Cult or Commune challenge

Okay so last night I created my cult leader sim! (If this offends anyone in the slightest I can change to commune).

Her name is Tatum Riviera and red is her colour. Alluring those who fall for her charm to join her ever-growing cult of brainwashed civilians who strayed from the path. Appearing nice at first but... well we will all soon find out what she is really like. She claims to just want a 'big happy family' and it seems reasonable considering her lonely past filled with meaningless busy bodies who she would show interest in and then drop when their time was up. Having no real family had been her problem, now she just wants to create one; a perfectly handpicked one. Whether it will be her romantic side that will make people come, or her erratic behaviour and anger bursts that make them want to leave, really they have no choice in the matter. They say she has a set up in Newcrest, but do you dare to look?

https://i.imgur.com/yNBbo1y.png

https://i.imgur.com/ZERu3C8.png


Not the biggest fan of her skin overlay but it works for now - (if anyone has any good maxis match overlays that don't blur the features too much please drop a recommendation!)

It had been a very lonely day for Tatum, solidarity at its finest. She seemed okay talking to herself though...

https://i.imgur.com/SyzGOMP.png

Camp has been set up and Tatum is happy with her plan to expand but first of all she needed someone gullible... someone helpful... someone unpredictable... Zoe Patel! A careless day dreamer who had been taking a stroll in the park at just the exact moment Tatum has given up on fishing

https://i.imgur.com/4siFOGn.png

The only concerning factor was her looks! Purple leggings underneath a yellow floral? What a disgrace that was to Tatum's refined palette; a more uniformed approach was needed. The question is, what?

After much deliberation the decision was final... but first Zoe Patel needed a makeover!


I'm sure we can all remember the before of Zoe Patel but if not feel free to click on the linked wiki page at the top



After

https://i.imgur.com/7UKcSNj.png

And of course only Tatum could be the one wearing heels... or shoes in general...and of course she needed her branded tattoo.

https://i.imgur.com/be0ql64.png

Perfect! Only now could they become friends. Here they are sat eating at their improving set up - Tatum not impressed.

https://i.imgur.com/wFE96hd.png

Oh well, only time will tell for Zoe.

Whilst Zoe is settling into camp Tatum has found another worthy recruit - a recruit which we all know very well... Don Lothario! Caught whilst skating at the rink, Tatum had lured him in with her charm. Good luck Don!


I'm sure we can all remember the before of Don Lothario but if not feel free to click on the linked wiki page at the top

After

https://i.imgur.com/Uc9nf9U.png

https://i.imgur.com/PLSJszt.png


Tatum was eager to get someone for sure on her side, she needed the reassurance that Zoe would be outnumbered if she were to rebel and Don was the easiest option. Using her words and her body language would get her far with Don, but would it get him to listen to her? Share her ideas? Never leave her side? Maybe. But maybe wasn't a good enough answer for her, and it never will be. A kiss - that's what. One small kiss would make Don certain, make him blind to the illusion that Tatum was slowly coaxing everyone under.

https://i.imgur.com/s7EOhZ3.png

...Meanwhile Zoe was sneaking onto Tatum's guitar, plucking songs that sounded perfect inside her own head.

Role call time! Now on her second recruit, Tatum needed to get some more order into her camp. As there was still a small amount of people, it was going to be difficult to give all the difficult tasks to her camp mates and so she would have to give herself one too. Zoe's role was decided almost immediately, fisherwoman, and after taking to it in haste she had become level 5 in no time! Don on the other hand was proving himself useless, with little skill than to skate around the rink at random hours.

https://i.imgur.com/AsHUZhM.png

But after the fridge broke, he was quickly assigned the repairman duty after Zoe's near death experience. Other than that Don is the camp plant whisperer, using most of the money earned on plant pots, Don spends his time growing plants in hope of more income. Tatum takes her days easy, cooking a portion of food for herself and leaving the others to eat quick meals. She also harvest and gathers things to sell from around the neighbourhood - definitely the most successful of all.

So far, the future of the cult is looking steady...For Tatum at least.

