Heathcliff’s work ethic has been noticed by a client who has connections to City Hall! I thought politics would suit him very well indeed, so I let him switch jobs. He also gets a promotion, which is pretty sweet!

Heathcliff doesn’t start work for a while and he had a whim to play a video game with Svetlana, so I got the both of them to pick out some race cars and start up their engines!

(Cool Easter egg alert: I only just realised EA inserted footage of their other game, Burnout Paradise, in The Sims 3 here!)

Svetlana got rammed off the side of the road by the game’s AI, so she’s trash-talking that driver while valiantly steering her car back on course.

After a few rounds, Heathcliff wondered if the in-game people living in those cities would ever get any sleep from all that frequent racing. He’s glad that Sunset Valley is relatively quiet in comparison, and that they don’t belong to that other game.

I think Svetlana secretly disagrees, she wants to trounce that driver who did a number on her car!

Time to let go and unwind with some cuddles instead.

Heathcliff also got a call on his phone to participate in a cooking challenge!

The judges were from Hogan’s Deep Fried Diner, so he decided to make something to fit their menu – hot dogs!

Svetlana is more than happy to be his taste tester as he experimented with different sausage meats, bread buns, and sauces. Yum!

Heathcliff, it’s already dinner time! The hot dog fumes won’t fuel you up, you have to eat something too!

At long last, the day of the competition arrived, and Heathcliff brought the best hot dog he made up to the judges for tasting. For all his grilling efforts, he ended up winning first place! Well done, Heathcliff!

Back at home, Topher’s attending his daily speaking lessons with grandma.

Svetlana: “Topher, can you say ‘prize money’? That’s right, Grandpa won some!”

Topher: “Pwize homey. Aboo.”

Mama Becky took over after watching the latest episode of her soap opera.

Becky: “Topher, can you say ’emerald ring’?

Topher: “Emwald. Bing. Goobee.”

I’m not sure if it’s because the ladies used such hard vocabulary for a toddler to begin with, but Topher ended up learning the basics of speaking really quickly too!

To celebrate, both mother and son played together before Topher’s naptime.

After putting Topher down in his crib for a short snooze, Becky answered the door. As it turns out, Theodore had not only dyed his hair, but he’d suddenly joined the military career. I really hope things at home aren’t so bad that he decided to join the army instead…

(What happened to you, Theo? What about university and your computer skills? I don’t think you have a Fitness point to your name when we were last at your household!)

I wasn’t over his drastic change yet, and then the game hit me with another curveball:

And it seems the attraction is mutual. I mean, this could really be a scenario taken straight out of one of Becky’s romance novels, ie. having a buff army guy in uniform suddenly show up to talk to you, right?

Hoo boy. I don’t think Lily’s going to be happy when she finds out.

It’s been a while so I hope some cute pictures of Topher will help to make up for it!

Big bear hugs from this little boy to you all!

He’s doing really well – growing really fast and has daily walking lessons with the women of the house! Grandma Svetlana is in charge of the morning session.

And then mama takes over in the evenings when she’s back from work!

Between the two of them, Topher learned how to walk really quickly! Svetlana’s Family-Oriented trait also gives a big bonus to teaching her grandson life skills.

Such an achievement deserves many snuggles, of course!

Exploring the house with his newfound skill after a nap. What are you up to, Topher?

Arr, Captain Topher of the high seas! What treasure is of yar fancy today?

The truck was very appealing, but he ended up settling for the Loch Ness monster toy instead. Very brave boy. Or just a very loving one.

Such an eventful day he had! He got really sleepy after dinner and Grandpa had to carry him to bed. Sleep tight, little guy.

Now that the grandson’s asleep, Svetlana and Heathcliff decided to pay a visit to the Glover-Wozny household to congratulate them on the arrival of their baby girl!

And yes, it’s the Glover-Wozny household, not just Glover anymore! Gwen and Holden decided to tie the knot at City Hall and sign their marriage papers before Gwen gave birth.

While waiting for the couple to answer the door, Heathcliff was reflecting on the success of his work day! It pays (pun intended) to be observant and prepared.

Svetlana also got a text from her superior saying that she got promoted! It’s not a glamorous promotion but it certainly beats being an organ donor, and it definitely satisfies her ambitious side.

Gwen was glowing with happiness when she came to the door. Although little Chana was already sound asleep, she invited them in for a quick bite to eat and a short catch-up.

