Fanon:Stratonike Attalida

Stratonike Attalida is the main character of the Attalid Chapter of the story, and the first of the supersims following the path of academic monasticism.

Stratonike, unlike her Alkmaionid Counterpart, experienced plenty of adventures (mainly because Alkmaionids were played mostly without expansion packs) and once again becomes a major character in the Second Time Warp. Stratonike formerly essentially the third-in-command of the Union of the Insane, having mastered Martial Arts, Sculpting, Inventing, Handiness, Mixology, Gardening, Logic, Fishing, and Athletic skill along with 1 point in Piano and 5 points in Cooking (The Sims 3) and thus just behind Kallisto and Hypatia, and later on Kallistrata Pellaia. Currently, Stratonike resides with her original household, the Attalids, helping promote the entire family to stardom (which isn't that much of a feat, considering the growing and recovering remains of Scholars' Alliance having drawn male members from romances which has its share of stars, and the Union of the Insane, loaded with highly skilled superstars and disciples.

Stratonike, despite being the first of the supersims, is alienated from all the powerful supersims of the Union of the Insane in which she was a part of save for Kallisto, to whom Stratonike is friends forever and to whom Stratonike is presumed not to have spoken rudely for some unknown reasons. This is somewhat attributed to the not-so-friendly side effect of the Insane trait, not unlike the Mean Spirited trait, which Stratonike lacks.

The Path of the Creator
"Screw this. Do not disturb! I'm going to invent!"

Unlike the most of the Attalids, Stratonike did not share the party loving attitude abundant in the Attalid household. In fact, Stratonike usually stuck on the enormous study mastering skills needed to build machines with. Stratonike back then was quite the techie loner, practically living in another world. Stratonike would have grown old, but then Polyxena's accidental discovery however, allowed Stratonike (along with the other Attalids) from aging, and it kept Stratonike inventing and learning, in some cases, leading to self-inflicted fires.

Incidentally, when Stratonike mastered invention, Stratonike was solicited by the Science department, allowing Stratonike to create the first simbot in the Fanon universe. However, it would only mark the beginnings of her long list of memorable events...

The Great Adventures of Mikuru Stratonike Attalida
As an member of the royal household, Stratonike frequently travelled to other places. While most other Attalid members preferred France (particularly Parthenope for obvious reasons), Stratonike's destination of choice was China. This was partly an byproduct of the Simbot craze, as Space rocks are one of the greatest sources of pink diamonds, leading Stratonike to master the Martial Arts skill just for the ability to smash the said rocks. However, Stratonike confident in her mastery of Martial Arts first entered the Martial Arts contest, only to lose to Sun Young Kim who was vastly less skilled. Stratonike's tomb raiding also brought much valued treasures, while Stratonike's acquisition of the Collection Helper (which was also acquired just for the prospect of pink diamonds and life fruit seed, although the former was in vain) led Stratonike to collect various junk, one of which fortuitiously happened to be a Death Flower seed.

Frankenstein and The Living Saint
"I died for the glory of learning, and by its will, rose again!" - Stratonike, then oblivious to the Death Flower

Eventually, Stratonike's dedication led to her mastery of the Martial Arts Skill, along with the Timber Terminator Challenge that allowed Stratonike the facility to obtain the pink diamond. Eventually, Stratonike completes her challenge and creates Theophania, sealing her name in the fanon universe as the first Sim to create a Simbot (and one of the two, other one being Kallisto). The party lovers of the Attalid household found this an additional reason to be party animals, since who would pass on a chance to see the first artificial life in the neighborhood? Theophania became close friend with Stratonike, and even accompanied Stratonike in her second trip to China, where Theophania would be introduced to the art of Martial Arts. However, when they met up at the rendezvous at the Academy, Stratonike in a whim to increase logic looked at the telescope, only to be killed by a meteor. In another twist of fate, The Grim Reaper discovered the death flower seed (Stratonike however was oblivious), giving Stratonike a second chance, establishing a mood humorously broken when Theophania complained of lower hygiene motive established by the Grim Reaper's life grant. This feat allowed Stratonike a huge clout, something that would be especially important in the second time warp as a practical living saint of science. Stratonike eventually surfed the web and acquired information about the death flowers, which Stratonike acquired and multiplied with help of Polyxena.

