(mooooooooooore DL rancher angst. because what else am I good for </3 /j)
No matter how you looked at it, the knock was startlingly out of place; it was late, late enough that a truce-like state should have fallen over the players, late enough that no one would want to risk running into more mobs than they could handle; it was peaceful, they hadn’t accrued more than a single pair of red names so far, and he didn’t think they’d given Ren and Bigb a reason to come after them—at least, not more than anyone else had; it was also them, all season people had been coming and going from the ranch as they pleased, not an ounce of courtesy in sight. If someone really wanted to come in, they woulda just done it.
So, all in all…a knock?
Tango was already up and halfway across the room by the time his brain had synthesized these as the reasons why.
Behind him, Jimmy called a wobbly and worried “Tangooo?”
“Just,” Tango threw a hand backward towards the bed in hopes of staving off Jimmy’s shadow until he figured out what was going on. “Stay there, for a second.”
Like some cut-off had been reached, the second he was close enough to wrap his hand around the handle all haste had vanished—the feeling of urgency holding a negative association with his proximity to the door. He’d had the nerve to get up, to get himself there, but getting his hand to turn and push was an entirely different thing.
The door not yet having been opened, the possibility of what was waiting for him on the other side yawned and stretched towards endless. In a way, not knowing but speculating was worse than just opening the damn thing and facing the one singular scenario that was, but that was why he struggled to do it. Schrodinger’s danger—this was stupid; Tango opened the door.
No one was there.
He blinked in the face of its emptiness for a moment. Of all the situations he had considered, absolutely zero of them included opening the door to nothing. The one definite thing a knock spoke to was the presence of someone—something. So, what, they risked the middle of the night in peace times to come to the ranch they all loved barging into anyway to ding-dong ditch? That seemed, like, a gazillion times more unlikely.
Tango moved to shut the door, trying to shake off the adrenaline, the too-familiar feeling of someone else being a step ahead of him and bemused by it. He ducked to turn back to Jimmy, play the brave one, laugh it off in hopes Jimmy would follow, and then, he saw: just a glint in the corner of his eye, something small and shiny on the doorstep.
A golden apple.
Tango stared at it the way you’d stare at a car crash you hadn’t the chance to get out of the way of in time, the look a doctor had in their eye when they announced your prognosis was bad, abysmal, terminal. It was the brightest thing for yards—a glowing, unignorable fixed point; the kind of bright that in tree frogs usually indicated poisonous, the kind of glowy cartoonists made chemicals when they wanted you to know falling in would reduce you to bones. And it just sat there.
“Tango,” behind him, the bed creaked. “What is it?”
Urgency returned, and, with renewed purpose, Tango moved once more. Fear flooded his senses again—it hadn’t really gotten very far to begin with—but this time it was of a different breed, born from someplace else. He tried to both square himself in the doorway, block the view out, and regain nonchalance, affecting some sort of behavior that would convince Jimmy to just leave things be. “Nothing, don—”
But Jimmy was already behind him, and Tango wasn’t tall enough to obstruct his line of sight.
“Oh.”
And it sort of felt like Tango had failed. Failed what he didn’t know but by the stone in his stomach he knew that he had. He tracked the feeling all the way down his throat and through his middle, getting hooked and snagging on his organs as it went, pulling them with it until he was completely out of alignment, rearranged all wrong; the moment where you opened a test booklet and realized you didn’t know a single answer.
He shook his head, an aborted no becoming no more than a breath that passed his lips at just the right angle to whistle or whine. He bent down and picked up the apple, and, no sooner than he stood again, lobbed it down the hill towards the ravine in some effort to rectify even a modicum of his uselessness. The apple thunked hard into the dewy late-night grass, probably rolled somewhere out of the way; he didn’t know, he couldn't see it anymore—he’d have to grab it and dispose of it at some point, but he could do that in the morning. He had other things to attend to.
Tango shut the door and turned to assess the damage.
Jimmy’s arms were goosebumped where they were exposed—just his white undershirt left on to sleep in—and his head was tilted down, the top of it visible to Tango more than anything else, his hair not mused enough yet to be called bedhead though it was certainly a start. Tango took a step towards him, crowded him just a little, placed one of his hands on Jimmy’s waist, skin warmth bleeding through the thin cotton, and the other on the junction where his shoulder met his neck. Jimmy stayed looking down.
