Allegra Gorey - Junior Year

Allegra's Sophomore Year is here.

We're staying in Desiderata Valley, but at this rented property on campus, No. 20, Peanut Street.

Now that Jane has graduated and moved to The Valley proper, Allegra Gorey has the house all to herself. She is an Art student and now in her Junior Year. One of her biggest wishes is to get engaged to her boyfriend Castor Nova, who has recently graduated and is now also living in The Valley.

Brittany Upsnott walks by. The two ladies have been enemies for a while now, and although I am not entirely sure, I suspect it has something to do with Castor. In any case, Allegra reasons that having enemies is not a good idea. She apologises to Brittany for whatever, and invites her to have a bowl of vegetable soup together, courtesy of Jane.

Brittany accepts, and while the enemy sign still appears in their relationship, Allegra shall make an effort to at least get rid of that, if not to be friends.

Speaking of friends, Kevin Beare rings later and suggests they all meet "with a bunch from the old gang" at Games of Glory. Quite a few Sims we know well get off the group taxi, among them Castor.

Having witnessed Allegra and Castor kissing, Tiffany Sampson is very upset. She, too, has been in love with the man, and now she slaps him round the face. This doesn't stop Allegra and Castor getting engaged a few minutes later, right there on the spot.

Allegra goes in search of Tiffany and finds her alone at the chess table. "With Castor and me, it feels like magic - we can't help it. I'm genuinely sorry that this upsets you so much, Tiff." The girls are best friends for life, but right now Allegra is definitely not Tiffany's favourite person. After a celebratory hot dog with the group, Allegra goes home - alone.

Tiffany doesn't forgive Allegra so easily, "magic" or not.

It is only early spring and still cold enough for a flurry of snow to fall the next morning, but Allegra has to clean up the mess Tiffany caused, and because there is also an infestation of bugs, she calls the Exterminator.

At the start of the year, Allegra found Gwen Riley in the Campus Directory, and by now they know each other well enough for her to come over for a bowl of vegetable soup. Of course the plan is to have Gwen move in and become playable - she has to, with that surname :-)

The Exterminator arrives as scheduled and deals with the bugs. Allegra does some final revising before her end-of-term exam.

Shortly before she has to leave, Jordan Lee walks by. She became playable when I sent her to college, if I remember correctly; she was either a former teenage townie or shop clerk. Anway, Allegra goes to sit her exam and returns a few hours later with an A+, her name on the Dean's List and the full grant of 1,200 Simoleons. No surprises there!

By now Allegra knows the drill - and as a Knowledge Sim she doesn't mind at all: At the start of each semester, skilling is in order before it makes sense to write assignments or the term paper.

The next day, Allegra wakes up well rested and determined to tackle her term paper today.

Before she can start on that, though, she has class, and the first thing she does afterwards is to get rid of the small pile of dead bugs the exterminator left behind the other day.

The days pass with classes, meals and household work. And of course Allegra talks on the phone to her friends every day. Here, she is telling Gwen Riley that she really wants to be best friends with her. As long as she's not rolling any wishes about Castor, she's not inviting him over. I am glad to report that her friendship with Tiffany has been mended, and Brittany is no longer her enemy.

Exam Day is here, and Allegra must have been distracted when she prepares herself a pancake for breakfast - the stove catches fire!

Thankfully, I can cross out the "Fire!" action and have her extinguish the flames.

Phew! That was a close call, Allegra. It's a good idea to invest in a fire alarm now.

She invites Gwen over for lunch, and Jordan Lee comes along, too. It is nice to have company for her last pre-exam meal.

It is already dark by the time she returns from her final exam - once again with an A+ and all the rest. Allegra is a Senior now, but it'll be a while before we see her again. I enjoyed playing this single student household and the bit of love drama. Discovering Gwen Riley was a plus, but unfortunately the year ended before her friendship with Allegra was firm enough to ask her to move in.

