This thread is to document progress in my Beginning of Pleasantview neighborhood, which is the new Beginning of Pleasantview Plus that can be downloaded from MTS.

First, my personal rules for playing this hood and how I plan to tackle the challenge:

I will attempt to have all of the Sims born who start out in base game Pleasantview, with the correct genders and ancestors (i.e., Cassandra, Don, Dustin, etc.). However, I will not necessarily follow the same paths with this last generation only. In other words, Cassandra may not become engaged to Don, Dustin may not start dating Angela, and so on. That depends on what those Sims want.

Otherwise, I will let all of the families live their lives and have children, form relationships, and pursue careers as they desire. I will also play all of the other Sims in the neighborhood, including all Sims born in game, through their natural lives.

I will play the hood like a very loose BACC. I will add a new batch of families plus a community lot each week. These community lots represent the kinds of lots present in Pleasantview at the start (although they will not be the exact same lots because I hate them). I will build additional community lots based on the Sims' accomplishments in their careers and their wants to own businesses. This will gradually build the neighborhood up over time. I will assign families different socioeconomic classes to start but after that, their fortunes rely on what they do in the game. There will be no townies (other than the Garden Club, who represent the original rural settlers before the founding families came to Pleasantview). I will start with Downtown (necessary for my story) and Sim State University; however, Downtown is considered to be a distant city that requires travel and effort to reach, so Sims won't just be dashing off there all the time.

The plan:

First Monday: Add the founding families Goth (upper class), Crumplebottom (upper class), Bachelor (middle class), and Hall (servant). Community lot: Woodland Park

Second Monday: Add the Sims and Jones families (both lower class). I am not concerned about the ancestors of these families, since they are not needed to get to the Sims in base game Pleasantview. This is just to have some extra Sims in town. Community lot: Grocery store, owned by Alice Jones

Third Monday: Add the Pleasant (upper class), Danders (middle class), Oldie (lower class), and Ruggbyrne (lower class) families. Community lot: Clothing boutique, originally owned by Mamie Ruggbyrne, but she decided to sell it back to the community soon after her arrival

Fourth Monday: Add the Marsh (upper class), Burb (middle class), Dreamer (middle class), Darong (lower class), Newbie (lower class), and Simovitch (lower class) families. Community lot: Public pool

Fifth Monday: Add the Fiorello (upper class), Lothario (middle class), Caliente (middle class), and Al Mahmoud (lower class) families, as well as Erik Darling (bachelor). Community lot: Electronics store, owned by the Fiorellos

Other families will be added when certain events happen in the game: Jocasta Euphoria when Simis is an adult; Katrina Libros when Flamenco is an adult or if needed for a role; Matlapin family when Darren's parents get married; Broke family when Brandi's parents get married; Langerak family around when Don is born.

Note: I am using a custom lifespan. Pregnancy lasts 2 days. Babies: 1 day + day they are born. Toddlers: 3 days. Children: 7 days. Teens: 6 days. Young adults: 4 days. Adults: 31 days. Elixir of life: 3 days allowed to Sims who go on vacation.

Progress thus far: I am just about to start Week 5.

I will update each family as children born into that family reach adulthood.

Starting Sims: Victor and Gretle Goth (married); Samuel (Victor's brother); Olivia Hall (live-in housekeeper)

Victor established the business career in the new settlement of Pleasantview, and Samuel became the town doctor. Gretle did not work. Victor and Gretle had two children: Gunther and Frida. Then Victor began an affair with the housekeeper, Olivia, and she accidentally got pregnant.

Victor and Olivia eloped to Downtown and took the name Hall to avoid scandal. They had twins: Brenda and Helen (now in university). Although they lost access to the Goth fortune, Victor continued his business career and rose to the rank of Corporate Vice President. Olivia pursued her dream of becoming a florist when she had time. Over time, Victor and Gretle came back into contact, and Gretle forgave him. As they were nearing elderhood, Victor and Olivia felt like they could move back to Pleasantview and live openly as a married couple.

For a long time after Victor left, Gretle told everyone he was dead and continued to live with her brother-in-law, Samuel. They eventually fell in love and became secretly engaged. Victor pressured Gretle to let him have contact with his children again, and she finally agreed, so all the secrets came out. Then Gretle felt like she could finally marry Samuel. They had one child together, Gibson, and now Gretle is pregnant very late in life with their second.

Gunther was the first resident to go to university. While he was there, he became engaged to his intended wife, Cornelia Crumplebottom. When he returned home, he entered the politics career and was immediately a very successful town leader. He established the first church of Pleasantview. He and Cornelia got married there, moved into their own home, and are now pregnant with Mortimer.

Frida also attended college and entered the medical career like her uncle Samuel. She lives in the family home and works as a nurse.

Starting Sims: Simon and Prudence (married)

Simon started out in Pleasantview as a scientist. His wife didn't work while she raised their three children: Cornelia, Agnes, and Robert. Simon's science ambitions didn't work out, and he lost that job, resulting in a hit to the family fortune. Prudence then decided to become an adventurer to bring in some money while Simon looked after the children. Eventually, Simon started a second career as an athlete but hasn't advanced very far. The couple are still happily married and are both very creative in their pursuits of music (Prudence) and painting and cooking (Simon).

Cornelia was promised to Gunther Goth from an early age, but since they were childhood friends, everyone was happy with the arrangement. She went to university, where she and Gunther were engaged, and married Gunther soon after graduating. She would like to get a job, but those plans may have to be put on hold as she is already pregnant.

Agnes followed in Cornelia's footsteps with the aspiration of pursuing knowledge. She also went to university, but a fire in her dorm killed her plus several other students.

