#and maybe look into upgrading storage

[marinecorvid]

sorry venting

the joy of having fun little knickknacks and thingamajigs related to what you love VS. the desire to not become overwhelmed by material items + the agony overwhelming that comes with being keenly surrounded by stuff: FIGHT

[glacierruler]

Okay, I know how I'm gonna start posting the comic when it comes out.

First it'll go up for kofi members 1 month early as a blog post that way I have more room to give an image ID. Then it'll go up on my neocities website, and that'll be a dedicated space for the comic. Then it'll go up on tumblr and bsky 1 week after it's gone up on the website. (The website is completely free to navigate. I just don't think I'd have the spoons to put it here until 1 week later)

[sonderden]

Sims 4 base game is free on steam, to reply to your tags in the anniversary post

It took me a bit to get the spoons to answer this, but thank you for helping me get back to the Sims. I added the Steam version to my library today, and also found out I do have access to my old EA copy and my DLC. I like Steam's interface so much better than EA's that I'm gonna look for a way to transfer those DLC onto my Dteam account, but even if I can't pull that off I at least now know that playing the base game through Steam is possible.

[d-z20]

Rivals part 2 (NSFW)

Pairing: Rio Vidal x Reader

Summary: After getting fucked in a supply closet you can't get Rio out of your head so when you discover she's staying at the same hotel as you an Agatha you know it's impossible to try and ignore her.

-OR-

You upgrade from a stoage closet to a meeting room

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, smut, top Rio, fingering (R recv), kinda semi-public sex, orgasm denial

Words: 3k

A/N: One is a centuries-old witch and the other's age is just yes in canon so it makes just as much sense that I've put them as the same age in this AU 😂😂

AO3 | Part 1 | Masterlist

You step into the hotel lobby, the cool air of the evening clinging to your skin as you adjust the collar of your coat. Tonight, you’re checking both yourself and Agatha in—just another part of the job you’ve come to accept, the silent, invisible support that keeps her world in motion. Agatha’s already at the bar, as usual, casting an air of aloofness and superiority as she takes her seat, eyes scanning the crowd with a disinterested air. You can almost feel the weight of her gaze, even from here.

The receptionist is an older man with an unremarkable face, his fingers tapping the keys on his computer in slow, deliberate movements. You hand over your ID with the same practiced, neutral expression you’ve worn countless times as he enters your information into the system. The sound of the keys clicks like a metronome, each tap reminding you of the odd stillness before everything changes.

Your gaze flickers to the lobby, noticing the soft hum of the busy space, the flow of people moving in and out of the hotel, and the quiet buzz of an upcoming event. And then, like a sudden jolt, you catch a glimpse of her.

Rio.

She stands in front of the elevator, looking as effortlessly stunning as ever, dressed in a navy suit that hugs her frame just right. The moment your eyes meet, she grins—a slow, knowing curve of her lips that sends a sharp pulse through your chest. She doesn’t even need to speak to make the connection clear. And then, just as the doors begin to close, she winks at you.

Crap . She must be staying here too.

A wave of heat sweeps over you, flushing your skin. Your mind drifts back to the storage closet, to the feel of her hands and the intensity of her touch. You swallow hard, trying to push the thoughts aside, but the memory lingers, tantalising. The butterflies in your stomach are different now, sharper—less from nerves, more from a dark, hungry anticipation.

You catch yourself before you get too lost in the memory, forcing your focus back to the present, back to the receptionist. He’s handing you the keys—two of them. One for you, one for Agatha’s room. You mumble your thanks, feeling the weight of the cards in your hand, and force yourself to walk toward the bar where Agatha is seated.

—

A little while later, you’re in Agatha’s suite preparing her materials for tomorrow as she sits at the table, papers spread out in front of her, her sharp pen gliding across them with practiced precision. Her presence is cold, controlled—exactly how she likes it.

You’ve been through this routine countless times: taking care of the small tasks, getting everything in order, making sure she’s ready for whatever’s coming next. It’s the usual drill, only tonight it feels heavier somehow. Maybe it’s because of Rio. The thought of her, so close, almost makes your skin itch.

“Is everything ready?” Agatha’s voice cuts through the silence, her tone low and sharp.

“Yeah,” you reply, setting the keys on the desk in front of her. “I—uh, I think I saw Rio in the hotel. She must be staying here too.”

At that, Agatha’s gaze snaps to yours. Her eyes narrow, her lip curling in distaste. “Of all the places she could’ve chosen..." Her voice is low, but the venom behind it is unmistakable. You know better than to push her when she’s like this, but you’re curious about why Rio makes Agatha so... angry.

You take a breath, trying to sound casual. “You two... you’ve had history, right? Why do you hate her so much?”

For a moment, Agatha doesn’t speak. Her gaze shifts somewhere distant, her mind clearly working through something you can’t see. Then, with a sharp exhale, she leans back in her chair, her voice low, almost bitter.

“Rio Vidal…” Agatha’s tone is heavy with disdain. “We were inseparable back in school. Best friends. But it was always a competition—always. Top of the class, Model UN, class president races. We were always neck and neck. She was brilliant, you know. Almost annoyingly so. I liked it at first. But the closer we got, the more I realised we weren’t just competing for grades. We were competing for each other's attention.”

She leans forward now, eyes burning with the intensity of the memory. “We started dating when we were seniors in high school. I thought it would be perfect. Both of us at the top, together. But the moment we graduated, everything fell apart. She got the job I wanted. The one that had my name written all over it. I even tried to dig up dirt on her during the hiring process—anything to tilt the scales. But she came out spotless, like she always does.” Agatha’s hands tighten around her pen, her knuckles white. “She didn’t even want it, not really. She just applied for the experience. But she got it. And I…”

She stops, biting down on her lip, and when she speaks again, it’s through gritted teeth. “She sabotaged me; I don’t know how but she did. So, I did what anyone would do in that situation. I pushed her away. And we both took turns throwing everything away, hurting each other over and over again. It was a mess. We were constantly fighting; but god, the hate sex was phenomenal.”

A long breath. “Then, after that year, we both went our separate ways. Until the world of politics brought us back together. I will never forgive her. She’s always there. Just waiting for me to fall. And if I have to break a few rules to make sure she’s the one who stumbles, so be it. It’s survival.”

You watch her, her eyes burning with the intensity of old wounds. There’s no mistaking it: Agatha Harkness and Rio Vidal share a history that’s anything but simple.

“So,” Agatha finishes with a dry laugh, her voice colder than ice, “I’m not about to let her win. Ever.”

You can feel the weight of her words settle in the room, thick and heavy. And for a moment, you almost feel sorry for her. Almost.

But you know better than to feel sympathy. You’ve seen firsthand what happens when something gets in the way of what Agatha wants.

And getting fucked by your boss’ long-term rival and ex-girlfriend has definitely put you in the way.

—

Later that night, the soft hum of the air conditioner is the only sound in your room as you scroll aimlessly through your phone, trying to unwind after the day’s whirlwind. The room is quiet, a stark contrast to the chaotic thoughts swirling in your head. Agatha’s background with Rio has you reeling, the weight of their shared history settling heavily in your mind.

