hickorysims

she/her aus mm ts4

[burninglights]

fucking insane to be a person of colour in the uk right now

[burninglights]

When my family first moved to the UK, we faced a similar risk to our wellbeing & safety as many are facing now, albeit for different reasons. in light of everything happening in Ireland & the tensions increasing in Glasgow, and the perennial England, here’s a list of actionable things to do for people who may be targeted & anti racist allies.

MY HOME IS ON THE LIST/LIKELY TO BE TARGETED, WHAT CAN I DO?

* it may bring you peace of mind to have a go-bag ready, just in case. A go-bag is a bag with everything in it that you need to get out a volatile situation quickly. Any bag that can be secured (buttoned or zipped) will do. In your go-bag, you should include;

- identifying documents; passport/driver’s license/asylum card/ILR certificate/British Residency permit card

- Wallet and/or banking books

- A spare charger & cable and/or a power bank

- any shelf-stable medication (tablets, inhalers etc.) if you are on medication that needs to be refrigerated, leave it in the fridge until you have to leave

- Sanitary items; toothbrush, toothpaste, sanitary pads & tampons, deodorant. If you have very young children with you, you may also want to take your nappy bag.

* If you have to leave, a go-bag is a convenient way to ensure you have everything of importance with you.

* If you are being supported by an asylum seekers or refugee charity, or are a member of a gurdwara/temple, mosque, synagogue or church, reach out to your religious leaders. They may be able to provide direct support, or put you in contact with organisations or other congregants who can help. If you are friendly with your neighbours, it may be worth contacting them too.

* IN THE EVENT THAT “PROTESTORS” DO COME TO YOUR HOUSE, CALL 999 IMMEDIATELY, AND FOLLOW ANY INSTRUCTIONS THEY GIVE YOU. MOVE AWAY FROM ANY WINDOWS. DO NOT OPEN YOUR DOOR UNLESS INSTRUCTED TO DO SO BY EMERGENCY SERVICES.

I’M AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT/CARE WORKER/NHS WORKER, WHAT SHOULD I DO?

* Contact your student welfare office/NHS Trust/agency for advice, support and referral to organisations that may be able to provide assistance

* if you live in or commute through an area that is likely to be targeted, contact your lecturers and your faculty to find out whether remote study is possible; if you work in care or as part of the NHS, find out if it is possible to change shifts.

* If it would provide peace of mind, prepare a go-bag as listed above

* Reach out to your the uni society or student’s organisation for international students or students of specific ethnic origin; they may be able to provide you with direction to resources and peer support. If your university has a Marxist or Socialist society, reach out to them for mutual aid with a travel buddy etc., for getting to and from your place of study/work

* If you are a member of a gurdwara/temple, mosque, synagogue or church, reach out to your religious leaders. They may be able to provide direct support, or put you in contact with organisations or other congregants who can help.

* If you are friendly with your neighbours, it may be worth contacting them too for assistance with travel to & from work.

* Report any racism or racialised violence you are subjected to. NHS staff have a right to refuse to treat patients who harass, abuse, threaten or insult them; if a patient is racist to you, where possible, ask another member of staff to take over their care.

PERSONAL SAFETY:

* do not leave your home unless strictly necessary. If it is necessary to leave, don’t do it alone.

* use NextDoor, WhatsApp, social media and word of mouth to avoid commuting through “protestor” road blocks, areas of active conflict etc.,

* When travelling, use Share My Location or Life360, and keep at least two people aware of your expected time of arrival at your destination with instructions to contact the police if you do not let them know you’ve made it safely

* do not directly confront any individuals involved, or allow them to bait you into becoming confrontational

* only record if it is safe. Do not record individuals directly/from up close

* Do not directly intervene. If you see violence occurring, contact emergency services and if safe to do so, record what’s happening.

ALLYSHIP & HOW TO HELP:

* if you have neighbours, friends, coworkers or acquaintances form targeted communities, reach out to them. Ask them what you can do to help them feel safe.

