Fanon:General Buzz Grunt (C.Syde)

General Buzz Grunt is a well known resident in my player stories in The Sims 2 in Strangetown. He is the son of the late General Chip and Missy Grunt, the ex-husband of the late Lyla Grunt, the husband of Erin Beaker and the father of General Tank, Ripp, Buck and Rusty Grunt. Buzz is voiced by Stephen Kearin and is 15 days from being an Elder.

He made his first appearance in my player stories at the local community pool where he met Ajay Loner. It kinda surprised me when I learned about Buzz's background and character later on. With his share of hot dogs, exchanging polite conversations and swimming at the Community lot; he just seemed like an average ordinary guy who wanted to be part of the Community.

As I became more familiar with the Strangetown characters, it became clear to me that Buzz was an aggressive Sim who was feuding with several other Strangetown residents - Vidcund, Pascal and Lazlo Curious and Loki Beaker whom he'd won fights with during his teenage years. The late Olive Specter who many players believe to have murdered Buzz's ex-wife, but without his knowledge. He was also currently feuding with Pollination Technician Nine Smith, for being an Alien and because Buzz had lost a fight with him. Even though Buzz had lost the fight, their number of body skills are inconsistent. This can be reconciled if it is assumed that they had the fight before Buzz had maximized the body skill, and was unlucky.

It should be noted that if Buzz had known Lola and Chloe Curious, and Johnny and Jill Smith since the start of the game, he would likely have also been feuding with them. Buzz also takes a military approach to raising his sons Tank and Ripp (much to the latter's dismay). He didn't seem to take much notice of his youngest son Buck. But like Ripp, Buck was not happy with the way Buzz unsuccessfully tried to force Ripp into joining his older brother in the Military Career. They were also fed up with the way their father treated the other Strangetown residents.

Ripp and Buck 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. Tank didn't bother to alert his father on what Ripp and Buck were doing, probably because he didn't want to show signs of weakness, or he underestimated Ripp and Buck's success at finding neighbours to aid them. So it came as a unpleasant surprise when Tank and Buzz saw Ripp, Buck and the 11 neighbours who'd agreed to help them, arrive at their house. Initially they minimized their signs of weakness - if any - and seemed deaf to any of the domineering threats that Vidcund, Loki and Chloe bombarded them with. But they were ultimately brought to their senses when PT9 persuaded Vidcund, Loki and Chloe to stop making threats and told them to just let Buzz and Tank's respective Reputations collapse.

Being labelled as outcasts was the last thing that Buzz and Tank wanted as they both had the Popularity Aspiration. The still live military oriented lives but they have become much nicer and respectful towards their relatives Ripp and Buck and their Strangetown residents. Buzz has set aside his grudge against scientists and aliens. To show there were no hard feelings Buzz offered to keep in touch with PT9 which eventually resulted in them becoming best friends.

Trivia

 * Some players believe that Buzz was a teenager when he had Tank and Ripp. When subtracting the number of days each of them have lived, Buzz would not have been an adult at the time of Tank and Ripp's birth. This can be reconciled if it's assumed that Buzz had Elixir of Life at some point in his life, though this is not considered canonical in my player stories.
 * I decided to remove Buzz's face paint because I thought that it made him look rather childish. In any case, I was surprised when I found that Buzz only had 15 days left as an Adult. As far as I was concerned, Buzz looked like he was in his early twenties and not his early forties (the age group which I think best represents his character and the number of days left before he becomes an Elder.
 * The headshot displayed above is sharper and less polygonal than the default.
 * In my player stories, Buzz normally wears his everyday outfit and only occasionally his military uniform. I decided to make him wear his everyday clothes more often as it makes his and Tank's features easier to compare. Also it makes him blend in better with the other residents of Strangetown.
 * He is also seldom referred to as "the General" in my player stories, instead as "General Buzz" or simply "Buzz". This is because it confirms that outside his job, he is just a Sim like any other, though a military oriented one obviously.
 * My player stories marks the introduction of a more relaxed and easy going Buzz which is evident in a picture I took of him playing maxis simulator and another of him and Tank playing on the Swings. Another picture shows him using an Execuputter.
 * Despite normally being interpreted by players as a "senior figure", I usually interpret Buzz as a "junior figure". This is due to his facial features, everyday clothes, lack of facial hair and having a high voice.