Brittany Upsnott: Senior Year

For the previous year with the Tri-Var Sorority, click here.

It's Brittany Upsnott's Senior Year, and here she is with her two live-in "sisters" Heather Huffington and Tiffany Sampson, who are both Juniors. About the Tri-Var Sorority, Maxis have written: "The Tri-Var sorority may be the nicest Greek house on campus but with sisters like Heather and Brittany will Tiffany be able to convince anyone else to join?" That doesn't make Heather and Brittany sound very nice, does it? 

And there's more along those lines in Brittany's personal bio: "Even though Brittany is the queen bee of the sorority no one wants to spend time with her. If anyone could break through her shell though, they'd find that in truth she's insecure and just wants to be liked." 

So far, though, she has not been any less likeable or friendly than other students. She is a Popularity Sim who aspires to be Media Magnate one day. 

Winter ends as the spring term begins.

Brittany wakes up full of energy. What will the day bring?

She only needs one charisma point for this semester, and she gains it at the mirror in the downstairs toilet. 

While she is at class, I check the other girls for wants and to make sure they have their required skills and can write their Term Papers. Heather, however, shows the wish to influence someone to write her paper for her, and therefore I have her greet a random student passing by who does indeed write Heather's paper.

Brittany sits down to do the hard work herself, and once she has finished, she can focus on other things. I will mainly let her do as she likes while still making sure there are some wishes fulfilled. 

Now that she's mostly left to her own devices, it becomes apparent that Brittany is not very good at taking care of herself. She seems to be stuck in a loop here: She sits down at the piano, starts to play, breaks off because she is hungry, gets up from the seat, sits back down and starts to play again, stops again because she is hungry, gets up from the seat... you get the idea! 

This is repeated about 10 times before I have enough and send Brittany to the kitchen - not to make a meal, but to check food supplies in the fridge (which often results in a Sim then preparing something to eat).

The only computer in the house broke last night while Tiffany was very close to finishing her Term Paper. The girls have not forgotten last year's near-desastrous attempts to repair it themselves, and so this time they have a professional come to do the job. Soon afterwards, Tiffany is the last one to complete her paper this semester. 

With the other two at class, Heather works on her lifetime want, and sure enough, Professor Kody becomes the 4th of the 20 lovers she wants eventually.

Brittany returns from class just as the professor leaves. "Did I just see what I think I saw?" she smiles at her friend. Yes, she did, and Heather has no qualms about it - she's a Romance Sim and can't help her lifetime want. 

Brittany still can't cook, but finally she produces a platter of sandwiches. Why nobdy has brought pizza from Campus so far, I don't know. 

It would have been nice to send all three to a community lot together, but their schedules are so different that there just never seems to be a good time. Therefore, Brittany goes to the shops to stock up on groceries on her own.

She makes her purchase and then has a look around to see who else is there.

Ty Bubbler, a good friend of hers, looks half asleep when Brittany talks to him. Then the message pops up, informing me that her exam will be in five hours, and as I send her to walk back to the sorority house, the game crashes... grrr!!! 

However, next time I open the game, it is as if nothing happened. The three girls still are in sync when it comes to their exams, and although I normally do not direct them once they have met all the requirements for the current semester, I now have them eat and get their needs and moods up so that they are ready for their exams.

And indeed, all three of them make the Dean's List, receive an A+ and the full grant money. Brittany's very last semester begins!

For the first time this entire year, one of the "sisters" visits campus and returns with a free pizza. This used to be their staple food, and I was beginning to wonder whether my game was so bugged that this action simply didn't turn up anymore. 

After Brittany has acquired another charisma point, she sits down at the computer and fully focuses on the very last term paper she is ever going to write. 

Meanwhile, Heather (who has already written hers) is making an otherwise irrelevant student her 5th lover. Only 15 more to go!

Over the almost four years she's been here, Brittany has become really good at the piano.

