#i know it used to be an issue when they did the Big Mobile Update back... whenever that was

[wardensantoineandevka]

sorry to bother you but i wanted to ask how you're enjoying using Obsidian? I've been eyeing it for a while but would love to know your thoughts, highlights, lowlights, etc :) if you don't mind sharing, ofc!

No worries! The short version is that I've been enjoying Obsidian quite a lot, and I find that it serves all of my needs nicely without any fuss. Using it is rather frictionless, I think, and getting used to it was pretty easy though it did take some willingness to very much learn to navigate its menus and features and how it lays everything out. It's not at all difficult, but I do think you have to sit with it for a bit. It's currently my main writing program with the exception of screenplays, for which I use Highland 2.

For context on myself, my writing needs are rather straightforward. I use these sorts of apps and programs to write and organize my fanfic, original prose writing, professional correspondence, and journalistic article drafts. I previously used Notion, which I left because of the big NotionAI push. Before Notion, I used Bear, though I can't remember why I stopped using it; I haven't checked out Bear 2, so I don't know if it suits my needs.

When I was shopping around for a new program to use, the following points were important to me, in no particular order:

no native / built-in generative AI assistants

interface is simple and clean or had customization or community themes that would make it so

offline access

mobile app with document sync

ability to organize and group notes through a folder, tag, or similar system

not too many Things going on with it or I could very easily ignore stuff I didn't use without them cluttering up the UI or my space

Obsidian organizes files within "vaults", of which you can have multiple, each of which are connected to folders that are stored locally on my laptop (or my phone). I love this. I have local versions of all of my notes. I can literally find all my stuff as markdown files within a folder on my desktop and open them up in another program with EASE. If you are someone who doesn't have a lot of storage space, this might be an issue, but for me, this is a very bright highlight.

The biggest lowlight for me is that mobile sync is reliant on a subscription fee, but considering that the rest of the program is free and the fee is small, I found this ultimately a very small concern. I very critically need mobile sync because I spend a significant amount of time writing from my phone. The mobile sync is incredibly good; it keeps all documents synchronized very well, and I have yet to run into version conflicts that cause me to accidentally overwrite and lose significant progress. I don't even have to close files on my laptop first; they'll just update in real-time on my screen like Google Docs. Sometimes I'll name documents something that my phone's file path system cannot handle; Obsidian warns me that it cannot fetch and sync these files with illegal names, and I like that it keeps me informed about that.

It has both a folder system and a tag system, which allows you to organize your files. I only use the folder system because my needs are simple, but the tag system is also solid. It also has a robust search system. It also has a bookmarking system to further organize your stuff. I don't have enough files to use that, but it is available, and I think that's neat.

More precise customization can be difficult if you're not used to writing CSS. I am familiar with CSS, so I found this a small hurdle, but this will be a bigger issue for others. That said, this does mean that Obsidian is DEEPLY customizable, and there is a large gallery of community themes that offer a lot of styles that serve a wide variety of needs. There is also a deep bench of community plugins to help get Obsidian to do what you want — I have plugins that make the word count in the status bar show the count of highlighted text and allow me to copy text as HTML instead of formatted text or markdown. There is also an active Obsidian community and forum, so you will not be necessarily troubleshooting customization alone.

Other small things that occur to me to mention right now: It supports opening files in multiple windows, and it has a tab system, which is really neat. The ability to open multiple files at a time is very good. You can also open files side-by-side for easy comparison, which is useful for more technical work. I don't use Obsidian for coding or wiki work, but I can imagine this being really useful for that. It has a reading mode. Offers a version history with a "show changes" mode and restoration capability. File merge capability. You can open images into it and organize them like any other file.

All in all, I'm very happy with it, and it serves all of my personal needs very well. I generally give it a blanket recommendation, again noting that I think it does take sitting with to get used to some of its features and UI and customizing it to your needs and preferences, but I don't think that's super difficult with some patience and time.

[samatheia229]

Rise Rant: Leo's Sword Situation

Yes, this is a call-out post.

I obsessively reload the Rottmnt page on AO3 every day so I'm caught up with most of the new/updated fics, which is how this phenomena came to my attention.

There are a decent amount of fics where Leo still uses an odachi instead of his iconic twin katana after unlocking Hamato Ninpō. I know some Rise fans were unhappy with the reversion to the OG weapons and stick with the mystic weapons, and there's nothing wrong with that. You do you. I've even seen some fic authors write Leo using both odachi and twin katana interchangeably. Great!

My issue is with the group of people who seem to think that post-Ninpō, Leo wields TWO ODACHI.

I was reading a fic yesterday where one commenter (we'll call them OP) 'informs' the author that Leo uses twin odachi post-Ninpo, not katana.

Someone else replied, saying something along the lines of "I thought the garden trowels turn into twin katana. They're different from what I remember."

Then OP responded to the reply like "Nah, it's odachis. Imagine how strong Leo must be to wield two at once!"

And that, as they say, was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

WHERE DID THIS IDEA COME FROM? Denial? Glorification of Rise? Misinformation? Something else? All of the above?

Odachi and katana are very different swords from appearance alone. You don't need knowledge of martial arts to know this.

Still in denial? Here's the proof.

Katana have thinner blades and wide hilts. Odachi are much bigger and heavier, and in the show clearly have a wider and longer blade.

IRL comparison. The odachi is bigger and longer than the tachi (the smallest sword in the 1st pic) and the katana is smaller/shorter than the tachi.

This size/length difference remains true in the show. The odachi is almost as big as Leo at his full height while his twin katana only take up roughly the vertical length of his shell. There are some inconsistencies because the show has too much going on to really focus on sword length, but still.

If you're still not convinced, then let's talk animator logic. Except Donnie, all the turtles use their OG weapons in the beginning of the pilot episode. The katana in Leo's hands are basically identical to the katana he wields post-Ninpō.

The way the two swords are drawn in the show are also visually different.

Just from a logical standpoint, it's obvious that Leo would not be using two odachi. We've seen him wield his odachi with one hand so it's entirely possible that he's capable of using two at once, but even so it's hardly practical and even just plain inefficient, especially when you take into account his sword-throwing teleportation move. It doesn't matter that Leo could do it. Two giant, heavy swords are just cumbersome and impractical for a fighter who relies on speed and mobility.

Headcanons that glorify Rise are one thing. The "bio-engineered soldiers of war" headcanon is fanon because there are many uncertain factors so who's to say it can't be canon. However, spreading very blatant misinformation of canon, like this debacle with Leo's swords, is not okay.

TL;DR: Rise Leo uses one (1) mystical odachi for most of the series but uses twin katana after unlocking Ninpō.

If you still can't see it, then you are — to put it harshly — either blind or stupid, neither of which are mutually exclusive.

Thank you for listening to (reading) my TED Talk.

[fictionfixations]

spoiler alert: i get SO off topic talking about other stuff. (if you cant tell i like talking. or well expressing my thoughts. anyway its 2 am i can use the excuse of impulse actions from lack of sleep)

i dont even know why im trying when obviously the next update is going to require even more storage and im going to have to drop it (its like 50 gb in actuality but it needs double to like. open it and do SHIt. i dont know this stuff man)

ahghgusihdfiufh (it was worse. ive. deleted a bunch of stuff that i dont play as much.

only games left are Star Rail (which im not dropping. ive poured so much time genuinely invested in story and characters idk what im gonna do when i run out of space to play. maybe cry.), Roblox (i genuinely dont know how much storage its taken, and I don't play it that much but LISTEn it fills a lot of game cravings that i cant play the source cause holy shit my storage.), Osu (the only game i can play without wifi.)

i wanna play the other games on mobile (i used to play star rail on mobile ngl LMFAO then realized 'hey this is fun' and moved to pc after genshin got too big. or maybe i had both at the same time i cant remember now ghreuigh) but uhm. the farthest i get in wuwa on mobile is like the opening loading screen before we see the rovers (it just stops there. even the music stops i think?? ive left it on and did other stuff but nothing happened and its either it wants me to wait super long, or theres just no hope) i did the tutorial for solo leveling arise on mobile but then trying to do literally anything else (like trying to access the menu) kicks me out of the game so then i had to move to pc. genuinely scary game first time around it shut down my pc, and even at lowest graphics kept warning me that 'for smoother gameplay you should have lower graphics' or something so fan on all the time (i have a fan pointed directly at my laptop.) and honestly. im not even that big of a fan of solo leveling why am i here (meilin fisher that is why. anyway i got her. so. shes not even an actual character outside the game??) ive literally only seen the anime and i forgot most of it😭

zzz on my phone is just black screen. it kicks me out. the farthest ive gotten is it asking if i want notifications but it still kicks me out

identity v i cant even download everything i think, i just have it to log in for pc. but uhm. i guess i cant anymore? but also i cant remember if i can still log in through other methods so uh its staying on mobile (to be fair i only got super into it cause of danganronpa collab so)

oh i found whatever it was that was taking 2 gb on desktop LMFAO

no wonder i was so confused on wtf it was

anyway. um. this is very much a shame. cause. i only get so invested in stories in games because im actually playing them. otherwise i cant guarantee im fully focused cause i get distracted so easily. um.

now about mobile storage and everything

uh. i have an iphone 6 pro. no idea if thats bad or not but uh. probably not that great. ? ? idk man idk how it compares to newer phones i want to get a new phone (at least for all the games i cant play on that phone) but then i got an iphone case cause my former one was actually cracked so... its staying (from the zzz website)

so its probably the phone in all honesty thats the issue (people were talking about who they wanted to play when starting the game and i got myself all hyped over ellen so. d'aww.)

