In the morning, in the crowd at the entrance to regular school, Lilinoe finds herself standing just next to her ex Luna. She pretends not to see her and pretends to be fascinated by the rain.
Another beautiful rainbow forms over the island.
Matiu ignores the heavy rain and spends the morning at a fishing spot with Rascal.
The teens come back from school and work on their homework as quickly as they can. The dance will start at six.
Some of them manage to catch a quick nap, so that they don't feel tired during the dance.
William is awoken from his nap by his date Oliana, who has arrived a little early.
They change into formal outfits, feeling excited.
Soon they are all sitting in the limo. Ruru and Mindy are going together, and Jeanette and Valiant are going together as well. Lilinoe is dateless, but glamorously dressed and determined to enjoy herself.
And so she does! She dances, has fun, and is announced Prom Queen!
To add to her satisfaction, even her unfaithful ex Luna thinks she looks great and tries to make a move on her.
But Lilinoe isn't going to make the same mistake twice - she keeps checking out other people instead.
Another happy moment: William is announced Prom King. It seems that the Surfing Academy students are very popular in their regular school!
As they leave the school after the dance, there is a light snowfall, very rare on the island. A perfect ending for the day!
The six return to their boarding school tired, but with a sense of accomplishment.
Still, they can all feel a tinge of melancholy: this was their last outing together as teens. Lilinoe will age up to YA tomorrow, and the others will soon follow. They will all stay at the boarding school and learn to surf until summer, but they are still aware that an exciting period of their lives is coming to an end.
Snowflake day doesn't start well: during the after-breakfast cleanup, both the dishwasher and the kitchen sink break.
Fortunately, all the students have the handiness skill, so it quickly gets taken care of.
After breakfast, it's time for Lilinoe to age up to young adult.
Probably confused by their friend suddenly becoming taller and more mature than them, Valiant and William start showing off their Sim Fu moves to impress her by this macho display. She is not impressed!
It is raining outside. On Surf Point Beach, a flea-ridden stray cat has taken shelter under a bench.
William goes to the beach to feed the cat a treat and brush it. That doesn't help with the fleas; actually, William gets infected with fleas too and has to take a shower.
Matiu starts preparing the Great Hall for Snowflake Day celebrations. The furniture is moved to make room for a gift-giving rug, a buffet table is brought in, and a welcoming fire is lit in the fireplace.
The students change into festive clothes...
... and gifts are placed in a pile on the rug.
The townie guests start to arrive. (The guest in the wet white shirt is Siddhartha Rose, the pianist Lilinoe met in a bar a few nights ago. Now, as a YA adult, she would be able to flirt with him, but unfortunately he doesn't stay long at the party.)
Matiu invites everyone to come and take their presents.
One by one, the students and the guests approach the pile and find a gift with their name on it. Almost everyone is delighted...
William gets two guitars! He already has a guitar, so he will sell them both and buy a drum set.
Matiu is the only one disappointed with his gift: he got a plush animal.
After the presents it's time for dinner. William brings a plate to Oliana. The two of them have gone from romantic interests to boyfriend and girlfriend during yesterday's prom, and today they both seem a little awkward (although not at all regretful) about this.
I just love The Sunlit Tides Surfing Academy. This story is what made me decide to buy Sunlit Tides! I sure hope you'll find time to update at some point. Thanks for sharing your story.
This story is what made me decide to buy Sunlit Tides!
@funkeeferret , this is an incredible compliment, thank you! I hope you'll enjoy the world! I'm definitely going to keep returning to this story until it's finished.
This story is what made me decide to buy Sunlit Tides!
@funkeeferret , this is an incredible compliment, thank you! I hope you'll enjoy the world! I'm definitely going to keep returning to this story until it's finished.
@PalmArrow, this is so good to know. I always love your colorful pics too!
I haven't had time to check out Sunlit Tides yet, but can't wait to fire up my game and do just that.
It was Jeanette Collins's turn to age up to young adult. She woke up feeling excited.
She had breakfast with her fellow students as usual, but when the school bus arrives, she wasn't going to board it.
While the others were cleaning up after breakfast, she suddenly grabbed her boyfriend Valiant Vanderburg and kissed him.
Valiant was surprised, but he understood very well what she was thinking: until he ages up as well, it would be illegal for the two of them to kiss!
Everyone gathered around Jeanette and cheered as she transformed into a YA.
She seemed pleased with her YA looks - and the others thought she looked great too. Just look at William's face in this picture!
The school bus arrived, and now there were only four teens to board it. Lilinoe and Jeanette stood in front of the boarding school with Matiu and Rascal to see their friends off.
What a strange sense of freedom! There was no regular school to go to, but they were not expected to get jobs yet - all the students would live at the boarding school and take surfing and diving lessons until the end of spring. The two girls were free to go wherever they liked.
Their first choice wasn't very adventurous, though: reading skill books at the library, because it was raining too hard for the beach or any other outdoor activities.
The rain just wouldn't stop. I loved the sight of this wild horse running along the beach in the rain:
When they had enough of studying, Jeanette and Lilinoe went for a refreshing drink at the Hot Spot.
Jeanette noticed two space rocks nearby. She has gained three levels in the Science skill, so she tried to analyse the rocks.
It didn't work, though. Maybe her science gadget was broken?
She felt frustrated, but determined to learn more about Science.
Back at the boarding school, the other students had by now returned and started working on their homework. Ruru didn't actually have to write homework because he too would age up the next day, but he did it out of habit.
Lilinoe and Jeanette returned to boarding school too, and while their friends were doing their homework, they took down all the Snowflake Day ornaments.