Tango couldn’t think of a single fucking thing to say.
After a few seconds, Jimmy sniffled, pulled up one of his hands and ran it across his nose, mushed it into his cheek.
“Hey,” he ventured softly, in the absence of any other thought. Jimmy only glanced up slightly. “Let's…go back to bed, yeah?”
If it hadn’t already been clear that all chances of sleep had been banished by the panic of a late-night knock, it was by the way they both responded to that statement by sitting on the side of the bed rather than lying back down. A haze had fallen over the room, a trance-like state prompting them to move in the way they thought they should, in the way it seemed they were being directed; their actions pre-determined, someone else's hand on the joystick. Robotically, they maneuvered onto the bed side-by-side, silence still reigning, eye contact (from one party) still vehemently denied.
And it just…wasn’t fair. The way there was no period of wondering between the discovery and the understanding, the way Tango didn’t see the apple and question why it was there, but rather knew, innately, what was being poked, prodded at. He hadn’t stopped to doubt, he hadn’t been confused, and maybe that’s what was the most upsetting—not the presence of the apple alone, but the way the person who left it was confident its message would be interpreted without fail. The way Tango was complicit by letting it.
It was the fact that he hadn’t opened the door to a trap or an ambush, but to a taunt; the apple not left behind as some sort of distraction, someone waiting to break in the back while they looked out the front, but as something else entirely, something completely unrelated to the game and its progression. There were no hidden motives, no ulterior plans—only the sadistic amusement that came with throwing a rock into a pond just to see the fish scatter. It didn’t put whoever did it ahead, it didn’t force them to fall any more behind. It just was, and it was cruel.
Jimmy was still silently staring at the opposing wall, the both of them not even bothering to pretend they weren’t dwelling, and the more Tango sat in the discomfort that had fallen over the ranch, the more he thought, the angrier he got. He couldn’t just be here anymore and not do a single fucking thing about it. He leaned nearly entirely off the bed in his reach for his shoes, shoved his feet into them without precision or care about their security, and was up, diverting on his way towards the door to scrunch the fabric of his vest and pull it off the back of the chair it rested on, before turning on his heel and then he was off—
He was stopped with a hand gripping his forearm in its passing by, came to with Jimmy shouting “Tango!” for what he knew likely wasn’t the first time.
Tango looked. Jimmy hadn’t gotten off the bed, but he’d leaned forward to latch onto Tango and stop his campaign, his eyebrows raised in misery, his lips downturned in upset. He wasn’t looking away, just around; his eyes landing on the wall behind where Tango was standing, on the door that had remained quiet since they’d shut it again, on Tango’s chest, or his hand around Tango’s arm. It was the closest Tango had gotten to eye contact in minutes.
“What are you gonna walk around in the dark ‘til you find who put that there?”
Yes, if he had to—if that’s what it took. But before he could even begin to open his mouth, Jimmy pled, “Tango…” like he hadn’t really been asking, like he’d been hoping saying it would confirm Tango knew that idea was nonsense, not that Tango had been meaning to try regardless. It begged for common sense, it betrayed its wish to concede.
Tango let out all the air he’d reserved for his returning argument as a heavy breath, almost a sigh, a huff. Its frustration was clear. He knew he wasn’t going to find them, he knew there was no conclusion to be had, he knew the joke had already hit and the moment had already ended. He knew that. But he also knew that complacency wasn’t the answer, and that Jimmy deserved to be fought for.
He could’ve gone out anyway, walked around until the sun started coming up and all the mobs turned to ash—hell, he could’ve knocked on goddamn doors, inspired the same kind of fear in everyone else that a late night interruption in a game like this did them, and then demanded answers, no more Mr. nice guy. At least that way, he wouldn’t have had to lay back down, to have the conversation he hadn’t stopped thinking about since.
But Jimmy said, “Can we just go back to bed? Please?” And knew it was a request that couldn’t be denied, knew the power in this interaction that being the victim afforded him, and knew how to play his cards to get Tango to fold.
