#so that'll be a post in the future

[amiactuallydoingthisblog]

Ok. Spoilers for Ash’s bound lore today.

There’s void goo now. And while we don’t know a ton about it yet, I want to talk about what it could be. I’m using my made-up pathogen, Vocivos pathogenesis as a base, so go read that post for more context.

When V. pathogenesis is surviving outside of a host, it acts like a bacterium. And something certain bacteria can do is form a biofilm, which is basically a mat of bacteria held together with proteins, polysaccharides, and even DNA. In these biofilms, they can recycle nutrients, coordinate their actions across cells, and are more resilient against environmental pressures.

This does make them particularly difficult to treat as an infection, but that’s for a different post when we know more about how void sickness impacts avians. We know that people cough up this void goo (Ash’s mom, for example), but not much more than that.

And while these biofilms are made of cells, they can absolutely get big enough to be seen by human eye, growing to be inches thick and the largest microbial mats spread out over tens of kilometers. Our few meters of goo is no problem.

So why are we seeing this goo now? V. pathogenesis has been existing in the ecosystem in low levels and infecting the mobs for a while now, ever since the Halloween party. When the beacons went down a second time, it was able to surge through more of the mobs. But then we re-stabilized the islands and killed the mobs. With the islands ambient magic at a lower level, the bacteria don’t die off, but with no mobs they had nowhere to go except to aggregate into a biofilm.

Now, I’m not 100% on this theory. We haven’t actually looked at the goo yet, and there’s a possibility that it could act more like a slime mold or another mold than a biofilm. But the basics are the same: a bunch of single-celled organisms living together and almost acting like a multi-celled one.

TL;DR: the void goo is probably a biofilm, and that will have implications for when it infects an avian

[basketobread]

yeah ok i ship oc x oc even if there are romanceable companions in game LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[redrobinfr]

so when giraffes only sleep for like, 30 mins a day, it's fine, but when i sleep for ~30 mins a day, it's "a problem" and i "can't just drink more coffee and say everything is normal"?

[somegrumpynerd]

I made a new website!

I really liked the cat idea and I wanted to try and mess around with html more, so this was the perfect project I could work on between work shifts :D

Here's how it's (hopefully) going to work:

I'm gonna put up a poll here every week to see what toy should be left out next and after the poll ends on sunday I'll add whatever wins to the site. I've already assigned a particular cat to each toy but it's not necessarily obvious what attracts who, so you guys get a bit of randomness c: (I also added an option for random just in case anybody can't pick but also because I realised I would have to vote to be able to see the results and I don't wanna accidentally skew them if they're ever close) For future polls there may also be special options marked with a * which have a little bonus surprise, but again, it's secret :3c

So, without further ado,

[soapdi-spencer]

I CAN'T HEAR ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN WITHOUT IMMEDIATELY GETTING THE URGE TO FAVOURED SON!! IT'S A PROBLEM!!!

[hyperfixationsgoweeeee]

A year ago I had the bright idea of creating a quote on quote "guardian" for the multiverse, and a few days after I had the bright idea of deleting it off my fucking Tumblr. Seriously though, I'm glad I got to actually make this, and I'm glad I actually know that this guy didn't just vanish without a trace.

Funnily enough, I made this like- about a week or so before the anniversary so it's just been sitting in my drafts lol, meh, better early than late :p

If confirmation is needed, it's under the cut

First design and all...sheesh I'm glad I made his design easier to draw cause this is awful

[theradicalace]

just applied my first dose of tgel 😎

[masschase]

June 29th 2022

Guess what... I remembered what her main present last year was!

And that's how she popped in to see all of your Bosses in summer 2022 😉

This year... who knows? Happy Birthday, Casey!

[atticcreationz]

Good lord it's been a crazy couple months, I'm physically and emotionally exhausted quite a lot of the time lately from Life Stuff TM and yet I have also been incredibly lucky as in the last two months i have gotten to see, LIVE ON STAGE:

Hadestown

Dimension 20

Bigger

Starkid

aaaand next week I get to go see Offbook

It's just been such a joyful (and occasionally stressful I'll admit) whirlwind of musicals and improv and musical improv! I can't believe all the stars aligned for this to have all been on stages I could actually see in the last two months?? (for real, I would never go to that many shows in a row if I had the choice of the schedule, I'm too much of a sleepy boi)

Anywho I've been backing up my photos so I'm gonna post a bunch of photos etc from some of the events!

[duefault]

i love interactions with maki post-shibuya outside of the context of the overarching conflict. because exploring how others react to her wiping out the zen'in clan seems kind of like an elephant in the room plot wise.

