Max Flexor - Junior Year

Max' Sophomore Year is here.

Veronaville's Académie Le Tour is our next stop, and here we are at the two tiny houses at No. 4 Danish Drive.

Best friends Max Flexor and Mitch Indie have been renting them since their Freshman Year, and now at the start of their Junior Year they are still here. 

Last round, they made things a little more practical by choosing Max' house (on the left) for their dining/hanging out place with a large dining table and reasonably well equipped kitchen and Mitch's (on the right) for studying and skilling, with a chessboard and bookshelf. Each of them have their bedroom, shower and toilet in their own place.
Unsurprisingly, Max is one of the many Sims who have autonomously changed their hairstyle since I have installed the Legacy version of the game. Mitch has remained the same.

Unfortunately, all the IKEA stuff they had is gone (I do have the IKEA pack again, thanks to Twoyys4me, and have added it to my game but the items are not showing), and so they need to spend more than 2,000 Simoleons to buy a dining table, chairs, book shelf, bedside tables and lamps as well as bathroom mirrors again. 

Thanks to their student grants, they still have almost 2,800 Simoleons.
They have both returned from their end-of-Sophomore-Year exams ravenously hungry, and so the first thing they do before tackling skills and other things is sit down for a meal.

Max fixes his broken shower next, and only then can he start to work on his cleaning skill, while for Mitch it is a body point he needs.

The boys do their fair share each of the housework, but since Mitch is a Family Sim who can make Grandma's Comfort Soup, he does the cooking - it's the most filling meal available to them.

Skilling is important if they want to get through the semester alright, and in Mitch's little house he works on his body skill while Max keeps him company and improves his logic.

He manages to finish his Term Paper in one go; I almost expected him to break off at 80 or 90 %, since he was hungry, had a low fun level and needed the toilet.

I catch Max writing something in his diary about a pretty redhead - but who is she? His relationship panels show nobody who looks like her.

There is no time right now to pursue the mysterious lady, because it's Exam Day the next day. The boys make sure they go to bed early enough to have plenty of time in the morning to shower and have a solid breakfast, and their efforts pay off when they return a couple of hours later with best grades, their names on the Dean's List and the full 1,200 Simoleons grant each, boosting their account to the dizzying heights of 5,078 Simoleons.

"All the things we could do with those grants! Just think about it, Mitch - we could get better chairs for our chess table, for instance..."
Nothing is decided just yet, though; better showers would make more sense, or a better kitchen stove.

It is late spring, almost summer, when a thunderstorm rages across Veronaville. Lightning hits the birch tree behind Max's house, but fortunately the pouring rain quickly puts out the flames.

Just as Max is taking the bills due for payment to the mail box, he spots an unknown student kicking over their rubbish bin. "Hey, you!! I saw that!! What did you do that for?!" he shouts after her, but the girl doesn't even turn around and just walks off. Neither of the friends has had anything to do with her until now, so she must have just been in a particular bad mood (no excuse, though).

"Look, I'm trying to write my Term Paper here... could you maybe do the school cheer somewhere else?" Max sighs. It's not his lucky day with the ladies today, it seems.

But then I spot the lady he was writing about in his diary walking past outside, and have Max rush out to greet her.
Disappointingly, he shows not a single bolt of chemistry for her, and so the unknown NPC student is sent on her way.

Not long after both Max and Mitch have gone to bed in their respective houses, a burglar appears on the lot. There really is hardly anything worth stealing here; maybe he's after the computer or the chess board. In any case, I don't want the boys lose any of their precious few possessions, and because the burglar enters Max's house, I wake Mitch and have him call the police.

A rather dashing young officer quickly appears and cuts to the chase.

Mitch witnesses the fight between burglar and police officer...

...and then stares in disbelief when the burglar gets away!
The police officer says (as per a message appearing on the screen): "Beaten by a burglar? Now I'll never get that promotion!"
And rightly so!
At least nothing was stolen, and a very exhausted Mitch can go back to bed. Max slept soundly through it all.

The boys have acquired all their skills for this semester and not missed any classes. Max has written his Term Paper and Mitch has done a few assignments. They have done all they can to prepare for their exams, and now have time to visit Le Tour Student Centre.

Max bumps into Mark Royce, a friend of his and Secret Society Member. He'd really like to join, but he doesn't know enough members.

Mitch meets and greets Puck Summerdream. The girl's face seems to say, "What has that boy done with his hair?!" I'd like to know, too! (It's one of the ugliest male hairstyles in the game, in my opinion, and certainly was not my choice, but Puck's own.)

The friends help themselves to the free food available at the Student Centre's cafeteria before they return home.

Max has been wanting to throw a party all year, and now he invites his friends Mark Royce, Tom Freshe and Alan Riley to a kind of pre-exam gathering. He has just ordered pizza when they arrive. But what's this? Max seems to have the hots for Alan!

And sure enough, when I have him "scope room", both Tom and Alan "light up", but a message informs me that "Alan is HOT!".
I don't know whether to pursue this or not; I can't remember right now what Alan's plans are and whether he is in a relationship or not. Max is actually in love with Roxie Sharpe, something that happened without my doing, and we all know that Roxie lives with her boyfriend Jonah Powers...
It's all a bit of a mess, isn't it, but so far there have not been any negative consequences.

Over a slice of pizza, Mark explains to Mitch that more best friends are needed if the boys really want to join the Secret Society. I doubt this is going to happen, as they only have one year left, and are kept pretty busy studying, making meals and so on.

