#ID contains the same code

[ulfrsmal]

someone who knows html and how it works on ao3 PLEASE hmu. I need help with my custom skin's blocked tags! I can block users just fine, but not a single "blocked tag" in my skin is actually blocked! what the fuck am I doing wrong??

[ohmuqueen]

‼️Please Share ‼️

18 January 2024

ID: two screenshots of instagram stories from user @/mirna_elhelbawi

/end ID

Transcript:

First screenshot: internet, cell phone, and telephone communications in Gaza Strip are still cut off for the eighth day in a row

Second screenshot: [a post from X by @/mirna_elhelbawi]:

We are facing the HIGHEST demand ever on esims since the start of the initiative. The numbers are getting doubled and tripled, help us to keep Gaza connected as much as we can. Thank you for being a crucial part of this horrific war.#ConnectingGaza @Connectinghu_

LET'S KEEP GAZA CONNECTED!

We need:

Nomad (Regional Middle East)

Use promo code NOMADCNG for discount

Holafly (is**el) + (Egypt)

Use promo code HOLACNG for discount

Send QR code screenshot to : gazaesims@gmail.com

/end transcript

Update 20/01/2024

ID: a screenshot of a instagram story from @/mirna_elhelbawi, dated three hours ago, containing a screenshot of a post from her X account

/end ID

Transcript:

Palestinians are reporting that communication is PARTLY restored in SOME areas in Gaza, but INTERNET IS STILL DOWN due to destruction of infrastructure. Let’s keep donating, every donation matters. Let’s keep #ConnectingGaza

[image containing same donation info for Nomad and Holafly esims from transcript above]

/end transcript

[copperbadge]

Recently I ran across an article about an art center that was doing creative expression classes for people with disabilities. Not that unusual, I've encountered that and trauma-oriented art therapy before, but it was the first time I'd come across the idea since getting diagnosed with ADHD. While the class was aimed more at high-needs disabilities, it occurred to me that I could -- if I wanted -- make non-prose art about being disabled.

Outside of my work in scene design I've never been much of a visual artist because I've never felt I had the combination of "something to say" and "a meaningful way to say it", but I started to question how meaningful and complex I really had to be to just make some statements about having ADHD. I can do it in prose, after all.

So I started thinking about how you would talk, in visual language, about things like time blindness, shame stemming from undiagnosed disability, the shift in behavior that medication can induce. Ways to express my condition to people who don't experience it. I still didn't really know how to build the pieces but whenever I went to an art museum I'd think about how I might do a gallery installation. The centerpiece of my mental gallery was a pair of barcodes, one marked "Neurotypical" and one marked "Neurodivergent".

[ID: An interior view of a small booklet, with pages marked 1 and 2, showing barcodes -- on the left, labeled Neurotypical, and on the right, in slightly weirder configuration, labeled Neurodivergent.]

And then I thought, why not make a zine? Nothing you're thinking of couldn't be put in zine form instead of on a gallery wall.

[ID: The booklet continues to pages 3 and 4; on page 3 is a postage-style label reading AUTISM with up arrows on either side, and on page 4 is a QR code labeled ADHD. The QR code technically should work but it just dumps a block of text I wrote about having ADHD into a browser.]

I grew up with zine culture in the 90s and I always wanted to make one but much like with visual art, I never felt like I had the right kind of thing to say; either I had too much to say or too little, and anyway I wasn't confident that what I wanted to do wouldn't just come off as trite and obvious. But you can make a six-page zine out of a single sheet of paper, so I did: I made Helpful Labels For Strange Brains by idab zines, a division of Extribulum Press. (i--dab is a term for a cuneiform tablet that contains a royal communication.)

[ID: The last two pages feature the same image -- a cereal bowl with a spoon in it, the spoon containing a single Adderall pill. One image, however, is captioned "Wake up. Pour yourself a cup of iced coffee. Fix a bowl of cereal. It's going to be a good day." while the other is covered in a detailed ADHD-style step-by-step process for the same actions, culminating in "It's going to be a day like that."]

