#i got a new pc! after not having one for like 8 months!

[vgwater]

[ttrpg-smash-pass-vs]

...Do I have to explain this one? It's a dwarf, you know what that is. Stubborn, honorable, about a foot (30 cm) shorter than a human. if you're friends, it's for life. Half thier grudges are for people they've never met, because you mess with any of thier friends or family you mess with them. Oh, and they do grow beards, most have them. I find it hilarious that they chose the most PC looking dwarf for the monster book that GMs get, but in the PLAYER book they look far more masculine. Like, this isn't relevant to this poll, but look below the cut for what dwarf women are normally shown to look like.

I wonder why? Maybe it's to weed people out. If you can't handle dwarves with a strong jaw or beard, you don't truly appreciate them!

WAIT. Is this supposed to be a "we did what you did, but better" jab at D&D? Because D&D has always paid like, double the industry standard rate for its art, because art sells books and you can't hire the veteran artists without shittons of cash. They also reuse a good chunk of it between D&D and Magic anyway, so they're untouched on that without really paying extra. Pathfinder releases all thier stuff for free (outside adventures) and therefore can barely afford industry standard. Last time wages came up they said they would like to start paying above standard to get more/better art, but unless they sold a LOT more books or we kept buying after a price hike that couldn't happen. Though they did raise thier rate like 16%. They're just 1 building with 100 people after all, they were operating at an estimated 0.7% of WotC's revenue IIRC back before the OGL standard. They always hit above thier weight class thanks to community goodwill, but the "#2" has never been an actual competition money wise. But then they sold 8 months of books in 1 month due to the OGL scandal. We haven't gotten a peek at commission rates since, but suddenly the next book has a new art direction with some amazing art. and despite the PC dwarves looking the same, the ENEMY dwarf...

"Look, we got art of you, but even better with more personality! Now everyone knows what to attack :)"

[danieyells]

hi! any chance you'd be able to post some of kaito's voicelines? I would love to see them <33

Our wanna-be knight and pathetic little best friend! He's just such a good boy lol. . .once again, another one who just wants to go back to a normal life, poor thing. Kaito's very much your vanilla, sweet boyfriend character with no frills attached, aside from his cowardice and his gambling habit of course. And his terrible aim. . . .

Copying all of them over isn't hard now that I've done it twice. Let's do it again for Kaito!

Hello: (the first time the game is opened after that character is set as home screen NPC. Only happens once per day, unless the character is switched out and back.)

"{PC}! Over here! Hiya!"

You've Got Mail: (whenever there's something in the inbox, usually Arena rewards)

"Hey, new message. Better check it out, yeah? Or are you the type who's got like a ton of of unread inbox messages?"

. . .shut up /absolutely that type (and a sincere apology to literally everyone i know for that my adhd doesn't let me read and respond to their messages--)

Default: (requires no affinity, has no time constraints)

"God, please don't make me go on any more missions... It's not like me being there is any help to anyone anyway..."

"Oh yeah, have you been on WickHive yet? Someone leaked next month's cafeteria menu! Oh wait... I-I already told you that, didn't I?!"

"Damn it... I could've taken {PC} to lunch with that money! God, why am I such a moron?!"

"Ask me anything you want to know! I'm pretty savvy when it comes to Darkwick!"

honestly the fact that he's a second year who doesn't wanna be here and doesn't wanna be doing all of this but he still knows like everything about the school is also kinda sus to me. . .surely he'd divest himself from as much of darkwick as possible if he didn't care

"Urgh... Limited time only, you are not my friend... Huh? Oh, I'm on TikTok. I really want this, but I'm pretty broke this month..."

Affinity 1: (between 5am and 11am)

"Ahem... Testing, testing... Morning! Heh, nailed it... Ack! How long've you been there, {PC}?!"

Affinity 2: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Phew, should be safe here... EEEEEEEEEEK! Oh thank god, it's just a cat... I thought he found me..."

romeo oh romeo didn't you get into enough shit for this romeo? just make sure it's not Romeo cat. Because I'm sure it'll tell him somehow--

Affinity 3: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Shit, it's Luca… Judging by the outfit he must be going to train. I better bail before he tries to rope me in too…"

Affinity 4: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Eeeek?! Oh, it's just you... Geez, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

i know romeo is constantly on his ass, and I relate to the feeling of being scared the people you owe money will appear out of nowhere and get you, but. . .he's so jumpy lol

Affinity 5: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Ugh, Romeo's texting me... Not gonna open that..."

Affinity 6: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"So your father runs a company, huh? Who the hell leads with that?! This is why I hate talking to Frostheimers..."

so the wording here is wonky because he's quoting a Frostheimer, but there's no visual indication that he's quoting them. But lore drop! Kaito's father runs a company! But I thought he wasn't well off. . .? Maybe his parents are separated or his father doesn't spend any of their money on him. . .or the company isn't doing well. . .or gambling addiction runs in his family lol. . . .

Affinity 7: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Argh, I want junk food! And I want to try all the new snack flavors!!"

my boy is so relateable--

Affinity 8: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"All right, time to man up and bite the bullet... Nope, absolutely not, can't do it!"

Affinity 9: (between 8pm and 5am)

"How is Jin's skin so perfect? Fucking rich kids and their stupidly expensive fancy-ass toner!!!"

kaito really looking at jin like OH NO HE'S HOT

Affinity 10: (between 10pm and midnight)

"(yawn) Guess I'll go brush my teeth..."

Affinity 11: (between 5am and 11am)

"Hey {PC}, you seem different somehow today. Did you change something? Or am I just imagining things?!"

Affinity 12: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Noooo why does Tohma want to see me...? No way it's about something good! Could you come with me, {PC}?!"

Affinity 13: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Crap, I fell asleep in class so I don't know what our homework is... Help me, {PC}!"

Affinity 14: (between 5am and 11am)

"(yawn) Man, my bed's like a freaking marshmallow. I can never get any good sleep on that thing..."

lol the Frostheim beds are too comfortable lolol I NEED A FIRMER BED TOO KAITO I GET IT.

Affinity 15: (between 5am and 11am)

"Huh? Oh, my pendant! You're always wearing it? Does that mean you've actually been paying attention to me?!"

once again the wording here is wonk because it makes it sound like the pc is always wearing Kaito's pendant. I'm pretty sure he's quoting the pc, who's commented that "you're always wearing it". It would read better as something like "You noticed I'm always wearing it?"

Affinity 16: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Hey {PC}, how 'bout we grab a bite?! I've got tons to splurge in winn... er, earnings, so it's all on me! Get whatever you want!"

your gambling addiction is really and truly going to get you in trouble. disregard that i play a gacha game.

Affinity 17: (between 10pm and midnight)

"...Huh?! Man, nearly fell sleep without putting my phone on the charger... 5%, that would've sucked tomorrow..."

Affinity 18: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Ha ha ha! Have you seen this yet?! It's all over TikTok. Ah man, it's killing me..."

Affinity 19: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Whoa, when did it get so late?! Sorry {PC}, I didn't mean to keep you up... What? You're still good?"

Affinity 20: (between 5am and 11am)

"Morning! Hey, guess what? Luca's busy after class, so how about we hit up the diner? It's been ages!"

do you. . .do you really wanna go there. . .i mean the drinks seem to be fine but according to sho they can't make good food at all. . . .

Affinity 21: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Sorry, I gotta stay after class today... (sniffle) This sucks, I really wanted to walk home with you..."

aw buddy. . .they could wait for you or come pick you up after your remedial lesson. . .!

Affinity 22: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Hey I'm really sorry but do you mind if we stop by the campus store after class? I'm almost out of granulated sugar."

Affinity 23: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Hey, do you like stars? Oh, um, I was just wondering 'cause there's this place where you can see them really well, so I thought maybe you'd want to go some time..."

he's overcoming his fears and being honest with himself and how he speaks and just. . .asking honestly, no bravado, no act. do it scared, kaito. do it scared, do it awkward, do it sure you're going to fail. as long as you do it. proud of you!

Affinity 24: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Sure is dark. Reminds me of the closet where we first met. Remember?"

Affinity 25(max): (no time constraints)

"I know I'm weak, and a coward. But I really do want to become your knight in shining armor, {PC}."

I love how comfortable and honest he starts to get as his affinity goes up. Still shy here and there, still scared, but he's not as jumpy and he starts treating you like a real friend. laughs with you about stuff, talks a little about hobbies and struggles. doesn't try and look cool for you. and then the honesty--i'm a weak coward, but i wanna be better for you. i wanna spend time with you. just!!! he grows!!! he realizes you like him for who he is and how he is, even if that's a weak coward--and that that's exactly what he wants! and it's okay for him to be that way because you won't be put off by it, even if it's something he'd like to grow from so he can be better for you--but he wants to be better for you as himself and--idk. i have feelings about characterization lol.

