#anyway. guess who got reshade working

[wyldblunt]

[elderwisp]

Get to Know Me - Sims Edition

I was tagged by @happy-lemon Thank you very much this was a lot of fun :D

What’s your favorite Sims death?

- There was this one time I had a sim stargazing and completely out of a blue, a freaking meteor fell on them. I think this was TS2 but it was so random and honestly kinda hilarious so it’s my fave

Alpha CC or MaxisMatch?

- For TS2, I am a maxis match kinda gal. For TS3, I love alpha CC a bunch but clothing-wise, I like a mixture of the two. For TS4, it’s more a maxis mix but leaning heavily towards the maxis match. I guess I’m very open-minded to it all

Do you cheat your sims weight?

- Hecks nah

Do you move objects?

- All the time ALL THE TIME

Favorite Mod?

- Da pose player. Grateful 4 u everyday 

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

- The Sim’s 2 Castaways. Mucho fun, I think I’ve played the campaign a solid 20-30 times

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing

- NO WAIT this is news to me I literally am just like live mode I didn’t know that there was like an actual phrase

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

- AHHHH ah this is so hard but I have to pick to OK hear me out but Frances and Atlas are near and dear to my heart. It’s funny because they were apart of a RP but they’ve been around since 2015 (y’all wanna see a pic? it’s so bad). I feel like there’s just a lot of history there and it’s so cool to see an idea just flourish from there and they just kinda stick with you for a good while. I also love Icarus and Taryn to death but like the deep and endearing kinda love has to go to Frances and Atlas

Have you made a simself?

- yis

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

- I like black hair a whole bunch 

Favorite EA hair?

- The short, choppy hair from Cottage Living or even the pixie from Get to Work! I love short hair

Favorite life stage?

- Teen! Especially in TS2, I feel like because of the extensive world building and all of the drama, it just makes it super enjoyable!

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

- Gameplay! I do like to decorate, but I’m not much of a builder

Are you a CC creator?

- I know how to make poses and some recolors but that’s just about it ;3; I also know how to skinblend in TS3 B) Sorta B)

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

- No, there’s one person I still keep in touch with back when I was more active in the community but she no longer has a simblr. I would however like to branch out when I idk learn how to talk to ppl 💀

Do you have any sims merch?

- HAH no

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

- HAHAHAH hah that’s literally how I got into posting the sims. I uploaded three seasons of a sim story as well as some machinimas ;___; I took it down tho because while I was very proud of doing something from start to finish, it is a lil cheesy

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

- I feel like in the very beginning, it was very minimal. Like I did not know how to push my game. Now I feel like it’s a lot more authentic to me. I’m not gonna lie, I have a lot of fun prepping any posts, I feel like I don’t have to think as much. It also helps that there’s an arsenal of really sick CC at my disposal

What’s your origin id?

- Elderwisp :)

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

- I really like sunivva hairs or everything by sforzcc for TS4. Pralinesims is carrying the whole accessories and makeup team for both games. For TS3, rollo-rolls or even pocci and milla. ATS3/4 is really awesome too omg ok I’ll stop

How long have you had simblr?

- I’ve had this blog for six years but I had a blog prior to this since freshman year of high school (maybe earlier) but I deleted it because this person I knew, found out about it and started like pressuring me to show others and I was so freaking uncomfy 💀 Dawg she forced me to make her a simself ANYWAYS so prolly like ten years

How do you edit your pictures?

- It’s kinda simple, especially now that I have been learning how to utilize reshade. However, I like to add texture to my photos, maybe a transparent film border. I also like to add in shadows and highlights. Sometimes I’ll add soft/hard light or linear/color dodge. After that, I mess with the curves or exposure of a picture before finally sharpening and exporting the photo

I am now realizing this is a lot 😂

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite?

- SIMS. 3. LATE. NIGHT. Bridgeport is EVERYTHING I love city worlds! 

I'm tagging @raiiny-bay @pleaseputnamehere @percosim​ and honestly anyone else my brain hurt

Bonus content: Prehistoric Atlas jumpscare below

[madeofcc]

JANUARY 2023 UPDATE

Hello everyone and happy new year to all of you ♥

As a new year is starting I wanted to let you know a bit more about all the things I’ve planned for this year and also how my life could affect those plans. Feel free to read or skip this. But remember ...