[lapistry]

(Belated) Valentine's Art 🥰

[moonfromearth]

Lux, despite her animosity at her changing and everything that tied her to the old town, had finally found herself at peace.

Through her time there she'd been able to do so much, battle her demons both internal and external (*cough* Greg), some of which even helped others besides herself (*cough* again Greg).

If being a werewolf allowed her to continue down the path she was on forever, how could she ever pass that up?

transcript [under cut]

Emmett: Hey... Um.. Did you do it? Lux: I couldn't... Emmett: What? Lux: It's just... So much has happened since I first got turned. So many good things. I don't want that to change. Do you think you can handle me for eternity? Emmett: Of course.

[todayisafridaynight]

DON'T EVEN WORRY ABOUT IT DUDE I LEAVE ASKS FOR WEEKS BECAUSE I'M EVIL (EASILY DISTRACTED AND INARTICULATE) SHDGKJDSHDSLGF see you got to it before I was even done with a stream...

But yeah The Smile Ruined My Life. It helps it's not as silly as his last card's though lol

The "soul patch" is a bit of both; it is amplified a lot by lighting, but you can see it's noticeably darker/less patchy than the rest of his facial hair in his texture even when lighting isn't a factor and it's like that for his younger model too. I rarely notice when Tsutsumi actually has one though because it blends in with the shadow lol (sorry for the disgustingly high res texture btw I don't know why they did that and Tumblr blows it up to max size anyway </3)

YAYAYAY HOPE YOU ENJOY GOD OF RISK <3 Genuinely don't remember a single thing so probably due a rewatch for me as well. I do miss Hit Me too...

That's exactly the vision! Sad dog left out in the rain. I love fish out of water (so to speak) type stuff where the character is normally So Serious and So Capable. Jo just Existing In Public is such an image, right... because he's like... this guy with a fifty-foot AOE "leave me the fuck alone" aura active at all times but wearing one of THE most eye-grabbing fits... Honestly kind of insane no one ever connected Aoki to the yakuza before Nick's call-out post, though.

It's fun to imagine RGG characters just living their lives too. I LOVED Mine's first event because he had a lot of commentary on random encounters you could have in Y3 and even achievements you could get, while offering a pretty good idea of what his day-to-day is like

he cant be smiling so sincerely while holdin a fuckin katana that looks RIGHT RIDICULOUSAELKJA (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)(;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)

if my followers can handle me posting masato and aoki's skinned face texture, then i can surely handle a bit of extra hi-res stubble ☠️☠️ BUT i dosee it. if i squint real hard (the shadows in the rggo card really do help point it out)

I'M ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH THE FIRST EP RN (got distracted for a sec to hang with my bro) AND SO FAR IM ENJOYIN IT !! Business Bullshit has always entertained me, and esp when kaori's being so hard headed rn only to be faced with the facts that if she doesnt change Serious Shit is going to hit the fan is ABSOLUTELY pulling me in

YAYAYA THATS EXACTLY IT I LOVE FISH-OUT-OF-WATER TYPE OF SCENARIOS TOO. it really is funny that no one connected the dots when every other npc or character seem so deadset on clocking characters like kiryu frame one as yakuza. meanwhile there's alligator-print, perpetual-scowl and slicked-back hair jo and everyone just seems to be none the wiser. He Just Looks Like That Don't Be Rude☠️☠️

i LOVE imaginin charas doin mundane shit so much, it's probably why i really enjoy slice-of-life stuff. Oh The Beauty Of Everyday Life Etc Etc- esp when applied to yakuza characters where it should be hard for a day to be bland and not noteworthy ☠️

[theimpossiblescheme]

Ashen One . Alonso of Londor . Warrior of Sunlight . Former herald of the Way of White . Newly honored Knight of Catarina . Friend to Siegward, Greirat, Anri, Orbeck, Andre and even Patches . Publisher of two spellbooks in Orbeck's memory . Father figure to the Fire Keeper . Lover of Cornyx . Custodian of the New Age of Dark

[b-kut]

Ok, i stoll use twitter out of habit and some ppl are only there but WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?

AN AD? ON THE TOP OF A FUCKING QUOTED TWEET? I CAN BARELY TELL WHATS BEING QUOTED! AND IT'S FOR FUCKING AI AND CRYPTO!! I'M NOT THE TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC!!! WHO TF APPROVED THIS(we know it's Elon but it's hard to believe this level of incompetence)!?!?