Robert, the youngest, is still a teen. He has the fortune aspiration and will inherit the family mansion when he becomes an adult.

Starting Sims: Milton and Enriqueta (married)

This family has not been very lucky. Milton started out as the town lawyer but lost that job and had to turn to crime to support his family. To this day, no one in Pleasantview knows about the family's crime dealings. Enriqueta never worked but focused on raising the children. They have been burgled a couple of times, there have been fires, and they have lost household help due to their mismanagement of family funds. But they manage to land on their feet and are a strong family unit. They had three children: Simis, Lily, and Emmy.

Simis was best friends with Gunther Goth growing up. As a teen, he ran wild, often sneaking away to the city to meet up with various girls and boys. He went to university as expected and calmed down a little but still pursued his romantic interests. He was shot down by both Cornelia and Agnes Crumplebottom. When he returned home, Simis took a job as an adventurer. His family told him that he was expected to marry a newcomer named Jocasta Euphoria, a union that would bring in a lot of money for the family, who were still strapped for cash. Simis agreed, although Jocasta was cold toward him and he really didn't want to get married. The money Jocasta brought, though, saved the family from financial ruin.

Lily is currently at university, and Emmy is about to go. Since Simis will inherit the family home, the sisters will probably be given a small house to live in together when they are adults.

Starting Sims: Henry and Regina (married)

The Sims started out as live-in help for the Crumplebottoms, but they moved into a small house on the other side of town when Regina got pregnant. Henry became the town's only police officer at the time, although his real passion was painting. Regina raised their two boys: Amin and Cooper. One night, Henry did not return home from patrol. Regina took widowhood hard and tried to find a new love, but both the men she fell for were married and refused to leave their wives. On the night after Amin became an adult, she died in a fire caused by a lightning strike.

Amin did not go to college. He started working in the culinary career as a teen and continued as an adult. He is gay and hasn't had any romantic interests. He also took on the responsibility of raising his teen brother after their mother's death. Cooper has just become an adult and now works at a very low level in the business career. He also hasn't had any romantic interests so far.

--

Those are all of my new adults thus far. The Hall twins and Lily Bachelor are still making their way through university, and Daisy Jones just joined them.

Other born-in-game Sims thus far: Jeff and Sheri Pleasant (twins), Diane Danders, Herb Oldie, Coral and Forrest Ruggbyrne, Brad Burb, Tiffany Marsh, Davis Dreamer, Delilah Dolang, Bob Newbie Jr., and Betty Simovitch

I have just started week 5 in Pleasantview and added four new families, so Pleasantview is really growing! Several Sims now own or are associated with community lots because of their career success or interests.

Gunther Goth started the first church of Pleasantview, which is associated with the Politics career. That is where the Goths and the Bachelors held their weddings. Gunther and Cornelia are pregnant with Mortimer. Simis and Jocasta are pregnant with either Michael or Bella, depending on gender.

Milton Oldie reached a high rank in the Law Enforcement career and was able to establish the Pleasantview Police Station.

Paul Jones became a newspaper columnist and started the Pleasantview Daily News.

Victor Hall (formerly Goth) moved back to town and opened a Factory Warehouse, representing the Business career, where he sells his wife's flower arrangements as well as assorted other home goods.

Diane Danders reached all-star rank in the Athlete career and opened a small gym to help the Pleasantview Sims get physically fit. Because there are community lots for the politics, business, law enforcement, journalism, and athletic careers, any Sim in Pleasantview who wants a job in those careers can get it without having to go through the newspaper ads.

In addition, Dacia Dreamer opened a beauty salon, and the Fiorellos moved to town and opened an electronics store where Sims can buy video games and handheld devices.

Herb Oldie, Coral Ruggbyrne, Jeff and Sheri Pleasant, and Diane Danders all became teens. Gretle Goth gave birth to another son, Jonathan, just as she is about to become an elder. Betty Simovitch has a little brother, Ian, who is unfortunately very neglected, and the Marshes are expecting a second child.

Lily Bachelor graduated university and moved into her own little house. She is scary smart and has decided to enter the family's crime business. She will probably take it much farther than her father did. She also has a huge crush on newcomer Primo Fiorello, who has so far turned down her advances.

The Hall sisters are the daughters of Victor Goth (now Hall) and Olivia Hall. Olivia was working as a live-in housekeeper in the Goth family when she and Victor started an affair. When she got pregnant, he told his wife everything, and they eloped Downtown. Victor lost his fortune to his brother and took the Hall name to keep the Goth's good name out of the newspapers. Recently, he and Olivia moved back to Pleasantview. Victor is a Vice President of his company and has started a business selling home goods. Olivia now has a gold badge in flower arranging and is also working in the law career. They still don't have a lot of money, though.

Their twins were Brenda and Helen, and like all good twins, they were polar opposites in personality. Growing up, Brenda demanded all the attention and nice things, but she was also ambitious and worked as a teen to get scholarships and buy things her father couldn't afford. Helen felt overshadowed and did a lot of chores around the house to get in her parents' good graces. As a teen, though, she craved the approval of others and spent more time going out and dating than working, but she was naturally very gifted in a lot of areas. Both girls got scholarships and were able to attend university together.

While at university, Brenda continued to work hard and buy a lot of nice things. The twins hung out a lot with the Sims brothers and met their friends. Helen fell in love with Cooper Sims, but he thinks she's just a party girl and has no idea about her true feelings. After graduation, the girls got a house together, but since their parents couldn't give them much money, they had to take out loan for some of the purchase price. Brenda got a job in the athletic career and has big dreams for herself, but those might already be derailed. She invited one of the Sims' Downtownie friends over for a little harmless fun and got herself pregnant. Helen has started out working in the Gamer career and still hasn't told Cooper how she feels. I'm not sure where this baby is going to fit into their small house or into Brenda's plans to get promoted and marry someone rich.