Left to their own devices, Brittany and Heather choose to share a room - although there are 9 beds in the house, and most rooms with just one. 

Heather is even worse than Brittany at taking care of her needs and is close to starvation more than once. Saved by the pizza!

Same goes for Brittany today. 

During a phone conversation with Jack Kim, he becomes another friend of Brittany's, and the Greek House reaches Level 6. I suspect that's going to change once she graduates and leaves.

Not long now until the final exam and graduation, but Brittany does not forget to take care of the day-to-day running of the sorority.

Both she and Heather want to have a toga party, and many of their friends are invited. Not everyone sticks to the dress code, though. Here are Jimmy Phoenix, Jack Kim, Kevin Beare and Genesis Lee... 

...as well as Castor Nova (in his impossible outfit) and Ty Bubbler.

Hmm... I was quite sure that Kevin was already on Heather's list of lovers, but here it seems he has fallen for her all over again. 

Parties have a tendency to leave a lot of cleaning up to do for their hosts, and this one was no exception. Brittany mops the bathroom floor on her own accord - maybe also in an attempt to calm her exam nerves. 

It must have worked, because she returns some hours later along with her "sisters" - all three of them have done very well once more, but while Tiffany and Heather are now Seniors, Brittany has just graduated. 

The next morning, she makes the bed that was hers for four years for the last time... 

...and then invites her friends to her graduation party.

Almost everyone is there except for Castor Nova. Sleepy Ty seems to have misunderstood the theme - the toga party was the other day, this is Brittany's graduation party!

Anyway, it's a roof raiser of a party, and a happy but slightly apprehensive Brittany boards the taxi to The Valley, where we will of course meet her again in due time.

It's been a while since I last played at college, and I enjoyed this "year" with the girls. Of course, as expected, the Greek House is now back at Level 5; the two remaining "sisters" will need to make more friends, and seriously think about finding new live-in members if they want the sorority to keep going.

Natasha Una - Week 1

Next on my alphabetical list of Sims is Natasha Una. We don't need to go far to visit her, since she also lives in Desiderata Valley, at No. 1080 West Leisure Lane. 

The first one from her set of premade pictures shows her painting at her easel, what is clearly going to be an abstract Grilled Cheese, a duplicate of the framed picture on the wall behind her. Her Maxis-written household bio says: "Natasha loves grilled cheese - I mean really loves grilled cheese. Will she find someone who shares her dreams or is there more of a mystery out there for her?"

Next, we see her with her elderly cousin Luis Aspir (their mothers were sisters) and John Mole, another resident of The Valley. 

According to Natasha's personal bio, she "... is beginning to realize that there is more to life than crafting and the delightful aroma of grilled cheese. Even though her cousin, Luis, doesn't approve, could her mysterious neighbor, Mr. Mole, help her find what she is missing?" Why Luis doesn't approve is unclear, but he certainly looks disapproving enough here. 

Maybe he pretends to read the paper only so that Natasha is not alone with John.

The next-to-last Maxis-made picture shows Natasha in her teens with Katerina, her mother, trying her hands at pottery.

Painting, pottery and sewing - there doesn't seem to be a craft Natasha has not tried. Since her lifetime want is to eat 200 grilled cheese (matching her Grilled Cheese aspiration, of course), maybe selling her hand-crafted products will be her means of making a living. For now, she has a bit over 4,100 Simoleons in her bank account and no immediate financial worries, but of course that won't last forever. 

This was the last premade picture.

It is Monday, 3:24 am when I enter the lot, which explains the darkness. Lights are on in the house, however, meaning Natasha must still (or already) be up.

It is a nice house, with a front and back porch, an open-plan hallway/kitchen with a breakfast bar and a piano. In the lower right corner is a cosy lounge with fireplace and sewing machine. Natasha's bedroom is next, followed by a nicely furnished and decorated bathroom. Across the hallway is the studio where all the painting and pottery making happens.

