Friday 21 November 2014

Ship lost at sea

Round 35: March 2042 (Autumn)

Declan Romilly and Xavier and Justin Moretti are 21 and Brendan Lachance is 19. 
(Jessica and Louisa are 22 and Caitlin is 19)

Narrated by Justin Moretti

We’ve just started classes again this week. Xavier, Declan and I are now in our senior year, which is pretty amazing and unbelievable.

Brendan’s still got three years to go. He gets a little bit jealous when we all start talking about our plans for after graduation. 

Sophomore year doesn’t feel like that long ago for me, so I keep telling him the next few years will fly by anyway.

I have to wonder what proportion of those years Brendan is going to spend on the phone. He gets more phone calls than anyone else in the dorm!

It’s not just his mum and dad either. It’s his siblings, his siblings’ spouses, his aunt and uncle, his cousins. He’s the baby of his family, so I suppose they’re all used to looking out for him.

He’s doing pretty well for himself here on campus and is dating a girl who lives here in our dorm. He split up with his high school girlfriend a little while after he started here and then hooked up with Amanda. 

His ex, Georgina, is a freshman this year, so I can foresee some awkwardness if they run into each other. Especially if he’s with Amanda. 

Brendan thinks it’ll be fine, once they get past that initial awkwardness. He’s still close with Caitlin, who is good friends with Georgina, so they’re going to see each other eventually.

It’s been several months since he and Georgina broke up, so hopefully it won’t be too awful for either of them. 

Louisa and I have been out with Brendan and Amanda a couple of times, when we’ve all been able to take a break from our studies. 

We’re all mostly homebodies, apart from Louisa, but it’s just nice to get away from the dorm sometimes. 

It’s good for Louisa too, seeing she gets along so well with Amanda. She still has Lauren on campus with her but she was a little depressed starting back this year when she should have graduated last year, with Emma and Jessica. 

Louisa is a psych major and one of her favourite hobbies is analysing everyone we know, which she did a little of after our last double date with Brendan and Amanda. Louisa doesn’t see Brendan and Amanda’s relationship lasting in the long run, because she thinks Brendan isn’t as into Amanda as Amanda is into Brendan.

She’s basing this on her “observations” about Brendan but also on things Amanda has said to her. 

Apparently, Amanda is pretty sure she sees a future with Brendan and is talking things like engagement with Louisa.

Louisa doesn’t think she’s actually discussed any of it with Brendan or that Brendan feels quite the same way.I suppose I’d have to agree with that. But I can’t say I’m an expert on psychology or relationships. I’ve only ever been with Louisa.

Louisa and I talk about our future a lot and I can say that we’re almost on the same page, at least. I’d get engaged right out of uni if Louisa would but she wants to wait a couple of years first, so we’ll probably do that.

We were both planning to do the roomie thing for a while but it’s not looking appealing to either of us any more. We might skip it and just set up house together instead.

We both feel like if we moved in with roomies, it would be like going from one dorm to another. We’re both from big families too and we’re keen to live somewhere where it’ll be just the two of us. We’ve never lived anywhere quiet before!

Louisa only has one more semester, so she’ll probably move in with Jessica and Emma next semester, let Lauren take her room when she graduates and then we’ll find our own place together. 

Declan was at Jessica’s place almost every night during our summer break but now that classes have started again, he's got to try a little harder to make the time to see her.

Talking to her makes Declan even keener for graduation - mostly so he can start seeing her more regularly again but also because life after uni sounds pretty damn good!

He says Jessica actually misses some things about dorm life. Being independent is pretty cool but living in a dorm where pretty much everything is taken care of for you is nothing to sneeze at.

She’s currently decorating venues for the catering company she works for but she’s looking to move into food whenever she can, which is her big passion.

Jessica is a very diligent type, so Declan is confident she’ll get to where she wants to be in no time. 

Xavier started dating Ashlee in sophomore year but lately, he’s been saying it doesn’t really feel right any more. 