Tango took his shoes off, again, kicked them out of the way of the bed, gestured behind Jimmy with the hand that wasn’t being detained. Jimmy scooted backward on the bed, Tango’s forearm still in hand like the moment he let go Tango would dash immediately out the door, or dematerialize entirely, maybe; or even…run down the hill in search of something shimmering gold, and find himself unable to resist just one sweet bite. Tango followed him, nudged his shoulder until he complied and laid back down, allowing Tango to pull him closer as he did too.
Jimmy still didn’t look at him. They were nearly eye to eye, only one pillow to share between them both, face to face in the dark; their foreheads leaning against one another, shifting away only to find each other again after any and all movement.
Tango watched the sentence form on Jimmy's lips, watched his face rearrange throughout the composing of the question, the stringing of the words in a line, packaging them to be delivered. He swallowed as he awaited its transmission.
“If it weren’t against the rules, would you…?”
And Tango said, “It is against the rules,” before that could get any further. The wrong answer. He knew immediately after he said it that it was, and he’d kick himself for it if he could any feasibly at all without getting Jimmy in the crossfire. He knew better than to give a non-answer, but he hadn’t been responding to the actual question, his first thought only stop—a futile hope he could head off Jimmy’s negative feedback loop by undermining it at its core. Another failure on his part.
Jimmy closed his eyes, shook his head, “But if it weren’t—”
“No.”
Tango placed one of his hands on Jimmy’s cheek, tilted his head back up towards his, but Jimmy’s eyes remained trained down. “No,” he repeated—he insisted. He didn’t need the eye contact to know Jimmy didn’t believe him.
He leaned up and kissed Jimmy on the forehead, slid his hand from his cheek to the back of his neck and held him closer, but neither of them fell asleep for a while.
33 notes
·
View notes
And so, it begins... a legacy style challenge
And so, it begins... a legacy style challenge
For TS4 created by @accomplisheddoubt
The official tag for this challenge is… #And so it begins LC
And so, it begins… is a legacy style challenge that will take your family from Base Game to High School Years over several generations. That said, high school years can and will be utilized prior to the final generation just as base game can and will be used after generation one. A few generations will have a sole pack it focuses on, while others may combine two or more packs. This legacy is meant to inspire, provide structure, and most importantly, be fun. If you don’t own a specific pack, or a specific generation doesn’t interest you, change it, make the challenge work for you.
Rules & General Information
This challenge is designed to utilize every stuff, game, and expansion pack for The Sims 4 with a few exceptions.
Each generation will have specific goals and a base storyline to follow, but the rest is up to you. I suggest having ‘wants’ on and going with the flow of the game.
Aging can be set to normal, long, customized, or even short if you’d prefer the extra challenge.
If a generation doesn’t list all 3 traits (or you use the more traits in CAS mod) you may select traits you’d prefer or randomize them.
No money cheats! Money is easy enough to acquire.
Mods are allowed and encouraged to enhance gameplay.
Unless specifically stated in a generation, the number of children each heir has is up to you. Though you could make things more interesting by rolling 1-6 to determine the amount. Same goes for who is the selected heir.
Each generation will start with money obtained by their parents, the exact amount is up to you and how much savings the previous generation has accumulated.
Though Cats and Dogs is not fully explored until generation 5, pets are allowed prior.
If you enjoy having an assigned color per generation, you can roll 1-17 for a randomized color or simply assign a color of your choosing per generation. Please note 17 colors are listed in anticipation of add-on generations.
Apricot, Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Grey, Hot Pink, Lavender, Lime, Mint, Navy, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, White, Yellow
Remember, while this legacy is meant to help explore the game and provide a set of goals to do so, it is also meant to be fun. If something doesn’t fit your style of gameplay, or your particular interests, change it.
Generation 1
Base Game + Outdoor Retreat
You were recruited into the S.I.M.S. just out of high school, odd-right? You’ve been relocated to the quaint town of Willow Creek with instructions to blend in and keep your career a secret. You were planning on taking a year off before finding a career so you could travel. Oh well, you’ll just find time to balance work and travel now. How hard could that be?
