#how to pack hardware product

[bestarrachel]

Vertical packing machine manual feeding for hardware products

This versatile packaging system combines manual loading with automated bag forming and sealing, offering flexible packaging for various products and quantities. Key Features: Step-platform design for comfortable operator access Adaptable sealing system handles diverse bag dimensions Hand button control enables safety and correc operation Operation Process: Operator places product in bag former entrance Machine automatically forms/seals the pouch Finished bags discharge smoothly Design Advantages: ✓ Ergonomic workstation reduces fatigue ✓ Clear safety guarding maintains protection ✓ Open access for easy material loading Ideal for: • Hardware components • Irregularly shaped products

[nerdygirlramblings]

cw: poorly executed accents, technological inaccuracies

previous

Over the week between Laswell requesting you go off your scent blockers and the charity event, the barracks slowly carries lingering traces of sun-ripened berries and arid soil, your natural scent. The team is entranced. It hasn't escaped any of them how well your scent compliments theirs. You and Gaz smell like all the best parts of springtime. Simon's sharp acidic scent is tempered by your sweetness. When you and Soap are together, it's hard not to picture seaside picnics. And when Price is in the room with you, the others are remembering crisp, cozy autumn days.

Your natural scent grows as the blockers work their way out of your system, as does your control over it. "How'd ya learn that, Ren?" Price asks one night, back to you as he stirs his tea. As soon as you picked up on his steps, the strawberry sweetness in the air decreased.

The couch creaks as you shift to face him, turning away from the dossiers on the low table in front of you. "After I presented, Dad used ta pull me inta the kitchen for lessons. He told me ta picture my scent like the dials on an equalizer. Taught me how I could ground myself ta turn the volume down on any particular smell. Especially how I could dampen things like fear. And, of course, how to project certain scents."

Your eyes leave his face, looking at the wall instead. "Being an omega in the service is hard, so I used the blockers because conscious scent manipulation takes a bunch of energy, and I wanted ta focus my energy on the job." You drop your voice and whisper, "And I didn't want ta spend all my energy on something that essentially soothed an alpha's ego."

He comes over and sits with you. "Well, if ya choose, after this op, ya don't need ta go back on 'em. Ya don't gotta protect me and Ghost." He grins and bumps your shoulder, and if he's hoping that you off your blockers means the pack can have a proper scenting, he gives nothing away.

The night of the op finds you in a fancy hotel room somewhere in St. James, several floors above the charity event. You're set up into adjoining rooms: one for you and one for the rest of the team. The other room will serve as the communication hub while you and Gaz - because Price saw how your scent was affecting Soap, the doe eyes he turned on you when you weren't paying attention, and didn't trust him to be able to focus on the op if he were at your side - go to the auction to find Arella.

You'd gone shopping with Adam several days before, under Kate's orders to get appropriate attire. The dress he put you in is more extravagant than anything you would ever have selected, but after a few quick photos to Kate who deemed it perfect, it was off the rack and in your hands. Strapless with a fitted bodice with enough structure to hold you and a skirt that flowed like water, except because it's steel grey, it moves more like liquid metal. There's a sizable slit, up to your thigh but is mostly hidden in the folds of silky fabric, which allows you quick access to the tiny holster you strapped there.

Fashion was never something you were interested in, so Adam took it upon himself to find some simple YouTube makeup tutorials, then made sure you had all the necessary products. You were annoyed about the hassle with the makeup, so Adam made sure the hair tutorial was simple yet elegant and didn't require a mountain of products to pull off.

Though you were going in without scent blockers, Kate didn't plan to risk you, even with the support of a beta, to an alpha's teeth. She had Adam buy the most intricate collar necklace you'd ever seen. Geometrically structured with metal rods, it seemed more like a piece of art than a piece of jewelry. When you draped it across your neck and collarbone, it prevented an alpha from getting his teeth on your scent gland but still allowed you to project your scent unencumbered.

Being undercover didn't allow for the traditional communication hardware, so the boys had come up with an ingenious pair of earrings whose large geometric wrap both matched the necklace and served as an earpiece. They also fitted a mic into the structure of your necklace. The whole task force would be with you all night.

When you finish getting dressed and fixing both hair and makeup to the best of your ability to follow Adam's selected videos, you knock on the door between the room you'd been assigned and where the rest of your pack task force is preparing. You need both your escort and your comms before you head for the lift.

An hour later and you're on your second circuit of the room, Gaz at your elbow, holding your drink. There will be some expectation to drink while you're here, but Price had taught you ways to make it look like you were drinking or as though you did not need a refill during those trainings at the pubs around base. Static crackles in your ear and you hear Price's baritone come through as if he were standing beside you. You've practiced not reacting when the comms go off, but you're still a little startled. "No sign of Arella yet, but Spinner's on the far side a' the room, left a' the bar but looking out on the dance floor."

Neither you nor Gaz is in a position to see him, so Gaz lightly takes your hand and guides you toward the balcony door with a hand low on your back. It allows you both to get quick glimpses of the man, older, polished, and with a petite blonde dressed in ice white standing very close. Though you're too far to see any potential mating mark, she's wearing a collar necklace not dissimilar to yours.

"I think Spinner's got an omega with him," you say. "I might be able ta get information from her if I get her alone. "

"Appreciate the initiative, Ren," price rumbles, "but she's not our priority. Technically, neither's Spinner, but it's good ta keep eyes on 'im just in case." He pauses momentarily before coming over the comms again with, "Not going ta tell ya not to talk ta her if the situation arises, but stay on mission."

"Copy that, Captain," you respond.

Waiting for Arella gets frustrating especially as you watch people continually approach Spinner, who's taken up residence at a high top table on the outskirts of the party. You snatch the champagne flute from Gaz's hand and quickly tip the contents back. Squaring your shoulders, you look at him and say, "Dance wi' me." For a moment all he does is look at you, and you can't read the emotion in his eyes. You power through and tell him, "If we're dancing, we can get closer ta Spinner's table and pick up snatches of conversation. "

Pulling back, you search his face. "I know ya've got the hardware on yer phone ta clone Arella's device with some prolonged exposure, but is it possible fer it ta pick up short bursts a' data off other phones it's near?"

Gaz looks at you in awe. "Ren, that's brilliant! Cap, ya hear that suggestion?"

"Affirmative," Price replies, "but I'll be damned if I understand it."

"Just get the systems on yer end ready fer a massive data dump. It's gunna be fragmentary. Laswell's analysts are gunna have a hell of a time going through it. We may need ta send them some whiskey and good cigars, but honestly, if this pans out even a little bit, we'll be able to get a ton a' information on the kinds of people Spinner's meeting with. Maybe Arella's is not the only one who's dirty."

Once they get to go ahead from Price, Gaz pulls you close and takes to the dance floor. You'd learned how to dance once, long ago, but it's clear this man is trained. He waltzes you through the crowd near to the edge where Spinner's settled, and you hope to hell this idea works.

next

an: this is sort of what I envisioned for Ren's necklace, but more modernist straight lines

series masterlist | main masterlist

~~

taglist: @sirbonesly @z-wantstowrite @thriving-n-jiving @cecelia97 @theycallmevalen @boogeysmoth @cryingpages @riley13 @luxylucylou @lucienofthelakes @ilyztwo @chaosundcoffee @lostintransist @thegreyjoyed @honestlymassivetrash @thebumbqueen @maliamaiden @mordacioust @bina-passion-fruit @kittygonap @wanderingoperator @ghost-is-my-bbg @wolfbc97

[therainscene]

[ST5 spoilers ahead. This theory is largely grounded in canon evidence from S1-4, but I will be referencing a couple of old S5 leaks below the cut.]

