#like even my laptop doesn't have a place to put in cds and dvds :(

[anonymouspuzzler]

my brain is sick, so: More Environment Design I Guess !!! this time it's the Villain Coded living room, which also happens to be where Minnie sleeps. misc design notes slash thoughts under the cut so this post doesn't become One Bajillion Miles Long

as before, the whole "apartment" is a former breakroom-slash-storage area downstairs from an abandoned chop shop (itself downstairs from the Very Legitimate Manufacturing Warehouse front). the living room is what was formerly the breakroom/recreation area, in addition to the kitchen

undecided if the carpeting was there when it was a breakroom, or if Buck and/or Davey put it in once they moved in to make the place cosier. either way, it's shitty fucking carpet and Buck is Particularly Aggressive in his attempts to keep it clean

most of the proper Book books are actually Buck's - a lot of cookbooks, for the most part, then a miscellaneous collection of parts manuals, romance novels, engineering texts, etc etc - he tends to collect random stuff he's Definitely Totally Going To Read even though he rarely finishes books and has a huge pile of stuff he's never even started reading

Davey, on the other hand, has a few pulpy sci-fi novels and such, but even more so things like comics, magazines, Prima Strategy Guides, etc.

Buck and Davey are almost exclusively Physical Media dudes, between being middle-aged and being criminals who've either stolen what they got or got it secondhand. they've contributed pretty equally to their CD/tape collection, whereas pretty much all of the DVDs and games are Davey's

Davey's rescued and restored a ton of older game consoles - he's particularly fond of stuff from his adolescence and early adulthood. he does indulge in a couple newer systems too, though, and pretty much likes anything he can get his hands on. he got the Switch after Minnie moved in, thinking there'd be more the two of them would enjoy playing together on that, but he actually plays it a Lot more than she does (Minnie spends more time either with computer games on her laptop or exploring Davey's Weird Old Man Games)

they are Absolutely stealing cable and internet. Davey's also a very accomplished pirate for the rare occasions they wanna watch/play something they don't got physical-like

the old clunker of a laptop is Davey's and he's kept that thing running for Far longer than it has any right to. Minnie has a newer laptop that she talked her family into getting her "for school", and now that she's at Buck and Davey's, Davey's been kitting it out with as many upgrades and adblockers and privacy settings as he can possibly install

Minnie brought a bunch of clothes with her when she ran away, but only what she could carry and as such Definitely not enough for a long-term living situation, doubly complicated by the fact that she's Still Growing and is probably not gonna fit into half that shit within like. half a year. as such her wardrobe has been supplemented as much as Buck and Davey can manage via Thrifted Goods, Stolen Goods, and Various Clothes Buck Held Onto But Never Wears So She Might As Well Have It

similarly, Cookie the rat came in a temporary travel cage Minnie took from her school, so once it became obvious Minnie staying was gonna be More Or Less Permanent they had to rustle up a proper cage and such for her

the camera and photos are Minnie's - she's a hobbyist photographer and has been indulging a lot more now that she's not under the thumb of her dad's constant training. Buck and Davey let her just put them up wherever since they don't really have any wall art (and secretly both are a little tickled by finally having non-wanted poster-ass photos together after all these years)

the big antique clock was a junkyard/thrift store rescue that Buck and Davey worked on fixing up together over the course of Literal Years as a little side project between heists. it is absolutely their prized possession. Buck in particular will go sit next to it and just listen to it tick for a while to calm down if he's feeling anxious

blacked out and finally made my first decent environment design in like. probably literally years. please enjoy Buck and Davey's shitass room

misc design notes slash thoughts if they're of any interest:

All the furniture's a combination of stuff Buck already had when Davey moved in, and stuff Davey brought over from his place when they decided to partner up. All of that in turn is either gotten cheap from thrift shops, rescued from the dump, or for a few of the smaller/nicer items Stolen Outright. As is probably obvious, they also repair and re-repair this stuff as much as possible rather than fuss over replacements.

The vast majority of the cosmetics are Davey's. Buck just kinda combs his hair and hopes for the best.