Aspiration(s): Neighborhood Confidante + Outdoor Enthusiast
Traits: Genius, Loves the Outdoors, Good
Career: Secret Agent
World(s): Willow Creek + Granite Falls
Goals:
Move to Willow Creek with $20,000 in starting funds
Complete the Outdoor Enthusiast aspiration
Max the Secret Agent career in the Diamond Agent branch
Max the herbalism skill
Befriend the hermit in Granite Falls
Complete the insect’s collection and display them in your home
Take camping trips with future child(ren)
Optional: also complete the frogs collection
Generation 2
Get to Work + Spa Day
Your parents kept a collection of insects in the house, how gross! And family camping trips, ew. You would never do that to your children. But there was one thing you agreed on with your parents, taking care of yourself naturally. But instead of concocting herbalism potions, you’d prefer a more mindful and financially appeasing approach.
Aspiration(s): Self-Care Specialist
Traits: Squeamish, High Maintenance
Career: Own a Retail Business
World(s): Newcrest
Goals:
Move to Newcrest as a young adult
Complete the Self-Care Specialist aspiration
Own a 5-star retail business selling wellness items and offering spa services (may be in Newcrest or Magnolia Promenade)
Max the wellness skill
Optional: build a small yoga studio at your business and offer weekend yoga classes
Generation 3
Get Together
Your parents were always so zen, how boring! You never bought into the whole “wellness” thing they profited on. Though you did admire their following. Fashion has always been of interest to you so as a young adult you move to an up-and-coming town in hopes to make a name for yourself. You have a lot of friends but no best friends.
Aspiration(s): Leader of the Pack + Friend of the World
Traits: Dance Machine, Insider, Outgoing
Career: Style Influencer
World(s): Windenburg
Goals:
Move to Windenburg as a young adult
Complete the Leader of the Pack + Friend of the World aspirations
Max the Style Influencer career in the Trendsetter branch
Max the dancing and charisma skills
Have at least 2 failed marriages
Fight with partner on a regular basis, you love the drama
Optional: max DJ mixing skill
Generation 4
Dine Out + City Living
You admired your parent’s love for the night life, but you wanted more than Windenburg had to offer. Though they definitely skewed your perception of what love is supposed to look like. The city is full of potential partners and you aim to explore all your options. Your philosophy is to get out the second things begin to get too serious. You saw how often marriage fails, and you’ve got dreams to fulfill, who has time for that unnecessary heartbreak.
Aspiration(s): City Native + Serial Romantic
Traits: Foodie, Romantic, Noncommittal
Career: Critic and own a restaurant
World(s): San Myshuno
Goals:
Move to San Myshuno as a young adult
Complete the City Native + Serial Romantic aspirations
Max the Critic career in the Food Critic branch
Open a restaurant in the city that specializes in experimental food
Max the singing skill
Complete the Experimental Food Prints collection
Never marry; you may have a live in partner, a one-night stand that results in a pregnancy (may be a relationship that ends as partner does not want child), or adopt a baby as an adult
Never prioritize your child + only have 1 child
Optional: complete the city posters and/or snowglobes collection(s)
[if my first pet stuff is owned, use it to decorate generation 5’s room]
Generation 5
Cats and Dogs + My First Pet
As a child you always wanted a pet (cat or dog depending on trait), but your parent claimed it would be too much of a commitment. You resented them for always putting their career and romantic endeavors above you. A pet would never do that. So as soon as you’re of age, you move away from the city and settle down in Brindleton Bay where you open your own vet clinic. And adopt a bunch of pets. You even open your house to strays. Animals are all you need, until you finally find a person who shares your passion and respect for animals that is.
Aspiration(s): Friend of the Animals
Traits: Unflirty, Cat or Dog Lover
Career: Own a vet clinic
World(s): Brindleton Bay
Goals:
Move to Brindleton Bay as a young adult
Must have the Cat Hangout + Dog Hangout lot traits
Complete the Friend of the Animals aspiration
Own a 5-star vet clinic
Max the pet training and veterinarian skills
Complete the Feathers collection
Fall in love with the owner of a patient after becoming friends first
Be good friends with your child(ren)
Generation 6
Jungle Adventure
Your parents were comfortable with their routine lives in a small town, but not you. You wanted to see the world, you desired adventure. Upon graduating high school you take your first trip to Selvadorada and it's as beautiful as you dreamed and full of adventure. From thereon you make it your life's mission to uncover all the mysteries of the jungle.