I was so amused by how this visit turned out, though. Holden couldn’t keep his hands of his wife, so Svetlana decided to watch TV instead while Heathcliff chowed down.

After Heathcliff finished the last bite of his sandwich, he and Svetlana excused themselves politely to head home. I doubt the newlyweds noticed their departure, though.

Seeing them so passionate with one another gave Heathcliff some ideas.

Svetlana was similarly affected, though she went straight to the point.

After they got ready for bed, she suggested a race to their third-floor bedroom. Whoever got there first gets to pick how they’d WooHoo tonight.

Heathcliff took his wife up on the challenge, but kissed her soundly to daze her slightly before rushing off to their bedroom. Svetlana had to shake herself out of bliss before attempting to overtake her husband. She had plans for him, after all.

It ended up being a tie in the end, but in such a happy and long-lasting marriage, everyone’s a winner when it comes to WooHoo.

In the meantime, Becky wisely decided to have a swing in the garden. She made sure to stay a bit longer than necessary so she wouldn’t have to hear anything her parents were up to. Despite her tired state, she really enjoyed the cool night air and gorgeous starry sky.

She was a little downcast though, wondering when she’d be able to find true love of her own. Even the Lums’ son had a new girlfriend.

Oh well, for now she had Topher and a loving home to stay in, and that was more than enough.

The next day, Heathcliff made apple pancakes for breakfast to cheer his daughter up, just like how he’d do when she was little and was sad. As he set the first plate of hot, fluffy pancakes in front of her, he saw her face brighten with delight, and that carried him well through the rest of his work day, even though he had to deal with a yelling client.

Romantic love may come and go, but being a parent – that unconditional love lasts a lifetime.

Time for another switch! Welcome to the Baker household.

Meet Svetlana and Heathcliff. Their bio says they’re retired, but they had jobs when I entered their household, probably due to my usage of the NRASS mod for TS3. Heathcliff works in the Business career, and Svetlana’s in the Medical career.

I don’t think I’ll be changing them out of their careers, since they really seem to enjoy them. Heathcliff’s a Workaholic, and Svetlana is Ambitious. On Saturday night, she suddenly had the whim to learn the writing skill, so I set her to it.

She also needs a Logic skill point to advance in her career, so when Sunday morning rolled around, I got her to play some chess in their beautiful, large garden. It must be nice out there with all the fresh air and blooming flowers!

Despite Svetlana’s go-getter tendencies, she has a huge soft spot for her family. She adores taking care of Topher, her grandson.

Having the Family-Oriented trait means Svetlana can teach Topher life skills at a faster rate. It definitely helped Becky, her daughter, a lot with potty training her son, since Svetlana almost got him to half-mark when she trained him earlier.

Well done, Topher!

I admit, I initially thought Becky was someone who didn’t really care about her child much and would rather enjoy an easy life living with her parents in their large, sprawling house. She’s unemployed and has the Mooch trait, so she can ask Sims for money and food really easily.

But her parents are happy to have her and Topher living with them again, and Heathcliff, who has the Natural Cook trait, really enjoys cooking for his family and likes seeing his daughter enjoying his food.

Becky isn’t an irresponsible mother either. She loves playing with Topher, and he adores her just as much.

She has whims all about her son too, and also wants to buy a high chair for him.

I think she’s a little lost when it comes to her career, though. Svetlana had the whim to see her daughter become a Professional Athlete, which does suit Becky, since she’s an Active Sim and loves to workout.

But Becky’s lifetime wish is ‘Golden Tongue, Golden Fingers’, which means that she wants to master the guitar as well as the charisma skill. I decided to pick the Music career track for her for now, and got her a guitar to start off with. She likes to come out to the front porch to practice, probably so that her messily played chords don’t end up waking Topher from his rest.

She tried teaching some music to Topher, but he’d rather chew on his little mallet instead. Good try, Becky. Good try.

As for Heathcliff, besides cooking, he also wants to have the perfect aquarium. He’s on great terms with his superior, Rhett Funke, so he invited him out to go fishing one night. He figured it would enable them to bond, and he also gets to enjoy some night fishing!

Taking the family’s van up the slope to the fishing spot. I’m glad he decided to drive, it would be quite difficult to walk up there in the dark!

