Been playing Stoffe's household today, I had lots of fun, so I thought I'd better post another update so it gets up to date soon.
Chapter 2 Part 1 - Sally-Mae Adams
When we left Sally-Mae, she was at the city center club called Hot Spot. While there she met young adult romance aspiration Billy-Bob Sawyer, who put the moves on her.
For the very shy and timid Sally-Mae being the focus of attention of a cool strong-looking college freshman student was thrilling. One thing lead to another and...
... she got her first kiss.
Amy however did not like the looks of Billy-Bob and insisted they return home. Billy-Bob promised Sally Mae that he'd take her out to dinner the next day instead. He took her to the hood's go-to romantic restaurant. It had some design-flaws in its early days, and has since this date replaced it's table decorations with less face-obscuring options. But despite the decorations the date seemed to go well.
"This is my new girlfriend! Isn't she pretty?" he proclaims loudly to the other patrons. Being praised in front of so many people is mortifying, she doesn't know where to look or what to do with herself. Sally Mae didn't know they were that serious, but it sure felt good to be called his girlfriend. She went home pretty pleased with her day.
Poor Sally Mae has no idea that Billy Bob is not the sweet man she assumes he is. The truth is that he choose her out of all the girls out there, because he could tell that she has the kind of personality he's looking for. Everything with Billy Bob is calculated, planned, always with the end-goal in mind. He has big plans for her, and he will woo her until he gets what he wants. For now, he will be patient and treat her like a princess. In the meantime, he can always get his kicks elsewhere. After their date he hit up the luxury gym and had some grown up fun with the notoriously flirty owner by the name of Rakel Ivarsson.
Since Billy Bob is now her boyfriend, Sally-Mae decided to invite him to the orphanage to meet matron and see where she grew up. When he got there, Billy-Bob found a teen male lurking around.
He is not going to abide by that. "You take your teen hormones and stay away from here, I don't want no stray men sniffing around my new girlfriend." he thinks to himself.
Unfortunately I did not take any more pictures of the visit. Billy Bob was on his best behavior, being polite and courteous to Lena. He was even friendly to Stoffe, despite the fact that he too is a teen male.
I did a poor job taking pictures for most of their courtship, but Billy Bob continued to bring Sally-Mae out to dinners, giving her presents and acting sweet. He love-bombed hard, making her feel special. And it worked. The different orphanage kids respond differently to having been abandoned, in her it comes out as a desperation to be loved. She wanted someone in her life that cared for her, and only her, and does so by choice rather than obligation. Lena does care in that way, but Sally Mae was too young to really understand that.
This need of hers, makes her vulnerable to be taken advantage of. Billy Bob could sense this about her the first day they met, and he only became more sure with time that she was the one he was looking for. And one day when she was visiting him at his dorm, he went for it. Sally Mae was hesitant, but she was also curious. Surely it meant he loved her? In the end, she allowed herself to be convinced.
In my Sims world, much like the real world, woohoo can have long-standing consequences. Sally-Mae soon learned just how true this is, when her adult adventure had left her with an unexpected present.
When Sally-Mae told Billy-Bob, he showed up quicker than you can say "positive pregnancy test".
And he brought another unexpected present, in the form of an engagement ring.
Sally Mae did not hesitate. It's a big yes!
The university only allows enrolled YAs to house in the dorms, so Sally-Mae had to stay in the orphanage until Billy Bob could secure a home for them. He took out a loan and bought two cheap run down trailers and a patch of land on the outskirts of town.
When it was settled he sent a taxi to pick up Sally-Mae. Here she is being waved off by everyone.
Stoffe was asleep, and came rushing out in his underwear when he heard the commotion.
Very strange for Sally Mae to leave the only home she'd ever known, to go live with this man she's only known a few months, and about to have a baby with him. A lot of change, in a short period of time!
Stoffe followed her outside to wave her off, and he stayed until it had left. He was rather sad to see his closest friend go, but he knows that having a family and being loved was her dream. He doesn't get it, but he supports her, and he hopes she will be happy in her new home, and that she'll get exactly what she wanted.
He could tell Sally Mae was nervous, so he stayed there smiling at her through the window until the taxi left.
It was rather strange for him too, walking back in there knowing that Sally Mae would no longer be there every day. But that is life, you grow up, and people go different paths.
That is where we leave Sally-Mae for today. In the taxi on her way to her new life. She wanted love and a family, and from her perspective she's about to get everything she's ever wanted. Time will tell if that's really the case.