and in the case its actually storage.. uh. tough luck. nu carnival is. a gacha game. and i got the character i wanted there, but its more convenient to go through like daily kinda stuff. ..also confession time if yk the difference uh. listen it was a hassle downloading it im not gonna delete it then have to reteach myself how tf to download it again because oh my god

twisted wonderland (aka disney tw LOL) is my OTHER fixation besides star rail. ive gone through all the story (including JP which i dont have cause i cant read it but fan translations for the win) + most event stories (i havent gone through anniversaries, new year sale 2024 JP, and like i think theres a crewel one rn..? or thats just the new card., tapis rouge, playful land, thats it). i love this game. so much.

if i told you ibis paint x used to take i think like so much more space because it still had the stuff since the VERY beginning... anyway idk what to use it for now but if i ever need to edit something...

kinemaster ^

i kinda already talked about identity v

bang dream. i LOVE rhythm games. and pretty designs. and vocaloid. and japanese songs.

in all honesty i lose interest in things so fast and drop them. then i get interested in other things, etc etc. and then i get back to a fixation on, say, rhythm games and wanting to play them a lot. then i can get bored and get interested in like. idk. life simulation(?) games like sims 4. or minecraft specifically the wynncraft server (which is like a fantasy thing..)

which is kind of why i have a bunch of stuff that i dont play often still because one day im gonna want to play it and then go back.

for laptop i just got rid of the games i wasnt interested in playing at the moment so. yeah

anyway if you cant tell i like talking about stuff. and justifying stuff (well its more like it started because i was worried to be judged. ive never been judged over what i like?? only like. once or twice?? that i can recall? but at one point i just started getting in the habit of justifying beforehand for everything after seeing the internet with their pitchforks directed at so many people so. yee.)

off topic. ive checked in on tiktok sometimes. and i just wanna say. how often is it that y'all get comments on old posts that are just variations of 'reminder' or 'remember this' ?? LISTEn the amount of comments that just say "reminder" and THATS IT (bro someone commented 'reminder' TWO times on the SAME post like DAMN. i mean they commented on someone else's comment on that post too with 'reminder' so probably trying to bother someone else but like wHY)

like. i mean. ive posted cringey shit hasnt everyone but it kinda feels like they're trying to shame people? like 'haha remember your past?'

maybe im sensitive. i mean. if this was past me i wouldve probably taken it to heart since yknow its still a work i created, but honestly now its just kinda funny

but idk if anyone else is being bothered by this (i mean. people generally go through old posts and delete ones they dont like right? i kinda dont do that so i mean. maybe yall are better off for that)

just wondering.

[oliviapasianworkshop]

March 14-20

This week, I made some really good progress on my community garden website. I got the growth working, which was probably the biggest challenge of the whole project. It was definitely the part I was most scared to do since I wasn't sure how to approach it. What I ended up doing was creating a set of conditional statements in the fetch call in my client-side, basically just saying if growthState is __, then change the image to one of the corresponding growth images. So I just created 3 images per 5 growth stages, so it just randomly picks one of the images for each growth stage. On the server-side, it's setting an interval (currently 5 seconds, but will be closer to a day in the final version) which is saying every __ seconds, update the growth state +1, unless it reaches stage 5, in which case the conditional statement on the client-side changes to the user's image (stored in their JSON object) and on the server-side it stops at 5 and stops growing. I feel like this way made it as easy as possible for me because it was mostly based on past assignments, like how the self-portrait website was storing user images and how my rubber band website stored positions. The new thing I had to figure out this time was the setInterval where it is using time and regularly updating the database with updated growth states.

I ran into a big issue this week when I tried to host my website with Glitch. I kept getting a 429 "Too many requests" error and I couldn't figure out why, since my localhost seemed fine and everything had been working. I used the developer tools and found that there was an insane amount of fetch requests, like 50 a second. I realized that it was worse when I resized, and this was because of the way I had the desktop function set up so that it was activated based on screen proportions and the fetch call was stored in that desktop function. So I did some research and found a Medium article about "debouncing" (still not totally sure what that is). It basically stops the fetch calls from being so often by limiting how often desktop() is called, which fixed my problem by preventing the insane amount of fetch calls that overwhelmed Glitch and my own computer.

Here is what the desktop and mobile versions of the websites look like for now:

My plan for the next week is to add the ability to water plants (which I think won't affect growth, but will make the plants turn brown if they haven't been watered in a while). I think I know how to do this, but it'll be a matter of figuring out how to update the database by knowing which flower the mouse is over to decide if the watering need is met. I also am going to make the background a little more fun by adding weeds and grass. I'll also start adding time states, like time-based animations of animals and adding day/night/dusk/dawn overlays so time of day is visualized.

I'm excited about the progress I have made and the end is in sight!

[scarletcoven]

Rules

Mun is 21+ as are the muses.

Must be 21+ to interact with both this blog.

Please do not use me as an rp meme source. Unless you are sending ask memes from the one you reblog, it just feels like I’m just a resource. Do your best to reblog it from the original source.

I usually follow back if you are a roleplay account. I don’t always do it, but I usually do. If you follow me, I assume you want to interact with me, so if you do, please feel free to. I love meeting new people and love new threads!

God Modding results in me blocking you. I am flexible with my muses, but do not take over their actions or personalities.

A trigger that I have is when people talk negatively about their weight or other people’s weight. I deal with weight issues and it’s difficult to be okay with my body when I am seeing other people put themselves down or others. If you have an idea that could be triggering, please run it by me first before doing it.

No means no.

I am very understanding and willing to drop or change rps around.

If I do not respond to the thread for a while, let me know because I probably did not see it or need a reminder that it is there. (I promise I will try and keep up with all of the threads!) I am trying to use an rp thread tracker so I will do my best to update it and keep up.

While reminding me is fine, spamming me with messages is not. I have a life outside of tumblr and I am not always going to be around to respond. Be respectful.

I am not online all the time. While I am on for quite a big chunk of the day, I am mostly on mobile and not going to reply to threads. I like having my posts cut so I mainly use my laptop for that.

If you make a starter for us, I will most likely make an new post for it. I figured out how to cut posts on mobile so that’s the only reason why I would do that. If that is a problem for you, let me know.

While I love rping, I do not always have motivation to write. I may also be selective with what I am writing some days. This is nothing personal. I get into different moods and like rping what I am in the mood for.

I do have Discord, so if that is easier for you to use, let me know! I do enjoy rping on there!

I love OCs a lot. I have many of them.

Please be patient with me. I have been known to keep partners waiting. As much as I don’t like doing it, it’s how I am. If you do not like that, then do not interact with me.

While I am super open to criticism, please do not be a jerk to me. If I am doing something wrong, it is okay to let me know. My main goal on here is to make everyone feel comfortable on my blog. Remember as well, sending me hate and bullying me is not the same thing as letting me know of something I’ve done wrong. I have awful anxiety and I don’t handle stuff like that well.

Theses fcs are triggering to me, so I will not interact with you if you are using them: Eliza Taylor and Bob Morley.

Absolutely no Bellarke. No exceptions.

Remember that I am a person behind this blog. I will treat you with respect, and I would hope you would do the same for me.

I promise you, I am not a scary person. I hope non of you feel intimidated by me. Feel free to message me or send in asks! Please make sure you actually read these rules and agree to them.

Thank you for reading these, I appreciate it.

Please send me  ❦ in my ask if you have read these!

[speyeraling]

i see the tumblr app is doing that Thing again where it dumps images at the end of the post regardless of where they are while youre writing it... thanks for that ://

[thessalian]

Thess vs Tech Updates

Good news and iffy news on the “trying to set up the work from home stuff” front.

Good news! I found my stupid Bitlocker password! I eventually thought to log onto our company’s IT helpdesk site and look through the closed tickets.

Also good news! Once I got that unlocked, and after a little bit of fanangling, I did the VPN thing no problem!

And now we get into the iffy part, because after that, I still need to access the company server. Which is where some of the instructions started getting unclear. See, the VPN instructions also gave me what I should be doing to connect to the work server, but it’s different servers per building. The example given on the paperwork gave a server address for the main building. I don’t work in the main building. The instructions said, “See list below” for server addresses. There was no “list below”.

Soooooooo back I went to the company IT helpdesk site. Flagged up the issue on the open ticket. Two things happened in fairly quick succession at that point. First was an email from the guy I’ve been dealing with, saying, “Okay, here’s the address you need to use; let me know if you have problems and I’ll walk you through it by phone”. The second was another IT guy going, “Okay, we’re starting a new ticket for this specific issue so we’re closing the current ticket”. Because apparently they’re really picky about one ticket per issue and they’d rather have five tickets for five separate niggles instead of one big ticket going, “Get this person set up with work from home” that incorporates all five niggles. I have no idea why.

But I have a server address, so that’s fine, right? Nope. Server address doesn’t work.

So I respond to the email (which was copied to Scruffman, so I copied him in the thing as well so he’d have an interim update) saying, “The address doesn’t work; I’m at home at the moment so please call my mobile and walk me through this”. No response a half-hour later, but I can be patient.

