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Ok so I have speculations about these, but it is nearly entirely baseless, but it’d be cool if there was certain quests only a specific color of pet could go on

Tidewalker and Gilded Official Reveal!

We are Thrilled and Excited to officially reveal the Official Art for our Gilded and Tidewalker colors, as modeled by the Direfang!  

The Gilded theme reflects the essence of Ancient guardianship, with rich golds, deep blues, and radiant Gemstones woven into its design. This pet is a living relic, imbued with the Energy of sacred locations and powers of the Ancient. The shimmering jewels suggest a connection to Mystical wonders, making the Gilded pet a vigilant Protector, always watching over with a serene yet commanding Presence.

The Tidewalker theme enchants your pet with the Powerful, mystical energy of the Ocean. Plunge beneath the waves with scales and fins perfect for Exploring the depths of the sea! Watery magic empowers Tidewalker pets to embark on undersea Adventure. Your pet will truly embody the essence of the Ocean, resembling the powerful Guardians of the deep. 

Thank You to each and every one of you for your Support and enthusiasm that makes Santae's growth possible. We hope you love these new pet colors as much as we loved Creating them -- and that you're excited for everything more that is to Come! Every Alpha Member and Kickstarter Backer will receive one Gilded Shimmer Dust and one Tidewalker Shimmer Dust as a huge thank you for achieving this goal as a community! Stay tuned for more information on how these Legendary Guardians will be released in the future! These will be issued as we roll into our Beta Testing phase. 

If we can reach our $75k Stretch Goal, we'll unlock yet another brand New Pet to join the world of Santae. And Beyond that, there's even more to unlock. Join your friends in an Adventure Party to take on quests as a team. Tend to your collection of Minimals in a dedicated Terrarium and Aquarium system. Even more new pets, a pet Battle System -- all this and more awaits beyond our additional Stretch Goals!

Thank You All so much for your continued Love and Support! Our Community is what makes Santae truly special.

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Santae Kickstarter Making Waves!

The official Santae Kickstarter is underway now, and we are absolutely thrilled at the outpouring of support from our community. Not only was our goal fully funded in 28 Minutes, we’ve also already achieved four of our exciting stretch goals!

We’ve now unlocked 2 new Pet Colors, 5x HTML5 Games, a new Pet Species and Pet Auras and Backgrounds — and our next stretch goal, another brand new pet species, is right around the corner! 

Between all the exciting backer tiers and a rich selection of available add-ons, there’s something for every Adventurer to enjoy. We’ve even recently expanded the Kickstarter add-ons to allow you to select the color of your choice when adding Phasmic, Seamso, or Kyree figurines!

We've also added 3 new stretch goals to bring 4 new pet species to Santae! These have been added in-between our previous Stretch Goals <3 

Equip yourself for adventure in the world of Santae by making your pledge to the official Kickstarter today!

With Love and Gratitude

~The Santae Team

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Person

Greetings From Santae,

Adventurer, Thank You for joining us on our exciting journey and being a part of our community during Alpha Testing at Santae! We're thrilled to have you following our progress and signing up for our newsletter. As a valued member of our community, you'll enjoy exclusive perks and stay informed about our upcoming updates, including what we've accomplished and what we plan to continue building. Be sure to check your email and click the link we sent to redeem your special reward. We are beyond grateful for your support and look forward to sharing more of our adventures with you! Also, click the link below and hit that "Notify Me Button" and anyone who signs up to follow our Kickstarter will receive a Divine Synthwave Harlowin Figurine as a thank you gift!

The Official Santae Kickstarter Is Kicking Off Soon!

Exciting things are underway in the magical world of Santae, and there’s no better time to begin – or continue – your adventure with us.

We’re thrilled to announce that the official Santae Kickstarter campaign will launch August 30! Backing the project will grant you exclusiveaccess to the site during our Beta launch, in addition to an incredible variety of rewards.

Tier Rewards range from beautiful Animated Wardrobe items for your avatar, to the companionship of the Kyree, Phasmic, and Seamso pets, and much more. You can even unlock the opportunity to collaborate with our art and design teams to design your very own site content: A Minimal, hairstyle, on-site item or clothing set, NPC, or even pet species!

Visit the Official Santae Kickstarter Today!

Press “Notify me on launch” on the official Santae Kickstarter to become a follower, and invite your friends to do the same. As our Kickstarter page hits certain follower thresholds, the entire Alpha community will unlock tiers of prizes!

