As mentioned in the previous chapter, we are now going to see Gerlinde and Greta Greenman again. They left their parents' home early last week and have just arrived at Académie Le Tour, where they, together with their cousins Pierre and Placido Picaso, are moving into the Casteroff Dormitory.
The Dorm, with our newcomers outside. (I would have loved to move them in with the already existing group of students, but there are currently six of them in one house, which means only two more can join them. Therefore, I'll wait until two of the six will have graduated and then put the two groups together.)
Left to right: Placido and Pierre Picaso, Greta and Gerlinde Greenman.
The take the four rooms on the ground floor. The four rooms upstairs are, at the moment, occupied by townie students.
Placido is the first of the four to write his term paper. There is only one computer in the house, which means a bit of a challenge as far as time management is concerned.
The girls sharing their first meal at the cafeteria.
Oh! This was unforeseen: Placido flirts with Gerlinde! Well, I do call them cousins, but they are not really related; Placido's and Pierre's parents are Jessica and Matthew Picaso, while Jessica's second husband, Gary Greenman, is Gerlinde's and Greta's brother.
Gerlinde is the first to decide on a major and chooses biology.
Her sister opts for literature a little later.
They invite the other students from New Max over; some of them have known each other since their school days. The Beaker Brothers are close to graduating, which means that Ariel Capp, Isaiah Gavigan, Cedric Cooke and Xander Roth (not pictured) are soon going to join our four new students.
The first semester ends successfully for all of them. And now it seems Pierre is discovering his feelings for "cousin" Greta!
Before the second semster of their Freshman Year ends, the four of them invite their respective families over, so that they can see for themselves how well they are doing here at uni. Pierre has also invited their dad, Matthew Picaso. He arrives at the same time as Jessica and Paola, their younger sister.
The Greenman girls have asked their parents, Jason and Rose Greenman, as well as brother Gordon, sister Lavender and her husband Geoff over.
The cafeteria cook is working extra hours to feed everyone :-)
Soon, the Freshman Year is over; next time, you'll see this dorm, it will be full to the brim with eight playable students.
Welcome to the fourth week at the Greenmans'! We still have Rose Greenman living here, her son Gordon...
...husband Jason...
...and their twin daughters Gerlinde (left) and Greta (right).
On Monday, Rose maximises her body skill and enters The Zone.
When the twins return from school, Melrose Moonbeam gets off the bus with them...
...along with his twin sister Myra.
Jason is happy to see his daughters bringing friends home and makes sure they can all sit down for a meal together. Gerlinde seems to like the fact that she and Myra have the same hairstyle :-)
Gordon is promoted to Legal Secretary.
Melrose starts flirting with Gerlinde on his own accord - and it isn't even spring! Things are not taken any further for now, though.
On Tuesday morning, Gerlinde leaves for college. (The picture on the wall shows Rose's eldest plantchild, Daisy, before she married Gilbert Jacquet, during one of their dates.)
Gordon gets unlucky with a chance card and is fired. He is in very low spirits until his mother exposes him to her spores of happiness.
It is the opposite for Jason whose lifetime want comes true today: he is now, at 55 years, a Game Designer and on permanent platinum!
The day is not over yet; at 6.00 pm, Rose turns into an Elder.
On Wednesday, while her husband and her son are at work, Rose meets and greets Frances Worthington.
Gordon was able to plead with his boss on the phone and got back into the law firm, but had to start over as a File Clerk. Today, he comes home as Law Firm Receptionist.
Rose wants to be friends with her grandchildren and invites her son Gary and his family over. Paola Picaso is, strictly speaking, not related to Rose and the others, but she is treated no different from everyone else
While Rose is having a waterballoon fight with her grandson Pablo, the two of them become friends.
On Thursday, Gordon is promoted to Legal Secretary and accompanied home by his colleage William Williamson.
When Jason returns from work two hours later, he brings home a colleague, too: this is vampire Tammy Young, who is obviously not a "born" vampire - otherwise, I am sure her name would have been Contessa. Instead, I suppose she must have been bitten by either Count Gregory (who you have met before, for instance in the chapter about Chastity Gere) or one of the Contessas on a community lot without me noticing it. Since it is still full daylight, Tammy leaves instantly.
Friday brings the first snow - and lots of it! Gordon has once again come home with William in tow, and the two men are not too sophisticated to have a snowball fight in their posh office suits, just like two little boys!
In the evening, Gordon's brother Gary comes visiting on his own accord.
Jason has little challenge in his life anymore, now that he is on Permanent Platinum. His wife loves a fit man, though, and so he takes up a stricter regime of exercise than before. Maybe they'll become a three-bolt-couple before it is too late (they have 2 bolts now).
