The Capp Brothers: Week 1

Once more, we are briefly back at Tybalt Capp's house. He is about to say good-bye for his remaining two children, Cornel...

...and Corydal.
The two young men have to move out of the impractical (and graphically bugged) house so that they can find themselves a wive each, making their old Dad happy.

Corydal is a Knowledge Sim who works on becoming Education Minister. His brother Cornel has the Fortune aspiration and dreams of earning 100.000 Simoleons. To this end, he has been working in the criminal career for some time. His current job is that of Counterfeiter, while Corydal holds the position of High School Principal.

The brothers do not have more than the typical 20.000 Simoleons between them, and find a small house in Bluewater Village. After having purchased it, a mere 93 Simoleons are left in their pockets. They sell some of the objects from their inventories, such as paintings bought while I was playing another Sim's business on a community lot, and raise their fortune to 1.443 Simoleons.

That's not much when you have a practically empty house, is it!

This is how they find the house when they move in - not even a kitchen stove!

Corydal's career rewards object, the book shelf, is the first thing to go into the living room. I can not remember right now who brought the teleprompter into the family, but it somehow ended up in Cornel's inventory.

The photo on the wall and his career rewards object are the only things so far in Cornel's bedroom - no bed.

Note the absence of a bed in Corydal's bedroom, too. He does have a nice pair of curtains, though; it was a gift from Nathan Gavigan.

Who made the tea set and the potholder? I really don't recall, but they were obviously given to the brothers by a well-meaning friend.

Nearly as soon as they have arrived at their new dwelling, the boys are off to work again. But when they return in the afternoon, it is with fresh paychecks in hand - they now have 4.466 Simoleons. Corydal celebrates this beautiful summer's day by playing in the small swimming pool in their back yard. That keeps him out of the way while I furnish the house.

A kitchen stove, dining table and four chairs give the house a much more homely appearance.

And for the first time in their lives, the brothers have beds to call their own!
Remember - they grew up as Plantsims and never slept until they took the potion to turn them into "human" Sims. This is Corydal's bedroom.

Cornel's is the bedroom facing the road.

Just as they beginn to feel tired enough to contemplate going to bed, the phone rings. It is Paola Picaso - Corydal's secret love! (Secret, because she is actually living with Garrett Newson.)
She has heard that the brothers have moved and invites them for an outing into town. "You surely don't want to spoil your brand new oven with cooking the first night in your new house," she reasons.

Well, my new rule for playing this 'hood says that I send each household to a community lot at least once each week. Why not do it right away on the first day of the week?

Soon after the phone call, the taxi pulls up in front of Center Drip Coffee Shop.

Paola (front, thinking of engagement) has brought along Garrett (far left). Other Sims part of this casual group are a very pregnant Parvati Patel, Gary Greenman with wife Jessica (former Picaso, Paola's mother) and of course Corydal and Cornel.

I've not played this community lot in ages! Everyone is having fun, and the brothers fulfill wishes when they take turns at the mic. Other New Maximilianians appear, too, such as Shaun Singles sitting at the table with Corydal while Cornel is belting out song after song.

Back home, the day is far from over - Cornel asks his sweetheart Frances Hart (former townie) to come see the new house.

Well, she DID get a guided tour of the house first!
Anyway, Cornel needs to marry, and Frances is the most likely candidate. She moves shortly after this picture was taken, adding an impressive 23.755 Simoleons to the brothers' modest bank account.

With that, I decide that I want them to live somewhere nicer, and move them into this pretty Maxis-made house which I have never seen before, let alone played in.
When I re-organized New Max, I took all the houses from the pre-made neighbourhoods which I did not use in my game until now - this is one of them. I don't know where it originally stood.

As before, everybody goes to work almost straight away after moving in. Then the chance cards begin to drop in, and Frances takes the wrong decision with hers - she is fired.
That's actually good, because she WAS working on becoming Chief of Staff and had already climbed the career ladder to Surgeon. But upon moving in, what do I find? A changed lifetime want! She now wants to max out 7 skills (fitting for a Knowledge Sim), and that is what she will focus on from now on.

Later the same day (we're still talking Monday here), Cornel comes home with a promotion to Smuggler. He does not aspire necessarily to the top of his career, but every Simoleon brings him closer to his LTW of earning 100.000, and of course the bonus money that comes with a promotion is most welcome.

His brother is not far behind - he is now Senior College Professor. Before he can hope for his next promotion, he will have to acquire several skill points.

Cornel and Frances are in love, but there is not a single chemistry bolt between them. It would be nice if that could be changed, and so I check their turn-ons and have Frances dye her hair and put on make-up. She seems to like her new look...

...and so does Cornel! They are still at only 1 bolt after that, though.

It is Tuesday now, by the way.

Corydal is enjoying a relaxed breakfast. Now that he is a Senior Professor, work starts an hour later for him.

Meanwhile, Frances greets Christian Love.

Upstairs, Cornel maxes out his creativity skill. Not that he needs it - it is Frances who wants to max out all her skills - but his paintings will sell for more money now, and as I have said before, every Simoleon brings him closer to his LTW.

On Wednesday morning, Helena Stacks comes visiting on her own accord. Maybe you remember that she is the daughter of Matthew Hart and xxx Stacks, born before her parents got round to getting married. Frances, the former townie, moved in with them because I decided to treat her as a cousin of Matthew's, seeing they have the same surname.
(Helena really just walked in - she did not need to be greeted!)

Garrett Newson joins the group a couple of hours later, and the four of them enjoy Mac & Cheese prepared by Cornel.

When Corydal returns from work, I have him first shower and then work on his skills for his next promotion. He needs two cleaning skill points, and raking the leaves in the garden will help with that. Also, I can never resist having my Sims burn piles of leaves, at the same time dreading and hoping for a fire to break out.
As you can see, it does not take long for my secret hope to come true!

Soon, everybody comes running to "dance" around the fire.

Strangely enough, Helena, who is furthest from the flames, catches fire first.

Not for long, though - the flames jump over on Cornel...

...who dies 16 days from Elderhood and long before he has reached his LTW.
Sadly, his death will also mean his father will not reach his LTW - Tybalt wants to marry off six children, and now there are only 5 left.
What a sad ending to an afternoon with friends!

On Thursday morning, Corydal can't concentrate on anything. He is of course grieving the loss of his brother.

But can you believe what happens when I have Frances light another pile of leaves? Yes - another fire!

Soon, the tree and the row of flower shrubs are ablaze.

And then it is Frances' turn to become a tiny pile of ashes. She was 12 days from Elderhood, and would have needed some more skill points before reaching her LTW. Sorry, Frances!

Corydal's car pool is waiting for him at the kerb, but he has no mind for going to work right now. A passing townie comes running up, but is as helpless in front of the flames as Corydal.

Well, that's it. Corydal follows his brother sooner than I thought.
And poor Tybalt has lost two children in the course of two days.

After there has hardly been any drama so far this round, this week certainly made up for it! I don't know yet what Tybalt is going to do, but we will soon find out.