Aspiration(s): Archeology Scholar + Jungle Explorer
Traits: Loner, Kleptomaniac, Self-Assured
Career: Freelancing, selling artifacts, or writing novels
World(s): Oasis Springs + Selvadorada
Goals:
Move to Oasis Springs as a young adult
Complete the Archeology Scholar + Jungle Explorer aspirations
Max the archaeology skill
Complete the Ancient Artifacts and Omiscan Treasures collections
Have child(ren) as an adult
Optional: fall in love with someone you meet in Selvadorada
Optional: also complete The Curator aspiration
Generation 7
Seasons + Parenthood
Your parents' life was full of adventure. Which meant you were often left with your grandparents as they explored the wilderness of the jungle. And unlike your parent, you envied the stability of a peaceful routine life. You took up gardening as a teenager and discovered it to be your passion. And while you harbor no resentment for your parents' way of raising you, or lack thereof, you aspire to be a super parent to your future children. You want your children to feel loved and believe they truly can become anything they want to be when they grow up.
Aspiration(s): Super Parent
Traits: Family-Oriented
Career: Gardener
World(s): any previous world of your choosing
Goals:
Move to any previous world of your choosing as a young adult
Complete the Super Parent aspiration
Max the Gardener career in the Flower Arranging branch
Max the flower arranging, gardening, and parenting skills
Have 2 - 4 children
Enroll your children in Scouts
Celebrate every holiday with your family
Complete the holiday cracker plushies and decorative eggs collections
Optional: complete the voidcritter cards collection
Optional: have a family member max the skating skill
Optional: move to Del Sol Valley when generation 8’s heir is a teenager
Generation 8
Get Famous
Your parents' always told you that you could become anything you wanted, and well, you aspire big. And your parents are your number one fans. You began showing interest in acting as a child after participating in a school play so your parents enrolled you in a drama club after school where your love for the craft grew.
Aspiration(s): World-Famous Celebrity + Master Actor
Traits: Self-Absorbed
Career: Drama club, Actor
World(s): Del Sol Valley
Goals:
Move to Del Sol Valley as a young adult (if family did not relocate to Del Sol prior)
Complete the World-Famous Celebrity + Master Actor aspirations
Max the Actor career
Max the acting, charisma, and media production skills
Have a child with a fellow famous sim
Optional: enroll child(ren) in drama club to encourage their love for the spotlight
Generation 9
Strangerville
Being raised in the spotlight took a toll on your sanity. As a teenager you began searching for penpals as a way to connect with someone who doesn’t know your family and the fame that follows you. You grew paranoid that no one actually cares for you as an individual but for your family's celebrity status so you decided to move to an odd little desert town where no one knew who you were. And after the strangest welcome wagon one could imagine, you begin to discover something is not quite right in this seemingly ‘perfect’ town. You join the military to blend in and uncover its secrets.
Aspiration(s): Strangerville Mystery
Traits: Paranoid
Career: Military
World(s): Strangerville
Goals:
Move to Strangerville as a young adult
Complete the Strangerville Mystery aspiration
Max the Military career in the Covert Operator branch
Max the athletic skill
Be a strict parent as you know the world is unsafe
Enroll your child(ren) in after school activities to keep them busy and productive
Complete the postcard collection
Generation 10
Island Living
Having a military parent was tiresome. Who decided life had to be taken so seriously anyway? And what fun is living in such a hot climate when there is no beach around to cool off in? You very quickly fall in love with the island and seek to help improve it.
Aspiration(s): Beach Life
Traits: Loves the Outdoors
Career: Conservationist
World(s): Sulani
Goals:
Move to Sulani as a young adult
Complete the Beach Life aspiration
Max the Conservationist career in the Environmental Manager branch
Help clean up the island
Attend every island event at least once
Complete the seashells, buried treasure, and underwater photos collections
Optional: have a child with a mermaid and give that child the child of the oceans trait
Optional: have a child with an island local and give that child the child of the islands trait
Generation 11
Eco Lifestyle + Nifty Knitting (optional)
You admired your parents desire for a cleaner environment. But you felt it wasn’t enough. After learning of Evergreen Harbor’s environmental state, you knew it was your destiny to improve it.
