Sim State University Class of 2052 and 2053

Class of 2052:

Douglas Long

Douglas Long
Major: Literature
GPA: 4.0
Honors: Zeta Zeta Epsilon Greek House member, Landgraab Society member, Big Sim on Campus award recipient

Douglas Long is the son of Ian and Amara Long, who reside in Indonesia and are employed as missionaries. Douglas plans to establish a home in Prosperity Plains and pursue a career in the entertainment field. He is engaged to Sarah Pons, a fellow SSU student who plans to graduate in 2053.

Class of 2053: 

Jaden Kules

Jaden Kules
Major: Literature
GPA: 4.0
Honors: Zeta Zeta Epsilon Greek House member, Landgraab Society member, Big Sim on Campus award recipient

Jaden Kules with parents Brittanie Kules and Ryan Cho.

Jaden Kules is the son of Prosperity Plains residents Ryan Cho, a marine biologist, and Brittanie Kules, a party consultant. He plans to return to Prosperity Plains with his fiancee, fellow SSU grad Gretchen Riedmayer, and apply for a job with the Sim State Historical Society.

Jaden Kules with fiancee Gretchen Riedmayer.

Margaret Landgraab

Margaret Landgraab

Major: Philosophy
GPA: 4.0
Honors: Zeta Zeta Epsilon Greek House member, Landgraab Society member, Big Sim on Campus award recipient

Margaret Landgraab (second from left) and Marion Landgraab
with parents Beata Riedmayer-Landgraab and Malcolm Landgraab IV.

Margaret Landgraab is the daughter of local businessman Malcolm Langraab IV and retired general Beata Riedmayer-Landgraab. She plans to set up a household with friends in Prosperity Plains and possibly pursue a career in journalism.

Marion Landgraab

Major: Economics
GPA: 4.0
Honors: Zeta Zeta Epsilon Greek House member, Landgraab Society member, Big Sim on Campus award recipient

Marion Landgraab is the daughter of local businessman Malcolm Langraab IV and retired general Beata Riedmayer-Landgraab. She aspires to pursue a business career and will be living with friends in Prosperity Plains.

Sarah Pons

Sarah Pons

Major: Psychology
GPA: 4.0
Honors: Zeta Zeta Epsilon Greek House member, Landgraab Society member, Big Sim on Campus award recipient

Sarah Pons with parents Joan and Greg Pons.

Sarah Pons is the daughter of Greg Pons, a senior military officer, and Joan Pons, a renowned artist and journalist. She plans to reside in Prosperity Plains with her fiancee, Douglas Long (SSU Class of 2042), and pursue a career in law.

Sarah Pons with fiance Douglas Long (Class of '52).

Gretchen Riedmayer

Gretchen Riedmayer

Major: Literature
GPA: 4.0
Honors: Zeta Zeta Epsilon Greek House member, Landgraab Society member, Big Sim on Campus award recipient

Gretchen Riemdayer (second from right) with aunt Jill Smith,
cousin Jacqueline Riedmayer, and father Johnson Simpson.

Gretchen Riedmayer is the daughter of Johnson Simpson and the late Quinton Riedmayer. She hopes to pursue a career with the Sim State Historical Society and will be residing in Prosperity Plains with her fiance, classmate Jaden Kules.

Ingrid Riedmayer

Ingrid Riedmayer

Major: Biology
GPA: 4.0
Honors: Zeta Zeta Epsilon Greek House member, Landgraab Society member, Big Sim on Campus award recipient

Ingrid Riedmayer with mother Edith Riedmayer
and stepfather Thomas Dai.

Ingrid Riedmayer is the daughter of Edith Riedmayer, a retired member of the SCIA. Ingrid will be living with friends in Prosperity Plains while she pursues a career in medicine.

Jacqueline Riedmayer

Jacqueline Riedmayer

Major: Political Science

GPA: 4.0

Honors: Zeta Zeta Epsilon Greek House member, Landgraab Society member, Big Sim on Campus award recipient

Jacqueline Riedmayer with friend Ryker Owens (Class of '46).

