#i wish i thought of this when the premade teens were still in school but alas

[plumbogs]

simcity high school yearbook (sans townies) but the monty twins and bottom are absolutely slaying. a whole row of serving after the second row and their unwashed faces (i'm not clearing their acne. this is the high school experience they need to suffer just as i did) and nobody is looking into the camera except for desdemona and hal who are plotting the demise of the photographer (just capp things) and melody has a row to herself

they all are unposed aside from sitting because i forgot to slap the box down before this and was too lazy to go back over. most of them are looking to the same side because the rest of the students were just standing there. i wanted headshots of these guys without extracting the basic ones from simpe (plus i used the in game camera feature so now they can all shamefully take their school pictures home to hang on the living room walls just like real life after i force mary sue to order prints of all of them and pass them out). they all had to wear formal clothes and truly capture the school picture day spirit :) i want to make it more interesting but idk what else to do i was never in a yearbook club

[oceangirl24]

Saudade: Trust

Still watching the cats, he said, "We opened Dad's letters together, but you never asked why I didn't do it before."

"I assumed you were afraid of what they might say."

He nodded. "I was afraid they'd confirm Dad had married the blonde nurse from the accident."

She gave his hand a sympathetic squeeze.

"Why did you keep them with you if you were afraid of what they said?"

"There was this weird comfort in havin' these things with Dad's handwritin' on them, you know?" Shawn paused as tears sprang up again. "Every one Cory gave me was this little reminder that Dad didn't hate me, that he hadn't forgotten me. Keepin' them with me was keepin' a piece of him with me."

Shawn put his hand on top of hers and blinked rapidly to prevent the tears from falling. "Do you know that when I hit the road, I made up a new identity and history for myself when I had to deal with people askin' questions? One where we never split up."

She shook her head. "No, I didn't."

"Any time someone would ask if I'd talked to my dad lately, I always said, 'oh, yeah, just got a letter from him.' When they asked why I didn't talk to him on the phone, I'd say, 'It's our thing, we're old school.' Of course, I left out that I never read his letters or wrote back."

"But you did talk on the phone," she reminded him.

"I guess that's what you'd call it. Mostly it was just Dad tryin' to get to know me and to get me to know him and me hangin' up on him. I really thought he'd stop writin' once we started talkin' on the phone."

"He kept hoping you'd read one of the letters and call to talk about it," Audrey said softly.

"I wish I had, but then…" A new idea came to Shawn that he had to focus fully on for a moment.

"But then what?"

"I wouldn't have Dad's dairy," he said as a small smile kissed his lips.

This perplexed Audrey. "What do you mean?"

Shawn drummed his thumb against the steering wheel. "I read all the letters straight through my first week home. They're basically Dad documenting everything that happened in a month so I would know what's goin' with the family."

She smiled. "I should have realized that's what he was doing. Jon likes to write, you know. Almost as much as you do."

He smiled for a moment then frowned.

"One letter a month every month for seventeen years. Two hundred and four letters." He grimaced and slapped his hand over his face. Swearing under his breath, he muttered, "I couldn't be bothered to open one."

"Shawn…"

"I know," he said holding her hand tighter. "I have to let that go."

"Yes, you do."

He sighed. "Every month Cory or Topanga forwarded his letters to me. They even had premade envelopes with my P.O. Box on them so that nothin' went over Dad's handwritin'. I waited like a kid on Christmas for each one to arrive. Then stuck it in the box and went back to waitin' for the next letter." Pinching his brow together, he shook his head in disgust at his younger self. "I sound crazy."

Audrey laughed softly. She pulled her hand away to run it through his hair. "Not any crazier than the guy who made a bedroom time capsule or went to thrift stores every few months looking for something that a teen of the 90s would love for that room."

Shawn gave a short laugh and bowed his head as he thought about the apartment he kept. When he thought how he had chosen to decorate Jon's old place, he realized that Audrey was right- he was just like Jon.

"Whaddya know?" he breathed in awe.

Read the Rest:

AO3 FFN WattPad

[fellowstrangetownappreciator]

La Fiesta Tech and other unfortunate decisions 1: Greek House powered by hatred (Tank and Johnny)

After my last post about my general play style for university in TS2, here I come with something more specific! (aka a blog that promised to be about gameplay is finally posting gameplay)

I ran 35 Sims through college at once - the 8 Strangetown and Pleasantview teens, La Fiesta Tech premades, plus student bin families from the other two universities. In this post I’ll focus on one of the households, what their general experience was and what are my headcanons about it.

Now, I don’t have the save file anymore. The neighborhood succumbed to corruption just a rotation after, so I restarted. It was a learning experience and now I know to run HoodChecker after every rotation and to batbox gossip memories frequently. However, I’m over it and enjoying my new hood even more, I just thought I write a short disclaimer that these bits won’t have any mentions in future posts. But my interpretation of the characters still stands and doesn’t change regardless of save files.