Stranger Things is a show that delights in escapist fantasy; it's packed with nostalgic references and celebrates the protagonists' love of gaming in order to remind us that we don't need to abandon our childhood interests just because we grew up.

But escapism is a double-edged sword that all too easily turns into an unhealthy coping mechanism, and boy is this show also one that delights in the horror of unhealthy coping mechanisms.

I reckon they'd be missing a trick if these opposing themes didn't crash into one another for the final season.

Vecna seems to be motivated by a desire to help the kids he targets -- he wipes away their tears, he reassures them that their suffering will be over soon -- but he also barely seems to notice or care that he's just making the suffering worse. Which is exactly the attitude you'd expect from a villain who personifies the urge to turn to shitty coping mechanisms.

Since S5 is going to focus on Will's coming-of-age, then whatever Vecna is up to must resonate with Will's worst coping mechanisms.

What better fit for Will "wants to sit in the basement playing games for the rest of his life" Byers than a fantasy world in which everyone is forced to be a carefree kid forever while their bodies rot in the Upside Down?

Think about it: Henry wants to transform the world into something beautiful, but the world he currently seems to be ruling over is nothing of the sort -- is a cold and barren facsimile of Hawkins populated with monsters really Henry's idea of beauty?

Doesn't it make more sense for the Upside Down/Mind Flayer to simply be the hardware that helps him run his simulation of something more relatable -- an idyllic vision of the childhood he wishes he had, populated with all the kids he oh-so benevolently rescued from the fate worse than death that is wake up, eat, work, sleep, reproduce, and wait for it all to be over?

-------------------

We know for a fact that one of S5's episodes is titled Escape from Camazotz -- a reference to the misleadingly idyllic world from A Wrinkle in Time -- and leaked BTS photos from last year show Henry hanging out with a Hawkins child at a mysteriously pristine Creel house.

It's promising, but I'm not a huge fan of using leaks as evidence. They always come devoid of context, and even difficult-to-fake things like BTS photos could be staged by production to throw fans off the scent -- so what does the canon suggest?

One possible hint is that the Upside Down has consistently borrowed imagery from The Matrix throughout the seasons:

But more importantly, this theory is thematically consistent with what we currently know about Will in S1: while trapped in the Upside Down, he retreated to Castle Byers (his escapist safe space), and that's where he was caught, dragged to the library (another escapist space), and plugged into the vines that connect him directly to Vecna.

It's also subtly implied by Will's behaviour in S3 that part of him wants Vecna to succeed: he sticks with El after realizing Vecna is back, despite knowing full well that being able to spy on Vecna means Vecna can also spy on him; and he makes a suspiciously helpful-to-Vecna suggestion about how the party should go about investigating the monster of the week:

Could Will be under Vecna's control here? Perhaps. But I think this is a choice he's making of his own volition.

Consider: At one point Will destroys Castle Byers in a fit of grief that his childhood is over, and this just so happens to be the same scene in which he becomes certain that Vecna has returned.

He has to grow up and face the horrible truth that he's gay and broken and in love with a boy who can't possibly love him back and he does not want to deal with this -- wouldn't he do anything in that moment to find a way to escape back into childhood? Is this not the perfect moment for a seductive voice in his head to start whispering offers?

Bargaining is one of the five stages of grief, after all.

But then, so is acceptance. Will isn't walking the path of villainy here; he's at the temptation stage of his hero's journey.

S4 took him far away from Hawkins and allowed him to work through some of his feelings without Vecna breathing down his neck, and he comes to a very final-sounding decision about it:

He's realized that longing to sit in the basement playing silly games with his crush all day is immature and turning him (in his opinion) into a jealous asshole--

--and now that he's ripped off the band-aid with Mike he's gonna kill that underlying desire once and for all. Right?

Wrong. I mean, that's certainly what he believes at the end of S4 -- but he's still got a whole season of main character coming-of-age shit left to do in this show that delights in escapist fantasy and reminds us we don't need to abandon our childhood interests just because we grew up.

The visual similarities between the Upside Down and the Matrix aren't the only parallels between these two stories -- a theme present in both is the realization that the rules of the world you were raised in are an oppressive lie that you have the freedom to reject so long as you're brave enough to accept the truth.

Much like Neo, Will has a deeper connection to the horrors than any of its other victims (beyond Henry himself), and that connection grants him the gift of True Sight:

Stuck between the View-Master slides is how he describes it. Will can't bring himself to conform to 1980s expectations of normalcy, but he also can't bring himself to retreat into Vecna's time-frozen fantasy and hurt all of his friends.

The solution is to understand that Will's unique position doesn't mean he'll be forced to pick a side and either become a villain or sacrifice himself for the greater good: it means that like Neo he has the power to transcend the rules of false realities.

Will can defeat Vecna without castrating himself in the process, and he can play D&D in Mike's basement for the rest of his life if he wants to...

...just so long as both he and Mike are brave enough to accept the truth first.

[radiotransmissionaac]

Realistic ways of staying clean as a disabled adult

[Plain text: realistic ways of staying clean as a disabled adult.]

(TL;DR/Simplified version at the end of the post.)

See many posts share positivity and affirmation about different levels of hygiene and struggles with hygiene.

Want share realistic examples of how I keep clean as a disabled and autistic adult. (LSN (low support needs), physically disabled).

I've ordered these based on which is most energy and sensory intensive for me personally, but your own needs could make these vary.

1. Cleansing wipes/baby wipes/makeup wipes: All essentially the same product with different names. I use these during the day to keep fresh, especially areas that need cleaning more often. I keep a pack on my bathroom sink so they're visible and easily accessible. If it's particularly warm or it's been a few days without a more thorough bathing, I'll use these for my whole body in lou of that. I also do my best to remember to use these to wash my face daily.

2. Washing my hair in the sink: The biggest sensory struggle I have with being unclean is my hair and scalp. The least intensive way I have of washing my hair is doing so in the bathroom sink. I use a shower chair propped up to the height where I can comfortably lean my head into the basin. I then use the facet and a plastic jug to pour water over my hair. I have a towel over the from the the sink/vanity and sometimes my shoulders to catch any spilled water. Starting with shampoo and then conditioner, I lather and rinse my hair. I use shampoo first because it strips the oils from my hair, reducing some of the bad sensory. This was if I can only manage the shampoo and not the conditioner, my hair will stay clean for longer. This isn't the most healthy for your hair but it's what I do based on my needs.

3. Sponge bath: I fill the sink with water and use a flannel to wipe down my body. You could also use a sponge. I then lather a body/shower gel into the flannel and use it to clean myself. I then rinse out the flannel and using clean water, wipe off any soap on me.

4. Shallow bath: I fill a very shallow bath, so that it covers maybe half my legs when I sit down. Then using a plastic jug I bathe how I normally would. Sometimes this means just washing my hair, sometimes it includes part or all of my body. It depends on what is necessary and what you can tolerate. I keep a hand towel within reach so I can quickly dry off any areas that get wet that I don't want to be.

