“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a nation, must be in want of a wife.”
Just, y’know, don’t let him anywhere near your actual family….
Forward, but Never Forget/XOXO - on AO3
During brunch, Chross—the old prankster—sits Silco beside fashionable matrons and their eligible daughters. One by one, Chross makes a show of asking Silco about his private life, and the privations that go hand-in-hand with his seat of privilege. A farce worthy of the Demacian Bard. Silco plays his own part impeccably; half the game is being a good sport.
During a lull, he leans towards Chross and whispers, “Digging an early grave?”
They’re old allies; Chross can take a joke. Even if it’s only half-playful.
Chross offers a yellowing crescent of a grin. “Come now, Silco. One can do worse than choosing from such colorfully-arrayed dolls.”
“Shall I take them home to Jinx?”
“Jinx is young and has her whole life ahead for dollies,” Chross chides. “You, on the other hand, must choose one on the shelf. It will be a political statement. A symbol of inner stability. Our leader can’t have a reputation as a hot-footer.”
Silco circles a fingertip across the rim of his teacup. Pomegranate tea. An offshoot of a successful Ionian trade deal.
“I’ll survive.”
“Take it from a shriveled old relic. Many a gentleman survives the gilded halls, only to be gutted in the ladies’ boudoirs.”
“I do enjoy a good gutting.”
“Don’t tempt fate, my boy.”
“Nor should you.” Silco smiles, mouth a slash of serrated ivory. “Otherwise I might propose a union.” At the look of bemusement on Chross’ face, he unhurriedly corrects, “Oh no, dear friend. I don’t mean between old vipers like us. I mean with one of your charming daughters.”
Chross laughs—a horrid faux-cheerful whinny. “Would you? Delightful!”
Pecking a sip from the edge of his teacup, Silco kisses the red droplets with his teeth. “No less delightful than they. Candidly, it’s hard to choose. Marlene is so fiery. But I’d burn out for her in no time. Bianca is sweet, but a romantic. She’d end up disillusioned at best, heartbroken at worst. The best would be your eldest. Esmée. She’s the most patient. That’s what Zaun needs.”
Is that a glint of dread in Chross’ rheumy eyes? "She’s fond of you, too.”
“Of course. We share a common perspective.”
“That you are an inveterate monster.”
“Precisely.”
They trade practiced smiles. The subject is dropped, as it always is.
Tokyo Ghoul x Soul Eater AU idea I’ve been talking about on Twitter all day. Spoiler warning if you haven’t watched / read TG, I guess!
CCG turns the Ghouls they capture / kill into quinque, like always, but the difference is that the weapons work like Weapons in Soul Eater! The Ghouls become Weapons, and Doves wield them as Meisters.
So in this AU, Yamori would be turned into a Death Scythe, which is given to Juuzou to wield as he was the one who ‘brought him down’. Yamori and Juuzou have a zero percent synchronization rate because YEAH RIGHT Yamori’s gonna work together with some brat Dove. CCG have a way of keeping the ghouls in a comatose-state so they cannot resist the Meisters, which means there is no synchronization between Doves and Ghouls and the pair’s combat ability is purely based on how well the Dove can fight on their own, with no added help from a willing Weapon partner.
Instead of devouring souls, Yamori cannibalizes the ghouls Juuzou defeats. It increases his own ability and power (as ghouls eating ghouls does), as well as prevents CCG from creating quinque out of them.
End game is that Naki somehow gets Yamori away from Juuzou and they partner up and everything is better the end!!!!
After making my own UI override, I've been itching to look back in time and try to recreate The Sims 2 UI in TS4, and here it is!
I tried to capture the look & feel as best as possible, so I hope you can enjoy this mod and reminisce a bit c:
PC: 1.105.345.1020 / Mac: 1.105.345.1220 Older game versions will not work with this mod.
UI overhaul in the style of The Sims 2's UI.
Over 500+ additional icons recolored for CAS & BuildBuy!
Sims 2 style cursor recolors.
Most text are kept in their original color, though they might get changed/updated down the line.
// Main mod
Download & extract the zip file within your Mods folder.
Install the latest UI Cheats Extension mod and make sure it loads after the Sims 2 UI mod. Current version needed: v1.40
// Extras
Loading screen: download only one loading screen file. Available in: 4:3 - 16:9 - 16:10 aspect ratio.
Opening screen: file to replace the intro TS4 screen. Choose the file that pertains to your game language.
TS2 Cursor: recolored TS4 cursor to match with TS2's cursor. Unfortunately, some cursors are missing their recolors (rotate cam & grab+arrows in CAS).
EA Notif: optional file if you prefer to keep the notification in its original color scheme.
// Recommended mods for more immersion:
CAS overrides: bodyshop room & icon + CAS organizers, TS2 room by simsi45
buildbuy gizmo override (outline mesh + ts2 swatch)
TS2 font & want sound replacement by thepancake1
TS2 music for TS4 by buurz
Map replacement by 20thcenturyplumbob
Taxi mod & sound override (same object as the loading screen taxi)
// Compatible Mods ✅
UI Cheats Extension by weerbesu - original mod required
Fully compatible w/ UI Cheats Extension v1.40. To avoid any issues, keep the original mod in your mods folder (both .package and .ts4script) and have it load after the Sims 2 UI mod.
Other major mods are also compatible (BetterBuildBuy, TOOL, More Traits in CAS, etc.)