A sharp knock at the door pulls you from your thoughts. You groan, already anticipating the next round of demands. It’s late, but Agatha isn’t one for respecting boundaries, especially when she thinks something “needs” to be done.

“Coming,” you mutter, dragging yourself to the door. You yank it open, ready to fire off some excuse about needing sleep—but the words catch in your throat when you see who’s standing there.

Rio.

She leans casually against the doorframe, her devilish grin firmly in place. Her hair falls perfectly around her face, and the faint smell of her perfume wafts toward you, heady and intoxicating. She’s dressed down now—black jeans and a fitted shirt that still manage to look like they belong in a magazine spread.

“Miss me?” she asks, her voice low, playful.

Your pulse quickens, and your grip tightens on the door handle. “What are you doing here?”

“Relax,” she says, holding up her hands in mock surrender. “I just thought you might like a drink. You know, since we’re practically neighbours." She gestures down the hall. “I’m just a few doors down. Figured it’d be rude not to say hi.”

Your heart skips a beat. Agatha would absolutely lose it if she knew Rio was staying so close. The thought alone is enough to make you hesitate. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

Rio tilts her head, her smirk widening. “Come on, don’t be shy. It’s just a drink. I promise to behave.” The way her eyes linger on yours suggests otherwise, but before you can overthink it, you find yourself nodding.

“Fine,” you say, stepping into the hallway. “But just one drink.”

—

Her room is nearly identical to yours—same generic hotel furniture, same muted colour scheme. Yet somehow, it feels different. Maybe it’s the faint scent of her perfume lingering in the air or the way she moves through the space, effortlessly commanding it.

“Make yourself comfortable,” she says, gesturing to the small seating area by the window. She picks up the room service menu, scanning it quickly before glancing at you. “What’s your poison?”

You hesitate, torn between wanting to play it safe and giving in to the pull of her presence. “Surprise me.”

Rio raises an eyebrow, clearly pleased with your answer. She picks up the phone and orders a bottle of wine and a few small plates—cheese, fruit, nothing too heavy. As she hangs up, she turns back to you, her expression casual but her eyes sharp.

“So,” she says, sitting across from you, “how’s life working for Agatha Harkness? She still a miserable old witch?.”

You laugh, a dry, nervous sound. “That’s one way to put it.”

She studies you for a moment, her smile softening. “Must be exhausting, though. Always running around, making sure everything’s perfect for her.”

You shrug, trying to downplay it. “It’s a job.”

“Need me to treat you right again?” She hums, leaning back in her chair.

Before you can respond, there’s a knock at the door. Rio gets up to answer it, returning with the wine and food. She pours two glasses, handing one to you before settling back into her seat. The wine is rich and smooth, warming you from the inside out.

The conversation flows easily, the tension between you both ebbing and flowing like a tide. You talk about everything and nothing—her travels, your work, the absurdities of life in politics. But every now and then, her hand brushes against yours, her eyes lingering just a moment too long.

By the time you finish your second glass, the room feels warmer, and the air is charged with something electric. You know you should leave; staying here could lead to more trouble if Agatha ever finds out. But when Rio leans forward, her voice dropping to a whisper, you forget all the reasons you shouldn’t be here.

“Can I tell you something?” She asks, her breath warm against your skin.

You nod, your voice caught in your throat.

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” she admits, her lips curving into a sly smile.

Your heart pounds in your chest, and before you can second-guess yourself, she closes the distance between you. Her lips are soft but insistent, her hands sliding up your arms as she pulls you closer. The kiss is a slow burn at first, but it quickly intensifies, her hunger igniting something deep within you.

She stands, pulling you with her toward the bed. Her hands move with practiced ease, unbuttoning your shirt and sliding it off your shoulders. You reciprocate, your fingers fumbling slightly as you work to undress her, the heat of her skin beneath your fingertips making it hard to think straight.

You let yourself get lost in her for a while—the press of her lips, the warmth of her hands, the way her body moves against yours. But as her hand trails lower, sliding beneath the waistband of your underwear, a flash of Agatha’s searing glare cuts through your haze of desire.

“Wait,” you blurt out, your hand catching hers before she can go any further.

Rio pauses, her eyes narrowing slightly. “What’s wrong?”

You swallow hard, your heart pounding for an entirely different reason now. You gently extricate yourself from her hold, slipping off the bed and gathering your clothes. Rio watches you, her expression unreadable.

“I’m sorry,” you say quietly, avoiding her gaze.

She doesn’t stop you; she only tilts her head as you open the door and practically sprint out of the room.

When you finally make it back to your room, the tension in your chest eases slightly, but your mind is still racing. You don’t know where this path will lead, but one thing is clear: you’re already in way too deep.

—

The morning dawns bright and early, but you’re already awake—the events of the night before playing on a loop in your mind. Every time you close your eyes, you feel Rio’s lips on yours, her hands on your skin. It’s thrilling, and yet you can’t shake the unease settling in your chest.

You push the thoughts aside as you straighten your outfit in the mirror, steeling yourself for the day ahead. Agatha’s schedule is packed, and you don’t have time to let personal distractions cloud your mind.

By the time you join Agatha in the conference room, she’s already mid-rant about the inefficiency of the staff. You nod along, jotting down notes, doing your best to stay focused. But then, out of the corner of your eye, you spot Rio.

She’s standing across the room, deep in conversation with a group of attendees. Her presence is magnetic, and it feels impossible not to look. She catches your gaze and smirks, her eyes glinting with mischief.

You quickly turn back to your notepad, heat rising to your cheeks.

The day continues in a blur of meetings and logistical tasks, but Rio is everywhere—at the coffee station, in the hallway, even lingering near the stage. Every time your paths cross, she gives you that same knowing smirk, and it’s starting to feel less like coincidence and more like intention.

You try to push Rio from your mind, but it’s impossible. Every time you see her, and your heart races. Agatha would never forgive you if she found out, but there’s a part of you that can’t stop wanting Rio. You’re already tangled in her web, and you don’t know how to escape.

—

By the time lunch rolls around, you’re jittery with nerves and something else you don’t want to name. You excuse yourself, slipping out of the crowded room to catch your breath.

But as soon as you step into the quiet hallway, Rio is there.

“Funny seeing you here,” she says, her voice teasing.

You narrow your eyes at her, crossing your arms. “You’re following me.”

She grins, unapologetic. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s fate.”

You roll your eyes, but the small smile tugging at your lips betrays you.

“Come on,” she says, leaning in closer. “Let’s find somewhere a little more private.”

Before you can protest, she’s taking your hand and pulling you down the hallway. You glance around nervously, hoping no one sees you as she leads you into an empty meeting room.

The door clicks shut behind you, and the air between you shifts instantly. Rio steps closer, her hands finding your waist as she presses you against the wall.

“I’ve been thinking about last night,” she murmurs, her lips brushing against your ear. “About how good you felt.”

Your breath catches and before you can respond, her mouth is on yours. The kiss is hungry, desperate, and it sets your skin alight.

Her hands roam over your body, tugging at your clothes as she deepens the kiss. You melt into her, your own hands tangling in her hair as a moan escapes your lips. 

Her hand dips and she cups your heat through your underwear making you gasp, your hips instinctively rolling against her palm. The arousal from last night springs back to the forefront, hitting you like a wave, and it doesn’t take long before you’re keening into her touch, your body responding to her every movement.