Thing is, I want this resolved today for a lot of reasons. First of all, it would be really nice to be able to just have this sorted and work from home as of this week. But also, Mum emailed me yesterday going, “How about dinner Thursday?” Which ... thanks, Mum, but could I get a little more lead time than that, or at least have things arranged for a Monday when I know I’m not going to have to be at work? As it is, Thursday’s problematic specifically because the Tube and Overground strikes set up for that day weren’t cancelled like the National Rail strikes for this week were, and my commute has been iffy enough as it is. Particularly given that Scruffman and I have basically agreed Thursdays as my one day per week to come in (though I’m going to try to renegotiate for this week at least, if everything works out today), this Thursday is going to be potentially bad. Anyway, I told her I’d let her know by the end of the day so I can at least get a time frame. Honestly, I wish she’d ask in a less specific way - like, “Let’s go to dinner - what day would be good for you?” instead of picking a day herself. A retired person has a rather different schedule than someone who a) isn’t and b) relies on unreliable public transport.

I would dearly love to go back to bed - I ran something of a fraught bit of combat last night and couldn’t sleep without copious wind-down time - but I am waiting for a phone call. Of course, I’m boned if said call doesn’t come by, say, half-three because Scruffman leaves the office at 4pm these days and if I don’t get things sorted before he leaves, there am I dealing with another week of commute. Eh, there’s still a few hours to go. Fingers crossed.

[aeonmagnus]

Happy 20th Anniversary Robots In Disguise!

This year, and today in particular, marks the 20-year anniversary of Transformers Robots in Disguise airing in the United States.  This was the official English language dub of the Japanese show Transformers Car Robots, which aired in Japan the year before.   This show and it’s accompanying toy line were a big shift in the Transformers brand and affected how things moved forward in the new millennium.  It was also a big influence on me and this website in it’s early years, so both the brand and TFW2005 may not be what it is today without it.

We hope you will read on after the break to check out our celebration of Robots in Disguise on it’s 20th!

Intro

The following is not a comprehensive article on the show proper, but rather a trip down memory lane from my personal perspective.  It was a period of change in my life, in the fandom, in the brand, and in the world – all happening at once.  Robots in Disguise was smack dab in the middle of it all and I think that’s why it still resonates with me all these years later.  For a deeper dive into the world of Robots In Disguise you can check RIDForever.info, a site I maintain just about RID and Car Robots. The 2021 updates are here, and the 2017 round of updates are here.  I’d also suggest checking the TFWe issue all about RID over on the 2005 Boards.  Now, onto today’s festivities…

The Show

RID, and yes I say RID as if it is the only RID.  If you must reference that other RID show and it’s off-shoots, refer to it as RID 201x, thanks. 😊 RID aired during the Fox Kids programming block on a Saturday morning, with additional episodes set to air each weekday during the afternoon hours.  Instead of stretching the show out over the course of 30+ weeks with only a new ep each weekend, they were going to blaze through it non-stop.  By the end of the first week, we would have been 7 eps in.  That however hit a big roadblock due to 9/11 just three days later.  While some local markets did air the episodes, many larger city networks, and especially east coast markets, stuck with news coverage.   Many of us did not catch the early episodes on TV the first go around.  In addition, several of the episodes got pulled from TV due to depictions of buildings being destroyed and other similar visuals which understandably could upset children that just experienced 9/11.  So right off the bat, the new millennium and new era of Transformers were dealing with a new reality.

The show, for those that don’t know – was a weird one-off in Transformers history.  We had G1 and then the G2 remixes for a bit.  Beast Wars came on the scene and ran all the way through 2000 with it’s successor – Beast Machines.   During the Beast Wars era – Japan did a couple of their own Beast Wars shows, non-CGI extensions of what we saw in the US.   Their market wasn’t quite ready for full CGI so they stuck with traditional anime.  When Hasbro decided to continue Beast Wars into Beast Machines, Takara went a completely different way – a traditional animated show which brought back Autobots and “Decepticons”, mixing them in with the beasts.  They focused the toys on a couple new and complex molds, then filled the rest of the line with repaints of previous toys.  Old 2nd tier Beast Wars toys, G2 Laser Prime, and even some Generation 1 molds in the form of the Combaticons got new life as new characters in this show, capped with the biggest TF of them all at the time – a repainted G1 Fortress Maximus, now Brave Maximus.  It was the prototype for what the Transformers brand did for years to come – repainting old toys into new characters.  Universe, Classics, Botcon, and even some Generations runs used this method to give us some great toys in the 00s.

While there is a very complicated and long explanation for how every single Japanese show is one continuity, to someone casually starting with Car Robots it was a refresh, a new story, a new arrival on Earth.  The Autobots vs the Predacons, and eventually the Combatrons/Decepticons. It was a hard cut from the last 5 years or so of CGI Beasts.  Hand drawn traditional animation featuring vehicle Transformers.  It wasn’t G1, but many of the folks who grew up with G1 were just getting out of college around this time.  They were rediscovering their childhood love of Transformers through Beast Wars, flea market finds, raids on their parents’ attics and basements, and for the internet savvy – imports of Japanese reissues from Takara.  It was a perfect storm of nostalgia; a return to Autobots and Decepticons was welcomed by kids and adults alike.

RID and TFW2005

In the years leading up to Car Robots, I was just getting into the internet, coding, design, some digital music, and all the possibility that came with it.  Beast Wars, especially when it hit Season 2/3 and the inclusion of G1 lore, really got me focusing on Transformers again as a hobby.  I eventually combined the two newfound hobbies into one and Transformer World 2005 was born.  At no point did I ever think it would last 20+ years and take over my life in the way it did.  I started the full version of TFW2005 around April 2000, with some starts and stops before that.  That was right around when Car Robots started airing in Japan.  Through the magic of 56k internet, I was able to connect with folks in Japan and get them to send me VHS tapes of Car Robots.  Really nice, high-quality tapes too, I still have them hehe.  To the younglings reading – try to picture this: no youtube, no video sharing. The concept of streaming anything did not exist yet. Napster and the eventual peer to peer stuff hadn’t fully kicked off.  Plus, we were all viewing the internet on giant computers in our rooms at the speed of 1x on your phone.  Less than 1 bar 3G mobile speeds today.

Yes, someone recorded episodes from TV to video tape over there, did that a couple weeks at a time, then physically mailed them across the world to me, who then got them on the internet.  Can you imagine waiting weeks to watch an episode of TV the size of a twitter profile avatar?  Crazy.  Uploading a full episode to the internet was a big pain in the ass, not easily done.  I decided to get a converter that allowed me to plug my VCR into the computer and encode the tape into digital format.  From there, it was reduced using Microsoft’s WMV technology so that the episodes were about 5 MB each.  30 minute episodes at 5MB each. Dimensions – 176 x 144 pixels.  4k video today – 3840 x 2160 pixels.  You can imagine that video looked like crap.  But we didn’t care – we were blown away.  Old school animation, vehicles, some cool Japanese anime vibes, it was what we as G1 fans kinda had in the back of our heads on what Transformers should be in a new era, and we were seeing it.  Most of us had no clue what they were saying or what was going on.  Also didn’t care.  I still to this day think CR/RID is better like that.

So one of the first things TFW2005 did on the internet was provide these super small windows into Car Robots and what was going on in Japan. It helped get US fans hyped up for what Transformers could be. It got us wanting the toys, and importers bringing the Takara toy line over were moving serious product.  It helped swing Hasbro, who was planning to return to Autobots and Decepticons again down the road, to move that schedule up.  Instead of running Beast Machines until 2002 and then starting what we now know as the Unicron Trilogy, it was cut short.  Robots in Disguise as a toy line and show came over in 2001, ran fast and hard for a year with non stop releases, got extended because it did so well, and then faded into the Universe line of repaints.  The new millennium of Transformers was here and Robot In Disguise kicked it off with a bang.

Wrap Up

As we all continue with collecting Transformers now, regardless if you tagged into the fandom during G1, Beasties, the Unicron Trilogy, the Movies, or just yesterday – let’s take the time to give Car Robots and RID some props!  It set the tone for what the new millennium of the brand would be.  It gave us some toys ahead of their time.  It solidified the repaint as an accepted thing in the hobby. And it gave us one crazy 39 episode run of TV that’s still a fun ride 20 years later.

For those that would like to learn more about RID and Car Robots – I still maintain a Robots in Disguise website that archives everything I have or came across.  There is a lot there if you want to go on a tour of all the awesome Car Robots and Robots In Disguise era stuff.  Check it out at RIDFOREVER.INFO! FIYAH!

Let us know what you think and remember from the good old days of RID on the 2005 Boards here!

Epilogue

If someone over there at Hasbro is reading – can someone please figure out who owns the rights to the show in the US market and then get it out on DVD in full, finally?  Work all that funky licensing stuff out (if there is any) and get it done.  The US has never had access to it via an official release.  Maybe get it up on YouTube like G1?  Something.  Announcing plans for that before the end of 2021 would be a nice 20th anniversary tribute.

[thebrochtuarachs]

Something in the Rain - “Finding Solid Ground”

A/N:  Hi all! This chapter has been in the drafts for quite sometime now but I only had the time to pick up the writing. Thank you so much for your patience with my slow updates but rest assured, I absolutely love this story and daydream about the chapters ahead. As always, your comment and suggestions help a lot moving this story forward. Hope you all are keeping safe and healthy! Till the next one!

AO3  / C1: A Day In June : C2: Definitely, Maybe : C3: So We Meet Again : C4: Friday Lunch

XXXXX

She was 45 minutes late.

Claire was running as fast as she could, catching some curious eyes on her as she raced towards Mrs. Kim’s Korean Street Food Hub to hopefully, still catch Jamie for their lunch.

