University - Round 3 - Part 1: Urele Cham House


Starring:

Arnaud Beaumont, Young Adult Romance Sim, LTW Become Celebrity Chef


Vincente Villalobos, Young Adult Romance Sim, LTW Become Celebrity Chef


~*~*~*~*~

Last round at university, Vinnie and Arnaud went to university and started in the Landgrabb dorms. When they met the Tanaka teens from the Urele Cham house, they pledged, got in, and moved into the greek house. They also became members of the secret society and spent more time trying to find romance than doing their schoolwork. How will being the sole occupants of a giant greek house suit them in their final two years of university? We'll see.



Arnaud, for one, loved being in the greek house, and he was as determined as ever to reach his goal of becoming a celebrity chef. Unfortunately, all the trying and testing and tasting was beginning to show on his figure, and he failed to escape the Freshman 15. Or the, um...sophomore 15?


He knew that girls didn't always like their men pudgy, and he also knew that if he was truly going to be a celebrity chef, he would need to get fit so he didn't project the wrong sort of image. Plus, the camera always added weight.



He even stocked the pond next to the greek house with fish so that he could learn how to make it from the very start to the very finish. Plus, he found that fishing was a nice way to escape the stresses of college life.


He started cooking healthier, more vegetables, though he couldn't give up his attempts to fix the perfect steak.



He also found himself distracted with other things...like Steffi. He met her while she was working as a barista at Sue's Kitchen, and he was immediately smitten with her. She knew about food, and she was pretty, and she liked him. He also thought she seemed like the kind of girl he could take home to his mother, which was important to him.



She had made subtle comments from time to time about family as well, and he thought that as much as he loved women, all of them, it would be a good thing to marry Steffi. ToAdd Image maybe settle down and have a family. He was so caught up with the idea and in thinking about how they could have a little family of their own and how he could make her belly round with a baby that he proposed right then and there, on one of their weekly dates. She was dumbfounded. Of course, she said yes. Steffie wanted little more than to find a nice man to settle down with, to cook with, to spend time with and make babies with.



But not a few hours later, a pretty blonde from his history class in those peasant skirts he so loved dropped by to say hi and ask him if maybe he wanted to go out. Arnaud knew he shouldn't, but her skin was like toasted coconut, her hair like tiny muffins on the sides of her head. She was intoxicating. Unfortunately for Arnaud, while he was playing out on the lawn with her, Steffi dropped by with some flowers after their date and caught him red-handed. Arnaud was devastated.



Later, he jumped into the pool and floated listlessly, pained that he had cheated on Steffi and upset her so much. He felt like marrying her should be the right thing to do. Family was important to him - he'd grown up in a very loving one. But now he wondered if it was the right path for him. It broke his heart a little to think that he would never have a family of his own, but the responsibility...the restraint... He wasn't sure he could do it at all.




Vinnie wasn't having quite the internal struggle that Arnaud was. True, he still missed Professor Sophie from time to time - there would always be a spot in his heart for her no matter how strange and twisted their relationship was - but it was getting easier to be with girls his own age. He never formed a real relationship with the women he was with; he felt emotionally closed off, distant, like he couldn't really connect with any of them.



He did meet one girl, however, who really attracted him. She was lovely and doll-like with her fine features and long, silky blonde hair. He knew he had to be with her.


It didn't take long for him to convince her to come over and spend some time with him, and they had such amazing physical chemistry that they were in bed in no time. And in the hot tub. And in photo booths around campus. Vinnie also found that she wasn't bad to talk to. He wasn't sure whether anything would come of this relationship, but he was trying to keep an open mind.



In the meantime, he worked on other things, like building up the members of the greek house. Since the Tanakas had graduated, pledging had flagged a bit, and he hated to see the huge house go to ruin.



He also kept working on his cooking skills. Arnaud had always been the more skilled of the two of them in the kitchen, and Vinnie desperately wanted to catch up and be able to do the things he saw Arnaud trying.



He had a brief dalliance with the cow mascot that came simply of seeing the stupid thing everywhere (and thanks to a dare from Arnaud for the cow to kiss him).


It turned out the cow wasn't so bad after all. They hung out a few times, and it cut down on the amount of pranking going on in the house, mercifully.



Arnaud, heartbroken at having been caught by Steffi, decided that if he was already in the dog house, he may as well find comfort where he could. His lovely coconut girl fit the bill perfectly.