5. Regular bath: Same as above, only using a bath filled to whatever you consider a regular level, usually around torso level when sitting, or underwater when laying down.

6. Showering with a shower chair: Self explanatory. Shower how you usually would but with the aid of a shower chair. Chairs from medical supply stores are usually higher quality but much more expensive. I got mine from a big box hardware store.

General advice: - Warm water is much more likely to worsen or trigger issues with heart rate, blood pressure and temperature regulation. If these are issues for you consider bathing with lukewarm or cool water instead. - Be mindful of your sensory environment. Use dim lighting, choose soaps or shampoos with fragrances that appeal to you (or fragrance free versions), put on music or a youtube video. - You don't have to make bathing more difficult than it needs to be based on an abled standard. Use that shower chair, that sponge on a stick, that seseme street branded shampoo. - Consider a visual schedule if the steps involved with bathing are confusing or hard to remember.

TL;DR: Ways to say clean: 1. Cleansing wipes 2. Washing hair in the sink 3. Sponge bath 4. Shallow bath 5. Regular bath 6. Showering with a shower chair

General advice: - Warm water is much more likely to make heart rate, blood pressure and temperature regulation issues worse. - Think about your sensory environment. - Use things that make bathing more accessible for you. - Consider a visual schedule.

[endvertex]

Are there any psx blender tutorials that you would recommend or for you was it more of a "I just learned how to model via blender might as well make something low poly"?

Oh yeah, I actually did a lot of research on how to do PSX-style stuff. Because outside the models themselves, there's some hardware limitations unique to PS1 that give it that specific look. Some good videos on that are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvfrewlWrss and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUiyph17F3A . If you want to get into the very technical/mathematical aspects of it - Acerola just did one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y84bG19sg6U

The modeling was easier since I'm used to doing higher poly stuff, so it was just a matter of doing less. Tbh, my model and texture resolutions are higher than PS1, but I chose to play with that.

To learn how to model using limits they would have had in the PS1 era, you can reference actual PS1 models here: https://www.models-resource.com/playstation/ - You can download a bunch, bring them into Blender, and check out the poly count/texture sizes.

Reviewing assets someone else made is a good way of learning. An artist I really like who also makes tutorials on low-poly modeling and texturing is Stark Crafts on Youtube. Here's a good one where he goes through how to turn yourself into a low-poly character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D47_JIAcGIM He also has some free assets you can download and learn from here: https://starkcrafts.itch.io/

Another low poly artist I really like who has a bunch of models viewable on Sketchfab is Elbolillo - https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/6twelve-8c2c49cab08e402d8681434a4ade4ed0. I've purchased so many of his assets, and he makes a lot for free too - https://elbolilloduro.itch.io/ - definitely recommend supporting him if you can.

For texturing, there's a shader for Substance Painter that I really like called pixel8r2 - you can get it here https://actiondawg.itch.io/pixel8r2 - really speeds up the process. But if you can't afford that or don't have Substance, this is a good tutorial that does it with paint.NET which is free - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHqLn8AsN5k .

Outside of modeling and texturing, there are other aspects that give something the psx "look" - for instance vertex snapping/wobbling, affline mapping (warping of the texture itself), etc. The videos I linked in the first paragraph would go over what those things are. When I started I used this really good asset pack from Drips to dupe those things in Blender - you can buy that here - https://superhivemarket.com/products/dripspsxefx---lofi-playstation-1-effects That creator also has a channel with a tutorial on how to do the affline mapping in Blender with geo nodes here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtkkBz1ryIE

Finally, this is a (silent) tutorial from a fantastic artist who shows you how to model/texture/composite a PS1-style scene in Blender - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNgSiLOIW70 - that one is really beginner-friendly, and she shows some free add-ons for things like vertex snapping. She sells a guide on it here - https://buymeacoffee.com/dreamyrobot/e/271588

Hope this helps! :)

[generic-sonic-fan]

Team Dark Week: Control

Summary: Team Dark has an encounter with Sage. For @teamdarkweek.

1587 words, mild warning for Omega-typical gory threats

---

“Take it easy on Sage,” Sonic had said. “She’s a good kid. She just likes her dad too much.”

Shadow scoffed at the memory as he dodged the incoming lasers and the flurry of stingers. After the wasp Badniks completed their bombing run, they disappeared back behind the crest of a hill- a tactic much smarter than Shadow was used to seeing from them. The fizzle of red-black pixels in the air suggested the reason behind their improved cognition. 

Omega charged up the hill after them, swapping from his miniguns to his flamethrowers in anticipation of meeting them over the crest. Rouge flew ahead of him, bomb armed in her hand.

“Omega, back off!” She called out as she peeked over the ridgeline. 

Shadow huffed as, predictably, Omega did not listen. Just before he reached the top, a stampede of motobugs flooded towards him, knocking him over and carrying him along on their backs. 

Shadow skated after them. He blasted chaos spears into the pack, but he couldn’t thin their numbers fast enough to give Omega a chance to right himself. The static of red and black intensified in the air around him, making it more difficult for Shadow to aim his next spears. 

Suddenly, the crowd dissipated, and Shadow nearly collided with Omega as he fell down. After steadying himself, Shadow offered a hand to pull him upright, but the Ex-Badnik didn’t respond. 

“Omega?”

“Hey, what’s wrong? Where’d everybody go?” Rouge called out to him. 

Omega’s optics flickered. Once. Twice. The red-black particle effect still hung in the air. Shadow stepped back. 

Omega rose from the ground as if he’d just stepped off the Badnik production line. 

“Back off!” Shadow waved Rouge off.

Omega’s voice box let out a static shrill, before a different voice emerged from his frame. “Unnecessary.” 

Sage’s hologram emerged from Omega’s chest. 

Shadow’s blood boiled. 

“What you’ve done with this E-100 series unit is quite strange.” Sage stated, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. “Its processor is extremely disorganized. A factory reset may be necessary for it to regain its efficiency.”

“Let him go.” Shadow snarled. 

“You refer to this Badnik with he/him pronouns. Is this of its own determination?”

“Let him go!” 

“I shall update the database to reflect this.” 

Shadow glanced at Rouge, who nodded and took out her scanner. Wherever Sage was, the drone allowing her to project her hologram and exert her control this far away from the Eggnet couldn’t be far. But before she could get a reading, Sage snapped her attention to her. Omega’s arm raised from his side and reconfigured into his minigun. 

“Land immediately or I will fire.” Sage commanded. 

Rouge dropped to the ground, landing in a kneeling position beneath the tall grass.

“Well, well, what’s this? Some new trick of yours?” She stood with a smile. The scanner was nowhere to be seen. 

“Negative. I can exert control over all Robotnik hardware.” Sage replied. “You have seen me exhibit this ability numerous times. This should not surprise you.”

“Okay, let’s talk.” Rouge put her hands on her hips. “What are you going to do with Omega?”

“Unit E-123 Omega has been logged as missing in the database for three years. All units are instructed to destroy Unit E-123 Omega as long as doing so does not conflict with any other given orders.” With a flick of her hand, Sage made Omega put away his weapons. “Father did not elaborate beyond that when I inquired on the subject. I was unaware that Unit E-123 Omega made such frequent alliance with you and Shadow. I shall update the database to reflect this.”

“You’re not going to destroy him. I won't let you.” Shadow replied. 

