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me: logs into tumblr for the first time in over a year my inbox: crusty messages from folks displaying true Fan Behaviour™️

me: turns off anon and logs back out lmao bye

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Imagine if they actually hired black folk instead of just constantly making themselves look so damn foolish by trying to be inclusive of black culture without actually consulting black people 💀

When I tell you I’ve been in legit tears, tears ok. I can’t stop laughing

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why do you use aave if you're white? (based on your twitter pic)

I know birds can’t read, but if you can look at my pic, you can see my bio ;) I highlighted it for you just in case it’s still a lil too tough for you to figure out!

And not that I owe anyone an explanation of my skin tone? Because literally what the fuck who skin tone-polices people? But, I dealt with a lot of internalized racism growing up! I grew up in a painfully white neighbourhood. In my highschool you could count the number of black kids on two hands. I though my darker skin was ugly because everyone around me was white. I did everything possible to change myself to be what I thought other people found attractive. So yeah, I am very light skinned. Even when I was darker though I was still a beige cause my mom is white. Whether I meet your standards or not though, I have a beautiful black family, I am surrounded by wonderful black culture, and I am a black woman. Now I’ve been extremely tolerant of your bullshit in my inbox, but I’m gonna kindly ask you to go fuck yourself, you ignorant crow.

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Me: Wow the new update is making me want to play my game! I should go look at Tumblr! I miss the community! Some Crusty Bird in my Inbox: Bitch you thought?

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Y’all when I say I’m so fuckin proud of Molly 😭💖

Kind of can’t believe that I’m even typing this, but I was fortunate enough to get super early access to Snowy Escape! ❄️

I’m not going to flood everyone’s dashboard, but I do have some screenshots I’d like to share! If you want to avoid spoilers, please block -

#ts4 snowy escape & #EAGameChangers

As always, I’m happy to answer any questions about the pack. 💙 Feel free to shoot me an ask!

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are u black? cuz i realize you use A LOT of aave😭😭

I sure am ���� Also, it doesn’t say it on my blog here, but if you have a look at my twitter (either sims or personal) it says it right there in the bio. Also if you look on literally the first page of my blog there’s a post where I say “as a black woman“ lol Not sure if this post is trying to start problems on purpose or not but I got a laugh out of it anyhow so thanks~

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Also since I’m here, hi! I got a new computer and the idea of re-adding cc is actually making me want to play the game????? What a concept! Hopefully I’ll get things set up and actually play soon~ I know I’m part of a quiet lil portion of Simblr but I hope y’all are doin well ♡

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Just found out some GCs that really seem to hate me check out my blog so I’m just droppin them a lil post to say hey, have a good one~

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you do need to be thankful to grimcookies because without him you wouldn’t be getting any attention luv x 😘

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so you're just gonna pretend shelly didn't create a giant petition?

That is definitely not what I was trying to do and I apologize if it came off that way! Shelly falls into the part where I said that Twitter is limiting and that there are many other simmers raising awareness. I couldn’t get her @ in those two lil tweets while trying to say what I wanted to cohesively. What @savvysweet did? Raising over 80,000 signatures showing that people want change? That is fucking phenomenal and I am so goddamn proud of her. I mentioned it in my reblog of her post and I had made a mention of it to her on Discord. She absolutely deserves acknowledgement for her efforts as well.

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No one asked for my opinion but that has literally never stopped me.

Twitter is limiting on what you can fit into a reply but there are so many other wonderful, beautiful, unapologetically BLACK creators that deserve credit for their fight the last 6 years. The fact that it took High Value™ white simmers speaking up for The Sims to do anything is downright embarrassing. And the fact that they’re being seen as the driving forces behind this? Fuck that. 

Of course this isn’t to say I’m not thankful change is happening. I am fucking thrilled for better representation! But the journey to get here has been extremely disappointing and telling of The Sims and their views on “diversity”, and the process of this happening has been a double edged sword.

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Hey remember when I actually played The Sims and made content and enjoyed the game that’s been a huge part of my life for 20 years? Yeah me neither. I really wanna try to force myself to play again and have fun. I miss my goofy characters. I miss taking screenshots. I miss making CC. I miss having fun with the game. The venn diagram of my enjoyment of the game ending, and another factor, is a fucking circle and I’m so goddamn tired of it.

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EA really said fuck you huh!!!

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Nifty Knitting  Review → ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

To be entirely honest I’d give this pack 2 ½ stars out of 5, but, no half star symbol means a more generous rating! This isn’t a complete in depth review by any means! I only cover CAS objects, Build/Buy objects, and other opinions! The review is completely honest however (always have been), and I am not sugar coating anything (guilty, oops). But anyhow, I have thoughts to share so here we goooo!

