The Picaso Twins at Uni: Sophomore Year

If you have a look at the alphabetical list of surnames of all the Maxis-made playables, the next one after Phoenix is Picaso. Our first stop are the Picaso twins Pablo and Prezioso, currently studying at Sim State University.

Here is the dorm the twins live at:

And there is a newcomer: Nigel Newson. Who else lives here?

Prezioso Picaso (left) and Charlie Cho (right) are eating at the cafeteria. Charlie is the son of Etsu Cho and Hal Capp. He is in his Junior Year now.

Hailey Hart, half-Alien daughter of Matthew Hart, is a Sophomore like Prezioso and Pablo. The semester has only just begun, but she is already busily working on her Term Paper.

The first thing NIgel does is to practice chess in order to raise his logic skill. Oh, and of course he has claimed his room at the dorm.

Martina Martin, half-sister of Hailey and half-Alien daughter of Jacob Martin, is the fourth Sophomore right now at the dorm.

And here is Pablo Picaso, Prezioso's twin brother. That makes seven residents here, plus an NPC student who will not feature much in this chapter.

It is the final year for one student: Beta Beaker, half-Alien daughter of Loki Beaker (and of course half-sister to Hailey and Martina).
That makes seven residents here, plus an NPC student who will not feature much in this chapter.
As before, my college-playing policy is to direct the sims only until each of them has the necessary skills to advance and written their term papers; after that until the end of each semester, they are pretty much free to do as they please.
For Beta, right now that means cleaning the shower room.

Oh look, a fire! But the lightning-induced flames are quickly put out by the rain, and no drama ensues.

I swear I am sometimes tempted to ban all stereos from all dorms! The students seem to be addicted to the Hula, no matter whether it suits the music or not. Nigel, the only newcomer this year, uses dancing as a means to bond with the others.

Charlie shows Nigel how the boys always take turns in cleaning their shower room.

The mysterious synthesizer (I still can't remember how it ended up in Pablo's room) is frequented by nearly everyone sooner or later. Here, Beta is having a go.

Charlie is one of the few students who seem to understand that the door with his picture on it means that the room behind that door is HIS room, and the bed in it is HIS bed. More often than not, the students will just sleep in the nearest available bed.

Do you remember Calvin Cho? I "discovered" this NPC student a long time ago and decided to turn him into a playable one, as he has the same surname as a playable family in the game. He still lives at the former sorority house along with another NPC turned playable, but so far, they have not been properly included in the rotation of households.

 

Towards the middle of the semester, Nigel decides on his Major: he chooses Political Sciences. His lifetime want is to become Hall of Famer; politics and sports often go hand in hand, so it seems a sensible choice.

Pablo Picaso acts in line with his famous namesake (almost - the real Picasso's name is spelled with two "s", not just one) when he starts painting on his own initiative.

Beta and Charlie finish the semester at the same time. The others will follow a little later.

Sadly, the inexplicable animosity between Beta and Hailey (originating from Beta's side) still consists.

Could it be jealousy?

Hailey, Martina, Prezioso and Pablo (not pictured) finish the first semester of their Sophomore Year with places on the Dean's List, as expected.

Nigel is the last to finish the semester. He has done well, too.

Now nearly everyone needs to brush up on one skill or the other.

But as soon as the self-determined gameplay begins, irrational behaviour can be observed again. Here, Martina has just chased everyone out of the cafeteria so that she can have a sponge bath without anyone watching - while upstairs, the shower room is in perfectly good order and not occupied by her fellow female dorm-mates.

To make her do something sensible for a change, I send Martina out to rake the leaves. Yes, I make her burn them, too. No, she does not catch fire.

Meanwhile, the enmity between Hailey and Beta has reached the point where shoving and poking turns into a full-blown fight. All the boys watch...

...as Hailey beats Beta. After having endured Beta's mean and threatening behaviour towards her for at least a year, finally Hailey has decided she won't take any of it any longer.

It is only now, during the second half of the year, that the Campus Coach puts in an appearance. She is content with bullying Pablo into exercising and leaves the other students alone.

Martina and Prezioso have been in love for a while, but neither has shown any romantic wants towards the other. Only when they happen to return from class at the same time late one evening, they finally grab the occasion for some after-class snogging.

A day or two after their fight, Hailey and Beta surprise me by sharing a table at the cafeteria.

However, as soon as Hailey sits down, Beta stops eating - she even gets up, leaving her plate there, getting a new one and sitting down somewhere else!

Before I know it, the semester ends for Beta and Charlie. It was Beta's very last semester.

She has graduated Summa Cum Laude in Mathematics.

Her parents Circe and Loki Beaker as well as her older brothers Björn and Barry, plus friends Tessa Ramirez, Olivia Ottomas and Shaun Singles (son of Nervous Subject and Erin Singles) come to her graduation party.

Beta may heartily dislike her half-sister Hailey, but she loves her immediate family very much.

Meanwhile, the other students finish the semester, too. The Picaso twins and Hailey and Martina are now all Juniors.

 
Her graduation party is a success... but before she boards the taxi, Beta still has time for some last-minute shoving and poking...

 ...inevitably leading into another fight.

Beta is probably glad to get into the taxi and leave that unpleasant atmosphere behind! She will now dedicate her time and energy to becoming Head of SCIA.

Nigel's Freshman Year is over, too.

Two rooms are now available at the dorm. Who is going to fill them?