#and i appreciate a lot about this author and their committment to their work | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

boop-le-snoot · 4 years

Text

PARTY FAVOURS | CHAPTER 1

Rating: Explicit. 18+

‼️TW: Reader is EIGHTEEN! Recreational drug use, smoking and alcohol consumption, deeply internalised self-loathing, very questionable moral standards. Daddy kink taken half-seriously. BDSM themes in later chapters - explicit content will come with it's own TWs. FIRST PERSON POV.

Summary: You're Peter's classmate, a child of rich and famous but uncaring parents. Getting paired up for a lengthy project with the boy was an interesting turn of events and you don't know whether to feel blessed or cursed when you develop, seemingly, a perfectly normal, harmless crush on Tony Stark. Fueled by feelings of inadequacy and boredom, your life spirals out of control - and you're lucky your newfound friends are there to pick up the pieces even if you cannot find it in yourself to believe these amazing human (and not so human) beings voluntarily give you more than a fleeting glance and an offhanded thought. And they brought cake!

A/N: Bad girls are sad girls! Always wondered what goes through the mind of a spoiled, rich but intelligent and perceptive teenager? Have you found yourself craving that adrenaline rush, the danger of a forbidden fruit? Okay. That was cheesy as hell. Gross.

Let's try again. Sarcasm? Check. Vine references? Hell yes! Crude humour? Check. Blunt honesty? Double check. We're living in a Lana del Rey song, ladies.

The author doesn't actually condone codependent relationships in real life. This is a filthy little fantasy. Enjoy, deviants.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub @mostly-marvel-musings

Beta read by the lovely and patient @miscmarvelwritings ! She deserves all the love 💙

Pining. I was pining after Stark and it made me upset. I thought I was better than that. Better than acting the part of a lovesick puppy, begging for scraps of attention- a kind word, a pat on the shoulder, a blanket thrown over me in my sleep. Even if he was my Mount Olympus, I wasn't exactly on board with starting the whole damn journey in the first place.

Most of all, I hated being a cliché. I tried my best to avoid showing how I felt and with time, I think I excelled at it. I am really good with things if I really put my mind to it. Was it a blessing, or was it a curse? Only the future will tell. I try not to think about it, as I prefer not to stress out too much. Peter was the anxious kid and I was the calm one. I was the Ying to his Yang. He flipped his shit often and I always calmed him down and cleaned up after him. No complaints there, Pete is pure and precious and I would kill everybody and then myself if he actually got hurt.

I'm only a year older than him and that year feels like an uncrossable bridge to me. We get along like a house on fire and I delight in the way he starts smiling when we're paired together for a project. Deep inside I'm sure he thinks of me as one of his best friends, his homies but-and there's always a but-I can't reciprocitate that. He goes to decathlon after school with his wholesome BFF duo, I go to a local dive bar with a fake ID I'd made sometime when I was about 15.

Peter has everything I wish I've ever had. Good for him. I'm not going to mess that up, no matter how much my angst demands I throw a tantrum and become, like, a supervillain or something.

I banter, instead. I chit-chat. I laugh and I repeatedly make a joke out of myself. Nobody suspects a thing, and I'm not surprised. People always see what they want to see. I've been the weird loner since middle school. Not the sad kind, of course, my pride wouldn't let me. I'm too good at things to be completely ignored. Teachers adore me, the event planning committee approaches me every year with tentative pleas for advice. The list goes on and on; what they don't understand is that it's just High School. Another year and I'll be out of there and nobody will be wiser.

I feel like a liar every time I'm excited. Because I'm not that - I don't care about their stupid field trips or collaborative projects. My mind is five steps and two hops ahead of that bullshit. It has to be or I just won't make it in the world.

"Parker-pen, Mr. Stark. G'day, sirs," I nodded, entering the lab, looking straight ahead. They both were hunched over... Something vaguely mechanical and I was terribly, horribly hungover. Saturday night was Science night but I'd gone to bed around 2PM after a party ran way too late.

"Hi," and "Powerpuff girl," came from them respectively, and they didn't even lift their heads.

I wondered if I could just skedaddle and leave them to their big brain time. "Is this a bad time? I can come tomorrow instead," I immediately regretted speaking, even to my own ears my voice sounds scratchy.

"No, actually, Dr. Ban-Bruce-wanted to talk to you," Peter mumbled out half-coherently. Tony kept ignoring me and I was fine with that. The less temptation I have the less trouble there will be.

"I'm not playing with his zucchini again," I groaned, causing the intricate pile of metal to squeak sadly as Pete tripped over his own damn body, jostling the prototype in the process. I could have sworn the room got several degrees hotter from the boy's blush alone.

Tony cackled, shuffling away from the newly ruined prototype. "He won the damn contest, you should've seen the judges faces," The engineer's grin threatened to split his face in half. I poked at my phone in muted interest. "Hold up, Friday has a recording. I definitely recorded the thing."

A holo-screen popped up. Tranquil scenes of a local fair, gourds and other assorted vegetables of various grotesque sizes were scattered throughout the square. An unmistakable mop of curly greying hair posed proudly next to a zucchini half the size of Hulk - I was fairly certain genetically engineering the plant was cheating and warned him so but somehow Banner managed to persuade the judges into letting him participate, and ultimately win, the competition for the Biggest Zucchini. Some of them were quite shocked at the size of that thing and well - well, their glances were quite contemplative to say the least.

"Damn, Tony, that blonde chick's face tells me all I need to know," I gave a lopsided smirk in the engineer's general direction. That was our thing, you see? He called me these ridiculous cutesy nicknames and asked me about getting my nails done or going to the mall and I'd make salacious comments and go on an occasional flirtatious spree. That was comfortable. We both enjoyed making Peter blush and giggle like the little schoolboy that he was.

"Our Brucie bear is a freak, don't let him tell you any different, Princess," Tony winked at me.

"Oh, I know all about it, Tones," I suggestively wiggled my eyebrows. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Peter groan and palm his face. I briefly bumped my knuckles to Tony's outstretched hand and made my way to the adjacent lab that hosted the second resident crazy scientist.

"Bruce?"

"Oh, hi there, come on in," He smiled warmly at me and I relaxed, shrugging off the tension in my limbs that seemed to appear every time Tony was around me. Banner's soft, friendly nature always made me feel welcomed and appreciated.

We made small talk as I threw on a lab coat and some protective glasses and discarded my bag in the far corner, away from any possible explosions. I congratulated him on his recent victory - here is when I say that despite what most will say, Banner has a serious competitive mean streak and isn't afraid to get down and dirty when it comes to matters of his personal pride.

That's what makes us alike, I think. I have too much dignity and self-respect to walk around Tony with stars in my eyes and hang around his neck like yesterday's tie.

The quiet, even pace of doing lab work made me completely lose track of time. Some time passed as I felt the crick in my neck become noticeable, and the deep ache in my calves from standing and dancing yesterday worsened. I hopped onto the nearest table, hunched over a tablet, eyes skimming over research articles - most of it didn't register at all in the wake of a dull throb behind my temples. My hair limply hung over my face - I had to wash it to get rid of the stench-hard liquor and cigarettes - but I was way too lazy to style it properly.

I ignored the swaying strands until a large palm gently tucked them behind my ear, a white lab coat coming into my field of view. "You okay?" Banner's quiet voice interrupted my reading. I lifted eyes enough to see he was wearing a dorky button-up in some gross shade of blue under the lab coat. His eyes were affectionate behind thinly rimmed glasses.

"Rough Friday night?" He questioned.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I'm hungover as fuck." There was no point in hiding the obvious; I'm sure the bags under my eyes already had tattled on me.

He chuckled, too, leaning his hip against the table, one broad arm coming to wrap around me in a hug. Usually he wasn't so touchy-feely; but I wasn't complaining. Banner was really, really warm. "I'll spare you the lecture on underage drinking," He said with another chuckle.

"Yeah, it's pretty pointless. You'd be three years too late."

A deep sigh left him, both of his arms wrapping around me in a comfortable embrace. I rested my chin on his shoulder, trying my best to really avoid showing how touch-starved I was. I was a hundred percent sure they all figured out my family life was difficult; the last thing I needed was their pity.

"Y'know, we should sit down and talk someday," He said after a brief moment of hesitation. "About your future. College, maybe?"

I gave a non-committal hum, basking in the warmth of the hug, staring straight ahead with unseeing eyes - behind the glass divide, I could faintly distinguish Tony's and Peter's shapes, still bent over that bench the pile of metal.

"You have a lot of potential," Banner continued, his tone developing a gently admonishing hint. "I understand if you want to take some time off from your studies but I'd rather you succeed and not let all that potential go to waste," He finished, patting me on the back with a gentle hand.

I tried not to preen under his touch. "Are you attempting to guilt-trip me over a party, doctor Banner?" I teased him, expecting the smile that I felt being hidden by my hair. Sometimes I felt that I could read the man like an open book, he was so earnest about his interactions.

"I just - we want you to stay safe, okay? Don't blow your future for a little bit of fun," He shrugged carefully.

"Okay, Bruce," I simply replied, meaning it this time

He kept hugging me, running his hand over my back absentmindedly. Probably thinking about his recent science bender. I wasn't upset: my own brain tended to get tangled in personal projects, too. I had only one complaint and it was that the cuddle was making me sleepy.

I yawned, startling the man. Pulling away from the hug wasn't really an option. He was broad and quite strong, probably courtesy of the Hulk and radiation in his blood.

"Why don't we put you in a guest room for tonight?" He inquired and I nodded. "Call your parents for me, okay?"

"My mother is in Vancouver for the week and I doubt she would care anyway," I rolled my eyes. "She's in the middle of some shitstorm with OsCorp and their marketing department." If anything, I was grateful my mother was preoccupied with her job. Being around her was like hanging out on top of an iceberg in the far end of the ocean.

I felt Bruce's frown. His body tensed briefly, blink and you'll miss the hunch of his shoulders. "What about your dad?"

I cringed. "He's been in Ibiza since the season opened, no doubt snorting miles of coke and... " I hesitated. "You can guess the rest."

My dad was kind of a dick, but I don't blame him at all for being the way he is. My parents have been married for twenty years. They were happy, once - I saw their college pictures with my mother's bright smiles and bushy hair, and my dad's terrible fashion sense and their dog, a funny little runt with an atrocious name. Then mother had me and for a while, they were happy too, but it lasted about until she landed her first prospective job. Kind of cliché.

Bruce sighed again. "Okay. You hungry?"

"No, I'm not going near food until tomorrow. Nu-uh," I fake-retched next to his ear, making Bruce shiver and playfully pinch my side.

"It'll help with your hangover. Doctor's advice."

"You're not even that kind of doctor," I laughed, very gently poking him back, somewhere around his stomach. He squirmed.

"I have seven PhDs," Bruce smiled as he rested his chin on top of my head as he adjusted his torso to prevent my fingers from reaching his ticklish spots. I poked him again in retaliation, fully enjoying the snort and squirm I caused. Soft™. "Let's go get you settled in," Bruce, seemingly without any difficulty, picked me up, propping me against his hip like a toddler. It probably looked awkward but what the hell, I haven't been carried around since I can remember myself. My legs wrapped around his hips for balance, butt resting on his forearm.

"You're a showoff," I couldn't help but snort, getting a lopsided smirk in return.

He made his way over to the elevator with me dangling and examining my nails in an expectant fashion. Tony's jokes aside, I really enjoyed getting them done and weird colors were a quest of entertainment for me. I obviously couldn't have them very long because I worked in a lab so I chose outrageous prints and decorations instead. This week, each of my nails had a different style - thankfully my aesthetician was professional enough to make it look somewhat put together even if it took a good chunk of my allowance and an hour long Uber ride to get to her salon.

I noticed the dimmed lights in Tony's lab and none of Peter's usual mess scattered on the tables, figuring he'd already left. Stark himself stood propped against a table, watching something, smoothie in hand.

For only a brief moment, I let my eyes rake over his body, his beautiful, sculpted physique hugged by a pair of fitted jeans and an old Led Zeppelin tee. Tony's handsomeness wasn't obvious, it wasn't in-your-face kind of appearance like Captain America's, but the engineer was built sturdy and his arms - the only bare part of him - were riddled with scars. He used his strong, bulky body for work.

I turned away before I got too ahead of myself. Bruce smelled like lab equipment and rubbing alcohol, something that made me sober up and snap out of my daydream before Stark took notice and started teasing me about ogling him. My once-over lasted barely three seconds yet with Tony's genius, I always had to be on my toes.

I saw movement in my peripheral. Banner waved before entering the elevator - at Tony, probably, so I looked back, seeing the man watching us, content replaced with a contemplating frown. I waved at him, resting my cheek on Bruce's shoulder. "Tony's having a big mood," I noted quietly in the scientist's ear.

"You know Tony," Bruce sighed, adjusting his hold on me as the car ascended to the housing floors. "His brain runs a mile a minute and he can't make sense of it for the biggest part. Give him some time and he'll be back to his annoying self."

I didn't see Tony as annoying in any way, but then again, I was severely biased. The billionaire was quirky venturing into absurd but also clever and brilliant.

We had reached our destination and Bruce carefully set me down on my feet once the door to my room was open. A large queen bed, TV and another door to an adjacent bathroom. It was really simple but luxurious nonetheless - I had the exact same carpet at home, having heard my mother bitch about it's cost after seeing me spill soda on it way too many times.

"I'll let you get settled in. Ask Friday if you need something," Bruce awkwardly shuffled his feet, taking off his glasses and briefly examining them before putting them back on again. "Breakfast here is on the 74th floor starting around 7AM, someone will probably get you around nine if you sleep in," He finished, giving a shy tilt of his lips.

"Thanks, Brucie-bear," The nickname easily slipped from my lips. I didn't resist the urge to hug the kind scientist, quickly wrapping my arms around his middle, delightfully sighing when he immediately returned the gesture.