Jacqueline Riedmayer is the daughter of Jill Smith, a member of the SCPD, and the late Elwood Riedmayer. She aspires to a law career and will be living with a friend in Prosperity Plains.









Notes:

1. I loved doing these graduation portraits because I got to compare my Sims to their parents. (Except, you know, the ones who were adopted or are estranged from their parents or whatever.) I was surprised by how much Jaden looks like his mother--he has Ryan's nose, but otherwise he's all Brittanie. I was also surprised how much Ingrid doesn't look like her mother...she has Edith's eyes, nose, and mouth, but Corbin's overall face shape, and it makes a big difference. 

2. Custom content: The base game OSMPs from here. I used normal Maxis poses, because I'm lazy, and used boolprop to make visitors controllable and force the students into their graduation gowns at non-automatic times. 

Week Six Part Fourteen: Pinenut Plaza Dormitory and Zeta Zeta Epsilon Greek House

Marion Landgraab: 25 years old. Aspiration: Pleasure. LTW: 50 1st Dates. Astrological sign: Gemini.

Jacqueline Riedmayer: 23 years old. Aspiration: Fortune. LTW: Become the Law. Astrological sign: Aquarius.

Gretchen Riedmayer: 23 years old. Aspiration: Fortune. LTW: Become Space Pirate. Astrological sign: Aries.

Jaden Kules: 22 years old. Aspiration: Knowledge. LTW: Become Space Pirate. Astrological sign: Scorpio.

Margaret Landgraab: 19 years old. Aspiration: Popularity. LTW: Have 20 Simultaneous Best Friends. Astrological sign: Gemini.

Sarah Pons: 17 years old. Aspiration: Fortune. LTW: Become the Law. Astrological sign: Aries.

Ingrid Riedmayer: 17 years old. Aspiration: Fortune. LTW: Become Chief of Staff. Astrological sign: Gemini.
Family trees:
Jaden
Jackie and Gretchen
Marion and Maggie 
Sarah and Ingrid

"Magical"
narrated by Sarah Pons

The year I went to college, there were seven of us...six girls and one guy. We were supposed to live in Sim State Dormitory, but we ended up getting moved after the first week because they needed to fumigate it...bugs or something.

Anyway, while they were getting our new rooms at Pinenut Plaza Dorm ready for us, we killed the time shopping for clothes. I mean, what else are six girls going to do with a few spare hours? I think Jaden looked at cell phones the whole time we were there.

Even though Jaden really didn't get our collective obsession with fashion, the seven of us were soon really close. I knew almost everybody before, 'cause I'm related to almost everybody, but seeing them around town wasn't the same as living with them.

Of course, it wasn't all socialization. We all kept our noses to the grindstone pretty well, in fact, and maintained 4.0 averages.

After our freshman year, we moved over to the Greek House with Douglas Long, who had been there the year before the rest of us. While we were moving in, this random cheerleader girl kept trying to strike up a conversation with me. Douglas says she hangs around all the time but has never actually tried to pledge or anything.

Jaden and Douglas bunked together in the mens' dormitory; I think Jaden was happy to have somebody who wasn't always talking about shoes and makeup. The women's dormitory wasn't big enough for all of us girls, so we switched around between that and the two double rooms.

Not long after we moved in, Jaden and Gretchen started going out together. They worked together in high school, so they've known each other forever, and they have a lot of common interests. I was super happy for them. (In addition to them both being my friends, Gretchen is my first cousin twice removed. I know that doesn't seem very close, but family loyalty runs deep in the Riedmayers.)

Speaking of family...I always felt bad for my cousin Ingrid. She had kind of a rough childhood and was very moody and withdrawn for a long time. She really blossomed in the Greek house, though. Sometimes I even caught her doing lighthearted things like juggling.

She also gave us all makeovers regularly. I think even Jaden let her cut his hair a few times.

Ingrid wasn't so happy when the secret society came to abduct her. I guess she hadn't been paying attention to the rest of us getting snatched one by one, because she thought she was genuinely getting abducted and almost broke this guy's nose hitting him with the back door. We managed to calm her down and she still got into the Landgraab Society.

Jaden and Gretchen were still going strong...

And I had started a little something with Douglas.