Update: Victor and Olivia were killed by an unknown arsonist, possibly hired by a rival businessman. Their neighbor, Erik Darling, was also killed. The police are now heavily patrolling the area where the crimes occurred, but few Sims want to live there now. Victor's business passed to Helen, who sold it so she and Brenda could buy a bigger house together. Brenda had her baby, a little girl named Lyndsay.

Elsewhere in Pleasantview, the first Sims turned elder: Samuel and Gretle Goth, Simon and Prudence Crumplebottom, and Milton and Enriqueta Bachelor. Mortimer Goth was born, as was Bella Bachelor. Tiffany Marsh has a younger brother named Kevin, and the Dreamers got pregnant again. As for the new families, all are expecting babies, and the Calientes happen to be expecting two, although they don't know about the consequences of Nestor's abduction yet.

Starting Sims: Paul and Alice (married)

From the start, the Jones family lived up to the adage of "keeping up with the Joneses," except they were the ones who wanted to keep up with all the wealthier families in Pleasantview. All anyone in this household wanted was to buy nicer things, earn the money to pay for those things, and put themselves on the same level as the Goths and Crumplebottoms. Paul was the first journalist in Pleasantview and eventually founded the local newspaper that is delivered every morning. Alice started off by owning the grocery store, but after making a lot of money from that business, she decided to sell it and spend her days doing whatever she wanted--which was mostly taking care of Paul. Despite being a family Sim, Alice only ever wanted one child, which was Daisy. After that, all her thoughts were of Paul--she is hopelessly devoted. They aren't wealthy by Goth standards, but they live comfortably and seem well satisfied. (Paul did have one little affair, with Regina Sims before she died, but he did that reluctantly and ended it quite quickly. Alice never found out. Paul is just as devoted to her as she is to him.)

Daisy grew up in her parents' manner, always wanting the family to buy more things, such as a pet bird and a nice computer for Paul to work on. Although she likes to be social, she is standoffish and primarily concerned with herself and satisfying her own desires. She went to college and did well there. She has moved back home after graduation and shows no signs of wanting to find a husband or a career at this point, preferring instead to enjoy the good life that Paul's salary provides.

The Jones family have the distinction of being the first and only Pleasantview family to go on vacation, primarily because my vacation lots tend to be buggy and I wanted to test them with a family that wasn't quite so critical for the neighborhood. The lots worked fine, and they had a middling time. I think they primarily wanted to go so they could brag to people about how they had been overseas when no one else has. As a reward, I let Paul and Alice have three extra days from the elixir of life.

Update: Paul turned out to be a right SOB. He brought a woman home from work and woohooed with her while his wife was sleeping in the other bedroom. Then, he kept being romantic toward her even after Alice woke up. Of course, Alice was furious and threw him out. She is inconsolable. She has lost the love of her life. I'm pretty pissed at him, too.

That's it for the starting families. There are some younger siblings in those families in university right now, but the next batch on the horizon are the second set of families I added in: Oldie, Ruggbyrne, Pleasant, and Danders.

Note: I had to edit this a bunch of times because I wrote it too fast and got a lot of names mixed up.

Progress so far: I'm just about to start Week 6.

Deaths: Victor Goth Hall and Olivia Hall, Erik Darling -- all by arson (see previous update)

Divorces: Paul and Alice Jones because he turned out to be a no-good cheater (see previous update)

Engagements: Robert Crumplebottom to Daisy Jones after just one date. I don't think this will be a marriage based on passion. Immediately after getting engaged, Robert started macking on pretty much every woman in his dorm, including Emmy Bachelor, while Daisy is going out on the town with married men. But Daisy likes nice things, and Robert comes from a family that owns a lot of nice things, so. He is just graduated, so he will be moving back to the neighborhood in one round for the wedding.

Births (a lot!): Mortimer Goth; Bella and Michael Bachelor (ages reversed); Lyndsay Hall (to Brenda, from a one-night stand); Kevin Marsh (brother to Tiffany); Devon Dreamer (brother to Davis, and they are pregnant again); Nicolo Lothario; Adriana Fiorello; Tango Caliente (and Nestor is pregnant with Flamenco, after I messed up his alien pregnancy the first time); and Nighat Al Mahmoud

Two new businesses were established in town. Les Pleasant, a professional gambler (gamer), opened a casino. Bruno Ruggbyrne became a party DJ, so a night club was placed where he can go to work, which has been wonderful for all my Romance Sims who needed somewhere to take dates.

Herb Oldie is the first of the next gen to go to university. Coral is not going.

Emmy Bachelor just graduated and moved in with her sister Lily. She is currently in love with two men, Cooper Sims and Robert Crumplebottom, and has wants to see them both. She has three bolts with Robert, though, and if he weren't already engaged to Daisy, they would be engaged since they both rolled wants for it.

I just want to take a moment to pay homage to this man: https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Domini...ominic_Gray.png

He is a Downtownie. His original name is Dominic Gray, but he is called Amir in my Pleasantview. He is a literal godsend to all the female Romance Sims I have in this neighborhood. Each and every one of them has two or three bolts with him. He calls them all up on the phone all the time. He is always ready and willing to come over, go out on a date, have a makeout session, or woohoo. Doesn't matter if he's besties or not--he's down. He has fulfilled the three woohoos and/or three makeouts with quite a few of my Sims and is helping keep those ladies in platinum while they raise their toddlers. This man is a legend.

