Mickey Dosser - Junior Year

Mickey Dosser's name is next on my alphabetical list, and here we are at the Oresha-Hoh-Var Fraternity at Strangetown's La Fiesta Tech. 

Mickey does not live here on his own; Guy Wrightley (the great-grandson of the original founder of the fraternity) and Matthew Hart are members, too. 

As keeps happening since installing the Legacy edition of the game, all three have changed their appearance autonomously: Matthew now sports a full head of dreadlocks, Guy has gotten rid of his cornrows and opts for a sleeker style, and Mickey has taken to wearing a bandana. While I'm fine with the other two, Mickey's bandana has to go - I just think it looks really daft. Sorry! 

Mickey has just started the second half of his Junior Year. Matthew is one semester behind him, while Guy is now a Senior. His first Junior semester is here.

Mickey LOVES his new curly hair! Never mind the tap on the sink needs fixing... (One of the other two boys needs a Mechanical point, and so Mickey generously leaves the repair to them.) By the way, he is a Romance Sim who dreams of 20 lovers. So far, he has three. 

As usual with fraternities and sororities, one or other of the members "visits campus" on their own accord and returns with pizza, a battered armchair or superfluous desk. At this house, it's pizza every time.

I would have first put the smelly leftovers in the bin before sitting down to eat of the freshly baked pizza!

Mickey needs a cooking point, but in typical Mickey-Dosser-style he rather watches a cooking show on TV than slave away in the kitchen or read a book. 

Well, all that pizza hasn't done the young man any good. He gets up the next morning, determined to do something about his belly and get fit (he really rolled the wish).

First, though, there are more important things to do, such as making the acquaintance of Jessie Pilferson, who is a prospectice candidate for his list of 20 lovers. Why she has taken to walking around in a medieval-style dress I don't know, but that's students for you.

Last semester, Mickey made friends (and more) with his professor, and when she turns up on her own initiative, he flatters her into writing his Term Paper. (Another wish of his.)

In the evening, he finally makes good on his resolution to get fitter and works out to the SimGym program on TV.

The next day, he even "slaves away" in the kitchen, preparing himself a bowl of salad instead of eating pizza. I am impressed!

But when he wakes up from a snooze after a strenuous round of jogging, he really, really craves a slice of pizza. Just the one! 

Well, it didn't remain at "just the one" - instead, Mickey went off to get MORE pizza and really stuffed himself silly. Oh dear! Still, all is not lost, and he goes jogging again the next day.

As you can see, the "just one" slice of pizza really didn't do too much harm - he is not yet as fit as he wants to, but getting there.

It's Exam Day, and all three have theirs at the same time. They return with good grades; Guy and Matthew with an A+ each, while Mickey gets an A- "for his efforts", who weren't really his but his Professor's.

Because this is the end of Mickey's Junior Year, even though I have only played him for one semester I'll end this chapter now, so that next time he'll start his Senior Year from the beginning, as it should be. 

The boys were easy to play but there wasn't enough time to send them to a community lot. Friendships were largely maintained via the phone, and skills gained as required; I am not sure whether there are any pledges waiting to be moved in. Francis Worthington maybe?

Florence Delarosa - Week 2

Florence's 1st week is here.

We're about to spend a week at Pleasantview's Bluewater Village. 

It is winter as we reach Florence Delarosa's house, with the (now closed) flower shop to the left and her living quarters to the right. 

Florence is busy working on her lifetime want of becoming Mad Scientist - nothing to do with flowers. 

For now, she remains on her property, and who knows; maybe she'll reopen the shop once she has achieved the top of the Science career. There are no three-bolt Sims among those she knows, but she has two bolts for several men, and a crush on Chester Gieke. 

It is Wednesday when I enter the lot (her week has started on a Wednesday from the beginning), and she has around 5,600 Simoleons in the bank on top of her property.

An unwelcome visitor is seen approaching the house...

...and sneaking into Florence's bedroom. She is fast asleep... 

...but not for long! To her horror, this is the sight that greets her when she opens her eyes; the burglar has just put a precious wallhanging into her black bag and runs off before Florence can fully grasp what's happening. 

Thankfully, she doesn't panic but can go back to sleep right away - what's done is done, she reasons, ever the Knowledge Sim.