"Good night, Princess," I had to suppress a happy squeak when the man kissed my forehead before retreating and closing the door behind himself. A quick shower and a quest to find a power outlet to plug my charger into preceded my less than graceful flop into the bed. It felt like sleeping on a cloud, honestly, it had nothing on my mother's orthopaedic memory foam mattresses. I passed out faster than I’d ever had.

#Bun writes #party favours #Tony Stark x y/n #Tony Stark x reader #Bruce Banner x reader #Bruce Banner x y/n #Stephen Strange x reader #Stephen Strange x y/n #We're going to Hell y'all

260 notes · View notes

zestyq · 3 years

Text

The Flavours Of Life - A Sims 4 Legacy Challenge

Sims tend to have a lack of personality. A lack of flavour. But I'm here to fix it. Are you tired of sims challenges either being too short or having wayyy too many goals to incorporate your own creative freedom? Then read ahead!

General rules;

1 - No cheats and cheaty mods. Sims tends to get boring if you cheat money, careers and skills. 2 - This challenge is about having freedom and being flexible. So feel free to edit some of the generation rules for your liking in your playthrough. 3 - Stick to a normal or long lifespan. 4 - Design your sims with the general colours/styles of the generations. 5 - The whole point of this challenge is to have fun so if you don't think you're going to enjoy a gen, skip it!

Generation One, Vanilla;

New town, new life and new opportunities. You grew up with privilege and have never had to work for yourself. Until one day, your parents pass away suddenly and you find they left nothing to you in your will. In a rags to riches style, you have to build yourself up from nothing. Eventually, you gain back your white picket fence lifestyle and marry, then have kids. You care for and love your kids - you want the best for them. But one day you make a grave mistake...

Traits: Materialistic, Snob and Perfectionist.

Aspiration: Succesful Lineage.

Career: Your choice, excluding high intensity jobs.

-Max out a career of your choice.

-Have at least two kids.

-Master parenting and whatever skill(s) correspond with your job.

- Complete at least half of your aspiration

- Have a one night stand with an evil sim, get pregnant and lie to your partner that it's their child.

Generation two, Strawberry;

You've always seemed so sweet and... charming. So charming you can practically manipulate anyone into liking and trusting you. Okay let's face it - you're evil. (I wonder who you got that from). You've been married so many times it's hard to count. It's a shame your relationships never work out. Although you'd prefer to commit crimes all day, you have a reputation to uphold. So you buy a bakery! Some say the special ingredient is love. You know it's much more sinister.

Traits: Evil, Romantic and Foodie.

Aspiration: Serial Romantic.

Career: Baking Business.

-Have a pristine reputation.

-Have multiple of your wives/husbands die under "suspicious circumstances" and take their money

-Have at least a three star business.

-Master the Baking, Charisma and Mischief skills.

Generation three, Bitter;

Growing up your parental figures came and went. Nothing was permanent. Which is why you guess stability never come easy to you. The only thing that remained consistent throughout your life was your hatred of your parents. As a teen or young adult you run away from home at the dead of night and start a new life. With no set goals or plans in your life you jump quickly from one thing from another. You live all over the globe during your life but you finally settle down in the tropical Sulani. Oh, did I forgot to mention you hate children?

Traits; Non-Committal, Hates children and Self-Absorbed.

Aspiration: Beach Life

Career: Any four careers + a term or so of uni.

-Reach level 2 of four careers.

-Go to uni for a degree but drop out sometime during the first term.

- Max two skills and reach level five in another.

-Get pregnant by accident and have twins. (You may cheat)

-Have maxed out hate for at least one parent.

-Get a Nanny for your children.

Generation 4, Salt OR Pepper;

(During this generation you get a choice as who you will play as)

Option 1 - Pepper,

You and your twin sibling have always been polar opposites but that doesn't mean you can't be close! You were always the rebellious one. Sneaking out to parties, underage drinking and hiding your soulmate in your room. Whatever you were doing it certainly wasn't something good. At school you never tried and got an F Grade at high school. But when P.E came around... you were the star of the show. Sports was your natural calling. And after a long day of exercising, you liked to help yourself to a drink.

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Active, Hot-Headed.

Aspiration: Soulmate.

Career: Bodybuilder Branch of the Athlete Career

-Max the fitness and mixology skill

-Complete the Soulmate aspiration.

-Reach level ten of the athlete Bodybuilder Branch

-Have an alternative style for the majority of your life.

-Have max friendship with your twin.

-Meet your soulmate as a child and stay together forever.

Option 2- Salt,

You and your twin have always been close friends but that didn't stop you from feeling jealous of their perfect relationship. During school you always had your head in a book and at the library one day you meet someone to love. But it didn't work out. For a lot of your life you were stuck in a loveless relationship that ended in divorce and kids to look after. You wrote romance novels in hopes that one day the stories would come true and you'd find that special someone to call your "soulmate". And eventually, you do! In the last years of your life you meet your special someone...

Traits: Romantic, Gloomy and Bookworm.

Aspiration: Bestselling Author.

Career: None. You can only get money by self-publishing books.

-Max out the writing skill and logic skill

-Complete the Bestselling Author aspiration

-Meet your first love at the library during "Book Club"

-Have a divorce as an adult.

-Have max friendship with your twin

-Marry "the one" as an elder

Generation 5, Spicy:

Growing up you always wanted to be the centre of attention. You always had a fiery and unpredictable personality. Sometimes you'd fabricate stories just so your parents would feel bad for you. As you got older, nothing changed. You became a famous actor. People around the globe loved you and the roles you'd play. One night you spot a paparazzi and the flirtations began. At first you thought it'd be nothing; you were used to pretending to like someone. As the night progressed, you and the paparazzi hooked up and a child was conceived. Terrified of what the public would say you quit acting, become a stay at home parent and marry the paparazzi.

Traits: Self-Assured, Ambitious and Erratic.

Aspiration: Master Actor.

Career: Actor, Stay at Home Parent.

-Master the acting and cooking skill.

-Reach at least level 5 in the acting career.

-Complete at least half of the acting aspiration.

-Marry a paparazzo.

-Become a three star celebrity.

Generation 6, Orange:

You always knew your parent loved you but you could tell they'd rather be famous and living a life of luxury. They signed you up for drama club in the hopes you'd fulfil their dreams but you'd rather be playing with your doll family at home. Babies. Something about them was so cute to you. You grew up and had a large family. You managed to balance work and family perfectly. You gave your children full unconditional love and they returned it. Despite being unwanted as a child, you made sure your children felt belonging. One day it all changed. One of your children passed away in a fire and you were distraught. But you wouldn't let them be forgotten; every week you made at least one painting dedicated to them.

Traits; Creative, Family Oriented and Paranoid.

Aspiration; Big Happy Family.

Career; Painter.

-Master the painting skill.

-Complete the Big Happy Family aspiration.

-Make at least one painting a week after your child passes.

-Have 5 or more children.

-Attend drama club as a child.

Generation 7, Sour:

Your childhood was fairly uneventful. Except from the fire incident... But you don't talk about it. You prefer life to have a kick to it. You spend your life seeking danger. Some days you'll be climbing the treacherous Mt.Komorebi, others you'll be exploring the ancient tombs of Selvadorada. Whatever you're doing it's sure to be fun. For a while you settle down and have a child but as soon as the child is old enough to journey with you - it's back to the thrill. Life doesn't wait. Neither do you.

Traits; Adventurous, Loves Outdoors and Slob.

Aspiration; Jungle Explorer

Career; None. You sell fossils and artifacts.

-Max the Seladoradian culture and archaeology skill.

-Complete the Jungle Explorer aspiration.

-Reach the top of Mt.Komorebi.

-Have a child with a Seladoradian Native.

Generation 8, Sweet:

You grew up in a wild family. You often went on wild journeys with your parent but you didn't really want to live that life. Music was your passion. Anything musical was perfect to you. Through joy, sorrow and hope you played music. You became an entertainer and married your co-worker. You sang soft lullabies to your children when they cried and serenaded your partner when things were getting romantic. After a long days work, you come home and see your partner in bed... with the maid! Do you forgive and forget? Or do you divorce?

Traits; Music-Lover, Good and Jealous

Aspiration; Musical Genius

Career; Entertainer

-Max out two instrument skills and singing.

-Max out the entertainer career

-Donate to charity once a week.

-Adopt two children from less fortunate homes.

-Catch your partner cheating on you

FYI;

This challenge is my first one so please don't hate. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Also this challenge is loosely based off of the not so berry challenge by lilsimsie. Go subscribe to her :)

#sims 4 #sims 4 challenge #ts4 #gaming #pack #challenge

22 notes · View notes

mirrinbelde-shitposts · 3 years

Note

I think aqua mercury

Iniyials:D.S

Hey!^^ Welcome to your reading. Please remember to send feedback.

First impressions when looking at your chart: 1st house stellium, two planets in an anaretic degree, bucket chart shape with Saturn being the focal point.

SUN IN PISCES

Pisces is the oldest sign of the Zodiac. The fact that your Sun is placed in this sign may imply that you've learned the lessons of all the other signs, which could make it easier for you to manifest the Sun's traits. It is a Sun sign often more concerned with others, rather than the self, perhaps due to being the last in the Zodiac. You're probably quite intuitive and dreamy, ethereal, even. Caring, sensitive and compassionate are words that are often attributed to this Sun sign as well. However, I've noticed that, along with Cancer, these natives often serve as the "therapist" friend. Nothing wrong with that, but, due to their nature, they can soak people's negative energies, which may severely affect their sensitive personalities. You should take care to balance the amount of time spent around these sorts of people; don't let others dump their traumas on you unannounced. You're quite the idealist, and your creativity is out of this world. You're probably very spiritual (astrology or other subjects).

SUN IN THE 1ST HOUSE

The 1st is the house of the self. It is ruled by Aries, the sign of exaltation of the Sun; therefore, it is a positive house for it. It balances nicely your Pisces Sun. Here, you acquire that optimism, confidence and positive self-esteem that Pisces isn't great at providing. It also makes it so that your personality is quite easy to perceive; in other words, your Sun shines brightly. This placement can grant you popularity and make you stand out in a crowd. Unlike Pisces, the Sun placed here could lend you that sense of leadership and taking initiative. However, like Aries Sun, you could, if you haven't developed the placement, show tendencies of egoism and vanity.

MOON IN LIBRA

Your Moon is in Virgo, although it's at the anaretic degree; therefore, it also takes traits from Libra. As a Virgo Moon, you should try to find activities that allow you to be occupied and to do good, which allows you to avoid thinking too much. Failure is a fear of yours. You can truly be your own enemy. You need to understand that there is no such thing as perfection in the universe and that you yourself are no different. There is a tendency to rationalize your feelings; know that to feel is to be human.

With Libra being so close, you may acquire some of its traits. You may shy away from confrontation and seek balance in every area of life.

MOON IN THE 8TH HOUSE

This placement goes well with your Pisces Sun, in the sense that it strengthens your interest in the occult and secret. It is a karmic position for the Moon; perhaps you have a very strong relationship with your mother. Additionally, it ties in with the idea of Libra's desire to find someone who balances you. You seek someone with whom you can form a deep emotional bond, someone with whom you can be vulnerable and share your secrets. It is also a good position for therapists because it allows you to connect well with people's feelings and needs.

MERCURY IN PISCES

Mercury is in detriment in Pisces. Whereas Mercury is all about rationality and logic, Pisces prefers to be creative and emotional. Therefore, your speech is very connected to your feelings and ideas. Once again, you're intuitive, but your rapid thoughts may cause your speech to be fragmented and incoherent. You may speak in a vague or poetic way. Daydreaming is a coping mechanism, so you may have trouble connecting to Earth. You may also struggle with other people's criticism.

MERCURY IN THE 1ST HOUSE

Placed here, you gain ease of putting your thoughts into words. You are curious and love to learn and may be versed in many different fields of knowledge. Talking to people is important to you. These abilities of yours may be quite important in your career, as networking is crucial to advance in any field. Open-mindedness and analytical thinking are other traits you may possess. However, you may be prone to distracting yourself with anything around you. Work on your attention span, it is important.

VENUS IN AQUARIUS

Here we have the second planet at an anaretic degree. In love, you are probably drawn to intellectual, quirky people. Aquarius Venus is known to be quite flighty and non-committal. That is just a stereotype. You can actually fall in love a lot; however, you may think that, more often that not, pursuing crushes isn't worth it. If you do decide that the relationship should be given an opportunity, you can be one of the most loyal and caring lovers. You want a partner who understands you and who won't judge you for being "different". Nevertheless, your personal space is important to you and your partner must respect your independence. You hate to be told what to do and how to think. Being friends first is probably something you value a lot. Like Virgo Venus, you should try to be less rational sometimes.

The proximity of Pisces may give you that ease of feeling and empathy that Aquarius doesn't have.

VENUS IN THE 1ST HOUSE

Here, Venus grants you a general sense of a harmonious, charming, alluring individual. You may focus a lot on the artistic and beautiful. You are probably someone who desires to connect and help everyone. However, you may struggle with accepting and loving yourself, which may cause you to "fish" for compliments from others. Loving yourself is essential. Additionally, you could use your charm and beauty to manipulate, even if you do so unconsciously. Finally, you may lack assertiveness and determination sometimes, which may lead to laziness and just waiting for good things to come your way.

MARS IN CAPRICORN

Mars is exalted in this sign. This is generally a good placement: Mars is about action and Capricorn is quite a determined sign. Your goals and ambitions are quite important to you; you have a natural way to achieve them because of your hardworking, disciplined nature. You set concrete objectives and deadlines for yourself and you usually achieve them. The downside is that you can be cold and detached. Aditionally, you have a deep desire of recognition. You love to work on your goals, but you also want to feel appreciated and that your work is meaningful. Usually quite in control of your emotions.

