Tuesday 12 October 2010

Strawberry

Round 29: March 2029 (Autumn)
Narrated by Hope Collins

Classes just started here on campus and I'm having the best time. Well, the actual classes aren't that much fun but I'll take boring classes if it means I get to have a pool at home.

Where else could you see a guy fall asleep on his feet? Maybe there are other places but it definitely didn't happen at home!

I live right across the hall from Julia now. It's so cool just being able to go and see her whenever I want to. We're often in and out of each other's rooms.

Speaking of, my room is awesome. I wasn't expecting a great room but I was pleasantly surprised.

Nathan doesn't think freshmen should be allowed to have the big rooms. He's just jealous that he doesn't have one.

Nathan is still rooming with Malcolm and is still irritated by the situation.

He spends most of his time picking up all the mess that Malcolm leaves behind.

Malcolm actually says that he and Nathan are getting along a little bit better this year. Probably because Malcolm doesn't spend as much time in their room as he did before.

My room is a little more appealing and Malcolm's up there with me almost every night.

It means Nathan has the room to himself, which suits him just fine.

It still hasn't stopped Nathan bugging me about Malcolm whenever he has the opportunity. He just hates the idea of me dating Malcolm. I think Dad's got to him.

Malcolm's really not such a bad guy.

I mean, it would be nice if he'd actually get dressed, or at least put some shoes on before he goes to class.

He's just kind of a slob, in general, I guess, even when he does get dressed.

But he treats me well and I'm happy with him, so I don't see why it should matter to Nathan. Or Dad, for that matter.

Mum, on the other hand, adores Malcolm. Every time I talk to her on the phone, she asks about him. It gets a bit much.

Mum has been calling a lot lately, since Aunt Betsy died. I don't think they were ever very close but she must be feeling a bit fragile. She's being a little clingy, which I'm not really used to.

I wasn't sure how Susannah was doing until I arrived on campus. I saw her at the funeral and then she stayed in Sullivan and I came back here. But I guess she's doing okay.

She spends a lot of time on her own but Nathan said she was like that last year too. She's always been quiet, at least compared to me.

If I was her, I probably would have taken a semester off from classes but Susannah said she was grateful to have some kind of distraction.

I decided Susannah was isolating herself too much and dragged her out to Exeter, just for a change of scenery.

She was reluctant but I invited her friend Rebecca as well and I think it did Susannah a little good.

We ended up doing a little shopping too. There are clothing stores here on campus but they leave a lot to be desired!

Susannah and I have ended up hanging out a lot together so far. Of everyone in the dorm, we're the least enthusiastic students.

Nathan and Julia are total nerds. As soon as they get reading assignments or papers, they start them the second they get home from class.

Even Malcolm has nerdy tendencies, which surprised me. He's always said he wants to go to med school but I didn't think he'd take it so seriously. He never really talked about studying when we were at high school, so I assumed he was more of a cramming-the-night-before type.

I'm trying to get Nathan to spread his wings a little and actually do something but he keeps telling me to mind my own business.

Nathan just needs a girlfriend, in the worst way possible. The only girl I ever see him with is Susannah and seeing she's our cousin, that won't work.

He has a huge crush on Rebecca. We have computers in the dorm, but Nathan sometimes goes to use the computers in the library, just in case he runs into her there.

Rebecca is dating somebody else now and Nathan's just going to have to move on.
Personally, I think he should give Julia a chance.

Ever since we got here, all Julia has talked about is Nathan. She used to like him when we were younger and then she got all wrapped up in Jack and now she's back liking Nathan again.

I don't get it, but I'm his sister, so I guess I'm not really supposed to.

Julia is very keen though. She's has other guys show interest in her and she's just ignored them all.

Julia has tried flirting with him, but Nathan can't take a hint.

So Julia took things into her hands and asked him out herself.

So they went out for lunch together at a diner in Exeter.

Julia said Nathan was really quiet at first and she had to almost beg him to actually talk.

Julia's very persistent though and eventually, Nathan loosened up a little.

Only Nathan would take a girl to a video arcade on a date past the age of 14 but Julia actually had fun there.

