#whole home mesh system

[amproductreview]

💥 TP-Link 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐨 BE63 Tri-Band WiFi 7 BE10000 Whole Home Mesh System Review (2025): Blazing Fast WiFi 7 Mesh Without the Headache

Okay, let’s get real for a second. If your WiFi constantly drops when you walk into a different room—or if your kid is rage-quitting because Minecraft won’t load AGAIN—you’re not alone. I was in the same boat, ready to throw my old router out the window.

Then I upgraded to the TP-Link Deco BE63 WiFi 7 Mesh System… and honestly? Total game-changer. It’s like going from dial-up in 2002 to warp speed in 2025. I’ve been using it daily for weeks now, and here’s the honest lowdown on what it’s really like.

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About this item

𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗘𝟭𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗧𝗿𝗶-𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗶-𝗙𝗶 𝟳 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀: Features cutting-edge Wi-Fi 7 technology, including Multi-Link Operation, Multi-RUs, 4K-QAM, and 320 MHz channels. Delivers speeds of 5188 Mbps on 6GHz, 4324 Mbps on 5GHz, and 574 Mbps on 2.4GHz.

𝗩𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 & 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆: The 3-pack mesh system covers up to a vast 7,600 sq.ft. and supports over 200 devices without compromising performance, ensuring seamless connectivity.

𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝟮.𝟱𝗚 𝗪𝗔𝗡/𝗟𝗔𝗡 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀: Includes four 2.5G WAN/LAN ports and a USB 3.0 port, making it an ideal choice for future-proofing your home network.

𝗗𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 & 𝗪𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗵𝗮𝘂𝗹: Leverages TP-Link's self-developed technology to support simultaneous wireless and wired backhaul. Maximizes Wi-Fi 7 benefits for faster speeds and broader coverage.

𝗔𝗜-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴: The Deco Mesh creates a unified network with a single network name. Uses AI-Roaming technology for seamless streaming and optimal speeds, adapting through advanced algorithms and self-learning as you move throughout your home.

𝗧𝗣-𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱: Provides comprehensive network protection, robust parental controls, and real-time IoT security when you are at home or on the go. A safer internet experience enhances your smart living.

𝗩𝗣𝗡 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 & 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: Enables home devices to access remote VPN servers without installing VPN software on each device. Supports simultaneous VPN and regular internet connections for enhanced security and flexibility.

𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗽 & 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Quickly set up and manage your mesh router using the free Deco App, available for Android and iOS.

𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹: Control Deco BE63 using voice commands with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant-enabled devices.

𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: TP-Link Deco products seamlessly integrate to create a Mesh WiFi network. They are backward compatible with all WiFi generations and work with any internet service provider (modem required for most ISPs).

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Product information

Features & Specs

Other Special Features of the Product QoS, Access Point Mode, Guest Mode, WPS, Remote Access

Frequency Band Class Tri-Band

Wireless Compability 802.11n, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11g, 802.11.be

Compatible Devices Smartphone

Frequency 6 GHz

Antenna Location Gaming, Home

Connectivity Technology Wi-Fi

Antenna Type Internal

Operating System Omada

Security Protocol WPA3, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK

Number of Ports 4

Control Method Voice

Data Transfer Rate 10 Gigabits Per Second

LAN Port Bandwidth 2.5 Gbps

Controller Type App Control

Maximum Upstream Data Transfer Rate 10 Gigabits Per Second

Number of Antennas 4

Coverage 7,600 Sq.Ft

Is Modem Compatible Yes

Item details

Brand TP-Link

Model Name WiFi 7 Mesh System

Built-In Media 1 RJ45 Ethernet cable, 3 Deco BE63 units, Quick Installation Guide, 3 Power adapters

Model Number Deco BE63(3-Pack)

UPC 840030712685

Manufacturer TP-Link

Customer Reviews 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (7,084) 4.4 out of 5 stars

Best Sellers Rank

#806 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

#7 in Whole Home & Mesh Wi-Fi Systems

ASIN B0CN8QLS4K

Item Height 6.93 inches

Unit Count 1.0 Count

Warranty Description 2 year manufacturer

Measurements

Item Weight 4.98 Pounds

Item Dimensions L x W x H 4.23"L x 4.23"W x 6.93"H

Additional details

Color White

Warranty & Support

Amazon.com Return Policy: You may return any new computer purchased from Amazon.com that is "dead on arrival," arrives in damaged condition, or is still in unopened boxes, for a full refund within 30 days of purchase. Amazon.com reserves the right to test "dead on arrival" returns and impose a customer fee equal to 15 percent of the product sales price if the customer misrepresents the condition of the product. Any returned computer that is damaged through customer misuse, is missing parts, or is in unsellable condition due to customer tampering will result in the customer being charged a higher restocking fee based on the condition of the product. Amazon.com will not accept returns of any desktop or notebook computer more than 30 days after you receive the shipment. New, used, and refurbished products purchased from Marketplace vendors are subject to the returns policy of the individual vendor. Manufacturer’s warranty can be requested from customer service. Click here to make a request to customer service.

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💡 Pros & Cons in Plain English

✅ What I Loved:

⚡ Blazing-fast WiFi 7 speeds (seriously, up to 10 Gbps!)

🏡 Great coverage for large homes

🔌 Four 2.5G Ethernet ports per unit = flexible setup

📱 Smooth, idiot-proof app interface

💎 Sleek design that doesn’t scream “tech nerd lives here”

🚀 Future-ready with 320 MHz channels & MLO

💰 Actually affordable for what it offers (-30% $419.98)

⚠️ Heads-Up On These:

📉 Speeds can dip through thick walls or at long range

🖥️ No web interface (app-only control)

💸 Home Shield Pro subscription needed for advanced features after free trial

📶 You’ll need WiFi 7-compatible devices to fully max it out

🧊 Mid-range WiFi 7 system—not as powerful as the pricier Deco BE85

💬 Real-User Buzz

Amazon and Reddit are full of rave reviews:

“Insanely fast and setup was done in 5 minutes.” “Covers my 3-story house without a hiccup.” “Wish there was a web interface… but everything else is awesome.”

Some users in massive homes mentioned occasional dropouts—but in 9/10 cases, that was fixed by better node placement or hardwiring the backhaul.

🧭 Should You Buy the TP-Link Deco BE63?

✅ Get it if:

You’ve got Gig+ or multi-gig internet

Your household has tons of devices streaming and gaming

You work from home or hate lag on Zoom

You want WiFi 7 now, but not at a luxury price

You appreciate good design + easy setup

❌ Skip it if:

You live in a huge mansion and need maximum range (get the BE85 instead)

You like manual web-based router controls

You don’t own any WiFi 7 devices yet (you’ll benefit, but not get full speeds)

��� Final Verdict: A No-Brainer for Most Homes

The TP-Link Deco BE63 is pretty much the sweet spot for mesh routers in 2025: fast, sleek, easy to use, and reasonably priced. No, it’s not the most powerful system on the planet—but it doesn’t try to be.

