#the other things is like. learning from other people's code and getting your code code-reviewed. classes/jobs r great for that

[kaiasky]

kaiagpt, how do I learn to program better? I write so many bugs

Bugs are a frustrating but unavoidable part of the programming experience. Perhaps instead of focusing on avoiding bugs, you could work on improving your debugging skills to squash those bugs faster. Here are some things you could try.

Learn to use a unit testing framework and write tests for your code as you go. That way, if your code doesn't function how you expect, you'll be able to tell immediately!

Practice using a debugger to step through your code. A debugger can let you investigate the state of your variables during execution, and can often be much faster than print-statement based debugging.

Familiarize yourself with refactoring tools. If your code is messy, it's often a good idea to clean it up by refactoring it. Knowing how to find all uses of a symbol will make this cleanup easier.

Beyond that, like with any skill, developing as a programmer involves practice. Try and learn something from every bug you fix, and soon you'll find yourself making those errors less and less.

[spiders-around]

YOU MUST MAKE A WEBSITE

Oh wow, look at that! YET ANOTHER post urging you to make a webbed site! What a completely new thing that people haven't made a thousand masterposts for already!!

• Making a website might look scary. It is Not.

At first, I too thought making a website was too much work. It really isn't! It turns out that all you need is

an HTML file,

a web hosting service and

w3schools tutorials,

and that's about it!

This post will point you towards these resources, and others I found useful while figuring out how to make a website.

• VERY QUICK EXPLANATIONS:

What's HTML and CSS?

HTML is the content of your webpage, the skeleton of it. What shows up in a webpage is what's written in the HTML file!

CSS is the way the HTML is styled; the colour of the background and the letters, the size of elements, the font, all that!

Do I absolutely NEED JavaScript for a website?

Not at all! You don't need to worry about learning it before getting started.

• What do I make a website for? What do I put in there?

ANYTHING AND ALMOST EVERYTHING. Here's some ideas for pages from a post of mine were I was very normal about websites:

You can make a page that's only pictures of your pets.

You can make an interactive adventure.

You can make your own academic blog full of your own essays or articles.

You can just post a ton of art or make a full music page.

You can make a blog and infodump eternally, give book reccs and reviews. You can host a thousand virtual pets and nothing else.

Upload entire books in a single html file. Make a wikipedia for your ocs. Make a fake site for a random fictional place (restaurant, hotel, whatever). You can make a thousand fanpages/shrines about your favorite media. You can upload your own webcomic and make it all like a fancy website and shit.

I could keep going but, for the sake of "brevity", I won't.

• WEBSITE EXAMPLES!

If I started listing the websites I know, this post would be bottomless. Here's only seven:

https://publictransit.neocities.org/ - A webbed site, for sure

https://ribo.zone/ - A personal site

https://leusyth.neocities.org/ - An art archive

https://solaria.neocities.org/ - Personal website with A Lot of stuff (it'll come up in a bit, because it offers web making resources)

https://hog.neocities.org/ - The Hogsite

https://thegardenofmadeline.neocities.org/ - Another personal site! It also has a web resources page and has made another masterpost like this one (but better)

https://spiders.neocities.org/ - My own website, which must be weird to see in mobile . sorry

• You've convinced me. I want a webbed site. Where do I start?

https://neocities.org/

FIRST OF ALL: Neocities. It is a free web hosting service, and it's the one I and the sites I linked use!

When I first started, my website was a black page with red letters and a drawing, and nothing else! It was like that for a month, till i started picking up on how to do things.

Here's what helped me get an idea of how to make things work:

https://sadgrl.online/learn/articles/beginners-guide-neocities

An absolute beginners guide to neocities -- while when you make an account there you get a tutorial page from the site, this one's extra support for that.

https://www.w3schools.com/

Learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript and MANY other coding things for free. All the tutorial/reference pages have live testing windows for you to mess with!! helped me a LOT while figuring this stuff out!

https://htmlcheatsheet.com/

https://htmlcheatsheet.com/css/

Cheatsheets for HTML and CSS, respectively. It includes a JavaScript one too!

https://sadgrl.online/webmastery/

Sadgrl's webmastery resources! Also includes the next resource listed here:

https://sadgrl.online/projects/layout-builder/

Sadgrl's layout builder; not a lot of customization at a first glance, but I've seen wildly different websites all using it as a base, plus it works using CSS Flexbox, so it generates a responsive layout!

(basically, a responsive layout is one that translates well in different sized screens)

https://www.tumblr.com/fysa/728086939730919424/wikitable-code?source=share

Tumblr user fysa made this layout imitating a wiki page!

https://brackets.io/

At some point, you might want to do things outside the Neocities code editor and get one outside the site. I recommend Brackets, because my old as fuck computer can run that and absolutely nothing else apparently, and it works wonderfully! Though I recommend either turning off the code autocomplete or using it after a good while of already using the Neocities code editor, so you get used to coding on your own.

http://www.unit-conversion.info/texttools/text-to-html/

Turn your text into HTML code! i use this kind of pages for my lengthy blog entries that I don't feel like formatting myself.

https://imagecompressor.com/

COMPRESS YOUR IMAGES.

The heavier an image is, the more your site weighs and the more time your page will spend loading. You don't want that, specially if your site is heavy on graphics. This might help!

https://solaria.neocities.org/guides

Some CSS, JavaScript and Accessibility guides! Worth checking out!

https://eloquentjavascript.net/

This is a free, interactive book for learning JavaScript! NOTE: It is very intuitive, but JavaScript is HARD!! I still haven't learned much of it, and my website does fine without so don't worry if you end up not doing much with it. It's still useful + the exercises are fun.

And now, accessories!

• Silly stuff for your page :]

https://gifypet.neocities.org/

Make a virtual pet, copy the code and paste it in your HTML file! You'll get a little guy in your webbed site :]

https://www.wikplayer.com/

Music player for your website!

http://www.mf2fm.com/rv/

JavaScript silly effects for your site :]

https://blinkies.neocities.org/geoblinkies

Blinkie search engine!

https://www.cbox.ws/

Add a chatbox to your site!!

https://momg.neocities.org/

Infinite gallery of gifs. i've spent hours in there looking at moving pictures and out of them all, the ONLY gif i actually ended up using on my site was a rotating tomato slice. it is still there. trapped.

https://wrender.neocities.org/tarotinstructions

A widget that gives you a random tarot card!

https://www.websudoku.com/widget.php

Sudoku widget!

That's about it for now! I don't know how to end this!!! Remember to have fun and google everything you don't know :]

[ruhua-langblr]

Language Apps Suck, Now What?: A Guide to Actually Becoming "Fluent"

The much requested sequel to my DL post that was promised almost a year ago.

I'm going to address all of the techniques that have helped me in my language learning journeys. Since 95% of these came from the fact that in a past language learning mistake, they are titled as my mistakes (and how I would/did things differently going forward). For those that read to the bottom there is a "best universal resources" list.

Disclaimers:

"Fluency" is hard to define and everyone has their own goals. So for the purpose of this post, "fluency" will be defined as "your personal mastery target of the language".

If you just want to pick up a bit of a language to not sound like a total foreigner on vacation or just exchange a few words in a friend's native language, feel free to ignore what doesn't apply, but maybe something here could help make it a little easier.

This is based on my own personal experience and (some) research.

Mistake 1: Asymmetrical Studying

Assuming you don't just want to do a single activity in a language, or are learning a language like ASL, a language requires 4 parts to be studied: Speaking, Listening, Writing, Reading. While these have overlap, you can't learn speaking from reading, or even learn speaking from just listening. One of my first Chinese teachers told me how he would listen to the textbook dialogues while he was biking to classes and it helped him. I took this information, thought "Yeah that's an idea, but sounds boring" and now regret not taking his advice nearly every day.

