Thursday 7 July 2011

Heart of gold

Round 31: March 2034 (Autumn)
Last updateNext updates: Lila and Sophie/Connor/Josh and Elspeth

Sophie Gottlieb, Lila Sitko and Connor Novak are all 21 and Elspeth Romilly and Josh Royce-Nihill are both 20.
(Audrey and Jack are both 22 and Chris is 19)

Narrated by Sophie Gottlieb

This is my final year of university and honestly, the end can't come soon enough. I picked my major almost randomly. I got to my junior year and I had to pick something so I picked philosophy.

Such a bad idea! I'm so bored during lectures. I'm not even sure I understand what the professor is talking about half the time.

I tend to distract myself by sneaking peeks at cute guys sitting nearby. My favourite one is gay but he's so nice to look at.

I've just never been fond of studying and my love for it is not growing the more I do it. The last time I write a paper will be the happiest day of my life so far.

Connor makes me study with him, so he can pull my attention back to the task at hand if my mind wanders.

It doesn't really work. I usually end up giving up and trying to distract him instead. I can't help it. I'm just not a bookworm.

Connor and I have different priorities. Connor is on track to graduate summa cum laude, whereas that ship sailed long ago for me. My motto is "a C is a degree".

Connor credits his success to the fact that he isn't distracted by dating drama like the rest of us.

That's just typical Connor. I don't know that he's been totally unaffected by troubles with the opposite sex but he probably has a point.

Dating drama is one of the reasons I'm looking forward to leaving the dorms at the end of the year. I like living here but Josh has made it a little awkward.

The first time he hit on me, was with Jack so I said no due to that but he hasn't really let up now that we've broken up.

At this point, I don't know if Lila would care but I don't want to get into that mess.

Otherwise, yeah, I might. Josh is pretty hot, I have to admit. That's okay, I can be satisfied just looking.

And besides, there's also Elspeth. I haven't actually seen them doing anything flirty or romantic together but I just don't know.

Elspeth is dating Chris Draper and from what I can tell, they're happy.

I was surprised, because they dated in high school and she dumped him in her last year. But she's out with him most nights.

But I still have the feeling that Josh and I getting together would not be at all appreciated by Elspeth, so I'm steering clear of that whole thing. There are other guys.

I was pretty cut when Jack dumped me last year but I'm feeling a lot better about it now. I even saw him with Audrey for the first time since we broke up and felt okay. Not great but okay.

I'm choosing to look on the bright side. When I was with Jack, I always wondered if I would regret not dating around more if we stayed together. Now I won't have to wonder. There are some really nice guys out there and I'm having a blast getting to know some of them.

Lila usually comes with me when I go out. She gets a lot of guys hitting on her but she hasn't been interested in any of them yet.

Lila doesn't really want to date unless she meets someone she really clicks with.

I can respect that, though I don't really understand it. How do you know if you'll click with someone without giving them a chance?

I'm seeing one guy right now who I really like. His name is Seth.

He's a couple of years older than me and extremely cute. He's a lab assistant at the hospital.

I don't know where things are going with Seth but we're not very serious at the moment.

We're just having fun and not making any plans for the future. We're just seeing how things go.

That's my philosophy in general though, which is currently really irking Lila. She's very organised and is attempting to get me to be the same. It's only March and she already wants to figure out where we're going to live next year!

Seems pointless to me, seeing just because an apartment is available now doesn't mean it will be available in nine months.

But Lila is insisting that it never hurts to know what's out there and how much it costs. I'm not even close to being worried about my living situation though. Worse case scenario, I'll move back in with my parents for a while.

I'm worried about what will happen when Elspeth finishes. Her brother and sister wouldn't be able to take her in and her mother lives with her brother now.

I've considered asking Lila if Elspeth could move in with us but I don't think it's a good idea right now.

They're better than they were last year but I don't think you could quite call them friends yet, or even friendly. But I'm an optimist, so I'm holding out some hope that things can one day go back to the way they were a few years ago.

