Hermia Capp - Freshman Year

This will be last stint for a while at Casteroff Dorms, part of Veronaville's Académie Le Tour, I promise! 

We're of course here for Hermia Capp, who has just arrived and for some reason decided to make a rather grand entrance in a princess-like gown, as if the Capp family name wasn't enough to make folks at uni aware of her social standing. 

The others here are her sister Juliette, one year ahead of her and now a Sophomore; cousin Miranda and her boyfriend Jace Lee, both Juniors; Puck Summerdream who is now the only resident Senior and last but not least Mercutio Monty. He has just graduated Magna Cum Laude in Political Sciences and will only be around long enough to throw a graduation party before moving back to the Monty Ranch in Veronaville. 

Before Hermia can claim her room at the dorm she is off to class. When she returns, she finds that she's been assigned the room next to her sister - that's fine by her. What's not fine is the furnishing, and she immediately has it changed more to her liking. 

It looks much better now, and once she'll have the computer she brought from home installed, she'll feel almost at home here. 

She also decides that the long gown is really impractical, and changes into something more suitable for the beginning of spring. 

Then, very much Consort Capp's granddaughter when it comes to diligence and sense of duty, she sits down to get started on her Term Paper right away.

The next day, Hermia relaxes over a game of chess with cousin Miranda who assures her that she'll have her name on the Dean's List if she keeps up her diligent work and always arrives at class on time. 

Mercutio has just invited family and friends over for his graduation party. 

Of course his girlfriend Roxie is there, too, and the two of them enjoy some energetic dancing.

Everyone lines up to say good-bye to Mercutio when his taxi pulls up in front of the dorm, even the dorm cook! Tybalt took time off his shop so that he could be at the party, too, and Romeo Monty got a glimpse at college life along with cousin Benedick and Grandma Isabel.

Hermia now starts to meet her other dorm mates. Here she is talking to Jace, wondering whether he could beome a best friend for life.

Juliette visits her little sister in her room the next morning. 

She has been wanting to invite Romeo over since he's been at Mercutio's graduation party - a sign that they should rekindle their teenage romance eventually? Of course he is still only a teenager, and so she can have no romantic interaction with him, but it's nice to see that she rolls wishes about him, I guess. 

Delilah O'Feefe has come visiting and enjoys a meal at the cafeteria for a change (she lives in a rented house and usually has to provide for her own meals).

There is this NPC student at the dorm who for unknown reasons has taken a dislike to Hermia. I have caught her poking and shoving her, but things have not gone far enough yet for them to engage in a proper fight and become enemies. 

Because I hate an enemy situation at a dorm, I try to prevent things from getting worse by directing Hermia to play chess and have the girl join her. "I wish we could be friends," is indeed one of the first things Hermia says. Unfortunately, she has to leave for her end-of-term exam before the two of them can become friends.

As expected, Hermia makes it to the Dean's List along with everybody else. For Puck, it is the start of his last semester!

Some skilling is in order before the students can think of starting on their Term Papers. 

Summer arrives, and the students change into outfits better suited to the warmer weather. (They have to make do with what they find in the wardrobe, as I am still not sending anyone to a community lot. This dress looks quite nice on Hermia, doesn't it?)

The recently acquired chess table proves very popular. 

Hermia spots the aggressive girl alone in the cafeteria and sits with her. "I've been thinking about what you said yesterday," the girl admits. "I'd like for us to become friends, too. You know, I saw you arrive in that ridiculous gown and thought, here comes yet another rich Capp girl who thinks she's better than the rest of us... but then I realised that you aren't like that at all, and neither is your sister, or Miranda, who actually is not a rich girl anyway..." 

Hermia laughs and admits that "that gown" really was one of her worst ideas. They become friends, and I need not to worry about an endless series of poke-and-shove scenes any more. 

By now, she is also friends with Jace. They like to play darts in the upstairs common room. 

Summer also means thunderstorms, and the telescope is hit by ligthning. Thankfully, the rain puts out the flames before anyone can come to any harm.

Now that Mercutio has left, the Campus Coach focuses on Jace and makes the young man work out every time he "happens to" pass by the dorm. 

Hermia's Freshman Year ends with A+ grades etc. for her as well as the others here. 

Puck has graduated; Miranda and Jace are about to start their Senior Year, and Juliette is now a Junior while Hermia embarks on her Sophomore Year. 

