The Joe Baghead Show

Day 11 - date with Priscilla
So, Joe, this is the first time you've had a second date with anyone. How do you feel? "Pretty good. So far she's the only person I've felt any kind of romantic feelings towards. But I also feel like she's mad at me? I mean I kind of always think people are upset with me, but she seems exceptionally upset lately."

Priscilla says, "Well, I really like him. I know I got steamed about him flirting the other day, but I'm trying to remind myself this IS a dating show so obviously he has to flirt sometimes. Hopefully we can rekindle things today."

Speaking of, before the date, Joe decided on his own to confess his attraction to Katrina. She did NOT appreciate this gesture, lowering both their friendship and relationship bars. Rebecca woke up in a confident mood today, and gave Joe a pep talk after that sound rejection.

Rebecca's talk in turn made Joe confident, giving him the courage to try a bold pickup line once he and Priscilla arrived at the bowling alley. This was extremely well-received.

And perhaps because Priscilla is an active sim, she opted to actually bowl rather than sit and talk with strangers for 3 hours once their game started. She even bowled a few strikes on her first try! Joe had this to say, "At this point I think I might like bowling more than the dates themselves." Joe finishes the game with a fantastic score of 219, perhaps proving himself correct.
As Sigrid Funk walked by, wearing only the most appropriate outfit for a bowling alley, the date officially ended on a Gold level, pleasing Joe and Priscilla and earning them both an "opposites attract" sentiment.
https://i.imgur.com/Eq0Mxss.png

Unfortunately, trouble was on the horizon, as Agnes Crumplebottom appeared and smacked Priscilla for daring to be flirty with her date at a bar. This infuriated Priscilla so much that she couldn't even stand it when Joe tried to flirt with her later, leading to her shouting a string of forbidden words in the toilet.


Joe has this to say, "You know how they say if you smell dog poop everywhere you go, check the bottom of your shoe? Almost every date has gone badly so far, and I'm the only common denominator in each date. It's gotta be me that's the problem. It must've just been a fluke when that first date with Priscilla went so well."

After returning to the house, Joe decided to host a guided meditation session, partly to even out his emotions and calm Priscilla down. However, Priscilla opted not to participate, as did Devon. The rest of the girls seemed to enjoy it, with Gemma and Sienna even striking up a conversation with Joe afterwards. "I guess that's two things I'm good at - bowling and meditating," says Joe. Priscilla stood nearby during the conversation, and opted to do sit-ups rather than participate. "Well, since I'm an active sim, exercising helps get my frustration out. And maybe I was trying to show off for Joe," Priscilla tells us.


Day 12 - date with Rebecca
We can already assume what Joe has to say about his upcoming date, but we asked anyway! "Well, I'm not optimistic. Every day has either ended badly or at least mediocre...ly. I might be a cheerful sim, but being cheerful doesn't change the facts. I do really like Rebecca, though. She's my best friend in the house. So hopefully at least this will be a fun day out even if nothing else happens. And, well... to be honest I've always found her the most attractive in the house, so I can't pretend I'm upset about getting a chance to look at her all day, even though the moonlight bowling makes it hard to see anybody."

And Rebecca? "Oh, I'm stoked. I've gotten like zero one-on-one time with Joe this entire time even though we're such good friends. I’m not happy to have to end up being the next-to-last date. I’m sure he’s mostly gonna remember his date tomorrow with Sienna the most, and then his earliest date this week with Devon he was probably at his freshest and most optimistic. But I’m feeling great about the date. At the very very very least I can’t see myself going home this week no matter how badly this goes – but it won’t go badly at all!”

Before they left, Joe told Rebecca she looked nice, which lead to Priscilla slapping him in a jealous rage. "I don't get it!" laments Joe.

At the bowling alley, Rebecca starts with a trifecta of useful whims/wants for a date - chat with Joe, do something romantic, and have a drink. One of Joe's wants is the much less useful "be mean to a child."

Joe ordered a root beer float for the two of them. “Well, every other date I started by flirting outside for a while, and that hasn’t gone well. So I thought we’d just go in and get a drink and chat instead.” Lucky for him, Rebecca dove head-first into flirting with Joe, which overwhelmed him so much he left to start a bowling game. For the first time this week, both people on the date became flirty at the same time.” Wow, I really like bowling!” Priscilla cheers as she bowls a strike on her first try.


Taylor Swift called during the date, of course, to ask Rebecca if she should go on a date with Layne Bach. The audacity, really. Rebecca has no idea who Layne Bach even is but encourages Taylor to go for it. After all, it’s not like Taylor is harboring any lasting affection for Joe!

Joe left to order a drink, and Rebecca followed, surprising everyone by kissing him on his drawn-on mouth! “She’s just so easy to talk to, it’s like everything melts away. Worries, other sims, bar countertops.” After Rebecca narrowly avoided a potty emergency, Joe invited her to dance to the bowling alley’s one loudspeaker that’s next to the bathrooms for some reason. Whoever designed this bowling alley sure made some weird decisions!