What it is… is practical, powerful, and perfect for the average household. You get all the futureproof tech (WiFi 7, 320 MHz, MLO, 2.5G ports), without the headache of complex setup or a scary price tag.

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[trans-axolotl]

"Just as 'most prisoners walk into prison because they know they will be dragged or beaten into prison if they do not walk,' we can say that most of the psychiatrically committed walk into hospitals because they know they will be restrained or dragged in if they don't walk. Often, this power has not required the psychiatrist to know the exact source of the ailment they treat nor exactly how their methods act upon the mind; what matters is that the machine is running. A whole system, a tightly interwoven mesh of relays and discourses is in place to transform the psychiatrist's judgment into effective action: a working theory and classificatory system to organize the clientele and separate them from other objects of care or punishment (taxonomy or nosology); institutional spaces (the asylum is historically the most pervasive, but also clinics, group homes, psychiatric wards, etc.); judicial codes defining the status of the mad (generally analogized to animals or children); prescribed roles for legal actors (police, judges, forensic experts); a chain of bureaucrats to sort out matters of insurance, finance, and property in cases of institutionalization or guardianship; and approved mechanisms or surveillance and reporting to translate individual complaints into the state's administrative codes. There are as many points of contact as there are spaces of encounter and discourses of legitimation in the social world. One or more of these elements can be revolutionized without fundamentally changing the connection between the parts. For example, at various points throughout its existence, as we've already seen, a theory of 'social causation' prevailed over a biological one without changing the matrix that defines modern psychiatry, and the same can be said for some of the legal alterations to the patient's status throughout the twentieth century.

There is no psychiatrist-patient encounter set apart from a broader circuit of relations: patient-apartment-work-family-cop-partner-school-neighbor-psychologist-state-guardian-probate-judge-psychiatrist-hospital. And to be clear: our biology itself is shared and leaks throughout this chain at every step. Our bodies are permeable, open, they leak, bleed, consume, excrete; our bodies flow out into a common world, and are open to outside influence, as the COVID-19 pandemic has made so excruciatingly clear. A patient of the Utica Asylum put it beautifully in The Opal in 1852: 'Like fermentation in the chemical world, [humanity's] atomic adhesions are in constant enlargement and in silent operation, seeking out relations, and forming relations of unsurpassed beauty and comfort, because in conformity with nature and adapted to its condition, means and end.' Attempts to neutralize this network by relegating every actor and space in the chain external to the domain of the psychiatrist onto the order of natural history ('we're just responding to the demands of the family...' or 'that's a matter for the police...I just deal with the patient once they arrive here') expose this posture as a naively religious one. In denial of the profane world and its complications extrinsic to the holy circuitry of neural or endocrine highways of the One in isolation, they declare a monastic fealty to an object of study over and above the matrix that makes its study possible or their conclusions efficacious in any real encounter...

...If psychiatry still takes refuge in the desert of scientism--speaking in tongues of prolix jargon--it's because a paradise of healing did materialize, but not as a Promethean forge of liberated humans, nor even as solemn resting place of broken souls, but sank so low as to appear as nothing more than a mundane prison. Burdened by the unbearable weight of their failure, the next generation abandoned their project and ran away to the labs, relinquishing responsibility for the armies of the living dead. At least they hung a sign at the door of the asylum on their way out. It read: 'abandon every hope, who enter here.'"

-Storming Bedlam: Madness, Utopia, and Revolt by Sasha Warren, pg 32-34

[scholarhect]

lowkey i think people overpathologize cam’s whole thing, i think generally she’s reacting rationally, or at least about as well as you can ask from a person, to some really difficult stuff. like excuse her for acting weird when she was processing the very young death of the person she thought she was going to spend her life with, in an unfamiliar and unstable environment far from home, where her entire support system was a hypocritical dying woman she’d never meshed very well with and coronabeth tridentarius

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Whilst on the topic of Disney's franchises, do you think they'll ever use any of the modern shows for any twst events? I think Sofia the First could maybe be a good fit, or perhaps Star Vs the Forces Of Evil for villains they could twist into historical figures. I'm holding out hope for a Gravity Falls Halloween event, mostly because I think it would be really funny to see Bill Cipher interact with the twst cast (especially as an anime boy).

Ps. I adore your writing, I think it's fantastic. Keep up the good work (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

[Referencing this post!]

Thank you for the feedback ^^

I see modern (assuming you means 2010s-ish) Disney shows being more likely to get incorporated into the Twst world than properties Disney has purchased over the years. This is because Twst technically already has through The Lion Guard (2016), which is referenced via Leona’s tattoo and is very prominent in the lore behind his hometown event. All three of the shows suggested in this ask are older than TLG: Sofia the First (2012), Gravity Falls (2012), and Star vs the Forces of Evil (2016), so I think this makes them fair game, especially as original Disney properties.

The only problem I see with these shows is, again, potential tonal dissonance, which could not mesh well with Twst’s usual… Twst-ness, a lot of which is very “classic” and fairy tale centered. (For example, isn’t the male lead from Star an Earthling… Would this not be odd granted how Yuu should be from the same world as him?? Would this be another case where we’re teased a way home but never commit to it? If Sofia can contact previous princesses/historical figures, would this not create a paradox in which the Disney princesses would expose the villains for their true crimes??? Would the dark mystery elements of Gravity Falls work well with Twst, which doesn’t seem to take its mysteries seriously?) This largely depends on how exactly those shows are incorporated, of course. I see it working “the best” as just an off-handed mention (“there was once a princess that could communicate with her ancestors through an amulet; this helped her bring peace and prosperity to her own kingdom”) rather than dedicating a whole event to them. Twst isn’t marketed to the 9-year olds to 13-year olds that have watched modern Disney shows (since the primary demographic is mid to late 20s Japanese women). Maybe the children of the target demographic have, but it’s questionable whether or not the actual audience members have any attachment to said properties.

I don’t think just poofing them into historical figures or parts of Twst history makes much sense narratively speaking. These modern shows would surely stick out with their wildly different premises and clashing tones and unique magic systems rather than building off what is already established (as TLG did). I think if these kinds of shows were to be included at all, I would rather it be a Lost in the Book event, because those you can at least end with wiping the slate clean and not impacting the extended Twst lore. You also can’t really milk modern shows for nostalgia either, unlike the classic films, TLG (due to its connection to TLK) or Nightmare Before Christmas.

