2.2 Tank the Bard

 

She's grabbed keystones, looted tombs, retrieved long lost relics and defeated mummies, but there's still so much to do. Flora's work visa expires before her tasks are complete, forcing her to return to Sunlit Tides until she can be granted a new one. When she gets home from Al Simhara she finds her boyfriend waiting for her. He's aged up now, and hoping they can move into their own apartment.

"Your hair!" she gasps, barely recognizing the man in front of her.

"I always wanted a mohawk," Ariel laughs. "My stepmother would not allow it, though, so you understand the pressing need to get out of her house now."

 

"Why don't you stay here with me? In this house?"

"With your mother and siblings?" Ariel stares, confused.

"It won't feel as crowded as your house, I promise. And there's space upstairs I was thinking we could turn into a bedroom for the two of us. Please, Ari?"

"Alright... we'll see how it works out... but I don't want to be in anyone's way," Ariel says doubtfully. He was looking forward to living somewhere without parents or siblings, and he thought Flora was too, but in retrospect she's always been more comfortable with her family than he has with his.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for your birthday," Flora says, with a little pout.

"Oh, don't worry about it... you had an opportunity to work abroad, that's amazing. You must have so many stories."

 

"Yeah I do! But it's all so unbelievable, you're going to think I was doing drugs with cultists all week."

"Weren't you?" he teases, holding up a bottle of her mother's pricey Invigorating Elixir.

"Okay well when you put it that way I totally was."

"According to one of the Resolute Fist masters, Flora has angered a dragon," Echo reports.

"That sounds so metal," Iris replies, approving.

Tales of Flora's unbelievable adventures spread quickly through the small household.

 

Echo ages up. She loves her family, but after sharing a room with Flora her whole life, she's looking forward to moving into the new house Flint's parents are buying for him. She hopes to make a career as a writer.

 

 

 

Alexandria lets Echo know she can visit any time, and move back in at any time, if things with Flint don't work out.

 

 

Lupin's teen birthday. He says pie is superior to cake.

 

 

This childish genius sim's interests have not changed with age.

 

 

Graduation ceremony day. Flora is voted Most Likely to Save the World.

Lupin's school performance is poor. This frustrates his mother to no end, since she knows her son is very smart. "I just want you to keep your options open for the future. I know you can pass these exams in your sleep. Why are you sabotaging yourself?"

"It's all pointless and hard to care," Lupin mumbles. 

"You've always been difficult to motivate, but not even passing your classes is extreme. Are you depressed? What do you need? What can I do?"

"Nothing. I'm sorry, Mom."

"Please get your grades up. You're so smart, you should be going to university. And you might want to, if you can find your passion."

"What if I don't have a passion? Do I really need to have my whole life figured out in high school?"

"No... of course not. I didn't have my life figured out at your age. I still don't have my life figured out. I just want you to do your best. Is it that much of an ask? What would you be sacrificing, if you put in a little effort?"

"Nothing, I guess," he admits.

Lupin cares nothing for school and can't be bothered to care about his future, but he does care about his mother, so for her he will start trying to do better.

Iris isn't a genius, but she's making plans to go to art school. Her best friend, Marcie Nelson, wants to go to culinary school. They figure they can be roommates.

 

With Echo moved out, Ariel has taken over her bunk under Flora's.

This is only a temporary arrangement until they can get their upstairs bedroom fixed up.

Alexandria tries not to stare at her daughter's boyfriend's muscles.

"Maybe you're the chosen one, rawr," Flora appreciates the muscles openly.

 

Ariel is employed as a vocalist. He delivers sing-o-grams and performs around town to advertise businesses. His dreams of performing were inspired by watching local music performances as a child, with his mother, whom he still misses greatly.

Performers in Sim Nation are required by law to have a stage name. Ariel's is Tank the Bard.

Audra Goyave just had her first woohoo, and she was so self-conscious, her boyfriend decided to send her a celebration sing-o-gram. Poor Audra.

 

After embarrassing Audra, it's off to Purple Rose for some guy's retirement party.

Hopefully ordering the Big Mistake is not a big mistake.

"I can't believe you went to prom in that."

Iris and Lupin both went dateless. Iris picked up a few romantic interests, while Lupin's bath robe vibes outfit kept any romance prospects at bay. He clearly doesn't care, and Iris isn't sure why he even attended the event. 

 

Iris appreciates the functional, redecorated second floor.

 

Though not as much as Flora and Ariel.

Burglar picks the wrong house.

 

 Flora's nightmares are haunted, not by burglars but by the Dragon Cave, and what horrors might be waiting there for her.

 

The next time she visits Shang Simla it is with Ariel, and she's a little sad she can't just spend the whole trip hanging out with him, enjoying the scenery and the food.

 

Shang Simla is best enjoyed in summer, in her opinion, but it is beautiful in any season.

She visits the Scholar's Garden without being asked to this time, understanding somehow that even with all progress so far, she is unprepared for the future.

(No, really, there's this tomb in France that's broken[?] and requires Tranquil Transference to complete.)
 

Ariel is also on an eternal quest of self-improvement. 

 

 

 

This trip, Flora is investigating one of the abandoned training facilities used by the Resolute Fist in their ancient past. She isn't sure why they leave important, necessary, fate-of-the-world objects in these old places, as opposed to somewhere more easily accessible, and every time she asks she receives a different answer. 

Whatever the truth, she will defeat the mummies in here and retrieve the keystones.

Flora throws one of her mom's friendship potions at Lee Yao, who had an ancestor with a journal she needs to read. With the fate of Shang Simla at stake, she doesn't have time to play all the social games required to win his trust.

 

Unfortunately the journal said she had to go snooping all the way in France...

...although, she was planning on going to Champs Les Sims to break into some Landgraab Chateau anyway, so it's not so big of a deal.

Ariel is feelin' the France Romance, but he's secretly disappointed they didn't have time to go take touristy pictures with the terracotta army before they left China.

The Landgraabs are a family of evil business tycoons with more wealth than they could ever spend, so Flora has no remorse stealing stuff once she's infiltrated Admiral Landgraab's historically significant aristocratic estate in the countryside.

Oh no. A hedge maze that only comes up to Flora's knees. What-ever shall she do?

 

 

 

 

Ariel introduces France to Tank the Bard.

 

France is not sure what to make of this nonsense.

 

The Champs Les Sims nectary, the birthplace of nectar itself, is a frequent tourist destination. 

Most people don't know there's an underground mansion underneath it, where some guy lived with his Al Simharan princess wife, or something. Their feud with the Landgraabs resulted in some of the artifacts Flora needs being "protected" in their tomb, so she will need permission to snoop around.

Flora has had to do a lot of weird things to prove her worthiness to people, to read their family journals or enter their sacred shrines, but crushing grapes with her feet has to be the weirdest.

After swearing her respect for the craft of nectar making, she is allowed to poke around in their dusty old cellars. When she finds the hidden entrance to Isael's tomb she doesn't tell anyone, she just quietly goes in to get what she needs.

 

The layout of this place messes with Flora's head...

 

Though it's nothing zeneport can't handle.

After a rough day in the tombs, she drops in on Ariel at the hostel, to get her fun meter up.

 

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Etc.: Flora's traits are Athletic, Loves the Outdoors, Brave, Gatherer, and Adventurous. Eventually she had enough social group points with the jocks to pick up Loves to Swim as her sixth trait.

 

Ariel's traits are natural born performer, ambitious, adventurous, easily impressed, and virtuoso. Seemed like a good match for Flora, and for the vocalist roll.