Rebecca noticed a photobooth. “I thought, nobody ever goes back to this part of the alley. Seems like a good place to get a fun, quick woohoo in. But I think Joe would probably die of awkwardness if I even suggested it, heehee. I’m not ready to go that far anyway, but I think it could be fun! I did convince him to take a photo with me in there, though.”

After sending the newly minted lovers home, we asked Joe what he thought. “Wow it actually went okay! I mean, it went GREAT. We kissed! I don’t have a lot of experience kissing, and I can’t tell how good it was since I have a bag on my head. But it’s exciting anyway! It felt kind of different from when Priscilla kissed me on our first date last week. I mean, not physically, just… different energy, I guess? I felt like Rebecca was also making the most effort this week during the dates. I still want to give everyone else a fair chance, but to be honest she’s the frontrunner so far. I do still weirdly feel friendlier with Gemma, but I definitely feel the most romantic spark with Rebecca. Even before Priscilla’s jealous anger bout I didn’t feel as romantically close to her.”

And Rebecca? “I am totally smitten. He’s funny, he’s charming. It’s cute that he just keeps ordering root beer when he’s nervous, which is constantly. I can’t wait to go on another date with him! I’m still hoping that it doesn’t turn out that he has like 3 heads under that bag or a portal to another dimension where his eyes should be, but I think if I get to know him better I won’t mind if that’s the case?”

Well, I don't think I have to tell which of "good, great, and mediocre" this date was!


Day 13 - date with Sienna
So, Joe, how ya feeling? “Exhausted. Going bowling 5 days in a row with girls who vary from seeming completely disinterested to mildly interested to very interested… I’m so tired. I really cannot wait for day 14 when I can just stay in. And be around 6 women who have varying amounts of romantic feelings for me and three of them are jealous. Maybe I’ll go to the bowling alley tomorrow after all.” But, the date, Joe? “Oh, right. Well, I like Sienna. She was the one I had my eye on from day 1, even though I found Rebecca the most attractive I liked Sienna the most for the first few days. I’m hoping now that we’ve had time to mingle more that our second one-on-one outing together might go better? As usual she really can’t do worse than Taylor and Katrina did, but it’ll be hard to top Rebecca’s date from yesterday.”

And Sienna? “Saving the best for last, right? I’m looking forward to showing all those girls how a WOMAN gets it done.”

The day begins stormily, literally and figuratively. Joe gets in some quick painting, and Rebecca comes over for a chat. Priscilla feels pangs of jealousy, before Katrina screams at her, once again due to her paranoia brain combined with the fear of thunderstorm. A conversation goes very badly and Joe’s romance bar with everybody decreases dramatically.


Joe starts the date with a bold pickup line due to feeling unexpectedly confident about the date. Sienna is very receptive and becomes flirty immediately. The good times are cut short by the appearance of ol’ Crumpy. She hits Joe with her purse, and Joe yells at her. She then hits Sienna, which Sienna thinks is hilarious, and Joe tells Crumpy to just go away. “I don’t really know what got into me. I guess I was just mad at her for interrupting every single date. Didn’t even give me much of a chance on this one!”


The timed portion of the date earns the pair a Legendary reward. “I thought it started off so poorly, but like… with Crumplebottom hitting us, I just went off on her and Sienna seemed so thrilled… I haven’t felt this strongly so quickly about anyone else. All I can say is that Sienna and Rebecca are definitely not getting eliminated tomorrow.”

Sienna? “I’m totally smitten, but I kind of get the feeling that he’s more into me than I am into him.” Sienna tries for one more bold move to make the day memorable by kissing Joe outside the house.

Joe, Rebecca, Katrina, and Priscilla all head up to bed at the end of the day. Katrina says, “Well whatever happens is gonna happen, no use staying up all night fretting about it.”

And that wraps up the 6 date days in a row! Who could've foreseen any of this?

Up next: Cheerleading! Elimination! Fruit cake! And a plot twist... or is it?!

meta note

https://i.imgur.com/75eLd1q.png

Day 14 - Elimination 2

So what’s the scoop, Joe? “Well after 6 dates in a row, I’m not totally sure. I’m kind of head over heels for Sienna, but I have such a better friendship with Rebecca in addition to feeling smitten with her – not to mention I still think she’s the most attractive in the house. Gemma I have no romance with at all so far, but I feel like I’m the closest friends with her. Priscilla was the first to win me over romantically, but she runs so hot and cold, I’m not sure how much I can take of that. But then I don’t know if the jealousy will go away if we end up exclusive one day? I’m still suspicious of Katrina, but I haven’t seen her do much that made me think she was just here for Simstagram. Then again, I’ve barely been home all week. Katrina made that one flirty move that really excited me and then never did anything else, so I don’t know how much she’s actually into me either. Devon I’m kind of neutral on. Our date didn’t go very well, and she still seems bored when I talk to her. Maybe it’s just her face? I do like her new haircut.”