Gary and Rose have not much gardening left to do this time of the year, but they need sunlight, so any excuse is good to get out of the house, even if it is only to talk to their plants.
"You know, son, once you find a nice girl to marry and make your mother happy, the two of you do not necessarily have to look for your own place, unless you want to. She can move in with us," Jason suggests over dinner. Rose has not gotten any closer to her lifetime want of marrying off six children; so far, only three of them have tied the knot (Daisy & Gilbert Jacquet, Lavender & Geoff Rutherford, Gary & Jessica Picaso), and Gordon does not even have a proper love interest at the moment.
On Saturday, Lavender comes visiting her family on her own accord. I love it when my Sims do that!
Sunday is here, and Rose has decided it will be a Family Sunday. Pablo, Prezioso and Paola are here with their mum Jessica and dad Gary (not in the picture), as well as her son-in-law Geoff with Lavender. The two older boys and girls, Placido, Pierre, Gerlinde and Greta, are all at college - we are going to visit them next, before moving on to the next and last Greenman household, that of Lavender and Geoff.
How long before Gordon will find himself a nice girl to marry? Is he going to keep doing well in his career, in spite of the difficulties working on a regular job presents for a Plantsim?
Welcome to the Greenmans' greenhouse! Well, it is not exactly a greenhouse, but their family home. Part of the Greenman family are plantsims, and so this is the most practical solution for everyone. As the report about their first two weeks in New Maximiliania has been lost, let me briefly bring you up to date:
This is Jason Greenman, a Knowledge Sim with the lifetime want of becoming Game Designer. He ended his second week here with the position of Power Leveler.
His wife Rose was a plantsim from when the game started. Her aspiration is Family and her heart's desire is to see six of her offspring happily married. So far, only one of her children is married: Daisy, who was planted, not born; Daisy married Gilbert Jacquet and moved in with him and has since transformed into a human Sim. Because Rose is not getting any younger (she will be an Elder in 9 days), she decides to have two more plant babies: Gordon...
...and Gary. Wait, that's only three children! Doesn't her lifetime want say she wants to marry off six children? Indeed it does, and indeed there are three more of Rose's children:
Lavender, who was planted during their first week and whose lifetime want is to have 20 simultaneous lovers...
...as well as the twin girls Greta...
...and Gerlinde. These two were born the human way and are Jason's only biological children.
On Monday, the girls go to school for the first time. In the afternoon, homework has to be done.
By Tuesday, the girls' grades have already gone up to the point of both of them bringing home an A+! Well done, girls - and thanks to Lavender, who is the most doting big sister any child could wish for. She makes sure that the plantbabies have their play table out in the sunshine and keeps an eye on them when Jason and Rose are busy otherwise. Lavender has, by the way, a three-bolt-love: Geoff Rutherford. So far, because of her lifetime want, she has not taken any decisive steps towards fulfilling her mother's lifetime want.
Jason is promoted to Real Time Strategizer.
It seems impossible, and yet even after playing The Sims 2 since 2004, my Sims still manage to surprise me with things I have not seen in the game yet! Here, Rose had the option of playing a prank on someone, and so I have her greet a townie who happens to walk by...
...and blow a pollen cloud in her face! Did you know plantsims can do that? I knew, of course, about the "spores of happiness", but not this!
On Wednesday, Rose maxes out her enthusiasm for fitness. Her plaque goes on the wall next to the one she already received previously for her enthusiasm for music and dance.
Summer is everybody's favourite time of the year at the Greenman family! The half-siblings all play with each other nicely.
Jason receives his Silver Gardening Badge.
The half-siblings are now best friends.
Something else I had not known: toddlers can chase butterflies! (or is it only plantbabies who can do that?)
[Note: Since I wrote this, I have found out that "human" toddlers can chase butterflies, too.]
Yes, summer is indeed...
...the best time of the year!
On Thursday evening, Gary grows up first (you know that plantbabies turn into adults without being children or teenagers first). His aspiration, decided by lot, turns out to be Family like his mother's, and his lifetime want is the same as hers: to marry off 6 children! What a happy coincidence that Jessica Picaso is at the Greenmans' tonight - she is a single mom ever since her husband Matthew Picaso decided to leave her for Alexandra O'Mackey, and her lifetime want is the same! (I honestly did not plan this)
She seems to think in the right direction straight away! ;-)
A few hours later, Gordon grows up, too. He is now a Popularity Sim and wants to become The Law.
Yes, Gary, you and Jessica will be married one day - if she can get a divorce from Matthew, who is still her husband legally.
[Note: this was written before the events of the Greenman-Picaso chapters took place.]