“Fuck, you’re so needy for me,” Rio whispers against your neck, her fingers slipping beneath the fabric to find you slick and wanting.

She teases you at first, circling in maddeningly slow strokes. Your knees go weak, and you clutch at her shoulders for support as a soft whimper escapes your lips.

“Do you want me to stop?” She murmurs, her tone dripping with mock innocence.

You shake your head frantically, unable to form words. She chuckles, pressing a kiss to your collarbone before thrusting her fingers inside you.

Your moan is loud and unrestrained, echoing in the empty room. Her movements are confident and precise, driving you closer and closer to the edge with every thrust and curl of her fingers.

The tension coils tighter in your stomach, your body arching into her as you chase that blinding release. But just as you’re about to tip over, the door bursts open.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Your stomach drops as Agatha storms into the room, her face a mask of fury.

“Get your hands off her!” she snaps, striding over and grabbing you by the ear. You yelp in surprise as she pulls you away from Rio, who just withdraws her hand and leans against the wall, utterly unbothered.

“Ms Harkness, I—” you start, but she cuts you off with a glare that could freeze fire.

“I don’t want to hear it,” she says sharply. She turns her attention to Rio, her voice dripping with venom. “You just can’t help yourself, can you? Always sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Rio shrugs, her smirk widening. “What can I say? Old habits die hard.”

You glance back at her, your face burning with embarrassment and frustration. She meets your gaze, her eyes glinting with amusement as she slowly lifts her fingers to her mouth. She licks them clean, her tongue curling around them provocatively, and your breath catches.

Agatha doesn’t miss the exchange. “We’re leaving. Now.” Agatha’s fingers tighten around your wrist as she pulls you into the hallway. She’s angry, but there’s something more beneath that rage. She doesn’t want to lose you.

You try to pull away from Agatha's grip, your heart pounding in your chest, but the heat of the kiss is still fresh in your mind. Guilt claws at you, but there's something else, something dangerous, urging you to give in to the chaos.

-----

idk how I feel about this, I had all the ideas and then I lost them all trying to tie up the ending 😭

-----

taglist: @aceday @danveration @alwaysharmony @idkwhatever580 @lostbutlovely33 @sunshine-makes-flowers-grow @dont-blame-me-she-made-me-crazy @seaoflittlefires @sapphic-murder

[asofspades]

Next post regarding the LU boy's adventure items

This time it's about shared items or items that are similar enough to lead to group "activities"

Okay, Pegasus boots, bothe Four and Legend have them, however Time might not have Pegasus boots but he has the rabbit hood, this has potential for them having races to see who's faster (and if Legend cheats a bit by using a Pegasus seed to run even faster no one will ever know), I can also see wind stealing the rabbit hood to race them.

The slingshot, I've noticed a lot of the Links have slingshots, Twilight has one, Sky has one that when upgraded shoots multiple seeds, Four has a slingshot (FSA), Time has a slingshot as well, Legend also has an upgraded slingshot (Hyper slingshot in OoS), potential for slingshot competitions, or their slingshots getting mixed up and due to being from different materials, sizes and qualities they have a hard time using the others slingshots. Twilight just casually pulls out the hawkeye to aim better and everyone laughs because he looks funny.

Magic boomerangs, basically most of them have regular boomerangs, however Legend (oracle games), Hyrule (Tloz 1), Four (MC) have a magic boomerang and Twilight has a magic wind boomerang (it has the wind fairy inside, why does no one ever talk about that).

Fishing rods, Time, Wind (Phantom Hourglass) and Twi can go regular fishing while Wild just bombs the hell out of the river.

Explosives, okay, hear me out, plenty of links have bombchus (Legend in OoA, Wind in PH, Time), Four has remote bombs (MC) like Wild, Twilight has bomblings (similar to bombchus but they're insect like) and underwater bombs, Time also has the Blast mask (MM) the destructive explosion potential of these guys (without counting the bombos medallion).

Arson gang, I know we usually think Wild and Wind are the arsonists, mainly because wind likes mischief and Wild is just Wild, and Four gets incorporated sometimes thanks to red and his fire rod (I'm just saying, I fully believe Four himself as a compound of the colours has potential to be a little shit and an arsonist, no red influence needed), but Legend has like 2 fire rods at least (alttp, albw), a magic rod that works like fire and the fire gloves, how is that dude not considered a part of the arsonist gang please, he's such a little shit as well no matter how much sarcasm and broodiness he's surrounded by, also, twilight literally blew up a bomb storage by setting fire to the place during his adventure, just saying... Hyrule can join with his own magic rod as a treat. And also, let Time join with Din's Fire, he was a menace in the war of ages, let him be a menace as a grown up. It turns out Warriors has a fire rod, he can join the arson activities to release stress. All links are arsonists confirmed.

Magnetism, hear me out, Wild has magnesis, Twi has the ball & chain (metal) and iron boots (magnetic), Time and Wind have iron boots as well (also magnetic), legend has his magnet gloves and Four has magnet gloves and in addition he IS magnetic (the logic behind that is besides me, maybe it's related to the elemental magic he has or something). The potential por Wild and/or Legend suddenly finding out Four is magnetic in the most anticlimactic and hilarious way (accidentally attracting him with their abilities). Wild using magnesis to mess around with Wind, Twi and Time when they have the boots on or using it to carry them around or get them places and obviously Wild using magnesis to steal the ball and chain from Twi. I've been told Warriors also has a chain & ball, wild definitely will mess with it when he fails at stealing it from Twi.

Legend and Four use flippers to swim and I think it's hilarious that Legend has apparently never learnt to swim because he used them in all his adventures, apparently Four can in fact swim in FS so he did learn how to swim in the end. Those two would drown without them. Also, I think Twi, Sky, Time and Wild are the only ones that know how to swim without any extra gear (they get things for breathing under water like the Zora armour or Water dragon Scale or Zora scale, or swim faster and climb up waterfalls in wild's case) wind knows how to swim but he gets no extra gear. Technically the only ones who can't swim and don't have gear to swim are Hyrule (yes, the guy who uses a raft to cross rivers) and Wars (I need people to not automatically give him swimming abilities unless I'm missing something from Hyrule Warriors).

Digging. There's Links who have used shovels, Legend has used one in the oracle games, Wind has one in Phantom hourglass and then two links have digging mitts with different capacities (Four and his mole mitts, Sky and his mogma mitts). Imagine you're just casually digging up something with a shovel meanwhile one buddy of yours is digging up a cave and the other one is digging tunnels underground, I particularly find it hilarious that it's both Links who have adventures above the clouds who have the best digging abilities. Four also has a shovel but the mitts are just superior.

And now, one of those things that further confirm the characters that can use light magic, Legend, Time, Wind and Four use light arrows in their adventures, in addition Legend, Time and Wind use fire and ice arrows. Hyrule just said "fuck you" and used silver arrows because he's just that cool.

I want Legend, Four and Sky to cause mayhem with their gust jars and gust bellows respectively, bonus points if Wind joins with his Deku leaf and Wild just pulls a deku leaf of his as well.