Let's see what the girls have to say!

Gemma: “Joe’s my best friend. I don’t feel that romantic spark with him. I still really want to stay in the house to see if I can make that spark happen. I wonder if I’ve been fooling myself my whole life by saying looks don’t matter to me.”

Priscilla: “He’s my total opposite in every way that I can see, but I just feel like he belongs to me. I wish he would just eliminate everyone today so we could hurry up and be together. I thought he was basic when we first met but I’m very attracted to him now.”

Katrina: “I admit I was initially interested in this show for the fame aspect, but I’m actually growing fond of Joe. And after finding out that almost everyone else has done it, I want to try kissing his paperbag face too!”

Devon: “I get along with Joe. I don’t get along with the others.”

Rebecca: “I really like Joe! I feel good about my chances of staying this week, but it was a pleasure knowing him even if he decides to boot me for whatever reason.”

Sienna: “I really think I’ve got this in the bag. It doesn’t matter what I feel, what matters is how HE feels. And if he’s really got such a huge crush as me as I think he does, then I’m feeling fine.”

https://i.imgur.com/TSSF82R.png
Since it's Harvestfest, Joe decides to make a Grand Breakfast for the house, and Rebecca and Priscilla helped. Rebecca poured salt on the floor at one point, which was very helpful.

Suddenly with the elimination approaching, everyone was all smiles and attention. And… Maaike Lothario invited herself to use the pool, apparently. She doesn't even live in Sulani, so I don't know where she came from! Or where she got that book from, since there's no bookcase in the house!


Since today was also Sports Festival Day, Joe thought it would be good for everyone to head out to the festival to give everyone one last shot, and to see if he could use the time to make up his mind. At this point he's pretty certain he wants either Katrina or Devon gone, but can't decide more than that. "Maybe it'll be up to a coin flip," he sighs.


Most of the ladies got too distracted by cheerleading and food, Rebecca was the only one who participated in the football contest (scoring 15 points). It was very helpful that the game told me after the festival was OVER that Rebecca was supposed to tell the judge her score.


After the festival was over, the group mingled for a while on the field, and improvised a cheerleading routine. Rebecca was terrible at it.


We sent the girls home one at a time while Joe stayed on the field, hoping to take the time to finally come to a decision. When he finally returns home, it turns out his decision was made up for him.

Sienna died.


Day 15 - grieving
“I don’t know what happened,” says Joe. “She got back to the house before I did. I guess she was in energy failure. She’s had that problem before, of being completely exhausted but just refusing to go to bed, right? I guess it finally caught up to her.”

“I’m devastated,” says Priscilla. “I was on my hands and knees, begging the Grim Reaper not to take Sienna. She was so young, so full of life. She just made one stupid mistake, it’s not fair to take her from us so soon! But he wouldn’t listen. Is it my fault? Could I have done more?”

Katrina: “Why did he leave the tombstone on the back deck, though?”

Devon asks, “So does this mean there’s no elimination this week, or…?” Devon is notably the only person in the house not to feel sad about the tragic death.

In lieu of recent events, we opted not to have Joe eliminate anyone. But with only 5 girls left, eliminations will no longer take place weekly. Next week, one girl will be eliminated on Monday, and then one on Friday. After that, it’ll be up to the final 3 to fight for the next 8 days for Joe’s heart.

Everyone had a good sleep-in after Sienna’s untimely passing. Travis Scott and Sigrid Funk came by as part of the… grieving wagon? I have never had this happen in my game ever before. Devon helped herself to some condolences fruitcake with a huge smile on her face. This is the best mood she’s ever been in. Her mood turns sour as it turns out like most sims, she does not enjoy fruitcake.


Rebecca, who also does not like fruitcake, has a friendly conversation with Travis. Travis is a little down in the dumps – his two best friends split and married other people. He thought maybe one or the both of them had crushes on him, but apparently not. He thought moving to Sulani would be a great change of scenery for him, but everyone who lives in the area is married, except for Sigrid and the cast of the Joe Baghead Show. Rebecca tells him, “Well who knows, once Joe makes his final pick you might hit it off with the rejects!”


Devon decided what the house really needed is her terrible karaoke singing, and then she yelled at Rebecca to clean the house.

To be fair, the house does need cleaning.

Sienna’s ghost invited Gemma to the spice festival, but Gemma declined the offer.
https://i.imgur.com/vaGMVdn.png
I don't know about you, but I see nothing weird about taking a nap in the place where my friend died less than 24 hours after she died, in view of her tombstone!

Devon spent the rest of the day repeatedly insulting and being mean to Rebecca for no apparent reason.

