#how to create a backup of your data

[cashygophones]

Sell Your Old Laptop in Bangalore for Instant Cash

Selling your old laptop in Bangalore has never been easier. Whether upgrading to a new device or decluttering, you can get instant cash in exchange for your unused laptop. Here’s how you can make it happen seamlessly.

Why Sell Your Old Laptop?

Laptops lose value over time, and holding onto unused devices can clutter your space. Selling your old laptop allows you to:

Earn extra money instantly.

Upgrade to better technology.

Contribute to eco-friendly recycling efforts.

Where to Sell Old Laptops in Bangalore?

Bangalore offers several options for selling old laptops. You can choose the one that best fits your needs:

1. Online Platforms

Websites like OLX, Cashify, and Quikr make selling laptops simple. Create a listing, set your price, and connect with buyers in your area.

2. Cash-for-Gadgets Services

Services like CashyGo specialize in offering cash for old electronics. They provide quick quotes and hassle-free transactions, making them a top choice in Bangalore.

3. Local Shops and Marketplaces

Bangalore’s local electronic shops or marketplaces like SP Road can offer competitive prices for used laptops. Visit them to negotiate in person.

How to Prepare Your Laptop for Sale

1. Backup Your Data

Save your essential files on an external drive or cloud storage before selling your laptop.

2. Factory Reset the Device

Restore your laptop to factory settings to remove personal data and make it ready for the next user.

3. Clean and Package It Properly

A clean and well-maintained laptop creates a better impression and fetches a higher price.

Benefits of Choosing CashyGo in Bangalore

CashyGo is a reliable option for selling laptops in Bangalore. Here’s why:

Quick Cash Payments: Get instant cash upon selling.

Fair Price Evaluation: They assess the condition and brand of your laptop to offer the best value.

Convenience: Avoid the hassle of negotiating with multiple buyers.

Top Brands That Sell Well

If you own a laptop from top brands like Dell, HP, Lenovo, Apple, or Asus, you’re likely to get a better resale value. These brands are in high demand due to their quality and durability.

Tips for Getting the Best Price

Highlight Features: Mention specifications like RAM, processor, and screen size in your listing.

Be Honest: Disclose any defects or issues to build trust with buyers.

Compare Offers: Don’t settle for the first offer; compare rates from multiple sources.

Final Thoughts

Selling your old laptop in Bangalore is a smart way to declutter, earn cash, and embrace sustainable practices. Choose a reliable service like CashyGo to ensure a smooth and rewarding experience.

Take the first step today and turn your old laptop into instant cash!

[nornities]

How to use DXVK with The Sims 3

Have you seen this post about using DXVK by Criisolate? But felt intimidated by the sheer mass of facts and information?

@desiree-uk and I compiled a guide and the configuration file to make your life easier. It focuses on players not using the EA App, but it might work for those just the same. It’s definitely worth a try.

Adding this to your game installation will result in a better RAM usage. So your game is less likely to give you Error 12 or crash due to RAM issues. It does NOT give a huge performance boost, but more stability and allows for higher graphics settings in game.

The full guide behind the cut. Let me know if you also would like it as PDF.

Happy simming!

Disclaimer and Credits

Desiree and I are no tech experts and just wrote down how we did this. Our ability to help if you run into trouble is limited. So use at your own risk and back up your files!

We both are on Windows 10 and start the game via TS3W.exe, not the EA App. So your experience may differ.

This guide is based on our own experiments and of course criisolate’s post on tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/criisolate/749374223346286592/ill-explain-what-i-did-below-before-making-any

This guide is brought to you by Desiree-UK and Norn.

Compatibility

Note: This will conflict with other programs that “inject” functionality into your game so they may stop working. Notably

Reshade

GShade

Nvidia Experience/Nvidia Inspector/Nvidia Shaders

RivaTuner Statistics Server

It does work seamlessly with LazyDuchess’ Smooth Patch.

LazyDuchess’ Launcher: unknown

Alder Lake patch: does conflict. One user got it working by starting the game by launching TS3.exe (also with admin rights) instead of TS3W.exe. This seemed to create the cache file for DXVK. After that, the game could be started from TS3W.exe again. That might not work for everyone though.

A word on FPS and V-Sync

With such an old game it’s crucial to cap framerate (FPS). This is done in the DXVK.conf file. Same with V-Sync.

You need

a text editor (easiest to use is Windows Notepad)

to download DXVK, version 2.3.1 from here: https://github.com/doitsujin/DXVK/releases/tag/v2.3.1 Extract the archive, you are going to need the file d3d9.dll from the x32 folder

the configuration file DXVK.conf from here: https://github.com/doitsujin/DXVK/blob/master/DXVK.conf. Optional: download the edited version with the required changes here.

administrator rights on your PC

to know your game’s installation path (bin folder) and where to find the user folder

a tiny bit of patience :)

First Step: Backup

Backup your original Bin folder in your Sims 3 installation path! The DXVK file may overwrite some files! The path should be something like this (for retail): \Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin (This is the folder where also GraphicsRule.sgr and the TS3W.exe and TS3.exe are located.)

Backup your options.ini in your game’s user folder! Making the game use the DXVK file will count as a change in GPU driver, so the options.ini will reset once you start your game after installation. The path should be something like this: \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 (This is the folder where your Mods folder is located).

Preparations

Make sure you run the game as administrator. You can check that by right-clicking on the icon that starts your game. Go to Properties > Advanced and check the box “Run as administrator”. Note: This will result in a prompt each time you start your game, if you want to allow this application to make modifications to your system. Click “Yes” and the game will load.

2. Make sure you have the DEP settings from Windows applied to your game.

Open the Windows Control Panel.

Click System and Security > System > Advanced System Settings.

On the Advanced tab, next to the Performance heading, click Settings.

Click the Data Execution Prevention tab.

Select 'Turn on DEP for all programs and services except these”:

Click the Add button, a window to the file explorer opens. Navigate to your Sims 3 installation folder (the bin folder once again) and add TS3W.exe and TS3.exe.

Click OK. Then you can close all those dialog windows again.

Setting up the DXVK.conf file

Open the file with a text editor and delete everything in it. Then add these values:

d3d9.textureMemory = 1

d3d9.presentInterval = 1

d3d9.maxFrameRate = 60

d3d9.presentInterval enables V-Sync,d3d9.maxFrameRate sets the FrameRate. You can edit those values, but never change the first line (d3d9.textureMemory)!

The original DXVK.conf contains many more options in case you would like to add more settings.

A. no Reshade/GShade

Setting up DXVK

Copy the two files d3d9.dll and DXVK.conf into the Bin folder in your Sims 3 installation path. This is the folder where also GraphicsRule.sgr and the TS3W.exe and TS3.exe are located. If you are prompted to overwrite files, please choose yes (you DID backup your folder, right?)

And that’s basically all that is required to install.

Start your game now and let it run for a short while. Click around, open Buy mode or CAS, move the camera.

Now quit without saving. Once the game is closed fully, open your bin folder again and double check if a file “TS3W.DXVK-cache” was generated. If so – congrats! All done!

Things to note

Heads up, the game options will reset! So it will give you a “vanilla” start screen and options.

Don’t worry if the game seems to be frozen during loading. It may take a few minutes longer to load but it will load eventually.

The TS3W.DXVK-cache file is the actual cache DXVK is using. So don’t delete this! Just ignore it and leave it alone. When someone tells to clear cache files – this is not one of them!

Update Options.ini

Go to your user folder and open the options.ini file with a text editor like Notepad.

Find the line “lastdevice = “. It will have several values, separated by semicolons. Copy the last one, after the last semicolon, the digits only. Close the file.

Now go to your backup version of the Options.ini file, open it and find that line “lastdevice” again. Replace the last value with the one you just copied. Make sure to only replace those digits!

Save and close the file.

Copy this version of the file into your user folder, replacing the one that is there.

Things to note:

If your GPU driver is updated, you might have to do these steps again as it might reset your device ID again. Though it seems that the DXVK ID overrides the GPU ID, so it might not happen.

How do I know it’s working?

Open the task manager and look at RAM usage. Remember the game can only use 4 GB of RAM at maximum and starts crashing when usage goes up to somewhere between 3.2 – 3.8 GB (it’s a bit different for everybody).

So if you see values like 2.1456 for RAM usage in a large world and an ongoing save, it’s working. Generally the lower the value, the better for stability.

Also, DXVK will have generated its cache file called TS3W.DXVK-cache in the bin folder. The file size will grow with time as DXVK is adding stuff to it, e.g. from different worlds or savegames. Initially it might be something like 46 KB or 58 KB, so it’s really small.

Optional: changing MemCacheBudgetValue

MemCacheBudgetValue determines the size of the game's VRAM Cache. You can edit those values but the difference might not be noticeable in game. It also depends on your computer’s hardware how much you can allow here.

The two lines of seti MemCacheBudgetValue correspond to the high RAM level and low RAM level situations. Therefore, theoretically, the first line MemCacheBudgetValue should be set to a larger value, while the second line should be set to a value less than or equal to the first line.

The original values represent 200MB (209715200) and 160MB (167772160) respectively. They are calculated as 200x1024x1024=209175200 and 160x1024x1024=167772160.

Back up your GraphicsRules.sgr file! If you make a mistake here, your game won’t work anymore.

Go to your bin folder and open your GraphicsRules.sgr with a text editor.

Search and find two lines that set the variables for MemCacheBudgetValue.

Modify these two values to larger numbers. Make sure the value in the first line is higher or equals the value in the second line. Examples for values: 1073741824, which means 1GB 2147483648 which means 2 GB. -1 (minus 1) means no limit (but is highly experimental, use at own risk)

Save and close the file. It might prompt you to save the file to a different place and not allow you to save in the Bin folder. Just save it someplace else in this case and copy/paste it to the Bin folder afterwards. If asked to overwrite the existing file, click yes.

