#restarting is unhelpful

[sl33py-g4m3r]

ramble about me constantly restarting games ~~~ why tho~~~? y i do this? -_-;;

I wish I wasn't such a serial game restarter~~ idk why I do this to begin with~~

I hope I don't do it with Pokemon violet cause I've almost got all of the pokedexes complete~~~ just need some version exclusives from scarlet, as well as all the legendary treats~~ but you got to multiplayer for the other version's ones and neither me nor my sibling are in a pokemon playing mood I think~~ sadly~~

a note to myself to not restart pokemon violet~~ we're almost done baby~~

but nope~~ this post was concerning specifically animal crossing new horizons~~~

I was using a cataloging app on my phone to track donations to the museum, diys, items I had, everything really~~

I stopped playing that particular island for like a year and then restarted cause I got bored I guess?

so now my island and cataloging efforts are back at square one again.

and I was almost done with the museum and had helf of the DIY recipes~~ and was ALMOST at blue roses again~~

got to blue roses on one of my islands, restarts immediately afterwards.

I'm never going to 100% the game like this~~ which was why I was cataloging everything to begin with~~

how do I not get bored of animal crossing (or any game really) so I can actually either just beat the game, or actually 100% without restarting??

this behavior isn't helpful~~ why am I like this?

also is connecting your island to the Nintendo online app worth it to do? I've done that with many of my others previously and now don't know how to delete them off the nook link app cause I don't have those islands anymore....

I think there are items you can only get from that~~ so I'd assume it's worth it to keep paying for NSO just to use nook link and get those items~~~

which is kind of dumb~~~

what else is nook link good for tho? I don't get it~~~

TLDR: I serially restart games I intend on hopefully eventually 100% dropping me back at square one again~~ idk why I do this unless I either don't like the setup, or get bored~~~ or don't play for a while~~ I need to knock it off and chill out~~

games like these are supposed to be a chill experience~~ not a "get everything done as fast as possible" grind fest like I play them~~ I'm not a speedrunner~~

but yeah this behaviour isn't helpful to 100% how do I stop this? especially in regards to Animal Crossing New Horizons?? cause restarting my island was what got me to make this long text wall to begin with~~

help~~

[bitegore]

Blows my computer up with my mind

[iridiss]

Mystreet AU where all of the Phoenix Drop High staff are the divine warriors. MCD!Aphmau is a reincarnation of the last Irene, and she restarted the world when the final battle against Shad was going poorly, and Mystreet was created instead, with MCD!Aphmau being reincarnated into Mystreet!Aphmau. The other Divine Warriors (including the first Irene), were recycled into this school with no powers and new lives, completely powerless to the universal change that Aphmau has made. So now they’re forced to adapt to this new world and blend in, whether they like it or not, effectively trapped in this school until they can figure out what the hell happened, and somehow undo it. They all have retained most or all of their memories from their previous life. This makes staff meetings incredibly awkward

Shad is the principal, he runs this school very begrudgingly. He hates his job, but hey, he was able to lead an army in Hell! How much harder can leading highschoolers be?

Irene is the school counselor. The only one. She still has no emotions. This makes her not very successful at her job, but hey, she tries. The students are theorizing that she and the principal are divorced, or exes in some way or another, because of the incredibly grudge-filled looks they keep giving each other. They are forced to work in vague proximity with one another, and no one is enjoying it. They have to maintain workplace diplomacy and after learning what kind of world Shad is trapped in now, he realizes that he can’t actually kill her unless he wants to be arrested and thrown in jail forever. Which would suck ass, because he’s pretty certain the source of their new predicament is somewhere in this school alongside them, and if he wants any luck at getting out, he’s going to have to play along.

Irene and Shad are at least able to remain thinly diplomatic with one another. Shad and Esmund, however—never in a million years will they be civil with one another. They have gotten in very confusing shouting matches in front of the kids before. And yet Esmund never gets fired, (…i don’t think Shad has figured out that he can do that yet…) so the kids start to spread rumors that Esmund is hooking up with or used to be hooking up with the principal. Esmund and Shad find out, and all of the students get in ungodly amounts of trouble for this.

Enki tried to reconnect with his old friend Shad at some point. It didn’t go well. He left his office as quickly as he came in at the first sight of his glare.