Next time: Camping! Fighting! Ghosts!

meta note

Days 16, 17, and 18: Camping vacation

I just gotta say all the people who aren't reading this are really missing out on the buildup to the reveal of what Joe actually looks like.

Some people say the best test for a relationship is to go on a vacation together. So we're sending Joe and the remaining contestants out on a vacation!

But first, Devon prepares a breakfast burrito at 4 am. Rebecca, still awake, apologizes for having used the last of the cheese on her own breakfast burrito. Devon throws a drink in her face because of the audacity, which causes Rebecca to throw down. Rebecca emerges from the fight victorious, and now Rebecca and Devon are enemies. Joe, who was watching the whole time, is thrilled his friend won the fight. "She really is amazing!" sighs Joe.
https://i.imgur.com/wDNJWIt.png

Devon tells us, "I've always aspired to be Public Enemy Number 1, so this was just part of my plan. Of course I wanted to WIN the fight, but having an official enemy has always been a dream of mine. So the next few days before elimination should be fun!"

With that out of the way, we sent everyone to Granite Falls! We thought making them camp would be fun, so we had to send Joe out to buy camping supplies. Rebecca and Priscilla played horseshoes while the other girls complained about sleeping outside. Gemma lit the campfire and Katrina immediately put it out, which happened about 8 other times throughout the trip with different lighters and putter-outers.

Joe later joined the game of horseshoes, but as usual was more interested in chatting with Rebecca than playing.


Katrina made dinner for everyone, and then Joe tried to tell a group story, but nobody was interested, except this ghost.


Joe went into the tent to be sad for a while, and Rebecca followed him in. The other girls were distracted elsewhere, so Rebecca took advantage of their alone time... to tell a ghost story.

The other girls headed to the bathroom, with Priscilla and Gemma having a newfound fear of ghosts. Devon was spooked by the ghost but doesn't have a fear of ghosts, and is for some reason in an inspired mood, so went hiking alone in platform sandals at 1 am, followed by her warming herself up at someone else's campfire with a bear.


When the sun comes on day 2 of this vacation, Joe tells us how weird he feels. "I've had my own private bedroom the whole time in the house, so this is the first time I've slept next to somebody. It was kind of nice, even though the ground is lumpy and one of them snores."

Rebecca goes on a solo hike while Joe zones out when Priscilla is talking to him. The other three girls set the camping chairs on fire.


Joe tries to play cards with the girls he has the highest relationship with - Priscilla, Rebecca, and Gemma. Devon is offended she wasn't included so goes to pout in the tent, but then comes back out to have a conversation with Gemma, who abandons the game.

Later, Joe has the idea that the 6 of them should have a snowball fight. It doesn't snow in Sulani, and it's been snowing off and on since they got here, but it's finally deep enough to play in! The group separates into sort of redheads versus brunets - Katrina's hair looks red but is actually brown, and I figure you may have realized Joe has dark hair based on the glimpse of his body hair earlier!

Katrina had a BLAST and ends up with a fond sentiment about the experience.

On the final full day of vacation, everyone wakes up at 8 am. For some reason Devon, Priscilla, and Gemma went back in to take naps at 9 am. Rebecca took advantage of things being quiet to flirt with Joe by the fireside. Everything went great until Priscilla woke up and emerged from the tent. Furious at Joe "cheating", she slapped the heck out of him, leading their romance bar to turn one quarter red. Priscilla then opted to go for a jog after her jealous outburst. Rebecca and Joe made s'mores. Upon Priscilla's return, she flirted with Joe like absolutely nothing happened between them earlier. Priscilla is confident that things will ultimately work between the two of them. Joe just wants to go home.

After a while, we asked Joe for an update. Joe said, "I was kind of impressed, Gemma started flirting with me harder than she had before. Maybe it’s this snow, it’s got everybody in a romantic mood."

Okay. Why did you start talking about marriage with Rebecca, though? Flustered, Joe tells us, "I what? When? Oh when I was chatting with Gemma and Rebecca? Oh, I remember. Rebecca said something about how the scenery is so beautiful, what did we think about getting married in a place like this I guess? I said I never really thought about where to get married, but Tartosa seemed pretty. Fewer bugs there, too.”
https://i.imgur.com/1dWdP8T.png

In all the fun, everyone seems to have forgotten the impending elimination. Joe? “Oh gosh, I complete forgot. Hm, I don’t know. It was an easier choice a few days ago, but suddenly everybody’s taking things so much more seriously. Gemma’s finally making an effort to flirt and we have good compatibility. Rebecca, I mean… yeah. Katrina’s doing better than she was before… Devon still seems to have little to no interest in me, but apparently since she and Rebecca hate each other now it’ll be good ratings to keep them both in one house for a long time? And Priscilla is just… She rages at me for “cheating on her” even though we’re not even boyfriend/girlfriend, she slaps me, she storms off, and then comes back to flirt with me, and then rages at me, and then flirts some more. It’s exhausting. I don’t know how much more I can take of this. I guess she really likes me, but I’m not desperate enough to live with that kind of behavior for much longer. After a lot of deliberation that went into the next morning, I decided ultimately to say goodbye to Katrina. I know I had doubts about her all along, and I feel bad because she seemed to be trying to correct her behavior, but she got the ‘single and lovin’ it’ lifestyle. I want to find my soulmate, and I don’t think I can find it in someone who enjoys being single.”