MARS IN THE 12TH HOUSE

This can be a difficult placement. On one hand, Mars can manifest in an unstable way, tricked by Neptune. Your emotions can be bottling up inside you and no one would ever know, until you explode. Something else that comes to mind regarding this placement is how you can spend too much of your energy thinking about how you can improve yourself; on the other hand, something can occur that makes you shift onto someone or something else. It is a bit paradoxal. I also associate this placement with people who go through situations of great importance, but whose outcomes may be tragic. You need a great deal of courage to deal with the challenges that life throws at you, which aren't few or small.

JUPITER IN LIBRA

You seek harmony and happiness. With your attuned sense of justice, you are the right person to find middle ground between two polar opposites. You draw a very clear line between what is right and what is wrong. You probably have good taste in just about everything. Relationships are important for your spiritual growth; however, your excellent and fair sense of justice does not apply to relationships. You may get into partnerships that seemed perfect at first but then disappoint you. Additionally, take care not to wander from relationship to relationship. Being in retrograde, you may withhold your true thoughts and opinions out of fear of hurting the other person.

JUPITER IN THE 8TH HOUSE

Traditionally, Jupiter ruled Scorpio, which corresponds to the 8th house. A theme of this house is money, particularly other people's money, as well as inheritances. You may get lucky in this department, or you may marry someone who's extremely well-off. People may even trust you with their money. Jupiter's philosophical side offers you a good understanding of human nature and its deepest characteristics, as well as the occult and religious matters. Lastly, like all 8H placements, you strive to find a deep attachment to people. Beware of getting seduced into entering sketchy and dangerous situations, for the 8th is the house that rules everything dark and deadly.

SATURN IN CANCER

Saturn is in detriment here. You may feel a strong need of emotional safety, which could manifest as a fear of abandonment. There may also be some emotional blockages present that you struggle to overcome. Saturn retrograde, being the planet of Karma, may difficult your mission in life. You could be stuck on an unresolved trauma from a past life. This may be represented by a figure of authority in this life, perhaps your father. Instead of attempting to reconcile your past, try to accept the world changing around you. You may be too afraid to venture into the world and to open your heart; accept that it is part of life. Find people that give you that security, but don't pour out your entire soul to them; find a balance. Not everything can be kept in our hearts, but not everything should be shared, either.

SATURN IN THE 6TH HOUSE

You can feel responsible for other people, especially your coworkers, even if you struggle getting along with them. There's a need to serve, to be of use to others; you may find it hard to relax. You are quite organized, so you'd do well to make use of it. You could also be the type to help others in the way to their goals. However, you should also understand that, sometimes, you should just let go and go with the flow. Not everything in life is about hard work, routines or responsibilities. Find something that excites you; try some meditation. There may also be some health issues, perhaps you had them in your childhood. ⬛

#astrology #my stuff #game ask

8 notes · View notes

charismaandcashmere · 4 years

Link

In the modern world, it often seems like it’s harder than ever to accomplish your goals.

It seems like everyone has already done the thing you want to do — that your idea is already out there, that your niche is beyond saturated.

Want to start a blog? You’re up against a million rivals. Thinking about starting a podcast? So is everyone else and their mom. Hoping to write a book? With the advent of self-publishing, you’re not only up against authors approved by major publishing houses, but anyone, anywhere, with a laptop. Want to become a YouTube star? Better hope you get noticed next to the thousands of other folks uploading new videos every day.

There’s seemingly a million graphic designers, a million wannabe filmmakers, a million other, probably more qualified candidates gunning for the same job you want.

And that’s just in the marketplace. In your personal life, the competition can feel equally fierce. In the days of yore, you were just competing against people in your college or church to win the attention of a lady. Now you’re up against every Tom, Dick, and Harry on Tinder. The dating marketplace hypothetically stretches beyond your community to encompass your whole state, maybe even the whole country.

Yes, in both economic and personal spheres, demand seems high, and resources seem scarce. It’s enough to make you decide to give up and not try in the first place.

Yet this feeling of scarcity is just an illusion, a myth.

In truth, there’s never been a more opportune time to live. Not only because it’s never been cheaper and easier to write a book, share your art, or start a business, but because the average person’s ability to execute on the basics has never been in such short supply.

While opportunities to achieve your goals aren’t as scarce as you think, there are areas where true scarcity does exist: in common sense, in social skills, in manners, in reliability. There’s a dearth of people who know, or have the will, to do the stupidly easy stuff to be charming and successful.

Let me give you just one example. Both off the air and on, guests of my podcast will tell me, “I can tell you actually read my book before this interview and I really appreciate that. It’s so rare.” I don’t bring this up to toot my own horn, but rather to point out how ridiculous it is that this might even be something worthy of mention! An interviewer reading someone’s work before asking them questions about it would seem like the barest of bare minimum job requirements — a prerequisite rather than something above and beyond. And yet the majority of podcasters aren’t even taking care of this most basic of basics.

There are tons of people doing what you want to do, but how are they executing? In 90% of cases, not as well as they could be.

That’s your opening. And such openings are absolutely everywhere.

To take advantage of opportunities, people typically concentrate on stuff like building up their resume — going to the best school or getting the right internship. And certainly, these things can help.

But what’s missed is that it’s often doing stupidly easy stuff that’s going to allow you to make friends and land your dream job. It’s doing the stupidly easy stuff that almost no one else is doing that can most readily set you apart from the pack, and up for success.

What is some of that stupidly easy stuff? Below you’ll find a (non-exhaustive) list of the things it’s hard to believe people don’t do more often, and which have a huge ROI because most people can’t be bothered.

1. Send a thank you text when you get home from a nice party/date. In my opinion, this is the #1 easiest and best way to be a more charming texter. Yet almost no one does it. When someone has you over for dinner, or you take someone out on a date, once you part ways, they typically worry a bit as to whether or not you had a good time. And a party host wants to know their effort to throw the shindig was appreciated. So even if you thank your date/host in person at the end of the evening, once you get home, shoot them a confirming text saying, “Thanks again for the delicious dinner. We had such a good time!” Trust me on this, it’s stupidly, stupidly charming.

2. Write handwritten thank you notes, always and often. When an occasion was especially nice, instead of sending a text, write the person a handwritten thank you note and stick it in the mail. And send handwritten thank you notes for anything and everything else. Received a gift? Thank you note. Job interview? Thank you note. Someone helped you move? Thank you note. Someone went to bat for you at work? Thank you note.

Thank you note writing has become such a lost art, and receiving snail mail is so delightful, that sending handwritten appreciation has become one of the most effective ways to set yourself apart from the pack.

3. Edit your emails/texts before sending. No one ever catches all of the spelling and grammatical mistakes contained within their communications, but giving your texts and emails a couple reads before you hit send will tighten things up. These “clean” missives significantly contribute to making a winning digital impression.

4. Know how to make small talk. We spend so much time behind screens, that when we finally meet people face-to-face, our conversation can often be awkward and stilted. But being comfortable with small talk opens a tremendous amount of doors; sure, it starts out with the superficial, but it’s the on-ramp to deeper discussions — the pathway to relationships with potential lovers, new friends, and future employers. Fortunately, once you know the simple methodology that makes small talk flow, it’s easy to master.

5. Don’t be a conversational narcissist. Related to the above. The only kind of talk many people know how to make these days, is about themselves. Someone who knows how to listen and ask good questions comes off as stupidly charming.

6. Don’t look at your phone during a conversation. In an age of scattered attention, a person who can concentrate their attention on you, and fight the urge to look at their phone while you eat or talk — someone who can make you feel like the most important person in the room — is a charmer par excellence.

Can’t seem to pry yourself away? Check out our complete guide to breaking your smartphone habit.

7. Dress well for a job interview. You don’t have to show up to a job interview in a three-piece suit (unless the position calls for it); overdressing can make as poor a first impression as under-dressing. But showing up dressed just one notch above what current employees at the company wear will immediately set you apart from many other candidates. Well-shined shoes, a pressed shirt, and good hygiene will help too.

8. Come to a job interview prepared to ask questions of the interviewer. Whenever we post this article on “10 Questions to Ask in a Job Interview,” HR folks always weigh in with how “amazed” they are at the number of candidates who stare blankly when asked at the end of an interview, “Do you have any questions for us?” Know some questions to ask going in.

9. Take a woman on a real date. In a landscape of “What’s up”? texts and non-committal hang outs, taking a lady on a real date puts you head and shoulders above other suitors. What constitutes a real date? Watch this video and remember the 3 P’s: Planned, Paired Off, and Paid For.

10. Offer a sincere apology when you mess up. My generation seems to struggle with saying “I’m sorry” when they make a mistake. Numerous times I’ve had my order messed up at a restaurant, and when I bring it to the attention of the waiter or manager, they just shrug, say “Okay,” and fix it, without saying, “I’m sorry about that.” Then the other day an order of mine got messed up, and the manager took a totally different tack — comping my whole meal and bringing me a free dessert. That kind of treatment is so rare, it was unbelievably winning. I even found the manager after my meal to tell her so, and let her know I would specifically make an effort to return because of her gesture.

As it goes in the restaurant biz, so it goes with everything else. Most of your fellow employees will just say “Okay” when an error is brought to their attention. Offering a sincere apology that demonstrates you take responsibility and understand where you messed up and how it affects the company, will easily set you apart (so will immediately trying to make it right and preventing it from happening again).

And in your personal life, apologizing when you stumble is stupidly endearing. You’ll probably mess up again, and often with the same issue, but even when you can’t completely overcome your flaws, showing you’re at least completely aware of them goes a long, long way.

11. Follow through. I get a lot of emails from guys who want to do something with the Art of Manliness, like write a guest article or strike up a business partnership. They are excited! They are passionate! They are…MIA. They never follow-up or follow-through on their idea. I’ve often wondered what happens between their excited initial email, and their descent into silence. But whatever it is, it can easily be avoided by those committed to following through.

12. Be reliable. No quality today can more readily set you apart from your peers than reliability. Doing the follow-through just mentioned. Showing up on time (and just plain showing up). Meeting deadlines. Managing expectations and not overpromising. Promptly responding to emails. Keeping your word.

Are freelance graphic designers, artists, video/audio editors, app developers, programmers, contractors, etc. a dime a dozen? Surely. But a reliable creative professional or handyman? A pink unicorn. If you couple talent and skill with reliability, it’s stupidly easy to dominate your competition and your niche.

When you survey the economic and dating markets, they can seem incredibly oversaturated. Demand seems high and resources seem scarce. But when you take a closer look, you’ll find that while there are plenty of people all grasping after the same thing, there are only a few executing well on the attempt. Setting yourself apart isn’t complicated or hard; it often involves simply doing the stupidly easy stuff that everyone else overlooks.

Their obtusity is your gain; see through the myth of scarcity, take care of the basics, and the world is your oyster.

#my links #art of manliness #etiquette #the myth of scarcity

123 notes · View notes

gayregis · 4 years

Note

what are your feelings about geralt and yennefer? either book or game or netflix or all of them?

books

i agree with most canon*. it’s a good relationship that sapkowski put a lot of effort into developing and writing over the course of all of the short stories and the saga, so i think it tends to get more attention just because the author gave it more attention. i think it’s pretty incredible that geralt and yennefer have this deep relationship without even seeing each other in-person for basically half of the short stories and half of the saga, sapkowski did some interesting things to make that happen, but it ends up working.

i appreciate how geralt and yennefer are two very vulnerable people with issues relating to intimacy and letting others into their life, and they actually aren’t ready to have a relationship before they become more mature and understand what love actually means. imo, their journey to committment is a little too focused on monogamy and looking at relationships through that lense, but that is/was the viewpoint of the author at the time.

the major thing for geralt x yennefer as a ship for me is that i appreciate it in canon, whenever i read their romantic parts i feel it’s sweet, their moments in the end of the last wish, at thanedd, and the end of the assault on stygga castle are really moving and wonderfully written. i like how they speak about each other and feel about each other when they are apart. it’s something i can support and like, i feel a lot of this is tied to them being parents as well but it works overall.

something i also appreciate about them is how they’re really different from a lot of other m/f relationships. geralt isn’t fucking cruel, he acts like a human being and also has the capacity to apologize and act humble towards yennefer, being kind and caring so much about her feelings and what she wants. yennefer isn’t just a sex toy for geralt, she exists as her own person and is a very strong personality, but also isn’t cruel and doesn’t take him for granted. together, they really do care about one another.