I think a lot of us find methods we enjoy to study (mine was reading) and assume that if we just do that method more ™ it will eventually help us in other areas (sometimes it does, but that's only sometimes). Find a method that works for you for each area of study, even better find more than one method since we use these skills in a variety of manners! I can understand a TV program pretty well since I have a lot of context clues and body language to fill in any gaps of understanding, but taking a phone call is much harder—the audio is rougher, there's no body language to read, and since most Chinese programs have hard coded subtitles, no subtitles to fall back on either. If I were to compare the number of hours I spent reading in Chinese to (actively) training my listening? Probably a ratio of 100 to 1. When I started to learn Korean, the first thing I did was find a variety of listening resources for my level.

Fix: Find a variety of study methods that challenge all aspects of the language in different ways.

A variety of methods will help you develop a more well-rounded level of mastery, and probably help you keep from getting bored. Which is important because...

Mistake 2: Inconsistent Studying

If there is one positive to a language app, it is the pressure it puts on keeping a streak. Making studying a part of your everyday routine is the best thing you can do. I benefited a lot from taking a college language course since I had a dedicated time to study and practice Chinese 5 days out of the week (and homework usually filled the other two). Memorization is a huge part of language learning, and stopping and starting is terrible for memorization. When I was in elementary school, we had Spanish maybe a couple times a month. Looking back, it seems like it was the first class to be cut if we needed to catch up on a more important course. Needless to say, I can't even speak Spanish at an elementary level.

However, I'm sure many people reading this don't have the time to do ultra-immersion 4-hour study sessions every day either. Find what days during the week you have time to focus on learning new vocab and grammar, and use the rest of the week to review. This can be done on your commute to school/work, while you do the dishes, or as a part of your morning/evening routine. Making this as realistic as possible will help you actually succeed in making this a habit. (Check this out for how to set realistic study goals)

Fix: Study regularly (ideally daily) by setting realistic goals. Avoid "binge" studying since remembering requires consistent repetition to be most effective.

Mistake 3: Resource Choice

This is really composed of two mistakes, but I have a good example that will cover them both.

First, finding resources that are at or slightly above your level is the most important thing. Easy resources will not challenge you enough and difficult resources will overwhelm you. The ideal is n+1, with n as what you know plus 1 new thing.

Second, getting distracted by fancy, new technology. Newer isn't always better, and there are often advantages that are lost when we've made technological developments. I often found myself wanting to try out new browser extensions or organizational methods and honestly I would've benefitted from just using that time to study. (Also, you're probably reading this because of my DL post so I don't think it has to be said that AI resources suck.)

A good example of this was my time using Clozemaster. I had actually recommended it when I first started using it since I thought the foundation was really solid. However, after long term use, I found that it just wasn't a good fit. The sentences were often too simple or too long and strange for memorization at higher levels or were too difficult at lower levels. I think that taking my textbook's example sentences from dialogues into something like Anki would've been a far better use of my time (and money) as they were already designed to be at that n+1 level.

Fix: "Vet" your resources—make sure they will actually help you. If something is working for you, then keep using it! You don't always have to upgrade to the newest tool/method.

Mistake 3.5: Classrooms and Textbooks

A .5 since it's not my mistake, but an addendum of caution. I think there is a significant part of the language learning community that views textbooks and classroom learning as the worst possible resource. They are "boring", "outdated", and "ineffective" (ironically one of the most interesting modern language learning methods, ALG, is only done in a classroom setting). Classrooms and textbooks bring back memories of being surrounded by mostly uninterested classmates, minimal priority, and a focus on grades rather than personal achievement (imagine the difference between a class of middle schoolers who were forced to choose a foreign language vs. adult learners who self-selected!) People have used these exact methods, or even "cruder" methods, to successfully learn a language. It all comes down to what works best for you. I specifically recommend textbooks for learning grammar and the plentiful number of dialogues and written passages that can function great as graded readers and listening resources. (Also the distinction made between "a youtube lesson on a grammatical principle" which is totally cool, and "a passage in a grammar textbook" is more one of tone and audio/written than efficacy).

Classrooms can be really great for speaking practice since they can be a lot less intimidating speaking to someone who is also learning while receiving corrections. Speech can be awkward to train on your own (not impossible if you're good at just talking aloud to yourself!), and classrooms can work nicely for this. Homework and class schedules also have built in accountability!

Fix: Explore resources available to you and try to think holistically about your approach. CI+Traditional Methods is my go to "Learning Cocktail"

Mistake 4: Yes, Immersion, But...

I realized this relatively quickly while learning Chinese, but immersion at a level much higher than your current level will do very little for you. What is sometimes left out of those "Just watch anime to learn Japanese" discussions is that you first need to have a chance at understanding what is being said. Choosing materials that are much higher than your level will not teach you the language. It doesn't matter how many times someone at HSK 1 hears “他是甘露之惠，我并无此水可还”, they will not get very far. Actual deduction and learning comes from having enough familiar components to be able to make deductions—something different than guessing. An HSK 1 learner, never having heard the word 老虎 will be able to understand "tiger" if someone says “这是我的老虎” while standing next to a tiger. This is not to say you can never try something more difficult—things should be challenging—but if you can't make heads or tails of what's being said, then it's time to find something a bit easier. If mistake 2 is about the type of method, this is about the level. If you wouldn't give a kindergartener The Great Gatsby to learn how to read, why would you watch Full Metal Alchemist to start learning a language?

Side note: Interesting video here on the Comprehensible Input hypothesis and how it relates to neurodivergence.

Fix: Immerse yourself in appropriate content for your level. It's called comprehensible input for a reason.

Mistake 5: On Translation

I work as a translator, so do you really think I'm going to say translation is all bad? Of course not. It's a separate skill that can be added on to the basic skills, but is really only required if you are A. someone who is an intermediary between two languages (say you have to translate for a spouse or family member) or B. It is your job/hobby. In the context of sitting down and learning, it can be harmful. I think my brain often goes to translation too often because that's how I used to learn. Trying to unlearn that is difficult because, well, what do people even mean when they say "don't translate"? They mean when someone says "thank you", you should not go to your primary language and translate "you're welcome" from that. You should train yourself to go to your target language first when you hear the word for "thank you". A very literally translated "thank you" in Chinese "谢谢你" can come off as cold and sarcastic. I don't tell my friends that, I say "谢啦～". Direct translation can take away the difference in culture, grammar, and politeness in a language. If there is a reason you sound awkward while writing and speaking, it's probably because you're imposing your primary language on your target language.

Fix: Try as hard as you can to not work from your primary language into the target language, but to work from the structures, set phrases, and grammar within the target language that you know first.

Mistake 6: The Secret Language Learners Don't Want You To Know...

...is that there is no one easy method. You are not going to learn French while you sleep, or master Korean by doing this one easy trick. Learning a language requires work and dedication, the people that succeed are those that push through the boredom of repetition and failure. The "I learned X in 1 year/month/week/day!" crowd is hiding large asterisks, be it their actual level, the assistance and free time available to them, "well actually I had already studied this for 4 years", or just straight-up lying. Our own journeys in our native tongue were not easy, they required years and years of constant immersion and instruction. While we are now older and wiser people that can make quick connections, we are also burdened with things like "jobs", "house work", "school work", and the digital black hole that is "social media" that take up our time and energy. Everything above is to help make this journey a little bit easier, quicker, and painless, but it will never be magic.

I find that language learning has a lot in common with the fitness community. People will talk about the workout that changed their life and how no other one will do the same—and it really can be the truth that it changed their life and that they feel it is the ultimate way. The real workout that will change your life is the one you're most consistent with, that you enjoy the most. Language learning is just trying to find the brain exercise that you can be the most consistent with.

Fix: Save your energy looking for shortcuts, and do the work, fail, and come back for more. If someone tells you that you can become fluent in a ridiculously short amount of time, they are selling you a fantasy (and likely a product). You get out what you put in.