It becomes surprisingly easy (and very existential crisis-inducing) to finally be able to tell Aphmau and Irene apart when they’re two entirely separate people standing in the same room. Shad realizes that this Aphmau is probably what caused this, but problem 1. She doesn’t remember a damn thing and is therefore extremely unhelpful, and problem 2. That’s A Child. That’s A Literal Actual Child. That’s some 13yo baby that is entirely innocent and bright-eyed and oblivious to anything and everything that went down in her past lives. And in my mind, Shad has a soft spot for children. Like, a HUGE soft spot, because he used to be a father and his daughter meant the world to him. He’d do anything to get her back and protect her from all the horrors that he could not save her from. Thats his entire villain motivation. Thats the entire reason why he hates Irene and becomes The Shadow Lord and raises an army and pillages the world and everything else. The Shad in my head would be physically incapable of hurting a child.

So I can see Shad calling Aphmau into his office very early in the first semester, ready to confront her and duel all over again…only to realize that, no, this is an separate, innocent child who remembers nothing and might even be an entirely different reincarnation of who she was before. Her memories might even be wiped, completely inaccessible and gone forever. He has an existential crisis, awkwardly apologizes and plays it off as some sort of joke, asks if she needs anything (putting back on his “I’m a normal human being” mask). She says she needs directions to her classes, so he scrounges up a random map and hands it to her and sends her off. He re-evaluates everything he’s known for the past 900 years.

Shad becoming strangely protective of 13yo Aphmau,,, this is just some kid,, he’s forced to re-evaluate everything and adjusts how he sees his students. From “oh good a new army I’m gonna have to mold from scratch /sarc” to “i…i have gone from zero children…to thousands…. thousands of children put under my care…i need to protect all of them at once” man goes mega mother hen mode, especially since his dangerous traitorous ex-wife is in the same building as them, he definitely sees her and the other divine warriors as threats to his kids.

Irene bringing Aphmau into her office as well, but she approaches things very differently from Shad. She cuts straight to the chase, and tells Aphmau she needs to remember. She’s done something terrible, and needs to reverse it and put the world back in order. She needs to remember her old life and become the newest Irene, take on all the power and the responsibility that being a Goddess entails, and set everything right. 13yo Aphmau freaks out, confused and lost. Irene lays the pressure on hard, and keeps pushing when Aphmau insists that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Shad opens the door, sensing she was here with her, and looks like he’s doing everything in his power to hold himself back from punching her square in the face. They have a very terse, carefully worded micro-argument, and Shad insists Aphmau must return to her classes, her education is more important than anything Irene has to stay to her. He gets very protective of her and basically professional-business-talk tells her to fuck right off and never speak to her again. Aphmau is still confused. He ushers her out, and awkwardly asks if she’s alright. She says…i…think…so???? What just happened??? Shad tells her to be careful around that woman, and don’t believe a word she says. She’s full of lies, anyway. Aphmau’s like. you mean the school counselor???????? It’s a very strange day for Aphmau.

insert the kids joking about how Garroth/travis/aaron/Aphmau must be related to certain members of the staff here

[femboty2k]

having an odd issue where it seems my computer (Linux Mint 22 OS) restarts during usage of some things due to memory usage, though thats just my best guess, despite me not having that option enabled. Notably I can't use Heroforge in my browser or play Minecraft for more than a few minutes or worse seconds without it restarting. Does, anyone know what could be wrong? Does anyone following me use Linux? Searching online is, daunting, and most people have been unhelpful/mean

[hugintheraven]

I see people saying a lot "Oh, X game is too hard even on Easy" and then when they get pushback responding "I just suck at video games". And I don't think that's a good attitude to have(and the people pushing back are usually severely unhelpful). Yes, there's some games that are poorly balanced, and some people with physical or cognitive issues that make gaming much harder. But that's not what's going on in the majority of cases.

The thing is, playing video games is a skill. Gaming in general, each genre, and any individual game, all are skills. And like any skill, they can be trained. So, the key question if someone thinks they're bad at a game is, "how do we get better at this skill?" And I can't answer that for every game, but here's a basic start:

Are you fluent with all abilities? Even the one that doesn't seem to do anything? Often there's something(a boosting ability, something defensive, or something that gives information) that players can ignore early on but is vital for later portions of the game.