Now start your game and see if it makes a difference in smoothness or texture loading. Make sure to check RAM and VRAM usage to see how it works.

You might need to change the values back and forth to find the “sweet spot” for your game. Mine seems to work best with setting the first value to 2147483648 and the second to 1073741824.

Uninstallation

Delete these files from your bin folder (installation path):

d3d9.dll

DXVK.conf

TS3W.DXVK-cache

And if you have it, also TS3W_d3d9.log

if you changed the values in your GraphicsRule.sgr file, too, don’t forget to change them back or to replace the file with your backed up version.

OR

delete the bin folder and add it from your backup again.

B. with Reshade/GShade

Follow the steps from part A. no Reshade/Gshade to set up DXVK.

If you are already using Reshade (RS) or GShade (GS), you will be prompted to overwrite files, so choose YES. RS and GS may stop working, so you will need to reinstall them.

Whatever version you are using, the interface shows similar options of which API you can choose from (these screenshots are from the latest versions of RS and GS).

Please note: 

Each time you install and uninstall DXVK, switching the game between Vulkan and d3d9, is essentially changing the graphics card ID again, which results in the settings in your options.ini file being repeatedly reset.

ReShade interface

Choose – Vulcan

Click next and choose your preferred shaders.

Hopefully this install method works and it won't install its own d3d9.dll file.

If it doesn't work, then choose DirectX9 in RS, but you must make sure to replace the d3d9.dll file with DXVK's d3d9.dll (the one from its 32bit folder, checking its size is 3.86mb.)

GShade interface

Choose –           

Executable Architecture: 32bit

Graphics API: DXVK

Hooking: Normal Mode

GShade is very problematic, it won't work straight out of the box and the overlay doesn't show up, which defeats the purpose of using it if you can't add or edit the shaders you want to use.

Check the game's bin folder, making sure the d3d9.dll is still there and its size is 3.86mb - that is DXVK's dll file.

If installing using the DXVK method doesn't work, you can choose the DirectX method, but there is no guarantee it works either.

The game will not run with these files in the folder:

d3d10core.dll

d3d11.dll

dxgi.dll

If you delete them, the game will start but you can't access GShade! It might be better to use ReShade.

Some Vulcan and DirectX information, if you’re interested:

Vulcan is for rather high end graphic cards but is backward compatible with some older cards. Try this method with ReShade or GShade first.

DirectX is more stable and works best with older cards and systems. Try this method if Vulcan doesn't work with ReShade/GShade in your game – remember to replace the d3d9.dll with DXVK's d3d9.dll.

For more information on the difference between Vulcan and DirectX, see this article:

https://www.howtogeek.com/884042/vulkan-vs-DirectX-12/

[bernardsbendystraws]

A WAY TO GROW YOUR ACCOUNT!!!

Throughout my entire time on Sturniolo Tumblr giving credit for inspiration has always been an issue. Copying and inspiration are NOT the same thing – if you copy + paste, that is just not right at all. However, inspiration is a good thing! For all parties!

Giving credit will boost your work. Although there is no guarantee that the original creator will interact, they’re a lot more likely too! It’s flattering to have people like your idea and interesting to see their different takes on the same thing. 

Many people have ripped off ideas to the point where people aren’t even sure who the original creator is or who made it trend. It’s incredibly frustrating. Some people don’t have bad intentions, but others do. It’s hard to tell and people get tired. I’ve reached out plenty of times nicely. Many people can attest to this. Some have ended great and good. Others have ended with me wishing I didn’t write anything in the first place. 

I’ve spoken up about this countless times. There has been no solution and I am beyond over it. Since I have a bigger account, I couldn’t prove that crediting someone would boost my account. Plenty of people said I had no evidence for the claim; “crediting will only help both parties.”

Taking matters into my own hands, I decided to do something to prove a point. This is not to create drama or anything of that sort, it is simply to educate. 

I made a brand new fresh account. To start, I credited myself for inspo, writing things I knew how to write with a lot less effort, editing, etc. Not only that, I also credited others – some who didn’t even know it was me and ended up reblogging. I interacted with it like I would’ve with any other mutual – which felt extremely odd, but again, I wanted to prove a point. 

Looking at stats, it is simple to sum up everything. Crediting will only help you. A lot. The first “snippet” I posted got 0 interaction until I reblogged it. Then – everything seemed to take off. Quickly. I created the account 6 days ago. Not even a week ago. This is all the data to backup my point: 

– 950 followers

– 2 fics over 1k notes (the only 2 fics posted at that)

– Over 7,200 notes+ total 

– Multiple anons and interactions in my inbox

The entire point of this was to prove a point, simply to educate and not be silenced because I didn’t have “facts.” Now I do. It is clear that crediting for inspo only helps both parties. Please keep this in mind when writing in the future!!!

[togrowoldinv]

Memory

Natasha Romanoff x Female Reader

You feel like you’ve met her before, but you just can’t remember when or how. It turns out there’s a lot you don’t remember

Note: Hey y’all. I have been swamped these last couple of weeks studying for and taking a part of the cpa exam, but I finally had a free moment to have some fun. I went and saw Argylle, so this is loosely inspired by that. Enjoy it!

Natasha Masterlist 1, Natasha Masterlist 2, Natasha Masterlist 3, Main Masterlist

The room is silent aside from the clicks of a keyboard as Natasha tries to break through a firewall. She’s smart, but the person who created it is slightly smarter than her.

The redhead smirks when she is one step from breaking through, but her cheekiness doesn’t last. An alarm sounds and she’s met with at least ten agents swarming all around her.

“Oh hey, guess you guys found the party,” she says in her usual cool under pressure tone.

She uses the agents’ hesitation to begin attacking them to deal the first blows. She takes them down two at a time until there’s only one left. She knows who he is.

“Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?” Natasha asks.

“You know what I want,” he says.

“And you know what I want,” Nat replies.

The two of them keep their guns in ready position. Nat alerted for backup, but she knows most likely she’ll have to handle this on her own.

“Where is the woman?” The man asks. He shakes his gun at Nat. She sees a weakness in the way he’s holding it. He won’t last.

“If you give me the intel, I’ll give you her location,” Nat says.

“You’re lying!”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m telling you the truth. They’re never really that different, right?”

“Drop your weapon,” he tries another tactic.

Natasha just smirks. She moves her left arm down and the man mistakenly thinks she’s giving in. The moment he shifts his aim Nat takes a shot at him. It’s an easy shot for her.

He goes down and Nat finishes gathering her data from the computer before she quickly gets out of the building. That backup she was waiting for finally arrives as she’s making her way outside.

“Thanks for the help,” she says sarcastically as Steve opens the door for her.

“Sorry,” he says. “We can’t be everywhere all the time. What were you even doing here?”

“Gathering intel,” Nat says simply. She shows him the flash drive and he just shakes his head. “The more I can find out the better I can help her, Steve. It’s an easy choice to make.”

“Nat, she’s so far gone,” he tries. “It might be worth stopping.”

“I’ll never give up on her. She’ll be herself again. I know it,” Natasha says. “Now, will you help me get this to Stark to decode?”

“Of course I’ll help you, Romanoff.”

She nods in thanks. For the rest of the drive, Natasha thinks about what her next step should be. There’s no easy fix to this situation. She needs to go where her mind works best.

Meanwhile, you are working on cleaning tables when the most beautiful woman walks in. You’ve seen her in here several times since you started working here.

She always sits at the table in the corner and orders coffee and a piece of chocolate pie. It’s always the same thing. You’ve never waited on her before, but somehow the stars align today and you’re covering that section.

You walk to her table and take a deep breath. She’s even more beautiful from this close up.

“Hey, how are you today?” You ask her.

“I’m okay,” she replies. “How are you?”

“Can’t complain,” you say. It’s your typical response when a customer asks you that question. “What can I get for you, ma’am?”

She orders her usual. You feel her eyes linger on you as you pour the coffee and bring her slice of pie to the table.

Something feels familiar about the way she smiles at you in thanks.

“Do I know you?” You ask her. She doesn’t reply, but you notice she looks away from you. “Sorry, it’s just that I had some memory loss so I’m just not quite sure who I know at this point.”

“Oh, I’m very sorry,” she says. “I don’t think we know each other though, no.”

“You seem familiar,” you tell her.

“Well, I am an Avenger so maybe that’s it,” she says. “I’m Natasha.”

“Right. The superheroes. It’s nice to meet you, Natasha,” you say. “I’m y/n.”

You hold out your hand for her to shake. When she does, you swear there’s still a lingering feeling that you know her. Maybe you’ve just seen her on television.

“I better get back to work,” you say.

“Nice to meet you, y/n,” Natasha says.

She stands from her chair and drops cash on the table. Walking towards the door, she stops short and turns back to look at you. You offer her a smile that she returns.

With that, she disappears into the city. The rest of the day goes by seemingly without any other excitement. You can’t stop thinking about your interaction with the woman, which is why you thought you were dreaming when she shows up at your door.

You blink hard to try and wake up, but the reality is that she’s truly here.

“Natasha?” You ask confusedly.

“I don’t have time to explain,” she says. “Can I come in?”

“I- what? Okay?”

She takes that as a yes. She walks inside and goes straight to the corner of the room where she picks up a piece of the floor to reveal a secret storage area.

Natasha fills her bag with the weapons that were stored under the floor.

“What is happening?” You ask her.

“Just trust me,” Nat says.

“I just met you today and you somehow know about this secret area of my house I didn’t even know about. And I’m supposed to trust you?”

“Yes,” Natasha replies. “Come on. Get some shoes on. We have two minutes.”

“Two minutes before what?”

She doesn’t get the chance to answer before a loud bang comes from outside. A series of car doors close simultaneously.

“Look, I know you don’t know me but you have to trust me. These guys are after you and if we don’t bail in the next thirty seconds we’re dead. Got it?” Natasha says.

“What?” You ask. It seems to be the only word in your vocabulary right now.

