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nrvnign · 1 year ago

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Outdoor Mindanao: Exploring the Outdoor Recreational Activities in Mindanao

Hiking in Mt. Apo

Mount Apo is the tallest mountain and volcano in the Philippines, situated at a height of 2954 m. The first successful climb to Mount Apo was led by Don Joaquin Rajal, a Politico-Military Governor of Davao with Datu Manib of Sibulan as their guide, dating back to year 1880. The last eruption of Apo, however, is not yet known; in the boulders section, there are sulfuric craters that release toxic gases towards the summit.

There are 270 species of birds living in the stratovolcano, 100 of them listed as endangered. It is listed on UNESCO's Tentative World Heritage List, as one of the largest terrestrial biological diversity with regard to flora and fauna per unit area.

Let's Go!

Step #1: Go to Davao!

Davao's very close to the two main international airports of the Philippines, Manila and Cebu. Cebu Pacific Air, the local low-cost carrier with a new and modern fleet, offer cheap daily flights from both Manila and Cebu starting at less than 2000 pesos (one-way).

Step # 2: To The Santa Cruz!

Get in a taxi to Ecoland Transport Terminal when you arrive at the Davao International Airport and travel for 20 minutes, 150 pesos

At Ecoland Terminal, look for south-bound buses such as yellow bus, weena bus, ACFB or Metro Shuttle and ask the driver or the conductor that you will be dropped off at Santa Cruz Terminal. The travel time is 45 minutes to 1 hour and costs 43 pesos

At Santa Cruz Terminal, take a 5-minute motorcycle or tricycle trip to the municipal hall for 14 pesos

The total travel time for this part of the trip is under 2 hours and costs a little over 200 pesos.

Step # 3: Baruring Here We Go!

You can hire a car for 800 pesos, or drive from Santa Cruz to the trailhead at Baruring. This way, there'd be a lower price but three persons would cost more than 400 pesos and timeframes wouldn't be as certain. While a jeep will take 1-1.5 hours to the trailhead in Baruring, commuting will take at least 2-3 hours depending on availability/departure of share-taxis, motorcycle taxis etc.

Government Requirements

A permit is required for this mountain, and a guide/porter is mandatory. The fees are listed as follows:

500 pesos in registration/trekking fee 500 pesos in exit-fee (only if exit-point differ from entry-point) 500 pesos per day for a guide (mandatory) 300 pesos per day for a porter (mandatory)

For the Food!

Food and other supplies can be bought at the Santa Cruz market. Several variety of fruits, rice, etc. can be found there. Also, bring enough food for yourselves and for the porter/s and guide/s as well. Buy enough food for 1-3 nights of camping depending on your pace.

Camping Supplies

For a total package, you may hire the tent, sleeping bag, mattress and cooking equipment from your Santa Cruz tour guide at 2500 pesos. The temperature will drop to almost freezing (0-5 degrees C) during night-time at the summit, so bring warmers or extra clothing.

To the Top!

Did you know that Mt. Apo is the highest point in the Philippines, rising to 9,692 feet (2,954 metres)? There are in total seven peaks of Apo, all of them within short and easy reach from the summit camp.

Other Places near the Mt. Apo

If you're looking for more adventure and sightseeing, I have listed down some of the few places where you can enjoy a variety of activities.

Eden Nature Park & Resort

Davao Crocodile Park

People's Park Davao

Philippine Eagle Center

White Water Rafting in CDO

In the Misamis Oriental region of Northern Mindanao in the Philippines, Cagayan de Oro or CDO is considered to be a highly urbanized city. The Cagayan de Oro tour is primarily an adrenaline filled adventure activity, such as whitewater rafting, ziplining and kayaking which makes it a top destination for adventurous travelers.

Best Time To Raft!

For the adrenaline junkies looking to bank on some thrilling activities, Whitewater Rafting in Cagayan River is one way to go. The water is clear in calmer periods, and the nearby flora and fauna thrive on it. During its swollen season in July to December, the river rages on as a challenge for whitewater rafters keen on getting an experience for the books.

Travel Time!

Cagayan de Oro is fairly accessible to all modes of transportation. You can go by air, land, or sea but if you have limited vacation time, going by air is the fastest way.

Traveling around CDO is easy as there are jeepneys, motorelas, motorcycle, taxis, and buses that can take you any place you want.

Rafting Rates

Beginners-PHP 1,400/head(class 2-3 rapids, 3 hours actual river run, minimum of 6 pax)

Advance 1-PHP 2,000/head( class 3-4 rapids,4-5 actual river run, minimum 6 pax) -Advance 2-PHP 1,500/head (class3-4 rapids,4-5 actual river run, minimum 6 pax)

Extreme PHP 2,000/head (an adventure for the brave heart, adrenaline test, and body work out, requires previous rafting experience, ability to swim is highly recommended, class 4 rapids, 5 hours actual river run.

Prices may have changed or vary depending where you booked your Rafting Activity.

Food Of Course!

CDO cuisine offers a choice of sweets and comforts, as well as excitement and adventure. The Binaki or Sweet Tamales, made from the ground native corn, milk, cooked powder, sugar, eggs and salt are one such example of their unique food. It is wrapped with corn husks which are shaped in the shape of a frog. Kagay-anons refer to a frog as “baki,” which is where the food gets its name.

Remember me, which is commonly referred to as soup No. 5 or RM, is an exclusive product of CDO. It is the sort of food that tourists are generally interested in trying because it seems to be an aphrodisiac. The soup contains bovine innards, tendons, and bull’s testicles. In addition to the cuisine, you might want to look out for fresh fruits from CDO Kadayawan festival such as durian and bananas. In some food stores and restaurants, you will also have a chance to get your hands on ostrich or crocodile meat.

While You're At It!

You can try the different outdoor activities within CDO such as:

Zipline across Macahambus Adventure Park

Paraglide from CDO’s Highest Mountain at Amaya View

Go for a Hike at Mapawa Nature Park

Siargao Surf

The surfing capital of the Philippines is Siargao. For years, this little island in the southern Philippines has attracted surfers from all over the world and those planning to get married there.

Surf Season

Good news, everyone! 24/7, 365 is surf season in Siargao. But, it is suggested that the best time to visit the Cloud 9, the best surfing destination, is from September to November or basically during the rainy season in the Philippines. During these months, you can surf waves as high as 12 feet. Generally, the peak season in General Luna (where Cloud 9 is) is from November to April.

Travel Time!

Option #1: You can book a direct flight from Manila or Cebu via the local airlines.

Option #2: You can go to Surigao City before boarding a boat or ferry bound for Dapa Port in Siargao. The estimated travel time is 2 hours depending on the ferry. Also, Dapa is far from General Luna so make sure that you have booked or arranged your transport beforehand.

Surf's Up

There are different surfing spots in Siargao depending on your skill level. For beginners, the recommended spots are Guiuan, Jacking Horse, and Quicksilver. These spots are not as intense as the Cloud 9 but still good and perfect for beginners.

For intermediate surfers:

Bumee

Cemetery

Daku Reef

Pansukian

Pilar

Salvacion

Stimpy's

For Advanced surfers:

Cloud 9

Pacifico

Tuason's Point

There's some resorts on Siargao offering surfing lessons and surf camps from 1 to 7 or 8 days, if you haven't made your first attempt at surfing. The beginner's surf camp is a week or so long and includes everything from accommodation, airport transfers, travel to surfing beaches, meals each day of one to two per person, equipment for wave rentals as well as instruction.

Fall in Love with Aliwagwag Falls

Aliwag Falls, located in Cateel, Davao Oriental, attracts tourists not only because of its cool running water, but also because of its unique staircaselike appearance, with multiple mini waterfalls flowing and situated on top of each other. It is an estimated 84-tier falls with a height of approximately 1,100 feet, hence, allowing it to enter the list of some of our country’s tallest waterfalls.

According to locals, the falls of Aliwagwag are a divine gift of the gods to the people of Cateel. Also, It is now considered as one of the National Integrated Protected Areas in the Philippines.

Travel Time!

From the Davao City Airport, hire a taxi and go to Ecoland Terminal. Ride a bus or a van going to Cateel. Alight in Aliwagwag Falls EcoPark (3 Hrs | P350).

Best Time To Visit

It is suggested to visit the Aliwagwag falls during the rainy season. In Cateel, the rainy season ranges from November to May.

Accomodation and Activities

An Eco Park is also located near the falls that offers lodging and a variety of activities.

Entrance Fee

Adult - P100 Senior - P75 Children (10-14 yrs) - P50 Children (Below 10) - P25

Zipline Ride

Non-Cateel Residents - P200 Cateel Residents - P150

Tourist Inn Rates

Non-AC Group Room (6-10Pax)- P3000 Small Room (1-2Pax) - P600

AC Rooms Family Rooms - P1500 Twogether - P1000

Extra Bed - P200 each

Tips to Remember

It is suggested that if you visit the Aliwagwag falls is that you bring your own vehicle as there are only few vans and tricycles that passes by occasionally. Also, the signal in the area is said to be weak that may only allow calls or texts, so make sure to have enough load in your phones.

Fun in Dahilayan

The Dahilayan Adventure Park is a fun-filled, extreme park that takes pride in its 820-meter zipline that has a launch point of 4,700 feet above sea level. It is a popular outdoor adventure destination located in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon.

Activities

There is a variety of activities you can do in the Adventure Park!

Travel Time!

Option #1: By Plane

The nearest airport to Dahilayan is Laguindinan Airport in Misamis Oriental

Airlines to Laguindingan (CGY) include Air Asia, Cebu Pacific, and Philippine Airlines

Local Destinations include Manila, Cebu, Clark, Davao, Dumaguete, Iloilo, and Tagbilaran

Option #2: By Bus

From Laguindingan Airport, take a shuttle to Centrio Terminal Lounge in CDO

Walk to Agora and take a bus to Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon or Camp Philips (PHP 60)

There are also vans in Limketkai Centre to Dahilayan

Ride a taxi or a habal-habal to the Adventure Park (PHP 300)

Option #3: By Hired Van

You can hire a van that takes you from CDO to Dahilayan Adventure Park

The van costs PHP 3,000 for a maximum of 12 persons

You can also avail of their package so that you can have free transportation

Option #4: By Shuttle

Every Saturday, there is a shuttle from Cagayan De Oro to Dahilayan

Shuttle Costs PHP 350

Pick-up is at Parasat, Corrales Avenue in CDR or Red Nectar, XU Divisoria

Waiting time is 8:00 – 8:30 AM, while Departure back to CDO is 3:00 – 4:00 PM

Usually, they are also shuttles during holidays

There are group packages that are offered!

Lodging

The Dahilayan Pinegrove Mountain Lodge is under the same management as Dahilayan Adventure Park. If you book here, you can get 20% off on Park rides.

On the other hand, there is also the Dahilayan Forest Park near the Adventure Park that also offers lodging.

Paragliding in Maasim

The Paragliding Capital of the Philippines is located in the beautiful municipality of Maasim in the Sarangani Province. Maasim is dominated by forested hill and mountainous areas in its northern portion, where exotic creatures such as a subspecies of the Philippine Tarsier. One elevation on Maasim, 950 feet above sea level, became the new mecca of aficionados for the sport of paragliding!

The Soar High Paragliding Sarangani is an organization located in the SAFII Ranch in Maasim that offers paragliding packages to tourists or avid paragliders!

Travel Time!

To start your Paragliding Journey, you can get to the fly-site easily by following these easy steps!

From Davao City Ecoland Bus Terminal, you can ride a bus to Yellow Bus Line Terminal in General Santos for more or less than three hours, which will cost you around ₱300. There are also hourly bus trips so schedule your time accordingly. From YBL General Santos, there are also hourly bus trips to Maasim which costs around ₱250. The trip from the YBL terminal to Maasim is about an hour.

Best Time To Fly!

It is highly encouraged to check the weather for the day so that it’s brightly sunny and windy for when you decide to give paragliding up there a try. The recommended time to paraglide starts from 8 am to noon so that you can fully appreciate the view of the Sarangani Bay!

The following below is the list of their rates, packages, and activities you can do!

Lodging and Accommodations!

If you are planning to stay for a few days, Lemlunay Resort is the lodging for you. Lemlunay Resort is located at the southwest corner of Sarangani Bay in the Province of Sarangani. Looking out the ocean you will see Sarangani Bay to the left and the Sulawesi sea to the right.

They have fully air-conditioned rooms which is great after an adventure-filled day. I have listed down below their rates.

Poolside rooms – ₱3,500 good for 4 persons and maximum of 6 persons

Ocean View rooms – ₱3,500 good for 4 persons and maximum of 6 persons

Their packages include:

free breakfast for 2 persons

free use of swimming for 4 persons

And if you have an extra friend in your room, you can rent a mattress for only ₱200.

While You're at it!

The White Stone Mountain Overlook provides a relaxing and scenic view of the Sarangani Bay which will make you appreciate nature even more. They also have lodging and other activities in the mountain overlook.

To prioritize which one to visit first, I have listed down certain criteria to consider and my own personal top 6!

Criteria #1: Environmental Immersion

To be fully immersed with the outdoors, we must be able to experience different outdoor settings such as the forest, sea, etc. This way, we will appreciate nature more and feel the benefits of engaging in an outdoor recreational activity.

Criteria #2: Thrill

The thrill of an activity simply means that we are being challenged while having fun. It teaches an individual to push through the fear and be able to explore more.

Criteria #3: Experience

The activity that we should choose should give us a learning experience, whether it may be good or bad experience.

Criteria #4: Physical and Skill Level

Some activities are physically demanding. When choosing an outdoor recreational activity, we should pick an activity that we can do that also challenges us. It must be also doable and does not have a very steep learning curve.

Criteria #5: Safety

When considering an outdoor recreational activity, safety must be our utmost priority.

Criteria #6: Weather Considerations

Most outdoor recreational activity is weather dependent. We should consider if we can still do a certain activity rain or shine.

Finally, My Top 6 are:

#1: Paragliding in Sarangani

#2: Dahilayan

#3: Siargao

#4: Whitewater Rafting

#5: Mt. Apo Hike

#6: Aliwagwag Falls

Thank you for reading :)))

References:

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alexabadigear · 2 years ago

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Best Backpacking Tent Under 200: How to Find the Best One

A solid tent can make or ruin a hiking trip. Exploring the outdoors, no matter the terrain or temperature, doesn’t mean settling for second-rate tents under $200 when you’ll still be spending much time trapped in them. As a result, we’ve compiled a list of the best backpacking tent under 200 that provide the most bang for your dollar.

Wanna read more, Click here.

#backpacking #travel #hiking #nature #adventure #backpacker #camping #outdoors #mountains #tent #outdoor #campinglife #survival #summer

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daparkz-blog · 7 years ago

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Opting For The Most Ideal Camping Tent

In this time and age, there is no excuse not to be properly prepared for camping. After man figured out to live indoors, he began to figure out strategies to bring those in door comforts to the excellent outdoors. With modern materials, this endeavor was accomplished. Therefore, in the event you'd like to visit the mountains, down by a pond, to the beach, or wherever, you need to try to pinpoint what the best tents for camping really are and delight in the outdoor activities in relaxation.