Hermia has done well, and the Capp sisters and cousins have become even closer than before. I was expecting some Sim or other falling in love during this spring, but nothing happened.

I have now spent so much time playing at this dorm that I am really looking forward to a family household again; the Contrarys are next on my list.

Juliette Capp - Freshmann Year

Juliette Capp has just arrived at Casteroff Dorms, probably her home for the next four years while she studies at Veronaville's Académie Le Tour. She appears to have age-transitioned in her younger sister Hermia's outfit, and since it is winter, she'll need something warmer anyway.

To remind you of the four playable students already here: There's Miranda Capp, a Sophomore like Jace Lee, former NPC townie. Puck Summerdream has just started his Junior Year, while Mercutio Monty is the oldest student at the dorm and the only Senior.

Juliette has to wait until one of the NPC students moves out and then claims her room on the upper floor. There is no wardrobe, only a cheap and rather uncomfortable bed, a desk, a chair and a wall lamp.

With the scholarships she collected while still at home, Juliette can afford a much better bed, a bedside table and lamp as well as a wardrobe. 

She is then off to class and only afterwards can sit down in the cafeteria for her first meal. Jace Lee joins her at the table.

Miranda had to leave for class the moment Juliette arrived, but now the two cousins and good friends can catch up. 

Juliette discovers the arcade game in the upstairs common room and has some fun at it.

The next day, she has a chat with Mercutio Monty, older brother of Romeo, who was her teenage sweetheart. 

Romeo is still a teenager, living at the family home in Veronaville and waiting for his turn on the alphabetical list before he can join Juliette at college - by then, unfortunately Juliette will be quite a bit ahead of him.

It will be interesting to see whether the two are going to pick up where their teenage romance left off. For now, it seems that Mercutio is quite pleased with Juliette's company - he keeps rolling wishes for her, such as play with, entertain and admire her.

Just like last year, it seems the Campus Coach has it in for Mercutio. Never mind, the young man can always do with another body skill. 

Juliette as the new girl observes and learns: That's the school cheer... 

...and this is the Smustle. 

The visiting student here is of course Roxie Sharpe - I forgot that she and Mercutio are together, it's been so long since I last played them. 

The Campus Coach seems to despair over Mercutio's seeming inability to follow his instructions (or should I say commands). 

This first semester just flew by, and before she knows it, Juliette is sitting her exam along with the others. All five return with A+ grades, their names on the Dean's List and the full grants, bringing their joint account up to over 27,500 Simoleons. 

It is the second half of Juliette's Freshman Year, and I find her looking at Mercutio here with a fond expression. So far, the two of them are good friends but not show any romantic tendencies towards each other, and I hope it stays that way. 

Miranda is hugely popular with the boys, as is obvious the next morning when both Puck and Mercutio visit her in her room... 

...while Jace, her boyfriend, is patiently watching them from the hallway doing the school cheer. 

Winter is in full swing, and enough snow has fallen for the students to build a snowman outside the dorm. The streaker is apparently not stopped by the cold! 

Juliette shows herself to be a true Family Sim, thinking of getting engaged... but a) it's still only her first year at college and b) she does not seem to have anyone particular in mind. 

Puck joins her at her table at the cafeteria and talks about scholarships. 

I am always glad to see Roxie; she comes by on her own accord, visiting her boyfriend Mercutio. 

The second half of Juliette's Freshman Year went by very quickly (last but not least because I played it almost entirely on fast forward). 

All five students end the year with A+ grades, their names on the Dean's List and the full grants. Mercutio has just graduated, Puck is now starting his Senior Year. Miranda and Jace have just become Juniors, while Juliette is now a Sophomore.

Again, I didn't send the students to a community lot; their classes are all at different hours and it would have upset everyone's schedules, not going for their exams all so neatly at the same time.

It is unfortunate that Romeo won't start college for a while yet, and with my way of playing Juliette might very well already have graduated by the time he arrives. Or I could have him skip college entirely (I know this usually give a Sim a bad memory) and catch up with his teenage love when she returns home.

Miranda Capp - Freshman Year

Miranda's last days as a teenager before leaving the family home for college is here.

Because I was unable to play Miranda Capp's first year at college when it was actually her turn on the alphabetical list, I am going back to her now. 

She started out originally at a different dorm, but when I was still trying to fix the problems with my Ultimate Collection, I moved her and the other playable students here, to Casteroff Dormitory. It is more practical, too, because it has only 8 rooms, the max number of playables to a household anyway. 