And so did Tamara Nanale, who was more like a milk chocolate than a toasted coconut. Arnaud felt about these women the same way he did about food - they were all so delicious and different that he couldn't imaging limiting himself to just one.



Unfortunately, Tamara had a pregnancy scare after they slept together. The condom broke, and for a few panicked hours, Arnaud thought he should propose to Tamara and "do the right thing," even though he was still technically engaged to Steffi. Fortunately, things turned out all right, and Tamara wasn't pregnant. Arnaud was scared stiff by the experience and didn't go on any dates for a week afterward.



Vinnie, despite his strange ability to make friends while sharing nothing at all about himself, became a big man on campus. People he didn't even know greeted him when he went to football games or to the campus lounge. It was nice being well-known, if a little unnerving at times.



More people continued to join the Urele Cham house; mostly kids from back in Rosebud who all knew one another, at least tangentially.


Fiona Cleary and her sister Caitlin both joined, along with their beaus, Paolo and Enzo Vinci. The four of them weren't exactly party animals, but they were good students and therefore kept the reputation of the greek house up. Plus, they weren't bad to hang out with if you could convince them to leave their little house.



After Arnaud's week of solitude away from women, he finally gave Steffi a call, cringing at the anger in her voice over the phone. "Please, Steffi. Please come over. I need to talk to you." She came over, and Arnaud couldn't believe the fury and anger and hurt in her eyes. It was like a knife to his heart and a fist to his gut. He apologized over and over, tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Steffi. I didn't mean to hurt you, I promise. I just...I'm not sure I know how to do a relationship. I'm not sure I can."


"I'm afraid I'm going to keep screwing it up," he confessed, face obviously in pain. "But I do want to be with you."




"Will you marry me....again?" he asked, fear in his eyes that she would turn him down.


Maybe it was the look on his face, or maybe it was how badly she wanted to be in love. Maybe it was the fact that she knew she wanted to be with him too and couldn't bear to give up the imaginary house and babies she had with him in her head already. She said yes.



Before either boy realized it, it was time to graduate. Vinnie's best girl was there with him to see him off...


...and to see him transition into a very good-looking adult. Vinnie packed up and, with a big hug for his buddy Arnaud and promises to hang out when they got back to Rosebud.


Arnaud stayed to welcome his baby brother onto campus and indoctrinated him well into the college and greek house lifestyle by throwing a big party. "It's all up to you now, little bro," Arnaud said, clapping Alain on the shoulder. "I don't know how much partying I'll be doing, really..." Alain mumbled uncertainly, but Arnaud just laughed and gave his brother a big hug. "Whatever you say, little bro, whatever you say."


That night, Arnaud headed home, leaving Alain in the greek house and with a promise that Alain would get people to pledge so the place didn't die. And with that, Arnaud was headed back to Rosebud.



Scoring:

Big Man On Campus (Arnaud and Vinnie) - +2

Graduate Summa Cum Laude (Vinnie) - +1


[[Author's Notes: Haha, sigh. These two boys have really wormed their way into my heart. Poor Arnaud just gives me this feeling that he's a hopeless romantic instead of just a plain old romance sim. I imagine him just wanting to dive into a pool of girls and roll around luxuriously instead of burning his way through a bunch of tramps the way Jiro does or systematically devouring eligible and willing victims the way Kimi does. He had the want to get engaged to Steffi without the fear twice, even though she totally caught him cheating. Not only that, when they had the face-to-face meeting, he (read:I) decided it would be more fair if they simply broke up. She got so angry and upset, and the second she did, he had the want to get engaged again, like he couldn't stand the thought of her being angry with him. So I said fine. You want to get engaged? You make it work. I am the Tim Gunn of Rosebud. We'll see where that goes next round...

As for Vinnie, he's such a strange creature. He really only sleeps with girls then never has the want to see them again, except for the blonde from the sorority whose name I can't remember. He has wants to see her all the time, so she may appear again later in the game if Vinnie ever decides to be a monogamous romance sim...unlikely, I know. We'll see. Can't wait to get all the rest of the Rosebud teens in uni next round! Should be...utterly insane. :) I'm going to go for all in one house so I can not have a million houses to blog. I leave you, as always, with music and bloopers.

This Entry's MP3 - Special Edition in Honor of MJ:
Billie Jean by Michael Jackson (from the album Thriller). You may have been a total freak lunatic, but you sure knew how to write a good song.