So, we say farewell to Katrina. Any parting thoughts? “I’m not surprised. I had more fun on this show than I thought I would. I did want to just build my online following, but I made some great friends here. I’m dying to find out what Joe looks like, but I think he made the right choice. I just don’t think we were ever going to be compatible. And I don’t think I could win the fight for his heart with Rebecca and Priscilla as competitors. Or Sienna’s ghost, I guess.” So with that we say adieu to Katrina.

Next time: the first of four days of individual outings for each remaining contestant! You won't want to miss the fourth one!

Great update! I'm really enjoying your story.

Loving your Joe Baghead Show and I can't wait to see who he is and what he looks like. That's terrible about what happened with Sienna. And Priscilla sounds like she's going to be a handful to Joe or anyone else she hooks up with with her jealous ways.

We took an autumn hiatus, but we're back! With day 19!

There's one more elimination on Friday. Will the remaining girls step it up into high gear now that we're nearing the end? They'll all have the chance to! This week, Joe will go on a one-on-one outing with each girl in ascending order of romance bar - Priscilla, Devon, Gemma, and then finally Rebecca. There happens to be some event each day so they can each go on a special outing that isn't to the bowling alley again!

But first: Gemma sits down at a chess table with Joe, but he's too busy chatting with - you guessed it- Rebecca, before he gets up to make tea.
https://i.imgur.com/CN9IkKJ.png

After his tea he's more happy to chat with Gemma and Devon, with Gemma primarily complaining about the garbage pile in the kitchen. Devon decides the best place to do sit-ups is that garbage pile. Rebecca says, "Well that's where she belongs!"


GeekCon is once again in town, and so Joe and Priscilla will be heading there for their outing. Luckily this time there's no thunderstorm to kill all the electronics, so Joe and Priscilla participate in the hackathon after briefly working together to build a rocket. "Should be easy for her, since she practiced programming immediately when our first date ended," says Joe with a hint of bitterness. "But at least she didn't go off to talk with everyone else like when I took Taylor to GeekCon before."


Priscilla completes the Hackathon at 17% while Joe only manages 14%. He's pleased he did so well considering he has no experience with computers. Priscilla wins the contest, and gets a computer as a prize!

GeekCon draws to a close, and there's an after-convention Happy Hour at the nearby karaoke bar, so the pair head over. Priscilla opts to order Love Potion Number 4, putting her in a flirty mood. Joe's still cautious around her but their relationship does slowly improve, until Joe spots a dog and decides he'd rather interact with her. Her name is Ginger and her owner is Caleb Vatore! Why is she at the karaoke bar?! The competition is RUFF.
https://i.imgur.com/24nydyA.png
Joe says, "I really liked that dog. I'm glad she has a good home but I was hoping she was a stray so I could adopt her."

While Joe plays with the dog, Priscilla goes off to talk about money with this townie, before going to chat with yet another townie. The dog went home so Joe sadly goes back to talking to Priscilla.


Joe becomes inspired by all the displays at the karaoke contest, and decides to participate himself. Despite having no singing skill whatsoever, he has a lot of fun. In a totally wild turn of events, Joe WINS the contest with a score of 52, briefly putting him in a Very Confident mood!


At the end of the night, their romance bar is neutral – no longer red, but not green either. “She did make an effort for most of the day to at least be near me, even if we didn’t talk or flirt much,” says Joe thoughtfully. “I’m just afraid the same thing is going to happen again – that she’ll see someone flirting with me or me flirting with someone and become enraged like I cheated on her. Being self-absorbed and jealous seems like a terrible combination for being on a show like this. And I don’t know if I’d be able to take her running hot and cold if we were exclusive anyway.”

Fairly uneventful day. What's in store for the future, though? Next time: Celebrities! Trilobites! A ghost! Someone paying the bills so the power gets turned back on!

In a few Sim-months Ginger the dog will be granted a wish and made immortal.

Day 20 - Outing with Devon.

Today is Winterfest, but our outing today is to the "meet a celebrity" event at Orchid A Go Go.

Since the event isn't until a little later, there's plenty of time for festive shenigans in the house! Rebecca places a prank gift - can't imagine for whom! - and the household decorates the tree with varying success. For some reason decorating made Priscilla flirty, but she doesn't flirt with anyone.