The only crisis we had was the one time Marion set herself on fire. We're not sure what happened...maybe some grease got on her clothes? Anyway, most of us were studying upstairs when it happened. Maggie ran down first to help.

Douglas ran down to help too. We didn't all want to get in the way, but he could tell that Maggie was panicking. Fortunately, the fireman also arrived quickly and Marion manged to survive with nothing but minor burns...a small miracle, considering.

I don't know if maybe that put Jaden in mind of his own mortality, but at any rate later on that year he took Gretchen down to the Crypt O' Night Club. It's not the most romantic place, if you ask me, but Gretchen told me about it later and said that while they were having drinks at the bar Jaden told her that his parents had met each other at that very bar, about thirty years previously. She thought that the evening was magical even with the creepy atmosphere.

After they had a few drinks, a table opened up and they had dinner. After they ate, Jaden proposed. Gretchen was expecting it (I mean, they'd known each other about ten years and been dating for five...) but she said it was still an amazing and emotional experience, hearing him declare his devotion to her.

Jaden got the DJ to put on some slow songs for them, and they danced the night away before coming home to the Greek house.

Around the same time, Ryker--he graduated from ZZE a few years before we started--came to visit, and when Jackie went out to greet him he bent down and kissed her hand.

From then on, the two of them spent pretty much all our parties making out.

Again, I hasten to reassure you all that we didn't spend all our time making out and going on dates. A lot of our "dates" involved heading up to the computer lab in the attic and seeing who could finish their term paper the fastest. Maggie usually won the race, but then she had to spend a lot of hours editing, whereas Jaden and Douglas could crank out perfectly polished essays in the first try. (Not 'cause they're guys. Just 'cause they're super nerdy and the rest of us aren't so much.)

Douglas graduated while the rest of us still had one year to go. I was really proud of him--he got a 4.0 and all sorts of honors--but also really sad to see him go.

Maybe I shoudn't have been, but I was actually surprised when he called me over and got down on one knee...right there in his graduation gown, with the photographer snapping pictures all the while. Good thing I was dressed up from having just attended the graduation ceremony. I said yes, of course. It was wonderful to know that our separation would be brief...Douglas told me after he proposed that he had gotten some land just down the street from my parents. He'd supervise the building of our house, and then we could get married as soon after my graduation as I wanted.

After Douglas left, we had an open space in the house (it's against the law to have more than 8 people in a rental) so we asked a girl named Anna Jeffress to pledge. She and I had been friends for a while, and became even better friends afterwards.

I know Jaden was sad to have the only Y chromosome in the house after Douglas left, but at least Anna was a good study buddy for him. She's at least as nerdy as Douglas. Jaden and Anna kept the rest of us on task during that last year...maybe it was just because my mind was on my wedding, but it seemed like the last months until graduation just dragged by.

We all finally made it, though!










Notes:

1. As you might be able to tell from the loading screen pic, I was having trouble getting Marion to age up properly. She looked like a teen and could only wear teen clothes, but she had all the YA interactions available. (She could flirt with the other YAs, etc.) I tried moving them and all sorts of other things. What finally worked was aging her back down to teen in SimPE and then reloading the lot...she aged up to YA properly as soon as the lot loaded. Hopefully I won't have any more trouble there.

2. I don't hold with gender-based stereotypes, but I must admit I found this group's conversations hilarious. The girls all have high interest in fashion and would seriously talk about it ALL THE TIME and Jaden would always have negative interactions, because he has low interest in fashion. (He managed to become best friends with everybody nonetheless.) I can't remember if Douglas has any interest in fashion or not.