I am now on Monday of Week 6, so all the families have been placed in Pleasantview for the time being until the current children become adults.

Newly in college: Jeff and Sheri Pleasant and Diane Danders. I am pleased to say that Jeff and Diane already have crushes on each other, and Jeff seems to have forgotten all about Coral. Sheri and Herb are still fooling around, of course.

The next batch of children are becoming teens, and the next batch of toddlers are becoming children. It's only been about a day or so since my last update, and not much of note has happened. Amin Sims did reach a point in the culinary career where I was able to add a restaurant to the neighborhood. Flamenco Caliente was born and looks appropriately alien.

Also, Robert Crumplebottom has graduated and moved back home. He is getting ready to cause some drama. He has rerolled his want to get engaged to Emmy Bachelor and has no want to marry Daisy, so I have locked the engagement want. Robert will be dumping Daisy and proposing to Emmy instead. I'm sure his parents will think that is a much more suitable match, as Emmy comes from a reputable family (as far as anyone knows), and they didn't care for Daisy much the one time they met her.

Now that Nestor Caliente has an alien baby--and thinking ahead to Bella's abduction--I decided it made sense to add Strangetown as a subhood. Since it is the start of Week 6, it seems like a good time to start some new families to keep up the pattern and have staggered ages. We'll see how it works out.

So I added Strangetown with its own military base. The starting families are the Grunts (level 5 in the Military career to start) and the Curiouses (level 5 in the Science career to start) to head up the base, along with the Hoglegs, Mike Steel, and Missy Melons. The Calientes moved to Strangetown with help from government funds, and the Al Mahmouds also moved there because they weren't doing so well financially in Pleasantview and wanted a fresh start. The Burbs may move there soon, too, since Benjamin Burb is in the military career and should get promoted.

I plan to add in the Beakers, Salamises, McGorks, and Halfdanarsons for Week 7 and the Muendas and Nigmoses for Week 8. I also plan to "grow" Pollination Technician 9 with mods, and then he can hang out in the bin until he's needed. To limit the number of families I need to play, I turned all the Loner and Loste ancestors into townies, as well as assorted singletons from the hood. We needed some townies, anyway. My Romance Sims are going through all their available partners very quickly.

I know this will make the Strangetown characters not exactly synch up with the Pleasantview characters, but it will be good to have some fresh blood. My overall total number of families when I will have added everyone in is coming out to 35, which I think is manageable and also a good basis for long-term growth, as long as I don't have too many babies.

Update: I made Pollination Technician 9 Smith and he has black hair, but I gave him a bald head. He's an adult in aspiration failure because all his ancestors died in the spaceship crash, which also made for a nice little alien graveyard in Strangetown. PT moved out to the bin before everyone died, though. I got the Calientes and the al Mahmouds settled in Strangetown. The Al Mahmouds had a ton of bad luck on their first day--seems to be par for the course for this family. Flamenco Caliente became a toddler and he is blond!

It's midweek, so I have a few updates.

Robert Crumplebottom dumped Daisy and proposed to Emmy. All the families were happy about it. Robert married Emmy in a home wedding attended by the Crumplebottoms, Goths, and Bachelors. Daisy rebounded with none other than trusty Amir. Also, Daisy's mother Alice has met a nice elder Downtownie and I hope to get them together to help her get over Paul.

Emmy moved into the Crumplebottom mansion, which enabled me to move their parents (and their huge dog) in with Lily, who is still single and tearing up the criminal career. So Simis finally has the family home for himself, and his children get their own bedrooms.

Brenda Hall got engaged to Cooper Sims (the guy her sister is secretly in love with). He moved in but doesn't seem in a hurry to get married. Helen Hall went out with Brenda's ex and father to her niece and fell in love with him now. It's a tangled web.

Herb Oldie and Coral Ruggbyrne went out on a date and fell in love. Coral immediately wanted to get engaged, so they are. Jeff and Diane are joined at the hip in university, so I foresee no problems there. Sheri is still woohooing with Herb, though, but I plan to give him the hopeless romantic trait once he graduates.

New teens Bob Newbie Jr. and Betty Simovitch are also in love and regularly doing it. But I see trouble ahead because Brad Burb met Tiffany Marsh and was not impressed. Maybe they will grow to like each other over time?

Amir has broken up his first marriage now. Vadim Simovitch caught his wife Fatima in bed with him. He kicked Amir's butt in front of his cheering kids and then divorced his wife. She is staying in her friend Amin Sims's extra bedroom for now.

The Oldies and Ruggbyrnes both started out as low-income families living on the wrong side of Pleasantview. Bruno Ruggbyrne worked his way up to party DJ level in the Slacker career, and his wife, Mamie, worked as a secretary in Business. They had two children, Coral and Forrest. As a teen, Coral went out with Jeff Pleasant, but she always felt like she wasn't good enough for the Pleasants, who are a wealthy and snobbish family. Coral did not go to college, but instead set her sights on getting married and starting a family as soon as possible. She and Herb were childhood friends, but they went on one date as adults (well, Herb was still in college at the time) and Coral was ready to be engaged, so she proposed and Herb accepted.

Coral's little brother, Forrest, is currently a teen. He likes to play guitar and is in the band at school. He has hopes of going to college, unlike his sister. As for Bruno and Mamie, they have had a good marriage, and Mamie knows nothing about Bruno's occasional infidelities. The whole family likes animals, and they have as pets a womrat and a little dog named Marisol.