You will locate several critical factors you want to consider when deciding on the ideal tent. If you do not pay attention to those, you very well could be totally frustrated with your choice and the camping trip working with the tent.

Size

And, please, do not trust the score of this manufacturer for your range of folks who'll easily fit from the tent. Very few men and women are happy when using a four man tent for just four people. First, figure out the actual size you will need for the range of men and women who will be sleeping in it. Will you be using a inflatable mattress, sleeping bags, etc? Lay your bedding out and then decide if you require additional space for gear etc.. Is it necessary to be able to stand up indoors because many tents are not high enough because of it particular. Once you have ascertained the necessary size conditions, then you're going to learn the size of tent you'll need. Check out our site for effective information on Best tent right now.

Ease of Setting Up

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Many people don't wish to spend much time in setting up their tent, particularly if they are not experienced campers. Some tents are very simple to establish and many others are not. Some were created so only anyone can set this up alone, the others require two different people. Again, do not rely on how long the manufacturer says it'll take. Read through the reviews of what the others say about how long it takes and how difficult it is to set up. Also once you have the tent, practice setting this up in your home before you go on your own camping trip. Usually it is much easier the second time around. You don't want to begin your own camping trip contending over how exactly to place the kayak up.

The most crucial function of a tent is to allow you to sleep comfortably and keep out the elements. If the tent won't stand up to wind and rain, it is maybe not very helpful. Read what others say regarding the way the tent works in inclement weather. So whenever you're doing all your practice run of preparing your tent, employ one of these products to every seam at the tent and allow it to dry thoroughly.

Weight

The higher the distance you will have to hold the tent, the more crucial the burden of the tent is. Obviously, if you are backpacking, the tent's weight gets very crucial. But even when you're just carrying it from the car to the campsite, you would like it to become manageable. Again, the clinic run preparing the tent will enable one to observe how easy it is to move it around.

In conclusion, it's important to plan ahead when determining the best kayak for you personally. It is likewise essential to do some online research to discover what owners of the tents you're thinking about say regarding their adventures with those tents. Once you have done your homework, it is possible to have confidence that the kayak you purchase will be the ideal tent for you personally.

#Best Tent Under $200 #List of The Best Tent Under 200 #Best Camping Tents Under $200 Buying Guide

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tokyocrybaby-blog · 7 years ago

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Selecting The Most Ideal Tent

youtube

In this day and age, there isn't any reason never to be suitably prepared for camping. When man figured out to live inside, he began to determine strategies to bring those in door conveniences to the terrific out doors. With modern materials, this task has been accomplished. So in the event you'd like to visit the mountains, down by a pond, to the shore, or wherever, you need to make an effort to figure out what the most useful tents for camping really are and enjoy the outdoor activities in comfort.

There are several important factors you need to think about when picking the ideal tent. In the event you do not pay attention to those, you very well may be wholly frustrated with your pick and the camping outing using the tent.

Size

The most important factor to think about is the size. And, please, do not rely on the rating of this manufacturer for the variety of people who'll easily fit in the tent. Very few people are joyful when using a four person tent for just four people. First, figure out the actual size you will need to the number of people who are sleeping inside it. Lay your bedding out and then decide if you need additional space for gear etc.. Also is it necessary to have the ability to stand up indoors because most tents are not high enough for it particular. Once you have determined the necessary size requirements, then you're going to learn the size of tent you will need.

Ease of Setting Up

Most people do not desire to devote much time in setting up their tent, especially if they are not seasoned cyclists. Some tents are very simple to establish and others are not. Some are designed so only anyone can place it up alone, the others require two people. Again, do not count on how long the manufacturer says it'll take. Browse the reviews of the things others say about the length of time it will take and how difficult it is to install. Also when you get the tent, practice setting it up at home before you go in your camping excursion. Usually it's much easier the next time around. You never want to begin your own camping trip arguing over how to set the tent up. Read this: https://www.outdoorgearreviewed.com/best-tent-under-200/ for details.

How Well Does It Keep Out the Elements

The most important purpose of a kayak is to enable you to sleep comfortably and maintain the elements out. In case the tent will not stand up to wind and rain, it is not very helpful. So read what the others say about how the tent performs in inclement weather. There are several products available to employ into the stitches of tents which can help prevent escapes. So when you're doing all your clinic run of setting up your tent, then apply one of these services and products to every seam in the tent and let it dry thoroughly.

Weight

The higher the distance you will have to keep the tent, the more important the weight of this tent is. Obviously, if you are backpacking, the tent's weight gets very essential. But even if you are only carrying it from the car to the camp site, you would like it to become manageable. Again, the practice run preparing the tent will permit one to observe how simple it's to move it around.

In conclusion, it's important to plan ahead when determining the ideal tent for you personally. It's also important to do a little online research to discover what owners of those tents you're considering state regarding their adventures with those tents. Once you have done your homework, you'll have confidence that the kayak you purchase will be the best tent for you personally.

#List of The Best Tent #List of The Best Tent Under 200 #Best Camping Tents Under $200 Buying Guide

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thesims4blogger · 3 years ago

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The Sims 4: Sims Sessions Official Details and Web Page

The Sims team has announced Sims Sessions, a social media and in-game experience that will be free for players who own The Sims 4. Maxis has launched the Sims Sessions web page with details and information on the music artists featured in the event.

Sims Sessions (Key Features)

Light up your summer with the hottest tracks from your favorite artists. Experience Bebe Rexha, Glass Animals, and Joy Oladokun for the first time all over again—in Simlish! Catch the live event from June 29 at 10 a.m. PT to July 7 at 10 p.m. PT.

Shop the Festival – Buy artist-themed merchandise, run your own craft sales table, or snack like a rockstar at a food stand!

Camp Out – Festivals are fun but exhausting! Get some sleep in one of the tents—or Woohoo to the music.

Enjoy the Show – Gather around the stage to watch, dance, and cheer on the performances!

Perform on Stage – After the performances, go on stage and keep the tunes flowing. Jam on the piano and sing your heart out.

Sims Sessions (Featured Artists)

Bebe Rexha

Diamond-selling and two-time GRAMMY®-nominated New York City native Bebe Rexha is a musical force to be reckoned with. Her RIAA Platinum-certified debut album Expectations (released June 2018 on Warner Records) contained the Platinum single “I’m a Mess” and the global chart-topping smash “Meant to Be” (featuring Florida Georgia Line), now RIAA Certified Diamond. “Meant to Be” held the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for a record-setting 50 straight weeks, the longest reign ever by a female lead artist, and won Top Country Song at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards and Best Collaboration at the 2018 iHeart Radio Music Awards. It was subsequently nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 61st annual GRAMMY Awards® in February 2019, where Bebe was also nominated for Best New Artist.

Early in her career, Bebe won the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ Best Teen Songwriter Award, and then formally burst onto the scene when she wrote “The Monster,” a worldwide hit for Eminem and Rihanna that was certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA. Bebe went on to co-write and carry the instantly recognizable hook for the 3x Platinum “Hey Mama,” by David Guetta, which was nominated for a Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song. Bebe also hit #1 on the Billboard Pop and Rap charts with her 5x Platinum “Me, Myself & I” with G-Eazy. In 2017, Bebe released the critically acclaimed EPs, All Your Fault: Part 1 (with the Platinum single “I Got You”) and All Your Fault: Part 2 (with “Meant to Be”). In conjunction with GRAMMY® Week 2019, Bebe launched the GRAMMY® Music Education Coalition’s (GMEC) national campaign on behalf of its new All-Star Ambassador program. Better Mistakes, her new album, includes the hit singles “Baby, I’m Jealous” feat. Doja Cat and “Sacrifice.” To date, Bebe has amassed over four billion YouTube views and over 12 billion total global streams.

Glass Animals

Since 2010, Glass Animals have redefined alternative pop with their experimental sounds, cinematic visuals, and narrative lyrics. The Platinum-Certified UK quartet—Dave Bayley [lead vocals, guitar], Drew MacFarlane [guitar, keys, backing vocals], Ed Irwin-Singer [bass, keys, backing vocals], and Joe Seaward [drums, backing vocals]—first presented their signature style on their 2014 breakout debut, ZABA. It yielded the Platinum single “Gooey” and elevated the band into the global spotlight. 2016’s How To Be A Human Being notably garnered a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Prize. However, Glass Animals lifted off to a new stratosphere with Dreamland in 2020. It marked their first Top 10 debut on the Billboard Top 200, while their global smash hit “Heat Waves” has amassed millions of streams to date, went Platinum in numerous countries, gave the band their first #1 on the U.S. Alternative Radio Chart, Top 15 at Top 40 Radio, and hit Top 10 on Spotify’s US Chart. Skyrocketing to the forefront of popular culture, they garnered nominations in the categories of “Top Rock Song” and “Top Rock Album” at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards, delivered knockout performances on Billboard Music Awards, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and Ellen, and lined up global headline dates for the 2021 Dreamland Tour everywhere from legendary amphitheaters such as Red Rocks to Bonnaroo, Life Is Beautiful, Outside Lands, and more. The band sold over 130,000 tickets in three days for their 2021-2022 North American tour, with the majority of the tickets selling out instantly. All the while maintaining their unique connection to their fans by creating their open sourced website where fans can create artwork based on the world of Dreamland, putting on a “Live In The Internet” concert that sold 25,000 tickets worldwide, and more. They created unique music videos during the 2020 pandemic by DIY-shooting solo in Dave Bayley’s apartment directed solely over Zoom (“Dreamland”), asking neighbors to shoot on their iPhones while Dave walked down the street (“Heat Waves”), and inviting fans to take 3D scans of their heads (“Tangerine”). Racking up billions of streams across their catalogue, they even made history as “the first UK band to capture #1 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 since 2009” with “Heat Waves” down under in Australia, leading to the longest run at #1 in 2021 on the ARIA Official Singles Chart. Ultimately, Glass Animals continue to redefine what alternative can be, while they quietly overtake the mainstream.

Joy Oladokun

With a guitar in hand, baseball cap over her eyes, and hooded sweatshirt loose, a woman sings with all of the poetry, pain, passion, and power her soul can muster. She is a new kind of American troubadour. She is Joy Oladokun. The Delaware-born, Arizona-raised, and Nashville-based Nigerian-American singer, songwriter, and producer projects unfiltered spirit over stark piano and delicate guitar. Her music and story galvanized a growing fan base as she completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to release her independent debut, Carry. Her song “No Turning Back” soundtracked a viral baby announcement by Ciara and Russell Wilson, opening up the floodgates. She landed a string of high-profile syncs, including NBC’s This Is Us, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, and Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q. On the heels of in defense of my own happiness (the beginnings), she garnered unanimous critical praise. Billboard touted the album as one of the “Top 10 Best LGBTQ Albums of 2020,” while NPR included “i see america” among the “100 Best Songs of 2020.” Predicted as on the verge of a massive breakthrough, she emerged on various tastemaker lists, including Spotify’s RADAR Artists to Watch 2021, YouTube “Black Voices Class of 2021,” NPR’s 2021 “Artists To Watch,” and Amazon Music’s “Artist To Watch 2021.” Not to mention, Vogue crowned her #1 “LBTQ+ Musician To Listen To.” She kicked off the new year by making her television debut on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with a stunning and stirring performance of “breathe again.”After attracting acclaim from Vogue, NPR, and American Songwriter, her words arrive at a time right when we need them the most.

#the sims 4 #ts4 #sims 4 #sims sessions

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hldailyupdate · 4 years ago

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Harry Styles opened the 2021 Grammy Awards with a sultry performance of his Fine Line track “Watermelon Sugar.” Styles is a first-time Grammy nominee this year, earning nods in the Best Pop Vocal Album category for his sophomore LP as well as Best Pop Solo Performance (“Watermelon Sugar”) and Best Music Video (“Adore You”).

Styles took the stage in a leather suit and green feather boa to perform his hit track, in a more brooding tone than the recorded version. Joining him on guitar was Dev Hynes (who performs under the name Blood Orange). Hynes added an electrifying solo as Styles stripped off the boa and showed off his dance moves.

Fine Line was released in December 2019 and has garnered numerous accolades since it debuted, notably topping the Rolling Stone 200 Albums chart. It also landed on the revised 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, released last fall. His singles “Watermelon Sugar” and “Adore You” proved to be big hits as well, both cracking the Top 20 on the RS 100.

Like many artists being recognized at the show this year, Styles was due out on the road for an expansive tour in support of his second solo album. In lieu of being on the road, Styles has signed on to various film roles. He recently wrapped the Olivia Wilde-helmed psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling alongside Oscar nominee Florence Pugh and will soon begin shooting an adaptation of the 2012 book My Policeman. At press time, his 2020 tour dates are tentatively rescheduled for later this year.

(14 March 2021)

#harry styles #harry update #rolling stone #grammys #article #March 2021

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c-nan · 4 years ago

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17 for the prompt list thing 💗

Thank you for sending me a prompt!!

I am almost 200% sure this is the 17 you were talking about lmao

This turned out a lot more angsty than anticipated and this is my first time writing action so bear with me (it was great practice)

“You promised me a cookie.”

“What?” Lena looked up from her laptop, surprised by the sudden appearance of Kara--no, not Kara, Supergirl--standing on her balcony, wringing her hands looking less than super.

Lena focused her attention back to her computer, trying to ignore the pain and resentment that ate away at her insides. She must keep her composure. Luthors show no pain. “I owe you nothing.”

Supergirl took a few tentative steps into Lena’s office. Lena closed her laptop and turned her chair towards her, crossing her arms.

“You said if I tried those,” Supergirl scrunched her face in disgust in the exact same way Kara did a few weeks ago, sending a shot of pain through Lena’s heart, “brussel sprouts, then you would give me a cookie.”

“I promised Kara Danvers,” Lena said with as much ice as she could muster. She turned her chair back to her laptop, setting her hands on the cover. “Besides, her and I had a falling out. Now, do you have a real reason to be here? I don’t have time for idle chit-chat, I have work to do.” In all honesty, Lena was just about to pack up and leave for the day, but if she had to stay another hour to prove her point, she knew she could find something to do.

“Lena, I-”

Lena spun her chair back around in annoyance. “You what?” Lena had a long day of meetings with less than compliant business men who seen her as no more than an incompetent woman. She did not have the mental energy to deal with whatever it was Supergirl had to say.

But Supergirl no longer had her attention on Lena, her eyes instead focused outside, eyebrows furrowed.

“Get behind me.”

“If you think-”

“Lena, now is not the time to argue. There’s something out there. You need to get behind me.” Supergirl took her eyes off of the balcony to look at Lena with pleading eyes.

Lena bit her lip and glanced outside just in time to see a massive tentacle slither up the side of the wall. She quickly grabbed the gun she kept in her bottom drawer and took place behind Supergirl.

“What the hell is that?” Lena whispered as three more appeared.

“Not good,” Supergirl answered, raising a fist as the rest of the alien dragged itself fully over the balcony. Her other hand went to her ear. “Alex, Alien spotting at L-Corp. It's a big one.”