I haven’t seen Gravity Falls outside of a few scattered episodes so 😭 I have no context for why it’s so popular or why The Triangle is a Tumblr Sexyman… (though I do know the lore about the show’s creator not liking the pretty boy depictions of Bill and drawing his own “canon” grotesque version of him) It might be disrespectful to anime-ify The Triangle, no…? … Then again, I guess Disney isn’t exactly known to be the Paragon of Morality and Good Behavior, even to its own creators 💀

[cultofthewolf]

sex diary entry #061725

we both went on little dates last night and both came home pretty riled up. it was late, around 11:30, and I was sitting outside smoking when he got home. he came to join me and said he needed to use me, use my body like I usually use his, because he's just so pent up. I tell him I'm feeling some of the same way, I needed to get it out of my system. so I let him get set up while I packed another bowl.

when I'm back in my seat, there's a small stack of blankets in front of my chair on the back patio. all the lights, inside and out, were off. he's sitting, (somewhat) patiently waiting where my feet will be. he's wearing a mesh bra, skirt no panties, collar and leash, and an o-ring gag, a new toy that he's fallen in love with.

for a while, we just sit in the silence and enjoy each other's presence. well, it wasn't actually silent. the sounds of my dick gliding in and out of his drooly hole and him choking on it every few moments drifted out through the darkness. I cooed and praised him while he bobbed his head violently against me. I would pull his leash and it would force his head down, swallowing my shaft to the base. he kept me warm while I smoked and then pulled back so I could shotgun smoke into his mouth.

After doing this through two and half bowls, we were both going a bit crazy and eventually he just started begging, "mommy, mommy, mommy, please..." and honestly, I can never resist a pathetic boy. so I shoved him to the ground, put his face on the pavement, and went straight for his ass. forced my way in and growled and pulled his lead tight and pumped violently into him while he cowered and quivered and came multiple times, but as I told him last night, "we aren't done til I say we're done."

I hooked my fingers in his mouth (his gag was out by this point) and pulled him back and down onto my cock, then pulled all the way out, made him lay pronebone, and pushed my way back into his ass. he might have been crying at this point from overstimulation, but I didn't pay attention or care. honestly it just made me harder. I grabbed a fistful of hair and I could tell I was almost there and it felt so fucking good and all the emotions of the whole day came flooding back to me, and

when I came, instinctually, I lunged forward and latched on, HARD with my teeth in his shoulder. he cried out and the sweat made me lose my bite, so I went in for another. and another. biting hard, deep. making it cry out in pain and anguish, as I came and pumped it deep, deeper inside, needing to fill him, claim him, it's mine. all mine. mine mine mine.

came so hard it made me dizzy, I stg. woof

[storm-angel989]

Haiii!! Pretty weird request but can u do valentinos child that is diabetic having troubles at school because they didn’t get enough sugar in their body?

P.S (LOVE UR STUFFFF 🩷🩷🩷)

Hi there,

Thank you so so much!! I don’t have any personal experience with diabetes, but I did some research and I hope I did your request justice!

<3 Mandy

Valentino hated being interrupted in the middle of his shoots. 

Small annoyances, poor lighting, bitchy models, addicts that wanted nothing more than a quick fix. All of these things added up to time lost in the middle of a shoot. As such, he kept his phone on silent, and any emergencies were diverted directly to Vox. 

Except of course, emergencies regarding his daughter. 

When his phone rang and he saw the school's number, he immediately jumped from his director's chair and slammed his office door shut behind him.

“Valentino speaking.” He answered curtly. 

Not to his surprise, the school nurse answered back. Valentino closed his eyes as he listened to her explain that his daughter seemed to be struggling to get her blood sugar stable. At the first beep of her VoxTech watch, she had drank a juice box from her snack kit they kept in the classroom. However, when the number hadn’t risen in ten minutes, she had been escorted down to the nurses office. Apparently, she was refusing a second juice box, or a snack. Valentino fumbled with his phone as he put it on speaker. A quick click of an app, and her numbers from the morning flashed. His heart sank- consistent lows. 

“She’s asking to talk to you, Mr. Valentino,” the nurse finished. 

“Go ahead, put her on,” he said quickly. 

A soft rustle as the line and his daughter's voice.

“Daddy? Daddy, can you come get me? I don’t feel so good,” she said softly. 

“Baby. Listen to me. I will come get you, but I need to drink another juice box before I hang up the phone,” he replied as he stood up. 

“Daddy, I don’t want to,” she muttered.

“Then put one of the candies under your tongue and let it dissolve, can you do that for me?” He asked as he strode out his office door. 

“Yes,” she muttered. 

“Good. Do that. I’m on my way to get you,” he replied sternly. “Listen to the nurse.”

“Yes, Daddy,” she muttered. 

Six minutes later, he walked into the school and down the familiar hallway to the nurses office. Though, as he passed by the classrooms, he realized it had been two months since he last picked his daughter up for blood sugar issues. He supposed the system they developed at the beginning of the school year really was making a difference. After all, picky eaters and diabetes didn’t mesh well. 

It was the school nurse who suggested and guided the creation of a system where his daughter gained the freedom to choose different types of snacks and juices she could reach for to help her manage her lows. Even more than just choosing what the snacks were, the nurse suggested Reader help label each snack so she could choose what she needed based on what her numbers were. At home, the system was the same and it seemed to Valentino that, besides this hiccup, Reader was flourishing in her independence.

Of course, Reader was still in Elementary school. The nurse still had access to the data her VoxTech watch monitored in regards to her highs and lows, and saw her several times throughout the day. At night, he and the other Vee’s reviewed the data as a whole and discussed any areas they saw problematic.  

“Daddy,” she whimpered when he walked into the room. She rolled off the cot and rushed towards him. “Daddy.”

He lifted her up and tucked her against his chest before walking over to the school nurse. He opened the app on his phone and to his relief, her blood sugar was back in the normal range. 

“Baby, what’s wrong? It’s not like you to not listen to your body,” he muttered as he rubbed her back. 

“My tummy hurts,” she whined into his shoulder. “Daddy, I don’t feel good.” 

“The stomach bug is going around. It might be a good idea for her to go home and rest,” the nurse suggested. “I can have someone bring her backpack down.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Valentino agreed. 

As soon as they walked into the apartment, Valentino carried his daughter to the bathroom. 

“Alright baby, let’s do a manual check, just to make sure the numbers are lining up,” he told her.

“Daddy, noo, I hate the stick,” she whined as she wrapped her arms around him. 

“I know. But think about how happy Uncle Vox will be that we’re taking responsibility and making sure that his technology is accurate!” Valentino said as cheerfully as he could. 

Reluctantly, she released him and he sat her on the counter. He took her hand in his.

“Quick pinch, mi amore,” he promised. 

He hated the tears that he knew would follow. As soon as the bandage was wrapped around her finger, he lifted her into his arms as he read the number.

“Good news, the numbers match,” he told her as he held her to him. “And your sugar is normal. Come on baby, let’s go lay down.” 

He laid down on her bed and to his relief, she fell asleep almost instantly. Valentino opened his app and switched it into nighttime mode as he snuggled his daughter. It had taken him a long time to realize that not every high or low was an emergency that required him rushing to his daughters side. The older she grew, the more comfortable he was turning off those alerts- especially when she was at school. However, he had come to the conclusion that he would probably never be comfortable without those alerts overnight. He considered it too much of a risk. 