Myron and Irma Oldie only had one child, Herb, of whom they are very proud. Herb did well in school and was an overachiever. As a teen, he dated Sheri Pleasant, Jeff's twin, and their relationship continued into college, but it wasn't serious for either of them. After graduation, Herb entered the Law Enforcement career just like his father, who is on the Vice Squad. Irma was always a housewife. They are a quiet couple who enjoy each other's company and don't do a lot of socializing. Herb was already engaged to Coral Ruggbyrne at the time of his graduation, so he bought a little house and they got married right away. Their wedding was at home and was very low budget. They will soon discover that they can't have biological children, though.

--
In other news, Frida Goth used some of the family money to start a residential hospital for elders and others who might need 24-hour care. She lives there and is the on-staff doctor. The first residents were the elder members of the Garden Club. Much to Gretle's disappointment, it looks like Frida will never get married, but now her son Gibson is in college, so she's pinning her hopes on him.

Both the Hall sisters got married. Brenda married Cooper Sims. Helen then impulsively married David Downtownie, who is Brenda's ex and father to her daughter. Helen was the only one who got pregnant on her wedding night. Then she caught Brenda and David flirting when they were paying a courtesy call on the Oldies, who just moved in the neighborhood, and got her heart broken. I think anyone could have told Helen this was going to happen. They are all currently living together, so I'll have to untangle their living situation next round.

Fatima Simovitch went on a date with Bruno Ruggbyrne, and during it, she got the want to marry Amir. So she did, right after the date was over. Now the infamous Amir is a playable in my Pleasantview. I'll have to take a picture of him.

The Dreamers had a third child named Deedee. Glarn Curious was born in Strangetown, and everyone else there is pregnant if they should be.

The Pleasants are an upper-middle-class family who moved to Pleasantview a few years after it was founded because, after all, they shared the same name. They are not the most Pleasant people, though. Les Pleasant is a professional gambler (gamer) who owns a little casino in town, but he never goes to his business because he always wants to hang out in his backyard shed by himself and endlessly make flower bouquets. He just doesn't care for other people very much. His wife, Kynda Pleasant, is the town's busybody. She hosts a lot of parties so she can get the latest gossip. She's mainly friends with her nearest neighbors, the Bachelors.

The Pleasants had twins, Jeff and Sheri, who in the grand tradition of twins are polar opposites. Jeff is quiet, shy, and nice but likes to keep to himself and avoids all the parties going on in his family home. He dated Coral Ruggbyrne as a teen and really liked her, but his sister picked on her, and his mother didn't think she was good enough for him. When Jeff got to college, he met Diane Danders, and it was all over for him. The two were joined at the hip from that moment on, and Jeff proposed to Diane immediately after graduation. They have now moved into their own house together. As you can see from his picture, Jeff has the trademark Pleasant nose.

Where Jeff was shy and quiet, Sheri was outgoing and loud. She was kind of a mean girl, who picked on Coral and treated her best friend Diane like a doormat. She dated Herb Oldie as a teen and into college, but does not see herself as the settling-down type and would like to meet more men now that she's done with college. (She has plenty of choice in Pleasantview!) She has moved back home into her childhood bedroom, and that's probably where she's going to stay.

The Danderses are not the kind of people to entertain or throw parties. They are entirely consumed with their studies and hobbies instead. Marshall used to be in the Military but has since moved into the Science career. He has a wide range of interests, including chess, cooking, painting, tending his apple tree, and studying the stars. His wife, Melinda, has done very well in the Athletic career and has opened a small gym as a side business, but she also enjoys making robots and has earned a gold badge in robotics. Their only child, Diane, is a lot like her parents. She didn't have many friends growing up, but instead spent a lot of time studying, especially liking to learn about cooking and cleaning. Jeff was her first boyfriend, and since they are so much alike, she feels she has found a real soulmate in him--although she finds Gibson Goth, who arrived at college after them, to be a very intriguing man in his own right.

A few quick updates because I played a bunch today:

Jeff and Diane got married as they are supposed to. By the way, I didn't get a chance to fix their formal clothes, so I guess they were wearing those outfits as a joke or something? You can see in the picture the guy who is farting hearts over Diane--that is Gibson Goth. They have three bolts together, and if I wasn't playing a preordained outcome, they probably would have been together instead. As it is now, Sheri is making awkward passes at him all the time.

Robert and Emmy Crumplebottom had a daughter named Belinda. I will likely let them have at least one more child if they want to.

And as for the horrific situation at the Hall house-- Here's the recap: Brenda married Cooper Sims, a guy her twin sister Helen had been secretly in love with for years. Helen is not the most rational Sim, and in reaction to this wedding, she immediately proposed to and then married David, a Downtownie who is Brenda's ex and father to her daughter. They are all living together in one household for now. Helen got pregnant on her wedding night, but Brenda did not. Helen then caught Brenda flirting with David when the three of them went to visit the Oldies. When I opened the household, Helen hated both David and her sister, so she broke up with David and moved out. This left an awkward triangle in the house, with Cooper being none the wiser. Cooper went to work, and David and Brenda--who were both home sick--fooled around all day. Cooper got back from work and gave his wife a very expensive TV as a present. Then he caught Brenda and David kissing. He was understandably very upset and divorced Brenda immediately, moving back in with his brother, Amin. Now it's just Brenda and David and their daughter, Lindsay. They all go to bed, and the burglar turns up for the new TV. David was so upset by the burglary and all the recent chaos that he went into aspiration failure, and per my rules, he rolled the chance of being committed for insanity. He was, so he has moved out to the hospital, and now Brenda is alone with her daughter. Helen has moved into another house and still doesn't know that she also has a baby on the way, who will be both cousin and half-sibling to her niece.

