#XPS Replacement Parts

[gamebunny-advance]

"No Straight Roads X Rhythm Heaven - BOSS RUSH Custom remix pack | Heaven studio"

So, it looks like someone beat me to getting all the songs remade in Heaven Studio XP, but I still think it's cool to see someone else's take on it~ (The thumbnail art goes so hard~)

And with Heaven Studio sniped off the web, and thus probably putting a halt on updates for the foreseeable future, I probably won't be finishing my mixes anytime soon since they depended on games that weren't implemented yet.

So, if I ever want to finish my own project, I'm probably gonna have to suck it up and swap out more of the games.

*sigh* Vs. 1010 just isn't gonna be the same without Freeze Frame...

[tetranymous]

I have no idea why people send parts that don't match the listing. "aaaah looks close enough" my brother in christ it does not fit what I bought it for and is unsuitable as a replacement part! It's not likely that the buyer won't notice!

[grillpartshub-blog]

Replace Your XPS Grills with Porcelain Steel 4 Pack Heat Plate for Exact Fit DXH8303 Gas Model

Replacement for Charbroil Models: 463268706, 463270512, 463270610, 463270611, 463270612, 463270613, 463270614, 463270909, 463270912, 463270913, 463271309 Replacement for Kenmore Sears 16657, 415.16167210, 415.16657900, 415.16657900G, 415.16661800, 415.90114110, 463268107 ; Fits Thermos 461262407 ; Fits XPS DXH8303 ; Dimensions: 16inch x 3 13/16inch( L x W) Porcelain Steel Heat Plate. BUY TODAY!!

[yellowbunnydreams]

Do you need some Vitamin D? (Incubus! William x Oblivious! F! Reader) [Part 10]

~I'm sorry! Okay! We needed some angst!! I hope this chapter makes it up to you. And don't worry, this isn't the end either.~

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Want more or something different? *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

@ruh--roh-raggy @xp-doggy @redbunny03 @marigold-petalz @seviliet @astinkerofarat @iamnotwiddle @imtiredshow

CW: 18+ MINORS DNI. Fluff, age gap (Reader 20's - William Afton 40's(?)), teratophilia, meet-cute, punny pick-up lines, scenes of working out, minor porn-logic, ditzy! reader, could be classed as bimbo! reader?, size-difference, flirting, monster-lover, sexual innuendos, Monster! AU. Angst. Extra monster! Jealousy, defenstration, mention of blood.

Henry had noticed that things seemed a little tense in Freddy's when he walked in that morning.

William was late coming into the office, which was unusual for his life-long friend and business partner. William Afton didn't do late unless he could help it, the only things he had ever known William to be late for, infact, were social functions when he was with his college girlfriend Clara. But something seemed off to the were-bear's senses as even one of the members of staff seemed particularly tense.

And of course, he noticed a hastily scrawled note on the space in the schedule where your name sat where it had been erased and replaced with Claire's.

He sighed and ran his hands through his curly, dark hair. The whole day had been plagued with a sense of melancholy from the incubus crammed at his desk behind Henry. Barely moving, hyper-focused on his paperwork with the formerly customary 'Afton scowl'. Henry knew William had a chronic case of resting bitch face sometimes, but he had thought his friend has seemed generally much happier with everything and had been smiling more.

"How's-" Henry said your name suddenly, breaking the silence that had fallen over the small office space as William paused and barely glanced up from his work. "I noticed she wasn't on the schedule today."

"Why should I know?" The were-bear blinked at the calloused reply, feeling himself reeling as he got the sudden sinking feeling that something had transpired that he hadn't been privy to. Taking out his phone and texting away as he feigned disinterest.

"Because she's been living at your house?"

"Not anymore she's not." William growled, feeling his chest tightening unpleasantly at the thought. His salt and pepper hair was tousled like he hadn't quite bothered to brush it, even his stubble seemed to be unkempt as William rubbed his hands over his face tiredly. Henry looked at William and watched his pen hovering above the paperwork, poised to write something the incubus had forgotten.

Henry paused and shuffled over his chair, sitting opposite William and making the older, broader man look up with a scowl and furrowed brow as if to ask what he wanted.

"Talk to me William, something is clearly bothering you."

"And what if I'm just glad to have my own damn house back?"

"I think you're lying to yourself, firstly," Henry raised an eyebrow at the still scowling incubus, who thumped his foot in retaliation, although Henry was quite used to his friend's bullshit by now. "And secondly, what happened to all that flirting you were doing? I mean it was bad, sure, cringey even! But I haven't seen you smile that much around somebody. Ever."

William thought for a moment and sighed as he leaned back in his slightly too small office chair. Placing the pen down on his cluttered desk and his frown deepening as he realised that Henry was right. He had been happy, he'd been smiling a lot more and he'd even spent more time out of the workshop without having to be coaxed with food, a cigarette break or once, even a trail of candies leading towards a precariously balanced cardboard box ontop of a door and Henry peering out from around the edge holding some string.

"She...texted me last night."

"Okay. And what did it say?" William pulled his phone out, wincing as his thumb ran over the semi-deep scratch in his screen from where he had frustratedly and accidentally clawed it the night before.

"'How do you ask a guy out you like?'" Reading the text out loud, Afton winced, swallowing hard as that ugly green jealousy raised it's head again. But Henry simply raised his eyebrow again and rolled his hand, gesturing for the incubus to continue.

"''Well, guys like it when you're blunt with them. You should just ask them.'"

"And then?"

"'Would you like to go out with me?'" Henry smiled widely but coughed to hide his excitement as the rabbit man stared at his phone, frowning and making Henry's smile slowly fall as he got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Please, tell me you said 'yes' to that poor girl." William looked quizzically at the were-bear, tipping his head to one side as he ran his thick fingers through his hair.

"No? I said she just needed to say that to whoever she was asking out. It was clear she had somebody in mind." The incubunny growled as that jealous feeling that knotted his stomach up and he thumped his foot hard enough to make the desk shake slightly. Henry felt his face falling from the usual cheer into a paled scowl as he stood up. Pacing around to William's side, he moved his hand up behind his friend's back as if he was going to soothe William's temper.

And a bear paw smacked him in the back of the head instead.

William's head snapped forwards, blinking as he tried to clear his vision and standing up abruptly. Feeling his sharp teeth press against the inside of his lips as they curled into a snarl. Claws digging into the palm of his hands as he seemed to tower slightly over the more ursine looking Henry. Both monster men at various stages of their respective transformations. William's eyes purple and slit pupiled. Henry's blown out and dark. Both sporting claws as Henry tried to not let his own primal form take over.

"What the actual fuck, Henry?" The low baritone growl that reverberated around his chest would make most other monsters back down, and certainly would make a human loose their nerve, but Henry stood firm and put his bear paws on his hips, little round bear ears pinned back and his head low, snorting loudly.

"What the fuck am I doing? God you're so fucking stupid, Afton!" Henry placed his paws over his face and dragged them down lightly, careful not to catch himself with his claws accidentally. "She DID ask the guy she liked."

"Who? How come you know?"

"IT'S YOU, YOU FUCKING FLUFFY BRAINED DIDDLE DEMON!" Henry shouted, his fingers curling into fists in exasperation as he looked up at his friend. Watching the pinned back rabbit ears slowly lift then slowly lower again as a look of confusion and horror crossed his grey-ish furred features.

"What?"

"My god, are you so far up your own ass you can't hear me now? She asked you. She literally asked you how you would like to be approached with being asked out and then she did and you blew her off. Great fucking job, you absolute muppet."

Going back to his usual family friendly self as he shook out the transformations and snorted again, growling as he spoke, unhappy that he had had to resort to violence to snap William from his pity-party. William's ears felt like they were ringing as his body slowly returned to most of it's normal stature and features, his claws still remaining as his foot began to tap nervously against the cluttered office carpet.

"Oh...oh fuck."

"Yeah, you getting it now?"

"Oh... oh fuck I have to find out where she is. I...Oh fuck I have so much apologising to do." William moved on auto-pilot, feeling his legs partly turning to give him a little extra speed as Henry looked after him and swore under his breath, following behind and trying to make sure there were not traces of ursine features left on his face.

"William! William Afton!"

Afton didn't hear him as he tried to walk himself calmly into the dining room. Eyes wildly scanning and not caring in that moment if his secret was blown wide as he looked for one person in particular. He hadn't been particularly caring about sorting the rota out when he got the sense that you weren't coming in that morning, but he could already feel his heart pounding so hard and fast in his chest he was afraid it might burst in his chest. Finally, he spotted who he was looking for, and quickly smoothed his shirt back into place after his slight transformation, fingers running through his hair as he slowly and calmly made his way over.

Or at least, he hoped he looked calm and collected.

"Claire! Thank you for coming in on such short notice." He gave the smaller woman a wide smile as she stopped sweeping and looked up at him. Scowling heavily and turning her attention back to the broom as she swept up pizza crumbs and confetti from kid's birthday parties.

"I'm not talking to you Mr. Afton." She snapped, making William blink and wince as he had that sinking feeling that perhaps it was to be expected.

"Young lady, I-"

"I don't care. Zip! I'm not talking to you after what you did to-" She said your name and all his suspicions were confirmed. Wincing and cringing in on himself as he tried his best to hold his still human looking hands in a placating gesture.

"Look, I know that I-"

"Oh Mr. Emily! Wonderful, do you want to know what Mr. Afton's done?" Claire leaned against the broom and turned her glare towards Henry, who seemed a little flustered and out of breath, cheeks burning as his curls were a little wild.

"Claire. I know that William might have made some little mistakes, but I assure you, it's being handled." He assured, attempting to remain professional and courteous as the smaller woman scowled even more. He began to wonder for a moment if somebody had finally made a match for Afton's own face of displeasure.