Initial contact with the Beauty 4
Now that the Attalid household made quite a name for themselves in the neighborhood, it was only a matter of time before the Beauty 4 took sight of them. Demetria especially was elated, since most of the Attalids shared the party loving spirit. In fact, Demetria was a regular guest to the Attalid household, and most of the Beauty 4 also frequently paid visits to the households, asides from Kallisto, who was often too busy dabbling with machines or experimenting with nectar combinations. However, when the Attalids took back Martial Arts from China, Stratonike would meet Kallisto at the newly found training ground, and they quickly bonded especially due to their common traits, speaking madness to one another.

Despite the quick friendship, Stratonike and Kallisto's interaction with each other were quite limited, due to both side preferring to stick to their invention room. However, this relative lack of interaction was all changed with the arrival of Hyperia, whose goal of establishing a household of elite sims eventually led to the Scholars' Alliance, and along with it immediate interest in Stratonike, eventually leading to Stratonike's allegiance to the group.

Under Hyperia
Hyperia's grand scheme incidentally included taking Stratonike to the fold, and to the Attalids, it sounded like a great deal for two reasons: Attalids would gain a powerful ally, further cementing their position on the neighborhood backed by Demetria and now Stratonike. Secondly, Attalid love of party was rather soured by Stratonike's relative aversion to parties (compared to Olympias and Thetis' mere indifference), and a loss of a party pooper sounded like a great deal to the party-loving Attalids, who kept Theophania in their hold simply because Theophania was a show indeed, and Kallisto's simbots occupying the old Crumplebottom residence didn't draw any attention at all.

In this scheme, Stratonike initially was slow to grow: Stratonike didn't even touch mixology initialy, while Hyperia and later Kallisto would be fond of the benefits of it and immediately delved into it. In fact, Stratonike was largely held back by her head start: Stratonike would eventually fall behind for the most part, developing quite slowly in the first Time Warp. But then, another rift occurred, and the household would be severed from this timeline, leaving families behind, although Stratonike's family quickly returned for unknown reasons, major loss being Kallisto's simbots rather than any other powerful families there (allthough the old Landgraabs and Altos were gone by then.)

Second Time Warp
Insanity was the thing that kept Stratonike and Kallisto as close as they were: In fact, they misinterpreted the Christopher Steel's travesty with Hyperia and Achaia as a sign of decay (which would be prophetic in retrospect), and decides to head off to establish a new household, the Union of the Insane. Admittedly, they weren't exactly friends with the Alkmaionidai, but somehow they were able to persuade both Eurydike and Lysistrata to join them. Once they have joined, the 4 became best of companions, swearing their lives to maintaining that companionship. With the absense of Hyperia, Stratonike soon grabbed the second-in-command position with ease, and even with Hyperia invited due to Kallisto's whim, Stratonike held on to a powerful position and refused to let go, to a point where Stratonike is considered one of the greater core members alongside slightly more skilled Kallisto and Hyperia. Here Stratonike had a second growth spurt, mastering logic, mixology, sculpting and was the first sim of the Union to master the Athletic skill, considerably boosting Stratonike's standings.

However, Hyperia's renewed interest in romance that led to Hyperia's romance with Sam Sekemoto caused some issues, although even before that the bond between Stratonike and Eurydike was shattered. Later on, Stratonike, along with other members except Stephanophoros and Kallisto, found romantic partners, leading to more tension and eventually the partial breakup, leading Stratonike to return to the Attalids, who still remembered Stratonike (although not as a relative), leading Stratonike to provide star bonuses to the other Attalids. With Stratonike, the secession was anything but final, seeing as her bond between the core members (save Kallisto) shattered. Stratonike could now only look to the party loving Attalids, and looked to the Sunset Valley now filled with powerful entities, to a point where Stratonike wished to travel back where the sims weren't as nearly as powerful, especially since Stratonike had the experience of having loads of adventures and skill growth in her younger years not surrounded by other supersims like Kallisto and more so, Hyperia.