It is now almost the end of Week 6 in my beginning Pleasantview/Strangetown, which means I will be adding four new families to Strangetown after this round is finished. There are so many households now, though, that I have to keep doing updates so I can keep myself caught up on what's happening.

I have the biggest university class yet, with Brad Burb, Tiffany Marsh, Delilah Darong, Betty Simovitch, and even Bob Newbie Jr. (I really thought he wouldn't go) joining Gibson Goth. Betty and Bob are a very reliable couple and fell in love the second they reunited in the dorm, but that hasn't stopped Bob from making out with one of the dormies. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, in that case. Delilah was still completely crushing on Brad, but Brad is something of a snob, I'm sorry to say, and feels that Tiffany is better girlfriend material, since she comes from a wealthy family. Tiffany also likes Brad better since he built up his logic. Delilah got very upset when she caught Brad kissing Tiffany, and they had a big argument during which Brad told her that he never promised her anything or even asked her to go steady, and she needs to get over herself. Now she is chasing Gibson all over the dorm. I hope she'll be interested in Davis Dreamer when he gets there after this round.

David Hall received good treatment in the hospital and was able to pull his aspiration up, so he proposed to Brenda, and she accepted. I hope this will be the last marriage for either of them. Of course, Brenda's sister Helen is still very mad about the whole thing, and now has found out she's pregnant with David's child on top of it all.

Diane Pleasant is pregnant, and I made a couple in CAS who then had Mary-Sue at toddler age. I put Mary-Sue up for adoption and the couple got turned into townies. Coral Oldie suspects she may not be able to get pregnant, so she has been working hard to save up the adoption fee, and Mary-Sue will be adopted after Daniel Pleasant is born and becomes a toddler himself. Unfortunately, Herb does not want a child at this time, but I predict he'll come around once she's actually here.

In Strangetown, Glarn Curious was born, and his mother is pregnant with another baby, who will be Glabe. (In my head canon, they are siblings.) Kitty Hogleg was born and was quickly followed by a little brother, Oliver. Chip Grunt was born, and General Rock has taken his upbringing in hand. Mike Steel and Marry Melons had Missy, the result of an ill-considered one-night stand since neither is in love with the other, but then Marry left in the middle of the night for the city and hasn't been heard from since. Mike is raising Missy as a single dad (she is Missy Steel now).

Finally, Mortimer Goth and Bella Bachelor have both become teens, and they have one bolt of chemistry, which is something to work with. There has been a lot of trouble in the Goth home. It seems that Gunther has been keeping a big secret from his family and has for years been lovers with Amin Sims. Cornelia found out at the worst time--during one of Gunther's fund-raising parties. After all the guests left, she and Gunther had a huge fight, and neither one likes the other much right now. She is not willing to divorce him, though, because of the scandal, but she has moved back to her parents' home to think through what she should do next. Mortimer has been talking things over on the phone with Bella a lot, and they have bonded as friends over the situation.

Gibson Goth has finally graduated university after six years, and I know once he moves home, his mother will be pressuring him to marry since he is going to inherit the main Goth house. I think he might propose to Sheri Pleasant. They have had a little romance during his college years. Currently in college is all of the next generation: Brad Burb and Tiffany Marsh, now sleeping together; Davis Dreamer and Delilah Darong, had their first kiss; Bob Newbie Jr. and Betty Simovitch--she wants to get engaged; and Forrest Ruggbyrne is also there.

Next generation coming up are turning into teens: Nicolo Lothario, Adriana Fiorello, Tango Caliente, Nighat Al Maroud, Mortimer Goth, and Bella Bachelor. Bella has already decided Mortimer is the guy she likes to booty call, so that's good.

Cornelia Goth separated from Gunther for a while because of his cheating with Amin Sims. Then she was abducted by aliens and changed into a Plantsim. Gunther worked hard to get back into her good graces and invited her to move back in, promising they would research her condition and promote the rights of Plantsims together. She agreed. Gunther has promised not to see Amin again.

Amin has moved on to a new guy, anyway. He is in love with a townie: Hugh Thanasia. His brother Cooper decided to marry a dormie named Fatima. She bought the local grocery store and is running it. She is pregnant, so Amin will have to find new living arrangements.

Daisy Jones also married a townie named Vlad. He is working for the Pleasant family in their casino. Daisy does not seem inclined to get pregnant at this time.

Lily Bachelor became a werewolf and it is doing wonders for her criminal career. Now she is at level 7. The people of Pleasantview seem much more accepting of the werewolf in their midst than of the Plantsim, so Lily will be staying in town to run the Bachelors' criminal empire, which her brother-in-law Robert Crumplebottom now works for as well.

Brenda Hall finally got married to David, and now they are expecting their second child together. Brenda's sister Helen had her son, Patrick.

Daniel Pleasant was born to Jeff and Diane, and the Oldies have saved up enough money to adopt Mary-Sue next round. The Dreamers got pregnant with their fourth child.

Fatima Simovitch and her new husband Amir were tragically killed in a fire. Fatima's ex-husband Vadim claims to know nothing about it.

In Strangetown, Glabe Curious--Glarn's little sister--was born. Mike Steel tracked down Marry Melons, the mother of his child, and persuaded her to move in with him, but she refuses to get engaged right now. Four new families were moved in and all are expecting: the Beaker, Halfdanarson, Salamis, and McGork families.

That's it for now. As soon as the Newbies and Dreamers get out of college, I will be adding the Broke and Matlapin families to Pleasantview.