"*Little mistakes*?" Claire spat, making Henry raise an eyebrow as William looked even more sheepish, pulling his hands back to his body as he cringed. "Do you know what he did? Did he actually tell you because I can tell you-"

"FOR FUCKS SAKE, *LISTEN*. William is *trying * to ask you where she is because he's been informed, by *me*, that his stupid ass couldn't see that he was the one being asked out." Henry decided to cut to the chase, knowing that they were going to get nowhere with Claire when he could see that William was itching to find you.

She looked between the two men, her forehead creased as she tried to see if one of them would crack and reveal that it was some cruel joke to be played on you when you weren't even there. But her complexion drained and paled as she stared, the dawning expression of realisation that Henry wasn't lying to cover for his business partner.

"Wait so he....you.."

"Actually wanted to say 'yes' if I had realised that she was actually asking me." William felt his foot tapping away on the mildly tacky carpet, his nose twitching as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, but the expression on Claire's face as she formed a silent 'o' made his brow furrow and his nails dig into the skin on the back of his neck as his stomach sank. "Claire?"

The woman got out her phone and quickly scribbled down something on a loose receipt that she had kept in her pocket, handwriting shaking as she handed it to Henry, who in turn passed it to William, reading it and wondering why he'd been handed her address.

"Look, okay, she was really upset last night and so I told her to go on a date to get her mind off of it-" William's head snapped up as she held her hands out placatingly, a growl bubbling up in his throat, barely surpressed.

"With who?"

"I don't know, some guy from her apartment block. David, Damien.."

"Dave?"

"Yeah, that's-Mr. Afton?"

William Afton didn't wait as he began to set off from the pizzeria, allowing himself to growl as he began to change before he even hit the door. His sharp teeth filling his mouth, nails becoming claws as he ripped at his tie and tried to pull it from around his neck. It was like he was suffocating as he stumbled around the back of the building, feeling bones shifting under his skin as his body grew warmer as the fur started to sprout over his skin.

Dave fucking Miller.

He snarled as he kicked off his shoes, his feet changing as he managed to barely make it to the heavily sheltered back alleyways so he could complete his transformation. A growl constantly reverberating in his chest as he only kept one goal in his mind spiralling as he lost control for the first time in a long while.

He had to find you.

You hadn't quite planned on your landlord sitting opposite you in your apartment unit, but there Dave Miller was. Dressed in a t-shirt that had some suspicious stains on it and looking like it had been dragged out of the building's lost and found bin and a pair of black slacks. You had been a little confused when he had shown up wearing no shoes and only his socks, but you were grateful that at least he had shown up.

After crying for most of the night, Dave had come to knock on your door to ask what was up, apparently he could hear you quite clearly through the wall since your bedrooms were backed onto each other, which led to some embarrassing thoughts as to what else Dave might have heard had your relationship with William developed. But when you explained to the vampire what had transpired, he gave you an almost condescendingly lazy smile as he suggested that you should try dating him. Explaining that really, it made sense, a vampire was essentially a soft dip into the world of non-human dating, and it would give you a chance to see whether or not you wanted to even continue in that world.

It had seemed like a fantastic idea at the time.

But now you were sat in your own nice blouse and good jeans, watching as Dave swirled the wine glass in his hand and the thick red inside clung to the glass a little too long to allow you any thought that it could be a particularly viscous red wine. You were regretting the choice to not allow Dave to bring his customary mug around so that at least you wouldn't have to look at it. Dave called it 'exposure therapy'. He checked his watch for the fifth time in an hour, and you felt each one sending a sinking pit into your stomach.

"Do you have somewhere else to be?" Snapping slightly as the gaunt man looked up, lazy smile on his face and shaking his head slightly. Picking up the glass and sipping from it with an exaggerated sigh of appreciation.

"No no, sugar. Just waiting for the real date to begin." His words stung you, and you felt your eyes becoming hotter as tears pricked at them. Swallowing thickly as your hands curled around the cutlery you had set up on the kitchen counter, since you at least needed to eat in the traditional sense.

Dave suddenly perked up, looking towards your window and moving over towards it with that careful, lanky shuffle that held a shocking amount of grace in it for such an awkward looking man. Thin, willowy almost, but you could see in his bare arms as the sinewy muscles twitched as his bruised, dark circled eyes darted about. Never quite making eye contact until you least expected it.

He stood by your window as you felt yourself getting upset all over again, unsure why you had listened to Claire and allowed yourself to go on one date with somebody you didn't even really know when you have rather been sat on your couch watching re-runs of overly dramatized medical shows and eating a pint of ice-cream. Dave's fingers curling around the latch to your window before opening it out wide. It was the one above your fire-escape too, so it opened additionally wide, allowing a cool breeze to flow through the smaller space.

Then you heard it.

Heavy thumping. Growing closer, louder as something settled in your chest, heavy and bassy, before it even registered in your ears. The hair on the back of your neck instinctually stood up, eyes flickering about as you wondered what the sound was, although Dave seemed unperturbed as he continued to stare out of the window.

The sound finally clicked into place as something slammed into the door, hearing thin wood creaking under the weight of whatever it was as you jumped up out of your seat. Dave simply turned around and paced himself back to the counter, his expression serious for a moment as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders. Startling you as you felt his cool skin against yours, the way his long fingers touched the back of your neck and played with your hair making your skin crawl as you realised a little too late that his grip had tightened and forced you into the same spot.

The thumps grew more insistent. The door gave way slightly, and suddenly you could hear the noise that had been making your chest turn and feel uneasy.

Growling.

"My my, now we're getting somewhere, aren't we sugar?" Dave asked, sucking his teeth as he picked up the wine glass from the counter and swirled it. Making your nose fill with the smell of cold pennies.

"Dave?"

"Don't worry sweetheart, everything will be fine. Just promise me you won't freak out."

"Dave something is breaking down my door!" Struggling in his grip as memories of that one time you were broken into surging forwards as the growling assisted in fast-tracking your fight or flight response.

You knew that you were never winning that fight.

"Your real date has arrived."

Dave's cold, iron breath brushed your cheek as he leaned in and whispered, brushing his clammy lips against your skin as the door burst down. Splintering under the sheer force of what was behind it. Heart racing so loudly that you could feel Dave's thin fingers tapping along with it across the base of your skull.

An elongated hand gripped the upper part of the doorframe. Purple eyes glowing in the darkness beyond your doorway as a flat nosed face, teeth sharp and lip curled back into a snarl that displayed his elongated canines. You felt your breath catch in your throat as the yellowish-brown fur came into your sight, watching the claws drag against the plaster of the wall and gouge into it was the lumbering, hulking figure pulled itself in.

William Afton seemed taller, if that was somehow possible. His face less human as you realised his face had pushed out into a slightly lapine snout. His soft ears pinned back against his head and shoulders, the hunched position he was in to fit inside your apartment combined with his broad frame to fill the room and make him look even more intimidating. You realised after a second that his shirt was barely clinging on by some threads, tie like a ridiculous purple collar around his thick, furred neck as he seemed to be staring right at you.

No, not you, you realised. But Dave as you felt the vampire's grip on you tighten instinctually. Bringing the glass to his lips and drinking down the rest of it before setting it down on your counter. Planting a kiss on your cheek, eliciting a growl from William as he stalked towards Dave, panting and chest rising and falling rapidly as his hyper-focus on the vampire seemed to blind him to how small the space really was.

It was a blur of fur and movement that you almost missed as William lept forwards, grabbing hold of Dave in one of his monsterous paws and making you yelp as your landlord as wrenched away from you. A scream tearing itself from your lips as you watched William's fur and muscles ripple and he flung Dave through the window.

Naturally, you ran up to the windowsill, staring out and expected to see blood and gore dashed out on the concrete, but instead, what you saw confused you.

Dave was unmoving for a moment, before you could make out his thin frame lifting itself slowly. It looked wrong. Like all the angles weren't quite human. But your attention was on the big, chalk bullseye drawn on the sidewalk, your heart racing as you were filled with adrenaline. Watching as Dave managed to limp and slide himself over to a car that you hadn't noticed, the lights flicking on and the car slowly pulling out of the lot and into the night.

William's head pressed against your ribs as he tried to shove past to look through the window, but you turned and blocked it. Afraid, confused, and weirdly, you felt your heart aching as you looked at his features properly.

Whilst he looked rabbit-like when you had seen his monster form, and still recognisably humanoid in a lot of ways. This was different. Afton almost reminded you more of a hare, the fur less fluffy and more sleek to his hulking mass. But the sharp, jutting teeth that rendered him unable to hide them under his lips screamed predatory as those slit-pupils focused on you finally. Panting, the growl abating slightly as he seemed for a moment to not register who you were, and then realisation set in. You watched the animal face fill with confusion, with something warm, and then with horror as it dawned on him that you had watched him throw a man out of a window and break down your door.

Your ears filled with a soft sound as you were unable to take your eyes off of him, watching him attempt to stand and shaking his head like a wild animal that had gotten confused. Realising it was his body shifting and changing as it definitely shrunk a bit, his fur fluffing out and becoming more of the digitigrade legged rabbit humanoid that you had come to expect from William's monstrous form.

"Bunny..." He breathed, his deep, gravelly voice wavering as he reached out a hand to you before pulling it back to his chest. His eyes filling with worry as he looked at your confused, scared expression, feeling his heart swelling with self-doubt and loathing.

He had lost control. He had almost caught you up in his own ugly jealousy and gotten you hurt.

"William?" You were unsure of yourself, your own voice wavering as he nodded slowly. Both of you swallowing thickly as you began to head for the door, looking over the broken splinters. Stepping over them and feeling the incubus following your every move and following after you as you began to head down the stairs.

You needed some air.

The cold air bit at your skin in a way that was adrenaline inducing and soothing all at one. William's car was weirdly parked in the lot, but glancing at the rabbit man as he trailed sadly after you, his ears still pinned as he ran his hands over his furred face, and seeing his black slacks burst open at the bottom half of the seams, barely giving him tattered shorts, you somehow doubted he had driven there.

You sat on the hood of his car, your body shaking as the adrenaline passed and William stood barely within your reach. Looking anywhere but your face.