* If you live in an area likely to be targeted, reach out to any vulnerable people you know. If safe and possible, offer to let them shelter with you in the event they need to leave home

* If you see any incitement to violence online screenshot it; it may prove useful in the event of individual “protesters” being prosecuted

* If you see any specific areas being discussed as targets, alert anyone you know at risk in the area

* Reach out to local refugee & asylum seekers’ organisations, to organisations supporting foreign national care & healthcare workers, and to churches, mosques, gurdwaras; they may be looking for short term assistance in helping to provide for vulnerable members of their community

CHARITABLE ORGANISATIONS FOR ASSISTANCE & TO SUPPORT:

* NASC Ireland; refugee & asylum seeker charity

* Doras.org; migrant, stateless persons, refugee and asylum seeker rights advocates

* Jesuit Refugee Service; religious refugee & asylum seekers charity

* Irish Refugee Council; supporting stateless displaced persons & refugees in NI & ROI

* International Student’s House (IE & UK WIDE): provides hardship funding and help to international students

* PathFinder (UK WIDE); supports international students

* Care International (GLOBAL); global carer’s charity

* Choose Love (IE & UK WIDE); charitable organisation supporting refugees and asylum seekers

* Praxis UK (UK WIDE); supporting refugees & asylum seekers

* The Runnymede Trust (IE & UK WIDE); antiracism education charity

* Migrant’s Rights Network (IE & UK WIDE); advocacy and support for migrants and refugees

* ShareTheMeal (GLOBAL); providing meals for refugees and those fleeing conflict globally

* Amnesty (IRELAND, UK & WORLDWIDE); human rights NGO

* UNHCR & UN Refugee Council (GLOBAL); UN refugee bodies supporting those seeking asylum, fleeing conflict & internally/internationally displaced worldwide

[hickorysims]

I'm still here!

I haven't posted here in ages but I'm still playing Sims!

I've been working on rebuilding every lot and making over every premade sim, and it's taking a while. It would take even more energy to post about my process so unfortunately, I haven't been doing that.

For now, I'm mostly active at my cc finds page and my reblogs page.

[igotsnothing]

Today, I've read so many takes on why people don't reblog, and most of them are right on the money: there's social anxiety. And aesthetic curation. Old muscle memory from platforms that trained us to like things instead of share them. And yet… it doesn't change that this place runs on reblogs. That's not a suggestion, it's just how the machine works.

There's a persistent belief that excellent content rises to the top on its own. It doesn't. Some things go viral fast, but plenty of equally brilliant work disappears unnoticed. Nobody is owed notes and reblogs, but it's obvious: low engagement discourages a lot of people. It drives them to quit or to play it safe so they don't mess up the formula that got them noticed.

Would things get better if people understood how Tumblr works? I know I didn't understand it when I first started. For now, the best I can offer is that charming little paradox: don't care what other people think… on the platform where you post your work for other people to see and do exactly that. Make peace with that contradiction?

And if you can't make peace with it, at least know what you need and why you're here. Validation and appreciation are legitimate reasons. Just be aware that not getting them doesn't mean you aren't worthy of them.

I know that's hard to hear when you've been at it: learning, improving, trying, and still not getting that engagement. I get that those "You, creator, are amazing and wonderful and I love you!" posts can sound like a condescending platitude, even when they're not intended that way, especially coming from people who are wildly popular and don't lack for admiration.

So take it from me: pro flopper, according to some folks' metrics.

When you get the accolades: enjoy them! You earned them!

And when you don't? Don't beat yourself up. Did you love what you shared? Were you excited when you posted it? No one reacted? Their loss. They missed it. Your joy is REAL and doesn't need permission to exist.

Why do I post? Because if I didn't, I wouldn't want to play this game. I'm not going to build honking Venice and not parade around the block. It's compulsive. But once I hit send, I'm off to the next fever dream. The day I come here agonizing over engagement is the day I step away and sort myself out — because there is real sh*t going on in my life that is far, far more serious. This is my happy escapism.

I made a deal with myself before I created my simblr: if a post of mine got one note, it was a raging success. I'd keep going.

Even if that single note had to come from me.

Do it, friend.

It's the one thing you have control over:

Be untameably, ragingly, ridiculously, and unapologetically creative.

[hickorysims]

The Makerspace is... certainly a choice by EA. I can understand creators wanting EA to pay them for their content (it's already better than EA's let's be real) but first kits and now straight up microtransactions..... Not to mention EA being bought out. Mmm, nah. I'll keep playing, but thanks in advance to those who help the rest of us sail the high seas.