Gibson Goth is finally home from university. It took him six years to graduate. Perhaps he was avoiding the expectations he knew would be heaped on him once he arrived home: to get married to someone suitable and produce an heir and take over the Goth ancestral home. The great love of Gibson's life--or so he believes--is Diane Danders. She is married to his best friend, Jeff Pleasant. Losing Diane before he even had her left Gibson drifting, and he drifted right into the arms of Jeff's twin sister, Sheri. Gibson is just a conquest to Sheri, and she is just convenient for him. He doesn't really love her, but she is available, and so to please his mother, he proposed marriage to her. Sheri couldn't resist the siren song of marrying a rich Sim and accepted.

Gibson took a job in the Education career, a career that is acceptable for Goths to pursue. But secretly, he has urges...yearnings. He wants to throw off the yoke of the Goth family. He wants to get out in the world and do things. He wants to make a difference. His most secret wish is to join the military and move to Strangetown, so he can take part in all the exciting things happening out there that no one really knows about. He knows that if he did this, his little brother, Jonathan, would not be able to take over his role. Jonathan has told Gibson he is gay and so wouldn't be able to produce a blood heir.

But there's always Gunther. Gunther has always been the natural choice for Goth heir. He is the eldest son, after all, even if he is the son of Victor and not Samuel, and Mortimer is already a teen, next in line. He is also already head of the town council and in line to become mayor. Eventually, their mother would accept the situation, and if she didn't, Gibson would be too far away to hear about it from her.

He wonders if Sheri would come with him. She might crave escape as much as he does. And maybe in time, he would grow to love her...

Benjamin and Susan Burb are dull as dishwater, frankly. Benjamin is in the military but never got past the junior officer level. He is a recruiter, which is why he lives in Pleasantview instead of Strangetown. He used to make toys as a hobby, but he lost interest, and I don't think he even got a gold badge. Susan doesn't do much of anything, except occasionally throw very dull parties for the other housewives/househusbands around town. Brad is their only child.

Unlike his parents, Brad Burb has a strong personality, but it's not a pleasant one. He is a determined go-getter and something of a snob. As a teen, he went around with Delilah Darong, but he dropped her once they got to college and pursued Tiffany Marsh instead because Delilah's family was poor and Tiffany's was not. Brad and Tiffany don't have a very passionate relationship, and he hasn't quite decided whether to propose to her yet, so for the time being, he's living with his parents. He's hoping they will agree to downsize and let him and Tiffany have the house.

William and Anastasia Marsh are anything but dull. They obviously came from money when they moved to Pleasantview because they have a very nice house and throw money around freely. William works as a lawyer but doesn't care much about his career and hasn't advanced very far. He and his wife are swingers, and that's all they really care about. They give their lifestyle much more attention than they do work, their house, or their children. They are constantly going out or bringing lovers home or having wild parties. Because Anastasia doesn't work, she's gotten further along than William and is pretty close to having 20 woohoo partners. Despite their unorthodox lifestyle, the Marshes are well regarded in Pleasantview and are even friends with the Goths.

Their kids, Tiffany and Kevin, don't really know how to relate to their parents, who ignore them most of the time. As a teen, Tiffany retreated into studying and playing chess, and she avoided bringing anyone home. She is a bit of a cold fish, so it doesn't really bother her that she and Brad don't have a passionate relationship. Passion is not a great thing, in her view. She's staying at home for now but is more than ready to get far away from her parents.

As for Kevin, he is still a teen and still figuring himself out. He's tried dating around like his parents but he wasn't very good at it. It's very likely that he'll go the opposite way and become a dedicated family man when he's older. He still sleeps in a space-themed bedroom.

Early on in their lives, Bob and Mags Newbie had a tragedy. Their first child (the first Bob Jr.) was born with a disease that kept him from growing up properly from an infant to a toddler. He had to be hospitalized and the Newbies must pay for his care daily. Bob Sr. works at a gas station, and Mags is a low-paid teacher, so this extra expense has meant that they have been stuck in a cramped trailer all their lives. Fortunately, the second Bob Jr. was born healthy and is now a college graduate. Because of their crowded living situation (which grates on Mags's nerves) and Bob Sr.'s increasing laxness about keeping his many affairs secret, the couple have grown to despise each other. They can't afford to divorce, though, and even if they could, they probably would still stay together out of spite. Mags now sleeps in her son's room instead of the marital bed, though.

Vadim and Fatima Simovitch were likewise poor and had a lot of bad luck starting out. A burglary and then a fire destroyed almost all of their belongings, which they didn't really have the funds to replace. Vadim works in business but has found it difficult to advance his career. And then he caught his wife in bed with another man. He kicked her out, but Fatima didn't totally get the message and still showed up at the house every day, letting herself in without an invitation and driving Vadim crazy. Just recently, Fatima and her second husband, Amir, were killed in a suspicious fire. It seems their smoke detector was removed before the fire broke out. Vadim claims not to know anything about it, and nothing has been proven, but he doesn't seem that broken up over his ex's death. He's been so burned by his failed marriage, though, that he has no interest in dating again. After the divorce, Vadim retained custody of his two children, Betty and Ian, and he's very proud of them for being admitted first to private school and then going on to college. Ian is still a student, currently.

Bob Jr. takes after his father quite a lot, but where his father is careless with women's hearts, Bob Jr. is more considerate. He has been dating Betty since they were teens, and after college graduation, the natural next step was to move in together and get engaged. It was what Betty wanted, and Bob Jr. tries to give Betty what she wants. He's just hoping he can do a better job than his dad of keeping his extracurricular romances hidden.

Gibson Goth did indeed join the military and move out to Strangetown with wife Sheri, who is pregnant. Gretle is okay with this and even gave them some starting-out money because she is at least getting another grandchild, and she had completely given up on either Gunther having another child or Frida getting married. So Gunther, Mortimer, and Cornelia have moved back into the Goth mansion with Gretle and Samuel, which is as it should be.