"What...Was..."

"That...wasn't pretty. It's what happens when I lose control. You deserve every explanation that I can give you." His voice still gravelly as he focused on your face finally, scanning you to see how you would take the information.

"You can lose control?"

"Yeah. Incubi are...well, no, demonic types in general are more prone to it. It gets messy quickly."

"What made you lose it?"

"Bunny..."

"No, William, you said I deserved an explanation, and I'm asking you." You managed to firm your voice, looking into his purple eyes and seeing his brows turning up as his expression saddened. His foot thumping his against the floor as he tried to think of how to word it. Taking a deep breath before he opened his mouth.

"You. You made me lose control." He swallowed as he ran his fingers through his fur and tried to stop the nervous tap his foot made against the concrete. Barely remembering taking his shoes off. "Well, more specifically, realising that you were on a date."

"You...turned into...that..because I was on a date?"

"Shit, that sounds awful. Bunny, god why is it so hard to speak to you? I'm an incubus, I'm a demonic being, admittedly third generation, but still. I don't like people, but talking has never been a problem until you arrived and I couldn't shake you from my thoughts." Growling as he thumped his hand against the hood of his car lightly, leaning over you and meeting your eyes finally.

"Bunny, if I had realised that you were asking me, god I...I would have said yes so many times over. I would have done so many things differently if I had known."

"You really didn't know?" You asked, incredulous as he nodded slowly, his ears perking slightly before flattening again, his nose twitching constantly as he looked away from your gaze.

"You've been thinking about me?"

"Constantly. I didn't mean to send that text to Henry, I wanted to send it to you! I purposely did it. Call me an old fool, but I...God, bunny, I want to worship the ground you walk on, you're my sunshine, and I understand if you don't want to ever see me after-"

You didn't give William a chance to continue speaking as you grabbed his tie and pulled him close, your eyes brimming with tears as the rabbit man babbled his inner thoughts to you in a heart-felt confession. He stumbled closer as your smaller frame tugged him in and he resisted to try and not crush you under his weight.

But as your lips met his, all that tense anxiety melted from his body and yours. Holding onto his tie as he was stupefied by the kiss for a moment before his thick, strong arms wrapped you up and held onto you tightly. Hearts pounding together as you broke off for air as you felt him shifting around you. The lips you kissed becoming less furred and feeling his beard scratching as your skin, thick, rough fingers stroking down your back as you sat back and looked at William's human face staring at you. His lips curled up in a smile and creased the corners of his eyes as you felt him doing a little jump in one spot, making you smile back at him.

"You don't mind...that I'm a monster?" He asked, thinking back to the terrified expression you'd had seeing his most monstrous state.

"William, if I minded, I wouldn't have kissed you when your face was furry."

"Yes, I know but still."

"Shut up and kiss me again, incubnny."

"Oh, gladly, little bunny." He cupped your cheek with one hand as he leaned in and kissed your lips again. A soft, chaste thing that still stole your breath away as he pulled you against his broad body, perched on the hood of his car as he tenderly stroked your hair. Both of you wishing the moment would never end, even though you knew that you couldn't leave William in his shredded clothes.

"Maybe we should get you home, you're kinda half-naked in the parking lot." William chuckled at your words and raised his greying eyebrow and smiling wickedly, rolling his eyes playfully.

"And here I thought that was extra romantic."

"Oh totally, in a very different context."

"Oh?"

"Stop smirking at me! You'll find out eventually, you still owe me a proper date first."

"Can I at least give you another kiss for now?" Waiting for you to confirm with a nod.

And he did, pressing his lips to yours once again and cupping both of your cheeks as you felt your cheeks flushing. Holding onto his tie still as you remained in the half-dark. Knowing that there was a lot of things the two of you would have to work out, but you were looking forwards to each and every step.

[molluskmirage]

The villainization of Bad is perplexing to me for a lot of reasons. Fandom wanting him to pay for his actions when he didn’t even have the highest kill rate in purgatory on his team… Bad and Tubbo had the same amount of kills day 1. Bad was probably killed more by red team then he killed yet still its not enough for the red fandom.

also regarding Dapper. ‘Bad’s actions made it so no one would help dapper’…. Bad would never hold a parents actions against a child. Leo actively helped Vegetta and Roier place bombs all over Bad and Dappers farm house causing them to move. And even when they moved Bad still included Leo on the allow list. He loves Leo. Dapper really admired Vegetta and wanted to speak with him but was struck by him for teasing Foolish.

Bad teases and tricks and lies about unimportant things, steals furniture and he has trust issues yes, but he also counter balances that by providing others with lavish gifts and items and knowledge that takes hours to do. He repairs broken machines the kids have done for there parents, he takes care of the kids so no one dies of neglect, he keeps people company, he’s provided so much countless food and armor and exp to everyone at such volume its absurd to count. He made spawn so that it would be easy for others to get around when they died and constantly refills the xp.

He’s rp an actual demon but genuinely most of Bad’s actions while surface level inconvenient in depth he’s ridiculously generous and kind. The only time of him ‘cutting loose’ being in a game that was designed for killing and his son instructed him too. So many in the fandom gave weight to Chayanne’s message but for Dapper it was :eyeroll: whatever. Dapper who had been self harming themselves to help aid his siblings and other islanders was instructing Bad to run over other islanders, he wouldn’t say that unless it was important.

I can understand not liking a character theirs plenty I dont personally find my cup of tea but that doesnt make them evil. Its so strange to me that the fandom finds Bbh to be ‘the worst’ narratively, when Slime actively tried to murder Dapper and the other kids, Cellbit has gone full serial killer, Vegetta nearly killed Bobby with bombs, Forever lashed out in anger at Leo yet Bad stealing furniture that can be replaced by sticks and wool is the absolute dread of the server. Bad in a killing game was mean when others were mean and one of the few members of his team that could protect his team.

it’s interesting because for the most part Bad’s crimes are psychological (not to say its not a torment) but it’s interesting because it seems to be labeled so much worse then physical actions other characters have made. Bad doesn’t let others actions get to him he forgives and picks himself up and tries again maybe more guarded this time but he doesnt complain about others actions he always blames himself and carries on. Bad doesnt excuse himself he knows that his actions can cause distress from others and still does them without regret but he also understands others wont like him for his actions and fully accepts and expects it.

[captainzigo]

so unfortunately very few entries here are going to properly be vintage. also what i consider vintage might not line up with what you do. i am not old.

also i am not wealthy. and my family isn’t wealthy. this is an expensive hobby to have. i get most of my stuff from loving it and refusing to throw it away… and digging through the trash at university. you would be surprised with the stuff people throw away. planned obsolescence has nothing on the fact that people can’t be bothered to fix a sour harddrive.

i actually fix computers as a sort of second job. it’s nice to work on computers i can’t afford and that aren’t from the trash. but i love old tech. i love breathing life in to things long dead. i’m a technonecromancer. i am not including pictures of things i haven’t finished yet for the most part. and i simply am not including most things. this is but a fraction of my power

ok so these are all my computers that work. i didn’t include ones that im still working on. they all worked but needed repairs variously. mostly they just needed new hard drives.

my game consoles. again not including ones that don’t work. i actually bought that 3ds, but the rest my parents gave me after they got them used. that gameboy has needed a screen replacement that required soldering. the ds is my little trooper and has needed nothing ever. the wii needed a new disc drive. and the 3ds came in japanese and i hacked it to english.

there’s a back view of my stickers

these are some of my various devices. again not including ones that don’t work. that nano needed a new battery which was actual hell and i’m surprised it survived. that ipad is the first ipad and she works beautifully and one time i fastened it to my tummy for a tellytubby costume. i was slutty lala and i played the old spiderman movie trilogy in glorious VHS quality. i couldn’t find my iphone 3gs for this picture :( but it will turn up. i’ll include an old picture instead of cleaning my room to find it lol

here are some novelties i just like. thats an old radio i swiped from my great grandfather. i got it working but it broke again. i dont know whats wrong with it and its so old that the parts are impossible to find. on the right is the browser for DS which is just so quaint. i love it. it barely works at all but i loaded a wikipedia page one time so xP

this is my terrible stupid tiny phone i got from aliexpress that barely works BUT IT DOES WORK and is technically loaded with all modern smartphone features. i attached a video of it barely playing roblox

this is my og imac. with the og keyboard. i didn’t include it with the working computers because it doesn’t. the harddrive died and im trying to fix it but its really hard. i’ve already sought out two different adapters that haven’t worked

and this is a commodore 64 that i also got out of the trash. it does not work but im hoping to make it work. someone clearly loved it. enough to paint it crazy colors and enough to

write some weird scifi quote on the inside of the case under the RF shield. but maybe they died, or it just became too much of an undertaking.

not included here is:

• several more apple products that i just don’t think look good. all the iphones between 6 and 11 are just so ugly. and i don’t actually like the way apple watches look

• the phone, tablet, and smart watch i actively use

• various bits and bobs like the official speakers for a imac 4, an electronic pocket dictionary, various wii peripherals and so on

• all of my audio equipment

• my iphone 3gs. i just never found it or any pictures of it. i love it tho. it was my first phone (hand me down. i’m not that old) and i have had to repair it so many times and i love taking bad photos with it

• all of my monitors

• my many videogames

• my old fridge that i love and cherish and use

• anything i have fixed and then given to someone else

• a bunch of other stuff

so if you are a beautiful trans woman, are you in love with me yet? or do i need to make a part two

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Silver Lining 7

Warnings: non/dubcon, speech impediment, bullying and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

Characters: silverfox!Bucky Barnes

Summary: You have an unpleasant encounter with an older man.

Part of the Silverfox AU

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

The library casts a wave of deja vu over you. The smell, the shelves, the soft rustle of patrons trying not to make a noise in the deathly din. You feel like the lost college student, once more trapped in the stacks, trying to eke out a final draft.