BUT. even though i appreciate it in canon and in all of the parts i have read*. i literally can’t really ever think up my own thoughts or headcanons for them. and the reason for this that they never DO anything together in canon, asides from living together in vengerberg, going to thanedd, and participating in the fight at stygga castle. all they ever do TOGETHER as a couple is stay at home, go to a formal party, or fight for their fucking lives trying to escape the mad torture and grief wrought upon them and their daughter. in the other moments, they are just thinking about each other in loving manners, yearning, if you will, but whenever they are together it’s never an activity with potential for a story.

in my mind i HAVE to compare and contrast yennefer and dandelion and their respective relationships to geralt, just because they’re the two closest adults to him that he has in his life. the issue for me with geryennefer is that it doesn’t have potential like gerlion does. geralt and dandelion do all KINDS of fun, weird things together. mainly they go to festivals and bars, but they also just ride to different cities across the continent and explore, sometimes dandelion accompanies geralt on contracts, sometimes geralt has to meet dandelion in a place significant to him like oxenfurt. dandelion is constantly embroiled in other personal relationship drama. they actually DO a lot of things together, and these different scenarios are really interesting as a fan, because you can just think up unlimited things that they could have potentially done during all of these years. with geralt and yennefer, you can’t really do that because yennefer doesn’t travel, she has a house and a career and is a very esteemed and classy woman. in addition, this is just a personal preference it seems, but i never really get too involved in characters (and thus, ships with those characters in them) that don’t have an element of comic relief to them. geralt and yennefer can be in love, but i don’t know what kind of funny situations they might find themselves in, i don’t know what funny or wacky interactions they might have. and so it’s not all that interesting to me.

similarly, another thing i always compare and contrast geryennefer and gerlion on is that geralt and dandelion are so different. they’re entirely opposites. dandelion is very extroverted, flirty, gets into trouble, and has no issue with vulnerability or intimacy. geralt stays away from people because they despise him, he stays away from drama, and he’s not experienced with intimacy, he is insecure. they have a lot of friction there as two characters interacting with one another because of how different they are and the different lives they have had that influence who they are and who they might know, what they might like to do in a situation. in contrast to this, geralt and yennefer are very similar people. they both have a lot of issues with intimacy and vulnerability that makes them finding each other and developing with each other over the course of the series very compelling and interesting, but boring when you want to think of headcanons or new adventures and interactions for them to have. once they have developed their characters, they will stay developed. unlike with geralt and dandelion, where there will practically always be at the very least a little friction between them because they’re just so fundamentally different.

tl;dr: geralt and yennefer is a compelling and well-developed relationship in canon because sapkowski just poured his entire heart into developing them, they have many endearing moments together and develop their characters together and parallel each other in many ways; however, this means that they’re very similar characters and their goal as a couple is to finally be able to settle down, and that makes them lack potential as a ship to think about as a fan (in relation to thinking of new interactions for them or new situations for them to be in).

so as a fan who has ships, i have many many headcanons and ideas and fics in-progress (that i will never get around to writing) for gerlion, but basically nothing for geryennefer, which kind of sucks. but i also don’t disregard geryennefer as not canon or something like that, i just think that geralt can have both a boyfriend and a wife because i am disrespectful to sapkowski’s writing of yennefer as a possessive lover and his emphasis on monogamy as the ultimate commitment.

* obviously the shitty things that sapkowski did relating to consent in the last wish and something more (it’s basically canon that sorcerers/esses can hypnotize others into love and sex, but yennefer just chooses not to do this with geralt after the last wish because they Love Each Other Truly or something like this) should be retconned, just as i retcon the fact that geralt slept with barely-legal essi and shani, just as i retcon the off-color comments and jokes that got written for dandelion

games / cdpr

it’s... fine. yennefer got a major personality retcon and a lot of what cdpr says about their relaitonship doesn’t make sense and is pretty cringey, without much depth (apparently, they bonded over making witty puns...?) but it’s also a video game and we finally got to see yennefer and ciri in the witcher games franchise, which is a gift enough of itself, because they’re like, the most important people to geralt. cdpr has this weird infatuation with triss merigold and sexualizes her at every chance they get, her personality is incredibly different from the books, they basically made her really easy to wife up because she’s just very sweet and agrees with everything you say and loves you, so i am just glad that we have another option besides OOC triss.

but yennefer is also pretty OOC in a lot of parts, she has been rid of all of her character development from the series and even though she makes a lot of sacrifices for ciri, tw3 is incredibly reluctant to call her ciri’s mother, so what was the point of all of this. they also nerfed yennefer incredibly by making her hair salon curls instead of actually naturally curly, stormy hair, so that detracts from her entire character. the fact that she’s working with nilfgaard is just plain laughable and the fact that geralt is ok with this is even more laughable. there’s not even that much ship material between the two in the game and whatever there is is pretty cringey and base with no real depth or intimacy, so i cringe whenever i see a romantic gifset or something of them. it’s yawntown.

netflix

i despise netflix version of them because they’re incredibly boring and basic with pretty much every common major issue with depiction of a m/f relationship on screen: huge age cap between cavill and chalotra which is uncomfortable to watch because chalotra is only a few years older than freya allen who is meant to play ciri, geralt’s daughter..., they jump into romance and sex way too quickly (yennefer receives geralt in the midst of a huge orgy and is very seductive and sweet to him instead of zapping his ass with lightning and threatening to kill him, she also bathes in the same bathtub with him immediately instead of turning invisible to make a fool out of him), consent (geralt’s wish in their adaptation of the last wish wasn’t heard by yennefer, and in the end, he says “my plan worked,” which are three words pretty much no one wants to fucking hear after sex), weird homophobic joke upon meeting (yennefer says jaskier is “just a friend, [she] hope[s],” which is... it’s 2019 guys, come on), they argue for pure drama, geralt is sincerely mean to her (laughs at the idea of her being a mother), their intimate scenes are tasteless, they break up by the end of the series in the adaptation of the bounds of reason because geralt was mean to her...

there’s so many things i can’t even begin to list them all, but those are a few key ones. geralt is just a purely unpleasant character in netflix so he doesn’t deserve to be in love with anyone, and yennefer is such a basic and boring character with no sincere flaws or uniqueness that i can’t be interested in her at all. and together, they’re every heterosexual relationship that has ever existed.

#geralt #yennefer #i dont even have a ship tag for them just bc its not something i ever think about #ask #anon

29 notes · View notes

13reasonsinourstars · 4 years

Text

*♡*ﾟ゜ﾟ*♡*ﾟ゜ﾟ*♡*ﾟ゜ﾟ*♡*ﾟ

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ˚ ♡⋆｡˚ ♡

┊ ┊ ┊ ♡

┊ ┊ ♡

┊ ⊹ ♡

♡

╔═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════╗

Sims 4 Cocktail Challenge

╚═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════╝

Hello Again Tumblr!

I am back with another Sims 4 Challenge that I hope you will all enjoy. First off I can't believe how many challenges are already out there and how creative you all are, honestly I was shocked. Everything I thought of doing had already been done... Zodiacs, Flowers, Seven Deadly Sins, Planets... So I was left stumped trying to think of a new idea which hasn't already been done before. At least I don't think it has been done before. It may seem a bit unusual but I hope some of you guys give it a go and let me know if you had fun playing it or if it was a good idea. I tried really hard to create this so please don't be too harsh with me, I'm still new to all this 😅🤭

That being said, I would still love to create my ideas of the above challenges I mentioned, but I don't know if is an okay thing to do since they already exist. I would of course credit the original creators but I would love to release my versions into the world as well 😊

Anyway that is enough talking so let's just get on with the challenge.

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

This has the same set up as the 'Not So Berry Challenge' by 'lilsimsie' but other than that everything else is mine 😊

So let's begin shall we!

How the challenge works:

So there will be 10 generations and each one represents and is inspired by the ten most popular cocktails (according to Google 😂)

1. This is entirely optional but for extra fun you can add the colour of the cocktails into your sims - Either a full Berry Sim. Hair, Clothes, or Makeup containing the colours or even decorating the house in the inspired colours. It is completely up to you but I will include the colours next to each generation in case you guys want to do that.

2. Also optional but I will also include the country each cocktail was invented in if you guys also wanted to inspire your sims life/looks from that too.

3. You can live wherever you like unless stated.

4. Every generation must have at least level 5 skill in mixology, unless stated otherwise.

5. Every generation should complete all of their rules before moving on to the next one.

6. Some generations may include certain expansion packs but I will list them and you can tweak things however you like.

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

Generation One: Aperol Spritz

(Orange/Red Colour) (Originated in Italy)

You're a self-assured individual that has a job in the critic career. You really love the colour orange and you find a way to work the colour into every outfit you have. You are very ambitious but come across as a bit of a snob as well, enjoying only the finer things in life. You love luxury and you won't quit until you have reached your goal as an Art/Food Critic.

Traits: Self-Assured, Ambitious, Snob

Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy

Career: Critic (City Living Pack)

Rules:

. Master the Critic career and complete Fabulously Wealthy aspiration

. Master cooking and painting skills

. Have at least level 5 in Mixology skill

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

Generation Two: Mojito

(Green colour) (Originated in Cuba)

Growing up in a rich family and only having the best of things in life, you naturally became materialistic. Although you had everything you wanted as a child, you started to grow jealous of those around you who could do what they wanted and not have to worry about their reputation. After having everything and taking so much from the world, you decided to start giving back, joining the conservationist career and becoming vegetarian.

Traits: Materialistic, Jealous, Vegetarian (City Living Pack)

Aspiration: Freelance Botanist

Career: Conservationist (Island Living Pack)

Rules:

. Master the Conservationist career and complete Freelance Botanist aspiration

. Master gardening and logic skills

. Gain a good reputation

. Live by the sea or in green area

. Have at least level 5 in Mixology skill

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

Generation Three: Manhattan

(Auburn Colour) (Originated in New York)

After growing up by the sea and green nature, all your life you have wanted to escape to the city. Tall buildings, busy streets, loud venues... where do you sign up!? You are friendly to anyone you meet having growing up in a loving household, and outgoing in any situation. You love spending time with your friends and love to socialize and party. However, you stand up for what you believe in and always protest on the street and donate to charities. Like your parents, you want to help and make a difference too, just away from the seaside!

Traits: Good, Outgoing, Bro

Aspiration: City Native (City Living Pack)

Career: Politician (City Living Pack)

Rules:

. Master the Politician career and complete City Native aspiration

. Max out Charisma skill

. Always say yes to an invite from someone on the phone

. Have at least level 5 in Mixology skill

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

Generation Four: Margarita

(White Colour) (Originated in Mexico)

Moving to Mexico was all you ever dreamed of growing up. Leaving the city behind and experiencing a whole new culture was your life long dream. So first things first, you need to get away from the city life. You are outgoing like your Mother/Father, but wanted to work in the athlete career having been active since young. Being popular, you are happiest around your friends and in club gatherings.

Traits: Outgoing, Active, Insider (Get Together Pack)

Aspiration: Bodybuilder

Career: Athlete Career

Rules:

. Master the Athlete career and complete Bodybuilder aspiration

. Master the active and charisma skills

. Be in at least one club

. Have at least level 5 in Mixology skill

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

Generation Five: Espresso Martini

(Brown/Black Colours) (Originated in London)

Work hard, play hard is pretty much your mantra for life. You may be a mid-week workaholic, but as soon as night falls, you are a person gone wild. Your constant caffeine fix more than helps you keep up with the pack and by the end of the night you'll no doubt be the last one left on the dance floor. And hey! There's nothing wrong with an all black wardrobe.

Traits: Ambitious, Dance Machine, Insider (Get Together Pack)

Aspiration: Party Animal

Career: Culinary Career - Mixologist

Rules:

. Master the Mixologist career and complete Party Animal aspiration

. Must own a coffee machine

. Work in a coffee shop as a barista as a teenager

. Be in at least one club

. Max our Mixology skill

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

Generation Six: Whiskey Sour

(Peach/Orange Colours) (Orginated in Peru)

You inherited more of your Mothers/Fathers wild side and don't take life too seriously. Your young at heart and you live life spontaneously, wanting to enjoy the little things in life day by day. You have no idea what you want to do for a living but you are very adventurous and up for anything.

Traits: Outgoing, Non-Committal, Goofball

Aspiration: Beach Life (Island Living Pack)

Career: Freelancer

Rules:

. Master the Beach Life aspiration

. Have had three different jobs before settling in Freelancer career

. Discover 'The Forgotten Grotto' in Oasis Springs and 'Sylvian Glade' in Willow Creek.

. Have at least level 5 in Mixology skill

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

Generation Seven: Dry Martini

(White/Yellow) (Originated in New York)

Everyone has always said that you live in the past. As a kid you fell in love with old black-and-white movies and always dreamed or a classic love story like on screen. You are smart, mysterious, and have a way of catching people's attention, but you are looking for your one true love.

Traits: Genius, Romantic, Perfectionist

Aspiration: Soulmate

Career: Actor or Actress (Get Famous Pack)

Rules:

. Master Soulmate aspiration and Actor/Actress career

.Become a Global Superstar (Get Famous Pack)

. Watch a movie or an hour of TV everyday

. Must have full friendship with someone before starting a romantic relationship

. Have at least level 5 Mixology skill

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

Generation Eight: Daiquiri

(Yellow/Lime Colours) (Originated in Cuba)

You are a very introverted person so you love to spend your time alone or with a small group of close friends. However, that doesn't stop you from being strong and determined. You have a unique way of thinking and you won't stop until you have reached the top and have gained a position if authority and power.

Traits: Loner, Ambitious, Bookworm

Aspiration: Nerd Brain

Career: Law (Discover University Pack)

Rules:

. Master the Law career and Nerd Brain aspiration

. Only have a maximum of three friends (not including family)

. Read a book a day

. Have at least level 5 in Mixology skill

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

Generation Nine: Negroni

(Red Colour) (Originated in Italy)

You struggle to get along with a lot of people but you have a few close friends who share your interests. For some reason your mind is filled with random facts and knowledge on obscure topics, earning you the nickname 'human thesaurus'. You're witty, well-travelled and willing to spend big money on a good meal.

Traits: Glutton, Genius, Foodie

Aspiration: Renaissance Sim

Career: Culinary Career - Chef

Rules:

. Complete Culinary career and Renaissance aspiration

. Only befriend people you share at least one trait with.

. Discover all the foods from the food stalls (City Living Pack)

. Have at least level 5 Mixology skill

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

Generation Ten: Old Fashioned

(Brown Colour) (Originated in Kentucky)

You are just your average-joe, blending into the crowd and living life peacefully and quietly. You have an average 9-5 job and don't want much from life apart from a steady income and loving family. To be honest, there's nothing really special about you, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Like I said, just your average-joe. Although, some say your fashion sense is a little stuck in the past, but others just call it 'Hipster.'

Traits: Neat, Family-Oriented, Good

Aspiration: Big Happy Family

Career: Business

Rules:

. Master Business career and big happy family aspiration

. Attend university (Discover University Pack)

. Try to complete every whim

. Have at least level 5 Mixology skill

═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════

Okay so that's it for this challenge! You can tweak what you need to and I would really appreciate some feedback as I know it's slightly unusual but I worked really hard on it, so whatever you guys have to say, I would love to hear it.

