#i haven't done any of these styled edits in like years so here u go anon if u somehow are still around. u sent the anon in march so sorry

[unorcadox]

i’m ascending to a newer and better version of me

[hi-intrepid-heroes]

Hi! I hope this isn’t bad to ask but I’m going to the Netherlands in a couple of weeks (first time traveling outside the US) and I was wondering if u have any recommendations on things to do/foods from the area I should try?

hi anon!

I've been thinking about this for a while, cause I wanted to give you some tips that aren't also in any google search, so here they are, sorted into an activity, food, and general tips to survive the country section (it's mostly focused on Amsterdam and Utrecht, cause that's where I have the most experience)

Under the cut cause I had a lot to say apparently

Activities:

In Amsterdam, I love the Hortus, which is a botanical garden dating from the 17th century! It's partly outside but there are several indoor parts that are really pretty!

This probably is in the google searches but the Amsterdam Light Festival is going on, and it's really fun. There's a walking route and boat tours, but you can also just keep your eyes open when moving through the city and spot the art works that way

The Hallen in Amsterdam is a really fun place to go if you want to do something a little more lowkey, there's a few cute stores, expositions, a market hall-style food place and a cinema, as well as some events that they host certain days!

I haven't done this myself but the Adam Tower (in Noord, so you can take the ferry from central station which is fun) has a lookout deck where you can see the whole city! There's a swing set where you can book a place to swing over the edge I think (Europe's highest swing let's go). My brother did this a few years ago and thought it was really fun!

If you like books Savannah Bay in Utrecht is one of my favs, one of the top bookstores I've ever been to in my life in general I think

When in Utrecht pls hit the Miffy stoplight, it takes 5 minutes and she's a national icon (it's literally just a stoplight with a Miffy figure and it's adorable)

This may not be worth it if you're only here for a short period of time but if you have a day where you want to escape the city, Dutch beaches are beautiful even in the winter! The practice of uitwaaien (lit. outblowing), or walking into the wind to feel more invigorated (specifically a winter thing and popular among the Dutch especially on Boxing Day or New Years Day), is really nice to do sometimes, and a beach walk can be nice for a change!

Food:

Stroopwafels are on every list BUT I'd specifically recommend getting a hot one somewhere, cause they're much better than the packaged ones! They sell them at outdoor markets and I'm sure there's also some stores that have them!

Everyone also always talks about hagelslag but I personally prefer vlokken, which is a similar concept but thinner so they're nice and crispy would recommend

If you want a quick lunch, Bagels & Beans is a small chain that's got places across the country, they have nice bagels and I have it on good authority the coffee's also good!

If you want to get takeaway food, I would highly recommend Surinamese food. These generally don't really have restaurants and the places I've been to haven't really differed in quality so I'd just pick a nearby one but you simply must eat roti (a dish popular across the Caribbean so not specifically Surinamese but delicious) it rules so hard

Editing this cause I just walked past an oliebollen stall and you should absolutely try one of those if you’re here on time they’re a traditional Dutch new years treat!

General tips:

Always look every way when crossing the street even if it's one-way cause bikes can and will come from everywhere

In a similar vein: some tourists think bike bells are rung simply for fun, they are not, they have the same function of a car horn! If you hear one please do get off the road lmao it'll save you a lot of cursing from the locals

Pretty much everyone here speaks English really well, but a general rule of thumb for non-English speaking countries is that it's really appreciated if you learn at least hello and thank you in the local language (hallo and dank je wel in Dutch)!

Finally, a request more than a tip: please don't rent a bike cause it's genuinely dangerous. 99% of tourists can't bike that well and even those that can aren't used to the type of traffic here, as it's incredibly chaotic because of all the bikes, and tourists on bikes are even less prepared for that than ones that are walking (I know it looks fun I get it but the amount of times I've almost gotten into an accident bc a tourist made a weird swerve is so high I just had to put this in)

I hope you have a lovely trip anon, enjoy!!! <3

[ofmdee]

some sims questions!?!?!!

thank u for the tag @eulaliasims 💜 im gonna do these for ts4 unless it's specified

1. What’s your favourite sims death? Omg. Ummm, is it cheating to say old age? I like the satisfaction of knowing i got that sim thru LIFE. But cardiac explosion is also a good one.