Since the calamitous destruction of your laptop, you’d been paralysed to do anything more than sulk. It took a few days to get the energy up to make a choice; buy a new one or find an alternative. The former option isn’t affordable but once you get this script down, you could splurge for at least a chromebook.

Negotiations with your sister were less than successful. She claimed the innocence of children as her shield. She couldn’t control their curiosity. It’s unfortunate that it happened but she’s a mother of two and can’t afford to pay for your expensive toys… Right, but she has a macbook in her luggage.

To no one’s surprise, and to your sister’s expectation, your parents agreed. It’s hard to pay for two kids in this world, your laptop isn’t a necessity. You can dig out the old Windows XP tower from the basement…

It’s futile. You love your family but they leave you feeling that the sentiment isn’t mutual. You can’t blame them. You're thirty, you’re living at home, and you have a job that isn’t really a job.

You settle in at a computer, your newly registered library card in hand. You paid the two dollars for an hour. You hope it’s enough to retrieve your work from the cloud and finish up the last edits. It’s only an hour per hour for additional time.

After getting used to the clacking keyboard and the worn ball of the old mouse, you start to whittle away. You’re immensely thankful for the omnipotent powers of OneDrive. Everything is still there.

You check the time. Ten minutes left. You’ll have to go top up, at least for another hour. You sit back and grab your phone from beside the mousepad. You had it face down on silent so you could focus. It’s only then you see the slew of notifications.

Your mother wants you to grab coffee cream on your way home and your next payment on your still standing student loan is coming due. Under all that, there’s a message from Bucky. You figured he’d be checking in. You are cutting it close to his deadline.

‘How’s it going? Was hoping to have the final draft today.’

Your stomach boils. You can get it done and he’s being less than pushy. Not demanding by any means but you’re taken back to your last job. To the constant pressure of expectation and the oppressive workload that never slowed down. All that and the closed door dealings that left you sleepless and quaky after midnight.

‘Will send over soon.’

The response should be good enough. A promise you can keep. You place the phone down and lean forward, cradling your head as you tell the memories to leave you alone. This is different. This isn’t that office, this is something you can walk away from at any time.

You close your eyes as the world narrows between your ringing ears. The silence of the library is replaced with the muffled ringing of office phones and the smothered voices of employees conferring between cubicles. You see the door, closed again, you feel the edge of the desk digging into your stomach, you hear his raspy words, your insides splinter.

Your eyes snap open as you sit up. No, you’re not going back there again. The computer’s lock screen shines blue at you. Time’s up. You dig around in your purse as you stand. It’s over so let it go.

As you stand at the counter, waiting for the librarian, your phone lights up. You tap your card on the desk before stepping away. You should answer it.

You quickly march across the lobby and into the vestibule between the inner and outer doors. You shouldn’t disturb anyone here. You check the ID again, it’s him.

“Hi,” you answer.

“Hey, I hope I’m not interrupting. I’m just a bit restless since I got back in town,” Bucky plunges right in without small talk.

“N-no, j-just wrapping up.”

“Great. Did you want to meet up tonight? I am working on the recording space and I thought you might like to check it out?”

“Ch-check it o-out?” You wonder. You imagined yourself just handing off the script and bouncing. Get paid and go home.

“Uh, yeah,” you hear him fumbling on the other end, “I was thinking… well, maybe it’s better if I talk to you in person–”

His voice is completely drowned out at the outer doors open and a group of rowdy students enter, completely ignorant to the atmosphere. You expect they’ll get a warranted shush from the staff so you don’t bother. You just turn your back to them and plug your ear.

“A lot going on?” Bucky asks.

“N-no, just… library’s b-busier than I th-thought.”

“Library? Oh, you doing more research?” He wonders. You hesitate again. You’re used to his bluntness. To him not caring about anything but what he wants. That’s an easier dynamic then all these questions.

“L-long st-ory,” your words creak out.

“I’ll come meet you,” he offers, “I got a few books to bring back. Which location are you at?”

Again, you're reluctant. His eagerness surprises you but you assume it’s more impatience. It'll be good to just get this over with.

“O-Oxblood,” you answer.

“Hm, never been to that one,” he comments, “when's good? Like an hour or something?”

“S-sure,” you shrug.

You give up. People don't really ask when they ask. They tell. Your mother, your sister, him.

“Sounds like a plan. I'll just finish up what I'm doing and head over,” he voice catches at the end, “shit, got another call. Talk later.”

Before you can respond the line is dead. You're almost grateful for the abrupt end. You're expecting this writing gig might just be a one-off situation.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Gotta admit to some confusion with the “Max is a sexist” takes? If it’s rooted in how he assumed Marinette didn’t know how to play the game, I could see a bit of merit even if there could be other reasons, especially since it happens in line with Kim’s more expressly sexist attitude of surprise. But when he loses, he congratulates her, and his upset while clear is framed as being completely due to losing his spot in the competition.

Ignoring how his anger was a part of his own private thoughts which HM exploits, Max as an Akuma targeting Marinette instead of Adrien always seemed to me to be due to the fact that she is the one who replaced him. Yes, they both beat him, but Adrien winning didn’t lead to Max losing his spot, Marinette winning did.

Also, the lesson of the day seems squarely centered around how Max deserves to play because he’s the one who really wanted the opportunity, which is why Alya as the writer’s mouthpiece scolds her beforehand about taking it seriously and cinched when Marinette explains why she’s surrendering her position. And while I’m not arguing the episode itself as whole doesn’t contain sexist elements, I feel the writers attempt to avoid that reading by having Adrien surrender his position to Marinette because she is the better player.

For Max, is there perhaps further context than Gamer that I’m just missing? Because I don’t nearly see the same amount of “Kim is a sexist” takes, and unfortunately Max being Black does put him at risk of being held to higher standards than other non-Black characters.

I will do my best to walk through the episode and explain why it makes Max read as sexist to a lot of people. (Or, at least, this is why I think people reach this conclusion. It's why I reach it.)

It's true that Max's reaction to Marinette wanting to play is potentially a little sexist because he assumes that she doesn't know how to play:

Max: The rules are elementary, You battle each other's robots with your own and... Marinette: Please... Every time you win, you loot its items and gain XP, which upgrades your mech. I'm not a noob, thank you very much. Max: Ah, sounds like you have a sufficient amount of knowledge. Let's see if it's enough to beat me.

It's hard to be sure, though, because we don't know if he tried to explain the rules to everyone. I still think it's fair to read it as sexist because it's paired with other characters acting like Marinette can't play, but I also don't think this is a big enough issue to call Max the clear problem of this episode. If he is being sexist, then he's far from the worst one in that scene and his initial reaction to loosing is excellent and without a hint of sexism!

Max: I accept this defeat. I relinquish my position at the tournament. Congratulations, Marinette. And Adrien.

It's also not even remotely sexist that he's upset by his loss and goes on to rant about it as soon as he's alone:

Max: I should've been going to that tournament. I was the chosen one! I worked so hard for it! This is Inconceivable!

While it's not sexist, I would argue that this reaction is something that he needs to work on. If Max wants to be in competitions, then he has to own the fact that he may lose them. This is an issue that we'll get to in a minute. First let's talk about what happens while Max is an akuma.

Even though Adrien and Marinette are together when Gamer attacks, Gamer is only out to get Marinette. He is obsessed with the idea that Marinette should have lost and doesn't care about the Adrien loss.

(Suddenly, the Gamer's robot appears. Marinette and Adrien notice it.) Marinette: Tell me this isn't some kind of publicity stunt for the tournament! Gamer: Well, well. Marinette, let's see who's victorious this time. Adrien: Doesn't look like a publicity stunt to me.

Gamer: Game over, Marinette! Marinette: How does he know my name? Max! (the Gamer's robot fires lasers at her) I guess he really did want that spot in the tournament!

While this makes sense since Marinette is technically the one who cost Max his spot, it doesn't change the fact that this obsession and the earlier framing of Marinette's win make the focus of the episode Max's reaction to Marinette winning. That means that the episode's ultimate lesson will be about the validity of Marinette's win.

This is where Max's part in the sexism really kicks in. Not in the pre-akuma stuff, but the post-akuma stuff. That's where this image comes from:

[Image description: Max and Marinette standing outside of the tournament arena. Max has a sad expression and is refusing to look at Marinette who is awkwardly standing behind him]

As you can see from this image, we don't see post-akuma Max apologizing to Marinette for blaming her when she didn't do anything wrong. Nor do we see post-akuma Max just generally owning his loss, promising to work on taking losses better in the future, and saying something like, "I'll just have to do better next year." Instead, we get post-akuma Max pouting and refusing to even look at Marinette.

This is hardly the behavior of a good loser and yet the story completely validates it. We go from Max pouting to this:

Alya: You bent over backwards to be in the team and now you wanna pull out? Marinette: It's just that I feel so bad for Max. And well, it just wouldn't be right. Alya:(stops her) You're doing the right thing. But honestly, it's not like you get the chance to play with Adrien everyday... Marinette: ...Max? I've thought about this a lot, and... Well, I think you should be playing tonight, Max. Max: What? Marinette: Don't get me wrong! I love gaming, but it's not my heart and soul. This is your baby. It's your tournament, Max. I don't wanna take that away from you.

The appropriate reaction to Marinette's offer is for Max to say, "No Marinette, I'm sorry, I'm behaving terribly. The school is supposed to be represented by the most skilled players. That's you and Adrien, not me. I lost fair and square. I'll work on my skills and get a spot next year." This is how you show character growth and emphasize that Max has moved on from viewing himself as the "chosen one" while unfairly blaming Marinette. Instead we get this:

Max: I don't know how to thank you.

While Max certainly isn't saying anything awful like, "damn right I should be playing you stupid girl," this ending still validates his anger towards Marinette and implies that his behavior was perfectly fine. That it wasn't wrong for him to ignore her until she gave him back "his" spot. That's the sexist element. We should not have seen Max rewarded for treating Marinette poorly and making her feel guilty for daring to win a videogame.