She got off from her morning surgery quite late due to some complications but she still went as courtesy and because, in all honesty, she still wanted to see him. Their last encounter kind of left them in an awkward place and she was hoping that this meeting could help clarify some things. She has been waiting for this all week but alas, life (and medicine) had other plans.

Claire entered the store and knew instantly that he wasn’t there. The place was empty after the lunch rush and she sighed in disappointment.

“Claire!” Mrs. Kim suddenly called out. “This is for you, left by your friend”, she said while handing her a piece of paper.

“Thank you” Claire replied, opening it on spot.

Hi Claire,

Sorry, I left before you arrived but I have to get back to the office. Don’t worry about the wait, I really don’t mind but I just have a packed schedule today.

Forgive me if this is too forward but here’s my number. No pressure! Just figured we can text or call whenever is a better time to catch up. Just hit me up when you feel like it and I’ll be on the other line.

I do hope to hear from you soon. If not, I’ll be here next Friday, same time :)

Jamie

Claire did not waste any more time and punched in Jamie’s mobile number to call. After three rings, he answered.

“Hello?”

“Jamie? It’s me, Claire.”

“Claire, hi! I see you got my note.”

“I did. I am so sorry. My surgery ran a little bit long and…”

“Don’t worry, I figured that must be it.” he said cheerfully, cutting her off before she went into a long explanation. “I mean, you save lives and all, couldn’t be angry about that.”

Claire sighed relief on the other line and couldn’t believe just how understanding he is. So understanding that she’s starting to wonder if he’s even real. She hasn't really met anyone that chivalrous and it captures her.

“Oh, wow. Thank you - and thank you for the note and your number. My guilt would’ve eaten me alive if I couldn’t apologize to you.”

“You don’t think it was too forward?”

“No, not at all. To be honest, I was going to ask it last week before we got, erm, interrupted.”

“Well, that’s good to know. And in any case, I would’ve given it.” Jamie said.

She could hear his smile from the other line and she couldn’t help but smile too.

“Anyhow,” Claire followed. “I am so sorry I missed you today. To make up for it, would you happen to be doing anything tomorrow?”

“Hmm, let me check." Jamie checked his board calendar. "Nope, my weekend is free. Anything you had in mind?”

“Well, if you’re up for it, I’d like to invite you to the center tomorrow, see what we’re doing with the kids. Fair warning though, they get a little rowdy sometimes.”

“I’m game! Text me the details and what time to meet you.”

“Really? Great! Sure, I’ll text you the details in a bit”

“Will wait for it. Claire, sorry to cut this short but I have to run to a meeting. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Oh no, please. Go ahead. I’ll see you tomorrow, Alright, bye!”

-

It was a Saturday, two weeks since their encounter by the crossing, and now she’s waiting for him to arrive and bring him to one of the most special places for her.

Claire hadn’t absolutely thought through what inviting Jamie to the center would mean. Reflecting on yesterday, a part of Claire thought she may have panicked and this invite might’ve been a mistake. On another end was a part of her that was excited to see him and if she was really being honest, spend time with him, and show her the work they have been doing.

She had told her their meeting story and the extended invite to her friends and staff but left out the part about their lunches. She messaged the team on WhatsApp about their upcoming guest and her inbox has blown with messages asking her for more details about the man himself. She messaged that they’ll be able to find out for themselves tomorrow when they meet him and turned off her phone.

“Claire?” Deep in thought she hadn’t seen or hear Jamie arrive. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. Spaced out there for a bit” she embarrassingly admitted.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Jamie asked as Claire pointed the way in.

“Erm, nothing much. Just thinking about giving you fair warning about everyone upstairs. They’re quite curious about you, Jamie Fraser.” she said jokingly the half truth.

Jamie got a bit nervous suddenly and Claire felt it. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll save you if they get too rowdy. Be ready to answer questions though." She said, smiling, hoping to ease his thoughts.

“Is any topic off limits? Should I not mention anything to them?”

“I leave it to you. But if you ask me, just be yourself and charm everyone away”

Jamie chuckled and Claire turned to him. “What?”

“You think I’m charming?”

Claire laughed and smacked him in the arm. “Oh, bug off!”

“I’ll take that as a yes”

“Anyway!” Claire interrupted. “Today’s event is just art and crafts and a story session. The rest, the kids can do and play how ever they like. I usually just play with any kid who asks me to and time just flies and suddenly, the afternoon is done.”

“Got it. I honestly hope I can help more than distract or whatever”

“Pssh, you’ll be fine, Jamie. You’ll be fine”

--

The moment the elevator doors opened, a line of people greeted Jamie and Claire at the entrance.

“Hello, everyone” Claire greeted but to her surprise, no one spoke or moved. Everyone was just looking at Jamie. “This is Jamie. Jamie Fraser, our guest for today”

She ushered them closer to the stunned group and began to introduce them one by one.

Mary, the receptionist and admin assistant.

Mrs. Graham, the secretariat and head of operations.

Joe, also a surgeon from Claire’s hospital.

Frank, the history professor he’d met a week earlier.

Geilis, a botanist and herbalist.

“It’s nice to meet you all. Thank you for having me this afternoon.” Jamie said and it was only then that the ice was broken.

“Hi, Jamie was it? Can I call you Jamie?” Mrs. Graham prodded.

“Yes, Mam”

“Alright, this way. Let me show you around”

As Mrs. Graham swept Jamie away for a short tour, the rest of the group crowded Claire with questions.

“Okay, he is even more handsome than in the pictures!” Geilis excitedly said.

“Pictures?” Claire asked.

“Ugh, I sometimes forget you’re a doctor who needs to catch up to the times” Geilis pinched her nose jokingly. “Jamie was named one of Scotland’s most eligible bachelors in a tatler magazine last year. There’s pretty striking photos of him in a tux and in casual clothes.”

“I remember that issue. Gail had one lying in the house and I happen to peruse it one time. You’re right, the pictures don’t do him justice.” Joe chimed in.

“I had no idea. I mean, I just literally bumped into the guy on the street!” Claire said, a curiosity pooling in her mind. She had to look for that magazine later.

“Such a meet-cute story. Ugh, Claire! It’s like something out of the books or movies” Geilis added.

“Psh, he seems too manly for me. I mean, who is that fit and that put together.” Frank mused.

“I think he’s quite charming” Joe added.

“If you ask me, Claire, I don’t know what’s going on between you two but keep it going” Geilis added.

“Aish, nothing is going on. I just extended a polite invite to make up for - “ Claire stopped as Jamie and Mrs. Graham arrived back, thankful for the Interruption.

“Make up for what?” Geilis asked, not missing that info.

“Oh, nothing.”

“Mhm” Geilis hummed raising an eyebrow to Claire. She’ll pull it out of her later.

---

It was a long but fun afternoon for everyone.

Afterwards, one by one, the space cleared out, the kids were picked up, saying goodbye to the staff with some even approaching and waving at Jamie as they left, leaving him with a heartwarming feeling.

“Well, another successful weekend, folks!” Frank called out and the team gave themselves applause.

“Great job to Joe and Mary for taking on the storytelling and painting sessions this afternoon and I would also like to thank our guest, Jamie, for being patient and helpful with the kids” Mrs. Graham added, earning another group applause.

“Thank ye, I hope I helped at all today but otherwise, I enjoyed today and thank ye for inviting me.” Jamie shared.

“Come join us anytime” Joe patted him on the back. “Alright, everyone, have a goodnight. See you all next week, I’ll bring Gail and Lenny along.” With that he made a way for the elevator and it was everyone’s cue to leave.

Claire approached Jamie just as he was going to her. “Well, how are you and how was it?” she asked. If she expected to spend time with Jamie, well, it didn’t happen. First, he was whisked away by Mrs. Graham. Afterwards, it was Joe asking help to build his set. Next up was Mary who got him assisting on getting and serving the food, and the rest of the time, it was kids calling out on Jamie here and there and he was more than happy to oblige.

“Fun and a little bit tiring” he replied and Claire gave a small laugh. “But in all honesty, thank ye for inviting me to come here. Made me miss my niece and nephew”

“I’m glad you had fun and I’m glad you got to see what we’re doing here.”

Jamie might be overthinking things but he knew that Claire sharing this part of her to him seems like a big thing and he intends to cherish that.

“Anyway, I’d like to offer to drive ye home...or to the nearest bus stop” he added, panicking he put her in a tight spot.

Claire paused, eyed him jokingly, intentionally making him more flush and nervous.

“I’d take that offer but” she began and Jamie swallowed the lump on his throat, “I actually live nearby so we don’t need to drive”

“Okay,” Jamie sighed in relief which Claire found very cute. “Lead the way, then”

[unpopularly-opinionated]

I don’t play WoW but I used to play Overwatch and Diablo and this touches on just the general issues that are inside of Activision Blizzard right now regarding the major decline of World of Warcraft and how they’re losing to Final Fantasy XIV, how if the latest WoW expansion or Overwatch 2 flop as they’re projected to do then Blizzard’s most definitely going to pivot almost entirely to mobile games, and how the differences in age demographics are actually dividing the company into multiple camps.

It’s important to note two things: 1) this could be fake but also 2) the link came from Grummz, a former team lead on WoW and producer on Diablo II and Starcraft. It still could be fake despite this, but if he’s sharing it then I feel like there’s at least some measure of truth in this.

Transcription below in case this gets deleted and/or you don’t wanna click the link. Warning, it’s fairly long.

“I’m dropping this here after getting chewed out for three hours over shit the chewee did at work so fuck it. Assume larp and let me vent.”