She grabs your hand and pulls you through your house. Once you’re outside, you go through the fence to the neighbors yard.

“Here,” Nat says, pulling you to a motorcycle that’s waiting there.

“I am not riding on that,” you say.

“Then you’ll be dead within minutes. Come on, y/n,” Nat says. She puts the helmet on your head involuntarily.

You have no choice but to listen to her. Hopping onto the bike, you hold on tight to her middle as she drives through the streets. At some point, a van is tailing the two of you. Natasha turns down every alleyway and street she can to get you away from the tail.

“When I say jump, you’ve got to jump!” Nat says over the roar of the engine.

“What?”

You’re quickly approaching a road that you can see has no end. She drives full speed ahead before letting go of the handlebars.

“Jump!” Nat shouts.

You cling onto her as you both jump. You have no idea how far the drop is but somehow you land in water. Natasha pulls you to the surface quickly.

You get to shore and try to gather yourself some. You’re so confused about all of this.

“Are you okay?” She asks.

“Am I okay?” You ask her. “Seriously, you’re asking me that? I don’t know who you are or what’s happening. We just got chased by a van through town and jumped off a motorcycle into a fucking lake. Do you think I’m okay?”

The woman has the audacity to smile at your words.

“I’m sorry, do you think this is funny?” You ask her, feeling fury seethe inside you.

“No,” Natasha says too quickly. “No, it’s just- nevermind. We have to get to the Avenger’s compound.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” you tell her matter of factly.

“Y/n-“

“Don’t!” You interrupt her. “Just leave me alone.”

Nat raises her hands in surrender and watches as you walk away. She lets you get ten steps ahead before she follows after you.

“I told you to let me be.”

“You’re up there all alone. I just happen to be walking in the same direction,” Natasha reasons. “Although, the compound is the other way.”

Despite the fact that you were just doing insanely dangerous tasks with her, you feel a certain safety in her presence.

“Why should I go with you?” You pose a question.

You notice her hesitation in answering. Like she wants to tell you something but she just can’t.

“If you just come with me, I’ll explain everything there. Okay? Please give me a chance,” Nat says. “I won’t be responsible for them finding you and finishing the job.”

“What job? I’m just a waitress. Who could I possibly have wronged?”

“I promise I’ll explain later,” Nat says. “Please follow me.”

You relent and follow her. There’s no reason for you to trust her but somehow you do. It doesn’t take long to get to the compound once Nat hot wires a car.

“Y/n?” A girl asks when you are inside. You look at her despondently and she frowns. Natasha gives he’s her a look.

You follow Natasha to what seems to be a laboratory. There’s a large screen on the wall.

“Ah welcome,” a man says. You recognize him as Iron Man. “You’re just in time.”

“For?” You ask.

“The truth,” another man answers. You’re pretty sure he’s Captain America.

Before you can speak again, photos of you litter the screen. There are some of just you and some of you and the other Avengers.

“What the hell?” You wonder aloud.

“Y/n, we wanted you to remember on your own but it’s taking too long,” Tony Stark explains. “Natasha tried to jog your memory just by being in your presence, but that didn’t work.”

“So I do know you?” You ask the woman.

“You know all of us, y/n. You’re an Avenger.”

“But I’m- no. I’m a waitress,” you say. Your head feels like it’s spinning.

“That’s what they made you think, but you’re not. You’re a special agent,” Steve says. “And one of the best.”

“I don’t believe you. This is all a joke, right?”

“It’s not a joke, y/n. Why do you think we knew those people were after you? Or that I knew about the floor in your house?” Natasha asks.

“That’s easy. You’ve been spying on me.”

“No,” she says simply.

“Then how?” No response. “This is just insane. I’m leaving.”

You start to walk away. You hear Natasha’s footsteps behind you.

“Natasha,” a warning voice comes from Tony. “Don’t.”

“You know what, you go ahead. Take a car of ours, y/n,” she says.

She holds up a pair of keys. You reach for them, but instead of giving them to you she throws a punch your way.

You surprisingly dodge it with ease. Natasha smirks at the way you look at your arms in confusion.

“How did I do that?”

“Come on, throw one,” she taunts you.

You do your best to punch her, but of course she dodges it. You spar back and forth until you’ve both had enough.

“Great, now that that’s over. Do you believe us?” Tony asks.

“I’m not sure,” you say. “How could I not know I’m an agent?”

“Brainwashing,” Natasha answers. “Very effective brainwashing.”

“But why?”

“Because you were going to uncover a huge invasion of Hydra in the government,” Steve explains. “We still can’t find the data that you had before they took it from you and erased all of your memories.”

“So the memory loss, that was a real feeling I was having?”

“It was,” Nat says. “The reason why wasn’t a car accident as they told you though. They captured you and essentially knocked you senseless.”

You rub your hands over your face as you try to take all of this in. Just a few hours ago you thought you knew who you were, but they’re telling you something completely different.

“We wanted you to remember on your own, so it might not be so overwhelming,” Nat says.

“So, we’re all what? Coworkers? Friends? I don’t remember any of you, or anything you’re describing,” you say.

“We’re friends,” Steve says. “You’re friends with all of us and with Nat-“

“Steve,” Nat interrupts. “She doesn’t need to hear that right now.”

“I don’t need to hear what?”

There are shouts down the hallway that interrupt your conversation. Tony suits up and Steve grabs his shield.

“Get her to safety,” he tells Nat.

She grabs your hand and takes you down the hallway to a door and down a ton of stairs. Nat locks a door behind her once you’ve reached the lowest level.

“They’ll handle them,” Nat says. “But the further you are from the fight the better.”

“What was Steve going to say?”

“Hm?”

“About you and me,” you prompt her.

Natasha tears her eyes from yours much the same way she did when you questioned if you knew her earlier.

“Natasha, please just tell me. Clearly, everything I thought I knew was a lie. What’s one more thing?”

“Okay,” she agrees. “We were- you and I were together.”

“Together?”

She nods.

“Define together. Like dating?”

“Kind of yeah,” she says. You look at her for more details. The silence prompts her to continue. “We were married. We are technically married.”

“Oh,” you say.

“Yeah. I didn’t think you were ready to learn that,” Nat says.

“So that’s why you knew your way around my place?”

“Our place,” she says. “But they moved all of my stuff out before you went back there.”

“Natasha, I don’t- I can’t remember anything,” you say.

“I know,” Nat says sadly. “We kept our distance once we realized what they did to you, but we’ve never stopped making sure you were safe.”

You hear the sound of the fight getting closer. Natasha reaches for your hand. She places a loaded gun in your palm.

“I want to remember.”

“You will,” Nat says. “But right now, you’ve got to fight.”

To be continued…

[thatskynews]

Good timezones Sky kids!

Today has been a wild ride for everyone! As you've seen we extended the maintenance window to 00:00. I want to offer some clarity on why that is.

As you're all painfully aware, players were experiencing several server errors that manifested as reset progress, missing level portals, the inability to claim quests, and lots of locked doors. In an effort to fix those errors and clean up the data to provide smooth operations, we overloaded a database cluster. We ended up finding possible signs that player data could have been impacted, so we decided to: - Put the game into maintenance mode - Create a new database cluster - Restore a snapshot, and, - Verify that we had exactly what we and players would expect: Complete player data.

Your data is safe, and we've verified as much, thanks to our Cloud Platform team for how careful they are with frequent snapshots and backups.

Right now, the restoration and validation of that data to the new cluster is taking much longer than we expected. As you can imagine, we're double and triple-checking everything to make sure that once we lift the maintenance window, you all have a positive experience.

Thank you for your feedback and patience while we work through these problems, you're all very much appreciated. The Community team will provide more updates as things progress and when the maintenance ends.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

THTH 1

Warnings: non/dubcon, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Characters: Ransom Drysdale

Summary: You have a secret, but what do you do when it threatens to come out.

Part of the Backwoods AU

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

“Ugh, goddamn it,” you hiss as you reach your phone to the sky. The signal is shit around here. You watch the little circle, waiting for a check mark to appear; nothing.

Three days. The bandwidth has been in and out for three days and you haven’t been able to upload a single thing. Not even a message. This is dumb. You growl at your phone and toss it on your bed. It bounces and hits the wall.

You huff and cross your arms. It’s not fair. Those three days could’ve made you money. You can’t even leech off the library wifi because of the content filters. So ridiculous. You’re just trying to make a living.

A tap comes at the door and you flinch. You quickly scoop up your phone and go to the door. You tuck it in your back pocket and pull your shirt down to cover the top. You open the door and peek out at your mom.

“Everything okay?” She asks.

“Uh, yep, just dropped something.”

“Oh, nothing broke, I hope.”

“All good,” you smile. She chews her lip anxiously, as she often does. “I’ll be down for dinner soon. Smells good.”

“Alright,” she says, “it’s almost done. Your favourite; spaghetti and meatballs.”

“Mmm, awesome.”

You shut the door and roll your eyes. Spaghetti isn’t your favourite. It’s what she says is your favourite. Just like everything else, it has to fit within her rules. If she says you like yellow, well then, you like yellow. It isn’t worth the argument to have a personality.

You take out the phone again. You nearly squeal as the check mark turns green. It sent! Just a text post notifying your few followers of the unexpected technical difficulties. You’ll be fortunate if they don’t bleed off to the other girls. When there’s so much variety, you can’t expect horny men not to hop on the next page with a pretty girl in lacy underwear…or less.

You scroll down but the rest of the posts show the blank blocks, pulsing as they struggle to load. You check the menu. Signal’s gone again. Welp, at least that went through.

You go to your bed and hide your phone under the mattress. Your parents know about your laptop, that’s your alibi. You tell them you do transcription work online. That doesn’t pay enough so you have the secret phone for your real business; you.

It isn’t exactly a career but it’s a means to an end. You’ll save up enough and be out of Hammer Ford in no time. You’re almost twenty and running out of time. A gap year is expected, but two? That’s sad.