Hammer gang, Legend, Four, Wind and Time have hammers and Hyrule has a glove specifically for smashing blocks, they could be menaces. (Also, consider Four and even Legend have extra practice with hammers from being in the forge, they would be terrifying with a hammer). Bonus points for Time just casually lifting whole as columns and slamming them on the ground. It seems Warriors has a hammer as well, he can join the hammer gang.

Also, can you imagine the reaction of the guys who have a simple hookshot (Time, Wind, Legend, Warriors) to Twilight and Sky's double hook shots.

Final thing is, imagine in order to get up a ledge Hyrule casually pulls out the stepladder, wild starts climbing (they're used to that at least), and four makes a whole in the ground with a shovel and uses the cane of pacci to shoot himself upwards, then Legend says fuck it and pulls out the tornado rod. There's so much potential for fun moments in fics or full on crackfics.

[incorrectbatfam]

Duke and damian headcanons

Please?

Dick: Hey, Duke, sorry to spring this up last minute, but Wally really needs me in Keystone City. Could you look after Damian for the day?

Duke: Yeah, sure, no problem.

Dick: Sweet, thanks. He's still trying to get a hang of being a normal kid, so maybe you could do some stuff together to show him how.

Duke: Normal kid stuff.

Dick: Exactly. Thanks, I owe you one.

[later that evening]

Bruce: So what did everyone do today?

Cass: Arson.

Jason: Murder.

Tim: Blackmail.

Stephanie: Blackmail but better.

Dick: Chasing Weather Wizard across Kansas.

Bruce: Duke, Damian, how about you? You guys had the day off.

Dick: Oh yeah. Dami, did Duke take you to do some fun kid stuff?

Duke, laughing nervously: I guess you can say that—

Damian: We bought an ATV off Facebook Marketplace and went mud riding.

Bruce: Well, that's not so—

Damian: Then we went to the planetarium and used Father's credit card to rent out the theater for an hour-long stargazing show.

Damian: After that, we made spaghetti tacos for lunch and ate them while swinging around in our civilian attire.

Damian: Then I met Thomas's friends and they introduced me to live-action roleplaying—

Duke: It's just called LARPing.

Damian: —Yes, whatever. Except their costumes and weapons felt lackluster, so we brought them to the Batcave for a much-needed upgrade. After all, why duel with cardboard battle axes when the real thing is so much better? Plus, Thomas found a use for the yellow kryptonite in the storage.

Bruce: Duke, is this true—

Damian: Oh, and we mustn't forget the mountain goat. It got tired so it's resting in Father's bed.

Dick: Sounds... interesting.

Damian: I didn't even get to Mount Crime Alley.

Bruce:

Dick:

Duke: ...Excuse me, please.

Duke: *sprints upstairs and locks himself in his room*

Alfred: Looks like he will fit right in.

[yanderes-galore]

yandere zane ninjago x nindroid darling who also has (unspecified) elemental powers if you can ofc!!!

I'll see what I can come up with, sure! Pardon me if I get Zane lore wrong, I never finished the show so this is a 'what if' Scenario :(

Yandere! Zane with Nindroid! Darling

Pairing: Platonic/Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Overprotective behavior, Manipulation, Slight jealousy, Isolation, Dubious companionship/relationship.

The one idea that comes to mind would be you and Zane being built together.

You and Zane were meant to be a pair.

It was like you were supposed to be companions to each other.

Unfortunately, somehow you two were separated.

You're both old model Nindroids but Zane barely has any memory of you.

You were probably deactivated and put into storage...

Only to be found later in a newer era.

That's the general idea I have when it comes to how Zane and you knew each other.

You were meant to be a way to keep Zane from being lonely.

Whether as a sibling or a partner is completely up to you.

You were quite literally built alongside him and for him.

This may also explain why you're capable of elemental power.

Since you and Zane are very similar.

Imagine if the ninja kept finding blueprints of another Nindroid but you were nowhere in sight.

Zane vaguely thinks the pictures are familiar, yet can't pin point anything.

It isn't until you're found and reactivated safely that anything really develops.

Zane suddenly feels a connection to you when you activate.

You're familiar and by looking at your blueprints and memories...

You two used to be close.

Zane feels bad his memories didn't click until now.

You were his first companion and he hasn't remembered you until now.

Despite that... He also feels like he's known you forever.

This scenario gives Zane a reason to obsess over a Nindroid other than just meeting you and developing a fascination.

Zane would feel even more of a connection as you're capable of elements too.

You didn't specify one so you can either choose one or be able to swap them out through some technological means.

Zane would probably try to have you upgraded like him.

After all, by the time they find you, your tech may be outdated.

Zane would feel protective since you're technically the closest person to him.

He'd be curious to know more about you just to properly fill his memory bank.

There's just a certain connection with you that no one else has.

Which makes sense as you two were built with a bond.

Meant to be bonded.

That built in connection would cause his obsession, perhaps after being corrupted.

How was it corrupted?

Maybe when he was helping upgrade you, some code went where it wasn't supposed to...

Which tosses you both into trouble.

Or maybe the reason you were separated was because he was always like this towards you.

Zane would try to justify his obsession.

He watches over you, carefully watches and analyzes how you interact with the other ninja, all with this oddly fond yet unnerving stare...

When others bring it up, or even you, Zane simply doesn't think it's creepy.

This should be normal between you!

Don't you trust him?

You can't know anyone else like he does with you!

It's simply improbable due to the connection you two have.

I imagine this would make it hard to leave him.

Zane, due to your bond, is under the impression you two are meant to be.

Doesn't matter how.

He just feels you can't leave one another.

He'd be desperate to convince you or keep that connection.

To the point he comes off as protective or even possessive at times.

Zane is unintentionally isolating.

He's so focused on the idea of you two being meant to be that he often doesn't consider how you feel at times.

You may want to interact with the other ninja, yet Zane is suffocating.

He doesn't comprehend the idea of you being or wanting to be away from him.

After all, don't you feel it too?

You're two halves of one whole.

Which draws him to you.

Zane isn't really violent, in fact he's oblivious to how wrong his obsession is.

He always wants to be around, always wants to spend time with you...

Zane wants to be as important to you as you are to him.

It wouldn't make sense if you went to any other.

While he doesn't kill out of jealousy, he may be violent if you were threatened or someone suggested something was wrong.

He doesn't understand, nothing's wrong?

Him wanting to be around you all the time can't be wrong.

Why would it be?

Isolation? That's not what this is!

The others just don't understand... and you're just confused.

What he's doing isn't wrong...

You two are meant to be... literally built for one another.

Is wanting to be by your side forever, inseparable, all that bad if you're meant to be?

[the-legendaryboi]

People In Kon's life That Should Meet Up (because it would be cool)

Pa Kent & Guardian: They will maximize their Concerned Dad energy to pester Kon to have better life decisions

Ma Kent & Martha Jr. (and Lophi): Lophi allowed Kon to name their kid after Ma Kent, Martha, even though she did not know about that woman! Let them meet up!! Ma would get so emotional holding a child named after her specifically! She would be smitten that Kon did what she did for him when he was younger and Clark when was a baby. He helped a stranger and raised a kid because they needed help, safety, and protection. Imagine her bragging rights after their meet up and talking with her husband- Yeah, Clark and Lois named their son after you, but Kon named his adopted daughter after me so...we are both winning :D

Aura (Lindsay) and Kong Kenan: They would become fast friends after one session of shit-talking the Chinese Gov't. Aura got hunted down by gov't enforcers with the help of her own father and Kenan had been given the startling realization his mother would choose her gov't loyalty over the kid she had.

