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?

Guy Wrightley - Junior Year

The previous year at the fraternity house is here.

Just like with the previous and the next household, we're going to spend time at Strangetown's La Fiesta Tech, this being the next-to-last house before my first round in the new setup (not so new anymore, actually!) is over. 

The Oresha-Hoh-Var fraternity was, according to Maxis, founded by Guy Wrightley's great-grandfather decades ago. And it is Guy who we're here for. 

He is of course the young man on the left, and his Junior Year has just begun. 

His frat brothers Mickey Dosser (centre) and Matthew Hart (right) are Sophomores, but while Matthew has also just begun the year, Mickey has already finished the first semester. Together, the boys have close to 6,900 Simoleons. 

Guy "is a great student, a good friend, and generally successful at all his endeavors. Can anything knock him off his even keel?" His aspiration is Popularity, and he wants nothing more than having 20 best friends. Because I have not been focusing on him so far, he only has two so far, with a third (Mickey) in the making; he and Matthew are not even friends yet. 

As usual, skills need to be gained for the new semester, but before Guy can be expected to do anything else, he needs to eat. Funnily enough, he has made it through his first two years at uni without acquiring a single cooking point, and therefore sandwiches is all he can do. 

Buck Grunt has been walking by earlier and was greeted by Mickey while Guy was at class; he seems to be more intent on doing research than on eating with his host - the food at his dorm must be better :-) 

This explains why Guy has not deemed it necessary to learn to cook - he can always get free pizza from campus. (But I do wonder why it wasn't required for his Freshman and Sophomore years.) 

Mickey Dosser becomes his best friend today; that's 3 down, 17 more to go. 

River Smith is asked to pledge for fraternity membership as per Guy's wish, and of course as soon as he becomes a Pledge is ordered to clean. 

Meanwhile, Mickey makes Blossom Moonbeam his lover, the first of 20. 

After class, Guy can't help noticing the sorry state of the cacti around the house and gets rid of the dead plants on his own accord. Good job his great-grandfather is long gone - he would NOT have been proud of his great-grandson letting standards slip at the fraternity house.

Tiffany Riley becomes Mickey's lover #2 before the day is over.

Winter is here, and although it has only snowed once so far and that has not lasted, it is cold enough for Guy to light the fire in the dining room. 

All three "brothers" have their end-of-term exam at the same time, and for Mickey, it is the end-of-year exam; he is now in his first Junior term, while Matthew is in is 2nd Sophomore term and Guy in his 2nd Junior term. Unlike the other two, Guy came back with an A-. Their grants combine to a healthy 8,625 Simoleons; time to upgrade their beds, I think. 

This is Guy's new bed, out of the "Castle Collection", which I only recently added to my game thanks to Twoyys4me :-) (Sorry - when I took the picture I didn't notice the mantle sticking out like that!)

Matthew is the only one here who can make Comfort Soup, and tonight Guy and Mickey benefit from it, eating in the cosy dining room, while Matthew stupidly insists on eating outdoors.

There is finally enough snow for a snowman. Mickey builds it, and Guy adds the finishing touches.

<Snapshot>

On an evening like this, the lit up windows of the Cacti Café look especially inviting, and the three frat brothers walk over there for some socialising. 

Guy buys Matthew a coffee, and the two are finally friends. Zoe Zimmerman and another playable student, Shenene Kim, are also here.

Of course Mickey takes every chance he gets to meet new ladies - all potential candidate for his list of 20 lovers. Here he is having a flirty snowball fight with Shenene. 

Guy prefers having coffee by the fire, while a study group gathers to do some research together. 

Unfortunately, Mickey falls victim to the Unsavoury Charlatan. After this, the boys head home. 

In the first half of his Junior Year, Guy got good grades in spite of never writing any assignments, let along his Term Paper. He just worked on the required skills and made sure not to miss class. This term things are different; his grades won't go up to a satisfying level, not even after one or two assignments. Therefore, I finally have him knuckle down and write the Term Paper. 

(This was an experiement; usually, I have every student write their papers and only then they can do as they please.) 