Rhett took a bit longer to arrive, so Heathcliff started fishing first.

Once he arrived, Heathcliff took a break to chat to Rhett. They had to shout a little bit to be heard over the sound of the waterfall behind them, but Rhett thought Heathcliff’s booming baritone was perfect for the upcoming presentation that Heathcliff was going to give next week at work, and told him to bring that volume to the meeting room.

They both then got down to fishing, and Heathcliff managed to get one skill point before the night ended!

He also caught his very first fish!

Good to call it a night since it’s Monday tomorrow! Hoping these two will get to meet up more and build up their friendship!

When Heathcliff got home, he put his minnow into a nice fishbowl on the TV console table. He decided to name it Cari, and fed her before he retired to bed for the night.

Topher was already sound asleep, so Heathcliff was super careful not to make too much noise on his way up to the master bedroom on the topmost floor.

And speaking of children, we got this pop-up while Heathcliff was fishing! I guess it’s to be expected, with all the canoodling and WooHooing these two have been up to lately. Congratulations to the happy couple!

Personally, I think they mistook Holden’s quiet nature for shock here! I know he’ll be a great dad and a supportive partner to Gwen during the pregnancy.

The next few weeks passed blissfully for both Gwen and Holden.

Ever since their first date, Gwen insisted that Holden share a bedroom with her, which he was more than happy to agree to. His previous bedroom was converted into a study where he could work and read any time he wanted. Recently, it’s been more of the former, since his publisher suggested that he give science fiction a try.

Holden would usually work until he lost track of time, so he really appreciates it whenever Gwen stops by for kiss breaks and also to remind him to come to bed.

Gwen’s excited for her boyfriend’s second novel, but she’s also worried that he would overwork himself and not eat enough. Sometimes, she’d even hear his stomach grumbling while they were cuddled up in bed together.

He’s also not much of a cook, sadly.

They take it in turns to make meals, so whenever it’s Gwen’s turn, she does her best to make them as hearty and nourishing as possible. Even boxed mac and cheese for busy weekday nights can be made better by using good quality cheese, besides adding veggies plus a touch of spices.

It does take a little bit more effort, but it’s worth it so they could have a delicious dinner after a long day’s work. Gwen also loves seeing Holden going for seconds after finishing his first bowl super quick!

On his part, Holden isn’t one to simply take and not give in return, so he makes it a point to shower his girlfriend with plenty of affections before she heads off to work in the mornings, and if she’s not too tired, with WooHoos at night.

He’s still the resident handyman out of the two of them, and does a great job maintaining their plumbing and household appliances in good working order!

He knows Gwen’s also been working really hard in the office, so it’s the least he could do to help her out around the house while she’s there.

Recently, he’s noticed her napping on the couch right after returning from work, so Holden now sets a timer to remind himself to stop writing 10 minutes after Gwen comes back. This way, he’d be around to cover her with a blanket and cuddle up with her on the couch, or carry her to bed and hold her close.

They knew that this is just a busy phase of life for them – it’ll pass eventually, and it helps that they can support each other in the meantime.

Sure enough, Gwen received a raise from her superiors not long after!

Holden, on the other hand, faced some difficulties meeting his deadline, since his laptop overheated from too much use on the submission date.

After trying to fix it, he decided to finish the rest of his novel at the library instead, and come back to it when he had a bit more time. Gotta meet that deadline first!

It was a Thursday afternoon after school was out, but thankfully, Holden mostly had the library to himself, and maintained good focus throughout the last sections of his final draft.

At precisely 7.55 pm, he sent it off to his publisher and breathed a sigh of relief. Come what may, he did his best, and he was proud of what he had put down on the page!

(True enough, it ended up being quite a success!)

Before leaving, Holden even met a fan of his book! Heathcliff Baker, who lived down the road, came by with his wife and grandson to check out a copy of ‘Love Under the Same Roof’, and couldn’t believe that the author was living so close by!

Heathcliff also passed along a career opportunity to Holden, in case he would like to try his hand at reporting. He knew a friend who worked for the newspaper, and as it turned out, they were hiring.

That night, Holden discussed it over a movie with Gwen at home (a black and white classic, which they both loved).

Gwen thought it would definitely help with the bills, but ultimately told Holden to follow his heart.