“I only intend to capture Unit E-123 Omega. I will bring him back to father to be repaired.”

“Like hell you are!” 

“Phrasing not recognized. Are you expressing disbelief?”

“Listen, sweetheart. Here’s how this is going to go.” Rouge snapped. “You’re going to let Omega go, or I’m going to go pay your daddy a very unfortunate visit. You got that?”

“The only one who your visit will be unfortunate for is yourself. By forewarning your intent to sneak into his current base of residence, I am able to lock down all feasible methods of entry, including the ventilation system.” Sage floated closer. 

Omega’s frame shuddered. Sage flipped around and clenched her fist. More particles came off her. 

“His processor is in absolutely disarray. It is imperative that I bring him back to father to be repaired.” Her voice shook.

Omega’s frame went still again. His arms were raised from his sides, bearing his miniguns, with one pointed at each of them. 

“Please do not resist. I am sure you will see him again.” Sage said before disappearing.

Shadow spin-dashed into Omega’s frame. 

The impact knocked a swarm of red-black particles from his processor. At this, Omega’s optics regained their signature flare. He put away his miniguns and, with his own fist, he punched his head plating. 

“Where is she?” Shadow yelled to Rouge.

“I got her!” Rouge plucked the scanner from where she’d hidden it and took off in the direction of a line of trees. 

Omega’s next swing at his own head was stopped just inches away from his plating. He charged Shadow with claws extended. With a whispered “chaos control”, Shadow disappeared and delivered a kick to the back of Omega’s head. 

Another shudder. It was working.

“You are damaging Unit E-123’s processor with your attacks. Cease your hostile actions immediately to prevent further damage.” Sage said through his vocalizer. 

“Let him go!”

Shadow launched a bolt of chaos energy into Omega’s back before Sage could turn him around. The explosion knocked him forwards and he slid across the grass, which wedged stalks into every crevice of his plating. For a moment, Shadow pictured his spread of parts littered throughout the grass, rusted and forgotten. He screamed in rage. 

“It is clear this is causing you distress. Why do you continue?” Sage asked.

Shadow ran towards Omega as he tried to stand and slammed him back against the ground. 

“Stop. Stop!” Sage cried. “You are acting illogically. He is your ally, yet you are destroying him. Explain why you are acting this way!”

“Ask him, if you care!” Shadow replied, before charging another chaos spear in his palm.

“Very well.”

Omega went still. Shadow dissipated his spear. Sage’s hologram appeared once more, this time sitting on top of Omega’s back.

“He is refusing to answer my queries.”

“Then let me ask him!”

With a gesture from her hand, Omega’s voice box crackled online. 

“-WILL TEAR YOUR MAINFRAME TO PIECES AND INFECT IT WITH ORGANIC WASTE MATERIAL!” Omega screamed. “I WILL LOAD YOU INTO A KITCHEN BOT AND FORCE YOU TO WATCH AS I FEED EGGMAN HIS OWN ENTRAILS!”

“Omega, tell Sage why-.”

“I WILL SOONER DEACTIVATE THAN BECOME EGGMAN’S SLAVE!”

“You would not be a slave.” Sage replied. “Because of your advanced stage of sentience, I would advocate for-”

“You won’t be able to convince him otherwise, so let him go or I’ll be forced to destroy him.” Shadow hissed. 

“It is unfortunate that you both believe that.” Sage made a silencing motion with her hand before Omega could speak another syllable. “Shadow, I would like the opportunity to show you and him that nothing of the sort would happen.”

“Let. Him. Go.” 

“I will defend him from you. He is evidently a long lost brother of mine, and while you are also family, I will not let you destroy him. That is my warning.”

Shadow summoned a chaos spear from the burning in his chest. Its energy buffeted his quills.

“Do not-”

Sage’s hologram flickered out of existence. A cloud of red-black particles spilled from Omega’s frame, dissipating up into the sky. Shadow stepped back, though kept his aim steady.

“DO NOT FIRE.” Omega said, his voice quieter, but otherwise free from static or any other deviation. “HER CONNECTION HAS TERMINATED.”

Shadow shot the bolt into the sky, and its flash blinded them both until it dissipated. 

Rouge came flying from the trees. In her hands she held what remained from Sage’s projector drone. “Come on, boys! Let’s go before she comes back!”

Shadow pulled Omega to his feet and pushed the Ex-Badnik ahead of him. His rocket boosters shuddered, before roaring to life, and Shadow followed. Rouge led the way, although they were not following the path back to base- soon the landscape changed to orange hills and green palm trees. 

Rouge had landed and knocked on the door to the workshop before Shadow and Omega pulled alongside her. Tails opened the door with his welding mask still on his face.

“Oh, hey! Why the- oh.” He went quiet when he saw Omega. “Come on in.”

Omega pushed Rouge aside and stomped over to Tails’ computer. He found a data cable from the nearby tangle of wires and plugged himself in. He stared at Tails.

“Is he. . . feeling okay?” Tails asked Rouge.

“He needs a security update. Now.” Shadow replied. 

“Oh, hey! Didn’t see you guys come in.”

Shadow turned around to see Sonic standing in the door frame. 

“Wow, Omega, you look a little ‘grassy’, if you catch my drift.” Sonic strolled further into the workshop. 

“Take it easy on Sage. She’s a good kid.”

Shadow ignited his skates, grabbed Sonic by the arm, and slammed him against the ground before throwing him against a palm tree outside. 

[swan2swan]

The most remarkable thing about the Jurassic World trilogy is that all three movies had "Jobs". They had "Assignments". "Responsibilities." Or, rather, they had multiple jobs.

Every movie has a Requirement. They need to entertain. How they do it is basically up to them; it can be funny, horrifying, thrilling, informative, it just needs to kill two hours of a person's life in a particular way. I'm watching Mission: Impossible 6 right now, and its only job is "provide a bunch of setpieces and stunts for Tom Cruise to show off."

There's a plot, yes, it's bringing back old characters, yes, but at the end of the day, I'm watching this movie to see Tom Cruise swing from a helicopter, jump out of an airplane, and ride a motorcycle. Also, he's going to run a lot.

Jurassic World's job is to have dinosaurs chase people and smash cars and other cool pieces of hardware. Kids get into trouble and get saved, our heroes escape the dinosaurs, that's all you needed for the first three movies, too.

But the World trilogy had some...bonuses.

Jurassic Wrold had the easiest job: just be palatable to a whole new audience while being a continuation of the old one. Tell a story that says "What if the original park didn't get shut down?" while maintaining continuity and being set in the future. It's really easy. Really basic.

The second one, though, had a different job: you get the dinosaurs off of that stupid island and onto the mainland. We're not going back again. We were stuck there for three movies in the 90s and people got bored. We're not doing that again with this trilogy, so now you have a job to give this franchise a future. Blow up the island if you have to, just get them into a new environment.

Then, everyone thought Dominion's job was to spend two and a half hours dealing with these dinosaurs in our world...but that wasn't the mission at all. Dominion got saddled with the unpleasantly mandatory task of "bring back all the old cast members! We want Sam Neil! We want Alan Grant! We want Jeff Goldblum! Free Ellie!"

