#all in one desktops on sale

[reviewsdimisco]

All-In-One Desktops: The Ultimate Solution for Small Businesses

In the fast-paced world of small businesses, efficiency and versatility are key. When it comes to selecting the right technology for your office, all-in-one desktops emerge as the ultimate solution. Combining power, space-saving design, and functionality, these compact workstations offer a myriad of benefits for small business owners.

Streamlined Design: Say goodbye to cluttered workspaces. All-in-one desktops integrate the computer's components into the monitor, eliminating the need for separate towers and reducing cable clutter. This sleek design not only saves valuable desk space but also creates a more organized and professional environment.

Powerful Performance: Despite their compact size, all-in-one desktops pack a punch in terms of performance. Equipped with powerful processors, ample RAM, and high-speed storage options, these machines are more than capable of handling demanding business applications, multitasking, and multimedia tasks without compromising on speed or efficiency.

Easy Setup and Maintenance: Simplify your IT infrastructure with all-in-one desktops. Setting up these machines is a breeze, requiring minimal assembly and cable management. Moreover, maintenance becomes hassle-free, with fewer components to manage and replace compared to traditional desktop setups. This translates to reduced downtime and lower IT support costs for your small business.

Versatile Connectivity: All-in-one desktops offer a range of connectivity options to suit the needs of modern small businesses. From USB ports and HDMI outputs to built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities, these machines ensure seamless integration with peripherals, networking devices, and other technology essentials.

Enhanced Collaboration: Facilitate collaboration among your team members with all-in-one desktops. Many models come equipped with integrated webcams, speakers, and microphones, making them ideal for video conferencing, virtual meetings, and presentations. With crystal-clear audio and high-definition video capabilities, you can communicate effectively with clients, partners, and remote employees.

Space-Saving Solutions: In small office environments where space is at a premium, every square inch counts. All-in-one desktops offer a compact footprint, making them perfect for crowded desks or limited work areas. Whether you're setting up a home office or outfitting a small storefront, these space-saving solutions provide the computing power you need without sacrificing valuable real estate.

Stylish Aesthetics: Beyond their practical benefits, all-in-one desktops add a touch of sophistication to any workspace. With sleek, modern designs and slim profiles, these machines exude professionalism and elegance. Elevate the look of your office while enjoying the functionality and performance of a premium computing device.

In conclusion, all-in-one desktops represent the ultimate solution for small businesses seeking efficiency, performance, and versatility in their computing technology. With their streamlined design, powerful performance, and array of features, these compact workstations empower you to work smarter, collaborate seamlessly, and grow your business with confidence. Upgrade your office setup today and experience the difference firsthand.

more..

[leadvalets]

What Is A Desktop Computer?

To get the most out of your custom built computer, you will first have to identify the key components that you absolutely need. In this article, we’ll present you with a guide to choosing a custom built desktop computer. While you can upgrade a laptop, upgrading a desktop is a little easier As you can see, finding high quality wallpapers for your desktop computer doesn’t have to be a hassle.…

[hexitca]

my Chromebook restarted unexpectantly and the other day, the screen turned black for like 5 secs...

[knightyoomyoui]

[SMUT] TWICE Tzuyu x Male Reader - "First Time"

Here's a Tzuyu smut for 2024, which is the first and one of my two remaining smut fics left before I offically end my TWICE smut anthology series. I guess I can't give that much hint already for what's gonna be the final one, since I feel that you guys know already if I say that it would be my toughest challenge so far on both writing one-shot fanfic and a smut genre respectively. Just noticed that simply my main agenda right now after returning for my hiatus is to finish everything I've left behind that are this close from being complete, and it all starts here. Enjoy reading, you horndogs lol. WARNING: mature content, contains smut, +18 WORD COUNT: 5800+ TAGS: friends with benefits, vanilla sex, masturbation, oral sex, thigh fuck, blowjob, pussy licking, ass eating, fluff, doggystyle, anal, body worship

Here's my Ko-fi account where you can drop your donations or ask for a commission. You can check it out on my Tumblr profile too!  Buy knightyoomyoui a Coffee. ko-fi.com/knightyoomyoui - Ko-fi ❤️ Where creators get support from fans through donations, memberships, shop sales and more! The original 'Buy Me a Coffee' Page.

You are heavily concentrated on the project that you are currently working on your desktop. It was already 11PM and you haven't had any dinner yet since you're the type of person who wants to finish a work when so invested in just one sitting.

Stretching your back on your swivel chair for a second after you switched to another template in your editing application, you heard your doorbell rang from outside. It surprised you because it's unlikely to have visitors at this rate of time.

Eyeing the heavy long metal beside your door, you carefully made your walk through the door and braced yourself to open it. Gripping the doorknob tight, you slowly turn it. Before you were about to swung it open, a familiar voice spoke from the outside, even surprising you more.

"Y-YN a-are you still there?"

She might have probably seen the lights from your windows still open, and essentially confirming if you are still awake inside or not anymore as she knows that you can sleep on either the lights are off or on, and she's aware also of what time is it already for her to do this.

Any threat or risks that you felt was completely swooped away when you heard her voice. Opening the door wide, there you saw your bestfriend Tzuyu standing in front of you.

As she raises her head, your eyes caught a glimpse of her own... and it doesn't share the same good condition. Her looks baggy, reddish, and... watery.

"Tzuyu, what brings you here?" You asked her curiously. "A-and... did you cried?"

Tzuyu nodded and in a swift moment, she slowly comes up to you and hugged you. You were dumbstrucked at her actions and what happened to her that made her be like this, but what matters first is that this poor lady in your arms definitely needs some comfort.

Raising your arm, you gently patted and rubbed her back as you let her pour all her tears on your shoulder. "Just let it out, Tzuyu. I  don't know what is going on, but I'm here for you okay?"

That's the reason why Tzuyu primarily chose to come right at you whenever she needs help. You were just there all the time for her, and it's so rare for people to make an alloted time for their special someone to accompany them whenever they need to.

"Let's go inside, it's already late." You invited her in to the house. She quickly followed and remove her grasp at you as you paved the way for her to enter.

She stepped inside, and you closed the door. "Let's go there." You pointed at the couch next to your workplace.

Tzuyu silently followed your command before she finally spoke as she got to sit comfortably. "Thanks for this, YN." Her voice was shaky and rough.

"What happened, Tzuyu? Is something wrong going on?" You asked her as you poured some hot glass of milk and cookies for her. "I know you always come by for my help but I didn't expect you to be here in the middle of the night."

"I-it's my parents." She wiped her tears off and clasped her hands together, laying them down on her lap. "They're having another huge miscommunication again. It's been like that for almost a week already, and I can't stand it anymore seeing them like that. I had enough, that's why I decided to run away and come seek for a place to stay in... through you."

You understood her purpose of appearing here immediately. "And you're free to stay here whenever you want, I'll do everything for my friend." Tzuyu smiled at that, but almost sincere as she felt slightly different at that statement. "What was your parents arguing about, if I may ask?"

"It's about my dad going out frequently these days looking for some cash to borrow from. I think he's been into loaning for sometime, much less to our knowledge. He got fired from work when the company he was working in decided not to accept everyone who has a health condition due to safety regulations, and he got both detected that he has acute diabetes and is already middle aged." Tzuyu began to explain.

"My mom was a stylist at a salon but her salary wasn't enough now for just us to sustain because we need it now too for my dad's treatment. Then, just now, they got into an argument when my mom learns that my dad was secretly making loan from most people these days without her permission. You know how loan sharks can be dangerous, right? But my dad just defended that he just want to do something for us to still gain money and he doesn't want to stay at home doing nothing for her family."

Tzuyu started to tear up once again, from the mixed emotions she's having from both of her parent's side in their tough situation. You once again assisted her by giving her a clean cloth to wipe her tears away. "Now I get it. I do understand your father's point though. It's hard for a parent to just find their selves doing nothing when they know the hard time their family must've been going through.

It's their responsibility to take care and provide their daily needs, and not doing that so will ick them uncomfortably. Even if doing loans was also quite not a good idea, atleast you can see how your father loves you and your mom. Your mom was just angry at your fad because she doesn't want him to get in danger once he couldn't be able to pay all his dues in no time."

Tzuyu nodded at you, pinpointing all the comments you have to say regarding her concern, as it makes sense anyway. "I was starting to consider to help them by looking for some job to do to earn money for them, but I'm not that decided yet plus... I don't really feel it yet to engage at work while I'm still studying you know."

"Ahh, the fear that you might be unable to do both of them simulteanously, huh. You don't want to fail your grades, isn't it?"

"Yeah." You were right. You know Tzuyu to be actually a smart girl based from the earlier times when you first met her and your experience of her being your classmate. She has a lot of potential, but what you like about her is that she's careful on using those and avoid the possibility of wasting it on the wrong time.

"You know what, save it for tomorrow. You should go to rest, you look unsettled at the moment. It's already midnight." You mentioned as you looked once again in her droopy eyes and gloomy demeanor. "We can talk about this again for tomorrow."

"T-thank you again, YN." You nodded for her gratitude. "Stay here, okay? You want to watch TV?" She agreed. You opened it for her. "Entertain yourself there with your milk and cookies, I'll be just finish my task here."

She obliged, and she lets you do your thing there on the desktop. Minutes have passed, and with all those glances Tzuyu has been giving on your busy self, she began to get curious at what actually you are doing.

She stood from her seat and approaches you. Peeking at the monitor of your computer, you were shocked when she ducked next to your side, her pretty face almost inches away from you.

Your fingers nervously types from the keyboard and moves the mouse as you just let her observe what you are doing. "What's for the edit?"

"Commission." You simply answered. "Client requested to create a presentation for her upcoming thesis research. She has no other time left because she spent too much researching and revising her topic. Good thing she already has parts prepared for me to input for each slides."

Tzuyu hummed. She continues to watch you do your work while also admiring the fact that you are doing a sideline also apart from your current education. "So you are part-timing too?"

"Freelancing to be exact. I'm the one who looks for clients and offer service. Mostly editing, as you can see."

You started to sense the purpose pf her inquiry. "You know Tzuyu, my only advice about what you're planning is that you are doing right. Don't rush about it. If you don't feel the passion of it then don't head straight. It's hard to do something that you didn't even feel doing in the first place."

Tzuyu keeps that in mind. "Can I put up some suggestions?"

"Sure do. Would love to hear it from you."

She then began to point out some more details she can imagine in her head and you judged it with her by trying it on your work. It almost took half an hour before you finally finish it, saving you some more time of impring your butt too much on the chair for sitting too long and tiring yourself up.

Fortunately, Tzuyu helped you to wrap up early. "Oh wow, I didn't know you were so good at designing. Tzuyu, I swear I see some potential in you."

Tzuyu blushed and became embarassed. "Damn it, YN. Stop fluttering me." You chuckled and awwed at her cuteness. "But thank you."

"You should consider freelancing too, maybe you can attract a client that pays a lot but I hope you can endure the huge assignment."

"I'll take note of it." She nodded. You noticed that she already emptied her milk and cookies. "Cmon, let's get you to your room for tonight."

