New Week 5 update for Mesa Vista :)
Welcome back to Mesa Vista and the Korben household, a CAS family with purple eyes I created in Week 4 to play StrangeTownChick’s Broken challenge posted on MTS.
This is the oldest child, Ethan, getting to work on the car his mother had bought for him at the end of the previous week.
By the end of their first week, Pariah Korben, a single mother raising three kids, was establishing a name for herself in the Military career (to Mesa Vista founder Zach Adams’ delight) and had earned enough money to begin construction of a small shelter for her family, no small feat considering she had started with no shelter and only the most basic objects to survive, plus fifty simoleons.
Cora was pleased at the progress her family had made since their arrival in Mesa Vista.
And the youngest, Ynez (middle) had aged up from a toddler at the end of last week.
“Hi, Mom, don’t forget it’s Cora’s birthday!”
“Already? Where does the time go?”
Cora rolled Popularity/Knowledge with a LTW to be a Celebrity Chef.
The Korbens were considered poor enough to defer their tax payments until they could afford them, and also too poor to go shopping for new clothes.
I was rather surprised when Pariah (Taurus 4/4/3/8/4, Family with LTW to Raise 20 Puppies or Kittens - HA!) rolled a want to become Fit, but this was good because she needed a lot of Body points for her career, and they didn’t come easy for a less active Sim.
“Ew, Mom, stinky! Please take a shower!”
What Ynez really wanted was the jump rope all to herself.
Pariah didn’t mind, in fact it was a relief to take a breather and study Mechanical.
“Guess what I got, Mom!”
Pariah’s hard work was paying off in more ways than just her paycheck…
The family was finally able to afford a stove, and Pariah no longer had to exhaust herself jumping rope.
*Breathe* “Ah, yes. I like Yoga much better.”
One thing that hadn’t changed from the previous week was Cora’s love for her showers.
No offense to Cora's classmate Aiden Lim, but I was getting tired of the same lumpy Maxis faces being generated by the game. After a bit of searching, I decided to try AllenBBQ’s default face templates from MTS. I’ve played around with them a bit in CAS, and I hope they’ll infuse a nice mix of interesting and attractive into Mesa Vista’s gene pool.
Cora only had one bolt with him anyway, so she settled for Romance in book form.
“This futon is way more comfortable than the red plastic chair.”
Their new futon became the de facto dining area as well.
“How is school?”
“It’s good. Still getting A’s.”
“What about you, Ethan?”
“’s fine,” Ethan mumbled a bit glumly. “The oven works pretty good, huh?”
“Oh yes, so nice be able to make different meals.”
“Sure is.”
“I gather school hasn’t been easy for you after being out for so long?”
“I’m getting by.”
“I’m sorry for putting you in that position, but I don’t think we would have survived otherwise.”
“And that’s why you delayed fixing up our house and spent eight hundred simoleons on a car for me instead?”
“That’s right, and I would do it again, only I’m sorry to say I discovered after buying yours, there are cars that already run for just a hundred simoleons more.” Pariah sighed. “That’s what I get for not doing my homework.”
“Don’t be sorry, it’s pretty fun to work on and I’m learning how to fix stuff.”
By day, Ethan continued to work on the car his mother gave him.
While at night he tested the waters with more of Mesa Vista’s female population, like Lainey Barthelet here.
Ethan found he could relate to what Ginger Newson was going through at school, for she was also trying to play catch-up after missing most of the school year to help take care of her family.
And then it happened: the car he had put so much work into was about to pay off one way or the other.
“Guess I chose the right car after all. Ethan’s got a real talent there,” Pariah mused with a maternal sense of pride.
Ethan had a lot to think about lately.
On the one hand, his mother had bought him the car as a thank-you for his sacrifice for his younger sisters, and there was no denying a car like this was a dream come true for a Romance guy such as himself.
On the other, he’d just discovered what a car like his went for on the open market - he still couldn’t believe it was over five thousand simoleons! That would give a tremendous boost to the family’s funds, because building the house was simply eating too much of the money his mother brought home from her job, despite her promotion bonuses.
Could going to college really compete with that? He decided to put it to the test and unlocked the want.
With the first hint of Spring in the air and her kids becoming more self-sufficient as the days passed, even Pariah found time for a little Romance with Magnus Ray.
The Korben’s week was winding down, and Ynez became a teen. She rolled Family/Grilled Cheese with a Golden Anniversary LTW (*yawn* what else is new?)
"I heard that!"
*sings* Guess who's rolling at Uni?
And another promotion for Pariah!
“I think we can start adding a bedroom now! Of course, the floors and paint will have to wait, but still! What do you say, Ethan?”
Pariah was stunned the following day after work.