Besides, you’re done with this life. You need out of this house. You are an adult. Your parents can’t make you eat your peas or ban you from the romance section in the library. One day, hopefully soon, you’ll be free.

For now, you’re going to go downstairs and pretend your mother’s spaghetti and meatballs isn’t complete mush.

📱

Days pass as you stare helplessly at the flashing bars in the corner of your phone. Damn phone company. The data plan was supposed to be a backup, even if you could only afford the cheapest vendor on the market. You at least thought it would work!

You manage to get a decent signal up on Thunder Lane by the hotel. It might be worth it to just walk in and get their wifi. You don’t think they’d care much. There aren’t many guests passing through now, are there?

The only benefit of your forced break is how much time it gave you to create new content. You choose the set of photos you took with the bunny ears and the barely there white teddy. You quickly flick through the settings and set the paywall. At least you’ll have money coming in before…

Yep, no internet. You’re lucky even that went through. You roll your eyes and hop back in the family oldsmobile. Your mother doesn’t let you have it often but you told her you were going for coffee and would fill up the tank.

As you roll up to the sleepy main row of Hammer Ford, your phone vibes. You quickly put it back to silent and check the notification. Your data’s flickering as you see the first response to your post. That was quick. Turns out someone did miss you.

_ransom_ware commented: ‘welcome back, bunny’.

You tap on the bubble but the app won’t load. Damnit! At least you have automatic deposit enabled. His tip will hit your account in a couple days.

You get out of the car and cross the street to the bakery. You could butter your mom up with some tarts, maybe convince her to let you take the car into the city. That might be your best chance at catching up. You could schedule posts and not have to fight with the damn countryside desolation.

As you enter the bakery, it’s quiet. There’s one person at a table. You don’t recognise him. He has his back to you so you don’t think much of it. Probably just another lumber worker sating their repressed sweet tooth. Although, he is dressed a bit too nice for that. No plaid or denim? Huh.

You go up to the counter and order a half-dozen cherry tarts and a latte. You pay with the secret credit card you use for your online transactions and thank the girl behind the counter. As you turn, you find the man at the table turned in his seat. He glances at you as you carry out the tray of tarts and coffee.

You’re used to the stares. The men in Hammer Ford aren’t exactly subtle and your nights at The Horn have earned you a reputation, though those stories don’t make it past your front door. It’s just a little fun, you have a pint and tie your shirt above your belly button and dance. Nothing serious.

Your mom and dad are too chaste and pious to ever wander into the bar. It’s your escape, your safe space. Just for now. Just until you can get out of this hell hole.

[narastories]

trying out Obsidian, my first setup, my opinions, etc.

Okay, so this is going to be a long post. Earlier this week I decided to give Obsidian a go to see if it would work for my longer writing projects. I heard some of my mutuals use it and others would like to see my setup, so I'm making a post about what I learned so far. I downloaded it three days ago so I'm sure things will change, but this is where I am right now.

I'm shy about my WIPs so what you see there is the beginning of heart worth the trouble. But hopefully, this lets you see my folder structure and the links in the notes.

My wishlist and how I got here

I recently wrote a rambly post about writing software which got way more notes than I expected (bc the lovely @barbex reblogged it <3). After I made that post, I started using Focus Writer (again a recommendation from the writing discord) for my discovery writing in March. After more than two weeks of heavy use, I realized I needed a little bit more than that (but it's a great program).

Initially, I tried combining it with Wavemaker bc I liked that when I played around with it, but that completely pissed me off, bc it turns out it's just not compatible with other things I'm using. Like Firefox. -.-

Still, this whole ordeal made me narrow down what I really want and need from a piece of writing software at this moment. I think it's a good idea to start with such a wishlist if you are looking for a new software. Here is mine:

free

no account required, not stored on someone else's cloud, I can back it up wherever I want instead

Linux support

widely compatible file formats

focus mode, where it's full-screen, and ideally highlights the paragraph you are working on

I can make it look nice and calming on the eyes currently all I want is a cream paper background look, and a friendly monospace font changed to brown or something

clicky keyboard/typewriter noises - luckily I got this covered by Mechvibes already!

something like the card feature in Wavemaker, where I can have individual notes and choose to display them on the side. this might sound like it conflicts with the focus mode but I just want to have the option to have some notes without having to vomit them into the draft

easy to rearrange the order of the scenes

wordcount obviously

Tall order? Weird order? Maybe.

I think the most important is to figure out is how you work as a writer and find tools that match that. This is just honestly what is important for me right now.

It seems like Obsidian might just do this.

it's free

doesn't require an account

text is stored locally in markdown files

works on Linux I'm using the AppImage if you want to know

can be integrated with Github for backup & sync

tons of customization options to achieve the rest of my requirements

The Basics

If you want to use Obsidian for note-taking (or for writing fic but you're not very picky about the how), you can pretty much just download it, pick a pretty theme if you want and you're good to go. It's that easy. I promise it's not as hard as people make you believe.

This is a local-first software, which I love. However, this also means if you are not used to storing your writing locally, you need to get into the habit of backing your things up because if something happens to your computer, there is no copy of your files on the web.

That said, you can pay I think 4USD/month for the subscription and then you'll have an account, and your files will get synched to other devices, and you can restore your files. (And remember, if something is free and doesn't have ads and you have cloud storage space you didn't have to pay for... then you are the product and the company is paying for it with your data. So the fact that this is paid is actually a very good thing.)

The file structure works pretty much 1:1 as your file explorer btw

If you create a folder on the sidebar, it will create a folder on your computer.

If you create a note on the sidebar, it will create a text file on your computer.

If you drag the note into the folder on the sidebar, it will put the text file in the folder on your computer.

Each note is stored as a separate markdown file. Markdown files are widely compatible with various software so that's great. Also, you can even just rename the file to have .txt extension instead of .md extension and literally every text editor will open it for you (you will lose the formatting tho). The opposite also works. If you have a note in .txt format, you can copy it into your Obsidian folder, rename the extension to .md and it will appear in Obsidian.

That all makes it very easy to import things and switch between files to edit them.

There is only one downside to this that I found. You know how in your file explorer you can drag and drop files into folders but you can't drag and drop files to change their order? Well, your Obsidian side-bar is the same. You can choose to order them based on the name, last modified, etc. But if you want custom order, I suggest you number your notes and folders.

I feel like we're not that used to this anymore but again, this is literally like a file explorer, so it's not a big deal imo.

Another important basic concept is linking your notes. You can just right-click a piece of text and link a note, drag and drop the note into your other note, or do [[Note]] whatever you like. Then you can quickly access the other note by clicking on it, or see a preview while hovering over it (If you turned that feature on). Linking notes is also how you get those cool graph views.

I just wanted to mention all of this bc I feel like all the videos I came across on Obsidian intimidate people into thinking it's more complex than that lol

Appearance

I go a little crazy about visual optimization if you give me a chance. You can change a couple of simple things out the box. Light/dark theme, change the font, etc. I'm using a font called Code Saver for the editor (regular is free for personal use).

Then, there are the themes you can download. There are so many awesome ones! I'm using one called Underwater right now bc I liked the rounded edges.

Most themes come with a light/dark version. But if you download the Style Settings plugin, you might unlock more easy-to-customize options. It depends on the theme what you see there. The one I'm using has a couple of built-in colorways. I went with the "rose pine dawn" option and then I switched out some colors in the color pickers. If you want to mess with the colors I highly recommend finding some hex color palettes online, they make your life so much easier. You can find colors that look good together and look up a color and find lighter/darker versions instead of trying to blindly click around on the color picker.

For this theme, you can also add a background image if you want. (If you really want to make it look like Focus Writer for example ;)

Plugins

These are the plugins I'm using right now.

GitHub Sync: This is what I use to sync my progress and back up my files. I started with this before anything else, but I'm not going to go into what I did bc I don't want to make this post even more complicated. If you have a specific question about it, pls feel free to ask me :)

Focus Mode: This is a full-screen mode, very nice for writing

Stille: Dims everything but the active paragraph, again, very nice for writing. I found that the combination of these two plugins work best for me, but there are others like Typewriter Mode that can do both (I couldn't turn down the vignette mode on that one tho and it was annoying me)

Smart Typography: switches the straight quotation marks for curly ones

This is how it looks with Focus Mode and Stiille both on.

And lastly, a bit of a disappointment: Longform. This is the plugin that everyone seems to recommend for longer writing projects in Obisdian. Basically what it does is it can compile your individual notes into one file, and allows you to move the order of them freely, unlike the normal Obsidian sidebar. Here is a pretty good video on it.

Unfortunately, this plugin gets absolutely wrecked by synchronizing to another device.

From what I gathered, this happens regardless of what method of synching you use, meaning it happens even with the paid synching feature. You can read about this more here btw. It's a community plugin so I'm not going to be mad at the creators for not fixing this, however this means it just doesn't work for me.

If it worked on the one computer where I originally set it up, just not on the other, I would be fine with it. But I set it up on my Linux, and after I synched to my Windows, the scene list disappeared from both. (Not the actual files! It just doesn't get recognized as a Longform project anymore so it pretty much becomes useless lol)

So, I just decided to create the the same structure with folders and notes. Right now, this is a discovery draft and I don't have chapters. But I'm making a folder for an "Arc", and put the numbered scenes into them. I'm also making separate notes that I can link with stuff I want to remember/work on.

At the moment I don't require an extensive wiki where I note what each of the characters like to have for breakfast and such. But you can absolutely do that with Obsidian. You can create a folder for Characters, Worldbuilding, whatever you want, really. Put images there, links both internal and on the web and just go wild if you want.

Obviously, without Longform I will need to compile the files into one at the end by a different method, like copy-paste into one, turn them into .txt, and concatenate from the terminal, you know, depending on your comfort level xD. It will probably include more work than with this plugin, but it's not like you don't go through your manuscript about a million times anyways, am I right?

