Day Three: Do Not Uproot My Family Tree

Day Three

On the third day of competition, the five remaining bachelors have been instructed to make nice with the Idens. The average daily relationship with the family (with snubs set at -10), multiplied by two, will be added to the base scoring formula for today. The strong emphasis placed on the bachelors' overall relationship with Charlotte's family could send anyone packing. 

On the right is Alexander, Lord Iden (né Grey). He's the father of Charlotte and her siblings and the widower of the late Elizabeth Iden. Frederick, the youngest of the Iden siblings, is about to enter his last year of schooling. His father and sister are currently negotiating his betrothal to Desi Capulet. 

Caroline Iden is the middle sibling and a major reason for this competition. Ignorant and vain, Caroline is heir to her sister's position as Hereditary High Magistrate until Charlotte has her own children. Her husband, George (né Brandon), is often a buffer between the two sisters. Caroline and George have one daughter, Marianne, and a second child on the way (although it doesn't look like it today.)

The day starts with free will time indoors and with a most predictable turn of events.

Charlotte: Goddamn it, Leon, what did I just say about ignoring my family?

Leon: La la la, can't hear you over my siiiiiiinging! 

Felix: Don't you look lovely today, Lady Caroline!

Caroline: Begone, peasant. 

Freddie: Why yes, I do look lovely! Thank you for noticing.

At this point, the groups are still fairly separate. It probably doesn't help that Marianne insists on dancing with everyone in the family, but she is adorable enough to get away with it. Caroline seems more interested in making out with her husband than doing anything else, but her brother takes note of one of her brief moments of courtesy.

Freddie: Wow, you actually deigned to speak to someone, Caroline. Good job! 

Felix is not deterred by the prickly Lady Caroline and makes it 2-for-3 by scoring points with Lord Iden. 

George and Leon don't get off on the right foot at all, but then their mutual hate of rocking horses stops the bleeding. I'm not entirely sure what a rocking horse ever did to either George or Leon, honestly. Next, a confident Leon sets his sights on Charlotte's father.

Leon: Sir, I would very much like to make out with your daughter. 

Alexander: How about you 'make out' with an axe instead, whippersnapper? 

Robert is delighted by Marianne's discussion of swords and shields, manages to tolerate her love of dolls, and is a bit more skeptical about sandcastles. In general, there's a lot more mixing going on. Felix sidles up to George again, who decides to have some fun. 

George: Oh yeah, everyone has to call her Your Majesty. It's actually a family custom and a little-known law. Not addressing the High Magistrate properly is punishable by imprisonment - or death, if our dungeons are full. Which they are. 

Things seem to be going well!

Oh no. God, no. Thomas, don't do this. You have so much to live for. Stay away from the sister. Stay away from the...

Thomas: What am I doing? This could be the worst mistake I have ever made. Did she see me? She'll kill me! Must. Get. Away.

Fortunately enough, Charlotte doesn't notice Thomas' momentary slip-up, but someone else does. 

Marianne: Mother and Aunt Charlotte don't like to share, you know. Last time Aunt Charlotte got really mad, she made someone into a spooky ghost! 

Just before lunch, the brain trust of George and Thomas decide to play catch directly between a brick wall and a pair of lamps hanging from said wall. Florizel makes inroads with Lord Iden, Charlotte threatens to catapult Leon into the sun if he doesn't start talking to other people, and then our resident prince tries his luck with Caroline.

Florizel: How can you not like me? Everyone likes me! I'm eminently likable! 

Florizel, buddy, if it helps, I too expected Caroline to be more interested in a queen's brother. 

For a change of pace, I tank everyone's hunger bar and set up a buffet lunch in the courtyard. I see a ridiculous amount of "I'm starving!" animations considering they have to walk about two feet over to the open buffet, but that's a Sim for you. 

Charlotte: Hungry, Father? Maybe you and the lightweights beside us should have went for something of substance. Actually, don't. More for me. Enjoy your salads.

After the meal is cleared away, the group gets to enjoy a little sunshine in the no-escape courtyard, if they so choose. Thomas somehow talks Caroline into a game of catch, and it goes just as you'd expect.

Thomas: I'm starting to think you hitting me with that ball isn't an accident, my lady!

Caroline: That's right, it's not. You and your fabulous hair get lost. There's only room for one head of lustrous hair in my castle.

Felix: Preeeeeetty sure it's not your castle.

Indoors, Florizel is royally relieved to find an Iden who enjoys his company and conversation.

Freddie: Chess? I love chess! I play Ultimate Chess at the Académie. You should totally come by and play. It'll be awesome!