Notes:
  • Title is from Heart of Gold by Neil Young.
  • Grades, before I forget: Connor 4.0, Lila 3.9, Elspeth 3.7, Josh 3.5 and Sophie 3.0. I almost thought her GPA would drop below that and be lower than Troy's was when he graduated. But he had a 2.9, so he still holds the title of Sullivan's Worst Student.
  • What's with all my girls heart-farting over gay guys lately? LOL. Sophie was quite keen on the blondie in her lecture but her rejected her when she flirted with him. ACR always makes my hot townies gay. ;)
  • Josh is still keen on Sophie. Sophie rolls platonic wants for him but usually rejects him when he flirts with her. Which is interesting, because she's Romance Secondary. She didn't roll any wants at all for Jack though, so I guess she's moving on.
  • I can't say much without giving things away but this entire dorm is very confused, romance-wise. Connor included. ;) But more on all that next time, as well as more on Lila and Elspeth. Because those two are confused about their friendship as well as romance.

25 comments:

  1. Ooh I wonder if Connor and Sophie would hook up... hmm... I really don't think Elspeth should stay with Chris. Just looking at who she "fits" with, it's totally Josh. Appearance wise they match each other, he's got a strong jaw, and just seems strong and muscley, and Chris just seems ... goofy really. I don't know, not as serious, and manly I guess.

    I hope Elspeth finds a good place to move to, I didn't even think about her not having a home to go back to! Your girls have gotten over awkward situations before though, so maybe in nine more months, these two can make amends and Elspeth can move in.

    Great pics of Sophie bored in class! Loved those. I'm itching to have a full group go to college.

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  2. Okay, I refuse to accept that Chris is a YA! And you're right, I was a bit confused with the love hexagon, lol.

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  3. I agree, it's confusing for the students right now. I can't believe that they're almost about to graduate and I can't wait to see what kind of place Sophie and Lila get

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  4. Maisie, Connor and Sophie, eh? Well, I guess we'll see what happens next round. I won't count anything out with this gang!

    Personality points wise, Josh and Chris are very similar. Chris is just more active than Josh is. But otherwise, I would tend to agree with you. Josh is a man and Chris is a boy. Or, at the very least, he's straddling that line between boy and man.

    Actually, the girls have almost two years to sort this out. Lila and Sophie are finished now but Elspeth has another year to go. A year apart might be what Lila and Elspeth need.

    LOL, you're itching to have a big group go to college and I was just getting excited at the prospect of only have two college households next round!

    Thanks for reading!

    LaurelCrossing, LOL, is that because Chris looks young or because time has gone by so fast? Or a bit of both? ;)

    Love hexagon! Ha, you didn't see all the wants and ACR action I had to ignore for this update to make any sense at all. It will all come into play eventually but it was easier for me to deal with to pretend some of it didn't happen for the time being.

    Thanks for reading!

    Apple Valley, the early 20s can be a confusing time! I can't believe Connor, Sophie and Lila are graduating either. It feels like their college life went by so quickly.

    Thanks for reading!

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  5. Lots of drama and flirting and dating and hardly any studying done. All to be expected in a college update. God, I love these though. :)

    I can't believe this whole group is graduating in the next two years. How many kids do you have coming in as freshman next year?

    Great update! :)

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  6. Ah students and drama are meant to go hand in hand, that's what uni is for...well actually not but tends to go that way. I am surprised they get any studying in at all with their busy dating and social lives.
    Sophies attitude makes me lol, she is so laid back about everything. She truly lives by her own rules doesn't she...?

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  7. I could see Sophie and Connor and Elspeth and Josh. Elspeth and Josh have been dancing around this for a while now, they need to just jump on in :). College is confusing for everyone, so much freedom and so much trouble that the freedom can cause lol. I hope Lila is in a better place by the time Elspeth graduates......either that or her and Josh could get it together and she could stay with him ;)

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  8. I love your Uni updates! I think my favorite pic of yours has to be the one with Sophie and Jack where she has her hand in his face. It seems the only way to put a stop to his advances is to literally push him away! I also really enjoyed the classroom pictures. It felt like I was right back in college.

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  9. Loved this update. The best part line of the stories falls in line to how I felt about college my self, "a C is a degree". Great update!

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  10. I wonder if Lila's decisions about relationships have been influenced by her sister's pregnancy. It never hurts to have standards though.

    Oh, the what-am-I-going-to-do-after-graduation debacle. Never fun. I hate that (and still do!) but luckily they're all young and have time to figure it out.

    I can't believe that they're almost university graduates. Where does the time go? Sophie seems to be suffering from senioritis of the highest degree. I'm glad she isn't too crazy about the breakup between her and Jack. At least they had 6(?) good years together.

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  11. Sophie's classroom looks just like my music appreciation classroom. I was about as bored as Sophie looks then too.

