The Sunlit Tides Surfing Academy

Wednesday, the fourth day of winter and prom day

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.
https://i.imgur.com/cjHWmft.jpg

Another beautiful rainbow forms over the island.
https://i.imgur.com/5bke1Gl.jpg

Matiu ignores the heavy rain and spends the morning at a fishing spot with Rascal.
https://i.imgur.com/GxtGEp3.jpg

The teens come back from school and work on their homework as quickly as they can. The dance will start at six.
https://i.imgur.com/UTL7sJv.jpg

Some of them manage to catch a quick nap, so that they don't feel tired during the dance.
https://i.imgur.com/QFVBFFb.jpg

William is awoken from his nap by his date Oliana, who has arrived a little early.
https://i.imgur.com/gwH0Dgq.jpg

They change into formal outfits, feeling excited.
https://i.imgur.com/3az6afn.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/gJqduBG.jpg

And so she does! She dances, has fun, and is announced Prom Queen!
https://i.imgur.com/ifq5VSY.png

To add to her satisfaction, even her unfaithful ex Luna thinks she looks great and tries to make a move on her.
https://i.imgur.com/idhdoAX.png

But Lilinoe isn't going to make the same mistake twice - she keeps checking out other people instead.
https://i.imgur.com/hKWRcxJ.png

Another happy moment: William is announced Prom King. It seems that the Surfing Academy students are very popular in their regular school!
https://i.imgur.com/maXegGA.png

As they leave the school after the dance, there is a light snowfall, very rare on the island. A perfect ending for the day!
https://i.imgur.com/GC5DL3P.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/5Hvdljn.jpg

Thursday (fifth day of winter and Snowflake Day)

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.
https://i.imgur.com/BatYNej.jpg

After breakfast, it's time for Lilinoe to age up to young adult.
https://i.imgur.com/d7mXcwp.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/D6JPs3f.jpg

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!
https://i.imgur.com/hgiwoyn.jpg

It is raining outside. On Surf Point Beach, a flea-ridden stray cat has taken shelter under a bench.
https://i.imgur.com/3rcLMAV.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/kkOtT7p.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/2LB2Ghb.jpg

The students change into festive clothes...
https://i.imgur.com/nHEzWWm.jpg

... and gifts are placed in a pile on the rug.
https://i.imgur.com/CM1ODit.jpg

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.)
https://i.imgur.com/U8x3980.jpg

Matiu invites everyone to come and take their presents.
https://i.imgur.com/kIVtklK.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/04qngBr.jpg

One by one, the students and the guests approach the pile and find a gift with their name on it. Almost everyone is delighted...
https://i.imgur.com/7QU2B2H.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5gW6afq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TLMKLly.jpg

William gets two guitars! He already has a guitar, so he will sell them both and buy a drum set.
https://i.imgur.com/w9x3npE.jpg

Matiu is the only one disappointed with his gift: he got a plush animal.
https://i.imgur.com/x6MetIM.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/ts2QWiX.jpg

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. :)

"funkeeferret;c-16316336" wrote:

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;c-16318173" wrote:

"funkeeferret;c-16316336" wrote:

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.

Friday, the sixth day of winter.

It was Jeanette Collins's turn to age up to young adult. She woke up feeling excited.
https://i.imgur.com/5sWccVE.jpg

She had breakfast with her fellow students as usual, but when the school bus arrives, she wasn't going to board it.
https://i.imgur.com/ykIWUOq.jpg

While the others were cleaning up after breakfast, she suddenly grabbed her boyfriend Valiant Vanderburg and kissed him.
https://i.imgur.com/2mv5ZPd.jpg

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!
https://i.imgur.com/8lHi8JR.jpg

Everyone gathered around Jeanette and cheered as she transformed into a YA.
https://i.imgur.com/oCvneju.jpg

She seemed pleased with her YA looks - and the others thought she looked great too. Just look at William's face in this picture!
https://i.imgur.com/Yoi5rT9.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/CMlqK66.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/dXe8I0g.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/TDDqtqS.jpg

The rain just wouldn't stop. I loved the sight of this wild horse running along the beach in the rain:
https://i.imgur.com/41FJ8S1.jpg

When they had enough of studying, Jeanette and Lilinoe went for a refreshing drink at the Hot Spot.
https://i.imgur.com/EaRbncK.jpg