Lavender maximizes her creativity skill.
And yet again, something I had not observed before: Gary is doing the "she loves me, she loves me not" thing with a daisy! He has just called Jessica and asked her for a date...
...at the "Lost in Love" hedge maze.
Looks like she loves him!
And indeed, after some flirting and slow-dancing...
...the two of them end up falling in love with each other. It's a shame Jessica is still wearing Matthew's ring :-(
Gordon, in the meantime, has been looking for a job in the law career and starts as a receptionist today.
When the girls come home from school, their cousin Jacqueline Jacquet is with them. Strictly speaking, she is not blood-related; their oldest sister Daisy is married to Gilbert Jacquet, but Jacqueline is only his child (half-Alien, obviously) and not hers, but the Greenman family do not dwell on such insignificant details. Family is family!
Jason is promoted to Guild Leader.
Look at Gerlinde and Greta for the last time as children, because today...
...they are growing up! (Oh nooooo... what a horrible outfit for poor Gerlinde, it does not match at all!) For Gerlinde, the lot decides on the Fortune aspiration. She wants to be a Prestidigitator one day. Her twin sister Greta turns out to be yet another Family Sim - with the difficult lifetime want of raising 20 puppies and kittens.
Saturday is here, and the preparations for Lavender's wedding are well under way. Yes, that's right; I have decided to make Lavender marry her three-bolt-love, indipendently of her lifetime want.
Of course, Daisy, Rose's first plant"baby", and her husband Gilbert Jacquet are invited...
...and their daughter Jacqueline is welcome, too (Gilbert's mother Denise died some time ago). Some of Lavender's friends are invited as well, Daniel Bell and Antonio Monty.
Geoff Rutherford makes a handsome groom, and Lavender's dress matches her lipstick :-)
Everybody applauds after the ceremony.
Rose is happy to see her oldest daughter again! The party is a roof-raising success...
...and while Geoff leaves to do his job as a Rock God...
...his wife Lavender gets into the taxi which is to take her to a yet unknown destination. I had to move Lavender and Geoff out; otherwise, Greta does not stand a chance to ever raise any puppies or kittens.
On Sunday, autumn begins, and Gerlinde goes to H&M to get some better outfits for herself and her twin sister.
Greta likes what her sister has brought for her.
Gerlinde meets and greets Xander Roth, and the two of them become friends that same afternoon.
When Jason returns from work that Sunday night, he age-transitions into an Elder on the spot. This was a busy and interesting week with the Greenmans, don't you think? Is Gary going to move in with Jessica Picaso, and will she get a divorce from Matthew so that Gary can marry her? Will Gordon find someone to marry, too? Is Jason going to make his Golden Gardening Badge, and will he eventually turn into a plantsim himself? When is Greta going to start raising puppies and kittens? Is Gerlinde going to become more than just friends with Xander Goth?
The Dorm, with our newcomers outside. (I would have loved to move them in with the already existing group of students, but there are currently six of them in one house, which means only two more can join them. Therefore, I'll wait until two of the six will have graduated and then put the two groups together.)
Left to right: Placido and Pierre Picaso, Greta and Gerlinde Greenman.
The take the four rooms on the ground floor. The four rooms upstairs are, at the moment, occupied by townie students.
Placido is the first of the four to write his term paper. There is only one computer in the house, which means a bit of a challenge as far as time management is concerned.
The girls sharing their first meal at the cafeteria.
Oh! This was unforeseen: Placido flirts with Gerlinde! Well, I do call them cousins, but they are not really related; Placido's and Pierre's parents are Jessica and Matthew Picaso, while Jessica's second husband, Gary Greenman, is Gerlinde's and Greta's brother.
Gerlinde is the first to decide on a major and chooses biology.
Her sister opts for literature a little later.
They invite the other students from New Max over; some of them have known each other since their school days. The Beaker Brothers are close to graduating, which means that Ariel Capp, Isaiah Gavigan, Cedric Cooke and Xander Roth (not pictured) are soon going to join our four new students.
The first semester ends successfully for all of them. And now it seems Pierre is discovering his feelings for "cousin" Greta!
Before the second semster of their Freshman Year ends, the four of them invite their respective families over, so that they can see for themselves how well they are doing here at uni. Pierre has also invited their dad, Matthew Picaso. He arrives at the same time as Jessica and Paola, their younger sister.
The Greenman girls have asked their parents, Jason and Rose Greenman, as well as brother Gordon, sister Lavender and her husband Geoff over.
The cafeteria cook is working extra hours to feed everyone :-)
Soon, the Freshman Year is over; next time, you'll see this dorm, it will be full to the brim with eight playable students.