I wasn't sure if their date would go that well, 'cause Nathan's such a wet blanket sometimes but they seemed to have a good time.

They're all over the dorm, now they're "officially" dating.

It's a little weird for me, I guess. My brother dating my best friend. I try to pretend not to see anything most of the time.

But Julia seems really happy with Nathan and he's stopped bugging me so much about Malcolm, so I'm not going to complain.

Just as long as they keep all the groping and making out confined to the bedroom!

Outtakes:
Dormie romance! There's something in the water in this building, because I have two dormie couples!

First, there's Bill (Susannah's date from last year) and Janette.

And then there's Colton and Sophie. I might graduate them and move them into together, if they keep this up next time I play the dorm.

Notes:
  • Title is from Strawberry by the Blackpanels.
  • All these kids are maintaining 4.0s. I'm thinking of downloading the Harder College Grades hack. Do any of you use that?
  • I'm hoping that rome_raven's advice at N99 to remove the "nouniprotect" hack has solved my narcolepsy problem for good! I almost want to speed through my next uni session now, just to play without Sims dropping like flies for once!
  • Malcolm actually really does treat Hope very well. I only sent them on one date this session but he almost always had at least one Hope-related want in his panel. It's quite cute!
  • Nathan and Julia started up on their own, initiated by her. They have two bolts. I could have sworn they had negative chemistry when they were teens. I get attraction weirdness like that sometimes. Nathan's rolled the want to woohoo but Julia hasn't and they haven't tried to ACR woohoo either. So I don't know if she's going for some kind of Lia-like goal or something but I'm not going to force it on her until she gets the want too. Nathan will have to (literally) keep his pants on. ;)
  • Anna was quite persistent with the phone calls to both Hope and Nathan (and Susannah, actually), which I wouldn't have expected of her. I think I'm going to have to move Anna up in the play schedule, so I can deal with her reaction to Betsy's death. I was a bad blogger and I didn't really consider it!

25 comments:

  1. Romance in the air! I've never had npc dormies hook up on their own... how cool!
    If I were hope, I think the brother & best friend thing would bug me too. But they seem happy together, and quite honestly, Nathan needed a girl!

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  2. Wow, you have a lot of dormie romances, nice.

    Malcolm is such a slob and I love seeing it protrayed in his attire as well. I don't have many slobs in my game-my sims tend to be neat nerds :p

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  3. Ypu know, Cameron and Viggo have three bolts for each other, but I did something in game and their three bolts vanished. Then after the broke up their three bolts came back. LOL

    Romance really is in the air. I've noticed something in my game though. When it's set to spring now, they actually get the spring romance bonus and all my sims do is roll romanci wants. Is your hood set to spring or is it autumn?

    I heart Malcolm. He is so funny, and it's true, even when he cleans up he still looks dirty. hee, hee, hee. But it's good to see how studious he is as well.

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  4. Thanks for reading, all!

    gallowaytownship, well, I only had townies hook up once on their own, pre-ACR. I see it a lot with ACR, though I only pay attention if I notice that they're consistently going back to each other. Sophie and Colton and Bill and Janette are like that too.

    Julia and Nathan would be very weird for Hope, especially seeing Hope and Nathan's relationship is slightly on the adversarial side (at least, compared to another brother-sister pairing like Dominic and Audrey). But she'll get used to it and Nathan really did need a girl! And Julia needed a boy too, while we're on the topic!

    Apple Valley, I know, I'm kind of excited!

    I seem to have a pretty healthy mix of neat freaks and slobs in Sullivan, at least off the top of my head. I'm overloaded with mean Sims though!

    Riverdale, that is weird! I've definitely had things like that happen before but I never figured out what I did to change it, or how it changed itself back!

    My Sims do roll a lot of romantic wants in Spring but my uni hood is set to all autumn. Uni starts here in March, which is autumn so it makes sense with my current system. But I've always done uni that way, because I like getting the seasonal skilling bonus! Uni takes forever without it!

    LOL, I don't know if Malcolm has ever attempted to clean up. He even wore his grotty t-shirt and jeans to his sister's graduation! But he's totally serious about this doctor thing, which pleases me.

