcund-Circe situation is a bit clearer. He's clearly, for whatever reason, not over his high school girlfriend. He still refers to her by her maiden name and downright hates Loki for stealing "his girl." He always defends Circe in arguments (even if Circe is definitely deserving of the criticism), much to the frustration of those around him. While Vidcund hates Loki, Loki has little to no idea why Vidcund hates him, which only serves to irritate Vidcund further.

The Pascal-Loki hatred is so "ancient" neither of them remembers the exact reason why they became enemies. Pascal's memory hints it could involve Circe, but I think it runs a little deeper than that, perhaps a teenage rivalry that's gotten out of hand.

Pascal and Nervous Subject's relationship was definitely a slow-bloom situation. They'd spoken to each other online for years before actually meeting in person, and even then, the attraction wasn't immediately clear. Nervous definitely felt something for Pascal before Pascal felt something for him.

I'm largely undecided on the specifics... But the Curious Brothers (and Jenny Smith) are mixed race thanks to Glarn. (I need to do some more research in that area so I can come to an informed decision.)

Also, what's the deal with Pascal going to private school when none of his siblings did? He was clearly the favorite child, or alternatively, the family hit some money troubles and were unable to send Vidcund or Lazlo. I'm guessing Jenny was nearly finished with school or showed no interest in leaving public school.

Idk there's a lot to cover with Curious bros and all of this is without talking about how they deal with the alien pregnancy and Tycho...

What are your thoughts on the Curious Brothers?

[crossingsj]

Random head canons I have Veronaville Edition

I realise I did two for Strangetown and one for Pleasantview but never did one for Veronaville (not that anyone asked for any of them anyway). Though I don't play on Veronaville much I do have some idea based on my gameplay in the past...

Tybalt is the black sheep of the Capp family. I feel like the rest of the Capps hate the Montys quietly, from a distance. Tybalt is the only Capp who currently/actively engages in the physical/violent aspect of the feud and the older Capps find that very unbecoming of him. The older Capps are in it for psychological warfare now.

Juliette as the heiress who stands to inherit everything, has her relatives worried af. Her aunties know she's more liberal than Consort and that she's gonna have big things planned once she makes her way out of University. They low-key hope she'll run off with Romeo so she gets herself exiled, but Goneril and Regan know Hermia, (or even Tybalt) might worse for them in the long run.

No one knows about Kent's friendship with Bianca Monty except Cornwall who's ready to blackmail Kent the second he steps out of line. But little does Cornwall know, Kent really doesn't give a singular shit about the situation. Kent either goes back to making bank as a scientist or becomes a doctor for funsies, Kent knows he's a long way down the list of inheritance and he's got a backup plan. The whole living with Regan and Cornwall thing until he gets back on his feet more out of convenience than necessity.

Tybalt has no interest in the business side of things, he's far more interested in the legal side. He goes to Law School so he can back his sister(s) up in the corporate world. Ironic seeing as he probably has a few assault charges against him thanks his scraps with the Montys.

The will they, won't they, of Tybalt and Mercutio... I like the idea of it being a short-term thing. Like they're not getting married or having kids, it's a short, passionate affair. As while Tybalt is gay, Mercutio is bi and wants to keep his options open. Tybalt marries a woman for appearances and has affairs in private, his wife would be none the wiser or absolutely fine with a lavender marriage as long as Tybalt puts on a good face for family functions.

Mercutio does become a chef, launching the Montys into a new era of restaurants, cooking shows and even microwavable meals. His face winds up on everything and the ladies love him. He even invites Romeo onto his cooking show when the ratings take a dip, because what's better than one handsome chef? Two!

Unlike the cursed lovers of Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliette do have a happy ending. I see Romeo's romance aspiration as him initially wanting to get out there and woo all the ladies, but he meets Juliette and he's stopped in his tracks almost immediately (when you know, you know). With her, Romeo learns it's not about the quantity of partners, it's the quality of the partner that counts.