3. I have been planning on marrying off Ryker and Jackie for a long time, but at one point this play session I decided to see if he was more attracted to any of the other girls and maybe switch things up if he was. He must have got wind of my plot, because he kissed Jackie as soon as she greeted him. (This caused her to fall in love and him to fall in crush, so I had them make out a little bit and then he fell in love too.) They only have one bolt, but I guess bolts aren't everything. :)

4. Anna is a Knowledge Sim with the refreshing want to Max All Skills. Her astrological sign is Sagittarius.

5. Everybody got 4.0, Big Sim on Campus, and Secret Society. I'm like a machine. 

6. I'm working on a graduation post, so you can see everybody else in their caps and gowns.

Week Six Part Five: Riedmayer-Landgraab Estate

Beata Riedmayer-Landgraab: 69 years old. Aspiration: Popularity. Lifetime want: Own 5 Top-Level Businesses. (Fulfilled: Become General.) Astrological sign: Scorpio.
Malcolm Landgraab IV: 66 years old. Aspiration: Fortune. Lifetime want: Own 5 Top-Level Businesses. (Fulfilled: Become Criminal Mastermind.) Astrological sign: Gemini.
Malcolm Landgraab V: 31 years old. Aspiration: Popularity. Lifetime want: Become Media Magnate. Astrological sign: Gemini.
Theresa Dejackome: 28 years old. Aspiration: Fortune. (Formerly Romance.) Lifetime want: Become City Planner. Astrological sign: Libra.
Marion Langraab: 25 years old. Aspiration: Pleasure. Lifetime want: Have 50 1st Dates. Astrological sign: Gemini.
Margaret "Maggie" Landgraab: 19 years old. Aspiration: Popularity. Lifetime want: Have 20 Simultaneous Best Friends. Astrological sign: Gemini.

Here is the Riedmayer family tree, very slightly truncated. (Beata's cousins are excluded.) Beata recently became an aunt for the first time by her much younger half-sister Agatha, though she was hardly lacking in relatives before that, with 7 children and 16 grandchildren. There is simply no way to make her family tree very small.

This is the family tree for Theresa, the final member of the household. (Theresa lives here because she is engaged to Malcolm V.) The Dejackomes have only just grown to the point where their tree is wider than it is tall. Theresa's two older sisters both got pregnant twice in Round 5, but Gretchen didn't manage to deliver her second child before the end of the round. (So she has to waddle around town heavily pregnant for several real-life months.) Theresa's sister-in-law Annie--wife to her twin brother Gavin--was put in a similar predicament earlier in this round.

If I had not truncated the Riedmayer tree, you would be able to tell that Annie is Beata's first cousin. I think it is funny that Theresa's brother is married to her fiance's mother's cousin. I just like twisty family trees. 

"The Right Thing To Do"
Narrated by Theresa Dejackome

Mal and I went back to live with his parents after college. We just stuck a double bed up in his old room...I wasn't a fan of the whole fish theme, but neither of us had jobs yet so we didn't have a whole lot of spare cash to redecorate. Mal's parents are worth a lot, but it's all tied up in the businesses.

No sooner were we back then Mal's younger sisters left for Sim State. Marion, the older one, got six scholarships. (For good grades, cooking, logic, creativity, top of teen career, and dance skill.)

Maggie got five. (The same as Marion's minus cooking.)

Mal and I ended up both getting jobs with the SCIA--not the dream career for either of us, but it paid the bills. We also spent a ton of time helping out with the various businesses that Mal's parents own.

In the fall of 2048 I found out I was pregnant. It wasn't exactly planned, though Mal had broached the subject a few times...he wanted a son to carry on the family name. Anyway, Mal wanted to get married the moment we found out, but I wasn't sure I wanted to rush into it. I mean, we'd been together for seventeen years by then and exclusive for five, and I was pretty sure I wanted to be with him the rest of my life, but marriage still didn't appeal to me much.

Beata suggested that we go to the beach house...Big Mal had bought it a few years previously but they'd never had a chance to go. (I call Mal's dad Big Mal. It seemed like a good idea at the time and he thinks it's hilarious, probably because he's shorter than me.) Beata said we could clear our heads and make a better decision that way, but I think she just wanted to get away from the winter weather.

Remember how Dogface there got into an altercation with Theresa at Gavin's wedding? Now he's apparently taken up staring creepily at the Landgraab family as revenge. 

We spent the entire week doing pretty much nothing, which was awesome.

I think the break made Mal and I both perform better at work. At any rate, we both got promoted to Head of the SCIA a few weeks after we got back. Of course, that's just a job title. The real head of the SCIA has a totally ordinary sounding job title. We were pretty much working as glorified decoys. 

