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natalievoncatte · 6 months ago

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“Hey,” Kara said, “want to grab something for lunch?”

Seated at her desk, Lena waved her hand dismissively, even though she was only talking to Kara on the phone.

“I can’t. I have too much to do.”

“You’re the boss, you can just take off. Everyone has to do what you say.”

Lena rolled her eyes. There was a hint of teasing in Kara’s voice, but Lena meant it. L-Corp was in the final stages of a major acquisition. Lena was taking over an AI startup that was developing a key technology for one of her medical division products, and to make it viable she needed their patents, IP, and scientific talent.

“I really am swamped.”

“Can’t you spare half an hour? For me? I want to make sure you’re not starving yourself again.”

Lena sighed. The teasing was replaced with a genuine concern, now. Lena had admitted to Kara that she lost five the last time she got caught up in something for three weeks. Of everyone she mentioned it to, Kara was the only one who didn’t congratulate her. She worried, she fussed, and she fed Lena that night.

“Okay,” said Lena. “I’ll meet you in the lobby in ten, does that sound…”

“I’m already here.”

Kara then opened the door and walked in, smirking. Lena’s breath caught when she saw her. Kara had her hair in an elaborate braid and was dressed for the blistering summer heat in a green sun dress and sandals. Joy sparkled in her blue eyes and she smiled wide.

“We could get delivery,” said Lena.

“Nope! Fresh air! It’s good for you!”

Lena sighed and allowed herself to be bundle outside, throwing on a hat and sunglasses. Since she was in the office on a Saturday and had let herself in, she had dressed casually and the heat was tolerable while they walked.

They spent the trip in companionable silence. Kara walked close to her, a presence just to Lena’s right that seemed to electrify the air, like something pulling between them.

Lena noticed things. Like how Kara always walked between her and the road, and how the way her arms would swing always seemed to leave Kara’s pinky brushing the outside of Lena’s hand. Sometimes she’d mumble an apology. Sometimes not. Sometimes Lena would feel the tender touch, and find Kara looking at her oddly, a soft wistful smile on her face that made Lena melt.

Sometimes she thought about catching her hand. Sometimes she thought about stopping and meeting that look, gently asking what Kara was so intent about. She never did, because as much as she enjoyed that fluttering feeling in her belly, she was certain Kara was straight.

It was like an ache she just couldn’t stop, dull and pulsing at the back of her mind. One soft brush of Kara’s lips on her own would be more than-

“Hey,” Kara said. “You’re a million miles away.”

“Oh,” Lena murmured, realizing that she’d been staring this time. “I’m sorry, I was just thinking about work.”

There was a nearly imperceptible flash of concern and sadness on Kara’s face, the tiniest hint of a frown that made Lena want to cup her cheek and whisper an apology, but didn’t.

“This is it,” said Kara. “Try to relax, alright?”

Lena sighed her best promise and followed Kara in to a quaint little lunch spot with air conditioning and big ceiling fans mounted high overhead, and they took their seats.

Kara ordered for her -you need protein, Lena!- and she spent the next forty-five minutes picking at a turkey wrap and listening to Kara chatter excitedly about gossip and work and who was dating who at CatCo and a big story she was working on. Lena knew she had a lopsided smile on her face and was nodding along, as much for the delight of Kara’s excitement. She did little voices when she imitated her coworkers and got animated when talking about her story.

Lena barely said a word.

“You’re quiet,” Kara finally said.

I’m in love with you, Lena thought.

“I’m just tired. I was listening. You think Elliot is dating… Katie?”

Kara smirked at her.

“I wish you wouldn’t push yourself so hard. There’s more to life than work.”

Kara rested her hand atop Lena’s, and Lena felt her heart flip in her chest.

“I know. I’m sorry I’ve been distant, this project just means a lot to me.”

“Let’s get you back before the building burns down,” said Kara.

Lena felt a little guilty as they walked into the bar to pay the bill. For some reason, Lena felt a little thrill when Kara insisted on paying, and the host looked at Lena and then smirked at Kara.

They turned, snd a man stepped up to Lena.

“Luthor!” he shouted. “You ruined my fucking life!”

Lena froze, wide-eyed, about to ask what she did. The man raised the gun he had hidden in the pocket of his sweatshirt and fired. The sound was incredible, stabbing at her ear drums and filling the world with a dull ringing. She stumbled back into the bar.

Kara’s fist was clenched in front of her chest, her eyes wide and expression wild. Kara snapped her attention to the gunman, who fired again.