Stratonike however was not exactly blameless: Stratonike was somewhat known for her ill manners, often insulting people at will, noted by Kallistrata who observed Stratonike's conversation with Eurydike, which might have led to Stratonike's later attitudes, where Eurydike was the one with the insulting (Despite Eurydike's Schmoozer trait.) Similarly, this is inferred to be the reason why Stratonike pretty much alienated most of the members of the Union of the Insane (asides from Kallisto for unknown reasons, compared to Lysistrata whose meat was targeted only towards Hyperia.), and later on Eurydike observed Stratonike again having the same pattern with Lilian Syrakousia.

Stratonike was however a primary target in the Detente, and it was Stratonike who first normalized relations with Hyperia, which was easier since introduction of Kallistrata, alongside Kallisto (and Kallistrata's) ascension as the effective leaders, made possible with the codex. Stratonike meanwhile outside the Union was content with picnics, released from the monastic life of the Union of the Insane for now.

Stratonike, being one of the closest to Kallisto, was well aware that Kallisto had no intention of leaving Stratonike to rot, at least according to Kallisto. Stratonike is also quite wary of Kallisto's new religion: Kallisto wants Stratonike back, and despite their warm relationship (Stratonike for some reason never quarreled Kallisto), Stratonike is very suspicious: Kallisto's move to get Philetairos's attention was somewhat unsettling, since it would have meant another period of all learning and work with no romance. Stratonike definitely wished for a compromise, despite the fact that relationship with Artie was declining rapidly, along with loss of many of her co-workers as friends. Stratonike had two choices: resist the new religion, or work as an insider, former option obviously not good for Stratonike, while the latter choice sacrifices romance. In fact, Stratonike and Kallisto talked on the phone regarding readmission: Stratonike requested some amendments to the codex, which Kallisto responded with a counteroffer: rejoin the Union to negotiate changes to the codex. Stratonike decided to delay making the judgment, as she knew Kallisto's tendency not to give in to core elements, and Stratonike fears that romance would be out of question, especially since Kallisto (and Stratonike herself) saw collapses of two superpower because of it. Kallisto would have said "Why keep holding on this nonsense? We should get rid of it, by force and inquisition if necessary," and this troubled Stratonike.

Stratonike relaxes much more in the Attalid household, accompanying them in their frequent visits to the dance club, as well as taking breaks more frequently. Later when Kallisto establishes the idea of Initiate households to house the initiates, Stratonike decides to take Kallisto's counteroffer and moves in, returning to the Union of the insane, knowing the potential consequence of the move.



Trivia

 * There is an actual Stratonike of Pergamon who is incidentally the wife of Eumenes II (who himself incidentally has a representative sim in the Fanon), but this Stratonike is not in any means a portrayal of this Stratonike (after all, Stratonike of Pergamon wasn't of Attalid blood), nor is this sim an representative of any Stratonike's in history and certainly not a representation of Stratonike of Syria.
 * Stratonike's mastery of sculpting is an ode to the Stratonike of Pergamon, who has 2 statues in her honor placed in Pergamon and Delos, as well as an tribute to Damophon who made a statue of Stratonike of Pergamon free of charge.
 * Current Stratonike looks different from the original end product Stratonike: most notable adjustment include more upward position of the chin that makes the current one look less haggish, and the current Stratonike uses the same hairstyle as Hyperia, while originally it was the A-cut bob.
 * Despite the general positivity towards Simbots, only Stratonike and Kallisto successfully built one, although Hyperia and Parthenope has the parameters required to do the quest, and Kallistrata also being able to build one as a virtue of being a Kallisto clone.