Aspiration(s): Eco Innovator + Master Maker (up to level 4)
Traits: Freegan, Green Fiend, Recycle Disciple
Career: Civil Designer
World(s): Evergreen Harbor
Goals:
Move to Evergreen Harbor as a young adult
Have the off-the-grid lot trait
Complete the Eco Innovator + Master Maker (up to level 4) aspirations
Max the Civil Designer career in the Green Technician branch
Max the fabrication and juice fizzing skills
Befriend the Master Crafter
Vote on N.A.P.s and improve the neighborhood you live in
Own a meat wall, insect farm, and live in a container home
Optional: obtain at least 50% of your household items through dumpster diving, flea market festivals, and fabrication
Optional: retire from the Civil Designer career as an elder and complete the 5 freelance crafter gigs to complete the Master Maker aspiration
Optional: master lord/lady of the knits aspiration and/or knitting skill as well
Generation 12
Paranormal + Dream Home Decorator
Ever since you can remember you would look at a building or a room and instantly envision how it could be improved. Your parent was a Civil Designer and you always wished they had chosen the civic planner branch. You just never understood the fascination with going green. You purchase a home with tremendous potential though a bit of a fixer upper and soon discover it's quite haunted. After years of honing your craft of designing, you switch career paths and become a dedicated paranormal investigator.
Aspiration(s): aspiration of your choosing
Traits: Creative
Career: Interior Decorator, Freelance Paranormal Investigator
World(s): any previous world of your choosing
Goals:
Move to any previous world of your choosing as a young adult
Purchase a fixer upper home with the haunted house lot assignment
Complete the aspiration of your choosing
Max the Interior Decorator career + complete at least 5 paranormal investigator gigs
Max the medium skill
Befriend Guidry
Purchase the brave reward trait after mastering the medium skill
Optional: the haunted house you purchase is in one of the occult worlds
Optional: to make this generation less boring, randomize the aspiration, traits, # of children, world to live in, # of romantic partners to be had, etc.
Generation 13
Cottage Living
Your parents may have enjoyed the haunted house vibes, but you certainly did not. You loved your grandparents and their simple ways of living. When they passed you vowed to honor their memory by moving to the countryside and living off the land doing your part to make the world a greener place..
Aspiration(s): Country Caretaker
Traits: Animal Enthusiast
Career: selling items from your farm at the market
World(s): Henford-on-Bagley
Goals:
Move to Henford-on-Bagley as a young adult
Have the off-the-grid and simple living lot traits
Complete the Country Caretaker aspiration
Max the gardening and cross-stitch skills
Run at least 3 errands around town
Befriend everyone you help with errands
Give generation 14 heir the lactose intolerant trait as a child
Complete the Village Fair Ribbons collection
Optional: complete the Freelance Botanist aspiration as well
Optional: have at least 3 children, each getting one of the following traits; overachiever (gen 14 heir), party animal, and socially awkward
Generation 14
High School Years + University + My Wedding Stories
Country life wasn’t for you. And being lactose intolerant while being raised on a farm really made life difficult. The world was such a big place and you felt trapped in the countryside eagerly waiting till you could explore what was out there. Being your family never made much money, you knew you needed scholarships and part-time work if you were ever going to make it to university.
Aspiration(s): Goal-Oriented, Academic, Soulmate
Traits: Lactose Intolerant, Overachiever, Romantic
Career: part-time career of your choosing, University student, Education
World(s): Britechester, Copperdale, Tartosa
Goals:
As a teenager max a part-time career + after school activity
Move to Britechester as a young adult while you work on your degree and move to Copperdale after graduation
Complete the Goal-Oriented, Academic, + Soulmate aspirations
In university join an organization
Obtain a distinguished degree in Economics or Psychology
Max the Education career in the Administrator branch
Max the logic + research and debate skills
Meet your future spouse in university
Plan at least 2 of the events that come with My Wedding Stories
Marry, honeymoon, and later renew vows in Tartosa
Complete the Messages in a bottle collection
Optional: take at least one family vacation with your child(ren) to Tartosa
165 notes
·
View notes