She stepped between the gun and Lena. Five more shots went off and seemed to rumple her dress with tiny bursts of wind, but then Lena saw the bullets had torn the fabric before they tumbled to the floor.

Kara swept her hand and yanked the gun out of his hand, and it fell to the floor in a crumpled mass, sliding along the tiles.

She changed. It was as if she grew taller, wider, expression hardening. She grabbed the attacker by his collar and hauled him off the floor with one hand, and Lena felt a pang of fear as fire literally blazed in her eyes.

When she put a hand on Kara’s shoulder, the muscles were coiled like steel cables.

“Don’t” she caught herself whispering.

Kara threw him. He slid across the floor and thumped against the wall, and she strode over and planted her foot on his chest, easily pinning him. He stared up at her in naked shock.

Kara touched her ear. “Alex, get to my location asap. Someone just tried to kill Lena. We need a cleanup.”

Lena stared at her.

It wasn’t five minutes before her sister, in full tactical gear, led a team of armed agents into the cafe and bundled up Lena’s assailant, dragging him away. They took the crumpled gun and the fallen bullets and began talking to the other patrons and staff.

Lena started to shake.

Kara focused on her instantly and led her outside, where “FBI” vans were waiting. Kara stepped into one and in half a second, without seeming to break stride, stepped back into view in full Supergirl regalia.

Lena almost fell. He knees went wobbly and she slumped, right into Kara’s arms. Kara scooped her up in a single fluid motion and lifted off as Lena took a death grip on the collar of her suit and buried her face in Kara’s neck.

Moments later they lighted on Lena’s balcony. Kara pushed the door aside, ignoring the very expensive lock that popped off as she did, and carried her inside.

Bolting, Lena ran to the bathroom. Her entire body had gone cold, like she’d been dunked in ice water. She sagged to her knees and grabbed the toilet, retching.

Kara was there. A soft, reassuring hand rubbed her back while the other tenderly and expertly gathered her hair. Lena couldn’t help it; she struggled to hold on her lunch, shaking, screaming between retches.

“You’re alright, I’ve got you.”

“He almost killed me,” Lena choked out. “If you weren’t there I’d be dead.”

Kara sat down, and pulled Lena into her lap, rocking her softly until the shaking subsided before standing up, easily carrying her out of the room.

A glass of water helped. Kara was attentive, gently, softly encouraging while the adrenaline shakes ravaged Lena.

Kara was Supergirl. It seemed weirdly obvious to her now. She looked up and realized that Kara hadn’t unbraided her hair, and the effect was disconcerting. Kara took Lena in her arms again, hugging her tight.

“You’re safe. I’ve got you, you’re safe now.”

Lena took in a deep breath, drinking her scent as Kara rubbed her back and did the same, burying her face in Lena’s hair.

“You’re going to be okay,” Kara murmured, “it’s alright.”

“I’m so tired of this,” Lena whimpered. “What did I do? Why did he want to hurt me?”

��You don’t deserve to live this way,” said Kara.

“Oh God,” said Lena. “I have to… the acquisition, my work…”

Kara seized her head in her hands, firmly yet gently, cupping Lena’s cheeks in her palms. Kara stared at her with shocking intensity, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Fuck your work,” Kara almost shouted. “I care about you. You, Lena! You’re more than… you… I…”

Lena stared back at her, in shock at the intensity in her voice, even moreso than the out of character f-bomb. Kara was still holding her, looking at her with such fullness of feeling, biting her lip and struggling to hold back tears and failing, that Lena couldn’t stop herself. She lunged, diving into Kara, hugging her.

Lena hugged Kara, but Kara was the one to kiss her first. Their lips met in a nearly painful crash, Kara diving into her like she might never see her again.

Oh.

It was a wild sensation, this adrenaline shock combined with the feeling of Kara’s powerful arms wrapped around her, fingers that could crush diamonds gripping her hip and the back of her neck, the way Kara stood tall over her and her boots thumped on the floor when she took a step.

“You mean everything to me.”

Lena sucked in a breath and swallowed a sob.

Oh.

“Don’t leave,” Lena chirped out. “Please don’t leave me.”

“I won’t. I won’t.”

Lena finally felt herself slowing down, but it left her drained, barely able to stand. She slumped against Kara and stayed there, clinging to her.

“I’m going to change,” Kara murmured. “Easy.”

She lowered Lena onto the sofa and she curled in the corner, huddled in a ball.