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  5. Such a pretty dorm! I really adore it, especially the idea of big rooms and rooms for two students. Did you build it yourself? It's lovely :D

    I'm glad to see Susannah sozialising a bit. It was quite a hard year for her.
    And I think you really got the slobby look nailed with Malcom. I love his beard ^^

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  6. Nathan definitely needed a girl! I'm glad to see he gave Julia a chance. Maybe now Rebecca might get jealous if he's not following her all around campus anymore, lol. ;)

    I always like to see dormies hooking up with each other. Even if I don't move them into a house together later on, it still gives them some deeper history than something I've made up for them.

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  7. Yes! I've always seen Julia and Nathan together, even if they have some contrasting aspects in terms of personality, and they don't seem to be ultra-keen quite yet. But here's hoping, lol!

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  8. Yay for the dormie romances! I love them! I don't have ACR so I doens't happen all that random in my game, but I pretend :) It's fun too.

    I don't have a harder college grades hack, because I never likes playing uni, I started liking it a little bit more after reading yours, and others' post about it, so I only recently started actually "playing" it. So I don't think I will download something like that pretty soon.

    I'm glad Malcolm is treating Hope so well, I was a little scared he would be the same with her as he was with Susannah, so I'm glad he isn't.
    I like it that Susannah is getting out a little bit more, even though it can never be easy. I would love to see her with a boy, but I guess that's just not on her mind right now.
    I'm glad Nathan finally found some one he can be happy with. I would have loved to see him with Rebecca, but he and Julia make a pretty couple too!

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  9. Gotta love sloppy sims :)......I use the harder college grade hack by ancienthighway and my sims can only get an A or A+ if they do a research paper. Since most of mine don't get that want, it keeps quite a few sims off the dean's list! I like Nathan and Julia together, all he needed was a little love :)

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  10. Wow are your guys hairy, lol. That really threw me off for a moment there.

    Malcolm is the definition of slob. I wonder if he can get it together enough to go to med school.

    Hope totally lucked out with that room. If I was Nathan I would be jealous too.

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  11. Thanks for all your comments, everybody. :D

    Karolin, thanks! The dorm is a very extensive makeover of Apple Plaza by Babbelsim. It was a fantastic dorm as it was but not suitable for the way I play. I'm very proud of this dorm, so I'm glad you noticed it.

    LOL, I think Malcolm is my slobbiest looking slob!

    Shana, Nathan was is need of something to focus on besides his sister's boyfriend! We'll have to wait and see what Rebecca's reaction is. It's possible she grew fond of the attention.

    If I move these dormies in as couples, I think I'll be doing some surgery on Sophie. The others are passable but Sophie has some features that don't quite look right to me. But you're right, I love the townies having some history. Really fun!

    Shake, I think it was either you or maybe Flit who was pushing for Julia or Nathan last update! They're actually very keen, in terms of wants (which is how I measure keenness). We'll see if it lasts. They're Knowledge Sims, so they're not especially romance-driven, though they also have Family secondary, which can push those romantic wants to the forefront sometimes.

    Tanja, oooh, you should give ACR a try! I don't know anyone who uses it who doesn't have an enormous amount of fun with it.

    I'm not positive I'll download that hack either but I'll think about it. Just getting a bit bored with all the 4.0s I've been getting lately!

    Well, Malcolm's grown up a little bit since he was with Susannah. Hope was also warned when she started up with him, so she probably keeps him on his toes. ;)

    I'd like to find someone for Susannah too but it didn't seem in character this year. Next year, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

    Mizzgin03, now I know where to get the hack if I ever want it, because I'd completely forgotten! It seems to be about 50/50 whether mine will get the term paper want or not.

    HeredonCove, Nathan and Malcolm? They're not even my hairiest boys! It's rare that Tate and Trent get around shirtless these days but they both use the hairiest overlay and WOW is it hairy!

    So far so good for Malcolm. As long as he doesn't get too distracted by Hope's offerings up in her admittedly awesome room, she should do okay. I'm thinking of giving him Knowledge secondary, seeing he seems to lean that way anyway. Before I sent him to college, I probably would have gone with Romance or Pleasure.