Now onto her third victim, Tatum quickly discovers that Brant Hecking and herself play for the same team and so her charm won't work on him. Luring him in with jokes seemed to be her only option, until he pointed out the simplicity of stargazing... (in the day of course).

https://i.imgur.com/PXU8RVK.png

Soon it became certain that Brant would be a better ally than Don, although this would not be visible to Don until later down the line. Brant's charismatic nature had made Tatum question her doings as she finally felt as if she were making a real friend. He pointed out the planets that could be seen with the naked eye, the constellations that resembled sims they both knew... rumour has it that one looks like Eliza Pancakes! The moment seemed enchanting, but it was back to work. After all... she had a mission to accomplish.


I'm sure we can all remember the before of Brant Hecking but if not feel free to click on the linked wiki page at the top

After

https://i.imgur.com/amVxx0o.png

After Brant had moved into camp, his role was quickly assigned to head chef. Tatum's logic had derived from the fact that Brant was previously a body builder and so surely would understand what was good to put into people's mouthes - whether this was true or not was another factor. Shortly after he had decided to cook some grilled food for the camp, the grill was on fire! Luckily, both him and Tatum had decided to act fast and prevent it from causing more harm. Meanwhile Zoe and Don stood by as perfect bystanders... Tatum was not impressed with their ability to help.

https://i.imgur.com/mc4XqXC.png

The day continued with many tedious tasks to help supply the money to buy Brant a tent for himself, and by the end this had been accomplished. Not a successful day, but not too bad either. Maybe things were looking up for camp.

Days were starting to become samey, and as much as the camp was gaining stability and improving with every wake, it was nowhere near as successful as Tatum had hoped. Time was running out and her followers were growing content with their lives. Zoe had found pride in her fishing and had become more of the loner type, accustomed to her time alone fishing for hours on end. Don had become more motivated to do well to impress Tatum, and had started to gain speed with his love for gardening. It was just Brant, his confidence had been knocked since the fire and he yearned for his old job... but there must be more to it. Did Brant miss something else? Did he miss someone else? It could all be possible as she had never taken the time to learn about her victims supporters and their backstories, she just cared about filling up her slots.

Tatum pushed this to the back of her mind, it was the least of her worries. Little did she know how right she was...

https://i.imgur.com/vHK8r8n.png

*I was initially following the exact rules of the challenge but have tweaked it more to make a better storyline, so everything may not comply with rules*

Finally it was time to explore! Being stuck in Newcrest was certainly not in Tatum's best interest (and the camp's, you could say). Branching out seemed like a great opportunity to harvest more plants, catch new creatures, and look for new recruits. On deciding to pick a lot in Willow Creek, all four of them were assigned different roles, but the main goal was to breed frogs. Frog breeding was a niche market that Tatum thought would be perfect for them all. Very simple and all you needed was to start with two frogs and proceed from there. Unfortunately frogs do not want to breed all day and so this seemed a tedious process even though there were four of them to keep an eye.

https://i.imgur.com/WTjLuNQ.png

After they had done all they could, Don and Brant were escorted home by a mysterious figure... Tatum totally oblivious would have no clue who Brant would be sneaking off to see now. Zoe fished for hours and hours, losing track of time completely! Her needs unbothered by the time she spent out fishing Rainbowfish. Soon Tatum had decided to go home for some sleep, trusting Zoe to make it home with all the money.

https://i.imgur.com/4a3P8dM.png

Trust? Trust!? What was happening to Tatum?

Shortly after arriving back to the camp, chaos had erupted... Brant and another individual in the centre. Don smirked and looked at the ground, seeming perfectly aware of the situation and very bad at hiding it. Zoe kept looking to Tatum, her eyes wide like a deer in headlights unsure of what was going on and was scared to ask. Tatum's eyes had turned to coals, her mouth puckered in disgust at Brant and his comrade, something no one had seen before. This accusatory stance seemed to continue for many, many hours, until the proposed deal had been accepted and Brent was allowed into camp. How Tatum had allowed this seemed uncertain, until it seemed obvious that a large amount of money would be involved. There was another catch however, with Brant and Brent now living in camp, that means they would have to sell their house and that Rosie (their dog) would have to come too.

This donation, however it persuaded Tatum, made her cautious too. She had never experienced the closeness of friendships, relationships, or family like this. If it was that simple that money could be given away in large amounts just to be with someone, how easily could the camp be broken down?