“Hey, how’s the baby?” Vox’s soft voice came across the room.

“Unsure if we have the stomach bug or not yet- might want to stay over there,” Valentino warned. 

Vox made a face. “Gross. Duly noted. Text me if you need anything I’ll be sure to push it in with a ten foot pole.”

Valentino rolled his eyes but reached over and turned on the TV. Definitely a good idea to rest while she was sleeping.

[bengiyo]

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat 2 Eps 17-20 (Finale)

Last week gave me everything I wanted and more. The whole squad went over to Yako's place for a curry party and everyone had a great time. Later, Nagumo got a diagnosis for her condition and got to have personal time with Yako. Kasuga and Nomoto continued to work on their communication and making sure they aren't trampling over each other. They're continuing to work on this move. Seriously, we had a curry party and a s'mores party last week. We planted strawberries together. Let's finish this.

Episode 17

Looking for housing is so stressful. I was wondering if we'd get into housing discrimination in this.

Red beans in Japan are different from what we eat here. Theirs carry a naturally sweet profile that doesn't mesh well with creole cooking.

I feel like those beans needed to boil longer, but that's me thinking in my home cooking terms.

Yes, ladies, tell each other how happy you are to see each other.

@furritsubs thank you for the note about Azuki beans.

I'm really enjoying the way they're handling this situation. The realtor wasn't trying to be homophobic, but the systems he was upholding with the landlord references reinforces the status of same sex households. I also like that they acknowledged how circumstances closet people in ways that hurt them. This is good payoff from the news bit we saw earlier in season with Kasuga.

Getting a tasty treat in before going back into the fray is so valid.

Kasuga being even more affectionate about Nomoto's food now that they're dating is exactly what I wanted.

Episode 18

Oh fuck yeah, let's continue to unpack how structural homophobia makes people scared to share something that should be a joyous occasion.

Amused that Yako is the primary person using Nomoto's given name.

Are we going to have a takoyaki party next??

COME THROUGH, YAKO!!! You gotta help your folks get through this bullshit, but never let them forget that it's bullshit!!

I am relieved that we checked in with Ms. Fujita about divorcing her husband at the same time as we're working through LGBT housing issues. Single divorced women likely also face huge challenges in housing when marriage is the goal we're being pushed into.

Wow, Sayama, you are in contention for the Yihwa Best Girl Award this year. You are an ally. Love the way she examined how what she said might have been hurtful.

Feeling like you somehow failed because you didn't get married in your 20s is so real. I sometimes struggle with this in my 30s.

This show uses its characters to illustrate its political points in a way that feels gentle and accessible, but also carries a sense of urgency. Women are facing extreme reproductive pressure right now, and it's clearly not making those who don't already want husbands and children happier. Hell, it's making them resentful to the point of divorce as they get older.

Hold on. Gotta cry a bit about Nomoto telling Kasuga that being told outright that hiding who they are upset her made her feel better got me.

Episode 19

Takoyaki Party let's goooooo!!!

A party where you cook together like this is always so much fun. We had fun with some friends' kids a few weeks ago teaching them how to make pancakes and letting them add their own toppings before, during, and after cooking.

Nagumo managed to enjoy a bite of food with them. Hold on. Crying again.

We've seen takoyaki a few times lately, and I am very impressed with this cooker.

Yako, tactful as always, is gonna check on Nagumo. I love her.

This is so important. Couple formation does affect the friends around them, and I'm really glad Yako let Nagumo voice that she supports her friends even as she knows she's going to miss the dynamic they've had. Yako is so right to point out that a change doesn't mean it's over, and their friendship will last if we all continue to reach out.

This realtor scene is so good. I like how politely she asked for them to disclose their relationship with the express purpose of securing ideal housing, and we're getting into how the financing of housing can affect people's privacy. She's also owning that landlords can discriminate against couples. I also appreciate that their meeting room was private.

I'm ready for the moving in party!

Episode 20

They got the house!!

A crab cream croquette party!!!

Wait, where's Nagumo? I wanted her to try a croquette too!

We are on the bed together. This is not a drill.

Yes, let's acknowledge that they have liked each other since season 1.

The intimacy question is on the floor!

They are finally hugging!

NOW KISS!!!

That was very sweet, and felt right for them. I'm glad they had that moment in the old place before they moved.

Cried because of Ms. Fujita and Nagumo possibly getting hired.

So glad Yako and Nagumo are still hanging out! That's really how some friends groups will be. Two people will just gel at a party and grow close.

Oh hell yeah we're at casual intimacy now.

I'm so excited to see where the TV goes next season!!

Oh my goodness Kasuga is wearing a lighter sweater!!!!!!

Final Verdict: 10, Go Watch This Immediately and Then Show it to a Friend. Seriously, do not make excuses for yourself. You owe it to yourself to watch this show. Between this, Ossan's Love Returns, and What Did You Eat Yesterday? coming back, we cannot stop supporting our shows about older people getting together and forming their own forms of family. This show built on the foundation of its first season and made every little detail feel so potent and impactful. I did not expect the pen pal to grow into a trusted confidant and core member of this friend group, nor was I expecting the women at the supermarket to help Kasuga as much as they did. This season was excellent, and will be joining WDYEY on my comfort watch rotation.

Big thanks to @furritsubs and friends for making this watch possible.

[xiaomaotea]

the teabag is why you don't like tea

with tea being the most drank beverage other than water, one would assume that there would be a similar push for quality in tea as there has been for coffee. with the introduction of at home espresso machines and the popularity of higher quality, whole bean coffee, the tea industry has remained with a single culprit: the teabag.

it's apparent from the colonial history of tea that the motivation behind the teabag was to produce a drinkable product for as cheap as possible while feeding into the 'convenience culture' of the early 20th century. while britain had been one of the largest importers of tea between the 17th and 19th centuries, it was not the common drink that we know it as today. because the tea had to be imported from china, tea traders were able to charge as much as they wanted, covering their already high cost of travel and making a large profit, to boot. the london museum writes on the cost of one pound of the best quality tea being equivalent to 300 british pounds today, 10 times what a pound of the highest quality coffee would cost. looking to cut their costs and increase profit, the east india company developed a plan: they were going to infiltrate the chinese tea farms and take the tea for themselves.

with a scheme more fitting for an austin powers movie, the east india company sent a scotsman by the name of robert fortune with a chinese colleague, wang, fully kitted in period-correct chinese clothing to a tea plantation and convinced the farmers to let him in to check over the farm. in doing so, stole some live tea plants and took notes on the processing of the leaves, taking them back to india, and the plants dying shortly after. the brits never were able to make the tea they bought taste as good as they wanted it to- they preferred a strong, robust cup that would be bitter the way they brewed it- and so was the introduction of milk, sugar, and a lesser dose of tea ground to a powder and shoved into a mesh bag. that leaves us, today, with tea being closer to a latte than the culturally significant beverage that it truly is.