Kaliber and Kong Kenan: All three of them (Kaliber, Kenan, and Kon) can maximize their Superman fanboy energy and become an unstoppable force of glee over a hero they look up to!

Natasha Irons & Hero Cruz: First off: Black Lesbian-Gay solidarity representation!! Also I think they would be an amazing people to be around in parties and just in general. They would make great friends to me and each other. Hero bringing his calm and chill vibes (and his boyfriend, Leander) and Natasha decides to make...certain upgrades the liqueur storage. Hero won't stop her but will enable every wild invention idea she has!

Natasha Irons & Aura: First off, the combine energy of badass tactically minded and inventive women! Aura has the ability to control every piece of metal near her. She is so good at it she can form armor from metal scraps with a single thought! Natasha is a brilliant inventor who could build anything if she put her focus into it! Also, they just bring a lot of fun and personal joy in everything they do. They don't forget to be themselves no matter how hard their current situation is- and that shared feeling is starting point for a friendship and maybe something more!

Hillary & Robert and Lolina: I just wanted to include Lolina in this list. Anyway! I can see them making light-hearted jokes on Kon's expense and maybe Under The Sea adventures! Perhaps, Hillary and Robert are interested to get to know Lolina as a person and first merfolk they have ever seen and be more knowledgeable about the sea! Lolina can have other to show off her herd of Sharks!

Jimmy Tilton & Match: Okay! This is another 'I want to see them again' inclusion I made because I've been obsessed with Match since September 2024 and I've loved that comic issue of Jimmy and Kon! Anyway, they were both screwed over by researchers and scientists with dubious morals. They have been dehumanized a lot by the adults and supposed caretakers in their life and seen more as a product than a person. I don't know how their friendship would go- Maybe Jimmy teaches Match to be more like a person that could form their own wants and needs and act on those ambitions and passions. Maybe Match comforts Jimmy with the strangeness of his existence and maybe even find a method or something that could help with Jimmy's condition (Don't remind me that Jimmy T. is dead, let me be at peace in Delululand)

[tinyowlthoughts]

Been rewatching The Amazing Digital Circus and began to wonder, who helps Caine with all the assets and metadata? Well, wonder no longer! It's Biblia!

Small, loud, and possibly narcoleptic, this tiny owl is charge of the TADC Asset Library. It's her job to keep track of all the files Caine uses in his adventures, and to find them when needed. Of course, she and Caine have very different ideas of how the files should be organized...

No matter! She's the librarian, she'll just put it all back together after Caine messes it up again. No worries. It's not like she has a million other things to do, like upgrading and updating the files while they're dormant to make sure they're not degrading in storage. Speaking of, she pulled this one crocodile - alligator? - NPC for the fast food adventure, and something is a bit off with his code...

No need to worry. It's not like he can abstract, or spontaneously gain sentience and sapience, being an NPC, right? She'll just tuck him back in the card catalog and hopefully nothing will ever come of this little quirk! Besides, she has to make sure Jax hasn't made off with all the centipedes again...

Despite being a resident of the circus, Biblia wouldn't consider herself a 'friend' of the players. She's happy to assist them and speak with them when they come to her library (barring Jax, who has a permanent ban he ignores), but is far happier in her own company, or at her weekly tea with Bubble. As a program, she doesn't feel the same need for socializing the players do. (She's terribly fond of them, but refuses to admit getting attached. It just makes the abstractions harder...)

After first being created, she did question Caine about his choice of form - she is neither a toy nor a circus act. He waxed poetic about the long history in Western culture of owls being associate with wisdom, libraries and learning institutions. That made sense (in an odd-ball, Caine-like way). When asked about the size, Caine shrugged and called her travel-sized.

She didn't speak to him for a week.

Despite having access to her own metadata, thus the ability to change her form, Biblia has learned to be happy with her size, as it lets her be quick, quiet, and sneaky - all necessary things for the TADC Asset Librarian. Besides, Caine would be sad if she changed. And there are much more...educational things she can do with the metadata. Things that remind Jax why he needs to stay out of her library.

Maybe one day they'll get along, but I'm not holding my breath.

(My first time drawing the TADC cast - so much fun, and such a challenge! Loved figuring out Zooble for her picture.)

For my Master's in Library Science, in one class we had to create a classification for a specific collection (I did horror novels), as well as figure out parts of the metadata that would be used in an ILS (Integrated Library System). It was my favorite project, along with my metadata classes, so when I was thinking of what a TDAC OC would look like, the asset librarian came to mind! I hope you like her - or at least think her and Jax torturing each other is a little funny.

Cheers!

[x86girl]

COMPUTERPICS! FINALLY!

3 photos and a buncha text underneath!

heres the tower of power aka my lovely desktop lovers. i dont have my own place so my cumputers are all stacked up in my very small bedroom i rent.

from the bottom up, here we have the black deepcool case from my first gaming pc build. rn it has an older gaming setup board in it that i took from work, and am going to turn into a NAS archive.

right of that is the strikingly handsome Compaq AP550 workstation, a dual Slot One CPU system ive populated with two Pentum IIIs but have yet to start up!

to his right is one of my two gateway G series desktops, a GP7-500, which i believe is sporting a Pentium II i shoved in there mostly for storage, and to use its Pentium III in the compaq, hahah. my second gateway tower is atop him, a G6-350 with a Pentium II.

to her left is another generic build, the newest among my vintage desktop computers, sporting a Pentium 4. i named her Nike after the very coincidentally formed mark on her front which i cant bring myself to wipe away =]

above her, obfuscated by the coyote prayer flags from artist CoyoticTroubles, is my Macintosh SE, Sarah! she was the first vintage computer i ever owned! i got her when i was a teenager from a flea market. she sports dual diskette drives and an ultradrive 80 Si hard disk with some interesting files on it. since i didnt get her from my work, i was able to keep the data on her disk. hopefully it hasnt all been lost, since i havent turned her on since highschool! heres a clear photo of her:

to her right you can see one of my many toughbooks, a projector, and a somewhat busted up tape drive. ill post some more individual photos sometime soon maybe! something more intimate. id also like to do sensual repair or maintenance or upgrade POV videos with them!

the rest of my computers in my room live on top of my dresser, demonstrated in the following photo featuring my partners spidergwen statue and a little playdoh sculpture they made me hahahah. here you can see my Dell Optiplex GXa holding up two generic builds from the 90s, and on the right my HP 700/96 terminal, who matches my HP D-Class 9000 server that i havent photographed yet. on top of the left tower theres a chip programmer box i found at work hahah its super cool looking i had to take it..

you can also see my appleCD drive on the far right!

feel free to let me know what you think about my harem collection of vintage computers in the replies or my dms or reblog or whatevs idk im new here and i just love chatting with folks! thnx for looking!

[ms-demeanor]

Hey! I appreciate your perspective on computer-based things. I think I need to get a laptop and would love your opinion on decent brands. If you don't have an opinion or want to answer please disregard the q.