Spring: (March-May) (between 5am and 11am)

"(yawn) Man, I wanna sleep, but I can't fail, so I gotta show up for class... Oh! I have Professor Nicolas next! Naptime."

does that mean you're good in anomalous medicine class or. . . .

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Grr! All those girls in the hall were looking at Luca! I'm so pissed off now I'm not even sleepy anymore!"

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"It's finally warm out again, so I really want to go do something fun... Wish I could get an R&R permit..."

well maybe if you stopped sleeping in class and did good in class or went on a mission or something. . . . . .

(between 8pm and 5am)

"Mheheh... {PC}... You've got a petal in your hair... Zzz..."

Summer: (June-August) (between 5am and 11am)

"Ugh, it's too hot to go outside... But I can sense a coming-of-age event on the horizon... All right, here I come!"

obligatory beach event? 👀

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Can't believe Professor Hyde still wears that blindfold in summer. Pfft, I bet it's really sweaty under— Eeeek! S-Sir?!"

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Hey {PC}, are you free after this? I was thinking of inviting Luca to let off some fireworks! I want to show him how we do summer here in Japan."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"I can't believe I get to spend the whole summer hanging out with you {PC}... (sniffle) Homework? Uh y-yeah, I finished it already..."

Autumn: (September-November) (between 5am and 11am)

"Is it just me, or is it really cold today?! Guess I better get my coat out soon..."

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Have you had the chestnut rice from the cafeteria yet? They made it way too fancy. It's supposed to be comfort food..."

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Tohma's always reading something. Maybe I should too... All right, let's go with this! 10 Ways To Become Popular Overnight!"

well. . .it's something to read. . .never a bad idea to read.

(between 8pm and 5am)

"Apparently the moon is the most beautiful in fall since the air gets clearer. Want to go take a look?"

Winter: (December-February) (between 5am and 11am)

"It's freezing out there! It's freezing in here! Frostheim sucks!!"

this makes me wonder what the warmest dorm is on average. . .probably jabberwock as long as towa's in a good mood? (or maybe warm jabberwock winters mean towa's in a bad mood. . .?)

(between 11am and 4pm)

"The cold can go to hell, but I guess there's outfits you can only wear this time of year..."

you can wear whatever you want whenever you want if you're brave enough. but this is kaito and he's not very brave. and it's also not very smart to wear winterwear in the summer.

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"I really want to go to Starbucks for the new winter drink! But I really really don't want to go on any missions!! Guess I'll never get to try it."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"Gram... No... No more mandarins... ...Huh?! Oh, it was just a dream... I haven't had a mandarin for ages..."

'gram' in this case is 'grandma' in case you couldn't figure it out haha and the mandarin(mikan)'s used to represent health and longevity and a long prosperous bloodline or something like that for new years. So i assume his grandmother would feed him a lot of mandarins every winter lolol

His birthday: (December 11th)

"Why did Jin, Tohma, and Luca give me all this high-end stuff?! It's freaking me out!! Thank you!?!?"

EVEN JIN AND TOHMA GAVE HIM GIFTS. . .FROSTHEIM FAM IS REAL. . . .

Your birthday:

"Happy birthday, {PC}! We'll make this the best one— Hey, give those back! Those are the cue cards I made yesterday!!"

ksjfkhesbfjh he made himself cue cards to give you a birthday speech with as little stuttering as possible. . . .

New Years: (January 1st)

"Happy New Year! Let's make it a good one! S-So hey, if, er, if you'd like, c-could we, um... could we make our first shrine visit together?"

Valentine's Day: (February 14th)

"C'mon Kaito, deep breaths. Girls aren't into guys with no chill. So stay cool... Stay— Are those chocolates for me?! I'll take them to my grave!"

everyone loves an enthusiastic boy lol

White Day: (March 14th)

"Do you like the cookies I made? Come on, no way they're that good, heh heh... Heh heh heh... Here, take them all!!"

god i bet he makes really good sweets too. like i bet he puts so much love and good spirit into them lolol

April Fool's Day: (April 1st)

"I'd never lie to a girl. Ah! That's not a lie, I swear! {PC}? Are you listening?!"

BAD THING TO SAY ON APRIL FOOL'S ABORT MISSION

Halloween: (October 31st)

"Trick or treat! See those carved pumpkins? I was actually the one who made them. What do you think?"

given his DIY skills i bet he's actually really good at carving too. i bet they look really good!

Christmas: (December 25th)

"Hey, uh, {PC}, do you, uh... Do you have any plans for Christmas? I'm actually totally free!"

Idle: (about 20 seconds without interacting with the game) (below 13 affinity)

"Huh? {PC}? Am I being annoying?! I'm sorry! You're probably busy, right?!"

(13 affinity and above)

"{PC} seems kind of busy... I know! I'll find a video that'll help take her mind off things!"

this one replace the first one after you hit a certain affinity, so it's cute to see that he eventually decides 'i'm not being annoying, they're just busy. i wanna help them' after he gets closer to you. . . .

Absent: (logging in for the first time in 2 or more days?)

"Ah...! Oh my god, you're back!! I'm so happy to see you!!!!  (sob) Please don't leave me again..."

he's so clingy. . .poor guy really missed you, considering you're one of the kindest and most normal people in Darkwick that he associates with. . . . also man 'please don't leave me again' with the whole loop theory stuff. . . .

I THINK I'VE SAID MOST OF MY THOUGHTS THROUGHOUT THIS BUT. He really is a sweetie. He really could have ended up a very plain and 'safe' character, but he's managed to be very charming and entertaining with his struggles and exaggerated behavior, while still being a simple and safe type. Really looking forward to seeing how he plays into the rest of the story, since it seems like his pendant may be kind of important. . . .

[daitranscripts]

The Magister’s Birthright Pt. 2b

Ponchard de Lieux (Dorian Present)

Dorian Masterpost Previous: About This Amulet of Yours…

Ponchard: Inquisitor! Good, good, this is exactly what I was hoping for!

Ponchard bows.

Dorian: What? Is that why we’re here?

Dorian (asked Dorian about amulet): I said I wanted to do this myself. I don’t want to be indebted to anyone, least of all you. Dorian (did not ask Dorian about amulet): How do you even know about the amulet? I hope you aren’t intending to help me get it back. I can do this myself.

Ponchard: I apologize, but that won’t be possible.

Ponchard (asked Dorian about amulet): It’s not coin I seek for the amulet, but influence. Influence you possess but which the young man does not.

Ponchard (did not ask Dorian about amulet): You see, the young man sold me a rather valuable amulet. Many months ago. Then he returned, asking to buy it back. Why would I simply sell it? Not only is it useful, there are others who could… offer much more. Dorian: You loathsome little cretin. That’s why you were so stubborn! Ponchard: There is no need for insults, monsieur. I am interested only in doing good business.

1 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: Why is it so valuable? [2]

General: What do you want? [3]

General: All this for my attention? [4]

General: I could simply take it. [5]

2 - Investigate: Why is it so valuable PC: Aren’t you a merchant? Why not just sell it back? Ponchard: I am not a fence, monsieur. I only bought your friend’s amulet because of what it is. I do business in the Imperium. Having a birthright, even one not your own, is most useful in… select situations. Dorian: Hmph. He’s got the right of it there. Ponchard: That’s why I gave the young man so much. If he relinquished it, how is that my doing? [back to 1]

3 - General: What do you want? PC: You want something from me. What would you like? [6]

4 - General: All this for my attention? PC: You refused to sell Dorian his amulet… just to get me here? Mission accomplished. Ponchard: I am not attempting to manipulate you, my lord. I only wish equitable recompense. [6]

5 - General: I could simply take it. PC: I could just take the amulet. What’s to stop me? Ponchard: Errr… One: that I presume His Worship is not a thief. Two: the amulet is not here for you to take. PC: I see. [6]

6 - Scene continues.

Ponchard: The League de Celestine is an organization of wealthy noblemen in Orlais. I would join, but I lack the lineage. If someone like you applied pressure, they would admit me. That would be worth the return of the amulet.