Thanks to the EA Game Changers for providing me with an early access copy of The Sims 4 Nifty Knitting for review!

Nifty Knitting  CAS → ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

CAS in one word: Disappointing. As with every pack, the quality of the meshes just gets better and better and the devs that bust their buns creating these objects deserve nothing but praise. We’ve come REAL far from TS4′s horribly textured origins- there’s no denying that! Credit where credit is due! However. The choices in regards to what items get put in? Who’s calling these shots? I know this pack was community voted, so the community is partially to blame, but whomst on the team is constantly suggesting these items that just make you go, “well that sure is a choice”. Who keeps pushing the incredibly high hairlines? Who has the fascination with making the hair volume that tall? For the love of everything who is in charge of the pants??? 

There are a few solid pieces and the colour choices range from more vibrant and fun to toned down shades and they mix and match with other packs wonderfully! The amount of objects is slim but it is a Stuff Pack and to be expected. Style choices aside, the main drawback is that since the pack is all about knitting the majority of the CAS items are locked behind your sims knitting skill. I mean, yeah I get it, but also? Gonna be downloading unlocked versions of those ASAP cause not every single one of my sims are gonna knit. I think having clothes be locked is a great idea and ties in wonderfully! It’s fun! But when most of your CAS objects are locked behind a skill? Ehhhh... Knitting skill clothes and regular CAS content should be separate, in my opinion.

Other than that there’s really not much to say about CAS. It’s unremarkable, I didn’t even make my usual CAS favourites posts because, well, I don’t really have any favourites from this pack. Some of the tops are very cute and I’m sure I’ll use them a ton, same with the couple items for kids and tots, but other than that nothing really stands out. Well, a couple things stand out but not in a positive light...

• First - Why do we keep getting the same ill-fitting jeans over and over? The single pair of jeans from this pack look fine on feminine-framed sims, but when you use the masculine version it’s extremely apparent who they were designed for. Also why don’t the guys get the glitter pants option by default? It’s the SAME mesh! I just! Who is in charge of PANTS??? 

• Second - That one hair. You know the one. Look, maybe they genuinely hadn’t seen the CC version, but we’re meant to believe that the folks that gave us the shake n go from Discover University and the crunchy crimped chip bag from Eco Living pulled this one out?? *squints loudly* I dunnoooo!

Nifty Knitting  Build & Buy → ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Build /Buy for this pack is harder to critique because the art direction of the was voted on by the community. The objects are all super well done and I’ll be using them all a ton! Everything has matching colour swatches that include fun bright options as well as natural tones and solid white and solid black. All in all the art style isn’t bad! It’s very cute to be honest! Some of the objects give off a very “crafty-youtuber-chic” vibe, and while that isn’t my thing, it is incredibly cute! Regardless of if you’re into it or not, the objects mix and match with previous packs really well and can easily be integrated into any sort of build! Also I need to give credit to (I believe it’s Sim Guru Kimmi) whoever did the adorable art in the embroidery rings. It’s so flippin cute y’all. I’m not into the flower things that go with them but that’s nothing a lil CC can’t fix!  

At first there doesn’t seem to be a lot for Build/Buy but that’s because a lot of the goodies are hidden in debug because your sim needs to knit them! The items your sim can create are absolutely adorable and I know I’ll be cramming my builds with all of them! (seriously those hanging plants, poufs, and rugs? they’re going everywhere. no build is safe.)

My largest complaint with Build/Buy is the four “unique” objects that are the same rocking chair four times... This seems to have become a trend since Tiny Living where “unique” items are just the same items with little to no change, and this pack isn’t immune to it. Like I get it, one has arms and the other doesn’t, and one has a cushion.. But come on now. At least make the style of the chair different from arms to no arms. I really hope this is the last we see of this trend but I’m not holding my breath...

Nifty Knitting  Gameplay → n/a

I haven’t actually tried out gameplay yet because I’m going to explore it while streaming! If you want to hang out and watch you can follow here to see when I go live!~

Nifty Knitting  Would I Buy This at Release → Probably Not

All in all, while it is a very cute pack, I think I’d wait and buy it on sale. The CAS is just so lackluster, and while the Build/Buy is cute it isn’t enough to solely pull the weight of the pack. I’m excited to play and see the cute interactions between sims, like parents and grandparents teaching kids and teens to knit, but I’m not sure how much more into the gameplay I’ll actually be, seeing as, well, there really isn’t any gameplay added. I know it adds a whole new skill and aspiration, as well as the Plopsy feature which I’m sure I’ll get a ton of use out of, but for me personally, the pack still falls short. As someone who loves crochet I was super excited for this, but in the end it just feels incomplete somehow.   This is a harder one to critique since it was community voted, so some people are going to LOVE it, while others might not! Both are valid!! Everyone has their own tastes and interests! So make sure you check out what other Game Changers are saying and see how you feel about it!~ ♡

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OK, Lets Discuss a topic that has been something that has been on my mind in recent days. Recently @grimcookies made an intriguing and informative video on the darker skin-tones and how they need to be fixed and how makeup doesn’t look as good on darker skin tones in the game. I suggest watching that video for a bit more insight.