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  12. I actually tryed ACR once, I think it was when I started SimsVille, about 18 months ago, but threw it back out. It sounded like a lot of fun, and I had to try it out. But you need to do some adjustments and I'm not very good at adjusting things with SimPe, even though I love it. I've tryed it with Inge's Age Group Tweak, and it doesn't seem to work, I still have to set my sims' ages manually in SimPe.
    I like the controle I have over my sims, sound very weird I know, and I have the feeling that ACR kind of takes that away from me. Maybe I'm wrong here because I never really tryed it, or adjustet it to my personal liking.
    (And now I'm hoping this text it clear, because I'm reallt tired)

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  13. Tanja, fair enough (and yes, it made sense)! I feel like I have enough control over the game, so I kind of like it that Sims will take care of their own woohoo and baby making needs without my intervention.

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  14. Julia and Nathan make a lovely couple. I understand that it must be a bit weird for Hope to see her brother and best friend together. Happened to me too, my brother ended up marrying one of my best friends and they now have 4 daughters :)

    For some reason I just don't see Malcolm as an aspiring doctor! But he works hard for his dream so he'll get there one day.

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  15. Sari, oh, how funny! I guess if Julia and Nathan end up getting married and popping out four kids, Hope will have to get used to them as a couple!

    I'd probably expect an aspiring doctor to look a little more put-together than Malcolm does! But I guess people surprise you sometimes.

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  16. LOL I like Malcolm too, with is slobby self. I hope he keeps himself clean when he becomes a doctor. I'll have to pay more attention to my sims' personalities and the way they dress. Most of my sims are on the neat side, though.

    I'm also glad to see that Susannah is getting out a little bit. I'd love to see what guy you have planned for her, if you have one planned at all :).

    Nathan and Julia are cute together. At least she's not all psycho anymore.

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  17. Dani, hopefully Malcolm can at least remember to wash his hands before surgery. ;) That'd be the very bare minimum that I'd expect from my doctor!

    I actually don't have a guy planned for Susannah! Her future is wide open. Serious boy shortage going on in her age group, lol.

    Let's hope that if Nathan and Julia ever break up, he sleeps with one eye open! Or that Julia has matured a little by then!

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  18. How disturbing it would have to be to not only share a room with a slob, but to share a room with your sister's boyfriend. Who she's sleeping with! Ick! Who needs that? I think I felt bad for him last time, but I really felt bad for him this time, lol. Though now she has her own room, so that's good.

    It was sweet of Hope to hook her brother up though!

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  19. Lunar, oh, I know, right? Poor Nathan. Hope and Malcolm never in Nathan's room any more, so thank heavens for small mercies, I guess!

    LOL, yes, that's how Hope would look at it. Nathan probably wouldn't admit that his sister kind of helped him out. ;)

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  20. You totally can be proud of it, Carla. If you ever decided to do a lot tour, I'd be ecstatic :D I'm so curious how the rest of it looks.

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  21. Karolin, thanks! I already did a lot tour for this dorm at N99 but seeing you asked, and I already have the pics uploaded, I'll put it up here later today. :)

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  22. Really?! That's so nice of you! Thanks a lot. :)

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  23. You're welcome. It should be up in just a minute. :)

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  24. Hope was hilarious! I think she'll become my favorite narrator, even if she is still a little bitchy. She's better than her mother was at that age. Speaking of, I'm actually surprised at Anna's constant calling, but maybe I shouldn't be, since Betsy was her only friend for much of her younger life. I'm glad Nathan's moving on, though I was rooting for him and Rebecca since he expressed an interest. At least this'll get Julia to stop harassing the Bentons, lol.

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  25. Fini, Hope is a lot of fun but no, not the nicest girl in the world! She has a bit of her dad in her as well, so she's not quite as bad as Anna.

    Anna is definitely not quite herself at the moment, so she's reaching out more than she might otherwise. But it's completely out of character, so her children are finding it quite strange.

    Don't be so sure about Julia and the Bentons. The girl has issues!

    Thanks for reading!

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