Also I know there are many more cocktails out there, but this was just listed as the top ten most popular.

Please let me know if you try the challenge and also if you think it would be okay to create my own version of existing challenges as I really want to...its hard coming up with new ideas 😂

See you next time Tumblr! 👋

#sims 4 #sims 4 challenge #sims 4 legacy #gameplay #sims #challenge #legacy #tengen #generations #cocktails #13reasonsinourstars #mod #forum

5 notes · View notes

albapuella · 4 years

Text

How to Lose a Lover in 10 Days or Less: A Comprehensive Guide to Becoming a Future Romantic Failure (Chapter Two)

AO3

Fandom: Homestuck

Summary: How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days AU Dave needs to win a bet; Karkat needs to write an article. Shenanigans ensue.

Tags: Humanstuck, alternate universe - no sburb session, POV switches galore, implied/referenced child abuse Author’s note: This story is the result of a jam session I did with aceAdoxography on the davekat thirst federation discord server. This one's a little out of my usual wheelhouse, but I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. New chapters every Saturday/Sunday. Didn’t bother with the formatting this time: You want the fancy formatting, go to AO3 :D

Day 1:

Despite his slacker appearance (and life-style, to be honest), Dave was always punctual. He'd even made an effort to look the part of a guy going on a date with another guy: jeans with only a few holes at the knees, his favorite record shirt, and a red hoodie—all freshly cleaned. So freshly cleaned that the sweater was still very slightly damp. Well, whatever, it'd be fine. They were having dinner first, and that meant he'd have plenty of time for the thing to dry out before they went to the movies where the main thrust of Dave's doki-doki plan would commence.

Karkat arrived a few minutes later. He wasn't dressed to the nines, but it was at least to the sevens. It occurred to Dave, as he watched him approach, that he hadn't known how tall Karkat was. The answer was slightly shorter than Dave but with a more solid build. Stocky. Or maybe that was just the black sweater he was wearing. Then again, his legs looked pretty solid in the black pants he was wearing, too. Either way, he looked good.

Dave gave him an appreciative whistle which made Karkat's eyes narrow. Not the reaction he'd wanted. “Looking good, Karkat,” he said quickly, hoping to smooth over any feathers he might have inadvertently ruffled. “I'm digging the whole sexy college professor thing you've got going.”

“Uh, thanks,” Karkat said with evident disbelief. “You, uh, you look good, too.” He straightened up. “You said we were doing dinner first.”

“Yep.” Dave held out his arm. “I’m taking you to my favorite place. A lot of people think it’s wack, but I’m buying, so if you really don’t like it, at least it didn’t cost you anything.” When his date didn't immediately take his offered arm, he shook it invitingly. “It's not too far from here.”

Karkat looked from Dave's arm to Dave, suspicious. Then he sighed and laid his hand on Dave's arm, his hold tighter than Dave had expected it to be considering his earlier hesitation. “Okay. Fine. Sounds great. Let's go.”

---

The first thing Karkat noticed when he took Dave's arm was that his sleeve was damp. Then he noticed the feeling of the arm beneath his fingers. Despite looking thin enough to break, there was some muscle here. As they walked to what was apparently Dave’s favorite restaurant, Dave just kept talking. If Karkat had been offered a thousand dollars, he doubted he could have remembered any specific details of the inanity he'd been subjected to. A nervous talker. He'd have to put that down in his notes.

Dinner went much the same. Dave talked at him while Karkat sat there trying to eat his food (overpriced, faux Italian—of all the places Dave could have chosen, he'd picked a fucking Olive Garden? That was going in his notes, too.). In all honesty, Karkat tried not to pay too much attention to what was being said. First, he'd already determined that most of what came out of this man's mouth was completely meaningless nonsense, and second, if he actually listened to any of it, he'd be hard pressed not to respond to the idiocy. While Dave had no evident compunction about swearing, Karkat wanted to get through at least this first date without screaming.

All right, so that was an exaggeration. Some of what Dave said was actually pretty funny. In a hopelessly awkward sort of way. Karkat hated that Dave's clumsy compliments were making him blush. Clearly, the man had brain damage... which also explained the rapping that Dave kept doing (completely unprovoked!). By the time dinner was over, Karkat was only too grateful that their next destination meant that Dave would have to stop talking.

---

Since Dave had picked the restaurant, Karkat had picked the movie. Some romantic comedy chick flick Dave couldn't be bothered to remember the title of. Still, it gave him an opportunity to sit right tight next to Karkat and eat his weight in popped, buttery goodness, so he really couldn't complain.

“What’s the deal with that dude?” Dave whispered. “I thought he was already tight with that other chick. What gives? Is he cheating on her?”

Karkat made a noise like a cat being stepped on but softer. “Dave,” he whispered back, his tone full of the same sing-songy patient impatience that Rose would use when she thought Dave was being particularly dim, “if you were paying attention, you'd already know that that 'dude' is that 'other chick's' cousin. They are probably not romantically involved. I know you're from Texas, but that's not how it works above the Mason Dixon line.” Then he ducked his head and took a long drink from his soda. “Sorry. Just-just watch the movie and be quiet.”

Dave blinked. He'd been starting to think Karkat wasn't going to open up at all. At least, he'd had fuck all to say during dinner. Even if it had been an incest joke at his expense, it still was nice to hear Karkat say something. Something that wasn't just non-committal noises or unenthusiastic agreements. He leaned against Karkat's shoulder to whisper, “It's not true, you know. About Texas. We don't fuck our cousins; I mean, we do, but not first cousins. We're strictly second cousins only. It's a rule. Of course, none of my second cousins are as hot as you, so I'd be willing to make an exception. Just this once.”

This earned him a light elbowing to the gut and a low growl, but Karkat didn't push him off.

By the end of the movie, Dave had gotten five more elbows to the gut, three startled bursts of laughter, two creative insults (quickly joined by muttered apologies), and one “Will you please just let me watch this movie?” Over all, Dave felt like he'd succeeded in charming the hell out of this motherfucker, thank you very much.

They'd walked out into the open air, a nice breeze whisking away the smell of popcorn and sweat from the movie theater. “I had a lot of fun, Karkat. Thanks for coming on this date with me. Do you think we could do this again sometime?”

Karkat blinked at him, a clear look of surprise on his face. “Oh, uh, sure.” He shook his head. “I mean, yes, I'd love to go on another date with you.”

Dave's heart leapt. “Awesome. You can hit me up on Pesterchum. Or I can hit you up. How about I hit you up?”

“Fine, that's... that's fine.” Karkat's smile seemed uneven. “I'll be looking forward to it.”

Although Dave was tempted to try for a kiss, he didn't think he ought to press his luck so far on the first date. Karkat had loosened up some while they'd been in the theater, but out here under the streetlight, he looked nervous again. The last thing Dave wanted to do was chase him away. “Okay then. I guess I'll see you later?”

A slow nod. “Yeah, later.” Karkat was stilted and contained again. Restricted, like a hermit crab stuck in a shell that was too tight. It wouldn't do. It wouldn't do at all. Dave had caught a few glimpses of the real Karkat tonight, and the sight made him hungry to see more.

Dave watched him walk away, admiring the view with a new goal in mind: he was going to get Karkat Vantas out of his shell if it was the last thing he did. Getting to rub him in Rose’s face at her wedding was only going to be a bonus.

---

* Never shuts up. Not even during movies. Especially during movies. Attention span of a gnat. From Texas. Doesn't know how to use a dryer. Finds me attractive. Probable brain damage. Funny. Charming. Obnoxious. Never takes off sunglasses. Olive Garden.

Karkat sighed and set down his pen. He'd tried his best to be as cordial as he knew how to be, and he still hadn't managed to last for the entire four hours without insulting his date. Multiple times. Oh well. At least Dave was apparently brain damaged enough to find rudeness terribly amusing (if the way he'd kept bugging Karkat during the movie had been any indication).

He'd been surprised when Dave had actually asked if they could go on another date. Karkat knew he hadn't made the best impression, and yet Dave wanted to spend more time with him? He looked over his notes, trying to ignore the surge of happiness that filled him at the thought. It didn't mean anything: Dave was clearly an idiot, and after a few more days, Karkat was going to start on the offensive. Whatever meager promise there would have been in this fledgling romance, it was still doomed from the start: like all of Karkat's relationships.

Day 2:

It was all Dave could do to wait until the next day to pester Karkat. He didn't want to come off as too eager, after all. Didn't want to put Karkat off. But Dave was only so strong.

TG: so i was thinking TG: if youre not busy TG: we could go to the park this afternoon TG: watch the grifters and maybe get robbed TG: or you could come to my place and hang TG: is it too soon to do that? TG: asking for a friend TG: this is dave by the way TG: i dont know how many people youre talking to TG: not that its any of my business TG: i wouldnt want you up in my grill asking me who im talking to CG: IT IS SIX O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING ON SUNDAY. TG: yea and youre up anyway CG: BECAUSE YOU WOKE ME UP. WITH YOUR TEXTS. THAT YOU SENT JUST NOW. TG: oh shit sorry CG: IT'S FINE. I NEEDED TO GET UP ANYWAY. CG: YOU WANT TO HANG OUT WITH ME? WHY?

Dave frowned down at his phone. Was Karkat fishing for compliments or was he being serious?

TG: because its fun to hang out with you TG: thats how this works right? TG: i thought we could watch another movie TG: at my place TG: or your place i guess if that works better for you TG: ive got popcorn if that sweetens the deal at all CG: YES. BECAUSE THE WAY TO MY HEART IS MICROWAVED POPCORN. TG: fucking called it CG: … CG: FINE. I'LL MEET YOU AT THE PARK AT 2:30PM. IS THAT ACCEPTABLE? TG: perfect ill meet you by the giant yo CG: YOU MEAN THE OY/YO. TG: tomatoes tomotoes karkat

Dave watched the little “CG is typing” message run for almost a minute, feeling his nervousness grow. What had he said that required a novel length response? He managed to reign in the impulse to apologize preemptively, but it was a struggle.

CG: OKAY. WHATEVER. I'LL MEET YOU THERE.

He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Fine, good then. Nothing was wrong.

TG: im looking forward to it TG: its not hard to intuit TG: when we come out to debut TG: sit by the yo then well go round TG: downtown get the lowdown TG: before we get busy in the hissie TG: partake of the fizzie cause we got a duty TG: to watch the fuck out of this movie CG: RIGHT. SEE YOU THEN. BYE.

Dave shrugged. He couldn't expect Karkat to really appreciate his off the cuff rhymes so soon after waking up, he supposed. Maybe they'd land better later. Flat reception or not, the important thing was he'd gotten Karkat to agree to come to his apartment. He looked around, frowning. Maybe he should clean up a little.

---

Jesus Fucking Christ. Karkat tossed his phone on the bedside table with a groan. It had been all that he could do not to curse out Dave like there would never be a tomorrow. Considering the fact that he was currently planning to go to the apartment of a practical stranger, that much might just be true for him. He lay in bed a little longer, out of spite mostly—he could never get back to sleep after being woken up—, before getting out from under the covers. First things first: notes.

* Inconsiderate asshole. Horrible rapper. Calls the OY/YO “the YO”. Doesn't know the right way to express “tomatoes, tomahtos”. Wants to spend time with me. Insane. We have that much in common.

Thanks to Dave's wake-up call, Karkat had plenty of time to eat a hearty breakfast and start his article.

“How to Lose a Lover in 10 Days or Less: A Comprehensive Guide to Becoming a Future Romantic Failure” BY KARKAT VANTAS

Since you have decided to read this article, I will assume that you are looking to learn the art of ruining your relationships without the mess of all that trial and error. Maybe you enjoy breaking hearts. Maybe you are the kind of masochist who enjoys getting their heart broken but is at a loss as to how to properly sabotage your relationship yourself. If you can manage to follow these simple steps, you will be well on your way to the same bitter loneliness that usually only the most unlucky in love get the privilege to experience.

The first step is the victim. For the purposes of this article, I picked one that is particularly obnoxious and brain dead. You may have different qualities you are looking for in a potential short-term partner. Ultimately, the most important thing to consider when you plan to lose a guy (or gal or enby) is that you make certain they are one you do not mind losing. That way you can start the process without any regrets.

The second step is the hook. Laugh at their dumb jokes; accept their stupid compliments; ignore their mangling of the English language (in my case, his horrible rapping); and generally be as agreeable as you can manage. A severe lack of intelligence in your short-term partner can be a boon here, though you will find most people are not immune to flattery. You need to make certain that you have your short-term partner well and truly interested in you before you attempt to lose them. If you try to lose them too soon, you will miss out on the full relationship ruining experience.

A little too informal, maybe, but a fine start. Depending on how well this afternoon went (assuming he wasn't murdered and stuffed in a closet), maybe Karkat would be able to start on step three. He was able to stomp down his nascent guilt with ease. After all, Dave wouldn't have been interested in him after the novelty wore off anyway.

---

The afternoon was a little warmer than the evening had been, but Dave still wore his hoodie. It felt lucky, and it was still clean. More the latter than the former, but the point stood! He sat down on the bench next to the giant yellow YO installation and waited. While it was tempting to shoot a message to Karkat, he decided against it. He’d be seeing him in less than ten minutes, and he didn’t want him to think he was clingy. Which he wasn’t. Totally not. Dave Strider had never clung his whole life. Ask anyone. Except Jade. Don’t ask her.

He noticed his leg was bouncing and put a stop to that noise. He was a cool operator. He had this thing on lock. The date yesterday had gone good, right? Karkat wouldn’t have agreed to see him again if he’d had a terrible time. He pushed back his hood and ran a hand through his hair. Nothing to worry about. He’d have a date for Rose’s wedding and continue sorting out the mystery that was Karkat Vantas.