Thanks a lot for being here and take very good care of you ♥

Blog update : As a new year is coming, I might change my theme but this is not my priority. You can see it above, those 3 stories are my main goal for this year ! As Another Side started last year, I really want to give you the entire story. The end of 2022 was quiet hard and I couldn’t work on it as much as I wanted to and you’re still here waiting for the next parts so I also feel like I have to end this story properly. This should take the first months (I think at least until february/march for sure) as the first part of the story is still not done and I’ve planned 4 parts for this ghost story. Are you enjoying it so far ? What do you think might happen ? Do you already have any favourites ? Don’t hesitate to tell me everything through asks and comments :)

After Another Side, we will finally get back to Destiny Harbour with the part I wrote the entire story around. Like, this 3rd act is the first one I wanted to developp but decided to include more background story first with DH1 and 2. So here comes the Britechester arc, which also is the end of teenagehood for our characters. This arc will be cut in two parts : a special musical episode called Melodia (I’ll tell you more about it on the next post) following by DH3 that will takes place 6 months after Melodia. This arc will be as light as very dark and will explore a lot of young adult theme such as : harassment, male toxicity, civil rights and the discovery of ourselves. All the characters will face some of the darkest issues of their lives and you will also know more about most of them (even the main ones like Leïla or Destiny). DH3 will also be a tribute to Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream, so if you’re a horror fan, this part should really be for you ♥

As Melodia and especially DH3 are pretty long (DH3 is the longest season so far with 12 episodes) it should take the entire year so are you ready ? If everything goes as planned, I can already tell you that 2024 will be focused on a new Another Side story, a DH LGBTQIA+ spinoff (that will take place several months after DH3) will start as well as DH4 if my life doesn’t get pretty impacted.

I guess that’s all for the blog update. I guess that now I have to be more intimate with you all and tell you more about the shitshow going on behing the making of sims stories ! Feel free to skip this part if personnal stuff isn’t your thing.

Personal update : So as most of you know, I lost my job in September and I’ve been struggling to find a new one since. What most of you don’t know though, is that I live with my ex for a bit more than a year know (after 6 years of relationship) and that has been affected both our lives. It’s not a nightmare, we’re both adults who also do our best to have a peacefull life, but it could be better (how many years would you live with your ex even though you’re friends? think about it) so we’re both kind of focused on moving on this situation.

As you can imagine, this has become a priority for me, especially since I got fired (it’s waaaaay harder to find a place when you don’t have a regular income - no I won’t do any patreon shit and will rather be homeless again than taking advantage of kind and poor people who want to help because they understand how it is while rich ones don’t give a single fuck anyway). So, between all these, life drama and death also came around lately so more stuff to deal with and guess what ... I’m still using a broke laptop on Windows 8 (which is kind of dying this year) so I’m facing some kind of issues with more and more software I used previously (no more Topaz Clean T_T / Good bye Gshade ...thank god Reshade still works) and I’m a bit scared it’s some kind of planned obsolescence that will ruin my computer and all my writting plans (it’s litterally one of my biggest fear. It’s the only computer I have and I won’t be able to buy a next one if it breaks for good U_U).

Thankfully, you’ve been around ♥ Seriously, I know I always thank everyone a lot and always say that you’re a strenght but you really are. 2022 has also been awesome because of you all and I will never thank you enough for all the support you’re giving by simply enjoying my content. I mainly post here to escape and also to practice my writting skills so it’s been a real joy and it always cheers me up a lot to see I actually have some readers who are interested about my stories or characters’ fate. You are also a true daily inspiration when I’m discovering my dash everyday like a kid in front of a new episode of their fav anime ! So, thank you for being awesome and being that creative my friend ♥

I wish you all the best for this new year. Let’s make 2023 an epic year of content ! It has already started on my dash ♥

[naturally-dazed]

The next day, Julia came over and surprised Sally with a friendly gift of appreciation....a meat cube? and she hung out for a while.

Pictured here is sally feeling herself after making a gross joke. whatever floats your boat girl. yay friendship!! (ignore the change of reshade im conflicted about which one to use)

Then these little demons (or are they gods? cause im pretty sure sims worship gnomes man) started popping up all over the place, fucking harvestfest the next day. I put 2 of them in her inventory and decided to try and appease the naked winking one because he seemed more chill like he'd roll a j for you if you asked maybe

nope. naked winky gnome fried her tv. naked winky gnome fried her personally. naked winky gnome did not appreciate fruitcake as much as sally does. and here she thought they were kindred naked souls? damn. anyways, I got pissed off and sold him and the other 2 but I didn't want to make money from it so i reset her funds to what they were. i erased all traces of them.

where's your gnome god now bitch??? DELETED! ERASED! BYE SISTER!