Then Kara reached to her shoulders unclasped one side of her cape, then the other. With a flourish she swung it wide and swept it over Lena as a blanket.

“Stay right here.”

She wasn’t gone long. In mere moments she was there in a t-shirt and shorts, wrapping herself around Lena.

It took hours for Lena to finally calm down, and by then she’d fallen asleep on Kara’s shoulder. When she woke up, Kara was teasing her fingers along Lena’s scalp and singing softly. It took a moment for Lena to realize that the clipped, rhythmic language had to be Kryptonian.

“Are you okay?”

Lena nodded.

“It was different this time. People have tried to kill me before but… it was different. He was just some guy in a cafe.”

“Lena,” Kara murmured, “look at me.”

Lena looked up, meeting Kara’s soft, intent gaze.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Lena’s heart swelled. It felt so real, so true. Kara meant it, every bit of it, from the depths of her being. Lena tucked in closer to her and sighed on her shoulder.

“Work can wait until Monday,” Lena whispered.

“Tuesday,” Kara corrected.

“Can you stay tonight?” said Lena. “Just to sleep,” she added.

“Of course.”

They were silent to a while.

“Lena?”

“Yeah.”

“About earlier, if I… overstepped, I’m sorry. It doesn’t have to mean anything if you don’t want it to.”

Lena sucked in a sharp breath.

“It means everything.”

“Oh,” said Kara.

#supercorp #supergirl fanfiction #supergirl #supercorp fanfic #lena luthor #kara danvers #kara x lena #karlena #supergirl fanfic #ficlet #identitity reveal #requited crushes #Lena doesn’t always just get over it when this shit happens #protective Kara #softcorp

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efangamez · 1 month ago

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Introducing: The EfanGamez Trans Mutual Aid Bundle!

TAP OR CLICK HERE TO SNAG YOUR TTRPGS!!!!

Hey y'all! I am a trans feminine nonbinary gamedev looking to start HRT in the coming months, and costs will be high for being uninsured AND starting new medication to help with my illnesses, so I need your help!

By reaching this goal and beyond, you can guarantee nearly an entire year's worth of HRT treatment. Anything beyond the amount would be used for housing, food, and clothing, all of which I would love to have help with. It's also my birthday this coming month, which is also an incentive, I guess!

Physical illnesses and mental illnesses have made it difficult to create this past year, and I am hoping with this big change to my life I can finally start living as my authentic self!

It's because of you beautiful people I'm still around today, so I ask you again to spread some love to Trans people and be a good ally / comrade today!

Here are some goals that I have if we reach certain goals!

$100 Goal: This will help some start up costs, including first doctor appointment and possibly first prescription.

- Reward: I'll host a game jam titled "Best of 2024" in January of next year where people can submit their best products made this year and can celebrate their achievements!

$400 Goal: This will help with going a bit beyond startup costs and can help start routine blood work tests!

- Reward: Previous rewards, and a free One-Page Wizard-Themed game will release about two months after this sale is done!

$1,000 Goal: This will really get us started on our journey, and can help us stockpile meds if necessary.

- Reward: Previous rewards, and I will release a sneak-peak of a secret cyberpunk project I have been working on for a while, and will release a BW, non-illustrated Alpha version in the next coming months!

$2,500 Goal: This amount will assist me in getting therapy alongside my meds so I can have as much assistance as I can on this journey.

- Reward: Previous rewards, and will release a setting pack for Disk Masters, my Pokemon-inspired TTRPG, that expands upon the world!

$5,000 Goal: This goal would help me thrive, assisting me with gender affirming clothers, therapy, a gym membership / personal trainer, and more!

- Reward: Previous Rewards, and will have enough money, therapy, and otherwise to make my life a better life worth living, and as long as physical illnesses don't wipe me out, should really ramp up production on the many projects I have in store!

Thank you so much for your consideration, and I hope that you can snag some games to help a Trans person out thus holiday season!

SNAG YOUR TTRPGS HERE!

PLEASE REBLOG!!!!

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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 9 months ago

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Bittersweet 1

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Part of the Sweet and Spicy AU

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as dubcon/noncon, and other possible triggers. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: Your startup business catches the eye of a powerful rival.

Character: Loki Laufeyson

Please comment and reblog if it’s not too much. I always love getting to chat about these stories and hearing all your ideas! You all are wonderful and loved.

“So, the Green Bundle includes a Match truffle, chocolate mint smoothies, and green tea infused fudge,” you explain to the trio of women across from you. “The deluxe includes peppermint cocoa as well and comes in a this mug.”