[gaythreadrunner]

so you're taking care of your computer's software health. NICE! but what about its physical health?

because yes, computers do need the occasional real-world checkup to make sure that they're running well. but what exactly does that entail? i see many posts about maintaining software health: limit your browser tabs, ensure your antiviruses are working properly, so on and so forth, but checking the physical components is something i sparsely see discussed here.

so what's the deal with physical maintenance? well, have you ever had your computer hack and wheeze trying to keep up even if your OS and all your drivers are up to date and functioning? if you've never opened up your computer before, you may be shocked to find just how FILTHY it can get in there:

take a closer look at that snout dust! PTOOEY .. BLECKH

computers are much more likely to accumulate internal dust if they're sitting on the floor, and especially if they're near any vents and/or if you have pets.

ok, you've figured out how to open your device and now you're staring at the second coming of the dust bowl in your gaming rig. what now? let's explore some basic cleaning tips, deep cleaning pointers for your CPU/GPU, and tips to help keep maintain your computer's physical health in the future.

first of all, turn off your computer and unplug it (for my computer, i turn it off, turn off the PSU switch, unplug it, and then press the power button for about 30 seconds to drain the capacitors and minimize static risk)

generally, you're gonna want to have THESE items:

some sort of face mask (dust masks are best, but anything that'll help keep the harmful dust out of your lungs will generally work)

a can of compressed air (or an electric duster if you're ~fancy~. they look and function like turbo blowdryers)

a vacuum will be useful if there's a LOT of dust, best to use in combination with an anti-static cleaning kit

if you ARE gonna use a vacuum, spray every attachment you use with an anti-static spray. disturbing large amounts of dust creates a lot of static, and electronics are very sensitive to that.

it's never a bad idea to grab an grounding wristband as well, but as long as you wear loose clothes and always keep some part of your skin in contact with the case, you should be ok. (i don't know how much this applies to laptops and smaller devices, since the cases for those are typically plastic)

if there's staining (like from smoke) or there's more gunk caked on than you thought, you can gently clean electronic components with a brush/paper towel/microfiber and medical-grade isopropyl alcohol ONLY. do not use any other cleaning alcohols for this task.

before you do anything, TAKE THAT FUCKER OUTSIDE! always clean a dusty device where the wind can carry that shit away, because oh my GOD will it fuck up your lungs like crazy. (that, and compressed air cans have fluorocarbons in them, which isn't great to breathe in either)

most of the time, you'll probably be fine just using an air duster. for compressed air cans, spray the dirty surfaces in short bursts. an electric duster can be constantly blown. when dusting fans, make sure that you're holding the blades still as to not accidentally make them spin too fast (ESPECIALLY with an electric duster!), since that can damage the mechanism that makes them spin.

however, if there's a lot of dust, it may be better to give it a vacuuming first. anything from a handheld to a shop vac will work, and attachments with brushes on the end will help tons with loosening up even more dust. and of course ALWAYS make sure that you're spraying any attachments with anti-static spray, and keep a hand on the case of the computer to electrically ground yourself since the hose will be in contact with the internals.

if there's any left over, give it a blast with the duster.

in some rare cases, there may be some extra gunk caked onto the internals, and you may have to really get your hands in there or take components out individually. if you don't have an anti static wristband (the ones with an alligator clip) do your best to ALWAYS keep your skin in contact with the case as you're finagling around in there.

it's probably a good idea to have disposable gloves on for this. grab your isopropyl and towel of choice (microfiber is ideal, but dirtier PCs may need disposable paper/shop towels), soak it a little bit, and gently scrub off the gunk n' grime as needed.

with heat sinks specifically, since they're just big blocks of metal, they're the one part of a component that can be cleaned under water. if a dusting doesn't suffice, gently scrub it with a brush under warm, soapy water, rinse thoroughly, and let it dry on a towel for a few hours before reassembling it into the electronic components.

if there's still little bits stuck in the radiator fins, stick an isopropyl-soaked q-tip in there to push it out.

the dust settles, everything's put back together, and it's all clean in there again. YAY!!!!! but what if you're still experiencing temperature problems? well, it typically comes down to either the CPU or GPU:

IF ITS THE CPU: if you took off the cooler to clean it, then i hope you remembered to dab some fresh thermal paste on there. you should be replacing thermal paste few years, otherwise it dries out and loses its effectiveness.

the type you use makes a huge difference too; i like to use arctic's mx-4, it has excellent thermal conductivity while still being an electrical insulator, so spillover isn't a problem. if you go for a liquid metal compound, please do your research first, since some of them can run the risk of corroding the cooler pipes and/or the CPU's outer casing.