I also changed the holiday tradition of gnomes to inviting people over instead, and immediately after I did that she got a call from nancy landgraab asking if she wants to come over to her place!

Sally, having gotten along with nancy really well and kinda romanticizing her and her life in her head decided to go - she enjoyed talking to her so much that she decided she likes hard working sims (which was not her preference before, boring people those hard workers but not nancy. She makes it seem fun?)

She looked like an excited puppy around a bunch of people who definitely dont match her energy but i dont think she really cared much, they had dinner together - debated politics, the usual holiday stuff..etc

he really gets heated about politics i guess, she lost the debate out of fear i think lol like chill, that was her sign to go home

I made a little invite only club with the girls she befriended so they can hang out more, tasks are basically all kinds of socializing, drinking at bars and dancing at home or any nightclub. She invited them over for the rest of the day and first thing she did was go try to talk to summer some more to get that blunder of a day last time out of her head and they got along great this time!

they spent the whole night till 2am together maybe and she thought it went great until something went missing

her useless criminal baseball bat! it was right there! turns out befriending klepto sims like Marci comes with the downside of...she will steal your shit lol imagine that

But how can she even say anything or complain when she agreed to a lifestyle where the next morning she lovebombs and picks the pocket of a random stranger herself?

random stranger has no idea either, and sally doesn't really care about that person, just that they didnt notice. But still! you dont steal from a criminal? do you? isn't there some kind of unspoken rule or something? a bond? anything?

nope, no there is not lmao her lowkey new idol and coworker whose family she just met and had harvestfest dinner with scammed her too, it doesn't end lol

SO she's kinda having an existential crisis right now, left with absolutely nothing in her household funds (but thankfully a couple of hundred in her savings account that she JUST made) & some pretty fake people around her, shouting *!# on the bathroom floor is a given

[kindlespice]

late ass replies but this time i have so much stuff to reply to that i actually need to split things up into categories :))))

also i apologize if any of this is no longer relevant / i am of absolutely no help :)))

otherwise, if you’ve asked a reshade related question...uh... sometime between christmas and now LMAO then it’s probably here!

nonny :

Hello Mikayla, I hope you're having a lovely year so far. I just wanted to ask this about the dove preshade (1st question here) kindlespice/tumblr/com/post/632163463099269120/ft-reshade-questions-a-theme-question-nonny i'm having the same problem, i have a new computer and after installing the game and it's last 3 updates and then the reshade it's not looking the same and it sucks bc i know how it's supposed to look (1)

the shadows are not as noticeable, the transparency between the walls is not there and the blur is gone (i have miiko´s ghibli's cloud override but i had that on my old computer and the reshade still looked normal) idk if it's the game or the reshade but it sucks bc i love how the original looks like anyways it would be really helpfull if you could answer. Take care and stay safe :))!!! (2/2)

hi hi! thanks for the kind message and i hope your year is going well! if I had to take a guess, I would say that maybe some of your settings in-game have changed? I would double check and make sure you’ve got edge smoothing off, and you could try turning off post-processing as well (im not ACTUALLY sure if turning off post processing does anything but it’s worth a shot!) otherwise i would try removing the preset and redownloading it? maybe the settings of the preset got jacked up and you can fix it by re-installing. let me know if this helps! if not, then you can always dm me so i can see pics of your situation!

nonny:

Hi! Sorry if this is worded odd but I just downloaded your Leif reshade and have completed all the steps, however there is still this blur over the screen which isn't the best for game play. If you could help explain how to toggle it for gameplay/cas that would be great :)

hi hi! the blur is the DoF (depth-of-field). it’s used for taking screenshots and is supposed to make the background all blurry. to disable it, you can use the hotkey shift-2 or open the reshade menu and manually untick the DoF option!

nonny:

Hi, i just installed the latest version of the dove preset and my game is dark. It is the MXAO that is doing it but i don't have the preprocessor definitions box. How do i fix it?

hello! im assuming you have a 4.0 version of reshade if you can’t find the box. in this version, it’s a blue tab called “Edit Global Preprocessor Definitions” beneath all the toggleable effects. if you have an earlier version, it should be under the “settings” tab at the top though.