Pay attention to the whole experience. Games are very busy these days, and will use things like audio cues, enemy animations, or popups in the corner of the screen to tell you things. Make sure you're noticing all of that.

Manage resources well. This includes things like using healthpacks in RPGs instead of hording them and also learning when not to use them because you're near an auto heal. But also resources like your time and attention, physical space on the map, cooldowns on abilities, etc. Learn what to spend liberally and what to keep in reserve for an emergency.

Learn what is effective where. Pokemon has a type chart, FPS games have weapons with effective ranges, citybuilders yell at you for putting the coal plant in a tourism district. Learn the rules, and the resources from the previous step will be much more effective.

So how do you learn this for the game you're having trouble with? After all, if you could figure this out easily, you wouldn't be having trouble. The thing is, most of this stuff is too basic for online guides to spell out. And watching someone else's playthrough on YT/Twitch will show you what they're doing, but not why. The ideal is to have a friend who's good at the game watch you play and then yell about it, but that's not always feasible.

My trick? Restart the game, play through again on a higher difficulty. "But I'm getting my ass kicked on easy, why would normal be any better?" Thing is, you're probably getting your ass kicked BECAUSE you're on easy. You were able to make it to the midgame without developing basic skills because there was no challenge, and now the game is demanding you use skills you don't even know exist. But you have at least learned some of the game, so restart, and play through with more knowledge. Focus on beating the early portions of the game BETTER than you did your first time through, and you might be surprised how much easier the later portions are when you get there.

And don't forget that gaming is supposed to be fun. If you're not having fun, it's fine to stop. But also, developers put a lot of time into the game thinking that it would be fun*. If you're not having fun, it's also fine to ask what the designers were expecting you to do instead to make it fun.

*Gacha games need not apply

[burgerdrome]

Are you still a fan of Warhammer? I hope it’s been long enough that you aren’t scared of this restarting anything but like, I’m a fan myself and everyone I know is also one, and your article gave me some uncomfortable feelings of “what’s the woke way to enjoy this” lol

Hello! Thank you for the delightful question and thank you also for allowing me to be part of the authentic Tumblr experience of receiving an inbox message from a questionable username.

So I guess I think the question about whether there's a "woke way" to enjoy Warhammer is an unhelpful way to think about it (or about anything). It's okay to enjoy a pretend game about silly clanking armoured men just in the same way it's okay to enjoy a pretend video game where you drive a car over the speed limit.

I think a lot of leftists get caught up in ethical hand-wringing and sort of paralysed by how to move forward with something but the reality of participation in a capitalist system is that while you can be conscientious about your choices, at the end of the day you still have to, you know, make those choices. There isn't a perfect way to do it - there is no ethical consumption under capitalism!

One of the great things about the Warhammer hobby - hell, just about all tabletop gaming hobbies - is that the companies who make the products simply cannot stop you from buying them, building them, and playing with them in the way that you want. The fact that Warhammer (hell, D&D too, etc) is essentially imagination layered on top of painted bits of plastic means that the barrier to entry, and the conditions under which a corporation can control your entry, are astonishingly low.

But of course this means that a huge chunk of potential profit is going missing. One of the big ways that Games Workshop - hell, just about all tabletop gaming companies, really - has tried to maximise their profits in recent years has been to attempt to normalise the idea that to "play Warhammer" is to engage in brand loyalty rather than personal creativity - in other words, to own as much of your potential hobby ecosystem as possible.

Purchase your official Warhammer model from the official Warhammer store (good luck getting a pre-order from a local games store which has been deliberately understocked!), clip it from the sprue using official Citadel clippers, glue it with Citadel plastic glue while you're watching the official Warhammer Plus "loremasters" show, basecoat it with Citadel spray, make sure to play it using the new rules we released 3 months ago and which we will update in another book in 3 months time (which you will need to buy, you don't want to miss out!) etc, etc, etc. Deeply tiresome shit.