The Goths are next!

The Goodies - Week 2

Their first week is here.

No. 244 Hill Side Pass Road in Desiderata Valley is the home of...

...Faith and Herbert Goodie, a couple who share more than most: They are the same age (61 on this Monday), Knowledge Sims and have the lifetime want of maxing out all seven skills. They were already elderly Sims at the start of the game and came with zero skills, meaning they truly have their work cut out for them. But fortunately, they don't need to spend time on jobs, since their funds of currently over 14,000 Simoleons should see them through for the rest of their lives, if they don't do anything silly.

On this Monday, Samantha Ottomas walks by just as Herbert takes the rubbish out. Of course he greets her; while he has not met her before, he is friends with her husband, Peter Ottomas.

Faith has been diligently working on her body skill and is not far from maximizing it. She suggests her husband and their guest join her for a run in the neighbourhood as evening falls.

The Goodies use any chance they get to gain skills and can often be seen wearing their thinking caps while doing things such as cooking or cleaning, such as Faith on Tuesday morning when she prepares omelettes for their breakfast.

"Maybe when we have both reached our lifetime wants we could finally go on a nice holiday," she suggests. Herbert is all for it, but lifetime wants are lifetime wants, and they still have far to go.

While the couple are having a much needed afternoon nap, Nawwaf Lewis rings the bell for a surprise visit. He is one of the Goodies' best friends and was invited by Herbert to become a permanent resident at The Valley last round.

That evening, Faith reaches maximum body skill. Her Yoga moves really are quite impressive!

On Wednesday, the Goodies walk to Gustav's Grocery.

Faith browses the clothes rack and finds some nice outfits for herself and Herbert for the coming spring while he gathers what they need from the grocery shelves.

Both wish to slow dance, and the shop music provides the soundtrack to a romantic moment.

On Thursday, the only breaks from skilling are meals and bathroom trips. Herbert is out for a run, but because Faith already has maxed out her body skill, she is home alone and invites passers-by Joshua Ruben to join her for a plate of spaghetti. "So you've only recently graduated from uni and have moved here? I imagine you have made friends for life among your fellow students," she says. Joshua can confirm that he has indeed made friends for life at uni.

Faith gains maximum creativity on Friday morning. For a change, the painting she has produced is not sold but framed and hung on the wall for everyone to admire.

Socialising may not be the focus of the average Knowledge Sim, but Faith knows it is important to have some human interaction with someone other than her husband from time to time, and so she goes out to greet Genesis Lee when she spots her walking by.

Later, Herbert happily greets his friend Victor Aspir who comes visiting on his own initiative.

That evening, Victor witnesses Herbert maximising his body skill during a good session of rope-skipping.

"I feel really great today," Faith says to herself when she wakes up on Saturday morning. Spring has sprung, and she can't think of much else than kissing her husband and flirting with him.

The two don their new spring outfits, and then Herbert and Faith fulfill a series of romantic wishes.

They are now 66 years old and by the looks of their lifetime bars Mr. Reaper could appear any day.

Unlike what I normally do when a Sim's time is near, I have them get the "Elixir of Life" from the aspiration rewards and have a glass each, setting the clock back for them by three "years".

After that, it's back to skilliing!

In the evening, Ginger Newson is seen walking by, and Faith invites her in. Ginger makes a beeline for this morning's leftover toaster pasty and eats it, in spite of the unappetizing smell emanating from it. Faith prefers a better preserved pasty from the fridge. "I really like your hair," she smiles at the teenage girl.

There is of course no day off for the Goodies when it comes to skilling, and so on Sunday they knuckle down once more with their books and thinking caps. But Faith welcomes friend Trisha Traveller when she makes a surprise visit in the afternoon.