She left to get ready for bed while he thought it over, and came back to a nervous smile on her boyfriend’s face. He’d accepted the job. Gwen smiled and kissed Holden, reassuring him that he’d do wonderfully, and it would be good experience for him to try this out, even if he doesn’t end up sticking with it for long.

With this kind of encouragement, Holden feels like he could conquer the world with Gwen by his side.

One WooHoo and a good night’s sleep later, Holden walked out the door to the first day at his new job, feeling excited but determined to learn the ropes!

Lunch break would be fun, since Gwen was also working at Doo Peas Corporate Towers, and they already had plans to meet up at the sandwich bar downstairs. He knew that her brilliant smile would be a day-brightener, regardless of how badly (if at all) the morning would go!

After a week of countless revisions and back-and-forths with his publisher, Holden finally submitted his final draft of ‘Love Under The Same Roof’. He didn’t expect anything to come of it since it was just his longings poured out on paper, albeit in a fictional form with no references to himself or to Gwen whatsoever.

He expected that his book would remain in the chick lit section of local bookstores for about eight months before being relegated to the bargain bin, but as it turned out, the book sold at a rate beyond his wildest dreams.

Okay, the royalty payments weren’t much to shout about, but this review was already a pretty stellar way to debut as a writer! Throughout his call with his ecstatic publisher, Holden’s face went from pink through a gradient of red, as she finally told him to ask his housemate out already.

After hanging up, Holden nervously cleaned the sink while waiting for Gwen to return home from work, having resolved to take another piece of (very sound) advice from his publisher and ask Gwen out on a date. Would she consider going out with him at all? Should he reconsider asking her? Probably not, she’d see his name on the cover of his new book soon enough and start to wonder, so he might as well bite the bullet. What if she already had plans with someone else? It was a Friday night, after all.

All of a sudden, the door opened and in walked Gwen with a copy of the book in her hands, smiling from ear to ear. Holden panicked, dropped the sponge, and stammered out an explanation of how and why he came to write the book, apologising profusely and confessing his feelings to her all at one go, finally ending with asking her out, if she didn’t hate him by then? Or found him weird? Otherwise, he would pack up and leave tomorrow morning if it was too uncomfortable for her –

– but as he closed his eyes, unable to bear seeing her expression, his (weird, too hairy, mismatched with the rest of him) hands were taken gently into her soft ones, and she was telling him that she’d love to. Go out with him. Had been waiting for him to ask ever since he moved in. And finally, that she was unbelievably flattered by the fact that he had written such a romantic story about them for the world to read.

He really, really wanted to kiss her then, and when he opened his eyes to gaze into hers, it seemed she felt the same way too.

But first, a date must be had!

Holden knew Gwen had been wanting to visit the art gallery here ever since they moved to Sunset Valley! It seemed that it featured quite a few interesting sculptures and exhibits. She was thrilled at his thoughtfulness and even happier that he was able to remember, since he tended to be a little forgetful around the house.

I also had fun visiting the art gallery with them, especially when coming to pieces like these. Thankfully, it didn’t smell…

And this one. Gwen suddenly had the urge to run far away from the pixelated face staring at her, and I couldn’t help but agree. Holden was just very, very puzzled.

At the end of their tour, Gwen leaned in and hugged Holden happily. She had the best time, and didn’t want the date to end. Holden was over the moon seeing her so happy, and he didn’t want it to end either.

So why should it? Off to the movies we go! (They both had a whim to watch a movie anyways.)

Holden’s off to get the tickets for a romance movie, since Gwen’s eyes were drawn to the poster when they arrived. He totally doesn’t mind; it makes for good reference and inspiration for his next novel!

And he really enjoyed it too!

After the movie, there weren’t any cabs around to take them home just yet, but these two didn’t mind at all. It gives them an excuse to cuddle up together on the bench, and enjoy the fresh evening air.

And also, to build up a little courage to finally have that first kiss together.

Holden gently pulled her to her feet and took her into his arms for a proper one after that, and Gwen melted. She’s kissed a few guys before, but none of them kissed the way Holden did. Tender yet so sensual, and what made it hotter was that it was Holden who was kissing her this way. Sweet, thoughtful, quiet, gentle Holden, who had such a passionate side hidden underneath.

It definitely triggered something in Gwen (but if she was honest, she felt this way early on into their date already).

For Holden, it was easy enough to express his feelings through the kiss, since he felt the same way.