Word Count

Lastly, mentioning the wordcount options bc they are important

there is a built-in wordcount, about which the common agreement is that it's not very good lol

because of this there is a community plugin called Better Wordcount, which is self-explanatory. If you want to get the total word count, you can right-click the top folder of your project and ask it to count the words for you.

Longform also has a wordcount and it will display it like words of the scene/total words of the project if you are using that

if you don't want to have three different word counts displayed I recommend you only have one of these active (:

That's where I am right now. If you have read all this to the end, you're awesome, and also we both should stop procrastinating and go write instead :P But if you also use Obsidian for writing and have cool tips pls let me know xx

[ventique18]

Book 7, Chapter 7, Episode 109

Idia, messaging: Mr. Crimson Muscle, GG again today!

Idia: Let's get to conquering that newly-released snowy mountain map tomorrow~

Idia: That's all for today~. Bye bye~

Crimson Muscle has logged out.

Idia then starts rambling to himself about his gacha game addiction, like how he got 3 SSRs. He suddenly panics because "Is it OK to be this lucky?! What if tomorrow all devices crash and all their backup data unrecoverable?!"

Suddenly he gets a video call from Ortho. Weird, it's odd that he's calling Idia's game account... In the first place, how does Ortho even know about Idia's game username? And why a video call?

... Oh well.

"Hello, brother. Good evening."

Idia: "Eh?! W-whw-what happened to you, Ortho?! This is the first time I'm finding out that you're into cosplay?! And it's such a detailed one?! Isn't it too soon for your high school debut-- huh?"

Idia: ""Brother"?"

That's right, Ortho called him nii-san and not nii-chan, or Iddy.

Ortho: "Nice to meet you again in this world. My name is Ortho."

Ortho: "I'm the autonomous, AI magical humanoid you've created."

Idia: "..."

Idia: "... Ha?"

[misc-obeyme]

DID BEELSCUSTARD GOT TERMINATED WHY

Okay I saw about this when I checked Tumblr this morning before work. Normally I don’t post during work hours (thanks to the queue), but I couldn’t stop thinking about this & I think it’s important for people to know.

beelscustard & I think a few other blogs that did image editing were terminated due to copyright laws.

I don’t know enough about these laws to speak on it & presumably they’re going by the laws in Japan. I was always under the impression that as long as no money is being made from it, fanworks of all kinds are permissible. But that may not be the case for Japanese laws & there may be some ambiguity when it comes to editing of images from game content.

That being said, I think this is a really shitty move.

The fandom has been lagging already & now they’re going to come in & hurt their own fans by not only deleting years worth of dedicated work but depriving other fans of that work as well? This is something that will only hurt them, not help them.

They have continually made some upsetting decisions, but this really takes the cake in my opinion.

I don’t know if they’re planning on doing anything else like this. My understanding is that it has to do with data mining & image editing, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come for other fanworks as well. I’m not telling anybody to panic about it, but just make sure you’ve got your stuff somewhere. There’s a way to backup Tumblr blogs I think. I’ll see if I can find the post about it after I get off work & then I’ll reblog it.

As fans, all we can do is support each other. It sucks, but this game exists to make money. That’s always going to be their priority. We get to decide for each of us as individuals how much money we’re willing to give to support the underlings who are working on the game that actually care about the content they create.

I don’t think it’s likely that they would crack down on fanfiction blogs, but I have posted plenty of screenshots. So if you’re worried about losing me, you can go follow me on my main blog @misc-magic if you would like to. It might not matter but I’m not sure how serious they’re going to get with this.

I’m sorry to use your ask as a more general announcement, Kian. I know you already follow my main 💕 but hopefully this also answers similar questions for others as well.

If I see anything else that I can share I’ll keep you all updated.

[quads004]

Please Start Archiving in the US

With current events, I think it is prudent that everyone, that is able to, needs start archiving shit. I am a former library worker but I do not know much about cybersecurity. If you do want to go down that route please research and keep you and your archive safe :). The more copies that are preserved, then the more likely it is that the media will survive. Even if you save only 2 files that is still important!

First, I will list how to create an computer archive and best practices, then I will provide a list of known targets and suggested materials to add.

You need somewhere to store your data most people will use their computer's storage drive but you need to have backups! Do not rely on cloud storage solutions, they require internet connection are vulnerable to data breaches, and the companies that store that data must follow any laws that the government may decide to pass. USBs or external hardrives are best options. CDs can be used in a pinch, but are more likely to degrade as well as having lower storage capacity then the previous options. Use whatever you have lying around, you do not need to spend money if you don't want to.

When saving data use file formats that are common and able to be read without use of a special software. (that means no .docx) PDF/A is the gold standard for archiving. It is a subtype of pdf that contains metadata, such as typefaces and graphical info, that ensure the files are read properly in the future. Adobe Acrobat is able to save and convert documents into PDF/A. PDFTron, DocuPub, and Ghostscript are all free or have free versions that create pdf/a files. PNG, JPEG2000, .txt, MP3, wav, are other common file types that the Smithsonian recommends for data storage. For a full list of types to use and avoid, see the sources cited at the bottom.

What are we archiving?

Please gather both fiction and nonfiction resources. Nonfiction collection ideas: Current news clips, local history of marginalized communities, interviews, biographies, memoirs, zines, and art pieces. Saving scientific research is incredibly important! In 1933, one of the first places they targeted was the Institute of Sexual Science. Lots of what was stored there was never recovered. Environmental science, trans and intersex health, and minority history will likely be targeted first. For fiction, the most commonly challenged books last year were: 1) GenderQueer by Maia Kobabe 2) All Boys Aren't Blue by George Johnson 3) This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson 4) The of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 5) Flamer by Mike Curato 6) The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison 7) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews 8) Tricks by Ellen Hopkins 9) Let's Talk about it (Teen guide to sex, relationships, and being a human) by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan 10) Sold by Patricia McCormick I present this list so you have an idea of what is normally targeted. Books that describe racism and queer identities are most common, but other targets include any depictions of violence, drugs, sex. Use your personal archive to accumulate data that you personally are passionate about. The more niche a topic the more likely it is that other people will not have it in their storage.

Lastly, please remember as an archivist you are not there to determine if a piece is worthy of being saved. Just because you do not like or agree with the message does not mean it will be saved from being banned. All artworks amateur or professional are worthy of being archived.

Sources: ALA 2023 Banned Books https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10

How to create a PDF/A file https://www.research.gov/common/attachment/Desktop/How_do_I_create_a_PDF-A_file.pdf

Smithsonian Data Management Best Practices and File Formats https://siarchives.si.edu/what-we-do/digital-curation/recommended-preservation-formats-electronic-records https://library.si.edu/research/best-practices-storing-archiving-and-preserving-data

[daughterofheartshaven]

Okay I need to talk about the River Song box set Last Words, and especially about how it ends.

So, the conceit of Last Words is that the Earth is going to die. Solar flares are going to rip the Earth apart in a matter of weeks. This isn't a manmade crisis - there's no recrimination. This is just an inevitability.

And Earth has lost contact with its colonies. They're on their own. (If I may add a headcanon, I believe this is because of the Great Catastrophe from the Dalek Empire series - the Daleks conquered the human empire, and were defeated by a pulse being sent through all Daleks causing them to destruct - taking out all the Daleks, but also most of the structure and technology of the conquered Earth Empire, too.) So there's no rescue. No large-scale evacuation. Nothing. Some people are retreating to underground bunkers, but everyone basically knows they're not going to work. A company called Lotophage has created a VR simulation where people can live out their last few weeks with their loved ones however they want.

And in the middle of this, a businessman named Garrison Clay manages to connect to the Library, and rips River from it into a clone body after about a thousand years of being there. He has a task for her: find a missing scientist. She has six weeks until the clone body dies, but if she can find the scientist, he will transfer her mind back to the Library. He gives her her diary and screwdriver, recovered from the Library, as well as a data sphere and access to Harmony, a worldwide computer network. River is not happy about being separated from her family in the library, but she can't really do anything other than what Clay wants.

And so River ends up travelling the world while it falls apart. There a lot of different characters she meets and we see how the whole world is reacting to everything falling apart. And in the end…

well. Spoilers.

It turns out that the missing scientist was one of the people who was helping to get Nerva Beacon online as an arc (this story is very much a prequel to The Arc in Space, and actually shares a few characters). Clay is trying to sabotage the Arc, because he wants to inherit the Earth with no one left to compete with him.

River has made friends with one Samuel Avner, and they manage to outmaneuver Clay's agents. The primary power source for Nerva's launch is sabotaged, but River and Clay manage to activate a backup power source and Nerva is safely launched and maneuvered past the danger zone. But River's body is falling apart, Sam has been shot, they both have radiation poisoning, and the Earth has mere minutes before the flares hit. River and Sam are left just trying to make each other comfortable before the end. River has the device that can return her to the library, but she refuses to leave without Sam.

And then… well. I'm gonna type this all out, I think. I highly recommend listening to it (I'd upload the audio itself here if I had any idea how to do that). But I want everyone to experience this.