She has the day off and spends it on household and garden work as well as skilling for her career. 

When Dirk Dreamer walks by, she greets him; his Dad is among her friends. But Dirk doesn't hang around, he was really just passing. 

All that skilling pays off when Florence is promoted to Science Teacher on Thursday.

A bubble bath is just the thing after a long day at work, and a cold winter's day like this!

When Florence returns from work on Friday, she immediately tackles the weeds that are thriving in her large garden in spite of the snow and frost. An unsuspecting townie walking by is politely greeted and influenced to garden; the two ladies do manage to make a dent in the mountain of work, but at some stage they need to admit defeat. The townie leaves without a word. 

Florence just about has enough energy left to make herself a bowl of Mac & Cheese and talk to two of her friends on the phone before she falls into bed, completely exhausted.

She has the weekend off, and so on Saturday Florence invites her latest friend over. Wanda Tinker is in the last stages of her pregnancy and NOT asked to help with the gardening. 

Also, the gardener is here today, and while the two friends have pancakes together, she works her way slowly but steadily along the overgrown hedge around Florence's garden.

The ladies watch a film together before Wanda needs to go home for a rest, and Florence joins her gardener until they have finally pulled all the weeds and trimmed every shrub and the entire hedge.

After she has finished her house and garden work on Sunday morning, Florence decides to walk to H&M for some new clothes - her warderobe can certainly do with a good sprucing up, especially now that spring is almost here. 

"2,000 Simoleons... here you are!" she smiles as she hands over her hard-earned money. 

Several neighbours - some known, some unknown to her until now - are at the shop, and she greets them all: Jodie Larson... 

...Mary-Sue Pleasant... 

...her best friend Gilbert Jacquet...

...and Nina Caliente, who happens to wear the exact same outfit as Florence. 

On Monday, Florence leaves the house as a Science Teacher and returns as a Project Leader, something that really makes her happy, judging from the look on her face.

It is spring and hardly surprising that she rolls wishes to flirt and be flirted with, and since there is only one person she is romantically involved with, she calls Chester Gieke over. Two typical Knowledge Sims, at first they just sit on different settees (but at least facing each other!), talking about Aliens and doing the crossword together. 

But then Florence takes the initiative for some flirting, and moments after this picture was taken, red hears are twirling over the heads of the two.

She needs more cooking skill for her career, and so Florence makes blackened catfish and serves it with champagne to celebrate her promotion - and their new "in love" status. 

Her work as a Project Leader starts 3 hours later than when she was teaching Science, and so Florence has enough time on Tuesday morning to fill in a hole in the garden that a stray dog has dug.

She is picked up at the same time as the gardener arrives who, for a change, manages to be on top of the gardening work. It helps that Florence got rid of the 12 flower beds in her front garden.

She is promoted yet again and will start tomorrow as an Inventor. Before that happens, though, we'll spend a week with many more households. 

Florence's house is comfortable, and for now she is staying here, with the shop still closed. 

The garden was a little easier to manage over winter, and once she disposed of all the flower beds, less weeds have been growing. 

It was nice that she saw Chester, even though she did not roll any specific wishes for him, just a general one to flirt, as usually happens in spring. 

The week was over quickly, but now it'll be a while until my next update - on Saturday, I'll be off to my husband and then the two of us will spend ten days in Austria for some hiking in the mountains :-)

The DeBateau Family - Week 2

Week 1 with the DeBateaus is here.

We're at Cornerstone Condominium, the most prestigious apartment building in all of Belladonna Cove. The entire top floor is rented by one man: Armand DeBateau.

You may remember that last round he tragically lost his adoptive daughter Tara in a kitchen fire; she was only a teenager, and Armand is determined to bring her back with the help of the "Reaper Phone", the reward object in the Paranormal career. 

Right now, though, he has no job - and he certainly doesn't need it for the money, since he has well over 200,000 Simoleons to his name, on top of the contents of his luxurious apartment. 

Sitting here next to him and talking about her work (she's an aspiring Criminal Mastermind) is his three-bolt love Audrey Collins, a former Townie introduced to him by the Matchmaker. The two got married last round, but strangely Audrey is still Collins and Armand is still DeBateau. 

On this Monday, much to everybody's shock, the kitchen stove bursts into flames just like it did when Tara died. 