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out -- the art all looks intentional and it still has that "taped this together after school" aesthetic I remember fondly from the 90s. And the confines of six pages, each only a few inches square, offers a good structure to keep things clear, simple, and meaningful.

[ID: The cover of the zine, labeled "Helpful Labels For Strange Brains" in a kind of esoteric stampy font.]

Especially nice is that if you wanted to you could just hand out the flat sheet, and let folks fold it into a booklet or not -- there's instructions for folding it on the back of the zine. Additionally I have some sticker backed printer paper so I could print it such that you could literally turn the labels into real labels.

Anyway if you want it, here ya go. You can print it on a single sheet of paper and follow the instructions on the back to fold it. I thought about selling it but I do not have the spoons to do a bunch of printing and folding and shipping.

[j5daigada]

some random observations I made in japan, which I'm posting because I found them interesting and also why not

putting them under "read more" for anyone who is interested in reading them

probably the last thing I will post related to japan...!

+18 comics/doujins usually had their own designated floors or sections, sometimes next to the shelves of safer comics, separated by curtains, if even that. In one of the stores, the line to the cashier was formed through the +18 section of the store. The floor for +18 comics was commonly labelled as "doujinshi for men" (and the floor for BL, sometimes bara too, as "doujinshi for women"). All the comics were covered in a plastic film, so you couldn't read them or even check what was inside; a bit tricky when trying to figure out if they contained what you wanted...!

Subways were super packed sometimes, but even then it felt like you had your own small space. There were also trains for women only, although apparently that was only enforced between 7-9 am, since after that time window everyone was just using them no matter how packed they were.

Many anime ads and posters in subways and stations. Many gacha and vending machines too (I got an oreo-flavored ice cream cone from one of them, I liked it).

The food was really good, I'm gonna miss it... It was very affordable too, as I could get a meal with a drink for ~1k-1.2k yen (which translates to around 6-7 euros or USD), which a lot of the time could keep me full for the rest of the day. Filled onigiri only cost around 100 yen, which is like 0.6 euros or USD. The only thing I didn't like super much was nori in ramen, since I found the taste too seawatery (although in onigiri it had a very neutral taste). Miso soup tasted pretty good, although the smell was pretty strong. Mochi is probably the softest thing I have touched.

At some convenience stores, they had a touch screen on your side of the counter where you had to select your payment method and whether the cashier had checked your ID for alcohol... kind of a minor point, but it was funny how I was the one needing to confirm that.

Many stoplights for pedestrians had visible countdown timers.

I know students wear uniforms, but I didn't realize kindergarteners/elementary school kids(?) also had color-coded hats until I ran into a couple different groups of them with their supervisors at a park.

Akihabara had a lot of girls outside advertising their maid cafe. I visited one with my friend and it was a pretty fun time, although there were a bunch of extra fees.

Surprisingly many people wore short skirts with bare legs despite it being December and +5C on some days. I don't think anyone would do that here where I live when it gets cold.

The toilet paper was super thin, probably about 3 times thinner than here...

Streets were super packed, especially on weekends. I don't think I've ever seen this many people in one place at the same time before (considering my country is very sparsely populated). Navigating through crowds of people was not too much of a problem though.

Many restaurants accepted foreign cards, but some didn't (such as one local burger joint). Usually they showed all the payment options outside the restaurant. Many restaurants also showcased wax versions of their meals outside, which was pretty handy for finding something you wanted to eat.

[gyuvision]

strawberry soju -> [back to masterlist?]

pairing : exes to ?? hong seunghan x fem reader

contains -> : drinking, mention of alcohol/being drunk

wc : 0.9k

preview ! - your drunken ex boyfriend calls you up out of nowhere, leaving him under your care for the night when he doesnt want you to go.

continue? ⬇️

you groaned at the sound of your phone buzzing once again. after all, it really does get annoying when its been 3 minutes and 7 missed calls.

