Emily Lee: Senior Year

Welcome to this dorm at Veronaville's Académie Le Tour, where we have already spent three full semesters, thanks to a number of playable students with different surnames. 

We have just managed to catch up with Emily Lee before her time at uni ends: This is her Senior Year - and everybody else's, too, apart from Tybalt Capp (far right) who is the only Junior right now. 

Emily is a Knowledge Sim and an aspiring Game Designer. According to her Maxis-written bio, she "is excited about starting school and very interested in learning the history behind the Academy." 

Well, her "starting school" (shouldn't it say "uni" or "college"?) days are long over, but she is still very interested in learning, and not just about the Academy's history. 

Sharing the dorm with her are (from left to right) Chris Cho, Ellen Frost, Phineaus Furley, Chaz Whippler and Marla Biggs as well as Tom Freshe, who is not in the picture, and Tybalt of course.

Exams make hungry, and Emily sits down for a late breakfast with Chris first thing. 

Then she proceeds to skilling, like almost everybody else - unless they are too tired and I send them straight to bed.

Marla Biggs is first to finish her Term Paper this semester. 

One by one, the students write their papers. Chaz is lucky in that the Campus Coach arrives to pester him in to working out only after he has finished his paper. "She just can't leave me in peace, can she," he wonders. After having worked so hard on his paper, he would love to just kick back a bit for the rest of the semster. 

Emily has just pressed the "send" button on her Term Paper. 

Talking about it to a friend on the phone, she plays it down, pretending it "really was nothing, you know - I could have written this in elementary school." Knowledge Sims!

Marla and Ellen are engaged in an animated conversation in the cafeteria, blissfully unaware of being in the dorm cook's way. 

A bit later in the upstairs common room, Ellen watches her boyfriend Tom and fellow student Tybalt dancing away to the stereo - she finds it hard to decide who of the two has the better moves, but of course she favours Tom.

Too late for the show, as Marla and Emily realise a bit after the boys have stopped dancing. 

Phineaus is last of the group to finish his Term Paper. From now on, everyone is largely left to their own devices, save a few phone calls to maintain their friendships.

Emily surprises me by taking it upon herself to clean one of the upstairs toilets.

After their return from class, she and Marla share some juicy gossip about one of their professors.

It is Exam Day the next day, and I have made sure everybody got enough sleep. Whether they sit their exams in their nightwear or decide to have a shower and dress properly is up to them; Emily here chooses the latter. 

Just as they are all off to their exams, Mitch Indie appears and rummages the dorm's rubbish bin for something edible... successfully :-P

A decent night's sleep has obviously helped: All eight playable students return with A+ and their full grants. For everyone but Tybalt, their very last semester at uni has begun!

For all but Tybalt, their very last semster has begun! And for really all of them, a round of skilling starts. Everyone seems to be needing charisma this term, and so an extra two mirrors are installed, one in the dorm's library and another one in the communal bathroom where so far there had been only one mirror. 

The dorm cook watches a fight between a cheerleader and a Cow mascot. I don't know whether her thought bubble means she wants the cow to win, or lose - I suspect it was the mascot who set off the sprinkler and caused the cook to have wet feet, and extra work to mop up the water. 

Phineaus finishes his Term Paper before everybody else. He will now never have to write anything like it ever again. 

Emily enjoys the peace and quiet at the empty cafeteria - a little earlier, and she would have witnessed the fight. 

Ellen and Tom are an item, but that does not mean that she can not find other guys attractive, such as Tybalt here. As long as she does not cause scenes of jealousy, I'm fine with that. 

Emily gets up the next morning, thinking that she won't be sleeping in this tiny room for many more nights. 

She needs to improve her logic, and Chaz joins her at the chess board until I send him painting - he needs creativity.

It must be PJ Day today! Marla, Tybalt and Ellen are all coming for breakfast at the canteen in their nightwear.

Emily has just finished her VERY LAST Term Paper EVER when a fight breaks out in the room. Is it a mascot and cheerleader again? 

No... the sworn enemies (for whatever reason) Tom and Meredith. This time, she wins. 

Emily spots Edwin Sharpe walking by and greets him.

Inside, Chaz can't believe he has finally made it and handed in his last Term Paper!

Ellen has never changed out of her PJ all day, but the others are decently dressed when the group meet at the canteen for their evening meal. 

Emily loves the pinball machines and has become pretty good at playing.

Of course, no semester is complete without at least one sponge bath. Actually, two are happening today; first it's Chaz and then Tom who can't seem to remember the way to the showers.

And all of a sudden, Exam Day is here - the FINAL exam for all but one of our students! Different students have different ways of calming their pre-exam nerves: Emily tries to lighten the mood by telling Ellen one silly joke after the other. 

Tom and Chaz prefer a pillow fight... 