Tzuyu followed you and both ended up in a bedroom that is cozy and suitable enough for a single person to be used. "You can sleep on the bed, I'll be here on my extra cushion here."

She gasped and became shy at your gentleman act. "B-but, YN... this is y-your room. I'm fine-"

"No buts, no ifs. You are a woman who should be treated with respect. Now please, you can take mine for the night."

You were about to set up the cushion on the floor but Tzuyu tugged your arm. "Yes?"

"C-can you just stay with me on the bed?"

You became speechless at her request. The fact that you are about to sleep with Tzuyu close to you has effectively boosted the blood cursing through your body, creating goosebumps on your skin. You became red and flustered about it.

"W-what? Why?"

"I- I can't sleep without hugging something." Tzuyu pouted.

"I have an extra pillow though."

"I need something big that fits me to cuddle." Her voice became even more softer. You sweared that your heart is about to melt. "I have a life-sized bear that my mom bought for me since I was a kid on my home but I don't want to go back there for now. So... c-can you be my cuddle bear for now, if you might?"

You sighed heavily at how Tzuyu looks so pure and beautiful pleading at you with her puppy eyes and that mellow visuals. This is what's pulling you back: it's your freaking crush and the idea of sleeping with her on the same space, same bed is what's unraveling your lack of composure.

But you don't want your friend to be sad and disappointed because of your stubborness. "Alright, fine. You can hug me in your sleep."

"Yay! Thank you, YN!"

Both of you laid down on the bed you turned around with Tzuyu facing your back, as you can't endure much longer seeing her face too long, although it would be a delight to have such this wonderful sight before you sleep and to wake up in the morning.

She wraps her arms at your waist and hugged you tightly. You blushed when you felt her soft breasts squished on your upper back, sending your heart to race. She buries her face at the crook of your neck before sending a chilling whisper close to your ear.

"Goodnight, YN."

"G-goodnight, Tzu..." You breathily replied before you and her doze off to slumber.

The next morning, Tzuyu woke up first than you. Her eyes slowly opened, regaining her sight, and the first thing she saw was your side-profile. You were now laying flat on your back beside her.

She indulges the pleasant view of your peaceful state, smiling on her own happiness to have such an amazing friend and an irresistable crush like you. Although her frown began to shape from her lips when she remembered the reality that she is still uncertain if you do feel the same for her.

Intaking this moment of you and her in one bed, nothing around but a room filled of silence and being struck by the bright sunlight of the morning. She looked at your bodies laying together until her eyebrows furrow when she spotted something strange under you.

Tzuyu saw a hump-shaped formed onto the blanket that is covering your lower blanket. She was curious to see what it is as she noticed how it almost seemed like it's moving.

Taking off the blanket around you, it had her thinking twice if what she just did is not right at all.

But that doesn't mean she didn't like it at all.

Tzuyu was staring at the source of that hump, and that is coming from your short that is having a tent marked on your crotch.

Unlike from the blanket, what she's looking at was even more obvious at what shape it is. It was long, large and diagonally laying down, measuring it as it reaches down to the upper part of your thigh.

Tzuyu was blushing hard as she realized that she just witnessed you having the most common thing for boys: a morningwood. You have no idea at all that you have a woman beside you who is clearly seeing how hard you can get with whatever reason it may be.

She became so curious, almost deciding if she'll take a touch of it to found out what it feels. Her hands raised up and fidgeting to go forward onto your crotch.

That is, until she got interrupted when she shrieked a little as she saw you moved, and your new position got her swallowing her threat and nervousness crawling inside.

You are now laying sideways, with your front figure now facing her. Tzuyu can feel your morningwood pressing against her bare thighs, and she swear that it's driving her hormones crazy when her skin can feel the warmth of your covered erected cock laying down on her touch.

"He feels so big, oh my goodness." Tzuyu whispered. She even teased it by gently bouncing your cock on her thigh by moving it up and down slowly. Her thighs start to rub with each other as she is beginning to become horny.

"N-no... control yourself, Tzu. You don't want to end up harassing your friend while sleeping. This isn't right." Tzuyu quickly shook her head before carefully removing herself away from your side, standing up from the bed.

As she is now on her feet, she glanced downwards and noticed a wet spot on her shorts. She was shocked to see that she got easily wet thinking about your elongated cock earlier. It had her panicked and rushed quickly at the bathroom to aid this.

Minutes later, you woke up after still in your morning wood, not having any clue that Tzuyu seen that beast earlier. You tried to fixed it by repositioning it on your boxers and hid it under the hem of your shirt.

You exit the bedroom and saw Tzuyu preparing your breakfast on the table. "Wow, Tzuyu I wasn't expecting that you'll be the one to cook." You chuckled as you saw the mouthwatering scrambled eggs and fried rice with the plates.

"Well, I don't want to do nothing while staying here you know. I want to remain productive too." Tzuyu smiled. Her eyes glided down to your shorts and remembering what she just saw almost distracted the stability of her mind. "G-good morn-ning, YN.", she awkwardly greeted you.

"Good morning too, Tzu. Let's eat?"

The two of you began to eat and start some random topics to talk during your breakfast. After both were finished, you volunteered to do some dishes while Tzuyu asks permission to take a shower in which you granted and willingly let her borrow your spare clothes for the meantime.

While you on your way back to the kitchen to grab a new clean rug from your storage area, you heard something that catched your attention from the bathroom door. Your hearing is very sharp and sensitive that's why you can immediately catch on the sounds around you.

And this one is a bit surprising and... enticing. You pressed your ear closer at the door and there you heard loud and clear the sound of someone moaning inside. It definitely is coming from Tzuyu and judging from the noise she's creating, you probably guessed that she must be doing something to satisfy her needs: and you cannot believe it that you have your girl bestfriend masturbating in the bathroom of your own freaking house.

You quickly rushed away out of the door when you noticed that the noise stopped. As you returned to the kitchen, you gently massaged your cock getting hard from that sultry noise.

Is s-she... Fuck, I'm getting turned on with my friend masturbating. Goddamn, control it YN. You don't want her to caught you acting lewd." You hissed yourself before continuing with your dishes.

Tzuyu emerged from the bathroom, just as time you finished washing dishes. You sheepishly avoided her by quickly grabbing your towel and take your turn next at the bathroom to shower.

 As you stepped inside after closing the door to see Tzuyu sitting on the couch and looking at her phone, you looked around your bathroom and had you imagined Tzuyu doing her own business earlier in this exact spot.

It made you rush quickly on taking a bath while fighting with the urge to masturbate by squeezing and massaging your cock and balls with soap, basically edging yourself away from doing so.

It was then you finished, you realized that you forgot to bring your clothes with you at your rush. "I have to be quick."

You opened the door and was about to dash outside when it shocked you that Tzuyu was walking at the same direction as you, emerging out from the kitchen, resulting in her to collide at your naked body. Her feet accidentally pulled your towel after she slumped backwards to control her balance, causing your towel to unveil your lower part.

Both became speechless and flustered as you realized that your largened cock has now exposed to Tzuyu's innocent eyes. You tried to cover it with your hands despite it's massive size. "O-OH SHIT,  TZUYU DON'T LOOK!"

You exclaimed to her but instead she remained staring, gawking at it's size. "Oh my god please turn around, i'll take back my towel. I'm so s-"

"You don't have to, I've seen it already."

"Huh?"

Your face crumpled in confusion at what Tzuyu said. "I-I've seen your thing a while ago after I woke up and I noticed that it's... h-hard. It's bulging on your boxers that I was concerned it might break it by itself."

"And I-I felt bad about it, I- I almost want to help it..." Tzuyu slowly steps forwards, removes your hands from blocking it and returns her sight at your cock now pointing at her, she inspects how it throbs everytime her eyes stare longer at it. "T-Tzuyu wait..."

"Does it give you difficulty right now, YN? I-I'm willing to help you, if you d-don't mind." Tzuyu looked at you with her mischievous soft demeanor. You gasped at her offer.

"But Tzuyu, are you sure about that? This is so embarassing but..."

"Hmm?"

"I don't have a problem w-with it, it's just that... oh God I can't form my words coming out of my mouth well!"

"Don't stress yourself, you said it already." Tzuyu shushed you as she patted your chest. She leaned at your face and landed a surprise kiss on you, making your eyes widen and jaw drop more at her action. "For now, just let me repay you in return for helping me by doing t-the same for you~"

She slowly lowered herself down to her knees, now kneeling in front of you. Her eyes and now leveled equally with your cock facing at her. She bit her lips and viewed at it with mesmerizing gazes. "I've only seeing these from the internet, and I was so right that to see this in personal is a much better deal to admire. I might get addicted with this."

Her hands surrounded the thickness of your cock. She slowly pulls it and bends it upwards, tightening her grip before she starts pumping it in a dangerously slow pace. She heard your deep sigh and looked upwards to see your face floating in cloud nine.

"Does it feel good, YN?"

"Y-yeah, it does. God, it's so much better than using my own hand."

Tzuyu smiled at that compliment. She started to stroke you even more, her fist kept that grip before her other available hand started to come to play too, targeting your testicles.

Your hanging huge balls got fondled with care. "It feels so full and heavy, YN." She pointed out. "Are you even doing it?"

"Y-yeah..." you said as you started to hold her hair and rub it gently.

"How often?"

"J-just... two times in a week, sometimes months." Your breath became raggy as she began increasing the speed of her fists jacking off your thick meat. "Oh god, Tzu..."

"Are you ready, YN?"

"For what?"

She didn't had to reply verbally, but instead gave you the answer orally by circling your mushroom head leaking pre-cum already with her tongue.

"S-shit! I'm sensitive t-there, oh!" You gasped loud as Tzuyu continues to do foreplay on your helpless cock, licking the entire length and juggling each of your balls with her puckered mouth.

After feeling satisfied, she now puts your entire meat inside her mouth and starts bobbing her head off. She fucked herself with an increasing force until her nose is now touching your groin.

Tzuyu pointed at her head and hair to signal you something in which you understood right away. You gripped it and started doing the favor on your own by fucking her mouth with your own choosing of speed.

Your desire on having such lustful act with Tzuyu is making you overwhelm, urging you to participate further in this with her. With the tightening of your groin, you mercilessly pounded her face to race through the end.

"I'm cumming, Tzuyu. Where do you want me in?"

Tzuyu just pointed at her throat. Few pumps and that's all it took for you to blast off your warm seed, filling up her mouth with your load that was saved up for months of your inactivity to ejaculate.

She slowly lets go of your cock with a loud pop before cleaning her lips with the remaining traces of cum left. "We can do it right here, but my pussy is unavailable for now. I-I don't want to get pregnant y-yet..."

"It's fine, Tzuyu. I respect that." You got her point. She must be fearing that she might cause additional stress for her parents in the middle of their financial crisis just to assist her on supporting her pregnancy and the child's needs once she gave birth to it.

You took a mental note that now you're having sex with her, a necessary caution would be required first to perform to ensure the safety.

"But that doesn't mean we can't pleasure ourselves anymore without that. You can still use my body... wear condoms, but only for this another hole I got behind me." She said as she stood up and turned her back on you, making her posture upright as she presents you her ass and rubbing it on your cock.