If not for the eight tentacles that protruded from various places on his body, Lena wouldn’t guess he was out of the ordinary, his face clean shaven and his hair sitting haphazardly atop his head. His mouth twisted in a crazy smile as his eyes flitted between Supergirl and Lena.

“Supergirl,” the alien spat. “Let's make this easier for both of us. Stand down.”

“You and I both know I won’t do that.”

The alien shrugged, each of his eight tentacles shifting upwards just a little. “Worth a try.” Without hesitation, all eight appendages rushed forward, shattering the glass that stood between Lena, Supergirl and the massive alien.

Supergirl managed to burn four with her heat vision, but there was only so much she could do with the flurry of limbs that filled the office. One of the remaining tentacles slammed into Supergirl’s side, sending her sailing across the room and through a wall, leaving Lena completely vulnerable.

Lena raised her gun, her palms sweaty and arms shaking. The alien, no matter how terrifying, had the eyes of a human and despite what many slander articles against her would say, she would never--could never--kill a human being.

Her hesitance nearly cost her her life.

The gun clattered to the floor as the alien raised her from the ground, the tentacles unpleasantly slimy against her skin. He squeezed her like a boa constrictor squeezes a mouse right before eating it. “I can snap you like a twig, you know,” he said with a twisted smile. “But you’re wanted unscathed. That doesn’t mean I can’t have some fun.” He tightened his grip.

“Kara,” she rasped, her vision going black.

Ringing. An awful persistent ringing. Lena slowly opened her eyes to meet the sight of her office completely damaged; her couch flipped upside down and her desk where her door should be.

A flash of light brought her attention to Supergirl head to head with the alien, her face set in a determined line. Lena could tell her endurance was waning by the slump of her shoulders and the harsh rise and fall of her chest.

Her gun. She needed her gun.

Lena spotted it half hidden behind the leg of her coffee table which had been shattered like her windows. Taking a deep breath, she tried to stand, but it was no use. Her knees buckled under her at the sheer pain that shot through her abdomen and back. She looked to Supergirl--to Kara--who was fighting for their lives and decided she needed to do this. She needed to push through the pain.

So she crawled. She crawled as her body begged her to stop. She crawled as her hands and knees were torn apart by the shards of glass that litter the floor. She crawled until she reached the gun just in time to see Kara get lifted up in the same fashion Lena was not minutes earlier.

Kara used her heat vision on as many tentacles as she could but there were too many. She cried out in pain as the alien squeezed at her midsection.

Lena swung the gun around and pointed it at the alien. She had the advantage of surprise. He wouldn't have time to defend his human-like body with his tentacles.

This time without hesitation, Lena pulled the trigger, lodging a bullet in the aliens right leg. His grip slackened, releasing Kara, who hit the office floor with a thud. His knee buckled, nearly causing him to lose his footing. For extra measure, Lena shot the other leg, sending the alien sprawling to the floor with a cry of pain...or rage, Lena couldn’t tell.

Kara lied on the ground motionless, her cape draped over her like a blanket.

The alien shot Lena a look of pure hatred. “A couple bullets won’t stop me, Luthor.”

She raised her gun again, pointing this time at his heart. Or at least where his heart should be.

“Don’t try to play the hero,” he said, using two of his non-burnt tentacles to hoist him up in makeshift legs. “You and I both know you wont pull the trigger.”

Lena swallowed the lump in her throat, and glanced towards Kara. Her former friend who got roped into this mess trying to rekindle their friendship all�� because Lena was too hard-headed to forgive her.

Narrowing her eyes, she gripped her gun more tightly. “I promised her a cookie, and she will get one.”

“Wha-?”

Two shots in the chest sent him on his back, his face forever frozen in a look of shock and confusion.

“Secure him, I’ll check on Lena,” Alex said stepping around the desk that blocked the doorway. Behind her, half a dozen DEO agents filed in, guns raised and pointed towards the alien.

Lena dropped her arms, watching in shock as Alex knelt in front of her, saying something.

“What?”

“I asked if you were alright.”

“I-yes-Kara-”

“Kara will be fine, are you hurt?”

“My stomach…” was all Lena could say before passing out once again.

---

Lena awoke to the sound of beeping and one thought.

Kara.

Her eyes flew open as she searched for any sight of the alien that attacked them. She then noticed that she no longer stood in her office. She was at...the DEO? She scanned her surroundings more thoroughly, spotting beds like the one she lied on and unused monitors like the one that beeped loudly in her ear.

She thought back to what she remembered last.

The alien picking up Kara.

Her shooting the alien's legs.

The alien towering over her.

The alien falling even though she didn’t shoot him…

“Alex!” Lena called sitting up and immediately regretting it as pain surrounded her abdomen, nearly causing her to black out again.

“Lena, what are you doing?” Alex rushed into the room, checking the monitor before giving Lena a reprimanding look.

“Is Kara…?” Lena thought back to the sight of her lying on the ground. She couldn't be…

“She’s fine and you will be too if you don’t try to sit up anymore.” Alex took one more look at the monitor, and went to head out.

“Can I see her?” Lena called at her retreating form.

Alex turned, her lips pressed together in a straight line. “She doesn’t need the stress of another fight,” she said with a bit of a bite. “She overexerted herself trying to save you.”

Lena looked down to her hands, fiddling with the blanket. Alex had every right to be angry with her. She had said terrible things to Kara in the past few weeks. Things she wished she could take back but can’t. It would probably be best if she just-

“Alex?” Kara’s voice floated through the med-bay doors and not soon after Kara appeared, still donned in her Supergirl apparel.

Lena’s shoulders sag in relief at the sight of Kara who looked much better than the images her mind imagined.

Kara rushed to her side, looking at Alex. “I thought you said she was alright?!”

“She is.”

“Tell that to all these cuts,” Kara said, examining Lena’s arms and hands, “and that big bandage around her waist!”

“Kara,” Lena said.

“Alex, have you gotten her an CAT Scan? She could be bleeding internally!”

“Kara.”

“And what about this big gash on her forehead? Does it need stitches?!”

“Kara!” Lena yelled, finally getting Kara’s attention. Looking into Kara’s worried eyes, Lena smiled. “I’ll be fine, I can barely feel it.”

“But-”

“I’m fine.”

“Oh thank Rao,” Kara breathed, wrapping Lena up in a fierce hug that did nothing to ease the pain in her abdomen.

“Easy Kara,” Alex warned, looking to Lena with a look that basically said ‘if you hurt my sister, I’ll hurt you.’

Kara pulled back with a sheepish smile. “No hugs. Noted.”

“I wouldn’t completely write out hugs. Just make sure they're not so...intense,” Lena said with a small smile, feeling some of the familiarity they had before their fight. “Now, about that cookie…”

Kara’s face broke into a radiant smile and for the first time in a while, Lena felt hope that maybe, just maybe, her and Kara could rekindle their friendship. It would take time to heal and many apologies, but Lena had hope.

#supercorp #supercorp fanfic #supercorp fanfiction #kara danvers #lena luthor #alex danvers #kara/lena #lena/kara #kara x lena #lena x kara #angst #fanfiction #my writing #mine #i hope you enjoyed reading!

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annalyticall · 4 years ago

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Anime Newbie in her Twenties Ranks her First 10 Anime

With the recommendations of my sister @ging-ler and friends, I started watching anime just over a year ago and within that time I’ve watched a total of 10 - some clocking in at almost 200 episodes and some with only 12. I told myself a while ago that once I had finished 10 anime shows I would rank them like some Anime Newbie WatchMojo list, so, here we are. Really this is just an excuse to force more of my unwarranted opinions onto unwilling followers.

I should also preface this by saying I don’t think any of the anime I watched this year was bad, and I enjoyed a lot about every show even if I ranked some low. However, the top three anime on my list are the ones I would recommend to anyone following me even if they don’t watch anime.

10. Death Note

Despite absolutely loathing the “protagonist” since episode one, I really enjoyed the first half of Death Note! The story was intriguing with all of its wild twist and turns and I found myself immediately invested in what was going to happen next. Unfortunately, after the death of who I thought was by far the best character, the show seems to go off the rails as it introduces new characters and contrived plot devices in the second half that were frankly hard for me to care about at that point. The ending was satisfying but I forced myself to sit through a lot of painful meandering to get there.

9. Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop was the first anime I watched as suggested to me by @mcsherrybr. The smooth and jazzy art, atmosphere, animation, action, and music were all a lot of fun, as were the lovable ragtag group of misfits that made up the main cast. I enjoyed myself a lot while watching this western/sci-fi melding pot of a show, and I only ranked it so low because the last few episodes were a huge disappointment to my found-family-trope-loving heart.

8. Violet Evergarden

Violet Evergarden, following the story of a child soldier learning to love, is absolutely beautiful to look at and listen to. The music in this anime is, for me, THE best music from any show on this list. This is also the only anime that made me sob several times while watching it. The collection of short episodic stories that explore the deep facets of human love and connection are incredibly resonant and will stay with me for a long time. However, the strength of the small story arcs made the rushed overarching war story and finale weaker in comparison. Similarly, the memorable characters introduced in the one-off side plots were more interesting to me than the cast of rather bland reoccurring supporting characters. While I will remember a lot of great individual moments, I can’t seem to remember a single character’s name besides Violet’s, but that might also be due to being one of the shorter entries at only 12 episodes.

7. Hunter x Hunter (2011)

Going from one of the shortest anime on this list to the longest, Hunter x Hunter was an great and engrossing story during the entirety of its 160+ episodes. It’s colorful and playful, but can also be very dark and at times even heart-wrenching. Because it contains so many distinct arcs, there is a wide variety characters and stories to get attached to, and some, like the Chimera Ant Arc, I even cried over. But this also left me with issues regarding the pacing. The show has great action and introspective moments but will often drag with long drawn-out pauses between fights to explain simple concepts (though I understand that’s a common trope in old shonen anime in general). The world-building is rich but also caught me off guard with some strange ideas, and admittedly not all of them I liked. Some eccentric characters and concepts rubbed me the wrong way and ended up hindering my enjoyment of the show. Overall though, it was a lot of fun and I left with a few more endearing favorite characters, like Leorio and Killua.

6. Erased

Also a 12 episode anime, Erased was amazingly impactful for how short it was. Even as I followed the unfolding murder mystery, I was also touched by the meaningful themes and kind-hearted characters I met along the way. The already-strong story is accentuated with great symbolism, art, and music. The only problem I had was with the mystery itself; I was able to tell who the true killer was within the first 4 episodes, which didn’t lend itself well to suspense and I spent the remaining episodes frustrated that the main characters couldn’t see some obvious clues.This is a minor problem, though, since the finale has less to do with mystery and more about the morals and resolution of themes that I felt was satisfying.

5. Demon Slayer

Demon Slayer is gorgeous. The stunning art style, fluid animation, and breath-taking music are all valid reasons to watch it, but the main character Tanjiro and his unwavering devotion to find a cure for his sister-turned-demon Nezuko are the reasons to stay. Tanjiro is unbelievably gentle as he shows even the evil demons he has to slay a hard-fought kindness, and it’s those tender moments between all of the amazing action sequences that really elevate this show for me. The issues I have lie with the rest of the cast. While I love some supporting characters, like the pig-headed Inosuke and the stoic Giyuu, others have very niche personalities that can get annoying if they’re on screen for too long, which they definitely tend to be. Still, the bond between Tanjiro and Nezuko is so strong that it gets me through even those dragging scenes.

And it’s written by a woman!

4. My Hero Academia

Hey so this might come as a shock for anyone who’s followed me for a while: My Hero Academia is not my favorite anime! I do love it a lot - it’s the only anime on this list that has inspired me to read the manga, write fic, and buy merch. There are so many lovable characters and exciting arcs in this show that there is bound to be something for everyone to enjoy, both inside and outside of canon. It’s a wonderfully paced and animated deconstruction of the superhero genre and besides its deeper themes and commentary, there’s also just a lot of endearing teenage goofin’ to be had, and the show balances the tone of these two almost-equally engaging aspects of the story fairly well.

The downside, for me, is the show’s sexualization of female characters, especially the teenagers. With the likes of pervy fellow classmate Mineta, it’s a flaw that’s hard to avoid and takes up an unfortunate amount of screen time. There are in-universe characters that protest against this behavior, and the female characters are still well-written for the most part, but that doesn’t make up for the canon material including it at all. It’s not a huge part of the show but it’s present enough that it really knocks the ranking down for me.

3. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Out of my top 5, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the only one that is complete. Because of that, I can tentatively say that so far, it is the best completed story on this list. From beginning to end, the pacing was perfect - the action never dragged, the characters were never unnecessary, and the plot twists were never unearned. I found myself more invested than I thought I would ever be for the large cast of characters, and everything, including its ending, was satisfying to watch. The animation is fluid and lent itself well to the most impactful scenes, especially involving the flame alchemist Roy Mustang. It’s also written by a woman! Really, the only nitpicks I have were with tonal problems - serious moments would sometimes be ruined by too much slapstick or visual gags.

As I mentioned before, my Top 3 are shows I would recommend to anyone who’s unfamiliar with anime simply because they’re good solid stories with almost no distracting anime tropes. This is a good place to start.

2. The Promised Neverland

The Promised Neverland is deceiving; on the surface it looks like a sweet show about a bunch of adorable kids playing together in the spacious green backyard of their quaint orphanage. Once you finish the first episode, however, you will quickly discover that there is definitely something more sinister lurking under the surface. This show is an expertly executed dark horror/thriller that always had me on the edge of my seat. The cute aesthetic never distracts from the suspense, in fact, it adds to the discomfort when the horrific visuals and expressions are contrasted against the character designs. I loved all of the characters, including the antagonist, who manages to be just as sympathetic as she is menacing. The sound design and music are also beautiful and adds so much to the rich atmosphere. I am definitely excited to see where this series will go!

1. Mob Psycho 100

ONE, the creator of Mob Psycho 100, said the single word he used for the concept for the series was “kindness”. Kindness shines through so much of this story following the life of Mob, a super-psychic kid that just wants to fit in, and I adore every second of it. While many shonen anime stories force the child protagonist to get stronger, become more powerful, and fight in battles against hostile adults, Mob Psycho 100 says “that’s stupid. Kids shouldn’t have to be traumatized by immature power-hungry adults. The only strength that anyone should pursue is strength of character, motivated by self-love and love for others.” And it says it with the most beautiful animation I have EVER seen in a show. The simplistic character designs mean the animators can have as much creative freedom as they like with expressions and movement, and they absolutely use that freedom. Humor is a large part of this mostly-comedy anime, but it makes the serious and introspective scenes so much more important when they do happen. The shifts between these two tones never feel awkward or imbalanced.

Mob Psycho 100 has inspired me to become more experimental and joy-seeking with my art, as well as just become a better person in my own life, which I can’t say for many other anime or many other pieces of media period. Even though a Season 3 hasn’t been officially announced yet, I can still safely say Mob Psycho 100 will forever hold a special place in my heart.