Around lunch time, Trisha Traveller and Jimmy Phoenix appear as the Welcome Duo. Trisha must be hungry, since she immediately starts to talk about food. "Eggs on toast, one of my favourite meals," she explains. Natasha thinks that this lady has probably never tasted Grilled Cheese - but that's about to change! 

While Trisha tells Jimmy about all the parts of the world she and her family have been to before settling in The Valley, Natasha is happy to see her guests eat Grilled Cheese with her. 

Of course, she also wants to talk about Grilled Cheese, but only Jimmy is willing to discuss this fascinating subject. By the time her best friend John Mole calls and invites her downtown, Natasha is way too tired to go anywhere but to bed.

With the onset of autumn, on Tuesday Natasha feels the need to stock up her wardrobe (she isn't good enough to make her own outfits) and visits The Frippery Frock, the go-to place for the sartorial needs for all residents of The Valley. She meets several neighbours there but doesn't stay longer than to say hello; she can't make Grilled Cheese here as the public grill in one corner will only produce hot dogs or hamburgers.

Back home, she puts one of her new outfits to good use while doing a spot of garden work. The rest of the afternoon goes by with a nap and a phone call to her family (the Aspirs), then she spends the evening at the easel - and of course has Grilled Cheese for dinner.

Much of Wednesday is dedicated to learning to sew. Also, the painting on the wall here (which personally I have never liked, and which does not fit the rest of this room's decor at all) is sold - for a whopping 5,500 Simoleons! The over 8,400 Simoleons she now has in the bank will last Natasha quite a while. 

On Thursday, the morning air is still mild enough for Natasha to do the crossword on the front porch. "Dish with cheese, beginning with G... hmm... what could that be?"

Toby Scott wanders past the house this afternoon, and of course he is asked in to join Natasha for a plate of Grilled Cheese.

Later, she remembers the pottery lessons she had as a teenager from her Mum, and starts to work on a plate (just like with sewing, she has no talent badge for this hobby yet).

Natasha needs a nap some time between around lunch and mid-afternoon every day, and Friday is no exception.

She meets and greets Sam Thomas, who moved to The Valley recently after graduating from uni, and much her delight finds that she is not averse to talking about Grilled Cheese. 

Saturday is chilly, but the golden atumn sun makes lunch on the porch possible. 

Later, Natasha dons a nice dress and invites some of her friends over for a - you guessed - it - Grilled Cheese Party. Cyd Roseland, Trisha Traveller, Nawwaf Lewis and John Mole have been invited.

And while neither Trisha nor Nawwaf want to talk about Grilled Cheese, both Cyd and John are happy to share their hostess' favourite topic of conversation. 

The temperatures drop some more by Sunday morning - time for Natasha to wear her recently bought woolly dress. 

The first snowflakes fall just as her family, the Aspirs, arrive to spend the day together.

Luis is so far the only one who will start to talk about Grilled Cheese with his cousin on his own accord, something she appreciates very much.

The fire crackles in the fireplace, Natasha sits on one of her comfy settees with her great-cousin (or something like that), and Elizabeth and Pauline play in front of the fire - it can't get much cosier than this on a wintry Sunday afternoon, can it!

When her family have left, Natasha spends the rest of the evening putting the finishing touches on her latest Grilled Cheese still life. 

This was a nice week with Natasha. It wasn't hard to keep her happy, and with no job she had all the time she needed to pursue her interest. When she wished to make pottery, she made pottery; when she wished to sew, she sewed, when she wanted to make or eat Grilled Cheese, she did that. There wasn't much housework to do with one single Sim, and she socialised over the phone and with friends visiting. 

So far, no romantic wished appeared, but that could of course change with spring. Regarding her LTW of eating 200 grilled cheese, she managed about 15 this week - she'll have to do better next round, I suppose, or she will have to live much longer than the average Sim's life span in order to achieve that!