You had enough of her teasing, you lifted her shirt up and pulled her through her torso. Your hands climbed up to her bra-covered boobs. They are average sized at it's finest, perfect enough to fit in your palm.

You unclasped her bra and removed it around her, now playing on her naked tits while you devoured her neck with supple kisses. She purred and yelped at the sensation she's getting from you pleasing her.

Your fingers pinched and twirling her nipples before you turned her around and made her kiss you. You carried her body and brought her on the couch while she is wrapped around you.

You sat on the couch with her on your lap. Letting go of her lips, you then head on to her breasts by give the attention it deserves, sucking and licking the light-brown delectable areolas and nipples that she have while massaging each it to intensify the pleasure.

Tzuyu was just moaning at your active mouth running around her sensitive area. Your hands then moved around her ass as you kneaded her cheeks from her short before you hooked on the waistband and removed it from her legs.

Her now exposed underwear is the only garment she has left. She crawled on the bed and went all fours. You switched behind her and kneeled, facing her alluring ass as you removed her underwear and took a sniff on it.

Her asshole and the outline of her restricted pussy is now visible to your hungry eyes. Without no more hesitation, you rubbed yourself around her cheeks, making her gasp at the air that you blew from your nose and mouth having in contact with her private areas, tickling her into goosebumps.

You start licking her pussy, wiggling her outer walls before you spreaded it with your fingers then inserted it inside, making Tzuyu scream in surprise. Your mouth then worked next on her hole and sucked on each of her cheeks to grab a taste of her cake.

"Mmmhhmmphhh yeah you're so good at this, YN oh fuck~" she said while grinding her ass across your face and feel your fingers pumping back and forth in her pussy. She started to shiver when you quickened your movement, leaving her in a screaming, groaning mess.

"Ughhh yes fuck fuck fuck YN i'm so close, keep that fingers deep within me~" Tzuyu purred as she gripped tight at the back of the couch, enduring the huge pleasure being provided to her by her dear bestfriend.

"I'm cumming, i'm cumming on your face YN!" Tzuyu yelled before she squirted her love nectar straight to your awaiting face and mouth, tasting and slurping her juices as you slowly rode her orgasm out with slow fingering.

You didn't let Tzuyu to recover some more time as you stood up and jerked your cock at the gaps of her ass. "Are you ready, Tzu?"

"Yes, please. I can take it. I want it to be you, YN. You're the only one I trust."

"I'm glad so, Tzuyu. Tell me if I need to stop okay?"

She nodded. You directed your tip to her entrance and slowly entered. You heard Tzuyu groaned as each inch are now pressing her hole.

"A-ah wait, YN let me adjust." Tzuyu hissed and fixed her position in all fours. "Alright, continue."

You gently pushed deeper and now your cock is inside her ass. You started to move, and you gasped at how tight her ass feels around you, feeling the way she clench when your crotch bumps at her ass.

Sensing that this makes it even feel much better fucking her, you started clapping her ass as you feel like it. Tzuyu just continues to blabber random words of praises and constant moans while your speed changes from rough to vanilla.

Her sultry, sexy voice has reduced to a hum when she felt another splash of wamrth inside of her, but this time in her hole as you shoot another load of cum on her ass with regards to safety of commiting sex with her.

As you pulled out, you saw some few overflow out of her asshole. You gritted your teeth in guilt. "I-i'm sorry, I think I may have done it too much."

Tzuyu giggled and sighed at your considerate behavior. "Don't feel too bad about it, YN. It just means that you really gave it all... which is what I really want from you." She winked.

You blushed before standing back up. "I'm gonna go grab some tissue." You said as you left her for a while before going back to wipe the remaining cum on her ass to keep the couch left unstained with the smell of sex.

"Want to go for one more round?" She challenged you with a smirk as she sat properly beside you, crossing her legs.

"I'm in. What do you want next?"

"Hmm, I think it's time for you to decide for this one. I'm already satisfied with my own cravings, now it's your turn." Tzuyu said, posing herself like she's in deep thoughts. "May I ask you one? What part of my body do you actually admire?"

You traced her naked body but there's this one specific part that drives you crazy whenever you get hynoptized at it's perfect shape and thickness. "If i'm going to be honest, your best gift that was sculpted by the gods for you is your heavenly thighs, Tzu." You swayed your head while whistling at how magnificent it looks.

"Tell me more about it." She flirtatiously whispered at you while playing with your hair.

"I love your ass, those cute tits and that talented mouth too, but your thighs are just too immaculate. Too unmatchable. It's so jiggly..." You started to ran your hands around her well-built thighs. "So smooth, so thick... I would be really honored to be suffocated in these damn pillows."

"Now you gave me an idea to show me what more of these can do." Tzuyu winked. She reaches for your semi-limp cock, awakening it back to it's full size by flicking her fingers around the bulbous head. Her legs shifted above your lap, with your cock sandwiched between those voluptuous thighs to die for.

"And you are very lucky to experience such a rare service coming from such Thighwanese beauty." She smirks before she squishes your hardened cock and strokes its skin with her thighs by lifting both her legs up and down.

"Ugh... mmmphh oh~" You moaned at the relaxing feeling of her thick thighs pumping off your shaft, eager to empty your remaining load you got. Tzuyu was enjoying the sight of yourself trapped and savoring the sensation of her strongest exual appeal.

"How does it feel having my thighs wrapped around your big cock, YN?"

"It's amazing..." You shut your eyes and gasped heavily at the feeling. "Shit, I can't hold much longer if you're doing like this to me Tzu!"

"Cum. Cum for me, YN. Let it out."

You assisted her legs on stroking you by holding her ankles while you buckle your hips, banging her juicy thighs smeared with your pre-cum as it ripples from the impact until you shoot another stream of sticky cum all over it including her knees.

Tzuyu lets you rest as she removes her legs from you and scooped all your cum on her fingers before eating it. She also cleaned your softening cock in payback to what you did to her ass a while ago, sucking it off until no drops are left.

She laid her head beside your arm and cuddled at your body. "I'm sorry if this is too sudden, YN. I got carried away that I started to act like this."

"It's fine, Tzu. You just wanted to destress, let's say in such different way." You nodded. "But it doesn't matter, as long as I get to make you happy and satisfied, I'm always open to accompany you."  You smiled at her and caressed her hair. However, it disappointed when you changed from becoming serious.

"And also, I should be thanking you too Tzuyu for this moment. I've only done this for the first time with a woman, and... to be honest I have to dare myself saying this to you that... you are my ideal girl. The one that I admire for months now. The one that my heart only prefers." Your confession was heard in such clear and simple statement by Tzuyu, and she was very strucked and touched listening at your words.

"And what we did means so much to me because I get to do it with the girl that I love, although it saddens me to think if do you even feel the same as mine. I know I could've confessed to you in a much better setting and better time but I just want to express it all right now to clarify that these isn't just driven from lust, but through my sincere admiration for you that is swirling inside my heart. I love you, Tzuyu."

Tzuyu pursed her lower lip and smiled sweetly at your message. She holds your hands and looked dearly at you. "I'm relieved to know that this is both our first-time having sex together. I was a bit nervous and shy at first but I just let my desire and desperate need of your touch control me, and I'm also glad that it has to be you too, YN. I couldn't imagine other deserving man than only you who I can allow take my virginity."

She went forward and turned your face at her to perform another passionate kiss. "Because I love you too, YN and I will cherish this moment that we did."

"Through that, I must take responsibility for this too. Now shall I ask you something then?" You said.

"Go on." She chuckled.

"Will you be my girlfriend, Tzuyu?"

She grinned brightly at your initiation. "I would be very willing to."

After your heated session with Tzuyu, both of you went to wash yourselves again while doing another quickie session after can't stop getting enough yet with your insatiable bodies.

Now back on getting dressed up, you and Tzuyu proceeded to discuss about her family problem story where you have finally lended some advices for her that might be helpful about their current situation.

More than a week later, you helped her to return back on their home after saving enough courage to confront her parents. When they saw her made her heading back to their home, the married Chou couple welcomed their daughter as they have now settled into peace.

Tzuyu and you then decided to maintain their relationship secret for the meantime as they start to date and explore their affection for each other further. You are also planning to accompany her on looking for a part-time job after she decided that she really needs it, as she prepares herself to balance it with her studies. Not forgetting this kind of relationship you established with her, you and Tzuyu would proceed to fulfill more of your fantasies together mostly taken place at your home like pleasuring yourselves in other various positions that involves rimming, entertaining yourself when one of you is bored by feasting on her pussy, boobs and your cock, or even your most favorite of them all: compressing your face in between her flawless ass and thighs until you end up unconscious.

[autolenaphilia]

The main reason to use Firefox and Linux and other free and open source software is that otherwise the big tech monopolies will fuck you as the customer over in search of profits. They will seek to control how you use their products and sell your data. When a company dominates the market, things can only get worse for ordinary people.

Like take Google Chrome for example, which together with its chromium reskins dominate the web browser market. Google makes a lot of money from ads, and consequently the company hates adblockers. They already are planning to move to manifest V3, which will nerf adblockers significantly. The manifest V3 compatible chrome version of Ublock Orgin is a "Lite" version for a reason. Ublock's Github page has an entire page explaining why the addon works best in Firefox.

And Google as we speak are trying to block adblockers from working on Youtube, If you want to continue blocking Youtube ads, and since Youtube ads make the site unuseable you ought to want that, it makes the most sense to not use a browser controlled by Google.

And there is no reason to think things won't get worse. There is for example nothing stopping Google from kicking adblockers off their add-on stores completely. They do regard it as basically piracy if the youtube pop-ups tell us anything, so updating the Chrome extensions terms of service to ban adblocking is a natural step. And so many people seem to think Chrome is the only browser that exists, so they are not going to switch to alternatives, or if they do, they will switch to another chrominum-based browser.

And again, they are fucking chromium itself for adblockers with Manifest V3, so only Firefox remains as a viable alternative. It's the only alternative to letting Google control the internet.

And Microsoft is the same thing. I posted before about their plans to move Windows increasingly into the cloud. This already exists for corporate customers, as Windows 365. And a version for ordinary users is probably not far off. It might not be the only version of Windows for awhile, the lack of solid internet access for a good part of the Earth's population will prevent it. But you'll probably see cheap very low-spec chromebookesque laptops running Windows for sale soon, that gets around Windows 11's obscene system requirements by their Windows being a cloud-based version.

And more and more of Windows will require Internet access or validation for DRM reasons if nothing else. Subscription fees instead of a one-time license are also likely. It will just be Windows moving in the direction Microsoft Office has already gone.

There is nothing preventing this, because again on the desktop/laptop market Windows is effectively a monopoly, or a duopoly with Apple. So there is no competition preventing Microsoft from exercising control over Windows users in the vein of Apple.

For example, Microsoft making Windows a walled garden by only permitting programs to be installed from the Microsoft Store probably isn't far off. This already exists for Win10 and 11, it's called S-mode. There seem to be more and more laptops being sold with Windows S-mode as the default.