#Well I did it i ranked all the anime i've seen #now to watch naruto lol

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remywrites5 · 5 years ago

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Are you planning on writting some jegulus soon? Also can you link me your masterlist? Your writting is amazing you should continue forever because it's awesome👍🏼👍🏼

My master list is here based on ship! Happy browsing but in the meantime here is some Jegulus like you asked!

***

James Potter felt like a king as his cab pulled up at the hotel. There was a flurry of action as he got out of the car with cameras going off and people rushing towards him. He stopped to sign a few autographs and take a few selfies on his way inside, trying not to get mobbed from the crowd. He was currently seeded third in the world for men’s tennis and it was Wimbledon. James knew all of England was rooting for him and it made him puff up with pride.

He stopped at the front desk to get is room key only to find the Black brothers already there taking up space with their ridiculous amounts of luggage. Regulus Black was arguing with the person at the front desk while Sirius lounged beside him looking amused. When he noticed James he perked up.

“Oi James!” Sirius said, pulling James into a big hug. “You gonna win this year or what?”

“You know it,” James said with a grin. He had known Sirius for years, and they’d always been friends, when they could find the time to see each other outside of practices and matches and all the other bollocks. Sirius had originally done men’s singles until Reg had gotten just as good. They were now an unstoppable doubles team. “What about you two?”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “We’re already off to a bad start,” he explained, glancing over at his brother. “Reg is superstitious and they put us in a room with an eight in the number and he thinks it’s unlucky. He thinks it’s a bad omen so he’s trying to get us to switch rooms but obviously the hotel is pretty booked up.”

James chuckled. “Well, I’d offer you my room instead but there’s just the one bed. It’s a queen sized bed but it might be a tight squeeze,” he joked, noticing that Regulus had stopped arguing with the front desk person and was now paying attention to them.

“Say, how about you let just Reg bunk in with you?” Sirius said, his eyes flashing with something dangerous. “I don’t care about the number eight and Remus is coming anyway and I don’t think he remembered to get a room for himself. So Reg can go in with you and Remus can stay with me. There, isn’t that sorted nicely?”

James blinked a few times and looked over at Regulus, whose jaw had dropped as he looked at his brother in complete bafflement. “Sirius, we have things to go over. I couldn’t possibly – “

“Sure you can!” Sirius said, clapping Reg on the back. “We’ll see loads of each other.” Sirius grabbed the room key and shot James a wink. “Besides, we can’t have you starting off Wimbledon out of sorts, now can we?”

“I’m going to kill you,” Reg growled under his breath. If he had meant for James not to hear it he had failed spectacularly.

Sirius just beamed at both of them and hauled up his alarming amount of luggage. “See you two later!” he said, waving after them as he headed towards the lifts.

Regulus deflated like a balloon the moment Sirius was gone. James cleared his throat and stepped up to the counter. “Checking in for James Potter.”

“Yes, of course sir,” the front desk person said with a tentative smile, wary of Regulus still being there. “You’re in room 634. Will you be needing one key or two?”

James looked over at Regulus who merely shrugged in response. “Two,” he said dejectedly. When he got the room keys he passed one to Reg silently. Despite being good friends with Sirius, James didn’t know Regulus that well. He’d faced off against Sirius a number of times all over the world but for a long time Reg was just the pale skinny kid on the sidelines.

They made their way up to the room without saying a word and James wished he could find a way to break the silence so everything could stop being so bloody awkward. It was bad enough that they were going to be sharing a bed for two weeks, considering neither of them were likely to go out in the first round, but James doesn’t even know how to break the ice with Reg.

“I’m sorry about this,” Reg said, shuffling uncomfortably next to James. “If I had known my little outburst was going to inconvenience you I would have kept my mouth shut.”

James punched Reg lightly on the arm. “Don’t be stupid,” he said good-naturedly. “Why the number eight though?”

Regulus shrugged. “I’ve just had some bad things happen associated with the number eight. I don’t like it.”

James nodded and didn’t push for any more details. The younger Black brother had always been a bit closed off. James had always figured there was a reason for it but he wasn’t going to pry and he doubted Reg would be forthcoming with the information.

The lift doors finally dinged open and James let Reg go first. They wound their way through the corridor until they got the room that would be theirs for the foreseeable future. James couldn’t help thinking that a room with the number eight would be a better omen than this. Still, he soldiered his way into the room. Too late to turn back now.

***

James’ alarm went off at six a.m. and he turned over to find Reg already gone for the morning. He was a little surprised that Reg had gotten up so early considering the ungodly hour James had set his own alarm for. Was sharing a bed with him really so bad that Reg had shorted himself some much needed sleep just to get out of there?

James went and showered to get ready for his early morning practice. Yawning, he stretched his arms over his head as he walked along the practice courts, letting his racket rest against his back and itch a small spot he couldn’t reach. He was barely paying attention and just nearly missed getting hit by a ball going well past 200 kph. He jumped and looked in the direction the ball had come. Regulus looked a bit alarmed at how close he had come to hitting James with his powerful serve.

“If you wanted the room to yourself all you had to do was ask,” James teased, walking over while twirling his racket in his hands. “No need to kill me over it.”

Regulus rolled his eyes. “That wouldn’t have killed you,” he reasoned, grabbing his water bottle off the side and squirting some into his mouth. He must have been up for a while because he’d already worked up quite a sweat. James found himself following Reg’s finger as he brought it up to his lips and wiped away a droplet of water that had missed his mouth. Buggering hell, James thought to himself as he realized he might just fancy the guy sharing his bed.

“Wouldn’t have been pretty though,” James managed to shoot back after his brain came back online.

Regulus grinned. “As if anyone would dare to say you weren’t pretty,” he joked, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“Would you dare to say it?” James asked, swiping Reg’s water from him and taking a long drink.

Reg scowled at him and yanked his bottle back. It caused some of the water to dribble down James front. “Not everything in this world belongs to you, Potter.”

James blinked a few times in confusion. “I was just joking, Reg –“

“Well don’t.” Reg turned on his heel and went back to practice his serve. James was almost off the court when another ball went whistling by his head, just narrowly missing him. He glanced back and saw Reg bouncing another ball nonchalantly as if nothing had happened.

***

James had just finished his first match and he’d won – straight sets. He almost felt bad for annihilating the boy he’d been up against but he was out to win. No mercy. A fucking Englishmen was going to win Wimbledon if James Potter had anything to say about it.

When he got back to the room he felt good. He’d forgotten all about his little spat with Reg the other morning and pulled him into a big hug. Reg let out a startled noise as he was embraced against his will. “James!” he said with reservation. “What are you doing?”

“I feel good,” James said, breaking the hug and smiling at Regulus. “I want to celebrate. Your first match isn’t for two days, yeah? So we can go out and get absolutely pissed tonight and you’ll be over it in time for your match!”

Regulus turned his face away. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, James.”

“It’s a great idea!” James said, not letting Reg kill his enthusiasm.

Regulus either realized it was a lost cause or had been protesting too much because he gave in. They ended up at a local pub and tried their best to blend in so they weren’t constantly bombarded by people. Sirius and Remus had joined them with the four grown men crammed into a booth. James was drinking heavily, matching Sirius shot for shot, their competitive spirit getting the best of them. Regulus and Remus merely watched, nursing their own lagers and not indulging.

“So, things going swimmingly for you two?” Sirius asked, his words slurring together slightly. “Getting all cozy?”

James wrinkled his nose in confusion. “No Reg won’t even cuddle me at night. He’s terribly selfish that way.”

Regulus snorted beside James. “I don’t recall any offers of cuddles.”

“That’s because you bolted before I could,” James told him in annoyance. “And then you tried to kill me with a tennis ball.”

Sirius laughed. “Nearly got you with his serve, eh? It’s a killer!”

“Twice!” James told him, holding up two fingers flipping them around so he was showing Reg the V. “Wanker tried to kill me twice and all because I borrowed some water!”

“Borrowed?” Regulus said, raising an eyebrow. “That implies you were going to give it back.”

“Maybe I would have,” James said, giving Reg a wink.

“Okay,” Remus said, interrupting them. “I think it might be time to call it a night. If Sirius has anything more to drink he’s going to be tough to get back to the hotel.”

Regulus nodded as if he knew as much from experience. He went up to the bar to settle their tab and James followed him. “Let me,” James said, trying to fish his wallet out of his trousers but his fingers wouldn’t cooperate. “Reg, get my wallet out.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Please!” James begged, drawing the word out in a whine. “Wanna treat you.”

Regulus sighed and delicately reached into James’ pocket and got out his wallet. “Happy?” he asked, holding it in front of James’ face.

“Extremely,” James said, curling his fingers around Reg’s wrist, which normally wouldn’t have been necessary except that there were three wrists and three hands and James wasn’t sure which one was holding his wallet. He plucked it out of the real hand and got out some bills, throwing them down on the bar with a jovial slap.

Regulus shook his head and double checked how much James had put down. Realizing James had put down too much, he took some of it back and placed it into James’ wallet for him. James beamed at him, swaying slightly on his feet, and pulled Reg into another hug. “You’re great,” he mumbled, nuzzling his face against Reg’s neck. Reg stiffened for a moment in his arms and then slowly brought his hands up and rested them on James’ back, rubbing soothing circles.

“Come on,” Regulus said softly. “Let’s go home.”

James liked the sound of that very much.

***

By the end of the first week it felt like James and Reg were dancing around each other. They’d spend a whole night in watching old James Bond movies and eating a sinful amount of food from room service and then the next day Reg would disappear down to the courts for the entire day and wouldn’t come back until James was already asleep.

He knew they were both busy with matches, it was Wimbledon after all, but he couldn’t help feeling like it was more that Reg was avoiding him. So James decided to go watch Sirius and Regulus’ match to support them. Of course they’d made it into the finals, no one had any doubts that they would. They’d be going up against Rosier and Avery from Germany, fierce competitors who were known to fight dirty.

James snuck into the back of the press conference held after their win in the semi-finals. They were asked the usual sort of questions – if they were nervous about the finals and what they thought of Rosier and Avery. Then someone threw a curveball.

“So Regulus, any truth to the rumor that you’re sharing a room with James Potter?”

James froze, his entire body going tense, waiting with bated breath to hear Reg’s answer. “I am,” Regulus responded evenly. “As tennis players were traveling quite a lot. It means all sorts of accommodations and living arrangements.”

James puffed out a breath. It was a perfectly logical answer to the question and not untrue.

The reported didn’t let up though. “But why James Potter?”

Regulus glowered at the reporter. “Why not James Potter?” he shot back challengingly.

“Is there something going on between you two?”

“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” Regulus responded snootily. It only made the reporter dig in more.

“There’s been quite a few sighting of the two of you out together recently as well as pictures of the two of you on Potter’s Instagram. Are you dating?” The room exploded into people chattering to each other, fueling the rumor mill.

Regulus brought his fist down on the table and the room went silent. “As of right now James and I are just friends,” Regulus said through gritted teeth. “And if that changes it will be no one’s business except mine and James bloody Potter’s. Okay?” Regulus sat back in his chair and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Now if anyone has any questions about tennis I’d be happy to answer them.”

“Or you can ask me about my love life!” Sirius offered cheerfully, making everyone in the room laugh, breaking the tension. Everyone already knew Sirius was with Remus and had been for five years. Their love affair was hardly newsworthy.

James slipped out the back door and went up the room. He sat on the bed and waited what felt like forever for Regulus to return. He stood up when he heard the key in the door and watched Reg slip in quietly. He pressed himself back against the door and stared at James. “Any chance you haven’t heard the news yet?”

“It’s worse than that,” James said with a grin, taking a few steps towards Reg. “I was actually there. I was standing in the back.”

“Oh fucking hell,” Reg said, his face going red with embarrassment. It was unbelievably endearing.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” James said softly. He brought his hand up and cupped Reg’s cheek, feeling the heat rising to his skin from his blush. “James bloody Potter, eh?”

Regulus laughed breathlessly. “The reporter caught me off guard. I’m sorry if I made trouble for you.”

James smirked. “Well my twitter and instagram have been blowing up for a while now. But the only person whose opinion I want on the matter is right here.”

James watched Reg’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed thickly. “I’ve had a crush on you since I was eighteen. I-I tried to chat you up and it went horribly wrong. I made some dumb comment about your footwork, trying in the worst way possible to flirt. That’s why eight is my unlucky number.”

James laughed, covering his mouth with his hand. Regulus looked scandalized and that only made James laugh harder. “Fuck’s sake, Reg, you were trying to neg me?” he asked, wiping away tears of mirth. “Am I to take your trying to kill me with your serve a declaration of love then, since that’s apparently how you communicate?”

“Wanker,” Regulus growled at him.

James closed the space between them and captured Reg’s lips. “You absolutely gorgeous, ridiculous human being,” he murmured in between kisses. He swallowed up each of the breathy little moans that tried to escape out of Reg’s lips. “When you win Wimbledon you can announce at the press conference that you’re dating James Bloody Potter.”

Regulus’ kiss swollen lips stretched into a smile. “And if Sirius and I don’t win?”

“Then I’ll just have to announce it when I win,” James said with a smug grin.

“Tosser.”

***

Sirius and Regulus did win the men’s doubles and Regulus got to announce to the world that he was dating James.

The only thing that made it better was when James won Wimbledon and Regulus came out to celebrate on the court. They had just called the last volley in the line and that James had won when James got an armful of Regulus Black. He’d just won Wimbledon and he was snogging Reg in front of Queen and country. Nothing could be better than that.

#I write thing #Jegulus #James Potter x Regulus Black #Tennis AU #background wolfstar #Modern Setting #long post #anon prompt

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lada-m · 4 years ago

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Sims 4 Simdew Valley Challenge (base game friendly)

Hello! I tried bunch of farm challenges and came up with this one. It is structured, base game friendly and flexible. Please google how to use cheats or install mods, I won't explain it here.

Also this challenge was inspired by two challenges: 1 and 2.

To win

Main goal is to purchase all upgrades from the list and accomplish Freelance Botanist aspiration. If you own Get to work, you also obligated to open a shop. For more fun I made 21 tasks you can accomplish for reward.

At the end of a challenge your farmer will have big house, happy family and perfect garden.

Backstory

Your grandpa, nobel farmer, passed away and left you all what he had. Unfortunately collectors sold most of his heritage and left you nothing but an old house and empty soil.

Set up

I played this challenge with long seasons and long life span but you can use any settings you want. Also I would start with spring if I where you (you can change season with cheat). You must start as a young adult. Roll the dice for your starter pack.

Books. Grandpa left you the following skill book (tier one): 1-2 Cooking skill book 2-3 Gardening skill book 3-4 Handiness skill book 5-6 One (!) skill book from any EP you own or mod you installed (Herbalism, Knitting, Juice Fizzing, Baking, Flower Arrangement or Canning, Nectar Making, etc.) If you have nothing to choose from, choose any skill from the base game (everyone have a hobby!).

Your skills. You wasn't born yesterday, right? Set the skill to level two using cheats. Choose skill according to dice. 1-2 Cooking skill 2-3 Gardening skill 3-4 Hndiness skill 5-6 One (!) skill from any EP you own or mod you installed (Herbalism, Juice Fizzing, Baking, Flower Arrangement or Canning, Nectar Making, etc.). If you have nothing to choose from, choose any skill from the base game.