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? for ts4, def mostly maxis match, but i'm not like, super strict? something looks good i download it 😂 which is a problem.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? no??? i did take away sim ed's massive bulging muscles he got from too many autonomous workouts once, tho.

4. Do you use move objects? it is Always on

5. Favorite mod? probably MCCC. it does So Much.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? Livin' large!!!! 😂

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? LIVING for real i never even considered ALIVE was even an option until recently

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? well, i don't really make sims too often these days, i usually play sims born in game? i mean i obv favor my ofmd sims, but i didn't actually MAKE their bases, they're from the gallery, just heavily made over. from my ts2 days tho i rly liked val.

9. Have you made a simself? oh yeeeee, many times! my most recent one moved in w my gfs selfsim

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? Realistically: Cat lover, loner, socially awkward, erratic, and lazy 😅

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? ummmm i guess one of the pinks? idk it depends! never rly thought about it.

12. Favorite EA hair? bro idk

13. Favorite life stage? idk young adult i guess????

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? Both babeeeey. And story telling. And gif making. I use sims for a lot of stuff!

15. Are you a CC creator? I used to be (old ts2 content), but now i basically only make stuff for personal use for specific sims 😂

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? i think? def friends and friendly acquaintances, not rly a SQUAD so to speak, but i've made friends with a lot of ppl on simblr that i'm friendly with outside of simblr now.

17. What’s your favorite game? (1, 2, 3, or 4) 2, despite not having played it in years.

18. Do you have any sims merch? just the games 😂

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? nooo. i have a twitter 🔞, tho ;)

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? in ts2 it was very grunge/neon, and that's harder to find for ts4, imho, and i rly miss that! so i guess my ts4 style is less..... alternative? which is a bummer tbh.

21. What’s your Origin ID? i share jessy's, lol, and also i 🏴‍☠️ ts4 anymore so i don't even remember tbh

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? Buuuuuhhh i cannot choose just one! anyone who never paywalls their stuff, how about that? ;)

23. How long have you had a simblr? since like 2010 lol, this blog only for a few months, tho.

24. How do you edit your pictures? Photoshop! if they're for tumblr i crop them to 800x500, use this psd (that i've edited slightly by adding some vibrance) and then finish it with a super old sharpening action of pooklet's 😂 if i'm making gifs or graphics i switch up psds/etc but that's my go-to editing technique.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? i dont want ANY more fuckin sims 4 packs i am so sick of updating my game just let it DIE. tbh.

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? god idek, there are like 239483209483209 dlcs for ts4, it's hard to pick an overall fav. 🤣

if you wanna do this and haven't done it yet, here is your tag!

[sixohsixoheightfourtwo]

watchlist tag game!

tagged by @telomeke !

got a bit long so behind the cut

Currently watching -

A Boss and a Babe (Thailand 2023 / GMMTV) - watching this weekly. ok . LISTEN. I said some stuff in the tags of my first reblog about this series, when i had only seen the trailer, basically that it looked like they absolutely nailed what they were going for in terms of the tone, the dynamic, the chemistry, that it might be a bit silly but it looked GOOD. and . i stand by this!

I know there are people who aren't enjoying it... there always are. There are also people who have beef with Force & Book's previous series who are carrying that prejudice into this show. (imo enchante's biggest crime was that filter they used. everyone looking weirdly smooth. freaky tbh.) (also the last 2 eps were basically unnecessary but let's not get into it.) I feel like I saw a lot of people esp. at the beginning making excuses for watching ABAAB - saying well of course it's not good it's not doing anything new, someone even saying 'it's so bad it's good' - which baffles me lol. SO not how I feel about it! it's good! if you like it just accept it; if it's not for you it's not for you.

