Vyn Scott: Week 1

Welcome to Bella's Belles Townhomes, a row of four narrow houses available for rent in Belladonna Cove. We're stopping for a week at the blue one. 

Vyn Scott, former Townie, has only just moved in after she has been invited by Samantha Cordial to become a resident here at The Cove, as can be read in this post. 

Vyn is a 54-year old Family Sim with the wish to have six grandchildren - almost impossible for her to achieve, but I suppose I'll let her give it a try at least. She is unemployed with a less than impressive skill profile, but has Bronze Badges in Cash Register and Sewing. 

Her rented house is largely empty, and the rooms are small. The front door opens to a small hallway with front room to the right, a toilet in the middle and a kitchen at the back of the house. A spiral stair case leads to the upper floor.

At least the front room up here is big enough to hold a double bed, and the bathroom is functional. Right now, Vyn has a little over 18,000 Simoleons to play with, but she has to keep in mind that any job she'll take will only be in the Elderly career and not pay as well as if she had already been in a career earlier. 

When Vyn signs the contract for renting the house, she finds out that the landlord's name is Dongsool Love. I suppose I have seen him before, and probably someone else in Belladonna Cove has already begun to befriend him - of course he'll have to become playable eventually, with his surname! 

Vyn can't cook yet, but she would like to learn it, and so I have her make use of the communal BBQ and seating area outside the row of houses and grill some hot dogs. 

Sofia Baldwin passes by and is greeted. So far, most of the people Vyn knows are her former fellow townies, and she makes an effort to meet more of The Cove's residents.

One of her townie friends invites her for an outing downtown, and soon the group's taxi pulls up in front of the Lucky Shack. 

Vyn has a game of poker with some of her acquaintances and leaves the place 60 Simoleons richer than she arrived. 

On Tuesday morning, I have Vyn go out and greet her landlord as soon as he arrives. But... oh dear, it's not a good idea to react like that when your landlord talks to you, Vyn! Next, I have them "hang out", and they finally find some topics where they agree, and become friends. 

Ana Patel walks by around lunch time, and Vyn invites her to join her for a bowl of vegetable soup she has just been making. 

Wednesday is an important day for Vyn. She has just put the finishing touches to the downstairs front room - it now looks like a room fit for a little girl, and that is exactly what it is meant to be: 

The Social Worker's car is pulling up, and the little girl Vyn has adopted arrives!

Brittany, now Scott, is Vyn's adoptive daughter and will hopefully make her dream come true, to be surrounded by six grandchildren before she leaves this world.

Of course, it being a school day, Vyn and Brittany do not have that much time to get acquainted, but after school, they play together, and Vyn helps her daughter with her homework. Later, Brittany meets and greets townie child Diane Smith - another potential new resident!

That evening, Vyn, Brittany and Sally Riley (who was walking by and asked to join them) heartily tuck into their tasty vegetable soup. The new mother and daughter team begin to feel like family already. 

Brittany is a gem of a little girl, absolutely no trouble. She loves her room and makes sure it is tidy before she gets dressed and leaves for school. 

Vyn takes the paper out for recycling and appears to be happy to see her landlord, who comes round every day to take care of everything around his four town houses.

After school and homework, Vyn and Brittany have leftover hot dogs and ask Dongsool to join them. Brittany is already talking about college!

The two things worth mentioning about Friday are Samantha Cordial's visit (remember, Vyn has become a resident of Belladonna Cove thanks to her)... 

 ...and Brittany's first A+.

On Saturday, Brittany invites her class mate Diane Smith over, and the two girls soon become friends.

I guess it was just a question of time before Dongsool and Vyn autonomously fell in love with each other! They may only have two bolts, and their age difference is considerable, but that has never stopped two Sims from falling in love, has it! 

Meanwhile, Brittany elaborates her college plans with Diane, and I am sure the two will go together as soon as they are old enough. 

By Sunday, Vyn is ready to pop the question to Dongsool. No, not THAT question (at least not yet)! But she proposes he move in with her and Brittany, and he does not hesitate even for a nanosecond. 

Dongsool Love, former Landlord, now unemployed A Knowledge Sim who wants to be Chief of Staff. He has an impressive skill profile and adds 5,000 Simoleons to the household account. With the help of the computer Vyn received at the start of the week from Mr. Humble, he finds a position as a GP right away, but will only open his practice on Monday.

I really enjoyed this week with Vyn - and more than I expected. Brittany was so easy to play, and Vyn's whirlwind romance with her landlord resulted in another new playable added to my game.

Toby Scott: Week 1

Another "Scott" that I made playable by sending him to college. Toby's Senior Year is here, but it does not feature him much; he first appeared here for his Freshman Year at the 14-rooms dorm where I sent a bunch of former townie teens to make them playable.

It is time to check on him, now that he has graduated Summa Cum Laude and moved to this modest house on 38 Greaves Avenue in Downtown Desiderata. 

Next door lives Jared Starchild, and just around the corner a bunch of other guys Toby knows from uni have acquired their first homes. 

And here is the man himself: Toby Scott, former NPC townie teen, made playable by me sending him to college because of his surname being the same as a playable Sim in TS4. He was one of the few students who did not form any romantic attachments during those four years.