In short order, the prince also scores a love bonus with Charlotte. He then proceeds to tell her some sort of dirty joke involving a gallows. The Idens are showing themselves to be the Addams Family of Verona. And just as the visit is ending: 

George: You can play with your toys when we get home, pet. 

And meanwhile, in the background, my hunch is that Leon has been telling Robert that the handcuffs and flails and gallows are all a put-on to weed out the weird, which Robert finds to be relieving. I can't prove it, but that's my story. Visiting hours come to a close, and the bachelors get their one-on-one time with Charlotte. Felix goes the intellectual route and tempts Charlotte into a game of chess. 

Felix: So, your brother-in-law said something about a law...

Charlotte: He was 100% correct*. *Ahem*
* Not a real law.

Felix: Your Majesty.

They agree on heraldry and winter weather, but Felix lets slip a disagreement on handcuffs. Tut-tut, Felix. Tut-tut.

Robert is up next, and he goes for a hang out session. Things are going well, with discussions of courtly entertainments, archery, siege engines, catapults, etc. But, as has been his way, Robert lets confidence take him a little too far. 

Charlotte; No, you may not put a ring on it yet, buster.

When Thomas's turn comes, he decides to show there's two sides to every Family Sim. A little hand-holding, a little flirting, and...

Boom. Love Bonus for Thomas! 

Florizel got to the top of that mountain hours earlier. He opts first for some conversation - catapults, knights, cartography, and sigils are all areas of agreement. The pair then repairs to the chess board to discuss what I choose to interpret as workarounds for their somewhat lacking chemistry.

Charlotte: How do you feel about centaurs? 

Florizel: I've always fancied mermaids, to be honest. 

Last up is the man who needs no such chemistry boost. Leon got the love bonus at some point during the day, but I managed not to get a picture of it. Go me. Anyway, he and Charlotte have it out over pan flutes for a minute, but this sums up the encounter: 

And thus ends Day Three. We have three confirmed love bonuses, but can the Leon train be stopped at this point? 

At the moment, the Leon train is a bit of a wreck. He snubs two of five and is a distant last with a third Iden. If he survives and goes on to win, he owes Marianne Iden something extravagant for saving his bacon. Robert also snubs two, and while he doesn't tank with anyone else, he doesn't wow anyone either. Florizel manages to meet everyone. Alexander and Marianne are 'meh' about the prince and Caroline is not impressed, but George and especially Frederick like him. Felix similarly meets everyone and scores positively across the board. He took the day's instructions to heart, apparently. But, despite taking a penalty for ignoring Frederick, it's Thomas who edges out Felix for the top score of the day. Taking Caroline's abuse paid off in the end, but he's going to have to solve that pesky attraction to her if he wants to make things work with Charlotte. 

The relationship averages: 

Thomas: 52/5 = 10.4

Felix: 51/5 = 10.2

Florizel: 38/5 = 7.6

Robert: -3/5 = -0.6

Leon: -14/5 = -2.8

Thomas, Florizel, and Leon all have love bonuses that I know of. If Felix and Robert are still sporting mere crushes, the other three net an extra five points on the day. That would put Florizel back into second and squeak Leon past Robert, pending the all-important scores with Charlotte. The bottom two really need to have done well with Charlotte to be safe. 

Lifetime Relationship + (Daily Relationship x 0.5) + (Number of Bolts x 3) + 5 Points for Crush OR 10 Points for Love + (Average Daily Relationship w/Family x 2)

Thomas: 82 + 0.5(100) + 3(2) + 10 + 2(10.4) = 168.8

Florizel: 90  + 0.5(99) + 3(1) + 10 + 2(7.6) = 167.7

Leon: 93 + 0.5(100) + 3(3) + 10 + 2(-2.8) = 156.4

Felix: 53 + 0.5(100) + 3(2) + 5 + 2(10.2) = 134.4

Robert: 69 + 0.5(100) + 3(3) + 5 + 2(-0.6) = 131.8

The top two are essentially tied. As Thomas did slightly better on the day's primary objective, I'd say the ranking is correct. Leon's poor overall relationship with the Idens knocks him well out of first place today. Felix attended to the day's task almost too well, but the effort to please keeps him alive.

Charlotte: I want to say this was a tough choice, Robert, but... you know what? I don't, and it wasn't. You can't get by on good looks and charm your entire life. If you had put in even a little bit more effort with either me or my family, you might be staying. I'm glad you didn't, though. It's one thing to avoid my sister, but you couldn't even be bothered to speak to my father!

Robert: So? I'm not marrying him.

Charlotte: And you're not marrying me either. Get lost. 

Robert: Well, at least I won't have to wear purple anymore. 

Charlotte: Purple doesn't need you! 

Day Four coming soon. It may prove to be the most brutal day yet!