And, well...it did that, to the best of its abilities. A crossover between the original cast and the new cast, all jammed into one movie, working to be both philosophical and action-packed to round off the saga...and, while a lot of people didn't like it and I think the ending product could have been better, I think it did its job. Thirty years of people yearning for the original cast came to an end, Claire and Owen's stories came to a conclusion, a few new characters were introduced for spin-off potential, Rexy got one last fight, and Alan and Ellie hooked up.

It wasn't exactly pretty, but thanks to Falllen Kingdom and Dominion, really the only thing people can ask future installments for is "be fun".

[howsitduud]

ASTRO'S PLAYROOM REVIEW

It's finally here. The Switch 2 has finally been released, and so many people are excited about Nintendo's jump to a new console. I was very excited for the Switch 2 and everything that it offered, especially Mario Kart World, which looked like the perfect Mario Kart game, one that truly looks like it took the whole 11 year hiatus to make. I. Was. Hyped.

Until I realized that it cost $500 and I have no money, so I might as well play on my dad's PS5 for the time being.

Even though he's had it for a solid few years now, I haven't really experienced all that it had to offer when I visited him from college. Now that I'm back home, I thought I might as well give the pack-in title that was pre-installed onto the system from the box, Astro's Playroom. A lot of people know this IP from the more recent Astro Bot, which is the fully-fledged 3D platformer that acts as the sequel to this game, but I wanted to complete Playroom before I touch its sequel just so I can get why Scott the Woz loved them both so much. And... wow. I don't think I've instantly fallen in love with a 3D platformer like this in years. Yeah, it's short, but there's so much quality to this entire experience.

This game was primarily made to explore all the possibilities that a PS5 has, with you using the controller in a variety of different ways. They even show off the graphical fidelity of the console by letting you interact with so many things and have multiple particles effects and objects on screen at once. But this does come with one major problem that I can't overstate: since Sony wanted to push the capabilities of the controller, they had all of the sound effects come from that as opposed to the TV. I completely understand this design principle and I think it can work in small doses, like how selecting a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl made the Wiimote play a little sound clip. However, when every single sound effect barring the music and ambient sounds are just coming from the controller, it makes the whole experience seem limited. Instead of having this incredible, amazing world unfold before me in high-quality surround sound, I'm just hearing it through a tiny speaker in my hand. I'm harping on this point specifically mostly because it's the only problem I have with this game, and it is major enough to comment on.

Everything else about this game is just wonderfully charming. I am not a Playstation girlie. At all. My consoles of choice have always been Nintendo products, even during the Wii U era. However, I loved how this entire game just felt like a giant love letter to Playstation's console history, with the main collectables being Playstation products like the Eye Toy or UMDs and the levels being themed around a specific console and the games for that console, like how the Memory Meadow has collectables that were for the original Playstation and how it includes references to original Playstation games through the bots, like Tomb Raider and Ape Escape. I should also say that that it tickles me so much that the levels are named around the different hardware components of the console, like the GPU Jungle or the SSD Speedway.

Graphically, this game looks absolutely stunning. I'm playing through Spider-Man: Miles Morales now and I gotta say, I prefer how this game looks to how Miles Morales looks, though that could just be my bias against realistic artstyles showing. Still, this game is graphically so impressive. Shocking that the game made to show off the PS5's graphics looks great. Astro himself also plays super well. For the majority of the game, you're just doing the standard run, jump, punch that every single collectathon needs to function, but on top of Astro being super satisfying to control, he can also get level-specific costumes that utilize the different features of the Dualsense. There's a marble costume that uses the touchpad to control, a rocket costume and a frog costume that uses motion controls, the monke costume that uses the analog triggers. Despite all of these sounding like gimmicky play styles, they all feel naturally integrated into each level and they're all fun to control. I especially loved the marble suit, it felt a lot like the ball rolling levels from Mario Galaxy.

But the biggest reason I love this game so much is simply because of Astro himself. I love that little robot so damn much. Seeing his little idle animations where he waves at the camera or pulls out a PSP are so charming. I love how you can make him do little dances and how he pulls out little gadgets depending on the situation, like creating a floatie to swim or pulling an umbrella out of his head when it rains. If Sony just wanted to stop making games and instead make plushies of Astro, they'd still make billions every year.

I don't know what else to say about this game. Despite the short length, this is by far one of the best pack-in games I've ever played, which isn't saying much since the competition is just Wii Sports and Kinect Adventures. Still, I loved every second of this game, can't wait to get Astro Bot. If you have a PS5 and somehow haven't given this game a shot, I implore you to do so. You lose nothing out of this experience, it's literally free with the console.

9/10, Switch 2 Welcome Tour found dead in a ditch.

[eretzyisrael]

For those who don't have X/twitter:

IMPORTANT TO READ

How much money does every American citizen pay to Israel every year out of his taxpayer's money?

US population is approximately 300 million, or 0.3 billion people.

US government invests approximately $3.8 billion per year into Israel. Do the math: $3.8 / 0.3 = $12.6 — that’s more or less the price of a 2 x 6-pack of Budweiser in 16-oz cans, a year.

75% of the aid must be spent in the US, which means the purchase of US military technology.

HOWEVER, HERE COMES THE IMPORTANT PART TO READ AND SHARE BECAUSE YOU WON’T GET IT FROM JOURNALISTS.

1.) The aid money sent as coupons to be spent in the US returns to the US as wages. Wages to workers at various companies, who then purchase from local business in the US, food, goods, entertainment and other items and services. It comes with further strings attached preventing Israel competing with US firms and further enhancing US profits.

2.) The US in return gets billions a year in recommendations for improvements to that technology as the Israelis use it—some of those improvements are saving US lives in other places. (Israel gets weapons, do thousands of man-hours to upgrade it for the Americans.

Since often the opponents of Israel use Russian weapons, the US gets the intelligence on the capabilities of those Russian systems as to keep ahead of Russian technology that might be used against the US. Similarly the US gets the benefit of Israeli technology in missile defense, which has saved the US billions in development.

In other words, Israel is a significant test bed for US military hardware. For example, it was mostly Israeli-flown but US-built F-15 fighter jets that accrued the F-15’s enviable record.

Further, Israeli intelligence services augment the CIA and have been considered VASTLY superior to the CIA capabilities in our part of the world—saving the US billions.

Further Israel has been a tool for US policy, such as mobilizing to prevent the overthrow of Jordan’s government during a planned Syrian intervention in a civil war, and information to governments as to terrorist attacks and assassinations planned on friendly nations.

The US has no troops in Israel, like it does to protect allies of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Japan, Germany, South Korea. The aid to Israel is cheaper, and no US soldiers are put in harms way.

(The cost of maintaining a US military presence in Germany and Japan, very wealthy nations which exist in much less volatile or strategic regions, is estimated to cost US taxpayers at least $20 billion per year for each nation. Israel is quite a bargain in comparison.)

BUT THAT’S NOT THE END.

3.) If America will stop the aid, the US military production will collapse. Tens of thousands of Americans (approx. 50,000) will loose their jobs, and US military will be required to use outdated military equipment because America doesn’t have wars and won’t create wars in order to test weapons.

For this purpose America has Israel, Ukraine, and other places including Colombia, Ethiopia.

4.) Note that Israel is a wealthy country. $3.8 billion of aid is about 1% of Israeli budget, and about 10% of Israeli defense budget. Without American taxpayer money, Israeli army would be almost as powerful as it is now. We don’t really have a powerful army because of an over-abundance of wealth from foreign aid.

