Buck Grunt is a well known resident in my player stories in The Sims 2 in Strangetown. He is the son of General Buzz and the late Lyla Grunt, the adopted son of Erin Beaker, the younger brother of Tank and Ripp Grunt, the older half-brother of Rusty Grunt and the cousin of Xanton Beaker.
A notable difference from the start of the Sims 2 to my player stories is that all the babies, toddlers and children have been aged into teenagers, due to the circumstances of my traditional gameplay style. The days that remained in Buck's life state as a child have been added to the end of his teenage life state. He is 19 days from being an Adult rather than 15.
As I became more familiar with the Strangetown characters, it became clear to me that Buck was very different from his father and Tank. Being an entirely different Sim altogether, Buck also wasn't that much like Ripp. He wasn't prejudiced towards Aliens having a good Relationship with Jill Smith who was half-alien. Buck's father took a military approach to raising his older brothers. While Buzz was ineffectively trying to force Ripp into joining Tank in the Military Career, Buck was left to do his own thing - playing on Swings and studying from books. It also meant that he had to feed himself - but exactly what sort of foods did Buck eat and how much?
Buck was not happy with the way their father treated Ripp. They were also fed up with the way their father treated the other Strangetown residents. So called upon various neighbours to help them overthrow their father and older brother and make them see sense. They were soon backed up by 11 of their fellow neighbours. Ripp and Buck actually had tried to persuade Tank into siding with them but he flatly refused. But it came as an unpleasant surprise to Tank and Buzz, when they saw Ripp, Buck and the 11 neighbours who'd agreed to help them, arrive at their house. Initially they minimised their signs of weakness but they were ultimately brought to their senses when PT9 told the others to just let Buzz and Tank's respective Reputations collapse.
Being labelled as outcasts was the last thing that Tank and Buzz wanted as they both had the Popularity Aspiration. So they became much nicer and respectful towards Ripp and Buck and the Strangetown residents. This allowed Buck to keep in touch with his casual acquaintance Jill. Buck and his brothers became attracted to her, and she and Buck are currently Going Steady. Buck is now an A+ student enrolled in Private school and an overachiever. He is employed in the Business career. Buck actually did start working out a bit from time to time probably to build his skills or to lose weight.
Simology[]
| Personality | ||
|---|---|---|
 Virgo | ||
| Sloppy | 
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Neat |
| Shy | 
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Outgoing |
| Lazy |
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Active |
| Serious | 
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Playful |
| Grouchy | 
|
Nice |
| Image | Interest | Level |
|---|---|---|
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Environment | 
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Food | 
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Weather |
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Culture |
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Money |
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Politics | 
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Paranormal | 
|
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Health |
|
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Fashion |
|
 |
Travel |
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Crime |
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Sports |
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Entertainment |
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Animals |
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Work |
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School | 
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Toys |
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Sci-Fi | 
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Trivia[]
- Ironically despite being a Fortune Sim, Buck isn't very interested in Money or Work. This is mostly due to him not being pre-destined to have that aspiration.
- Despite having a Knowledge vibe from being sensitive, thoughtful and studious, he doesn't appear to be interested in the sorts of things one would expect of a thoughtful and studious Sim.
- I originally gave Buck the Popularity Aspiration because it seemed to run in his family. I later changed his aspiration to Fortune because it matched his choice for a career. Although not the Knowledge Aspiration, his current one nonetheless is a better fit for his studious character than the Popularity Aspiration.
- Buck has a hidden Popularity Aspiration token, which suggests that this was the aspiration EA intended for him to have all along.
- Buck has a shirt that can not be found in-game, though there is a similar outfit but without the yellow trim. I took an alternate picture of Buck Grunt wearing Keith Cormier's shirt, and used the yellow trim to replace the default red trim of Buck's shirt in my player stories. I did this using Photoshop.
- I will give Buck the Knowledge secondary aspiration once I have installed Free Time.