Gwen was shy as she asked him if they could continue the date back at their place, and it was Holden’s turn to take her hands in his comfortingly. His heart was pounding, but knowing she wanted him as much as he wanted her – it was definitely a huge confidence booster.

Now the cab couldn’t arrive fast enough.

Holden couldn’t keep his hands off her the moment they walked through the front door.

And Gwen couldn’t either. Finally, she was able to caress that muscular back that she’s been not-so-subtly staring at in the mornings.

I just love the way she looks at him, and the little smile on his face. They’re so in love.

Before falling asleep, Holden resolved to write a big thank-you email to his publisher in the morning. This outcome was definitely better than any romance novel he could ever write.

Switching over to another household! Meet Gwen Glover and Holden Wozny.

Gwen’s just starting out in Sunset Valley, and she thinks she hit the jackpot with Holden answering her advertisement for a housemate. He’s quiet, polite, and is committed to helping her out with the bills, which definitely makes it easier for her as his sort-of landlady.

He’s also really handsome, which she wasn’t expecting.

She tries to be strict when laying down the house rules with him, but her heart’s definitely aflutter.

While Holden adjourns to his room for the night, I directed Gwen to quietly practice her guitar before bed. She dreams of becoming a famous singer-songwriter someday, after all. However, since she already has a job as a mailroom clerk, I’ll keep her in this career so she can pay the bills with her salary for now. After all, she still has quite a long way to go in levelling up her charisma and guitar skills.

Bright and early to work! Go get ’em, Gwen!

Now onto Holden. He’s an aspiring writer, and prefers expressing himself through the written word rather than via conversation.

He doesn’t currently have a job, but he hopes to contribute to the household in any way he can by working on his latest book. It’s quite inspired by his living situation, actually.

Gwen doesn’t know it yet, but her attraction to Holden is very, very mutual on his part. I pinned this whim instantly, hehe.

His thoughts constantly wandered to Gwen as he read his handiness book in the afternoon. Holden also had a whim to level up his handiness skill, so I take it as a sign that he’s hoping to be useful to her whenever something breaks down in their house. I think it makes for a nice balance in their household.

He’s also pretty well-built! Gwen came home from work to this sight and stared for a bit, then blushed furiously when Holden turned her way to welcome her back. She quickly excused herself to the bathroom, stammering out that she needed to take a quick shower before dinner.

While she was freshening up, Holden decided to make a simple dinner for the both of them. He figured Gwen would be quite tired after a long day in the office. Plus, he already had quite a nice break in the afternoon since he managed to submit his chapters to his publisher before lunch today.

Upon exiting the bathroom, Gwen was pleasantly surprised to see Holden at the stove. He also invited her to use his laptop while he put the finishing touches on their dinner, and she thought it was very thoughtful of him.

She decided to play some sports games while waiting to blow off some steam. It was a pretty stressful day for her at the office today, since there were lots of incoming documents and packages to sort out for the company after a long weekend.

After dinner, Gwen made it a point to say thank you to Holden for preparing such a delicious meal, and for being so kind to her. He smiled shyly in return, and she was completely charmed. They chatted for quite a while together, only saying a reluctant good night when it was time to go to bed in their separate rooms.

Love is most definitely in the air with these two.

The last few weeks of Theodore’s semester just flew by.

Besides his shared duties with Jeffrey to keep their connecting bathroom clean, he also regularly helped out with the frat house chores. Theodore recently decided to clean the stove since it had accumulated some stains after spaghetti night. He was thankful that this second stove hadn’t exploded in flames (yet) and he also wanted to keep it in good working order so they could all continue to make many more delicious group meals.

One of the guys on his floor also allowed Theodore to enter his room when he was away for classes to play on his video game console. Out of all the games, Theodore found himself getting pretty hooked on Speed 3, that new racing game that came out early this year. He tried his very best to unlock as many sports cars as he could, just to see them flying down the track.

Every Tuesday and Saturday evenings after dinner, Theodore and Jeffrey would head down to the basement to play a few rounds of table tennis. It’s somewhat of a weekly ritual of theirs since the first time they played together. Theodore loves it since he also gets to know more about his sort-of-roommate with every session.

He also got a call from the table tennis club asking them if he wanted to join them, but he turned them down politely. There’s just too much to do, and he won’t be staying on campus for much longer anyway.