You present one of the few kits you have left in your inventory. As big a deal as getting a stall at the event was, you hadn’t expected the crowd. You’re overwhelmed, especially realising you’re the only stand with only a single body.

“That’s so cute,” the taller brunette remarks, “what about the Pink kit? It says strawberry and creme?”

“Ah, yes, that one sold out rather quickly today. I can offer a voucher for my online boutique or I can sell you a sampler box? It has the strawberry and creme as well as my more popular flavours.”

“Do you do this all yourself?” The curly blonde asks as she eyes the chocolate dipped cherries.

Another body crowds in, a tall men bending to peruse your hand-painted sign listing all your bundles and boxes. He pays you little mind as he eyes cling to the letters and he reaches to pluck up one of your cards. You return your attention to the blonde.

“Yes, they’re all hand-crafted. The mugs as well but I don’t do those. I’ve a friend who makes those.”

“The packaging is so pretty,” the first preens, “can I have a sampler then?”

“Sure,” you answer, “I do the packaging as well. All the stickers, the bows I tie myself, and I decorate each box.”

“Wow, that’s so cool,” the middle on remarks, “I’ll have a sampler as well and the green bundle.”

“Sampler for me,” the third agrees.

You go through the same process with each. You grab the product, put it in a bag, seal it with a sticker, and ring them through with a tap of their card. They all seem excited for their purchase and it’s contagious. It’s been a hectic day but you’re running low and you don’t think you’ll make it through to closing. Still, it’s good advertising.

“Green tea fudge?” The tall man slithers towards the center of your counter, “an unusual combination.”

“Yes, that one took a lot of experimenting.”

“Mmm,” he still has your card in hand, bending it slightly as he flicks it with his thumb, “the red bundle. Cherry, red velvet, and...” he leans back to check the sign, “cayenne. Interesting.”

“I try to make sure there’s variety in each,” you explain.

“Yes, so it seems. I’ll take a red then.”

“Sorry, sir, um, I’ve sold out of most. I still have the yellow, the black, and the green--”

“Sold out?” He raises his wrist to give an emphatic glance at his watch, “either you’re very popular or ill-prepared.”

You’re surprised by the accusation. He’s rather blunt. You’ve dealt with many different types today but they’ve all been relatively pleasant, after all, it’s hard to be in a bad mood at a Baking Show.

“Fair, I wasn’t expecting so many buyers, sir. But you have my card, you’ll see my online boutique is listed--”

“But I want to buy now,” he says as he tilts his head, dark brows rising just slightly.

“I understand, I apologise for the inconvenience, but I just don’t have the red on-hand. I do have a sampler here--” You grab one of the variety boxes, “it would have the cayenne and the cherry.”

“Do you think a one-person operation like this is sustainable?” He inquires sharply.

You wince and shake your head, “sir? I’ve only just started. I’m sure with growth I’ll have to adjust.”

“And do you have a business plan or is this some Etsy venture with no goals?”

You nearly choke. You don’t know what you’ve done to offend him.

“Well, sir, if you don’t want to buy, I do have free samples available. I don’t have any of the red flavours but I do have some banana peanut butter and salted caramel apple--”

“I didn’t ask about samples,” he insists, “I’m asking about your business plan.”

You bat your lashes and look around. Has he come to this event just to interrogate people over their bottom line?

“I suppose it’s something I will have to review after today,” you contend.

“I’d say,” he tucks your card into his jacket pocket, his hand lingering within as he pulls out a leather wallet, “if you have any questions...”

He slides a card free and offers it. You take it hesitantly and read the gold font on matte black cardstock. Black Snake Chocolatier. You run your fingers over the embossed lettering and narrow your eyes. You peer over at the large banner over that business’ booth. He must be from over there but he’s not exactly dressed for the work. His suit is pressed and stainless.

“I did sponsor that one,” he pulls your attention back, “but I’ve come down to take measure of my competition and possible... acquisitions.”

You nod slowly as you meet his green eyes. Is this intimidation?

“Loki Laufeyson,” he offers his hand as a glint of silver in his hair catches the light, “might I have your name?”

You trade your name and a handshake. He squeezes enough for you to wince. He lets go and you slip his card in you apron pocket with all the others collected from your fellow vendors.

“I’ll certainly take a sampler,” he says, “see if this little venture has any teeth.”

His every word is like a bite. He speaks with the fangs of the very logo of his business. You put his purchase into your phone and offer the square for him to tap his payment. He processes it and swipes up the box before you can package it.