Now it's not the only option, and you can turn it off with some tinkering, but there is really nothing stopping Microsoft from making it the only way of using Windows. And customers will probably accept it, because again the main competition is Apple where the walled garden has been the default for decades.

Customers have already accepted all sorts of bad things from Microsoft, because again Windows is a near-monopoly, and Apple and Google are even worse. That’s why there has been no major negative reaction to how Windows has increasingly spies on its users.

Another thing is how the system requirements for Windows seem to grow almost exponentially with each edition, making still perfectly useable computers unable to run the new edition. And Windows 11 is the worst yet. Like it's hard to get the numbers of how many computers running Win10 can't upgrade to Win11, but it's probably the majority of them, at least 55% or maybe even 75%. This has the effect of Windows users abandoning still perfectly useable hardware and buying new computers, creating more e-waste.

For Windows users, the alternative Windows gives them is to buy a new computer or get another operating system, and inertia pushes them towards buying another computer to keep using Windows. This is good for Windows and the hardware manufacturers selling computers with Windows 11 pre-installed, they get to profit off people buying Windows 11 keys and new computers, while the end-users have to pay, as does the environment. It’s planned obsolescence.

And it doesn’t have to be like that. Linux distros prove that you can have a modern operating system that has far lower hardware requirements. Even the most resource taxing Linux distros, like for example Ubuntu running the Gnome desktop, have far more modest system requirements than modern Windows. And you can always install lightweight Linux Distros that often have very low system requirements. One I have used is Antix. The ballooning Windows system requirements comes across as pure bloat on Microsoft’s part.

Now neither Linux or Firefox are perfect. Free and open source software don’t have a lot of the polish that comes with the proprietary products of major corporations. And being in competition with technology monopolies does have its drawbacks. The lacking website compatibility with Firefox and game compatibility with Linux are two obvious examples.

Yet Firefox and Linux have the capacity to grow, to become better. Being open source helps. Even if Firefox falls, developers can create a fork of it. If a Linux distro is not to your taste, there is usually another one. Whereas Windows and Chrome will only get worse as they will continue to abuse their monopolistic powers over the tech market.

[makethemmilky]

You write novels and novellas? Where can I read/buy them? Apologies if it's mentioned on your desktop page, I exclusively use Tumblr on mobile

Yes indeedy! You can find them for sale on Amazon. If you don't want to buy them outright--and I get it, putting porn on a debit card feels weird--you can also sign up for a free trial of their Kindle Unlimited program and ready pretty much anything (including all of my stuff).

Here is my only full-length novel (so far):

And here is my collection of novellas under the "Crescente Corporation" series:

If you would rather read one of those individually to see if you like the vibe, here they are individual parts:

And finally, here is my most recent novella, which is a standalone lactation/breast expansion only tale:

[thosefuzzywordfeelings]

i hope i'm not too late for the smutty weekend!!!! but i need to know how the boys (Steve, Baron and Gator) would react being caught/walked in on having sex

(also i love your writing)

Never EVER too late baby! I’ll write smut always in all fairness, i’m just a fan of alliteration 💁🏽‍♀️✨

CW; exhibitionism, bar the first one the people catching you have no idea whats happening 🤍, handjob (m receiving), oral (f receiving), car sex, being caught ofc ✨

i’m into getting caught writing this one 😮‍💨

Gator;

The dirt track. Right underneath the willow tree tunnel. Meeting place with Gator when things got tough, boring, late, needy, heated, whatever. He’d pick you up in his SUV and take you there immediately, knowing you’d drop call him specifically twice and he’d be on his way for you.

For it to end up the same every time, windows steaming - keeping them shut in fear of anyone listening. Though as Gator bent you overloaded the middle console from the backseat, the noises falling from your mouth were often loud enough to hear through soundproof glass.

“You needed this, hm?” Gator grunted, pulling your ass back against his hips; fingernails indented into the folds between hips and thighs. You’d nod, moaning out a weak “yes, sir”. This would always make him pick up the pace, rocking the car and forcing you to balance your hands on the front seats just for stability. You’d feel it climbing, the perfect ache forming in your lower tummy and he knew it.

“Can feel you baby, you close?” He’d breathe out, grinding his hips forward. With a quick tug of your hair, he pulled your head up and you immediately gasped.

“Yeah? Right there?” Gator grunted.

“Gator stop - it’s -“

“Not too much baby, you can do it -“ He carried on, too lost in you. But you reached back and pushed him off you, sitting in the furthest corner of the backseat.

“What’s wrong? You were right there -“

He quickly shut up when you pointed towards the windscreen, the low headlights illuminating none other than Roy Tillman, hat and all. He stood relaxed, hands on his hips as he waited for the two of you to realise.

“Shit. Shitshitshitshit.” Gator mumbled, pulling up his camo pants and scrambling out of the backseat door, hoping he could either make it up to his dad or at least save you from a lecture. After what looked to be the most awkward conversation ever, surprisingly Roy looked towards the car, tipping his hat and walking away. Thank god.

Steve;

You couldn’t shake the feeling that you were going to hear the pitchy ding of the door bell, scared that a customer would walk in and see your head thrown back against the counter. Supposedly if they did, they’d have no idea that their video store sales assistant was tongue deep in his girlfriend. On his knees and whining against her clit as his arms wrapped around her thighs.

“What if -“

“Nobody’s coming in, honey.” He’d pull off just to say before diving back in again, somehow hungrier than before. He could stay there forever, blocking out the world and only tuning into the sounds tumbling from your lips. His mouth left you again, hands spinning your hips so your top half faced and collapsed against the Family Video desktop.

“Now you can keep look out while you come.” He growled, shuffling so he had his back against the counter so he could find comfort in your core again. Your hands gripped the edge of the counter as you felt that knot grow again, hips grinding back against his face.

With each ‘mhm’ he muttered against you, you throbbed in response. And just as that crescendo reached its highest peak, you saw her. Robin, jumping out of Vickie’s car and waving her off as she headed right towards the store.

“Steve - Steve - stop, Robin’s here, Robin’s coming - fuck -“ You mumbled nervously, trying to buck away from his mouth but he just chuckled.

“So act naturally then, Miss 4.0 Drama major.” Steve whispered cockily, mouth wrapping around your clit again as you tried to regain composure.

“Oh hey, didn’t expect you to be here so late, ignore me - Keith said he’d called nine times and no answer so I had to get my ass outta bed and come and stock check quickly. Do you know where Steve even is?” Robin rambled as she usually did, not even looking over at you as she headed straight to the first row of tapes and checking them.

You were already on the brink, but as Steve slipped two fingers inside you. “I - I uh, he was in the break - break room when I got here, I’ve just been - waiting -“

You could feel Steve smirking against you as he curled his fingers harder inside you, bringing you right over the edge as you closed your eyes and let it happen. Robin stood up.

“Oh, I’ll check. You okay?” Robin asked kindly, looking at you for a moment as you gritted your teeth and smiled softly. She headed towards the break room and Steve got up with a smug smirk, lips glistening as he giggled and wiped your mess away with the back of his hand. You fixed your skirt, hopping up on the counter and giggling with him. Robin came back out of the break room confused, sighing in relief when she saw Steve.

“Idiot, Keith’s been calling and calling you - why do you bother coming in if you don’t do anything?” Robin sighed as she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed towards the front door again.

“I got caught up.”

Baron;

Needy. Baron’s new middle name. He’d call you throughout the day, mumbling that he was just ‘checking in’ but he wanted to know where you were and how long it would be till he could see you again.

Now here you were, pressed against his chest as his back was against an incredibly wide oak tree on the outskirts of town, civilisation a short bike ride away, but away nonetheless. His head was back against the bark, brown eyes looking up at the sunlight through the trees as he felt like he was ascending.

“Still with me, darling?” You’d say softly as your lips carried on pressing to his neck, one of your hands cupping his face and the other stroking the outline of his arousal through his shorts.

“Mhm.” He mumbled sweetly, tilting his head back down to meet your gaze, his eyes hooded immediately as he saw how beautiful you looked in the afternoon sun. Mischievous twinkles in your irises as you smiled almost innocently, before your hands were unzipping the shorts and pulling them his mid-thigh.

“Oh honey - are you sure? We’re, well we’re outside and -“

“I can stop, I thought that’s what you wanted, you said on the phone and I quote, ‘if I don’t feel your hands on me, I’m riding this bike into Ron’s shop window’ end quote.” You’d say with a giggle, halting your movements.

“I did - I did say that, you’re right,” He mumbled, his drawl thicker as he grew more and more needy for you now he knew you met him just to give him the pleasure he begged for, “I want it- want you.”

Pressing a sweet kiss to his lips, you pulled away only centimetres, cupping your hand underneath your mouth and spitting crudely into your palm before gripping his cock softly.

“Now just focus on me, okay darling?” You’d reassure him, matching his smile as he nodded eagerly back, his knees almost going slack as you stroked him. Unfortunately for the pair of you, the intense and thrilling moment came to a halt as you heard a dog barking loudly, followed by the sounds of crunching leaves and women’s shrill voices cackling.

“Shit - who - why is there -“

“Baron, pull your damn pants up and kiss me.” You whispered hastily, wiping your hands on your clothes and almost screaming with shock as Baron did what you said and spun you round; your back hitting the bark as he kissed you hard.

“Ow fuck-“ You giggled against his lips, kissing him back as you opened your eyes and looked over his shoulder. A familiar face with a friend walked past with her dog and the two women clocked you both.

“Oh young lovers - Baron?” One of the ladies spoke, pulling her dog on its leash closer to her and picking it up into her arms. Baron turned halfway around, hyperaware of the heavy erection straining in his shorts as he smiled and waved haphazardly at the ladies.

“Hi. Hi Biscuit.” Baron mumbled awkwardly as he waved at the dog. Nudging his elbow into your ribs playfully as you giggled at the situation.

“You got yourself a lovely girl there, huh? I remember those days.” The two ladies stood not that far away from you both as they started reminiscing together. Baron turned his head back to look at you before looking down at his…predicament, before the two of you burst into a fit of giggles, shouting a ��we’ll catch y’all later’ to the women and running away, Baron almost limping with the need for relief.

[callmearcturus]

@vmprsm replied to your post “Raw MKV rip of Mission Impossible: Fallout:...”:

Theoretically, if one wanted their own copies of the MI movies safely on a hard drive....where would one go?

​I mean, there is a site where you can acquire a lot of movies via torrent. I tend to use (rot13) 1337k.gb and I got a heavily discounted Windscribe VPN subscription that I use on almost all of my devices.

But my thing is that... I want commentary reels and special features, and sometimes you'll download a movie but the fucking subtitles are either bad or they become desynced over time and I haaaaate it.

So I've been gathering bits and pieces over the past year to get a Plex system going in my house and it works like a fucking DREAM. But it requires some investment. If you just want to have a few local copies of your favorite movies, this is way overkill. But me, I am canceling all of my family's streaming services and pivoting to our Plex.

So what I have for actually getting the files:

I don't have this model but it's similar to this, a Pioneer External Blu-ray Reader. It sits on a little shelf and is connected to my PC by a USB cable. (I think I got mine for around 68 bucks so you can wait for a sale.)