For those that made it to the end, here are some of my "universal resources":

Refold Method: I don't agree with their actual method 100%, but they've collected a lot of great resources for learning languages. I've found their Chinese and Korean discords to also be really helpful and provided even more resources than what's given in their starter guides.

Language Reactor: Very useful, and have recently added podcasts as a material! The free version is honestly all you need.

Anki: If I do not mention it, the people with 4+ year streaks with a 5K word deck will not let me forget it. It can be used on desktop or on your phone as an app. If you need a replacement for a language learning app, this is one of them. Justin Sung has a lot of great info on how to best utilize Anki (as does Refold). It's not my favorite, but it could be yours!

LingQ: "But I thought you said language apps are bad!" In isolation, yes. Sorry for the clickbait. This one is pretty good, and more interested in immersing you in the language than selling a subscription to allow you to freeze your streak so the number goes up.

Grammar Textbooks: For self-taught learning, these are going to be the best resource since it's focused on the hardest part of the language, and only that. If you're tired of seeing group work activities, look for a textbook that is just on grammar (Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar is my rec for Chinese, and A Guide to Japanese Grammar by Tae Kim is the most common/enthusiastic rec I've heard for Japanese).

Shadowing: Simply repeat what you hear. Matt vs Japan talks about his setup here for optimized shadowing (which you can probably build for a lot cheaper now), but it can also just be you watching a video and pausing to repeat after each sentence or near simultaneously if you're able.

Youtube: Be it "Short Story for Beginners", "How to use X", "250 Essential Phrases", or a GRWM in your target language, Youtube is the best. Sometimes you have to dig to find what works for you, but I imagine there is something for everyone at every level. (Pro tip: People upload textbook audio dialogues often, you don't even have to buy the textbook to be able to learn from it!)

A Friend: Be it a fellow learner, or someone who has already mastered the language, it is easier when you have someone, not only to speak to, but to remind you why you're doing this. I write far more in Chinese because I have friends I can text in Chinese.

Pen and Paper: Study after study, writing on paper continues to be the best method for memorization. Typing or using a pen and tablet still can't compare to traditional methods.

The Replies (Probably): Lots of people were happy to give alternatives for specific languages in the replies of my DL post. The community here is pretty active, so if this post blows up at least 20% of what the last one did, you might be able to find some great stuff in the replies and reblogs.

I wish you all the best~

[vro0m]

Can you link me to where you talked about VER vs HAM’s codes??? Idek what that means but I’m intrigued.

It was in the 2015 Abu Dhabi GP review. For context it was the last race in Max's first season and he gave an interview.

Tl;dr : essentially Max was aware but not worried about the mistakes he was making. About the conflicts he ran into with other way more experienced and established drivers, he said he was defending his seat and that was normal. My theory is that Max knew the cultural codes of F1. Hence he felt entitled to the seat, the on track moves, his entire behavior, no matter how criticised he was for it. He was confident and unapologetic about it because he knew how he could be confident and unapologetic in that world and for it to be okay. He knew how it worked because he'd been immersed in that universe from his birth and what he didn't know his father could explain to him. Also something something about nobody holding him accountable.

In comparison, Lewis was fucking stressed the first few years because he's not from this world and neither he nor his family knew how to navigate it. That's also why Anthony would say "do your talking on the track" because that's the only place they could do their talking at all, unlike the likes of the Verstappens. Which is also basically what he's saying in that video from earlier.

Here's the full developed explanation from the review under a cut because it gets a bit long :

He talks about mistakes he’s made and he’s not miffed about them, he says it’s part of the learning process. He talks about his altercation with Massa after his big crash in Monaco when Massa said he should be penalised and Verstappen was like “mind your own business” basically and he says no hard feelings but you have to stand up for yourself especially at the beginning of your career. Also in Singapore when he refused to let his teammate back in front. He says he didn’t want to move because he was enjoying the race and fighting for a position and he’s pretty sure it wouldn’t have made a difference in the end. When asked if he then thought he was in trouble, he says it just drives him to do a better job. He says he thinks in the end a lot of people agreed with him and it’s a validation that he did the right thing. When asked where he can improve now, speed, consistency, technical feedback, he says everywhere. 

Okay so. Why did I mention it? Well it’s all purely my opinion so as always you’re welcome to disagree but I see a very stark contrast in attitude with Lewis at his debut. Simply because Max doesn’t seem to feel like he has anything to prove. He seems to feel like he’s entitled to being here. Which is good on him, btw, I’m not questioning whether it’s based or not. But he’s there, he’s confident, he knows there's learning curve but that’s normal to him, he’s defending his spot and he’s very transparent about that, he’s not worried about his position in this sport. It gives him confidence and self assurance and even cheekiness. That’s the privilege of his position as, first of all of course, a white man, and also as a nepo baby. And, well, there's nothing he can do about being white and a nepo baby so to be clear I’m not holding it against him, he’s using the cards he’s been dealt. It is what it is. But in comparison when you think back to rookie Lewis… That boy was stressed out. He had to make it count. He had to prove himself so bad. There was so much pressure. And that’s the cards HE was dealt. 

In sociology, I once heard about study results highlighting that children from higher socioeconomic classes did better in school not necessarily because they had better abilities but because they understood the specific language used in school. They understood the logic of it, the way it worked, the rules, because the same language and same logic and same structure was used in their homes unlike the homes of families from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. I feel like it’s the same thing. Max had a good understanding of the F1 codes from the start. He knew the politics of it and how the game was played. And where he might have not known, his dad did, and could tell him. Lewis struggled terribly in the first few years, especially with the PR and politics part, remember? He hated it to the point it made him consider quitting. Because he didn’t have the codes, he wasn’t born in it. And his dad couldn’t help with that, which is why he used to tell him to do his talking on the track. Because they simply didn’t have the status, nor the connections, nor the knowledge, to do it in the offices and dinner parties like the Verstappens.

Also it’s interesting to note that part about Max saying in the end people agreed with him so it validated that he was right. Because that’s a thing I’ve mentioned several times before, not in this rewatch but on my blog, that nobody ever holds him accountable for his mistakes or when he showcases dangerous driving and I find it to be a problem because that means he doesn’t question himself about it and has zero reason to change. First of all, sometimes it’s been actually genuinely dangerous for other people and second of all I worry (yes) that it might hinder his development. Because listen, whether you like Max or not, as far as driving goes, he has the stuff. It’s undeniable. I agree with the journalists this season saying straight away he would definitely win a championship at some point. The way it happened fucking sucked but if that hadn’t happened he’d still have won titles sooner or later. There’s no doubt. But I wonder if he’s living to his full potential not being questioned that way. Although maybe him not being completely complacent with himself is enough, idk. I guess I’ll see where I fall on that by watching his career develop. 

[milogreer]

Welcome to Error Code! ↳ Meet your Computer Tech

official intro post for omen khan, one of my redacted ocs! some info below is subject to change as i continue to develop him, but this way at least he isn't just some strange guy i talk about sometimes :] [template]

basics

born in 1994

south asian american

moved to dahlia after graduating high school to attend D.A.M.N

seer masquerading as a “boring ol’ freelancer”

has a tendency to break the fourth wall a little

works at Error Code, a tech bar on D.A.M.N's campus

personality

an unknown event in his past involving his Sight led to him self-isolating since his early teens, though you wouldn't know it from his general upbeat and playful demeanor around people

he does like people and being around them, he's just careful not to get too close to anyone because of his Sight

he is not immune to the compulsion of telling people their future

he'll tell people little things where possible to help curb the compulsion to talk about the big things

coping with the burden of Life so he's silly a lot of the time

really smart (especially in tech, obviously) and always looking to learn more. people get annoyed sometimes by his constant questions, but he's not trying to be intrusive or anything. he's just curious

other

has a siamese cat named oracle. she's a certified emotional support animal

caffeine sharpens up his Sight. has a caffeine addiction and a fucked up sleep schedule because of it

also goes for energy drinks over soda. very knowledgeable about the different brands

relates his Sight to, like... building a PC or something. bunch of different pieces that can be changed to alter the performance in some way, ykwim? i don't build PCs idk

unapologetic romcom enjoyer. don't ask unless you want him to whip out his letterboxd and talk your ear off

despite being able to see the future, he has very bad luck. constantly getting caught in traffic, spilling drinks onto keyboards, and tripping over untied shoelaces

has an irrational fear of birds but would sooner die than admit it

reviews

just because i think these are funny :]

[vitaminseetarot]

PAC Pick a Song - What About You Currently Shines Brightest?