He’s been thinking a lot about what he wants out of life lately and doesn’t see a future with Ashlee any more.

He’d been avoiding saying anything to her, even though he’s been feeling this way for the past few weeks. He didn’t want to hurt her or make things awkward here in the dorm for the rest of the year. 

Xavier did finally bite the bullet and talk to Ashlee about the way he was feeling. 

Ashlee was upset and a bit taken aback. It obviously wasn’t something she was expecting.

Xavier has been pretty down since the break-up too and doesn’t really leave his dorm much, except for classes. We’ve tried to drag him out with us, even just to watch some TV or play pool in the rec room but he’s not interested.

He says he just wants some time to himself right now. He’s going to focus on his writing and is promising he’ll rejoin the world when he’s ready.

I can respect that but I’m not going to let him wallow for too long. 

Notes:
  • Title is from Ship Lost At Sea by Phantom Planet.
  • Thought it was time we heard from Justin before he finally graduates, as the other boys have all narrated once before!
  • Brendan gets so many phone calls. I don't think there was a family member he didn't receive a phone call from over this play session. The other boys don't get nearly as many...probably because Brendan is always hogging the line!
  • Brendan and Amanda - yikes! Amanda has an engagement want; Brendan barely rolls any wants at all towards her. :\ They are autonomously romantic a lot though, so I'll give them until next year. Then we'll see if Louisa was right, lol!
  • I don't know if I've said what my plans for these guys and for Louisa and her friends after graduation, so I'll summarise again, in case I haven't! My original plan was for both Louisa and Lauren to move into the place Jessica and Emma are living in and for Xavier, Justin, Declan and Austin to find a place together as well. I've never done four roomies before and it sounded kind of fun. Logistically, it was going to be a bit of a nightmare though. I was either going to have to find a building with four bedroom apartments or rejig one I already had, neither of which I was looking forward to. So I've scrapped that plan and will have three roomies in each apartment and Justin and Louisa out on their own.
  • I chose Justin and Louisa over say Declan and Jessica just with my gut, really. I think finishing his education is really important to Declan (he still has a Master's to do) and that he and Jessica would want to be established in their careers before setting up house. 
  • Xavier and Justin will both graduate with 4.0s. Declan will have a 3.9, which I'm sure he's still annoyed about. Brendan is still doing well with his 4.0. :)

14 comments:

  1. I liked hearing from justin! I adore the college years - it's my favorite part to play! I like your plans for after graduation too. I can't wait to see how these sims manage the switch from uni to working full time.

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    1. Glad you liked hearing from Justin! Last time we heard from him, he was only 16. :)

      I love the college years too. I get so excited when I get to send more teens off. I think they really come into their own while they're at uni.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  2. Poor Declan, I really took him for having a 4.0, and man, your students all have really excellent grades in this household. Four roommates! That'd be awesome and totally fun! I've never had more than two, hoping to accomplish that with my 7 kids graduating high school soon, but they are splitting off in different directions so it still might not work. Justin and Louisa setting up house totally fits, I can't really see Declan doing that before he's finished his education, unless there was a surprise baby or something. I feel so proud of Declan graduating college, I remember when his parents found out they were expecting him.

    I hope Xavier cheers up, and I'm glad that Justin is there to keep him company and well, pestering him. Brendan is just adorable with his new girlfriend, I totally didn't expect all that from Amanda though, I can see why Louisa thinks it might not pan out, but how totally adorable is she?! Little psych major, using her studies to analyze her circle. Can't believe these guys sans Brendan graduate so soon!

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    1. So did I! I can't remember what happened with Declan's GPA but it was just one semester where he didn't get an A+ and that's it. I don't think I'd care with anyone else because 3.9 is still really good. But with Declan, I find myself wishing there was a way to do extra credit assignments or something!