7 - Dialogue options:

Special: Dorian, your opinion? [8] General: I agree. [9] General (after asking Dorian’s opinion): I agree to your terms. [9] Special: You want to anger me? [10] General: Forget it. [11]

8 - Special: Dorian, your opinion? PC: What do you think, Dorian? Dorian: Leave the man be. I got myself into this. I should get myself out of it. Ponchard: Perhaps you should accept your friend’s help, monsieur. Dorian: Kaffas! I know what you think, and he’s not my friend. He’s… He pauses. Dorian: Never mind what he is. Ponchard: As you desire. Even so, that is the price. I shall accept no other. [back to 7]

9 - General: I agree./I agree to your terms. Inquisitor: Very well. I’ll do as you ask. Dorian: What? You’re going to give in to this cretin? PC: Do you want your amulet back? Dorian: I… yes, I do. I simply– Ponchard: Much obliged, Your Worship. The moment I receive an invitation from the League, I’ll have the amulet delivered. Ponchard: It’s been an honor doing business with you. Ponchard bows, and Dorian and the PC walk away. Dorian: Influence-mongering. I don’t want to be in your debt. I don’t want to be in anyone’s debt. PC: You don’t think… ? Dorian: I don’t want to discuss it. Scene ends.

10 - Special: You want to anger me?

PC (post-WEWH): Perhaps you haven’t heard the news from the Winter Palace or the part I played there. Ponchard: Well, yes, but— PC: I didn’t realize an Orlesian merchant could be so blasé about offending the Imperial Throne of Orlais. Ponchard: Forgive me, Your Worship. If it is your desire, I will have the amulet delivered to Skyhold immediately. Please just think of me kindly. I meant no offence. Dorian: Hmph. I’d feel badly for the fellow if he wasn’t a toad. Scene ends.

PC (Qunari PC): Perhaps you should take a moment to think about your position. Ponchard: Forgive me, Your Worship. If it is your desire, I will have the amulet delivered to Skyhold immediately. Please just think of me kindly. I meant no offence. Dorian: Hmph. I’d feel badly for the fellow if he wasn’t a toad. Scene ends.

PC (non-mage human PC): You must not know who I am, even beyond being the Inquisitor. Ponchard: You are a Trevelyan, monsieur. A man of noble blood, a man of honor… PC: A man who could destroy your hopes of social climbing. Ponchard: Forgive me, Your Worship. If it is your desire, I will have the amulet delivered to Skyhold immediately. Please just think of me kindly. I meant no offence. Dorian: Hmph. I’d feel badly for the fellow if he wasn’t a toad. Scene ends.

PC (non of the above): Are you certain you want to risk angering me? The Herald of Andraste? Ponchard: I… monsieur, I only seek— PC: I’m well aware of what you seek. Ponchard: Then you must know I am within my rights. You are not the kind of man to disregard them.

Dialogue options:

Combat: You’re wrong. (Kill him, even if it means you don’t get the amulet.) [12] -Dorian greatly disapproves

[Back to 7]

12 - Combat: You’re wrong. PC: You’re wrong about that. The PC stabs him. Ponchard: (Shouts.) Dorian: What? You… you stabbed him! In his own shop! PC: I did. Dorian: To serve your own thuggish needs. Lovely. Thank you for all your help. I can’t tell you how much this means to me. Scene ends.

11 - General: Forget it. PC: I’m not going to help you. Ponchard: As you wish. Should you change your mind, you know the price. Dorian: So you’ll still cling to my amulet even if you can’t wring anything out of the Inquisitor? Ponchard: As I told you before, monsieur: it is not for sale. Perhaps you should not have let it go. Dorian: Yes. Perhaps. Ponchard: Good day, Your Worship. Ponchard bows. Dorian: (Sighs.) So much for that. Thank you for trying. Scene ends.

Next: In Your Debt

[mildly-inconvenienced-bat]

ATEEZ THE FELLOWSHIP: BREAK THE WALL IN LATAM - BRAZIL EDITION

Now that I have your attention, let me just tell you how utterly INSANE that concert was.

For a little more background, this Saturday (Aug. 26) Ateez came to Brazil for the first time and held their 1st stadium concert at Allianz Parque in São Paulo. According to a few articles, there were around 30k people, even though they weren't using the full capacity of the space (around 45k I guess). So far, this is the biggest public they have performed in front of. Also, the only other kpop group to perform there was BTS, so there's that.

I know some countries work differently, but in Brazil we don't have numbered chairs/spots in most of our concerts, so the first ones to get inside on the day of the concert are the ones with the best spot to watch it. That being said, there were people camping around the stadium 3 MONTHS before the concert even happened, just after the tickets were sold. Yes, we hate that kind of people.

But funny enough, when a VIP package was announced, 10 days before d-day (yeah, that's right, a soundcheck-early-entrace package announced only 10 days before the concert - and we hated that also), that meant that unless those people bought the VIP expansion, their camping would have been useless. Fun fact about the VIP expansion/upgrade: it ranged from 1,8k reais (+-370 USD) to 3k reais (+-615 USD) depending if you already had Pit (kinda front rows?) tickets or would need to upgrade - and our minimum wage is 1,7k/month (+-350 USD/month).

Now that I've covered that, let's move on to my personal experience, because that's what I really want to talk about (and no other social platform would really listen, so thank you tumblr for allowing me to talk to myself comfortably).

I live kinda near São Paulo, but the bus I had to take would only do the longer route, so that meant waking up early. Like, 1am early, to have breakfast, get dressed up and styled for the concert, and get to the bus station. I went with my sister and my best friend, we did our best to stick to our schedule, and we almost missed our bus - shout out to the other bus driver who took pity of us and helped us get to the right bus, you're the best and I hope that both sides of your pillow are aways cold.

We arrived in São Paulo at 6am, and took the subway to the stadium's district. We also had to walk 1,5km to get there, as most streets around it were closed and no uber would take us. So picture me, in 12cm platform boots, walking 1,5km. It was an experience, to say the least.

When we finally got to our sector's line, it was around 7:30 in the morning, and there we stayed until 4pm. Yep, almost 9 hours in line, with barely enough space to sit down for a few minutes before the line would move forward for no apparent reason. But, I also met new cool people, and got a few free pc and pins to keep as souvenirs!

I know it must sound like I'm complaining about the whole experience but I promise I'm not. Actually, it was my fist kpop concert, and also my first time on a floor spot, and everything felt so crazy and intense, I don't even know what I was expecting from it all.

We got inside at 4-something pm, and that was the first bathroom break we took since we left the subway (and about that, never doing that again). We managed a place not that far from the b-stage, fixed our things and ourselves, and waited.

If you ever watched an Ateez concert livestream, you know that sometimes they run a bit late, perfectly normal. But let me tell you it didn't take more than 10 minutes for them to start, and I'm pretty sure that if we were excited and nervous, they were 10 times more.

Unfortunately Jongho wasn't there, he's in Korea and will have to fix his ankle with surgery. We did our best to sing his lines even more energetically so that the boys would see that we understand the situation, and that we love Jongho just as much. 8 makes 1 team, after all.

There's not much to say about the concert, I guess everybody knows the setlist and the interactions they usually do with the crowd. But my honorable mentions go to:

The boys introducing themselves in Portuguese! Also them speaking Portuguese randomly during the concert~ it really felt special seeing them doing it

Their reactions to our cheerings! We are known for our passion, and honestly we are very much proud of being loud - they looked so happy whenever we'd match their energy

On the topic of cheering - the "break the wall" chant. Or even better, THE "break the wall" chant. Not to be cocky, but I challenge any other country to surpass us

Wonderland. I mean, do I even have to elaborate? We did our best to sing Jongho's highnote, it wasn't perfect but it was full of love

Last but not least, us making them blush HARD. we have this chant that goes "Lindo, tesão, bonito e gostosão", and you can translate it if you want, but roughly it means we called them beautiful and hot <3

I don't think I'll be posting my videos in here, but if you wanna fell the Brazilian vibe, you can check out my Instagram highlight "ATEEZ IN BRAZIL" on @/itsme_clarinha, or my Twitter (X?) under the same name where I'll post a thread with the full videos I didn't manage on Instagram ✨️

So that's it! I probably forgot a bunch of stuff, but what I remembered was what I wanted to mention the most;; and if you got this far, here's the video of the best brazilian fanchant ever lol

[toyhouse-code-hell]

Screw it- Ask #2 because I'm bored. Can you tell me about your OCs? I like hearing about random people's OCs because alot of people like to rant about them and the excitement and pure effort put into making them makes me feel profuctive too!

There's so much. There's so so so so much. Nobody that I didn't already know has ever asked me about my ocs. They're all mostly D&D characters, or are in a D&D-esque setting I'll talk about some of my favorites, but there needs to be context.