    Elspeth and Josh! /fangirl :)

    Connor's got relationship problems too? He looked to be taking the smart road and avoiding it altogether. Poor kid.

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  12. coolkat2, It's a wonder I've got any graduates at all, with all the romantic entanglements they like to get themselves into!

    I have just Connor, Sophie and Lila graduating this year and Anthony and Veronica will be starting as freshmen. The year after, Josh and Elspeth will leave and Noah and Adelaide (presumably) will start. So the uni population is going to stay roughly the same size.

    Thanks for reading!

    Speechless, ha, very true! There's definitely a lot more than studying happening on campus.

    I think Sophie's probably too lazy to have come up with any hard and fast rules for herself! Sophie just kind of takes things as they come and deals with them however she feels like dealing with them at that particular time.

    Thanks for reading!

    Mizzgin03, well, I guess it will be interesting to see what happens with Elspeth and Josh next year when Lila, Sophie and Connor are gone. The chemistry between Elspeth and Josh is very high!

    I already have an idea what will happen with Lila and Elspeth next year but the details of that will depend on what happens with Josh. If Elspeth and Josh get together, I can't imagine Lila taking it too well. She's got the little red heart for him, so there are some feelings there still.

    Thanks for reading!

    Mandie, I'm glad you like them! The college updates are usually the hardest ones for me to write, so it's good to know they're appreciated.

    LOL, yeah, Sophie just had to put a stop to Josh's advances any way she knew how! Perhaps a bit harsh but necessary!

    Thanks for reading!

    Bernz, LOL, yeah, Sophie and I have some similarities in our approach to study. That was kind of my motto at uni! At least until my second year, when they changed the grading system so we didn't have Cs any more. Then I changed my motto to "A P is a degree". ;)

    Thanks for reading!

    Choco, Camilla's pregnancy has definitely had an effect on Lila's views on romance. But on top of that, Lila is just not very romantically minded, so dating for the sake of dating is not in her. She "clicked" with Josh, so she pursued him but she wouldn't have bothered otherwise.

    I never liked that "what-am-I-going-to-do-after-graduation" thing either but it doesn't seem to be bothering Sophie much. She's just dying to get out of there - a definite case of senioritis!

    It's about a year since Sophie and Jack broke up, so Sophie has moved past the initial hurt. They had six years together and they cared about each other a lot (and still do) but they weren't right for each other.

    Thanks for reading!

    Fini, funnily enough, that classroom is actually in my music faculty! I don't have buildings for all the majors, so I repurpose them sometimes. But yeah, I looked like Sophie in a lot of my classes too. Educational Assessment was like the most boring thing ever!

    Another Elspeth and Josh fan! We'll see what happens.

    I wouldn't say Connor has relationship problems but he does have some unwanted romantic desires floating around his head. It's not as easy for him to ignore those as he likes to pretend it is.

    Thanks for reading!

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  13. This update was fun and so typical of college students. This Sophie/Josh/Elspeth thing just keeps getting more and more interesting.

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  14. HeredonCove, I'm glad you enjoyed it. The Sophie and Josh thing is something I didn't expect. I don't know why, seeing they have two bolts of chemistry and are currently both single. I guess it surprised me that Josh is being so persistent!

    Thanks for reading!

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  15. I find the hardest part of playing YA's, is that the never seem to want to study (you'll see the effect on their grades particularly in my next college update!). There's always plenty of other drama, though!

    I love Sophie's relaxed attitude - it'll be interesting to see where it takes her, once she's out of college and out in the world...

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  16. I think Sophie's smart to stay away from Josh. Something tells me that he and Elspeth haven't really made up their minds yet and may end up together at some point.

    Sophie reminds me so much of what I was like in business school! I was so bored with the studies that I just kind of sailed through that school with the littlest effort as possible. I hope Sophie won't regret her slacking off a few years later!

    Nice cliffhanger in the notes BTW. Now I'm dying to know what will happen to these guys! Good thing the next update is already online ;)

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  17. Blackcat, do you use Harder College Grades? Before that, I found my Sims would still usually get A+ every semester, as long as they had the skills they needed. Now I'm really noticing the difference in Sims' study habits and they fit with the personalities I'd already thought of for them as well. Sophie is lazy, Connor is studious. Audrey is Popularity/Family but for some reason, she always wanted to do her term papers anyway, which I can see because she's kind of a "good girl". I love the variations!