In the evening everyone changed into their best clothes, because Lilinoe and Jeanette decided to treat their fellow students and their teacher with drinks at the Serenity Retreat exclusive lounge.
There was a bubble bar upstairs, and some of the students decided to try it.
The bubbles made them all giggly and giddy.
Lilinoe was more interested in listening to the pianist. His name was Siddhartha Rose, and she had met him while she was still a teen and on the rebound from her unfaithful girlfriend Luna.
This was the first time she saw Siddhartha play the piano. He seemed to pour all his emotions into his music.
During a break from playing, he went to greet Lilinoe - he recognised her and was very glad to see her.
Everyone had a great time that evening. (It's probably for the best no one was tempted to try the roulette table. This lady, Talei Hale, wept loudly when she lost!)
@PalmArrow Oh, it's so nice to see a Sunlit Tides Surfing Academy update!
Lol, William's reaction to Jeanette's transformation! Priceless! What a great expression!
I love how you make it so much like real life, by letting it rain, instead of sunshine and smiley faces every day.
I think now that some of the kids are young adults, spending the school days taking surfing and diving lessons sounds good to me. Hopefully they will get a chance to do that, come one sunny day.
Beautiful pic of the wild horse on the beach.
Love the outdoor bar. Makes me want to go there and have a drink! Also nice to see all the tropical prints, especially when it's winter here.
Nice job making the 'taking down the Snowflake Day ornaments' look so realistic. It made me wonder for a second if there really was a 'take down the decorations' action, lol.
Love the bubble bar.
The emotional pianist - awesome. Looks like something's brewing between he and Lilinoe.
Thanks for the update. I really enjoyed it and your pretty pics, as always.
I set the weather in my Sunlit Tides save using NRAAS Tempest to make autumn and winter into rainy season because I didn't want my sims to be able to go to the beach every day - I would soon get bored of that - but also because I think rain and fog make Sunlit Tides even prettier, even more tropical.
In the "taking down Christmas ornaments" Jeanette was actually doing that idle animation for the Genius trait where it looks like they're solving a problem on an invisible blackboard. It looked perfect for what I wanted, so I quickly paused and moved her with MOO.
A double birthday was celebrated at the boarding school in the morning: William and Ruru were about to age up to young adults. That meant chocolate cake for breakfast!
Ruru was the first to blow out the candles.
William was next (by accident he looks really tiny in this last picture of him as a teen):
While they were eating the delicious cake, William overheard an intriguing conversation between Lilinoe and Ruru.
"Ruru, were you planning to do the midnight firewalk? Because I'm definitely doing it, and I'd like to do it tonight."
"That's perfect!" Ruru said. "We can go together, and invite the others along."
William asked Ruru what they were talking about.
"It's a Sunlit Tides tradition, a coming-of-age ceremony. You have to spend a night on the volcano and, in front of witnesses, walk on hot embers at midnight. Then the next day you get tattooed, and you are officially considered an adult."
Without thinking twice, William said: "That's incredibly cool! Do you think I can do it too, even though I wasn't born in Sunlit Tides?"
"It doesn't matter where you were born. It's a ceremony that makes you part of the island society. What matters is, do you want to stay here?"
Ruru's words gave William something to think about. School would be over at the end of spring, and he had no proper plans for the future. Should he return to his family in Isla Paradiso? But his best friends from Isla Paradiso were actually here with him - and his girlfriend was here...
Outside, the heavy rain continued. Rascal was getting acquainted with a new friend, a dog gnome that appeared outside the boarding school overnight.
William called his girlfriend Oliana. She had aged up a day before him; they were both anxious to see each other as young adults for the first time.
They briefly met in town and exchanged birthday presents - and couldn't keep their eyes off each other. They were both very clearly pleased with what they saw!
William noticed a tattoo on Oliana's arm. "Does this mean you did the midnight firewalk?"
Oliana's face lit up. "You know about the ceremony? Yes, I did, and it was scary but thrilling!"
William then met Ruru, Lilinoe and Jeanette at the sports equipment shop - he and Jeanette agreed to be witnesses to Ruru and Lilinoe's ceremony, and they needed sleeping bags, a tent and a portable firepit.
To be awake and alert for the ceremony, Lilinoe and Ruru took afternoon naps in the dormitories.
Meanwhile, William went across the street to Surf Point beach, where a stray cat had been living for days now.
He brought food for the cat, and placed a cat bed inside the beach hut - the poor kitty had been sleeping on a bench in the rain.
Evening came, and it was time to go to the volcano.
Matiu trusted his students enough to loan them the school van. He didn't go with them, though - the ceremony was a test of courage they had to go through alone.
They drove as far as they could on the serpentine roads that lead up the volcano.
Then they had to leave the car and continue through the jungle on foot .
The island looked so fragile viewed from the volcano, a tiny piece of land surrounded by ocean and rain.
Finally they reached their destination: the peak of the volcano, with the skull-like face of a fire god carved into it.
They used their portable firepit to warm up - they desperately needed this!
While they waited for midnight, Lilinoe told everyone a scary story about the fire god and his volcano.
She was a good storyteller and William and Jeanette, who never heard the story before, were hanging on to her every word.
Suddenly William screamed, because he heard footsteps behind him.
But it was only Cyrille Lynch, the local paparazzo who liked to stalk the Surfing Academy students when he had nothing else to write about. He was annoying, but harmless.
Finally, midnight came. Lilinoe was the first to walk on hot embers. She did it without a moment's hesitation.
"Yay! I did it!"
Ruru was actually a little bit scared when he started, but thankfully nobody noticed.
But he finished with a proud swagger.
The two friends congratulated one another. The hard part was over!