None of the LORE is on any of their fucking toyhouse pages because I literally work on toyhouse stuff, get so motivated, I work on things for three days. Then I stop everything for six months. This is a continuous cycle. I suffer daily. I also over-explain and over-share A LOT. This is the first time anyone has asked about my ocs on a public platform. IT'S GOING TO BE A LOT. I'M SORRY. (And hell this might be a masterpost for all the little blurbs about my Little Guys?? idk!!) And ofc the art is old-ish.

Hamond :)

He's an aasimar fiend warlock (1)/ champion fighter (11), son of duke of a small homebrewed country, warlock of Graz'zt. Was sent to handle an owlbear in the woods due to it fucking with locals livestock. Was ambushed by said owlbear, it almost killed him, and this very kind demon lord took the opportunity to offer this young son of a duke a second chance to not be killed. Hamond agreed, got a nice new necklace, and killed the owlbear. He does the little things his patron wants in secret, which are thankfully just small things. His father sent him away due to his country going to war (contingency so royalty stays alive), where he met an astral elf twink who is now his fucked up little boyfriend.

Used him in a Heliana's oneshot before where this happened.

Next is Vihan! I'll keep it short with him because there is. A lot. (Glitch & Worm idk if you will ever see this, but this is spoilers)

They're a sentient sword, from a set of 8 weapons that embody schools of magic. Vihan is a shortsword that lets their wielder cast evocation spells for free, given to priest-kings of a long-lots city (of Mezro, the chosen of Ub'Tao are called barae). I gave him to my part at 12th level, since one in the party had made contact with his stupid fuckup son (Ras Nsi, not canon to actual FR lore), but Ub'tao chatted with the wizard like "hey. help me?" and our wizard went "K". I was thinking they would have him be a sword for a majority of the time but nooooo they fell in love with him. >:/ He was also broken when they met, to which I gave wild magic rolls when he cast things iirc (this was in 2021 its hazy). They fixed him up though.

(GLITCH AND WORM THE SPOILERS START HERE)

His former wielder was killed in a coup by another one of the chosen, in a plan to kill them all, usurp their god, and bring about an end to the world, but LORD that's another story.

But back to Vihan.

He's a real living person, kidnapped about 4oo years prior to the party getting them, had a bunch of experiments done on him, core implanted, renamed, all that. And given to a firbolg native to Chult who worked hard to be a barae, Epoch, leaving his 2 sons to be raised by his hometown. (and bc he was murdered and nobody was giving them answers, they became closed off from the bigger holy cities) And those kids got older, had communal kids, too, and one of those kids was the barbarian pc. The new barae of evocation was the wizard that said "K" to helping a god.

His name is actually Viktor, had an identical brother named Vacek (both changelings), and he robbed tourists in order for his brother to stay in a care home (their country of origin is corrupted capitalist hellscape island where if you can't produce for society, you have no use aside from being fertilizer, unless you can afford otherwise). When Viktor was kidnapped, Vacek was thrown onto the streets 10 minutes after payment was due, and he managed to climb on a boat as a stowaway during a storm and get the fuck out of there. While he was still chronically ill, getting off of pollution island was very beneficial for his health. He made it to another country and managed to live out his days and even had a family. He never went back to find his brother, assuming his thieving finally got him killed. (Their single mother was also murdered, and retrieving her body cost the two twelve year olds money they didn't have. She was meant to leave the country while pregnant with them, to be with their father who had already left, but port guards robbed her and kicked her back into the city. When her husband came back to make a stink, he was silenced permanently.)

Yes I was VERY into xenoblade 2 when I had this idea.

Vihan is a little bit fucked up.

I think I'll be done for now. I'll rb with more if I want to later.

[ageless-aislynn]

Dear ones, I don't want to jinx myself, count my chickens before they hatch or whatever saying might strike your fancy at the moment but... After a week plus a few days of over 30 blue screens of death (8 of them in one hour), my computer has made it a day without one.

I had to finally wipe everything and start over and I finally, after sooooo many hours of research, I can't EVEN, am pretty sure I've discovered the source of the problem that linked my old computer, my dad's computer and this computer to all having nearly identical bsod issues: some absolute DOORKNOB of a person was putting the exact same third-party firewall back on all of them. Who was that doorknob?

🤷‍♀️

In my, I mean, in HER defense, that firewall has served very well for the almost 20 years I've used it. It says it's compatible with Windows 10 and 11 and all of my troubleshooting was blaming the various video/network/etc drivers. However, I discovered that ZoneAlarm took an update at almost exactly the time my other computer started having trouble 3 months ago. But ZA updates "silently" so I didn't know that until I went looking just now for the date of the last build, realized it corresponded almost exactly, and then I went

That said, I'm a little worried that it took me THIS LONG to realize that that was the single program all 3 had in common. I was just so used to using and relying on it that it didn't occur to me that it could be at the heart of all of the problems.

So, as I said before, it all boils down to

Right now, I've got almost nothing on the computer besides the browser and a new set of security programs. It's been an interesting way to see what my priorities are because I want to install one thing, wait a couple of days to verify everything's working fine, then install then next, wait again and so on, putting things back on slowly and deliberately.

BUT I WANT STEAM BACK ON NOWNOWNOW SO I CAN PLAY MY GAMES ZOMGGGGGG.

Apparently, I get actual buckets of serotonin and overall feel-good vibes from playing games because I'm absolutely frothing at the mouth at not being able to play anything at all.

Next will be Word so I can stop trying to read my utterly, drastically terrible handwriting from where I've been working on "15 Minutes" ch7 by hand (I might possibly be writing in Sangheili, I can't even tell anymore 🤷‍♀️😉).

Then eventually, Vegas. I'm worried about that one in particular because my research did uncover a potential Vegas Pro 15 - Win 11 conflict. Some people couldn't get it to work, others have no problem. I've seriously got my fingers crossed that it'll be okay so I can get back to GIF-making and vid editing, in whatever order. 🤞😣🤞

I've spent SO much time seeing blue screens that I find myself staring at the place on the monitor where the error info flashes, my notebook at the ready to scribble down the pertinent messages, just expecting another to pop at any second.

The last couple of times it popped, I was trying to read the debugging info from the LAST crash. And then it would crash again.

However, I can now report that, if you're ever using WinDbg to read your .dmp files and it tells you "symbols are WRONG" (and yes, it all-capped it just like that), I can actually tell you how to fix the dang symbols. It's a weird flex to take but hey, I'm taking it. It wasn't easy to find the answer to that one! 😠😕😉

If all continues on without any further crashes, then I'll hopefully be back catching up on things ASAP. If it resumes crashing while I have nothing more on the computer than a browser and the security programs the pc came with, then I'm just going to

Let's hope for the best, m'kay? Good thoughts, prayers, hopes, well wishes or whatever you've got are appreciated at this point. Love you, friends. I've really missed you all. 🤗💖

[moltara]

A ROUGH TIMELINE OF ALL MY DRAWING TABLETS:

(or at least the ones i can remember!)

1: Wacom Bamboo Tablet (~september 2010)

i asked for a drawing tablet for my birthday in 2010 SPECIFICALLY so i could use it to draw sparkledog wolf ocs on the chickensmoothie oekaki forums and this is the one i got

2: monoprice MP1060-HA60 drawing tablet (????like 2012? maybe?)

i very vividly remember owning this specific tablet in high school but i have no idea when i got it

3??? wacom intuos pen and touch small (?????)

IDK i remember owning this one too (i liked it bc the other end of the pen functioned as an eraser)

4??: wacom 13HD 2015 model? i think (2015-2016 or so)

i also don't remember exactly when i got this one just that it was a smaller cintiq model that didn't function as a small portable computer- it had to be hooked up to a pc or a laptop as a 2nd monitor using. the WORST cord system known to fucking man:

the cord that plugs into the tablet itself was soooooo fucking flimsy and if you bent it or moved it too much it would break. every single person i knew who owned one of these tablets ended up rigging their tablet cords with mass amounts of duct tape bc they only functioned at a specific angle and if you jiggled it just a little the tablet would turn off

5?: wacom intuos 3 4x6 (2016-2017)

i eventually gave up on my cintiq after the screen cracked and was without a tablet for awhile. my friend zoe lent me her old tablet for a few months while i searched for a new one

6: wacom intuos pen and pro medium (2017 or so)

this is the replacement tablet i ended up getting, idk i have nothing notable to say about this thing except for the fact that this cord ALSO ended up breaking on me too. this tablet however had bluetooth capabilities so it still worked fine, except for the fact that i had to remove and charge the battery every now and then using an external wall adapter

6: wacom intuos creative pen tablet small w/ bluetooth (2019?)

this is the tablet i used to complete all my assignments in senior year, and i still own it actually! (i named it Pistachio) this is probably the tablet i hold the most fondness towards bc it is so small and cute and handy

7: ipad pro 11" 2018 model (2019)

i still have and use this baby! it's my favorite drawing tablet i use for basically everything at this point because it is so portable and feels super nice to use

8: xp pen 15.6 pro (2020)

this one is currently the 2nd monitor on my desktop and i like it a lot! i do have a couple gripes with it (namely the fact that the pen wobbles a bit and the glossy screen causes a bit of friction and resistance when i use it) but overall i do enjoy it :] i love the shortcut buttons the most! the red ring is a dial that i have set to zoom in/out on my canvas in csp!