Sup y'all, I'm back in time for the start of Leo season with another pick a card reading! The full moon is coming right up and I will likely do a reading for that as well very shortly, but I already had this done the other day and wanted to get it finally posted after much delay!

Below here are three cards to choose from belonging to the now-obsolete board game DropMix. It was a game connected to an app now unfortunately no longer in service, but it allowed the game to play by having chips in the cards activate a code that would send to a phone app to tally points as well as play music. You could pile the different cards together on a jockey board based on color and basically create your own remixes. You could play or make freestyle music. My basic pack has as many cards as the minor arcana + 4, so I thought these would be fun to bring out and work with for the partygoing Leo energy that's budding this late summer.

1, 2, 3

Pile 1. The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face

Cards: Baroness (Fire, Leo); "I am in touch with my purpose and passion in life"; 7 of Swords, XIX Sun, XVIII Moon

(Okay just a quick note I just gotta let u know that I eventually plan to paint over the Sun card for my only RWS-esque deck because the smiley face creeps me out lol so I put a tiny candle over its haunting face. The Sun is supposed to be a positive card dangit!)

Anyway back to your reading! Right off the bat I feel like you're gonna be shining bright this season no matter how you personally feel about summer, get in the mood and live it up! Light that bonfire. Jump in the pile of autumn leaves. Tap into your senses in the most innocent and playful way. I feel like you shine brightly when you get excited about literally anything in your life, it could be a new brand of coffee or new pair of jeans or something but people like how you react to things. Reminds me of Youtubers who have these funny but authentic personalities as they review random products or whatever.

I feel like you can get so in love with something that you kinda, as the song suggests, "go numb" and let everything else fizzle away from your focus. But the thing to remember is that all those other things are still there even if they don't light you up. It's all about learning to find the sweet spot between really enjoying the moment and being in flow with the best of things while also attending to the gritty details. It doesn't mean you should "go numb" in the other direction by only focusing on practical things. When I see Sun and Moon in the same three card reading I am reminded of Temperance because you're trying to balance two different energies together that are ultimately meant to work together. Manifestation+work, joy+catharsis, reason+instinct, yeah? It's a lot to seesaw back and forth every day but 7 of swords tells me that you find ingenious ways to pull it off. Don't let the shyness snuff the light out, and don't let the egoic sense of duty override your needs.

If you feel like sometimes you have to sneak away to find time to enjoy what makes you shine from the inside, I'm getting guidance for the collective to simply learn how to share a little bit of what you're doing while balancing it with the part of you that wants to protect your creative ideas and work on them. Again, there's a message here about balance. You don't have to spill everything about your life to the first person who asks, but at the same time there will be people who benefit from your fiery energy. Your interests and talents deserve to take up some space, pile 1. I think this pile just shines in general even if you're not always aware of it, even if it's incredibly subtle. It's in the little things.

⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰

Pile 2. Evanescence - Bring Me to Life

Shield (Fire, Sagittarius); "I attract relationship in harmony with my authentic self"; 5 of Cups, 10 of Pentacles, 9 of Pentacles

This pile could be going through some awakening period right now. I know, I know, it may sound cliché with "wake me up inside" as the lyrics, but it occurred to me that the Shield in your card is like this old energy that has been barricading you from material experiences. Like this is a pile who's really already been in the thick of the brambles and is wanting to come out. The Sagittarius arrow sign is in my mind like a flare set off from deep in the woods as if to say, "hey! I'm over here, come find me!" It's being let off in the sky in the hopes of rekindling some sort of lost connection to something, could be a person or to a certain goal. You currently shine brightest when it comes to relating to others, and seeking out positive relationships.

It could be that you've gone through some disrupting experiences that have encouraged you to wall off to self heal. This may have taken a long period of time to work through. I feel that you're moving into a part of the thicket where more light is pouring in from the outside, that you're near the end of a long isolating tunnel. You're entering a phase of your life where you're ready to have connections that feel more solid and real, rather than fairweather friendships. You're looking for sustainability, for people to have some sense of loyalty with. People with whom you can truly enjoy the abundance of life. The main issue is that grief and isolation can becomes habits that we may need to temper with in order to allow the new. Forgive yourself when you still feel the need to retreat even as you begin to stand out more. Depending on how long it's been, it can be quite an adjustment.

Maybe abundance is coming a little slow here, as the green color here is blocky. But it's rich like emerald, so once it's found, things will transform in your life radically. It's saying that even if you identify as an introvert, there is still "treasure" to be found in building new relationships. It could be totally virtual. But you shine from making the most out of the opportunities that your current or as of yet undiscovered relationships have to offer. You have a lot to offer others as well. I do get a strong teaching role from this pile. Maybe you've thought about going into teaching. I think your students would see you as sensitive and resourceful.

⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰

Pile 3. LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It

Marigold (Water, Scorpio); "I am wise and wonderful"; 6 of Pentacles, 2 of Pentacles, 10 of Cups

Your reading is so clear to me, you shine brightest when you are fully present in the moment and loving what you're doing and who you're being. I don't think this pile likes to waste any time lol. I think you've had some hard experiences that have taught you how to value the time and resources you have, especially when you give this energy way generously. And I get the sense that you're learning how to manage both the philanthropy side of things with the personal fulfillment side. You're learning that one does not necessarily require the sacrifice of another. Compromise, maybe, but not at a net loss. You can give without overextending the hand, you can seek out bliss in life without taking it away from others.

This is not a common trait to shine in, pile 3. It's a mature place to shine, but not always easy to develop. It's required a lot from you right from the beginning. There were probably some things you had to let go to make it all work before. But it doesn't always have to be that way. Your ability to rise above the situation, brush the dust off your coat and move forward is what makes you shine. Although I'll say this: even if it looks like all is going well, you're still allowed to feel whatever grief is stored up inside you. It's part of moving past it in order to make the most out of the present.

Some of these experiences may have had something to do with your sense of confidence, your body image, how your present yourself to others, self-expression, and I'm also getting pretty privilege as a topic. Self worth over buying the right kind of things too… I think you're letting your hair down finally. You're letting some outdated ideas about your image go, you shine when you declare yourself to be beautiful and sexy "just because". Why does there need to be a reason? Some people might tell you that you, in particular, aren't "allowed" to feel good in your own skin and clothes. Some may get threatened by your confidence. But it's because that's where you shine and it's up to them to adjust their vision. Tell em to make an optometrist appointment if they can't handle seeing your presentation.

⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰

This reading has not been evaluated by the FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease or infection. Please ask your physician before going online.

2023, Vitaminsee Tarot ™

[gallusrostromegalus]

I love everything you are doing with Orihime, if it's not too much troble, I wanted to hear more of what she does when she get kidnapped. Also did Rukia try anything when she got sentenced to death for bulshit crimes? It's been forever since I read the manga, so I don't remember what rukia was feeling exactly during this time, if she accepted the whole thing bc she has spent way too much time in the soul society that she just didn't see it how much bulshit it was or something else, or if it was just your standard damsel in distress thing

Rukia behaves in the calm, rational but firm way you'd expect out of a seated officer, especially a lieutenant that earned her position through hard work and demonstration after demonstration that she could be trusted with such a position.