It's important to note that this all happens on the day of the tournament, meaning that it's been days since Max lost and yet he's still mad at Marinette. That's not a great look. At the very least, he should be equally angry at Marinette and Adrien by now. Instead, his anger is still shown to be focused on Marinette as if she is the one and only source of his problems when, in actuality, it was his double loss that cost him his spot. Marinette only knocked him out of the running because Adrien won first. If the order was reversed, then would it be valid for Max to be angry at Adrien? According to the show, I think that the answer is "no." At the very least, I don't see how you can argue that it's clearly "yes" based on what we were given. Adrien's win is treated neutrally by everyone and Adrien letting Marinette play is treated as him being kind while Marinette letting Max play is treated as her righting a wrong.

As others have pointed out, when it comes to Max getting akumatized, what difference does it make if Max loses to Marinette in the preliminaries or to someone else in the main tournament? Do you really think that he'd be fine losing at any point in this competition when he thinks that he's the "chosen one"? At what point is it not cool to hold onto the anger of losing in spite of all your hard work? And why does Marinette's motivation matter when it comes to Max's feelings? He had no idea that she was only playing because she wanted to be Adrien's teammate. All he knows is that she beat him fairly and that she now feels bad about that for some reason.

It's really important for kids to learn that hard work doesn't always lead to a win, but this episode doesn't teach that. Instead it says that it's totally fine for Max to feel wronged and that you should only compete in tournaments if you want to win for the "right" reasons, whatever those are. If you're going to go this route, then at least give Max a noble cause to contrast Marinette's selfish one. As is, he's just as selfish. It's not like he wanted the prize money to save his family from poverty! As far as we know, there is no prize money! He just wanted bragging rights.

What's even more bizarre is that Adrien gives us the lines that Max should have given:

Adrien: Go on, Marinette. You're a hundred times better than me. You belong on the team. Win the tournament for the school. I know you can do it.

What even is this mess? The episode didn't establish that Marinette was better than Adrien! We did get this exchange:

Adrien: Wow! We won again, thanks to you! Marinette: Yeah, um, yes we did. Adrien: We? That was practically all you. You're amazing, Marinette. I guess you wouldn't even need me. I'm so lame compared to you... Marinette: Um, no no no, I... No, you're so good. I mean, I'm the one who's not good. I mean... I'm lucky, that's all.

Leading to Marinette giving Adrien her lucky charm, but this isn't Adrien losing to Marinette. It's just Adrien being impressed by her skills when their team won a match. We never once see Marinette beat Adrien.

There's also the fact that the rest of the episode is focused on Ladybug and Chat Noir gaming together against Gamer, proving that they're the dream team, not Marinette and Max. The logical ending of this plot is for Marinette and Adrien to do the same thing on the civilian side because they're the dream team no matter which side of the masks they're on. Instead we validate Max's anger towards Marinette and tell the little girls at home that it's wrong to show off to boys. How feminist?

It would have played so much better if Max initially took Marinett's spot, but changed his mind after Adrien's line since Adrien's logic isn't unique to Marinette. It applies to Adrien as well and logical Max should have seen that. Why is it right for Adrien to give his spot to the better player while it's fine for Max to take a spot from those who beat him? Shouldn't the best players be the ones to represent the school? Especially when those players have actually been practicing together while Max hasn't done any co-op training? The lesson here makes no sense at all!

It's definitely true that Max isn't the only one who comes across poorly in this episode. Kim, Alya, and Rose's reactions to Marinette's initial win all also play into the "A girl? Playing video games? No way!" issue. Alya and Tikki play into the, "Marinette was in the wrong to ever play because we must be good and virtuous in our motivations and not do things to impress boys" issue. Both of these elements exacerbate how Max comes across by setting a sexist tone to the episode, but that doesn't change the fact that Max completely failed to learn a very valuable lesson, unintentionally making him look like a bit of a sexist loser even without the sexist leadin.

Max's sexism is also heavily exacerbated by some real world issues that are going to impact the way that people view this episode, so let's skim the surface of those rabbit holes because I think we have to acknowledge them to really understand why this episode bothers people.

I'm going to give you some studies here to back up what I'm saying because, when it comes to these sorts of claims, I want to give you something you can evaluate for yourself. I don't want to just talk about known issues as if they're hard facts without any proof and I prefer studies to opinion pieces or articles that mention studies without the details for you to evaluate. However, I will note that I'm limited in what studies I can access because many research papers are stupidly price locked and my public library's research database is pretty limited, so I'm stuck between that and what I can find for free online.

Feel free to reblog this or to send me an ask with suggestions of better studies or books on these topics or even on the topic of the way that black people and characters are held to higher standards because that's certainly a very real issue that's important to keep in mind! We all have unconsious biases from things like the media we watch and the only way to become aware of these biases/learn to look for them is for someone to point them out and for us to do some learning. Like I'm trained to look for sexism by my experiences, but picking up on subtle racism is much harder since I don't have a lifetime of experience to pull from. There are lots of great resources out there, the trick is finding them and maybe even accessing them as I certainly found when I was looking for studies. I'm far from an expert on gender or racial studies. My hobby research field is history.

Issue One: Female Socialization and Those Precious Male Feelings

It is a documented phenomenon that women are socialized to be nurturers. They're taught to prioritize the feelings of others - especially men - over their own wants, needs, and successes. One study on this topic focused on how success effects intimate relationships and noted that:

We find that climbing the societal ladder has positive associations with women’s well-being and relationship outcomes... however, these associations reversed for women who surpassed their partners in social status. ...Among women with higher status than their partner, traditional women intend to adjust their behavior to fit the gender norm (e.g., thinking about reducing work hours in favor of their time at home), whereas egalitarian women did not, but felt guilty toward their partner.

In other words, this study found that women have happier relationships when they don't do as well as their male partners. When they do surpass their male partners, they either try to compensate for that success or tend to feel guilty for failing to compensate.

While this study was about romantic relationships, I don't think that it's a stretch to apply it to platonic relationships, too, especially since we're talking about the messages a TV show is sending to young girls. That's where Gamer comes in. What does that episode have Marinette do when she surpasses her male friend Max? She feels guilty and compensates for daring to be better than him, reinforcing a pretty ugly gendered stereotype.

This type of thing goes beyond interpersonal relationships. It's a well-known issue that women are looked down on when they act too "masculine" in the workforce:

Numerous studies have highlighted that female leaders are evaluated less favorably than their male counterparts when engaging in identical behaviors. For example, using a job-hiring paradigm, past research demonstrated that female candidates who violated the modesty prescription by self-promoting during an interview were evaluated as less likeable and less hireable than self-promoting male candidates.

Gamer was not an instance of Marinette doing something questionable to get close to Adrien. It was her taking her hard-won skills and using them to show off to her crush so that they could get closer, a thing that Adrien was clearly 100% okay with.

This episode should not have been an instance of Marinette being show to be in the wrong. A show that aims to empower little girls should never include an episode where a girl is chastised for daring to self-promote, but that's exactly what Gamer does. It says that Marinette was wrong to put her wants over Max's feelings. What kind of girl power show sends this sort of message? How do you take a woman fairly beating a man and make it a bad thing?

If anything, the message of this episode should have been focused on Marinette being told to NOT feel guilty. After all, that's the far more likely issue for young girls to face. They will have lots of people reminding them to treat others kindly. The message could have also been about winning gracefully and been fine, imo.

Issue Two: Gender Discrimination in Male-Dominated Hobbies

It's a well documented fact that female gamers have long been treated as outsiders by the gaming community as this study discusses:

The researchers played against 1,660 unique gamers and broadcasted pre-recorded audio clips of either a man or a woman speaking... Findings indicate that, on average, the female voice received three times as many negative comments as the male voice or no voice.

Since most of that study is behind a paywall and I don't know if you can access it, I'll also give this openly available study that looked a subset of the recordings from the initial study as it gives you some fine details of what they saw. I think that this second study is a little weird in terms of what it's trying to argue, but the hard data and the research methodology seem fine and that's what I want to focus on here:

We show that lower-skilled players were more hostile towards a female-voiced teammate, especially when performing poorly. In contrast, lower-skilled players behaved submissively towards a male-voiced player in the identical scenario. This difference in gender-directed behavior became more extreme with poorer focal-player performance... Higher-skilled players, in contrast, were more positive towards a female relative to a male teammate.

There's also this study which was free through my public library, so hopefully you can find a way to access it, too, if you want to read the whole thing. For the purposes of this post, I'm just going to highlight some of the statistics and cases that it talks about during its introduction:

Recent studies have suggested that sexual harassments in online games are committed mostly by male gamers against female gamers. For example, in South Korea, one of the countries with the largest per capita gaming populations, players who play the female character Mercy in Overwatch are commonly called by an online slang, Bo-Rcy, which literally means ‘Mercy played by female genitals’ and connotes that women are incapable [of playing] the game. Also, a female professional gamer has been falsely accused of using an illegitimate tool simply because her win rate was too high for a woman.

33% of female gamers experienced gender discrimination, and 57% experienced severe sexual harassment after disclosing their genders. Furthermore, 64% of female World of Warcraft players answered that they experienced various in-game sexism such as exclusion (i.e. removing women from the game-play) or gendered flaming (i.e. using derogatory language specifically against female gamers) Also, a report documented that women are exposed to worse forms of online harassment (e.g. stalking, physical threats, etc.) and that about 44% of Internet users, regardless of their sex, agreed that online gaming is ‘more welcoming toward men’. Overall, it can be concluded that ‘video game culture is actively hostile towards women in the private as well as the professional spheres’

In other words, by having Max only ever blame Marinette for his loss, Gamer has Max acting like a tame version your typical woman-hating gamer who can't handle the fact that they've lost to a girl. This is something that I've seen myself and is part of the reason that I lost interest in online gaming. I even know one girl who had to change her in-game name because it openly acknowledged her gender and got her a ton of harassment. Of course, the guys that we played with blamed her for choosing such a harassment-inviting name because heaven forbid that a woman openly play videogames!