nonny:

Hello!! Thank you so much for your work! I have a really quick question - so I am trying to work with the reshade and got it all set but when I play around with it, my objects don’t look “rounded”. If that makes sense. Other people who use it, their objects look rounded and smooth and just different (I have an image for reference) but mine just looks like the normal objects just different colors. Is there something I’m missing or doing something wrong? I have all the settings correct. :)

hi hi! hmm, im not really sure what that could be... probably something to do with mxao bc it’s always something to do with mxao lol. I would double check to make sure you have this line in your preprocessor definitions: RESHADE_DEPTH_INPUT_IS_REVERSED = 0 this line should equal 0 for the mxao to work properly. that might give you the “rounded” look. if this doesn’t fix it for you then you should go ahead and dm me so i can see what the game looks like!

nonny:

Hey, I tried your Dove preset but my game just can't handle it, it's pretty old and I just have to uninstall the reshade (even though I really loved the effect) but I'm scared to do anything in the Game folder or delete anything. Could you please help me with what to remove? I'm scared to break my game if I delete something that souldn't be deleted :( I tried searching for this in your WCIF and reshade questions and couldn't find an answear. Please help

hello! sorry to hear that your game can’t handle the preset :( here’s to hoping you can get an upgrade in the future! anyhow, to uninstall; i believe you only need to remove 

ReShade - config settings (it’ll have a little paper w/ gear next to it)

d3d9.dll - application extension  (it’ll have a little paper w/ gears ON it)

d3d9 - text document (little paper w/ lines icon)

reshade-shaders - folder

your reshade presets - config settings (if you remove the files above first though, you won’t be able to use/see these in-game)

that should uninstall reshade from your game! and don’t worry, if you accidentally remove something you didn’t want to, you can “verify your game files” through origin and that should restore any missing files. unless you.. *ahem*... acquired your game through other means... in which case be careful XD

@maddybarbz

Omg I don't know if you are active or not but I'm having some problems. So I downloaded the 3.0.8 and it was going smoothly but I loaded the game it said that magic bloom had issues.

i don’t know if im active either. probably not tbh XD but im here now so here ya go! i would recommend deleting the shaders you’re having problems with and then putting back the 3.0.8 shaders you downloaded. it’s really easy for things to break / be incompatible during the install so your best bet is always to delete the ones giving you trouble and put the new ones in.

@kaiamikulka

hi! I’ve been jealously stalking your page for a while, because I’m in love with the dove preset, but I’m very confused about how to download it. My computer keeps marking it as a virus, so i was kinda scared to download it. and when i finally did, it didn’t show up in my game. could you walk me through how to download it?(i have a pc laptop)

Thank you so much,

Kaia☺️☺️❤️❤️❤️

hi hi! lol im flattered for the jealousy stalk! anyway im not sure why it wouldn’t be showing up in game? unless you were so excited that you forgot to install reshade with it? i have a video here explaining how to install a recent version of reshade and set up dove with it so you can check that out here !

@bojanastarcevic​

Hello, I've been trying to fix the dove reshade for a long time, but the new version just doesn't support it, and the old version spoils the game and sometimes it won't even start ... Would you consider trying to make the same preset version for the latest reshade version? I'll be very grateful because your preset is the most beautiful I have ever seen?! 😘😂Don't know if you still play of work on your game but like I said if you have time to try make new one couse everyone was looking for it!!! 😉😘😘😘

hi hi! i totally understand not using the earlier versions--these later ones are soo much more user friendly!--but i’ve been able to get the preset to work with later versions (4.7.0 is the latest i’ve tried though) and it looks, if not the same, then very close to the original. I have a video here explaining how i did it if you’re really eager to have it

in the future i guess i could try to re-release the preset? i can’t give you an eta bc im lazy and i fall off the face of the earth regularly, but i do think it would help to have updated instructions right on the face of the download. 