It was time to get ready to sleep - although William and Jeanette were so relaxed now, they even had a pillow fight before finally falling asleep.
I set the weather in my Sunlit Tides save using NRAAS Tempest to make autumn and winter into rainy season because I didn't want my sims to be able to go to the beach every day - I would soon get bored of that - but also because I think rain and fog make Sunlit Tides even prettier, even more tropical.
In the "taking down Christmas ornaments" Jeanette was actually doing that idle animation for the Genius trait where it looks like they're solving a problem on an invisible blackboard. It looked perfect for what I wanted, so I quickly paused and moved her with MOO.
Oh, that's a great idea about setting the weather like that.
So that's how you got Jeanette to look like she was taking down the decorations. Clever!
Saturday, last day of winter.
Well, no one can argue with chocolate cake for breakfast!
Gotta say I love those tropical bedspreads too!
William and Ruru aged up very nicely! Aw, pretty kitty cat. Love the idea for the ceremony and the kids having to buy their supplies.
And those pics of them traveling to the volcano... so realistic! Love all of them, especially the one where they're walking up the volcano in the dark with their umbrellas. Great camp out pics!
Yeah, lol, leave it to the dang paparazzi to find you out in the middle of no where.
The pattern on the bedspreads is one of my favourite patterns, but I have to use it sparingly, otherwise everything would look the same! I found it on the Exchange, here: https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=8814035
After feeding the stray kitty on the beach, William had an international phone call.
It was his parents, calling from Isla Paradiso to wish him a happy birthday.
After they exchanged greetings, William carefully mentioned the subject of his future life. He told his mother he was considering staying in Sunlit Tides.
Molly didn't sound surprised.
"If Sunlit Tides is where you see your future, you should stay there! I left my home in Sunset Valley as a young adult and traveled for a while until I settled in Isla Paradiso. Your father and I would rather you lived closer to us, but we will support you in your choice."
His parents' support didn't make William's decision much easier. But he didn't have to make it at once.
He swam out into the deeper water with Valiant, Mindy and Jeanette, and they practiced snorkeling together while the rest of their friends surfed.
The sunny day was so inviting, the beach was full of townies. Even Cyrille the annoying paparazzo gave up on stalking the students and went for a speedboat ride instead.
Intoxicated by the sea and the sun, Ruru and Lilinoe didn't notice in time that aggressive seals were circling around them.
I didn't catch the moment of the seal attack, but this was Ruru's face the moment after it happened:
They would have to buy new surfboards. Their old ones became garden decorations:
Rascal took advantage of the sunny afternoon too, practising his hunting skill. He found a maple leaf and a snake skin.
After everyone returned to the boarding school, prepared and ate supper, William invited Oliana on a date at the fusion lounge.
They spent the evening cuddling and making out on a sofa in a private compartment.
Oliana was one of the reasons William wanted to stay in Sunlit Tides, but he didn't want to mention this to her just yet. In spite of being very much attracted to each other, they didn't really know each other that well, and William didn't want to scare Oliana away by mentioning serious life decisions too early.
@PalmArrow So nice to see another update!
Love the photo of the 'island below' view.
Nice idea with the inspirational tattoos.
I had a sneaky feeling William's thoughts would go in that direction, but
I suppose time will tell. He looks so much more grown up now.
Oh, lol, Ruru's expression says it all, along with the battered surfboards. There's
so much of my game I need to explore, especially in island life.
William and Oliana make a cute couple.
And of course, as always, I love your photos!
The only two teens left in the boarding school, Mindy Hamada and Valiant Vanderburg, took the school bus for the last time. Valiant would age up today, and Mindy the next morning.
The stray cat William had been feeding and befriending wasn't on the beach today.
I placed a Feline Welcome gnome in front of the Academy, hoping it would return for a visit.
The rain meant no surfing, so the young adults in the household ran various errands.
Ruru and Lilinoe needed new surfboards - their old ones were destroyed by seals. To earn some money, Ruru accepted an opportunity to fix the plumbing at Riku's Luau Diner...
... while Lilinoe collected eggs at the Spring festival. She found a fancy egg more than twice the value of a surfboard.
Meanwhile, William bought a drum kit and spent the morning practicing...
... and Jeanette worked on her science skill at the Science Lab.
Her expressions were hilarious to watch!
Having earned enough, Ruru and Lilinoe bought shiny new surfboards.
The rain stopped and the sky started to brighten.
William gained a skill point in Drums, and so did Jeanette in Science.
When Mindy and Valiant returned from their last day in school - both on the honour roll - Matiu drove everyone to the sport bar. Valiant was going to celebrate his birthday there.
Happy birthday, Valiant!
His girlfriend Jeanette was finally able to kiss him again.
By then the sky had cleared, so everyone went to the beach.
They all surfed or snorkeled until the moon came out.
It looked as if Valiant and Mindy were trying to jump over the moon on their surfboards.
It was finally time for Mindy Hamada, the youngest of the six students, to become a young adult like her classmates.
After finishing the birthday cake, Matiu and the students gathered on the beach just as the sun was rising.
Matiu led the way to the surfing stations. William and Jeanette followed.
This was embarrassing! William fell off his surfboard so badly, he actually sank into the sand on the ocean floor. Thankfully, nobody noticed.
He saved face by leaping out of the ocean like a superhero.
"Yay! I landed back on my surfboard!"
Jeanette didn't seem to have noticed anything.
Valiant, Mindy, Ruru and Lilinoe were snorkelling in the deeper water and looking for shells.
Another good move by William:
Mindy, the birthday girl, wanted to sell her shells and buy a better camera to advance in the Photography skill, so everyone else donated their shells to her. Together they were worth a little more than 300 simoleons.