We have a powerful army much because of an over-abundance of enemies.

Food for thought. So to all the “journalists” fearmongers who warn about some crisis between the states, not gonna happen. Chill. 🫵🏻

Send this to Kamala Harris and to pro-Hamas ISIS rioters and ignorants from New-York.

[clovercoin]

YAY SEPTEMBER, CLOVERCOIN IS BACK!

[ Original Patreon Post ] Phew, almost forgot the life updates after doing all those art packs in the other post. So let's catch up with what's happening with CloverCoin! Life has been very very busy since I got back from my mom's funeral. Our dog Junior (rottie) had a previous elbow injury that wasn't healing over and when I got back home we decided to take him to the vet for a second look since the pain meds they gave us ran out. Turns out Junior had big swollen ball of cancer in his elbow and he was never going to regain function in that arm again. He was in so much pain we were really apprehensive on what the right course of action was. But the vets all worked with us since they knew Junior so well from all his previous visits, with their help we managed to get an extra fast amputation surgery scheduled for the infected arm. It was extremely expensive but it gave our dog immediate pain relief while we figured what treatment plan we were going to do next. Originally we all thought it was bone cancer and that he would likely need to be put down to avoid further pain in the very near future even with his amputation. With further testing and investigation of his cancer arm, we found out it was actually a type of blood cancer of his white blood cells. We all assumed if it's blood and fluid that must mean it's everywhere, right? We were wrong AGAIN! Wither further scans we found no further signs of cancer growth in his body, lymph nodes, or organs. With this new information we made the decision as a family to pursue oncologist for Junior and get him chemo / cancer treatments. It drained the rest of our savings account that we've been working so hard for to buy a house next summer... But Junior himself has completely bounced back to the happy dog he's always been. He's eating again, learning how to run and play on his one foreleg, and just excited to still be here. So while it did cost all of my savings, I have to say it's been worth it. With his reviewed case, he went from less than 6 months to live to possibly living 2-3+ more years now. So we're all so happy and grateful to still have our service boy still with us. Now that we're on a routine with Junior and his chemo treatments, I'm also getting back to work on my end! CloverCoin Patreon is back online for September 2024! We're so excited to see so many patrons stuck around and how excited you all are for more art! Thank you!!! I'm currently working on setting up a Bigcartel shop page with all of our stickers and postcard goods. I'll be sure to announce the shop's grand opening here soon as it's all ready. Thank you so much for all of my patrons testing out merch every month with me so we can make this possible! Last big to-do on my list now is that my current desktop Cintiq is not working for me. We had an original Cintiq 22 HD from 2014. But that poor thing died last year. We ordered a new tablet on super sale from amazon but.... We're very unhappy with the product and it doesn't work with my desk or work station. So we'll be taking it down and trying to resell it to get our money back. However this means I still do not have a desktop tablet to work with for online streams and recordings. REALLY BUMS ME OUT! I'm very fortunate that I still have my ipad and it's been working great. So I'm not totally without a tablet for work. But Prov and I will now be making an effort to replace my Cintiq tablet with a new one maybe before the year is over. Ouch my poor savings account, it's already taken such a beating from all the vet bills and now I have to replace very expensive hardware? yuck! So... Lots of money being spent. But overall we're very lucky and we're so happy. I'm just so grateful to have my happy dog recovering really well. I'm glad my ipad works great even after being beat up for past 7-8 years?? Woah! Good job lil buddy. Just... A lot has gone wrong this year. A lot of bad shit has happened. And Prov and I are so damn lucky to be here and have everything we do. So I'm going to keep working VERY HARD to get all this updated, shop posted, commissions completed, and make back every single dime of my savings!!! OR SO HELP ME! >:0 Thanks everyone for sticking it out while we're figuring out every bump in the road. We really appreciate all your patience and kindness. You're all the best and I can't wait to share even more art with you all! AJD . ART

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Vivi Armacost loves Temu. She uses the Chinese online marketplace to buy crafting supplies for her purse-making hobby. “You can get purse detailing and hardware for cents and pennies,” said Armacost, who is 24 and lives in New York. She says it seems like “basically everything” in her apartment comes from Temu

Donald Trump’s 10% tariff on China-made goods sold to the US, which went into effect early on Tuesday morning, might change her shopping habits. On top of this, the US Postal Service briefly suspended deliveries of incoming parcels from China and Hong Kong before they were later resumed.

The tariff closes off a trade loophole that allowed fast-fashion companies such as Temu and Shein to ship packages under $800 into the US duty-free; this loophole, called “de minimis” has been criticized by both political parties in recent years. On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Shein and Temu are now likely to raise prices, as is Amazon’s Haul, a new e-commerce app that imports products from China-based sellers.

Shoppers are concerned the tariff will get in the way of their retail therapy.

“Trying to get that last Temu order in before Trump puts another tariff on China,” Armacost, who works in consulting and also makes comedy videos on TikTok, captioned a post on Monday that shows her frantically typing on a computer, hacker movie-style. It was mostly a joke, but she has friends who made one final Temu run. “My friend Piper got a ton of apartment stuff during a last-minute tariff haul,” she said.

Temu – which surpassed Amazon as the most-downloaded shopping app in 2023 – and Shein are beloved by the overly trendy and the obsessively thrifty. While Shein is known primarily for clothing, Temu also sells makeup, home goods and decor. These products are cheap – just over $4 for a pair of women’s sneakers on Temu, or $1.45 for bracelet on Temu – but of dubious quality. Inevitably, many end up in landfills.

“A lot of the stuff comes actually way smaller than you expect,” Armacost said. “I bought a desk lamp, except it can fit in my hands.”

In the months before Trump took office, shoppers urged each other to stock up on Temu and Shein, in case the new administration followed through on its promise to tax US trade partners. “Kinda feeling emo bc this may be the last good Black Friday for a while because of the tariffs,” one TikTok user wrote in a clip. “Better collect your ‘vintage Shein’ because they will probably go for $100 next year.’”

Two days after the election, the fashion writer Amy Odell warned readers of price hikes in a post to her BackRow Substack titled: “Trump Won. So Shop Now.” Susan Scafidi, a lawyer and founder of Fordham’s Fashion Law Institute, told Odell: “Everything’s going to be more expensive, which is a little crazy when you realize that a lot of the Trump appeal was with regard to the economy.”

Could the tariff kill fast fashion, an industry defined by wasteful over-consumption, as we know it? No, says Margaret Bishop, a textile and apparel specialist and professor at New York’s Parsons School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology. “If anything, I think these tariffs will strengthen fast fashion’s hold on customers,” she said. “If everything costs more, particularly food, transportation and housing, they’re going to have to cut back somewhere.

“Americans have a real hunger for new fashion, so they will trade down to be able to continue to buy things. If a $1 pack of T-shirts at Temu becomes $2 a pack, that’s still cheaper than spending $20 for a couple of T-shirts that are better made,” she continued.

Sheng Lu, a professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware, agreed that tariffs would not “fundamentally shift” Americans’ love of a good, if sketchy, deal. While small businesses will bear most of the pain from tariffs – due to supply chain snarls or the fact that Americans won’t be able to spend as much – larger corporations such as Shein and Temu tend to absorb costs.

