Strangetown, Here We Come: Breaking News

[strangetomato]

Warnings: language and minor mention of violence.






Tank was flipping through the channels on the television.




One after the other, all were discussing the same topic.

"... crash in Desiderata Valley. It has been nearly ten years since a similar crash occurred in Strangetown..."

"... reports of violence against hybrid alien sims have increased steadily along with the reports that abductions are growing in frequency..."

"... and I'm here to argue that we can't trust them..."




"... perverting the regular sim reproductive function by impregnating males..."

"... today they're invading our gene pool, but what's stopping them from launching a physical attack next?..."

He eventually stopped changing the channels and left one on to run in the background. It featured a particularly alarmist story, predicting an all out war between the two species. Many sims would have likely though it amusingly exaggerated. Tank, however, did not find it the least bit funny.




"Looks like sims are finally starting to wake up and recognize the true threat at hand," he said. "I knew no good would ever come of this. They need to be stopped. Sent out of our airspace and back where they came from."

"You're anti-alien?" Beau asked.

"Oh, by the way this is Tank Grunt," Frances said. "Haven't you met him?"




"But aren't your brothers all like shacked up with half aliens?" Beau asked. "Or am I missing something here?"

"No, you aren't missing anything," said Tank. "It's a fucked up situation all around. Our father was never a fan of us hanging out with them and I'm sure he'd be even less happy with the way things have gone with those two in recent years. They're practically like family at this point, god help us all. I know the hybrids are mostly stuck in the middle of this and that's not always their fault, but the middle of this is not somewhere I would willingly choose to be."

"So what... you think we should use force against the 'alien invaders'?" Beau's tone was not mocking, but clearly revealed his disbelief.




"You don't think they'd do it to us?" Tank asked.

"Well, I have no idea," Beau admitted. "I barely even knew anything about this at all until it was all over the news all of a sudden."

"The aliens haven't been violent yet," Frances noted.

"No, not yet," Tank repeated back for emphasis.




"All this talk of violence against the hybrids is terrible," said Frances. "It's not like they're the ones behind it all. And they've had no choice but to be thrown into the middle of this."

"Yeah, Jill and Johnny must be so worried," said Beau. "What if something were to happen here, at La Fiesta Tech.? Or in Strangetown? Aren't you worried about your brothers, Tank?"

"Yes, of course I am."

Beau nodded in silent acceptance of this answer, then turned back to his magazine. "Yeah, wow. This has really blown up as a news item, hasn't it? It's everywhere lately."

"It's all over the papers," Frances agreed. "And it looks like it's on every cover of every single trashy tabloid you have there."

"Well, it's not on the cover of every tabloid..."




"There's this one, for example." Beau picked up another magazine from the pile on the floor. "We seem to have generated a little press of our own."

"What?!" Frances yelped.

"Yeah, check it out. 'You May Kiss the Bride... 's Brother! Heir to the Worthington fortune causes a stir as he comes out at his sister's wedding.'"




Frances looked as if he might be going catatonic.

"You alright, Fran?"

Still nothing.

"Franny? Frannikins? You going to make it or what?"




"Frances?

You okay, Frances?

Speak to me, Frances.

Sim Earth to Frances. Anybody in there?

Frances!

...

Tank, we may have a bit of a situation on our hands here."

---

Notes:

The next chapter is very much in progress, but this little scene doesn't quite fit in with the rest of it (especially the silliness of the ending) so you get it now as a short. Tank and Co. will factor into the following chapter, as well as the one after that, but not the very next one. The next three chapters could have been included as three parts of the same chapter and I likely would have done that with the way I was formatting things previously, but I'm tired of that now and want to do one chapter at a time again without all the parts (unless I really, really have to for some reason). So the next three updates will be separate chapters, but keep in mind that all is not said and done with that general storyline until the end of chapter 38. The three chapters do very much go together.

My goal for now is to complete up to the end of chapter 38. After that, I'm just going to take it as it comes. But I'm committing myself to finishing those three chapters if it takes me the next three years to do so (and I promise to try my best to do it a lot sooner than that). :P

Comments

[ebbycarolina.livejournal.com]

"'You May Kiss the Bride... 's Brother! Heir to the Worthington fortune causes a stir as he comes out at his sister's wedding.'" lol that sounds like a legitimate title of a news story, and Frances' face. Loved it.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

Heehee... love the "horror face" on Francis! :D And I agree that is a perfect headline!

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

LOL the tabloid! :D I don't recall seeing Beau and Frances's take on the alien situation before, so it was great to see them discussing it. And the way you've portrayed Tank and the depth/layers you've given him is one of my favorite parts of the story.

I didn't realize most of this was gameplay animations until I really analyzed the shots. The timing and framing is very artfully put together, and I think it's amazing what you can convey with simplicity.

I understand the fatigue of separated chapters and it's great to set milestone goals. I'm looking forward to the next part! :)

Sim Earth to Frances. Anybody in there?

[(Anonymous)]

Frances has checked out. Please leave a message after the beep. *BEEP*

lol

[tov01.livejournal.com]

I love the look of horror on Frances's face!

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness! I guess Frances didn't consider that the paps would be there, or worse- wedding photographers wanting to make an extra buck. Poor guy. Well, at least he doesn't have to worry about coming out of the closet now.

[kin-thalas.livejournal.com]

Frannikins!! XD

What a way to come out! Can't wait to see more XD

[himawari-oji.livejournal.com]

Aw, Tank, the aliens really ain't that bad.

I'm still laughing at Frances' reaction. Classic. I am very excited for the next chapter. I shall wait patiently to see what else you have up your sleeve. :)

[timberwolfoz.livejournal.com]

Ohhhhhh, dearrrrrrrrrrrrr. ;)

Interesting that Tank has sympathy for the hybrids, especially recognising that Johnny and Jill are practically family.

I love the idea of Beau gaining his knowledge by reading trashy magazines!

Love it!

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for more strange! I am worried for Jill & Johnny now :(

[alien-cats14.livejournal.com]

Oh my.

I missed these three, so you can imagine my delight at seeing a short centered around them.

But the alien news doesn't look to good. Hope nothing happens to either of the sides to trigger a war.

[selenecorvino.livejournal.com]

Saw this tonight and it made me chuckle, thank you. Looking forward to more whenever you post.

PS: How are you, Little Tomato, and your SO doing; hope all is well?

[thetrippmeister.livejournal.com]

Hi there. I just discovered S,HWC a week or so ago. And then proceeded to read through The. Entire. Thing. It's a bit long, hey? (Okay, I confess: I skipped over some of the drabbles and other miscellaneous posts.)

You are a brilliant writer. In fact, you have persuaded me to do two things that nobody else has managed:
1. Get a Livejournal account, so I could leave this comment (I prefer not to post anonymously).
2. Actually consider playing the Maxis pre-mades. No, seriously: even though I've had TS2 since about when Uni came out, I have NEVER played any of the Maxis 'hoods. Always just zipped right by them to make my own.

And I'm now completely in love with the Tomato legacy. Not that I can keep all the characters straight... (and here I was proud of myself for running a legacy with eight Sims in the house!) Although, thanks to you, I will always see Frances as gay. So I refuse to acknowledge his marriage in your legacy! :P

Anyway, keep up the amazing work! Can't wait to see another installment!