>Shadowlands is a shitshow. Critical response, Player drop off and just about every engagement metric outside of cash shop have been catastrophic. No higher up expected this because of their “we are too big to fail, if we built it they will come” mentality. They refuse to accept their focus on the world being a begrudged mechanic to funnel players to raiding is not appealing to the player base at large because it appeals to them. They have spent the last 4 months trying to course correct but there is no solid direction and the response to 9.1 has only made things worse.

>Sylvanas is planned to replace the Arbiter despite so many people in the company and god knows how many online saying this would be a total replication of Kerrigans storyline in Starcraft 2 that killed none competitive interest in the brand entirely and you can only go “no, no they WILL like it eventually” for so many real world years before its time to change course. Thus far that has not happened.

>The elephant in the room is FFXIV. To the people in charge they are acting like this came out of nowhere and don’t even seem to understand why its drawing players away in their tens of thousands. We have all tried to highlight things it is doing that are clearly appealing to an mmo audience and not, in my opinion, focussing more on mobile game style retention traps to keep MAU users and habit forming personalities logging in. Its not that they don’t care. They just seem so pig headed and digging their heels in with their fingers in their ears thinking all the problems will go away because WoW is “too big to fail”, there will never be real competition and “they will keep coming back”. But they aren’t coming back anymore. Not in the numbers they used to.

>The people making the spending choices know this. The new model for WoW is market the hell out of a expansion pack for a huge quarter then use 6 month lock ins to pad numbers for the quarters after that. Even if corona had not happened 9.1 still would have been dropping after the initial 6 month subs expired to “keep the chain holding”.

>The mood in the company is tense but also very much “its just a rough transition period”. Activision has been pushing hard for Blizzard to release more regular product and to generate more income per user. As far as i know this is going to be a transition over the next 5 years to a much larger mobile/tablet gaming focus. By all accounts not just WoW but Overwatch was intended to be the moneymaker in the interim but once again someone had the bright idea to kill a game casual players loved on the alter of e-sports hoping for another Brood War. From what i hear the “told you so’s” were loud and a lot of people walked beyond Kaplan.

>The sentiment that was shared quietly in private but being spoken more often is simply that the leadership at Blizzard are not bad people, nor incompetent people but people who had to fill seats left when the old guard jumped ship wether they were suited for it or not. Brack is a genuinely good man out of his depth, Ion is a fantastic raid designer put in charge of designing a virtual world he has no interest or real ideas for and so on. They have been taking form the roles they excel at to be put in positions where they get to do far less of that purely because there is nobody left with the experience to do so and the trickle down is a lack of concrete direction, ambition and focus.

>2021 has seen the playerbase, media and gaming at large “turn” on WoW to a degree i don’t think the leads in their “positivity dojo” bubble considered possible. Its gone from people going “This is how Blizz needs to fix WoW!” to “WoW is no longer salvageable, time for greener pastures” and i think on some level this was never considered as a possibility so there have never been any major plans beyond the usual “try and minimise player drop off by arranging releases around competitors launching updates/products”. The official forums being filled with talk of FFXIV and worse “why do we actually pay a sub?” hasn’t helped.

>There have been some testing the waters lately from certain higher ups if we can remove the line “No King Rules Forever”. Read into that what you will.

>There are still arguments going on about the Kael’thas Voice actor shitshow. I don’t know much about it but i know its heated, wouldn’t be the first time a knee jerk reaction only seemed to generate bad press. We lost a noticeable amount of pvp engagement after the Swifty thing.

>The Preach interview was treated as a disaster and there was talk of more strongly vetting interviewers for “bad actors” and only engaging with a list of questions Blizzard provides. Some pointed out that could just be used to create some form of Fireside Chat akin to the FFXIV “Live letters” but that fell on deaf ears.

>The two sentiments right now among the team are either “we really need a win” or “theres a dedicated cabal of internet trolls out to kill WoW”. Right now we are crunching hard to get 9.2 ready to wrap up the jailors storyline so we can get an expansion out early 2022. If that doesn’t happen there are talks of major shakeups coming down from Activision that have been threatened for a few  years now. Its an all hands on deck feeling thats been around to some degree since the “Is this an out of season April Fools Joke” Blizzcon. A make or break deadline is coming closer and things like Diablo 4 were not planned before then. Blizzard needs a significant win not just in initial profit but consumer goodwill. Nobody likes working at what the public now seems to see as “the bad guy” of the mmo industry.

>This has also made new hires decline. Not significantly but the “you WANT Blizzard on your resume” line doesn’t seem to have the appeal it used to. This has lead to more hiring via friend of a friend, to some rumblings about nepotism, and people severely lacking in experience “because they get great twitter optics”.

>On the topic of Twitter we are not being told to “disengage” from it. Multiple employees like Nervig and Holisky publicly attacking paying customers because they got too heated and couldn’t keep quiet is bad press that could have been avoided. A email reminder has gone around more than once lately stating “if you are not customer relations you should not be representing the company to customers, especially if you cannot remain professional”.

>Lastly the biggest elephant in the room is “yo’ boy” Asmongold. The newer hires cannot stand him. They have used terms like “toxic masculinity” and “dogwhistles to dangerous males” while some of the oldest crowd still remaining have called him “based” or “telling it like it is” which has lead to friction to put it mildly. People are told not to talk about him and the recent FFXIV stuff only made it all worse. The idea that an outside element can have such an effect on the product genuinely upsets people. Like Zach is engaging in some malicious act of cyberwarfare. Many of us have point out the now famous quotes by Naoki Yoshida about understanding that players will drift and we need to make something worth coming back to because they want to but some people for lack of a better word see out customers -or “consumers” as they refer to them nowadays- as some kind of antagonistic relationship where the goal is not being an entertainer putting on a show for a crowd but some kind of game hunter trying to trap a large, profitable kill. I wish i could blame Activision but this is a sentiment from more of the younger crowd than the “tech boomers”. Which personal opinion is probably why so many folks like Metzen and Morheim left.

>Before you ask, yes the topic of “wokeness” has shown up in group talks. Its not all some grand sjw conspiracy, people really do want to feel welcome and represented. However the “we need everything veto’ed by people not working on it to see if its inoffensive and bland enough” rubs some of us the wrong way. Like anything in life you can take something too far and lose sight of the core ideals and with everything gone on since Blitzchung it feels like people are forming little factions to pull people in different directions to decide “What Blizzards identity is now” and how to appeal to new players. There has been some drop offs with “go woke go broke” as the only answer in the survey when unsubbing but honestly we are losing subs in unforseen numbers anyway and still making more money than ever through cash shop “heavy users” so it honestly doesn’t make an impact.

>All in all things are rough right now. Blizzard doesn’t have the love of the customers anymore, is no longer treated as an industry giant and while D4,D2R and Immortal aren’t going to kill Diablo even if they fail the sentiment for World of Warcraft and Overwatch 2 are a lot more tense and stressful. The phrase “it might be good to brush up on your mobile development portfolio if we get another underperformer” has been doing the rounds a lot. If Shadowlands continues its stark decline and Overwatch 2 is looking to underperform like its current projections suggest i think the Blizzard of a few years from now will be imitating King a lot more than trying to learn any lessons from Square Enix’s mmo division.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

So I've heard that 1 akechi was planned to have a palace but that was dropped, thus his plotline in p5 vanilla feeling incomplete, and the reason p3p is being ported over fes is that Atlus lost the files for fes; do you know if there's any truth to either of these?

Goro having a possible palace I think is linked back to voice lines in the game where they refer to him as "master." But that's Royal.....(as the link shows)....hm, could've sworn I first heard about this when only Vanilla was around. I don't think it was something fully realized similar to how Goro/Mako were suppose to be siblings with Sae being their mom, or when Sae was suppose to be the probation officer to Joker (never confirmed if Sae was still related to Goro/Mako at that time that idea was thrown around fyi, sources never dictate overlap all overlap has been assumed by fans from what I can tell).

As for Goro, I think they ran out of time to really flesh him out (Atlus might've stated something like this right before Royal), but I'm not sure if it was because they cut his dungeon or they went a diff direction with him midway and realized the dungeon wouldn't work well. I say it's similar to a "Yosuke romance" they had dialogue (or at least voice dialogue) but nothing else beyond that (or if they did, it was deleted after tests audiences said "no.") So it might've been something planned but for one reason or another they changed their minds about how it'd work out (wish they did that with other stuff-oops salt is coming out).

Ah! Wait I did find something, I believe it was back in Vanilla (I thought it was, but when I first looked to fact check it only showed Royal annoyingly enough). But here you go. Link should go straight to the "Master/Lord Akechi" stuff! It looks like anything "Palace Goro" related was deleted (or never existed outside of the voice lines).

As for P3P vs FES. As much as I'm liking people dunk on FES (Metis is my girl and I stand by her and I still like FES, but I like dunking on it too...and the dunking is never at the expense of Metis so 8U). I don't think it's that.

Unlike the 20th anni, Hamu is actually involved with this one. It'd probs be.....big backlash if they didn't port AT LEAST her version over with the rest of the games. I remember a rumor saying they'd have a combo pack of P3P and FES which....I REALLY wish they would! I like both versions for diff reasons (I'll usually play the male on FES and obvie female on P3P). But I wouldn't be surprised if their goal was to get P3P working and if FES worked it worked if not then no (or wait for DLC). I don't think it'd be a coding issue, since you can easily emulate FES on a PS2 emulator already. And US brought it over to PS3 via emulation in 2012 (EU for 2014, no other countries tho, which might say something and maybe they did lose the code).