[quaddmgd]

Did I ever talk about my love for Tekken? There was this post about games you played for more than 300 hours, and after GTA VC and LCS... it would definitely be Tekken 5 and 6 for me.

Anyway, my Tekken brainrot laid dormant deep inside of me for most of my teenage years and early adulthood. To be honest I entirely skipped Tekken 7 due to its performance on my PC at the time and its reliance on DLCs. I did manage to beat Tekken 4 in 2023 (the only one I've been missing until 7, but I quickly went back to not thinking about the franchise at all. That was the case until Tekken 8 demo dropped.

I downloaded it and played for a bit, not understanding what's going on story-wise at all, but instantly falling in love with its fluid 4k60 gameplay and new Nina design (she was always my main after all). It made me hungry for more Tekken and when I was talking about it with my s/o, I just had to check whether Tekken 7 finally received a 60fps patch on Xbox Series X. It didn't, but I ended up buying it anyway to satisfy my hunger for the franchise.

Played it a bit, finished the story and overall I had fun with it. I wasn't really satisfied with the story mode, but the gameplay was pleasant enough. I liked some of the new characters and overall it felt like a fulfilling return to the brainrot. That's what I thought before finding out that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is backwards compatible on Series X.

I ordered a physical copy and instantly got hyped. I wanted to play it since its release but it costed so much at the time... and after some time I forgot about it, probably due to GTA V coming out. Flash forward a few days, I received my copy and ran back to my house to play as much as I can before my night shift starts.

You gotta understand - it was and still is the ultimate Tekken game for me, mostly due to how many characters it has. I played every mainline Tekken game (and Tag Tournament) before playing TTT2 and to play as Jun, Michelle, Violet, Ogre and Kunimitsu in one game meant a lot to me - I really appreciate OG Tekken characters, even though Tekken 3 and 5 are my favorite entries. If I was to talk here about how much grind in Tekken 5/6 I endured to make certain characters look like the OGs, this post would end up being insufferably long.

Many story-based games take up all my time and attention but I'm still playing it and I'm really close to getting all the endings. I set most levels to have my favorite tracks form older Tekken games and I'm especially enjoying my time with Jun, Kunimitsu and Michelle.

Now that fighting games are one of the most anti-consumer genres in modern gaming, a few years will pass before I'll get Tekken 8. I'd have to spend $100+ on ultimate edition, only to wait years for all of its content to arrive anyway. And since a month after its release they started introducing shops and battle passes, my enthusiasm got tempered even more.

But I'm so happy to be back and Tekken 7 and Tag Tournament 2 (and the older ones) will do it for now! Especially TTT2, it's really a blast!

[almostjollyprince]

100ish Days of Productivity: The Second Week

Day 5/100 - Jan 6 2024 I ran my D&D campaign. First session in months (we took a break for the holidays around October). Went pretty well. I had planned for that part that they were getting into to take 2 sessions, but I've got a pretty clever group so we managed to wrap it up in 1 session. Spookiness awaits. After the session I started finalizing the details for the Wednesday campaign because that's also starting up again in a few days. Rewrote some ideas as a means of hopefully jump-starting character development for some PCs. We'll see how it turns out.

Rest Day - Jan 7 2024 I took it easy and played games all day. I was hoping to be a little more productive yesterday, but I'm already feeling a bit of the burnout from this 100 Days of Productivity thing. On a side note, I'm almost done with Year 1 of Coral Island, so that's kind of cool I guess. I still haven't decided who I want to romance but it could also be that 1) none of the bachelors/bachelorettes really stand out to me as husband/wife material or 2) I don't care about the romance aspect of the slice-of-life farm game genre. It was like that with Stardew Valley, it was like that with Rune Factory, and it was like that with Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons.

Day 6 - Jan 8 2024 Weather was pretty bad, so I worked from home and provided support for the other developers. I'm trying to study for the certification exam, but the body doesn't want to do what the mind wants it to do. Like there's some sort of disconnect between wants and needs. I hate this feeling. Part of me wonders if I ever fully recovered from the severe burnout I had from one of my previous jobs that ruined my physical and mental health. I finished wrapping up the stuff I needed for the Wednesday campaign, so that was the evening/night.

Day 7 - Jan 9 2024 Roads were clear so I went into the office. Work work work. My buddy for the day and I built a modal that appears for one of the buttons, but after looking at how the original handles that part, it turns out that it should be a page of its own instead of a modal. That's fine, the heavy lifting is done and it shouldn't take more than a day to rewire it as a page instead of a modal. After work, I double-checked my notes for the Wednesday campaign and then just played games. Oh, and swap out the filters for the HVAC. It's supposed to get really cold over the weekend and it's around the time to swap them out anyway, so might as well do it while I don't have anything major going on.

Day 8 - Jan 10 2024 I'm in charge of deciding pairs every week, but it's really hard to follow the whole 'paired programming' thing when we're working with such a small team for the rotation, I can't pair certain roles together (orders from higher up), and the mid/senior devs keep getting pulled away to handle responsibilities that aren't even theirs to begin with. Someone confided in me that they were considering looking elsewhere because the whole reason they joined was for this pairing system and it wasn't happening. I get it, I really do. We should be getting some new blood in the office in less than 2 weeks so hopefully that can help shake up this feeling of drudgery. Rewiring the modal to the page didn't take longer than a half a day. We haven't coded any functionality into it yet because it sounded like we might be getting some new guidance for the project that might make everything we've done not matter. After doing some research, it looked like we could still connect what we have with the original framework after overhauling the older version of .NET we have for it to a newer version. Cool. That information will probably be presented at the meeting on Friday with the customer, so that'll be resolved. After some last minute prepping (once I got home from work), I ran the Wednesday session for my players. Like the Saturday group, they haven't played since October. Session went pretty well, but I did get some complaints about some stuff that went on during the session so I'll have to address them (again). It's the first session in months so I get that some of the rules we established were broken. Just gotta... remind them of said rules.

Day 9 - Jan 11 2024 Got some mediocre news in the morning. The paperwork I submitted over a year ago still hadn't been processed, and I'm still the only person on the team lacking those permissions the paperwork is supposed to give me. I can't really do my job as a team lead on my own without those permissions, but there's nothing either of us can do about it. The ball's not in our court. Did a team building event with the team in the form of a group lunch. The distraction was nice. The project manager asked me to submit an overview of the work I did for one of the projects I lead so that he could send that to the customer of a particular project, even though all that information is on that project's Trello. It's late enough in the workday that I'll just make a note of it for tomorrow, but I get how the other leads feel about all this work that isn't our responsibility being passed on to us. I had to start putting some events in motion for the Wednesday campaign, so I started sharing some information of what's to come with select individuals. I also do this with the Saturday campaign for their stuff. Speaking of the Saturday campaign... since they're about to wrap up an arc I need to finish finalizing the next arc. They're free to go to any of the other regions, but the only one that makes any logical sense is the Republic. So for that I'll need...

Day 10 - Jan 12 2024 I made sure to let the project lead know that there's some merge requests for the Develop branch. We'll need to lock down the code so that we're not introducing potentially new issues in the stuff that's being demo'd today. The project lead was having some issues getting one of the branches to work on his machine, so after verifying that it worked on mine he just recloned the project and got it to work for him after doing that. I also took care of the overview I put off yesterday while he was getting set up for the demo. After demo, the team played some Jackbox. The team's small enough that everyone gets to play. I didn't win, but I'm just here to have a good time. After work I reached out to an acquaintance about a design for the Saturday campaign. I'm lucky and thankful that I know a bunch of different artists. This particular artist designed some eldritch horror concepts for a different campaign that I'm in, and since I'll be needing one soon they were the perfect pick. We brainstormed some ideas and they got to work, but it was only after they had gone to bed that I came up with an even better idea, and for that, they'll need my notes... I'll make sure to compensate them for their efforts. Treat your artists well, and they'll treat you well in return. Kind of applies to all relationships in life, really. I don't know why some people struggle with that philosophy, but it is what is it.