The rug is crooked because it's been there since before Davey moved in - Buck sleeps on the right side of the bed, so it made sense to have more rug (and more space in the room in general) on that side. Davey didn't care enough to insist on rearranging much when he moved in.

Prior to Buck and Davey taking it over as their hideout, the building used to be an illegal chop shop hidden under a manufacturing plant; their "apartment" is in turn a former break/storage area downstairs from the chop shop. The "bedroom" used to be a storage room, hence the exposed pipes, shitty concrete walls & floor, and marks from where big industrial shelves used to be fastened to the walls.

Because it's an old storage room, it tends to get the worst of extreme temperature changes (hot in the summer, cold in the winter). Also, undecided if they have an actual door or if they've just put a curtain up in the doorway. (Either way, it's also not particularly private or soundproofed - not a huge deal when it was just the two of them, but a bit of an annoyance once Minnie starts living with them.)

The drying rack used to be more out of the way in the living room, but they moved it when Minnie started sleeping there so they wouldn't have to bug as much when they do laundry.

Davey "no no I quit years ago seriously (actually sneaks a smoke or two whenever he gets super stressed)" Lastname definitely has a pack or two of cigarettes hidden in his stuff and thinks he's slick about it. (Buck 100% knows and figures so long as he doesn't smoke in the house and he's mostly trying to quit, it's not worth raising a big fuss about.)

Technically the tools and stuff aren't supposed to be in there, but Buck's always forgetting stuff places when he does repairs or tinkers with shit.

[wavesmp3]

wait are you still doing the fake title thing-

skdkdj if so,,

‘tell me‘ 😼👌

tell me | eric x reader | an unintentional continuation to this drabble | a/n: i tried to make it so that this could be read as a stand alone but i’m not too sure if i was successful in that | requests closed

1. letters

“so,” eric says, setting down two drinks and a plate of snacks next to the dirt-covered shoebox that was buried somewhere in a park just this morning, “where do we start?”

the first thing you pull out from the time capsule are two envelopes. eric immediately knows what it is. 

you shake your head. “not with these.” the letters were written to each other when you made the time capsule in the summer before your freshman year of college. “let’s look at these last.”

eric is more than happy to oblige. 

2. totally awesome no skip summer mix 2011

“oh my god,” you mutter, pulling out the next item in the box. 

“what is it?”

you hold up the old, dusty cd for him to see. “remember this?”

he does. 

he remembers sitting in front of your family’s old computer and carefully selecting which pop songs from that summer to add to the cd. he remembers feeling entirely like a criminal while you found the best website to download the songs and then also how quickly the lawless feeling escaped from him after the act was done. he remembers burning the cd that afternoon. he remembers the entire summer he spent listening to the cd with you. 

“no one even uses cds anymore.” you say with a bit of a laugh. “should we listen to it?” 

eric nods, and the two of you spend the next 20 minutes looking for a way to play it. 

10. baseball jersey

eric pulls out the jersey five songs into the cd mix. “gosh, this takes me back.” the jersey was from when he was young an old jersey you and him decorated together when he switched to a new team. 

you make a face of disgust, pointing to a questionable drawing done around the neckline of the jersey. “who did that?”

“you, probably.”

“no way.”

“look. you even signed it.”

you squint your eyes at the drawing for a long moment. “damn.”

eric just laughs

15. picture from the beach trip

eric is the one who fishes the picture out. the picture which made you dig up the box to begin with. you see it between his hand, before he can tell you he found it. neither of you say anything. you both just stare at the picture, silently. your smiles are big and bright, with the sun casting down over your faces and ocean in the background. you look happy in it. eric does too. he turns away from the picture and stares at you, wondering where did it all go wrong?

23. big fish program

“look at this.” you say pulling out the crumpled program from your high school’s production of big fish. “i forgot i was even in the show.”

“you know how daffodils are a big part of the show?” eric says and you nod, flipping through the program. “i remember spending so long at the show trying to find daffodils for you.”

“but you gave me roses that night.” you say, tossing the program aside.