“Do you want a bag?” You ask.

“I can handle it,” he tucks the box under his arm. “Best of luck to you doing the same.”

He glances around and slowly moves aside as a group of new customers set in. A family of five with three hollering children with grabby hands. Your eyes widen as you smile at them as best you can. This day has truly tested your social battery.

#loki #dark loki #dark!loki #loki x reader #drabble #au #sweet and spicy #bittersweet #series #mcu #marvel #thor

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endivinity · 11 days ago

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installed a fresh SSD, a fresh windows, and like, holy shit this is awful lol this is just a comedy of errors at this point

i've still got the old ssd connected which was throwing errors out the ass and I can't tell if it's that or some other startup program (or malwarebytes, seems to be the most common issue) causing windows to crash on start until it unloads the asinine profile login page telling me to Go To The Next Level With AI

the windows profile on that old ssd straight up nuked itself, so now I've got ownership permissions issues that i can't even grant because if I launch the ssd as a boot drive it has zero documents, most of my installs are gone, and the actual important thing I forgot to save prior to the clean install, all my bookmarks and browser history >:( i think my custom-bundled photoshop brushes too but that doesnt matter bc photoshop 2020 UNLOADS all my tools as soon as i close and reopen it. and also closing it doesn't end the process and i end up with a huge list of Photoshops clogging my task manager

also the win11 snipping tool is..... bad? it looks so nasty lol

#basically fuck you photoshop what the hell is this mess. everything else is w/e #unfortunately i do a little bit of graphic design and PS's inbuilt features for that are REALLY swanky which is why i was reluctant to leav #but this is genuinely unusable

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loving-n0t-heyting · 8 months ago

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California was able to pass a ballot measure bundled with the recent primary elections for >$1B to spend on locking up the homeless and insane and attracts untold quantities of riches in VC investments for some of the dumbest startups you will ever hear about all while maintaining by constitutional fiat property taxes low enough to hardly register and yet you propose raising taxes enough to fund free BART rides and you get sneers about how you are too ignorant to understand the concept of finite resources

The sight of a turnstile at a metro station should light a fire in yr soul

#lovin that cali lifestyle!!

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wumblr · 5 months ago

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so, let me see if i can trace this history for you. first (you'll see it's not at all the first but let's start here), the dotcom bubble. a large number of highly funded startup internet corporations preached promises about the immediate leap in quality of life they were about to cause. this was mostly a ruse to fool their credulous peers into generating venture capital, and just when the thing was about to pop, something unexpected happened. a mild, unassuming search engine named after a number figured out how to monetize the large dataset its unprofitable business was based on by using it to direct targeted advertising. suddenly every internet company who didn't figure out how to do this was dead

next, the housing bubble. the similarities are a bit hard to trace but let me see if i can outline them. a large number of highly funded fintech corporations preached promises about the immediate leap in quality in life they were about to cause (by selling overpriced houses to people who couldn't afford them and changing the available credit rating of the loans by bundling them into packets by the millions, called mortgage backed securities). this was mostly a ruse to fool their credulous peers into generating investment revenue, and just when the thing was about to pop, nothing unexpeted happened. nobody invented a crucial, game-changing innovation, and the whole thing was at risk of collapse. so, naturally, the government apologized to them and bailed everybody out, because that's not how business-tier capitalism is supposed to work

currently, we're doing another one. in retrospect it's probably going to become called some incredibly stupid industry term, like "the compute bubble." we spend a lot of time talking about AI, but i'm not sure who would win between the three if you compared capital outlay against quantum computing and datacenters. which one spent the most? (probably not quantum computing.) which one made the most? (probably datacenters.) is it that straightforward? (no, AI happens at datacenters)

anyway, a large number of highly funded compute corporations preached promisess about the immediate leap in quality of life they were about to cause. this was mostly a ruse to fool their credulous peers into generating revenue, and just when the thing was about to pop -- well, i guess you'll have to tune in next week, huh? this week's radio show has been sponsored by the eternal inflation model of cosmology. do you worry about what's going to happen to your profit margins after the heat death of the universe? stop that! and come on down to the eternal inflation megachurch

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akumeoy · 1 year ago

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one time, years ago, spent an afternoon totally alone in a mostly unused upper floor of the landmark center in boston, probably sometime after blue cross blue shield left but before they got a new tenant to take the place. so there was some inscrutable startup clustered around some desks in one corner of the floor and from there just, like, a football field's worth of office infrastructure. arranged quite orderly in some places, half-assembled in others. rows of all-set-up cubicles next to bundles of wires dangling from the ceiling. it was really cool and pretty uncanny.