any way . Force + Book have really nice chemistry, great at showing the characters' comfort / ease / gentle loving care for each other without a lot of fireworks or histrionics. And tbh not a lot of like - tension even! they're too comfortable for there to be tension! eg. the scene where Cher helps Gun unbutton his shirt and they both go very quiet about it. & the scene where Gun accidentally crashes cher's livestream and he's not even really mad about it. It feels kind of like My School President in the tone it's going for, in that it's a bit silly and light but there is some substance beneath it and it can be cute but actually not overly NICE. And it feels like it's progressing towards a more natural idea of how a relationship develops than certain older bl which can be a bit all or nothing (eg. i JUST watched tonhon chonlatee .. scream) And this is surely gmmtv's first office bl since Sotus S which was five years ago? w/ever I feel like this series is maybe a bigger deal than it looks. Also it's a perfect non stressful weekly watch. (really feel like i almost DIED watching NLMG week to week.) check back in with me in uhh six weeks or whenever it's done.

Our Dating Sim (South Korea 2023 / Viki) - watching bc people on my dash were really into it. I'm two eps in and it's well done but it's not making me CRAZY the way I always want to be made crazy. I do love the k-bl short series format and the k-bl style of storytelling often gets to me quite intensely so I'm hopeful.

Bokura no Shokutaku/ Our Dining Table (Japan 2023) - one ep in. made me crave onigiri soso bad. I haven't read the original manga so I am watching fresh, no expectations. the first ep was totally delightful.

SUCCESSION - watching it weekly with one of my siblings . if u follow me u will know I am deeply into it & even a little weird about it & have been since november 2020. hashtag tomgreg rights hashtag kenstewy rights hashtag tomshiv rights. here's my hot take: in some ways i think the most recent ep was BETTER than the previous one.

Riverdale - watching it weekly ... admittedly usually while doing something else eg cooking. Listen. Riverdale is.. not explainable in any sensible way. If you know you know. Many things about it are stupid and unbearable but its derangement is unparalleled and i appreciate that. Almost no one is a full 3-d character it's like watching puppets.

How To with John Wilson - I absolutely love this series, it's on iPlayer in the UK but I think it's originally HBO. ep 1.6 How To Make Risotto actually haunts me. framed as a series of tutorials, it veers and goes off on tangents, in form it's kind of like visual essays edited together from .. fairly random footage shot on the streets of New York. with a lot of visual gags.

Looking forward to watching soon -

Our Skyy 2 ... truly .... I am going to be so insufferable for the next eight weeks. I'm planning to watch all of it - the only series I haven't watched is Star In My Mind. i WAS most anticipating the ATOTS episodes because i just want to see phupha + tian again. But NLMG and Eclipse and MSP look like they're doing some absolutely wild & funky things so yeah i am excited for all of it.

Only Friends - I think they've just started work on it right? but yeah. looking forward to getting a little unhinged about this.

The Eighth Sense - tbh I think i'm going to wait for it to finish before I watch it. I need some of the discourse to die down a bit so I can go in with the right frame of mind.

Still deciding if I’m gonna watch

Probably most of the upcoming GMMTV series I'll at least try but generally I like to read a few reactions before going in.

tagging @phneltwrites @brofisting @missionlameturtle @hexenmeisterer

[mocacheezy]

Wanted to make a seperate post for this, because this stuff will go under a readmore. (damn it got long)

Added my two cents on this post, but here is what I do when I do have the energy leave comments on fics (and some extra thoughts on my kudoses):

Comments

There is such delight when I find a fic that I have to write my thoughts down while reading, because I love to scream my joy @ the author in the comment once I am done with the chapter/fic itself.

And hopefully by the time I reach the end of the chapter I can calm down enough to actually write something coherent aside from screaming and keysmashing.

Some fics get me that excited!

Some fics I had to put down while reading, so I could pace around the room, because the possibilities for where the situation could go are ENDLESS!

Some fics I've put down and picked up MONTHS later, because a chapter was just so good and made me feel SO MUCH, I was unable to read further!