The party has put the boys in a good mood, and they get through their exams with flying colours the next morning.Their Junior Year is over, and they now have more than 7,300 Simoleons.

We'll see how they fare in their Senior Year when it's Mitch Indie's turn on the alphabetical list. What romantic adventures await Max, I don't know yet.

One thing is for sure: There WILL be some home improvements :-)

Dirk Dreamer - Freshman Year

We're at Pinenut Plaza Dorms on Pleasantview's Sim State Uni campus. 

The well-dressed young man who has just arrived here is of course no other than Dirk Dreamer, whom we have just seen leaving his home, his Dad and his teenage years behind in old Pleasantview. 

He knows that doing well at college will help towards fulfilling his lifetime want of becoming a City Planner one day. 

He is not the only playable student here. Also just starting their Freshman year are Brittany Love, a former class mate and friend of Dustin Broke (as can be seen here), whose room is next to hers on the ground floor. She was an NPC teen working as a shop clerk in town, and so I sent her here to become playable because of her surname.

Dustin, sitting at a table with Brittany, has changed his hairstyle since the picture for his door was taken, as you can see!

The last of the four rooms on the ground floor is taken by Sullivan Kim, an NPC student who I plan to make playable, too, because of his surname. For now, he'll make friends with the other playables here so that one of them can move him in when the time comes. 

Before he even knows what subject he wants to major in, Dirk wishes to write his Term Paper, and so he sits down at the computer in the downstairs common room right on his first day here. (I forgot to have his Dad give him Mr. Humble's computer as a good-bye gift when he left for college.)

One last spell check, and with a satisfied sigh he clicks "send".

Brittany sets the sprinkler in the cafeteria going "just for fun" - something I have not yet seen a playable Sim do on their own accord!

Mail from home!
"Dear Son,
I hope you are doing well and enjoy student life. I am happy to tell you that I have sold another painting at a good price and am now thinking about some careful improvement or other around the house.
Love & hugs,
Dad."

When I have Dustin and Dirk "scope room", both find Brittany "hot", but strangely enough neither shows any chemistry bolts for her.

Dirk is used to doing the necessary jobs around house and garden without being asked to, and he doesn't mind at all raking the leaves on such a beautiful autumn afternoon before going to class.

That evening, over their bowls of Mac & Cheese at the cafeteria he advises Brittany: "You know, if you leave deciding on your major too late, they'll put you into Philosophy, whether you like it or not," he says, and adds: "I have declared mine in Economics today."

While Dirk had rolled precious few (none at all, I think!) wishes about his girlfriend Angela Pleasant when he was still a teenager, he now wants to chat to her on the phone, invite her over and have her come to college as well. 

He does indeed invite her over the next day, and she is accompanied by Mortimer Goth who wants to check out the dorm on behalf of his son, Alexander, who might move here before long.

With their end-of-term exams looming, Dirk, Brittany and Sullivan calm their nerves with a round of jogging.

Well-rested (as much as that's possible in those cheapest of beds their dorm rooms are furnished with) and fuelled with syrup-dripping pancakes, all three return from their exams with A+ grades, their names on the Dean's List and the full grant money of 1,200 Simoleons each.

A comfortable bed, bedside table, lamp and wardrobe are now in our three playable Freshmen's rooms.
As before, Dirk wishes to write his Term Paper immediately, and sets to work, as does Brittany. Surprisingly, while last term Dustin wanted to (and did) influence someone else to write his paper for him, this time around he wants to see whether he can't even do it better himself.

Another letter from Darren!
"Dear Son,
Thank you for letting me know about your A+ grade, name on the Dean's List and the student grant you have received. You know our financial situation and can imagine how relieved I am that your hard work has earned you not just the respect but also the monetary support of the college administration.
Keep up the good work!
Love & hugs,
Dad."

Dirk will also tell his Dad that he has taken to the easel himself - not really expecting to completely follow Darren's artistic calling, but at least gaining more of an understanding of why he chose this path in life instead of a "proper" career.
"What lines! What colours! What talent!!" the over-enthusiastic cheerleader exclaims at the sight of Dirk's first tentative scribbles on the canvas.

On one of those golden autumn afternoons, when Dustin and Brittany return from class and Dirk has a couple of hours before he has to go to his, the three of them walk to Chestnut Park (which by rights should be called Birch Park, since there is not a single chestnut in sight, but several birch trees).

Many students are taking advantage of the sunny afternoon and meet at the park for a chat, have a BBQ or do their assignments.
When it begins to rain and it's almost time for Dirk to go to class, the three friends leave.

Much to my surprise, upon re-entering the dorm lot, Dirk sports a new hairstyle!
Well, it's obviously his own choice, and so I leave him with his new look.

It is now cold enough for the students to put on warmer layers, as does Dirk when he once again rakes the leaves around the dorm.

All that fresh air and exercise has made him tired, and he enjoys an afternoon nap in the upstairs common room while two of his dorm mates quietly study and talk. 

Later, he throws some darts with Dustin.

And before they know it, their Freshman Year is over!

Of course, all three have done very well with A+ grades, their names on the Dean's List and the full grants. Darren will be justly pleased with and proud of his son.

I quite enjoyed this "year" at the dorm.

The three playables were easy to look after and got along well.

There were no spontaneous crushes among them, or with the NPC students.

Several more Pleasantview teenagers are waiting in the wings to start college,

but I don't know yet who'll be next to join the three here.