(Illustrative side note: Recently I saw a post on Facebook marketplace with someone saying "Can someone sell me a pair of Citadel clippers, my last ones broke!" Someone immediately responded to recommend going to buy a pair at Bunnings for $5, and the person legitimately had to be convinced that they were the same product and weren't going to, in some way, "hurt" the models.)

Of course while GW has a long history of trying to trick baffled Christmas aunties into buying spray paint from their stores for $30 instead of from Bunnings for $10, when I got into Warhammer in 1997 DIY creativity was explicitly encouraged and that was pretty much the whole point - Games Workshop literally published books telling you to go to construction sites to find basing sand, to repurpose old cardboard boxes to make buildings and walls, to use guitar strings to make power cables, to write your own missions, to invent your own Chapters (with rules to do so), to build your own characters and leaders, etc, etc. And I did! And it kicked ass.

The old codexes are full of examples of people scratchbuilding whole terrain sets, converting up models for characters that GW couldn't be arsed to provide - that sort of "make it your own! exercise your creativity!" ethos was baked into the very DNA of the hobby, and it has always stuck with me, even as GW has tried to backpedal away from it and focus on "how well can YOU paint OUR kits?"

So now for me I look at Warhammer the same way I might look at an art supply store. Yes I can buy one particular brand of paint or one particular brand of canvas when looking at doing up a new watercolour, but ultimately it's about picking what I think is going to allow me to exercise my creativity the most, or what I enjoy working with.

And when I do throw dice (I am a busy full-time employee with a mortgage and now mostly play small scale Kill Team skirmish games) I play against extremely chill people who have straight-up 3D printed accessories or whole models, or play in my local games club on old Malifaux terrain on a third party game mat, or whatever.

I buy all my models second hand online or purchase out-of-production things at swap meets. I use third-party paints and brushes, and 3D print up conversion parts that I need which I purchase online. I engage with the hobby on my terms and look at it as a way to express my own creativity, or as a series of building blocks to assemble in whichever way I see fit, because that's what makes me happy. Ultimately Games Workshop's colour schemes, lore, etc are (and only ever can be) suggestions - the only difference is that they used to explicitly tell you as much and encourage you to play around, and now they strongly encourage the opposite.

This isn't to cast shade on anyone who just buys GW models and paints them with GW paints or whatever. Doing that isn't somehow a fascist act or a one way ticket to Cancel Jail. They make some nice fucking models! And tbqh their Contrast paints are the best in class for that sort of thing (Army Builder "Speed Paint" ones suck ass).

Buying little toy dolls from companies (at least companies which aren't openly funding genocide) is only a problem if we do so uncritically or treat those little toy dolls as sacred idols and allow them to consume our personalities. That's when you end up with weird right-wing 40K Lore Youtubers with aquila tattoos.

[redtail-lol]

I sought help from Samsung support for my volume issues and this bitch named Rajesh somehow locked my phone in safe mode (restarted it 4 times it didn't help) now the other idiots at Samsung support are being more unhelpful than a bag of rocks kill me

[myrthing]

I'm maybe going to a knitting meet up tonight, but I don't want to knit*. Currently the craft I've been feeling most is sewing, but the sewing projects I have are... maybe not the greatest idea to take anywhere. They're an eye cushion that's to be filled with linseed, and a heating pillow. That I'm going to fill with rice.

The secondary project is making covers for both of those, but I've been warned about the poor lighting in the meet up spot, and I'm using black thread on dark green fabric. That's been bad enough at home, with lamps.

So right now I'm just faffing about, trying to think of something I could do with the limited materials I have at home, and I still feel most like sewing. Unhelpful, brain!! I think the only thing I can plausibly improvise is embroidery, but I really don't wanna lmao

*If I knit I have to acknowledge my pandemic sweater that I started for a January 2020 knitting meet up. I have worked on it once in the four years since. It was in February of 2022, when the meet ups were restarting. I am not a committed crafter without some external motivation.

[bytesie]

11, 18, 31, and 40 for Fern with the Shepard asks!!

ask game here!

and omg ty for sending and also sorry i took so long i legit had this typed and my computer restarted.......... thats what i get 4 not drafting it...........

11. Who is in their inner circle?

fern is kinda that person everyone can get along with, even though she thinks thats not true- she is very charming in her own little weird way. I think the people closest to her are Garrus, Joker, Dr. Chakwas, and Tali. i'll throw miranda in there, too :) i think when fern learns about her sister it instantly makes fern more open to her.