All Armand wanted to do was make omelettes for breakfast! Thankfully, he runs out of the building as soon as the fire alarm goes off, and Audrey follows him; just then, her car pool picks her up for work, and so both of them are out of harm's way. 

Still, the event brings back the trauma of losing Tara, and Armand now wants to learn fire prevention.

Audrey has the next two days off, and so on Tuesday morning the two walk to Freya's Raiments for some outfits suitable for winter, which has begun in earnest. They decide to have a meal at the counter on the top floor with great views of The Cove before heading home.

Back at the apartment, Armand spends some time catching up with friends while Audrey works on her creativity skill in view of her next promotion.

Rather sweetly, he later joins her, having his bowl of chili in the room where she is painting away at the easel - in spite of the large dining table next to the kitchen, where he could have sat just as well.

On Wednesday morning, the couple are once more together in the cosy sitting room with the fire place, where Audrey paints and Armand has just lit the fire - it has started to snow, and nothing beats the warmth from a proper fire on a day like this.

However, it is not long before a few sparks fall on the rug which has stupidly been placed right up to the fireplace. This time, Armand is prepared!

His having learned Fire Prevention makes him able to extinguish the flames instead of panicking. Well, fire PREVENTION should have taught him not to have a rug so close to the fire in the first place, shouldn't it! 

Anyway, the firewoman appears swiftly, too, and together the two of them manage to deal with the emergency quickly and efficiently. No harm done except for a destroyed rug and Armand needing a shower. The rug that was in Audrey's inventory when she moved in is placed there now; it is round and smaller, and just fits underneath the settee without touching the fireplace. 

Over bowls of chili con carne for their tea, they talk about the best friends they have made; they need more friends for Audrey's career, but with Armand not working, he can work on friendships instead.

On Thursday, Armand wishes to use the gym on the ground floor of the building. 

He then steps outside to pay the bills just as his wife gets on the car for work.

"How my Tara would have loved all this snow..." he sighs and builds a snowman in her memory. 

After he has warmed up in front of the fire (!), he walks to the grocery store. 

On his way to the counter for checkout, he notices an attractive townie. Armand!! You have a three-bolt lady as your wife, and no business checking out other women!

He has just returned home and is putting away the groceries when Audrey is dropped off after work. She has been promoted to Con Artist. 

Not much happens on Thursday. 

For some unknown reason, the option to request a repair from the Landlady does not appear on the phone, and the regular repair service can't be called, either. Armand therefore has to fix the broken taps on the bathtub and one of the showers himself, and succeeds after several attempts (he had no mechanical skill until now). 

With Audrey still at work and left to his own devices, Armand plays with the espresso cups in the kitchen for entertainment. 

At night, Audrey has a much better idea for some home-made entertainment ;-D (Don't worry - Armand seems distant here, but he picked up on his wife's suggestion immediately!)

Audrey has no problem calling the Landlady in for repairing the broken trash compactor in their kitchen on Saturday morning.

It is a beautiful spring day, if yet somewhat chilly, and the couple enjoy a leisurely breakfast of Armand's omelettes - this time with no accident! (The stove has been replaced with a more expensive model.) 

With no appointments lined up, all the housework done and the spring afternoon sun luring them out, the two decide on a jogging round through the neighbourhood. 

Sunday goes by without any particular events. 

Neither Armand nor Audrey have family living in The Cove, and neither of them rolls the want to have a party, so no friends are invited over. Audrey does a lot of skilling, and when Armand has nothing else to do, he wanders into Tara's room and rests on her bed for a while. All week he has been trying to get into the Paranormal career so that he could have the special phone to call Mr. Reaper to resurrect her, but to no avail. 

Still, he isn't an unhappy man - married to his three-bolt-lady and leading a life free of financial worries, he enjoys a Sunday evening meal of pork chops and sparkling wine with her. 

Although the apartment is way too big and I need to look for the phone every time I want one of them to work on a friendship, I enjoyed playing Armand and Audrey.

Unlike with many other Sims, Audrey's career is a bit slow going, and I was really hoping for Armand to find the Paranormal career this week. But they are nice together, and Armand surprised me a few times with unexpected actions, such as rather having his meal on the settee in the room where Audrey was painting, or spending time in Tara's room.