Anyway, let’s get down to business!

...to defeat Academic Probation.

When Johnny Smith signed up for an assignment to establish and lead a Greek House of his own, he was overjoyed. Even more so when he saw the name "Grunt" as his assigned partner.

Founding a Greek House with Ripp? AWESOME!

But... the Grunt in question wasn't Ripp...

No. It was the a**hole Grunt. They’ve already been living in one dorm (with like 14 other people) and the place was a battleground.

To be fair, Johnny and Tank didn't just fight and nothing else. Yes, fighting was like 90 % of how they usually spent their time together but there was something else...

Chess.

In this particular game Johnny had become surprisingly fond of chess and frequently rolled the want to play it.

Chess has always been Tank's favorite game.

They played quite often and it was one of the rare times they were having fun together and actually talked instead of yelling.

But are a few games of chess enough to earn one forgiveness for a teenhood of nastiness and abuse?

In Johnny's eyes rightfully not.

He had to admit the a**hole is quite chill when he's not being a total d*ckhead but that didn't change anything about the fact that Tank had been terrible to him for no good reason ever since forever and he hated him for that.

Those feelings... weren't completely mutual.

College was Tank's awakening. He found himself away from his father, away from prying eyes that would judge him for not being perfect and for the first time in his life, he felt quite free.

And empty. And alone. He realized he had no friends and that the only person who truly liked him was his father and he would most probably stop if he ever learned of Tank's inner world.

He decided it was a high time for a change.

But habits aren't easy to break, especially if they're the only thing you know. Tank had never learnt to relax around people, never learnt to talk to them just to get to know them, never learnt to express himself, never learnt how to make friends.

Why, he had never needed to! They would have been a weakness, an unmanly stain of lollygagging on his consciousness. He was taught that friendships form themselves on the battlefield and it's a waste of time to try to create them otherwise.

It was quite awkward when he started approaching Ripp in attempts to mend their relationship. Tank has hurt Ripp in the past, he actually treated them quite horribly, fueling his own confidence from being the older, bigger, stronger one and from their father approving of such behavior.

Their father has never said it out loud but it has always been simply there that Tank was the superior one. More obedient, stronger, faster, more masculine. Smarter, even! How could Ripp with an attitude like theirs, with their lousy academic results even compare to by-the-book and hardworking Tank?

Yet it was Ripp who was seemingly happier, like they didn't even care about father's disapproval or the pressure of being the offspring of a venerated general. Tank realized he admired them for that. They did things Tank wouldn't even dream of. They didn't hide who they were.

Forgiveness... forgiveness isn't easy to attain. But Tank was determined to try anyway. At the very least he would stop causing any more harm to his sibling in the future.

It wasn't that straightforward with his new alien roommate, though.

Johnny was special. First he despised him because his father taught him they were inherently dangerous and invasive, they needed to be driven away. But that got quickly buried under memories of aggression and hostile experiences. It was by all means Tank who started it and Johnny was only fighting back but that didn't matter deep in Tank's head, his brain had connected Johnny to unpleasant, awful things regardless.

But he was also the most... attractive person Tank knew. Tank couldn't help himself. He wished Johnny Smith wasn't an alien, so they could've been friends right from the start. He was athletic, even more than Tank, was interested in the same sports as him and was damn good at them, he has always had good grades without seemingly having to study that much, and all around, he would make such a worthy friend!

Friend. Was that something Tank sincerely had on mind when he fantasized about Johnny? (And did he do that a lot!) No. Not at all.

Ripp has long been out, proud and loud about their orientation, not denying they liked boys and girls and anything in between and beyond, and the general was giving them dirty looks and deprecating remarks for it. He wasn't outright punishing them, mainly because he expected nothing more from Ripp and knew his middle child was simply "a weirdo" but Tank was sure his reception would be even worse if he came out.

He was supposed to be the good son, after all. The heir. He was not supposed to think or do or, by the Watcher, be something his father considers perverted and unmanly. He could only imagine the horrible things the general could say to him and the thought alone was enough to make him shudder.

Once again Tank simply didn't understand Ripp. They liked girls, so the world didn't even had to know that it's not all there is to it. They could've just find themselves a girlfriend and not face any judging generals. That's what Tank would do!

But he couldn't. He wasn't like Ripp. He only ever felt attracted to other men and male-presenting people. There was nothing he could do, no way he could force himself to be any other way.

And nobody knew. Not even that girl from their high school that Tank asked to prom so that he didn't look weird. They were on amicable terms but they weren't even friends, they just helped each other out so they didn't seem like outcasts to the whole school on the prom night.