But I don't think Atlus has made a statement yet. I think I saw a tweet that mentioned "yeah the code's a mess, they might've lost it yadda yadda" but I think it was just speculation.

So yeah. Atlus lost FES code? Speculation. Atlus is celebrating all the MCs and Hamu only appears in P3P? Most plausible.

Still really wish P1/2/3 got remakes. Yes updated 3d environments and combat (if I want the old stuff I'll play the old versions I'm fine with that), but all three could get so much new content! Or just old content reinstated (aka P1-3 have the phone game stuff ported into the main game, and P3 gets P3P/FES merged together along with all the new content that comes with it aka Hamu gets an Answer AND her own ver of the mobile game stuff and cutscenes and if they want new-new content for Mints they can just......add more content, P3 has A LOT of night time availability and they could even use that time to help alleviate day time availability so they could add more new events into P3...ok gonna stop there with my what ifs for a P3 remake/remaster but I could go on TT0TT)

[iturbide]

Is there any game you really like but never had the chance to talk about?

gosh I have a lot of very quiet game interests that just never come up because basically all the asks I get are about Fire Emblem (not that it's bad, because I certainly write a lot of it)

The big ones I've already talked about at least in brief. The main ones are Pokemon, which I keep doing crossovers for; and Ace Attorney, which I think I've been into longer than Fire Emblem (and I have at least a hundred thousand words of ancient fic to prove it). But I've also been a big fan of the Assassin's Creed series since the first game, and that's definitely not something that comes up all that often: I do have one crossover between Awakening and Assassin's Creed generally, taking a lot of elements that make the series what it is and weaving them into the Awakening setting, but that's about as close as I've come to really talking about it.

The really big one at this point has to be Dragalia Lost, though. It's another Nintendo mobile game that doesn't seem to get a lot of press, but it's somehow everything I really wanted in a mobile game I think?

There's actual meat to its story: it takes a while to play through even one chapter because there's so much to read and engage with, and it has an interesting plot that develops through both the main story chapters and the other events

The events are also amazing. They do some really interesting, really unexpected things with their events, including several that are basically Lovecraftian horror stories (lookin' at you Accursed Archives) -- and they're gradually making these old events available to all players at any time through the Event Compendium, rather than forcing newer players to wait for a re-run or just retiring them entirely

It doesn't do the dark is evil thing. The Shadow roster is incredible and I love the main Shadow Dragon so much I can't even also the main dragon pseudo-deity is handled in a way that seems like it was basically made for me

It gives out a lot of free characters, both through the story and through a specific class of event, and they hold up well in the game's meta

They also put in the effort to keep old characters relevant rather than just phasing them out: the power-ups from those upgrades have made some of the free and launch characters the best in the meta for certain content

Virtually every character has a unique story that you can read to get a better understanding of who they are as a person, and some of them are really intensely emotional

They also show their main story characters a lot of love. Not only do they feature in every chapter, giving attention to the bonds and interactions between their core cast, but most of those main story characters have multiple alts at this point (which is good for me, because I love Luca so much he's a character I will always go for broke on when I see a new alt)

It's primarily co-op rather than competitive, meaning you're working together with other players from around the world to achieve a common goal

The developers actually pay attention to the game's balance and address issues, up to and including boosting the power of all characters outside of the Shadow roster when they realized people were just using their Shadow teams to clear everything because they were so outrageously overpowered compared to every other element

The developers also pay attention to feedback and overhaul old systems to make them more streamlined, intuitive, and user-friendly (which they've done with both branches of the equipment system within the past two years)

The game is constantly updating with new challenging modes for high-level players to take on and newer ones to look forward to meeting once they progress

Those same modes also keep throwing new challenges at players that can cripple some of the main meta contenders, letting characters that might have fallen out of use to find a niche where they excel.

It's unbelievably generous when it comes to summoning, compared to other games I've seen. They set new players up with a 5-star character and give them challenges to earn guaranteed 5-star vouchers for dragons or adventurers to get them started on solid footing. On top of that, not only do they give out a free tenfold summon voucher with every major update and for pretty much every major event, they give players TONS of single summon vouchers, lots of wyrmite (including log-in bonuses, new quests on every difficulty level, returning events, adventurer and dragon stories, and endeavors), and not-infrequent free summon events -- there's one starting Monday where we basically get 250 free summons (14 days of free tenfold summons and one day of 100 free summons). AND THERE'S A SPARK SYSTEM.

There's no advantage for whales. No, seriously: when you summon a duplicate adventurer, you get Eldwater instead of the character, which is used to promote 3- and 4-star adventurers, enhance their abilities, or upgrade equipment. If you see someone with a strong character, you can rest assured that with enough effort, yours can be exactly as strong as theirs without paying a cent (which I know because that's literally how I did it).

I could go on for ages about Dragalia okay it's just a really enjoyable game and I engage with that more eagerly on a daily basis than I have with Heroes in several years.

[jobrookekarev]

Late Night Little Talks

Chapter One of One

Words: 1466

Summary: Meredith crawls into Alex and Jo’s bed late one night after she and Hayes introduce their kids to each other.

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy.

Relationship: Alex Karev & Meredith Grey, Alex Karev/Jo Wilson, Meredith Grey/Cormac Hayes (Mentioned).

Characters: Meredith Grey, Alex Karev, and Jo Wilson.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences,

Additional Tags: Fluff, Night time, Best Friends, Pregnancy, Platonic Cuddling.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

AN: I was going to save this for later, but after I read Coco’s @cicinicole-14 story, I wanted to post some fluff in order to heal some of the heartbreak that I partially caused. Sorry not, sorry :)

If you haven't read her story be sure to go check it out Here, it's absolutely wonderful!

……………………………………………………………………

Alex smiled as if right on cue, he heard Meredith’s footsteps coming up the stairs by the door and the key jingles in the lock. He rolled over to where Jo was fast asleep on her side of the bed, laying away from him, and he put a hand on her baby bump. He felt their baby’s gentle kicks against his hand before he leaned over and kissed her cheek. With his wife and child fast asleep, he scooted closer to them, leaving just enough space in the bed for someone else.

The door to the Loft slid open without any squeaks thanks to the oil he had put on it earlier that night. He heard it closed before he heard Meredith kick off her shoes and shed her jacket as her gentle footsteps approached. He caught her outline as she stood at the end of the bed.

“So, how did it go?” Alex asked, sitting up slightly still pressed against Jo.

Meredith just groaned and huffed as she crawled onto the bed and lay down next to him before staring up at the ceiling. “It went fine.”

“Fine, that's it?” Alex asked again, raising an eyebrow as he looked over at her.

“It was, well, it was perfect. The kids were telling Amelia and Link all about it up until bedtime. Hayes and his boys came over, and I introduced them to the kids, and everybody just got along so easily. Liam and Austin started playing on the switch with Zola and Bailey, and they even included Ellis, and at dinner, all of the kids were polite and kind, and Hayes and I answered all their questions they had and they all seemed to be okay with it.”

“So what's the issue then? Isn't this what you wanted when you introduced Hayes to the kids? They're all getting along. It sounds pretty good to me.”

“I don't know. It just seems like they all got along too well,” Meredith said with a shrug before she looked over at Alex. “It just feels too good to be true.”

Alex looked over at Jo and reached out his hand to rest on her belly, feeling their baby move again. Ever since she had surprised him with the positive pregnancy test months ago, he had felt that feeling of fear and excitement. Growing up and life in general had taught him not to trust good things, but things had been so good recently.

“I know, it's like you're waiting for the second shoe to drop, but sometimes things are just good,” Alex said as he gazed over at them.

Meredith followed his eyes and looked over at his hand. “How's Jo and the baby doing?”

“They're doing great,” Alex said, letting an easy smile from across his lips as he gazed down at his wife and unborn child.

“I see you guys got the nursery started,” Meredith said as she looked over at the area where his weight and boxing stuff used to be. The space was now scattered with furniture boxes, bags of baby clothes, the bassinet, and the rocking chair that they had recently set up, along with the clouds and hot air balloon mobile that Jo had hung up.

Alex was about to respond before he looked back at her. “Stop deflecting. You and Hayes, this is a good thing. To be honest, I haven't seen you this happy in a long time, and things seem to be going well. I know it’s hard to trust, but life can be good, Meredith.”

“I know and I'm happy too,” Meredith said, finally letting a light smile grace her cheeks. “At least I want to be. I don't know. I just feel like I can see a future with him and I want it.”

“So go, make it happen,” Alex said, giving her a nudge. “Go home to your kids and invite your boyfriend over and spend the night with him.”

“Are you kicking me out?” Meredith asked, raising her eyebrows.

“No,” Alex said with a light chuckle. “But it's about to get pretty crowded in here, I mean, Jo’s only six months along, and she already takes up most of the bed.”

“I'm going to tell her you said that,” Meredith said as Alex shot her a look, but she just laughed.

“You do, and I'll tell Hayes that you have a photo album of just his butt in your phone,” Alex said as he smirked at her.

“Oh, and what if I tell Jo about the photo album of her boobs in your phone?” Meredith asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, she knows about that one and happily contributes to it,” Alex said with a smug look as he looked over at Jo again. “She sends me photos of how big they're getting along with her bump update photos.”

“Okay, perv,” Meredith said, rolling her eyes before she stared up at the ceiling again.