Context: I'm often on the move and really want something small, light, and that will last a long time. I'm bad about buying new things or taking things to be fixed so ideally it's not something that dies quickly or needs frequent repairs. For a while I used an iPad for this but I need more of a keyboard than tablets have and the shelf life of an iPad is shorter than it should be for the cost. Mine is 7 years old and only works while plugged in... I liked my Macbook Pro I got for college but it's almost 15 years old and given I haven't needed a new one since I don't think spending all that on a Mac makes sense either. I use a gaming PC mostly but I'm going to need to travel a lot more in the upcoming year. I'm ok to spend up a bit since I want it to last.

I think you're going to have to adjust your expectations about the average functional lifespan of electronics. Seven years is a lot to get out of any tablet and fifteen years is way way way above average for a computer.

At work we estimate that the functional lifespan of a laptop will be around five years and the functional life of a desktop will be around seven years; we include upgrades in that lifespan, like adding RAM and storage.

It is not *unusual* to get more than five years out of a laptop or seven years out of a desktop, but if you are a heavy user of anything other than a browser and a word processor, that's about the time when you'll find that the computer feels slow enough to be frustrating. This isn't a hard limit, and it's not something that everyone experiences because people use computers differently, but if you're an artist and you use a drawing program that program will start to feel slow after a while because as updates and patches and drivers have been tweaked for newer devices they've slowly left your device in the dust.

This isn't planned obsolescence, by the way. Computer manufacturers try to "future proof" their devices to a certain extent, but you just can't anticipate certain kinds of changes. Maybe your laptop was manufactured before there were consumer SSDs available so its operating system doesn't take the advantages and limitations of SSDs into account. Maybe your desktop was built for DDR3 RAM and we're now on DDR5 and people aren't writing programs to the standard of the old technology, they're taking advantage of the standards of the new technology.

Since you were able to use your devices comfortably for such a long time, it sounds like you're not a very heavy user and don't need to worry too much about beefing up your specs. However it does sound like you want to keep your computer and use it as long as possible while paying a reasonable price for it (which is good! I think we should all try to extend the lives of our electronic devices as much as possible!).

I actually think you sound like a good match for a Framework laptop.

Framework is a company that makes laptops that are a lot more modular than what's on the market these days. They're mean to be easy to open up for upgrades and sturdy for heavy use. Most of the parts of the laptop are easily replaceable - including the screen - so you can use them for a long time and easily make upgrades that will help the computer feel fresher.

They're a bit more expensive than comparable PCs but much easier to repair if you aren't comfortable opening up your own computer (framework is intentionally built to be easy for people who are non-technical to work on their computers), and they are a LOT less expensive than comparable macs.

I still think you're probably looking at around 7 years of regular use out of a Framework and it won't *break* at that point, it will just. Probably be a bit slow and frustrating. You might not be able to get parts for it after a certain point. You eventually won't be able to upgrade the OS. But that's true of all computers.

I've still got my 2005 macbook. It still turns on, I can still use garage band on it. But it doesn't connect to the internet and uses such an old USB standard that it is extremely slow to transfer data on or off of and it cries and freezes if i try to use photoshop. It's not broken, it's just no longer useful as a daily computer.

What I'm defining as functional here is "Is able to run multiple programs (including at least one browser with 50+ tabs open and two office suites) at the same time for 8-10 hours a day without crashing, freezing, or losing data and restarting is not a major inconvenience."

In those terms, it does sound like you're probably in need of an upgrade (I can't imagine that your current machine is particularly quick) and I think that a framework laptop would suit your needs well.

If you're looking for something somewhat less expensive, you can generally find a decent thinkbook with a 12th or 13th gen i5 processor, 16GB RAM, and a 500GB SSD for around $700-ish, which is the low end of what I think you're going to pay for a decent laptop. I'm reccing lenovo here because I personally like them and have found them to be very easy to crack open for repairs and upgrades. Stick to the thinkbook over the thinkpad because that's the business line and is a bit sturdier and they are designed to be easier to upgrade over time.

Actually, here's a thinkbook with a 12th gen i5, 40GB RAM, and a 1tb SSD for under $700. That's a shockingly good price for that laptop; the reseller OEMGenuine is one I've purchased from many times before for work and I've found them to be reliable, though the reason those specs are so good is because they've added aftermarket parts, so your RAM and SSD won't be under warranty from Lenovo.

For Framework you're looking at at least $1000, but it's easy to plug and play with upgrades so you can start out with lower specs (except processor, don't cheap out on the processor) and upgrade later. The framework is a bit smaller and easier to travel with, but I have a laptop quite similar to the lenovo and it's not a huge pain to move around - it's very light but the 15" screen might be bigger than you're looking for.

If you're willing to spend a little bit more and you're very uninterested in doing your own upgrades and would prefer the most computer you can get for your money right out of the gate, this is a 12th gen i7 thinkpad with 40GB RAM and a 2TB SSD for $1150. (I've not ordered from this reseller before, so maybe check over their terms if you're considering purchasing from them.)

[dogsuffrage]

Okay I'm not sold on the Switch 2 at its $450 price tag. A summary:

Can use joycons as mice. This is genuinely cool for pc ports. Not sold on its use in console games.

Voice chat that sounded like ass in the direct so you know it SUCKS irl. And the mic is in the switch itself, not controllers, so it will be across the room when not in handheld mode. I promise you this will not work well.

Share screen mode that was like 5 fps in the direct so probably nonfunctional irl.

A separate camera you can buy for video calls and Kinect style games. Why would someone pay extra for this.

GameShare in the old DS style where you can have one game owner play multiplayer with their friends. This rules as it did 20 years ago.

Only first party launch game is Mario Kart World which looks fun but is 80 big ones. $80 for a party game is a big I dunnoooooo from me. Maybe if people LOVE it and it is pretty expansive.

No other big games coming soon? Kirby's AirRide is a childhood classic so I'm hype but it's also historically a party game. And the Donkey Kong game didn't do it for me. Only exclusive is the FromSoft game that I was very hype for before I learned it was a competitive online game.

General improvements such as increased storage, changes in button design, 1080p handheld/4k docked, 120 fps, 3D audio. All good things but just puts it on par with last gen consoles.

Can buy upgrade versions of some Switch games for an unspecified reduced price if you own the original.

At $450, this is too close to PS5 prices to justify what is ultimately, to me, just what Switch Pro should have been. Without a banger first party game collection, which we do not have, I do not see the point in what amounts to a Switch with performance upgrades that is outcompeted by other consoles. Probably worth it if you only play on Switch or love handheld. I am neither.

[britt-kageryuu]

Donnie was in the middle of playing a Game Shop owner simulator game. Their model is dressed in an purple polo shirt, a gold colored apron with the shop name 'Softshell Cards' on it, along with a gold trimmed purple visor over his bandana.

The shop was pretty expanded, the layout and stock were already optimized, not to mention aesthetically pleasing and Donnie was looking over the numbers the determine what to do next.

"So, we have the choice of buying a new product, but so many have dropped in market price that it doesn't look like a good option." Donnie says while bringing up a spreadsheet of the market price fluctuations.

They look over at the NPCs roaming about with their slightly wonky pathing, the employees restocking, and running the register.