the main flaw with the teabag is the quality of leaves. teabags are made with low-quality leaves, often with the trimmings of the leaves meant for other markets. the leaves are then crushed into smaller particles for easier absorption, making for a quick steep. this, however, leads to a bitter brew that is hard to drink by itself, hence why many add cream and sweetener to make it taste better. in chinese gong fu style tea, the leaves are kept whole, allowing for them to open up over shorter, smaller steeps. this allows for a flavor curve to happen as leaves open up gradually and release their flavor into the water. by creating a single large steep in a teabag, this is not possible. even in 'premium' teabags that do contain some loose-leaf tea, containing the leaves within a bag or even within an infuser does not allow for complete openings of the leaf. by containing the leaves, you end up with a half-baked flavor that often ends up bitter when steeping for times in the minutes.

when made properly using full, fresh leaves paired with a controlled amount of time and temperature steeped, tea is one of the most diverse beverages on the planet. from vegetal greens, to peaty puerh, i truly believe there is a tea out there for everybody. when you drink out of a teabag, you are drinking out of a piece of colonial history that should not exist in the first place. sources & reference material:

[skyrim-said-that]

do you have. mod recs. i need more mods and am having trouble finding ones which are not asscentric. my computer is shared i cant have ass mods.

ok i have a bit of time to do this, ill go alphabetically, but keep in mind that obviously most mods require SKSE and each have their own dependencys 

and also that i play legendary edition so i have all the DLCs (Even tho i haven't played them rly). also they like. are allegedly all compatable because my game does still work, but if they fuck up yours uh. my bad. im also omitting a bunch that like. i have them but really they dont make the list

also i have a lot of food mods, dont ask why because i dont have the answer. green highlighted mods are my favs

About Horses

Makes horses look like real horses. my inner horsegirl shines on

A Skyrim Kiss - Smooch that fictional character!

A Skyrim Waltz - Dance with them too!

Ur gonna need FNIS for these two

Babettes Feast - Improved Cooking

Adds a bunch of different immersive recipes to the game, i really like this sort of mod when im playing with hunger/thirst mods

Bandolier - Bags and Pouches

this is such a good mod if youre a huge packrat. adds a bunch of craftable wearable storage options like belts and stuff that up your carryweight!

Better Vanilla Hair - Mesh replacement

Just a visual mod that smooths out the blockyness of the hair, without changing it too much. it still like. fits in the game

Beards - Beard texture overhaul

Bosmeri Cuisine - Meat Based Recipies

adds a bunch of recipes inspired by the Green Pact lore, stuff thats completely carnivorous like fried eggs, pemmican and more

Books of Skyrim

Adds a bookstore in solitude so you can hoard more books

Breezehome - Fully Upgradable

I love this mod, it makes it so you can majorly upgrade breezehome with more floors, a whole blacksmith setup, bathroom, and a ton more!

Combine Potions

Corners of skyrim - More structures

i love mods like this, it just adds like different little cabins and shit all around for u to find when youre exploring

Cooking Expanded

Common Clothes

Adds craftable regular clothes for playing dressup

Daedric Shrines -  Sanguine

Adds a sexy man to my life

Flying Crows

Female Mannequins

Footprints - Adds npc/player/animal prints in the snow

Helgen Reborn - Rebuilding the hold

i have a thing for building mods, i love them. i dont know why but its so fun its like playing home improvement sim. but in skyrim. this one has a really fun questline too, its really fun and well written!

Ineed - Food, water and sleep

i mean, self explanatory again but adds a system for needs. I like that its really adjustable so if you find it harsh you can tone it down.

Immersive Armours

Self explanitory but also a really great mod! very immersive armors that look great!

Immersive Citizens - Ai Overhaul

Its like if the npcs actually were functional

Immersive Weapons

see above but for weapons!

Lanterns of Skyrim

ok technically i have the old version of this but im sure its the same, it adds a bunch of lanterns on the paths all around skyrim

Left Hand Rings

Lovely Hairstyles - Immersive hair

Marriage Mod - To have and to hold

this one updates the weddings so theyre a little more in depth as well as adds the options for multiple marriages. also adds a few quests!

Marks of Beauty - Freckles moles and more!

Racemenu - Player creation overhaul

I feel like most people have this one but if you love character creation this is the one, its so good and you can fuck with EVERYTHING

Relationship Dialogue Overhaul

Guys i really like this one, it adds a TON of dialogue for your spouses , followers, etc and they're all just ripped from existing dialogue so they don't sound out of place or anything! i love it

Sweet Mother - Night mother improvement

Sounds of skyrim - complete edition

i love these mods they basically overhaul the ambient sounds all over the game, i especially love how real they make the forests feel!

Scars of Time - a Landmark mod

more structures and landmarks across skyrim. im a whore for this stuff

Wintersun - Faiths of Skyrim

SUCH a good mod. adds a whole bunch of shrines for the different faiths in tes lore, as well as different benefits for choosing them. its so cool like i cant explain it

[itsbenedict]

Games I Played In 2023 And Whether Or Not I Thought They Were Good (Part 1/4)

Once again, a year has passed, and I spent a considerable chunk of it on video games! Here's what I thought about [e: some of] the ones that I played.

1 - [2] - [3] - [4]

Potionomics

This game is- well, I've never played a Recettear game, but apparently it's a Recettear knockoff? You run a potion shop, and you hire adventurers to go into dungeons to get ingredients for your potion shop, and the whole thing's on a timer where you have to pay off a big debt by the end... apparently there's a formula it's aping that I'm unfamiliar with.

But it's very fun- it's got two main unique mechanics, one of which is a potion-brewing minigame about balancing ingredients in certain ratios which is challenging- and the other of which is an STS-style deckbuilder card game where you haggle with customers in lieu of combat. Both systems have a lot of depth and interesting options and I enjoyed them a lot.

Other standouts: the cast of support characters you can rank up social links with are great (love love love the coffee-addled workaholic moth girl and the comic relief cat pirates with a surprisingly dark backstory), and the fully-animated 3D character portraits are really fun and expressive.

Nitpicks: the time system having one time block reserved for the hour it takes to go home after visiting town is... an awkward choice (holdover from the Recettear structure they're aping?), and lategame you kind of cap out in potion-making capacity and it becomes kind of tricky to progress. Also the story's kinda predictable and the villains who don't later become party members are paper-thin.

Horizon: Forbidden West

God this game pisses me off.

Horizon: Zero Dawn, its predecessor, was a fun open-world game about hunting robot dinosaurs and uncovering the surprisingly elaborate story behind why there are robot dinosaurs. I enjoyed it a lot!

Forbidden West has everything Zero Dawn had... and also mountains of tedious cruft to pad out the game's runtime which all infuriates me to no end.

The story is still quite good! And the robot dinosaur fighting is still quite good! Those are the important parts, and they nailed them... but I have complained at my friends for hours about the bafflingly bad design choices that plague every other aspect of this game constantly. It's... there's so much, I want to like, make a video going into the details, but in short...