// Known Conflicts ❌
UI overhaul mods (Chalk'd UI, Dskecht's UI mods, TMEX's Clean UI)
Main menu mods (Minimalist Main Menu, Skip Main Menu, and other similar mods) *
Custom loading screen *
Custom wrench icons
Smarter Pie Menu by TMEX (choose between standalone or compatible version)
Phone icon override *
*these files can be removed if you prefer to use others. They all can be found in the Additional Files folder.
S4Studio, UI Texture Squasher (CmarNYC), Image Viewer (luniversims), JPEXS Flash Decompiler
Loading screen tut, splash/opening screen, UI/world map override tut, UI setup, phone icon resources by xosdr
Base files from the UI Cheats Extension mod (weerbesu)
SimFileshare / Patreon
The College assigned Ancano a stinky Colovian apprentice so the dude won't have too much free time to spy
I'm not sure what simblr's general opinion on this is, but peeking back in after my long hiatus, I have a lot of thoughts...
In my opinion, Patreon killed all of the momentum that ts4 simblr had pre-2020. I think we all know a lot of the bigger issues- permanent paywalls, creators doxxing and bullying, cliqueing up and sharing info- but I mean even besides that. I mean specifically early access, two to three week delays for releasing cc, the version of paywalling that most people (including myself) accepted.
It's good that creators were able to get paid for their work, especially during the pandemic. But I think, unfortunately, it had other effects too. I remember back then, being disappointed at how much was eacc, and that was only like 25% of the cc coming out, and it (almost) always was popular creators with high quality work. But slowly but surely, nearly everyone moved to patreon (which I've noticed has caused a lot of cc to be forever lost once patreons were closed/deleted) and 99% of the time it was early access or even exclusive. Many people started blogs with early access cc from the get-go, without having a presence beforehand, and those blogs seemed to be some of the most focused on blocking anyone that shared their cc. The cc varied in quality- it could be simple mesh edits that were still mostly ea, or recolors, or even just patterns sourced from other sites. It didn't matter what it was, it was just content for money, anything to pad out the month and keep patrons. Creators would do early access and then link the cc through adfly or to TSR or simsdom/simsfinds, one by one, even if it was supposed to be a pack. It wasn't bad enough to call out, but it was purposeful.
CC on tumblr became a business in a way it hadn't before, even with other paysites in sims history. And while some people are happy to donate to creators they like now and again... most people either can't or won't. Many simmers are children, and many simmers are adults with strict budgets, especially during the pandemic. And truth be told... they probably got bored. Because it's all terribly boring. CC shopping isn't fun anymore. It's the briefest serotonin seeing something interesting on your dash and then instantly flying away when you see you'll have to wait almost a month for it. And if it wasn't a creator I really liked, I forgot about it instantly after that... sometimes even if I really liked them. Motivation dropped. People stopped being excited, and stopped playing.
Nowadays, it seems even worse. Because the amount and variety of cc and creators has dropped drastically. I'm shocked to see 2-3 cc posts per day, if that, most of them paywalled. It isn't just cc posts either- used to you couldn't look in the s4cc tag for cc, it would be so crowded with non-cc sims posts, but now it's depressingly easy... and empty. Lookbooks, edits, gameplay, cc, it all seems more sparing. And you don't see the same creativity, the same fun random little items, stuff that was interesting even if it wasn't necessarily perfect. Or wild ideas or cc that would appeal to certain small niches. Because that isn't profitable, is it? When you need to create a certain amount of items per month at a certain quality to keep patrons and therefore income, you have to strategize, for good or for bad. Some people are able to do that, and while good for their business model, it limits what they can create and how much energy they can spend on each item. Some people aren't able to do it, and burn out and leave. Either way, creativity suffers. Enjoyment suffers. Creators leave from the passion being sucked out of their hobby; non-creators leave from frustration and boredom. And you're left with a handful of creators still going by their cc business playbook, month by month. But how long can those few sustain themselves?
It's natural for communities to ebb and flow, or even completely die out, but ts4 simblr had been going strong for years before this overall, even if it was in waves. In the pandemic, it should've flourished the way other many other communities did, especially gaming focused ones. But, it didn't. Instead it slowed down, more people left than the amount coming in, the engagement died down, and it seems like as a whole custom content hasn't advanced at all. Maybe it would've happened anyway, but I honestly think patreon contributed a lot. Also, ts2 and ts3 communities weren't affected in the same way, afaik, which makes me think it was paywalls even more.
Can it be fixed? Maybe. If paywalls weren't as much of a thing anymore- and I don't mean completely gone, but just a fairer ratio- I think it could. But now that it's become a standard, I doubt that will happen. I think most people have moved to other places where they don't have to deal with it, like discord servers, and simblr will continue to lose momentum.
It's good for creators to have the option of getting some income for their work, but I guess I'm just saying... at what cost? Beyond the monetary? If you're not super popular, are you even making enough for the added stress to be worth it? If you are, is this going to be satisfying and maintainable long-term, without burn-out/effects on your mental health? Who will pay for it when the number of players keeps dropping? And will this continue on to the Sims 5 community in the future? I honestly hope not.
“Don’t worry. We gucci.”
always @judas-had-a-crown ‘s fault. <3
somebody tell me to stop
my old silly sketch of fem!Estormo + fem!Ancano from 2022.
Love 'em
NOOOOO!! HE IS BUILT LIKE A STICKMAN😭
Arcane
Artist: Thibaut Granet / Victor Maury
21 y.o. она/её/арматурой Elder Scrolls, Funger, Arcane, doll collecting, Tokyo Ghoul, Marvel symbiotes, BG3. Open for trades and new friends
148 posts