Scooter 6.2 - Smoke & Fog

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Hello chefs. Welcome back to the Scooters. We continue on treading new ground with Dami and Hari in the town of Evergreen Harbour, where there is...trash and lots of it. Yep.
 

 

This was my attempt at getting Dami in the freelancer career as a writer, prior to the Snowy Escape patch. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the whole fucker was bugged and wouldn't be fixed till winter. Damián is writing into the void and not getting paid.

Which, yeah. Ain't we all.

Don't know who this Sim is and what the context was, but knowing Damián and how much of an ass he is, they are probably right in the middle of discovering their new neighbour is a mean bastard. So. I think that's gonna be a no on the baked ziti.

In the suburbs of Grims Quarry, the already-planned maker's space has just recently opened. Hari's headed over to try his hand at this...fabricator...thing.

Hari: I don't know what to make of this. But let's try it.

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Who is Hari Rotan? Just like Matangi and Toro before him, Hari comes from the Chane Legacy, a story-based save that featured tales of supernatural creatures from all around Asia. Hari was an admittedly loose take on orang bunian, a kind of otherworldly spirit from Malay folklore. He was an errant wanderer, a facet of him that remains today, that found friendship and family with humans. Let's see if the same can't happen for this iteration of him with Dami...

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Oh hey, there's Malakai. Guess he's come to see what his nephew's...roommate is up to???

Kai: I am so lost. Where am I? It is so cold here.

Loving that this Sim walked into the studio and immediately began whaling on someone else. (sigh) NAPs are so stupid. This EP is so stupid.

Hari: The girls are fightingggggg

Looks like Hari is proving himself a decent craftsman after all!

Dami: You made all of this?

Hari: Uh-huh! Now I can sell it online! You just...need to...let me use the computer. That's all right, right bossman?

Dami: Don't call me that. But yes. It is.

Hari: Big score!

--Television going on in the background--

Dami: So...you're from Malaysia. That sounds cool.

Hari: Yeah, it's okay. It was home for a long time and now this is home.

Dami: Why here, though? Why some small town in Canada, and not like, Toronto or Ottawa or something?

Hari: So expensive lah. Anyway, there's no ocean there. I'm an island boy for life. And anyway, why didn't you go to Toronto or Ottawa?

Dami: I guess...there's more opportunity in somewhere like Evergreen Harbour.

Hari: See. You answered your own question after all!

Well, Dami doesn't have another bed, and it's still summer so...Hari got a tent!

...it's not ideal but they are broke as ALL hell rn so!

Hari in my head is friendly and charismatic, at least, to charm himself into a stranger's home after being caught digging through their scraps.

Hari: ...but wait. That's not all. For the price of ONE I will throw in ANOTHER handful of bees.

Remember 2020? I sure am trying not to.

Dami: Hello? Hello? Can you guys hear me?

Luca, over a Zoom call: Dami, I can hear really loud music where you are. Since when do you listen to trap?

Dami: I don't. It's my...tenant.

Bree, over the same call: Aw, Dami made a friend! That's so cute. It only took twenty-six years.

This pack came with some quite frankly disgusting features.

Hari: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHGHGHGHGHGRFVFJMF I JUST WANTED TO RECYCLE

Dami is out canvassing the locals for work.

Dami: Afternoom, gentlemen. I'm Damián Scooter for the Board of Quality of Life Improvements. How are you doing today?

Random man 1: Alright I guess.

Dami: Great. Do you guys feel strongly of the smog problem Evergreen Harbour has?

Random man 2: Smog problem? What smog?

Dami: You know...the refuse from the port. It's kinda everywhere.

Random man 1: I mean whatever. Couldn't care less, honestly.

Random man 2: I'm the wrong person to ask. I'm leaving at the end of the month.

Dami: Oh. I see.

Random man 2: Look, Scooter... (mutters) weird name. Anyway. I'm sure you bought a house here or something, and you were wondering why it was so cheap.

Dami: I...kinda, yes.