Rebecca makes sure to tell Devon that she doesn't like her before Devon and Joe leave for their outing. Rebecca may not have the highest fitness skill in the house, but she’s gradually getting more pronounced abs. We replaced some of the microphones with treadmills - since nobody was using the microphones - so let’s see if anyone gets even more fit!

The celebrity at the lounge is Dirk Dreamer. “Oh, I was hoping to see Judith Talla again,” says Joe, pretending not to be disappointed. Devon says, “I thought he was dead!”


Joe heads straight to the bar to order a root beer float, which has been his typical drink order, while Devon heads over to chat about neatness with Dirk. Whatever she said made him shout forbidden words at her.


Joe finished his drink, did pushups, and then ordered another drink. He flirted with Devon, which went okay at first. Her attempts to flirt back were disastrous. Joe: “She kept asking Dirk for advice about making money, it was weird.” Devon: “How famous would I get by making a Proper Celebrity my enemy?”

Devon opted to get up to practice guitar- “I’m not good yet, but with all these people around this is BOUND to make me famous.” Dirk gives her a 2 simoleon tip. Dirk tells us “I was a struggling artist once too. She’s terrible, but we all have to start somewhere, right? Plus it gives me a good reputation to do this kind of thing.”


While spacing out in the bathroom, Joe discovers he likes dancing.

Dirk Dreamer heads home for the day, and Joe decides to head home as well. “One thing I learned is that Dirk is married to the bartender from GeekCon, that’s pretty cool.”

Joe continues to tell us, “With it being Winterfest, I decided to kiss everyone under the mistletoe. Rebecca and Gemma were thrilled, Devon went to sleep before I even got to talk to her, and Priscilla hated it, but then immediately offered me a rose after she rejected the kiss. This is really driving me nuts.”

A familiar face came by with cookies, but just stood outside with them.

I can't remember if I mentioned the sequester house for eliminated contestants (except Sienna) is the lot next door.

Priscilla got electrocuted fixing the tea brewer, but just like Tiny Tim, did NOT die. Joe starts a preposterous rumor about Priscilla while Gemma flirts with him.

Father Winter appears and: Joe got 1 Enormous Trilobite; Rebecca got 1 Grand Plans Chess Table (Rebecca: “Just what I needed! A chess table!”); Devon got 1 Selium; Priscilla got 1 Starter Flowers; and Gemma got various upgrade parts. Gemma: “Hooray?”

Astoundingly, everyone sat at the dining table, and Joe and Rebecca blew each other kisses across it while Father Winter was giving Gemma her gift.


Priscilla, though exhausted and fried, has everyone open gifts. Devon is annoyed to receive a lump of coal, while Priscilla and Gemma receive nothing. Joe received a second Enormous Trilobite. Sienna’s Ghost didn’t seem to get a gift either. Joe asks, “Were we supposed to get a gift for her? Am I supposed to flirt with her like I do with the other contestants even though she was technically eliminated, literally?”
https://i.imgur.com/58FQC4s.png


Day 21 - outing with Gemma

Joe starts his day by exercising, then flirting with Gemma in the upstairs bathroom while holding a bowl of beans. Just what every girl wants - bathroom beans.


Everybody builds skills separately before Rebecca can no longer take the filth they live in and starts cleaning.

Joe and Gemma get some flirting done before their outing, which puts Joe in a flirty mood, which inspires him to kiss…. Rebecca! Luckily there’s no jealous outburst from anyone this time. Joe then decides to hunt for shells by the pool until it’s time to leave for his outing with Gemma – the high school football competition! Where it’s very snowy.


Joe and Gemma do some regular football practice, but Gemma refuses to actually go onto the football field. Joe scores 30, the game doesn’t tell me how much Gemma scored, but when the results are revealed it tells me she didn’t win – but nothing about Joe! Both of them then urgently have to pee but feel awkward about going into the school to use the toilet. Gemma then takes a nap on the bench in the school gym, because I know when I feel awkward about using a high school bathroom I always somehow feel super comfortable about sleeping at the high school!

Joe and Gemma flirt some more. Gemma has a whim to kiss, and Joe has a whim to get a girlfriend. They head home, as Gemma has no OPTION to kiss Joe, and choosing a contestant to be his girlfriend seems like a little too much potential drama for Joe to want to deal with just yet.

Next time: A wish, a kiss, an update you won't want to miss!

meta note
Gemma's outing so SO SHORT that I just couldn't give its own post.

Bonus round: These don't have time stamps so I forgot to include them when they actually happened
https://i.imgur.com/e7B82Vy.png
I'm judging her but I do not have a mustache, nice or otherwise.

https://i.imgur.com/CJNTzjU.png
The neighborhood action thingies are turned off in my game so nobody except Joe ever wore a bag, but talk about timing!

