The Samantha Bradshaw Project

Flashback - Lake City, August 2073.

The night was so warm and humid even the hallway dripped sweat from a cold metal pipe above her head. In front of the building, some young men stood dribbling a basketball to madness in the late hours of the evening. Samantha knocked on the door to her best friend's apartment in the South End of Lake City.

Riley answered the door and waved her in.

"Hey," Chad said. "How was the trip?"

"It was great," Samantha said. "Really, clarifying."

Inside the single room apartment, their baby slept in the living room, her crib wedged tightly into a corner. Chad watched some football game, the sound on low, barely a whisper. He sat in a ragged garage sale Lazyboy in pajama pants.

"Don't put clothes on for your company or anything," Samantha said.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't," he said, flashing a cheesy grin in the dim fading light.

The girls went outside to talk, sitting down on the concrete, watching the neighborhood walk by. Samantha was just home from a vacation, but she wouldn't be here for long. She had just graduated from college, and her journalism degree left her wide open with possibilities and staying here was the least appealing of them.

They talked long into the evening like they used to back in high school, when their plans were simple and idyllic and full of promise. Their lives had taken them in different directions entirely since then, motherhood versus college, and that was only the start of it.

"Back from Japan, and already you're leaving again?" Riley sighed heavy into her knee. "God, I'm so jealous. Don't get yourself pregnant - that'll stop you really fast."

"You kind of need to be sleeping with someone for that," Samantha said.

Samantha laughed, not making fun, but out of solidarity. "You remember all those ideas we used to have about how our lives would turn out," Samantha said. "Nobody's life ever turns out the way they think it will."

"Yeah," Riley said.

Neither of them got what they thought they wanted. Unlike her friends, she had actually seen children in her future, but then, she saw Jack as sort of a contingent of that future, and that had hardly worked out as planned.

"I don't know when I'll be back," Samantha said.

Riley turned to her. "Do you know where you're going?"

Samantha shook her head. "Maybe I'll know when I get there."

There were dozens of people she wouldn't be saying goodbye to that night. Her mother who rejected her again and again, or that asshole Max, for being married and being such an unbelievable sleazebag.

And she wouldn't say goodbye to Jack - the thought of it was simply unfathomable. She'd never wanted to say goodbye in the first place. Even a year after the fact and the thought of him sent her heart aching all over again. It felt too good being away, away from those streets they walked together, away from the places where they grew up. The running away, further and further, felt like healing.

She went home to collect her things, what few things she had. It wasn't that she didn't have money, but just that the past few years, she'd never felt permanent enough to collect anything in the way of stuff. Who needs stuff? It's just more to move when things get messy, when it's time to go somewhere else again.

She felt queasy as she felt her way through dark hallways, not wanting to turn on any lights to wake her family. There was a churning in the pit of her stomach, and she wasn't sure why. Maybe because of everything she was about to leave behind, but would any of them even miss her? Maybe it was just nerves, like the first day of high school if high school was meant to represent her entire life. She didn't understand it, but somehow she knew this was going to be bigger than any vacation she'd taken before.

She peeked into their bedrooms, all of them asleep, her father snoring like a storm. And finally, peaceful only in her sleep, the magmatic presence that was her little sister, Bella. The world could adore her if they wanted to, but Samantha had her own life to make. She wouldn't wake her to say goodbye. She only whispered, quietly, "Bye, sis."

*******

Samantha Bradshaw, born May of 2050 in Lakeside Heights, MI. Last seen by her friend Riley Hathe on August 18, 2073, at the age of 23 years old. She has black hair and brown eyes, 5' 9" tall, athletic build, and weighs 145 pounds.

Samantha went missing ten years ago, and none of her family or friends have seen her since. It's your job to tell us what she's been doing for this time. Where did she go, and what was she doing there? Did she get married and have some kids? Did she become a street junkie? Give her any adventure you like, and then tell us about it.

The Samantha Bradshaw Project will seek out her adventures, from one place to the next. And there are only three rules:

#1, she must honor her character, and her own complete history, from one adventure to the next. There is no amnesia in this story! At the end of her stay in your town, she will suddenly feel an aching desire to move on. You have to decide why she wants to leave.