Not a lot of money -- definitely not enough for the Hikon QX40di Gladiator - but selling the shells and her old ChannonTek Outlaw gave her enough for an underwater camera.
When everyone returned to the boarding school for a midday rest, Mindy flirted with her boyfriend Ruru. It had been too long since they were able to do this - Ruru had been among the first of the six to age up, Mindy was the last.
Ruru and William rolled wishes to form a band at the same time, so they immediately formed a band together. they are called The Children of the Ocean, and so far there is only Ruru on guitar and William on drums.
The Children of the Ocean had their first jam session in public right away, under the palms on Pirate's Beach.
William and Ruru's jam session on the beach was successful - they earned some small money, and a jogging townie stopped to take a photo.
After the midday break, Matiu and the students met on the shore and swam to the beginner diving spot, the Forest of Kelp.
By now everyone had at least three skill points in diving, and the Forest of Kelp wasn't a dangerous place. still, Matiu warned the students to return to the surface if they experience any discomfort.
As they were swimming around the tall kelp, William noticed a red-finned shark and caught it.
They met their old acquaintance, elder mermaid Brook. Mindy talked to her about kelp recipes and snapped an underwater photo of her.
They scuba-dived until sunset, then resurfaced.
It was time to swim back to shore.
They returned to the boarding school tired, but in excellent mood.
While Jeanette prepared supper for everyone, Ruru and Mindy watched the stars together.
They returned inside just in time for sushi.
Almost everyone bathed and went to bed early, to soothe their aching muscles. But William asked his girlfriend Oliana to meet him at the Hideaway.
He had been thinking a lot about his future, and his mind was now made up. This was a conversation he didn't want to postpone.
"You know, Oliana, when I came to Sunlit Tides I thought I was just going to graduate from the Surfing Academy, and then return home to Isla Paradiso."
"But I don't want that anymore. Sunlit Tides has become my home, and I want to stay here."
Oliana was delighted. "I never said anything because I didn't want to put pressure on you, but that's exactly what I was hoping you would decide!"
"I'm so glad you said that, because you are the biggest reason I want to stay!"
They embraced with relief - the question of their future had been hanging unspoken in the air since they became young adults, neither of them sure if the other wanted this to last.
William returned to his dormitory so tired he could barely stand on his feet, but he couldn't remember ever feeling this happy.
William woke up early and prepared breakfast for everyone.
The morning was rainy...
... but it didn't matter, because this wasn't a morning for the beach. It was time for all the students to go to the City Hall and receive their regular High School diplomas!
One by one they changed into their graduation gowns and entered the building. Matiu went with them to watch the ceremony.
Only Rascal remained outside. he hunted to pass the time, and found a snake skin.
After a few hours the students emerged from the City Hall, diplomas in hand. They also got special awards - William got "Most likely to have a large family".
A group photo with Matiu:
When they returned to the boarding school for their midday break, William called his parents on sim-Skype. He wanted them to see him in his graduation gown.
He also told them he made his mind up about staying in Sunlit Tides. Molly and Bruce were not disappointed - they were expecting this decision.
Molly told William they were going to transfer his part of the inheritance to his account, so that he can buy a house in Sunlit Tides.
She had just one condition - she asked William to immediately invest in some real estate, so that he can have a source of income if his scuba diving and music don't turn out to be profitable.
William promised he would do this.
Meanwhile, Matiu went to check out the Emerald Tides resort. Tomorrow would be Love Day, the day set for his and Noelani's wedding, and the resort was their chosen wedding venue.
The resort looked a little sad in the rain...
... but two townies were just getting married, and they were happy and oblivious to the rain. This gave Matiu a good feeling for tomorrow.
When the rain stopped, the students ran to the beach to use the surfing stations.
Later, when they were cleaning up after dinner and getting ready for sleep, William felt an unexpected tinge of sadness.
It was almost over - Only two days, and he and his five friends wouldn't be living together any more.
Love Day, the day set for Matiu and Noelani's wedding, started with promising, sunny weather.
Matiu picked up Noelani and went to the Emerald Tides resort early. The students would join them around midday.
I saw a smaller animal outside the Academy with Rascal and hoped it would be the stray cat William had been feeding, but it was just a raccoon!
Around noon the students took a taxi to the resort.
"Hello! We are here for the Henare/Koi wedding."
"Welcome to the Emerald Tides resort! Your rooms are in the resort tower. The wedding will start at 1 PM."
They changed into formal clothes and took their seats in front of the wedding arch.
The bride and groom arrived in an excellent mood.
They exchanged rings and said their vows.
During the ceremony Rascal arrived - dogs can't check in to a resort, so I just had him visit the lot.
After they congratulated the bride and groom, the students gave them some privacy - they would all meet again at dinner.
William, Mindy and Valiant went to the shopping centre to look at some real estate ads. They had been discussing this - all four Isla Paradiso friends wished to stay in Sunlit Tides after they graduate from the Surfing Academy.
Many of the houses on offer were luxurious villas...
... but there was also a good choice of small, affordable houses - exactly what they were looking for.
The sky was just turning pink when the newlyweds decided to retreat to their suite.
When the students stopped windsurfing, I located each of them at a different point in the ocean and had them swim back to shore and return to the resort.
Just in time for the dinner buffet, and then a refreshing sleep in the resort tower!
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Zumi and the Winchester Brothers
The Watcher's Caretaker - A Limited ISBI
In the morning, in the crowd at the entrance to regular school, Lilinoe finds herself standing just next to her ex Luna. She pretends not to see her and pretends to be fascinated by the rain.
Another beautiful rainbow forms over the island.
Matiu ignores the heavy rain and spends the morning at a fishing spot with Rascal.