Here she is, just gotten off the taxi, now a young adult. Miranda's aspiration is Romance, but thankfully her lifetime want is not about 20 lovers or 50 dream dates or something exhausting like that - she really just wants to become a Celebrity Chef.

The other playables here are, left to right: Mercutio Monty, Jace Lee (former teenage townie made playable because of his surname) and Puck Summerdream. 

I swear they all had different hairstyles when I last saw them! Now they look a bit daft, if I'm honest, but maybe that's what young men sometimes do (and young women) when they think they need to be "cool" students, and so for now I am leaving them as they are.

What I am not going to leave unchanged are their rooms at the dorm. The students have over 14,000 Simoleons between them, so there is no need to sleep in the cheapest beds and one room not even having a desk but a bulky wardrobe. 

This is what I have done with the rooms, and they still have over 10,000 Simoleons left.

Of course, the first thing they all do is to claim their rooms on the ground floor. Then they visit each other; here, Miranda is greeting Mercutio Monty, who is the oldest student here, already in his Junior year. 

Then she has her first meal at the cafeteria and is joined by fellow Freshman Jace Lee. Puck Summerdream had to leave for class almost immediately; he is a Sophomore.

Miranda has slept well in the comfortable bed, and on waking up, she knows exactly what she wants to do today. 

First she has breakfast at the cafeteria, where Jace joins her again. She is surprised to note that he seems to find the elderly dorm cook VERY attractive. 

After breakfast she returns to her room to do what she decided on when she woke up: Declare her Major in Psychology. How useful this will be for her career in the culinary field remains to be seen.

So far, Puck is the only one to wish to write his Term Paper, and doesn't he look happy when he presses the "send" button at the end! (Goodness, that hairstyle really DOES look daft, doesn't it?)

Something odd happens when I have Jace use the Thinking Cap for a skill he wants: Although he is on Platinum because of his daily wishes being fulfilled, the moment he starts to study a message appears, informing me that "sometimes one can burn out from too much thinking" (or something along those lines), and his energy drops so low that he almost doesn't make it to his bed.

I try again the next day, and the same thing happens; also, his aspiration never seems to waver from Platinum, so I guess it's a bug with him. Maybe sending him to community lot will fix it, but with everyone on such different schedules for class they won't have their exams all at the same time anymore, and I want to keep it that way.

The end of the first semester of her Freshman Year comes quickly, and Miranda duly returns from her exams with an A+ grade and her name on the Dean's List. 

Also, she seems to have won the admiration and attraction of her three playable co-students. The same is true for the other playables except for Jace, who "only" managed a B and instead of the full grant of 1,200 receives only 700 Simoleons. 

The Campus Coach pays one of his dreaded visits and starts to "subtly hint" at Mercutio's need to work on his fitness just as the young man is tucking his well-deserved lunch at the cafeteria. Mercutio does indeed need a body skill point this semester, and he promises to work out as soon as he returns from class, which must have priority - surely even a coach can see that?

Meanwhile, Jace (still in only his PJ bottoms, since he woke up just in time to rush to his exam and had to head to class traight afterwards) and Miranda return from class at the same time, and he develops a crush on her at this very moment. 

It takes another day or so until Miranda shows a pink heart for Jace, too. There is only one chemistry bolt between them, so it remains to be seen whether they'll stay together or it is really just a college romance. 

I never know whether it's the dorm cooks who are to blame for the common cafeteria fires or their equipment is worn out from so much use, but here we go again - good job the sprinkler works! 

Miranda does her best to talk to her family back home a lot. She arrived at college being friends with her Dad and her siblings, but not with her mother. Hopefully, one day that will change.

The boys love a good game of darts, and Mercutio is only slightly distracted by Jace pulling horrible faces and growling at him.

He then has a meal at the cafeteria and joins one of the NPC students at her table; I am surprised to see that these two are best friends now.

Exam Day is here, and our two Freshmen Jace and Miranda calm their nerves in their own way - after which they are well and truly in love with each other :-) 

It must have worked, because even Jace who previously did not quite as well as the others finishes the year with an A+ and the full grant just like the other three.

Miranda appears to be particularly relieved at having completely her Freshman Year. 

They now have over 19,000 Simoleons between them and could invest into some improvements to the dorm.

Who is going to join the group of playables next?