"If it were not for the fact that I haven't fully unlocked every possible SKU, and shop expansion, you would think there was nothing left to do. Bored Sigh." Donnie leans back in their chair, still going over the data that was collected.

Donnie slightly minimizes the game, and brings up a video of Leo playing the same game, though he seems to be loosing his mind over the NPCs not buying things.

[Leo: I know I can't actually talk these guys into buying anything, but why do they keep saying these are to expensive?!

He goes to look at the price tag.

Leo with a confused look: When did the price plummet so far? It was like $5-7 higher two days ago!]

Donnie sits watching their twin play the game very differently to they are.

"Inquisitive Hum. Maybe I should change up my strategy. Make a new file, and have Shelldon decide how I go about it." They then do just that.

Exiting to the main menu, making a new save file, and bringing Shelldon into play.

Shelldon leads Donnie to play a bit more chaotically, buying items Donnie wouldn't, selling items that Shelldon though were cool and not caring about pricing.

"Whoa Dude. We can get that shop upgrade! Storage Room acquired!" Shelldon celebrates while having Donnie move back stock racks into their new 'Storage Room', and order more items.

"Don't forget the rent Dude! Then get the license for that new figure!"

Donnie enjoys this even if it's not quite how They wanted to play.

The audience enjoy watching the Father and AI Son gaming together.

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

Masterpost

This is short because I keep getting conflicted on how to write out playing this game, because different people I watched played so differently.

Was going to compare Leo and Donnies ways of playing, but I couldn't really get it into my mind what they would do.

And I kept being like 'well if I played this I'd play like this!'

Yeah the game is TCG Card Shop Simulator

[dragonfirerogue-writes]

Hello! If it's okay, I'd like to request a male (or, if you don't want that, a gender neutral) fawning over Tifa Lockhart as she shows off her strength.

Maybe they're at a junkyard and the reader cheers her on to lift and crush old, outmoded vehicles, and it ends with her carrying the reader into the sunset to a more romantic place.

Strength of a Woman

If anyone looked into the junkyard, they would see Tifa and Cloud standing by a pair of legs hanging out of the hood of a rust bucket. Occasionally, a piece of metal would fly out and join a growing pile by Cloud's feet.

"Hey, how much longer are you gonna be?" The blond asks. "We've been waiting for a while now. Isn't that enough scrap?"

You finally emerge from the hood, cleaning your hands of grease and oil.

"I'm done now. And this scrap helps to upgrade your shit, so you better be grateful."

The quip makes Tifa chuckle and Cloud rolls his eyes. He takes a hold of his Hard Edge and slams the blade into the vehicle. The group monk joins in, slamming her fist into the metal and helping to condense the old car into a metal cube.

"Why are we doing this manually again?" Despite the question, Cloud moves to the next thing in the junkyard. Tifa's the one who replies this time.

"They're overflowing with junk since their baler broke," she starts. "Apparently it's been hard to find the parts."

"That's why I'm here," you add. "I'm gonna fix it, but work still has to be done." You put most of the scrap into your storage box and take the rest towards the baler. "So you do your part and I'll do mine!" You twirl a wrench to make your point.

After twenty minutes, you hear a phone ring. You all perk up and look around before Cloud pats his pocket and pulls out his cell. "Yeah?" You can hear the muffled sounds of Barrett's loud voice. Loud enough that Cloud holds the phone away from his ear. With a roll of his eyes, he mumbles an affirmative before hanging up.

"Barrett apparently needs help on a hunt. I'm gonna go do that. You two can finish up here, right?"

With a kick, the baler roars to life and you let out a cheer. "Yup! Now that this baby's up and running, we'll be done in no time!"

Cloud just nods and walks away. As soon as he's out of earshot, Tifa lets out a laugh.

"He hates tedious jobs like this. He left so quickly."

You had joined in the laughter, wiping a tear from your eyes. "I wondered how long he was gonna last."

As the laughter dies down, you both turn back to the junkpile.

"Welp. Let's finish up and go home, yeah?" You say. "I'm sorry I'm not much help on this part."

Tifa gives you a soft smile before leaning in for a quick kiss. "It's what I'm here for. Just make sure the baler keeps working."

You just nod, slightly dazed from the kiss. She moves towards the pile and starts lifting the pieces and throwing them into the machine. You sit by the maintenance panel, making sure things don't break. However, you keep getting distracted by the woman in your company.

Tifa was beautiful by normal standards. Her long, dark hair was soft and shined in the sun. Her skin was near flawless, even with all she does. Her legs were to absolutely die for. And her strength? Godly. The way her muscles flex with every movement enchants you. Her sweat glistens and makes her look ethereal. But her biggest strength was her heart. Despite living in the slums and everything she sees and deals with, Tifa was kind. Her love for her friends and team was what really drew you to her. It's why you fell in love. You certainly felt lucky that her love for you matched the love you had for her.

"I can feel that stare, you know."

You gave a start at being caught, but you recovered with a grin. You can see the light blush on her face that had nothing to do with the job.

"I can't help it, T. You're just... Amazing."

Tifa just laughs and shakes her head fondly. She hefts another piece of metal into the baler before turning to you.

"You're pretty great yourself, Y/N." She moves closer and pulls you into a loose hug. "You're so smart. You don't take anyone's shit. Even Barrett's." The beauty nuzzles closer before whispering, "Not to mention how good with your hands you are..."

It was like a volcano of steam bursts from your head as your face burns red. And despite the line, you can see Tifa blushing as well. There is a moment of intense tension before you both crack up laughing.

"Now I'm thinking things and I want this job to be done with," you mention as you step away, fanning yourself lightly. You look over and blink, seeing the pile of junk gone. "Oh, we're done."

Suddenly, you feel yourself being lifted off your feet. Scrambling a bit, your arms find their place around Tifa's shoulders. A laugh escapes and you kick your legs a little.

"Shall we go home, clean up and do...things?"

Your dark-haired love laughs as she begins walking.

"We have time before the bar opens. Let's hurry home."

Tifa picks up the pace and trots towards the sunset with you in her arms. Nothing could be better.

[secretly-jayce]

HexTech Entry #2:

I’ve been more zoned out than usual today. I somehow managed to knock a glass beaker off of a bunsen burner. With my lightning quick reflexes, I caught it… subsequently burning the shit out of my hand and dropping it anyway. Ouch.

On the bright side, I managed to clean up the mess before Viktor got back. Well, I had to stall him a little but I’m fairly certain he didn’t suspect a thing!

Speaking of, Viktor ran some tests on the HexClaw in a decently sized storage unit that we repurposed. He fixed the motion sensitivity but it looks like the laser might actually be too strong. For now, we’re gonna work on adjusting it to be a little safer. It definitely works, though! Viktor drew a pretty impressive self portrait in a slab of stone. I didn’t know he was so artistic!

So far, the Atlas Gauntlet upgrades are still in the works. The Noxian minerals arrived this morning, but with my bandaged hand, it’s gonna be hard to provide the precision they’ll need. Hopefully I’ll be back to normal soon.

Even though today was less productive than I hoped, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made. I’ll try to keep updating. Hopefully it’ll be helpful to have something to look back on. Maybe someone will find these in the future. That would be embarrassing…

- Jayce Talis

[sirfrogsworth]

Wishlist Haul

All I asked for were pants, and those are coming Saturday. But you all came through in a big way with my wishlist and helped me solve some problems that have really been bugging me lately.