The teens come back from school and work on their homework as quickly as they can. The dance will start at six.
Some of them manage to catch a quick nap, so that they don't feel tired during the dance.
William is awoken from his nap by his date Oliana, who has arrived a little early.
They change into formal outfits, feeling excited.
Soon they are all sitting in the limo. Ruru and Mindy are going together, and Jeanette and Valiant are going together as well. Lilinoe is dateless, but glamorously dressed and determined to enjoy herself.
And so she does! She dances, has fun, and is announced Prom Queen!
To add to her satisfaction, even her unfaithful ex Luna thinks she looks great and tries to make a move on her.
But Lilinoe isn't going to make the same mistake twice - she keeps checking out other people instead.
Another happy moment: William is announced Prom King. It seems that the Surfing Academy students are very popular in their regular school!
As they leave the school after the dance, there is a light snowfall, very rare on the island. A perfect ending for the day!
The six return to their boarding school tired, but with a sense of accomplishment.
Still, they can all feel a tinge of melancholy: this was their last outing together as teens. Lilinoe will age up to YA tomorrow, and the others will soon follow. They will all stay at the boarding school and learn to surf until summer, but they are still aware that an exciting period of their lives is coming to an end.
Snowflake day doesn't start well: during the after-breakfast cleanup, both the dishwasher and the kitchen sink break.
Fortunately, all the students have the handiness skill, so it quickly gets taken care of.
After breakfast, it's time for Lilinoe to age up to young adult.
Probably confused by their friend suddenly becoming taller and more mature than them, Valiant and William start showing off their Sim Fu moves to impress her by this macho display. She is not impressed!
It is raining outside. On Surf Point Beach, a flea-ridden stray cat has taken shelter under a bench.
William goes to the beach to feed the cat a treat and brush it. That doesn't help with the fleas; actually, William gets infected with fleas too and has to take a shower.
Matiu starts preparing the Great Hall for Snowflake Day celebrations. The furniture is moved to make room for a gift-giving rug, a buffet table is brought in, and a welcoming fire is lit in the fireplace.
The students change into festive clothes...
... and gifts are placed in a pile on the rug.
The townie guests start to arrive. (The guest in the wet white shirt is Siddhartha Rose, the pianist Lilinoe met in a bar a few nights ago. Now, as a YA adult, she would be able to flirt with him, but unfortunately he doesn't stay long at the party.)
Matiu invites everyone to come and take their presents.
One by one, the students and the guests approach the pile and find a gift with their name on it. Almost everyone is delighted...
William gets two guitars! He already has a guitar, so he will sell them both and buy a drum set.
Matiu is the only one disappointed with his gift: he got a plush animal.
After the presents it's time for dinner. William brings a plate to Oliana. The two of them have gone from romantic interests to boyfriend and girlfriend during yesterday's prom, and today they both seem a little awkward (although not at all regretful) about this.
I just love The Sunlit Tides Surfing Academy. This story is what made me decide to buy Sunlit Tides! I sure hope you'll find time to update at some point. Thanks for sharing your story.
My Top Five
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@funkeeferret , this is an incredible compliment, thank you! I hope you'll enjoy the world! I'm definitely going to keep returning to this story until it's finished.
@PalmArrow, this is so good to know. I always love your colorful pics too!
I haven't had time to check out Sunlit Tides yet, but can't wait to fire up my game and do just that.
My Top Five
My Thank You Thread
My Studio
It was Jeanette Collins's turn to age up to young adult. She woke up feeling excited.
She had breakfast with her fellow students as usual, but when the school bus arrives, she wasn't going to board it.
While the others were cleaning up after breakfast, she suddenly grabbed her boyfriend Valiant Vanderburg and kissed him.
Valiant was surprised, but he understood very well what she was thinking: until he ages up as well, it would be illegal for the two of them to kiss!
Everyone gathered around Jeanette and cheered as she transformed into a YA.
She seemed pleased with her YA looks - and the others thought she looked great too. Just look at William's face in this picture!
The school bus arrived, and now there were only four teens to board it. Lilinoe and Jeanette stood in front of the boarding school with Matiu and Rascal to see their friends off.
What a strange sense of freedom! There was no regular school to go to, but they were not expected to get jobs yet - all the students would live at the boarding school and take surfing and diving lessons until the end of spring. The two girls were free to go wherever they liked.
Their first choice wasn't very adventurous, though: reading skill books at the library, because it was raining too hard for the beach or any other outdoor activities.
The rain just wouldn't stop. I loved the sight of this wild horse running along the beach in the rain:
When they had enough of studying, Jeanette and Lilinoe went for a refreshing drink at the Hot Spot.
Jeanette noticed two space rocks nearby. She has gained three levels in the Science skill, so she tried to analyse the rocks.
It didn't work, though. Maybe her science gadget was broken?
She felt frustrated, but determined to learn more about Science.
Back at the boarding school, the other students had by now returned and started working on their homework. Ruru didn't actually have to write homework because he too would age up the next day, but he did it out of habit.
Lilinoe and Jeanette returned to boarding school too, and while their friends were doing their homework, they took down all the Snowflake Day ornaments.
In the evening everyone changed into their best clothes, because Lilinoe and Jeanette decided to treat their fellow students and their teacher with drinks at the Serenity Retreat exclusive lounge.
There was a bubble bar upstairs, and some of the students decided to try it.
The bubbles made them all giggly and giddy.
Lilinoe was more interested in listening to the pianist. His name was Siddhartha Rose, and she had met him while she was still a teen and on the rebound from her unfaithful girlfriend Luna.
This was the first time she saw Siddhartha play the piano. He seemed to pour all his emotions into his music.