 ...and Tom also thinks an extra portion of rapdily eaten syrup-drenched pancakes will give his blood sugar a high helping his performance later. 

All their strategies have worked, when a few hours later the group return with a complete round of A+ and full grants. 

Emily, Ellen, Marla and Phineaus have graduated Summa Cum Laude, while Tom and Chaz are still happy with their Magna Cum Laude diplomas, and Chris achieved Cum Laude. (Tybalt, of course, has another year to go before he, too, will graduate.) 

Emily gets to throw a graduation party. Most of her friends are still here, and she has no family to invite; it is a rather low-key event, just having fun with her fellow students and dorm mates.

After two of the students had moved out, I was hoping for Phineaus and Marla to ask their NPC student friends Alan Riley (front) and Carl Cho (back) to take over their rooms at the dorm, but although I was able to click on "propose" and then "move in", the action disappeared as soon as I had clicked it. Strange, that! 

Anyway, Emily and the other six original playable students have now all moved to Veronaville, where I have to find places for them to live. 

Tybalt is now the only playable Sim at this large dorm. Who is going to join him, and how/when/by whom will Alan and Carl move in?

Camryn Lee: Week 1

Camryn is an ex-townie turned playable because she has the same surname as Emily Lee, a playable Maxis-made student. You can read about how, where and when she moved in here.

We have spent a week at this house in Strangetown not all that long ago - it is where the Grunts live, General Buzz and his three sons. Well, two sons, since the oldest (Tank) is currently at La Fiesta Tech, Strangetown's college. The car is a new addition as per a wish ranking high on the General's list. 

This week, we're actually here not so much for him but for Camryn Lee, the townie lady who captured his heart and moved in at the end of last week. 

Camryn is a Popularity Sim with the lifetime want of having 20 best friends. So far, Buzz is her only one, but she has several townie friends alredy, and since she does not need to work (the Grunts have enough money thanks to the General's faithful service to his country), she can dedicate all her spare time to working on her friendships.

On this Sunday, Buzz, Camryn and the two boys get into the brand new car and drive to Red's Famous 50's Diner.

They have hardly gotten off the car when Buzz grabs Camryn and plants a BIG kiss on her lips, much to Buck's embarrassment - he has never seen his Dad act like that! Ripp pretends to be completely cool and unfazed about it all.

The diner is busy but mostly with townies who enjoy the food and conversation.

Remember Stephen Cho, the waiter Ripp met last week during a visit to the Oresha Family Dining? 

It seems poor Stephen works at more than one restaurant; here he is. Because of the phone hack sent to me by Twoyysforme (thank you!), my Sims are now able to ring service Sims they want to befriend, just as it was with my game before I re-installed it.

After they have eaten, I lean back and watch what they get up to. Camryn and Buzz wait for a townie girl to prepare the pool table and then join her for a game. 

Buck looks closely at each and every painting or poster in the building - he does not talk to anyone or join them for some game or other.

Ripp is the only one to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening outside, having a playful waterballoon fight with an unknown townie.

Back home, he thinks that this new addition to their family is not so bad after all - she's keeping his Dad off his back, that's for sure! 

It is funny to watch Buzz being all over Camryn; he is forever following her around, hugging and kissing her whenever she is not engaged in any other activity. 

If she's not "busy" with Buzz, Camryn hogs the phone most of the time. Well, she wants those 20 best friends, doesn't she. 

I wasn't really paying attention and so it came as a bit of a surprise when Ripp grew up into an adult early on Monday morning. 

No college for him - but he did not wish for it anyway, and now he can get started in earnest on finding a suitable mother for those two children I want him to have so that his Dad can fulfill his lifetime want of having six grandchildren. 

Oh come on, Ripp - you didn't actually WANT to go to college, did you?

Anyway, he soon forgets his grief and goes online to see who's available for a chat and finds that his big brother, Tank, is! 

In the afternoon, just as his Dad is dropped off after work, Ripp calls the Matchmaker and asks her to find him a three-bolt date. 

Much to his (and my) disappointment, though, all she comes up with are two townie ladies (one after the other, of course) who are only two-bolters. Ripp does not want to spend more money, seeing that he is not earning any, and sends the ladies - Matchmaker included - away.

The General couldn't be happier when Camryn comes out to greet him with a warm hug and tender kiss. 

The two of them end the evening cuddling under the stars.

Unfortunately, my game then crashes and I have to play the Monday all over again. 

This time, before Ripp has time to call the Matchmaker, Lola Singles happens to walk by, and you can see what's on Ripp's mind immediately! They are "only" two-bolters, but get along well enough to become friends over a game of kicky bag.

Lola joins Ripp for a bowl of Mac&Cheese and seems not to be averse to becoming an item, and indeed there are pink hearts by the time she leaves.

