The Cho-Riley Family: Week 2

The next Sims on my list iwth the surname Cho live in Belladonna Cove and are no other than the original bearer of the name: Etsu and her mother Vivian. 

During the first round, they lived in the rented apartment assigned to them by Maxis, but by the end of the week, that lot appeared to be more and more bugged, with Sims unable to leave it for anything but work or school. Also, Vivian and her upstairs neighbour Timothy Riley got engaged, and combining their two families (and their bank accounts) meant they could easily afford this house at No. 314 Bay View Drive.

"I'm so happy, Tim! Now we can really live together like a family..." Vivian exclaims as she jumps into Timothy's arms (on her own initiative). 

It is Monday morning, and while the girls are off to school immediately, the adults have a couple of hours until they will be picked up for work.

Vivian, as a typical Family Sim, dreams of becoming Captain Hero and is currently working as a Patrol Officer. Timothy is an aspiring Chief of Staff and already a Surgeon, which suits his Knowledge aspiration well. Both rolled the wish to get married last round, and of course I locked that. Unfortunately, she is quite a bit older than he, but that can't be helped without cheating (which I won't do), and so their age gap will eventually mean that Timothy will be widowed for the second time in his life. But that's still a long way off! 

A look at the house shows that all the cheap furniture will have to go. The entrance leads right into an open-plan kitchen-dining-living area, with a fireplace and a door leading out onto the back terrace. To the left side of the house are two relatively large rooms, sandwiching a bathroom.

Here is what I have done:

Top left corner is the master bedroom. The bathroom has received better equipment. The bottom left corner is the girls' shared room. The living room holds a computer desk and chess table. The breakfast bar and kitchen counters are the only things I have not changed. A dining table is in the bottom right corner. 

Here are Sally and Etsu, on whose behalf we are here. The girls have been best friends for a long time and love it that they are now living like sisters. 

Vivian is promoted to Desk Sergeant, which makes for easier hours; she'll now come home at the same time as Etsu. 

That new schedule is altered already when Vivian returns from work on Tuesday with a promotion to Vice Squad - she'll be out for another hour after Etsu comes home from school. But that doesn't take away her being happy about the way things are going with her dream career, and she knows Etsu will not be lonely with Sally around.

Meanwhile, on this beautiful afternoon of golden autumn sunshine the back patio is set up for the important step Vivian and Timothy are about to take, as per their big wish.

Just after this picture was taken, Vivian becomes Mrs. Riley, and Mr. Riley couldn't be happier! (I forgot whether they were 3-bolters before - they definitely were at the wedding, both dressed in formal wear.) 

Of course their daughters are there (I'm a bit disappointed with Etsu's outfit - I would have expected a pretty dress for her formal wear), as are friends Marisa Cleveland, Armand DeBateau, Samantha Cordial and Carlos Contender. 

Glasses are raised to toast the newlyweds, and the party ends a roof raiser.

Vivian is glad to have the day off on Wednesday. When the girls have left for school and her brand new husband for work, she walks to I N Clothing & Apparel, where she stocks up on everybody's wardrobe.

She has long returned by the time first Sally and then Etsu skip off the school bus, the latter proudly announcing her first A+ report. 

She has also brought along a class mate, Brittany Scott, who was adopted by Vyn Scott during the first round.

And when Timothy arrives home, it is with a promotion to Medical Researcher!

At 5:00 pm, the Headmaster's car pulls up in front of the house. If I remember correctly, both Sally and Etsu had the wish to get into Private School, and after Sally gave him a tour of the house, Timothy served delicious pork chops and everybody made an effort to schmooze the man about school (something he did not seem to be much interested in) and work, at 93 of the required 90 points both girls were accepted. Phew! 

Two proud girls look very smart in their new private school uniforms on their way to the school bus on Thursday morning! 

Vivian has reason to be proud of herself, too: She has been made Detective.

And as happens so often in my game, I realise too late that it's time for some Sim or other's birthday... in this case, Vivian and Etsu share theirs and grow up together in the girls' room. 

For Etsu, the Knowledge aspiration is determined - following her big sister Sally, I guess -, and she dreams of becoming a Game Designer. 

Friday is a day off for Timothy, and he uses it wisely to do some cleaning jobs around the house - not only good for everyone, but also for his career, since he needs to max out his cleaning skill. 

After work, Vivian retreats to the peace and quiet of the bedroom for a yoga session long enough to gain the body skill required for her next promotion. 

By the time the girls are off to bed, Timothy manages to max out his logic skill, too.