The cool and versatile weapons from the last game have been split up into piles of slightly-different weapons with different elements so you have to carry around and upgrade ten times as much crap and are forced to spec into a build that locks you out of effective experimentation

Every little noncombat action in the game has some very realistic and pretty AAA graphics animation that takes too long and wastes your time constantly during basic gameplay and kills flow dead

The very cool procedural climbing mesh thing... gets arbitrarily turned off in inexplicably oiled-up puzzle ruins that very badly want you to push a crate around in every way it's possible to push a crate around in order to waste the maximum amount of your time

Cooking "system" which is the most comprehensively useless thing anyone probably spent dozens of hours implementing in their video game

Item wheel that contains every consumable item in the game regardless of whether you currently have any and is basically unnavigable during tense situations like, say, combat, when you need it

So many repetitive sidequests about some poor fucker who went missing and might be in danger and is every single time dead to a bunch of robot dinosaurs obviously. Lot of missions designed to kill time rather than show you something cool or have interesting story.

There's a lot to like and it's super cool but god there's so much to be mad at. Respects the player's time 0%. I'm gonna go off about this more later for sure.

Disco Elysium

Oh my god, this game. It's... really something. You might be familiar with it from memes on Tumblr, about its comically inept slash deranged protagonist and his partner with the patience of a saint- but it's doing so much more than I expected from the out-of-context screencaps.

Like- yes, it's fucking hilarious. I love that about it. But it's also this incredibly detailed work of worldbuilding that creates this whole setting that's doing... some wild stuff. Like, you've maybe heard it's very political? Well, it is, but about weird alternate universe sci-fi politics that sort of halfway resemble our own, and it's thought through all of these invented social dynamics. And it's got a great sense of atmosphere- it knows when to be funny and when to be solemn and how to blend the two for maximum effect. It's a dark comedy, but it's all built on a dead-serious reality and a really effective story.

And- it is a murder mystery game about solving cases! It works very well on that level! It manages to be open-ended and let you solve things in a variety of different ways using this complex RPG stat system of creatively-designed psychological stats, while making sure the central whodunit (and a bevy of fascinating satellite mysteries) stays on track. Extremely good on a game design level.

(also some shit happens in this game that i was not at all expecting and can't even go into without spoilers, but- but holy fuck, the way this game opens up and the things it manages to hide in plain sight... just mind-boggling. incredibly impressive.)

Tunic

Speaking of hiding things in plain sight- neither this nor Disco Elysium came out this year, so I can't call either of them GotY, but... if they had, I'd have a hard time deciding.

Tunic is incredibly clever. On the surface, it's an isometric soulslike thing with a low-poly Zelda-y aesthetic... but there's not just the surface. There's layers and layers to this thing. The first layer it hits you with is that most of the game's UI is in a made-up rune script, which you have to learn, which is a fun challenge and caused me to spend a few hours making a tool to catalogue and decrypt the damn thing- though I eventually learned to sight-read it. But that's just- that's like, the tip of the iceberg, the most obvious twist to what this game is.

There's, like... I don't want to spoil what there's like. The whole thing is about peeling back the layers and figuring out which seemingly arbitrary aesthetic choices were secretly meaningful, and seeing how the game transforms as you figure out the different sorts of secret structure layered on top of each other. It's actually best compared to The Witness, although there's still a pretty meaty and challenging action-adventure game to tackle while you're uncovering the hidden patterns and deepest lore. It's a fascinating intellectual challenge and highly recommended to anyone who likes giving their noggin something to chew on.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Man, so... this game is very impressive, but it's in a weird place due to some awkward design decisions and cut corners.

This is a direct sequel to smash megahit Breath of the Wild... sort of. It's very weird what it's doing. It really wants to be a self-contained thing, to the point of throwing out major setting elements and story concepts from BotW entirely so it can do its own thing... but on a mechanical level, this is the same game, with some very cool new mechanics and a cool-ish new story bolted on.

(Said story... it has one extremely cool plot twist that's also a gameplay twist, delivered effectively in a nonlinear way that creates this great sense of dawning comprehension. Otherwise... kind of a nothingburger. Ganondorf is boring and has no coherent motivation, there's no explanation or real plot relevance to the [spoilers] that seem like such a central thing, and... the whole thing revolves around a technologically advanced precursor civilization that's completely different from the technologically advanced precursor civilization established by the last game, of which all evidence has been meticulously scrubbed from the world to... I guess avoid confusion? The one huge central plot beat really works, and the rest is... low-effort nonsense.)

So, mechanically... the developers made this very odd choice to... have the game take place in the exact same map from the first game, except warped and remixed by geologic upheaval just enough to force the environment designers to redo every bit of landscape more or less from scratch. Like, all the same recognizable locations, but a step to the left. In theory, not a bad idea- but then they layer on top of that a threefold expansion to the world.

TotK has three world maps- Hyrule, the sky (full of floating islands now), and a third spoilery area that's the same size as both of those. The game's economy is thus weirdly trifurcated- crucial resources are located in all three areas, so you need to go up and down and up and down a lot. And so is the game's content- there's a roughly comparable amount of stuff in BotW and TotK, but TotK splits it across three maps, making each area feel largely empty, with a lot of wasted space.

This effect is especially noticeable in Hyrule, which... if you've played BotW, you won't really find anything new there. It's all the same places with a few tweaks, so there's not much sense of discovery if you played the original. There's a bunch of landmarks and areas that exist purely because they were there before and it'd be weird for them to disappear... except now instead of some secret or loot there, there's just nothing. Wasted space. And both the sky and the other new map are pretty homogeneous and unrewarding to explore once you've seen the four or five types of things they have to offer- they're mainly made up of recycled assets.

TotK is... I think strictly better than BotW, with more content and more fun core mechanics, but it's a worse experience than BotW if you played the first one. If you haven't played BotW, Hyrule will still be fun to explore, and you probably want to jump straight to TotK.

-

I'm... gonna have to break this post up to get to the 21 other games I played this year, otherwise it's gonna be stupid long and take forever. Stay tuned!

1 - [2] - [3] - [4]

[exteenpopstar]

Hi! I'm sorry if this isn't a super helpful message. But I am literally also trying to help a relative in Chicago navigate getting a home aide right now. (from a distance, I am on the east ghost.) Howtogeton dot wordpress dot com has some great info I've been looking at. And also we filled out tinyurl dot com / findingcarechicago and they sent us the list of like thirteen covid-safe care providers in their network. Our issue is right now this is just out of pocket for us. Idk if you could tell me any more about how you got approved for the medicaid payments, if not I understand and good luck with your search!!