“These companies are resourceful,” Lu said. “My more immediate concern is that small and medium-sized enterprises won’t survive, or will face significant challenges.”

In 2023, a US congressional report alleged that there was an “extremely high risk” that Temu used forced labor in its supply chain, and that both Shein and Temu evaded US human rights reviews. (Shein denied these claims at the time, while Temu did not comment on the report.) A recent report from the Swiss advocacy group Public Eye found that some Shein workers endure 75-hour work weeks. (Shein told the BBC it was “working hard” to address the issues raised in the report.)

The fast-fashion industry is also synonymous with high carbon emissions and pollution.

Lu fears that tariffs will exacerbate these issues. “If they have to pay more on tariff duties but at the same time make their prices competitive, that’s not good news for workers or the environmental impact, because companies will have more incentive to cut corners,” he said.

In the EU, the European Commission moved on Wednesday to tighten checks on goods sold by online retailers such as Shein and Temu, amid fears that “dangerous products” were flooding the market and that local competitors were losing out to competitors selling unsafe or counterfeit products.

Armacost knows that these e-commerce giants represent the worst of Americans’ desire for excess. “But also, at the same time, spending does stimulate the economy,” she said. “In response to the idea that it’s a good thing if people stop ordering so much random stuff, I say: ‘What’s the point of living in a country if I can’t order 100 pieces of junk for $15?’”

[ask-icancraft-it]

Hardware

(( Another 'Little Moment' for the books! Tamora sends Felix on a mission to the grocery store, but will he be up to the task? )) ----- “Eoh-boy…” Felix briefly removed his hat to scratch his head. 

In front of him was only a small sampling of what the ‘Feminine Care’ section the local grocery store had to offer. He glanced left and right at rows upon rows of products; different brands, different applications, sizes...how could he not help but feel a little overwhelmed?

It also didn’t help that Tamora had been vague. Now that he thought of it, it was likely on purpose; she did love to bewilder him so. 

But the handyman figured if he’d asked her the favor of picking up some hardware he needed, his gal would be just as lost as he was at this very moment. And there would be no shame in asking for some simple clarification… 

“Hey, babe,” he could hear her smirk on the other end of the phone. “How’s it going?”

“I think you know how it's going,” Felix chuckled. “You’ve left me high and dry.”

“Is anyone else in the aisle with you?”

“There are a couple of ladies trying hard not to laugh, and there was another lost soul like me earlier… I think he went AWOL.” 

“And you’re still standing your ground,” Tamora puffed with amusement. “I’m impressed.”

“Is the bar that low?” Felix frowned as he inspected a pack of tampons before placing them back on the shelf. 

“It is,” the sergeant said with a wistful sigh. Finally, she’d found a partner who could empathize with that fact.

“Well, just tell me what hardware you need, and I’ll be sure to get it for you,” there was a long pause before a booming laugh made him jump. 

“Hardware?” Tamora snorted. “Is that how your handy brain is making sense of everything?”

“Yes, it is…” Felix tittered, embarrassed. He hadn’t realized he’d said that word out loud. “Please be kind, I’m new to this.”

“No, that’s really great,” the sergeant laughed a little more. “I love it. I’ll end your suffering and send you a picture of what I usually get.”

“Thank you,” the handyman smiled. “Should I buy you some ice cream while I’m here?”

“...I love you,” that was a resounding yes. 

“Love you too,” Felix chuckled. “I’ll be home soon.”

Ending the call, the handyman locked eyes with the lost gentleman he had seen earlier. With a reassuring smile, he gave the stranger a polite nod, lingering as he awaited his gal’s text.

[spacenutspod]

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft is pictured in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm shortly after its capture Credit: NASA After delivering more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo to the orbiting laboratory for NASA and its international partners, Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to depart the International Space Station on Friday, March 28. Watch NASA’s live coverage of undocking and departure at 6:30 a.m. EDT on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. This mission was the company’s 21st commercial resupply mission to the space station for NASA. Flight controllers on the ground will send commands for the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach Cygnus from the Unity module’s Earth-facing port, then maneuver the spacecraft into position for release at 6:55 a.m. NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers will monitor Cygnus’ systems upon its departure from the space station. Cygnus – filled with trash packed by the station crew – will be commanded to deorbit on Sunday, March 30, setting up a re-entry where the spacecraft will safely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. The Northrop Grumman spacecraft arrived at the space station Aug. 6, 2024, following launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Get breaking news, images, and features from the space station on the station blog, Instagram, Facebook, and X. Learn more about Cygnus’ mission and the International Space Station at: https://www.nasa.gov/station -end- Julian Coltre / Josh FinchHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1100julian.n.coltre@nasa.gov / joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov Sandra JonesJohnson Space Center, Houston281-483-5111sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Mar 21, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsInternational Space Station (ISS)Humans in SpaceJohnson Space CenterNASA Headquarters

[cybergoth-damsel]

Amazing how big companies pave the way for ever-worsening products. Fortnite's whole addiction strategy revolves around hoarding skins and yet every time their locker interface changes it gets more unwieldy to manage the heaps of garbage clogging up your inventory.

(For the duration of the following paragraphs, please keep in mind that fortnite is currently selling a $40 cosmetic car body)

As of writing, the knockoff-spotify ui only actually changes what you have selected when clicked about 80% of the time. Even when it does, there is noticeable half-minute lag between the selection changing and the detail-editing button actually applying to the selected object. The only reliable element of this interaction is the overjuiced button tweening. There are few useful hotkeys either, so every change is mouse-only as you click through god awful menus and scroll bars.

Even EA distributes more tools for navigating their overflow of microtransaction waste. The Sims 4 at least allows you to search items by color and style, as well as what "pack" it's from. Hell, if you'd at least allow the user to tag the items themselves you'd make an unfathomable leap in navigability. You can't even sort objects by whether or not they're cell shaded - something getting increasingly egregious as Fortnite churns out anime OCs by the minute.

And yet Epic is dead set on forcing Fortnite into the shape of a mEtAvErSe PlAtFoRm. Placing the successor to the Rock Band games behind the 5 minute Fortnite loading screen and ui all for the sake of selling SONGS on the Fortnite store. Rocket Race and Lego Fortnite are both surprisingly competent little games, so much so that you can tell the only reason they're stuck inside Fortnite is so that you have to participate in the same microtransaction ecosystem, with cross-compatibility further obscuring the actual worth of each purchase.

If Epic really wants people to fully buy in to their games-as-service sandbox (that makes VALVE look open source by comparison) I'd like to think they'd at least consider making the experience of booting up the game on modern hardware like... manageable? fine? At least not worse than it has been?

They have a lot of nerve is all I'm saying. Is that clear? Am I communicating that?