Beatrice Monty uses those classic "how to piss off men" insults. But she's not read any books about it, she's just coming up with these things on the fly because of her twin brother. They're mostly aimed at Benedict but sometimes her dad, cousins or other boys catch a few strays. "Whatever makes you feel taller." And "I like your pixie cut" are her favourites to use.

Idk about the Summerdreams... I like the idea of their house, but hate playing in it and since being spoilt with the build mode of the later games I have not willpower to change it into something I like...

[crossingsj]

More things that have happened to me or people I know, but it's the Sims 2 premades headcanons instead...

Whenever Lazlo drops something, his reaction is to scream, not loudly or dramatically, just like a quick little girly scream before he goes back to what he was doing. His brothers have learned to ignore it. Crystal gives him a weird look, but is learning that's just something he does.

Erin Beaker has a cursed relationship with stairs, to the point where she's fallen up or down them so many times Kristen, Lola and Chloe just wait for her to shout she's okay. If she doesn't, that's when things are concerning. (Although he'd never admit it, Loki is also tuned into this wavelength from growing up with her.)

If someone anywhere in the Grunt household has something inconvenient happen while they're doing something, their default reaction is to say "fuck off." For example, Ripp is hammering a nail into the wall when he drops it; "fuck off" follows. (No, Buzz does not approve of this, but he's also guilty of doing it himself.)

Vidcund dedicates specific days to when he's going to garden/take care of his African Violets; it's a calendar event for him. You can try distracting him, but he's not having it. Good luck if you need him to do anything else during the allotted time.

When working on projects together, Angela and Lilith will throw a lot of insults at each other. Don't get me wrong, the project will be completed to a high standard (mostly due to Angela being the boss), but you might not want to stick around for the language used during the process because it's definitely not politically correct.

Ophelia still has the doll house her dad made her; she's very protective of it. If you even look at it wrong, she'll be defending that thing with her life, and no, she will not let any of her children play with it.

Given her other hobby, Olive is very keen on gardening and getting things just so, much like Vidcund, she dedicates time to her garden, usually entire days and given her age, she will struggle walking around in the evenings afterwards.

Dustin doesn't go to the gym, mostly because he can't afford it, but due to his job, he is strong; he's got that functional strength/sleeper build by just going about a life of crime.

Trying to reach Mercutio Monty? Good luck that boy's phone lives on silent/do not disturb mode. You're not reaching him, whatever you wanted him for? It's between you and your God now because he's not answering. Send him a text, and he'll get back to you in 3-5 working days (if you're lucky).

Lilith overplucked her eyebrows as a tween/teenager, and due to the lighting, she unintentionally made them lopsided. Now, whenever they grow back in, one is noticeably higher than the other. She regrets her life choices as there's no saving them.

Juliette likes ketchup to an alarming degree; we're talking about going through a big bottle each month. It's not what she puts the ketchup on that's the issue; it's the volume of ketchup that she's using, and she's not even sorry about it. Tybalt and Hermia are actually concerned about how much she consumes. Romeo kinda finds it endearing, if not a little odd.

[bitantantranga95]

A few days ago, I saw someone on reddit Talk about how historically accurate the American Girls' names were, and I wanted to do something similar but with the Sims' ones.

I'm going to do it with Strangetown's townies, because I believe that they speak spanish since the university's name is La Fiesta Tech (La Fiesta are spanish words). I'm going to do it based on data from Spain, my personal expirience and the years I think they were born.

Pascualín Curioso (Pascal Curious): Pascualín is a nickname for Pascual. He was born around 1975, his name was used around that year in Spain, although it wasn't popular enough and was starting to decrease in popularity (#188 in popularity at the start of the decade, slowly decreasing). Historical accuracy: 7/10.

Gumersindo Curioso (Vidcund Curious): It wasn't a popular name by the time I supose he was born (around the 80s), and from 1965 onward, It wasn't used. Historical accuracy: 3/10.

