Somebody To Love: Bachelor in Paradise ~ Elimination Challenge # 1 – Selfies

This is Roxanna Llama-Llama reporting to you LIVE from Sulani. Today, the lovely contestants of all the houses will be taking selfies of themselves to be used for…ummm… promotional materials to promote the exciting Bachelor in Paradise show. Yes! We want to build our audience, and what better way than with some candid shots of the beauties of the show.

Afterwards, our bachelor will visit each of the houses for two hours, to, ummm…build relationships with the contestants. Then, tonight, the producers are providing the contestants with an impromptu party! And those fabulous photos will be on display for all to see. And yet another twist, some of our contestants will be given a BIG SURPRISE at the party. Can you believe it? I am so looking forward to tonight, aren’t you?

Roxanna walked away from the camera and kept dwelling on what was going to happen today. She didn’t feel right about deceiving the contestants like this. If this was an Elimination Challenge, the contestants should know about it. But how? How could she prepare them? She put on her “smile” again and walked up to House 1.

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The contestants of House 1 were called together for a meeting in the “living room”. They had all been doing different activities, so were in various dress codes.

Benny mixed up some lemonade and told them what they had to do. They all seemed pretty excited about taking selfies of themselves.

Before they started, Benny said, “Remember what I told you at the photoshoot about angles and lighting. So, take that selfie as if your life depended on it!” Hokulani and Maegen looked at each other strangely.

“Well, I’ll just go change first,” replied Lara.

“Ummm…sorry, Lara, the producers want you to take the selfie ‘as is’,” said Benny.

“But I have sunblock all over my face! How am I to look glamorous with all this on?” Lara asked getting annoyed.

“It’s a challenge, isn’t it Benny?” said Raven quietly, “Some type of Elimination Challenge. Am I right?”

The contestants started to talk all at once and all eyes turned to Benny.  “Darn, these contestants were just too smart,” he thought to himself.

Roxanna Llama-Llama walked over to a hidden switch behind the tv and clicked it to the ‘off’ position. Spycam 14 was now inactive. She turned to the group.

“Yes, you’re right, Raven. It’s an Elimination Challenge. Benny and I didn’t agree with how this should have been done, but the producers told us we weren’t allowed to say anything in case any of the other sims were warned and prepared for it,” Roxanna confessed. Benny then told them the rest of the story and also that Rick would be visiting the house and about the Rose Ceremony tonight.

“So, Rick doesn’t know either?” asked Isla. Benny and Roxanna shook their heads no.

“Well, that’s just terrible. I mean, we all like Rick. I just can’t believe the producers could do this!” Brianna said flabbergasted.

“I’m going to take a selfie and think about Rick. That will make me feel better,” Naomi chimed in. Everyone agreed Naomi had a good idea and they all started shouting “For Rick!” 

“Well, in that case, I am going to give this my biggest winning smile. And it’s important that sims wear proper sun protection, too. So, sure, I will take this selfie as is. In fact, I’ll go first,” said Lara firmly holding her cell phone in the air.

“Wait!” said Roxanna, “Let’s do this LIVE,” she said, as she flipped the switch back to the ‘on’ position.

“Right,” said Lara beaming, “Here goes! For Rick!” she said as she took the 5 selfies needed.

Choruses of “Me, too! For Rick!” echoed from the other contestants, and soon all the selfies had been taken.

 

As Benny and Roxanna headed to the next house, Benny said, “Roxanna, if the next house doesn’t guess what is going on, let’s flip that switch to ‘off’ again and tell them.”

“I was already thinking about doing that, Benny. Yep, already thought about that…” Roxanna replied as she smiled and felt much better about the afternoon. Yes, it was sad that it was an Elimination Challenge, but at least the contestants knew what was going on and had handled it very well. If the producers ever pulled a stunt like this again, she was going to flatly tell them NO!

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And an almost identical thing happened at House 2. These contestants guessed, too.

It was actually Octavia who guessed. And they all felt bad that Rick didn’t know what was going on. They decided to give it their all for the selfies.

 

“To true love!” shouted Desiree as she snapped her selfies. “True love!” they all chimed.