[sunleaf-sims]

BACKUP YOUR ENTIRE GAME AT THIS VERSION

Genuinely yall make sure to install the current version of sims 4 in a secure place as a backup. maybe make 2. (edit: im looking if theres a way to revert the official version in case of accidental updates rn check back here, i may update if i find something)

grab any mods you enjoy for the current version, any you considered trying out with it. back them up.

if future updates ruin everything, we likely cant go back or get older versions of the game OR mod versions easily anymore. BACKUPS ARE EVERYTHING

the current state may be the best we get

worth making sure we have a safe copy of it somewhere JUST in case. seriously

Edit: one trick to launch offline without needing to unplug anything but ensure the launcher cant mess you up

you can unplug your internet/turn your wifi off beforehand on your pc. This requires you to Remember to do it, sadly.

one way you can turn your internet off without needing to unplug/leave the pc is the following

(im using win10 still) you can navigate to the Settings for your pc by pressing the windows button and clicking the Cog that says "Settings". Navigate to "Status". there you should see an option say "Change Adapter Options". this opens a new window that should have a little screen icon with "ethernet" or the like on it. right click that and click "Create Shortcut". this will put a shortcut to it on your desktop. Now on your desktop, you can right click it and click "Disable" to turn your internet connection off. to turn it back on, you can right click it and "enable" it again.

Ideally, make a desktop shortcut of your sims 4, keep the launcher off in case youre used to opening it through the launcher. Place the sims shortcut next to your new ethernet/internet shortcut. Hopefully this way seeing them next to each other will remind you to turn your interner on your pc off so the launcher cant f you over and still update...

[sunleaf-sims]

reblog bc i added a portion about creating a desktop shortcut to easily turn your internet on/off if you use the launcher!

you can place your sims launcher desktop icon next to it and hopefully itll help you remember to do it... best i could think of for now for continued launcher use!

[j3llyflesh]

This has been a very tiring topic, but this is my only 2 cents on the EA situation.

Please do not fear monger with this news. I think this is the last thing this community needs at the moment. These are investors, they aren’t going to 'delete' The Sims. It's happening with a lot of gaming companies at the moment, and obviously I don't fully support the idea given who's behind it, but it's a transition we're seeing just about everywhere unfortunately and have to live with. As for the diversity situation, keep in mind, this isn't Maxis' first rodeo, and it certainly won't be their last, but they've remained firm about their inclusion of diversity in the last decades. At the end of the day, the direction is still in their hands.

There is nothing wrong with you still wanting to enjoy the game, but I think it's also important to know that as a player and consumer, we have the opportunity to vote with our wallets and I heavily encourage you guys to use that power to your advantage. This is a monetary issue, so hit them where it hurts the most. There are tools, resources and people more than willing to aid you to stop supporting EA.

Please enjoy your game, post your stories, interact with your favorite simblr blogs, a sense of community is what is needed most in a time like this.

[rabbitscreams]

fucking whatever man. [my plumbob changes from green to red instantly]

[plumbheadsims]

A THREAD IN CASE YOU NEED SOME INSPIRATION TO BUILD ACCURATE MEXICAN HOUSES FOR YOUR SIMS 4 LOVESTRUCK WORLD ❤️‍🔥🧵

the exteriors do NOT look like casita from Encanto, in fact, most of them are just big boxes with a little bit of color, also we don’t have open entryways, we usually have gates surrounding the main door.

we also don’t use the typical american mailboxes, we use the small metal ones like the ones from City Living and Snowy Escape.

and most of us have this metal things around the windows for safety reasons so if you want to add them it would make your builds more realistic

a tip for the interiors is that we don’t use carpet or wooden floors, we use tile floors in all the house, also the walls are usually plain white but of course some of us paint them to make it feel more like a home so you can also add that

here are some floorpans in case you need some inspiration, as you can see most of the houses are not that big, but of course you have freedom to make them bigger and also make your own floorplan.