...Byakuya, on the other hand, was appointed to his position by birthright as the latest scion of a long but narrow line of people who retained their power by violence as social standing. So when Byakuya experiences the psychotic crisis of "the people you respect the most want the person you love the most dead", the coinflip of his emotions lands on tails in AEIWAM.

*****

"...To Death?" She asked, staring at Renji.

"Yeah." He winced, shifting uncomfortably.

"...For a Misdemeanor Infraction that, per code 3.15.27846 sub-section 42-4, carries a MAXIMUM penalty of a month's suspension without pay while a performance review is conducted, and, pending the review, possible termination of my job, not my whole person?" She continued.

"...Um. Yeah, yeah that's the official rules per the Shingami Legal Manual." Said Renji. "It's real fuc- it's very peculiar and I'm honestly not sure what to make of it. Also, when did you learn to quote the manual like-"

"I'm a Goddamn Lieutenant, I know the law, and this stinks on ice." She glared. "I know I'm not allowed to question the orders or ask who issued them, but did you double-check that this is, in fact, what they meant to send, and didn't give you the memo for someone else or send out the wrong butterfly?"

"Um." Renji winced, pointedly studying the wall to his left. "Kuchiki-Taicho went to do that as soon as he saw the order."

Rukia blanched. "Renji. When did he leave?"

"He left for the central 46's liaison office directly from the 6th division's office when we got the order about an hour ago. I wanted to go with him, but he insisted that he could handle it and that you should get the news from me rather than a stranger."

"Abarai Renji." She spoke, voice low and dangerous. "Do you remember what happened the first day I came home from the 13th division boot camp with that shiner?'

"Yeah, Kuchiki-taicho broke into Ukitake-taicho's house with Senbonsakura at 2AM because he thought someone had hit yo-" Renji laughed then stopped. "-Oh."

"You let my brother, the absolute last person you can expect to behave in a rational and restrained manner to any perceived threats to my person, go off to visit someone who just issued an order for my extermination? UNSUPERVISED?" She growled.

Renji stood, paralyzed in wide-eyed horror. "I. uh. I gotta go prevent some treason." he sputtered, before bolting from the room.

***** "I fucked up, I fucked up, I fucked uuuuuup-" Gin hissed under his breath as he ran through the maze of buildings that made up the central government's compound. "Sure Gin! Keep feeding him spiritual power Gin! It'll fix everything Gin! No way he's going to cause a massive inter-dimensional destabilization event Gin!"

He turned the corner to the central 46's liaison office, just to the side of the sealed gate, and sprinted for the small office at the base of the tower all Hell butterflies issued from, where the Gate's security guard and the Liaison worked.

"Hey guys sorry to burst in here but it's kind of an Emergen... cy." Gin shouted and then sputtered as something warm splashed underfoot. He looked down to find that the previously-beige carpet of the Liaison's office was now a deep and unpleasantly wet crimson. Behind him, there was a faint creak as the unsealed and unguarded gate swayed lightly in the breeze.

"Oh." Gin realized, wilting. "I'm in deep shit."

[girlwonderers]

Gimme NORI!!! 👍 - what (if any) is a good, safe touch for your character? 🤛 - how does your character react to being hit? are they likely to continue a fight if someone else starts it, or try to de-escalate or get away? and ✌️ - are there any gestures or touches that your character shares with a friend/team/loved one that are a type of code between them?

IT'S THE GIRL!!!

👍 - what (if any) is a good, safe touch for your character?

right now? none. prior to lastwall's destruction, nori was much more gregarious—she'd been a career soldier for over three centuries, and had friendships that lasted through multiple generations of families (given lastwall's overwhelmingly human population).

then her home was blown to rubble, and all her friends were killed if they were lucky or turned into undead abominations if they weren't, and nori was turned into an entirely different kind of abomination—and probably killed the rest of her squadron and the civilians they were escorting, but she doesn't know, which is almost worse, if she knew she could at least try to atone—and she abruptly became a hermit living on the fringes of the single most cursed region in the entire inner sea. so: don't touch her. she might literally bite your head off. she does not have the emotional capacity for that right now.

at this exact moment in-game she's especially twitchy and oversensitive, since the full moon is less than a week away and she's stuck in the wilderness surrounded by people she's known for less than a month, several of whom are professional monster hunters. she gets overstimulated more easily as the moon waxes, so at the moment she doesn't even want the cleric touching her to stitch her wounds.

🤛 - how does your character react to being hit? are they likely to continue a fight if someone else starts it, or try to de-escalate or get away?

a quick review of the historic conflicts of lastwall:

undead hordes, both mindless and intelligent, working with cultists of the whispering way to try to resurrect an undead lich-king bent on conquering the entire inner sea and turning it into a necrotic wasteland

the expansionist orc clans from belkzen,* who had historically united under the whispering tyrant's banner to raid and slaughter the holdings in lastwall (although there were some clans who allied with lastwall, and there were major reforms among the belkzen chiefs and warlords in the last decade and change who decided the tyrant was a big enough threat that they should ally with lastwall instead)

various undead, cultists, and other monstrosities such as werewolves and umbral dragons in virlych, which technically wasn't within lastwall's borders but was under its protection and was a regular patrol area for lastwall's knights

the five gajillion fucking goddamn demons that came through the worldwound in sarkoris

in summary: when she did fight sapient, living humanoids, they weren't willing to sit down and work out a treaty.* nori did not learn de-escalation tactics. she learned "stab it until it stops twitching" tactics. if someone starts a fight, she will end it.

friendly duels or training bouts/sparring are another thing, agreed upon in advance, and she's more than happy to engage in a show of skill or offer instruction; she actually worked as an instructor in the infantry school of the crusader war college in vigil, when she was between deployments to the various frontlines. but if you walk up to her and deck her, she's going to lay you out on the floor.

*there's a long canon history of prejudice and discrimination against orcs within human communities, including lastwall. nori's not immune. recent events within the PF setting have given the orc holds a lot more development and there's been way more communication and peace efforts between belkzen and the remains of lastwall specifically, but she wasn't around for that.

✌️ - are there any gestures or touches that your character shares with a friend/team/loved one that are a type of code between them?

with her current party, not really! she hasn't known them long enough, and definitely doesn't trust them enough. her squadmates/fellow lastfolk had a tradition of 'vigil salutes' (really elaborate high-fives), in reference to the vigil tattoos that all oathbound citizens had on their palms, and the special marks of iomedae reserved for the crusader knights.

the knights of ozem also used a system of hand-signs for communicating silently in the field, and nori's position as lieutenant meant that for most of her career, she was her squadron's standard-bearer—as a senior lieutenant, she would sometimes perform this duty for a whole regiment, when they did larger operations. her training was specifically in infantry battlefield tactics and signalling, so it was literally her job to signal orders for the other knights on the field. she has taught a handful of these signals to her new party members; even though they're not nearly as disciplined as the crusaders she's used to commanding, they have the good sense to defer to her when she's clearly the one with the most experience on the field.

(her superiors kept trying to promote her to captaincy and give her command of a whole battalion, but nori found she did her best work with smaller groups—plus her experience and longevity meant that when higher-ranked officers, usually the captain but sometimes even higher, non-field ranks—stepped down, nori was usually charged with helping the new officer transition into their role and acting as an advisor. it also saved her life, since she was deployed leading a handful of squadrons on a patrol near belkzen when the tyrant obliterated vigil.)