“yeah. i couldn’t find any.”

“well,” you murmur with a smile falling off your lips, “at least you tried.”

27. birthday card 

“what’s this?” eric mutters pulling out a card that looks new. or at least new in comparison to everything else in the box. 

“what did you-” you freeze when you see the card eric’s holding up. “not that.” you blurt reaching over to grab it from him. eric pulls it out of your reach. you reach for it again, and eric evades you grabbing it as well. it goes on like that for a minute before you finally give up. 

“what is it?” eric asks again, laughing at how hard you’re trying to get it away from him. 

you don’t mirror the laugh. instead you sigh, eyes turning dark. “a year ago, i dug up the time capsule and added that.”

“a year ago.” eric echoes, brows knitting together. “but by then we were...”

“we were broken up.” you finish, shamefully almost. “i wrote it on your birthday. and i don’t even know why i bothered adding it to the box, but i was just so upset at the time. i hadn’t seen you in forever, and i was just so angry at you. at me. at us.”

“i take it it’s not a nice birthday card then.”

“please don’t read it.” you reach for the card again. and this time eric doesn’t stop you from grabbing it. “i don’t mean any of that stuff anymore.”

“but you did?”

“i don’t... i was upset.”

“you were right to end things between us.” eric says then. “it was the best thing for us.”

you’re quiet. then after a long moment, you say, “it was the best thing for us then.”

“what do you mean?”

“i mean,” you frown, folding and unfolding a corner of the card, “don’t you think there’s a way we could make it work again?”

32. letters

 the box is empty now. the only thing left to look at is the letters from the beginning. “here.” you say quietly, handing the one you wrote to him. he hands you his. 

dear eric, i know the letters were my idea but this feels so lame LOL. good luck in college, but i wish we were going to the same one :( thanks for all the laughs and good times. i’m happiest with you.   - love, your bestie (sorry this is so short. i have no idea what to say. i’ve been sitting here and pretending to write since you havent stopped yet) (OMG eric stop writing!!)  (you just pulled out a second sheet of paper. rip. you’re gonna be so disappointed when you read this)

eric finishes the letter, remembering how much thought and care he put into writing his, and how long it ended up being. and that whole time, this was all you had written, the realization only makes him laugh. 

he looks up at you still reading his two page letter. he watches as your eyes skim the page. as you get teary eyed reading it. as you finish, folding the letter back up and saying, “eric i--”

“let’s do it.” 

“what?”

“let’s try again.”

[daemonhxckergrrl]

Getting Linux-y (for Windows refugees)

a casual users' GUIDE to the basics

Linux ? isn't that for nerds ??

yes. no. we're breaking down stereotypes here !! this post is aimed at casual users who care about freedom + privacy, are sick of the direction Windows is heading, or just curious c:

i'm talking social media, email, web browsing, online shopping, pdfs, document writing, funny meme edits, youtube/netflix/plex, spotify, dvds + cds + mp3s etc.

i'll mention gaming and running specific Windows-only software briefly, but that's outside the casual scope i'm going for d:

Arm thyself ! and decipher !! arcane secrets be upon ye !!

it's key knowledge time !! ^w^

Linux isn't Windows, but it's not completely alien :o

much like Tumblr, one curates their Linux experience. there are flavours of Linux (terminology: distribution/distro) aimed at power users who like to DIY, and there's ones aimed at normal folk that are ready to go. for the sake of this GUIDE i'm recommending Linux Mint:

its interface is similar to Windows,

it's popular as a user-friendly choice

and it has both excellent support and software

(note: i ran Mint for years, and when coming back to Linux i chose it for my gaming pc because it's easy to set up and well-supported)

key information:

Linux doesn't use drive letters :o

your C: drive is / (terminology: root directory)

your personal files (C:\Users\Username) live under /home/username (terminology: home directory)

other drives (internal and USB drives) live under /mnt/drive-label or /media/username/drive-label (terminology: mount point)