While the girls and Timothy stay home on Saturday, Belladonna Cove's criminals don't know weekends and days off; Vivian has to go work, but is rewarded with a promotion to Lieutenant. 

"Told you so - once I caught those Llama thieves, the only way was up!" Well, she's more optimistic than I am... Now that she's a Senior Sim, I dread her chance cards, because a wrong decision could of course mean that she is fired, and at her age won't get back to her former career level, ruining her chance to achieve her lifetime want. 

The girls have done nothing but school, homework and skilling all week, and although as Knowledge Sims they WANT to skill all the time, I think it's time for some teenage fun as well. 

Sally has been best friends with Sophia and Marcus Baldwin for a long time and invites them over. They don't know Etsu yet, but the four soon get along like a house on fire. 

Etsu and Marcus play chess, and she can't believe her Mum is scanning the chessboard and figures for fingerprints while they are playing. "Mum... seriously?" she smiles. Yes, Vivian is serious - she needs that skill point for her next promotion. But she soon moves on to scan other items in the house.

It is Sunday, and the entire family is at home. Vivian brushes up on her body skill while Timothy invites the Clevelands over, and also his townie friend Sam Hart. Of course Sam is eligible to become a resident at Belladonna Cove because of his "playable" surname.

In the evening, Etsu makes pork chops for the guests who seemingly can't wait and watch her cooking in the open-plan kitchen. (She's the best cook in the family.)

Finally, before the evening is over, Timothy invites Sam to move to the neighbourhood for good, and he accepts. 

Sam Hart, former townie and currently working as a waiter, must at some stage have worked at a shop - he has a Silver Badge for Cash Register. His skill profile is not very impressive, but as a Knowlege Sim aspiring to become Mad Scientist he no doubt will want to skill, skill, and skill some more. He calls 19,000 Simoleons his own and will invest them wisely at wherever he is going to move now.

I'm afraid this week consisted mainly of skilling - the adults needed it for their careers, and the girls both rolled wish after wish after wish for yet another skill point... hardly surprising, since they are both Knowledge Sims AND it was autumn :-)

I really am worried that Vivian could lose her job with a chance card. If that happens, she might undergo the process of changing her lifetime want - I'll cross that bridge when I'll get there!

Anyway, it was nice to play the wedding, and of course a new addition to the neighbourhood will be interesting to play.

Chris Cho: Week 1

Chris' Senior Year at uni is here (although she hardly features in that post).

We're staying in Veronaville and are here for a week at No. 30 Bard Boulevard. 

Chris Cho, former townie teenager who became playable when I discovered her surname and sent her to college, has bought this place from her student grant savings. 

Her aspiration is Fortune, but she does not want to get a job in order to satisfy her financial needs and wishes - no, she dreams of having others get the money in, namely six pets who shall reach the top of their careers (or two pets reaching the top of three careers; that works just as well, as I believe I have done that in my game before). 

For now, though, Chris has to do something about the house. As you can see, it only contains the most basic furniture and appliances. After she has sold everything plus taken out what she had in her backpack, there is a good balance of 15,000 Simoleons in her bank account - enough to buy what she needs, but until she has those pets earning money for her, she'll be careful. 

After she has furnished the bedroom, modernised the shower room and set up a basic kitchen, small dining table and a desk with Mr Humble's computer on it, she still has over 8,000 Simoleons left. More and better stuff will be purchased as her situation becomes more stable, I am sure. 

One of her first wishes is not Fortune-related: Chris wants to woohoo in her brand new bed, and since she already has a crush on former fellow student Chaz Whippler, she invites him over. Moments after this picture was taken, she does not only fulfill that wish of hers, but also helps Chaz along with his lifetime want ;-D 

Once again, it is Titania Summerdream and Kent Monty who make up the welcome committee, along with a townie (Neil Cameron this time) who is not invited in. 

Chris can't cook properly yet and so her guests have to make do with sandwiches. Because there are only three chairs at her small dining table, and Chaz cheekily snatches the third one, Chris herself has to sit at the desk with her plate.

She spots a girl and a dog walking by and rushes out to greet them. The girl is Bottom Summerdream, Titania's daughter, and the dog is not hers - it is called Alegra and apparently a stray. 

Chris considers herself lucky and hopes to establish a friendship with the beautiful whippet so that one day soon she can adopt her. 

Less lucky is what I witness a bit later: Kent and Titania are falling in love!! Bottom looks on, and I wonder what she thinks; is she going to talk to her Dad about it, ask her big brother what to do, or keep it to herself?