I use MakeMKV which will rip the big honking raw files from a Blu-ray and leave them as matroshka (.mkv) files.

Because these raw files are ENORMOUS, I compress them in Handbrake. Handbrake is wildly powerful, can convert file formats and make them super small. I have my Handbrake set up special to dump all the non-English language subtitles and audio tracks to save space.

(SUPER BONUS TIP FOR HANDBRAKE: If you have a dedicated GPU, you can give Handbrake permission to use it, and it'll compress shit literally 10x faster, love it.)

At the moment, I am using a Western Digital portable 5TB external harddrive because it was one sale and I couldn't beat the price. Eventually, I want to upgrade to two 10TB HDDs so I can keep a full backup of everything I'm ripping. Because this is a bit of a time and energy commitment and I don't wanna lose all my progress here!

At first I was running Plex off my desktop PC and that worked totally fine, but my family hates having to touch my desktop to wake it up every time, so I very recently grabbed one of these guys:

This is a Beelink Mini PC S12 Pro. It is small enough to fit in my hand but it is a speedy little demon that runs Windows 11. (And eventually I am gonna use it to firewall out ads from our entire home network, I'm pumped for that project but ANYWAY.)

The upside of these mini boys is that instead of being a hefty workhorse like my main computer, this is small and has a low-power draw.

So I moved my Plex Media Server to the mini PC, plugged in my 5TB drive of movies, and now everyone in the house can easily stream anything I have added to the library.

This is what it looks like, if you're curious. Any device in the house that runs Plex and is signed in can select any movie or TV show I have and just watch it like it was Netflix or something.

A month ago, I has like.... 65 movies? Now I'm ripping a few and we're gonna break 100 soon.

"But Arc, where do you get so many blurays!"

My local library.

When I lived in Broward County, FL, I had an extravagantly wonderful library system. Tax dollars at fucking WORK, y'all. Now I live in Georgia and the library system is not nearly as good, but I have still gotten my hands on a frankly ridiculous amount of blurays. Every week I'm picking up 3 to 10 movies or shows, taking them home, making good copies, and returning them.

All of this is an investment and it is work. But as someone who built my computer, built my keyboard, cracked my 3DS and PS Vita-- this is fun to me! This is what I love to do. And through doing it, I've seen more movies in the past year than the last ten years put together.

So yeah, I can't recommend this to everyone, but if you wanna get out of your subscriptions and to just have high quality shit on demand, this is what I'm doing.

Cannot stress this enough tho, if this seems interesting to you: wait for sales. All the components here go on steep sale if you wait patiently. Take your time assembling the parts and keep in mind that shit is modular, you can upgrade parts later.

[jamesdeniscouldnever]

Them pt. 2

Come children, Mama made you your favorite

Summary: it's been a bit over 2 weeks since Tav had saved Rolen from the shadow curse. They'd been gone when he'd woken the next morning, and he'd not questioned it if not been disappointed by it. Now, under the crush of a new form of pain and danger, where are they to save him again? Where is his hero?

Rolan clicked his tongue in distaste and irritation as he looked at the unmatching numbers on the sales records was filing. Either Tolna had fucked up her gold count or he head. Either way, he would pay for it.

When Rolan had the blissful ignorance of Lorroakin's true character, he'd been so excited to begin his apprenticeship, so excited to become something greater than himself, to make Lia and Cal proud!

He knew better now.

Lorroakin was a bastard and a half. A self-obssesed, hubris, horror of a man. It took Rolan only 3 days to know he'd made a mistake. It only took 4 to know it was one he couldn't fix. At first, he'd thought Lorroakin's strange nonsense questions had been a test of some sort, the corporal punishment he'd doled out afterward the same. But as the days dragged on and 3 days turned to a week and then a week turned into two, he had come to understand that this was his life now. It had to be. He couldn't leave, not after he'd bragged and lorded his position over the heads of his siblings. Not after he had come so far to be here. Not after they had all risked their lives - risked Tav's life - to make it.

No. He would put up with it and cultivate his magic as he planned. He would ignore the black eyes and throbbing ribs. Ignore Lia and Cal's questions. He'd been through worse than a few punches and kicks here and there, much worse. He would be just fine.

With that thought, he got back to work at the front desk of his master's shop. Perhaps he could make up for the small mistake by working harder. Or maybe he and Tolna could go over the discrepancy in the days earnings before Lorroakin saw. Or maybe his math had just been wrong and he-

"Rolan!"

The familiar voice brought him out of his own head and back to reality. Walking through the doors of Sorcerers Sundries came Tav, a big smile across their face and looking cleaner and healthier than he'd ever seen them. At least Baulder was treating one of them well. He can't stop the smile that lights his face and the excitement in his voice.

"It's you. What are you doing here?!"

Tav smiles for a moment, their eyes roaming his face before it slowly fades and their eyebrows knit together in concern. Rolan silently curses himself for not ducking behind the desk to hide as soon as they walked in. Tav would have questions, and when they had questions, they wanted answers. And they wouldn't react kindly to the answers this time.

"Rolan, what's happened to you? Your face looks like it's met the blunt end of a goblins club! Is that...?" They reach over the counter before be can argue and brush their hand quickly over his bottom lip. He's so taken aback that for a moment, he doesn't even realize why they've done it. Their eyes set on him, cold as stone, "blood."

Rolan forces a tight smile and shakes his head. "Its nothing! I promise." There's a catch in his throat that he tries to swallow. His shoulders set rigidly. Why does he have such a hard time lying to them anymore?

As if his own body is answering him, he feels a small burning spot upon his forehead. It's all in his mind. He knows that, and he's glad for it. He would truly die of embarrassment if Tav could see the very place they'd placed a kiss upon his head glowing with the memory of it.

Tav narrows their eyes, still unconvinced. They look as if they're about to argue, but instead, they just sigh and drop the topic. Instead, they lean forward, their elbows on the desktop and their face closer to his than he was used to. It wasn't their intention to flustered him, he was certain. But once more, he silently thanked the gods, and perhaps Asmodeus himself, for his red skin.

Now that they're closer, he can see dark circles under their eyes and a tired set to their shoulders. Their eyes flit in a way that suggests they have much going on in their head. Perhaps Baulder hadn't been as kind as he had thought. He gives a small nod to himself and takes this as further validation for why he shouldn't bother them with Lorroakin. They were busy, and he was strong. They ask him a few questions about the nightsong, lorroakin, and the tome-seller before, with another glance at his bruised face, they thank him and head up the stairs to see his master.

He let's out a breath and allows his shoulders to slump a bit as he hears the sound of them solving his master's portal puzzle. They would do as they needed and leave, continue being a hero elsewhere. If they come in from the shop from time to time, he could put on a brave face as he had just now. He could do this.

The sound of the portal being crossed through some length of time later alerts him to their departure. They stomped down the steps, seeming irritated, and made a swift turn for the door. They spare him a glance over their shoulder and give a small smile and wave before stalking out the door. He frowned. It would seem Master Lorroakin was good at making even the kindest souls angry.

Day bleeds into night, the shop closes, Rolan reluctantly reports for his nightly "lecture", if one could call it that, and his subsequent beating. It passes in a blur, the whole affair. Rolan spends the majority of it with his eyes closed and thinking of anything to keep his mind off of the blows. One of Cal's awful jokes. Lia's excited ramblings about her dreams and plans. Tav's smile. Tav.

He finds himself sinking into the feeling of safety they bring him even as he braces for the next slap. Even as he trudges home in darkened streets. Even as the occasional person spits the phrases "foulblood" and "hellspawn" at him as he passes. Even when he tiredly bypasses his siblings and their nightly worried questions about his appearance. All until he falls into a deep sleep, wrapped in the safety of his hero.

As the morning comes, the day begins, and Rolan gets back to work. He's looking at his feet when he hears an approach to his desk again. Without looking up he gives a hollow "How can I help you?"

"Rolan? I need to buy a few things." It them. He hadn't even realized until he heard their voice. Theyre surrounded by a few of their friends. He smiles, already happier for their presence.

"That, at least, I can help you with."

The exchange goes quickly, and Tav asks if he'll come up to Lorroakins office with him. Rolan winces at the thought, but he can not tell them no, not even if he wanted to. So, all of them ascend and step through the portal. When they step into Lorroakins office and are met with the sight of Lorroakin having a rather heated conversation with a large, armored woman, rolan looks to the others in shock. None of them seem very surprised, Tav stepping forward and joining the argument. As he listens he realizes with dawning horror that the nightsong is a person. She was a person the whole time and Lorroakin knew that. Lorroakin raises his hand to Rolan, commanding something of him, but Rolan doesn't listen. He gives a firm "no".

He's still terrified of Lorroakin, no doubt, but he can not stand by idly while his master threatens his friends, his hero. Not while he's attempting to keep an actual person as a slave to gain immortality. No, it's his time to he brave. To do what's right. Hopefully, he can repay Tav's kindness in the process.

Of course, he was expecting a fight, just perhaps not such a...destructive one. The room scorched and wet at the same time from the elementals, blood spatter everywhere, far too much of it his beloved Tav's for his liking.

His own thoughts freeze him. "Beloved" indeed. When had that happened? How had that happened? He shakes his head clear and ignores it for the moment. Tav has finished making the corpse of Lorroakin answer some questions and Rolan is set on repaying their kindness from the shadows.

He makes his way to them, placing a hand on their shoulder. They turn to him and smile, a trail of blood dripping from their nose. He gives a somewhat sad smile and reaches out to wipe it away. They keep each others gaze for a moment before an uncomfortable cough interrupts them both. They look away from one another.

The large armored woman breaks the silence. "My friends! Valiant as we have fought, easily shall so we rest! I must return to my darling's embrace at once, the same as our fearsome friend here longs to. Away! Leave the lovers be."

Rolan may have melted into the floor if it weren't for the amusment he found in how red Tav's face had become. He felt his own ears twitch a bit, hot and uncomfortable, but not as aflame as theirs. He noted that as he had not corrected the woman, neither had they.

The other companions all cough and chuckle, shuffling towards the door and hiding snickers. The pale, white haired on makes some comment about "enjoy your embrace," and Tav smacks him on the arm as he passes. Rolan gives a soft laugh.

"So...if it's agreeable to you, that is, I can bring you to my home? I'm sure Lia would be incredibly offended if I didn't let her know you were around. She adores you, you know. She and Cal both. Cal is a wonderful cook and, frankly, it's time I offered explanations to all of you for why I let this happen." Rolan speaks with more confidence than he's feeling, a soft smile gracing his lips.

"I think that sounds wonderful. I'd love to see them both again as well. This city can survive without me for an evening, I'm sure." They reply, a much brighter and more beautiful smile stretching across their face.

Rolan nods, and despite his shaking hands, offers them his arm. They smile and link their arm with his, and the two set off at a stroll through the portal, through the store, and out the front. If anyone inside knew of the violence that had taken place, they gave no indication.

It feels foreign to Rolan. Walking calming down a city street, knowing he's safe, and that someone beside his siblings is at his side. He finds himself laughing, truly laughing, as they go and chat about nothing. The sound of them joining him is the most beautiful thing he's ever heard, he decides.