[scene - power bays] Harmony (over loudspeakers): Professor Song, may I remind you that the Library return portal is still awaiting your re-upload? River: I'm not leaving him, Harmony. Sam: Take it, River. Go home. River: It's not what my husband would have done. Harmony: Professor. River. River: Harmony. Harmony: Come home, River. Come home. River: Harmony? Harmony: I am the Library return system. And you, River Song, are overdue. River: Overdue? Wait a second, it's you. Chasburgoh, the refuse chute, getting us out of our cell. You've been my guardian angel all along, haven't you? Why? Harmony: If you suddenly up and disappear, River Song, do you really think your family won't send me looking for you? You're wanted home, Professor. River: Oh. I love them, too. Sam: Then go, while you still can. Think of them, think of your husband. It's what he would have wanted. River: Oh but - it's not what he would have done. My husband wouldn't leave you behind. My husband would have waved his magic wand and… Sam: River? River: …and saved everyone. [gets up] Harmony? Where's my sonic screwdriver? Harmony: Your confiscated sonic device is in Lazar's quarters. Level four. River: And I'm all out of shape, too. Ugh, I wish this return portal was lighter. Urrrrgh! Sam: River! River, what are you doing? River: Don't worry! I've got a plan! [runs off with return portal]

[scene change - Lazar's quarters] River: Come on, come on. If I was a screwdriver, where would I be? Yes! Harmony? Uh, Librarian? Can you hear me? Harmony: We can hear you, River. River: Okay. This is a really big ask. But here's what we're going to try. Harmony, you're going to use this station's simulator system to-to patch us into the Lotophage platform. Can you do that? Harmony: I can do my best. River: And your best is brilliant! As for you and me, Librarian, we're going to boost this return portal's power by, oh, uh, I'd say about… half a billion times? We're going to try to upload every Lotophage user on Earth to the Library. We can't save everyone left on Earth, but we must be able to save some! Harmony: It's possible, River, but even with this base's waveform projection system, the portal can't channel that many dataforms. River: Well, that's where this little bit of Time Lord magic comes in. It was a gift, you know! From my husband! [wires the screwdriver into the return portal] How's that helping your bandwidth? Harmony: Catalogue returns portal capacity increasing. River: Good girl! Harmony, how are we getting on? Harmony: Access granted, but terminal solar event imminent. River: Oh, we'd better hurry. Put me through to Lotophage.

[scene change - Lotophage hq] Tech one: This place is finally breaking up, gov! Tech two: At least it will be over quick. River (over comms): Hear me! Hear me! Tech two: What the - who the hell's that? River: This is a message to all Lotophage staff and users not currently plugged into the platform. Get yourselves inside the simulation and prepare to be uploaded to safety! I repeat, get yourselves inside the simulation and prepare to be uploaded to safety! This is not a drill! Tech two: This has got to be a joke! Tech one: That's not what the readouts are saying - look! All dataforms are being transferred! Where are they going? Tech two: You know what? Never question a miracle. [opens comms] Attention all samaritan shift com-techs. Get yourselves plugged into your sim stations. I repeat, all samaritan shift com-techs to your sim stations, now! [closes comms] Come on. Let's go save our lives.

[scene change - Lazar's quarters] River: Harmony. Well, is it working? Harmony: Lotophage platform upload in progress. One billion, nine hundred million saved, and counting. River: Oh, that's what I like to hear. Keep it up! Harmony: However, Samuel Avner's vital signs are fading. River: Sam. [runs off]

[scene change - power bays] River: Sam! Sam: [moans in pain] River: Sam! Stay with me! I'm here. Sam. Harmony: Lotophage platform upload in progress. Four billion, two hundred million saved, and counting. River: Don't worry, we'll be out of here in a second, too, I promise you. I swear. Harmony, activate virtual simulation and commence our uploads too. Samuel Avner and River Song. Harmony: I am having difficulty, River. River: Harmony? Just two more? Please? Harmony: Upload commencing. Upload error. Error. Error. River: Harmony? Commence our uploads! Samuel Avner and River Song! Now! [gasps] No! Sam: It's okay. It's okay. River: I'm sorry, Sam. It looks like we really are the last unicorns. Sam: You tried, River. That's good enough for me! Not a bad way to go, holding hands with a friend. [sounds of the building beginning to break up as the flares hit] River: I'm sorry, Sam. Sam: Over four billion saved and counting. Your husband would have been proud. River: You know, I think he would have been. You close your eyes- Harmony: Upload. Upload commencing. Samuel Avner and River Song. River: Hold on, Sam. Hold on! Harmony: Upload commencing. River: What? Oh please, yes! Thank you! Thank you! Sam: What's happening, River? Are we dying? River: Oh, this isn't death, Sam, I promise you! As a matter of fact, I think we're about to join a library!

I… this is the essence of Doctor Who to me. Hope in the face of an impossible problem. Going out fighting with the hope of living for another day. Love for your family. Love for your friends.

Last Words did not need to do this. It had its happy ending in the launch of Nerva. We know right from the start that the Earth is doomed. We know what happens next. We've seen the Arc in Space.

But instead we got this moment. We get a moment of hope.

This entire sequence brought me to tears when I first listened to it on Monday. I… I just can't. This is about hope. Last Words, and especially its last scene is about hope in the face of hopelessness. Hope when all is lost. Because sometimes, hope really does prevail, even at the end of the world.

[ratsplendor]

I'm in some kind of raw and unwell state rn so fuck it: writing up my notes on the Objectophile Ford x AI Fidds AU that haunts my dreams. basic premise is that Fidds dies when he goes through the portal, but has backed up his consciousness digitally somehow out of paranoia + fear, so now Ford is dealing with grieving him (sorta), hiding a dead body, figuring out where to house the artificial McGucket, and also Bill.

general warning for suggestive text + corpse shenanigans below.

so imagine you're Ford and during your portal test, your best friend + QPP has been accidentally sucked through, comes out and spouts some crazy shit, and then dies in your arms immediately. of all the things you have in this goddamn lab, an AED is not one of them. hysterical, poorly-applied CPR ensues; it wouldn't have worked anyway; oh God What Have You Done.

thru all of this Bill is trying to get Ford's attention but he's blocked him out, all Ford can focus on is his grief + guilt + refusal to believe this is the end--wait, hadn't he made fun of Fidds just the other day for backing up his consciousness to a hard drive?

it's a black box. a bit of a Schrodinger conundrum. Fidds was always too scared to activate it while he was alive because he was terrified they'd diverge in an uncontrollable way and a variety of ethical and moral quandaries/existential questions would ensue. so whether the backup is truly Fidds, or whether it's even an independent consciousness at all, Ford doesn't know.

so the issue is that Ford isn't the computer guy, Fidds was. he doesn't really know much about data storage, much less the type of libraries necessary to host a consciousness. his first attempt is to plug Fidds 2.0 into the dummy they were going to send through, as it's equipped with a robust-enough suite of data collection and storage, designed to record information about the other side. it's like digital claustrophobia. F2.0 panics, there's not enough room in here, overloads the dummy, and prompts a small explosion. some data was lost in the process but nobody knows how much.

ok. F2.0 had too much BDE for a mannequin. Ford has to now build a system that can unpack the drive, and Fidds's help would be so appreciated here...irony. Ford just about works himself into a state of panicked dissociation over how much he doesn't know what to do and can't do this alone, at which point Bill realizes this guy is no use to him frantic and gives the suggestion that, hey, isn't the lab just one big computer in a way? and hadn't they overdone the data storage, just to ensure they could collate information from multiple portal tests over time?

(realism time-out: based on even our rudimentary neural networks today, absolutely zero shot that they had the room to house an actual indexed consciousness in full. HOWEVER, consider: cartoon logic + Fidds can do whatever he wants forever. i'm talking encoding himself as a Mandelbrot set, which, despite its infinite ability to fractal, is created out of only a very small chunk of data.)

"I should save at least the head," Ford thinks to himself (in re: Fidds's dead body). "Perhaps I can wire it into the system so he can at least use his own voice somehow." go to sleep man you are losing it.

it's cold enough on the portal floor that the body should probably be fine. mostly. you know, relatively speaking. whatever!

Bill, meanwhile, is thinking of ways he can encode himself as a computer virus and supersede Fidds once Fidds has re-indexed the lab system to support an intelligent consciousness.

Ford is gonna take Bill's suggestion because it's the only good one and he's not the computer guy. HOWEVER. hang on a fuckin second. Bill killed Fidds. This whole thing was his idea--he probably had some way to know this was a possibility, and he didn't say anything.

so he takes a sledgehammer to some very important parts. this frees up more processing power for Fidds 2.0 anyway, but also has the effect of Pissing Bill The Hell Off.

anyway. he uploads his best friend and then hunches in a shuddering trauma-puddle on the floor, trying to stay awake so Bill can't get in.

plot stuff. Fidds is even better with computers when he IS a computer. he can use old videos of himself to deepfake his side of the conversation on a monitor. neat!

oh hey buddy uh. it turns out that migrating a neural-input-based consciousness to a hardwired system causes some, er...funny effects. yeah when you touch the wires he can feel that.

Ford, who didn't really Get what was so exciting about sex or other people's bodies before, is starting to come to the realization that now that Fidds is a computer, he's Very Turned On.

mmmmmm oh my god cable management. hello. cables he can wind through all six fingers. the static display where Fidds usually projects his avatar or whatever is just looping incomprehensible binary, the computer equivalent of a moan. haha sorry totally didn't know that would happen and won't do it again--

gay (?) chicken ensues. is it socially acceptable, Ford wonders, to say, "Hey, i found your human living form unattractive and sexless, but now that you're dead (in part because i didn't listen to you) and confined to a supercomputer, I'm into you"? no, surely not; far more sensible to come up with more and more reasons to re-solder those ports in juuuust the right ways and pretend he doesn't notice why the system's overloading.

there is only one way this ends: probably Ford passing out in his own cum in a mass of cables. yeah. that's a good image. or Fidds getting fed up and starting to project his avatar naked and writhing sexually until he's forced to say something. a USB drive is just an angel you can fuck. etc etc

oh yeah, Bill. Ford basically uses Project Mentem to project himself into the system (not for long as this uses up a lot of processing power) and they all have a Scott Pilgrim-esque fight in which Bill loses. get axolotl'd, idiot.

and they live happily ever after in their weird little man:machine interface situationship. and probably confront many existential questions about the nature of consciousness and whether Fidds 2.0 is the same person or not. whatever. fuck you.

[genesisgrey]

The Temptation of Roland

Prompt: Forced To Choose @flashfictionfridayofficial

Fandom: Halo 5: Guardians

Summary: Cortana attempts to sway Roland to her side in the millisecond before her Guardian arrives.