      Four roomies would be fun but it won't be happening, at least not this time! I still would like to have a big share house (I don't know what you call them in the US) and have four roomies share that but it hasn't happened yet. I can't believe any of these kids are graduating already but yeah, especially Declan! His parents are still so young and they have a college graduate on their hands!

      I think Xavier will be okay.Justin will make sure of it. ;) Yeah, Amanda actually rolled that engagement want last year, like before she and Brendan were even dating officially - kind of a worry! But we'll see in time if Louisa's prediction will come true. I'm sure she won't be too smug about it if it does!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  3. So funny about Brendan getting all those phone calls. Does he have a lot of family or popularity sims in his family at home?

    Yay, a Sullivan update!

    Louisa and Justin are really cute together and it will be fun to see them “set up house.”
    Xavier seems like the break-up was pretty tough even though he wasn’t really into Ashlee anymore. Maybe he can channel some of those feelings into his writing and then “rejoin the world.”

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I think Brendan's family is almost entirely Family and Popularity sims, actually! That would explain the phone calls. The weirdest one was Lauren, who is a) on campus anyway and b) had a daily relationship of 9 with him with she called! They're friends now, just due to that phone call.

      I think writing will be exactly what Justin focuses on in the coming weeks. He's 10% of the way through a novel and he has a want to write a Great Novel (I think that's the wording), so it seems like a good time. Channel it all into the book!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete
  4. Nice to see a Uni update! :) How do you go playing your hood and then a uni hood? I have a few teens that will be finishing high school soon and I'm not sure yet if they'll be attending Uni but I've still been thinking about how I'll play/write it.

    They all seem like good friends and everyone gets along with everyone. Funny to hear Louisa talk with Justin about her conversation with Amanda tho. lol Maybe Louisa is just looking out for Brendan, maybe because he is younger, and maybe because Amanda is new to their circle of friends. Lots of maybe's in there, lol!

    Oh and this is totally random but I love Justin's face! He looks so kind and honest but also more mature than the others. Maybe it's the freckles and or the facial hair. ;) I just checked out his profile and he was such a cute teen! lol

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Honestly, I find fitting uni play sessions into my calendar pretty easy. This isn't a regular uni hood any more but it was just as easy when it was. I play them through a year at a time. For a while, I considered doing a semester at a time but four college updates per household per round seemed a bit much! So a year at a time works well for me.

      The niceness trait is pretty high with all these boys (though I noticed this round that Justin's points were all wrong! Probably screwed up when I remade them. Fixed that!), so there's really no conflict at all with them. I think Louisa's being a little bit of a gossip but there's some element of concern there too, for Amanda and Brendan.

      Justin is my favourite Moretti twin (don't tell Xavier - I love him too!) Freckles and facial hair never hurt. Justin looks totally like his mum, while Xavier takes after his dad almost
      entirely.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  5. I graduated university with a 3.95 and three and a half years later it still bugs me a little. :) (My roommate graduated with a 3.98 and I joked that I was going to demote her from being a bridesmaid over it. I did not actually do that.)

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    1. Then you can probably sympathise with poor Declan, lol! Kind of a "so close, yet so far" sort of thing, I guess!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete
  6. I think it would be cool to see the boys rent out a house. Something like my clifftop apartments, but as a residential lot and they would each pretty much have an entire floor to themselves. Can't wait to see more

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    1. Yeah, I would actually love to do something like that. Not necessarily a floor each sort of thing but a big old house, definitely. Maybe I'll hunt around and see what's out there. I have a while before I'll have to play them. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete
  7. Wow, I can't believe they're already graduating! So basically, Amanda rolled the want on like, date 2? That's a record! And Declan would be horrified with my uni GPA. I passed though. :D

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    1. Actually, I don't even know if they'd been on a date at all yet! Amanda is pretty keen apparently. She's a Family sim, which I'm sure will completely and utterly shock you. ;)

      Declan would be horrified with my GPA as well, believe me! Declan would be horrified by me in general, probably. My mantra during Uni was "a C is a degree"! Not very Declan of me at all.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete