The Dynasty of Original Townies Dynasty.

[Heart Foam]

Okay, so lets be real here. This is partly @oshizu 's nagging, and also the Disappointment of normal Norma -- see the Eugenics II saga. 

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What this save is FAQ:

Q: Is it a real, bona fide, Power of 10 dynasty?
A:. Well, we're hanging out here, so, no.

Q: Will you just build one massive house as per usual? --Like, it's great and we appreciate it, but dude, can you branch out?
A: Not just one massive house! The beauty of this is that there might be will definitely be *multiple* hashtag posh houses! And there'll be a variety of lot sizes, depending on what a freshly graduated uni student can afford.

Q: So a rags to riches thing every time?
A: Well, I worry that will overstate the hardship given one can easily harvest the money trees at dad's house, but I won't simply transfer 200k simoleons to a uni student. None of that. They'll need scholarships or student loans, and will take 0 cash to uni, and will have to at least buy a vacant plot of land upon graduating. That's still cheap, but it means cranking out some paintings at university.

Q: You mentioned the P10 dynasty, so like, does every generation get a new *cringe* one of your *cringe* posh marble-y houses, and do different things?
A: Absolutely. I like how university ties in with careers and normal life, and upon becoming a young adult, the new sim will go to university or move out to a new lot. Even if every sim doesn't do a degree, it'll always be a different degree when it happens. Every career would be unique anyway, because I like unlocking things. And every house will have a unique 10-item collection. Every sim will max 10 skills.

Q: Nancy Landgraab?
A: Yes. Every gen after the first (because I want a male Sulani Elemental for his trait, and his chance to be abducted!) will Procreate with an original Maxis sim. There's a List. A veritable who's who of unwanted / soon dead sims! When did Dennis Kim ever have an exciting life? Exactly. In my preparation I searched for worst and most disliked sims. Geeta Rosoya was mentioned a lot (shame, she's an elder and just dies early anyway), and she's on The List, but she'll have to be aged down. The List is roughly 10 male and 10 female sims to be turned into vamps.

Q: Can we see The List in its entirety?
A: No. Are you hoping for Don Lothario? Too normal, too common.

Q: Will you be preserving these sims as vampires?
A: Yes. This is with normal lifespan, aging on.

Q: Is that just to preserve them, or will you play them as vamps?
A: It's really just to keep them alive. The mood might strike me to play Nancy Landgraab as a vamp -- she's so fake and plastic, she'll never decay -- but as I set out, that's not the plan. The plan is to cure them when they get added to the active household. I want to pass along a spellcaster bloodline.

Q: Your founder is pretty, but she's one of the default templates isn't she?
A: Correct. And she's not an ugly-to-beauty sim with a 2-foot chin and hook nose. I'm spoiling myself. I know.

Q: Does that bother you?
A: Evidently not. Over time, the stories build themselves. Don't need to force it.

Q: So you call this an "immortal" dynasty, but you're curing the vampirism... so... ?
A: Realm of Magic potion of immortality. It gives an actual "Immortal" trait. It does literally nothing, however. A non-played sim of mine with that trait still died of old age. But there's a mod for that, and now my potions of immortality actually do what is says, and stops aging. So hopefully earlier generations will actually stay alive and their homes not fall empty. 

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Update 2019/12/06

Q: Will this be a linear dynasty?
A: No. I hope for a pyramid shaped family tree. Kari, the founder has two children. A son -- Aidan -- who has Sulani Mana, and a daughter -- Scarlet -- who is a Father Winter's Baby. Aidan and his descendants will prefer hotter climates like Sulani, StrangerVille, and Del Sol Valley. Scarlet and her descendants will keep to colder worlds like Windenburg, Brindleton Bay, Glimmerbrook.

Q: Does this imply rotational play?
A: In a limited sense, yes. I'm not going to be raising toddlers in 4 separate houses simultaneously, however. Aidan and Scarlet will do university together, and reach Immortality while doing so. After graduating, one -- lets say Scarlet -- will move back to Nookstone for the sake of somewhere to live, and the other will use funds raised during uni to purchase a lot. Aidan then marries, has children, the children grow, they go through uni. At that point they can go home (as immortal young adults), and we switch to Scarlet's life. And she marries, has children, the children grow etc.



Generation 2. Aidan
Generation 2. Scarlet
Generation 3. Hobart

[Heart Foam]

Meet Kari Gibbs. And, Kari, meet your home.



We're not on a 64x64 lot, this is Nookstone. The first ever lot I played in The Sims 4.

I randomized her names, and then randomized her traits. I just wanted to start.

And then I remembered my plan, and chose Child of the Islands. She's a completely blank unskilled sim, zero charisma, zero bonus traits, so I'm not sure how long it'll take to max out the relationship bar with a Sulani Elemental but that's the plan. She isn't going to move him in before uni anyway, because then he'd be back home doing nothing and aging up. I'd rather have him stay ghostly until after grad.

Other traits are perfectionist and cheerful. Cheerful is an all round good trait with no negative moodlets associated, and perfectionist is because I want something to help with early game painting, but not something that will trigger any particular emotion -- think creative, genius, etc. Sometimes those traits cause moods when it's inconvenient.





First thing Kari needed to do was become a vampire. I don't want to apply for scholarships or uni right away, because I want classes to start on a Monday. It's just cleaner like that. This first week is all about biting a variety of sims for later use. Caleb doesn't need any introduction, or any biting. I've never played with Caleb, he just exists in the gloom. He's worth considering as a spouse at some point. 



Oooh... Baako Jang. Are you on The List, Baako? Anyway, we can't have Kari bite anyone yet.

Day 1 renovation of Nookstone:



This took Kari's modest pile of money down to a much smaller pile of money. I think it was 60-something simoleons, just enough for a small painting. Really, the house doesn't matter a great deal. As a single-sim household, this all gets sold when you go to uni. Hopefully the game doesn't move anyone else in and Kari can buy it back later. I want gen 2 to be born and raised here. Also, when Nookstone is bought back I'll probably demolish it and start from scratch.



This side of the house does get nice morning sun, hence the big cheap windows. Lot traits are homey, home studio, and natural light. Together with her perfectionist trait, she's stacking many bonuses to painting.



I love using clubs, but when sims don't actually live with you they sometimes drift away to... whatever things they have in their lives. Kari won't need the "rally the troops" as a vampire, so one might think there's no point. But this will morph into the family's club, and any early boost to key skills like logic / charisma / handiness I'll take. It's also a useful to bring over sims that are going to be vampires. So Johnny Zest, Mortimer Goth, and Judith Ward (why could I add her?!) are here to watch TV and listen to music and sleep. Sleep is a great early activity. Sleep is great generally. Give it a go.

In case you're asking, no, Johnny, Morti, and Judi are not all on The List. Or are they?

Normal club stuff.



And eventually, Kari is a vampire.





I can't take much credit for not being housebound, my dear sim needed to visit the museum for her painting aspiration. This is the Oasis Springs high street. There's still a gym and a bar, but the bar is a bowling alley (Maxis made, on the gallery). And there's a different museum and Chez Llama, which I think looks nice there. (The Solar Flare has moved to the "Cliff Side Crest" lot in StrangerVille. I think that's vaguely appropriate.)

Back home, and mean, materialistic, snob Judith gets to live forever! What a gal!





Kari still paints, and has now afforded the cheapest laptop and a Celestial Crystal Crown with a shinolite in it. That's how her vampire thirst will be managed. 

Ooh... Cassie Goth. Is she on The List?



Ooh... Nancy Landgraab. (If you thought I was kidding, I totally wasn't.)



Having bitten all the sims I can bite for now, it was time to start thinking of Kari's spouse. She had acquired the "Incredibly Friendly" trait from Outdoor Retreat, and was the leader of a popular club, and I hoped that would go some way to befriending an Elemental.



I'm sure the woman is lovely, but she can't give me an alien nooboo and I'm not terribly interested in her. The man is Haych Iosua. Music lover, hates children, slob. Kari greeted him, and insta-friended him, but only just. That would be a long grind to get the friendship bar higher. Luckily, when the 3rd elemental popped into existence, he was much more appealing.



The green ghost Kari is talking to is Loario Misipeka. And he's materialistic, perfectionist (snap!), and family oriented. Not only did Kari insta-friend him, but the bar was nearly full. It has to be completely full to invite him to join household, but that would only take one or two more socials. Still, as easy as it had been ("incredibly friendly" is so good), I'm still not going to move him in until after Kari's uni.

Wednesday evening / Thursday morning week 1, and Kari has done a lot already. And she's now applied for scholarships and uni. She only had two scholarships available -- for broke sims, and for Oasis Springs sims. Her painting is high, and her vampire lore is okay, but no other skill is above 2.



To get ready for university, Kari scraped off her makeup and got real eyebrows. The only makeup is lip gloss.



Her vampire offspring started to transform, Dennis and Nancy among them.




With the newly built Chez Llama still in her mind from her life-changing adventure away from her home lot, Kari -- vampire with no hunger need -- knew she had to go.





Her starter was poor quality, but the enthusiasm for her main course was undiminished. Cute short green dress that kinda matches her eyes. It's consciously not a "global superstar" look, dripping with diamonds and pearls and opera gloves, she's a broke cheerful uni student. Who is *thrilled* with food. It amazes her in a purely artistic way because she doesn't need it as food. One day, Kari, one day. You'll cook that for real and taste it.

While at Chez Llama, she opened her replies to her scholarship applications. She got really happy for a big scholarship... for being broke. Um. Yeah. There's definitely a cloud to that silver lining. She didn't get the other scholarship for Oasis Springs residents.



The waitress looks on.

And she had her acceptance into university too:



Not great, if we're honest. The only distinguished degrees are art, art, and more art. Nothing for Foxbury, and I've been to Britechester already. So are they telling eager Kari she can't be a secret agent with a distinguished psychology degree? Really?

[oshizu]

Hah, I do NOT regret my enthusiastically nagging encouraging you to start a Power of 10 dynasty of your own creation! Not one bit, nosirreee!
As an avid simmer who has never played Get Famous and doesn't own RoM or DU, I'm going to learn sooooo much from your story.
Told with your usual twist of dry humor and an unfolding panorama of majestic mansions.
Haha, so many of the premade sims you mention are unfamiliar to me. What an adventure this will be.
Your founder, you say, is a premade sim? From?

Looking forward to Kari's academic adventures!!!

P.S. I love what you did to downtown Oasis Springs! Solar Flare is just horrid.

[Heart Foam]

Well, Kari herself is no townie. Just, when you start a new game (skip the whole CAS story thing... I don't want no free skills) she's one of those generic "here's a sim" sims. I might find better words another day.

[oshizu]

Oh, I understand now--Kari's one of the default library sims.
And, by the way, I'm a fan of Nancy Landgraab!

[Heart Foam]

A Vampire Goes to University.



So, you'll have to hide your vampire dark form, but other than that... I like the cheery optimism! Your fun bar will suffer soon enough, lass. No free earbuds for you. You haven't felt hugely inadequate yet wondering if the schooling you had has adequately prepared you, because all through high school you never once had to write a proper essay. And... Kari, strictly speaking, you are dumber than a bag of hammers. There are literally sim children that have more logic than you. Can you count to 10? I'm beset with doubts. Maybe psych was a bad idea... we'll see.

So, yes, Kari is in a non-distinguished psychology degree at Britechester. I've since realized there's a popular YouTube simmer -- hey it's James here today -- who basically did the same thing. Cool! I'm drawn to psych partly because I'm living vicariously through Kari now as it's something I have a real interest in. Anywho. My gut feeling is that we aren't going to be handicapped by her initial non-acceptance into Foxbury. I'm also thinking somewhat strategically. Nookstone is a tiny 20x15 lot, so as much as I like starting with the GTW science, I really don't want to find space for big items like the invention constructor, the chemical analyzer, rocket, etc. She's taking 3 core classes plus a logic elective. She can barely count, and she'll need logic when she's fighting baddies as an agent.

"But James, I need you!"
"So does England."

It's Friday week 1, about midday when Kari arrived in her dorm with level 2 handiness.



But that was enough to start upgrading the showers *immediately*. I enrolled on a Friday knowing full well the game wouldn't give me any classes until Monday, week 2. So there was plenty of time to get ahead on homework and term papers and presentations and upgrading the bathrooms. Cheap showers take a long time to clean your sims. Upgrade them. There are only two showers in a default dorm, and 10 sims. The quicker they clean you, the less they break, the better for everyone. I find much simming satisfaction in using max upgraded cheap items. (You know me and the YumCooker. I've bonded with that.) It makes a huge difference.



To raise handiness faster is to be in a club. So began the process of introducing Kari to her, well, frankly they're slobmates... and inviting some to join the club, replacing all former members. One of her new friends was friends with Dirk Dreamer. (He's probably friends with someone else too! Who in turn has other friends! Friends!) Kari is a minor celebrity herself, 1-star, from her painting. Rather awkwardly she's picked up the "no-touching" quirk, and that can clash with biting people as a vampire. The girl on the right is Ella. Great. I mean... sims have names. We're not breaking new ground here.

We're in the Drake dorms, and readers with DU will be able to identify the room. It has two beds, one is pink, neither was assigned, and Kari promptly took over the whole space for her little self.



Pictures of her experimental food provide Happiness. She had over 25k at this point because she sold her house, and at the uni supplies store she bought a mini-fridge and microwave for the TV room. (Somewhere to put the lobster thermidor that some rich kid brings from home.) For herself, she bought another easel, a mirror, a Britechester flag, a lamp, a rug, and a radio.



That's the ghost of Felix Psyded, the founder of Britechester University. Apparently for his formal outfit, he only wears underwear. An eccentric man to be sure, and one that I'd like to get into the family line. It'll take a spellcaster to dedeathify him easily.

Kari stopped working on her presentation almost as soon as she started it because I realised that we're better off in a study spot, like the library.

So, library:



Carl has a super enlightening video that directly compares the time it takes to complete homework with and without the "study spot" lot trait.

Kari invited the Elementals to her dorm... out of curiosity mostly. Loario and the other one.





She could invite him to join the household, and I did save and test what would happen. He became a normal human, but didn't join the household and still had the title of Sulani Elemental. I half wondered about having him in uni too, but this is Saturday afternoon now, and even if he applied immediately his term probably wouldn't start with Kari's. They'd be out of sync.

Kari, back in her room submitting term papers before first class even begins.



That's her cheap 1k laptop brought from home. You can buy a laptop at uni for 4k, and it'll be better for fun... but it's also 4k.

Kari sparring with another vampire who was visiting.



Luna is still a teen. Great name for a vampire though...



Kari joined the art society. Free t-shirt. Free poster. Uni students will do anything for free things. She clutches her umbrella, because vampire. And on the whole, being a vampire on campus is not ideal. If your sim "goes to class early", they'll be dashing around in the sun. I've also not joined any of these societies, so I wanted to see how it played and what the perks were. I feel there's a big boost to painting quality during these figure painting sessions, but it could also be the joys of using a better easel than Kari is used to.

One of the activities is identical to the painting aspiration milestone of "view 3 paintings at a museum". So, if you know that in advance, you can sync that up.



Kari didn't, and had to travel quite far to do this. But someone behind the painting is getting bitten, so she made the most of it. There was also a requirement to take 5 pictures.





Juice pong (Kari won) with one of the Pleasant girls at the art club social event.



When Kari arrived at uni, she had only level 2 handiness. Here's shes upgrading the RAM on her laptop. So, that's progress. It's all from upgrading the bathrooms. I wonder if I should try to max 10 skills with every sim?



Oooh. Paka'a.



Oh, wait. Paka'a is a mermaid, right? And I can't bite a mermaid. Ah well. There goes a graceful nose.

More art society figure painting. (You know that if this was sims 1, 2 or 3 it'd be more risqué.) 



And the sims that turn up to model seem random. I've seen Mila Munch model. Good for her.

Kari paints a mathematical diagram after getting focused on her laptop. It's a useful mood to be in at uni -- who knew? -- and it raises her logic when there's not a superabundance of ways to do that. The radio keeps fun ticking up. One of *the best* things in Sims 4 is the music. I can, and do, lip sync to much of it. When Fashion - The Royal Concept is on a sims radio (the "alternative" station - I'm not all Tchaikovsky), nannying my sim takes a back seat. I'd never have been pulled into the world of Sims were it not for some of the amazing simlish songs in TS3.



Final exam of the first semester:





And a progress report on Kari. Logic level 6 (nearly 7) without pushing it. And nearly 40k in the bank.

The lobster from Foxbury turned into a vampire. That's a memorable final day of term.





That's the enrollment for the next semester, and Kari's now chosen a charisma elective. You can see the distinguished degrees are still locked. When I click the <-- arrow to the "select university" page, it's exactly the same as Kari's first acceptance letter. I half wondered if I'd be able to swap to Foxbury now, on the back of much improved skills and A+ GPA, without any further application. Apparently not. Anywho, what I'll do is midway through the next semester here I'll apply to universities again... hope it doesn't mess up Kari's current semester... and she should have the skills to get accepted into the distinguished degree for her final semester.

Hey, she's already met the mascot.

[oshizu]

You can lipsync in Simlish!?

You mentioned each heir maxing 10 skills. Does that mean each heir won't have a unique skill as well?
Lol, that modest figure model is wearing gray tights to cover up his bare legs.

[Heart Foam]

It's not a real talent, but sure. To a few songs. And when Kari is painting with the radio on, that's what One does.

From TS3, "Next Best Thing" in Simlish is the best, bounciest, sassiest thing ever. And even Simlish nonsense can stick in one's brain when it's that catchy. Most songs are better in Simlish.

I'm not planning on unique skills. The goal of maxing 10 skills is me wondering if Kari can even manage it. It's a different challenge to the planning it takes when every gen must have a unique skill. She's going to cure her vampirism soon, because she needs to be a spellcaster before she gets pregnant. And she has a green ghost waiting for her. Then she'll have a career, child to raise, spellcasting potions to learn etc. My guess is maxing 7 or 8 skills will be easy. Maybe it'll be the last few that life gets in the way of.

[Heart Foam]

So, Kari finds herself still at Britechester. Geoffrey Landgraab, evidently in character as a balloon salesman, joins our girl in the quad. You'll notice she's kicking the football with her foot, hence football! Where I am, soccer and football are used almost equally often. But I imagine some Brits losing hair over 'soccer'. It doesn't bother me, and linguistically it's was the only word they could use.

Kari cured her "no-touching" which made biting people difficult, but soon picked up "vain street". When such a sim checks her fine self out in a mirror, she gets a +2 confident boost, but she needs to do it all the time. When she's not checked her fine self out lately she gets tense. And it's tension that doesn't go away, and it's tension you don't need stacking with exam stress.

There are two traits to cure this. Carefree and Laid Back. One you purchase for 3,000 points, and one you do the Beach Life Aspiration for. And we're not spending 3k we don't have to.



So, beach life. Wooo.



(bonus points for knowing who that sim is!)





So, ate a coconut (bought two, one to be planted later). Gold kava party. Bought a towel, bought a lounger.

Yes, through all this it didn't occur to me that as a vampire, she won't get past the suntan requirement. These are my confessions. The sun rose, towels were clicked, all that. I'm still not going to purchase Carefree. Kari will just have to suffer a bit longer with tension for not checking herself out. I don't mind the positive side effects of vain street, but I cannot wait to get the laid back trait to take the sting out of it.

After a term in dorms, living standards have started to slip somewhat.



But wait! There's a rebellion. Some sims are going to fight back and protest the mess. I should check what traits that sleeping sim has. She must be a slob, right?

Seeing a sim sleep on the sofa did chip away at my conscience. Kari, after all, does have a room with two beds, and one is unassigned (and as a vampire, she's never sleeping in her own bed either). After counting the number of roommates and number of beds, it turns out Trent Leonard had nowhere to sleep. I'm completely sorry. Obviously. The door was unlocked for him, and he was assigned a bed. I added him to the club, and that pleased him, and a "rally the troops" would helps his needs. Kari also gently convinced him to shower.





No, she didn't care to move the presentation board right next to Trent's bed.



Kari as she reaches level 15 of vampire lore. She can now cure herself. But the barman can't.



But it was an excuse to get out. And aren't the colours pretty?

Kari joined the Britechester Spirit Corps, for more free stuff. (She's not committed enough to reach rank 3 and get the dragon mascot outfit.)





Apparently everyone was Foxbury was so engrossed with robots not to notice her yarn bombing the statue. She's sad. She wanted to be noticed. *sniff* That's all any sim wants.

Tuesday, semester 2, and Kari had no class until 3 pm so she traveled to Geek Con for yet another unlocked shirt in CAS. I like the geek shirt.



She also took the opportunity to raise her programming skill. Not a super important life skill, but being able to mod games -- and play modded games -- on her laptop helps out Fun. Who hates fun? I love fun.

Maybe I like debating more. Or maybe debating is fun?



Kari wasn't going to fully commit to the funness of the Spirit Corps, and joined debating. She probably should have joined sooner because this is one that actually suits her degree. But I'm learning too.

The days fly by pretty quickly at uni with just one sim, and here's Kari's term 2 / Friday week 3 status report:





There's now 48k simoleons in the bank. A nice amount to be sure, but we haven't pursued painting as avidly this semester -- there's been tutoring, and guest lectures, and debate club, and cleaning up after Trent.

I only remembered to apply for universities again during Kari's final exam. It happens when you've been away from the save for a few days and your head is not quite in the same place, thinking the same thoughts. She immediately applied after her exam, and we wait. She *WILL* get a distinguished degree. I hope we can start on Monday at Foxyburger, but I really don't expect it.

-----

But... if you don't immediately re-enroll, well, term ends at 6pm Friday and you get booted out at 10pm. Where to go? Bunk down with another household?

Kari bought Nookstone back, and she's going to move her green ghost Sulani Man in. And he'll keep the house when she's at uni for her final year. If you demolish Nookstone, it's a cheap lot, and we had over $46k to start building the house I had planned... but a bit sooner than I had planned.













And that's when the money ran out. Was the rooftop basketball court necessary? Maybe not. Anywho. 82 simoleons left, that's all. Those windows in the kitchen / dining area are City Living ones, and you'll see the shadow doesn't match. It's not a big deal. The shadows match the first window variety. 



I've totally overspent on the kitchen. Look at me... not using a YumCooker and Crisponix Adequate. And I'm not sure I even prefer the look. I can wedge a 2-tile bar in there, and will probably have to to cure Kari. The first thing she did was paint a small painting with paint. She's got her cheap radio and laptop from uni at least.



So, Friday evening or Saturday morning we summon the Elementals again. Come what may, ghost or not, Loario must move in. When I summoned him last, back in Kari's first semester, the option to "invite to household" was there. And it's not there now. I don't get it. Why? Do you only get the chance once? Now, I can ask him to move in, yes, but I know that means he'll still be a ghost. On the one hand, he won't age as a ghost while we're at university -- and that suits me in this case. On the other hand, ambrosia is mild pain. (But only mild.) Realm of Magic makes it very easy because the Potion Ingredients Shoppe sells both angelfish and death flowers. However, I'd still like to understand why the option to invite him to join household isn't there.

The house is something of a departure for me. (And I was absolutely thinking of dressing this up like a micro-castle.) It does lack a bit of detail, and it's all a bit dead and sandy. Walls and floors took priority over garden plants, but they are planned, and it'll all hopefully look splendid. I just hope there's enough space to raise a top-notch toddler here. There will be a basement level.

[Heart Foam]

I think I should add this. Current funds $109.



Actually, "ask to move in" will do what I want. Loario is mortal.

You'll see empty patches of soil, and those 4 spots are for money trees. Nice symmetry.

[oshizu]

Hats off to Kari on the fabulous first-semester report card!
Although I have to say that my sims will never wear that Celestial Crown. Why couldn't it look, well, attractive?

Love the new Nookstone, of course. And yes, the outdoor baseball court is necessary because it allows for those lovely outdoor stairways.
The second-floor balcony is attractive--does one reach the basketball stairs via said balcony?

Is there a natural break between semesters or does the next one start immediately if one wishes?

[Heart Foam]

That's the 2nd semester report. She was all A+ first time as well. The natural break exists for Kari inasmuch term is Monday - Friday, so she has a weekend off. But otherwise no. If you start Wednesday and finish the following Tuesday, complete that, re-enroll, then the next semester starts immediately. If I hadn't forgotten to reapply, to get Kari into the distinguished Foxbury degree, I reckon she'd have been able to do all university back-to-back-to-back. Sims need 12 credits for a degree, she has 8 now.

Put the crown on, take it off immediately. The needs won't be full, but about 80%. It's too ugly to be worn continuously, and it drains the crystal.

Yes, just head out the Spa Day door and go right. I think it'll be a good yoga balcony. It eats at me only having one bedroom on two floors. The pretty balcony is taking up precious space. I'm thinking toddler bed / toys / stuff on the first floor landing. Right now Kari needs to see if some sims are teens, and bite them if they are. If not, no big deal. She needs to cure vampirism and become a spellcaster. Nooboo #1 must be Weak Magical Bloodline + Sulani Mana. I'm not fussed if it's a boy or girl, there are good townie vamp options for both. Maybe I'd prefer a boy. Darling Walsh? Nancy? Meredith? Mila? Many fun choices there. 

[Heart Foam]

4. Marriage, university, death, stress.



Saturday morning. Only yesterday, Kari was thinking about her final exam of semester 2 and leaving Britechester. Yet here we are.



So Loario moved in, and there was literally a pop-up text that said "this will make him mortal". Good. And he brought with him 20k simoleons which went to remaking the kitchen and upstairs bathroom. I'll show a lot of the house as it changes anyway, and there's little value in documenting every intermediate fossil.