Technical Note: all hard drives and SSDs, before they get a mount point, are referred to as /dev/sdX (eg /dev/sda, /dev/sdb etc.) for HDDs and SATA SSDs (partitions are /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2 etc.), and /dev/nvmeXn1 (/dev/nvme0n1, /dev/nvme1n1 etc.) for NVMe drives (partitions are /dev/nvme0n1p1, /dev/nvme0n1p2)

however, Mint manages all this for us and stuff just shows up in your File Manager much like they do in Windows Explorer c:

Software is typically managed similar to the way App Stores work; Mint has Software Manager that lets you install common programs

the only wrinkle here is Mint supports both Mint-specific sources and a thing called Flatpak, which is like a universal App Store for all Linux distros

the Update Manager keeps both your core system and your programs up-to-date. unlike Windows, by default it will only update when you tell it to ! no more rebooting into Windows Update and waiting 10 years ^w^

it's possible to have both Linux and Windows on the same laptop (terminology: dual-booting); you choose which one each time you turn your laptop on

the Linux Mint Forums are a good place to ask questions, seek advice, and maybe even offer your own !!

additional places: Official Community Website, community-maintained subreddit, community-maintained Discord Server, Official Troubleshooting Guide

i think that's the basic info taken care of.

Let's start with the preparation, or PRE-paration

for this GUIDE you'll need:

a USB drive (4GB+)

Linux Mint ISO file

Balena Etcher (to put the ISO file on the USB drive)

i recommend reading through the info on the Mint homepage and following their installation guide for good step-by-step guide w/ screenshots ^^'

we're gonna make a 'Live Image' on our USB drive - this means we can testdrive the system before we install it. try before you buy !! wait, it's free -- uhh.. walk before you run ??

Download the ISO file using the above link. i recommend the Cinnamon Edition, unless you have a very old PC, in which case pick XFCE

Download Balena Etcher

Plug in your USB drive and open Etcher

Follow the onscreen prompts to select the ISO file and your USB drive

Alright, let's fire her up ! ^u^

now we have our USB drive it's time to boot it. because Windows is, well, Windows, you may need to disable Fast Boot in order to access the BIOS/UEFI. :c you may also have to disable Secure Boot in the BIOS/UEFI depending on your computer. this is usually found in the Boot, Security, or Authentication tab.

now we're ready !!

Power on your computer and press F1/F2/F6/F10/F12/DEL to access your BIOS or Boot Menu

Select your USB drive

A screen will come up where you can select Linux Mint (or will say Automatic Boot in X seconds)

You shall be greeted by a desktop that looks something like this

have a look around !! there's a menu in the bottom left that has programs and system settings and logout/reboot/shutdown options. the taskbar at the bottom displays icons of running apps (and pinned ones). the bottom right has your clock and system tray w/ network, audio etc.

this is a great time to get a feel for how everything works ! open some programs !! investigate the System Settings. connect to your WiFi (in the system tray next to the sound and clock).

when you're ready, double-click the "Install Linux Mint" icon on the desktop. the installer will walk you through setting everything up. i recommend following the official installation guide's walkthrough as it explains everything from setting your timezone to installing Mint by itself or alongside Windows, with screenshots showing each step. it also has an important section on installing drivers. the slideshow during installation also does a good job at showcasing the available software.

Welcome Screen

after installing and rebooting, a Welcome Screen pops up that offers a nice interface for picking a system theme/colour, installing drivers, and setting up backups etc.

Let's talk software !! :D

Mint comes with some software pre-installed. these are probably the main ones:

Archive Manager (like 7-Zip or WinRAR)

Celluloid (a video player; VLC is available to install if you prefer)

Drawing (an image editor similar to Paint)

Document Viewer (PDF viewer)

Firefox (Tumblr's favourite web browser)

LibreOffice (like MS Office - it even supports MS Office file format !)

Rhythmbox (like Windows Media Player or iTunes)

Software Manager (like the Microsoft Store/App Store; GET OTHER PROGRAMS HERE !)

System Monitor (like Task Manager)

System Settings (like Control Panel)

Terminal (like Powershell/Command Prompt; outside the scope of this post but good to have)

Text Editor (like Notepad)

Timeshift (like System Restore points, or macOS Time Machine)

Web Apps (similar to an old iOS feature - make Netflix.com into an app etc.)