A light dusting of snow covers the ground on Tuesday morning. 

As usual, Buzz and Camryn are never far from each other until it is time for the General to board the helicopter. 

Before he knew Camryn, he would not have dreamt of walking around in his PJs and get into his uniform only at the last minute! The two of them are now engaged, as per Camryn's wish. 

Neither Camryn nor Ripp are good cooks, but while Buck is at school (he's really good by now, having rolled wishes for skills, skills and more skills), they want to make a meal. It doesn't go too well, but thankfully, only the food is burnt and neither of them!

Nearly every day, Ripp has been trying to talk to his Dad when he was around and I didn't give him anything else to do. 

On the other hand, the only time the General has sought out his middle son on his own initiative, it was to insult him - Ripp ended up crying.

Now I force Buzz to sit at the same table while Ripp eats some of the burnt food, and at first their conversation does not seem to go well, what with Ripp not having a job and all.

But after a while, the General concedes that growing up without their mother can't have been easy for the boys, and with him being away on military missions most of the time... This is really the first time these two have a conversation with "plusses" and not "minusses"! 

Thursday sees the official beginning of spring - but also more snow than what there's been all winter, and the paper girl leaves deep foot prints in the thick white blanket on her paper round. 

Indoors, Ripp and the General (in his PJs, again!) have breakfast together. They don't agree about politics, but when Buzz changes the topic and talks about his recent engagement to Camryn, the conversation turns much friendlier. 

Ripp likes Camryn and thinks she's really good for his grumpy old Dad. 

If only she'd understand about privacy - Ripp and Lola have just shared their first kiss and are now truly and properly in love!

There is no room for a double bed in any of the designated bedrooms upstairs, and so things are changed a bit: What used to be Ripp's bedroom in the top right corner, complete with teenage angst posters, is now the gym room. And the largest room that used to hold the exercise machine and the punching bag becomes Ripp's and Lola's bedroom - she has just agreed to move in!

Ripp wastes no time; while he does not really see himself as a great Dad - or a family man for that matter -, he knows his father really, REALLY wants grandchildren, and Ripp quite likes the idea of giving him grandkids with Alien heritage, knowing full well that the General has always been at odds with Polly Smith and his Alien offspring in Strangetown. 

(Lola's human father is the same as the Curious' brothers' and Jennifer Smith, which makes her half-siblings to them, and also to Johnny and Jill Smith - an odd family tree if I've ever seen one!)

Ripp and Lola were successful at their first attempt, and Ripp proceeds to spend the rest of the night at the telescope. Interestingly, he meets his Dad there, and once more they manage to talk without arguing - I am really glad their relationship is improving, even if still far from being friends. 

Lola doesn't need to wonder whether she might be pregnant when she gets up on Saturday morning - I can confirm that she is!

Love is in the air all through the house, it seems.

For dinner, Buck makes pork chops to celebrate Lola's move-in. Stephen Cho, by now Ripp's best friend, joins them, and the General thinks that it really feels like a family now, looking along the length of their new dining table to Camryn. 

The next morning, Saturday, Buzz surprises everyone by making omelettes for breakfast. Ripp and Lola can't help wondering what got into the man - never before has the General been so generous, and even Camryn seems to be slightly alarmed :-D 

Stephen is invited over again, and when Ripp asks him "Why not move to Strangetown for good?", he accepts, and goes about finding his own place. 

Before he moves out, though, the joins the others on the short drive to Lost In Love Hedge Maze. 

A wedding arch and chairs have been set up in one corner of the maze: Camryn and Buzz are getting married! Ripp and Buck are the first to take seats; their older brother Tank couldn't make it over from college. 

The newlyweds are applauded... 

 ...and a festive meal is consumed before the wedding party is dissolved and the Lee-Grunt-Singles household are on their way home, mainly for Lola, who at this stage of her pregnancy really needs a rest. 

Camryn and Buzz decided to take hers as their family name. That way, for the General it feels even more like he has left behind is old life and fully embarks on this new chapter with his second wife. 

Just before Stephen moves out, he spots another relative of his walking by: Blake Cho. 

This is where the week with Camryn ends. 

A lot happened, and I was tempted to play another day just to see Lola's baby - or babies; she could easily be about to have twins, seeing how very tired and extremely hungry she's been during her pregnancy. 

Buck was sent to college a little early; he REALLY wanted to go, and with five days to spare before turning into an adult, it feels like something he would do. 

I should have focused more on Camryn, who did not really achieve much in terms of her lifetime want - she still has only a handful of best friends, but there was always something going on that kept her from working on her friendships.

For the wedding, I simply forgot to invite Tank, but I am sure he will be happy for his Dad all the same.

Next time I'll play this household, it will be for Lola when the letter S as in Singles comes up on my list.