“who could be calling so late? 10pm on a friday..”

setting down the ramen cup and pausing your favorite show, you swipe to accept the call, holding the phone up to your ear without checking the caller id. “hello? whos this?”

“y/nniee? that you?” the person slurred.

you knew that voice all too well, you didn’t even have to look at the contact name. “seunghan.” you sighed.

“you finally answered.” he exclaimed. you could practically hear his stupid smile.

“been drinking again?” you said, already knowing by his tone of voice.

“just.. a little tipsy..”

“are you-” you were cut off by someone elses voice.

“sorry y/n. he had a lot to drink.” eunseok joined in. “you mind getting seunghan? i know its.. awkward still. but my parents are supposed to go out soon, and i don’t want to leave my brother by himself.”

“hes sooo drunk that he seems to think you’re still together. he’s been asking for you all night!” sungchan snickered somewhere in the background.

“uh.. send me your location then? i guess its fine just this once. he wont even remember it in the morning.”

so you found yourself driving to a well known local restaurant to pick up your ex boyfriend. even though it was your choice, you couldnt help but wonder why you were doing this.

and you also couldn’t help but feel bad at the thought of seunghan being so drunk to the point he still thinks you’re dating.

“y/n, over here!” sungchan called out to you as you entered the building.

“wheres eunseok?”

“you just missed him. he had to go because he’s too worried about his brother.”

“my y/n! you’re here!” seunghan squealed going to pull you into a tight hug.

you awkwardly pat his head in return instead of hugging back. though you couldn’t say that you didn’t miss his touch.

sungchan helped you both to the car before he took off as well.

“god you smell like.. like, strawberry soju?” you exclaimed. “you really reek of alcohol. how much did you drink?”

seunghan replied by holding up 9 fingers, a lazy smile across his face and his eyes closed, with his cheeks a bright pink. “9 shots?” you scoffed as you set course for seunghans house.

“babyy.” seunghan whined. “im not your baby.” “you’ll always be my baby.” he teased back.

you sighed as you rubbed your forehead in frustration. “what do you want?”

“aircon please. i feel hot.” he mumbled as he tugged at the collar of his shirt.

you sank into your seat after turning on the air conditioning, putting up with how cold you were so he could feel better. after all, he was a bit of a liability right now though.

you walked up to seunghans apartment with him leaning into your shoulder while he had one arm around you for support.

“whats your code?” you asked, opening his keypad as you assumed he changed the password after your break up.

“same as always. your birthday. i would never change it.”

you’d be lying if you said your heart didn’t soften even in the slightest.

after changing seunghans shirt for him then getting him tucked into the sheets, you went to get up to get ready and go home before he pulled you back into the bed with him.

“please dont go.” he whispered as he wrapped his arms around you, burying his head into your neck with a small whine.

“but didn’t you think that we..” “nah. just wanted to believe that we were. feel more confident when i’m that drunk.”

“im sorry.”

“why did you leave me?”

though seunghan had said some crazy things that night, nothing would’ve prepared you for that.

“seunghan..”

“i dont care about it anymore then. just dont leave me again. even if its only for today.”

you turned around in his grasp to press a light kiss into his forehead. “promise.”

you decided, maybe it wouldnt be so bad to spend the night. you realize you wouldnt mind being happy with seunghan again even if it meant that he wouldnt remember any of it.

‘but might as well, cause i cant help myself.’ [1:36]

..