And here is our mortal, former sort-of-deity, who chose to become human for love. He's basically every Disney movie.





Johnny Zest and Dirk Dreamer (but why? isn't he too famous) constituted the welcome wagon. After all, we only bought the house about 10 hours before... for the second time.

But we couldn't stay at home long. I wanted Kari to get gen 2 on the way as soon as possible, and that meant curing vampirism and becoming a spellcaster. She had to paint a painting to buy the rather expensive ingredients for the cure which we obviously haven't grown, and then still have $2,500 left for the drink itself. Juice can get expensive. But, even before then, if Kari could make on or two last vampires to preserve them as potential spouses, she would. Kari was hoping to hear back from Foxbuglary soon, and wanted to enroll as soon as possible so as to start her final term on Monday. No time to waste.



That's Thorne Bailey posing outside his house. But Kari isn't here for him or Octavia. Orange Bailey-Moon I think is an hulkish, awful sim who I'll always avoid. So that's precisely why he's on The List of potential spouses! He starts as a child, he's a teen now.

Kari is the fastest I've ever ranked up a vampire. She's a grandmaster with skill points to spare. She has full sun immunity now, and can do vampiric entrance -- handy because you can't just knock on the door of this celebrity house and get inside.





Shame. One of my unlucky female sims might get Orange. This visit also solved my problem of not having a bar.





I've never played a family up here in the Pinnacles. But the light they get of a sunny afternoon is magical. Kari is cured! Time to deal with her vain street tension...

She immediately left Del Sol Valley for a suntan on the beach.



I'd never seen her swimming outfit before. I really like it. There's the advantage of just taking a pre-made gallery sim. Completing this part of the aspiration leads to the beachcombing and grilling part. Kari had hardly started when she heard, somehow, that the Romance Festival was on. Her life is non-stop action. I knew I was going to have to return to Sulani anyway, and hadn't yet unlocked that festival shirt, so...



Loario likes her tan. This isn't even a day since term ended. But... can I get them married? Absolutely.





--The middle one makes my toes curl. It's like they're acting out a relationship and it's not real. But then... he was a ghost only a day ago, and they hardly know each other... the relationship is no doubt as fake as it looks!

Loario was sent to buy the t-shirt (aren't weddings magical?), and Kari checked her application status. So it takes 24h. And Kari applied to the Roxbury (that was the name of the cheap one-screen cinema in my university town).

Mrs Gibbs applies:







So, there you are. Distinguished degree available. Never worry about a sim not getting accepted into a distinguished degree first time. Kari was a fresh-from-CAS blank sim.

Saturday, 8pm, and she's off. A full day, to be sure. And as hoped, her term was still Monday - Friday. I thought the application would take longer and she'd have an awkward Tuesday - following Monday schedule.

I'd not played in the Foxbury dorms before, so that's where she'll be this term. I entertained the thought of doing uni from home, but this is maybe interesting for the odd reader who doesn't have DU. Not you, you're not odd! The other one. Them? Yeah. Absolutely.

Kari was thrown into a household with the rather sweet looking Cameron Fletcher. He looks innocent! Kari had actually met him before -- he's the Larry the Lobster who turned into a vampire because I thought he might be a nice original townie to keep around.





And Cameron burned to death while Kari was doing homework and writing papers at the library. Well... that simplifies things. Still just the one sim to manage then. With her high debating skill she even demanded that Grim spare him, which had no effect.



R.I.P. His urn is next to the bed Kari assigned him. Okay, she definitely got him killed... but other than that she's sweet!

Kari's class schedule was uneven. 3 classes on some days, only 1 class on alternate days. But that meant free time if she could get ahead of her homework. Loario was a frequent visitor, to check on his wife, and the men she hangs out with, and how she keeps her fun up. With Simscuffle. (Come on, don't be sceptical like that.)



With much free time available, back to Sulani (during term!) to stand in the rain grilling and beachcombing for seashells that'll just clutter her house one day. She does seem a little tense. Just a bit. Not one happy moodlet.





Finally, on yet another trip, she discovered buried treasure. She travelled to this lot thinking of diving for treasure, but couldn't afford the gear. More beachcombing did the trick though.



She completed the aspiration on a cheap lounger on the balcony at Foxbury in her cold weather outfit. It's just like the beach. It's hard to tell the difference.



With that done, the next thing was to become a spellcaster so that Gen 2 could be woohood for. But that's for the next chapter.