Your traits and aspiration

You have to pick one helping trait (love outdoors, genius, creative, perfectionist, green friend, loner, maker) and one bad trait (hot-headed, gloomy, paranoid, squeamish, klepto, jealous). Third trait can be any excluding listed above.

You have one obligatory aspiration and four additional. I suggest you to try aspirations in that order, even if additional ones won't be finished.

1. The curator (sell collectibles for stratum capital) 2. Freelance botanist (obligatory) 3. Big happy family 4. Angling Ace 5. Mansion Baron

Your appearance

You can wear only clothing appropriate for garden, no fancy stuff. You have to pay 500$ every time you want to add new clothing to category.

Your home

Step 1. Choose big lot, preferably deep in forest or on island. There you have empty home with cracked walls and dirty flooring, half of the roof is missing. If you are not a builder, any gallery home will do, just delete wallpaper/flooring/furniture. If you are a builder, I suggest you to make floor plan now.

Keep in mind that you might need a place for garden, greenhouse, barn, basement and crafting studio.

Step 2. To simulate uncomfortable feelings from nearly destroyed home, I suggest you to place everywhere dirty dishes from debug menu.

Step 3. If you can add bad traits to your lot, do it. Creepy crawlies, cursed, filthy, gremlins, quake zone are bad traits.

Step 4. Place the following objects anywhere in the house: - Tent or cheapest bed, - Woodworking table, - Functional pile of books or cheapest bookcase, - Fetilize-able bush or cheapest toilet (must be outdoors anyway), - Cheapes grill (if there is none around), - Outdoor bin, - Washing tub and clothesline (if you own Laundry Day).

Step 5. Use cheat to reduce money to zero. That's right, you better hurry before you farmer got hungry! I suggest you to look around for collectibles, harvestibles and lost hotdogs. You can use community lots for plumbing. You can't build mansion for community lot and live there!

First steps. Get plumbing, electricity and roof upgrade. After that you can get rid of dirty dishes.

Rules

Money

- You can't sell for profit decorative spider web or cracks in the walls, old furniture and other crap that no one wants. You can't have profit from selling plumbing, walls, windows. Deduct money with cheat.

- Every season OR every four in-game weeks (for base game) you have to sell all old crops and plant new ones. Only crops in greenhouse can stay. Remember, no one wants your crap, leave alone dead roots you just pulled out of the soil! So deduct money you got from sold crops.

- Nothing is free. You have to pay money for wires to be pulled into your house, plumbing to be connected, roof to be repaired, and so on (upgrades list is below).

- You can sell crafted objects and collectibles any way you want: via build mode, inventory, market table, retail business or Plopsy.

- All CC are allowed. Remember, you can't buy cheap or free CC objects, you have to pay for them honest price according to EA prices. Use cheat to deduct money.

Tasks - You can complete tasks for reward. Some of them have penalty for skipping! - Every in-game week have it's own task. For example, you can't take task from week two if you are on week four. - You have only one week for every task, you can't prolong task time. - If you run out of tasks then start list over from the beginning.

Restrictions - You can't start with pre-made family, you start with single sim. Also you can't have pet of your dream from the beginning, getting a pet is another upgrade to purchase. - No potions, spells, immortality, lottery tickets, great-great grandpa money, money tree. - You can hire butler only because he doesn't have to make a long way to your house deep in the woods. All other services forbidden (unless you have live-in services mod). - Your sim can't have a job but he can register profession in the ministry of labor. You are allowed to gain money in any way as long as it is about craft, art and collectibles. - If your main character dies, you have to teach another household member. You can't buy more upgrades with dead sim's skills. - Visiting other sim's house is not allowed if you was not invited. inventory - If task says "hide", you move item to household Inventory and never use it again. - You can't use household Inventory for anything else. That's why you will need to build a barn eventually. - You can carry only following objects using sim's inventory: seeds, upgrade parts, earbuds, camera.

Please read upgrade list to understand what your sim can and can't do at the very beginning.

Upgrades

(you can buy only one upgrade per day! Purchase upgrades in any order you want. If you don't own mentioned EP, ignore upgrade)

Utilities Plumping upgrade (600$) You can use any plumbing available. Electricity (1200$) You can use any electricity object available. Hello, world (2000$) It's hella expensive to have internet in the country, ya know! But you paid enough and now can order items, browse the web and use other online functions of computer.

Basic building Roof (3000$) You can fix your roof so it covers all rooms.

Barn (2000$, handiness skill 5, gardening skill 5)

Craft studio (400$, any skill 6) You can place woodworking table or any other craft table and hobby item here.

Decorating courses (200$ and Handiness skill 3) You attended decorating courses. Now you can buy wallpaper or drywall, use linoleum and carpets.

Another decorating courses (200$ and Handness skill 5) All types of flooring and walls unlocked, including stone and wood.

Second floor unlock (5 000$) You have to pay every time you need another floor to be build.

Going down (5 000$) You unlocked basement. Do what you want but just don't build kid's bedroom here, alright? For walls and flooring purchase another upgrade.

Garden Garden tier 1 (1000$) Apple won't grow if you just throw it on the ground, fertilizers required. You can place two planter boxes or 8 plants without planter boxes.

Garden tier 2 (1500$ and garden skill 3) You can place one more planter box (3 in total) or 4 more plants without planter boxes.

Garden tier 3 (1800$ and garden skill 6) You can place one more planter box (4 in total) or 4 more plants without planter boxes.

Garden tier 4 (2200$ and garden skill 8) You can place one more planter box (5 in total) or 4 more plants without planter boxes.

Garden tier 5 (3000$ and garden skill 8) You can plant any amount of seeds you want, it's your land now, no fee!

Get wet (Gardening skill 3) You heard about this "sprinklers" thing but could not believe it till you found some in local store. Now you can buy Sprinkle-O-Matic 2001.

Bee boxes (1000$)

Lots

New lot trait (20 000$) You hired specialist (exterminator, feng shui master, ghost buster, whatever) and he made your home a better place. You can change one trait to any other of your choice. You have to pay every time you want to change lot trait. If you had no lot trait but ready for makeover, you can pay 20 000$ and get free bonus trait (any trait) for your sim. Use cheat for that.

Your own store (gardening 9, handiness 9, charisma 4, proper house with utilities and 50 000$) Fee was huge but you did it! Congratulations, grandpa would be proud of you. You unlocked retail store, but you have to pay for lot and building now. Yes, 50k was only a fee.

Catalog Pay only once for unlocking price range.

Local store items (200$) You can buy items under 300$, all fancy stuff in another store.

Store in Sunset Valley (500$) You unlocked items in 300-600 price range, but transporting expences was cruel.

Store in Twinbrook (800$) You unlocked items in 600-2000 price range, but delivery company is greedy.

Store in Twinbrook (1200$) You unlocked items in 2000-4000 price range, you shopaholic...

Store in Pleasantview (2000$) You can order whatever you want because you order in Pleasantview, best city for shopping available!

Social

Wedding (5000$, gardening 6, cooking 4, handiness 3, and proper bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room, unlocked roofs, utilities, wall and floor decorations) Now you can marry.

Kids (7000$ per kid. Wedding required if kid is not adopted. All room types must be unlocked, all utilities paid) Health and school expences was large. If you own required EP then buy poor kid bike to get to school from your coutry farm!

Pet (gardening 6, handiness 6, 3000$) After medical examination and vaccinations you finally got yourself the furry friend! You unlock pet and/or cowplant owner privilege. You can only adopt pet! No premade perfect pets allowed!

Afterschool activities payment (400$) You love these kids but can't they find a better hobby but talking to monster under the bed? Well, if you pay teachers they will stay with your kid a little longer. Afterschool activities unlocked. If you don't own EP, you unlocked mods that use wormholes (like Explore mod).

Woodcarving society (Handiness 10) After maxing skill you can present to judges five hand-made wooden objects (hide wooden objects). Now you are the part of woodcarving society and can sell every object made with woodworking table for double price.

Farmer society (Gardening 10) After maxing skill you can present to judges ten harvestables (hide harvestables). Now you are the part of gardening society and can hire a gardener FOR FREE as your apprentice (money cheat or club slaves).

Fishing society (Fishing 10) After maxing skill you can present to judges five different fishes (hide fishes). Now you are the part of fishing society and can sell every catched fish for double price.

Creative society After maxing one of these skills (painting, flower arrangement, fizzing, fabrication, knitting) you can sell objects made with it for double price. But first you have to present to judges five examples of your mastery (hide crafted objects).

List of tasks

If you don't have certain character on your save file, choose other NPC.

Week 1. Locals want to meet their new farmer. Talk to everyone on a party on in community lot. Entroduce yourself to at least 10 characters. If you ignore them, you have to pay additional 200$ to every building upgrade because locals don't want to deal with you and you have to hire someone from other city.

Week 2. Local kindergarden run out of greenies. Sell 10 vegetables or fruits before week ends, maybe not from your garden ;) Free activity table for your kids if you participate.

Week 3. Bob Pancakes is terribly ill, only good looking garden salad from organic vegetables can help him. You can give it to him or ignore him. You can visit his house and use his stuff if you helped him. Hide or gift salad.

Week 4. Romance day is coming! You can sell your flowers for double price this week.

Week 5. Local bar lost two baristols in recent nectar accident. You can sell them two crafted baristols for double price or pretend you wasn't there and have no idea they need baristols ;)

Week 6. Mortimer Goth runs charity event. If you want to participate, you have to cook and give away (hide) 3 hot meals of family size and normal quality. In exchange you can get any flower vase under 300$ from catalogue for free as memorable gift from community.

Week 7. Art Gallery of San Myshuno is planning an exibition called "Creativity in everyone". They asked you to participate: make a painting or photo they can show. Hide it. Your reward is free easel.

Week 8. Wildfire in Selvadorada destroyed many trees. You can help and donate 10 trees of any kind. Hide them. Everyone amazed by your kindness! Use traits.equip_trait Gregarious cheat for bunus trait (use testingcheats on first).

Week 9. Geoffrey Landgraab runs fisherman week. Everyone who wants to participate have to catch and cook at least 5 fishes. In exchange you get big or small fish tank for free. Roll the dice, even numbers -- big fish tank.

Week 10. Nancy Landgraab requested 3 flower bushes for her garden. Hide them and give yourself 1000$. You can ignore Nancy but she will pull strings and you barn will cost 2300$ instead of 2000$.

Week 11. Local teacher asked you for a tour. You can ignore request. If you agree, invite 5 kids to your lot and let them stay for three in-game hours. You unlocked one afterschool activity/wormhole mod for your kids for free.

Week 12. Sulani environmentalists concerned with Sylvan Glade. Is it safe? Is it hidden? Go there, take 5 different photos to prove that Sylvan Glade is fine. Hide photos.

Week 13. Windenburg wants to sell souvenirs. You can make some! Any wooden sculpture or other hand made decorative object can be sold for double price this week.

Week 14. Your city is in desprate need of eco tourists. You can shelter tourists this week, all they need -- bed and breakfast. For every day tourist spend in your house they pay you 300$. To simulate that, you can start a club gathering, invite someone to stay for a night, invite roommate or ask to join household.

Week 15. Local zoo requests 10 frogs. Hide caught frogs and give yourself 500$.

Week 16. At this promo week you can pay 1000$ and install premade greenhouse on your lot! Use gallery for that if you want. Greenhouse should be without plants, empty glass box. You can place only 16 plants or 4 planter boxes, they are not included in garden upgrades.

Week 17. Museum of Twinbrook interested in your collection of whatever you collected already. You can gift them 10 collectibles and in exchange they will deliver you anything from Twinbrook (Unlocks Store in Twinbrook upgrade).

Week 18. Amazing bonsai master arrived to your city with lecture on gardening. You can attend and pay 300$. It gives you plus two skill points (gain 2 skill points for gardening using cheat).

Week 19. Local folk heard about your progress and gave you 5 seed packs for free. Buy them for free using cheat. You can get seeds only if you finished 7 or more tasks before that.

Week 20. Evergreen Harbor requested 10 planter boxes for their first community garden. You can hide them and give yourself 3000$. If you have EP installed, you can visit community garden after that.

Week 21. Geo Consul asks you to make photo of The Forgotten Grotto because they can't break it open themselves. Get inside and take five different photos for this curious folk. Hide photos.

Score system

+ 5 once all available upgrades was purchased

+ 5 for every aspiration completed (in no specific order)

+ 5 for every child (any other age does not count)

+ 3 for every adopted child (sorry)

+ 1 for every cowplant and/or pet that lived more than three in-game weeks

+ 1 for every perfect quality plant (gallery plants do not count)

+ 5 once event list is over

+ 5 for every collection finished

+ 1 once your kids gets A in elementary school

+ 1 once your kids gets A in high school

+ 2 for every maxed skill

+ 1 for every full upgraded objects in game (eco upgrades do not count)

+ 1 for every five friends your farmer made

+ 1 for every three bonsai trees you harvested and sold (perfect quality only, full tree, not seeds)

As you can see, EP owners won't have advantage in scores. Tell me if I missed something.

Tips

Money

- Painting is most profitable, woodcarving is on second place, writing is on third. Flower arrangement is profitable too.

- If you want to abuse rules then you can simply buy bunch of roses via phone (purchase gifts...) and plant them. Very profitable little things

- Most of the collectibles I found was in parks of Willow Creek, Oasis Springs and Brindleton Bay

Gardening - You can leave plants on ground and make cheap planter box using low heigh fence or dirt tiles - Death flower will give you many flowers once grafted to another bush plant - Harvest spawns at 5-6 AM and only if you are at home lot - I allow using cheats to make plants on community lots bloom. After that you can take home a piece, graft it to your plant and have harvest in three days or so - Seed collecting is pain in TS4. To make it easier for both of us I allow using debug to purchase seeds. BUT you can't order seeds from planter box, phone or computer until you unlock Hello world upgrade. Fell free to search for seeds in San Mishuno market, use N. A. P. or look for plants on community lots

Seasons EP: - If you own Seasons EP consider building greenhouse eventually - I allow loot Patchy for seeds and use him as help - Bees help plants to gain quality in 6 tiles radius, it's 3 planter boxes. You can also bond with bees and later collect swarm to pollinate plants manually - Fetilizer must be expensive, otherwise it does nothing

Related CC (free, always updated, no ads)

All Icemunmun's and Brazen Lotus's mods are perfect for farming challenges but I use only canning mod and retail displays (it's just personal preference).

Find all collectibles automatically

Better gardening - 1 and 2

No tiny harvestables

More woodcarving recepies

Rustic wooden toilet for set up

Seasons EP:

Weather overhaul for Seasons

Caigel Garden Sign Collection - All Packs Edition + Extra (only basegame required!)

Thank you for your attention! I am opened for suggestions. Also I'm not native eng speaker so pardon my grammar.

#ts4 #ts4 challenge #the sims 4 challenge #sims 4 challenge #sims challenge

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bald-tales · 5 years ago

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No going back. By Titan

This was my first story.