Trisha stays for dinner and helps celebrate Faith having reached maximum mechanical skill. Herbert enthuses about how wonderful it is when one gets to marry the love of one's life, like no doubt Trisha and Traveller know. This is where the week with the Goodies ends. It just seems so unfair that they should start out with no skills at all but the LTW of maxing them all out, and therefore I feel they are entitled to using the Elixir of Life. It's been a good week for them skill-wise but there is still plenty to do. They also made sure not to neglect their friends and, last but not least, their marriage which is as stable and loving as ever.

Allegra Gorey is next.

Chester Gieke: Week 2

Chester's first week is here.

No. 144, Pebble Drive in Pleasantview's Bluewater Village is our next stop.

Chester Gieke lives here, and last round he made good headway towards his lifetime want of becoming Criminal Mastermind, reaching the rank of Con Artist.

He also found a love interest in Florence Delarosa, whose house is just across the street.

Two three-bolt ladies are among his acquaintances, Wanda Tinker and Lisa Ramirez, but neither of these married women will be pursued by Chester if I can help it.

On this Monday, he is promoted to Getaway Driver.

Florence is asked over to help celebrate the promotion, but she can only stay for a couple of hours before Chester leaves for his second shift of the day (or, rather, the night).

After his double shift, Chester is glad that on Tuesday he has to go back to work only late in the evening. He sleeps in and then takes his time over the crossword, makes phone calls and does some skilling as per his typical Knowledge Sim wishes.

It is already 6:00 am on Wednesday morning when Chester has finally done enough getaway driving and returns home with a promotion to Bank Robber.

He is still asleep when early in the afternoon friend Gilbert Jacquet turns up for a surprise visit. The two men chat for a bit but then Chester has to get ready for his first bank robbery.

Working evenings has the advantage of being home when other Sims walk by, and on Thursday Chester meets and greets Katerina Kim, who is not yet a playable resident of Pleasantview but should certainly become one.

When all the snow is gone on Saturday, the sorry state of Chester's front garden becomes apparent, and he spends a bit of time gardening, watering those flowerbeds that can be saved and planting new ones for those that can't.

In other news, the bathroom sink's tap busts and is quickly repaired - that's how exciting Chester's day off is! He does wish to give Florence a backrub, though, and because he has Sunday off as well, he shall invite her tomorrow.

Oh dear! I shouldn't have sarcastically mentioned Chester's "exciting" Saturday - Sunday has only just begun when a burglar sneaks up to the modest cottage!

Chester's beloved piano is the first thing to go, followed by his rather expensive and very comfy armchair.

The police was called, though, and Officer Dorian Kauker captures the burglar just as he is about to sneak out of the door. Chester receives 2,420 Simoleons compensation from the insurance, but that doesn't cover the cost of the two valuable items he has lost.

Unlike other Sims, he doesn't wish for a burglar alarm, and so none is installed. Maybe he thinks that his being part of Pleasantview's underworld should be enough to deter any future attempts at burglaring his house. Well, it didn't stop the burglar this time, did it!

But the wish to give Florence a backrub is still there, and since she only has to cross the street to get to Chester's, she is there in an instant when he asks her over. The backrub is given - and that was it! Although it's spring, no other romantic wishes follow.

Instead, Florence goes fishing behind the cottage, joining Jason Larson who happened to walk by and was greeted. Chester is best friends with Jason's sister Jodie and so it seemed only fair to greet her brother, even though until now the two men had not met.

Chester eventually joins his guests by the pond but gets tired a lot earlier than usual, after the rudely interrupted night he's had. Not long after he goes to bed, Florence and Jason leave.

As is so often the case with a single Sim, this week was played very quickly. Chester was either out for work or skilling, and almost all his socialising took place over the phone. He didn't even visit a community lot, and I didn't take a picture for Friday - nothing worth mentioning happened that day.

I have already played Florence this round, so we'll have to wait quite a long time before we'll see where Chester's relationship with her leads to. Will he move in with her (she has the bigger house), or are they each going to remain where they are, crossing the road every time they want to see each other?