Day 11 - Jan 13 2024 Oh hey the weekend. Unfortunately there's one hellova cold snap hitting the region and other places so whatever plans I had of going out is... just not gonna happen. I'm just gonna buckle down and stay warm. The wife finally got Monster Hunter World working again on her computer, so we hunted some monsters. My file of Monster Hunter World that we have on the Playstation 4 is much further than where I'm at on PC, but we can't skip cutscenes so it was a bit of a slog getting through more of story. On the Playstation I think I left off around the Alatreon encounter (big dragon fight right before the final big dragon fight), but on the PC version I still hadn't made it to the Elder's Recess (one of the later zones of baseline story). The wife and I are both seasoned veteran hunters so the fights were pretty easy. It was just... the unskippable cutscenes. And before I get any flak for skipping cutscenes, I just wanna say that I've already seen all the cutscenes on the Playstation version. Also, when the fights take less time than the cutscene itself (and you gotta watch the cutscene before other hunters can join you on the fight), there's an issue. Maybe that's just me. I enjoyed Tri, 3U, 4U, and Generations from the old gen, and Rise from the new gen. Maybe it's just the story pacing from World that's making it unenjoyable to sit through a second time. Hopefully Monster Hunter Wilds has a good story (not that Monster Hunter is winning in the story category anytime soon), or at least an option to skip certain cutscenes. Aside from Mon Hun, I sent over my notes to the artist and wrapped up Year 1 of Coral Island. The artist liked what they were seeing in the notes so I've got high hopes they'll design something exceptional. I was also asked by a different artist to conceptualize my character's late wife in a different campaign, and they did an amazing job drawing her.

Rest Day - Jan 14 2024 It took a bit of effort to motivate myself to write this new update for the 100ish Days of Productivity. It definitely ties back to that disconnect I briefly wrote about earlier in the week. I need to get better about it. Otherwise it defeats the entire purpose of this journey of self-improvement. It's still really cold out (yesterday it was in the negatives, today wasn't much better). Bundled up and played some Final Fantasy 14. There's a new patch for the game coming up, so I wanted to spend some time and deal with some of the Challenge Log items, which are basically weekly goals that earn you some extra coin for completing a certain number of them. It was also a good time to decorate the inside of the medium house I won back in December. While I wasn't able to decorate the entirety of it, I did make some good progress on the upper and main levels. I've got vendors set up inside the house that have housing items I can buy, and what I can't buy from them I go out and gather myself. I think I've got some great lighting on the upper floor, but I'll need to add more light sources to the main floor. It's too dark on the eastern side pretty much any time it isn't between the in-game hours of 6am - 12pm. Same thing with the western side but anytime that isn't between 12pm - 6pm. I wonder if the ceiling light is just no good for how I have the marble walls set up? I have tomorrow off, so I'm hoping I can overcome the disconnect and get some studying done.

[jacksazrael09]

VENT: TRIGGER-WARNING

I’m not jealous, my Borderline is.

Im not that jealous. I’m not scared of others taking my partner or else. I’m scared he fall in love with someone else.

Im jealous of him being where we wanted to be. Where we went two weeks ago. I need to work to make money to survive feed my cats pay my bills pay the animal doc. To buy groceries. I can’t go there right now. We got a lot of fun and I’m happy he can relax there but I’m jealous Caus at this moment there are friends I also wanted to meet there. Now he got like two friends (yes one annoys him but still) there. And new ones we made there. He can relaxe and life his life there and I can’t.

I also want that kind of fun I also wanna relaxe and Do not need to worrie about anything here. Just to escape reality for one moment again.

I need to do everything in my apartmant alone. Fix my lights set up my pc and my washing Maschine. I need to fix my cables and my electric. I need to sell the kittens I got I need to make my household and go to work for like 8-9 hours a day. I don’t have really ly much free time.

The psychiatrist I once got a appointment at told me I should not be working. I should be in a close mental hospital. I should take a break Caus my mental health and stability is as fragile as anything can be.

I haven’t had thoughts about suicide in a long while but in the last three days I was thinking about it a lot again. So much that I want to stop existing again so bad.

I don’t see a point in living anymore. We are suposed to work all our life’s to pay some bills just to exist at the edge of being homeless just to keep going no matter how broken we are. Just to have like a month of vacation in one fucking year. Days for days we are working non stop. This isn’t fun this isn’t life!

This isn’t supposed to be life. Why do we keep going like this? The world is already burning but we still try to ignor it!

I’m so done with my life. I’m so so tired I just wanna rest I wish the thinking would stop I wish my breathing would stop I wish to simply stop existing but I some how can’t. The little friends I made are at this point to or to good.

Even he try’s to focus on positive thinks and try to help me thinking about them to but I don’t see anything positive. Nearly everything I planed this year is not possible to do Caus of work.

I just wanna escape. I wanna go back where I feel like a human where I feel free and happy.

Sylt was the first time after two years wegre I truly felt happy and appreciated. Whee I could be myself and have people around me with the same energy. Where I was seen as the man I am

But it feels like Nobody is listing to me. Yes I wanna dye. So badly I wanna just stop but Nobody let me. Nobody just thinks about telling me they understand my thoughts.

I try my best to get healthy. I take my meds I make me a routine and shit but it still DOSNT work. Yes it takes time but I don’t have this time.

My cats make me crazy that I’m scared that I get so angry at them that I break theyr necks. I’m daylie crying Caus of them. I’m constantly angry Caus of everything I’m done.

I’m at a point where I don’t wanna feel anything anymore. I’m at a point where I want to take so many drugs that I just stop feeling.

I rather be homeless than exist like this. Some times I play with the thought to leave everything behind me without telling anyone. And I nearly did it. I can’t open up at the moment and I know nobody can see it but why. It’s so clear how broken I am.

So yes. Im jealous. Even life fucks all of us I would kill to not be here, to not be me, I just wanna escape from everything and run away and yes maybe it’s stupid and yes maybe it will kill me but I’m fine with it. The urge to self harm again is so fucking big but I give my best to not do anything.

I’m tired of everything.

Yes I want my friends to have fun. Yes I want him to feel happy but I’m jealous. I want it two. I want to be there so fucking bad but I can’t.

Nobody can save me. Nobody can help me. Nobody understands it in the way I want to be understood.

It hurts my soul and heart but I don’t think even he can keep me alive for much longer. I love him so fricken much but the world is hurting me so fucking much that I just wanna fucking dye. Life makes me unhappy and it hurt to exist and see others happy. Yes they wanna work but I don’t it’s just pain I’m happier without it and I rather run away in a different country and be homeless than exist here any longer.

I can’t describe how bad my mental health is and how bad I wanna stop existing. But they can’t help me.

I just wanna cry. I wanna cry in his arms and be as broken as I am. I wanna stop hiding it but if I do I will break really really bad. And I don’t know if I will survive it.

I want him to see it. I want him to read it and to come to me but I know it won’t happen and I don’t want to be a burden for anyone….

I wanna be free.

I wanna be loved.

I wanna be happy.

I wanna be me.

I wanna life.

I’m just dead.

I’m dead inside.

I’m a walking shell.

Everyone is done here.

The world is burning.

When will it finally end?

When will it finally stop…

[raeuberkotzenrotz]

Last weekend I went and traveled to the other end of the country to see my good friend T. I was gonna put the finishing on the bike I built for him last year (fucked up belt length calculations so I had a new one in tow with the proper size) and also to pick up a leftover PSU of his which will go into the new PC i'll hopefully have together this month still.

T. is the very image of a Linux user, ever the tinkerer and was quite curious about my by this point very well worn MS Surface and the possibility of getting an open-source OS running on it. I was as apprehensive as ever about Linux, but hey just a quick test booting from a USB stick, what could possibly go wrong?

Turns out Windows didnt like these shenanigans and engaged the bitlocker file protection that was apparently enabled, effectively locking the drive. Recovery codes stored on my university account, which is defunct for by this point 4 or 5 years, thankfully none of the data was important. Also booting from USB didnt really work either.

The prospect of a touchscreen paperweight is not grand, not to mention the fact that I had planned on getting work done on next day's 8 hour train journey. So the only way was forward and blasting Arch Linux directly into the thing, with a somewhat guilty feeling T. working overtime to get the thing to working order so I could at least send emails.

2023, year of the Linux tablet, it works. It works really well, after ironing out the kinks with some helpful remote tech support. Arch for all it's reputation has proven itself a solid beginner distro by virtue of incredibly good documentation. Apart from one hiccup with java apps and high dpi displays prior functionality has been entirely restored and it feels zippier to boot.