[petrichorandasphault]

Drapetimania (n.): an overwhelming urge to run away (1/2)

Carter: Uh, hey. I’m Carter. You must be Val. Val: Yeah! Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you. Carter: -blushes- Uh, yeah, same. Olive: Dude, what the fuck are you wearing? Carter: It’s hot as shit outside. Do not judge me for wearing a crop top in the comfort of my own Jeep. I’ve got my polo in my bag. Val: I’m judging you a little bit. -awkward silence- -Carter just stares at Val, confused- Olive: Ookay... ANYWAY Val, you should come over tonight, you can stay over. Val: Done. Less time I have to spend at home, the better. My sister is trying to convince our parents to pay for cosmetology school, so she wants to cut everyone’s hair. She is allowed nowhere near these curls. Chris: ALLYN, HATFIELD, BACK TO WORK. YOUR SHIFT’S NOT OVER YET. Emmy: Ohp. That’s us. We should go. Olive: Nooo don’t make me go back. I wanna stay with Vaaallll— Emmy: Come on, Ollie, let’s go. -tugs Olive away- See you later, Val! We’ll text you when we get off!

next / previous / first / most recent

transcript and links under the cut

Emmy: Hi, welcome to the Cowplant-- oh my god! Val: Surprise! Emmy: You’re three days early! Olive: Holy--Val? ... Oh my god. You’re home. Val: I’m home. -- Val: So , where’s Carter? I expect an introduction now that I’m here. Olive: He works next shift. He’ll be here in like, 20 minutes. Val: Cool. So, Emmy, are you going to tell me who you’ve been seeing, or are you ending it now that summer’s over? Emmy: I-I’m n-not seeing anyb-body, Val! Olive: Val! Val: Yeah, right, Emmy. You always get that stutter when you lie! -gasp- Oh my god, it’s Carter, isn’t it? Emmy: Oh my god, no! Olive: Oh, ew. Carter: What’s Carter? -silence- -the girls laugh- Olive: Val’s just trying to guess who Emmy’s seeing. She guessed it was you. Carter: -chuckles- Hah, no, that’s-- Olive: No one, right, Carter? Carter: Um. Yeah. Emmy’s totally single. Val: -scoffs- Ugh. Carter: Uh, hey. I’m Carter. You must be Val. Val: Yeah! Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you. Carter: -blushes- Uh, yeah, same. Olive: Dude, what the fuck are you wearing? Carter: It’s hot as shit outside. Do not judge me for wearing a crop top in the comfort of my own Jeep. I’ve got my polo in my bag. Val: I’m judging you a little bit. -awkward silence- -Carter just stares at Val, confused- Olive: Ookay... ANYWAY Val, you should come over tonight, you can stay over. Val: Done. Less time I have to spend at home, the better. My sister is trying to convince our parents to pay for cosmetology school, so she wants to cut everyone’s hair. She is allowed nowhere near these curls. Chris: ALLYN, HATFIELD, BACK TO WORK. YOUR SHIFT’S NOT OVER YET. Emmy: Ohp. That’s us. We should go. Olive: Nooo don’t make me go back. I wanna stay with Vaaallll— Emmy: Come on, Ollie, let’s go. -tugs Olive away- See you later, Val! We’ll text you when we get off!

--

The Cowplant Factory lot by @mellindi reshade preset by @intravertt

[littleshebear]

Forgotten First Meeting + Fake Dating (random hates me): Steelponcho

Okay, this was an AU ask and this isn’t exactly an AU but the ideas this prompt gave me were too cute to pass up. So I ended up writing an actual fic. Set some time between Vanguard Discipline (NSFW LINK) and Battlegrounds. Hawthorne and Zavala have a ‘meeting’ which may or may not be a date. Zavala has a sense of fun! Hawthorne drops a clanger! Izanami knows what’s up!

SFW | Fluff | Romance |Humour | Pre-relationship | Zavala x Hawthorne | 

By rights, the restaurant shouldn’t have been re-opened yet. One wall was missing, black scorch marks on the floor telling the tale of the Red Legion blast that had blown it away. The furniture was mismatched; some of it original but much of it had been padded out with pieces scavenged from other sources. The owners had done their best to dress the space up by bringing in potted plants and hanging strings of fairy lights around the room. The effect was oddly charming and Hawthorne was surprised that Zavala would pick somewhere with such a bohemian flavour for their meeting.

Hawthorne picked at her food and looked around at some of the other patrons in the restaurant while Zavala opined, something about City, about how devolving responsibility to autonomous cells reflected something in the Vanguard strategies for something, something, City. She caught people making furtive glances at them, some who were outwardly staring only to suddenly become very interested in their own meals when they realised she was staring back. She sighed, picked up her glass and quaffed her wine as though it were water then finally picked up on what Zavala was saying.