    Sophie is very lucky to have been born into the family she was - her grandfather decided to pass his restaurant down to her when she was very young and she's always known that she'll have that at some point. I think it's still going to be a bit of a shock to her system when she has to take on some real responsibility though, seeing it's not something she's had to worry about yet!

    Thanks for reading!

    Sari, yeah, Sophie's not stupid. Elspeth got very weird about Josh and Lila when they got together and Sophie isn't particularly keen on getting on Elspeth's bad side!

    I was quite similar to Sophie at uni as well. And high school, really. I wasn't always bored but I was a really lazy student. Sophie's just lucky her future career doesn't require a college degree.

    Next update is online but you'll have to wait a while longer to find out what's happening with most of these guys. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

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  18. Josh seems to be a little bit lost when it comes to girls at the moment; he cheated on Lila with Elspeth, Elspeth found love again with Chris, and he's flirting with Sophie. I'm sure the right girl will come along soon, he's handsome enough, I hope he just enjoys life untill she's there!

    I'm glad Sophie found Seth to hang out with, and who knows what the future might bring them :)
    I think Sophie's glad this final year is almost over.

    And now I want to know what you meant in your last note!

    By the way, this may be very silly question, but where do you find those grades; 4.0 and 3.9 because I can't find them that way anywhere :/

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  19. Tanja, I think Josh is sort of just casting his net everywhere, hoping to catch something in. I don't think he's serious about Sophie at all. And Sophie's attracted to him, but even leaving aside Lila and Elspeth, she's not serious about him either.

    Sophie is one of those Sims who I have no idea who she'll end up with. I'm more sure where I'm going with most of my other college kids but I'm just letting Sophie have fun. So we'll see what happens with Seth.

    Heh, I think things will start changing for this group next time you see them. Then you'll see what I meant at the end there. ;)

    The grades show up in the same place you look at their skills. It's under the class name, I think. But if you're looking for it with Sims who are graduating, make sure you look for it before you send them back to the hood. Once you send them back, the GPA disappears and I don't know a way to find out what it is again.

    Thanks for reading!

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  20. Oooh, hints of more drama to come from these college kids! I'm intrigued!

    I love that Sophie is such a lackluster student--it is much more realistic than all of them being enthusiastic about studying, etc..

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  21. Rachel, LOL, I hope it's not disappointing then! I have a vague idea of what will happen. It's just a matter of when and how I'm going to fit it all together to make it coherent. It was mostly game play and game play stuff isn't always that sane!

    My students in general, Sophie included, are most interesting since I added harder college grades! Even though I only ever had them study if they rolled up the want, most of them were still graduating with honours. That should tell you something about how very incredibly lazy Troy was, because I wasn't using that hack then!

    Thanks for reading!

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  22. Oh, I loved this! Sophie is so funny, so distracted by guys, so bored with her studies. I don't picture her with Connor at all (but who knows what are their plans!), but I could imagine Connor and Lila. They're both so serious and into their studies, they're both brilliant. And Lila is expecting someone special. And Connor is someone special, says the fangirl. :)))

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  23. Sandy, I don't think Connor and Sophie really picture themselves together either! I could see Connor and Lila much more easily than Connor and Sophie. I have plans for all these kids next round but you'll have to wait until then for more details! ;)

    Thanks for reading!

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  24. Haha! I like Sophie’s motto “a C is a degree”. I hear ya, Sophie! That is too funny about Josh hitting on her again. I’m glad she didn’t cave into his flirting because that would have been awkward (he is pretty hot though lol). Boys don’t think those things through! I’m glad she’s getting out there meeting new people and hoped that she rubbed some of that on Lila. I’m really interested in finding out what’s going on with Connor. Oooh, Sandy hit onto something in her comment… hmmm :). I agree that I can’t see Elspeth with Chris. I definitely see her with Josh. But we’ll see how things go!

    I love your college updates, too. I want some drama in mine! But I better be careful with what I wish for, eh?

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  25. Danielle, yeah, that was my motto at uni! I didn't make it up - it's a fairly common motto for lazy students here!

    Sophie definitely would go for Josh, if things were different but they're not so she is wisely steering clear of all that!

    Yeah, Connor...I can't say too much but he'll have a bit more happening in the romance stakes next time. ;)

    LOL, yes, be careful what you wish for! But it's hard to have drama with smaller groups of students. In 2034, I had 10 (including the Gentry boys, who you guys didn't see in the college updates), so there was bound to be something going on!

    Thanks for reading!

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