Mickey makes Professor Frances Platz his 3rd lover, while Guy has just made his fourth best friend in Jasmine Rai.

And all of a sudden, the last day of term is here - Exam Day for all three! Mickey and Guy have managed to get an A+ each, while Matthew got a B+. 

Next time I'll play here will be for D as in Dosser, Mickey. At least one new fraternity member should move in then, but will it be Francis J. Worthington III, or someone else?

Just one more household left to play - Zoe Zimmerman -, and the first round will be over!!

River Smith - Junior Year

As I said, the Smith family is rather extensive in my game, and now it is River Smith's turn to be played. 

He was a Townie teen in Strangetown before I sent him to La Fiesta Tech because of his "playable" surname. A typical Family Sim, River already dreams of celebrating his Golden Anniversary, no matter that he is still a young adult - and he also knows who with: DJ Verse is the lady who has captured his heart early on (and without my doing).

He currently resides here at the Oasis Dormitory, along with three other playable students: Ophelia Nigmos, Johnny Smith (we pretend he is a distant cousin) and Christopher Hart, another former NPC. 

Because River has not rolled the wish for a specific major, the college administration has decided to put him in Philosophy. 

On the first day of his Junior Year, he and Ophelia return from class at the same time and enjoy the dorm cook's pancakes. 

He already has all the skills required for this semester, and so he can get started on his Term Paper right away. 

The others still have some studying to do; apart from Johnny, who is only a Sophomore, they are Juniors like River.

The next day, River gets up and wonders whether he should think about new clothes, since spring has begun and he has been walking around in the same old things all winter. Going to a clothes shop might be a good idea to see some other students, too.

No year at college is complete without at least one fight between the rival mascots! 

River loves the chess board and actually wants not only to max his logic skill but also his games enthusiasm - unusual for a Family Sim, isn't it? He is joined at the board by Christopher, and the two agree that the friends they are making here at uni are most likely going to be friends for life. 

Later, I catch Christopher daydreaming about his first (and still current) love interest Tiffany Riley. Remember how, when I last played here, I was so hoping for Johnny and Ophelia to rekindle their teenage love, but Ophelia was more interested in Christopher? Well, I wonder what she'd say if she saw his thought bubble!

Exam day is here, and all four friends get good (if not best) grades. The fifth student is just someone walking by; there is another one living at the dorm, but he is rarely seen and never talked to. 

River and Christopher share a table in the cafeteria for their post-exam meal of Mac & Cheese. River doesn't say anything, but he is not impressed by his dorm mate's table manners.

As before, he already has all the skills he needs for this semester and is therefore able to write his Term Paper right away.

Every day, River rolls the wish to call his girlfriend DJ Verse to chat, and every day, that wish is granted.

Speaking of chatting, Johnny and Ophelia do that a lot, too. 

Sometimes River wants more than just talk, and today he invites DJ over. He shows her how much he missed her the moment she rings the doorbell.

Later, he has some me-time and reads in his room.

Ophelia stands in the open door to the men's bathroom and watches Johnny having a shower... Does she still have feelings for him, after all? 

After having spent quite a lot of his free time at the chess board, River maxes out his logic skill. 

He invitex DJ over again, and the two share some very romantic moments, culminating in a wish to woohoo, but there isn't a double bed at the dorm, and our poor Sims depend on it if they want to satisfy this want :-) (and if there are no hot tubs, saunas, photo booths, cars or walk-in wardrobes available!)

Christopher's exam is an hour before the others have to sit theirs, and when he returns, the smile on his face says it all. "Here I come, Senior Year!"

Johnny, Ophelia and River have finished the year with best grades, too. For Johnny, is means the start of his Junior Year, while Ophelia and River are now Seniors. 

This was a quiet year at uni. Not much going on in terms of visitors, let alone trips to community lots. No surprises on the romantic front, either. But River was easy to keep happy as long as he was regularly in touch with DJ and got to spend time at the chess board, and I expect him to have a good Senior Year, too, after which he'll finally move to Strangetown and probably join DJ. 

And finally, we have reached the end of the Smiths on my alphabetical list! But we'll be staying in Strangetown for the next household.