18. What do they think of the alliance?

i've paralleled her with Kai Leng by having her also have snuck into the Alliance at 16 through fake documents and she really does love it :) it's her real home, she loves being of use and with her talent the Alliance has been good to her. she also at the end of ME2 understands why she has to go back, even though it is also extremely hard with the Reapers approaching. she is super loyal to them and being gone sucked more than being 'locked up' does.

31. Ask Dr. Chakwas: what kind of patient is Shepard?

horrible!! youd think someone who gets like a new gunshot wound every week would be able to handle non-invasive procedures, but she throws a huge, dramatic fit asking if everything is necessary. she'd rather deal with an injury in the field then in any sort of medical place any day.

40. What’s their pain tolerance like?

very high! as is probably required, but she's definitely the type to function off so much adrenaline she will not notice something is wrong until she's collapsed. can be extremely unhelpful considering as a vanguard half the time she is charging enemies and punching them instead of using a gun.

[daisychainsandbowties]

Change, Death, Fear, Sloth, Space, Storms 👀👀

not you picking storms as one if the options 🥰

Change: If you had to restart your WIP from scratch, what would you change?

this is so dumb but i’d rate star wars au as Explicit so beatrice and lilith would stop glaring at me every time i hand-wave and make vague sexual references. i just want to write the bathhouse scene on main but i have thoroughly cockblocked myself.

other than that i’m a ‘hate u hate u’ to the chapter i’m currently writing and like this 🥺🥺 to everything already written so i don’t think i’d change much. obviously when i started star wars au and ligaments i hadn’t written prose in a few years so i always look back and think i could have written x or y better on a technical level, but that’s unhelpful thinking because no. i could not have.

Death: What WIP would you want to be remembered for?

i mean for non-fic my poetry book of course, but if we’re talking fic then… probably star wars au. it’s got a lot of me in it and a lot of love for other people in it so as a monument to that i’d want to be remembered for luminous beings.

Fear: What is your greatest fear as a writer?

oh, writing something bad.

my greatest fear comes true often, but that’s the price of art ig.

Sloth: What kind of scene are your worst at writing?

everyone get ready to laugh because yeah

it’s linear scenes. any moment where i can’t go off on a tangent or wander in a random direction. but these tend to also be my favourite finished scenes once they’re written 🫠 as much as i looove the dipping in and out of time scenes there’s something very satisfying about just… doing what needs to be done and having it line up just right.

Space: Do you prefer sci-fi or fantasy?

i prefer to write sci-fi, or something like star wars which is using most of the hallmarks of fantasy with a sci-fi skin. i just find it… more appealing to my narrative preferences to go with sci-fi as a writer, everything from narratives like that movie Arrival to hard sci-fi that juggles a lot of actual science.

but i prefer reading fantasy!

Storms: Do you prefer metaphors or similes?

GOD how could you ask me this. this is like a tits or ass question impossible to choose always the wrong answer.

but i think i am probably more fond of writing similes. i think metaphor is harder to get right (though similes are a balancing act that can be annoying to judge) and i prooobably just find similes more appealing to my autism. it feels more direct, loosely mathematical, where metaphor can range into ???? for me.

ask me from this

[stony-bologna-too]

Fortnite on Steam Deck 2024

lol sorry for the kind of spammy title. I just spent a few hours of google searching and reading tons of unhelpful documentation and just blatantly incorrect Reddit comments, and finally found a method that works that allows you to use Steam Input to mess with controller bindings to play Fortnite on Steam deck, and this is how I did it:

Step 0: Installed Windows 11 on an LCD Steam Deck, then got signed into Steam, Epic Games Launcher, and Fortnite. The OLED deck is missing some official drivers for like audio and WIFI, so maybe that won't work for newer models. I'd imagine that, assuming LCD deck, Win 10 or 11 will work just the same though.

Step 1: As Steam won't recognize Fortnite as its own game (trust me, it won't. All like 4 executables in Fortnite's Program Files folder just bug you about how you didn't use EGS to launch it), you're going to need to download and install another program, glossi.