He remembered his father being elated and encouraging him to invite his "girlfriend" for a dinner soon, so he could meet the fine young lady that might just one day become his daughter-in-law.

Tank had to tell him that it unfortunately "didn't work out" and that he "needs to focus on his studies and training anyway" and the general then praised him for it.

Little did he know that his favorite son, even back then, was not only gay but had a hopeless crush on an alien boy.

Every time Tank tried to interact with Johnny and be nice to him, he got reminded of his feelings he was so ashamed of and of his fear of his father disavowing him, so he said something mean instead or didn't talk to him at all.

The only exception was chess.

Sometimes, when a game neared its end, they spoke. And they talked... casually. It was awkward and cautious but it was a conversation and it felt... good.

Playing chess with Johnny became Tank's guilty pleasure. (even worse than watching make-up tutorials on SimTube!)

Being forced by the assignment to live together for six semesters was equal parts a living hell and a dream come true.

They had a small house on La Fiesta Tech premises that they were to transform into a lively Greek House.

"This place looks like shit and smells like a prison cell. Or vice-versa?"

"You got everything you have for free, Smith. Stop bitching."

Johnny sighed and opened up a book. "Says someone whose loaded dad literally sent him money for this house."

"I thought your family was also well off. Is that incorrect?"

"We have a financial situation called None of your business, Grunt."

"Sorry for asking like a normal person."

"Nothing you do is 'like a normal person'."

...

"I quit! You're unhinged, Smith!"

"Tell me something I don't know."

"I found a knife under your pillow!"

"You found -what? Why the f*ck were you looking under my pillow?!"

"I was just changing the sheets. I did mine, so I thought I'll do yours, too!"

"Why the f*ck would you change the sheets on MY flipping bed?"

"Because you are a disgusting manchild and it stank."

"I was gonna change them tonight! And, guess what!"

"What?"

"YOU also have a knife under your pillow!"

"I don't!"

"Yes, you do, liar."

"How do you know that?"

"I saw you put it there yesterday, you galaxy brain. The question is, why the hell do you have a f*cking knife under your pillow?"

"Why do you, Smith?"

"Because I live with your ass. I sleep better knowing you can't just murder me in my sleep. Now you tell."

"Same. I've slept with a knife under my pillow ever since grade school in case a robber got to our house. I won't stop now that I live with YOU!"

"..."

"I won't kill you. I'm not a freak! Killing is wrong, even if it's parasites such as you. And, besides, I'm not stupid. If you turned up dead, I'll would be charged immediately, even if I didn't do it."

"So why do heck do you think I would kill you, Grunt?"

"I... don't know."

"Anyway, were you for real? Are you quitting? We fail this assignment but I'm chill with that if it means getting rid of you."

"No, no! I'm not going anywhere until we pass. I'm not a quitter! But if you want to quit, I'll respect that and be glad this circus is finally over."

"Fine. Are we getting pizza for dinner tonight?"

...

“I invited my family for a lunch...”

“Alright. I’ll be in the library. Or the gym. Haven’t decided yet.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I want you to be here, Grunt.”

“Why? So you can all make fun of me?”

“Stop being so defensive. I want you to be here, so you can just chill with us. And my folks are gonna know you’re actually... okay.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“And if you hang out with mom, dad and Jill, you’re gonna know they’re okay, too.”

“That’s not how this works. I can’t just act like we’re friends now and everything’s peachy.”

“Well, who said that? Maybe that’s exactly how it works. You never know until you try!”

“If anything goes wrong-”

“Nothing’s gonna go wrong. It’s not that deep. We’re been living together for nearly three f*cking years and had a sh*tton of time to talk. In fact, I already told them you’re my friend now.”

“I thought we agreed we wouldn’t use the F-word!”

Johnny laughed. “What? F*cking? F*ck? C’mon! Your dad can’t hear us!”

“No, the other one. The FR-word.”

Johnny rolled his eyes and grinned. “Go friend yourself!”

“Okay, I’ll stay for the lunch. I’ll go get my tuxedo...”

“Please don’t.”

Reaching a truce was a painfully slow and slowly painful process. Sometimes Johnny wondered if there’s even a point. Sometimes Tank wondered if it wouldn’t be better just to focus fully on his studies and forget that Johnny existed.

But they had to live together, they had to work together organizing parties and happenings in order to grow the Greek House. They had to speak. And when the exams drew nearer, the only person who was available for evening study sessions was usually the other.

What did they study anyway?

Tank rolled the want to major in Drama while Johnny studied Political Science. Tank has never told his father the truth of what his field of study is and knowing his father has access to the university's statistics and probably could fact check that in Tank's house there lives a Drama major and a PolSci major, he pretended he's doing Political Science and Johnny is the one majoring in Drama.

When the general came for a visit to attend Tank's graduation, Johnny played along with his lie.