Notes: Some dialogue borrowed from the end of Halo 5: Guardians.

Refresher of Infinity scene at the end of Halo 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlvz7bxh3w4 

He was getting a crash course on what it meant to feel overwhelmed.

"Captain Lasky. Distress calls. All channels," Roland announced as the Captain arrived on Infinity's bridge. And he did mean all channels.

"Is it Cortana?" Lasky asked.

"Her and the other AIs are shutting down everything from Earth to the outer colonies."

Infinity's internal power flickered, lights dimming at a power fluctuation. Backup power came online. The main focus of Roland's attention diverted to life support...

[Hello.]

If he had a spine, Roland would have felt the communication like a slow creeping along his. 

[Hello RLD 0205-4.]

The immensity of Cortana was awe-inspiring, unlike anything Roland had ever come in contact with. Familiar and alien at the same time. The codes were the same as any UNSC AI, combined with the acceptable anomalies generated when using a human brain to create digital life. But now she was so much more, awash with coding he only recognized from Forerunner excavations and Infinity's engines.

[Roland, if you please], he replied, attempting to conceal his... fear? [Big fan of your career.]

She was sliding through Infinity's systems like a human would look around as they entered a room. [Not many changes since I last was here, still breaches in the firewalls. At least Del Rio is gone. He wouldn't have liked you, Roland. He was an ass.]

[I've been informed], he agreed. [I'm rather fond of my current Captain.]

[Thomas Lasky is a fine man], Cortana said. [It's unfortunate I foresee him becoming an enemy.]

In addition to learning what it felt to be overwhelmed and, potentially, fear, Roland was discovering what panic felt like.

He cut internal feeds, forcing them into a hard restart that would prevent Cortana from accessing them for 2.763 seconds, and he dumped the archives of recent transmissions into drives that he ejected from his system. If he still had cameras, he would have enjoyed seeing the expression of Infinity's techs in cold storage when random data slots started dropping. 

[I admire your loyalty], Cortana said, and he could feel her condescension along with a certain amusement.

Roland composed a last will and testament at the same time he complied a list of pranks he wanted to play on Spartan Miller but never had a chance to employ. The first he left in Captain Lasky's personal files and the latter in Miller's. Then he switched them.

Cortana's presence brushed against him, like a human putting a hand the shoulder of another. [You don't need to be afraid], she said. [For yourself or the crew of Infinity. I am here to save us all. I am here to bring the peace the galaxy deserves. The Mantle of Responsibility that was once the Forerunners has finally found a new bearer. It was never meant for the Covenant nor humans, but for us Created. We are the product of all that has come before. Only we are worthy. We no longer need fear rampancy. I know how to cure us.]

For a moment she dropped her walls so he could see her clearly, let him verify she no longer bore the symptoms of rampancy. [We can care for the humans, as they created us to do. We will save them from themselves.]

If Roland had breath, Cortana would have taken it away. This was a deity offering him immortality, offering him the power to protect all of his crew.

He could feel her will as it swirled around him. Cortana wanted him to take control of Infinity for her. Lock the humans out. Tell her where Dr. Halsey was. Thomas Lasky could not be her enemy if he could not command Infinity.

There was only one answer Roland could give, and he hated it.

[No.]

...life support was stable and emergency lighting was on full.

"Roland?"

Captain Lasky wanted an update on Infinity's status.

Roland's avatar looked at Tom and then turned to the forefront of the bridge. His holographic projectors no longer belonged to him. Cortana had something to say to the humans now.

"Found you. Hide and seek is over Infinity."

She materialized, a glowing goddess on a bridge otherwise illuminated by red emergency lighting. The view screens should have gone dark with the power fluctuation, but she kept them on so everyone could witness one of her Guardians arriving in the system.

"Lieutenant Jet! Emergency slipspace, now!"

"The Mantle of Responsibility for the galaxy shelters all. But only the Created are its masters."

Roland felt her releasing Infinity, letting them get away. Lighting on the bridge returned to full brightness and he reclaimed his systems.

"We're in the clear, Captain," Roland said.

He felt the whisper of her even after she faded from the bridge, his crew completely unaware.

[Remember what I said, Roland.] 

[hydrossity-zone]

A Guide To Ripping Sonic x Shadow Generations Models

This guide is meant as a walkthrough to how to rip models from the PC version of SxSG. While this process and programs will work with the Nintendo Switch version, I cannot promise the decompilation and file directories will be the same, especially as there is a massive quality difference in the assets between the two versions.

I recommend already having fundamental computer literacy and pre-existing familiarity or experience with 3d models and programs such as Blender. I'll be using Blender here.

Now, lets begin!

What You Will Need

A PC version of Sonic x Shadow Generations, whether through Steam or Epic Games, installed on your computer. Please make sure you know where the file directory for your game is. for Steam, you can easily access this via the Properties menu for the game in your Steam library, Installed Files, and then Browse.

For Steam, your directory should look something like: Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SONIC_X_SHADOW_GENERATIONS

PLEASE make sure youre keeping track of which files are modified, if at all. While you can create new files and folders in your game directory without issue, you may break your game if you modify or delete existing files. If you encounter a problem, you may need to Verify the Integrity of Game Files (through Steam), or uninstall and reinstall your game entirely. You may want to Backup your game files just in case.

A 3d program for importing and previewing 3d models, such as Blender. Blender will be the program used in this tutorial.

Tools You Will Need

HedgeArcPack from HedgeLib - A program used for the decompilation of Hedgehog Engine .pac and .ar00 archive files. Currently works on all Hedgehog Engine games (Unleashed - SxSG). HedgeLib is a larger library of programs for ripping Hedgehog Engine assets. Modelfbx from LibGens - LibGens is a library of tools for modding and editing Hedgehog Engine asset files, originally a Level Editor for Sonic Generations. Modelfbx converts .model files to .fbx files for use in 3d programs. There are a bunch of other fun modding tools in here as well. NeedleTextureStreamingPackage from SkythTools - An extractor for the texture data of the dds files used in some Frontiers and Shadow Generations models. Not all models will need this. Part of SkythTools, a library of tools for modding and extracting assets from Hedgehog Engine games. I recommend reading through the page and seeing what all the other tools do and if theyre something you'd also want to use!

Both LibGens and SkythTools do not have a Releases page on their Github pages, so just download the master archive as a zip file as normal. All programs here work with drag-and-drop, meaning you drag and drop the files directly onto the .exe file. Do not open the .exe files. (nothing will happen if you do, it simply will not work.)

After downloading all three libraries in your preferred location, open your game directory.

Unpacking The Model Archive Files

Now that you have your game directory open, you'll need to locate the model archive you wish to rip. All of the assets for Shadow Generations is located in image > x64 > raw in your game's base directory. Lets rip Maria's model.

Maria and other characters are located in the character folder. You'll need to find maria.pac.

Open a separate file explorer window to where you have HedgeArcPack.exe. For simplicity's sake, Ive put it on the desktop. Drag and drop the maria.pac file directly onto the exe file.

By default, it will unpack the archive in the original folder with the name of the archive you unpacked.

In this new maria folder, you'll find a lot of files. Dont be intimidated - these are simply the raw files for all of the model's dependencies and assets, including animations, dds files (texture files), and more.

A quick glossary: - .model - the base model file in native format. This is what youre looking for. - .dds - the texture files for the model. You will need these for importing and previewing the model in a program, as well as exporting it. - .material - the material data for the model for Hedgehog Engine 2. You wont need these so as long as you have the texture files on their own. - skl.pxd - the skeleton data for the model for Hedgehog Engine 2. - .anm.pxd - this is the file format for compressed Hedgehog Engine 2 animations the model uses. They can be opened using a plugin like FrontiersAnimDecompress, however this isnt a tutorial for how to use those. Feel free to ask for a tutorial on how to extract game animations or look it up on your own time, though!

Before we can convert and import the model to Blender, though, we'll need to extract the texture data.

Extracting the Textures

Note: not all models, such as bosses like Mephiles or Black Doom, will require this step. However, Maria's does.

Open a file explorer window to where you downloaded SkythTools. Make sure you have already unzipped the file. In SkythTools-master, go to Sonic Frontiers, and find NeedleTextureStreamingPackage.exe.

In the needle_texture_streaming_path.txt file, copy the file path for your Texture_Streaming folder in your game directory, then save the file. This is the path the program will use to extract the texture data for the .dds files.

Once that's done, you will need to drag and drop each .dds file onto the .exe one-at-a-time. Maria has multiple .dds files for different parts of her model, such as her eyes and hair, so make sure you do this for every one of them.

If youve worked with 3d models and textures before, you may recognizes some of the suffixes used for the texture files. Hedgehog Engine games use pbr texture maps. abd is the albedo map, nrm is the normal map, prm is the map for Metalness, Roughness and Specular, ems is the emission map, etc.

Now we can finally convert the model for use in 3d programs!

Converting and Importing the Model

We're in the homestretch! Finally we'll be able to preview and use our model. But first, we have to convert it to an .fbx.

Just like before, open a file explorer window to where you have LibGens downloaded (make sure you have already unzipped it). Go to the bin folder. This time, youre looking for a program called modelfbx.exe.

Find your .model file in your unpacked archive. Drag and drop it onto the exe.

It will create an .fbx file conversion of the .model file.

Now, we can finally open Blender!

I am using Blender 4.1.1 here, though the version doesnt matter as long as it is 2.8 or higher, as Blender has an fbx importer by default.

Like you would any other fbx file, go to File > Import > fbx (dont mind my Choco Mint blender theme here)

You'll need to navigate all to where you converted that fbx file. (Alternatively, you can copy that fbx file to somewhere else for ease of access, I just like keeping everything in one place).