The Crumplebottoms all went on a family vacation to Takemizu Village, and Emmy's needs kept tanking so much that I was sure she had gotten pregnant during one of her many woohoos with Robert, but when I got them back home, it was not so.

Lily Bachelor has gotten herself pregnant. The father is Carmelo Lothario (and so the Lothario tradition of getting random women around town pregnant begins!). Carmelo is the married man Lily is woohooing with because she can't have the married man she really wants, which is Primo Fiorello. (So many women in Pleasantview are throwing themselves at Primo, but he is a faithful husband, unlike many others in town.)

Cooper and Fatima Sims had a son named Sam. Amin moved out with his new boyfriend, Hugh, and they decided to get married.

Forrest Ruggbyrne graduated from college and moved back home, so he got his picture taken. He is living with his parents.

Mortimer Goth and Bella and Michael Bachelor are all teens now, as are Nicolo Lothario and Adriana Fiorello. Daniel Pleasant has just aged up to child, and Mary-Sue Oldie will next round. Tiffany Marsh is pregnant with Brad Burb's child, so there will be a shotgun wedding there, which means the Pleasants can also have their second child. Bob Newbie Jr. and Betty Simovitch are married, and the Brokes have just moved to town. Davis Dreamer and Delilah Darong are engaged. The Matlapitans will be moving into town next round.

In Strangetown, Tango and Flamenco Caliente and Nighat al Mahmoud are all teens. Glarn Curious, Kitty and Oliver Hogleg, Chip Grunt, and Missy Melons are all children. Wanda Grunt caught her husband in bed with Marry Melons, but he won't let her have a divorce or even leave the house, so the situation there is very fraught. Wanda is weighing her options. Meanwhile, Mike Steel foolishly proposed to Marry again, and she turned him down again. After that, she took off for unknown parts. She has called Mike to let him know she's okay, but otherwise, no one knows where she is.

Babies have been born in the Beaker, Halfdanarson, Salamis, and McGork households, and the Beakers and McGorks are both now expecting a second child.

Dacia Dreamer had big plans early on. She wanted to open the first beauty salon in Pleasantview, and she did. She and her husband Dalmar had two children at that point--Davis and Devon--and while their house was a little crowded, the time seemed right for her to take a chance. Her business was starting to do well when Dacia got pregnant again. She knew her husband wanted a big family, but there was no way they could squeeze another child into their small house. So she bit the bullet and sold the business, using the profits to buy them a bigger house, and she found a breadwinning job in law. Soon after, Deedee was born. Dalmar stayed home to look after the kids while Dacia worked, and just as Deedee aged to a child, Dacia got pregnant again. Dalmar was overjoyed, and despite having to put her dreams for her life aside, Dacia cherished her big, rough-and-tumble family. Wouldn't you know it--the next birth was of not one, but two babies. They were twin boys, Diego and Dylan, and they are running everyone in the family ragged. By this time, Davis had fulfilled both his parents' dreams by becoming an overachiever and had left for college. Devon was a teen now, and was a great help with taking care of the little ones. But Dacia sincerely hopes that this was the last pregnancy. She's seriously getting too old for this!

Sef and Lina Darong have always struggled with money. They both work low-wage jobs, and they live in a small trailer on the wrong side of town. They had only one child, Delilah, but that was enough for them. The biggest focus for both of them had always been their marriage, although they adored their daughter and tried to give her the best, within their limited means. While she was a teen, Delilah fell deeply in love with Brad Burb. She thought he really was the one. She hadn't planned to go to college, but rather to stay home and work to help her parents out, but her parents both wanted her to go and Brad was going, so she did. As soon as she got there, she saw Brad hanging out with Tiffany Marsh and got her heart broken. Brad was pretty mean about the situation, making it clear that he didn't consider Delilah to be marriage material because of her background. She mooned after him for quite a while, but the next year, Davis Dreamer arrived. He was so sweet to her and seemed to genuinely care for her. Over time, she realized that this was what true love looked like--the kind of love her parents had. Delilah didn't do so well in college and ended up failing out. Back home, she worked and waited for Davis to graduate. As soon as he did, they got engaged and bought a little house out in the country where they could start their own love story.

We are starting Saturday of Week 7. The Broke family has been moved in--two couples living together--and Flat and Flo at least have gotten pregnant. The Matlapitan family has also been moved in.

There have been a few weddings, including a shotgun wedding for Brad Burb and a visibly pregnant Tiffany Marsh as well as a wedding for Davis Dreamer and Delilah Darong. At the Burbs', Brad's parents decided not to move out but instead to convert the garage into another bedroom so they could help with their grandchild.

Now attending college are Mortimer Goth, his girlfriend Bella Bachelor, and Kevin Marsh, along with Jonathan Goth, who is in his final year. Ian Simovitch just graduated and moved back home with his father, so he got his picture taken.

There are quite a few pregnancies around the neighborhood: Gibson and Sheri Goth; Jocasta Bachelor with an unexpected late-in-life third baby; Daisy and Vlad Jones; Brad and Tiffany, of course; Davis and Delilah; Bob Jr. and Betty; Flat and Flo Broke; Mama Lothario with her second child; and the Beakers and the McGorks, each with their second child before their first has grown out of toddlerhood. Lily Bachelor had her son with Carmelo Lothario, whom she named Talin, and she seems just fine with raising him on her own.

The only other event of note is that a young Daniel Pleasant brought home a young Mary-Sue Oldie from school, and they became friends.