At 500 followers for the official Santae Kickstarter, we will release a new pet species, the Luffin, early. At 1000 followers, we will unlock early access to the brand-new Synthwave color! Don’t miss your chance to unlock rare rewards while also helping to make our Kickstarter a success. Visit this page for a sneak peek of all available Kickstarter tiers and rewards!

The Road So Far…

The beginning of Santae’s Alpha test on May 12th, was the start of an incredible journey. In the weeks since then, we’ve enriched the game with dozens of regular updates and exciting new features.

Here is just a taste of what we’ve added to enhance your experience on Santae:

New pet species

On Santae, mystical pets are your adventuring companions. There are plenty to choose from, and many more species on the way! Over the course of Alpha, we released 5 brand new pet species for Santarians to befriend. We’ve also increased the amount of pet friends you can add to your adventure party to 10 when you start!

The adorable moth-like Nochturn is ready to join any Santarian’s adventuring party as soon as they join the site. Brave adventurers who journey to the Lava Caves of the Flamefall Cascades can find the draconic Harlowin and fearsome Grusim. The elegant Drava can be found at traveling merchant Vespera’s exclusive shop. And finally, the friendly Quibbit evolves from its tadpole-like Minimal form.

Which pet species will become your faithful adventuring companion?

New Pet Colors

No matter your style, you can customize your pet companions on Santae with the help of magical shimmer dust!

We announced FOUR exciting new pet colors over the course of Alpha, with more to come in Beta and beyond. Will your pet let its true colors shine with the beautiful Prismatic shimmer dust? Will it become an adorable Pipsqueak? Will they show class and elegance with a RegalShimmer Dust? Or will you give your pet a taste of retro digital style with the brand-new Synthwave color?

New Minimals

In the world of Santae, your pets can adopt enchanting companions of their own called Minimals! Choose from dozens of types to find your pet’s perfect match.

Santae’s Alpha phase has brought many new exciting types of Minimals to join the herd. Which will your pet adopt?

Exciting New Site Features

The world of Santae is rich with opportunities to explore, gather, and discover. During the site’s Alpha phase, we’ve unlocked engaging on-site mini-games that bring you and your pets all across the vibrant world of Santae.

Send your pets Gathering at locations across Santae and they will bring back exciting items to share with you! Your pet might bring you a magical rune from the mysterious Stormforge Caverns, gather useful plants from the Ancient Grove, or maybe even discover an egg that can hatch into another pet at the volcanic pools of Ember Springs. You can also direct your pet to pluck rare berries from the Great Berry Tree!

When your pets go Fishing at the sunny Solar Sands – or in any gathering location across Santae – there’s no telling what they might find at the other end of the line. You might reel in a delicious fish, an eel that can join your pet as its Minimal companion, a piece of useful equipment that only needs a small repair, and so much more. More discoveries in the depths of the waters around Santae are sure to come.

If you want to tame wild Minimals, go visit Silvershade’s Ranch in the Lani Archipelago! They will send you out into the wild to catch and tame a Minimal through an interactive Herding mini-game. Bring berries, toys, and plushies to tempt and distract the Minimal as you and your pet cooperate to befriend it.

A Dynamic World

Santae’s sunny days and mysterious nights each hold their own mysteries to explore, watch as the clouds move while you play, and every hour on the hour you can watch the transition to day/night. As the world cycles between states every hour, you and your pets have the chance to make exciting new discoveries!

Visiting the Lava Caves in the dark of night will bring you face to face with the opportunity to tame a fearsome Grusim – but during the light of day, the Grusim retreats. While the sun shines over the Lava Caves, you can instead bring your Harlowin egg there to hatch into a new companion.

Exciting Events

The most important ingredient in the world of Santae is you: The community!

Over the course of THREE exciting events, our Alpha Testers have been able to participate in and shape the future of the game’s world. Together, we’ve discovered new Minimals, locations, and even new pet species.

The Goopper Swarm

Mysterious slug-like Minimals swarmed Gathering locations all across Santae, prompting adventurers everywhere to collect them in an attempt to learn more.

By collecting the Gooppers and discovering their source, Santarians discovered a brand-new location: The Goopper Grotto. This tranquil forest clearing holds an amazing secret: When you bring a Goopper there alongside certain powerfully magical items, the Minimal will transform!

The Mourning Grusim

By following the traces of an ancient legend, adventurers learned of a mythical creature lurking deep within the Lava Caves.