“So yes, I was thinking of reshading my armour hot pink and Shaxx mentioned that he was replacing the objective in Rift matches with a piñata containing pure arc energy…”

Hawthorne frowned in confusion and said, “What?” Zavala responded with an elegantly arched eyebrow. “Oh. I…I’m really sorry, I wasn’t listening.”

“Evidently,” He said, picking up the wine bottle to top up her glass. “Something wrong?”

“No, I just,” she tailed off, her eyes darting to the side again. “People are looking at us.”

“So?” He shrugged. “Let them look.”

“So…I don’t know…” She cass her gaze around the restaurant, taking in the strings of lights, the delicately prepared food, the candle in the centre of the table. She leant forward and looked him in the eye. “Is this a date?”

Zavala just stared back for a moment. “No. This is work. I just thought this would be more pleasant for you than an office or board room.”

“It kinda feels like a date.”

“If I had intended for this to be a date, I would have told you.” He folded his hands on the table and looked at her seriously. “Would you like it to be?”

Hawthorne froze, just staring back at him like a deer caught in headlights. “Uhm, I don’t know,” She stammered and suddenly became very aware that the colour in her cheeks probably matched the hue of  the rosé that Zavala started topping her glass up with. “I’ve never really, I mean, uhm…”

“Take your time,” Hawthorne waited for him to finish pouring the wine then drank gratefully.

“I guess,” she paused, choosing her words carefully, “It could be interesting, I never really did the dating thing before. Never got along that well with the people I went to school with, then I went off into the Wilds and that’s not really the best set-up for long-term relationships, so…” She shrugged. “That’s it. Never bothered with it.”

“Being Vanguard Commander isn’t exactly conducive to long-term relationships either.” Hawthorne, watched him carefully, wondering if there wasn’t some disappointment creeping into that usually steady baritone of his. “Let’s play a game.”

“Say what now?”

“How would a date go if I weren’t a Vanguard Commander you weren’t a rebellious survivalist?”

Hawthorne frowned, considering the proposition. “You mean like a pretend date? What for?”

“For fun,” he said, the seriousness of his voice belying what he’d just said.

Hawthorne gasped. “You said the ‘F’ word,” she breathed in a scandalised whisper.

“It does happen occasionally. Once every century or so,” Zavala replied, still so matter of fact.

Hawthorne shrugged and said, “Okay. Why not?” She reasoned that a pretend date was a much safer option than a real one. “So, we just met, right?”

“Correct.”

“So,” she picked up her wine glass, “Tell me about yourself, what do you do?”

“I’m a librarian.”

Hawthorne responded with a decidedly unlady-like snort into her wine. “A librarian?” She coughed, trying to compose herself. “How is that, do you like it?”

“I love it. The peace and quiet. Surrounded by books.” He sighed happily, “And the organisation…”

“I’ve never seen anyone get so misty-eyed over the Dewey Decimal System before.”

“It’s good to take pride in one’s work. What about you?”

A brief silence ensued while Suraya considered what path her life might have taken if she hadn’t left the City. She eventually answered in an emphatic, even voice. “A veterinarian.”

“Really?” Zavala cocked his head.  “What made you want to do that?”

“It lets me use my brain, it’s useful and…” She stopped short of saying, it’s not what my parents would have chosen for me. “Animals are better than people.”

Zavala laced his fingers together and rested his chin on his hands. “Should I be offended by that?”

Suraya laughed, “No, an individual person can be all right, but People? As an entity?” She glanced around the restaurant. The other diners were still surreptitiously watching them, probably intrigued by the idea of the oh so stoic Vanguard Commander reducing the new Clan coordinator to fits of giggles. She started counting off with her fingers, “They’re stupid. They’re nosy. They’re obsessed with status and possessions. And they’re noisy.”

“Oh they’re not as bad as all that, surely? I read somewhere, I read a lot, because as I mentioned,” he paused for effect, “I’m a librarian.”

Suraya bunched her fist and hid her smile behind it. “Mm-hm? What did you read?”

“It’s often assumed that humans are inherently selfish but it turns out that in times of crisis, they don’t turn on each other, they cooperate. That suggests People, as an entity, are naturally altruistic, not selfish.”

“Is that so?”

“Maybe it’s an evolutionary hold-over, from when we were primitive apes living in the trees, when communities had to get along for survival’s sake. Whatever the reason, give people a chance. They might surprise you.”

“Can you cite examples, Mr. Librarian?” Suraya smirked.