My name is Mathew, and I really love the idea of letting a barber have absolute control over what hairstyle I should be wearing. Only trouble is that up until now, I haven't had the nerve. But here I was in my favourite gay bar, considering surrendering my hair, which at the moment was just starting to hit my shoulders. You see, I'd been sitting at the bar with a beer in hand, looking at the different haircuts on the guys around me. They were all typically short, mine the longest by far. I'd been glancing through the local gay newspaper, and noticed a small advertisement, with barbers pole. The shop was called simply, 'Jakes'. Monday were Barbers' choice, it stated. Then in small print at the bottom of the ad it said; 'Monday evenings, special looks by appointment only.' I now had a raging hard on and knew I had to give this shop a try, besides it had been a long time since I'd been in a barbershop, getting my dark, long locks styled in one of those upmarket salons up til now. Here I was, Monday evening right outside number 26 Curtis Street. That was the address that Jake had given me on the phone after I had rang the number in the ad. He explained that as he delt exclusively with a gay clientele, he never advertised his address. It had just turned 6 o'clock as I pressed the bell. The front door gave no clue what was behind it, in fact, I was starting to wonder if this really was a barbershop. My nerves gave way when the door opened and a large, beefy man with a handsome face, stood smiling at me. He wore a traditional barbers tunic with the name Jake, embroidered on it. "Mathew?", he said. "Come on in". I followed him down a small corridor to another door that had a spinning barbers pole beside it. As Jake opened the door, my cock showed my excitement. The room I entered was exactly fitted out as a traditional barbershop. Although well lit it contained no windows, which I did think was strange at the time. Jake the barber motioned me to the barbers chair in the dead centre of the room. With a little hesitation, I climbed up into the big red upholstered chrome chair, that had what looked like a huge light shade hanging above it. "How about a drink",Jake enquired cheerfully. "Sure, wouldn't say no." I replied. Jake walked over to a small fridge and asked,"Is a beer okay?" "Sure is", I replied. As he came back with the beer, I noticed that Jake had a completely hairless head. I mean it didn't look shaved as I couldn't see any sign of a shadow anywhere on his head. He was a big man, well over 200 lbs I guessed, carrying what looked like a lot of that weight around his middle. Normally I wouldn't be attracted to such a man, but seeing him standing there before me in his barbers tunic was really turning me on. As we downed our beers,Jake asked me a few more questions about myself. When I spoke to him on the phone previously, he had asked me what style my hair presently was and what styles I liked. "So, Mathew, you have quite alot of hair there on your head, is it the same on the rest of your body?" he asked with what looked like a glint in his eye. This caught me by surprise. I told him I thought I was moderately hairy. "Let's have a look ", he said, and without any hesitation he started to unbutton my shirt. "I would say you've got more than a moderate covering of hair ,boy". Jake said as he ran his enormous hands over the hair on my chest. I hoped he couldn't see the tent in my pants getting bigger. He had! "Now you told me on the phone you were looking to get something quite different to your present cut." Jake said as he got a stripped cape and placed it around my neck, and secured it with what appeared to be velcro . "Well, I thought a change would be good as I've worn my hair this way for much too long". I began to tell him, "I'm not real sure what style would be good on me, so when I saw your ad, I thought the barber would know the best style, something I would never be game to ask for myself". Jake knew straight away, that this kid was begging to be taken as a slave. He was certainly easy on the eye; he couldn't be more than 22, with a trim, atheletic body, standing nearly 6 foot. But he knew he had to be careful not to scare this boy away before he'd had a chance to work his magic on him. "So your willing to let me do whatever I want?" Jake suddenly asked. I then realised the situation I was in, and beginning to feel a little fearful, replied,"You wouldn't do anything too radical, would you?" Jake just smiled and went to the mirror in front of me. He drew my attention to a board attached to the side. It had a numbered list of hairstyles, many I hadn't really heard of before. "Now I'll tell you what hairstyle will suit you and you tell me if you think it's too radical, okay?" he asked me. Now, that seemed fair I thought, and so I told him,"Go ahead". The clippers felt unbelievable as they travelled up the back of my head, and I knew my cock agreed. Jake had earlier reassured me that the haircut numbered, 5, would be the one he would like to do on me. I was actually a little disappointed as the haircut featured beside the number 5, was an ivy league. I had visions of this guy taking more hair than that off me. When Jake had finished with the clippers, he picked up a pair of scissors and proceeded trim the hair on the top of my head. I had been a little anguished when Jake had first picked up the scissors and cut off all the length I had grown. But when he turned on those Oyster Clippers, I knew I was going to enjoy the new me, especially with summer just beginning. One thing did strike me as odd, when Jake had first started cutting at my hair. It still felt like I had some length at the back close to the crown. I wasn't facing the mirror as Jake had explained he wanted to surprise me with the final transformation. When Jake had finished with the scissors, he said the finished style needed some product in it to keep it in place, but first he had to condition the hair. He rubbed a very thick goo through my hair, making sure it was well coated, but again it felt like he was missing a spot at the back of my head. I really enjoyed the head massage, so much so,I did not notice him lowering that dome light above my head. "This is just to help the conditioners work through your hair, and particularily your scalp." Jake assured me, as he set the dome just over my head. The warmth of the light was really relaxing me, I think I could just drift off to sleep. As Mathew slept, Jake lowered the heat lamp a little lower until, it covered the top of Mathew's head. This 'special' appliance was his pride and joy, as it accomplished quite a few jobs in a very short time. Firstly, it contained a sleep agent, rendering the person under it, unconscious. As a heat lamp, it was drying the cream that Jake had put on Mathews head, letting it completely penetrate the hair shaft. This was the exact treatment that Jake had used on himself. That's why, he had no shadow of hair anywhere on his scalp. The cream was designed to be a permanent hair removal solution, and Jake didn't want his new boy to have hair anywhere on his body. This slave was going to be as smooth as the day he was born, except for one spot on his head. Jake had already decided, he wanted this 'pretty boy' made to look a little freakier. He was going to give him a Mongol look, so that was what Mathew had felt left behind by the clippers, a lock of hair just below the crown, 3 inches round and falling nearly 7 inches long. Jake had also been careful to leave the cream off this hair. Jake switched a lever at the side of the heat lamp. Soft music could be heard coming from under the lamp. While Mathew slept, the Music emitting from small speakers on the inside of the lamp, was designed to put Mathew in a hypnotic state, then he would be bombarded with powerful suggestions. As the sleeping drug effects wore off, this would enable Jake to control him, without the use of restraints or gags. Jake took a look under the lamp, and saw the cream was completely dry. Mathews hair was rock solid, as if he was a mannequin in a store window. He switched the heat-lamp off, and went to his counter where he picked up another jar of cream. Opening it, he began to apply it to Mathews face, around his chin area and above his lip. This was a beard and hair growth accelerator, designed by a doctor friend of his, making the hair grow fifty times as fast as normal. Jake knew how well it worked as he often used it on himself, when he wanted to grow facial hair. In fact Jake decided to spread some of that hair cream on his own face, he thought it was time for a full beard again. He left the shop and Mathew to let the hypnotic suggestions take effect. He was also feeling a little hungry, and another beer wouldn't go astray. He'd check on his new boy in a few hours. Jake had just finished his fourth beer, and as he rubbed his belly, realised he'd better check on Mathew. Looking at his watch, it was nearing 10.30 pm. Mathew had been under his 'Hypno Light' for nearly four hours. It's subliminal messages and hypnotic music should have altered Mathews mind to the effect where he believed he really belonged to Jake; body and mind. Scratching at his face, Jake liked the feel of his new beard. The hair accelerator he,d applied worked fast. He was now sporting a thick, dense beard, completely hiding his chin and neck. Going to the bathroom, he took a pair of Oyster beard trimmers and proceeded to fashion a new look for himself. Trimming the coarse whiskers away from his ears, he removed most of the hair from his cheeks and neck, leaving behind a wedge shaped goatee, that began well back on his jawline. His moustache was left thick and luxurious, trimmed to sit just above the top lip. Pleased with his work, he lathered his face and removed the remaining stubble. He couldn't wait to team up this look with his brand new leather outfit. Meanwhile, across the road............. Billy knew his life was in a rut. What sort of life was it for an 18 year old to spend so much time in front of his window, like some old spinster. Well for this teenager, he could think of nowhere better to spend his time. Since moving into the neighbourhood a few months back, he'd noticed a lot of men coming and going from the house across the road. What was stranger, the men always came out with much shorter hair then they went in with, sometimes radically so. Billy was hooked. He'd always been fascinated with traditional Barbershops, from a very early age, and here was one set up right across the street from his apartment, albeit a hidden one. The owner of the house fitted the big daddy barber type. Shaved head, built like a tank, with plenty of weight around the middle. Definitely not Billy's type, in fact Billy had seen 'his ideal man' enter the house earlier this evening, through his binoculars. Tall, long dark hair, not much older than himself, this particular guy was hot! But what was keeping him so long! He'd gone inside around 6 pm and now it was nearing 11.00. Billy was sure he hadn't missed him, as he'd never left the window for a second. His toilet was here,( a large old fashioned bedpan belonging to his Gran), an ice chest filled with beers and cola, and a couple of cold pizza slices, from an earlier delivery. He was more than prepared for a long night by the window, he certainly didn't want to miss one minute of the action at number 26 Curtis Street. Jake ran the warm water all through Mathews stiffened hair. He'd reclined the Barbers chair back so his new slaves head was fitting into a groove in the basin, designed to support the neck. Jake had just returned from upstairs, and after switching the Hypno-light off, continued with Mathews transformation. As the water softened the dense, hardened, cream, that had turned Mathews hair rock solid, large clumps of hair began to fall away from the scalp. Pink, smooth, skin began to show all over his head. Everywhere the cream had been, hair just slid away as the water softened the hair. The hair root had been eaten completely, leaving nothing for the hair to attach itself to. The chemicals had totally fried the hair remaining above the skin, only the 7 inch long ponytail at his crown, remained. When he'd dried off the scalp, Jake began work on Mathews newly grown goatee. Grabbing a set of trimmers, he got rid of most of the bulk, leaving a sharp edge on the chin almost an inch long. He reduced the mustache, to more a Clarke Gable width, before fashioning it to hang down at the sides, fu-style. Firing up the lather machine, he shaved the remaining stubble, creating a perfect edge goatee and thin mustache. Next, Jake bleached the beard, eyebrows and remaining hair. He decided to dye everything jet black, but that could always be changed. After finishing the colouring, Jake fired up his electrolysis needle and began to tidy the scalp around the remaining lock of hair. He'd been careful to keep the hair removal cream away from this area, and now he was creating a perfectly round circle of hair growing out of the scalp, as if by magic. When he finished on the scalp, Jake set the needle to work thinning down Mathews eyebrows. He narrowed the centre and made them appear to go higher on the outside end. He really was looking like a Mongol slave by this time but his skin was still very pale. Now Jake picked up a paintbrush and began to apply a thick golden oil all over the newly balded head and face, covering every single area of skin. Jake lowered the Hypno-light again and turned on the heat lamp, leaving Mathew to 'baste' for awhile. Part 5 ............Billy was feeling the onset of tiredness. It was well after Midnight and there was definitely no sign of life from number 26. Obviously, the young guy that Billy had observed enter the premises earlier, was staying the night. Billy wished he could be a fly on the wall, as he knew there must have been some serious haircutting, happening to that spunky guy! With a huge yawn, Billy went to bed, and hoped to have some erotic dreams. ............. When Jake returned to his shop to check on Mathews progress, he couldn't believe his eyes. The kid's skin was now a deep, golden brown. He looked so much like an oriental warrior, it was hard to believe that less than 7 hours ago, Mathew was a typical, white, all-American, college boy. Jake raised the Hypno-Light, and switched the heat lamp within it ,off. Time to wake the kid up, said Jake to himself as he waved some strong, smelling salts under Mathews nose. Almost instantly, Mathew's head jerked, backwards, and with a few coughs and splutters, Mathew tried to move his body. He couldn't move his arms or legs, as Jake had secured him earlier with leather restraints. "What's going on .....aaagh! My head...where am I? Why?...aarrrh....why can't I move my arms! Mathew started to garbal as he slowly came to. As Mathew began to focus on the man in front of him, slowly things began to make sense. The bald, bearded guy in front of him, was the barber. He'd come to this shop for a haircut, but why did he feel so groggy, and why was he restrained like this? Jake reasurred his new slave, "Your with me now, Mathew, your perfectly safe, you've just had a little catnap, while I've been working on your new look". Jake then grabbed one of his cigars, and lighting the end, sucked deeply on it. He blew the smoke directly at Mathew, who began to cough repeatedly. Mathew was so confused he couldn't think straight and now his eyes began to water from the acrid cigar smoke. "Don't like the cigar, lad? Well, we are going to have to change that, aren't we?" Said Jake as he blew some more smoke at Mathew. "Now it's time to see your completed haircut", continued Jake. He always liked this part, that's why he did the brainwashing in stages; he wanted them to remember their former self as he did the big reveal. "Okay, here goes", he said as he slowly turned Mathews chair, to face the mirror. Slowly, Mathews eyes began to focus on the man in the mirror. All he could see was a dark, oriental guy, with a completely bald head, except he could see hair coming out of the crown. The guy had a black mustache and goatee, it was hard to guess his age. "Aaarrrgh....." suddenly screamed Mathew as he realised the guy he was looking at was himself. "What the... shit! it can't be....what in the hell have you done to me.....? Mathew struggeled against the restraints as he tried to make some sense of all this. Jake leant in close to Mathews ear, and calmly said, "Relax Mathew, just relax, this is what you wanted, you know it's what you wanted". As Mathew became fully aware of what was happening, he began to think back to the beginning of the haircut. "What the fuck are you on about!" "This isn't the haircut we agreed on" Mathew argued. Jake replied, "It sure is, let me show you". And with that, Jake went to the mirror where the numbered board containing all the different hairstyles, was hanging. "Now, it was number 5 we agreed on wasn't it?" asked Jake, mockingly. Mathew leaned forward, and could clearly see the haircut listed beside the number 5: Ivy League. Suddenly, Mathew's focus caught sight of some small print at the bottom of number 5. He started to feel sick, as he read to himself;'Monday Evenings - number 5: Mongol Braid'. "You bastard! You tricked me, you knew I wouldn't be able to read that small print... I'm gonna get the cops....." Jake continued to speak calmly, close to Mathew's ear,"Come on, don't be so melodramatic, or I'll gag you. Your already getting off on this new look," as Jake pointed towards Mathew's growing bulge in his pants. Mathew was confused. On one hand he was shocked and angered, at what he was looking at, but at the same time, this complete transformation was making him very horny. Could it be that he really wanted this? Part of him was already accepting this, how is that possible? Jake leaned in close to Mathew's ear."Your going to love serving me boy. Your new slave name is Boon." Suddenly, Mathew was feeling completely relaxed. He couldn't remember what he'd just been saying, all he could focus on was the bald , bearded man beside him; his voice was so soothing, his eyes, trusting, all Mathew knew was that he had to serve this beautiful man. Mathew's conditioning was working 100 percent. You see, Jake had just said the keyword, Boon. It had been placed as a subliminal message, to activate, the information contained now in Mathew's sub-conscience. At the mention of the keyword, Mathew was now on course to begin his new life, as Jake's slave warrior. "Now Boon, I'm going to release you from the restraints, you will remain calm". Jake said in a soothing voice. "Yes Master", replied Boon with his eyes still shut. "There is still much work to do", said Jake as he went to work, fashioning a braid out of Boon's ponytail. He worked methodically, sepperating the strands of black, shiny hair and wrapping them tightly into a perfect Mongol Braid........all the time, Boon said nothing; he just sat perfectly still. Part 6 Billy couldn't sleep; he was too restless.All he could think about was what may or may not be happening across the road. He got up and thought he should try some hot chocolate, maybe that might help him sleep. As he entered his small kitchen, he thought he heard a scream - not loud, but none the less it was definitely a scream. Going to the window, he peered across at number 26. A light was on in the upstairs window, and every other apartment close by was in complete darkness. What was going on at that address? Billy knew he couldn't go back to sleep now. Without thinking, Billy returned to his room and started to dress. Meanwhile...... Jake continued to apply the special hair removal cream all over Boon's body. Laughing to himself, he thought maybe it should be called; Hair Destroyer! Jake had Boon completely in his power, so he continued to transform Boon's body, Boon just lay there as if in a trance. Jake had transferred Boon to a collapsable table, he'd sourced at a camping store. Here he could complete his work on Boon's body. When he had completely covered the front of the body, Jake wheeled over, a large infra-red lamp. Turning it on, it began to glow a fiery red as he lowered it closer to Boon. Soon the cream would dry, exactly as it had on Boon's head, and when washed off, would remove all the hair, including the deadened root. "What was that?" Jake said aloud to himself. He'd just heard something fall outside. He thought it sounded like the alley out back. Leaving the shop, Jake went to the back entry to the shop and turned on a video screen near the rear door. He pressed a button that gave him four different screens. One picture was of the front door, one of the alley beside his rear door, and two other pictures showed inside his barbershop. Peering at the rear shot, he pressed a button that brought up just the rear alley camera shot. Sure enough, he could see movement; not real clear in the darkness, but there was definitely, something or somebody, near his rear shop window. This window, only looked in on a small room, that contained a fridge and coffee-maker. It was mainly a supply room for the shop. Jake suddenly remembered he'd left the blinds open, and the light from the barbershop would be filtering through the open door. Jake knew he had to move fast, so he went back in the shop, grabbed what he wanted, and made his way to the front door. Billy couldn't believe he'd come down to this back alley in the middle of the night. What with hearing a scream and not knowing anything about this 'Barber', wasn't this insane? He was beginning to think so as he peered into the back window. He'd climbed up on a trashcan to be able to see in. He could make out what looked like a small storeroom and light seemed to be coming from an open door. It had to be a shop, Billy said to himself. Suddenly the trashcan gave way, and Billy fell to the ground. The sheer noise magnified in that small alley, made him not have to think twice. Taking a moment to gather himself , he started to run as fast as his legs would carry him. His adrenaline pumping, he was nearing the end of the alley, and he started to feel safe. As he rounded the corner of Curtis Street he felt a huge arm grab him from behind. Before he could scream for help, a hand covered his mouth. He tried to struggle, but was having trouble taking in air. He could feel everything going blank. As Billy stopped struggling, Jake knew the either had worked as he kept the cloth over the victims mouth. Part 7 Back in his shop, Jake secured his prisoner to the barbers chair. Using the leather restraints, he fastened them around the kids, neck, chest and arms. He fitted his legs to some custom-made stirrups that could be raised from the side of the chair, and in a semi-reclined position, gave the barber complete access to the groin and leg areas for shaving. Jake studied his captive carefully. Straight away, Jake recognised the kid from the apartment across the street. He'd noticed him many times, just sitting in his window; this had started to worry Jake. He knew the kid had probably noticed the continual stream of men, coming in and out of this address. And now he was snooping around out in back, in the middle of the night. Had he seen anything he shouldn't have? Jake's Barbershops very existence, relied on remaining hidden from the straight world, and the authorities. Wow, Jake thought, this kid was certainly a looker; couldn't have been more than 19. Jake turned his attention, back to Boon, who was still lying on the table in his hypnotic state. Jake would wait for his new prisoner to wake before deciding on his fate. The hair removal cream needed a little longer to dry, so Jake turned his attention to the piercings. Wheeling over a small trolley where he had laid out all the necessary equipment earlier, Jake pushed a large needle through the right earlobe. Working a large gold hoop through the new piercing, he then pierced the left earlobe, fixing a much smaller but thicker gauged ring. All the time, Boon remained, perfectly still. He'd been programmed to enjoy the thought of having multiple piercings, and already his cock was at full mast. Working quickly, Jake continued to work now with a small needle gun and before long, Boon's left ear sported eight gold studs around the edge. In the glow of the infra-red heat lamp, the brillance of the golden colour of the piercings, accentuated, Boon's tanned face. Next a small gold barbell was fixed to the bottom of the thinned down eyebrows. Finally, a small spike was placed under the bottom lip, setting off the black sculpted goatee. It was time to remove the body hair, which by now had completely dried, and hardened. Using wet towels, he rubbed them all over the front of Boon's body, taking away the deadened hair forever,leaving nothing but smooth skin in it's place. He then asked Boon to turn over, and sure enough, Boon obeyed. Jake now applied the hair removal cream to the back of the legs, arse and back. He fixed the infra-red lamp back in place to continue the process of removing Boons remaining hair. Yawning, and feeling a rumble from his stomach, Jake realised how long it had been since he'd ate anything. He went upstairs to fix himself a snack, besides, Boon needed time to bake! Part 8 Conclusion Billy began to come to. He felt as if he'd been hit by a truck. He couldn't remember what had happened; he was having trouble focusing on his surroundings, then slowly, he remembered being in a back alley. Then running as hard as he could, he was grabbed from behind..... then all he could remember was darkness. As he began to take in his surroundings, he realised he must be inside the Barbershop. As he tried to move, he quickly became aware, he couldn't move; there were leather straps holding him to a barbers chair. Fear started to take over, as he became fully conscious. It was then that he noticed a naked guy, lying on a table to his left. Billy couldn't tell if he was awake or not, but he seemed to be completely hairless, except for a long braid, and a beard, and beside him stood some large heat lamp. Billy really started to panic now. He began to yell, "Get me out of this chair." Just about the same time, Jake was returning to the shop,"Pipe down cutie, no one wants to hear your whinning". Almost at once, Billy started to babble about how much trouble the barber would be in if he wasn't released this very minute; "The cops are gonna be all over you, when they hear what you've done, you fat pervert." Jake got in close to the chair and almost whispering in Billys' ear, said; "I think your the one in alot of trouble, Don't you?" "What were you doing, snooping around out back, in the dead of night, eh boy?" Billys' heart suddenly sank. Shit, he hadn't thought about his own actions tonight. How does he explain to the cops how he'd been looking for a delicious hunk that had gone into the shop earlier....Jake had him there. Billy would seem like the pervert! "Listen man," said Billy nervously,"It's all a big mistake. You see I was out for a walk and I thought I heard screaming..........just ahh, let me go and.... I won't say anything." Billy was trying to think quickly now. "What do you take me for?" Laughed Jake. Billy didn't know what to say, he just knew he was in big trouble. "So, what's your name then boy?" Jake asked as he started to fiddle with the Hypno-Light. "Billy". Billy replied nervously as he could see the Barber doing something with what looked like an oversized opperating theatre light. "So tell me Billy, why were you really checking out my shop tonight, could you have noticed a young guy comming in earlier? Your always in that window of yours, nearly every night! Surely you must have seen the guy, waiting outside my shop?" Jake continued as he started to lower the lamp closer to Billys' head. "Well, sure I did see him go in, but I heard a scream and I never saw him come out". Billy thought it didn't matter telling the truth as this Barber was obviously gay as well. "That's because he hasn't come out; Billy meet Boon." Just as Jake pointed towards the dark guy on the table, Billys' eyes began to widen. Suddenly it was as if he'd seen a ghost. Just as Billy began to scream, Jake placed duct tape over his mouth, then switching on the Light, said; "Let's see what we can do to improve your looks, eh Billy?". Music could be heard, strange, melodic music. Slowly, Billys' muffled screams began to subside.