The stroll goes quickly and they arrive at the small home of the 3 siblings. He's grateful for it. The only reason they weren't turned away at the gate, the same as so many others, was because of his connection to Lorroakin. They certainly couldn't punish him if it was found that his master had gone "missing" from his shop.

Rolan sighs and shakes his head, dispelling the thoughts. What comes next can wait for tomorrow.

They enter the house, still arm in arm, and the delighted squeal that emits from his firey little sister upon seeing Tav is enough to make him laugh again. She tackles the hero in a hug and Cal follows in due turn. They jabber questions until Rolan gently swats them away. Tav complies with their wishes and let's themselves be dragged to the table.

Lia props herself on the chair across from them, and Cal puts food on the stove. Rolan sits beside Tav and tries his luck, wrapping an arm around their shoulders. Tav relaxes back into it, and he feels a swell of pride. The evening is full of revelry, laughter, joy, and delicious food. Rolan ashamedly admits his complacency with Lorroakin and his injuries and despite Lia's enraged outcry no one fussed at Rolan too much for it. Gentle assurances and comforting hugs are passed around instead.

Sleepy goodnights are made by the younger two and Rolan guides Tav to his own room. The two simply sit on the bed for a moment, Tav taking both his hands in their own. They stroke his knuckles, roughened from his time in Avernus and on the run. He gazes at their conjoined hands for a moment before looking up and meeting their gaze.

He's not sure who initiates it. Kisses, some rough, some soft, some slow, some quick as pecks come one after the other. Tav hisses a bit as he accidently knicks their lip with his sharp teeth, he responds by kissing it again, carefully this time. Arms hold him close, his own running through their hair and over their let. He let's his tail curl up and around their waist. They break away for a moment for air and Tav speaks.

"Wait! Wait, just a moment." They gasp, hands moving to rest against his chest, not pushing him away but putting a bit of space between them. Rolan immediately recoils, pulling his tail away and stuttering apologies.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I-I got carried away I didn't think...I assumed...I shouldn't have..."

Tav smiles and holds his face in their hands. "No, it's okay, you didn't do anything wrong! I just...what is this? To you, I mean? I just...I really like you."

The words send Rolan's heart hammering against his chest. He speaks too quickly, embarrassingly quickly.

"I love you! I," he takes a deep breath, "I just...I. gods dammit, it's the truth. I love you. I'm sorry if it's too soon, but I can't pretend otherwise. I didn't always, mind you. There was a time when I wished nothing but for you to fuck off and leave my family alone. But the way you've protected us, helped us... the way Lia and Cal look up to you. I'm the oldest, for the longest time I've guided those two as best I could... we aren't even actually related, you know? But we're still a family, and I've always been so focused on becoming something great, for them. To protect them. And I hated it when you succeeded where I couldn't. But now? I've gotten used to having someone to protect me. You're my hero, and as every damsel in distress must, I've fallen for you." The words fly from his mouth in a blur, no planning or reserved smarm. Just plain, raw truth. At first, his eyes flit away, nervous for rejection upon such a forceful confession. But a forehead pressing against his own brings his gaze back.

"Perfect. That's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard... I love you too, Rolan. Unlike you, I fell hard and fast. Maybe not quite the first day we met, but definitely by the time I rescued you near Last Light. I love your care for Lia and Cal, your desire to improve, that stupid little smirk you get. I love you."

A flurry of emotion, soft beds, and gasping breaths. Ridged skin and sharp teeth. Sighs and moans and breathless "I love you"s. Rolan isn't sure how long it lasts, only that it's not enough, and it will never be enough. But for now, resting against each other, relaxed and pleased in an indescribable way, he savors the peace. He chuckles as he places sleepy kisses against their neck and then lay back and pull his head to their chest. In this moment, Tav is not the savior, the hero. Not the goblin-slayer or the victorious against Markyul. Right now, falling asleep against him and breathing deeply, it's just Rolan and Tav. Just them.

@illidariiii @potato-dragons @tieflingteatime

[venusjaynie]

Jim Halpert x fem!reader

CW: anxiety, panic attacks, petnames (lots of), Jim just overall being a big softie sweetheart.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's just a regular day at Dunder Mifflin, Scranton. You're at your desk clump that you share with Dwight and Jim, the latter of the two being your doting boyfriend of 2 months.

Jim and you are really happy, considering you've had a stupid schoolgirl crush ever since the moment you started working at D.M. as a saleswoman, which was 3 years ago. However, you're yet to open up about your anxiety to Jim. It's not because you don't trust him, or that you're embarrassed about it, but you just don't want him to worry about you more than he already does, and occasionally you feel like a burden.

A lot of the time, your anxiety comes in fits, and nothing in particular sets it off. It tends to just spring on you when you least expect it, like right now, apparently. One minute you're on a sales call, negotiating prices and quantities, and the next, your palms are sweaty and you can't catch a breath.

Jim doesn't seem to notice straight away, which is good. It means you can just slip out of the room to quickly calm yourself down before anyone even notices that you're gone. You wipe your sweaty palms off on you skirt, and try to take a deep breath, but you're clearly struggling more than you thought, because the inhale is awfully strangled and causes both Jim and Dwight to look up from their desktops. You smile at the both of them, trying to remain as collected as possible externally, while internally your heart is going a mile a minute.

You stand up and decide to head to the break room, without announcing the reason for your sudden departure. Your hands shake as you walk, and you're trying your hardest to take slow, deep breaths - however, you're failing miserably.

Pam eyes you wearily as you walk past her desk and out of the room. She catches Jim's eye as he worriedly watches you hurry from your seat. Pam counts to 10 in her head, just like you previously told her to do when she notices that your anxiety is getting the better of you. She doesn't look at Jim as she stands, and carefully makes her way over to the door of the break room.

Jim Halpert, being the caring boyfriend he is, takes it upon himself to follow Pam and make his best attempt at helping you out, whatever the problem may be. When he catches up to her however, she gives him a stern look, which he responds to with a confused one.

You burst into the break room and sit down on one if the chairs, not noticing Pam and Jim just outside of the door.

"Jim, just stay out here, I'll tell you when you can come in." Pam tells him.

"No, Pam, look at her. I need to go in there and make sure she's okay." He glances at your hunched frame, your shoulders shaking and your hands braced on your knees.

"Listen, I'm her best friend, and we both know she won't want you to see her like this." Pam tries to reason with him, but he looks at her, confused by what she meant when she said, 'she won't want you to see her like this' Why can't he see you like this? You're clearly not doing well and he just wants to help you.

"I'm her boyfriend, Pam, and I just want to make sure she's okay. Is that really such a crime?" He says, slightly exasperated from her lack of cooperation.

Pam sighs and puts a hand on Jim's shoulder making him look down at her.

"I promise you can come in soon, just need to make sure she's okay with you being there with her, alright?" He nodded. "She loves you, but she is obviously going through something, and I've seen her like this before, so I know how to help her." Pam goes to open the door, but Jim grabs her arm.

"If you don't tell me to come in there in 2 minutes, I'm going to anyway." She rolls her eyes at his stubbornness and opens the door.

You look up through teary eyes, and her heart breaks a fraction.

"Hi." She almost whispers. You try to reply, but all that leaves your mouth is a choked sob. She immediately sits down beside you and rests a comforting hand on your back, rubbing in small circles to soothe you.

While you know Pam is trying her best, she's not what you need right now. You try to take a deep breath, and she understands that you're about to speak, so she takes the liberty of asking first.

"What do you need? What can I do for you?"

"I- I just need Jim." You say quietly, and you can see her nodding and motioning at the door, telling him to come in. You can hear the click of the door but you don't respond, trying to focus on breathing. You feel Pam's hand leaving your back and you assume she left the room to let Jim help you out.

Jim kneels down in front of you and goes to take your right hand in both of his, but then he remembers that some people don’t like to be touched in a situation like this so he hesitiates.

"Hey, pretty girl." He says it so softly. "Is it okay if I touch you?"

You nod.

"I know you're trying to focus on your breathing right now, so I'm just gonna do this," he slowly takes your hand and guides it to his chest. "I need you to match my breathing. Can you do that for me, babe?"

You shake your head, the task seemingly impossible. You try to distract yourself by focusing on the butterflies that flutter in your stomach at the pet-names, but that doesn't seem to work.

"C'mon, you wanna at least try? You're doing so good already."

All he gets in reply is an ugly sob. His heart breaks for you. He knows you've been struggling with panic attacks for a while now, even without you openly telling him, and the first and only time he helped you through one, you got all embarrassed and closed off afterwards and he had to try to assure you that your reaction to certain situations wasn't anything to feel shameful of.

You look up at him, and try to take a deep breath as he watches you encouragingly.

"Attagirl, you're doing so well." He starts to take long, exaggerated breaths in hopes that you copy him, and after a few minutes of encouragement, you semi-successfully do so.

Your slight progress, however, is thrown away when Michael starts banging on the door of the break room, yelling nonsense about a sales call that you have yet to make.

Out of the corner of your eye you think you see Dwight tell Michael something and it makes him stop yelling, but it doesn't ease your anxiety.

Jim watches as Michael walks away and then he turns his attention back to you.

"Hey, honey, just look at me." You shake your head in response. "You're doing such a good job already, I just need you to take a couple more big, deep breaths, alright? Can you try that for me?" His grip on your hand never once eases as he helps you through your anxiety attack.

After a while of encouragement and reassurance, you begin to shake less and your heart slows back down to its regular pace, for the most part anyway.

When Jim is sure you're able to breathe on your own without his help, he tries to gently remove your hand from his chest, but you grip onto his shirt tightly. He doesn't seem to mind, and covers your hand with his own again.

"Sorry." You mumble, almost inaudibly. He gently takes your chin between his thumb and forefinger and guides your head upwards to look at him.

"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for. You can't stop stuff like this from happening, and I'm always here to help you with these things, okay?" You give him a little nod in response. Jim wipes away the still falling tears with the fingers previously situated on your chin.

He kisses your forehead and goes to stand up, but you grab his hand and a strained noise comes from your throat in protest.

"I'm just gonna grab you some water and a tissue." Jim says, pressing his lips to your hand.

As he walks away you dry your cheeks as best you can, still feeling embarrassed about your situation.

'Jim shouldn't have to deal with someone as pathetic as you.' That little whisper in the back of your mind seems as though it's yelling, not whispering.

You don't even notice Jim walking back into the room as your brain is so consumed with ways to apologise for the inconvenience.

"Can practically hear you thinking, sweetheart. What's going on in there?" He taps your forehead as he sets the glass of water down on the table and hands you the tissues.

"I'm sorry." You apologise again.

"What are you sorry for?" He smiles sadly at you, which only makes you feel worse.

"I'm sorry I'm such a pain in the ass." You chuckle wetly. "You shouldn't have to deal with this kinda stuff." You look up at him, and he stares back at you.

"Oh, honey, no. I'm not dealing with anything. You're my girlfriend. I want to help you. And frankly, you're not a pain in the ass. I love you, okay?"

Oh.