One of my biggest current issues is my decision to use my M1 MacBook Air as my main computer until I can move my PC upstairs at some distant time in the future. Which means I need to ask a lot more of it. And it is capable, as these Apple Silicon devices are amazing and very zippy, but I only got 256 GB of storage because I thought this would just be a secondary computer while I was taking care of my dad.

So I need storage. And if you do photography and use Lightroom, you know you need *fast* storage. In the days of spinny disc drives, going back and forth between images was maddeningly slow. I already hate the process of culling photos and picking the best ones. And sometimes you'd need to find 5 winners out of a few hundred. And when it took 3 seconds to switch between every photo, I wanted to die. And honestly, it could still be better.

But one of the best solutions is a super fast SSD. Which I had. I bought it right before my parents got especially ill and was planning to install it in my PC. But my priorities changed and I just never found the energy.

The problem is that was an internal NVME SSD. I needed it to be external.

Which is where this little thingie comes in.

This is an NVME enclosure, and if you are looking for cheap, fast external storage, this is so much better than those external SSDs they overcharge for. For $200 they give you a 2TB drive that can read about 2000 MB per second. Or you can get a 2TB NVME and this enclosure for the same price and get 3000 MB per second. Not only that, but it is upgradeable. In a year when 4TB is $100, you can plop that in. And the Mac's Thunderbolt 4 has a max speed of around 5000 MB/s, so there is room to improve there as well. Though sometimes advertised speeds are not reality speeds.

The only thing you need to be aware of is these drives run hot. You're going to think there is something wrong with them. Like, they top out at 90C. Which is nearly 200 degrees in freedom units.

I wanted a convenient way to mount my drive, but I didn't want 200 degrees on the back of my screen, so... MAGNETS!

And I can stack a few more if that section starts feeling too hot.

So, I have that problem solved. I can now use this as my main computer and work on my photography.

Next up... fashion!

I'm going out more and I want to look a little more presentable. I thought these two tone shirts looked a little more fashionable. And they are very comfortable too. I have a red one that I think I'm going to wear on my trip. I know you can't see the two tone well in the picture, so here is the product photo of the red one.

Next problem?

Well, it's maybe not a problem so much as something cool I wanted. A black light!

My mom had all of this uranium glass and I had no idea my salt shaker was marginally radioactive all these years. I really wanted to take a proper photo of some of the glass before it all gets sold at auction. So this should be a fun experiment.

I will say, if you don't have uranium glass, don't get a black light. You will want to burn your house down. It does not matter how clean you think you got something... you didn't clean it enough. And I have all of this dry flaky skin on my feet. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't bother me. You can't even really see it unless you look really close. But when I shined the light on my feet they looked like they had some undocumented disease. I will not be sharing a photo of that.

But the depression glass, that's super neat.

Some proper photos coming soon I hope. Maybe after my trip.

Next problem!

My key fob. This thing is a piece of shit.

Even if it looks cool under a black light, it is THE WORST.

It's cheap plastic, it takes a stupid watch battery, the symbols on the buttons all wore off. And all of that I could handle, but for some reason this fob has an effective range of about 2 feet. I literally have to be standing next to the door before it will work.

I had a black fob that worked much better, only the plastic casing was falling apart. But I taped it up as best I could and hoped it would not fall apart. Then I went to get my tires changed and they needed the fob to do some special reset of the pressure sensors and the battery died before they could. I went home to try and change the battery, and the entire thing basically disintegrated on me.

The inside looks like this.

The battery retention contact is held on by a tiny dab of solder. And if you pull the battery up even a little, it snaps off. And that's what happened. And to make matters worse, the rubber buttons were falling apart and the unlock button just... fell off.

So I was either stuck with the 2 foot range green one or I needed a new fob. Thankfully, they are only 20 bucks for 2 on Amazon. Unfortunately you need a dealer or an auto locksmith to program them. The lowest quote was $100 for about 5 minutes of work. The dealer actually wanted to sell me the fob as well, which they quoted as $150 for ONE. Same cheap plastic piece of shit and everything.

So, I got all of the parts from the broken fob and I hot glued that battery contact back into place and I transplanted that into a shiny new casing.

Works just like new. The buttons feel much better, I can actually see the symbols, and it has a range of at least 100 feet. And that hot glue isn't going anywhere. Changing the battery might be an issue, but these lasted several years.

Next problem!

An intervalometer is a fancy shutter button for a camera that allows very long exposures. It is detached from the camera so you don't shake anything and it needs a backlit screen because if you are using it, you are most likely in the dark.

My intervalometer is about 12 years old and uses another dreaded watch battery. And the backlight on the screen seems to be dead. So it is pretty much useless.

But look at this!

The light even works in the... well, light! And it takes normal batteries. Seriously, watch batteries need to stay in watches.

I don't know if I will get to take a long exposure in Florida, but I want to have this with me in case I do.

Next problem!

This one I actually solved on my own. But I found these stainless iron (yes, iron!) shims and I covered them with black tape and now all of my most used kitchen items never take up counter space.

Yes, I use magnets and hot glue to solve most of my problems.

Next problem!

My garage door is not very smart. And the remote control for it is huge and does not fit in my man purse.

So I downsized the remote.

But I wanted to fix the non-smart thing as well. A while back my brother got into my garage without me knowing. He must have taken a remote of his own. And I really don't feel like figuring out how to change the frequency, so I now have a sensor that lets me know when the door is open with a phone notification. Beyond that, I can open or close the door from my smartphone from anywhere. And I can give access to anyone with a smartphone in case of an emergency.

I will say, this company is really paranoid about people being crushed by garage doors. The instructions tell you to put up this sign in your garage...

And if you use the app to close the door, you get a light show with annoying beeping...

And I know that these accidents happen in real life. But whenever I think about how that could actually happen, all I can imagine is that scene in Austin Powers...

In any case, I am really glad I have this now. And I also like that if I forget to close the garage door, I can check the app and not have to get up to do it.

OH! I almost forgot. If I want, I can have Amazon place packages inside my garage.

Next problem!

What in the heck do I need galvanized steel plates for?

In product photography you need a diffusion panel called a scrim. If you try to buy one of these already made, they are hundreds of dollars. They are mostly made for movie productions, and those items always have inflated costs.

So most product photographers make their own out of tracing paper or a special plastic called Translum. It's $80 per roll, but lasts forever. I used to hang my scrims from the ceiling. But you can't really angle or move them, so you have to move the object you are photographing instead. Which is just a backwards way to work. So I invented my own scrims with two strips of very thin wood, metal chip clips, these little plastic feet that held up plexiglass barriers during COVID. And to weigh everything down... steel plates.

This is version 1.0 where I glued the plastic rather than affixing it with the chip clips.

The clips work much better and allow me to put different weights of plastic on, or even double plastic, for more or less diffusion. And I ended up not needing that board at the bottom which allows me to curve it as well.

And these scrims let me take this photo...

It's called graduated lighting and it makes things look neat.

I also got a backpack for my trip and shorts, but I am going to forego an explanation of those.

To all that helped, thank you so much. I hope you can see I am putting everything to good use.