Chris is not involved, and so she easily accepts Tom Freshe's (another former fellow student) invitation to meet up downtown. The group taxi pulls up in front of the Desirable Discourse, the hobby lot for film and literature enthusiasts. 

Goneril Capp is there (with her back ot the camera); Chaz comes along, too, and of course there is Tom Freshe as the initiator of the outing. Unfortunately, Marla Biggs - the woman Chaz has been pining after for the entire week I played Marla - is also here... 

Now I need to manage things carefully if I don't want a slap fest to start after one of the ladies witnesses the other one interacting romantically with Chaz.

Marla sits next to Chaz, who can't believe his luck, while Chris - who wishes for a drink - heads over to the bar, out of sight. All goes well, and she leaves after she has finished her drink. 

A lone breakfast starts Tuesday off for Chris. 

No stray animals appear on her lot today, and after she has paid the bills, had a meal and done some house work, she invests some money in a book case and armchair and decides to improve her cooking skill. "I hope it was worth it," she thinks as she is perusing the recipes and methods.

Chaz comes visiting on his own accord, and the distraction is quite welcome. 

On Wednesday morning, a small stray dog by the name of Tucker appears in Chris' front garden. They become acquainted, and then Tucker wanders off.

He is back by nightfall, and Chris soon reaches the belly-rubbing stage with him. Several treats, games of razzle and a bath later, Tucker is friends with Chris and lets her adopt him.

She puts a pet bed and bowl full of food for him in her large open plan kitchen-dining-living room. While Tucker dreams of his new human friend, she finds him a job in Show Biz; tomorrow, he'll start as an Extra. 

While Tucker is at work, Chris has just been out to pay the bills when Oberon Summerdream walks by and is politely greeted. 

The rest of the day goes by with gardening, and when Tucker is dropped off after work, Chris takes care of him and says good-bye to Oberon (of course without having mentioned the incident between his wife and Kent Monty).

It is Friday morning, and Tucker seems to ask Chris: "Is it okay if I sit here?" 

No, it isn't, just as it wasn't okay that you just peed on the floor, and twice already have tried to destroy the very armchair you are sitting on! Strangely enough, Tucker is in the middle between "doofus" and "genius", and yet so far he has mostly been ignoring his pet bed indoors and the dog house outdoors, as well as the strategically placed THREE chewing bones dotted around the house and garden. 

That day, because he has been neglecting his needs so much (and Chris can't tell him to use the chewing bone, or get comfortable in the pet bed), he doesn't even go to work. 

A thunderstorm passes across the neighbourhood in the afternoon, and Tucker gets upset when lightning strikes one of the bamboo plants in the back garden. Fortunately, the rain is still falling, and the flames die off quickly. 

Chris is doing her best to look after Tucker, but apart from giving him a bath (he's a pigpen and needs one every day), playing with him and praising him when he eats pet food or pees outdoors, there is not much she can do; she wisely doesn't even attempt to teach him to "speak", which is required for his next promotion.

In contrast, Saturday goes much, much better. Not only does Tucker finally see sense and makes extensive use of his chewing bones and pet beds, he also learns to "speak" incredibly fast - and all that before sunrise! Chris rewards him with a walk.

Later, she invites Carl Cho over, and since Romeo Monty happens to walk by just as she is about to make a batch of hamburgers, he is asked to join them. 

Both Carl and Chris have been to uni, and Romeo asks them about art classes; he is soon off to uni, too, and it is good to know a thing or two in advance.

Sunday is a very quiet day at first, with Chris and Tucker mostly relaxing at home. 

In the afternoon, she decides to carefully invest in a new wardrobe, since much of what she brought with her from the dorms is either mismatched or unsuitable for the various seasons. 

She bumps into Phineaus Furley, another former co-student of hers, and close friend. The two entertain the rest of the customers at H&M with the school cheer.

The shop fills up, and when I have Chris "scope room", she finds Alan Riley "hot". The two have not met before, and the attraction is at only two bolts; therefore, I don't think I'll have her (or him) follow up with it.

Back home, Chris makes sure Tucker gets all the attention, love and care he deserves before she goes to bed.

Phew! I was so relieved when Tucker finally adapted to his new situation, living with Chris, and responded to all that she was doing for him. It was tough going at first, but she persevered and was rewarded with a loyal friend who can now help her to reach her lifetime want.

The dog she first met has not appeared again, but the next stray cat or dog will of course be greeted - she can handle two pets and have them follow their careers.

It'll be interesting to see how much Kent is really interested in Titania, and vice versa - he is married to Bianca Monty, and she has Oberon and the kids...

Etsu Cho's family is next on my list.