Dave heard the crunch of gravel and looked over to see Karkat approaching. Another sweater combo, but gray this time. The guy had a style he preferred, clearly. It was fine: he looked great. He stood and closed the distance between them. “Hey, Karkat.”

“Hey,” Karkat returned, frowning. Of course, that seemed to be his default expression. “I brought a movie to watch,” he said gruffly.

Although Dave had been hoping he’d be able to pick the movie this time, he wasn’t too cut up about it. It might be a little early in the relationship to bring out The Room anyway. He wouldn’t know. “Sounds great. My place isn’t too far from here.” He held his arm out. “Shall we?”

Again, Karkat regarded his arm with suspicion. “Why do you do this?”

“Do what?”

Karkat opened his mouth before seeming to think better of whatever he’d planned to say. “Never mind.” He took Dave’s arm. “Let’s get going.”

As they walked to his apartment, Dave tried to keep the conversation flowing, but Karkat’s subdued responses quickly killed his enthusiasm. “I feel like I’m talking too much,” he said finally.

Karkat mumbled something which sounded suspiciously like “You think?” before he shook his head. “No, of course not. I’m just a little too tired to, uh, participate, that’s all.”

Dave winced at the reminder of his first faux pas of the day. “No problem, dude. I got us covered. I got words for days.”

“Months even,” Karkat added before ducking his head. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have--”

Nudging Karkat’s side, Dave laughed. “Nah, man it’s true. I’ve got words for fucking years.”

Karkat smiled slightly. “Decades.”

“Centuries.”

“Eons”

“Until the next motherfucking epoch, I’ve got words, Karkat. So many words. All the words even.”

Karkat snorted, covering his face with his free hand. “Damn it, Dave. Stop making yourself likeable.”

“I think that’s the point of this whole thing,” Dave pointed out reasonably. “Dating, I mean. It’s not like the old days where your dad and my dad decide if you’re worth enough chickens to trade me for, you know. These days I get to decide for myself how many chickens I want to be traded for.” He gave Karkat a mock critical eye. “How about it, Karkat? How many chickens could I get for you?”

“I don’t know,” Karkat said, his mock serious tone almost too close to a serious tone for Dave’s comfort. “Let me look in my pocket.” He made a show of staring down at the pocket containing his free hand before sliding the hand out and flipping Dave the bird. “Is this enough for you?”

Dave laughed. “I’m sorry, Karkat. You must have at least five chickens to ride this ride.” He felt his face flush but pushed onward. “I guess you’ll have to settle for a movie, and maybe some pizza.”

Karkat was grinning, and Dave decided right then and there that he wanted to keep seeing it. “Maybe next time.” As though to intentionally spite him, Karkat frowned again. “Are we almost there?”

“Yeah, man, just a little further.” As they continued their journey to his apartment, Dave felt himself frown. What was Karkat’s deal? He was a lot more fun when he let himself be himself. Dave didn’t like meanness for meanness sake, but he enjoyed a good joke. For some reason, Karkat seemed to think he shouldn’t joke around? Why? His frown deepened. Karkat also apologized a lot. And he was so often deferential even when it was obvious he had OPINIONS he wasn’t sharing. The pieces were adding up to a disturbing picture.

Maybe after he was done hanging out with Karkat today, he should hit up Rose. She’d know what to do.

---

Karkat’s expectations for Dave’s apartment had been fairly low, and he’d been pleasantly surprised. While not as meticulous as his own apartment, there at least weren’t empty food containers on every surface or dirty clothes everywhere. There was an overall shabbiness though: the feeling that the occupant didn’t care overly much about the apartment’s upkeep. The futon in front of the television was ancient and threadbare as were the carpets. The posters hung on the walls were dusty and faded, and there was a sort of mildewy smell. Still, as previously mentioned it was clean (more or less), and there were no obvious signs of a hidden murder dungeon (not that there would be if there were one, naturally).

“Nice place,” he said for politeness’ sake.

Dave beamed like a little boy who’d gotten just what he’d wanted for Christmas. “Thanks. It’s not much, but it keeps the rain off.” He gestured towards the futon. “Make yourself at home. Do you want anything to drink? I’ve got apple juice. And water from the tap, I guess. I could go pick up some beer if you want to go that route, or--”

Karkat held up his hand, hoping to stem the tide of suggestions. “Water’s fine, thank you.”

“You’ve got it,” Dave said before tilting his head and making twin awkward gestures with both hands involving his pointer fingers. “I’ll be back in a flash.”

It wasn’t until after he’d disappeared into, presumably, the kitchen that Karkat realized he’d been making finger guns. What a dork. Not that Karkat was any more suave, but he liked to think he was at least less childish. He tried to supplant the rush of fondness he felt by recalling just how pissed he’d been with this manchild this morning. It was not one hundred percent successful.

Dave returned with two glasses: water for Karkat, and apple juice for himself. “Take a seat,” he insisted as he set the glasses on the coffee table (sans coasters). “It won’t bite.”

Gingerly, Karkat took a seat on the ancient futon. The padding was so thin, he could feel the bars beneath. It was going to take a while to become unbearable, and he hoped this hang out? date? didn’t last long enough for that to happen. Just as he’d been about to reach for the water, suddenly uncertain whether he actually ought to drink anything Dave gave him, Dave flopped down onto the futon beside him like a sack of gangly flour. “Dave!”

“S’up?” Dave asked, grinning.

“Don’t ‘s’up’ me--,” Karkat managed to stop himself from calling Dave an asshole, but only just. “Just don’t ‘s’up’ me. Speak like a normal person.” He realized he was making a mistake as soon as the words were out of his mouth. “Sorry, I--”

“Dude,” Dave said, his grin dropping away, “Karkat, you don’t have to apologise for every kind of mean thing you say. I’m a big boy: I can take it.”

Karkat supposed he shouldn’t be surprised: he’d never been good at pretending to be a good person. If he could have managed that feat for any length of time, he wouldn’t be in this position. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said as dryly as he could.

“I’m serious.” Dave sat up and turned to face Karkat head on, and Karkat saw his own annoyed expression mirrored in the black lenses. “I haven’t known you very long, and maybe I shouldn’t say anything, but--”

“You’re right,” Karkat interrupted, feeling his tenuous hold on his temper slipping. “You shouldn’t say anything.” After taking a moment to make sure he wasn’t going to say anything he didn’t mean to, he spoke again. “Let’s just watch the movie and eat some microwaved popcorn. Does that sound like something we could do? Or would you like to keep pretending you have some deep insights into my character as though we’ve known each other longer than three days?”

Dave raised his hands, and Karkat realized he’d sounded far more aggressive than the situation warranted. At this rate, he wouldn’t even get a chance to lose this asshole! Nice job, Vantas: stellar work. “No, you’re right. I’ll step off.” Dave said softly. He got off of the futon with far more grace than he’d flopped onto it with. “You just put the movie in, and I’ll, uh, I’ll make the popcorn.”

Karkat watched him go before putting his head in his hands. Well, fuck. As though this whole situation hadn’t been awkward before. He should just leave. Just leave, forget about his stupid article, and stop dragging this stupidly likeable idiot down with him. He should.

He stayed where he was.

---

Dave took maybe longer than he absolutely needed to to prepare the popcorn. As much as he liked to consider himself a smooth operator, he could tell when he’d made a mistake, and he wanted to give the guy in the other room a chance to cool down. What made it made it worse was that Karkat had been right to get mad at him: Dave barely knew him. In his place, Dave would probably be pissed, too.

Even so, Dave didn’t think he was wrong about the conclusions he’d come to. It was obvious that Karkat was, for whatever reason, putting on a show for Dave’s sake. Honestly, it was kind of creepy. If he understood why Karkat felt the need to do that, he’d feel better about it.

But it wasn’t his business. Not yet. Maybe you had to reach a certain level on the boyfriend echeladder before that kind of thing was something you talked about. It would probably help if they were actually boyfriends and not just newly dating, too. There seemed to be at least one obvious solution to that problem.

Dave could be patient. After all, he still had eleven days or so to get Karkat to at least like him enough to be his plus one at Rose’s wedding. It wasn’t all he wanted anymore, but it'd be enough to start with. As Rose had so often told him, start with small goals.

He poured an obscene amount of butter over the popcorn in the bowl and headed out to the living room. Karkat was bent over, fiddling with the DVD player, and when he looked up at Dave, his mouth was curved somewhat upwards. “What movie do you have for us?”

Karkat stood. “Coming to America.” He made his way back to the futon and sat down as though worried he might fall through if he sat down too quickly. “It’s more comedy than romantic, so I thought you might enjoy it more.”

That sounded vaguely familiar. “Okay.” Dave joined him on the futon, taking care not to startle him this time. “Let’s get this party started.”

---

Karkat had hoped bringing a comedy would hold Dave’s attention enough to keep him from talking through the whole thing. He’d been mistaken. Yes, a lot of what Dave said was funny, but it just never fucking stopped. Finally, Karkat couldn’t take it anymore.

He grabbed the remote and paused the movie. Then he very deliberately set the remote back down. “I want you to listen to me, Dave. Are you listening?”

Dave looked confused, but he nodded. “Yeah, I’m listening. Do you have something you want to tell me? I’m all ears. Lay it on me.”

God, he couldn’t even listen without rambling! “Would it kill you to shut up?” He saw Dave’s eyebrows peek over the tops of his glasses. A part of him told him to reconsider his current course of action, but naturally, Karkat could never abide by a piece of good advice. “Would it literally cause you to drop dead if you couldn’t expel your idiocy out of your mouth like a goddamned septic pipe full of half-formed metaphors and bullshit? Would your head explode? Can we try that experiment and see what happens?” Karkat felt his fingernails biting into his palms and realized he’d clenched his fists. “What do you say, Dave? Wait, I’ve changed my mind: don’t say anything. Let me bask in the gentle ethereal glow of silence for a moment. Can you do that for me, Dave? Can you let me bask? Will the endless flow of words finally cease?”

‘No’ was clearly the answer to that question since Dave was already opening his mouth. Then, to Karkat’s utter shock, he shut it again. His expression wasn’t ever easy to read with those douche shades he insisted on wearing all the time, but now it was completely closed off. Even the eyebrows had lowered back to their original position.

Silence stretched between them.

Karkat felt sick to his stomach. Shit. Shit. He really just couldn’t do it, could he? Couldn’t pretend even for a few hours that he was a normal person. Well, so much for this experiment. Time to write off this little adventure. Was it worth even trying to apologise? Before he could decide, Dave made the decision for him.

He was clapping. “Damn, just got owned,” he said, a wide grin splitting his face. “You owned me, Karkat. You should feel proud. Not everyone gets own this,” he gestured to himself. “I just hope you know what you’re getting into: I’m barely house trained.”

For an embarrassingly high number of seconds, all Karkat could do was blink. “You’re not mad?”

“Fuck no,” Dave said, still grinning. “I’m a big kid now. I’ve graduated from diapers all the way to pull ups. It takes more than a finely crafted, well-deserved take down to take me down.” The grin softened. “This is what I was trying to say before: I want to date you, not some weird super agreeable version of you. If you want to tell me off for talking too much, fucking go for it. You’ve got a way with insults--it’s a gift. Frankly, I’m insulted you’ve been keeping it to yourself.”

“There’s more where that comes from, asshole,” Karkat said before he could stop himself. To his amazement, Dave still seemed more amused than anything. A strange mixture of anger and fondness welled up inside him. “Stop grinning at me, and watch the fucking movie.” He picked up the remote and hesitated. “You don’t have to be silent,” he said, still feeling a little guilty over his earlier outburst, “just maybe less talking?”

Dave made a big show of running a zipper over his lips. Then he immediately ruined it by saying, “Scouts honor, Karkat. My word is bond. You can cash that shit at the bank.”

Karkat tried to picture Dave as a boy scout and failed. “Right.” He pressed play and the movie resumed. Of course, Dave still talked during the movie, but the sheer volume of words had slowed to a moderate stream rather than the full-bore blasting Karkat had been subjected to earlier. As he sat there on the futon, occasionally answering Dave’s stupid comments with barbs of his own, he felt warm in a way that was only nominally connected to the temperature of the arm he was leaning against. He felt… content.

---

Overall, Operation Hang Out had been a big success. It had been rocky in places, but again, overall, Dave felt like he’d hit his major mission objectives. A movie was watched, pizza was consumed, and Karkat finally, finally, did something other than apologise every time a hint of the person he’d met at the cafe had come through. He didn’t necessarily want to keep pissing Karkat off, but that bitch fit he’d thrown had been epic.

Karkat wasn’t the kind of guy Dave had expected to find himself interested in. At least, he’d never thought he’d have a grumpy asshole kink. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed the more quiet parts of Karkat’s visit, too. It had felt nice to sit on the futon with someone leaning against his shoulder. Dave wasn’t a sap, no, not a suave guy like him, but he couldn’t deny he’d like to do it again some time.

He considered texting Rose as he’d planned to earlier before deciding not to. After all, he’d managed the first crisis all on his own, and she might consider it cheating if he got her help. No, for now at least, this bird was flying solo.

---

* Clean apartment. Finger guns. Puts too much butter on popcorn. Also talks during movies outside theater setting. Likes getting insulted. Kink? Wants to date the “real” me. Delusional. Comfortable arm. Had a nice time. Had acceptable time. Clothes in his shower???