Day 22 - outing with Rebecca

The day starts lazily for all the contestants. Joe makes pancakes for everyone, and he and Gemma flirt a bit. Then Katrina calls Joe to ask if she should ask out Duane Talla. Aside from how incredibly rude that is to ask someone you were trying to date on a dating show, I'm pretty sure Duane Talla was Judith Ward's husband. Did she die??

Joe goes for a swim while Priscilla is already in the pool. He swims over to chat with her, and she kicks water at him, lowering their friendship bar. I’m no relationship expert, but I don’t think repeatedly antagonizing the guy you were in love with a week ago is the best way to win him over!


Rebecca takes a nap, which is great because her outing today is to the Festival of Lights! Get some good shuteye, don’t want to have an energy failure in the hot tub like SOME people!

After a pretty uneventful day, Joe and Rebecca head to the festival. Rebecca decides to cloudgaze and Joe does pushups. When Joe joins Rebecca in cloudgazing, Rebecca gets up and walks around. Joe notices everyone wearing traditional clothing, and discovers where to purchase it.

After Rebecca finishes changing, she gets a call – her great-great-grand-second-once-removed-cousin’s friend’s grandpa has passed away and left her money! Naturally suspicious, she asks what the conditions are for her to accept this vast fortune left to her by her father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate or whatever. She’s all for it if the conditions are to spend one night in a haunted house. “I mean we already live in one, right?” The mystery caller says a confusing word salad that results in Rebecca getting a small sum of money without something super wacky like having to get married in 7 days or something.

Joe and Rebecca make a wish together on the tree. “What did you wish for?” Rebecca asks. Joe tells her, “If I tell you, it won’t come true!”


https://i.imgur.com/Toq9p05.png
Guess who neglected to change their shoes into something appropriate for the occasion!

Rebecca asks Joe if he wants to cozy up by the bonfire. “Would you think it was lame if I said that was my wish?” asks Joe. They kiss. And then Rebecca immediately left to do a firedance! Says Joe: “I could never. I’m awkward, I’m clumsy, and with a paper bag on my head I feel like it’s especially unsafe.”

Rebecca and Joe dance by the fire. Joe feels inspired and tries to fire dance, and lights his sleeve on fire. "See, I knew it was a bad idea!"


Wolfgang Munch decides Joe and Rebecca really need to hear his opinions on air travel and computers – more like Elon Munch, am I right? Rebecca talks about babies and sunsets before autonomously kissing Joe.


They cozy up by the bonfire one more time and then chat with Wolfgang some more. Rebecca talks about grilled cheese seductively, and then finds out Wolfgang is mean. Rebecca found out she hates pranks and malicious social interactions thanks to Devon – although logically, most people hate those things – so her budding friendship with Wolfgang goes down the toilet.


Joe is so into the outing that he completely misses that the day changed. There was supposed to be an elimination at the end of day 22, but I guess it can wait! Pretty fair to guess that Rebecca's safe once again, anyway!

https://i.imgur.com/6qfnKrj.png
https://i.imgur.com/dNq1VZo.png

meta note: I'd never gone to the festival of light before in the game, I thought it was a Star Wars thing lmao

Day 23
Since the other girls didn't get nearly as long for THEIR outings, to be fair we sadly must rip Joe and Rebecca from their falling in love montage and send them home. After all, it's elimination time!

Let's have a post-outing check-in:

Joe says, "Cozying up by the bonfire wasn’t really my wish, but, well… I have a better feeling now about my actual wish coming true than I would have a few months ago. This was a really nice outing."

Rebecca says, "Well, there’s nothing really to it. I’m in love. I don’t know what I’ll do if Joe ends up picking someone else at the end of the show. I feel like we’re soulmates, you know?”

Great! Now how's everyone feeling about the looming elimination?

Priscilla: “I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but I feel like the ups ultimately outweigh the downs. I find Joe Very Attractive now, and I just know that he’ll keep me as part of the final 3. I was the first to flirt with him, after all. He can’t forget that!”

Gemma: “I’m feeling pretty good about this elimination. We’ve got good compatibility; our romance bar is at a good spot. I’m sure once he takes that bag off I’ll find him attractive.”

Devon: “I’m not fussed either way. We had a good run at romance, it’s just not there. I’ll probably be furious if Rebecca ends up winning this whole thing, but the romance between me and Joe was never really there. So, oh well.”

Rebecca: “Feeling pretty good about my chances of staying in the house. Pretty much just wondering if he’ll boot Devon or Priscilla tonight.”

And Joe, how do you feel? “These eliminations get harder and easier at the same time. I know who I want to stay in the house but I don’t know who to eliminate. It’s pretty much the same problem as last time – do I get rid of Devon, who I’ve had basically no romantic interaction with and who hates Rebecca? Or do I get rid of Priscilla, who can’t seem to decide if she wants to kick me or kiss me? I just don’t know.” Better make up your mind soon, Joe!