Chapter 2 Part 2 - Stoffe Andersson
In the previous chapter, Stoffe had recently aged up to a teen. His aspiration is fortune. Unlike Sally Mae, he does not have much dreams in the love and family department. Instead, his dreams are about money. Although he is very happy in the orphanage, he has not enjoyed growing up in hand-me down clothes and living off the charity of the state and donors. He admires the richer side of town, with their big fancy houses and glamorous life styles. He wants to prove to the world that he is someone, and his mind that means joining their ranks. And the fastest way to do that is to become a savvy businessman. So now that he is old enough to start earning money, he buckled down and got busy.
Here he is practicing charisma by talking about the stock market and market trends. I'm bored just watching, but he clearly enjoys it.
Here he is sitting down to lunch, having woken up late on the weekend because he was up half the night studying and writing articles on Monique's computer to bring in a little extra cash.
On weekends he would stay up late studying, and working. He managed to secure a freelance job writing articles for a local newspaper run by Daniel Sernman himself, one of the town's most successful entrepreneurs. He's hoping to impress Daniel, who could prove to be a very useful contact, and the money is a welcome boost to his college funds. When the rest of the residents gather for lunch, Stoffe has only just woken up after another long night by the computer.
Although he is laser focused on achieving his goals, he does take time here and there to do something fun and relax. Even though he's a teen, he loves toys, especially techy ones like the radio control car that Santa left them.
Stoffe is now the oldest of the bunch, and he has taken over Amy's role of the bigger "sibling" that looks out for younger ones when matron is busy. He cheers loudly for Olivia that is growing up to teen.
He loves to make people laugh, so when Leah wants to dance on his feet before her turn on the cake he of course indulges her, making silly faces and pretending to fall.
He has just enough time to see Leah grow up, nut then he has to dash off to his job as an EMT. Gotta make that money!
When he's not working, Stoffe has his hands full trying to get as many scholarships as he can for college. In Evergreen, the wife of the minister of education runs a free-for-all crafting studio where anyone is welcome to come and practice different skills and hobbies. It's helpful to Sims like Stoffe that does not necessarily have the funds, or the space, to do it at home. When Stoffe looked at the available scholarships and saw there was a toy building scholarship, he decided to put that on his list because he got to kill three birds with one stone. Working towards his scholarship, with something he himself loves, and as a bonus he gets gifts he can give to the other residents.
During Stoffe's teen years, one of the hood thieves decided to target the orphanage. They are notorious for targeting houses with young children, or pregnant women. The orphanage did not have an intruder alarm, so the absolute monster got away with their piano, a piece of art and one of the bikes.
Stoffe was especially mad about the bike that got stolen, because it was a favorite of the younger kids. Who would steal from poor orhans, he wonders. The thieves in Evergreen, that's who. Total jerks, every one of them.
As if holding down a job, writing articles and studying for scholarships was not enough, Stoffe also made time to visit community lots where he might bump into influential people in town. He was very intelligent about his use of time, doubling up scholarship studies with networking opportunities at the local Billiard Palace.
CONTINUE FROM HERE
I do not have that many pictures of Stoffe in his teenage years, because so much of his time was spent working on something or other which is not that interesting to take pictures of again and again. He busted enough butt to pay for private school for himself, he invited the headmaster over and convinced him to let him in. It costs 1000 simoleons in registration and entrance fee, and an additional 750 a week, which is a lot of money but Stoffe felt it was an important investment in his future. Despite constantly working to pay for private school he managed to get a silver badge in toy making, sales, and cashiering, as well as reaching 8 in charisma, logic and mechanical. Between that and scholarships like pool, top grades and top level job he made it off to Uni with quite a chunk of cash in his pocket.
Here he is saying good bye to matron as he gets ready to leave for college. He is excited to go and prove himself, but he will miss her.
In Evergreen, when you go to university you start off by signing up for your classes at the registry office. It's tradition to take pictures out front once you are done to remember your first day at campus. Look at him in his grown-up casual formal attire. Can you tell he chose economy as his major?
He's positively glowing with excitement to get started on his degree, but with that child-like overly-excited always happy flair I love about him.
From there he went straight to get in a work out, and then off to the library to get a head start on his studies. Rest is for when you are dead, right now it's grind time. It's always grind time!
Stoffe knows that part of being viewed as influential and important, is to convey the appearance that you are. So instead of slumming it in the dorms with communal kitchens and bathrooms, he opted for the most expensive dorm-setup on campus where you get an entire apartment to yourself. It's a good way to say you got money in abundance, but lonelier than other options. Deep down he missed the orphanage, so he made sure to buy a radio controlled toy to remind him of home. And even a workaholic needs a little bit of fun here and there!
That's it from Stoffe for today. He busted butt all through teenhood and now he has made it to college where he is determined to keep his head to the grindstone until he reaches his dreams. Given what he achieved as a teen I have no doubts he's going to get there.
26th Apr 2018 at 4:15 PM
