When Delaney and Sierra Shanley returned to Niadon, they found that things hadn’t changed much in the four years they had been away at Sim State. Their parents had acquired slightly drooping postures and dazzling white hair, but they were still the same people at heart. Their mother Mia was just as domestic as ever, whipping up pancakes at a moment’s notice whenever her family was hungry.
“Ahh, pancakes. Ahh, life. I love being in permaplat!â€
Well, it took me a month to play the Shanley girls through college (and another month to finally write this post), but they’ve finally graduated! Now I can get started on the (hopefully more) fun part, which is marrying my heir off to some hapless NPC and getting them pregnant. But first, here are some of the highlights from Delaney and Sierra Shanley’s college years…
When Delaney and Sierra first arrived at Sim State University, they were clad in sweaters and track pants. After taking note of the other students, they realized that the sweater-track pant combo wasn’t too stylin’ and decided to go shopping.
“Yes, this is SO me…”
Last we left the Shanleys of Niadon, Mia and Marcel had been promoted (due to a couple of lucky chance card choices), leaving a hefty chunk of money in the family funds. This allowed me to add a second story to the house and expand the first floor a bit. The house still needs major improvements, but it’s shaping up, and it’s certainly a far cry from the old shack.
Here are my 2G kids cleaning up after themselves despite their fairly low Neatness scores.
“Hey Sierra, you think the door of the dishwasher could hold me if I jumped on it?”
Delaney spent the rest of her childhood days going to school, doing homework, and studying her skills, with the occasional break to play some SSX3 with her sister. On her birthday, she grew into a teenager who looks strikingly like her mother (except for the eyes). Finally she was old enough to make her own breakfast in the morning (I’m having everyone cook their own meals now so they can raise their Cooking skills).
Last we left the new Legacy branch of the Shanleys, Mia the Legacy founder had just given birth to her first child, Delaney, ringing in the 2nd generation of my University Legacy Challenge and the 11th generation of the Shanley family. As we all know, babies aren’t too terribly difficult to take care of — it’s the toddlers that kill ya. So I let Mia and Marcel enjoy their precious few days as parents of an infant before the onset of the Dreaded Toddler Years.
This is just one of those “random” snapshots showing happy Sim domestic life as Mia serves her first salmon dinner. (Regarding Mia’s tee-shirt: I just have to say that I saw Duran Duran in concert for the first time last week, and they were AWESOME. Yes, I’m old.)
“Where did this plate come from? I could have sworn I was only holding the platter!”
Meanwhile Marcel the Knowledge Sim has been rolling up some odd non-Knowledge-like wants. For example, he wants to write and publish a Great Novel. I’ve only seen that happen with Fortune Sims. He also had a weird want to work in a cafeteria. I hated to break it to him that he wasn’t in college anymore and would never be going back, so he’d better give up that particular dream.
I did have him start writing the Great American Novel, though.
In my last Legacy Challenge: University update, Mia Shanley graduated summa cum laude from Sim State University and transitioned into an adult. A yellow taxi van showed up and whisked her away to…
…an empty lot! Actually, it just put her in the Sim bin, and then I put her on the lot, but that doesn’t sound as cool, does it? So here’s Miss Mia on her ginormous 5×5 lot, in the same spot where Shanley Manor stood (I liked that particular spot, so I just moved Shanley Manor down the hill a bit).
“No house, no job, no food…who cares, I’ve got video games!”
Yes, Mia whipped out her handheld video game and started playing right away. This was my first clue that Mia’s legacy was going to be very different from Nia’s. I remember good old Nia really struggling through these first few days — she was stinky, uncomfortable, lonely, and borderline insane (hence the visit from your friendly neighborhood Sim shrink). By comparison, Mia’s first few days were a like a trip to Disneyland.
Before I did anything else, I bought a computer and had Mia search for a job.
In the last update, Mia Shanley had founded her own Greek house, Hoh-Cham-Hoh, and invited several of her friends from the dorms to become members. Some of them moved in with her, allowing her to slowly double the size of the house as the grant money rolled in each semester. Here is 124 Almond Road in all its glory:
Hoh-Cham-Hoh House
It’s not much, but it’s a start. You can see the Greek letters on the second story; I had to delete a window to make room for them! And of course, there’s Mia on her cell phone out front, and Darren and Sandy hanging out in the love tub.
Last we left Mia Shanley, she had finished her sophomore year at Sim State University and changed her aspiration from Popularity to Family. She had also made a few friends and nabbed a boyfriend, Chase Zhang. As her junior year began, I figured she had endured enough of Sim State Dormitory, so I moved her into a tiny rented house at 124 Almond Road. It had a bathroom, living room, and kitchen on the first floor, and a large bedroom on the second. The kitchen was basically a fridge, countertop, and stove, and there was barely room for a table and chairs, but it was all she could afford.
“I can’t believe I lived in the dorms for two years! This is so much better!”
Last we left the Shanleys of Shanley Hall, both Mia and her aunt Aurora had left home to attend college at Sim State University. Since Mia is the founder of my new legacy for the Legacy Challenge: University, I’m going to tell her story separately, though Aurora may make an appearance from time to time. Aurora’s college story will be posted at some point in the Shanley Family category.
Now for the update! As you may know, Mia was the first child born in the 10th generation of my Legacy Challenge family. After my last update, a few of you commented that she was pretty, which made me chuckle a bit, because I think she’s scary-looking. But that’s really only when she’s just staring into space with no expression on her face, as in the picture below:
“Mmmm….college….aghghhh…”
When she’s talking or laughing or doing pretty much anything else, she looks fine. But as soon as she stops being animated, she looks evil, like she’s sizing someone up so she can figure out the best way to smack them down. I think it’s the combination of smiling mouth, downturned brows, and intense eyes. My poor Sims, I’m so hard on them.