"I love you too." You reply, still feeling semi-guilty. You know Jim can tell, but he doesn't say anything. He does, however, grab your hands and pull you up so that you're standing. He wraps his arms around your waist and you immediately respond by wrapping your own around his neck and burying your face into his shoulder.

Jim whispers 'I love you' again a dozen times or so, and you simply bury your face further into his neck, perfectly content to stay there as long as he'll let you.

[multidimensionalsock]

Games engines and their pricings for Indie Devs

Based on Unitys recent changes to their pricing model, I thought it would be useful to put together a list of different game making softwares and their pricing models to compare which would be best for you.

Unreal

Programming language: C++ and visual scripting.

Dimensions: 3D, VR and AR

Platforms: all platforms

Standard license: free to use, pay 5% of your revenue over $1 million over the lifetime of the game, due each quarter (as long as the game is still for sale or generates more them $10k per quarter)

Enterprise: $1.5k+ per seat per year, includes premium support and private training and/or custom licensing terms

Custom licenses: larger developers can renegotiate with epic for lower or waived royalty fees.

More about their licensing here

Gamemaker

Programming language: GML and visual scripting

Dimensions: 2D

Gamemaker doesn't require any royalties made off of your game no matter which license youre on.

Free: access to gamemaker and export that can only be used on their games website (GX.games)

Creator: access to game maker, GX export and desktop export $4.99 a month

Indie: access to the above with web and mobile exports, $9.99 a month.

Enterprise: all of the above but with console exports as well $79.99 a month.

Godot

Programming languages: GDScript, C# and C++

Dimensions: 2D, 3D, AR and VR

Platforms: Not able to port to console due to it being open source unless you develop it yourself or via a third party.

Royalty free and free at point of purchase.

RPG maker

Programming language: Java and visual scripting

Dimensions: 3D (in some), 2D

Platforms: windows, mac, web

Doesn't ask for royalties from games, has a 20 day free trial. RPG maker MZ costs £66.99 initial purchase, costs may vary by which engine you buy.

CryEngine

Programming language: C++

Dimensions: 2D, 3D, VR and AR.

Platforms: Windows, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Oculus Rift, OSVR, PSVR, and HTC Vive. Mobile support is in development.

5% royalty fee over $5k a year, free to download and use.

Cocos2D

Programming languages: C++, C#, Lua and javascript

Dimensions: 2D

Platforms: android, mac, linux, and win32.

Free to use, no royalties

Cocos creator

Programming languages: TypeScript and JavaScript

Dimensions: 2D and 3D

Platforms: IOS, android, windows, mac, HTML5

Free to use, no royalties

Defold

Programming languages: Lua 5.1 and LuaJIT

Dimensions: 2D and 3D

Platforms: PlayStation®4, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, macOS, Linux, Windows, Steam, HTML5, Facebook, Q3 2023 PlayStation®5, Q2 2024 XBox

Free to use, no royalties

Phaser

Dimensions: 2D

Programming languages: JavaScript or TypeScript

Platforms: Web (HTML5)

Free to use, no royalties

Unity

Programming language: C#

Platforms: all platforms

Dimensions: 2D, 3D, VR and AR

Edit: unity has changed their policy you can see the new one here

[rad-roche]

talking about rebelle

TLDR: it's really good

Too Long DID read: in the niche it occupies, it's the best program I've used. This isn't a sponsored post, nothing like that, no affiliate links. Just pure sweet fat of the hog.

Rebelle Paint is a painting software designed around imitating physical mediums. Watercolour, gouache, acrylic, oils, pastels, and so on. It might be better to think of it as a physics software that happens to have a bunch of art tools inside, for better or for worse. Let me give you an example.

These two blobs represent an area of the canvas I've made wet through the watercolour tools. This is where the physics sim comes into it. The backgrounds aren't just static paper textures, the paint disperses and interacts with the grain of the 'paper', or the canvas, or whatever you have selected.

If you're already good with watercolours, you're set. If not, like me, you're in for a steep, steep learning curve, because they're hard to control. I can't call that a fault, real watercolours aren't exactly famed for being easy to use. But if you do this across a few layers, that means Rebelle is simulating a bunch of things at once, which means that your computer is gonna CHUG. Seriously, if you have a laptop, get the demo before you even think about buying it. I'm using a solid desktop and can't go beyond five layers without my processor screaming for mercy. This is only with the watercolours, however, for things like ink/markers, I got up to about 30 layers with that comic. Deploy the pomegranate.

Circling back to that canvas being a physics object thing...

Here's what comes with the software, enough to cover any of the mediums you'll use in it. If you want more, however, you have to buy them in the store, and if you wanted all of them, for whatever reason, that represents about 150 dollarydoos, and individual sets (cold pressed watercolour etc) coming out to about 10 each. I might pick one up in the future if I really want one, but so far I haven't felt the need. You aren't being deprived of options, is what I'm saying.

The biggest compliment I can give the software is that it feels like they either take direct feedback from its user base, or are so good at pre-empting what you might need that it makes other software like this (Corel, CSP) seem clunky. Let me give you an example. Like most art software, there's a reference panel.

Unlike most art software, that panel comes with tools already in it that are very useful. Say I just wanted to practice painting in colour, and the likeness of this model isn't what I'm focusing on. You have two options: half-assing it, or tracing and then painting yourself. Rebelle lets you place guidelines on the reference, which are then projected onto the canvas. If you toggle greyscale mode on to check your values, then colour-pick, you don't pick up the desaturated tone, you'll always pick the true colour underneath. That might sound like a small thing, but when you get used to working around that in other software, it adds up.

Pros:

One-time Purchase

Very very strong tools. They're a joy to use.

Almost no learning curve regarding the software itself, even if you're moving over from another programs

All tools are able to interact with one another. Want to drench your acrylic paint in water? Go for it! A lot of traditional imitation software locks the tools you can use to certain layer types (Corel, Realistic Paint Studio), but not here.

Liquify, transform tools, adjustment layers, all the normal stuff you'd want in digital is all here.

Brush customisation engine is excellent

Cons:

Two tiers of purchase (standard and pro). I bought standard, and honestly I'm thinking about upgrading because the image scaling is locked behind pro. Standard shakes out to about ninety bucks, pro one-fifty, and in this economy that's a big ask. Saying that, there is a sale on right now. If you just want digital tools that mimic traditional, and don't need any of the extras, consider Artrage Lite at one third the price.

Resource HUNGRY. Way, way more than any other art program I've used.

Anything involving water requires juggling in a way real watercolour doesn't. It's very very easy to keep painting, look back, and realise something 5 layers ago is still soaked and leaked into everything else.

Prone to crashing.

Overall, I'm really happy with it. I don't think it's great for anything very detailed, like that comic I did the other day, and for general use Clip Studio Paint is a better purchase, but this is a great supplement.

[homestuckreplay]

Webcomic 'Homestuck' Canceled For Promoting Bad Password Security

(page 456-459)

8/10/2009 Wheel Spin: Parent Bad :( Verdict: INCORRECT

8/11/2009 Wheel Spin: being silly :3c Verdict: CORRECT, but behind at least 10 layers of irony

In the far future, somebody might call this update a time capsule of the 2000s. If computers change significantly, or something. page 456 comments on Dave's bro's computer being password protected, suggesting that this isn't a cultural norm - the newly-released Windows 7 still doesn't require user accounts to have a password. In Homestuck, the password is used to protect 'incredible top secret shit,' so password protecting a personal home computer might be associated with shadier online behavior.

Bro's password is six characters, and is 'the most awesome thing it can be' according to Dave and his bro, so it's probably lilcal. (It could also be puppet, but personally my passwords are always specific characters, song titles etc, not general concepts. I don't know if other people are different. for what it's worth lilcal is also a slightly more secure password than puppet which is A SINGULAR DICTIONARY WORD). Bro also trusts Dave with his password - either because he doesn't think Dave will do anything to mess up his computer, or because he's daring Dave to use it, similar to leaving the Xbox switched on mid-game.

On page 457 we see Bro's desktop, which we can compare to Dave's desktop on page 323. They both have wallpapers from And It Don't Stop, showing us a chain of game recommendations from Bro -> Dave -> John. Dave, like Rose and John, has some character in the names of his desktop folders, while his bro has seven identically named New Folders scattered around the screen. This adds to the sense that Bro is paranoid about people looking at his computer - he's purposefully making it impossible to navigate. The hidden-identity hat and dark glasses iconography on the password entry screen has the same effect.

Bro also has a program called Delirious Biznasty, which has a rad skater dude for its icon. This could be a web browser, but I think it's more likely some kind of torrenting application, I think that'd fit his vibe. The web browsers we know are Typheus, Cetus and Hephaestus, which are all Greek mythological references with cartoon-styled icons, and Delirious Biznasty doesn't fit the pattern. Based on Dave's relationship to his bro, Bro probably uses Hephaestus too and just doesn't have a desktop shortcut.

Dave and his bro both use the Complete Bullshit content aggregator, which we are forced to witness on pages 458 and 459. Content aggregators are pretty common customizable feeds that people use to keep up with a lot of websites at once, when checking 20+ separate sites a day gets too time consuming. RSS readers are a common form of this that can host a lot of different types of content, but there are also aggregators specifically for webcomics. These are controversial - they're generally well intentioned projects made for free by webcomic fans who want to check for updates easily and keep up with a lot of stories, and want to help other fans do the same. However, they can redirect traffic away from actual sites that host webcomics, meaning that independent webcomic artists might miss out on ad revenue or merch sales, or are less likely to sell ads because their sites don't look as well-trafficked as they are. I don't know if Andrew Hussie has a strong opinion on comics aggregators, but it's possible this terrible to use, unstable and unreadable version is a criticism of the concept.

Complete Bullshit also feels like Dave's bro's equivalent of Serious Business, as they're both digital programs with adjective-noun titles. I wonder if Rose's mom will get her own software.

It's sweet that Bro keeps up with Dave's projects, including Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff and his GameBro review blog. It shows that their relationship isn't 100% one sided, Bro cares for Dave and/or thinks he's cool at least a little bit. It's also fun that Dave is checking to see if his own webcomic has updated, which could be bad memory due to having a lot of projects on the go, or could be Dave checking to make sure his update has gone through and posted successfully. Very reasonable, as it must be a challenge to upload such high quality images.

I will probably make a post digging into Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff at some point, but I'm still peeling the onion of its irony right now so I'll just say: when exactly did Dave find the time to make these comics?

[zhuzhudushu]

Lingopie — Chinese Review ★★

So I did 3 months of Lingopie (stylized as Liñgöpie) so you don't have to (unless you want to lol).

I mention a Chrome extension, the Zhongwen dictionary, quite a bit in this review. It is here, I highly recommend it (click)! It's also available for Firefox (click).

What is Lingopie?

Lingopie is an app and desktop extension/website that allows you to watch tv shows and cartoons with interactive subtitles for language learning. It currently has Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, French, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. It claims to improve your language learning by 80% (compared to Duolingo which is around 20%).

Here is their website. (click)

Pricing: (March 2024)

3 months $36

1 year $71 "on sale" (normally $144)

Lifetime $199 "on sale" (normally $663)

Please note: I have never seen these full prices. It appears that the "sale" is permanent.