Big nerd has taken me hostage and buddy I got stockholm's.

[tobias-nf]

2024 recap and 2025 plans.

Another year has passed so I'm here once again with a sitrep on my deskspace. Beyond the one large project, moving my PC to the FormD T1 and the custom loop that accompanied it there weren't a lot of changes. Though two smaller things were replaced that didn't warrant their own posts so I'll go over those before laying out the plans for the future projects I'm planning.

One of those smaller things was my Sennheiser IE300 falling apart. Starting sometime this spring the two halves on one of the shells got gradually looser and even separated occasionally when I removed it from my ear. This was fine for a while but back in June (somewhat unsurprisingly) the stress on the wires from the shell coming apart was finally too much and one of them snapped off. In retrospect I wonder if cleaning them with isopropanol caused this, the two halves were only glued together from the looks of it and applying the alcohol at least once a week might've removed the adhesive over time.

By pure coincidence Chris Person of Aftermath (who is someone I have a lot of trust in when it comes to basically any tech) published an article on IEMs the day after mine broke so I didn't have to do much digging to find a suitable replacement [link]. Luckily the IEM market these days is incredibly competitive and what I ended up with was a pair of Truthear ZERO:REDs for €59.98, which is about half the price of what I paid for the IE300. I'm not really an audiophile so I can't get all technical on them but from a purely personal preference point of view I flat-out enjoy the sound of the ZERO:RED over the Sennheiser ones by a good margin. The only complaint I have about the new IEMs is that it took a while to get a decent fit with the included ear tips. The medium-sized ones were the only ones that worked on my ears but only just barely, being so big that the IEMs would occasionally even pop out on their own as I couldn't insert them deep enough (the small-sized ear tips on the other hand were the polar opposite, way too small to get a good fit so they'd also fall out). Fortunately the medium-sized ones seemed to have adjusted in shape from daily use over the course of a few months to the point where they now have a very comfortable and secure fit (the failsafe option if this didn't happen would have been to look into aftermarket ear tips). The vivid red faceplate on the new IEMs is also a nice change compared to the drab look of the IE300, so overall the Truthear ZERO:RED were a really great purchase and I'm hoping that they'll last for a good while.

The other small change was swapping out my Xbox Design Lab controller for a DualSense. No grand reason behind this change, I just got curious about how Sony's offering compared to the Microsoft one in terms of ergonomics. The overall build quality and button feel of both controllers is basically the same, either one seems decent and there's nothing that really makes one stand out from the other. Though one thing to keep in mind when using the DualSense on PC is that the haptic feedback only works when wired, in my case this wasn't an issue at all as I only use it seated at my desk and the USB-C cable gets wrapped around the monitor arm when not in use so there's no extra clutter created. In the end the symmetric stick layout on the DualSense felt more comfortable to me and the Design Lab controller went on to find a new home through eBay like any other still functional hardware that I retire.

So what is planned next? Well, since it's about time for the annual coolant change of the custom loop I'll use that as an opportunity to make a few adjustments to it, specifically to the EXT. Back when I was originally making the plans for this whole T1 build I was expecting Noctua's next generation of 140mm fans to have been released but the release date kept being pushed back, but now after almost a decade of development they're finally available. I ended up getting a full set of 8 of them for a push-pull setup, cable management is going to be even more tricky with this many but I'll be able to squeeze out the best performance and noise levels from the radiator this way. The EK X560M radiator is also going to be replaced with a Hardware Labs one that should be able to make full use of these high-end fans. All the new parts for this project have arrived already and the plan is to assemble everything over the end of the year holidays.

The other, much bigger project that I'm currently planning is about changing my HOTAS setup. At the moment I'm using an all VKB setup with a Gunfighter Mk.III stick base that's paired with their aluminum MCG Ultimate grip via a 200mm extension, all attached to the desk with a UCM-L mount and below it are T-Rudder Mk.IV rudder pedals with the older cylindrical-shaped pedal design. The throttle is a GNX THQ, it's a bit of an odd choice compared to the other sim hardware and was only meant as a cheap stopgap solution initially as VKB's more advanced throttle, the STECS had not yet been released back when I got the other parts (though I never got around to switching to it even though it's been available for well over a year by now). Oh and also as a sidenote I fly in VR with a Valve Index, that's why the stick and pedals are not in front of the monitor.

The DCS Mi-24P is currently the only aircraft I fly so having a setup where your hands are on the throttle/collective while flying at basically all times is the ideal, the GNX THQ being placed on the desk where I have to reach so far forward to access the throttle levers is pretty much the opposite of that. Improving the ergonomics of my simpit is one goal but there's also the somewhat recent development of force feedback flight sim hardware making a comeback, RedKite made a great video on how FFB works in DCS in its most basic implementation and why even just that can be a game changer for certain types of aircraft (it's also a neat example of how flight sticks on real aircraft behave and how they differ from the typical spring-centered joysticks made for flight sims) [link]. One thing to note about most of these newer FFB stick bases is that they don't seem very suited for use with desk mounts as they're pretty large and heavy, not to mention all the extra force created by the motors in them. This had me looking into those aluminum profiles that are commonly used for racing sim rigs, though I'm not planning on building something all that complex with a dedicated seat and all but instead just a stand for the stick, pedals and throttle to mount onto that can be used with my desk chair. I'm pretty sure on what stick base and rudders to get but still undecided on the grip and throttle so this project is currently still in the early planning phase.

Getting a proper, actually ergonomic HOTAS setup will also be the last big project for my deskspace (at least in the foreseeable future), with it complete I'll have everything I want out of my little hobby corner covered. Now this won't mean that there'll be nothing to work on after, it'll just be more incremental upgrades like the aforementioned changes to the EXT and more importantly I also want to start getting a little more creative. What I mean by the latter is that up till now I've mostly just assembled stuff but I haven't really created something proper, something more in the direction of DIY so that'll be the big goal moving forward. Well this basically wraps everything up, 2025 is shaping up to be another fun year for deskspace projects and I'm excited to share them on here in due time!

(≧◡≦)

[aicaptures]

Twice "Ready to Be" - My first ever concert experience!

October 1, 2023 - I attended my first ever concert. The whole experience was exhilarating, fun, and my voice was hoarse for a week but I'd happily do it all over again (I'll be getting a closer seat next time!)

FOR CONTEXT - I started liking K-pop way back 2013 when my friends performed I got a Boy by Girls Generation during our school's Foundation Day when we were in our third year high school. Even though I don't understand the lyrics, I think what got me hooked with it was the vibe, beat, and how powerful some K-pop songs were. My K-pop playlist is my go-to in Spotify whenever I need a booster whenever I feel sleepy or I need to get things done at work.

I have been a Badminton player ever since I was in fifth grade. My parents are also Badminton players and they greatly influenced me to play the sport. My parents are members of a Badminton group where majority of the other members are their friends. It was only me and another kid that belonged to the "younger members" list but there was a time where we met a group of teenagers in the Badminton court where we usually go to. They played with us and then we invited them to join our group and they gladly accepted. In that group, I met my so-called "Badminton crush" (but this is all in the past now, okay? Haha) and one time during our quarterly Badminton tournament, he brought his own speakers and played Heart Shaker by Twice while I was warming up before my game. I saw him dancing the steps while laughing with his friends and found it cute that's why I got curious about the song and the artist and that's how I started to know and liked Twice. I think this was around 2019-2020?

And by the way, my bias in Twice (favorite singer or band member in an idol group) is Dahyun but I love the other members too!

FAST FORWARD - February 2023, JYP Entertainment announced that Twice will be having their third world tour and Philippines is included in their Southeast Asia stops. I got excited because the last time that they came to the Philippines, I was not able to secure a ticket. I just felt happy that they are coming back here and I wondered if I can go to their concert but also feared that I cannot be able to because my parents would be angry with me if they knew that I bought a concert ticket (I don't hate them for that but I grew up not having most of what I wanted when I was younger because for them it is a waste of money).

Early June 2023, I got the news that I will be laid off. I was so lost that time because I have no plans of resigning from my position any time soon because I was actually supposed to be trained for a promotion but unfortunately, they had to hire people from a different agency which meant that they had to let some people go to make room for those and I was one of them.

I received what they called a "retirement package" or compensation for the employees that got laid off. It was enough to last me for a bit (This is considering all my bills for a month and it could easily last me for at least 6-8 months if ever I don't get a job quickly) so I started considering buying a ticket. I had the money that time but I am worried to go alone because it was my first time so there are a lot of things that I do not know yet. I don't know if it was fate (but maybe it was) because my bestfriend Lolyn told me that she wants to go to the concert too. Now both of my problems are resolved - I have money and someone to go to the concert with.