[boomstab-papa]

Tae's guide to Pillowfort

So you fucking hate what tumblr is doing, you're fed up, but you don't know where else to go / what to do when you get there

Here's a guide what I've been up to over on Pillowfort:

For starters, new users need to either get an invite code (message me if you want one, because I literally always have some!) or donate to Pillowfort's operating costs to get started. I recommend getting a code first, and then donating later if you decide you like Pillowfort.

Recognize that Pillowfort has no ads and does not sell user data, so you are not the product. You are the customer. Pillowfort lives because users give their money to the webisite directly, just like how ArchiveOfOurOwn.org operates. If you give Pillowfort a try... and you want to see it keep growing... and you have a couple bucks to throw their way... please consider donating!

On your new account, you'll set up your blog. User icon, description, settings, etc. You get one blog per account. Consider making this your "everything" blog, where you make your original posts AND reblog things.

Consider making a Community that will serve the same purpose as a tumblr sideblog. For example, I made my main blog ceylon-tae and then made the Community "ceylon-tae-art". Just make the Community for now.

Did you set your NSFW and blacklist preferences? You should. Filters & Blacklist have their own link in the sidebar, so you don't have to go into your Settings every time you want to blacklist something. Easy!

Join some more Communities! Think of joining a [Fandom] Community like following the [Fandom] tag on tumblr. Posts from that Community will show up on your feed now! Here is a list of the currently-most-active communities.

Follow some people! You might have seen some of your comrades on tumblr posting their Pillowfort accounts, or maybe you really liked someone's post in a Community and you decide you'd like to follow them! Go follow them! Their posts will show up on your feed now!

Make a post! Remember to add any relevant tags to the post, especially if your post is NSFW, and don't cen/s0r your tags. Your post will now show up on your blog, and you can control who can see it, reblog it, or comment to it. You can make text, image, video, or link posts.

Now you can reblog that post you made to your Community that you made! Or to another Community someone else made! Some Communities review submitted reblogs before posting them, others do not. Remember to add the relevant tags to your reblog here as well.

Reblog posts you enjoyed, so you can show it to your followers!

If you have something to say about the post, Pillowfort has a nested comments section! Livejournal / Dreamwidth / Reddit users will find this familiar. Newbies will hopefully find it easy to learn: make your own comment, reply to the comments other people have made, talk to people in a space that's made for talking and replying.

You can make your own hush-hush commentary in your tags when you reblog a post to your blog, but these tags are not visible anywhere else. So Pillowfort is not gonna rat you out to OP when you make weird tags on your reblog. But also there is no bulit-in way to read everyone's tags in one long list.

You cannot make addendums to posts when you reblog them. If you want to add something, make a comment! Or make your own post and include link to the original post.

Seriously. Comments section. Good stuff. If you enjoy a post, check out its comment section. For comparison, tumblr discussions lived in reblogs, but comments on AO3 fics are what makes an author's world go 'round. Comments are where discussion lives on Pillowfort. So comment on the post if you have something to say! You can have real discussions again! GO. BE FREE. You can also do a Kung Pow Penis in nested comments if you want to. Nested comments are good.

Likes just tell OP you liked the post. That's it. It's just like how kudos works on AO3.

Remember, there's no algorithm, so Likes don't boost any post's visibility, and if you want other people to see a post, you reblog it. If you want to see posts, you follow people and communities, or you dive into the tags for yourself.

There's more details and things to know, but I think these are some good basics for "how the fuck do I even get started"

More how-to-pillowfort guides: https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/3459763 by DoktorHobo https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/4099124 by rah https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/4404622 by killerandhealerqueen

In summary:

Make a blog. Make posts. Make a niche-interest Community or three. Follow people and Communities. Reblog other people's posts to your blog. Reblog posts to your niche-interest Communities. Make comments. Reply to comments. Love the comments. The comments are a fertile land and we will thrive. And we will call it... Pillowfort!

[perfectlovevn]

Heyo!! I wanted to say that I found your game about a few months ago until I played weeks ago, I must say your game Is so Awesome! Not only there is a True ending but There Multiple names in the Coding program I seen as you name yourself ! The characters of yours and others as well! (Especially if you name yourself like Jack/ Friend and giving the Nickname as Sunshine/Sweetheart are Pretty cool) And YouTubers are wild For Manly/Espoir are super cool!

And all of this was for a Gamejam?? Your game is really amazing, and I hope to see the update and more of your works from now on

Whoa, thank you so much! I'm very happy for you and all the others who love this game. I never thought I'd get so many kind comments and reviews about it.

I technically cheated for this game jam because it was actually for the previous year's game jam... It's just I ended up finishing it right when the next year's game jam started (though to be fair, there wasn't anything against the rules for it). Then I also saw one of the other yandere game jams were open so I also submitted it to that one.

I'm glad that people are excited for the update! I need to stop scope creep because I keep giving myself new things to add and at this rate I'm never going to get all of them done. I am hoping to eventually learn how to make a game in godot for my next game (fingers crossed though since I don't know how to use godot at all and it's much more complicated and different from renpy.), but that may be in the next year after I take a break.

[genshinemblem564]

Intermission II Time Skip

Just a time skip. The next events are either too varied or too boring to make proper chapters out of.

CW: Foul language (one curse word)

• The meeting of the archons and the goddess began, and just as Zhongli had predicted, Ei was eating it up about your awakened power.

• A short break was called so that Nahida could verify a few things, and just as Xiao said, you held no memories from before your return.

• The news soured everyone's mood, but they were still ecstatic to have you back. For the time being, you are to be treated as a normal human to avoid drawing unwanted attention in your weakened state.

• Venti has taken to checking on you every now and again, just barely avoiding being caught by the more adept heroes, only escaping thanks to his control over wind.

• Nahida uses Irminsul to check on you every day. She knows you have memories of when you took vessels, you wouldn't know half the things you do otherwise. She hopes that your fragmented memories will return on their own.

• The Tsaritsa tells all of her harbingers of the situation and also informs them that this is to remain a secret.

• Meanwhile, in Askr. The kingdom's head of finances and Ningguang come to an agreeable exchange rate using the cost of crops as the calculation base.

• After the contracts were written up, reviewed, and signed, trade became very common between the two nations, crops especially as the two worlds had plants that the other found quite interesting. For example, I have yet to hear anyone in Teyvat mention strawberries, and the herbalists of Askr were quite curious about mist flowers and flaming flowers.

• Ningguang sent a copy of the contract to the other 6 nations. When sending one to Snezhnaya, she wasn't hopeful given her previous experience with the fatui, but to her surprise, it was sent back signed within a matter of days, not months, not weeks, days, well without time for travel taken into account of course. Apparently, with the knowledge the Tsaritsa gave them, the moment the fatui saw the word Askr, they didn't need to reread the thing, it was signed copied and sent back for confirmation before the messenger had time to breathe.

• After a few months, the other contracts returned signed as well, and Askr citizens and OoH (Order of Heroes) members could now visit Teyvat freely and without financial concerns.

• You had dress codes for heroes visiting Teyvat. For example, Camilla and Charlotte, I think that's all I need to say for those two. You also go over a brief history of each nation and their laws so you can at least hope these heroes can avoid jail time.

• Every visitor you get from Teyvat receives a fair warning about the heroes' clothing and personalities, from the traumatized Bernadetta to the more "eccentric" heroes. I swear some of these people are psychotic, and they're the good guys in their worlds.

• The first to visit are the scholars of Teyvat, as they wish to study the lands unique magical essence. Faruzan also visits, as an instructor in the Hravatat darshan, she'd be remiss to not take this opportunity to act as a bridge between two worlds, in other words she wants to teach the order how to read Teyvat's language.