Step 2: You might notice that there aren't any available download links. Yes there are links to the downloads, but they all fail to load. You're unfortunately going to have to go to their Discord and hope that somebody's reuploaded a mirror. I'll save you the trouble and link you to a recent mirror somebody uploaded in the #general channel, though I have no clue how long that'll stay live for. It's also possible to package an installer via the source code as well, if you don't want to trust shady links and know what you're doing.

Step 3: No matter how you install it, once it's installed there should be a (+) button, where you can add an EGS game in there, of course that means you should add Fortnite. If it's added correctly it'll ask you to restart Steam so the game shows up

Step 4: If you did it right, Fortnite should now be listed in Steam as if it were a non-steam game, where you can set Steam Input controller binds however you want, and it should properly open the game like you'd expect.

I'm pretty sure you need to involve Glossi in this process since there doesn't seem to be way to use Steam's built in "add non-steam game..." dialog to do it. There's some articles and reddit comments that suggest there's a way to get it to work with that dialog without it, I followed most to a T at first, and had no luck.

[plantypotter]

pov: you are overwhelmed and ashamed

Inspo: a convo between me and the internet

The cycle of self-doubt is a pattern where negative thoughts about yourself lead to negative feelings, which then reinforce those negative thoughts. Here's how it breaks down in your situation:

Trigger: You hear criticism from Artem or experience some kind of setback.

Negative Thoughts: You start thinking critically about yourself, questioning your abilities or worth.

Negative Feelings: This negativity leads to feelings of shame, anger, or sadness.

Reduced Confidence: These feelings then make you feel less confident in yourself.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Because you doubt yourself, you might avoid challenges or not put in your best effort, which can lead to more setbacks, restarting the cycle.

Your internal conflict about Artem's comment highlights this cycle. Part of you wants to dismiss his opinion, but another part feels the sting of his criticism. This shows you're caught in a battle between your inner critic and a healthier self-doubt that can motivate you to improve.

-----

By recognizing healthy self-doubt, you can harness its power to motivate yourself. It can be a nudge to ask yourself:

What went well? (sunlight through the fog. always there if you look)

What could I have done differently? (what is the mist feeding)

Assume you have hope, what's the next step?

What can I learn from this experience to improve next time?

Is this thought a wisp of mist, offering a different perspective, or a dense fog bank, obscuring reality? Sometimes, a little mist can reveal hidden paths, while a thick fog can completely distort your surroundings.

Does this thought guide me like a steady breeze, propelling me forward, or does it swirl and eddy, pulling me back into the swamp? Helpful negativity is like a gentle breeze, urging you to adjust your course. Unhelpful negativity is a swirling vortex, trapping you in self-doubt.

What emotions lie beneath the fog? Is it the chill of fear, the dampness of sadness, or the anger of a storm brewing within? Identifying the underlying emotions can help you understand the source of the negativity.

Acknowledge the extra path you've had to forge. It's a testament to your resilience and strength.

Celebrate your own stepping stones, no matter how small they may seem to others traversing a smoother path.

Focus on the distance you've covered, not just the vast swamp that may still lie ahead.

[tcmuses]

THE STABLES

Laika could practically hear her heart in her ears with how quickly it was beating. Her breaths were shallow, and at first glance one might merely think her out of shape. Unfortunately, the cause of it all was hardly physical, but rather mental. She was nervous. With each step bringing her closer to the stables, she couldn’t stop herself from fidgeting with the letter in her hands. By this point, it was surely crumpled or at the very least wrinkled. She could only hope it was at least legible if not presentable. That wasn’t to say she hadn’t tried to make it presentable. If anything, she’d tried her best to make it look pretty. She’d spent all morning thinking about what she’d say in her letter, writing it, and rewriting it. She’d made sure that her handwriting was neat and legible, even restarting some simply because it didn’t look good enough to her. She’d made sure to fold the page perfectly, so that each part was even and then she’d found her most elaborate wax seal. She’d gone above and beyond because this was a confession of love, after all. Perhaps it was more a confession of like than anything, but the sentiment was the same nonetheless. Taza de Fruta occupied her thoughts more oft than naught. It was something that had both perplexed and vexed her. Taza wasn’t the first man that had ever caught her eye— he wasn’t even the first person. And yet, it had never been like this before. Something about him made her heart flutter, and her words jumble inside of her mouth. It was why she’d written a letter after all.