“Well.” He cast his gaze heaven-wards as if thinking it over. “I did hear about this woman, who set up a safe haven for refugees during the war, ran interference on the Red Legion, got communications re-established, organised the survivors into clans so they’d work together efficiently. She didn’t need to do that. She’s clearly a survivor, she could have hid out the war in the wilds. But she chose to help. Strikes me as admirably selfless, no?”

Suraya studied him, beginning to discern things she’d never seen before in that seemingly impassive face; An amused twitch of the lips , a playfully raised eyebrow and something to do with his eyes. The light in them seemed different somehow, betraying an emotion that Suraya didn’t have the courage to name yet. “Is this still a pretend date?”

“What are you talking about?” Zavala asked in a deadpan tone. “We just met.”

Suraya drained the last of her wine in an attempt to drown the swarm of butterflies in her stomach. “If you say so.” She grinned wickedly and said, “But…This actually isn’t the first time we’ve met.”

Zavala frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“We’d met before. Before the Farm.”

Zavala narrowed his eyes, “Are we still pretending or…”

“No, this is real.” Suraya answered brightly, probably the wine giving her the courage to tell this story. “I didn’t know who you were at the time but yeah, we’d met. I would have been about twelve? Thirteen?”

Zavala dropped his hands down to the table and stared. “You’re joking with me.”

Suraya shook her head. “Nope. It was one of Cayde’s dodgeball tournaments, you know? Getting civilians to interact with guardians or some such nonsense. Well. You came down, I don’t know why. Knowing what I know now, Cayde was probably shirking his duties or not answering calls, something like that.”

Zavala was sitting bolt upright, staring at the table cloth, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “I don’t remember. I’m not sure how to feel about this.”

Suraya laughed, “Oh come on, we always knew there was an age gap. How old are you, anyway?”

Zavala answered with a single, forceful syllable. “Old.” He cleared his throat, “So. Dodgeball. You were playing dodgeball?”

“Yeah,” she started fidgeting with her napkin, beginning to regret diving into the anecdote but realising she was in too deep to stop now. “You came across me and…” She paused. “I was crying.” Another pause. “Because the other team won.” She staged a laugh to hide her embarrassment, “I know it’s silly but it was a big deal to me at the time. I was a smart kid and I was expected to be good at whatever I did so if something didn’t work out I used to melt down. Didn’t know how to handle failure. It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Zavala was looking at her again. Suraya caught his gaze for a moment before looking away again. His eyes were shining with sympathy and also that unnameable emotion again, only even more intensely than before. “Did we speak?”

Suraya nodded, “Yeah, you asked me what was wrong. You looked pretty mean, I thought you were going to tell me to stop being silly, that it was just a game or something but you didn’t. You asked me if I tried my best, I said I had. Then you said that losing might sting but giving your best is always something to be proud of.”

Zavala gave a shrug. “I still don’t remember. It does sound like something I would say, I suppose. Did it help?”

“Yes.” She plucked up the courage to look him in the eye. “You made me feel good about myself.” She clutched the napkin on her lap in her fist and felt her mouth go dry suddenly but she somehow managed to carry on speaking. “You still do.”

“Suraya, I-” Zavala was cut off by his Ghost appearing at his shoulder.

“Sorry to interrupt your definitely not a date, Commander but Ikora is asking for you in CIC. She says it’s urgent.”

Suraya exhaled slowly, not sure if she was glad of the interruption or not. “Some sort of librarian emergency?”

Izanami turned her optic to face her. “Someone shelved Chicken Soup for the Soul in Cookery.”

She sucked her breath in through her teeth and made and exaggerated mock-wince. “Oof. You’d better get going. I’ll get the bill.”

“I’ve been talking to the restaurant’s Point of Sale computer, I already transferred the glimmer,” Izanami explained. “Zavala always pays on the first date.”

“It’s not a date,” Suraya insisted.

“Of course not. You’re just sitting in an expensive, artfully-lit restaurant giving each other compliments but it’s not a date.”

Suraya looked horrified. “How expensive? I can pay!”

“That’s enough, Iz,” Zavala said, a warning undertone in his voice.

“Shutting up now, Sir.”

“Sorry to cut this short,” Zavala rose from his chair.

“It’s okay. We’ll talk tomorrow.” She smirked up at him. “Cradle-snatcher.”

Zavala glared but there was a hint of a smile playing on his lips. “Good night, Suraya.”