‘i dont ever wanna know how it feels to not have you, my strawberry soju.’ [1:51]

[yukiqueer]

— yukiqueer.

yukiqueer is a blankqueer label that is separate from radqueer, but shares many similar beliefs. yukiqueer focuses on taking complex things by a case-by-case basis, and using intelligence to deduce one’s own support or disdain.

the emoji codes for yukiqueer are 🌨️🌈 / ❄️🌈 / ☃️🌈. it can also be written as snowqueer, ゆきqueer, or 雪queer.

specific beliefs are under the cut.

yukiqueer is in favor of:

— shipping and fiction. all works between fictional characters have a right to exist. an individual who is yukiqueer does not need to identify with the proship label to have this belief. — media literacy & critical thinking. analyze how media treats its taboo topics, and use your intelligence to know whether or not this is trying to change your views. know propaganda when you come across it. — kink, fetish, and other sexual fantasies. as long as all involved parties can and are consenting, any sexual fantasy can be brought to life. — “contradictory” labels. afab transfems, lesboys and gaybians, and all other labels that people say don’t work together should be allowed. — personal definition of labels. only you can define what being bisexual, or pansexual, or anything else is in terms of your own identity. — trans-ID for almost all facets of life. your physical body is just a vessel, and the way you identify is more important than that. — consent for all relationships. you choose what is best for you. — landback for indigenous peoples. indigenous people have a right to ownership of their land, but not to kick all non-natives off of it. — obsessive, grooming, or otherwise abusive relationships with consent from both parties. as long as all involved people have given the okay, what others do in their relationship is up to them and them alone to decide. — selfshipping. this applies to all sharing stances as well — a yumeshipping relationship is as valid as a relationship between non-fictional people, as long as the yumeshipper wants it to be so. — women’s rights. women, both trans and cis, have the right to equality with men. — rights for people of color. racism is backwards and narrow-minded, and has no place in an intelligent society. — full body autonomy. with your own body, you are in full control. abortions, tattoos, hormone therapy, self-harm — all are allowed, and not stigmatized or villainized. — fat and disabled liberation. all people with larger bodies or witn disabilities deserve proper access to the same opportunities and treatment as their thin and/or able-bodied counterparts. — gender non-conformity. no person has to conform to a gender role unless they choose to. a self-identified man, regardless of cis or trans standing, can dress feminine, and the same goes for women and non-binary people.

— otherkin/alterhumanity/IRL/delusional attachment. only we are allowed to choose how we identify, and if the human body you have does not fit you, perhaps another form is better. — romanticization of stigmatized things. you can romanticize or glorify your trauma, or your “bad” habits, or other villainized/taboo things. — proper tags/warnings on all public content. some may not be okay with the same things as you, and it’s important to properly warn people of what your public content contains so those who aren’t okay with it can avoid the upset, and those who are interested can more effectively seek out such content. — informed self-diagnosis. getting a “proper” diagnosis can be extremely difficult, and is out of reach for many. the medical system as it is now is extremely bigoted, and pursuit of diagnosis can be far too expensive even for those with more privilege. as such, intelligent people can recognize and treat a self-diagnosis backed up by information and knowledge as validly as they would an official one. — consanguineous relationships. people who are related can be in a relationship as long as both are consenting and they are informed on the possible risks of having children with one another (with the second rule not applying to couples/polycules unable to have children for whatever reason, or those who are not related by blood but are adopted/transfamily/et cetera). — sex work. sex workers deserve respect and support for what they do, including those who post NSFW content online as their income. inversely, those who pay for sex work should not be shunned either, as long as the relationship between worker and client is not harmful. — medically unrecognized disorders/syndromes. the medical world is not the end-all be-all of neurological knowledge, and if one has found a medically unrecognized term that fits the symptoms they live with, the term is just as valid as any medically recognized one. — all religious beliefs*. *provided these beliefs do not encroach on the rights of others not following said religion. all religions and faiths have a right to exist. an intelligent person can hate a specific religion for any reason, provided their hatred does not manifest publicly and is not used as a shield to treat members of that religion poorly. — sexual education for all ages. all people, regardless of age, should be able to know their body and to know only they have the rights to it. with this in mind, youth should receive sex ed with depth relative to their age — meaning that, for example, high schoolers would receive more in-depth sexual education than middle schoolers.

yukiqueer has a neutral stance on:

— the radqueer label and community. yukiqueer is not inherently supportive of or opposed to those who are radqueer, and in intelligent society it is most sensible to take each individual on a case-by-cade basis. individuals who are yukiqueer may choose to support radqueer, or may be against it. — real person fiction/selfshipping with real people/NSFW fiction of real people. this goes beyond the limits of fictional characters, and as such, is a highly debated one. therefore, individuals who are yukiqueer may choose their own comfort with this concept, as long as they do not try to force their beliefs on others. — anti- and pro-contact stances. individuals who are yukiqueer can choose whether or not they support either of these staunch beliefs in favor of or against contact for the “big 3” paraphilias. — the reclaiming of slurs. yukiqueer individuals can decide if they want to use and reclaim slurs.

yukiqueer has a complex stance on:

— romantic/sexual contact between adults and minors. the relationship is okay if: - it follows romeo and juliet laws (meaning the age gap is 3 or fewer years between parties) - it is a relationship between headmates - both are chronological adults and one is transage OtY - both are chronological minors (following romeo & juliet laws) and one is transage YtO — romantic/sexual contact between humans and animals. the relationship is okay if: - it is a relationship between headmates - both are human and one is transspecies/otherkin/therian — romantic/sexual contact between living beings and corpses. the relationship is okay if: - it is a relationship between headmates - the corpse gave consent prior to death - both are living and one is transdead/transcorpse/anything in that vein.

yukiqueer is opposed to:

— harassment of any kind. if an individual holds beliefs you do not share, an intelligent individual should choose to either ask open-minded, polite questions about the other person’s beliefs, or simply curate their space and remove themselves from contact with the other person. it is never okay to harass someone. — bigotry in any form. racism, queerphobia, sexism, and anything else have no place in an intelligent society. — the creation, distribution, or possession of CSEM/CSAM. no child should be exploited for sexual content. — nazism of any kind, including holocaust denial or inversion. the holocaust was a genocide specifically targeted towards jewish people. while other groups such as queer and romani people were also targeted, one must know that nazis are against jewish people as their main point. a jewish person cannot be a nazi. — misogyny and transmisogyny. women are not inherently lesser than men in any way, and trans women are women. trans women are not a “threat” to cis women. — misandry and transmisandry. men are not inherently lesser than women in any way, and trans men are men. men are not all abusers, and trans men are not “basically women” nor are they “transitioning into privilege.” — transhateful labels, such as transnazi or transbigot. even with no intent to transition, using the transid label in terms of saying you identify with a crueler mindset does not fit with the beliefs of yukiqueer. if you are transbigot or transnazi, you will be treated like a bigot or a nazi and that is not welcome here. — forced recovery. this falls under violation of bodily autonomy — only you can decide if you want to recover from an eating disorder, or an addiction, or anything similar. forcing someone else to recover does not fit the beliefs of yukiqueer. — intersex genital mutilation and forced hrt for intersex individuals. this is a traumatizing violation of bodily autonomy and has no place in intelligent society. no intersex person should be forced to try to appear perisex.

yukiqueer was created for its coiner as it did not agree with all of the beliefs of radqueer, and it wanted to make a label focused on intelligence, open-mindedness, and bodily freedom.

anyone who shares these beliefs can identify with yukiqueer. if you have questions or would like to share your experience with this label or any other blankqueer label, the coiner’s inbox is open.

[shehimin]

Edgaring time!

Tutorial on how to make your own responsive Edgar :D I will try to explain it in really basic terms, like you’ve never touched a puter (which if you’re making this… I’m sure you’ve touched plenty of computers amirite??? EL APLAUSO SEÑOOOREEES).

If you have some experience I tried to highlight the most important things so you won’t have to read everything, this is literally building a website but easier.

I will only show how to make him move like this:

Disclaimer: I’m a yapper.

Choosing an engine First of all you’ll need something that will allow you to display a responsive background, I used LivelyWallpaper since it’s free and open-source (we love open-source).