to replace thermal paste, make sure that the crusty old paste is sufficiently scrubbed off the contact points of both the CPU and cooler. again, use isopropyl for this. once it's all cleaned off, put about a pea-sized amount of paste on the CPU and carefully lower the cooler onto the mounting bracket before fastening it in place. (also it really doesn't matter how you put the paste on, as long as it ends up covering most of the contact area)

also if you're still using the cooler your CPU came with, you should probably get a better cooler. especially if you're doing gaming or using graphically/mathematically intensive software. sorry. the stock coolers that most CPUs come with are mid as hell. you can get a nice ARGB one for less than 20 USD i promise its worth it

IF ITS THE GPU: like CPUs, your graphics card also needs to have its thermal paste cleaned out and replaced every so often. but they also utilize a second thermal material called thermal pads. these are usually made of either silica gel or a very thick clay-like grease, and come in different thicknesses. my favoured pads are owltree's 12.8w grease pads, the assorted pack comes with enough for about 4-5 GPUs.

taking apart a GPU seems scary, and understandably so; they're incredibly expensive and hard-working pieces of technology! but i've done it twice now, and it's actually surprisingly simple (as long as you keep track of all the damn screws... im lucky there's a magnetized screw mat in the house i can use)

i recommend watching a deep clean/teardown video of the GPU model you have before digging into it yourself. generally, they separate into 4 distinct portions: the outer shell, the heatsink, the board, and the backplate.

the shell contains the fans and any possible RGB elements. it'll have 1-2 controllers plugged into the board, one for the fans and one for the lighting elements if there are any. once the case is unscrewed, unplug these connectors with a firm squeeze and tug.

these tend to be surprisingly dusty on the inside, so it's probably a good idea to blast it with a duster. again, make sure to hold the fans so they don't overspin. you can also remove the fans from the shell and clean them individually if you'd like.

the heatsink is BIG and heavy, and you can do all the same stuff here that you would with a CPU cooler heatsink. it may take a bit of effort to tug off if the thermal materials are really making it stick to the board. once it's off, scrub the old thermal paste, blast it with a duster, and wash under soapy water if needed before rinsing thoroughly and leaving it to dry for a while.

the backplate is just a flat piece of metal that protects the back side of the board. usually all this will need is a simple wipedown.

the board is where all the magic happens, and will usually have a layout that's something like this:

clean up as needed; gently scrub off old thermal paste, scrape off the old thermal pads (but take close note of how thick they are so you can replace them with the correct pads), and brush/wipe down the dust and grease on each side as needed. take care to avoid touching the PCIe connector too much (the bar of golden pins that juts out from the bottom)

thermal padding varies from card to card (i recommend checking thermal pad placements for your gpu in water cooling guides, even if you're not doing water cooling) but it's typically gonna be on THESE spots:

the VRAM chips surrounding the die (main chip) along with the small black chips next to the capacitors will require thermal pads the most. cut each one to size, carefully peel off the plastic films, and press each piece onto the chips.

now you can grab your thermal paste and put some on that big shiny die. now take your freshly pasted/padded board and CAREFULLY lower it back onto the heatsink. i highly suggest having a good source of lightning for this, since shifting around the pieces too much trying to get them to align properly can displace the thermal pads and mess with how the paste spreads.

screw the heatsink tight to the board, and double check to make sure that the pads and paste are snug against the heat sink. now put the backplate and shell back on and BAM YOU'RE DONE! with the paste and pads i used, i was able to bring down the temperature of my cards by a good 10-15 °C.

ok you've done all this deep cleaning shit and your computer is happy and healthy. what can you do for your computer's health in the future?

DUST AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR. haul that thang outside and spray that shit out to stop it from building up for too long.

KEEP IT OFF THE FLOOR. if you can, of course, not everyone has the desk room for it. computers accumulate dust easier when they're close to the floor. if you do need to keep it on the floor, you might have to dust it every 6-8 months rather than once a year.

AND STOP PUTTING YOUR LAPTOPS ON SOFT SURFACES I SWEAR TO GOD

GET A FAN CONTROLLER. motherboards are DOGSHIT at maintaining fan speeds!!!! there are physical fan hubs that use controller software, but if you can't afford that, fancontrol by rem0o is a stellar software-only option.

IF YOU DON'T ALREADY HAVE CASE FANS, GET THEM. the number of fans depends on the motherboard form factor your case can accommodate (ATX cases typically have 6-8), but having that air circulation is very important to maintaining ideal temperatures. arctic makes fantastic budget-friendly fans.

IF YOU HAVE AN NVMe HARD DRIVE: please put an aluminum heat sink on that thang. they get toasty :(

OK THATS IT I THINK. if anyone else has tips they wanna add, go right on ahead. ok thank you bye your computer will love you