There are fics I forgot about and returned to years later and was DELIGHTED to see them finished or still going (there was this one back on fanfiction.net that I adored with all my heart, and I plan on checking out what happened to it. The author went on a break around the time another fandom took my attention, but the fic was so good I still remember it from time to time. It made my life more than just bearable, it made me laugh to tears at some points. )

When a fic gets me that excited, I noticed I tend to either comment short excited comments before nyooming to the next chapter, or read all of it over a course of a couple of days, gather my thoughts and leave an almost essay long comment, because the whole fic was just so good and I want to say it all in one place!

There were a couple of fics that I actually WANTED to write essays on, because I appreciate the authors writting style so so so much! For some I still do, because holy hell, the writing and characterization is great, while ALSO gives us things canon/source material didn't explore. But, if I do that, I wanna do it good because KUDOS TO THE WRITERS!

There are also fics that have me grinning and commenting on what's happening outloud, but there isn't really that many questions popping up for me.

It's the delighted gasp and a "Bitch, you said WHAT? 8D".

It's the "Ohohohooooo this is going to h u r t".

It's the grimace or a snort of "You fucking bastard, I knew he was planning something."

With fics like that, I can sit still or do something that isn't too demanding attention wise.

It's relaxing. It's nice, it let's my usually very active and overwhelmed brain rest, WHILE ALSO giving me serotonin and the excitement/feels, but on a smaller scale.

With fics like this (especially one shots), I tend to leave shorter comments, because if I want to comment, but don' t have much to say, I'll still comment and tell what the fic made me feel.

"I liked/loved/really enjoyed this fic, it had me experience x"

Because I do like it! And so far almost every fic I read gets atleast one kudos because this stuff is so good and the authors are amazing.

I just don't have much to say at that moment. Or what I want to comment is missing something and feels too flat to me.

If I know I'll want to reread a fic, I usually bookmark it and write down some highlights/what I liked about it/make a comment of its own in the bookmark! Because looking at older bookmarks/bookmarks from a fandom you are no longer involved with can bring back quite the laughter... AND get you back into the fandom even!

Reading fics is supposed to be a thing you enjoy. If you are starting to dread it because you feel obligated to say something, hey.

Take a step back for a while. This kind of fear happened to me at some point when I was younger, especially when I started interacting with active content creators. They appreciate comments and those comments help so much when an obstacle presents itself and it seems like abandoning a story will be it. Comments and encouragment bring back the fire and joy of writing.

There is a comment I have yet to reply to, that's been sitting in my Ao3 inbox for 160 days (ALMOST 6 MONTHS, MOCA, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER AND REPLY ALREADY!).

It's from an author who really wasn't feeling motivated and the comment brought them such joy and excitement!

Why is it taking me so long to reply?

I never expect/wait for a reply from authors. ESPECIALLY not if it's a fic that's older (there are some amazing fics that were posted in 2013!!! Who knows if the author is still active in the fandom!*), or if it's an ongoing one that gets alot of comments. In the second case, it's because the author is already writing the fic, editing said fic and uploading it, could also be working on a bunch of different fics (because writting inspiration strikes at the weirdest of moments and as someone who has around 4fic ideas happening simultaniously, people who ACTUALLY WRITE THEM? Kudos. You are amazing.), not to mention most fic authors do this in their free time. So there's also their jobs, social circle outside the internet, on the internet and the amount of energy they have for social interaction with strangers online. Who am I to expect a reply to that behemot of a comment I left on their fic? If it made them happy, great! If it made them go "woah, that's alot of words" *shrugs*, eh. I am a rambler, it's what I do, if they like it they like it, if they don't they don't. Not much i can do about that, though I did leave a note on my ao3 profile that they can contact me if long comments/ramblings annoy them, so I can stay off their comment section and scream about my love for their works somewhere else. Noone has asked me to stop as of yet, but I like to offer just in case.

Most of my comments are actually posted as if I was at cafe or a restaurant, and was offered the Book of Complaints, Suggestions and Compliments/Thanks.