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yamithediaperdork · 4 years ago

Text

Suki’s baby boy

Old ass story i did wayyy back in the day. here’s hoping it aged well XD

“So my super sexy girlfriend, how did your girls take it when you told them you were taking time off to be with a manly stud?” Sokka asked. it was a couple weeks after Aang had defeated the phoinx king, and life was returning back to normal, for the most part. Sokka was standing to become a little full of himself, but other than that, him and Suki were getting along great. “They asked who the stud was.”Suki joked, and then patted his head. “Kidding, but they were a little bit upset that i was taking off again so soon. maybe we should cancel our trip for awhile?” “what? no way! do you know how hard it was to convince Aang to let us borrow Appa?” “well..OK.” Suki said. though really, it had been HER who had convinced Aang, HER who had gotten them the supplies they needed HER who had worked out where they would stay..all Sokka had done was stay where he wanted to go, and whine when she wouldn’t agree to a place. ‘I swear, he’s acting more and more like a little boy every day.’

“We’re going on a trip, we’re not going by ship..it smells like Appa let one rip.” Sokka sang, walking ahead of Suki, carrying his bag of clothes, and leaving her carrying everything else. “Maybe, if your done amazing me with your lyrics..you could help me?” She asked. “what? oh sure. watch out for the root over there..that big rock on your rig-” “I MEANT CARRY SOMETHING!” “geeze, no need to yell. god, don’t tell me it’s your time of the month..” Sokka grumbled, grabbing some more stuff. Suki had been so loaded down that her face had been hidden, but as he took a few things, he saw her angry face, eye twitching. “..You still know how to kill me five different ways before I can fight back don’t you?” He asked in a small voice. “Seven.” was all she said. Sokka was blissfully quiet for the rest of the walk. Soon they came into a clearing, where Appa was waiting, Aang sitting on top and patting his head. “Hey guys!” he called, jumping up and gracefully coming down. “Hey Aang, thanks for letting us borrow Appa again. I don’t think traveling on foot would of agreed with Suki at the moment.” Sokka said. ‘deep breaths, in and out. once your alone you can explain to him how close he is to being dumped..off of Appa..at 100 feet..’ “Why not?” Aang asked. “Her aunt flow is visiting.” Sokka said in a stage whisper. ‘..make that 200 feet..over a pile of nice, sharp rocks.’

Soon everything was loaded and Aang said goodbye, watching the not so happy couple leave. “You’ve been strangely quiet for the past while.” Sokka commented. “look, if you feel bad about snapping at me, it’s OK.” He assured. “..Sokka, you used to have at least a little bit of charm..and you were so sweet.” Suki said, moving in closer to him, and then grabbing his shoulders. “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!” “Uh..” Sokka squeaked, getting shaken. the reins to Appa dropped from his hands and he feebly tried to push her away. “I swear to god, if you don’t stop being such a jerk soon, not only are you not going to have a girlfriend, they’ll never find the body!” She snarled, then pushed herself to the back of Appa’s saddle. Appa gave a loud growl, and Sokka came back up and grabbed the reins, patting Appa’s head. “This is gonna be a long flight buddy.” he muttered.

after not speaking to each other for five hours, they arrived at the first town on their little vacation list. Sokka had picked it, and Suki didn’t bother to remember it as they landed outside of the city. “So, where are we going to keep Appa?” Suki asked. “didn’t you take care of that?” Sokka asked. “..No, I booked our hotel, for three nights like you asked. you said YOU would find a place for Appa.” Suki said. “That doesn’t sound like something I would say.” Sokka said, rubbing his chin. “..For the first time today, I agree with you. Can you handle staying here with Appa while I go and find a barn or something where we can keep him.Can you do that at least?” Suki asked. “I did wanna go and see the weapon collection they have in town...” Sokka started, and then saw Suki’s face. “But yeah I can stay here with Appa my old pal!” He added quickly.

Suki stormed into town, with such a scowl on her face that the guards at the entrance to the town didn’t dare stop her. which was go for them, because she was just itching for a excuse to unleash some heavy violence. It took her nearly 3 hours to find a place willing to house Appa, and she was on her way back to the entrance of the village when a old woman in a shop stand called out to her. “Young lady, why are you so mad? fighting with your man?” The woman asked. “..No, he’s more of a boy.” Suki said, coming over. hell, her feet ached and she smelled like a stable after walking around all this time, let Sokka wait on her. “Let me guess, was once a charming young man, but now acts like a soiled brat?” The woman asked smiling. “..Yeah. thats kind of creepy,, how did you-” ‘It’s the way with most boys who try to be men. what you need to do young lady, is take the wind out of his sails..and I have just the tonic for it.” ‘should of figured..’ Suki thought, thinking about taking off while the woman look somewhere under her counter. “Ah! have him drink this, and I promise you he’ll stop trying to act like a big shot.” the woman promised. “..how much?” Suki asked. her coin purse was running a little dry, she hadn’t thought to bring much coin in with her. “For a young lady like you? It’s free.” the woman said, putting a small bottle in Suki’s hand. “just don’t go taking off right away..I’m sure you’ll be wanting more advice from me.” The woman said with a smile. “..this isn’t going to poison him is it? Cause he’s a dick and everything but i don’t really wanna kill him.” Suki said. “Poison?!” the woman asked, eyes going wide. “Ohhh, because I made that comment..heh..No dear. it will have a effect on him, but he will not die. I give you my word, and Madam Koza’s words is her bond!” as the old lady promised, her hand went over her heart, and she held a hand in the air. “well..OK. “ Suki said.

“What took so long? I sooo hungry!” Sokka whined, laying on Appa’s back. the grass that had been around Appa was all chewed up, in fact the big guy was still munching out. “Sorry, the only place willing to take him was on the other side of town. But I did stop off and get you something.” Suki was all smiles, as she took out the small bottle, and tossed it up to Sokka who caught it. “what’s this?” He asked, making a funny face. Suki climbed up onto Appa’s back, and moved into position to take the reins. “It’s a love drug. you take it now, and when we..you know..later..” Suki said, looking back and winking. the effect on Sokka was instant, as he tented his pants and took the stopper out of the bottle, and slugged it back. “I thought we weren’t gonna..ya know..cause of you..” Sokka started. “I’m not having my peri-” “Ew ew, don’t say it like that!” Sokka interrupted, coving his ears. Suki raised a eyebrow, he had been making references to it all day. “Alright, I’m not having aunt fl-” “Gross!” he whined, putting his fingers into his ears. “..I’m fine. it’s not that. I was just in a bad mood thats all.” she said. As Appa took off, Sokka calmed down and nodded, then looked over the edge and scream, crawling to the center of the saddle. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, giving him a funny look. “W-We’re up t-too high..” He whimpered. “..Really? You’ve been hanging upside down from a zeplin and not been worried about the height before! not to mention how often you’ve flown on Appa!” Suki snickered. “D-Don’t laugh..I-I don’t know why..It’s just scary OK?” He whimpered. She was going to laugh again, but looked back, and saw that he was curled up in a ball, and shaking. ‘why the hell did I just give him!?’ she thought wildly. ‘what did that old lady say..he’d stop trying to act like a manly man..and what else..I mean..he’s acting like a..little...kid. ah crap.’