Update Manager (manages updates)

Available in Software Manager:

Audacity

Discord

DOSbox

Dropbox

OBS

Spotify

Transmission (torrent client)

VLC

and much more ! these are all official apps !

How's that checklist ?

i mentioned some casual tasks at the start of this post. let's work through them !

Social Media, Online Shopping, Youtube/Netflix/Plex and general Web Browsing

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: identical Method: open Firefox. browse to your_site.com. note: i recommend the web version of Plex as the app can be buggy

Email

Difficulty: easy (webmail), medium (mail client) Windows Similarity: identical (webmail) or similar (mail client) Method: webmail - open Firefox. browse to your_email_site.com. sign in client - open Software Manager. search for Geary (similar to Mac Mail), Evolution (similar to Outlook), or Thunderbird (same as on Windows). click Install. open Geary/Evolution/Thunderbird, follow the first-time setup.

PDFs

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: similar Method: open Document Viewer from the application menu. File -> Open, browse for your PDF. OR, open File Browser, browse for your PDF, double-click to open

Document Writing

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: similar Method: open LibreOffice Writer from the application menu. on first launch it may ask if you want a traditional (Office 2003) or Ribbon (Office 2007 onwards) layout. use it as you would MS Word. there's also Calc (Excel), Impress (Powerpoint), Draw (Publisher) and Base (Access)

Funny Meme Edits (aka MS Paint level of image editing)

Difficulty: medium Windows Similarity: similar Method: open Drawing from the application menu. File -> Open for your image. the left toolbar provides options to resize, add text, crop etc. pro tip: remember to click the tick button on the bottom right when you do anything !

Spotify

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: identical Method: open Software Manager, search for Spotify, click Install. then open it from the application menu.

DVDs

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: similar Method: insert your DVD. Mint may ask what you want to do (choose play/open with Celluloid). if it doesn't, then open Celluloid from the application menu, click the + icon in the top left, click "Open Disc" and choose the DVD you inserted.

CDs and MP3s

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: similar Method: CDs - insert your CD. Mint may ask what you want to do (choose play/open with Rhythmbox). if it doesn't, then open Rhythmbox from the application menu. it should automatically see your CD. MP3s - double-click your MP3 file.

Gaming and Windows-only programs

i said i'd briefly mention this (probably good bc the post is getting loonnggggggg), so here we go.

gaming on Linux has come a long way. Steam can be installed from Software Manager and supports a few titles natively, as well as the option to run some Windows-only games using compatibility software called Proton. the website ProtonDB is very handy for looking up compatibility for specific games. i'll drop a proper GUIDE on Linux gaming another time.

Windows-only programs. sometimes you need specific software and it only has a Windows version. it happens. there's similar compatibility software that allows eg Photoshop to run, called WINE (Proton is actually based on this). again, this is outside the casual scope of this post, but i'll drop a GUIDE on this too (as i use the same software to manage both my Windows-only programs and my Windows-only games).

Finale !! FINI !! Fuck me that's a lotta words !!

okay, we got to the end ! you should have Linux Mint installed, you should have your basic programs ready to rock (and know where to get more !!), and know where to get help from official Linux Mint sources as well as community-run ones <3

please drop any questions in the notes, or as an ask. i shall tag those asks #DATA_REQUESTS/GUIDES/LINUX in addition to my usual #DATA_REQUEST tag

i'll also provide the following GUIDEs/REPOs as i have time:

Flatpak (that universal App Store i mentioned earlier)

Gaming (including using Proton + Bottles for Windows games)

Windows software (using WINE + Bottles)

and if there are any specific GUIDEs (eg terminal basics, how to configure xyz in System Settings etc.) or REPOs (eg links to other people's GUIDEs, software recs, screenshot galleries etc.) i'm happy to provide those as and when i have the time !! have fun !!~

[saxifactumterritum]

[image in reblog by gemtlelarkspur: a quote on a white background that says 'Macmillan publishers new model for library ebook lending will make it difficult for libraries to fulfill our central mission  ensuring access to information for all.' it is attributed to ALA president, Wanda Brown] 

Oh it's back again. I see this post so often and everyone reblogs it and I always write a salty reply then delete it later. So here we go:

YOU MIGHT NOT NEED AUDIBLE BUT I DO IT LITERALLY SAVED MY LIFE.