EDIT: That list you sent me is awesome tysm i will have to see if any of those people can mesh with the medicaid PA system since i don't completely understand how works yet. 🥳

hello. thank you for links. is your relative already approved for medicaid? like are they under the income limits? because that is the first required thing. you need to be on medicaid as your insurance to get the state provided home care. if your income is too high for regular medicaid i believe you can get medicaid ABD (aged blind disabled) if you prove disability which is a whole other rigmarole that i haven't done. not sure if same as SSI or not. so it's unfortunately easiest to just have very low income (under ~$20k/yr for 1 person).

This is where you apply for benefits in general: https://abe.illinois.gov/access/

Then this is where you apply for home care: https://wr.dhs.illinois.gov/wrpublic/wr/dynamic/referral.jsf

^And check off "I would like help living independently at home".

Then they will contact you via email/phone. It will be very frustrating and weird. often even if you specify support person they will contact the person who needs services themself, and often if you specify not phone they will call anyway. Also they will send complicated paperwork to provided address. I had to ask doctors and social workers for help filling out and everyone claimed was not their job. I still have not been assigned an actual case manager. if you get medicaid home care they will assign you a care coordinator but she is only supposed to meet with you every 3 mos.

i don't know how they decided how many hours i got or anything. i don't have access to like what they filled out about me or their analysis of my functioning. i am only approved for "homemaker" services and they sent me a random person from an agency. if you can find your own person it's called a "personal assistant" and i think you get to manage the care more independently, which is part of why i'm looking for new aide. but my current aide is from agency and has to follow some rules that i don't really understand.

[linksysmeshvelop]

How to Set Up Linksys Velop Mesh WiFi in Just a Few Steps?

Start your Linksys Mesh Velop Setup by connecting the primary Velop node to your modem. Launch the Linksys app and follow the guided steps to name your WiFi, create a password, and add additional mesh nodes. The system automatically syncs, delivering consistent, whole-home wireless coverage with minimal effort. For human help, come to our chat section!

[silicon65]

hello ! i admire your work as a whole quite a lot, and recently your secondlife stuff really caught my eye. i was wondering how did you get into it? asking as someone who also really wants to get into it, but finds it insanely confusing when it comes to navigating around building a nice character. well wishes!

hello and thank you, sorry for the late reply

I started playing second life around 2018, I love the primitive looking visuals

I can totally say the avatar customization system it is not for everyone, it can be very tedious if you're just starting, there's a lot of terms you have to learn (bento, animesh, bake on mesh (also known as BOM), I personally just got a free bento avatar at first and I dedicated to explode and hang out with people, I got more interested on avatar building much later, spending a lot of time browsing on the marketplace was also useful honestly.

Here's a guide for multiple subjects and a free avatar list in case you're looking for that

[wildmendergame]

How we created the ideal water system for Wildmender

Over the last 4 years of work, we've created a gardening survival game in a desert world that let people create massive and complex oasis where each plant is alive. At the heart of a system-driven, procedurally generated ecology is a water simulation and terraforming system, and this post is to share a bit of how we built it.



We knew early on that the game would include some level of soil and water simulation, just as an outgrowth of wanting to simulate an ecosystem. The early builds used a simple set of flags for soil, which plants could respond to or modify, and had water present only as static objects. Each tile of soil (a 1x1 “meter” square of the game world) could be rock or sand, and have a certain level of fertility or toxicity. Establishing this early put limits on how much we could scale the world, since we knew we needed to store a certain amount of data for each tile.



Since the terrain was already being procedurally generated, letting players shape it to customize their garden was a pretty natural thing to add. The water simulation was added at first in response to this - flat, static bodies of water could easily create very strange results if we let the player dig terrain out from under them. Another neat benefit of this simulation was that it made water a fixed-sum resource - anything the player took out of the ground for their own use wasn’t available for plants, and vice versa. This really resonated well with the whole concept of desert survival and water as a critical resource.



The water simulation at its core is a grid-based solution. Tiles with a higher water level spread it to adjacent tiles in discrete steps. We broke the world up into “simulation cells” (of 32 by 32 tiles each) which let us break things like the water simulation into smaller chunks that we could compute in the background without interrupting the player. The amount of water in each tile is then combined with the height of the underlying terrain to create a water mesh for each simulation cell. Later on, this same simulation cell concept helped us with various optimizations - we could turn off all the water calculations and extra data on cells that didn’t have any water, which is most of the world.



Early on, we were mostly concerned with just communicating what was happening with simple blocks of color - but once the basic simulation worked, we needed to decide how the water should look for the final game. Given the stylized look we were building for the rest of the game, we decided the water should be similarly stylized - the blue-and-white colors made this critical resource stand out to the player more than a more muted, natural, transparent appearance did. White “foam” was added to create clear edges for any body of water (through a combination of screen depth, height above the terrain, and noise.)

We tweaked the water rendering repeatedly over the rest of the project, adding features to the simulation and a custom water shader that relied on data the simulation provided. Flowing water was indicated with animated textures based on the height difference, using a texturing technique called flowmaps. Different colors would indicate clean or toxic water. Purely aesthetic touches like cleaning up the edges of bodies of water, smooth animation of the water mesh, and GPU tessellation on high-end machines got added over time, as well.

The “simulation cell” concept also came into play as we built up the idea of biome transformations. Under the hood, living plants contribute “biomass” to nearby cells, while other factors like wind erosion remove biomass - but if enough accumulates, the cell changes to a new biome, which typically makes survival easier for both plants and players. This system provided a good, organic feel, and it fulfilled one of our main goals of making the player’s home garden an inherently safe and sheltered place - but the way it worked was pretty opaque to players. Various tricks of terrain texturing helped address this, showing changes around plants that were creating a biome transition before that transition actually happened.



As we fleshed out the rest of the game, we started adding new ways to interact with the system we already had. The spade and its upgrades had existed from fairly early, but playtesting revealed a big demand for tools that would help shape the garden at a larger scale. The Earthwright’s Chisel, which allowed the players to manipulate terrain on a larger scale such as digging an entire trench at once, attempted to do this in a way that was both powerful and imprecise, so it didn’t completely overshadow the spade.

We also extended the original biome system with the concept of Mothers and distinct habitats. Mothers gave players more direct control over how their garden developed, in a way that was visibly transformative and rewarding. Giving the ability to create Mothers as a reward for each temple tied back into our basic exploration and growth loops. And while the “advanced” biomes are still generally all better than the base desert, specializing plants to prefer their specific habitats made choosing which biome to create a more meaningful choice.



Water feeds plants, which produce biomass, which changes the biome to something more habitable that loses less water. Plants create shade and block wind-borne threats, which lets other plants thrive more easily. But if those plants become unhealthy or are killed, biomass drops and the whole biome can regress back to desert - and since desert is less habitable for plants, it tends to stay that way unless the player acts to fix it somehow. The whole simulation is “sticky” in important ways - it reinforces its own state, positive or negative. This both makes the garden a source of safety to the player, and allows us to threaten it - with storms, wraiths, or other disasters - in a way that demands players take action.