Together, Santarians discovered sanDust: A secondary currency earned through site activities. This magical dust proved to be the secret to calming the ferocious ancient beast within the caves. By working together to collect sanDust, the community unlocked the ability to tame and adopt the Grusim for everyone!

The Quibbit Cove

When Santarians began to discover mysterious eggs around the site, they banded together to collect them and learn more about them. Together, we learned how to hatch Quibbspawn eggs into a brand-new Minimal: The Quibblet!

But the Quibblet was no ordinary Minimal. More ancient clues pointed the community towards a newly-discovered location, Quibbit Cove. It was there that the true secret of the Quibblet was revealed: Feeding it in the cove causes it to evolve into a fully-fledged pet, the Quibbit!

Thanks to the community’s efforts of research and discovery, the location of Quibbit Cove and the secret of Quibblet evolution are now unlocked for everyone.

Thank You For Being A Part of the Magic of Santae!

Whether you’re an experienced Alpha Tester or a brand-new applicant to the game, we’re so happy to have you as a part of the community we’re building together.

Alpha has brought so many exciting updates – but we’re even more excited for what will come next as we continue to work together to make Santae the most magical site it can be.

Make sure to sign up for notifications about the official Santae Kickstarter so you don’t miss the start of our next big adventure as a community!

With Love and Gratitude,

~The Santae Team

[groanboneblog]

I submitted for the third year in a row, an attempt at “flute leg” for Flight Risings Mistral Jamboree

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Favourite things to say before doing something incredibly stupid:

Hey everybody watch this

I'm God's favourite

I'm always right and I'm never gonna die

(Person nearby) gets my crap if I beef it

I'm way too sexy to fuck this up

It's okay I've done this a hundred times

This is gonna to be on purpose

Hello you're watching Jackass

Check out this cool magic trick

If I die I want you to tell people it looked really cool

Wanna see a trick I learned in prison

It's okay, I saw this on TikTok

This is only illegal in Massetchussets

My dad used to do this all the time before the divorce

If you're a cop you have to tell me or it's entrapment*

I'm doing this as a prank

Could a mentally ill person do THIS

Out of two thousand possible futures this is the only way we live

I have to. (Stupid thing I'm doing) killed my mom

The government doesn't want you to know this is even an option

I'm about to become so powerful you have no idea

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When I was little I thought salt and pepper w were opposites

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Undergrad Etiquette

One thing that has come up a lot in the notes of my various academiaposting posts is that there seem to be a lot of people who were happy to see the invisible rules of the university environment spelled out more explicitly. It looks like a lot of people aren't learning this sort of thing in high school. That gives rise to an equity issue - the only people who learn how to navigate the university are people who can learn it from their parents, and that's obviously going to leave a lot of people out. So, I hope you'll forgive me the pretension of what I'm about to do, which is make some of the invisible rules visible.

My mission here is not to shame, it's to help. I truly believe that the majority of unpleasant student/instructor interactions stem from miscommunications and misunderstandings, not instructors being cruel or students being lazy. The world does have cruel instructors and lazy students in it, but most people are just doing the best they can under imperfect circumstances. The key point is that this is all etiquette, not moral strictures. I'm not saying that all of these things are morally wrong (some of them might be), I'm saying they're rude. If you've done these things before, well, now you know. No hard feelings. With that in mind, let me give you a few pointers. (nb. all of this applies to the US and Canada, but I have no expertise teaching in other locations. If you're an instructor in another place, please feel free to add or subtract points below).

Do: Go to office hours. It's not an imposition. The time has been specifically set aside for you. Your instructor wants you there. Any topic from the class (or related to the class) is fair game, up to and including just talking about what you like about the course or subject. Your instructor is typically someone who likes this subject enough to have written (or be in the process of writing) a 200-page book about this subject, so they're typically pretty down to chat about it.

Don't: treat your instructor like a free therapist, doctor, or conflict mediator. We have no training in those areas. If you're having a mental health crisis the most we can do is point you in the direction of the university's counseling center, so you're better off just going there to begin with. Other things your instructor is not in a position to do include: diagnose you with an illness, make a different instructor change their schedule, prevent another girl in class from stealing your boyfriend, prove to your mom that this degree is worth it, comment on controversial world events beyond the scope of the class, and go on a date with you. These are all real examples.