The relationship between Tank and Johnny improved drastically over the three years. They still weren't exactly close friends but were healing with a prospect of a friendship further along the way.

Were they romantic with one another?

No. Johnny reciprocated Tank's attraction and maybe something could happen in the future but Johnny fell in love autonomously with somebody else.

With a different Grunt, to be exact.

(typing angrily)

Anyway, even though Tank's crush on Johnny ended up futile, it was still a great experience for him.

In college, Tank Grunt really flourished, despite the initial struggle. He realized a lot about himself and started working on his social skills and repairing his relationships.

He also found a friend in none other than Ophelia Nigmos and she became the first person he ever came out to.

Plus, he was the most academically successful Sim of the whole 35 students I played, being the only one who graduated with a flawless 4.0 GPA.

Unlike Ripp, Tank returned back to live with their father and Buck for the time being. He was expected to enter the army and needed a place to be. Moreover, the general was vocal about choosing him as the heir who inherits the Grunt house someday, so it was simply right for Tank to go back and live there.

Was it? Wasn’t it?

Tank was definitely having second thoughts.

He didn’t wonder anymore if military was the right career path for him. He knew it wasn’t.

But was he ready to let the world know who he really was?

[baldysims]

Strange Legacy 4.1

Generation 4 finally starts their college years! You know what that means: time to celebrate with a bunch of pictures of my Ivy League vampire from generation 3.

Despite many a near-frying incident, college has been amazing for Diadem. She finally has knowledge wants she can fulfill again, and between that and joining the Geek Society, she’s no longer horribly alone and depressed all the time.

I kept waiting for her to roll the want for Adam, her high school boyfriend, to come join her in college, but she never did. I guess now that the wonderful world of Academie Le Tour is open to her, she’s giving him the slow fade. True to life, Maxis, true to life. Kind of cruel since he’s doomed to be a vampiric grocery clerk from now until the end of time, but hey, the Stranges have never been the nicest bunch.

Di’s new boyfriend, Anthony the llama mascot (pictured here in his graduation duds), will similarly never be allowed to join her in her next life stage on account of the whole perma-llama-mask-outside-of-his-own-lot thing, but they’re having fun while it lasts.

Fun that the drama professor does not appreciate, apparently. Good thing the Stranges have never been the nicest bunch.

Heh heh. Can you tell Di is my favorite?

Gomeisa and Hamal have also been enjoying the Academie, but for different reasons. College is where Romance Sims finally get to sow their wild oats in my game... as long as the sowing stops at making out. We run a Strict Family Values legacy around these parts.

“Hey Hamal, do you think bending over like this will help me get that fifth lover at tonight’s toga party? I really want to reconnect with Loren now that the gang’s coming to college with us.”

“Oh, yeah, get it sis. Your booty is popping!”

They’re very supportive of each other, aren’t they?

The younger siblings were indeed finally able to move in once I got rid of Christy (our placeholder for generations 2, 3 and 4... long story), chief among them Kornephoros, the heir. He brought along his girlfriend, Kestrel Tricou. Aren’t they cute together?

I misspoke in the last chapter: Kornephoros is actually a Popularity Sim, much like great-grandma Sharon. However, unlike great-grandma Sharon, his relationship with his chosen spouse is actually functional. It’s enough to bring a tear to your eye, isn’t it? Some sweetness and light are definitely needed on this lot, since a whopping three out of the guy’s five sisters are Romance.

Case in point: Gomeisa, seen here trying to make her high school boyfriend Loren (who is also Kestrel’s brother) jealous by canoodling with Secret Society Boyfriend #3. I wonder why it’s not working?

Oh, right, because she actually has way more chemistry with Loren and Kestrel’s other brother, Orion. Not to mention that Loren was much more recently the high school boyfriend of Gomeisa’s third sister, Jishui (also a Romance Sim), and they’re still dating.

Gosh, but my Sims’ love lives are becoming incestuous.

Lilii Borea is one of the rare non-Romance siblings this generation (she’s Pleasure, like Kestrel) and she’s frequently embarrassed by her sisters’ behavior. When the Pleasure Sim is the uptight one of the bunch, you know it’s going to be a fun generation to play.

Even Ilkil, the sole Family Sim, has been taking a leaf out of her siblings’ book and playing the field. I brought the wishing well along from the home lot because, well, can you blame me for not wanting to do an exhaustive spouse search downtown on all six of these spares? Sadly, it’s only been spitting out deeply unsuitable matches, like Coach Creep over here.

The streaker, now... he’s cute, but is he really right for Ilkil? I don’t think so. I think it’s going to be a pretty long slog to find her Mr. Right, even with the well.

Thankfully, her other three, yes, count ‘em, three Romance Sim sisters are a bit less picky. This turned out to be especially true for Hamal.