[whitherwanderer]

10 // ghost (extra credit)

[thru_fire]: hey remember that favor you owe me [caldo56]: What do you want [thru_fire]: nothin crazy promise [thru_fire]: just need you to make an image of some guys soft and run a scan, see if anything weird comes up [caldo56]: Now? [thru_fire]: if you got time [caldo56]: Sure. He’s jacked into your laptop? [thru_fire]: yea [caldo56]: 95648 [SecureGen Assistant]: [caldo56] IS REQUESTING REMOTE ACCESS TO YOUR TERMINAL'S DATA PORT. [SecureGen Assistant]: ENTER YOUR 5-DIGIT REMOTE ACCESS SESSION KEY TO CONTINUE. Remember! Do not give your key to anyone besides your remote support specialist. ***** [SecureGen Assistant]: REMOTE ACCESS GRANTED TO [caldo56]. [caldo56]: Grab a beer or something. This will take a bit. [thru_fire]: how long [caldo56]: Like an hour for the image. After that? Depends on what sort of encryption your guy has. [thru_fire]: ain’t a rush, just call/text when you’re done scanning [caldo56]: Will do

Sif tried her best to make it look like she wasn’t looking directly at the man on the other side of the table, but it was a little hard not to. People packing heat was expected. People packing 30-inch graphene blades that sprang out of their forearms with the right flick of the wrist… less so. She nearly pulled her gun on him when he asked if he could borrow a screwdriver, his forearm coming apart under his hand as he tried to hold the blade in.

His quiet cajoling as he attempted to tune up whatever mechanism was supposed to keep the blades locked in was a show in itself—far more entertaining than whatever products were being plugged on the small TV display against the far side of their shitty little city's edge motel room. This might have been the fourth or fifth time he carefully folded the blade in with a prayer on his breath, only to have it spring out again the moment he removed his hand. As he rubbed a palm down his face, Sif looked away to hide a grin and bite back a laugh.

A gentle buzz-buzz at her hip caught her attention well enough to spare her the effort, and she turned to pull her phone out of her pocket and glance idly at it, throwing her feet up on the table.

Message from caldo56

Oh, right. She almost forgot about the scan. It’d been a week since she pulled the man—Dugald, she’d learned his name was—out of the garbage heap, and while he was congenial enough, he still had more than a few mysteries about him that congeniality alone wouldn’t satisfy. With a swipe of her finger, she skimmed the message.

[caldo56]: Nothing crazy my ass. Your guy’s soft tried to zero me.

Sif blinked at the message before furiously thumbing at the screen to scroll through her message history. She couldn’t even recall what she’d said that night, texting halfway through a third glass of O’Dicken.

[thru_fire]: what do you mean [caldo56]: I mean there’s something in his tangled-ass hardware that has a kill vector and I just barely dodged it. Some of my shit is smoking. [thru_fire]: what the hell… [caldo56]: It gets better. I ran his name through every database I could find. City, corporate, medical, everything. It’s like he doesn’t exist. [caldo56]: He’s trying to hide something, or someone else is. You sure he ain't a corpo?

Sif glanced up and over, watching the man take another attempt with the screwdriver, a small flashlight held between his teeth. Disheveled, in need of a shave, and wearing ill-fitting "borrowed" clothing, he looked like any other ordinary gonk in town. The scars across his face and the tech he sported on his brow wouldn’t make anyone look twice at a glance, but with closer inspection…

[thru_fire]: shit idk [caldo56]: Personal advice, put that guy back where you found him. Don't go digging around in a graveyard if you don't want to meet any ghosts. [caldo56]: Well that’s all I got [caldo56]: So we’re square now [thru_fire]: yep thanks [thru_fire]: sorry about your setup

Sif’s eyes hovered on the message for a few moments while she waited for a response, but was pulled away by a deep, exasperated sigh from Dugald finally getting the blade to stay put in his arm. He lifted it to inspect his handiwork, then shrugged as he pulled the flashlight out of his mouth.

“Finally get it fixed?” Sif asked, slipping her phone back into her pocket.

“Good as it’s gettin’,” he drawled back, closing up the panels of his forearm with a shake of his head. “Let’s hope these rubber bands last a couple days.”

Sif turned to face him directly now, aghast. “Rubber bands?” she repeated, to which he only shrugged again as if to ask if she had better ideas (which she did). Maybe it was the nomad in her, but believing this guy to be a corpo castoff seemed like an insult to corpos.

[night-dark-woods]

ID. photo of a whiteboard with bullet points written on it, titled "Stocking Reminders."

Top stock goes in the same 4' section as the stock.

Each SKU's overstock should be all in one spot. (below this point there is a diagram of a shelf with colorcoded boxes, one mixed up and one with the colors together)

Don't overfill hooks/shelves. There should be one straight line of product! If it won't hang nicely that is too much.

End ID.

end of my fucking rope tuesday. this won't stop my coworkers because they can't read but the amount of topstock i found in fucking random aisles today was truly absurd. like we've graduated from putting it in the same aisle 16ft away on the opposite side (annoying but at least line of sight) to putting it in topstock in its unlabeled cardboard shipping box, three aisles away, in a different department.

other highlights of today:

i asked this kid to downstock One Aisle and he spent 3(?) hours standing over there doing, as far as i can tell, nothing. which dgmw i can respect. minimum wage => minimum effort but my man that wasn't even CLOSE to the minimum and you are actively making everyone else's lives more difficult!!!

hardware mgr tried to have someone else (the aforementioned kid who can't even put stock in the right spot!!!) do counts on stock, BEHIND MY BACK, AGAIN. so i started off the day with an argument with him. bc if im not shooting outs regularly enough for you fucking TALK TO ME. and i will tell you what i need, which is you to do your fucking JOB and MANAGE YOUR PEOPLE. and get on their asses to actually maintain their sections!!! i could do the whole fucking store in an hour if literally anyone else did their jobs!!!

got a new rope assortment in from a new vendor, hardware mgr packed up the old stuff for buyback but ALSO managed to pack up a bunch of the NEW stuff with it despite the packaging being a completely different color AND saying the new brand name, so i had to go digging in 15 different taped-shut boxes to find it back.

just some truly atrocious and annoying customers. girl if youre in a hurry that is YOUR problem for not planning. i cant read your mind and i cant give you an answer if you cant explain your problem to me.

got called "ladies" collectively about 8 times today by my coworker who a) does ABA as his other job b) asked me if ozzy was my "real name" and c) said he used to be a liberal but he thinks there are more important things than peoples' identities. we're mostly copacetic now though bc he sees how much work i do and also we've commiserated about the state of the educational system & when he was talking about how "boys and girls learn differently" i very lightly floated the "well, i don't think that's inherent necessarily, you know, like we're raised and taught certain ways to be from SUCH a young age, and kids pick up on stuff pretty fast," and he was like huh ive never thought about that. ill have to think about that. so not unsalvageable! just a particular Kind Of Guy.

they're doing work on the roof and they fucking broke the ancient drainpipe that runs through our upstairs backstock area, so theres like three totes worth of roof-water-soaked merchandise that i have to take out of inventory tomorrow. and everything else in that backstock area has a fine coating of rust flakes from the disintegrating ceiling. and i was paged up there to help sort thru the stock and like. there are THREE PEOPLE here today who actually have a manager title, which I DONT!!! so why cant the three of you take care of it!!! and i KNOW its bc im good at problem-solving and don't really say no and would do it faster than anyone else but god. come on. its putting wet stock in totes.

also in the last 30 min of my shift (in the hardware dept!!! doing inventory counts!!!) my coworker walkied Me, Specifically, even though i knowww they were fully staffed in cashiers and housewares today, to pick up a call from a specific problem customer ABOUT A HOUSEWARES PRODUCT. bro i know FULL WELL you are doing fucking nothing but online shopping on the work computer, you fucking handle it!!! im on a DIFFERENT FLOOR and im busy doing other shit!!!

and its only tuesday!!! yippee!!!