Conclusion

Sexism or no sexism, Gamer undeniably validates Max behaving poorly. The perception of that poor behavior is simply exacerbated by existing gender issues. These real-world problems are why people look so negatively on Max's actions. While his behavior is far from the worst gamer rage that I've ever seen, it does represent a classic, sexist issue in gaming.

If it weren't for all of the complexity around the real-world treatment of talented women in male-dominated spaces or the issue of women being taught to prioritize the feelings of others, then this episode would just be one of those episodes with a nonsense moral. For example, it would still be bad if Adrien was in Marinette's spot, it would just no longer be sexist.

However, we don't live in a world without those issues, so this episodes comes across as hella sexist and Max is the main victim because he's representing some major gendered issues that woman have to deal with. I can name so many real world moments that this episode reminded me of and none of them are happy memories. Every single one of them involves someone telling me to put a man's feelings over my own desire or comfort. This is not the kind of messaging I want to see in shows aimed at young girls.

All that being said, I don't think that Max was supposed to be read as sexist. The writers just did him dirty and made him look terrible when he could have been a wonderful lesson on taking a loss with grace and treating female gamers with respect. After all, as we've already acknowledged, Max did start out handling his loss reasonably well. The rest of the episode just completely undoes that initial good reaction, making it so that a lot of viewers will only remember Max being a pouting sore loser who gets rewarded with the thing that he wanted while Marinette feels guilty and gets lambasted by others for daring to want a spot on the team. I am not surprised that the credited writers for this one are a pair of dudes. I sincerely hope (and assume) that this was them being oblivious to a gendered issue and not anything more malicious.

[autolenaphilia]

I keep being aghast at people still using old unsupported versions of Windows. Like these people were angery at Valve announcing they would stopping supporting Steam on Windows 7 and 8. And like there is a lot to be angry at Valve for, lootboxes in Counter Strike and so on, but this???

Steam not supporting Windows 7 and 8 is because Microsoft has stopped supporting those operating systems. And you shouldn't be using unsupported operating systems, at least if you are going to connect them to the internet (which is a requirement for Steam).

Windows, like any operating system, is very complex, and there are inevitably going to be security flaws, holes in the system that malware and malicious actors are going to exploit. And a major part of support is the developers, Microsoft in the case of Windows, fixing those security flaws with security updates as they are discovered. When the devs stop supporting an operating system, any remaining security holes in the system will not be fixed, and they will inevitably still be some left, because again any operating system is super-complex.

So if you keep using an operating system that is unsupported, and connect that machine to the internet, you are going to become a prime target for any hackers out there, who will exploit those remaining security holes to infect you with ransomware, or turn your computer into part of a botnet, or exploit it for cryptomining.

(you can use old versions of Windows, but only safely if that machine has no internet access. Such machines are both used professionally to run old software that is useful, but has no real replacement, and by video game hobbyists to run old Windows games off disks. That is not a problem, it becomes one if that machine has internet access)

Now I don't expect Microsoft to support all versions of Windows forever, no creator of software practically can do that, so no one does.

Although Microsoft is partly at fault here. They habitually raise the system requirements for new versions of Windows to ludicrous heights, making their users unable to update their computers despite their computer still working fine. This has resulted in the less wealthy parts of the world still being stuck on unsupported Windows versions. The majority of Armenian computers still run Windows XP, just for example.

And they often make these new Windows worse than the old ones, ranging from needless changes to the UI to invasions of privacy.

And Microsoft are partially to blame for instilling a kind of technological learned helplessness into their users, in order to control them. By hiding information and wrestling control from their users, Microsoft has taught them that they are unable to learn and change and control their digital life.

I think that explains the phenomenon of people who use old versions of Windows. They often can't update their computers to new versions of Windows because of unreasonable system requirements, or understandably don't want to use Windows 10 or 11. And because Microsoft has systematically treated them as unable to learn or take responsibility for their computer, they haven't learned what End of Life (EOL) for an operating system means. And for the same reason, the users feel that doing something like installing another operating system, like a Linux distro that is still supported and would run on their old computer, as something beyond their grasp.

Yet it is absolutely what they should do, and it is not as hard as you might think it is. There are real, sensible reasons to not use LInux, but if the contest is on a computer connected to internet, between old unsupported versions of Windows and Linux, Linux is absolutely the better option. The massive security risk of using an unsupported Windows version is far worse than any drawbacks of switching to Linux. Like it's beyond debate, the contest is between installing a Linux distro and your computer becoming part of a botnet at that point.

And the problem of existing computers being unable to update to supported versions of Windows will only get worse. The jump in system requirements from Windows 10 to 11 might be the worst one since XP to Vista. Windows 10 is supported for now, but support will end in October 2025, less than two years from now. And the percentage of Windows 10 computers that can't update to Win11? 55% if you are being optimistic, more than 75% if you are not.

And because Linux is not seen as an option by the majority, 2025 will mean massive amounts of e-waste as those who have money will dispose of old working computers to buy new ones, and a lot of people who can't afford new computers continuing to use the now unsupported Windows 10. 2025 will not be the year of the Linux desktop, but things will continue to suck because of it.

[edgyedgelord]

I'm back to yell at y'all to BUY MY STUFF!!!

Prices listed are my offer but I am willing to haggle. Know that I won't drop them super low and I have checked on other websites what the average price is for the items that I'm selling for their quality.

The base cost for the laptop I want is $1,182 with the specs I need, ports, and ofc the power adapter. I want to try aiming for $1,250 if possible in case prices go up, shipping, etc. and anything extra would ofc be appreciated. I will also accept donations but would prefer if you instead gave them to those in more need than me.

I'd also like to say that I wish I didn't have to do this during a time where people are suffering for their existance. If you have money to spare please send it to families in need or trusted organizations who can help them. If I reach my goal and get employed I will be donating whatever I can afford to the families in need and organizations that can help them. This doesn't just apply to Palestinians but anyone affected by any sort of genocide.

Current Goal Progress: $81.88/$1,250

This post will update regularly with new items and prices. If you find something you like send me a message with an offer and we'll discuss. I may add a bit more to the price for shipping depending on how much it is. You will have to pay first before I send it out.

If you're not happy with the item and want a refund message me and send it back. I'll return the money once I have the item back.

Oculus Rift S - $150

Full set including the headset, controllers, wire, and box. Condition is well used, poor even, but can be repaired. Still functions but is worn out so boot up is slow and can have issues at times.

Has duct tape residue cause the lil bit that holds the wire fell off. It's been cleaned off after I took these photos I just need to update them.

Recommended for tech geeks looking for VR parts or that can repair it, or those who aren't picky.

Do not buy if you're looking for a first time headset, just get a Meta Quest or Steam VR headset.

Wacom One - $100

Perfectly fine condition on the outside with the only issue being that the display doesn't work. Other than that, it functions perfectly fine.

Comes with tons of pen tips, two pens, the wire, etc. I recommend this if you're looking for a Wacom that isn't overpriced and if you're looking to not support the company but want one of their tablets.

Recommended for fellow artists needing a cheap tablet with all the fixins but doesn't need a display. I tried to get it fixed but they were charging almost the same price as when we bought it.

Xp-Pen Wireless Deco LW Black - $50

Theres actually nothing wrong with it. It's just old and I don't really use it anymore since I got my newest tablet.

It'll come with a carrying bag, pen, case for the pen and extra nibs, cleaning cloth, and even the manual.

Recommend for beginners needing a cheap starting tablet or those in need of a cheap replacement or backup, like myself when I got it.

Advice: If she starts losing calibration and recalibrating isn't working check to make sure the program/drivers are up to date. Still works like brand new even years later!

Pokemon Cards - Prices Vary

I have a massive collection and 90% of those are doubles. Need that ONE card to complete a set? Looking for something fancy for your binder? Wanting a couple of random cards to get into the TCG? Hit me up! I have so many cards I need to trade away or sell it's ridiculous.

More details on this post.

[r--c]

Payton Gendron

Payton S. Gendron is a white male and was 18 years old at the time of the shooting. He had traveled three and a half hours to the supermarket from his hometown of Conklin, New York, about 200 miles (320 km) away. -  Gendron graduated from Susquehanna Valley High School and was previously enrolled at SUNY Broome Community College in Binghamton for an engineering science program. His parents are civil engineers and, according to his neighbors, Gendron had previously stated an intention to become one as well. - Former classmates of Gendron who were interviewed by The New York Times claimed that Gendron was quiet, had rarely attended in-person classes, and exhibited a range of idiosyncratic behaviors, including wearing a hazmat suit to class. - Gendron is reported to have written a manifesto describing himself as an ethno-nationalist and a supporter of white supremacy who is motivated to commit acts of political violence. He voiced support for the far-right "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory in the context of a "white genocide".

Payton Gendron, livestreamed part of the attack on Twitch under the alias jimboboiii, but the livestream was shut down by the service in under two minutes. Gendron was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder. He formally entered a plea of "not guilty" on May 19, 2022. On November 28, 2022, Gendron pleaded guilty to all state charges in the shooting, including murder, domestic terrorism, and hate crimes. On February 15, 2023, Gendron was sentenced to 11 concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole; as of that date, federal charges are still ongoing, and the federal prosecution also expressed their intention to seek the death penalty.

At around 2:30 p.m, Payton arrived at the Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue, in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York. He was armed with a Bushmaster XM-15 AR-15–style rifle, illegally modified to accept high-capacity magazines, and multiple 30-round ammunition magazines. In his car, he had a Savage Arms Axis XP hunting rifle and a Mossberg 500 shotgun. He was wearing body armor, a military helmet, and a head-mounted camera, through which he livestreamed the attack on the online service Twitch. As he approached the scene, he was recorded on his livestream saying "just got to go for it".

Gendron first shot four people in the parking lot, killing three. He then entered the store, shooting eight more people and killing six. At 2:31 p.m, Buffalo police received a call reporting shots fired at the store. The first responding officers and firefighters arrived a minute later and reported bodies lying outside the building. At 2:34 p.m, a dispatcher started informing responding officers of an active shooter situation at the store.

