Fisk's Bar - NO CC

I could tell even before I walked through the doors that the place stank worse than a stray dog on a rainy day… Still, it was where the person I needed to track down was supposed to be, and no private eye ever made their keep by turning down cases that sent them to ratholes like this. I wanted to put off walking through that door as long as possible though, so I sat in the shadows across the way and watched the place for a while.
It wouldn’t have taken anyone long to realize that no one you’d want to have in your life was likely to show up at this bar… the people I saw coming and going were the lowest dregs of the city- people who stank worse than the bar even before they went in. I didn’t recognize anyone coming in the front, but scum like I was looking for was just as likely to come in by a back door… I walked down the alley to see if I could find another way in.
Of course the alley reeked even more than the front of the place… I held on to hope that the puddles were from the near-constant rains the city had been getting lately, but the smell said otherwise. The dumpster looked like it might actually be the cleanest thing in the alley. There was a rusted-out fire escape that led up to the roof, but it didn’t look like something you’d want to use unless you were hoping for a bad case of tetanus… better to take your chances with the fire, really.



There was a back door though… I stepped over a mangy old alley cat and pulled the door handle. Rusted shut. What a surprise. Back to the front it was, then. I walked towards the yellow light of the street again, trying my best to avoid stepping in anything along the way. Checking out the front of the building, I noticed a light on in one of the offices upstairs, and a shadow moving against the blinds. I’d have to look into it, once I found my way up there.
First things first though… the bar. Good Lord…that bar was just as bad as it looked. A haze of smoke choked the few lights that were still working inside, so you couldn’t hardly see what was in front of your face, and some clown’s idea of music blasted from the speakers over the counter so loud that I doubted even a shot from my .38 would have been noticed… I considered testing that theory for a moment.
There were a few goons playing 8-ball off to one side, and just a quick look was all it took for me to tell none of them had much going on upstairs. They sized me up quick before turning back to their game, apparently not interested in anything about me… well, that suited me just fine. The door behind the bar swung open for a moment, and I was surprised to see that the kitchen actually looked pretty clean. Well, I suppose the city health inspector had some muscle still…
The bar itself was soaking wet… I couldn’t tell if it was ‘cause the bartender had just washed it, or if it was because so many people had passed out into their bottles and spilled them. Either way, I was glad of the bourbon in my hip flask… at least I knew where it came from. A few of the drunks in the grimy booths along the wall still looked more-or-less conscious… I wondered if they might have a few things to tell me later…



Right now though, all I needed was a quick look to see that the scum here didn’t include the one I was looking for, so I headed towards the back. Past the bar, a doorway led into the hallway. It was just as filthy as the main room, but at least the door muffled the music once I’d shoved it closed. Pity it didn’t help with the stink. No prizes for guessing where that smell was coming from though- the restrooms looked like they hadn’t seen a mop or a rag in years. No one would spend any more time in there than they absolutely had to, thank God. A quick look in the storage closet revealed nothing but mildewed cardboard boxes that looked like they’d been there since the Carter administration, so I headed up the staircase to check out the second floor.
I’d hoped that it might be less repulsive than the bar downstairs… a stupid dream, really. Of course it wasn’t. It might have been a little cleaner, but the building still stank, and the speakers downstairs were turned up so loud that the grit and dirt on the floor was still bouncing and shifting with every beat as if it were trying to dance along- still just as deafening as it had been in the bar. How people can stand places like this when they’re not being paid for it, I’ll never know.



Thankfully though, the upstairs hallway was empty as a politician’s promise. Still, I knew someone was up here somewhere… I’d seen them moving in the window. Not trusting the silence, I drew my .38 as I rounded the corner. The first room I checked looked to be a storage room of some sort… nothing there would have caught my eye if not for the stack of counterfeit bills peeking out of one of the boxes. Clearly there was more than just a bar being run out of this place. Still no sign of anyone though…
Back in the hallway, I opened the door next to a couch that’d clearly seen more than it should have in its lifetime. Once again, nothin’ really. Looked like an employee break room- punching bag in the corner for the bouncer, maybe, and a few mismatched chairs around a card table. I tried another door and found it locked, but I could hear muffled voices coming through it. Leaning down to the keyhole though, all I heard was a few saps playing poker- nothing to really get me interested in trying to find out more. I turned to the last door, the one that looked like it should lead into the room I’d seen the shadow from. Just an office, lit with a yellow glow filtering through the blinds from the streetlight outside. There was someone in here though; the one I’d been hunting for all night, and not at all the kind of person you’d expect to find in a dive like this.
She was sitting behind the desk as I walked in, but stood up when I’d closed the door. She was tall, with waves of blonde hair that fell to her shoulders in a way that took my mind what I was doing there for a moment. Her dress was just as out-of-place as she was; red sequins cut low enough to make a minister blush, and certainly far too expensive for anyone living in this part of town. But what really caught my eye was the snub-nosed revolver she held in her left hand… pointed right at me.
She took my .38 from me, and gestured at the door with her piece. Seeing no other option, I walked out, with her following, her revolver between my ribs. Clearly, this night was not going to end the way I’d been hoping.

Shame, really… it could have gone so well.



And that's it for my attempt at writing a noir description for my lot... A couple weeks ago, I'd sparked a small discussion over bars in one of the TS2 threads, and that inspired me to try my hand at making one. It's still a far cry from the ideal bar that I still can't even come close to figuring out, but as a terrible dive bar, I'm pretty happy with it (and when I playtested a clone of it, fully 2/3rds of the other Sims who showed up were criminals, so I figure that's a good sign!). I actually put the lot itself together in about 24 hours, but then I spent a couple weeks putting the description together- I like getting to try out different writing styles like this!
The photos in the description you just read were photoshopped (obviously, I'd think), but there are unedited versions included further on in the screenshots, so you can get a better idea what you're getting.
It's also been pointed out that the upstairs windows may not translate over properly, depending on which version of the Holiday stuff pack you have... I used the frosted windows because they're also passable as unwashed windows, but you could also just opt for the BG windows if you prefer.
I playtested this lot well enough to be pretty confident there aren't any major problems remaining with it, but of course, if you find any, please let me know, and I'll try to get them fixed. Hopefully your Sims will enjoy many a night in this disreputable establishment.

Lot Size: 2x2
Lot Price (furnished): $124,190