Choosing an IDE Next is having any IDE to make some silly code! (Unless you can rawdog code… Which would be honestly impressive and you need to slide in my DMs and we will make out) I use Visual Studio!!!

So now that we have those two things we just need to set up the structure we will use.

Project structure

We will now create our project, which I will call “Edgar”, we will include some things inside as follows:

Edgar

img (folder that will contain images) - thumbnail.png (I literally just have a png of his face :]) - [some svgs…]

face.js (script that will make him interactive)

index.html (script that structures his face!)

LivelyInfo,json (script that LivelyWallpaper uses to display your new wallpaper)

style.css (script we will use to paint him!)

All of those scripts are just literally like a “.txt” file but instead of “.txt” we use “.js”, “.html”, etc… You know? We just write stuff and tell the puter it’s in “.{language}”, nothing fancy.

index.html

Basically the way you build his silly little face! Here’s the code:

<!doctype html> <html>     <head>         <meta charset="utf-8">         <title>Face!</title>         <link rel = "stylesheet" type = "text/css" href = "style.css">     </head>     <body>         <div class="area">             <div class="face">                 <div class="eyes">                     <div class="eyeR"></div>                     <div class="eyeL"></div>                 </div>                 <div class="mouth"></div>             </div>         </div>         <script src="face.js"></script>     </body> </html>

Ok so now some of you will be thinking “Why would you use eyeR and eyeL? Just use eye!“ and you’d be right but I’m a dummy who couldn’t handle making two different instances of the same object and altering it… It’s scary but if you can do it, please please please teach me ;0;!!!

Area comes in handy to the caress function we will implement in the next module (script)! It encapsulates face.

Face just contains the elements inside, trust me it made sense but i can’t remember why…

Eyes contains each different eye, probably here because I wanted to reuse code and it did not work out and when I kept going I was too scared to restructure it.

EyeR/EyeL are the eyes! We will paint them in the “.css”.

Mouth, like the eyeR/eyeL, will be used in the “.css”.

face.js

Here I will only show how to make it so he feels you mouse on top of him! Too ashamed of how I coded the kisses… Believe me, it’s not pretty at all and so sooo repetitive…

// ######################### // ##      CONSTANTS      ## // ######################### const area = document.querySelector('.area'); const face = document.querySelector('.face'); const mouth = document.querySelector('.mouth'); const eyeL = document.querySelector('.eyeL'); const eyeR = document.querySelector('.eyeR'); // ######################### // ##     CARESS HIM      ## // ######################### // When the mouse enters the area the face will follow the mouse area.addEventListener('mousemove', (event) => {     const rect = area.getBoundingClientRect();     const x = event.clientX - rect.left;     const y = event.clientY - rect.top;     face.style.left = `${x}px`;     face.style.top = `${y}px`; }); // When the mouse leaves the area the face will return to the original position area.addEventListener('mouseout', () => {     face.style.left = '50%';     face.style.top = '50%'; });