• Tartaglia is a regular visitor at this point, after hearing that literal gods were a part of your army, you think he's not going to want to go mano a drago with them. He doesn't do so well, it doesn't matter how fast he is if his weapon can't even dent their scales, but he's still happy as he knows even defeat can be enlightening, as long as he lives to learn from it. However, if he ever sees you training, he is quick to stand on the sidelines. It looks like you're losing at first, as you were on the defensive, but the tide of battle changed in an instant and it was abundantly clear that you were analyzing your opponents as they couldn't even touch you afterwards, man, beast, it didn't matter, your mind was sharp as nails, but it was clear that your body still wasn't used to the strain, as even with this advantage, the only fights you won were the ones you ended in that moment.

• Zhongli visited as well, curious about the divine weapon you held. He was intrigued, but not surprised, to learn that the contract linked to that weapon was the same contract you would offer them, they recieve strength and you receive their aid.

• You visited Mondstadt with Alfonse, Sharena, and Anna, where you were basically harassed by Venti bombarding you with questions, which you thought were for inspiration for a new song, which wasn't an incorrect assumption, but some of these questions were also stuff like your favorite element or food or if you drank alcohol, as he offers you a whole bottle of dandelion wine. What he uses for inspiration is stuff like a current topic of interest or stories of the other worlds.

• The two water singers, Barbara and Azura, also meet. When Azura performs her usual song, Barbara is amazed by the blue haired woman's power of water and practically begs her to teach her some of those moves to really make a splash at her next performance, or better yet, they can do a duet, if Azura is okay with that of course.

• When visiting far-off nations, the Askrans and heroes are often the center of attention due to their mode of transportation, horse, pegasi, or wyvern. The people of Mondstadt were terrified when Camilla came in on her wyvern's back, but of course, Klee came up to him and he just rolled over like a giant puppy, which Klee proceeded to treat him as, as she scratched his chin and rubbed his belly. When Albedo asked if he should be concerned, Camilla told him that he doesn't take to people often so they should still keep an eye on the girl.

• People couldn't help but compare pegasus knights to angels or something similar, as they move with both grace and ferocity, both striking fear and inspiring awe in those who see them. It's quite embarrassing for them to hear such a thing.

• Those who ride horses, despite how plain they are compared to the other two, are seen as noble and dignified. Even when they don't try, to the people of Teyvat, the mounted warriors always seem the most noble in manner of speech and etiquette. Of course, there are outliers, they aren't abhorrent but they aren't what you'd typically describe as noble or dignified, often only lacking one of these two.

• Inazuma was visited by the Hoshidans. When Miko met the other worldly kitsune, you were quick to explain that Hoshido's kitsune seem to retain their more animalistic behaviors, as opposed to Miko's more human traits. When Kaden and Selkie learn that Miko is a kitsune, they are quick to want to compare transformations, as they are curious if there are any other differences. Miko shows hesitance, and you ask her what the issue is, and when she turns to tell you that there is no issue, she sees the biggest shit eating smirk on your face. Be prepared for the ultimate revenge upon your next visit.

• Your mischief doesn't end in Inazuma, as you invite Alois with you on a trip to Sumeru, where you listen in glee as Tighnari groans in increasing agony while Cyno and Alois have a grand old time.

[jadecitrusmint]

Hello, I'm starting college soon, majoring in statistics. When I mention my course, people often warn me about its difficulty and hope I'll manage to stay through all years. Could you provide tips on how to persevere until the fourth year? And I want to advance study. What should I focus on studying? Also, would you recommend a laptop or a tablet/ ipad?

Thank youu :3

Hello! I got a lot of the same comments when I picked stats as my major🥲

Two things are key to persevering through a stats degree, (1) not beating yourself up when you fail and (2) reaching out for help when you don’t understand something. Stats has a lot of disconnected but continually reappearing topics and you’ll get confused and fail sometime- that is perfectly okay and normal, you just have to learn to let it roll off your back and do better next time! This is when my second tip of reaching out to professors, other students, or uni resources come in. Your professors want you to understand the content (or at the very least are paid to ensure you understand the content)- go to them when you don’t understand something! There is no shame in asking for help.

All calc, especially your multivariate calc, is very relevant to statistics, so I’d brush up on your calc 1 and calc 2 skills if it’s been a while since you’ve used them. Additionally, I’d review probability rules, and basic things like finding means and variances. Later on, you’ll cover “distributional results.” When you get to these, absolutely keep a running list of these results that you frequently look over!

For narrowing down your interests, I’d recommend exploring finance courses, science courses (chem/bio), and coding courses. Statistics is a super versatile degree and there’s a lot of freedom and flexibility!

I would 100% recommend a laptop for two reasons. As a statistics student, you will likely be coding a good bit; mostly in R, but probably in SAS, python, and possibly matlab as well. As far as I’m aware, there’s no software that allows you to adequately code in these languages on a tablet/iPad. Secondly, hand writing on paper is much better for retention. I have an iPad as well, but I only really use it for homework to save the trees from all my scratch work😅 you could accomplish the same effect with a white board and marker. All of my notes (and even sometimes my homework and practice problems) are on paper since you retain the info significantly better. My friends in the stats major who also have an iPad or tablet for notes have also switched to using pen and paper over the years to help with retention since there’s a lot you need to have memorized.

Feel free to reach out with any more questions, and good luck! You’ve got this ~~

[micalpixel]

May Flowers Game - June 2024 Progress Report

Another month has passed, so here’s another update on my gamedev journey. The goal is to create my first video game using the Godot game engine.

(Prior Updates: May, Initial)

Research

The main goal for June was research. Play other character/exploration-focused games with no farming or combat elements and see what they do to keep things fun. Here’s what I played (or watched others play)

A Short Hike: A game about a penguin climbing a mountain. Finding new people, new areas, and moving/gliding were very enjoyable. The game’s 3D environment with pixelated graphics was also a new experience for me. A very nice cozy game.

Rakuen: I love this game. You play as a kid stuck in a hospital, trying to help other sick patients, while also exploring a fantasy world described in a book. Lots of exploration, puzzles, and focus on characters. Catchy music too. Kind of exactly what I was looking for. I think Undertale fans would enjoy this one.

The Stanley Parable: A choose-your-own-adventure game. No NPCs, just movement and a very entertaining and well-crafted narrator.

Potion Permit: You play as a chemist who just moved into a town, and must make a living brewing potions while getting to know the town, its people, and the wilderness. The first life-sim game I’ve actually beaten. The lack of time limits was greatly appreciated.

Shenmue (Watched not Played): An important piece of gaming history. I watched a playthrough of this one, just so I could see this game at its best, and not miss any important events.

Freddi Fish 2 (Watched not Played): A point-and-click adventure for children??!… What’s this doing here?!?! Well, this one wasn’t on my original list, but I realized the point-and-click game genre had many similarities with the walk/talk/trade-items gameplay I originally envisioned. Plus this one had no game-overs and no frustrating trial-and-error like many do. Studying how a different genre handled that kind of gameplay, while making it very accessible and entertaining, was a good learning experience.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits (WIP): I started this one, more for fun than research, but haven’t finished it yet. Beautiful game. As others have noted, it’s like playing a Pixar movie.

OneShot (Not Started Yet): Ran out of time. 😒 Next month. Really looking forward to this one.

All in all, I took 10 pages of notes. Things I noticed, liked, disliked, wanted to think about.

Prototype

On June 20, I began work on an actual prototype (“Prototype 1”). Code from my earlier Godot projects was collected, combined, and improved. The goal is to implement every important mechanic in the game. Everything the player should be able to DO in the game, the prototype should have at least ONE place where the player can do it. In a very condensed environment that's easy to test. Physics and graphics can be fine-tuned later. This prototype is all about functionality. For example:

Walk in 8 directions.

Talk to an NPC.

Choose an answer when the NPC asks a question which triggers different outcomes.

Walk to the edge of a room and appear in an adjacent room.

And overall, things have gone very well! I have a page-long checklist of everything I want to implement in this prototype, and it’s about half-done. :D

Except menus.

And except puzzles.