#Homestuck #Humanstuck #fan fic #my fic #wip

1 note · View note

acpayst · 6 years

Text

sims 4 fantasy challenge base game

i wanted to do a base game version of my challenge since a lot of people don’t have any packs and it can be hard to find any challenges that work with the base game. the biggest change is in gen 5 but i think i might like it more than the non base game version.

fantasy challenge -

gen 1 - unicorn

cas

must have colorful hair

must have friend of the world aspiration and outgoing trait

gameplay

you have always wanted to help people and spread love. you decided that you were going to live a selfless life where you could focus on giving to others. you gave up everything to live in a small house with only the bare necessities, you don’t even have a tv. you pour your heart and soul into your work and everyone admires you for being so selfless. even so, everyone has their weakness, and yours is baking. you love baking and cooking everything, especially cupcakes. you love your family dearly, and would do anything for your family and your friends.

requirements

complete the cooking career in the chef branch

complete friend of the world aspiration

master the baking skill (cooking if you don’t have gtw)

have max friendship level with 3 sims (not including your kids, spouse counts)

gen 2 - dragon

cas

must have red or orange hair

must be materialistic

must have the fabulously wealthy aspiration

gameplay

your mother was the envy of everyone. she was kind, and generous, and never kept anything for herself. you hated her with every bone in your body. you could never understand why she didn’t keep her hard earned money for herself. you made a promise to yourself that when you moved out, you would do whatever it takes to get rich, whether it was legal or not.

requirements

complete fabulously wealthy aspiration

be despised by at least 3 sims

have the criminal career

(optional)

have the irresponsible character trait

have the “heatproof” reward trait

gen 3 - elf

cas

must have pointy ears

must have music lover trait

must have the freelance botanist aspiration

must have loves outdoors trait

gameplay

growing up in such a hateful house, you became determined to advocate for peace, and to love all things. you appreciate the world around you and you love nature. when you are playing your violin, it is like nothing anyone has ever heard. people travel from far and wide to hear your music. your life revolves around sharing music and the beauty of nature with the world.

requirements

must complete the entertainer career in the musician branch

must have the freelance botanist aspiration (for harder version, complete aspiration)

must max gardening skill (or the flower arranging skill, or both)

must max violin skill

max wellness skill (spa day, optional)

gen 4 - mermaid (siren)

cas

must have the romantic trait

must have the chief of mischief aspiration

must be female

must be non-committal

gameplay

your parents taught you to love all of nature, and you do, but that’s not the only thing you love. you use your stunning looks to your advantage and love playing pranks on unsuspecting men. you are happiest when you’re in the water, and you are an incredibly powerful swimmer. even though you love romance, and have had many relationships, the idea of staying with one person all your life terrifies you. as soon as things start to get serious, you flee. you have a secret passion for writing romance novels, and you give your characters the life you could never give yourself.

requirements

never get married

have at least 3 different relationships

leave someone at the altar

master the writing career in the author branch

master the chief of mischief aspiration

master the singing skill

kill one of your boyfriend’s by drowning them

gen 5 - werewolf

cas

if male, must have facial hair

must have dark hair

must have must have glutton, loner, and active traits

gameplay

you love dogs, you always have. your mother never paid much attention to you and kids always thought you were weird. growing up, your one greatest wish was to have a dog. your mother never allowed it, so you spent your days daydreaming and reading anything about dogs. since you spent more time learning about dogs than you did socializing with people, you picked up some of their traits. you’re an incredibly fast runner and you eat everything and anything. you especially love grilled cheeses. once you moved out, you focused on getting stronger. you have one best friend who has been by your side through everything. it helps that they cook you everything too. the two of you are always together and you can’t imagine your life without them.

requirements

complete the grilled cheese aspiration

must complete the athlete career in the bodybuilder branch

only have one friend your entire life who must work as a chef

(if end of challenge)

option one: have your best friend move in with you, and keep a platonic relationship until you die, happy living in peace and quiet with each other

option two: have your best friend move in with you and fall in love. you get married and elope in the wilderness. you never have kids.

(if continuing)

same as option two but you have kids and live happily ever after.

#sims 4 #sims 4 base game #sims 4 challenge

181 notes · View notes

star-trekkin-across-theuniverse · 7 years

Text

Vital Signs, pt 29 (conclusion)

Word Count: 2805 Tags: @to-pick-ourselves-up-7 @outside-the-government, @jimfromsales, @donnaintx, @enterprisewriting @starmission @supermoonpanda @rayleyanns @sistasarah-sallysaidso @flirtswithdanger @anyakinamidala Author’s Note: There’s a few one-shots that go with this fic. If you want to see them, just let me know, and I’ll toss them up too. :)

“I’m blaming you for this.” Tony held a cup of coffee beside my head. I inhaled the rich aroma and opened my eyes slowly.

“What?” I asked, sitting up and taking the cup. He stood on the other side of the coffee table, eyebrow quirked.

“There is a huge knot burned into the roof.”

“What? Tony, you need to make sense,” I complained.

“Was Thor here? Because there’s also an empty box of pop tarts in the kitchen,” he questioned. I felt the realization break across me like a wave. I still wasn’t awake, but at least I knew what he was talking about.

“Yes.” I took a sip from the cup. Swill. Obviously Steve wasn’t in the building yet, and Tony’d had to make the pot himself. I was surprised he hadn’t invented a robot to do it for him.

“He was. And?”

“He said he was going to try to get some answers for me. He’s not back yet.” I thought that was pretty obvious, from the lack of tall, blonde and muscled in the room.

“You fighting with Cap?”

“Huh?”

“You slept here, on the couch.” Tony pointed to the indent my head had left on the cushions.

“No. I was obsessing. I thought I’d come play with the MRI proj-“

“You did not. Tell me you didn’t wreck it,” he interrupted with what appeared to be a genuine look of panic on his face. I couldn’t help but smile. I would have even drawn it out and teased him, were I not certain I could have been target practice the next time he was testing a new suit.

“It became obvious very quickly that I am not as brilliant as you are, and I spent most of the night just playing with my MRI. It was better than staring at the back of Steve’s head.” I held my hands up in surrender. Tony nodded.

“Wanna tell me about the lab tests?” Tony had obviously been to the lab before searching out coffee and me. I shook my head.

“Not really.”

“Am I glad I have no idea what any of those abbreviations mean?”

“Probably. Who would’ve thought biology would be your downfall?” I pondered. He rolled his eyes and headed to the bar. He couldn’t seriously be considering a drink at seven in the morning. He fiddled with something behind the counter for a few minutes, and emerged with ‘Heroes of New York’ action figures. He was playing with a Captain America and Hawkeye figure like a child.

“So you and Cap are fine?” Tony was unusually curious, waving the Captain America figure at me. I nodded.

“Sure.”

“When is he planning on moving into the tower? You’re welcome, of course. If you do decide to find a younger guy, we can find a place for you on one of the lower levels. Or you could just shack up with the Hawk already,” he babbled, and emphasized his point by thrusting the Hawkeye action figure toward me.

“What is with your obsession with Barton?” I asked, incredulous. I pushed the toy back toward Tony.

“He’s a young guy. He’s non-committal, so if you aren’t having fun you can just end things without complications. Cap is, well, in a word, old. He was friends with my dad, for Christ’s sake. He probably only knows the missionary position. You’re young, you’re a doctor, you have advanced biological knowledge. Let your freak flag fly, sweetheart. Barton is very flexible, I saw that during Loki’s little picnic.” He tried to make the action figure do something bendy but had no luck.

“Okay. One, his body was in suspended animation. He’s really the same age as me. Two, he’s adapted beautifully to the modern age. That includes knowing more than the missionary position, not that it’s your business. Three, Barton is lovely, but he’s not my type. Four, because why not a fourth item? Barton’s relationship with Tasha is just way too complicated for me to want to wade into that, even if he was my type,” I counted my points off on my fingers. Tony’s eyes grew wide on my last point.

“Barton and Natashalie? When did this happen?” He looked lost without a Black Widow action figure to thrust into the Hawkeye figure’s arms. He dropped both toys on the coffee table in disgust.

“Are you fucking blind? Have you never watched them interact?” I exclaimed. I rose and headed to the coffee maker to top up my cup. Swill it may be, but it had caffeine in it. Tony followed.

“More important than Hawk and the Widow, Cap does more than missionary?” Tony needled.

“I’ll be in the lab, Tony. Don’t make me get J.A.R.V.I.S. to lock you out.” I grabbed an orange from the fridge and walked away.

I flipped through a bunch of pages of lab results on the monitor in front of me, comparing my lab results from the blood I’d drawn during the night with my previous labs. It was interesting reading, but wasn’t actually giving me the information I was looking for. I decided I needed to make a visit to my friends at Midtown to see if I could get some information off the SHIELD records.

I stopped at the admitting desk in the Emergency Room and asked after Erica, hoping she was on. The nurse at the desk was just telling me that she was in the OR when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and Jamie pulled me into a hug.

“Lexy! It’s been ages! How are you doing? How is work?” He asked. His smile was warm and welcoming, and as he let go of me, it faltered just a little.

“I am great. I just needed to see a doc off the books. You up for a quick chat?” I asked. He nodded, and steered me into a private trauma bay, shutting the door behind us.

“You are cold, Lexy. Have you been sick?” He ran the back of his hand across my forehead and cheek, frowning.

“Yeah, about that. Remember the alien invasion?” I asked. He nodded. “I got an infection. This goes no further than you and I. I don’t want to say what I’m going to tell you could get you killed because I doubt that, but it could ruin your career if you start talking.”

“Do I want to know?”

“Medically unique and extraordinary. You decide,” I shrugged. He nodded and leaned against the supply counter.

“Okay, hit me.”

“My DNA was corrupted by the alien that infected me. I’m not worried about my health at all, all the testing that’s been done between then and now has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am just as healthy, if not healthier. But my menstrual cycle has been weird.”

“Are you pregnant? Did you finally start shagging that hot blonde who looks like Captain America?” He asked and I could tell he was curious from a medical standpoint as well as because he wanted the gossip he could share. I laughed.

“I am not pregnant. I ran that test already. I need to know if this infection has wrecked my reproductive system,” I blurted. He looked thoughtful.

“Have you had any bloodwork?” He asked.

“I’ve done thyroid, prolactin, estrogen, testosterone, FSH, and LH, as well as a standard E7.” I handed him a few pages of lab results. He looked them over quickly and looked back at me.

“These are all normal. Why are you concerned? Have you been trying to conceive?” He asked.

“God, no! No, I just, it crossed my mind and I’d rather know on my own terms than be slapped with this down the road,” I explained. He looked over the results a second time.

“Well, let’s pretend you are trying to conceive, and go ahead with an ultrasound,” he offered.

“Can this be a Jane Doe?” I asked. I really didn’t want this pinging on SHIELD’s radar.

“Sure. Let’s go to the ultrasound suite.” He opened the door and walked out. We caught up on the short walk to the ultrasound, and I learned that Loki’s invasion had changed a lot of policy regarding the operation of the hospital. Jamie was alive with excitement about everything that was going on. We turned the corner to the ultrasound suite and entered quietly. It was very sneaky in that way the kids are sneaky when they are trying to get away with something but their parents are around. We were all stage whispers and giggles.

I got prepared and sat up on the gurney. Jamie conducted the ultrasound in as professional a manner as I could expect from a former colleague, which I appreciated. There was no inappropriate commentary or awkwardness. He was straightforward and business-like. He turned the monitor so we could both see it. He progressed through all the images silently, knowing I knew just as well as he did what we were looking at. My reproductive system was a mess.

“Check out your ovary.” He pointed at the image on the screen, “that one is totally blocked.” I could see the outline of what appeared to be a fibroid cyst or something. He continued to try to get better images before finishing the test. He left the room so I could get changed, and then came back in.

“I’m a mess,” I said quietly. Jamie put his hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Lex.”

“No, it’s okay. I didn’t know that I wanted kids.”

“We can treat this, Lexy. If you want babies, we can treat this. Don’t assume it’s off the table.” His voice was compassionate. I sighed and looked at my feet, blinking back unbidden tears.

“No. My job, it’s not just a job, it’s a lifestyle. I can’t bring kids into that mess. This just means I don’t have to worry about it. It’s better that way.” I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. In my days as a student, I’d seen women fall to pieces over this very information. I’d always felt compassion for them, but never thought I would understand enough of what they were going through to feel true empathy. I got it now. Even without the desire for children, this was a blow at the very thing that made me a woman. It was about more than just babies.

“Are you sure, Lexy?” Jamie placed his hand over mine, and I realized I was rubbing my abdomen, right above my uterus. I dropped my hand.

“I will be. I’ll be sure. I just need some time,” I admitted. He squeezed my shoulder.

“And Captain America? Do you need help telling him?”

“What do you mean?” I hadn’t thought Jamie had realized who Steve was. He’d let me believe he didn’t know who Steve was.

“He sat at your bedside after New York in the uniform, Lexy. He wouldn’t leave, not even to let us treat his wounds. You have to tell him. That man looks at you like you are his white picket fence house in the suburbs,” he lectured me. I felt my chest tighten, and the prickle of fresh tears at the corners of my eyes.

“I don’t think-“ I was going to deny how Steve felt, but Jamie interrupted me.

“I saw him, Lexy. This won’t change how he feels, but he still deserves to know.” He was firm. I nodded, and rose to collect my things.

“Thank you for doing this, Jamie.” I stopped at the door. Jamie nodded.

“Anytime, Ms. Doe,” he smiled. I threw my arms around him and hugged him. He rubbed my hair and gave me a squeeze before holding me at arms length.

“You’re going to be fine. Your superhero isn’t going to dump you.”

“Thanks.”

“Put in a good word for me with Black Widow, will you?” He teased. I laughed and left the room.

I found Steve reading a book about the Vietnam War in the lounge at Avengers Tower. I sat down beside him, and he snaked an arm out and pulled me close without looking up from his book. We stayed that way, quiet, for about ten minutes before Agent Barton came in. He waved and headed to the kitchen.

“Tony is trying to hook you two up.” Steve was so blasé about it, I wanted to laugh. I did laugh, actually.