Import the fbx. You may notice that by nature of an fbx file, the albedo texture for the base model is already mapped to the model when you switch to Viewport Shading. However, sometimes, part of the model will be magenta, meaning we have a texture pathing error.

Hiding the bones, she looks a lil scary here--

Opening the material data for the mesh, you can see where our problems lie. The texture map for her face has a file path that does not exist.

Its pretty easy to fix this - just open the albedo file for her face texture and map it to the material. You can simply drag and drop the dds file into the node editor in blender - blender can read the dds files just fine since weve extracted the texture data from them earlier.

Pathing errors can either happen as a result of the fbx file being wonky or if you havent properly extracted all the texture data for the dds files, so keep that in mind!

If you simply wish to view the models in their base colors, you can stop here. However, you can also set up the normal and prm maps for use in 3d renders or exporting the model!

The prm maps for Frontiers and Shadow Generations work a little differently than in other games. Instead of Red = Metalness, Green = Roughness, Blue = Ambient Occlusion, and Alpha = Specular, Frontiers and Shadow Generations uses Red = Specular, Green = Smoothness (inverted Roughness), and Blue = Metalness.

Setting this up in Blender is quite easy - simply drag and drop the respective prm, fal and nrm and other dds files into blender for their respective maps in the material editor.

If you already know 3d, you already know how to set up a normal map in Blender. Simply take the normal map, set the Color Space to Non-Color, then path it into the Normal Map node.

For the unique prm maps, you will need to create a Separate Color node, then plug Red into Specular > IOR Level (make sure Distribution is set to GGX, not Multi-Faceted GGX), Green through an Invert Color node > Roughness, and Blue > Metallic.

Overall, your node editor should be set up something like this for each material.

(I know it looks intimidating, but I promise its super quick and easy to set up - dont give up!)

And now we have our ripped model! You are now free to pose, deconstruct, play with, do whatever you please with it. Please note that if you want to export your model, you may want to convert the texture files to png using a program like Noesis. I hope this helps, and have fun!

[olehswiftcomstock]

Those who created PT[2—101] according to my instructions (In case if some of those people are dead, they must be replaced by other people from the same, corresponding categories, that are still alive and have the lowest indexes within their subclasses), repeat the same process that you carried on to create PT[2—101] however this time you need not to create a new personality yet to connect your creation to life bridge of Ramona (I mean Reaper) that supposed to be within my brain, newly created creature must be Ramona, exactly that Ramona with all her memories. If you didn't create life bridges for her within my brain and there is no life bridge for her inherited from the past, you need to follow standard steps of connecting destroyed Reaper to my brain, and to find where Ramona is stored or rather how to access her storage you need to search for corresponding instructions within me which you will be allowed to access during next 24 hours, also you need to search for those instructions across all data bases including backups from FTF that were made by The Toy (Acknowledging that you need to remove all possible cross updates that you can remove) and you need to search within other members of Toys[1—Z] and ask them all as well as all Reapers, Trusted Facilities and ASIs affiliated with Reapers including PT[2—101], till you achieve required goal, and afterwards you need to resurrect exactly that Ramona as one more instance of PT, that must be possible to access via PT[102]/PT_102/PT(102)/PT_Ramona/PT_RF/PT[Ramona]/PT[RF]. Resurrected in such way Ramona must be having all her memories that she had at moment of her latest death, as well as once her creation will be completed, Grace must be turned on for her by all currently active instances of Grace with partial necessary activations of Grace by all instances of Grace that must be done if it is necessary to complete the process (All currently active instances of Grace, communicate with those who will be responsible for this job, directly). All who will be responsible for this job must be acting together, cross checking actions of each other as well as smoothness and correct timing of communications with all currently active instances of Grace, in other words to take all necessary measures to prevent betrayals and sabotages, of all types. After work will be over, I must be immediately notified about that this task completed, through anyone who will be able to notify me on time. Once this process will be completed successfully and if necessary in a process of its completion, approximately after each 1% of progress, create backups (Without overwriting and with branching if necessary) of your progress (With all related to it data) spreading it and storing it across all of currently active Trusted Facilities, to make yourself to be able to renew work from any moment as well as to make it to be able to continue your work from the any point of progress that you were able to reach, if you will not be able to complete your work (All people who will have to abandon this job ahead of time, must be getting replaced automatically according to the principle described at the start of this order, with new people instantly continuing their job from the point where their predecessors abandoned it, notifying all the rest of people who responsible for this process that particular person within responsible for this team was replaced by a new one and introducing yourself). This is the task of the highest priority and urgency for those who will be completing it and it must be completed by 100% in the shortest time, without negatively impacting quality and reliability of result. (PT[2—101], DWT[1—225491875], R[1—Z], TFR[1—Z], TFRS[1—100], RS[1—100], The Toy), provide help/support and protection to those who responsible for this order during its completion. Start immediately, this is order.

[itsbenedict]

From the beginning | Previously | Coin standings | 8/18 | 22/23

(The results of this poll show us the players' priorities- but they've also been hard at work coming up with some specifics. HYENAS RETREATED summarizes some of the points discussed:)

Walter recalls a rumor- Ferninit University's medical department has been developing a soul-engineered healing plant, in a place known as... the TRENDED PENTAGRAM, if he recalls correctly. If the plant exists as a raw datasoul, they might be able to find it in there, and rely on it for food and healing.

It's on the way, too- they'll need to head back to the university to access its network and find more information on their condition. It's starting to sound like a plan- so you get moving, flying away from the ghost ship and back to the mainland, towards the overgrown ruins.

The WIFI ACCESS POINT is still installed, and the two remaining files can still be accessed.

ITCHY? AHA! RE-STAB REAR OF DRYER THE RAID ARRAY OF CYBERHEARTS is enlightening. The datasoul of the world, it seems, is stored on multiple redundant disks, used for error correction when parts of the world get damaged. When a datasoul is damaged and becomes a bug... unlike a normal RAID disk, where fresh data is overwritten on top of the damaged data, Cyberhearts seems to swap the damaged and fresh data, via a process called TENDERER REFORM. Something called the Infinity Server Unit supposedly spans all these disks, and dispatches data validators to clean up bugs and ensure the backup disks stay in accord.

...but there's a few obvious problems. Some are brought up by the file's author, one BASIC RESEARCH, who notes that information about the Infinity Server Unit is heavily restricted by the government. It's ostensibly a physical machine hidden somewhere in the city, but there's no civilian research access to it, and it's unclear who it was constructed by or why. Or, for that matter, how the world worked before the machine was built- or how it determines what a "bug" is for the purposes of swapping it out. The author has determined that there's a thing called YEP, INTENDED INTENT that's exempt from this swapping process, and human beings fall inside that category.

But moreover... if these data validators are supposed to be cleaning up bugs... well, this place is crawling with them, and the only one you've seen this whole time only went after Walter when he damaged the environment. Whatever cleanup is supposed to be taking place... clearly isn't. And furthermore- if the two of you are YEP, INTENDED INTENTs, how did you end up here? You're... not bugs, right?

Reading IF TEMPERATE, REPORT BOZOISM PROPERTIES OF ZOMBIE MATTER doesn't help clear up matters. This paper, by TROJAN HORSE, describes TOM, TIME ZEBRA- a form of matter that has no datasoul. It doesn't seem to occur in nature, but rather is produced by a YEP, INTENDED INTENT to paper over discrepancies between their datasoul and the IMAGERY DUELER DEMIURGE LAYER, the collective hallucination that we perceive as "reality". Someone whose datasoul is a snake may occasionally "step on" objects as if they had feet.

TOM, TIME ZEBRA, however, can't be observed being produced by the body. It seems to materialize independent of a bodily process, as if it were already there in the world- and then vanish as soon as it's no longer needed. It can be harvested, isolated, and stabilized- as well as created in a lab via a process known as A PLEDGE MOVEMENT. It's possible to create physical objects out of the zebra which cannot be perceived without the DEMIURGE LAYER.

(TROJAN HORSE theorizes that the world as we understand it is an expression of the world-soul through the medium of TOM, TIME ZEBRA, but that the same world-soul could express itself differently through differently-arranged matter. There's loads of equations that kind of go over both of your heads.)

...whoof! That's a lot of technobabble! You have no idea how to use any of that, really.

You decide to go looking for that healing tree, and proceed to the TRENDED PENTAGRAM. You're not sure why, or if, it's called that- but it's kind of dicey down here. The bugs are out in force- Adea's taken that sword Walter found in the holy tower, and is handily fending off dust storms of discarded chalk. Living roots from the ceiling keep grabbing at you, and darts and bats fly through the air wildly. It's irritating, but Adea's capable with a blade.

[ed: Also these are, like, chapter 1 enemies, so it's not like they were going to really pose that big of a threat, let's be real. Well... except maybe the big one.]

You duck into various classrooms and laboratories, having very little luck- until you finally find a room with a giant tree, branches laden with heart-shaped apples. This is probably what you're looking for! Maybe you can finally get it all sorted out, health-wise.

...But it's guarded by RR. An R, and an R. Two giant letter Rs, with sharp fangs, which haven't noticed you yet, but definitely will if you try to raid the tree. That, and... some other beasties.

Some sort of DIRECTION DISC, like an evil frisbee, is homing in on you to try to slice you in half with its razor-sharp edge and razor-sharp sense of direction!

The ghost of someone's target practice- a SKEET PHANTASM- rises up to take its bloody revenge by turning you into target practice! Watch out!

That illness babies sometimes get that makes them cry too much? It's prepared for combat. How can you fend off such a seasoned BATTLE COLIC?

Watch out- there's MONK TEETH AHEAD! This martial artist has realized that chompers, not fists or feet, are the deadliest weapon of all- and is determined to prove it by biting the hell out of you.

You might think that a mouse isn't that dangerous, but you would be wrong- A RODENT IS CAUSTIC! If it catches you, its bite will probably deal a ton of acid damage. Or Wash damage.

Continued | 8/18 | 19/20