“What’s this, Ethan? And what happened to your car?”
“I sold it. Do you like it?”
“Hi, Mom, can you tell we’ve been busy?” asked Cora.
“Hey, Cora, would you like to tell me what’s going on?”
“You mean Ethan’s new girlfriend?”
“No, I don’t mean… wait, Ethan’s got a girlfriend?”
Ethan did indeed now have a girlfriend, and she was none other than Sarah Cwik, best friend of Melissa Kalsson, who had been Ethan’s first kiss from the previous week. Don’t know if it was the two bolts or that it was now Spring, or a combination of both, but these two fell in love almost immediately.
“You fix up cars? I can think of something we can do in a car…” *WINK*
I think Sarah might be Romance too, but I’ve made incorrect assumptions on townie aspirations before, so it’s little more than an educated guess.
I think they’re cute, Romance or not.
Ethan and Sarah seemed to be made for each other, though whether they were capable of staying that way remained to be seen.
Anyway, back to the house! The sales price of Ethan’s car had taken a rather large hit while he contemplated whether or not to sell it, but it allowed them to add two bedrooms on to the back of the house, plus windows for each room, and a paved walkway leading to the new front door. A Plumeria tree and an Agave were also planted, along with three potted plants chosen by each of Pariah’s children.
The inside still needed work, but this was no longer the ramshackle little house of that poor Broken family, but your typical modest home that could be found anywhere in Mesa Vista!
Her kids’ touching gesture revved Pariah up so much, she tackled the career reward she’d just earned with uncharacteristic gusto.
“You lie! I was perfectly happy to stay with my Yoga.”
Too bad, I found out the Exerto Selfflog Obstacle Course builds Body over five times faster!
“But it’s grueling, grimy hard work!”
You still want to get fit though, right?
“Yes, damn you!” *grunthuffpant*
Yes, damn you, SIR!
While Pariah took another breather,
“Thank you.”
here are the three bedrooms that were eventually added to the back of the house, and the futon moved to the living room vacated by all the beds. Left: Pariah’s, Middle: Ethan’s, Right: Cora and Ynez.
The challenge requires that each room have floors, walls, a window, one deco object, plus anything else a room of that type would normally have, so I added lights to the bedrooms. The deco would have to wait.
“Isn't she a beauty!”
Now that Ethan’s Mechanical skills were improving, his next car restoration was started and finished in one weekend. This time he didn’t wait to sell it and got the full §5,200 for a profit of §4,400! It was a nice change from all the digging for treasure most Mesa Vistans did for quick cash, and the Korbens were banned from doing it anyway.
Ethan finished the week just one day away from his birthday into adulthood, and it seems a no-brainer that he will become an auto mechanic and sell restored and perhaps other cars for a living after he moves out. It’s doubtful he’ll go to college because I thought a kid in his financial position could be easily lured away from the notion of a higher education in exchange for a quick buck, or in his case, several thousand bucks a pop. Unless he rolls the want to go again, or rolls a fear of being uneducated, but I don’t anticipate that happening.
I’m also going to roll a dice to see if Sara Cwik goes to college or transitions to an adult along with Ethan in Mesa Vista, as I thought it would be interesting to see how that plays out with the high school sweethearts.
Anyway, that’s when the Korben house really took off. I seriously love their kitchen!
I was pretty pleased with my house planning, in that I didn’t have to alter the size of the two original rooms of the house.
Cora worked after school in Politics as a Campaign Worker and Ynez got a job in Athletic as a Waterperson, and they bought an easel with the money they earned. There wasn’t quite enough room in the house for a chess table with two chairs, so they bought the economical telescope to put in the backyard instead.
Their upgraded bathroom was expanded an extra tile or two into the original kitchen/dining area.
Here’s the new living room.
View from the front door.
Ethan and the girls’ rooms. I might decorate them a bit more next week, but for now they have all the elements required by the challenge.
Pariah’s room, with an upgraded bed.
The house turned out to have a pretty nice flow.
And look who finally got fit!
And we’ll end the week with Pariah’s promotion to Senior Officer (Level 7). Zach has more waiting to do for Intelligence to open up, poor baby.
Pariah and her kids did great with this challenge, I’m so proud of them! There are more points to earn, but I’m calling the house portion of the challenge pretty much done. And yes, Ethan bought a third car to restore.
BaCC quick stats (no change):
Playable Sims: 69 (68 + 1 grave)
SM: 21
Population: 1449
Broken score:
7 for 7 promotions (6 Pariah, 1 Cora) + 12 for 6 completed rooms + 15 for 3 good birthdays (2 Ynez, 1 Cora) = 33 points (so far)
Thanks for reading and Happy Simming!