And maybe the vacation did clear my head a bit, because Mal and I got married in March. It was just a quickie ceremony with Mal's parents as witnesses, but it felt good. It felt like the right thing to do.

Our son was born on April 5, 2049. Mal was so excited you wouldn't even believe it. Of course, we named the baby Malcolm Landgraab VI. He looks like me, though--red hair and brown eyes. 

After the baby was born (I called him "the baby" at first, and then "Baby Mal" later.) we used the money we'd saved to renovate the house a bit. Downstairs we added a formal dining room and a little den. 

The upstairs study we turned into a nursery for the baby...sort of. We had other renovation plans so instead of a major redecoration we just stuck a crib and changing table in there. 

Shortly after Baby Mal was born, my Mal managed to get a job as a magazine editor, which was what he wanted to be doing. I still had no luck finding work as an architect, so I mainly helped out with the businesses. We got our second Best of the Best Award for the business we opened that year.

We had gotten the first shortly after Mal and I came back from college, after Big Mal had been in business for 40 years without getting any.

Meanwhile, Baby Mal was growing up fast and looking more like me every day.

Mal and I aren't the types to want a huge family, but he thought Baby Mal would be lonely as an only child and I kind of wanted a girl. Mal wanted them to be close, but I won out there...I found out I was pregnant again on Mal's fourth birthday, so they'd be about 4 1/2 years apart. 

The businesses were doing well, so we decided that we should expand our house before the new baby arrived. So we built out over the newer downstairs wing (with the dining room and the den). Our new bedroom was big enough to keep my drafting table on one end...I managed to finally get a job in architecture at that point.

We added two bathrooms, though there was a net gain of only one since we had to rip out the old bathroom to extend the hallway.

One Sunday just before school started back up, we closed the home business and invited over all our relatives for the day. The guys mostly played poker.

Clockwise from left: Johnson Simpson (Beata's uncle by marriage), Mal, Greg Pons, and Thomas Dai. (Thomas married Edith late last round, as you may recall.)

The little boys (Mal has a TON of nephews) mostly watched TV.

From left: Edward Pons, Charles Riedmayer, Seth Pons, and Gabriel Pons.

I ended up sitting and eating sandwiches with a couple of them. They talked about videogames the whole time. I wonder if all little boys like videogames. You'd think I'd know something about little boys, since I have a twin brother, but I don't understand them at all. 

Gabriel Pons again, Landon Whitfill, and Theresa.

Theresa's relatives were there too, but I didn't get any good pictures of them.

On November 18 I went into labor. I gave birth to a little boy, Michael...

And a daughter, Melinda!

The twins were definitely a surprise, but at least we have Mal's parents helping out. I don't know if I'd survive otherwise, with three kids under five. 

Speaking of, I think I hear somebody wailing upstairs. I suppose I should go check...

Side story: When Theresa went into labor, she was standing around in the dining room with Beata and Malcolm V. She walked right past both of them and into the kitchen to hand Michael to Malcolm IV so she could give birth to Melinda. I have no idea why you'd pick your father-in-law as labor assistant over your husband or mother-in-law.

The bottom floor of the house at the end of the week. You saw the new rooms close up earlier.

The second floor. I really like how the extension turned out. Right now Malcolm VI and Michael share the fish room and Melinda has the princess room.

The outside. There should probably be more windows.

The front. I still really like this house's overall look and cannot really take credit for it since it is a Maxis house, albeit heavily made over. 










In case you can't tell, Malcolm VI has red hair, brown eyes, and S2 skin. Michael has blond hair, brown eyes, and S3 skin. Melinda has blond hair, brown eyes, and S1 skin. I think it's funny that they each got a different skin tone. 

Right now the Landgraabs have 4 Level 10 businesses and 2 more that are working their way up, so next round they'll probably become my first ever family with 5 Level 10 businesses.

Also, I couldn't figure out how to fit it into the update, but look what I did! I think Beata's life insurance policy is going to benefit a lot of people when she goes to party with Grim...

And Theresa is doing very well for someone who's only been a Fortune Sim for 1/3 of her life. These college grads are almost too easy.