Final exam day! Or, should I say, final exam night, since Theodore’s professor decided to have all his students sit for their final exam in the evening, for some reason. (I don’t have Supernatural installed, so vampirism is out.)

Theodore didn’t mind the timing too much and still thought that he managed to perform reasonably well! As a treat, he decided to invite Jerry out to SimBurger for milkshakes and double cheeseburgers, since they were the only two left on campus at that hour.

A couple of days later, Theodore got his completion of term certificate in his email inbox!

It wasn’t an ‘A’, but it was still pretty solid, considering Theodore hadn’t studied anything in a long time before embarking on this course! Very pleased overall.

When he got back to the frat house, Jeffrey was looking at the message boards for new dares, and was overjoyed to hear the news from Theodore! Theodore asked him what he thought everyone would like to eat, since it’s his last day on campus and he intended to buy the guys dinner.

Can’t go wrong with pizza! Theodore ordered the largest size they had, which came with slices the size of his hand.

It was a good thing he did, since everyone was super hungry by the time the pizza arrived!

Having a slice too. Mmm, warm, melty cheese is the best! The side salad Theodore made ended up relatively untouched in the end, but he figured the guys could all have some tomorrow.

It was in the wee hours of the morning when Theodore left for home, since he didn’t intend to get caught in rush hour traffic on his way back to Sunset Valley. He had said his goodbyes to everyone last night and thought that would be the end of it, but when he stepped out on the porch carrying his suitcase, he was taken by surprise. Jeffrey, Jerry, and a couple of the other guys were standing there with big smiles! Turns out, they had all woken up to see him off.

It was incredibly bittersweet, to leave feeling so loved! Theodore vowed to keep in touch with them all, and to return to university for another semester as soon as he could.

Aah, home, sweet home.

Upon hearing her husband’s voice, Lily dropped the dish she was cleaning back into the kitchen sink and went to give Theodore a deep, welcoming kiss. Theodore’s heart melted instantly upon seeing his normally sharp-tongued wife being so affectionate towards him.

Lawrence was also a little overwhelmed at the sight of his father again.

Hugs all round, with storytime to come later. Welcome home, Theodore!

Early morning lectures, the bane of every student’s existence!

Theodore was well prepared for it though, and enjoyed his bike ride to campus in the cool morning air. He found a seat right at the front and waited for the lecturer to come in, but he or she never arrived. Instead, the students got a pre-recorded lecture on the projector, and predictably, almost the whole class fell asleep not less than twenty minutes in.

Not Theodore. He thought he might as well make the most of it since he was already there, although he did regret not being able to meet the female student next to him. He tried to speak to her at break time, but she slept right through it.

He thought he might get another chance to speak to her and some of his other coursemates after class, but he got a text from Mahmoud saying the stove was on fire again, so he biked swiftly home.

Poor Rex. He was only trying to make lunch for the guys.

All was under control by the time Theodore arrived at the house, but we had to get a new stove since it was charred completely black.

Looking at the stressed faces around him, I got Theodore to grab some ingredients out of the fridge to make a huge bowl of autumn salad for everyone. It was about time he made a group meal for the guys, anyway, and this recipe wouldn’t require a stove.

Everyone chowed down appreciatively, except Mahmoud, who was still really shaken up by the fire.

Theodore went over to check on him and to say thanks for telling him about the fire earlier. Mahmoud returned a shaky smile and looked a bit more at ease, but he was still quite tense overall. Well, it’s not easy to regulate one’s emotions after such a traumatic event, so Theodore simply placed the leftover salad in the fridge and told Mahmoud there’s plenty inside whenever he’s ready to have lunch again.

Since Theodore didn’t have any more classes till the next day, it was time to check out the frat house basement!

Talk about awesome – there’s a well stocked bar, a podium, and even a tennis table there! We saw Jeffrey rehearsing a speech on the podium, so Theodore invited him to play a game.

I didn’t see who won, but Theodore gained a new friend from their post-game chat, so I’d say both of them are winners here!

Coincidentally, Jeffrey also shares an adjoining bathroom with Theodore in the frat house. By the end of the week, things were starting to look a little dirty inside, so Theodore decided to take up cleaning duty first. He’ll ask Jeffrey to clean next weekend.

On Wednesday, Theodore had his first lab class! He arrived at the front doors of Busche again, feeling hopeful and ready to learn!