According to a law enforcement source, Gendron yelled racial slurs during the incident. Many employees and customers used the store's break room to hide from Gendron and barricaded the door with a heavy desk. Other customers were hidden by employees in the milk cooler and said Gendron shot through the coolers, but the milk cartons stopped the bullets. At some point, an armed security guard, former Buffalo Police Department officer Aaron Salter Jr., shot at him. Due to Gendron's body armor, Salter's bullet did not stop him. Gendron returned fire at Salter, who died at the scene. At another point, he aimed his gun at a white person behind a checkout counter, but he apologized and did not shoot.

By 2:36 p.m., Gendron had gone to the front of the building, where patrol officers were able to talk him into dropping his gun after he reportedly aimed it at his neck. A total of 60 shots were fired during the shooting. After his arrest, Gendron made disturbing statements regarding his motive and state of mind.

[ms-dos5]

When did you first developed an extreme interest in computers and have you tried to build one?

I was 12, bored, and decided to look up what the first version of Windows looked like, which led me to Guidebook Gallery (sadly not updated anymore), and it went downhill from there.

As for building computers, I haven't tried a homebrew from scratch (my electronics skills aren't up to that and I keep getting distracted by other stuff) but I've got three regular x86 (_64) ones I've built: my main rig running an 8th gen i7, a Core 2 Quad machine with a WinXP 64 install and a broken regular XP install, and an AMD K-6...II? based off of a motherboard+CPU combo I got at a garage sale. I haven't decided what's going on it permanently but it's currently got Microsoft Neptune on it. Most of my other machines I've replaced at least one part in, or upgraded in some way, save for one of my PIIIs (it's a piece of shit that's not worth it even with a failing PSU fan), the iMacs (G3 and G4), and the 286.

[frogblast-the-ventcore]

This is the 2nd prototype of the XP-82 Twin Mustang heavy escort fighter, circa mid-to-late-1945. It is, perhaps, my favorite WW2 era fighter.

It was, essentially, two P-51s welded together. It was conceived as an ultra-long range escort fighter, hence why it retained two cockpits, with full controls in each. The idea was that one pilot could rest for part of the mission, and hand off control to the other when he needed a break, alternating as needed. The XP-82 had a range of 1,400 miles (2,300 kilometers), a service ceiling of 40,000 feet (12,000 meters), and a top speed of 461 miles per hour.

It's fitted here with its standard six M3 .50cal machine guns (with 400 rounds per gun, firing at 1200 rpm). Additionally, it is equipped with two 500 pound bombs, ten 5" High Velocity Aircraft Rockets, and an experimental centerline gun-pod containing an additional eight M3 Browning .50cal machine guns (each, as before, with 400 rounds, firing at 1200 rpm). This brings the total cyclic rounds-per-minute of the aircraft to 16,800 rpm combined.

The gun pod would not be retained past the prototypes, as the majority of production was fitted out or converted to night fighter spec with a radar mounted under the center wing (often nicknamed "Long Dong" due to the characteristic shape of the radar fairing). The second cockpit was refitted into a radar operator's station without flight controls.

The non-night fighter versions used the space for two more hardpoints, allowing for up to four 1000 pound bombs or up to twenty-five 5" HVAR rockets.

The P-82 (later changed to F-82) would go on to serve in Korea, but would be very quickly replaced with jet fighters, and were retired in 1953.

[wandering-wolf23]

Yesterday, my 12 year old laptop died.

This machine was an XPS laptop. It was in perfect working order up until the motherboard decided to die. I've swapped keyboards, screens, batteries, and a track pad on this thing, all with the help of YouTube. I actually wanted to get this machine repaired until I learned it would be about 3 grand for a repair that might work. There would be no guarantee and it would be hard finding someone willing to work on a computer that old.

I'm paying someone for data recovery because he can do it better and quicker. When that's done and I have the hard drive, I'm going to donate my old XPS. It can still be repaired if you have the right part and enough time. People do. I'm donating it to a program that takes old computers like these, fixes them, and gives them to low income students. This computer will probably last another 5 years (or more). Parts for it are easily purchased on Amazon.

My new computer is coming today. It's the same build, just slightly newer. It will last me another 12 years I hope. I will repair it as needed. Parts are easily available on Amazon. It will do everything I need it to and, when it's time, I'll swap it all over to a new computer from that same series.

Being able to repair my own machines has made me an XPS user for life. It allows me to save money and cut down on e-waste. So many people are stunned that my old computer was 12 (the one I had before this was 15 before it failed). We are so used to a society with disposable technology that it's genuinely shocking to people when someone says they fixed their own laptop.

But why should people try? So many laptops are made so you can't just unscrew and pop the back off. So many computers are made to fail after two, three, or four years. So many computers are made to force you to buy a new one for whatever capitalist bullshit reason.

I'll gladly pay extra for right to repair and a solid build with easily available replacement parts. That's what's important to me.

[commodorez]

Let's take a moment to remember my imperfect, but ever useful portable XP powerhouse, the Toshiba Satellite P25-S507. Probably my favorite laptop of all time. It's old, but hardly vintage yet. I was given one as a hand-me-down after it grenaded its own RAM a year after it was purchased.

I used it as my music jukebox, played a ton of Command & Conquer games on it, did my high school and college school work, talked with my friends on AIM, Skype Teamspeak and IRC, edited videos, programmed on it, did image editing in photoshop.

Pentium 4 @ 2.8GHz, 512MB DDR SRAM stock (mine was upgraded to 1GB and later 2GB), ~60GB hard drive, 17" WXGA TFT LCD, Windows XP (Home, but we upgraded it to Pro), ethernet jack AND wifi, DVD burner, SD card slot, all coming in at just shy of 10lbs of computer.

I either had it sitting on my desk next to my desktop computer (P4 or Phenom II x4), or used it sitting on my bed with a wooden board under it to give it sufficient ventilation so it wouldn't overheat or burn my legs. I disassembled that laptop several times over its lifetime, and replaced:

keyboards twice

the screen once (for the backlight)

4 hard drives

RAM once to upgrade from 1GB to 2GB

sound card subsystem once

battery twice

DVD drive once

Eventually after it destroyed TWO IDE SSDs (yes, those are a thing you can buy) after a shorter than normal lifespan, I realized it was a losing battle and gave up the fight. I realized that it no longer served as a laptop, it couldn't keep pace with newer versions of Skype (before Discord was a thing), and sure as hell wasn't going to run Discord. It got slower and slower at running simple websites like my email, or youtube -- things that it used to handle just fine.

The form factor was limiting, and it was outmatched for the times, so I finally gave up and decided to retire it in favor of building a dedicated power-house XP desktop to do the jobs that it excelled at.

I bought a spare for parts to supplement it, so maybe one day I'll install a fresh hard drive (either spinning rust, or an IDE to m.2 adapter), and bring it back to a working state.

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

🎵 Disco Elysium, Pt 1

3. "Superstar Casual." (Click your tongue.)

+1 Superstar Cop

KIM KITSURAGI - "Well, I can't say it doesn't *fit* you..."

"Still, you might try *branching out* a little. You know the expression 'The clothes make the man'? The right outfit, in the right situation, can make all the difference in the world."

"Okay." (Nod.) "You're a sharp dressed man. We could be style buddies."

"I'm not taking 'style' tips from someone who dresses like a mega-binoclard."

"I'm not taking 'style' tips from someone who dresses like a washed-up TipTop racer."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, detective..."

+1 Reputation

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] - A warm smile.

KIM KITSURAGI - "Anyway, we should probably get back to the case. Let's go."

Hold on, we had something else to talk to you about.

KIM KITSURAGI - "Yes?"

2. "I have big news, Kim." (Tell Kim about how you no longer obsess over your sexuality.)

KIM KITSURAGI - "Okay."

"I have managed to stop obsessing about my sexuality."

"Nothing. Actually, as I'm saying this, I realize I would not be telling the truth."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Great. Imagine all the time you'll have for work now -- matter of fact, we should get back to it right now."

+5 XP

"Yes."

Nod.

KIM KITSURAGI - "Mhm."

"Just one thing though..."

Get back to it. [Leave]

KIM KITSURAGI - "What?"

"Are *you* part of the homo-sexual underground?"

"Nothing, let's go." [Leave.]

KIM KITSURAGI - "You didn't stop at all, did you? You're just obsessing about *other people's* sexuality now."

REACTION SPEED [Medium: Success] - Uhm... uh...

"Yeah, but…"

"You're right, yes. Let's go." [Leave]

KIM KITSURAGI - "... but am I? I'll spare you another *20 hour mind-project* -- yes, I am. Now let's get back to work."

DRAMA [Medium: Success] - That's the truth.

The *only* benefit of Homo-Sexual Underground is the ability to have that conversation, so I'll be replacing it with The Precarious World now. Just have to remember to pause it any time we attempt a Red check.

So, back to work... if by work we mean more stories.

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Tequila Sunset." He nods in appreciation.

5. "Have you got any more urban myths?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "I actually do have one... the strangest of them all. But I'll need to *fortify* myself before I can tell that one..."

"Do you have anything to fortify ol' Doom Spiral? Tell me you got some story juice."

"I've got some sweet *Commodore Red*." (Give it.)

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Classy." He snatches the bottle and pushes the cork in through the bottleneck.

"This last one is the most Martinaise story I've ever heard…" He takes an almost comically long swig. Thus fortified, he continues.

"I've never heard it mentioned outside of here... At first I thought it was a joke, to be honest. But I've been on the coast eight, nine months now and in that time I've seen at least three expeditions come through, searching for something."

SHIVERS [Medium: Success] - A shovel hits the sand somewhere behind the reeds, near an abandoned construction yard. The young men look over their shoulders, suspiciously. The sound of their digging seems loud in the sudden silence.

"Cryptids?"

"A place to call home?"