NAH I'M NOT GONNA EXPLJAN THE INTRICACIES OF MENTAL ILLNESS THAT LEAD TO THAT

I AM PART OF A BOOKCLUB, WE READ AN ECLECTIC COLLECTION OF BOOKS ITS LGBT. IF THE LIBRARY DOESN'T HAVE MY BOOK (IT HAD THE AUDIOBOOK MAYBE 7/10 TIMES) DO I JUST BE LIKE OH NAH I'LL SKIP THIS MONTH THEN?

IF I READ A REVIEW (AGAIN LGBT BOOKS ARE NOT AS WIDELY AVAILABLE IN AUDIO IN THE FIRST PLACE) AND ITS NOT IN MY LIBRARY DO I JUST SAY OK THEN?

I live in the UK my library doesn't have an instant request function. Sure you can request a book but that doesn't mean they'll buy it.

FOR THOSE SAYING AUDIBLE IS OVERPRICED, AUDIOBOOKS CAN BE CHEAP THESE DAYS... BUT USUALLY THEY HIT LIKE £20-£30, OR £10-£20 DEPENDING ON A FEW FACTORS LIKE LENGTH IT SEEMS.

Look, I use a whole bunch of stuff to read, I'll put a list in a minute to be helpful, but I recommend audible. It has the biggest collection, it's not a bad deal, you can pause or cancel the subscription any time. Lots when you press cancel they offer you three months on lower cost. You keep the books even after cancelling. Even unsubscribed you can get three credit for £18 (currently) which is still quite cheap for audiobooks.

Here's the list of how I read my books:

- the library has two catalogues accessed through two apps (they have three apps one is the same catalogue). In the comments it says it America but we have in the UK too. Different libraries have different collections, some are wider than others, funnily it tends to come down to funding so the poorer the area the less options. Funny that

- if you are in the UK and struggle to read due to disability, sign up for listening books. ANY AT ALL. They don't ask for proof, I pay I think £50 a year? Approx? For streaming and they post me cds. I had it for free for years when I couldn't pay, which is an option and is easy. They're super super nice and have lots of options.

- librivox. Listened to paradise lost on here it was amazeballs. Its out of copyright, puplic read books, some are awful some are brill.

- YouTube has a bunch of pirated and librivox audiobooks

- before covid I did trawls of charity shops they tend to have audio cds and tapes. Also one had a thingummy to put tapes on my laptop. A gadget. Idk. Also they usually had hundreds of those old discs you got free with newspapers, music, computer programme or games, dvds, in little cardboard sleeves. Got a bunch of audiobooks out of those and they are usually like 50p!

- edited to add BBC sounds, bbc radio has some good stories and comedy to listen to also

- I have a screen reader so I also use ebooks but I can't lock the screen or do anything else with my phone and its a bit of a faff but I can't always get an audiobook so.

TAKE NOTE PLEASE! ALL OF THAT AND I STILL HAVE TO USE AUDIBLE TO GET THE BOOKS I WANT.

Fuck anyone who tell me audible 'isn't necessary'.

yeah theres no way to stop using amazon completely because they own so many things and many websites use them for hosting, but audible is something we really dont need. amazon is already trying to replace public libraries with “audible amazon libraries” and we cant let that happen. your libraries are already payed for with taxes ((though normally way underfunded because politicians normally dont care enough)) 

use libby or overdrive for audiobooks or ebooks, support libraries and buy from their used books sale (ive scored so many awesome books, and old books! as well as some great cds and movies) , and many libraries also mail out books!! theres so many options and libraries are always changing to make themselves more accessible for everyone, so support them! theyre such an important part of your community.