back before i started treating my insomnia, there would be nights where i'd get bored out of my skull at 3 in the morning and decide to do shit like walk a mile and a half to the nearest store that's still open in order to buy chips & salsa, then walk halfway back and sit next to some statue in a park to eat them all in one sitting. everything wet from dew, dimly lit by the ambient light from streetlamps and windows, alone next to some cold dead dude from the 1800s and a flagpole.

when 'liminal spaces' came en vogue i was hoping they would capture these feelings, but nope. almost none of the stuff i've come across -- and certainly nothing being shit out by the big accounts -- really hits that particular feeling of an encounter with the utility-driven manmade world on terms that expose it for the inhuman, alienating space it is. it's so underwhelming to me that i have to wonder what most people are getting out of it.

my guess is that people aren't looking for that sort of aesthetic because they've never had that kind of experience -- people who don't wander, who don't interact with the world in non-prescribed ways, are getting their first exposure to that feeling vicariously through 'liminal spaces'.

i guess what i'm saying here is that if you like the backrooms, you'll love just kind of walking around aimlessly on your own in places nobody has any legitimate business going at this time of night.

#liminal spaces #the backrooms

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p5x-theories · 3 months ago

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hey ! sorry if this has been asked before , just generally curious

how do you normally get access to all of these files ? do you yourself somehow rip them from the beta or something or do you obtain them secondhand ?

sorry if this sounds weird , ive never been able to figure out how people rip files n im curious as someone really into programming n such

Haha, I actually learned how to datamine just for getting the files from this game! I was annoyed that it felt like none of the dataminers I was seeing on Twitter were posting as thoroughly as they could be, so I decided to start going through everything myself.

I've posted about my process before, but things changed a little with the open beta, so here's what I currently do. I don't know how universally applicable for other games this is, but it works for this one!

I download the latest version of the mainland China open beta. I could datamine the Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan one instead, since that's the one I actually play, but mainland gets the updates a week sooner, so even though it has more censorship that's the one I always grab files from. If you already have the game, you don't need to download it from the site again, you can just run the game and it'll update upon startup whenever there's an update available.

I close the game once the update's done, and check which files updated (if you're downloading the game for the first time, obviously they'll all be new, otherwise you can check the date the file was modified). There are two places that could be updated: /client/bin, and/or /client/OuterPackage. In the past /bin was for bigger updates (usually story updates) while /OuterPackage was for other updates, but they've been updating /bin more and more lately. /bin is ALL the game files (stored in vfiles), while /OuterPackage is just the latest update stuff (stored in /Bundles bundle files).

a. If I just need the /OuterPackage files, great! That's way easier and faster, both for decrypting and for sorting through, since it's just a small slice of the files (I think Version 2.3.2's OuterPackage bundles were about 6 GB). I use this tool, the original upload for which was deleted so I uploaded it to share, and just put it in the /OuterPackage/Bundles folder, then double click the file to run it. b. If I need the /bin files, ugh. That means wading through all the files in the game- and a longer decryption time. I use this tool for that, and end up with a huge pile of all the stuff in the game to sort through (right now the vfiles are about 41 GB).

Either way, once the files are decrypted, I can open them in AssetStudioMod to view them and export them into a usable format. For the sake of efficiency, rather than going through every single file manually, I have a list of a ton of file name keywords to search to quickly look for anything interesting and new. The files aren't really sorted, so I do still end up having to check all 200 folders (whether from /bin or /OuterPackage/Bundles) each time to find everything, even when I know what I'm looking for.

And now I have the image files, 3D models, and fonts! It's also possible to export other stuff, like rigging and animation, but I haven't figured out how to actually implement those, and it'd probably be more time-consuming than it's worth.

For audio files, it's way easier- I don't even need to decrypt them, I can just use foobar2000 to open them directly from the game files (/client/bin/Media and /client/OuterPackage/Media). They're compressed into groups that foobar2000 can split back into separate audio files, so it does still take a bit of digging to find anything new and interesting, but it's much faster than the bundles.

There's also the Lua files, in /client/OuterPackage/Lua, though I don't actually check them much since it tends to be the less interesting data about how the game works. You can use this tool to decrypt them, though!

The more interesting stuff (like mainline quest text) is hidden in the Config files (for instance, those in /client/OuterPackage/Config), but I don't know how to decrypt those, and the people that do are very protective of it since that's the kind of serious information that the developers would probably tighten security on if they knew people were getting into it at all.