They lapsed into silence for a moment as they both stared up at the skylights. Alex didn't want to close his eyes. He knew Meredith had more to say, she was just still thinking it over on her mind. They both knew the tragedies that could come, and he knew that the possibilities were going through her mind as they sometimes went through his late at night.

“I want to trust it, I really do,” Meredith said finally, her voice just a whisper. “But I don't know if I can.”

“I know,” Alex whispered back as he just rubbed his hand over Jo's belly and felt their baby squirm under his hand. “But today was good and if that's all we have. I'll take it.”

Meredith looked over at him as he caught her eye. She nodded before she nudged his shoulder again and he nudged her back. They exchanged a smile before both of them settled in and before long, they were asleep.

……………………………………………………………………

Jo woke up to a sharp kick to the side of her belly. “Jesus, kid.”

Jo rubbed her hand up and down her bump, trying to get the baby to settle down. This always happened whenever she slept. Their child decided to take advantage of the quiet nights to practice their acrobatics and their soccer kicks. She felt Alex's hand on the side of her bump and smiled. Even as he fell asleep, he wanted to hold their baby. At least this time they didn't kick her bladder. Speaking of which, she had to pee again, and she groaned as she threw back the covers and got up out of bed.

The clock on her nightstand said that it was early morning, and it was still dark out as she quietly made her way over to the bathroom. When she came back, she went over to the kitchen and grabbed a small bag of chips before she walked a couple of loops around the couch. The walking and rubbing her hand up and down on her belly, gently calmed the baby down, and Jo suspected they had fallen asleep as the kicks became softer and less frequent. She was half-asleep herself through most of her walk, so she didn't notice Meredith until she went to crawl back into bed.

Meredith was next to Alex on his other side. They slept shoulder to shoulder on their backs, like mismatched twins. Alex's mouth was open as he snored, and Meredith had her arms crossed, even in her sleep. It was a cute little sight and wasn't something that she was used to seeing. Although Meredith still crawled into their bed on occasion, it wasn’t nearly as much as she used to do before they moved into the Loft. These days she didn't kick Jo out and instead crawled in next to her or occasionally crawled in with her when she needed it.

Jo got back into bed, pressing her back up against Alex's side before she grabbed his hand and put it over her belly. He moved in his sleep to snuggle up against her before he let out a sigh of content, and she smiled. His heart belonged to her and their baby, but he also had friends who he was close to. After watching their friendship for years, Jo was glad that he had Meredith. She would always be there for him and for Jo too. They were family, and it was something Jo had to get used to because she hadn't had a family of her own before, but now she did, and their baby would have family too.

[repentantsky]

5 Companies That Have Too Much Hype Around Them

Look, we all love our favorite games with a passion, and to an extent that’s fine, but when that passion becomes obsession and that obsession becomes forgetting our own moral compass for the sake of entertainment, it does feel like it’s gone too far. It’s one thing to love what a company releases, it’s completely another to ignore every problem they’ve ever had. Not all of the companies on this list have done horribly un-ethical things, but they’ve at least been anti-consumer, and the fact that people don’t question that enough has led to them sometimes, making horrible mistakes. I am RepentantSky, I love making lists that trash on things that are popular, and these are 5 companies, that have too much hype around them.

5. Nintendo

Already I can hear people getting angry, and in a way I get it. Nintendo is for many people the place where they either begin to play games, or the place they go to keep on playing them when everything else let’s them down, and of course, they put an end to the flipping video game crash of 1983, and no one else will ever be able to claim that from them. That’s all wonderful, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be critical of them. I’ve talked about a number of things they’ve done wrong before, so let me quickly run down the list of some of their anti-consumer practices. They, charge too much for remasters and ports, they don’t drop prices in games, they used to charge for fixing Joy-Cons and now completely deny it’s a problem for legal reasons, despite everyone pretty much having experienced drift, they haven’t been good at getting stock for their items in at least 20 years, and oh yeah, they sell all the content for a remake for $115 on the 3DS, the system and the fans that helped them get by while the Wii U was massively underperforming, all while handing owners of the, at the time, unproven Switch, free content. Nintendo has a tendency to still think like a toy company, and they even used that idea to present the Nintendo Entertainment System as a toy instead of a console when they first game to the West with it, but they aren’t a toy company, their a gaming company that also sells toys, just like everyone else. I get they’ve done amazing things, I own over 150 physical handheld games from them, and a ton of digital games besides, but when they start charging twice what they are worth for SD cards, while releasing games that absolutely won’t fit on the limited space of the Switch, and they simply don’t care when costumers complain, it’s time to at least question their motives.  

4. Bethesda

Boy I used to really rip on this company back when I posted lists on Facebook, but I haven’t done it in a while, so let’s do it again. Bethesda has absolutely spent at least the last 10 years lying to people, Todd Howard, has become famous for it, but I think I might have been the only person who wasn’t shocked when Fallout 76 was the disaster that it was. There were so many things wrong with that game, that I don’t even have time to go over every little thing, but lying, you know the thing that will get another company on this list very soon, was a big thing they did with the game. They promised at one point that they weren’t ever going to charge for items in the game that gave in-game benefits, and they did, allowing ammo and other items to be bought with real money for a time, they promised new, specialized servers if you paid for a yearly service that was way too expensive, and that wasn’t true because people found proof of things missing from what would have been a freshly made, private server, and there’s no excuse for that, games in early access do that correctly, and they aren’t, at least supposedly, even finished yet. I wish I could say that’s all they’ve done, but they also bullied an indie developer over their game Prey, a game they may have bullied the original developer for so they could get cheaper, but we’ll never know because they refused to comment on that when asked, they also refused to update their outdated game engine for years, which caused something they spent over a decade fixing, games releasing with glitches, some of them game breaking. Yet somehow, they have such a fan base that those who love their games will claim the glitches are just part of the charm. That kind of fierce loyalty led to Fallout 76, and even though we make jokes about it even now, the horse DLC from way back in the day, was an indication of everything they’ve done, including trying to charge for mods made for free, meant to be consumed for free, twice. Bethesda is a bad company and they do not care. 

3. Activision/Blizzard

You know one of the worst things Nintendo does that I didn’t really mention directly in the first entry, is limit the amount of time a product is available, instead of just letting it be there for consumption as long as it’s selling (that was what the toy company reference was about if it wasn’t clear). However, Activision/Blizzard are the Kings of doing this, as they not only limited things while they were in control of Destiny 2 to the point where you pretty much had to use real money to get everything, and never mind everything else they did to it, because we’d be here all day going through it all, but they also don’t support games as a service titles long enough for dedicated fans. Crash Team Racing Nitro fueled, is a prime example of this. People weren’t done with that game, and when fans thought for even a split second that an update was going to come to fix an issue, their hype (mine to) was so explosive, it was almost like we were getting a new game, but then nothing happened, because they didn’t care. A lot of companies that do yearly release titles as a service have this problem and nothing exemplified that more for Activision, than Skylanders, a series originally made off the back of Spyro, who didn’t even wait for a year to release new games, as technically between October 21st and November 20th of the year the first game came out, they released three of them, and I’m not even kidding. Two of them, were mobile games! You might have thought I was going to go after Call of Duty, for this, but that horse has been beaten to ground, somehow, more than Skylanders was. They also, for whatever reason, released each expansion on different generations console generations, at different months throughout Fall, like somehow the season of Fall, they needed a release every month, if not two, and so off they went. I didn’t even get into Blizzard, but all I need to say is “Blitzchung” and all the memories will likely come flooding back. There’s also the fact that in two separate years, after gaining massive profits, they dropped hundreds of employees, and hired more than they’d let go, but I guess that doesn’t really matter to some of you, because when they did it this year, with so little warning, most employees found out via the news articles about it, but we all made such a little stink this time around, it didn’t create any media buzz, so I guess that doesn’t matter, you’d all rather play flipping World of Warcraft, like better MMO’s don’t exist. 

2. CD Projekt Red

I know this one comes off a little more fresh in the mind, and they technically only lied about one game, but man, what a series of lies it was. Also, let’s be honest, one major game, does not a great developer always make. CDPR’s previous two Witcher games did exactly what the author of the books thought they would, and that was almost nothing in terms of making a serious impact, and the reason is, they are kind of bad. They aren’t the worst games out there, but there is a good reason why The Witcher 1 and 2 haven’t been ported and/or remastered, despite how important they are to the story of Witcher 3, and that’s because they both suck. Cyperpunk 2077, was in a lot of ways, them just going back to being the developer they were before, the BIG ONE happened. They lied about nearly everything in regards to the game, including how the main platforms where consumers were going to buy it, were actually running well. I made those references to Witcher 1 and  2 for a reason, although if I’m being honest, they actually look better than Cyberpunk did on day 0, and that’s completely unacceptable. The budget for CDPR was basically nothing for Witcher 1 and 2 combined to what Cyberpunk got, but they were so focused on the PC versions because PC ran the game better, somehow (like maybe because they didn’t try with consoles) and they missed glitches that were so bad, the game felt like it was still in beta, if not alpha upon release. The fact that they’ve only released eleven games in twenty-three years, and only two of them didn’t have The Witcher on them, should have told us all we need to know, and yet the game, even after returns, which was another massive screw-job that led to Cyberpunk being removed from the PlayStation store, still sold Sixteen million units, all because of hype, and because apparently, some people don’t care if they’re lied to. Do you want to know what the other game they released is besides a Witcher title? It was flipping Saints Row 2, a fun game, but also one that’s too goofy for it’s own good, and yet suddenly makes Cyberpunk’s release, make sense, because it was all a massive joke, and a parody of good, well running, open world games. CDPR needs to seriously do something, anything different, and never release a game in this poor of a state ever again.