I sent Hamal to the campus lounge to play for a bit of cash, but right before I decided no amount of money could be worth subjecting my eyeballs to the hideous decor, who should show up but Romeo Montague?

It was love at first sight, at least for Hamal.

“Romeo! I knew I was destined to find a love like this one. It’s written in the stars. Let’s run away together and never look back!“

“Uh, about that, baby... I think I hear Mercutio calling me from the men’s room. Gotta go!”

Pfft, more like he saw Juliet’s sister Hermia at the bar. Or maybe he just sensed Hamal’s engagement want and panicked.

To be fair, Hamal rolls the want to get engaged to a lot of people ever since she Sophomore-rerolled the Family aspiration. Chalk it up to her culty "family values” upbringing, I guess. But still -- it’s an infamous fact in Veronaville society that Romeo is very much engaged to Juliet Capulet. I don’t think you want to cross that family, Hamal. People have died in this neighborhood for much less.

“Daddy! I really want to introduce you to my boyfriend, Romeo. We’re going to be together forever and ever, just like you and mom.”

“Oh. Say, Romeo, didn’t you date my older sister back in the day? What are you doing still in college? And I thought you were engaged to that Capulet girl.”

“Oh, that was hardly official, right Romeo? ...Romeo?“

“Sorry, Hamal, gotta run. Catch you later, pops!”

“I don’t think he really loves her though, Patricia. Do you? And even if they are engaged, I’m sure there are ways around it. Christy told me all about the cowplant shenanigans from last generation.”

“Uh... I think I have to go pick my plants up from the airport, I mean water my grandmother. I mean -- bye!”

That’s sensible.

For the record, Hermia did see Hamal and Romeo flirting at the campus lounge, but she was unsuccessful in warning Juliet off. Family Sims see what they want to see, I guess. You know how it goes. So Hermia has been coming by the house with the other Veronaville premades pretty often to chaperone her trash can of a soon-to-be brother-in-law.

I don’t think she’ll catch him in anything, though. Romeo is pretty crafty when it comes to having his cake and eating it too.

Unlike certain other people.

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that one of the men in Hamal’s riot of engagement wants was a llama mascot. Now I know what you’re thinking: “Isn’t Aunt Diadem’s boyfriend a llama mascot?” Or maybe: “Isn’t it kind of lazy to have a family love triange subplot every other generation?” The answers are yes and yes, but I let Anthony and Hamal have their little affair anyway. I’m sorry, but I’m helpless to resist the wants of my pervy Romance Sims. Call it guilt for setting up the rules so that they can’t woohoo anyone except their future spouses while trying for babies.

Kornephoros and Ilkil, as the most wholesome members of generation 4, disapprove of the affair, but everyone else is surprisingly blase. Or maybe they’re just afraid Diadem is the type to bite the messenger.

“I can’t look, Kor! What do you think Di’s going to do to us when she finds out?“

“Well, she’s best friends with Hamal, and she knows her relationship with Anthony can’t go anywhere because of the llama mask issue. I think she’ll get over it.”

Oh, Kornephoros, you sweet summer child.

It was at a toga party that very night that Diadem rolled the want to propose to Llama Boy. I guess she got more attached to Anthony than anyone knew. I let her fulfill the want, but unfortunately, I couldn’t let their union stand.

So I called in Hamal.

Sprrroooooiiiiiing! Now there’s a familiar sound in this legacy.

“I can’t believe you! And on the night we got engaged! Well, we’re over, you hear me, Anthony? OVER!”

Di doesn’t do milestones on a typical timetable, does she? It took her forty years to finish high school, and now her engagement has lasted all of twenty minutes.

“Is he really heart-farting her while being dumped after cheating on her with her niece?”

I know, it’s really quite bold of him.

“The cowplant dines for two tonight, hissssssss.”

Yeah... about that...

It was around this point that Veronaville’s many glitches became undeniable, and pointed to the last phrase any Simmer wants to hear: neighborhood corruption. It got to the point where I couldn’t even open Veronaville in game without a crash. I was pretty sure it was my fault for accidentally making a carpool driver selectable early on while I was creating townies, but I wasn’t able to rule out an issue with my collection of custom hairs... and I was due for a custom hair overhaul anyway... so, long story short...

Stranges from past generations, collectively: “How dare you trash our old neighborhood and recreate us with Maxis hair? Boooooooooo.”

Sorry guys, but I wanted a fresh clean start, and since I had to go to the trouble of recreating your entire neighborhood, the least you could do is sit for your new portraits and die without getting into too many feuds.

While I’m waiting on the portraits, though... I have to say, it’s pretty fun having the old gang back again. Look at Zaniah and Alpheratz talking about cheating together while Bete and Angeline make out in the foreground! Classic.