The sad truth is, The Sims darker skin-tones aren’t made very well. They look very ashy and have no vibrancy. When the sims game initially came out in 2014, The game had little to no range for darker-skinned people, and the shades that they did have were very bad. In February of 2018, The Sims added a few more darker shades which brought the total to 10 medium to dark shades.

Those additional shades that they added, on the four darkest shades, a small patch of discoloration surrounds the nose. The existing makeup in the game also doesn’t look quite right on those new tones. For instance, adding lipstick creates an out of place line around the edges of a Sims’ lips. 

@escapingpotplant​ made a fix to the additional swatches a few years ago HERE

Representation matters! We deserve to accurately show and represent ourselves. This game has shown growth in many areas but we still have a long way to go. It has been 6 years since the release of this game and we are still waiting for more representation. We shouldn’t have to rely on CC to get the representation that we deserve. For a game that prides itself on inclusivity I think that there should be a color-wheel for the sims skin-tones. There already is a color wheel for PETS in the game and I think that Sims should have the ability to do so as well. I want to start a petition to get more skins-tones that accurately represent us and our diversity. If you want to sign you can click HERE

But until then, here are some links that could be helpful If you are looking for accurate representation for your sims:

@xmiramira

 Melanin Pack, Melanin Pack 2, Baby Melanin Pack

@peacemaker-ic

The Other Side Skin-Tones

@pyxiidis

Stuck on You Skin-Tones

@siminspring

B-Natural Medium Dark, Phenomenal Warm, Phenomenal Cool

@disorganaized

Cloud Skin Tones, Cumulus Skin Tones

I hope those links help people. It is hard enough that as black people we don’t get accurately represented in the media. But this game is a LIFE simulation and I think we should be able to represent our life in an accurate way. If you want to sign the petition for a color-wheel/ more skin-tones please click HERE! We can be the change we want to see! 

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So what exactly is this blackout supposed to do???????

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Hey Y’all I know that many people have shared and reblogged but I just wanted to continue to bring awareness to these topics and to keep people informed. If you wanna find ways to help the Black Lives Matter Movement here are some helpful links:

Donate to Black Lives Matter: You can find the main donation page here.

Get involved with your local BLM chapter: The full list is here.

Or start your own: More info here.

Donate to a bail fund: Some Twitter users are crowdsourcing lists of local organizations that help bail out protesters who get arrested. Thread here.

Or another bail fund: This crowdsourced Google Doc of bail funds keeps getting bigger.

Support the National Police Accountability Project: This group, a project of the National Lawyers Guild, helps people find legal counsel. More info here.

Support Campaign Zero, a police reform group that has been working on policy solutions “informed by data and human rights principles.” More info here.

Sign a petition: Civil rights group Color of Change launched a petition asking that all the officers involved in Floyd’s death are brought to justice. Find it here.

Or another petition: The “Justice for George Floyd” petition on Change.org already has 8.5 million supporters. That sends a big message. Find it here.

Also, Happy Pride Month! To All of my LGBTQIA+ friends and followers, I hope you have a wonderful month. I know things are difficult right now but I have faith that things will get better. Specifically to my black queer followers please know that you are loved and appreciated.

If you would like to help support your local LGBTQ youth here is what you can do to help out, here are some resources that can help:

Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network

GSA clubs are student-run organizations that unite LGBTQIA+ and allied youth to build community and organize around issues impacting them in their schools and communities.

HealthyChildren.org: Health Concerns for Gay and Lesbian teens

Information for LGBT teens on sexual activity, substance use, mental health, discrimination, and violence.

It Gets Better Project

The It Gets Better Project inspires people across the globe to share their stories and remind the next generation of LGBTQIA+ youth that hope is out there, and it will get better.

Q Card Project

The Q Card is a simple and easy-to-use communication tool designed to empower LGBTQIA+ youth to become actively engaged in their health, and to support the people who provide their care.

Q Chat Space

Q Chat Space is a digital LGBTQIA+ center where teens join live-chat, professionally facilitated, online support groups.