A Knowledge Sim who dreams of becoming Hall of Famer, he entered the game with a good set of skills. Now all he needs to do is find a job in the Athletic career, and eventually he'll have to max out his body skill. 

The house comes with some basic furniture, kitchen and bathroom installations. But Toby does not need two single beds, and none of the bedrooms is big enough to hold a double bed - some serious remodelling is in order. Good job that Toby has saved most of his grants during the four years at uni, and now has over 11,000 Simoleons to play with.

First, every piece of furniture and other items goes, except for the fire alarm. Then the walls are torn down, the wallpaper is stripped and the carpets from the former bedrooms are removed.

The upper left corner is now the bathroom, and the upper right the bedroom with a double bed and computer desk. The rest of the house consists in an open plan kitchen-dining-lounge area. 

Toby still has almost 4,000 Simoleons left, but since he does not know when he'll be able to start work in the Athletic career, he wants to exercise caution when it comes to spending money beyond what he deems necessary to begin with. 

He needn't have worried - half an hour later, he dons his sports outfit and sets off to work as a Starter.

After work (with no promotion, since he needs three body points), he spots Joshua Ruben walking past and invites his former co-student to join him for the grilled cheese he was just making for tea. "I think it'll start to snow early this year," he remarks; there is not that much he can think of for topics of conversation, since he and Joshua have never quite seen eye to eye while they were still living at the fraterniy house.

It's quite a relief, therefore, when Jack Kim - another former co-student of Toby's - rings and asks him to join them at the Lucky Shack for cards and drinks. "I've got almost all the old gang together," he says, and it's true; Jared Starchild, Jimmy Phoenix and Erik Swain are also there. 

Mrs. Crumplebottom is not such a bad sport when it comes to a game of poker, the boys find out. But eventually, Toby calls it a day and heads home: "Sorry, guys, new job and all that... need to brush up on skills. See you soon!" 

Toby's excuse for leaving the Lucky Shack was really just that - an excuse, since he has Tuesday off, which allows him plenty of time for acquiring those body points. But he also wants to buy new clothes and heads off to Cold Issue Clothing, which is within easy walking distance. To my surprise, the entire group from last night turns up as well, even though Toby has definitely NOT asked them. I hope this bug is not a sign of more to come that endangers my game!

Anyway, Toby ends up on quite a shopping spree, adding a good number of outfits to his meagre wardrobe. He also buys a bottle of perfume - not for himself, but for whoever will eventually capture his interest, since perfume is one of his turn-ons.

Just as he is ready to sit down with a plate of leftover grilled cheese at his red-themed dining table, Ashely Pitts walks by. Of course, Ashley being the founder of the fraternity Toby belonged to at uni, he is invited to share the meal, and the two "brothers" reminisce about the time when they always had their names on the Dean's List. 

On Wednesday, with all the required skills under his belt, Toby returns with a promotion to All Star. (It looks like the team bus is about to run over the hydrant, doesn't it!) 

The career rewards object is now available to him, and Toby decides to install it outside at the back of his house, with easy access from his bedroom.

His diligence in working on his skills pays off nicely when he is promoted to MVP the very next day. 

"Come in, Jimmy, come in, come out of the rain!" Jimmy Phoenix lives just round the corner and has turned up on his own accord.

He is joined by Faith Goodie, who was walking past just as Toby and Jimmy were about to eat the last of the grilled cheese. Of course Toby has heard of Faith - she is quite the legend in sports circles, having discovered running late in life and doing exceptionally well.

Toby is so focused on his lifetime want that on Friday after work, he does not rest until he maxes out his body skill. Well done, Tobs!

He rewards himself with a good long soak in the bath, the tub being a new acquisition thanks to a career bonus.

Saturday sees yet another promotion for Toby: He is now a Superstar. 

Passers-by Sanjay Ramaswami is his guest for the evening, and as usual, Toby also makes a few phone calls to maintain those all-important friendships.

Although Toby has rolled the (in my game) unusual wish to stay home from work, I still make him go on Sunday. And rightly so, as he returns with a smile and a promotion to Assistant Coach. 

He invites Genesis Lee over, a former co-student whom he has befriended over the phone all week. Without me doing anything, she offers to give him a backrub. 

Moments later, Toby has asked her to move in, and she grows up from young adult to adult.

And in spite of the serious look on her face, she is very happy - after all, she and Toby have just autonomously fallen in love! (Although there is not a single bolt of chemistry between them.) 

Genesis Lee, former NPC student, adds 1,000 Simoleons to the household. Her aspiration is Fortune, and she dreams of becoming a Prestidigitator. 

As darkness descends on the snow-covered neighbourhood, Toby's house looks particularly festive. When John Mole walks by and compliments him on the beautiful Christmas decoration, Toby invites him in. 

Inside looks equally festive, much appreciated by Violet Jocque, who happened to walk by earlier and was also invited in.

Toby cooks Crêpes Suzette, and Genesis lights and serves them - already they work well as a team. 

The week with Toby is over, and a good week it was! He made great progress in his chosen career and at the same time managed to maintain all his friendships from uni plus found a new addition to the neighbourhood, falling in love with her on his own accord. (I seem to remember that during his Senior Year at the fraternity house, he developed feelings for Erik Swain, but never acted upon those feelings.)

We'll be back when the letter L as in Lee comes round again.