Her nerves had not calmed in the slightest by the time she reached the doorway. She shifted her weight onto her heels, a habit her father had told her to stop doing, but had continued nonetheless. Laika contemplated if it was worth it, really, truly worth it to step inside and hand him the letter. There were a number of possible outcomes, a great many of which were hardly good. She’d never done something so daring in her life. However, her mother had always said that it was better to try and fail than it was to never attempt at all. Taking a deep breath, she launched herself forward, hoping that the momentum would keep her going even if her brain told her to stop. Once she’d passed the threshold of the doorway, she knew it was too late to change her mind. Her eyes scanned the area, hoping to catch a glimpse of man who captivated her so, but to no avail. The stables were actually quite empty— save for the horses of course. “Taza,” she called out, urging her voice to stay steady. When no response came she walked further into the stables, peeking around corners to see if the boy had laid down for a nap on the hay as he liked to do in his free time. Instead, she was greeted by a rather unfamiliar man. She jumped backwards in surprise, nearly falling over as she did so. He was sat upon a barrel perched in the corner, one leg loosely swinging, a book in hand. She’d seen other men in the stables before, but not this one. “What are you doing here?” She asked in a manner rather impolite. Unfortunately her surprise combined with her nerves from earlier had her quite on edge. “Sitting. Reading,” he replied coolly, as if it were a normal thing to do. His response frustrated her further, as if thought her incapable of grasping such an obvious sight. The corners of her lips tugged downwards into a frown, disappointed that her plans had already gone so awry.

“Yes, I can see that,” she replied “What I meant was why are you here”. Her question hadn’t changed, and before he could think of another quick witted response, she raised her free hand to wave him off. “Nevermind. I was looking for Taza, have you seen him?” Her question brought another wave of nerves. She’d planned out this encounter on the basis that he would be in the stables, and that he would be alone. Now she’d have to come up with something entirely new if this stranger HAD seen him. Unfortunately, his response was as equally unhelpful as the first one. With a slight tilt of his head he asked, “Why are you looking for him?” Her lips tightened even further in frustration, but this time a flush rose to accompany it. She could hardly admit she was here to deliver a love letter. To a stranger, no less. Her brows furrowed, feeling her cheeks heating and knowing she probably looked rather foolish. She had a habit of getting quite red when embarrassed, given how pale she was. Or so she’d been told. She could see the gears turning in his head, trying to come up with a reason as to why she’d have such a reaction. She could even see the moment it dawned on him. “Ah, I see,” he said with a smile of satisfaction. “See what?” She replied almost too quickly, and with too much bite. “Why you’re looking for him,” he replied much calmer than she had. She tried to shove the letter further up into her sleeve, in a manner that would go unnoticed by him. If he had seen anything, he’d at the very least decided not to say anything, instead announcing “I wouldn’t. If I were you.”

Laika tried to think of what he could mean by that. Who was he to tell her what she should and shouldn’t do? This man, who did not know her, and did not know Taza. Furthermore, what could she have possibly done to suggest she was interested in his advice. Still, she made an attempt to respond with grace, “I’m afraid I don’t follow.” He finally closed his book, keeping his thumb in place so he could find his place later. He seemed to be struggling to find the right response for the first time since this interaction had started. “It would be a waste of time,” he finally replied. Her tempers were rising further, wishing she’d instead left this conversation the moment he’d responded the first time. Was he implying that she wasn’t worth Taza’s affections? That she was ugly, perhaps? Whatever he was implying, it certainly wasn’t complimentary to her. “I find that such a response was quite unecessary,” she replied with a huff, “and I rather dislike what you’re implying.” He seemed to be baffled by her, as if he couldn’t fathom the type of response he’d garnered. “I only meant to—” he’d started to say before she cut him off. “In fact, I think it’s best if you leave,” she said in as even a tone as she could manage. It was more than she owed him really, after he’d just insulted her. Instead of getting up and leaving, like she’d preferred he do, he instead replied “I was here first,” as if she’d forgotten. Instead of dignifying him with a response, she narrowed her eyes and turned on her heels. If he wouldn’t leave, she would. As she made her way out of the stables, she couldn’t help but mutter under her breath “Unbelievable.”