In a rather poignant stab at Kari's conscience, the ghost of Cameron appeared and went to sleep in the bed she assigned him.



-----

Next time on the Dynasty of Original Townies Dynasty: graduation, Loario, magic, the house... a nooboo?

*I have that next chapter's pictures already. So much happened in the space of about 10 sim days.

[oshizu]

My heir is coveting that faux leopard-print dorag worn by Johnny Zest! Or is that just a cap worn backwards?
What was the key to Kari being fastest vampire to reach the Master Vampire rank?
Does this mean that every heir will become a temp vampire during their university phase?

Oh no! Kari did NOT just indirectly trigger the death of that cute premade robotics geek!
I see that you obviously acing the university system, but is it fun? The access to six new work-from-home careers is tempting.
On the other hand, I still remember sending my simself to uni with the TS3 University Life. 
She dropped dead from exhaustion one day on the sidewalk in front of her off-campus housing. And she was just replicating my own uni life....

How funny that Kari completed the Beach something aspiration on her balcony lounger.
Oh, seasons!

[Heart Foam]

Johnny's wearing a backward cap. I think his hot weather gear might be randomized because he predates Seasons, and doesn't have one by default.

Vampires at uni have pros and cons. The sun can be an ever-present danger, but the skill gain and having all the time in the world to complete homework makes it plain sailing.

But, how often do my sims sleep anyway? A Get Together club and "rally the troops", or a spellcaster with "potion of plentiful needs", or a scientist with a cloning machine and "need fixer" can achieve the same outcome. Kari got her vampire levels quickly from biting so many people, and that's a once-off.

Also, a sim that arrives at class early (don't cancel that action) gets their bladder, hunger, and sleep needs filled. So not dropping dead is easy.

-----

Some Discover University Thoughts.

I enjoy the time-management part of it. I enjoy the fact skills are tied to classes, and by extension the elective system. Spoilers, but Kari has level 5 Selvadorada Culture. She can already rumbasim, and if she goes to the jungle, she can already eat all the food. Taking a narrative view of a sims life, it's more interesting to say "my sim studied archaeology at university, and that's why he can establish dig sites" than "my sim read a book".

I'm no party animal, I wasn't, and my sims aren't. They *always* do the homework, because in doing the coursework and sitting in on lectures, the associated skills are improved. And that feels right. Seeing Kari improve like this has been satisfying. But I'm that person who feels any sim that isn't a top-notch toddler is incomplete. Any sim who isn't all kinds of gifted as a child is incomplete. Any sim that isn't a gold scout is incomplete. It'll be hard for me to forego homework and lectures and just throw parties, because isn't a sim without a distinguished degree with honours incomplete?

But I'm also curious to see if I can not do any homework, not go to any lectures, plagiarize essays, low-effort presentation, but just cram for the final exam and what grade that'll get? Like with Sims in general, the fun is what we make of it and limited to our imaginations. And I'm going to have a low-effort sim in this save... 

Gameplay consequences:

If you have a large family... with aging on, stuff is going to happen while you're at uni that you'll miss. I know there'll be simmers who won't want to relinquish control of the mum and dad and goldfish and weird uncle, and going to uni forces one to do that. (I'm not sure if one sends Humphrey off to uni, what would happen to him if you switch back to playing the rest of the family? does he go on probation after the first semester and just live in limbo?)   

That said, it's a really good and natural bridge between generations, which I've felt the game has lacked until now. Humphrey goes to uni, then moves to a lot of his own. (Or back home where everyone has died of old age, because that's how long uni takes.)

If sims, with normal aging, have child #1 immediately after 3 weeks of uni, 21 days, ... I'm not sure it's possible to have 3 generations alive simultaneously. The parents would be aging to adult at about the time the baby hatches into a toddler. YA is 24 days. That's entirely taken up by uni and pregnancy (but it's worse than that because you can't start classes on day 1 of a new save, you have to apply and wait). What a life. Then gen 2 goes through Toddler+child+teen = another 24 days, by which time the parents are elders. If the gen 2 child goes to uni too, the parents will die during those weeks. -- Perhaps leaving behind an empty house that the newly-minted graduate can't buy back.

DU could play havoc with some family-oriented, generational game, normal lifespan simmers who will tear their hair out and... maybe like the idea of uni, even like the gameplay of it... but would not want the Unintended Consequences. And such a simmer might well end up not going to uni at all, or getting a degree from home. I can understand that. It'll take planning, it'll take potions of youth.