 

Cinnamon asked if they could do any retakes. Benny thought about that and said he would e-mail the contestants at the end of the day, for the selfies that he thought should be re-taken.

“The producers never said I couldn’t give the contestants a second chance, right?” Benny said to the group. Cinnamon seemed rather pleased with Benny’s answer because she just wasn’t sure if her selfies were the best. Although she was hoping that she wouldn’t get that e-mail since that would mean her selfies had a low score, and that she might possibly be up for elimination. She just had to stay positive.

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And House 3 was the same with Roxanna turning off the hidden spycam to tell them the truth.

When Benny told them to “take that selfie as if your life depended on it,” it became clear that the contestants knew something was up. Iris was the one who guessed in House 3.

“Will Rick get to see these?” asked Tabitha hopefully.

“Yes,” Benny answered, “At the Rose Ceremony tonight.”

“Well, then, here’s to our friend, Rick. He’s been so kind to me and I wish him nothing but happiness,” Tabitha said and all the other contestants agreed.

“To our friend, Rick!” they said as they snapped their selfies.

 

 

Roxanna wondered if that ‘line” that Benny had said before the selfies were taken was Benny’s way of warning the contestants without really saying anything.

“Hey, Benny, let’s take selfies, too and add them to the mix. Wouldn’t it be funny if your selfies were the worse?” Roxanna said out loud. And with that, all of the contestants of House 3 had a good laugh.

 

Before heading back to their beach hut, Benny and Roxanna went for a walk on the beach.

“Unfortunately”, said Benny, “I have some contestants to e-mail. Maybe their second set of selfies will be better,” he said as he showed Roxanna some of the selfies.

“You know, if you want some help judging these, I have a contact who happens to be an art critic. That way, you won’t feel like you single-handedly eliminated any contestants,” offered Roxanna.

“Great idea! It will be good to have a neutral eye look at these, too. Sure, go ahead and call them. Maybe they’d like to get their name in the show as well,” replied Benny studying one photo in particular.

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The afternoon swirled by as Rick visited all the houses for two hours each. It seemed that all of the contestants were in high spirits. “Probably because of the party tonight,” Rick thought. Rick made sure he made the rounds and talked to everyone in all the houses.

House 1 Highlights:

Could it be possible that Rick actually won a game of Don’t Wake the Llama? And against Raven! Woot!

House 2 Highlights:

Rick sipping a drink at the bar and enjoying the sights with Cinnamon. Ummm… Rick… eyes up…eyes up there, Rick!

House 3 Highlights:

Rick playing Party Frenzy with Tabitha and Kyra…or trying to.

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When Rick arrived back at the beach hut, Roxanna and Benny were waiting for him.

“Rick, we have to talk to you about what is really going to happen tonight,” stated Roxanna. She and Benny then explained what had transpired from this morning.

“And, I have the names for you, Rick. Thes ones who will be sent home,” said Benny reluctantly handing him the list.

Rick looked a bit shocked when he read the names on the list and shook his head, “I’ll be sorry to see them go…especially…well, especially all of them. So, let’s get some selfies of me, too. Maybe I would have been eliminated from my own show!” emphasized Rick as he quickly snapped five selfies.

“Well, now that this is behind us, let’s get dressed for that party and make sure everyone has a good time!” said Rick as he purposefully strode towards the bedroom to get changed.

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Author’s Notes:

How This Challenge was Done:

This is a totally random Elimination Challenge. Normally, to take better photos, it helps to be inspired or have some photography skill. When they took their photos, none of the contestants were inspired and none had any photography skills. The only sim who had a moodlet buff was Hokulani who was playful, due to the sunglasses clothing item she had on.

Once the 5 selfies were taken, I went to that contestant’s inventory and dragged the photos over the sell icon and it gave me a simoleon amount, which is the total of the 5 selfies. I wrote that amount down beside their name.

The five contestants with the lowest simoleon value of their photos were given a second chance, and I went back a second time and had them take another set of 5 selfies. Some did worse the second time around. I felt this was a very fair way to do an Elimination Challenge since no contestant really had an advantage over another. Results will be revealed in the next chapter – The Rose Ceremony.

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