Puzzle mechanics aren’t added yet. I realized the mechanics I was planning did not have much synergy and were very simple. I also want to review the notes I took during research and study puzzles in general. So, back to the drawing board, for now. Puzzles are the next major step. And I think I have a pretty good idea how I want to change them.

Audio

I made a text-blip sound effect (hear it in the video above) and a placeholder “song” of 6 notes to use for testing music. Since this game’s art style is based on the Game Boy, I did some research on the Game Boy’s sound capabilities.

It has four “instruments” that can play sounds simultaneously, aka “channels”:

Channel 1 and 2: Pulse Channel. Each can emit a quadrangular wave

Channel 3: “Wave” channel with user-definable waveform

Channel 4: A noise wave (think static)

Channel 3 is the most fascinating imo. You can define your own timbre of the sound to be played. If you ever played a Game Boy game that had a unique-sounding song that, chances are it was a custom waveform via this channel. (Also, if you ever played Mother 3, the movie theater part with the retro-sounding music did in fact use the original Game Boy audio capabilities in the Game Boy Advance, and also includes these sounds.)

There is software that can reproduce the capabilities described above in order to create Game Boy-sounding music on a PC. I’d like to experiment with that in the coming weeks. The Game Boy was capable of some really good music. Limiting my scope to its capabilities for the same of my own sanity, plus the flexibility of that wave channel to create custom sounds, seems like it can produce some really nice results, which is very appealing to me.

Graphics

I made a font! It only includes English letters, for now, but it works! I used it in the “Save Pointy” art earlier this week and the prototype video above, and intend to use it for everything going forward.

Closing

And that’s June! Have a nice July, everyone!

[orion-starbelt]

I was asked recently to give some advice on what books a library that was being started should try to get. Here’s what I said,

“1. Y.A. Novels (any genre is really fine, this is the main fiction part that I’d focus on)

2. Educational (any nonfiction that is about learning something, either physical or theoretical) - I’d say this category would also be the basic summary of classes type stuff. Like crash course but book form. A basic review of bio, chem, algebra, geometry, English, stats, etc, etc. For those who need a refresh, a reference, or cannot afford or otherwise cannot go to school)

3. Historical (especially different accounts of the same event from different perspectives, even better if it’s not like the victors or if it’s marginalized people. Evidence based historical books like diaries would be amazing as well. Books that are based on historical events are nice because they can help people understand but they tend to gloss over the actual facts sometimes)

4. Picture books (kids books can be helpful, just make sure they’re diverse, or just other basic diagram books for things like plants or similar. Not everybody can read or has the eyesight to be able to read text)

5. Language (a variety of beginner language books or resources -flashcards, dvds, cds, etc-. Focus most on English and Spanish but if you can get ASL, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, etc. Focus on the most popular languages than branch out. Books on Morse code, asl, or other non verbal languages would be amazing as people don’t need to be able to speak to communicate

6. Home steading ( how to live off the grid type books basically. Like how to cook, sew/knit, garden, can foods, clean, gather wild stuff, basic safety, how to make dirty water clean, how to make sure food is safe to eat, basic survival skills, basic first aid, basic wilderness skills, knots, etc. Whatever you might think you would need if you were in a zombie apocalypse)

7. Don’t forget reference type books like dictionaries and thesaurus’s.”

I believe that information should be freely available. Banned books are an assault against knowledge itself and all the centuries we’ve spent learning about everything around us. If knowledge is power, than they are keeping us powerless.

My hope is that for those who have the ability to do something but who don’t have the resources available to afford an education, to get a job, to learn a language, to survive; are able to learn. To have a foundation to build off of in their attempt at survival and at living in this capitalist hellscape.

Knowledge should never be hidden. Donate old items. Thrift as much as you can. Volunteer. Recycle. Never stop working towards bettering your knowledge and yourself.

[askagamedev]

What sort of advice could you give to a junior game programmer that is joining an ongoing project that already has a lot built. I am in a situation where I am finding a lot of things I am not yet familiar with. Assuming there is no documentation, is there an optimal way to familiarize myself the current project state so I can start working with confidence.

It's hard to say because the familiarizing depends a lot on how you learn best as an individual. Some folks do better with more formal training and documentation, others do better with jumping in and tracing code to see how things flow. Most will have a lot of questions as they learn more. I would say do the most that you can with what is available depending on the style of learning you favor (e.g. reading documents, tracing code, etc.) and then compile a list of questions you can't get answered through your own discovery and find a mentor on the team who you can ask.

When talking to a mentor, I find it better to ask for an overview of how things work rather than the exact specifics. I like to take notes while they go over things so I can review them later - I never expect to remember everything at once. This also includes copying down diagrams and such, they can be very helpful. Your mentor will also often be able to point you towards other resources and people you can ask. The important thing is that you need to do the legwork yourself - do the research yourself and see what you can figure out first, then go to the mentor to help fill in the gaps.

One thing I also suggest is to ask to be included on code reviews from other programmers working on similar tasks. This is a way for you to get exposed to other systems that you aren't super familiar with and see how the other programmers are working. During code reviews you don't just have to point out issues with the code - you can also ask questions about how something works and the more experienced programmers can explain it. Even senior programmers don't always 100% understand everything in another programmer's code review, so asking should be no big problem for anyone.

[Join us on Discord] and/or [Support us on Patreon]

Got a burning question you want answered?

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr

Frequent Questions: The FAQ

[lacunafiction]

Progress Update: January 23 2023

TFS: Book One Masterpost  | TFS Patreon  🌲

Hi Everyone!

I hope you’re having a lovely week! 💚

Well, I learned something that I kind of already knew about myself. If I say: ‘I’ll think about it’, then I really think about anything other than ‘it’ and procrastinate until someone asks me the same question again. (Yes, it’s an utter joy deciding what to eat for dinner with me. /s 😌) It has been 15 18 (I meant to post this earlier) days since Book One’s release, and it sometimes still feels like the first day of release…

…But, I’m also seeing more comments/reactions from people finishing up their first playthrough or even a third/fourth, which helps to cast off that feeling and makes me eager to delve back into where I left off with Book Two. I’ve also been playing Book One—a few select pathways to ensure that foreshadowing or links I have outlined for future chapters neatly dovetail. There will be plenty of a-ha moments within the series because I love giving little details big meanings!

Re-playing Book One has also helped me further isolate those variables I mentioned in the last update that should be called on in Book Two and beyond. I’ve also been studying the random test readouts and color-coding them to make sure I’m not letting any slip through the cracks. All of this legwork is important when building the recaps and the level of character customization at the start of Book Two. I know not everyone is going to want to pick with exacting detail what flower the MC’s grandfather gifted them for school graduations/events, but some of you might want to since many of you have experienced how it does come up again. 💐 The levels will let readers who don’t choose to import set their own degree of detail; some might want to get right into Book Two’s story, while others will want to mold their MCs.

(I recommend eventually importing saves, but that’s in the future since Hosted Games enables this feature closer to the next book’s release!)

It’s more than 80 distinct story variables that can be filled in multiple ways (e.g. the flower is a single variable, but it has 6 different potential fills for it from a daisy to a forget-me-not) without counting the obvious gender-setting, height, aesthetics, personality stats, etc. It’s a lot! But, I’m proud and happy to account for them all so you get a meaningful experience while in Fernweh. 

Some variables will naturally be called on more than others, but I wanted them all coded-in and largely accounted for in the recaps to not tie my hands while I’m writing. (*hint*: that one choice in Chapter 6 that earned a lot of reactions will come up very early in Book Two. 👀) I can always go back and adjust later. I’ve been re-familiarizing myself with all of this^ to get back into things.

Thank you all for your support and kind comments/asks! 💚 If you’re enjoying Fernweh, please consider leaving a review/rating on the platform you downloaded from; they do make a difference, and I appreciate each one. 🥰