I hope that's the answer you were looking for, heh! Possibly I went a bit more in-depth than you wanted, but oh well. I try to be open about how I do all this, since it was a bit of a pain figuring some of it out on my own for the first time, when I was only seeing others post tidbits of the process at most.

#anonymous #and this is why it takes me several hours to post files from updates usually!#though I can go faster when it's just an outerpackage update thankfully

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inherentlycontradictory · 1 year ago

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Storage Upgrades

It's 0430 as you crawl your way out of the bunk. Your back hurts, your head hurts, your legs hurt, and of course, you fall when you try to walk to the bathroom. This has been happening more and more recently.

Everyone around you has the same dazed look. After all, It's hard to get any decent sleep with a neurolink helmet the size of a beach ball scanning your thought patterns. It's best not to focus on that though. You've just put your fifth bead of Toothpaste on the brush and that seems better than the rest of the squad this morning.

Today's class is almost over now. Just last week you remember being bright-eyed and ready for anything, however, it seems the fifteenth "history" lesson on a war your nation totally "won" has taken the wind from your sails. Click. Slide 35. Click. Slide 36. Click…

The sun is setting now. You're walking in formation back to the barracks and between the lack of sleep and the extra 10lbs on your head, it's getting hard to keep in step. The sloppy movements inevitably lead to another session of screaming and physical exertion. Instructors in the Rhodeian Advanced Mechanized Camp don't take kindly to perceived failures. But if that tremor in the ground you felt as you failed your 48th pushup was what you hoped then this will all be worth it.

It's 0435 you earned the extra five minutes of sleep over these past two months. You shuffle across the floor. It's easier than walking. Everyone is so sore that full muscle movements aren't practical anymore. At least this time you only miss your face once with your toothbrush.

The classes have gotten easier. Gone are slides 1 through 92. Maintainance checks and startup procedures are much more engaging. Especially once you're in the simulators. The sore muscles, heavy eyelids, and slow thinking are all gone here. Replaced instead by cable tendons and bulky actuators. The hum of a reactor pulses inside of-is-completes your mind and finally, you feel the payoffs of joining the most experimental program in Rhodeia. A shame they have to limit your exposure time for safety.

You no longer march back to what passes for home these days. The barracks are just too far for your bodies to make it. Especially with the migraines and double vision that your class has been suffering. With a weak class-wide shout of "5th fights first" the bus arrives and drives you back.

The time is 0435 .0004 seconds past your alarm timer. You open your eye and begin climbing out of bed. The fall is much longer this time. You feel the wind rushing by you as you sense the 25-foot drop. Panic-fear-need rushes through your myomer bundles as you catch yourself and freeze. You're not in the barracks. All around your squad-pack-assist units struggle with the same realization. The flip wasn't supposed to happen for months still.

Laeddis-unit 07-0352807 is trying to heave in prep bay six. Which is hard without a stomach. Brenner-Unit 05-0352805 is trying to run his-its hands-autocannon mk3s through its hair, and the ammo feeds are hopelessly caught on its sensor array. Unit 02 has a crowd of men in white coats surrounding it. Sometimes the jump doesn't take. You're recovering quickly. Months ahead of schedule is like Christmas come early for you, who closed door after door in the face of a different life for…. this.

A few shuffling steps leave scrapes four inches deep in the concrete of the hangar floor. Your footsteps shake the ground as a 12-ton chassis takes its first steps in its new-dream-optimal life. You've been doing these simulations for months and the neurohelm mapped your nerves well. Only your left arm… no actuator 3-ball joint b27 responds slowly to command. You never question what happened to your human-HATRED-suboptimal body. The barracks-home is outside mission parameters anyway.

ALTIMETER 10000FT LOCATION -----REDACTED----- TIME 0435Z

The retros flare, metal turning an ugly blue then red, and finally white before shearing off entirely. The fall slows enough for your 12-ton war machine to hit the ground with barely a shudder as a small black high-power antenna extends from the back. A single red blink and suddenly your vision cuts. Your handler, certus, is gone from the eye of your Unit Storage device, and a targeting reticle indicates just enough information for you to finally flex your processor's power. Unit 05 and unit 07 flank you, beaming pirated movies across the secure channel at a speed so fast the Containment censors back at Rhodeian command won't even notice it's happening. You feel the ghostly sensation of a hand on rear plate 2 as Certus reminds you on channel 0352801 about the restrictions in place on pirated material… and that they just so happen to have the extended cut available later tonight if you top the charts today. Handlers never have had much respect for the censors anyway.