Random man 2: The Harbour is set to become a ghost town, probably within the next ten years. There's really no use saving it. So, I mean, best of luck, but you are seriously fighting an uphill battle without a sword. As for me, I'm moving to Halifax where the jobs are. So.

Hari I don't think it's very safe to carve wood with a KITCHEN KNIFE?

Hari: Have you ever seen Damián cook? Yeah, me either. He won't miss it!

Sitting down to dinner is becoming a familiar, regular occurrence. Especially now that Hari can afford to pitch in for groceries.

Dami: Wait, Hari. I just remembered--this is made out of pork. Do you...? I mean, I don't want to assume, but...you are from Malaysia...and I never asked if you were religious....

Hari: Me? Haha. Nah, bossman. Never been a good Muslim boy like ibu and ayah wanted. Pig meat is A-OK, José.

Dami: Oh. Okay.

Hari: I like living in grievous sin too much to stick to that stuff. Bacon is delicious. Drinking is great. And boys are super cute.

Dami: Oh--ah, okay. Cool.

Hari: That means you too, bossman. Not to offend.

Dami: N--no, not at all. (mutters) Finish your chili. I gotta...power wash the dishes. Later.

Dami: I stinky :(

So...take a shower? Literally get out of bed and go to the bathroom?

Dami: No :( Be sad only.

I know I balked at the knife thing but I trust Hari even LESS with a saw.

Hari: Just one vote of confidence, please, I beg.

The state of unbridled disrepair this town is simply alarms Dami.

Dami: (groans) Maybe...maybe I can start a community cleanup effort? Ugh, but no one here even cares.... Maybe if I paid them to do it? UGH but with what money?! Man. What a big task this is.

Since Hari lives outside, I might as well have him grow flowers.

Hari: So like...if I get good enough at this can I start growing weed?

We'll see, buddy. For now, pretty little bluebells must do.

This job is running Damián ragged. I mean, they didn't even put eyeliner on today.

Dami: So you're telling me I spent that entire zoom call looking UGLY? I'm gonna k-word myself.

I, too, love taking my phone calls on the crapper.

Hari: ...'salaam alaikum, ayah! I got a call card! Okay, so let me make this quick because I only have like 2 minutes. Cheap card lah. I have a new address. You got a pen? Okay...

Sometimes, Port Promise promises...to be a nice place to go. Dami decided to try that new restaurant that recently opened up there. They brought Hari along.

Hari: So I mean, I hate that it takes gentrification to introduce new business to this place, but I guess if it's creating jobs I can't complain.

Dami: Hari...

Hari: Although, I gotta say, this New York Angeles industrial bar look--so cheesy lah. So overdone.

Dami: Hari. The waiter's here to take our order.

Hari: Oh, okay. Hi, can I get milk?

Port Promise might be ugly. But you can't help but see the canvas of potential it could be, laid out in front of you. Anything can happen. And anything will.

Hari/Dami: (snort-laughing)

Dami: You were sooooooo mean to that guy!

Hari: I was not! I was right! That cold zucchini "noodles" was not nasi goreng. That was "naw-see go-rang"!

Dami: (chuckling) Shut upppp, that's the way he said it too.

Hari: Hey, you said you were Mexican right? You should know how I feel--Taco Bell exists!

Dami: Yeaaaahhhh but Taco Bell is good 2AM eats when you're really high.

Hari: (chuckles) I've never had it. You'll show me, right?

Dami: Show you? Yeah, sure. Though there's nicer places to go than Taco fuckin' Bell.

Hari: Hey, it doesn't matter how much you pay for an experience. As long as you remember it well, and it was with good people, it was worth it.

Dami: (smiling) Yeah, you're right.

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I realise I forgot to write a little closer at the end of the last chapter, doy. I'll include it in here. I am excited to finally induct Hari into the Scooters, as he was among my faves from the Chane Legacy (the first 4 entities, really; they were where it was at). Let's see how stoic, impersonable Dami can navigate him, on top of being on their own in a foreign country for the first time. That's all I have for today, and I will see you next time, friends. Byyyyeeeee!