[sunshine-gumdrop]

3am oc x character one shots: dicking around in video games

Ellie and Leon settled on the couch, controllers in hand, ready to tackle the co-op campaign of the latest action-packed video game. The screen's glow filled the room, casting dramatic shadows around them. Focused and determined, Ellie was all in for a serious gaming session. At the same time, Leon, with his usual carefree attitude, was more interested in having fun and less concerned about making progress.

"Okay, let's do this. Focus on the mission objectives," Ellie instructed, her eyes never leaving the screen as they started the first level.

Leon nodded, but his mischievous grin suggested he had other plans. They began when Leon's character started doing everything but the mission. He was jumping around aimlessly, accidentally throwing grenades at their own feet, and even finding ways to make his character dance instead of taking cover.

"Seriously?" Ellie's voice was a mix of annoyance and disbelief. "We're never going to get past this level if you keep screwing around."

Leon laughed, thoroughly enjoying himself. "Come on, Ellie, lighten up! It's just a game. Look at this: I found a glitch where you can make your character do the moonwalk. Michael Jackson would be proud!"

Ellie couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh, though the corner of her mouth twitched in amusement at Leon's antics. "That's great, but we're supposed to save the world here, not auditioning for a dance-off."

As they continued, Ellie's character moved with precision and skill, dispatching enemies and completing objectives. In contrast, Leon's character lagged, occasionally contributing to the chaos in the most unhelpful ways. Every time they failed the level because of Leon's distractions, Ellie's patience thinned a little more.

After the umpteenth restart, Ellie paused the game and turned to Leon, her expression stern. "Okay, new rule: you try to play the game properly, or I'm switching you for an AI partner. At least they know how to aim."

Leon raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright, I'll behave. But only because you asked so nicely," he said, giving her a cheeky wink.

True to his word, Leon started to focus, and much to Ellie's surprise, he was pretty good when he put his mind to it. Together, they finally managed to get past the first level, their characters standing victorious amid digital chaos.

As they progressed to the next level, Ellie couldn't help but smile, shaking her head at the ordeal. "You know, we make a pretty good team when you're not trying to be the class clown of video gaming."

"Yeah, but admit it, it wouldn't have been half as fun without my dicking around," Leon retorted, nudging her back as they prepared to dive into the next level, ready for whatever challenges and shenanigans lay ahead.

[psyduc]

my work computer forced a restart last night and it's doing that thing again where it turns on, but there's no signal and IT is extremely unhelpful (not that i blame them, it's just nothing's Working) and i really just wanna curl up or maybe chew on some glass because i think that would be less painful tbqh

[rpclefairy]

how to use xkit rewritten / trim reblogs on mobile:

updated for december 2022

this method is beta editor / npf compatible

my previous tutorial to trim posts technically still works, but as tumblr is discontinuing legacy posts that method is already outdated and unhelpful for people who have no other option than to use the beta editor.

but fear not! i've figured out how to use xkit rewritten on mobile and it's VERY easy.

install "firefox nightly for developers" OR "firefox beta for testers". must be one of these two, not regular firefox.

go to settings, scroll down to the "about firefox" page at the end and then click on the logo 5 times until debug mode is enabled.

back to settings and below add-ons you'll see the 'custom add-ons collections' option.

add 17683742 as the ID and name it 'tumblr' like so:

the browser will give you a little pop up that the extension is being added and the app is being restarted.

now enter the app again, go to the add-ons section and xkit rewritten should be loaded there. i've included ublock in the collection so you can use both because you absolutely should.

on firefox beta you'll see the extension with a +, click on it to add it.

now cut your replies the same way you do it on desktop with xkit rewritten!

save the post as a draft

click on the scissor button

it's done!

please consider that this is experimental so not all of xkit rewritten's features will work on mobile. trim reblogs does work though!

i still recommend using my roleplay formatter for formatting your replies and then copy pasting the html on your reblog.

other useful links :

this post explains the differences between the two editors and why we're switching.

this post is a tutorial on how xkit rewritten's 'trim reblogs' feature works.