Jeanette noticed two space rocks nearby. She has gained three levels in the Science skill, so she tried to analyse the rocks.
https://i.imgur.com/7nSy5Zd.jpg

It didn't work, though. Maybe her science gadget was broken?
https://i.imgur.com/UGUzN52.jpg

She felt frustrated, but determined to learn more about Science.
https://i.imgur.com/bhpBZPY.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/Tvcevdr.jpg

Lilinoe and Jeanette returned to boarding school too, and while their friends were doing their homework, they took down all the Snowflake Day ornaments.
https://i.imgur.com/vmBHBeX.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/42lUqBX.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dzfZQ44.jpg

There was a bubble bar upstairs, and some of the students decided to try it.
https://i.imgur.com/69C5TBF.jpg

The bubbles made them all giggly and giddy.
https://i.imgur.com/UunHn1b.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/EO0Ir4K.jpg

During a break from playing, he went to greet Lilinoe - he recognised her and was very glad to see her.
https://i.imgur.com/KZbm43F.jpg

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!)
https://i.imgur.com/VZYF2TB.jpg

@PalmArrow Oh, it's so nice to see a Sunlit Tides Surfing Academy update! :smiley:
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. :sunglasses:
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. :smile:

Thank you, @funkeeferret ! :)

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.

Saturday, last day of winter. (Part 1)

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!
https://i.imgur.com/gpcHN7n.jpg

Ruru was the first to blow out the candles.
https://i.imgur.com/hm8Eevx.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4ap9XyB.jpg

William was next (by accident he looks really tiny in this last picture of him as a teen):
https://i.imgur.com/tqbaqaY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/47DwEWI.jpg

While they were eating the delicious cake, William overheard an intriguing conversation between Lilinoe and Ruru.
https://i.imgur.com/15IZzN1.jpg

"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."
https://i.imgur.com/8KOyzQ2.jpg

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."
https://i.imgur.com/G14hiu5.jpg

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?"
https://i.imgur.com/vpNP0uu.jpg

"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?"
https://i.imgur.com/Su83Ihi.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/1zIPcyY.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/eXhpIky.jpg

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!
https://i.imgur.com/PmskfwZ.jpg

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!"
https://i.imgur.com/r05Mr8A.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/GB0TZnp.jpg

Saturday, last day of winter. (Part 2)

To be awake and alert for the ceremony, Lilinoe and Ruru took afternoon naps in the dormitories.
https://i.imgur.com/vmydxAb.jpg

Meanwhile, William went across the street to Surf Point beach, where a stray cat had been living for days now.
https://i.imgur.com/RXtMciv.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/2oWsnZL.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/cPha1Jf.jpg

They drove as far as they could on the serpentine roads that lead up the volcano.
https://i.imgur.com/hlSTHdj.jpg

Then they had to leave the car and continue through the jungle on foot .
https://i.imgur.com/Z300eR0.jpg

The island looked so fragile viewed from the volcano, a tiny piece of land surrounded by ocean and rain.
https://i.imgur.com/3QDm0Wt.jpg

Finally they reached their destination: the peak of the volcano, with the skull-like face of a fire god carved into it.
https://i.imgur.com/aIyJg98.jpg

They used their portable firepit to warm up - they desperately needed this!
https://i.imgur.com/QZ5kCZ1.jpg

While they waited for midnight, Lilinoe told everyone a scary story about the fire god and his volcano.
https://i.imgur.com/xHuYGuD.jpg

She was a good storyteller and William and Jeanette, who never heard the story before, were hanging on to her every word.
https://i.imgur.com/pIRePLl.jpg

Suddenly William screamed, because he heard footsteps behind him.
https://i.imgur.com/EeaW8tH.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/8N1zouX.jpg

Finally, midnight came. Lilinoe was the first to walk on hot embers. She did it without a moment's hesitation.
https://i.imgur.com/qMjTj7v.jpg

"Yay! I did it!"
https://i.imgur.com/LZ4BZxm.jpg

Ruru was actually a little bit scared when he started, but thankfully nobody noticed.
https://i.imgur.com/px1wnOh.jpg

But he finished with a proud swagger.
https://i.imgur.com/wePfpzG.jpg

The two friends congratulated one another. The hard part was over!
https://i.imgur.com/QqurOVm.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/IEtgfJH.jpg