Bloopers:
Stupid bubble-addict cow using all our bubble mix. // Kiyoshi Lum doesn't exactly invite new friends. //
Cow eats man in ironic twist. ]]

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The Tanakas (C) - Round 3

Starring:

Kimi Tanaka, Adult Romance Sim, LTW Become Rock God


Last time we saw Kimi, she was graduating from Sim State University with her siblings. Now she's in a condo of her own in Rosebud and eager to begin her career in the music business...along with all the perks...like groupies...

~*~*~*~*~



The place Kimi found was admittedly a little pricier than she originally planned for, but it was such a swank place that she fell in love. Plus, she took the cheaper apartment on the lower floor instead of the richer upper apartments that had two floors. What had really won her over was the back patio with its in-ground hot tubs, bar, and grill. It was the perfect party pad.



The first thing she did after furnishing her apartment was to buy a guitar. She had to bone up on her skills if she wanted to be a rock god. She'd be damned if she'd be a Britney Spears who lip synched. She wanted to be badass and really play her own instrument.



The first call Kimi got was from her old flamey pal Donte Wren, asking how she liked the new pad and how she was settling in. "Come on over and you can help me break it in," she purred into the phone, grinning as he assented.


"This place...is amazing, Kimi," Donte complimented as they lounged about in her very adult and strangely seductive bedroom. "Thanks," she said unconcernedly, rolling over and kissing him, coaxing him under the covers a moment later.


Over the next few weeks, Kimi spent a lot of time with Donte, mostly because she always had a good time with him and because he had some pretty hot friends too. They still shared their mutual love of gaming and could often be found drinking and playing poker late into the nights.


After a few drinks, Kimi was always up at the karaoke machine, with the whole crowd hooting and cheering for her. She really was quite good at the mic, and she could practically taste rockstardom in her future.


Unfortunately, she still had a long way to go before she was a rock god. At present, she was stuck babysitting kids whose parents couldn't even stand them around for the summer. It was not what she had in mind when she took a job in the music field.


There were many entertaining diversions though, one of whom she met on a poker night. It never took her long to seduce a man; she didn't find herself to be supermodel beautiful, but what she didn't know was that she gave off the dangerous magnetism of a large cat or a black widow. It was irresistible to certain men.




One morning at work, she overestimated her mechanical skills and blew up the company microwave. Paying for a new one wasn't an issue, but the hit to her pride annoyed her. She didn't enjoy looking like a fool.


Nevertheless, it didn't stop her from being promoted to Battle of the Bands judge...


...and then Roadie. Being a roadie was infinitely better than being a stupid summer camp counselor. She got to rub elbows with famous people, had people offering her bribes to get close to the band, and met loads of cool industry people, like Kana Hamilton.


Kimi and Kana chilled that night in the hot tub, talking about the industry, their pasts, and everything in between. Kimi hadn't found herself drawn to females much, if at all, in the past, but she hoped that Kana and she could be good friends. The girl seemed to understand her.


One day at a concert, Kimi fixed a light fixture in the nick of time before it turned the lead guitarist into a stage pancake, and the band was so thankful that they promised to write a song after her! She even got an enthusiastic kiss from the lead guitarist, which left her blushing - very unusual for Kimi Tanaka.


The promotions kept on rolling after that, and so did the money.


Slowly but surely, Kimi Tanaka was going to claw her way to the top of the music food chain, and when she did, she could have her pick of any man in Rosebud...or perhaps the world.


Up next, university! See how Arnaud, Vinnie, Caitlin, Fiona, Enzo, and Paolo are doing their last half of their school careers...

~*~*~*~*~

Scoring:

No new points.

Net worth to be added to neighborhood total: $17,779

[[Author's Notes: Pretty calm round. Kimi is adorable, I really like her. She definitely has this no-nonsense air about her, I'm not sure why...maybe she is very serious; I don't remember. Anyway, she got into a pretty good rhythm of work, dream date/shag, sleep, skill, lather, rinse, repeat. I LOVE her condo. I hope to move her upstairs to one of the fancy ones at some point. Anyway, not much else to add!

This Entry's MP3:
Wikked Lil' Grrrls by Esthero (from the album Wikked Lil' Grrrls) And for kicks, link to the fantastic lyrics.

Bloopers:
You'll notice Kimi doesn't look very happy, despite the promotion. I'd be unhappy if I had to wear a sluttastic outfit like that too, Kimi!]]

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