Jared Starchild: Week 1

We have not left Desiderata Valley but are now in its downtown area, where most of the students have moved to after graduation. This house at 36 Greaves Avenue is Jared Starchild's new address.

The house is fully but cheaply furnished. Jared has been parsimonious with his student grants and can well afford better stuff - he has still 12,000 Simoleons left after having bought the house. 

His aspiration being Family, it is not surprising that Jared wishes nothing more than to become Education Minister. He has graduated with honours (Summa Cum Laude) in Arts and made many good friends during his four years at college, even becoming a fraternity member during his Senior year. 

First, he uses Mr. Humble's computer to look for a job. There is nothing in Education, though, and so he uses his first day at the new house to settle in and getting the place furnished to better suit his taste. 

Not going to work right away also means he is here when the Welcome Committee arrive in the shape of Trisha Traveller, Ripp Grunt and Hannah Bell. 

Later, Jane Stacks, who has also just graduated and moved into town, rings and asks Jared to join her and a group of friends for an outing - "all the old gang will be there," she promises, and she's right - there are Castor Nova, Jimmy Phoenix, Martin Ruben and Jane herself, as well as Toby Scott and Allegra Gorey (just getting off the taxi on the other side). 

The friends have a good time at Lulu Lounge between the hot tub and the dance floor. But Jared has had a long day, and all the unpacking and shifting around of furniture has made him really tired. He leaves just after 9:00 pm and is in bed before 10:00.

There's no suitable job for Jared on Tuesday, either. He decides to grow a beard, and I must say I think he looks better with it.

He wishes to have his first kiss, but Jared went through his entire time at uni without developing a love interest. I check his turn-ons and find that he really likes red hair, and so when townie Kaylynn Spitzig walks by, he greets her. They get along well enough, but when Jared asks her for a date, she declines. Strangely enough, no bolts appear for her in his relationship panel, in spite of him checking her out repeatedly.

It is Wednesday, and Jared has just had his first day as a teacher at Desiderata's Elementary School. No promotion as yet, since he needs to improve his cleaning skill. 

On Thursday, Jared returns from work with his colleague Victor Aspir and a promotion to High School Teacher.

He spots another red-haired lady walking by, this one is townie Gretchen Chin. Greeting her and checking her out results in two bolts; only three will do when it comes to a townie with a non-playable name, I'm afraid, and so Miss Chin is sent on her way. 

Victor stays for dinner, and Jared spends the rest of the evening skilling for his next promotion. It seems so similar to his time at uni, when the start of every term meant mainly skilling!

It is Friday afternoon, and Jared has not been home long from work when Toby Scott, former fellow student and frat brother, appears. "If it isn't Tobs!" he exclaims, happy to see his friend.

He is also happy when I fulfill one of his rare "buy me" wishes and place an orange car on his drive. (The drive isn't really white, it only looks like that because I was still "gripping" the car when I took the picture.) 

Unfortunately, the telly breaks, and I am not sure that poking at it with a screwdriver will help. However, Jared has learnt some mechanical skills during his Art courses at uni, and the TV is soon back in working order. 

Jared has the entire weekend off and enjoys not having to get up at a specific time, but simply when he has slept enough. 

On this Saturday, he invites over a few friends from uni. Castor Nova has graduated before him and moved to a house not far from Jared's, while Sam Thomas, Jack Kim and Ty Bubbler are still at college. 

The friends sit down for a batch of freshly made hamburgers, and Sam explains to Jack how they were all best friends when Jared still lived at the dorm with them.

On Sunday, after a leisurely morning Jared wishes to win a cooking contest, and therefore walks to Copur's Kitchen Cook-Off.

Before he starts on the comfort soup he intends to win the contest with, he greets every red-haired lady on the lot, but doesn't have three bolts for any of them.

Upstairs, Toby Scott and Cynthia Kim have a game of chess. 

But Cynthia still finds time to enter the food contest along with Jared, Genesls Lee and a townie whose name I forgot immediately because it's not a "playable" one. The food judge takes his time to sample each of the very different dishes. Who is going to receive the coveted Blue Ribbon? 

Jared is!! He is really happy about it, and the prize of 500 Simoleons is nice, too. 

Marcel Jocque helps to eat the prize-winning soup, while Jared tries to convince another townie that his soup is perfect on a chilly late autumn afternoon like today, not baked Alaska.

Back home, the Blue Ribbon is proudly displayed on the wall in Jared's kitchen. 

All this has made him quite tired, but one of the nice things about having the weekend off is that one can just have a mid-afternoon nap when one's eyelids grow heavy. 

Much refreshed, Jared is up in time to spot Julien Cooke walking by. The two men have not met yet, and in greeting Julien, a wish is fulfilled for Jared's visitor. The two men spend the evening getting to know each other a little bit, and this is where Jared's first week after graduating ends. 

Will he finally have his first kiss next time I play him (or before, if someone else I'm playing chooses him)? Is there a three-bolt-lady for him somewhere in The Valley? How many more promotions before he'll have reached his lifetime want?