[catgirltoofies]

witchspring r is a game that i am liking a lot. i hesitate to call it a good game, because it has a lot of things that a lot of people wouldn't like, but it pushes a lot of my favorite buttons in a lot of very nice ways. ended up typing a bunch so if you want to hear me ramble check the readmore

the main thing about it is that there's a whole bunch of grinding. i don't mind grinding; in fact i quite enjoy it when it's implemented right, and witchspring r does it in a way i really enjoy. everything in the game follows on a sort of global timer, and any action you take advances the timer on every other thing. so a low level gathering point might respawn after 2 or 3 ticks of the timer, while rare resources and bosses might require 10 or 15 ticks, and particularly rare resources might take even longer. this means that i don't get stuck in a loop of fighting the same enemy group hundreds of times in a row hoping to get good drops - i fight the few groups of the enemy, then run off to fight other groups of enemies or pick up useful items, then when i go home and rest, i can go back to the first group of enemies to find them respawned and ready to go. obviously the negative to this is that I'm forced to do other things if i want to grind a particular thing, but it's not that bad. and, of course, there's an instant-win button; but it doesn't become an idle game. to use the instant-kill button your magic stat needs to be higher than the HP of the enemy, and you need a higher agility, and you need to spend a proportionate amount of MP, unless you use the sword method, which requires significantly higher agility. no disgaea 6 auto battle here.

i particularly like how the battle system encourages you to use every part of it. in battle, you have three main relevant options, and three other options that aren't used as much. the main three are physical skills, magic slabs, and special attacks. physical skills deal a bit of damage, but cost no MP. magical skills do a lot of damage but you need MP to cast them. special attacks are unique and usually unlock after a number of turns. what's really interesting, though, is how it all meshes together - when you cast a spell, a portion of the damage you deal is stored in your staff, which gets released when you do a physical attack, so dealing the most damage most often involves casting the spell that deals the most damage, then using a physical attack on the next turn, and repeating back and forth. every four turns you get a guaranteed critical hit, which deals about 30% extra damage, getting better over time. this crit can't be banked, though, so you need to figure out what ability is best used to make the most of it.

the other options in combat are summoning pets, which give pretty substantial damage bonuses on their turns, using items, which are generally best used as a panic button or as a free turn every few turns (an extremely useful ability unlocked relatively early), and defend, which restores a percentage of HP and MP at the start of your next turn. early on i made heavy use of defend and had my pet kill things, which was really slow, but now I'm at the point where i can start really pumping magic, making most of my turns casting fireballs.

the story is decent enough. you play as the witch pieberry, who lives alone in a forest protected by a giant golem. pieberry wants to explore the human world for a taste of the pie from her dreams, which leads her on a grand adventure far from home, to which she can return at any point.

↑ pieberry. importantly, her snaggletooth is actually modeled in-game, and isn't relegated to just her artwork like a certain other magically inclined crafter character (RYZA). all witches are marked with dark(er) skin, white hair, and long floppy ears. her favorite things are pies and strawberries, the things which she named herself after.

for some lore: witches are the children of humans and demons (who are the former gods who had their powers stolen by humans), with extreme magical prowess that seems to dull with age. they're not immortal, there is a very plot relevant witch who's old and dying. pieberry suffered the fate that many other witches did: she was abandoned in the woods as a baby, in the hopes that she would be killed by nature so her parent wouldn't have to kill her themselves.

pieberry is obviously not at perfect peace with her lot in life, but she's still living her way. and who could blame her, she's like ten.

anyways rant over. play witchspring r it's out on steam right now

[crimso-o]

A Stygian's Burden [Looking for Players - PF2e Homebrew Campaign!]

Table-Top System: Pathfinder 2e (Homebrew setting, further information will be provided upon acceptance).

Number of Players: FULL - thank you to everyone who applied!!

Time and Date: Weekly, Friday evenings - starting at 6pm to 11pm CST

Session length: 5 hours

DMing style: Mixture of both combat and role-play, leaning on heavier, darker themes and overall subject matter; incorporation of characters, backstories and party dynamics are important to the structure of our campaigns!

Starting level: Level 3

Required platforms: Discord Voice, Foundry VTT

Restrictions: No lone-wolf characters (we’re looking for characters that can mesh well with the group!), and we have a google form / application system that will be required to fill out if you wish to join!* (Evil characters are allowed, though there will be discussion and understanding of limits to craft a balanced character).

Content warning: This setting is 21+, it will contain some dark and uncomfortable material. TW themes; psychological horror, body horror, g^re, suggestive themes, and more. This is set in a dark fantasy world where your actions and how you play will have consequences to the party and story.

Player Homebrew: 3rd party options will be provided and available once you have joined!

Story: The Expanse, a world built upon blended continents and archipelagos filled with vibrant possibilities, freedom and exhilarating adventure; a world awaiting before your very fingertips. . . Beckoning, inviting you to see what all there is to offer. Though even with such pleasantries, such promises that seem to await you - Where your story truly begins, well, you all find yourselves guided down a different path. Away from gleaming hope and growth, but rather within the confines of a high-security prison deemed as Black Reach. Dreary, dark, and dripping with malice; you find yourselves in the cruel vices of custody, shackled and stowed away from the public eye ( locked away for whatever foul crimes you committed ) or perhaps. . . Your line of work, the pay offered, or perhaps out of self justice - you've found yourself sailing through the heavily patrolled waters to the isolated island where the prison stands, ready to provide aid to cease and silence those malevolent convicts. Or assist in other means. Whatever it may be, you all find yourself within its suffocating walls. For how long? It feels unknown really. . . But a place you call home, nonetheless.

Backstory information & Details: As mentioned above, you all will be starting in Black Reach; a high-security prison tasked with keeping those of heavy and severe risk in custody. Be it as a prisoner or a staff member / guard / an outside hire, whichever it may be; a detailed and enriching backstory will be needed to written ( we will assist in the process, as this will be taking place in our home-brew world ). You can reside from any portion of the world and your backstory can encompass many things, but it will need to be hammered down to finding a reason / purpose for your imprisonment or unique hire to the facility.

Keeping in contact with us, asking questions and building your character as well as your story alongside your DMs is a MUST if you join, especially before campaign begins - we want to ensure your vision and ideas can be done while still fitting in the setting as a whole.

Alongside what's mentioned above, we also partake in writing role-play between sessions where you'll be writing as your character during downtime to maintain interest, appeal and allow others to interact outside of weekly sessions - this will be a requirement if you wish to join!

Notes: Hello everyone! My name is Crimso and I'm the CO-DM for this campaign alongside my partner. we’re reaching out to find new players and potentially new friends to play a long term campaign with as well as meet, interact and hang out with often! (we're night owls, so we're up all hours of the evening haha)!

If you're interested in joining, please send a message over to my inbox and I'll send over a Google application form for you to fill out! It'll have a range of questions that'll help us get to know you!

Thank you to those who take the time to read this long post and hope you have a wonderful day!