Part of her warrior training had seen Suki study many, many poisons and other drugs that were used in the world, and she knew of one plant, that when boiled in hot water for long enough, had the ability to mentally regress a person. the plant though was suppose to be wiped out. A servant girl had used it on a warlord, and when he had recovered he had killed the girl and ordered all of the plants destroyed.

“Calm down Sokka, we’re almost at the stable OK?” Suki said in a nice calm voice. Her mind was spinning, the old texts she had read had dosage levels compared to a persons weight.. At Sokka’s weight, with how much was in that vial.. She paused and did the mental math, and cursed softly as they landed in front of the stable. “Sokka, we’re on the ground OK? Do you need help getting down?” Suki asked softly. getting up and walking back towards him. He shook his head no, and slowly got up, now blushing bright red. “I-I don’t know what that was all about..I’m sorry.” he said, looking anywhere but at her. “..it’s OK” Suki said. She chose not to mention the small damp stain on the front of his pants, and instead hoped down to meet to stable master. “So this is a sky bison eh? should be interesting to look after eh?” The old timer said, smiling and showing all four of his teeth. His breath was rank and Suki just smiled and did her best not to breath any of the stink in. “whats up with your fellow there eh?” He asked, pointing behind her. Suki turned around, finding Sokka trying to carry as much as he could. ‘like a little boy trying to impress a girl..’ she thought with a smile. “What’s wrong with him carrying everything?” she asked. “I wasn’t talking about that eh, I was talking about how he pissed his pants eh.” the old man snickered. “He didn’t piss himself, he spilled a drink on himself. and I’ll ask you to please not go around pointing out other peoples flaws.” Suki said. her voice was low and full of menace, and with her back to Sokka, she crackled her knuckles. “Understand..eh?” she asked.

“That guy was awfully nice to give you half of your money back.” Sokka said. He was carrying his fair share of the gear this time, Though Suki had had to fight with him to let her carry any..even when it weighed him down so much he couldn’t even crawl.. ‘crawl..Oh Sokka..I’m so sorry..’ she thought. “Anyways, thanks for pointing out that wet spot, I can’t belive I wasted that much of that potion you gave me on my pants.” He giggled. “Yeah well, It’s OK. I’m sure you drank enough.” Suki said. God, she felt so guilty..how was she going to break it to Sokka? “Which street do we take now?” Sokka asked, stopping at a four way. Suki watched him trying to read the signs, and hoped she was wrong. maybe the dosage hadn’t been that high, and he had only wet a little because he was scared. “Huh..thats weird. I thought their signs were in English here.” Sokka said. He had the cutest little confused look on his face, and was scratching the top of his head, looking this way and that. “I know how to read the sighs.” Suki lied. “I’ll guide us. but before we go to the hotel, why don’t we go take a look around the market. I saw a stand before that I wanna go and check out.” ‘If that old bat doesn’t have a cure for him, I’m turning her over to the guards! those potions are illegal!’

It was harder than she thought to get back to Koza’s stand, not because she couldn’t recall the way, but because Sokka had to stop and look at every weapon, every toy, just about everything. She should of known better really, than to bring him in this state with her. he didn’t have the greatest attention span at the best of times, and with a little kids mind set it was even worse. But she didn’t dare leave him by himself. already he’d almost freaked out, when he thought he had lost her. she had only gone across the street to buy them some apples, and she came back to find him looking scared and teary eyed. Now she couldn’t get him to let go of her hand even her life depended on it, which was luckily seen as a sign they were lovers..till people got closer and saw and heard how Sokka was acting. After he had whined and begged to try out a new kind of gimmick toy, the merchant selling it had asked her in a whisper if she was looking after someone ill in the head. ‘great. he’s thinking like a 5 year old if i’m lucky, and the merchants think he’s retarded. can this day get any fecking worse?’ Suki thought. She was currently dragging Sokka along, he was whining he wanted to go back to the cake shop, since Suki hadn’t let him get a cookie. “I have my own money, way can’t I get one!” He whined. just when she thought he couldn’t make this any worse, he went limp on her, and just stayed on the ground. “Sokka, get up.” Suki whispered, looking around as a crowd was starting to gather. “want cookie.” He said, crossing his arms. “Sokka, for the love of god, get up now!” Suki hissed. “your causing a scene!” Great, she could heard the people now..comments were being made about the poor girl dealing with the retarded boy. “Sokka, if you get up and come with me strait to the booth i wanna go to, We will go back to that shop, and i won’t get you a cookie, I’ll buy you a entire cake just for yourself!” She hated having to resort to bribing him, but it seemed to work. though he had a little kids mind, Sokka was still a fairly able young man, and he rocked onto his shoulders, then nipped up onto his feet. “A whole cake? You got a deal!” he yelled. more laughter from the crowd, which he seemed to be noticing for the first time, and he turned to them. “what are you laughing at?” He asked. “Yeah, what are you laughing at?” Suki asked. if they truly believed he was handicapped, maybe they would have the good taste to point out something else, or just go away.. “ah.nothing son..it was just a funny sound a cat made.” A young man said. the crowd muttered they’re agreement, and slowly drifted away. “Thank you.” Suki mouthed to the man. he gave them a thumbs up, and Sokka returned it with a grin.

“he was nice.” Sokka said. he was smiling and still holding Suki’s hand, though he was moving his back and forth, making her swing hers. “Yeah.” “I wonder what the cat did that was so funny.” Sokka wondered. “..He might of farted.” Suki said with a grin. Sokka giggled. “eww, your so gross!” As they came up to where the booth was, Suki’s heart sank..the booth was gone! “excuse me.” she asked, getting the attention of anther merchant. “But the old lady who had a booth there..” “Oh, she’s gone home for the day.She’s actually quite the power house, says it’s one of her tonics. she’ll be back in a day or so. she doesn’t work everyday, says she needs time to make more tonics.” “Ah. Well, if you see her, can you pass a message on for me?” Suki asked, digging into her coin purse. Sokka was getting fidgety, and Suki knew she didn’t have much time left before she’d know if this was as young as he was going to get. “sure.” the merchant said, eyeing her coin purse. “Let me pay, a gentleman has to treat a lady.” Sokka said, blushing bright red and reaching into his coin purse, pulling out six coins, twice as much as Suki would of paid. “Tell her that the young lady she gave her word to, need her help. badly.” Suki said. Merchant nodded, and pocketed the coins. “And If I meet her here, and find out you’ve made no effort to give our message, I’ll expect those coins back.” Suki added.

“It’s just for a little bit, I need to pick up some things, and as you can see, he slows me down a little bit.” Suki said to the owner of the cake shop. “I dunno..” The woman said, stoking her chin. “He’ll be eating the cake in here anyways. if he wants anything else, let him have it, and I’ll settle up after.” Suki said. “alright, deal. but you explain it to him. I’ve seen your idiot boy causing trouble all over the market today. Suki bit back her reply to Sokka being called that. It really wasn’t his fault, it was hers! Instead, she walked over to the table where Sokka was sitting, and she was carrying the cake she had promised him. “Sokka, before I give you your cake..” she started. “uh-huh?” he asked, drooling. She set the cake down on the table “Are you going to be OK here by yourself for a little bit? I need to go pick up some girl things, and I don’t wanna gross you out again.” Suki lied. “Oh..well um..” Sokka looked around, and then motioned for her to come in closer. “what if bad guys come and try and take me away?” he whispered. ‘so cute!’ Suki thought, biting her lip to stop for laughing. “The nice lady who runs this place is going to be looking out for you OK? She’ll make sure you stay safe. now if you want a drink or something, AFTER you finish your cake, you can go ahead and get it.” Suki said. As she talked, she leaned down and slowly snaked her hand around, and removed Sokka’s coin purse, and turned to leave. “Heyyy! wheres my goodbye kiss?” he whined. “..and why do you have my money?” “..if you don’t have any money, bad guys are way less likely to come after you.” She lied, figuring if she left him alone with it, someone would scam him out of it before she got back. “Now be a good boy.” she said, and leaned in and kissed his cheek. “And I’ll see you soon OK?” He giggled and blushed at the kiss, and then shyly moved forward and gave her a little peck on the cheek too. “Kay. don’t be too long Kay?” He said. “I won’t be longer than it takes.” she promised.

It wasn’t as hard as she thought to find the stall she needed. With their being a good chance Sokka’s mind set was going to regress even more soon, she knew she needed certain supplies. from what she could recall about the poison, you never truly entered infancy again, but you did amazingly simple minded, and lose all control..down there, as well as moter skills. “Ten thick cloth diapers, two pairs of plastic pants, four safety pins and a jar of ointment please.” Suki asked the merchant behind the incontinence booth. “Size and gender?” the man asked. “Male, and um..about my size I guess..never measured him.” She said, blushing. the man gave her a odd look, then bent down and took out the supplies she asked for. “..You know unless you’re washing these everyday, you’re going to need more than ten.” He said. “washing..them..” Suki made a face. She hadn’t even thought about that..her plan was to get him diapered, and wait till Koza showed up so she could fix him. she was just going to toss the used diapers. then again..she had about a day and a half, to two days to wait..better safe than sorry. “Toss in anther six. and do you have some sort of bag I can put this all in?” She asked.

Suki came back to find Sokka laying back in his chair, half the cake gone and a pile of glasses around him. his belly looked like it was bugling underneath his shirts and he had a drool line coming down from his mouth. “How was he?” Suki asked the shop owner. “He was well behaved. stayed there and pigged himself out on that cake. ordered some milk. you owe me 4 coins for the milk.” “Whats in the bags? did you get me a present?” Sokka asked, spotting the building paper sack bags, walking over. “Nothing for you, not yet.” Suki said, slamming 4 coins down on the counter. “Why don’t you go get your cake and wrap it up to bring back with us?” She asked. “..I get to take the cake WITH me?” He asked, grinning. “Well, I can’t take a half eaten one back.” The shop owner said. “Bring it over and i’ll wrap it for you kid. free of change.” The shop owner said. she added the free of cost thing, as she saw Suki about to ask. “Sounds like you warmed up to him.” Suki said. “Well, for a handicapped young man, he is rather cute.” “..Well, I’m not setting him up on any dates.” Suki said.

“So did you have fun?” Suki asked. they were on they’re way to the hotel now to check in. and for Suki, she had plans of getting Sokka into pampers as soon as possible. she was already noticing that he was stumbling around a little. as if the act of walking was getting too hard for him. ‘this isn’t fair. he’s young and fit..funny and smart..’ Suki thought mournfully. Though deep down inside, for all the of the headaches she was getting from dealing with him like this she had to admit she kinda sorta just maybe found a childish Sokka...cute. Then again it really shouldn’t surprised Suki that maybe she liked a childish Sokka. she had been drawn to him for his charms sure, but she also liked having a Boyfriend that she knew would need her to look after him. She had expected him to take a little more care of himself and her than he had, hence why the tension as of late. not to mention the period jokes which had gotten old. fast. “Yeah. Some boys came in and were starting to poke fun but ling kicked them out.” Sokka said. “Ling?” “That was her name. the cake shop girl.” He said. he jerked his thumb back in her direction and turned his head back. then proceed to trip and fall flat on his face getting some laughs from a nearby group of children. “Sokka! are you OK?” Suki asked. she rushed over and helped Sokka to his feet, and noticed how not only were tears welling up in his eyes, but there was a fresh wet spot on his pants again. “T-That..”He sniffled a little. Suki could tell he was trying to hold the fit that wanted to explode out of him in. “That hurt.” he finished, and tears leaked down the side of his face. Suki heard a soft hiss, but a short one, and anther wet spot joined the first one on his pants. “Sokka, we need to get you inside.” Suki said urgently. He sniffled again and nodded, but now the school kids were noting the wet spots and turning and pointing. “haha! that big kid pissed himself!” “some big kid. I bet you thats his mommy!” “S-Shut up!” Sokka yelled at the kids. Not thinking, he ran over, tears freely flowing from his eye now and shoved one of the kids making fun of him over. of course, while his mind was getting younger, Sokka was still a fit young man, and then kid went over like nothing and started to bawl. “Sokka, we have to go..NOW!” Suki said, panic building in her voice. she looked pass Sokka where what she assumed was a teacher was taking notice of one of her students being assaulted. Sokka thought Suki was mad at HIM and started to bawl himself. ‘This is JUST what I needed..’ Suki thought. She grabbed Sokka by the back of his shirt and yanked him to his feet, then gave him a kiss on the lips. “I’ll give you anther one if you can catch me!” She said. She then took off running and was praying Sokka would follow her. he did and though they got some stairs, she managed to get him back to their hotel without cause too much more trouble.

Suki waited by the door as Sokka came running in, about 10 seconds become her, huffing and puffing, but then grinned seeing her and poked her arm. “Caughtttt youuu!’ He said with a big grin. Suki was thankful that no one besides the clerk was downstairs at the moment and smiled and kissed Soka’s cheek. “That you did. now let’s get up into our room ok?” “kay!’ He said and smiled. the smile faded from his face as they walked in and he noted the two beds. “Heyyyyy, I thought we were going to share a bed!” He huffed, and crossed his arms. Suki sweat dropped. “Well, we might, but only if your a good boy OK?” “...Well OK.” He said. He gave a soft huff and stomped over towards his bed and was about to sit down on it in his soggy pants on the bed when suki eeped and moved over, grabbing him. “Now what!?” he whined and gave her a cross look. ‘jezze, someone needs a nap.” Suki thought dryly. “Sokka..your a little bit wet in the pants right now..we should get you changed before you sit on the bed.” Suki said. “you ARE mad that i wet myself!’ he yelled and pulled away from her, storming for the bathroom. “I’ll show you, i’ma big boy and i can make it to da potty any time I want!’ He said, thumping his chest then slamming the bathroom door. “5..4..3..2..1..” Suki counted down, rolling her eyes. “Suuuuki? can you come in and help me get my pants off?” Came the sheepish voice of Sokka. “i’ll be right in.” Suki called, but grabbed a few things..

When suki came into the bathroom, she had to put a hand over her face you cover the smile. Sokka was doing a fratic potty dance in front of the toliet and we fumbling with the latch on his pants. “Gottta poooop!” he whined, a hand on his butt. “Ok ok, calm down and hold still!” Suki said. She walked over to sokka and firmly took hold of his hips and then undid the latch on his soaked pants letting them plop to the floor. 'he’s not wearing underwear!’ suki thought going red faced as he flopped loose and free. Sokka however wasn’t paying attention to her or his underwear and just plopped down on the toilet and started to go. “awwww..see? told you I can use da potty!’ He said. he was smiling and beaming, kicking his legs ideally while on the throne. “You sure did.” Suki said humoring the poor boy. she took his soaked pants from around his ankles and set it in the tub..figuring she’d have one of the water benders working here fill her tub in a bit.

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