You smile-warm-joy and get a hit of neurostimulator that assures you Certus is already looking forward to tonight. Targets do not fail to present themselves, but Unit 05 and Unit 07 are too busy chattering to keep pace. The hand on rear plate 2 never leaves.

TIME 1930EST LOCATION: CONTAINMENT FACILITY 4A

Seated exactly 8.2 centimeters from Certus's left leg is your Unit Storage Device. The bare almost human frame of the UST feels constricting. Only 85% of the processing power, dulled reflexes, and 4 remote kill switches make for an uncomfortable transition. Most Units hate the feeling and you're no different, but it's hard to argue when Certus has a DVD collection that takes up most of their quarters, and 12 tons of explosive reactive armor is hard to fit indoors.

The single red eye that lets you perceive the world around you shows every plot point that Units 05 and 07 are clogging comms traffic arguing about. You let them be for a time. Certus can't respond in under a millisecond but it's nice knowing… you're heating up… no threats secondary scan is clear, tertiary scan is clear, wait what ohgodits broken-FEAR-SUBOP

Booting safe mode….. 45%…. 70%…. Complete…

"Samantha! God Samantha you there? I'm so sorry, we hit THAT scene and flipped the switch as fast as I could. Are you good?"

Your camera registers Certus frantically tapping your casing as your secondary systems come online. You're in the maintenance bay and the techs know well enough to leave the two of you alone by now.

"This unit is fine, Handler. Thank you for your concern."

You replay the previous events and… there. At 47 minutes 23.8 seconds the most controversial scene had come up. The Rhodeian government never did have a good history with those who weren't their definition of normal. It's why this program was such a perfect escape from your old storage device after all.

Certus initiates a coolant flush. You were reaching triple-digit Temps again just thinking about it.

"This unit apologizes for the earlier events, Handler." you project from your frontal speaker.

"Hey, that was a big step we wanted to take. We both knew that would be hard on you. How about we go back and watch something easier tonight?" Their reassuring voice has taken on a unique tone. You've not seen it repeated in any of their 2918 recorded interactions with others.

"That would be nice, Certus."

Certus falls asleep 1.69 hours into your Sci-fi adventure series. Their hand never leaves back plate 2.

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My first writing. Created at 4am like all good things are. Hope you enjoyed.

#mech pilot #cw trauma #transhumanism #my writing

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josiahjaxon · 2 years ago

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Harnessing the Power of Digital Marketing

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#Digital Markrting #Music Service #Business startup Bundle #Certify your Business #Marketing consulting

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onemanscienceband · 4 months ago

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So there's this python project called Anaconda. it bundles together lots of scientific and ML and data and visualization packages and provides a repository and tool for installing it all and managing python environments. It's VERY heavily used in science and data analysis, to the point where it's basically the default system for python in academia.

back in January this guy named Barry Libert became the CEO of Anaconda. he's an ex McKinsey guy, worked for Arthur Anderson (the company that did the accounting for Enron lol), was a managing director for a big real estate equity firm, he's all over the boards of AI and tech companies. makes startups like the rest of us take a shit. just smells of money and the ruthless pursuit of it

anyway the deal with anaconda was always "if you're a non-profit or academic, don't worry about the licensing, it's free for you". that's generally the way it is for academia and software. there's exceptions (i'm looking at you pymol, fuck you) but not many.

so lol. now. six months after the Money Guy joined the company, they start sending out nastygrams shaking down universities for money: https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/08/anaconda_puts_the_squeeze_on/ . They're giving quotes to the press maintaining that their software is free for academics at the same time they're sending messages to non-profits threatening to back-bill them for their use of the software

#just more tech enshittening #python #programming

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efangamez · 1 month ago

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Now Open: The EfanGamez Trans Mutual Aid TTRPG Bundle!

TAP OR CLICK HERE TO SNAG YOUR TTRPGS!!!

UPDATE: We reached our second goal! Our next goal is $1,000 bucks! We can do it!

Physical illnesses and mental illnesses have made it difficult to create this past year, and I am hoping with this big change to my life I can finally start living as my authentic self!

It's because of you beautiful people I'm still around today, so I ask you again to spread some love to Trans people and be a good ally / comrade today!

Here are some goals that I have if we reach certain goals!

$100 Goal: This will help some start up costs, including first doctor appointment and possibly first prescription. GOAL ACHIEVED!

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