Lucas Curioso (Lazlo Curious): It wasn't popular around 1985, but in the next decade it started growing slowly. The average age is 15, so It isn't near Lazlo's one. Historical accuracy: 3.5/10.

Elena Pérez (Jenny Smith): It's peak was during 1970 and 1989, which it's between when I think she was born. I think it was used enough times to be in the #50 position more or less. Historical accuracy: 10/10.

Jaime Pérez (Johnny Smith): I am not sure if his name is Jaime or Santiago, as Jaime is a common nickname for that name. Since the year 1984 onwards, Jaime has been a popular name, the average age is 42 years. Historical accuracy: 8.5/10. Santiago, on the other hand, has been a more lineal name (in the graphic, it's shape os pretty regular). The average age is 49 years, which is a bit more than what I imagined, it's a possibility as well. Historical accuracy: 8/10.

Inés Pérez (Jill Smith): The average age is 35 years, which is accurate with the age Jill appears to be. By rank, it hasn't been lower than #38. It started to increase in popularity between 1990 and 2000, and it's peak was during the next decade, only 450 times less uses. Historical accuracy: 9.5/10.

Olvido Fantoche (Olive Specter): I don't know when she was born, since she has been able to escape the death, but I suppose it was between 1940 an 1960. It's peak was during the first mentioned decade. It is a really accurate name both historically and considering his background. Historical accuracy: 9/10.

Ofelia del Moho (Ophelia Nigmos): The average age is 67 years, and it has been decreasing in popularity since 1960 and 1970. By the time I suppose she was born, only 48 people had that name, but since that decade, it has been regular. Historical accuracy: 2/10.

Circe Panero (Circe Beaker): It isn't near popular. It's peak was in this last decade and the first times it was used, it was during the 80s. I suppose she's near Pascal's age, and there is no data. Historical accuracy: 0.5/10. I think that Circe wasn't born in ST, but I'm not sure, where she's from, so I'm gonna leave it like that untill I have better answers.

Tito Reclutas (Ripp Grunt)/Tito Curioso (Tycho Curious): Here I have the same problem as with Johnny: It is both a nickname and a name. I don't know what is it since the general's sons' names are weird. If it is their name, it isn't accurate, because it's peak was between the 50s and 70s. Historical accuracy: 2/10. If it is a nickname, it could be from names as Ernesto, Héctor, Roberto, Alberto, etc. All of them end Up with -to. The average peaks of names like that are between the 70s and mid 80s. They weren't popular enough during the decades they were born, but they weren't in not use either. Historical accuracy: 5.5/10.

Fofo Reclutas (Buck Grunt): It is just a nickname, of names such us Adalberto, Beto, Rodolfo. The peaks are the same as Ripp's one. By the time he was born, the names had suffered an important decrease or were used in less than 50 people. Historical accuracy: 3/10.

I think that I have covered all the names I could find. The names that don't appear is because they are used in less than 5 people.

Most accurate names:

Elena Pérez (10/10)

Inés Pérez (9.5/10)

Olvido Fantoche (9/10)

Less accurate names:

Ofelia del Moho (2/10)

Fofo Reclutas (3/10)

Gumersindo Curioso (3/10)

Thank for reading my rant. I found this really funny and interesting, and I Hope you found it as well :)

[bitantantranga95]

Halloween (but it is in Strangetown)

Smith

Johnny looks after Jill, Ceres, Atom, Buck and Tycho with Ripp and Ophelia while they go on trick or treat.

Jenny and PT9 prepare some candies for the children and watch a movie together.

Beaker

Circe and Loki give a lot of candies to each kid since only locales go there.

Thei twins go with Jill and Buck.

Curious

Lazlo is at the Singles' party.

Pascal invites Nerveous while Tycho is with his cousins.

Vidcund is the o e giving candies to tje very few children that go there.

Specter

Olive wins the first place in the Best Decorated House contest.

She also sits on her backyard.

Grunt

They don't celebrate it.

Only Buzz is at home.

Singles

They throw a party.

Ajay and Tank are also there.