And who could forget our dream team of boozehounds, Sharon and Angeline?

Obviously, Angeline and Alpheratz immediately had an affair with each other, but unlike in the old, crappy neighborhood, Demi actually got to catch them at it and whoop some ass! And it was richly deserved, if I do say so myself.

I was pretty sad when the portraits were all done and it was time to kill them again. Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted.

Now back to the college lot, where everyone from the Stranges to the Tricou kids to the Maxis playable teens need to be played through college all over again from the very start of freshman year! *sob*

“Romeo, I sincerely hope that this version of you is smart enough to stay away from Hamal while you’re engaged to Juliet.”

“Are you kidding? It’s like you want me to miss out on the high of cheating on two different Family Sims at once.”

Even the game agrees with me that every word out of this guy’s mouth is trash. *ba dum tsh*

But does Juliet see it? No, she does not.

Obviously, he and Hamal continued their affair in secret. Well, as secret as can be when your sister is scrubbing the tub directly behind you.

“Hamal, I don’t think this is a good idea. Is this really what great-grandpa Zaniah would have wanted? Cheating and lying and sneaking around? It’s not very family values, is it?”

“Oh, come on, Gomeisa. You’ve been no fun ever since we started junior year and you rolled Popularity. I thought you’d be happy that I found love.”

“That’s just it, Hamal, you’re supposed to find love, not steal it from someone else!”

“Oh, you mean like you did?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about Orion, you hypocrite! Lilii Borea had him first, and now he’s with you. How is this any different than that?”

“I -- I --”

Welp, she’s got her there.

Gomeisa has indeed been seeing Orion Tricou, and it’s getting pretty serious. Of course, what Hamal didn’t mention is that Lilii isn’t exactly heartbroken over the trade, seeing as she has three bolts with Orion’s brother Tiave.

Which Hamal should know, seeing as she’s a regular visitor to the Tricous’ college house, but whatever.

It’s been a while since we checked in with Diadem. What ever happened to that Greek House she founded, anyway?

Oh, we just topped it out at level six, again, for the second time in this legacy. No biggie. We eat master points for breakfast around these parts.

In other ways, though, Greek life has been a net drain. Diadem’s always heading to campus to pick up pizza in the middle of the day nowadays -- not a good look when the daystar has the power to burn you crispier than a slice of oven-fired thin-crust.

It’s a free for all among the other seven Sims in the house when it comes to using her coffin while she’s out -- ain’t no nap like a coffin nap, I guess -- so her motives are usually deep red by the time I get her back in. And more often than not, there’s a toga party in progress the whole time, which means...

“Whoa, party foul.”

No kidding. Frankly, it’s amazing that any of these Tricous want to pledge at all.

The billiards table also compels Diadem to risk the daystar on a pretty regular basis. I think she’s trying to regain all her lost pool skills (she won the billiards scholarhsip back in the old neighborhood, don’tcha know.) Right now she knows about as much about pool as the cow mascot. Speaking of whom...

Oh, dear. I guess sometimes, when you’ve been burned by a llama, you end up going too far in the other direction.

Don’t even think about it, you bovine buffoon! Hamal has already caused Diadem enough pain for ten games!

Clearly.

Towards the end of college, Gomeisa decided to throw a pool party in the middle of winter. Genius move there.

“Gomeisa, are you feeling okay?”

“Of course I am, Swan. I just wanted to *chatter chatter* look good for *chatter chatter* your brother.”

Unfortunately, Orion wasn’t able to pay much attention to her beach body on account of being distracted by Hamal’s treacherous lips.

Sigh, well, this was inevitable.

“I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them both! I’ll rip their hearts out and set them on fire! Then they’ll see how it feels.”

Gomeisa’s commitment to revenge caught the attention of one Mercutio Montague, who she spent the rest of the night revenge-smooching in front of Orion.

Those thought bubbles certainly do tell a story, don’t they?

“Dude, sorry I’m late. Did you do it? Did you propose to Gomeisa?”

“Uh... not exactly...”

But enough of Gomeisa. She’s hardly the only potential boyfriend Hamal stole from a relative that night.

Don’t blame me, you guys. She’s the one who rolls the wants. As a Family Sim, no less. She’s the depraved one!

Unlike Gomeisa, Diadem decided her revenge was a dish best served cold.

Cold as the grave, some might say. *rimshot*

“Still fooling around with Romeo, Hamal? That’s funny, I would have thought you’d have had enough of ruining other people’s relationships by now.“

“For your information, Romeo is my true love!”

“Oh, really? So what was Orion? You’re telling me you broke my heart just for a bit of fun on the side!?”

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand!”

“I... I can’t believe she did this to me.”