During a break from playing, he went to greet Lilinoe - he recognised her and was very glad to see her.
Everyone had a great time that evening. (It's probably for the best no one was tempted to try the roulette table. This lady, Talei Hale, wept loudly when she lost!)
@PalmArrow Oh, it's so nice to see a Sunlit Tides Surfing Academy update!
Lol, William's reaction to Jeanette's transformation! Priceless! What a great expression!
I love how you make it so much like real life, by letting it rain, instead of sunshine and smiley faces every day.
I think now that some of the kids are young adults, spending the school days taking surfing and diving lessons sounds good to me. Hopefully they will get a chance to do that, come one sunny day.
Beautiful pic of the wild horse on the beach.
Love the outdoor bar. Makes me want to go there and have a drink! Also nice to see all the tropical prints, especially when it's winter here.
Nice job making the 'taking down the Snowflake Day ornaments' look so realistic. It made me wonder for a second if there really was a 'take down the decorations' action, lol.
Love the bubble bar.
The emotional pianist - awesome. Looks like something's brewing between he and Lilinoe.
Thanks for the update. I really enjoyed it and your pretty pics, as always.
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I set the weather in my Sunlit Tides save using NRAAS Tempest to make autumn and winter into rainy season because I didn't want my sims to be able to go to the beach every day - I would soon get bored of that - but also because I think rain and fog make Sunlit Tides even prettier, even more tropical.
In the "taking down Christmas ornaments" Jeanette was actually doing that idle animation for the Genius trait where it looks like they're solving a problem on an invisible blackboard. It looked perfect for what I wanted, so I quickly paused and moved her with MOO.
A double birthday was celebrated at the boarding school in the morning: William and Ruru were about to age up to young adults. That meant chocolate cake for breakfast!
Ruru was the first to blow out the candles.
William was next (by accident he looks really tiny in this last picture of him as a teen):
While they were eating the delicious cake, William overheard an intriguing conversation between Lilinoe and Ruru.
"Ruru, were you planning to do the midnight firewalk? Because I'm definitely doing it, and I'd like to do it tonight."
"That's perfect!" Ruru said. "We can go together, and invite the others along."
William asked Ruru what they were talking about.
"It's a Sunlit Tides tradition, a coming-of-age ceremony. You have to spend a night on the volcano and, in front of witnesses, walk on hot embers at midnight. Then the next day you get tattooed, and you are officially considered an adult."
Without thinking twice, William said: "That's incredibly cool! Do you think I can do it too, even though I wasn't born in Sunlit Tides?"
"It doesn't matter where you were born. It's a ceremony that makes you part of the island society. What matters is, do you want to stay here?"
Ruru's words gave William something to think about. School would be over at the end of spring, and he had no proper plans for the future. Should he return to his family in Isla Paradiso? But his best friends from Isla Paradiso were actually here with him - and his girlfriend was here...
Outside, the heavy rain continued. Rascal was getting acquainted with a new friend, a dog gnome that appeared outside the boarding school overnight.
William called his girlfriend Oliana. She had aged up a day before him; they were both anxious to see each other as young adults for the first time.
They briefly met in town and exchanged birthday presents - and couldn't keep their eyes off each other. They were both very clearly pleased with what they saw!
William noticed a tattoo on Oliana's arm. "Does this mean you did the midnight firewalk?"
Oliana's face lit up. "You know about the ceremony? Yes, I did, and it was scary but thrilling!"
William then met Ruru, Lilinoe and Jeanette at the sports equipment shop - he and Jeanette agreed to be witnesses to Ruru and Lilinoe's ceremony, and they needed sleeping bags, a tent and a portable firepit.
To be awake and alert for the ceremony, Lilinoe and Ruru took afternoon naps in the dormitories.
Meanwhile, William went across the street to Surf Point beach, where a stray cat had been living for days now.
He brought food for the cat, and placed a cat bed inside the beach hut - the poor kitty had been sleeping on a bench in the rain.
Evening came, and it was time to go to the volcano.
Matiu trusted his students enough to loan them the school van. He didn't go with them, though - the ceremony was a test of courage they had to go through alone.
They drove as far as they could on the serpentine roads that lead up the volcano.
Then they had to leave the car and continue through the jungle on foot .
The island looked so fragile viewed from the volcano, a tiny piece of land surrounded by ocean and rain.
Finally they reached their destination: the peak of the volcano, with the skull-like face of a fire god carved into it.
They used their portable firepit to warm up - they desperately needed this!
While they waited for midnight, Lilinoe told everyone a scary story about the fire god and his volcano.
She was a good storyteller and William and Jeanette, who never heard the story before, were hanging on to her every word.
Suddenly William screamed, because he heard footsteps behind him.
But it was only Cyrille Lynch, the local paparazzo who liked to stalk the Surfing Academy students when he had nothing else to write about. He was annoying, but harmless.
Finally, midnight came. Lilinoe was the first to walk on hot embers. She did it without a moment's hesitation.
"Yay! I did it!"
Ruru was actually a little bit scared when he started, but thankfully nobody noticed.
But he finished with a proud swagger.
The two friends congratulated one another. The hard part was over!
It was time to get ready to sleep - although William and Jeanette were so relaxed now, they even had a pillow fight before finally falling asleep.
Oh, that's a great idea about setting the weather like that.
So that's how you got Jeanette to look like she was taking down the decorations. Clever!
Saturday, last day of winter.
Well, no one can argue with chocolate cake for breakfast!
Gotta say I love those tropical bedspreads too!
And those pics of them traveling to the volcano... so realistic! Love all of them, especially the one where they're walking up the volcano in the dark with their umbrellas. Great camp out pics!