Do: Communicate problems you are having with the class early and directly. We can't stop the train unless we know that someone has been left behind. If you're struggling with something, we want to know - both so that we can help you, and because it's quite likely that someone else in the class has the same problem and also needs help. The more information we have the more we can do.

Don't: Do any of the above without first a) reading the syllabus and b) making one solid attempt to do the work on your own. It is infuriating to answer endless emails from students asking questions that are answered in a document that they already have and that I already asked them to read. This is the most mystifying one of all. I do not know why students don't read these things. The syllabus is always on the LMS. It will answer 80% of your questions. Similarly, homework is designed to give you an opportunity to learn something. It does not assume you already know how to do it. Even if what you're looking at is very unfamiliar to you, try it on your own first to see if it clicks. If it doesn't, we're there to help.

Do: Stay home from school when you're sick. I won't be impressed with your diligence if you come in sniffling, I'll be annoyed that I'm going to be sick again. Anyone who works in education gets sick just constantly. And before you think 'but I'll be punished for not attending and I need a doctor's note!', check your syllabus first. Very often this is not the case. Some real old-timers insist on perfect attendance, but most instructors don't care. Sometimes we'll slap a really tiny nominal penalty for attendance on, but that's just to help people actually get out of bed in the morning. Usually it's not enough of a penalty to worry about for a one-time illness.

Don't: Go on vacation during the term. This is the other one I just find baffling. No, you can't reschedule the test because you've decided to leave early for Spring Break. I'm not going to re-teach you all the lessons you missed because you 'needed' to go to florida for your cousin's birthday. Doing this is an extremely good way to annoy your instructor, who almost certainly cannot go on vacation during the term. We're not going to do extra work for you so that you can go have fun. You are paying (quite a lot) for the opportunity to take a set of classes in a term. That does not mean you can just decide to get the benefits of those things on any schedule you please. We are not an on-demand service and it does annoy us to be treated like one.

Do: Ask questions about why you were graded the way you were. If you don't understand why you got the mark you got, it's fine to ask us directly. You can't learn from something you don't understand. So long as you go in with the goal of understanding (rather than changing) your grade and don't accuse us of anything shady, we're pretty happy to explain it. You can also do this before the project, to an extent. For some people it's much easier to do well at a task if its purpose has been explicitly explained. Don't try to get 'cheat codes' or anything, but feel free to ask questions about the purpose of the assignment if you're confused. Professors often forget that you might not already know what these things are for. You'll get way more out of school if you try to understand why you're doing what you're doing.

Don't: Beg for grades or extra credit assignments. It's not fair to the rest of the class for us to give you these just because you begged. We shouldn't be doing it, and mostly we don't. If the stakes are really as high as they invariably are when I have this conversation, you needed to have been keeping an eye on your grades throughout the term and correcting early, before it was too late. Hopefully the fact that I'm making this post in January will make sure that's the case for you.

Do: Make your own arguments, even though you're not an expert. Most humanities classes present a body of material that the instructor does not all think is right. We typically try to present multiple perspectives on issues and let you figure out what you think. So, even if an author is a big fancy famous historical guy, you're absolutely still allowed to disagree with him. We want you to do that. Just try to take your interlocutor seriously on their own terms so you don't end up with a weak argument. And no, it is not sufficient to merely mention that the author is a white cis man. Some of them are right about stuff too.

Don't: let your mother phone me. And if your parents are the sort of people that do wildly inappropriate things without your permission, don't give them enough information to contact me. In many jurisdictions I'm not even allowed to talk to them (or anyone else) about your grades. Even in jurisdictions where it is allowed, I'm not going to do it. If you're in university, you're an adult and will be treated like one. Also I don't enjoy being threatened.

Do: Back up your files. Computer problems do happen, but you're still responsible for your work when they happen. That's true in every other human context. Shit happens, so bring toilet paper. There are a million ways to do this - pick one that works for you.

Don't: try to submit written assignments in a format other than .doc, .docx, or .pdf unless you have explicit permission to do otherwise. These formats are industry standard and basically all programs do one of them. I'm not going to risk my computer trying to convert your shit from whatever baroque new .fhqwhgads extension you've given me, I'm going to mark it late.

Do: Read comments we leave on your work! Those are there to help you improve! I know it's a difficult thing to muster up the will to do, but we really are only trying to help you. It's very dispiriting to watch a student who could easily improve a lot make the same mistakes over and over.