She watched him leave, only becoming aware of how much her heart had been hammering in her chest as she felt it finally calm and slow. She tapped her fingernails on the stem of her glass, thinking over everything they’d said to eachother. When the server came to clear their plates she said, “Could I have another glass of wine? Large, defintely large. Start a tab.”

[araliestrange]

Welcome to my Sims 2 to 4 Project. It has been 5+ years in the making and it is finally nearly complete! If you've been following me for awhile, you know that I've been converting the entire (or as close to it as feasible) Sims 2 into the Sims 4, but with my own modifications based on my previous Sims 2 game and the version I played in Sims 3.

Clicky Clicky below if this piqued your curiosity at all. It's a long post and there's no tl;dr, so have fun. ;)

What you'll see here. Round-ish sort of gameplay. I'm terrible at sticking to rounds and just kind of play who I'm feeling at any given time, so it probably won't be strict round-style play, but I will keep track each time I rotate. It's just not exactly going to be in any order or anything. I'm not following any rules. I do what I want in my game.

What else you'll see. Drama. Lotsssss of drama. I took the Sims 2's storylines and pushed them too far. It's chaos. There's a reason this blog isn't for children. You gotta be like 16 to enter (there's no nudity or wicked whims woohoo stuff, but a lot of implied shit). There's some weird shit in here, so you know, brace yourselves or whatever. There's a couple families in here that are basically a Law and Order SVU episode. Spoiler: It's the Beakers. So, skip over the first few posts about them if you don't want to see posts that will probably have several TWs on them. It gets weeeeeiiiiiiirrrrrrd.

What's next? Well, I'm going to start by introducing you to the families- 5 per post because of Tumblr's stupid 10 photo limit. I'll introduce all the main families you know and love, then some of the others such as townies and NPCs from 2 that now have their own lives. Also, there's some dead sims that aren't dead anymore. It was kind of dumb that most of the sims had no living grandparents, so a lot of those folx are back. And the Tricous because, I mean, come on. Who didn't resurrect those guys back in the day? They were like the coolest family in the game but all dead. Lame, Maxis, lame. Anyway, yeah, we're starting with the intros. It will probably take me another year to post of all them.

Some other notes:

Lots. So, the lots are NOT direct remakes of the original houses. I totally ripped off other people's work for about 90% of them. I'll be posting a list of credits. I built most of this with TS2 booted up on my laptop for reference. I used my favorite lot makeovers. My laptop crapped out so I can't credit each individual lot to its creator, but I will add a credit list to the bottom of this post soon.

Sims. Mostly my creations. I snagged a few from the gallery. I no longer play a version that uses the gallery if you know what I mean, so I can't tell you exactly who made what sims, but I've edited most of them beyond recognition anyway. Many of the ones I made don't look a thing like their TS2 counterparts. It turns out I'm really bad at making sims that look like other sims. They're close enough to be recognizable I guess. You'll figure it out.

My Save File. I originally was going to make this TS2 vanilla, but got way too into it, so now it's something else entirely. Unfortunately, since I used floorplans and sims by other creators, as well as a boatload of CC, I can't share this. I did make a few houses that are TS2 originals and I may upload some of those at some point if you want to embrace the fug that was TS2 lots. But sorry, my save can't be shared without violating countless TOUs and I'm not an asshole like that.

Other things:

-I work a lot, so I can't guarantee any rhyme or rhythm to my posts. You'll get your fix when you get it, okay? Don't be so needy, sheesh! I play when I have time and I post when I have extra time.

-My screenshots aren't always going to be all pretty and perfect like some of yours (I envy y'all and your artistic abilities which I sorely lack). I only have Paint on this damn computer. I've never in my life been able to figure out how to get Reshade to work in a Sims game. You get whatever my lighting mods and graphics card decide to do, nothing more, nothing less.

-I'm WCIF friendly. I have 22GB of CC in dis bitch. If you see something you like and can't find, feel free to ask and I'll try to help ya out. Any other questions are welcome, like specs and all that shiz. I have a custom built computer that was mid-range when I got it several years ago. It's nothing fancy but it can run 22GB of CC with almost no lag, so that's something.

Credits:

This section will be updated soon! :)

~

I guess that's it for now. I'll start slowly posting the intros to the families over the next couple of days, then we'll dive into some crazy stories. So, grab your popcorn, sit back, and enjoy this thing I spent five freaking years of my life making for absolutely no reason.