Yeah, lol, leave it to the dang paparazzi to find you out in the middle of no where.
Great job ~ I love it!
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The pattern on the bedspreads is one of my favourite patterns, but I have to use it sparingly, otherwise everything would look the same! I found it on the Exchange, here:
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=8814035
Looks like William has some big decisions to make.
Thanks so much for the link to the pattern. Very helpful. It's lovely.
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After an uneasy night spent in a tent in the rain, the four young people sleeping on the volcano woke up to a clear morning.
The view of the island down below was magnificent.
There was one more thing to be done to complete Lilinoe and Ruru's coming-of-age ceremony: a visit to the salon.
They would choose tattoos inspired by dreams or thoughts they had the night of the ceremony.
Lilinoe had a tense dream about the Kraken battling the Sun.
She got a sea monster tattooed on one arm, and the Sun on the other, and was very pleased with the result.
Ruru couldn't remember any dreams, but he was imagining going fishing at night under a clear, starry sky.
He asked for a fish tattoo on his chest, and stars on his back.
The four returned to the boarding school just in time for breakfast.
After breakfast, Matiu had an announcement to make to his students.
He told them he was engaged to his girlfriend Noelani, and they were all invited to their wedding on Love Day.
Meanwhile, the local beach looked very inviting in the sunshine. The stray kitty William had been feeding was staring at its empty plate.
William hurried to the beach and filled the plate.
Matiu, Lilinoe and Ruru used the wave stations - finally, good weather for surfing!
After feeding the stray kitty on the beach, William had an international phone call.
It was his parents, calling from Isla Paradiso to wish him a happy birthday.
After they exchanged greetings, William carefully mentioned the subject of his future life. He told his mother he was considering staying in Sunlit Tides.
Molly didn't sound surprised.
"If Sunlit Tides is where you see your future, you should stay there! I left my home in Sunset Valley as a young adult and traveled for a while until I settled in Isla Paradiso. Your father and I would rather you lived closer to us, but we will support you in your choice."
His parents' support didn't make William's decision much easier. But he didn't have to make it at once.
He swam out into the deeper water with Valiant, Mindy and Jeanette, and they practiced snorkeling together while the rest of their friends surfed.
The sunny day was so inviting, the beach was full of townies. Even Cyrille the annoying paparazzo gave up on stalking the students and went for a speedboat ride instead.
Intoxicated by the sea and the sun, Ruru and Lilinoe didn't notice in time that aggressive seals were circling around them.
I didn't catch the moment of the seal attack, but this was Ruru's face the moment after it happened:
They would have to buy new surfboards. Their old ones became garden decorations:
Rascal took advantage of the sunny afternoon too, practising his hunting skill. He found a maple leaf and a snake skin.
After everyone returned to the boarding school, prepared and ate supper, William invited Oliana on a date at the fusion lounge.
They spent the evening cuddling and making out on a sofa in a private compartment.
Oliana was one of the reasons William wanted to stay in Sunlit Tides, but he didn't want to mention this to her just yet. In spite of being very much attracted to each other, they didn't really know each other that well, and William didn't want to scare Oliana away by mentioning serious life decisions too early.
@PalmArrow So nice to see another update!
Love the photo of the 'island below' view.
Nice idea with the inspirational tattoos.
I had a sneaky feeling William's thoughts would go in that direction, but
I suppose time will tell. He looks so much more grown up now.
Oh, lol, Ruru's expression says it all, along with the battered surfboards. There's
so much of my game I need to explore, especially in island life.
William and Oliana make a cute couple.
And of course, as always, I love your photos!
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A beautiful rainy dawn.
The only two teens left in the boarding school, Mindy Hamada and Valiant Vanderburg, took the school bus for the last time. Valiant would age up today, and Mindy the next morning.
The stray cat William had been feeding and befriending wasn't on the beach today.
I placed a Feline Welcome gnome in front of the Academy, hoping it would return for a visit.
The rain meant no surfing, so the young adults in the household ran various errands.
Ruru and Lilinoe needed new surfboards - their old ones were destroyed by seals. To earn some money, Ruru accepted an opportunity to fix the plumbing at Riku's Luau Diner...
... while Lilinoe collected eggs at the Spring festival. She found a fancy egg more than twice the value of a surfboard.
Meanwhile, William bought a drum kit and spent the morning practicing...
... and Jeanette worked on her science skill at the Science Lab.
Her expressions were hilarious to watch!
Having earned enough, Ruru and Lilinoe bought shiny new surfboards.
The rain stopped and the sky started to brighten.
William gained a skill point in Drums, and so did Jeanette in Science.
When Mindy and Valiant returned from their last day in school - both on the honour roll - Matiu drove everyone to the sport bar. Valiant was going to celebrate his birthday there.
Happy birthday, Valiant!
His girlfriend Jeanette was finally able to kiss him again.
By then the sky had cleared, so everyone went to the beach.
They all surfed or snorkeled until the moon came out.
It looked as if Valiant and Mindy were trying to jump over the moon on their surfboards.
It was finally time for Mindy Hamada, the youngest of the six students, to become a young adult like her classmates.
After finishing the birthday cake, Matiu and the students gathered on the beach just as the sun was rising.
Matiu led the way to the surfing stations. William and Jeanette followed.
This was embarrassing! William fell off his surfboard so badly, he actually sank into the sand on the ocean floor. Thankfully, nobody noticed.
He saved face by leaping out of the ocean like a superhero.
"Yay! I landed back on my surfboard!"
Jeanette didn't seem to have noticed anything.
Valiant, Mindy, Ruru and Lilinoe were snorkelling in the deeper water and looking for shells.