The ticket selling for their show on September 30 was scheduled last June 15. I was having my PC professionally cleaned that time so I queued at exactly 10 am in the shop using my cellular data for the ticket selling but I got placed 64000th. I already lost hope because I think in less than an hour the concert was already declared sold out.

After I got home, I saw in Facebook that they will be having another show on October 1 and another round of ticket selling for it last June 16. Lolyn and I came up with several ideas on how we can get tickets - we contacted someone to help us find a valid session link and they will give it to us (It's not illegal but for those that were able to get into the website early, their session is still valid for I think 10 minutes and they can share it with other people so that they can buy tickets as well without having to queue) and then we queued on all our available devices.

June 16 came and then I asked my sisters (they're twins, by the way) to help me out. It was nerve-wracking because every link that we tried always cuts off midway due to network traffic but luckily, the session that was on my PC went through and I immediately got 2 tickets for me and Lolyn. I was crying that time because I was nervous as heck and then I laughed it off after I received the online receipt because it was a success!

D-DAY - Concert day came and I wasn't able to get some sleep hahaha. I went to Lolyn's house because her sister is going to drive us there. There were four of us attending - Lolyn, me, her sister, and their family friend. I bought their light stick or "Candybong" (the name of the Twice' light stick), their only official merch that I have. We got to the venue early because we aimed to get a good parking spot. We got some food from Burger King in the gas station near the venue (Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan) and then we ate it in the car after settling down. The doors are scheduled to open at 5pm (if I remember correctly) because the show will start at 6pm. After eating and then staying in the car until around 3pm, we decided to go out and line up. We got a bit lost because there's so many Onces in the venue but we eventually found where we need to line up. While on the line, there were a lot of Onces with freebies so we got some! We got stickers, bracelets, and headbands!

CONCERT EXPERIENCE - The whole 3 hours that they were performing, I was always shouting. I can hear my seatmates laughing because of loud I was but I can't help it hahaha. Every member performed their special numbers and there were also parts where they performed as a group or by threes (since there are nine Twice members in total). Aside from shouting, I sang my heart out, jumped, participated in the wave (there's this thing with K-pop concerts where they start a wave using their light sticks and the crowd will follow), caught some confettis as souvenir, and took lots and lots of pictures and videos.

There are times that I felt the whole arena moving with us as we jump hahahaha and its definitely one of those moments where I felt the most alive. I was so happy being a part of that ocean that day.

Thank you, Twice!

In the next post, I'll share some pictures and clips of me that day!

[keefwho]

July 17 - 2023 Monday

8:27 PM

I had decided to password protect this blog to make it totally private but the truth is I don’t want to do that. I hate talking to myself. I’d rather it be public even if no one is actually reading it. I feel better having things out there. I do wonder about the harm it could do though if people close to me see such unfiltered thoughts. I wouldn’t have to worry about that if I hadn’t linked it to my other Tumblr awhile back. Maybe I can change the URL, unlock it, and maybe shake the graphics up to not clearly be me. Maybe it would be nice to almost be incognito despite the fact that I say enough personal things on here to probably figure out who I am. Maybe the goal will be to intentionally be more vague and secret. 

11:06 PM

Today was okay. Breakfast was potstickers and spicy ramen which was good but I did worry slightly if it would be okay on my tummy despite eating it before. I did well with work today, I like what I’ve been doing using color in my sketch sheet. I drew the first porn of my newest pony OC Avena today. After this I have one last big commission to do this month from the guy that pays double to have it done. I did my leg workout but I don’t think it’s enough so I planned to fill my 2 workout-free days with small leg workouts. I just really want that ass and know I gotta work hard to make it happen. Lunch was a hot dog and a macaroni cup. I think I did a good job on today’s request and made just a little more progress on my bathroom world. I spent some time in my friends server as usual and had fun, I’m just starting to make more consistent conversation with more people there. I still don’t know if I feel it clicking but I will give it more time. It will at least hold me over until I find people that do click better. After work was done I felt inspired to draw a little bit more. After THAT I started to feel lost as usual. I had trouble figuring out what to do that would bring me meaning. I know I like VRchat so I hopped in for a bit to try and socialize. I did have a happy little conversation with this brand new player. He is a 31 year old guy who got his Quest 2 days ago and was hopping worlds. I thought he was a furry because I joined a public “Verified Furry” group instance but he was not associated with that. He just happened to pick this cartoony goat avatar. He was nice to talk to, socially adept unlike the few furries that joined and crowded our conversation. He didn’t stay on for too long though because of his headset’s battery life. I told him he could join me whenever, especially if he gets his Quest hooked up to his PC like he plans to on Wednesday. After that I tried hopping to find more people but had no luck. Another friend joined on me that I didn’t quite want to put up with and as usual he tried fucking the first people we met. I was honestly just super hungry at this point so I got off to make dinner. I watching Twitch until my bestie called and we chatted just a bit before she fell asleep. Ever since I’ve been watching someone stream Novel AI to write a funny little story. I thought about using it myself to write smut just for me even though I stand against using AI for creative means. In this case though it would be totally private for my use. Not sure I will actually put the time into that though. During this time I also made a happy little graph on my time tracking sheet to visualize how much I work per day compared to the rest. I love data like that.

[adaru32]

The Red Devil’s Chronicles’ March & April 2023 DMC News Updates: PoC, Trend, Merch, And More

Hey, how’s it going? Here are some more Devil May Cry news updates I’ve collected in the past couple months: 1. The Peak of Combat mobile game has made progress. You can find all of their latest updates and announcements on their Youtube channel.

2. Megaman collabing with Devil May Cry V.

3. Capcom had a spotlight survey that went for 2 weeks, with Devil May Cry being on the list.

4. Prime1Studio making more Devil May Cry V merch. b) Including NabeHands making more Devil May Cry figures. c) And there’s now Devil May Cry Vinyl records.

5. Vergil and Nero trended on Twitter for a bit.

6. Lady's Devil May Cry 3 and 4 voice actress Kari Wahlgren won an award.

7. New CAPCOM artwork featuring Dante and Nero. 8. KFC Spain showed off a Vergil cosplayer ordering some KFC.

My Thoughts On These Updates:

1. It’s not just their Youtube channel you can check out the latest things happening with Peak of Combat, but there’s also their Twitter page which includes polls at times. I saw one poll that baffled me where they asked which gaming device they preferred us to slay demons on. SamSung phones won by a looooong shot compared to the other options which were iPhone, PC, and gaming console. I commented saying that I prefer both PC and gaming console, but chose gaming console since it’s what I grew up with.

2. So many Devil May Cry V collabs. It’s cool but it would be nice if the other Devil May Cry games can have turns collabing as well. I’m aware DMC4 and DMC1 had some collab events before, but DMCV seems to be the only thing that’s getting the most collabs.

3. It sucks that in order to take the survey you had to be a CAPCOM member...I know it’s free and keeps a record on how many fans are interested in their products, but it annoys me when you have to sign up for stuff in order to participate in something that you know you won’t often take part in and your profile just sits there. Not just CAPCOM but other companies as well.

4. It’s cool how Prime1Studio’s going strong and still coming out with new Devil May Cry V merch, 4 years after its release. Then again, Devil May Cry V is still expanding in popularity. I just had my cousin tell me recently that one of her friends is a huge Vergil fan but has never played any of the games, and this friend finally bought all the games and plans to play them whenever he gets the time. b) NabeHands has been doing an amazing job on the figures. Looking forward to more Devil May Cry figure projects from them. c) I wonder what the Devil May Cry tunes would sound like on a record player or jukebox (also huge congrats to the fan artist StelarPidgin for being a part of the project by making the artwork for the records). I’ve heard people argue that they prefer the sound of music on a record player or jukebox compared to a cassette tape or CD player (even speakers from a laptop or phone). I don’t have a jukebox and record player myself but I remember my one grandmother having a record player before it got really old and worn out, and I can kinda remember that the music was nice and clean with the right touch of bass compared to other music playing systems. 

5. Usually it would be just Dante, Devil May Cry, or DMC that would be trending on Twitter. It’s nice to see the other characters from the series taking the trending spotlight.

6. Big congrats to Kari Wahlgren for her award. She is a great voice actress. Speaking of her, I still need to find out why she didn’t get credited for voicing as Lady in DMC3 and 4.

7. With CAPCOM showing off more Devil May Cry in their advertising shows how popular of a series it is, and gives a bit more hope about more future titles coming sooner than later.

8. It’s really cool and interesting to see when restaurant chains recognize certain media and implement them into their advertising, promotions, etc.