Don't: Eat in class unless the instructor has explicitly said it's ok. It's straight-up banned in lots of buildings for reasons of historical preservation or pest control. Moreover, a lot of instructors and fellow students (present company included) find the sight, sound, and smell of students eating in class to be intensely distracting. If there's a medical reason you have to eat, tell your instructor and they'll propose a reasonable alternative (like ducking out for a few minutes to have a granola bar).

Do: send your instructors things like news articles or memes about course material. We want these things.

Don't: send your instructors porn, fanfiction, thirst traps, or pictures of you relaxing at the beach. Yes, I've heard of all of these things happening, and one happened to me. We do not want these things. Even if it's really funny, like that one Newton/Leibniz smut fic.

Do: check what your university's standards for plagiarism actually are. They are very likely not what you think. Your professor has to use them, so you had better know them. Arguments from ignorance will not save you.

Don't: post any classroom recordings, photographs, or notes online. Even if they're funny. When students do this it doesn't typically result in armed nutjobs turning up at our place of work and trying to kill us, but it doesn't never result in that. Also, classroom recordings contain the voices and faces of other students, and you don't have permission to use them. Don't record anything without getting your teacher's consent first. Some of us need to be a lot more careful than others.

Do: fill out your course evaluations! Most students don't, and typically the only ones who are sure to fill them out are the ones who are salty about something or other. If you thought the class was good, give your prof a hand (especially if that prof is a gender or racial minority, and especially especially if they have an accent that's unusual in your region. Those factors make student evaluations measurably worse).

Don't: talk about how much you do or don't want to fuck us on Rate My Professor. We try not to look at it but curiosity always gets the better of us eventually. Please also do not be mean about our voice, appearance, or dress sense.

In general: do deal with us as if we're all good-faith actors trying to make education happen. Don't treat us like we're arbitrary monsters.

I'll be monitoring the notes on this post if anyone would like additional clarification. Making education accessible is something I care a lot about, and this is part of that. I've tried to explain the reasons for all these things as best as I can, but I can elaborate upon request.

[groanboneblog]

something my mum always taught us was to look for the resources we're entitled to, and use them. public land? know your access rights and responsibilities, go there and exercise them. libraries? go there and talk to librarians and read community notice boards, find out what other people are doing around you, ask questions, use the printers. public records offices? go in there, learn what they hold and what you can access, look at old maps, get your full birth certificate copied, check out the census from your neighbourhood a hundred years ago. are you entitled to social support? find out, take it, use it. does the local art college have facilities open to the public? go in, look around, check out their exhibit on ancient looms or whatever, shop in their campus art supply store. it applies online too, there is so much shit in the world that belongs to the public commons that you can access and use if you just take a minute to wonder what might exist!!!

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My counselor once told me to make sure I wasn’t doing things to distract myself from the boredom rather than try to sate it. I feel its one of the most important things he ever said to me.

When I’m distracting myself from the boredom, I read or game excessively so I don’t feel the emptiness of boredom. It’s a short term thing, and it only staves the boredom as long as I’m doing the thing.

When I’m sating myself from the boredom, I pursue things I am genuinely interested in and so find myself feeling fulfilled and happier for a longer period of time. Even if I stop doing it temporarily, I don’t immediately fall apart as I would with the distraction.

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Post corrections/clarifications are my favorite genre of humor: a compilation

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Lady I drew

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Higurashi: When They Cry

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i don't really know how to relay the horrors that palestinians are describing first-hand, if you can speak arabic and follow people from gaza online there are some phrases i don't think anyone will forget, some things for the arabic-speaking world will scar for life just like muhammed al-durra scarred me as a child. at least five of the people i followed since last week (journalists, photographers, students, artists, tiktokers) are dead now. it's becoming terrifying to follow someone from gaza, because you don't know if they're going to be alive tomorrow. i don't really know how to describe this feeling? what is it to follow some kid on tiktok who's making jokes while planes drop bombs around him and think "i hope he stays alive?"

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we really don't give enough credit to really good children's horror for being spooky enough to make kids feel fear , but not enough to traumatize them for life, and to be something to look back on and still appreciate.

the harmless turkeys freaked me out and still freak me out though.

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I think it cool how people can have such differences in how media affects them. Cause every year I think “the highway man ain’t gonna freak me out this time” then it does. Very unsettling.

Everytime I watch otgw I think “the highway man isn’t going to be that funny this time” and then it gets me. It is that funny.