My Review / TL;DR Version

Extremely disappointed both in functionality and content for Chinese. Maybe this is a good program for other languages, but for Chinese there is extremely limited content with pinyin subtitles only available for the non-Netflix shows. All the best learning features are available for non-Netflix shows, yet those tended to have significantly worse translations than Netflix. I would not recommend this product for Chinese. While it had a few good features and I enjoyed it for 6-7 episodes of one show, it then had a glitch where an entire episode was subtitled wrong, so I gave up.

See below the cut for full breakdown.

Strengths:

Has access to Netflix shows and films including some popular ones (e.g. Meteor Garden, Dear Ex, Nezha Reborn)

This is nice and I enjoyed rewatching the ones I was familiar with and getting a better grasp of listening and vocab. I appreciate that they try to incorporate kid-friendly along with more serious/adult content with animated and live action tv shows and films. I also liked that it specified if the show was from Taiwan or China, and also included shows that had some Cantonese influence (e.g. Scissor Seven)

Allows you to have English and Chinese subtitles simultaneously or alone, and you can easily click them on an off while watching.

This is pretty standard for all video/subtitle based educational apps, but it was nice to easily click them on and off in case I wanted to double check my understanding, and to compare the direct translation of the words to the full translation of the sentence.

Allows you to pause automatically after each subtitle. Can also loop subtitles over and over. There are also AI-produced explanations of grammar.

This hands down was the best part about the entire experience for me, and why I ended up using Lingopie for 3 months. While it was sometimes clunky (see below), this made singling out specific lines/words for listening practice so easy. Once I got in the groove, I was able to get through episodes fairly quickly and was starting to be able to listen and hear new words in sentences later.

Click on the words in the subtitle to make flashcard sets

This was a nice feature, but I do wish the flashcards were a bit more functional, see below. It was easy enough to use and a quick way to remind yourself of the new words you learned before you jump into the next episode.

Weaknesses:

Pinyin subtitles available on desktop only, with no pinyin subtitles for Netflix shows (as of May 2024)

This is a HUGE flaw, and I was 100% dependent on using another chrome extension for hover-over dictionary while using Lingopie. I know they are working on pinyin subtitles for Netflix and mobile, but I used this for 3 months and it still was not implemented when I ended. To me, if I have to use another app in conjunction with this one in order to fully learn, then what's the point? Especially since I watched Taiwanese and Cantonese-influenced shows with very non-standard pronunciations, comparing standard pinyin to accented productions is necessary for me. Even with the pinyin subtitles for the non-Netflix shows, it left a lot to be desire because they're tiny above the Chinese characters, and sometimes difficult to read. More than once I thought a ǒ was ō because of how tiny it was.

Not enough content, especially cartoons/beginner level

The one above and this bullet are the main reasons why I don't recommend this app for Chinese specifically. Maybe other languages are fine, but there is simply not enough content for the price. I was hoping for more beginner/lower intermediate content like children's cartoons, however there are none for Chinese. All the animated options are more teenager/adult oriented. There also weren't many light-hearted or comedy options, meaning you would have to watch a lot of serious dramas, thrillers, and violent shows if you wanted to get your money's worth. For my personal taste, I don't want to have to pause every dialogue line for an adult thriller. That would ruin my experience of the show and the suspense. For the non-Netflix options, most shows were incomplete with only 1-5 episodes available out of 10+. They also tended to be lower quality productions, with significantly worse English translations. The majority of what is available outside of Netflix are short films (~5 mins) and cooking shows (10-20 mins) which aren't bad for beginners. I personally have no interest in cooking, though lol. Essentially, there is no TRUE beginner fictional content in Chinese available.

The dictionary is... rough

Again, I was fully dependent on the Zhongwen extension. While the English subtitles themselves are good, the individual definitions of words that you hover over are definitely rough. They weren't actually that helpful for breaking down meanings of things like slang and characters' names. For example, in Scissor Seven there were quite a few animal puns, e.g. 汪星人 which is internet slang for "dog" Lingopie translated as "Woofer" which was... awkward and strange. Without the Zhongwen extension I would have had no idea what this was actually referring to. It would been nice if it functioned more like the Zhongwen extension, where it would highlight individual characters or phrases/combos depending on your mouse placement. Particularly on the non-Netflix shows, the translations even in the English subtitles were incredibly rough and at times I couldn't understand the context in either language. There was also one instance of an entire episode (Netflix) that had incorrect subtitles, I suspect subtitles from a different episode? That was the final straw for me.

It chooses whether or not to highlight single words or phrases so you have no control over your flashcards

This made the flashcards not as functional to me. Sometimes, I wanted just the specific noun/verb in the sentence, but it would make me highlight the entire sentence. Other times, I wanted a really functional phase, but it would only let me highlight the individual words. I barely used the flashcard feature because of this.

Clunky interface (Chrome & Firefox)

I can't speak for mobile or Safari because I didn't use them. Since I was relying on the Zhongwen hover-dictionary, I only used Chrome. You can only use Chrome or Safari if you want Netflix shows. Sometimes the auto-pause after each subtitle would be too early or too late, meaning I would have to actually click things pretty persistently throughout each episode. Using the spacebar to pause/unpause hardly ever worked, and using the arrow keys to flip between subtitles also never worked for me. Sometimes the hover-definitions of words would linger even after I clicked away, and would not disappear until the next subtitle appeared. This was super annoying and would block a good portion of the screen. Sometimes I would have to click things 2-3 times before it registered in both Chrome and Firefox.

Overall, I think it's a great idea, but needs some pretty major improvements in order to be worth the price.

In my opinion, if they were to add significantly more shows, including kid's cartoons, and improved their subtitles, dictionary, & interface function, it would be worth the price.

Maybe in a few years as Lingopie grows, it will be worth it. But for now, it's not. For now, it's clunky and limited. If you were to watch it for an hour a day, you would probably get through all the shows that interested in you in about 3-6 months. It wouldn't take longer than a year to go through all of the Chinese content, as of right now. So why would you pay for a year or lifetime price for that?

(divider credit here)

[sinestrosmind]

Emergency Commissions

hey hi if it's not one thing it's another this month lmao

all the money I had saved up for April's rent and utilities was recently used to take my litter of puppies and their late mama to the vet, so I don't have anything anymore. We need 500 to be able to pay rent and utilities, so I'm opening up emergency commissions.

original commissions post can be found here for important notes and links. Current special offer is my clan icons since they're easiest for me to do given my time constraints with the puppies, which are knocked down to 15$ USD for a pair instead of the usual 25$. The only examples I have right now are TMNT related but I can do any fandom.

I also am willing to open up writing commissions, and tentatively open up NSFW writing commissions. Examples of my writing can be found under my writing tag (desktop link) (mobile link)

Thinking 1$ per 100 words, since I have some 400 word pieces as examples. Still working on exact pricing since I've never done writing commissions before but I'm willing to work a deal out.

I also have characters for sale on my sales Toyhouse acc, pay what you want with a minimum of 3$.

[autolenaphilia]

I got a Steam Deck last year, and it’s such a great machine. It’s obviously inspired by Nintendo Switch, but it’s a lot better than a Switch.

The most important part is that it runs PC games. It’s fundamentally a Linux gaming PC in the form of a handheld console. There are a lot more games available than any console and and PC games both on Steam and GOG are a lot cheaper than console ones. You can get old or indie games for as cheap as 1-3 euro during sales. It’s a tremendous advantage for the deck over its console competitors.

And while the obvious intent of the deck is to get more people to buy games from Steam, it isn’t a walled garden at all. The deck launches into Steam when you boot it up, but you can go into desktop mode, and then it functions as a normal PC running a Linux distro. From there you can install Lutris or Heroic Games Launcher, and use it to easily install games you bought from GOG and Itch.io.

You can also do things like use the official dock or an unofficial usb-c hub to hook the deck up to a monitor, mouse and keyboard to use it as a desktop PC. Or you can hook it up to a tv to use it as home console.

The hardware is also a lot more powerful than a switch, the demanding triple-a games it can play is actually impressive. Although this comes with the natural disadvantage that it’s bulkier too. Putting more powerful PC parts demands more space for them. The deck is not something I bring with me outside. But then again I didn’t even do that with the 3DS, which was actually of a practical size to do that. The deck is portable enough that I can comfortably play lying in bed, which is how I always used my handheld consoles. So it’s perfect for me, but maybe not if you want to play it on the bus or something. It can probably be a fun addition to your luggage on longer trips though.

Of course, as mentioned, the Steam Deck uses Linux. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is that it allows Valve to customize the operating system to make it fit with the machine it’s running on. The Deck’s SteamOS feels really well-integrated into the hardware, like how a proper console OS should be like. It’s not that dissimilar to how Sony used FreeBSD to make Playstation’s OS. Windows would not allow for this amount of customization and would not integrate as well.

And the open source nature of most Linux development allows Valve and the user to use existing open-source Linux software to their advantage. For example, the desktop mode is largely not a Valve creation, it’s an existing desktop environment for Linux, KDE Plasma. Yet it extends what the user can do with the deck to a great extent, like for installing non-steam games.

The main disadvantage to the Deck using Linux is that most PC games are built for Windows and don’t run natively under Linux. To run games built for Windows, the Deck has to run it through Proton, a compatibility layer which is Valve’s own gaming-focused version of Wine. Wine/Proton is far from perfect, sometimes games require extensive tinkering to work, or only run with serious issues, or don’t run at all, no matter what you do. Sometimes a game not working with Wine due to some random but serious issue that comes naturally from running a Windows executable on a Linux system via a compatibility layer. Sometimes it’s due to things like a multiplayer’s game anti-cheat system requiring access to the Windows kernel, and it will block a Linux pc from running the game because it has no Windows kernel.

This is however not as big a problem as it might otherwise be. Most games work, more or less. Valve has put a lot of work and money into both their own Proton and the Wine project as a whole, and they work a lot better than they did 10 years ago. Many run perfectly out of the box, because they are native, or play nice with Proton. Some require mere minor tinkering, like using a different version of Proton. And I generally don’t play multiplayer games, or if I do they don’t have draconian anti-cheats, so the games that are blocked because of anti-cheat are no big loss to me. The Steam Deck not running Fortnite is a plus in my book.

And we shouldn’t forget the Steam Deck verified system. Basically Valve employees check if the game runs out of the box with no issues on the Deck. They get a verified rating if they work with no issue, including both proton compatibility but also things like the controls working nice and the text being legible on the deck’s small screen. They also get a “playable” rating if the game runs to an acceptable standard but with tinkering required or other minor issues.

This is a good system. If you dislike tinkering, you can just buy and play games on steam with a verified rating, and the deck will work like a normal console for you, but with a lot cheaper games. It’s a good way to get people used to consoles into PC gaming, which is probably the point of the Deck.

And if you want more than deck verified games from Steam on the Deck, you are given the freedom to do it. I’ve gotten officially non-supported steam games to run on the deck by installing and using proton-GE and I’ve installed and played games from GOG.

The Steam Deck is really how a Linux PC for the common people should work. An easy and slick experience for casual users, but freedom and customization given to those that want it.