1. Ubisoft

I put Ubisoft at number one for a damn good reason, and that reason is, that everyone seems to hate the company, but loves their games, and I don’t know why. They haven’t been the overall worst company on this list, although they are pretty bad, but the major problem they have, and have had for at least a decade is that none of their games have any identity, they are literally all the same game, with different coats of paint. Sure, an occasional gem sneaks through like Assassin’s Creed IV, but all of the rest of their games have the same visual style (although ACII does seem to be the base for which they create their art let’s be honest), the shooting mechanics they have in all the games that have guns, all feel exactly the same, which is something even Call of Duty manages to avoid most years (guess I took a shot at them anyways) and yet somehow, someway, I keep seeing people getting excited for their releases, and it doesn’t make any sense. Sure, they throw a celebrity actor in from time to time, and the artistic style they use does look pretty cool, but everything is always the same with them, every single time, no matter what it is, and they still keep making money. It doesn’t really make sense either, because a lot of developers do make games that are very similar feeling, see the Life is Strange team or much as well all loved them, Telltale Games, but at least those titles told extremely interesting stories, and developed their mechanics at least a little, which is something most companies do just on principal, but not Ubisoft. They throw out a few Tom Clancy games every time they talk about what their releasing, the Trials and AC games are still mostly a yearly experience, and I’ll say it again, their entire list of releases since at least 2013, the year the previous generation kicked off, have pretty much all been the same. It would be nice if they made more games like Child of Light, but despite the fact that their games will likely never be as popular as Call of Duty, they keep churning out same-y shooters hoping that one day, maybe just one day, they’ll create their own CoD, and it’s just not gonna happen. The saddest part of all is that when they announce something different, something fans have wanted for years, we get The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, which was literally delayed because fans said they wouldn’t buy it unless some actual effort was put into making it, why is this company so popular that it can keep doing this, someone please explain it to me. 

And that’s my list, can you think of any other companies that are too hyped? Let me know in the notes below, hit me up with a follow if you like my content, and give me a reblog, I’d really appreciate it. Have a wonderful life!  

[zirkkun]

For the "Writers' Would You Ever..." game, if you are still doing that.

Would you ever write, hmmm, um, Sansby or Soriel? I know (at least I am pretty sure), you like both ships.

The Soriel stuff you rb'ed around Soriel Week was super cute by the way (I esp. loved renrink's stuff, esp. the one for the Unrequited (?) prompt; which was so gorgeous and got me right in the heart. The Underlust!Soreil you drew was also super cute; can always do w/ more UL!Soriel (as well as UL!Sansby).

So yeah, I know you like Soriel (I love it too). Still wanted to ask about it.

...However, I wanted to ask even more about if you would do/write Sansby (which, I know/pretty sure you like too. I love it too), because I am pretty sure in UL, Sansby was a thing (I think. Either way, I like UL Sansby a lot), but in ULR, Sans and Grillby hate each other. Why you gotta do us Sansby and/or UL Sansby fans like that, huh? Almost as bad as when Lynx japed/tricked us into thinking there might be nice, cute Soriel in Paper Trail; only for Sans to be basically trying to get info out of Toriel. Why must you both do us like this?

If you can't tell, I am not really being serious about; I mainly joking. Though, that stuff in Paper Trail did actually really get me though (loved how that conversation between Sans and Tori was written though), and Sans and Grillby hating each other in ULR does hurt my (I also find it really, really funny though. Esp. since you drew that scene with Grillby yelling at Ace to get out of his bar. Idk, I just find their whole dynamic hilalrous) Sansby and UL!Sansby loving heart. Anyway yeah, considering that. I gotta know if you write some Sansby in the future (Soriel too ofc). Also, you don't have to answer both (i.e. both Soriel and Sansby), you can just answer one or the other if you want to.

PS: I had such trouble figuring out how to do Asks. I couldn't find a way to send you an Ask if the your Tumblr was in fullscreen; I had to change and make it desktop/not fullscreen in order send this ask. It was so weird. It probably had something to do with your Tumblr's format change/new look (which, really surprised me, and took some getting used to. Esp. it being Green and not purple; though I really like both colors. And also the Underverse Ink Gif being gone; though I also like the 3 Pink Sanses (Classic, Ink, and Blue) that you have in the top right corner now though. I like the new look/format though; just took me some getting used to; since I was so used to your old look/format); hope Tumblr fixes that.

I am also guessing your new Format/look also has something to do with me able to write REALLY long asks now and apparently add images and gifs and stuff. I thought it was a mobile thing (I tried the Tumblr app, didn't find any options like that), but it looks like it is not (I am on pc now)?

Sorry, this Ask ended up quite long (if it is too long for you, you don't have to answer it, if you don't want to); I hadn't sent an Ask like this in a bit (since you were on hiatus and stuff, and I didn't want to bug you), and I ended up having a lot to say. Also, being able to send an Ask this long now in the 1st place; was just too much power for me; too much. Which reminds me! I am happy you are at least partially off hiatus! I hope you sorted things out well, and that you are doing well. :)

*cracks knuckles* alright lemmie go thru and answer this all!

As for your first question, maybe! I've never been too big on writing ship things much to begin with tbh, not because I have anything against them, but just cause I don't really get the same enjoyment out of them as I do writing self insert fics... but AU versions are fun! Not like how we have in the UT fandom but more like regular AU things, such as like an old scrapped fic i had for another fandom where the two characters were princes from opposing kingdoms but they couldn't marry because it would not benefit their families. The original show had nothing to do with that. Those are fun. So are the classic coffee shop or university AUs. So something like that for Soriel or Sansby would be fun too!

For the record though, I don't have anything against Sansby. I find it humorous that Grillby in canon literally says like nothing and yet a ship came out of Sans owing him money, but nothing against the ship. There's a lot of cute work out there with it and I could have sworn I'd reblogged some at som point? Hm. Maybe I'll just have to reblog more 👀✨

I think I may have said this a long time ago, before the rename for ULR; but Ace's role is probably one of the closest to his original character in UL, I merely added on to it and tweaked the story behind the Lust serum. Hugo and Ace did not always hate each other, in fact they were just as close as their UL counterparts at one point! But something happened that caused them to split, and the falling out didn't end well.

Also, as for the asks format changing, that's on Tumblr! They've been very glitchy and terrible on desktop. Hopefully my new theme hasn't broken them completely on top of that. It worked for me when I double-checked it, since I know a lot of people have been having issues with the update and literally everyone wants it to go back 😂 sorry you had such a struggle tho!

[mimzy-writing-online]

I Graduate Next Week!

So here's a life update:

I've been absent the last month+ because school has been demanding. I still have finals to do but some asks really had me wanting to log on.

I finish my AA next week and transfer to a university for Fall 2021. Funny thing, in October I asked for advice on writing college application essays because I was nervous to get into my dream school. I did get into my dream school! But I also got into a better one that I applied to on a whim?? And it turns out that school #1 is not the greatest fit for me because the city isn't very walkable. The nicer university (which I didn't even let myself seriously hope I would get into because I didn't want to be disappointed) is a much better fit. The city layout and transportation is great and I have two friends in the area, one who works at the university.

I'm not comfortable just saying what university that is online. I am after all blind, this is the internet, and I prefer to be better safe than sorry with my personal safety.

Moving process is kind of... complex. And some lifestyle changes will be big, to say the least. Some of that stuff I will want to share-

I'm going to get an O&M instructor to help me improve my O&M abilities and get used to the new city. So what I learn from there will probably make it into a Part 2 of O&M.

I'll also be developing new life skills that are just important to know if you're disabled, or in general. So more advice guide stuff.

I'll also tell you how I manage my chronic fatigue/joint weakness because mobility impairments are kind of difficult to live with too.

Fun fact: I have told four people what school I'm going to: my parents, one of my friends in the new city, and my best friend K. My parents have told gods know how many people, including their doctors, several of my family members, etc. They're proud, and gushing. It's sweet and overwhelming.

A less fun fact: I hit my head on Sunday. How you ask? I was trying to pick up my mum's cat and I didn't see how close I was to my mum's desk and I smacked my head on the corner of it. Hard. My mum saw. I seemed to be fine at the time, I didn't lose consciousness or have major concussion symptoms. We've been monitoring that. I woke up with a nasty headache today so I went to see a doctor and she sent me to get a CT scan. It all looks good, so that's a relief. But it's given me all sorts of thoughts about the nature of concussions.

Like, it would really explain some things about my teenage years. Apparently after a brain injury you can have concussion symptoms for months and years afterward, including headaches, vision changes, and balance issues. In 11th grade (I was 16, almost 17) I got smacked in the head by a flying basket ball while at school. It knocked me to the ground. Didn't lose consciousness, but that time was certainly worse than this. And for years afterward I had daily migraines, and that's when my snow vision went from mild to bad. And then for two years it got better. And then it got really bad again.

Finals are stressful. I'm looking forward to right after because I have a week planned to devote to hobbies and fun things.

Oh, and I got vaccinated! I got my second shot a week ago, so I'll have full immunity in time for my graduation dinner. My parents and grandparents have had full immunity since before I got my first shot, and my sister already has it. Best friend (K) got his second shot the day after I did.

Those are all the updates I have for you right now. I'm gonna try to get back to blogging after finals, but this summer is going to be a lot so it won't be super consistent.