Another good move by William:
Mindy, the birthday girl, wanted to sell her shells and buy a better camera to advance in the Photography skill, so everyone else donated their shells to her. Together they were worth a little more than 300 simoleons.
Not a lot of money -- definitely not enough for the Hikon QX40di Gladiator - but selling the shells and her old ChannonTek Outlaw gave her enough for an underwater camera.
When everyone returned to the boarding school for a midday rest, Mindy flirted with her boyfriend Ruru. It had been too long since they were able to do this - Ruru had been among the first of the six to age up, Mindy was the last.
Ruru and William rolled wishes to form a band at the same time, so they immediately formed a band together. they are called The Children of the Ocean, and so far there is only Ruru on guitar and William on drums.
The Children of the Ocean had their first jam session in public right away, under the palms on Pirate's Beach.
William and Ruru's jam session on the beach was successful - they earned some small money, and a jogging townie stopped to take a photo.
After the midday break, Matiu and the students met on the shore and swam to the beginner diving spot, the Forest of Kelp.
By now everyone had at least three skill points in diving, and the Forest of Kelp wasn't a dangerous place. still, Matiu warned the students to return to the surface if they experience any discomfort.
As they were swimming around the tall kelp, William noticed a red-finned shark and caught it.
They met their old acquaintance, elder mermaid Brook. Mindy talked to her about kelp recipes and snapped an underwater photo of her.
They scuba-dived until sunset, then resurfaced.
It was time to swim back to shore.
They returned to the boarding school tired, but in excellent mood.
While Jeanette prepared supper for everyone, Ruru and Mindy watched the stars together.
They returned inside just in time for sushi.
Almost everyone bathed and went to bed early, to soothe their aching muscles. But William asked his girlfriend Oliana to meet him at the Hideaway.
He had been thinking a lot about his future, and his mind was now made up. This was a conversation he didn't want to postpone.
"You know, Oliana, when I came to Sunlit Tides I thought I was just going to graduate from the Surfing Academy, and then return home to Isla Paradiso."
"But I don't want that anymore. Sunlit Tides has become my home, and I want to stay here."
Oliana was delighted. "I never said anything because I didn't want to put pressure on you, but that's exactly what I was hoping you would decide!"
"I'm so glad you said that, because you are the biggest reason I want to stay!"
They embraced with relief - the question of their future had been hanging unspoken in the air since they became young adults, neither of them sure if the other wanted this to last.
William returned to his dormitory so tired he could barely stand on his feet, but he couldn't remember ever feeling this happy.
William woke up early and prepared breakfast for everyone.
The morning was rainy...
... but it didn't matter, because this wasn't a morning for the beach. It was time for all the students to go to the City Hall and receive their regular High School diplomas!
One by one they changed into their graduation gowns and entered the building. Matiu went with them to watch the ceremony.
Only Rascal remained outside. he hunted to pass the time, and found a snake skin.
After a few hours the students emerged from the City Hall, diplomas in hand. They also got special awards - William got "Most likely to have a large family".
A group photo with Matiu:
When they returned to the boarding school for their midday break, William called his parents on sim-Skype. He wanted them to see him in his graduation gown.
He also told them he made his mind up about staying in Sunlit Tides. Molly and Bruce were not disappointed - they were expecting this decision.
Molly told William they were going to transfer his part of the inheritance to his account, so that he can buy a house in Sunlit Tides.
She had just one condition - she asked William to immediately invest in some real estate, so that he can have a source of income if his scuba diving and music don't turn out to be profitable.
William promised he would do this.
Meanwhile, Matiu went to check out the Emerald Tides resort. Tomorrow would be Love Day, the day set for his and Noelani's wedding, and the resort was their chosen wedding venue.
The resort looked a little sad in the rain...
... but two townies were just getting married, and they were happy and oblivious to the rain. This gave Matiu a good feeling for tomorrow.
When the rain stopped, the students ran to the beach to use the surfing stations.
Later, when they were cleaning up after dinner and getting ready for sleep, William felt an unexpected tinge of sadness.
It was almost over - Only two days, and he and his five friends wouldn't be living together any more.
Love Day, the day set for Matiu and Noelani's wedding, started with promising, sunny weather.
Matiu picked up Noelani and went to the Emerald Tides resort early. The students would join them around midday.
I saw a smaller animal outside the Academy with Rascal and hoped it would be the stray cat William had been feeding, but it was just a raccoon!
Around noon the students took a taxi to the resort.
"Hello! We are here for the Henare/Koi wedding."
"Welcome to the Emerald Tides resort! Your rooms are in the resort tower. The wedding will start at 1 PM."
They changed into formal clothes and took their seats in front of the wedding arch.
The bride and groom arrived in an excellent mood.
They exchanged rings and said their vows.
During the ceremony Rascal arrived - dogs can't check in to a resort, so I just had him visit the lot.
After they congratulated the bride and groom, the students gave them some privacy - they would all meet again at dinner.
William, Mindy and Valiant went to the shopping centre to look at some real estate ads. They had been discussing this - all four Isla Paradiso friends wished to stay in Sunlit Tides after they graduate from the Surfing Academy.
Many of the houses on offer were luxurious villas...
... but there was also a good choice of small, affordable houses - exactly what they were looking for.
The bride and groom had drinks at the resort bar.
The students spent the afternoon windsurfing.
The sky was just turning pink when the newlyweds decided to retreat to their suite.
When the students stopped windsurfing, I located each of them at a different point in the ocean and had them swim back to shore and return to the resort.
Just in time for the dinner buffet, and then a refreshing sleep in the resort tower!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuW44b3uCMtCSaq4gwC8EZg