God bless my past self for explaining it so well, but tbf it’s really simple,,

style.css

body {     padding: 0;     margin: 0;     background: #c9c368;     overflow: hidden; } .area {     width: 55vh;     height: 55vh;     position: absolute;     top: 50%;     left: 50%;     transform: translate(-50%,-50%);     background: transparent;     display: flex; } .face {     width: 55vh;     height: 55vh;     position: absolute;     top: 50%;     left: 50%;     transform: translate(-50%,-50%);     background: transparent;     display: flex;     justify-content: center;     align-items: center;     transition: 0.5s ease-out; } .mouth {     width: 75vh;     height: 70vh;     position: absolute;     bottom: 5vh;     background: transparent;     border-radius: 100%;     border: 1vh solid #000;     border-color: transparent transparent black transparent;     pointer-events: none;     animation: mouth-sad 3s 420s  forwards step-end; } .face:hover .mouth {     animation: mouth-happy 0.5s forwards; } .eyes {     position: relative;     bottom: 27%;     display: flex;   } .eyes .eyeR {     position: relative;     width: 13vh;     height: 13vh;     display: block;     background: black;     margin-right: 11vh;     border-radius: 50%;     transition: 1s ease } .face:hover .eyeR {     transform: translateY(10vh);      border-radius: 20px 100% 20px 100%; } .eyes .eyeL {     position: relative;     width: 13vh;     height: 13vh;     display: block;     background: black;     margin-left: 11vh;     border-radius: 50%;     transition: 1s ease; } .face:hover .eyeL {     transform: translateY(10vh);     border-radius: 100% 20px 100% 20px; } @keyframes mouth-happy {     0% {         background-color: transparent;         height: 70vh;         width: 75vh;     }     100% {         border-radius: 0 0 25% 25%;         transform: translateY(-10vh);     } } @keyframes mouth-sad {     12.5%{         height: 35vh;         width: 67vh;     }     25% {         height: 10vh;         width: 60vh;     }     37.5% {         width: 53vh;         border-radius: 0%;         border-bottom-color: black;     }     50% {         width: 60vh;         height: 10vh;         transform: translateY(11vh);         border-radius: 100%;         border-color: black transparent transparent transparent;     }     62.5% {         width: 64vh;         height: 20vh;         transform: translateY(21vh);     }     75% {         width: 69vh;         height: 40vh;         transform: translateY(41vh);     }     87.5% {         width: 75vh;         height: 70vh;         transform: translateY(71vh);     }     100% {         width: 77vh;         height: 90vh;         border-color: black transparent transparent transparent;         transform: translateY(91vh);     } }

I didn’t show it but this also makes it so if you don’t pay attention to him he will get sad (mouth-sad, tried to make it as accurate to the movie as possible, that’s why it’s choppy!)

The .hover is what makes him go like a creature when you hover over him, if you want to change it just… Change it! If you’d rather him always have the same expression, delete it!

Anyway, lots of easy stuff, lots of code that I didn’t reuse and I probably should’ve (the eyes!!! Can someone please tell me a way I can just… Mirror the other or something…? There must be a way!!!) So now this is when we do a thinking exercise in which you think about me as like someone who is kind of dumb and take some pity on me.

LivelyInfo.json

{   "AppVersion": "1.0.0.0",   "Title": "Edgar",   "Thumbnail": "img/thumbnail.png",   "Preview": "thumbnail.png",   "Desc": "It's me!.",   "Author": "Champagne?",   "License": "",   "Type": 1,   "FileName": "index.html" }

Easy stuff!!! 

Conclusion

This could've been a project on git but i'm not ready and we're already finished. I'm curious about how this will be seen on mobile and PC,,, i'm not one to post here.

Sorry if I rambled too much or if i didn't explain something good enough! If you have any doubts please don't hesitate to ask.

And if you add any functionality to my code or see improvements please please please tell me, or make your own post!

[kayuripax]

Valve news and the AI

So. I assume people saw some posts going around on how valve has new AI rules, and things getting axed. And because we live in a society, I went down the rabbit hole to learn my information for myself. Here's what I found, under a cut to keep it easier. To start off, I am not a proponent of AI. I just don't like misinformation. So. Onwards.

VALVE AND THE AI

First off, no, AI will not take things over. Let me show you, supplemented by the official valve news post from here. (because if hbomberguy taught us anything it is to cite your sources)

[Image id: a screenshot from the official valve blog. It says the following:

First, we are updating the Content Survey that developers fill out when submitting to Steam. The survey now includes a new AI disclosure section, where you'll need to describe how you are using AI in the development and execution of your game. It separates AI usage in games into two broad categories:

Pre-Generated: Any kind of content (art/code/sound/etc) created with the help of AI tools during development. Under the Steam Distribution Agreement, you promise Valve that your game will not include illegal or infringing content, and that your game will be consistent with your marketing materials. In our pre-release review, we will evaluate the output of AI generated content in your game the same way we evaluate all non-AI content - including a check that your game meets those promises.