He got a bit lost trying to find everyone, though, since they weren’t inside the laboratory. Where could they be? He peeped outside and had to suppress a shout at the skull looking right back at him.

It turns out the professor had brought everyone outside to work on their anatomy models today, since the weather was really lovely.

Theodore rushed outside and found a quieter spot by the chess tables to set up his own skeleton, not wanting to disrupt the class. Thankfully, the professor had yet to finish making his rounds and hadn’t noticed Theodore arriving late.

It was a fantastic class, though, and Theodore couldn’t wait to tell Lawrence all about it in their evening catch-up call later.

The rest of the week passed in a blur of classes, chess, calls with the family, and cramming in study hours. All too soon, it was Friday night again! Time to celebrate with a game of pool with Jerry in the frat house garage.

Jerry wasn’t up for much conversation, though, and left the game early to go fishing. Theodore decided he would continue on his own, but Rex showed up to play with him towards the end, which was really nice of him.

We decided to chat a bit more with him after the last ball rolled into the pocket. By this point, I knew Rex was quite eccentric (he has the Insane trait), but he’s probably the kindest Sim in the frat house. He goes around in his swim shorts doing laundry for everyone and making meals too, and never gets in anyone’s way.

Since Theodore had the ‘ink blot test’ interaction from his Science course, I decided to ask him to test Rex. It was a disaster – Rex was really insulted by it, poor thing, and I got Theodore to apologise instantly. I guess Rex didn’t like being reminded of his peculiarities, considering what he probably had to overcome to attend university. It’s nice how the game does this, though.

Theodore decided to quit while he was ahead and went in for dinner. Someone made waffles, but they were burnt. Oh well, they were still edible, just…quite…dry.

The next morning, Theodore woke up before his alarm and got some studying done for his first class! He doesn’t have much foundational knowledge of science yet, so he wanted to get a head start before his afternoon lecture.

The posters came with the room, so we’ll go with that. He isn’t the most athletic Sim out there.

He also wanted to read a science book, so we selected one from his bookshelf and found a cosy spot in the common room in front of the fire. Most of the other guys in the frat house were heading to classes, so he didn’t have to fight with anyone for it.

Theodore did wonder if that was someone’s tie on the bust in the corner. He suspected it was placed there during the party last night.

After his simple brunch of toast and jam, Theodore’s phone rang. He answered eagerly, thinking it might be a call from home, but it was a challenge from the Rebel group. A dare, to be precise.

Theodore tried to reason with himself as he biked to SimBurger. He knew he wouldn’t normally accept such a challenge, but he did need the funds for his household and for another semester. Plus, he reckoned the dumpsters were usually hidden in back alleys, so he wouldn’t really be seen by too many Sims anyway.

Also, after streaking around the frat house yesterday, this dare seemed pretty tame in comparison.

He was glad Lily and Lawrence weren’t around to witness this, though.

(I remember he found a couple of things in the dumpster, besides scoring the Simoleons for completing the dare – a beetle, and also a gemstone, if I’m not mistaken. I don’t know why anyone would throw a gemstone away, but Theodore’s not complaining!)

Off to the nearby (empty) gym for a quick shower before class! At this point, he had absolutely no hygiene left.

In the confined shower space, Theodore could really smell the stench he was emitting. Ew.

(Don’t delay, dude! Just get clean already!)

After picking some questionable scraps out of his hair and scrubbing everything thoroughly, he biked over to the Busche School of Science to wait for class to begin, feeling fresh and all clean.

What he saw when he arrived made his jaw drop a little. This…was the science building? He was expecting just one lecture hall connected to a lab, not a building of this size and grandeur!

Theodore couldn’t resist trying out some chess moves before heading in. He resolved to brush up on his skills so that he could play a round here with some of his fellow coursemates, or even a professor, one day in future!

It was close to dinnertime when his lecture ended, but Theodore wasn’t quite ready to head back yet. He was still giddy with excitement and decided to play some hacky sack with his free ball from the student union, to let off some steam.

We suddenly got a notification that the house was on fire though!

It seems that Ludo, one of Theodore’s housemates, set the kitchen on fire while trying to make dinner. Oh dear.

Thankfully, one of the guys grabbed the fire extinguisher and was on it super fast!