Complaints? I don't have complaints to leave, because it's my decision on what content I consume, and if I don't like it, I can always search for something else.

And if I didn't read the tags? Well, that's on me. That's like ordering a new dish when you have a food allergy, not reading the provided and highlighted allergen notes and warning, and then screaming at the staff when your food arrives. It's not THEIR job to know what kind of allergies their customers have. It's the customers.

Suggestions? Is the author asking for those? If not, no suggestions from me! If they do ask, and I don't have an answer I usually take some time to see if I have anything to offer.

Compliments/Thanks. That is the thing I love and what I click the comment box for. If a fic made me FEEL something, I will let the author know.

Do you know how amazing it is to read a fic and sit staring off into space after you finish it because "woah... that. That made me feel so much at once that I can't even name it." ?

When you read a crackfic, and keep snickering and chuckling, before you finally burst out in laughter or wheezing or snorting with tears in the corners of your eyes because "OH THIS GOLD, I haven't laughed like this in a while!" ?

When you read angst that tugs at your heartstrings and causes actual tears to run down your face and feel the anguish the characters feel?

When you read angst, but the story has a happy ending? Any you get to see the characters claw their way towards it, and actually reach it?

When you read hurt/comfort and there is that gentle care and love and safety that makes your heart melt?

When you read a fic that feels like sitting by a window with a cup of warm coffee while relaxing music plays? (this last one is becoming my favourite of them all and is actually the one I struggle to comment on the most.)

There is such a variety of works out there! So many talented and amazing writers, with their AUs and a billion different ways of writing!

3. I am a very forgetful person, who has to check her inbox more often. Plain and simple. Nothing more to it.

4. Some of these authors write back such lovely comments that make me smile everytime I open my inbox. I think I might make a scrapbook of some sort, to keep track of them, because getting the feedback of "HEY YOUR COMMENT MADE ME HAPPY/EXCITED!" or "I really appreciated this comment, thank you." makes me smile. ^u^

Seriously fic authors are amazing, and this is why "Kudos to them." has become a thing I say irl as well, and in any conversation where someone creating a thing is brought up. I may not know or have a strong opinion on the stuff someone enjoys creating, or have nothing to really say, so "Woah, Kudos to them." is my way of saying "I admire their work (but don't have anything else to say about it)."

Learning it means Glory? Hell yes, those works are worthy of praise,and the authors really are glorious.

So here's where that lovely button comes in.

Kudos

I use the kudos button both when I have a comment to write and when I don't. I spam that button when I like something so much words fail me, and I click it when a fic reads like I have just finished a cup of coffee.

If I use the cafe/restaurant thing I talked about before as an example, leaving a kudos, to me, is like giving a smile or replying to the waiter with "It was great." when they asked if you enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it, but I don't have anything else to say.

Maybe it was just an interesting read, even if not to my usual tastes. It might get a kudos.

And if I read something that I thought I would like but it turned out I didn't like it or I felt meh abput it?

Well, *shrugs* well.

I don't have anything nice to say, and I probably won't read stuff from that author. There are others who will and others who will leave a kudos.

I don't think much about it because I read fics for fun.

I ramble about them because I am having fun and finally know I can share my experience with others.

You guys have probably seen the "Holy shit two cakes!" comic, which was originally about how artists/writers feel bad when creating something with a concept that many other more skilled creators used.

I remember that comic at some point also being used to explain that "It really sucks when you bake a cake, but noone wants to eat it."

I can't speak as a writer, because I don't post the fics I daydream about (yet! I don't post them yet!), but here's a little thing my daydreamer self likes to think.

I baked my cake, and I can eat it too, but I hope the cafe I frequent has something similar too.

Translated?

I wanted to read a fic like this, I made a fic with the idea I wanted, I enjoyed the process and the result, but I sure do hope someone else also makes a similar fic in the future.

I do however mostly daydream my fic ideas. So again. These are just my thoughts on the whole thing that is Comment > Kudos/Like > Reading > Not Reading