Joe and Rebecca have drinks... somehow... and chat. Devon sits alone at the Llama table, with only a Fine moodlet, doing no action. Priscilla and Gemma chatted at the chess table before Priscilla got up to shower. “Gotta look my best for the elimination tonight, right?


Rebecca is the only one interacting with Joe, so clearly nobody is super worried. Joe attempts to kiss Rebecca, but she heads upstairs for a nap before he has the chance. Joe decides to go for a nap as well, since they both got back at like 4 am.

This anti-environmentalist trespasses, and Devon rips him a new one.


Rebecca and Joe flirt while Joe is on an endurance run, and Katrina calls to say she’s in love with Duane Talla. “Well I guess she CAN be bothered to romance people!”

Devon starts insulting this trespasser, Fetu Kalawai’a, after Joe learns that Fetu is evil. A few insults, ordering him to clean, and a solid shove result in Fetu starting a fight with Devon. She wins THIS fight, and is very proud of herself not only for winning, but for finishing step one of the Public Enemy aspiration as she is now disliked by 2 sims.


Fetu seems to respect Devon and starts making friendly conversation with her. Could this be an "enemies to lovers" romance blooming?

Priscilla gets some flirting done at the kitchen islands, bringing her/Joe’s romance bar back into the pink rather than the red. “See what I mean? I never know with her," Joe shrugs.


In the end, Joe opts to eliminate… Devon! “Well, it’s supposed to be a dating show, after all. It would feel kind of scummy if I had someone with no romantic interest in me at all in the final three, right? Kind of like I was stacking the deck? And I’m told that with how Priscilla is, leaving her in the house for the final decision if she’s not The One should make for good ratings. Seems kind of mean to me, but whatever.”

So we say farewell to Devon. “Yeah, like I said, wasn’t really unexpected. I just need a criminal kingpin to marry instead!”

So with that, only the finale remains. Sure seems like a foregone conclusion as to who will win, but who knows? We've already had plenty of unexpected happenings so far. On day 1 I had Sienna pegged as one of the final 3, and look how that worked out! You just never know.

Next time: Skiing, snowboarding, and maybe smooching? It's a 3-day Mt. Komorebi excursion before the finale! And you won't want to miss THAT or the epilogue!

Day 5

Taylor lives her best life by eating eggs at the pool at 3 am.
https://i.imgur.com/H5xs3Nv.png

Joe heads down early for breakfast but accidentally catches Sienna using the outdoor shower, naked. Awkward! She didn't care at all, but Joe was so distracted by the awkward moment that he repeatedly cut himself while preparing his breakfast salad. Devon actually sat to chat with him while he ate even though she was also hungry.

At 10 am, the household gets a Mome Mail - GeekCon is in town, and Joe must travel to it with the girl he has the lowest relationship with - Taylor. Taylor is still sound asleep, hungry even though she just had eggs nearly 6 hours ago, and smelly. So this should be fun!

A thunderstorm hit the second they arrived, which disturbed everyone included this naked man I artfully censored with the composition of the screenshot.


By the time Joe runs inside for shelter, the thunderstorm is over. Despite just lasting for a few minutes, every single computer at GeekCon broke from the lightning and rain. Without much else to do, Joe invited Taylor to do one of the only working things at GeekCon - build a rocketship together. Both have 0 rocketry skills starting out, so they don't get very far. Especially when a woman in a llama costume comments on how smelly Taylor is, causing Taylor to leave to go play BlicBlock alone.

Taylor has achieved something truly remarkable - she is the smelliest person at a convention. Darth Maul and Princess Leia both mock her for it.

And no hate, I get stress sweat too. You can't help being smelly sometimes! Of course, Taylor could've just taken a shower yesterday!

Joe tried hard throughout the day to socialize with Taylor, but every time he'd approach her, some random convention-goers would show up to interrupt. This inadvertently lead to Joe's friendship with Taylor DECREASING. Oops!

Joe starts feeling overwhelmed by being in such a crowded place with his socially awkward trait. He goes off to play Blic-Block alone one more time before he and Taylor decide to head home for some much-needed showers.


After Joe gets squeaky clean, he immediately goes to chat with Rebecca. They discus art and music, and share memes with each other on their phones.


Joe serves up some mac & cheese for everyone, and they all refused to use the dining table again.


Since Joe was so overwhelmed, he gets sent to bed pretty early - and it turns out Devon had gone to bed even earlier!

Nothing much has changed at the end of day 5, aside from Joe/Taylor's friendship bar being even lower despite spending the whole day together. Maybe this is just a Cruel Summer for Taylor, and perhaps Joe knew she was trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble from the beginning.

Bonus:
https://i.imgur.com/R3YhTA3.png

Next time: Fish! Mice! Death? And more of Joe than you've ever seen before! (in a family friendly way!)

Meta note

Will The Joe Baghead Show ever finish?