Theodore definitely wasn’t expecting to come home to this. He was pretty exhausted by the time he arrived home on his bike so he just panicked along with everyone else, rather than helping to put the fire out.

(Hmm, looks like one of the guys invited a special someone over! I wonder who it was?)

(He didn’t get to chat with her, though, as she left right after the fire was extinguished. Oh well, maybe next time.)

Theodore ended up having a quick dinner of soup, which he warmed up using the microwave. The others were also super wary about using the stove after the fire, and Theodore also noticed Ludo rubbing his hands together while chuckling to himself, which was really suspicious.

He decided to put it all out of his mind and unwind with some more chess before bed. This time, it was on a virtual board instead of a physical one, but it was no less challenging! He marvelled at the computer’s AI for trouncing him so efficiently, and fell asleep dreaming that he was a knight on a white horse, sent to save the king from an army of faceless soldiers in black.

Sims 3, a game full of flavour and with so many layers to gameplay! I’ve lost the save file I previously played for this series on Sims 2, so I’m starting afresh with some of Sunset Valley’s pre-made households on TS3 instead, from the family bin. The plan is to rotate between households each Sunday in-game, and play them for one week each. Let’s see how we get on!

Let’s begin with the Lum household.

This is Theodore, Lawrence’s father. Although he’s really good with computers, it seems like he wants to learn the Science skill – he had a whim for it, and also some Science skill books in his inventory. So, when the university mascot dropped by, I thought about getting him to enroll for a science and medicine degree instead of a technology one.

But first, let’s have Theodore take an aptitude test! He didn’t score as well as Lawrence did, but it’s alright, he can still be admitted into his degree of choice.

Saying goodbye to Lily, his wife, and also Lawrence. I hope they’ll be okay while he’s away, since Lily isn’t the nicest of sims (she has the Mean-Spirited trait).

Theodore’s staying on campus for this one semester of university, at a fraternity with about seven other guys. At this point in time, I didn’t know what kind of chaos that would result in. I just wanted to get him a nice room, with a computer or laptop, since all rooms are on a first come first served basis, and not all rooms are equal (some are very plain, others have lots of stuff).

All of the guys didn’t seem bothered about room arrangements just yet, though. They all just started mingling and chatting in the hallway, which was quite nice. Theodore joined in too.

And there’s even a frat welcome party! Thanks for the invite, Rex!

I think Rex’s the oldest Sim there among all the guys. He’s really nice and went around doing everyone’s laundry, and even made the first group meal for the guys! What a champion.

But first, Theodore’s heading over to the student union for their welcome session! He’s quite excited, since it’s a really beautiful building.

He chose a hacky sack ball from the freebies table, and I also got him to pick up a soda and a candy bar each, thinking it might help him when he feels hungry in between classes. We also played ping-pong with this dude!

After that game, Theodore headed back to the frat house for the Juice Kegger event. He had a quick dinner of autumn salad prepared by Rex, and got changed into his best suit for it, which he probably thought he’d only use at graduation.

It was the right thing to do, though, since everyone cleaned up very nicely and wore their best too.

The illusion of being perfect gentlemen faded pretty fast, though, when the guys started doing keg handstands. To the tune of BLARING classical music. From EVERY. SINGLE. STEREO. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Theodore’s first order of business? Going to the party host to say thanks for hosting such a fun (albeit slightly mad) welcoming party for everyone!

Rex originally had a suit on, too, but he went streaking around the frat house, and after that, he just put on his normal clothes. I guess there’s no point putting on your tie again if you intend to continue streaking later.

A few glasses of juice later, and Theodore also decided to follow in Rex’s footsteps.

(Don’t worry, Theodore! We won’t tell Lily!)

Theodore didn’t participate in any headstands himself, preferring to control his juice intake, but Mahmoud, one of the guys, wanted Theodore’s help for one, so he obliged.

Theodore: “You know what sounds good right now after all that juice? I could go for some lobster thermidor.”

Rex: “Now you’re making me hungry!”

The guys didn’t seem to want to wind down even after the party was over, but Theodore turned in for the night at a reasonable hour since he has an eight o’ clock class in the morning.

I gotta say, though, it’s a good thing that he’s a heavy sleeper. Vivaldi continued to blare from the speakers at 4 am, and the guys kept on visiting each other’s rooms to play games, chat, or dance. Did they come to university to party or to study?