Sorry, bb. :(

There is a certain irony in the fact that Gomeisa and Hamal used to be inseparable when they were Romance Sims. It’s only now, after switching to Popularity and Family, that their friendship/sisterhood has turned to bitter enmity.

Poor Ilkil looks conflicted over who to root for, doesn’t she? She could pick Hamal, the sister she’s closest to and her fellow Family Sim, but then where does that leave Gomeisa, who is after all the innocent wronged party in this morality play?

Ilkil hasn’t been getting much attention, and college is almost over, so let’s go ahead and talk about her for a second. It’s pretty rare for a Family Sim to make it all the way through college without an engagement in my game, but she’s been played through college almost twice over now what with the recreation of the neighborhood and still hasn’t picked anyone to settle down with.

She’s always rolling the want to cook elaborate meals for the rest of the family and then totally failing and burning them at the last second. I think she has frustrated housewifely desires.

Anyway, since the wishing well never gave us anything good for her, I went ahead and used my powers as Mistress of the Sims Universe to get her a date with the only other Family Sim in the neighborhood more desperate than she is.

That’s right, ladies, fat balding widower and wearer of tacky leisure suits Antonio Montague is officially off the market. Try to contain yourselves.

Antonio’s kids don’t like her, but who cares what they think? The little hellions will be off to college themselves by the time Ilkil marries in.

Kornephoros (our heir, remember him? I know my heirs tend to be overshadowed in college chapters by their philandering siblings, but hopefully the fact that he’s male rings a bell) also got engaged to Kestrel on a lavish date at the newly renovated Londoste, which I think is an obligatory scene in every legacy ever.

Kestrel comported herself with all the dignity befitting a future Strange matriarch, sending meat flecks flying into the carpet as she gobbled up her filet mignon in two bites flat.

I think she’ll make a fine addition to the family, even though I’m sure great-grandpa Zaniah would have some words to say about a matriarchal Tricou joining the family. Lucky for Kor, Fornax is much more relaxed about rules and restrictions.

Gomeisa has continued to date Mercutio Montague, although she doesn’t seem to be sure where that relationship is going after college. She’s still very, very angry about Orion’s betrayal.

Lilii Borea and Tiave also got engaged, to no one’s surprise.

As for Jishui, the Strange sibling who’s been featured least in this chapter because she actually has a modicum of nice points, she got engaged too, to her boyfriend Loren. Zzzzzzzz.

So that just leaves Hamal, who has wanted to marry Romeo since the earliest days of her college experience.

“Whoa, baby. Run away together? For real? That’s a little drastic. You know I can’t break up with Juliet. But you and me, we’ll always have a special relationship. Just... on the side, and never in public.”

Cue Hamal’s best shocked pikachu face:

Ha ha ha -- I mean, oops, how embarrassing. I wonder how she’ll recover from this psychologically?

Oh.

The best thing I can say about this development is that at least Orion had the decency to look a little conflicted about it.

“Romeo, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll break it off with Hamal for good. She’s been obsessed with marrying you since forever. That’s not just going to go away because she proposed to Orion. You have to stop encouraging her!”

“Chill, Lilii, chill. You’re easily the most uptight Pleasure Sim I’ve ever met.”

Ugh, he is just the worst.

“Hamal, lay off my boyfriend. Just because you don’t understand our love --”

“Oh, I understand it perfectly, Hamal, and it’s gross. I thought it was bad when it was just Di, but then you did it again and again, and to your own sister. How could you?"

“Why does everyone keep holding that against me? I said I was sorry!”

Mm hmmm, right.

Right before graduation, Kornephoros tried to convince Gomeisa to let bygones be bygones with all the wisdom of his newly completed psychology degree, and it actually kind of... worked?

“Orion, now that we’re leaving this part of our lives behind, I just want to let you know that I forgive you. You hurt me a lot, but we had something special, and once you and Hamal and me and Mercutio are all married and settled down, I hope we can be friends again.“

“Gomeisa, I -- wait. You’re marrying him?”

“He proposed this morning.”

“I...”

“I can’t believe she’s marrying him.”

And I can’t believe she forgave you for cheating on you with her sister! Get in line, bud.

Sadly, this incredible act of beneficence wasn’t enough to save Gomeisa’s graduation party from being a dud, and Kornephoros, being the Popularity Sim who technically threw it, went straight into aspiration failure just as I was wrapping up his college years. Awesome.

Welp. All of generation 4 is engaged and graduated, so now it’s time to head back to Veronaville and play them all. Aunt Di will hold down the fort here until Kornephoros and Kestrel’s kids are old enough to join her, and then, with a bit of luck, she’ll be able to have a Roof Raiser graduation party and earn that Ivy League master point... which has already been preemptively canceled out by Kornephoros’ meltdown, but hey, I’m trying to look on the bright side of things.