now moving to the patio area, most of our houses don't even have patios but if we are lucky we will have a small one like these, don't forget the water heater, we also have lavaderos where we wash our clothes but I think the sims don't have any item similar to that one so you can just put a sink instead, you can also add a washing machine and instead of a dryer, you can add a clothes rack dryer like the one from Laundry Day

and if you don't want to add a patio you can do everything in the azotea (the rooftop), just add a small stair inside or outside the house that leads you to the roof, don’t forget to decorate and add life to the houses.

and to finish this thread I just wanted to say that this is not how ALL Mexican houses look like, we have so much diversity in our country, I just wanted to add the ones im familiar with, you can look up higher class Mexican houses, you can create ranchos, vecindades, haciendas, colonial houses etc, I hope this thread helps you <3

[softle0]

A little message for mostly YouTube builders but y’all in general, I hope I’m not being too rough but..

I know it’s been just a couple of days but guys what you mean when you say you were expecting more “Mexican” style furniture in the new ep? 😭😭 y’all don’t expect us to have art deco or modern stuff? Like seriously, what do you guys want 😂 We all Mexican simmers think this new pack is very accurate, you can even ask the simmers that worked in the official builds 🤷🏻‍♀️

Y’all really falling over the Americanized cliché of Mexico fr, this pack is inspired in Mexico City. We are a city, the population is like 24million, we’re a really big city 💀 please leave your “villas” and “haciendas” to oasis springs or sol del valey.

Please I beg you to not come and say “oh this is not giving Mexico” cause clearly you don’t know what are you talking about, be educated fr. I said it before and I’m gonna keep talking about it; But the architectural limitations in Mexico are pretty much non-existent. We probably have every single architectural style you can think about. Modern, post-modern, brutalist, art deco, mid century, colonial, Romanesque, gothic among others, probably even Tudor 😭 so you coming and expecting us to only have the villas or colorful haciendas fiesta salsa talcos it really hurts me as Mexican 😂

I’m not hating against them, I love them and as I said we have all types of places so keep doing them if you want but that’s not really common in Mexico City. So why y’all keep going with the same villas or just straight boxes builds 😭 please do more research over than using only Pinterest please, is really not that hard 🙏🏻 there’s a lot of fellow Mexican simmers, there’s google, google maps, you can even do a research of Mexico City in airbnb 😭😭 likeeee there’s a ton of ways to get information really…. You can really step up your building game if you only do a proper research. As I’ve seen a lot of you do for other worlds, why not taking the time for Mexico? Why y’all don’t respect us as much as other cultures?:(

And I know and I understand y’all probably won’t be 100% accurate if you’re not Mexicans but that doesn’t mean you can build a Los Angeles Spanish style of home and get away with it by saying “sorry if is not that accurate” 😭 cause you’re not even trying :( Mind you I been working on a uk inspired save when I never been outside my country other than some places in Canada and Florida and I’m still doing very realistic builds just by doing some research. And I’m 100% sure almost every other realistic builder is in the same situation.

Y’all are amazing and you’re so creative, I love that about the community and I know y’all can do wonderful things if doing a really small but proper research!

And next time you wanna talk about if something is giving or not Mexican at least be educated before talking about something you don’t know, it’s honestly very disrespectful. Y’all are better than that and please don’t take this as an offense, this is more like constructive criticism. I know y’all not doing this on purpose, this is just based on ignorance which is nothing bad, you can always learn something new!🥺 please do better!!

[hickorysims]

Always be careful with your Americanized viewpoint. And at this point, I think we can agree that the Sims team has been doing a pretty impressive job on the culture of their worlds.

[hickorysims]

tag game

tagged by: @shmoodlet <3

last song listened to: All Girls go to Heaven - Zolita

favourite place: old libraries

favourite book(s): Sharpe's Tiger by Bernard Cornwell

currently reading: People of the Wolf by Kathleen and Michael Gear

favourite tv show: The Untamed, Love is a Bonus Book, White Collar

favorite food: chocolate cake

Thank you for the tag! Anyone who would like to join in, go for it! :D

[satureja13]

How to unlock the event rewards from that daily login desaster:

Click in the filters on -> Special and tick 'Event Rewards' Then click on -> Colors and tick all the color boxes!

In case they patch it out, make sure to save all the objects in a room in your gallery :3

[hickorysims]

[hickorysims]

[hickorysims]

[hickorysims]

[hickorysims]

[hickorysims]