"Your lost keys?"

"Okay, what kind of expeditions?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Magic animals? No man, this is *serious stuff*..."

2. "A place to call home?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "No, Tequila. Most people already know where they live. It's guys like you and me that are the exceptions..."

3. "Your lost keys?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Hey, HEY. Fuck you, Tequila," he says, his voice level.

4. "Okay, what kind of expeditions?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "All kinds. I've seen archaeologists, gangsters, even a bunch of ad agency types. I'm telling you, Tequila -- this thing's got a *pull* on certain kinds of people."

"Wait, what do you mean 'certain kinds of people'?"

"What exactly are we talking about here?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "You know, *obsessive* types. People with *predilections*..."

"What exactly are we talking about here?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Some of those expeditions come back after a week or so, looking haggard and dejected. Others don't return at all..."

"The first time I saw one of these expeditions, I thought they were fucking with me. There was no way it could be true. It was just *too high-concept*, even for me..."

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Medium: Success] - Wait... There's no way... It can't be... or *can* it?

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "I'm not even sure I should be telling you this story, to be perfectly honest. You're in a fragile state, and it might be too much for you to handle."

"I can handle it."

"You're right, maybe it's not a good idea."

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Okay, fine, I'll tell you. But I'm warning you, it's pretty *out there*." His eyes narrow with mystery. "Our story begins at a legendary design studio, right here in Martinaise..."

"There was this designer, his exact name is lost to history, but in life he was a legend. Made it big in Oranje, where he did some real pioneering work on grotesque and sans-serif typography. A fucking genius, man..."

He takes a swig, wipes his mouth, then continues. "That is, if he even existed. Who knows? It's an urban legend, after all..."

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - He existed alright. You feel it deep within your basal ganglia. He was as real as you are...

What the fuck are you talking about?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - I'm talking about...

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Anyway, sometime later he started his own personal studio here in Martinaise, and that's when he started working on some *really* wild stuff. I'm talking some glass-smooth, forward looking design language, the kind of thing that would totally overthrow the old regime, design-wise."

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] - A paradigm-shattering revolutionary!?

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "But then, something turned. You see, it's widely known that *nose candy* and pioneer graphic design work go hand-in-hand..."

"Wait -- nose candy?"

"So what happened to him?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "You know, Tequila." He taps the side of his nose twice. "*Nose* candy. The white railroad. *Party powder*!"

KIM KITSURAGI - "The kids on the street also call it 'snow day'..."

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] - Or 'Irmalan Gold,' for the plateau on which most of the world's supply is grown and harvested, typically by slave labour...

Level up!

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "'Sinus salt,' 'the white knight'...."

KIM KITSURAGI - "'Count C,' for its popularity among the aristocratic class of the prior century..."

ENCYCLOPEDIA - Along with a number of more banal street names: Blow, of course, but also flake, powder, pearl. Really anything that's white will work.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - HE'S TALKING ABOUT COCAINE.

"*Ohhh*, you mean *cocaine*."

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Shit yeah, Tequila! You know *exactly* what I'm talking about." He gives you a comradely bump on the shoulder as a couple millilitres of booze slosh out of his bottle.

"So what happened to him?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "You've got to understand... the work *this* guy was doing was *so* high-concept that regular amounts of cocaine just weren't cutting it. By the end they were bringing it in by the lorry load."

"Now, as you might imagine, snorting that much cocaine can't be healthy for a regular human, right?"

ENDURANCE [Easy: Success] - Right.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - WRONG! Do it all the time.

Uhh... all the time?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - All day, baby...

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Hey, Tequila, pay attention! The story goes that one day he was balls-deep in work on what he thought would be his *pièce de résistance*: An advert so *minimal* it contained neither text nor images. Just... pure white..."

"Apparently the idea was too high-concept even for this genius. He dropped dead right at his desk before he could finish. His last words are recorded to have been: "It's as white as a blizzard… of cocaine!"

"What a loss for the world of design."

"What a stupid fucking idea."

(Say nothing.)

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "I know, Tequila, I know..." He takes a swig, considers pouring some out for this lost genius, then thinks better of it.

"But the story doesn't end there. Supposedly, when they performed the autopsy, the coroner discovered nearly a *quarter kilo of coke* jammed into his nasal cavity."

LOGIC [Medium: Success] - That's... almost certainly anatomically impossible.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - WRONG AGAIN, NERD. Where there's a will, there's a way.

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "That's right. Two-hundred fifty grams of blow had *accumulated* in there over the years. We're talking high-grade Saramirizian pure, not that cut-rate shit your grandma does."

"There are those who believe that the designer was buried with this quarter-key of nose candy still lodged in his sinuses. *That's* what those expeditions are looking for..."

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - THE COCAINE SKULL.

"The Cocaine... Skull..."

"A skull filled with cocaine?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "*The Cocaine Skull*!"

"Wow."

"And why do people think the skull is here, in Martinaise?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "No," he corrects you: "WOW!!"

"And why do people think the skull is here, in Martinaise?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Here's the kicker -- this designer, this *lead designer* of a world famous design studio -- was *born* in Martinaise. A local boy. Martin Martinaise."

"That's why he brought his studio here -- back to where it all began. And that's why they buried him here too -- perhaps right under Abs' pipe there…" he points to the pipe.

"Or probably further down the coast? Or in some yard in Martinaise proper. A hidden mausoleum? No one knows exactly."

ROSEMARY - "No, my grandma' always told me his grave lays somewhere on the islets on the bay..."

KIM KITSURAGI - "This is ludicrous." The lieutenant turns to you. "And physically impossible. Sinuses can't contain that amount of anything."

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] - Now, now detective... always the sceptic.

INTERFACING [Medium: Success] - My only question is -- where does one get a *shovel*?

"What do these expeditions plan to do with it?"

"Rosemary, you said something about islets?"

"What have you learned from the other expeditions?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "The archaeologists say they want to put it in a museum. The gangsters say they want to sell it on the black market. And the ad agency guys say they're seeking inspiration..."

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - Bullshit. They just want to snort it. But you could beat them to it, Harry. *You* could snort the magic skull cocaine instead...

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "I'm pretty sure they all just want to snort it, though."

ROSEMARY - "And why wouldn't they, ey? Sounds like right strong stuff."

2. "Rosemary, you said something about islets?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Don't listen to him or his grandma. He's just making things up."

ROSEMARY - "No, my grandma told me -- I've heard other people say it too. That it's underwater. Or, no..." He thinks. "Maybe it was the storm sewers..."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Or maybe it's in the *air*? Or in an ancient steppe pyramid off shore?"

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] - In a pyramid? Now that *would* be something...

3. "What have you learned from the other expeditions?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "They're pretty vague about it, in general. The gangsters like to claim they're looking for the grave of a friend... with picks and shovels..."

"The archaeologists act all official about it, saying they're conducting 'serious research'. Honestly, I think they're not really scientists, just rich."

"The junkies, for some reason, are pretty upfront about it. They just say they're looking to snort some blow out of a dead man's nasal cavity."

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - Honest men on an honest quest. You should join them.

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "By now I'd say I know about as much about it as anyone on the coast."

4. "Okay, I'm convinced. Let's go find it!" (Undertake it!) 5. "Surprisingly, I'm not interested in looking for the skull."

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on just a minute. Finding it right now is literally impossible."

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - WHAT?

"Why?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "For one, the way is blocked... by that big lorry that says 'Delta Logistics Company' on the side. You'd *definitely* have to search the area behind that lorry too. Yet it is impassable."

"And second, outfitting an expedition like that is expensive. It'd have to be a *big production* to do the Cocaine Skull justice. You need new gear, people who know what they're doing, all kinds of provisions..."

"It's just not feasible within the economic and temporal frame of our current setup. Matter of fact, unless a bunch of money just falls out of the sky, we might *never* know what's up with that skull."

+5 XP

KIM KITSURAGI - "I have to agree. We barely have what we need to solve the case we've got now. We can't afford to run around chasing after quasi-mythical pieces of drug paraphernalia..."

"Besides, it would look *extremely* bad for the RCM to be caught up in something that has the word *COCAINE* writ large on it. The PR is tricky on this."

"Damn, that's too bad."

"Who cares? It was an idiotic idea anyway."

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - Wait! Maybe there's another way... maybe up around the coast? Don't give up now!

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Yeah, well, that's the reality situation for you. Who knows, though? Maybe someday we'll get our chance..."

+5 XP

6. "Are there any more stories you can tell?"

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Not that I can think of, currently."

"I guess that makes sense. You have been drinking *a lot*."

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "That might be the case, yes."

That's the end of Doom Spiral's tales. We have *one* more thing to do in the village...

LILIENNE, THE NET PICKER - "Aye, the sea's gonna calm down soon. I can feel it. The wind is turning southeast." She nods. "What's on your mind, officer?"

4. [Suggestion - Heroic 15] She needs to go on a date with *another* drunk. Badly.

-1 Kim's presence makes it awkward. +2 Dresscode: Man of charms

SUGGESTION [Heroic: Failure] - Get the drink ON. It would be unimaginable for a human female to have sex with a man without Al-Gul as the master of ceremonies to guide them.

"I like you -- but I'm afraid to be around you, because you're a woman."

"I wanna be close to you and there's but one way to intimacy..."

"Since the dawn of mankind, Al-Gul has watched over the re-procreation of our species. Lay with me. Let's celebrate the Gul."

"Alcohol makes closeness possible. Let's *connect*."

LILIENNE, THE NET PICKER - "Alcohol? Connect? I'm not sure I'm following you." There's confusion in her eyes.

"Get hammered with me. On a date. Drunk-date. It will be nice, I promise."

LILIENNE, THE NET PICKER - She bursts out laughing. "That's a good impression. You really crack me up, officer. Now how can I help you?"

SUGGESTION - She doesn't even *understand* you asked her out. Perhaps you're too sober to pull it off right now? Try again later.

5. "Be seeing you." [Leave.]

And that's all we can do here.