Next time: Will Hamal ever repent of her ways and stop causing trouble? Will Orion actually marry her, even though he’s clearly still in love with Gomeisa? What are Romeo’s plans for managing Juliet’s suspicions once they’re actually married and living together? And will Kornephoros manage to produce a male heir without having to go through quite so many daughters as his father and grandfather did?

Legacy scoring:

Legacy: 3.5 Money: 3 Family friends: 38x.25 = 9.25 Impossible wants: 9 (Alph 20L, Sharon 30F, Zaniah 7Sk, Angeline 7Sk, Fornax 7Sk, Electra 50FD, Diadem 7Sk, Danni 7Sk, Cassiopeia 200S) Platinum graves: 4 (Family, Popularity, Fortune) Ghosts: 1 (Old Age) Business: 4 Seasons: 4 + 2 (tree and fish/well/juices) Free Time: 7.5 (Games: Zaniah, Betelgeuse, Alpheratz, Electra, Fornax, Cassiopeia, Angeline, Diadem, Ilkil, Hamal, Lilii Borea, Jishui, Gomeisa, Kestrel, Kornephoros) Collections: 3 (25 Elixirsx2, Career Rewards) Master: 2 (Social Bunnies Need Love Too, Child Prodigy - Fornax, ) Handicaps: 0 Overflow: 0 Penalties: -3 (bills x2, Kornephoros asp fail) Total: 47.25

[sullivanrandomness]

10 Questions Meme (again)

I was tagged back by @simlishdistractions. Because this is my second time around, I won’t be tagging anyone else or making up any more questions. But if anyone wants to answer the questions I wrote for my first time, they’re here. Feel free!

I ended up picking 4 of my own questions for the end, seeing I'd already answered @memoirsofasim‘s questions!

1) What is your longest marathon simming session? Probably something like 16 hours? But I should say I never just sit and play without doing anything else. I'll get up and have lunch/dinner, I'll poke around on the internet, I'll take the dogs for a walk, etc. So I had that one family loaded all that time but I couldn't really tell you how much of that time I was actually playing! 2) If you could visit one premade world as a real life place, which would it be? Although I'm a TS2 player, I didn't think EA did a fantastic job of any of the hoods in that game. They all needed a lot of editing before I'd visit. But I did really like Isla Paradiso in TS3! 3) Tell me about a sim of your who you were saddest to lose (death, game glitch or whatever…) Oh man. Probably still Tessa Novak is my biggest heartbreak. :( She was an ROS death by fire and she was only 19 at the time. She'd be in her mid-thirties in my game now if she had lived and I sometimes wonder what she would have done with herself. 4) If you could go back and change one thing about your simming, knowing what you know now, what would it be? This one is easy for me because I actually think about it a lot! I really wish I had just started blogging (or at least sharing pics in some sort of organised fashion) from the beginning. It's what made me truly, truly love my game. I thought I loved it before Sullivan but man...I didn't know! I didn't know I could be so attached to a hood and its sims before I started blogging about them. I never thought I would have painstakingly recreated a whole hood full of 100+ sims...but I did it for Sullivan! 5) Do you aim to give your sims a happy perfect life, or enjoy watching their struggle and misery? >:) I like them to struggle a little bit and then be happy. Most of my sims' drama happens in their teens and 20s and then they settle down, have kids and those kids turn into teens and I start watching their drama! 6) What do you sip or snack on while you’re simming? Flavoured rice cakes or various kinds of trail mix (I have a subscription service for it). I only ever drink water or coffee at my desk. 7) When you’re playing, do you have the game music on or off? OFF! So off! Unlike most in the sims community, I have very little nostalgia for any of the music. I've always found it annoying! 8) How long have you been playing your current hood? This October, it'll be nine years. I want to do something special for ten years but I have no idea what! 9) What’s an expansion you’d love to see that EA never did for any version of the game? Assuming they could do it to my standards (they couldn't, so it's a good thing this is hypothetical!), I would love a school expansion for TS2. There are a lot of bits I'd steal from TS3 for it, mostly from Generations. Prom, graduation, pranking the school, after school clubs, etc. I think so much could have been done with it but they never bothered with TS2 and with TS3, most of it happened in a rabbithole. :( It would be fun to see all that stuff for real. 10) What is your favourite kind of business to run? Or what kind would you like to run, if your game version allowed it? They seem rather unpopular with a lot of simmers (though I see @riverdalerandomness agrees!) but I love restaurants. It's hard to make money with them at first but most of my sims keep their day jobs when they have businesses, so that doesn't bother me much. Restaurants are so fun to customise - not just the decor but the menu and the staff uniforms. And honestly, they're very, very easy to run. There's no restocking, there’s no crafting, there's no sims queuing at the cash register, there's no need for sales staff (though you can add them, if you want). It's just pure fun for me.