“I know, he won’t let it go. I think he wants a ‘Dr. Lex’ action figure so he can make them make out,” I complained.

“He says I need to let you go. That you are young and have your whole life ahead of you. That you will eventually want to settle down and have kids and live in the suburbs.” His voice was steady and even, but I could feel his heart thumping harder than usual.

“I didn’t sign up for a house in the suburbs when I joined SHIELD, Steve, and that was before you.” I kept my voice calm too. He leaned over and kissed my forehead.

“I don’t know that I’ll ever want kids. I don’t know what the serum did there, but I don’t know that I want to bring kids into this world. I barely cope some days,” he admitted. I squeezed his thigh.

“You cope just fine,” I reassured him.

“I don’t know that I should marry, either, Lex. If it got out, you would be used against me,” he said. My heart constricted.

“You say that as if I was who you would marry.”

“Who else would I marry?”

“I just came from Midtown General.” I changed the topic. He sat up and untangled himself from me. He took my hand and looked right at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why do you think something is wrong?”

“Why would you go to a public hospital when SHIELD has the best medical care in the world?”

“I wanted some tests run off the radar,” I admitted. Steve leaned closer.

“And?”

“I’ll never have children, Steve. Loki broke my reproductive system,” I blurted it out and burst into tears. Steve pulled me into his arms and rocked me, shushing me like you would a small child. I let out all the tears I’d been holding in, going all the way back to the Destroyer. Steve rubbed his hands up and down my back, soothing me. My nose started running, and I tried to pull away to get a tissue, but Steve just held me close. I figured if he didn’t care about the state of his clothing, I wouldn’t either.

“Lex,” Steve started, but couldn’t quite grasp my attention. “Alexandra.” I looked up at him. He kissed me, ugly-cry face and all. I took a great hiccupping breath in, and tried to settle myself. I was only marginally successful.

“I’m sorry,” I managed. He shook his head.

“Don’t be. You’ve put up with a lot of shit, and this baloney with Loki is just one more thing.”

“I am broken,” I whispered. He took my head in both his hands and looked me in the eye.

“You are not broken, Alexandra Richmond.” He was firm.

“My ovaries are-“

“Are they still there?” He questioned.

“Well, yes.”

“Are you going to suffer any ill health from the revelation you got today?”

“Not as far as I could tell.”

“Are you still progressing and becoming superhuman?”

“I think so.”

“You are not broken, Lex. You just live in a different paradigm now. Like me. Gives us one more reason to stick together.” He kissed my forehead again and gathered me into another hug. I felt my heart lift, and was reassured that nothing had changed. I wiped my tears away, and took a deep breath. No matter how many cups of coffee I could freeze solid, and no matter what happened to my guts, nothing had changed.

“I love you, Steve,” I spoke into his chest.

“I love you too, Lex.” His voice rumbled in his chest. He held me in his arms like that for most of the afternoon while we watched movies. By nightfall, despite all my heartache, I felt like it was just another day. I didn’t know when Thor would be back, and really, I doubted he’d have any really useful information for me. So, while Steve and I ate dinner with the rest of the crowd at Avengers Tower, I resolved to just carry on.

We were washing dishes together at the sink after dinner when Steve leaned over and kissed my cheek.

“You look better. Do you feel okay?” He asked.

“I do.”

“You in an okay place?” He pestered.

“Can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.” I kissed him and started putting away dishes.

#avengers fanfic #Steve Rogers x OFC

22 notes · View notes

jafreitag · 7 years

Text

Grateful Dead Monthly: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY 9/18/87

On Friday, September 18, 1987, the Grateful Dead played Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was the middle of a five-show run at the fabled venue.

MSG, which opened in 1968, sits atop Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. It’s the home of the NBA’s New York Knicks, the WNBA’s New York Liberty, and the NHL’s New York Rangers. It’s also become a “home away from home” for Phish, who squatted there for this summer’s amazing Baker’s Dozen series of thirteen shows over seventeen nights. LN GD guru ECM was at a few of those Phish shows.

As I’ve mentioned, Ed is a great resource for these posts. He does the primary research – photos, links, comments from the Live Music Archive – and I do the prattle. Our process is pretty simple. Typically, I ask him for a few options of shows in the upcoming month that we can cover. He gives me a list. We chat about that, and decide. Then I get an email with a ton of material. This month was different.

In early August, here was the list:

1970 – 9/19 or 9/20 Fillmore East

1972 – throw a dart. there are so many good ones

1974 – 9/11 or 9/18

1975 – 9/28 Golden Gate Park

1977 – 9/3 Englishtown (40 year anniversary)

1978 – 9/2 Giants Stadium (raise $$ for Egypt)

1979 – 9/1 or 9/2 (super long Let It Grow)

1980 – 9/6 Lewiston (Labor Day weekend), 9/2 Rochester (filler on Dicks Picks) or one of the Warfield shows

1981 – 9/26 Buffalo (I think either [GDC members] Fen or Butch or both are big proponents of this show)

1983 – 9/2 Boise or 9/11 Santa Fe

1985 – 9/7 Red Rocks

1987 – 9/18 MSG (30 year anniversary)

1989 – 9/29 Shoreline (Death Don’t bust out)

1990 – one of the shows from MSG – 9/16, 9/19 or 9/20

1991 – 9/26 Boston

My response was sorta non-committal. ” ’87 or ’89 would be fun, but maybe save ’89 for October?”

Little did I know that 9/18/87 was not only a fun show, but also part of my dear friend’s life. He called it, and said, “I’ll work on a brief fan account and get that to you soon.”

What a fan account. Ladies and Gentlemen, Ed Martin…

It’s hard to believe that I saw this show 30 years ago. The Dead created an enormous amount of momentum in the two months before the start of the band’s much anticipated Fall Tour in 1987. Over the summer, the band released In The Dark, its first studio album since 1979 which resulted in a Top 10 Billboard hit single and its first-ever video on MTV with Touch of Grey, The buzz about the new album coupled with a highly successful summer tour with Bob Dylan thrust the Dead into the spotlight. As a result, everything changed. Suddenly it was cool to like the Grateful Dead and it was fashionable to wear tie-dyed clothing. New fans – referred to by vets as “Touch-Heads” – flooded the scene. So, it was not surprising that tickets were tough to come by for the fall tour. I was lucky to have received mail-order tickets from GDTS for three shows at Madison Square Garden – Sept. 18, 19 and 20. The weeks leading up these shows were very exciting as I began to hear great reviews from friends who attended the shows in Providence and Landover (no internet back then). The band was playing well and had added a bunch of exciting cover songs to their vast repertoire including Devil with the Blues Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly, Fever and La Bamba, the latter was a song from a movie by the same name that had been released over the summer. In addition, there were new songs that were added as a result of recent collaborations with The Neville Brothers (Hey Pocky Way) and Bob Dylan (All Along The Watchtower, When I Paint My Masterpiece and Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door).

[Photo credit: Billy O. Photography]

By the time Friday September 18, 1987 arrived my excitement could not be contained. I was hoping and praying to see a lot of the songs the band wound up playing that evening. Shakedown, Watchtower, Dew, La Bamba and Knockin’ were high on my list. My seats were good – loge level on the right side near Jerry and Brent. There was a jubilant atmosphere inside the Garden. When the house lights finally went down the rabid, East-Coast audience exploded. Weir takes a moment to joke about levitating Jerry which was a reference to their appearance on The David Letterman Show the previous night. With that the band tears into Hell In A Bucket. I must confess that Bucket was not the opener I had hoped for. It had been played to death over the summer and was becoming a bit tiresome for me. However, this is about as good a version as one could possibly ask for. Weir’s vocals are confident. He’s so pumped that he is practically spitting the lyrics out. Brent is pounding his keys and Jerry’s distorted guitar runs are searing. The finale has Weir at his 80s falsetto best. Wow! Sugaree was not unexpected. It was a common pairing with Bucket for show as a show opener at the time. Walkin’ Blues is next. It had been played only a handful of times in 1985 but was reintroduced by Weir at the San Francisco Civic Center on 1/28/87 presumably as another option for the “blues slot” to keep things fresh. It remained part of the band’s regular repertoire through the end. Once again, Weir is in terrific voice and is in total command of this version. Jerry follows that up with Candyman which is one of those little nuggets like Row Jimmy, Althea and High Time that I never tire of seeing. Candyman had taken on a new significance since Jerry’s return from his diabetic coma – “Won’t you tell everybody you meet that the Candyman’s in town.” Garcia’s solo on this version is glorious. I was floating. I never wanted it to end. Weir chooses When I Paint My Masterpiece, the first of three songs from the Dylan catalog that will be played that evening. The band premiered Masterpiece at Ventura on 6/13/87 complete with an engaging 2-part-harmony arrangement accompanied by Garcia. This upbeat version is stellar. A soaring Bird Song follows and the energy with which it is played matches everything that preceded it. The band brings it to an incredible peak and then just as we are all getting started the band pulls the rug out from underneath us and closes the first set out after only 6 songs. What?

[Photo credit: Billy O. Photography]

Fortunately, the break was not too long. Continuing with the same high level of energy, the band opens the second set with the only logical choice under the circumstances – Shakedown Street. It was on my wish list so I was ecstatic. The Garden explodes with appreciation as the band crashes into the opening D-minor chord. This is a speedy version that is very similar to the incredible version they played in Pittsburgh on 7/6/87. Madison Square Garden is instantly transformed into a dance party. Heads are bobbing, bodies are gyrating. Huge smiles everywhere. People are getting DOWN. Once again, Garcia’s vocals are assertive. The “Beat Out Loud” verse is sung with authority and the “Poke Around” vocal scatting sets up the jam that follows perfectly. Garcia finds a pattern he likes and plays it repeatedly. The crowd surges with ecstasy. Having reached the peak, the band cuts it short just like they did in Bird Song and continues the party with Women Are Smarter. They slow things down again with a strong Terrapin which leads to Drums and has everybody scratching their head at the wisdom of a 3-song pre-drums set that lasted just 30 minutes(!) All will be redeemed shortly.

What follows the Drums and Space segment is a thing of which dreams are made. GDTRFB > Watchtower is high octane 80s Dead at its very best. Watchtower made it debut at the Greek Theater on 6/20/87 and Garcia was blowing the doors off it with his searing leads. This version is one of the better ones. At the conclusion of Watchtower are a few descending notes and a brief moment of silence where the entire world seems to hangs in the balance of what the band will play next. It’s the feeling that is usually associated with the moment of anticipation before the band plays Dark Star. Here, the band plays something almost as sacred – Morning Dew. Over the years, the band had kept Morning Dew kind of rare. However, in 1987 it had been played 13 times already. Not that anybody was complaining! The repetition/practice paid off in spades as the band dropped what is arguably one of the best versions ever – Cornell aside. Most would agree that is one of the top 10 versions ever played. Garcia pours his soul into this one both instrumentally and vocally. His aggressive vocal approach was certainly unique and took every by surprise. Check out how he sings “Where have all the people GONE” and and his inflection on the final “I GUESS it doesn’t matter anywaaaaaaaaay.” along with the way he hangs on that last word. Holy shit! I mean, that is some jaw-dropping, hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck-raising, goose bump inducing, chills-down-your-spine shit right there. The rowdy weekend crowd roars with approval. It was startling how fast and loud the reaction was. It sounded like a stadium after the home team won the Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, etc. Words can not do justice to the reaction. It was mind blowing and it is nothing like I had ever heard before or since then – and I was in attendance for the Dark Stars on 10/16/89 and 3/29/90. Ever the pro, Garcia takes the crowd reaction and responds with a guitar solo for the ages. There is no time to bring this Dew down to a whisper as was customary. This one required a burning solo right from the beginning. His guitar squeals with high-pitched notes. As the band approaches the end the pace quickens. Garcia’s distorted notes are flying at a dizzy pace like they did in Watchtower. Brent’s thundering organ is swirling. Climbing higher and higher. Finally, Garcia hits an impossible note. It’s screeching and it sounds way off-key but, holy shit is he wailing. He repeats the off-key note with rapid machine gun fire and in the chaos of it all, it makes perfect sense. I’m losing my mind but II’m not alone. The crowd explodes again. At that moment, everybody knew we had witnessed something so epic that it would be remembered in the legacy of Grateful Dead concerts. Any gripes that people may have had about the concert being too short were quickly forgotten. A finale like that makes a massive statement. Nothing more needed to be said. The band could have put their instruments down and walked off stage without an encore and nobody would have complained. To get Good Lovin’ with La Bamba tossed in was gravy. Obviously feeding off confidence and crowd energy, the band turns in an incredible performance. that brought the house down again. Smiles everywhere – especially when Garcia launched into La Bamba. Bobby’s reprise of Good Lovin’ is filled with falsetto squeals that only further feeds the frenzy. The soothing Knockin’ encore was like church. The Dead destroyed MSG, reducing its fans to a puddle.

Ed Martin / @31daysofdead

Yeah. What he said! This show is fantastic, guys. As well-known reviewer Dr. Flashback quipped on the LMA: “This show simply rocks.” It even made the cut and became part of the massive 30 Trips Around the Sun box set to commemorate the band’s thirty-year career on their fiftieth anniversary. (The header image – pardon the watermark – is from that.) Unfortunately, the official version isn’t on Spotify, but other quality versions are available.

Transport to the Charlie Miller transfer of the soundboard recording HERE.

Transport to the Charlie Miller transfer of the audience recording HERE.

Transport to the MattMan remaster of the soundboard HERE.

And HERE is a decent video of the entire show.

Oh, Jerry and Bobby were on the original David Letterman show the night before. HERE is the YouTube link. They played Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece.” I watched that in my freshman year dorm room.

Thanks, Ed. Hope I did this one justice. My life is richer because of you.

More soon.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2fdgSoM via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

1 note · View note