#2, she may mention or think about people from her past here in Lakeside Heights, or from any other place she travels, but she must not make any contact with anyone at home until she is 35. She may bring travelers with her from one place to the next, though she is not obligated to stay with them permanently.

#3, when she turns 35, she will suddenly feel an aching desire to finally come back home. You have to decide why she wants to come home, who is she hoping to see, or what is she hoping to accomplish by coming back home? And is she bringing anyone with her?

The girl: (download her here) let me know if anyone has trouble with the download.

CC notes: She comes with her Lakeside Heights t-shirt, some Bruno eyeshadow and Helene blush, and some super-cool jeans with Docs (can't remember who made them) which you really should have in your game anyway ;)

Of course, you can redress her any way you like (remember that she hates pink!). And keep in mind, that we're all using different default replacement sets, so she could look slightly different from one neighborhood to the next. In fact, I now remember that the lipstick she's wearing in my hood is also a default replacement, so when you get her, she might have some ridiculous color of Maxis lipstick on, lol! Anyway... She'll also probably want to change her clothes and cut her hair from time to time.

She doesn't have to walk around in that t-shirt if she doesn't want to, lol! That's just a gag. If you're wondering, her usual style was pretty simple, jeans and t-shirt kind of girl, casual, not too girly, but not sloppy either. She's girly enough to curl her hair occasionally and put on some makeup though :)

Use whatever means of cheats, hacks, objects, or SimPe to modify her personality and stats.

zodiac: Gemini (6/9/9/5/4)
aspiration: family/popularity
LTW: golden anniversary (no need to set this one, since you won't be playing her long enough to fulfill it, but just keep it in mind)
OTH: cuisine
college graduate: political science major, 3.8 GPA
last known profession: journalism, fact checker
skills: cooking 6, mechanical 4, charisma 9, body 8, logic 9, creativity 7, cleaning 5
interests: food, fashion, travel, environment, weather, sports, work, politics
disinterests: crime, animals, toys, sci-fi
turn-ons: fitness, hard worker
turn-offs: stink

Random trivia:
- her parents divorced when she was 7.
- she is the oldest of 5 cousins, but was never very close to any of them.
- childhood best friend, Riley (Nova) Hathe
- first love, Jackson Phoenix
- doesn't usually have one-night stands, but it's been known to happen
- doesn't usually sleep with married men, but that's been known to happen too
- enjoys drinking, and worked as a bartender in college
- loving, but not gushy or very affectionate - doesn't care for PDAs
- friendly and sociable, likes to cook and host parties
- emotionally unstable, tends to run away from her problems rather than dealing with them
- favorite colors, black, red, dark purple
- never EVER wears pink!
- holds an eternal contempt for blonde-haired women (because of Nessa, lol!)
- family: mother Autumn (Phillipine) Bradshaw-Bertino, father Cody Bradshaw, half-sister Bella Bradshaw.

Timeframe: Don't worry about the current year in your own neighborhood, just her current age in your story, and I'll work out the differences. If you don't normally use real-life ages or years, you can make them up in Samantha's case. Time progresses in this hood VERY slowly, and Samantha isn't due to turn 35 in Lakeside Heights until the year 2085. You should have plenty of time to work on her story, as my own story here has slowed to a crawl.

The story: You may tell her story in any tense or format you like, as long as (see rule #1) you remain true to her character and the stories that came before yours. You can even collaborate with the participants who come before or after your turn, so that one story can flow easily into the next. No need to stop what you're currently doing with your neighborhood, just work her into your story like any new character. She's like a ROS on legs :)

The stories you're writing will be flashbacks in terms of Lakeside Heights time. And as you guys are writing the stories of her adventures in the twelve years she is away, I'd like to post a couple/few interviews with my characters, in current time, about what they remember of her back when they knew her. These won't affect the stories you're writing, because none of my characters have seen her since she left. Don't think of it as confusing, lol - it's more like putting a puzzle together. It's a game! I think this is going to be fun :)

*** Note: The Samantha Bradshaw Project is currently in progress, and the official slots are all assigned. You can follow her adventures from place to place here on the master list of stories. ***