Live-Generated: Any kind of content created with the help of AI tools while the game is running. In addition to following the same rules as Pre-Generated AI content, this comes with an additional requirement: in the Content Survey, you'll need to tell us what kind of guardrails you're putting on your AI to ensure it's not generating illegal content. End image ID]

So. Let us break that down a bit, shall we? Valve has been workshopping these new AI rules since last June, and had adopted a wait and see approach beforehand. This had cost them a bit of revenue, which is not ideal if you are a company. Now they have settled on a set of rules. Rules that are relatively easy to understand. - Rule one: Game devs have to disclose when their game has AI - Rule two: If your game uses AI, you have to say what kind it uses. Did you generate the assets ahead of time, and they stay like that? Or are they actively generated as the consumer plays? - Rule three: You need to tell Valve the guardrails you have to make sure your live-generating AI doesn't do things that are going against the law. - Rule four: If you use pre-generated assets, then your assets cannot violate copyright. Valve will check to make sure that you aren't actually lying.

That doesn't sound too bad now, does it? This is a way Valve can keep going. Because they will need to. And ignoring AI is, as much as we all hate it, not going to work. They need to face it. And they did. So. Onto part two, shall we?

[Image ID: a screenshot from the official Valve blog. It says the following: Valve will use this disclosure in our review of your game prior to release. We will also include much of your disclosure on the Steam store page for your game, so customers can also understand how the game uses AI. End image ID]

Let's break that down. - Valve will show you if games use AI. Because they want you to know that. Because that is transparency.

Part three.

[Image ID: A screenshot from the official Valve blog. It says the following:

Second, we're releasing a new system on Steam that allows players to report illegal content inside games that contain Live-Generated AI content. Using the in-game overlay, players can easily submit a report when they encounter content that they believe should have been caught by appropriate guardrails on AI generation.

Today's changes are the result of us improving our understanding of the landscape and risks in this space, as well as talking to game developers using AI, and those building AI tools. This will allow us to be much more open to releasing games using AI technology on Steam. The only exception to this will be Adult Only Sexual Content that is created with Live-Generated AI - we are unable to release that type of content right now. End Image ID]

Now onto the chunks.

Valve is releasing a new system that makes it easier to report questionable AI content. Specifically live-generated AI content. You can easily access it by steam overlay, and it will be an easier way to report than it has been so far.

Valve is prohibiting NSFW content with live-generating AI. Meaning there won't be AI generated porn, and AI companions for NSWF content are not allowed.

That doesn't sound bad, does it? They made some rules so they can get revenue so they can keep their service going, while also making it obvious for people when AI is used. Alright? Alright. Now calm down. Get yourself a drink.

---

Team Fortress Source 2

My used source here is this.

There was in fact a DCMA takedown notice. But it is not the only thing that led to the takedown. To sum things up: There were issues with the engine, and large parts of the code became unusable. The dev team decided that the notice was merely the final nail in the coffin, and decided to take it down. So that is that. I don't know more on this, so I will not say more, because I don't want to spread misinformation and speculation. I want to keep some credibility, please and thanks.

---

Portal Demake axed

Sources used are from here, here and here.

Portal 64 got axed. Why? Because it has to do with Nintendo. The remake uses a Nintendo library. And one that got extensively pirated at that. And we all know how trigger-happy Nintendo is with it's intellectual property. And Nintendo is not exactly happy with Valve and Steam, and sent them a letter in 2023.

[Image ID: a screenshot from a PC-Gamer article. It says the following: It's possible that Valve's preemptive strike against Portal 64 was prompted at least in part by an encounter with Nintendo in 2023 over the planned release of the Dolphin emulator for the Wii and Gamecube consoles on Steam. Nintendo sent a letter to Valve ahead of that launch that attorney Kellen Voyer of Voyer Law said was a "warning shot" against releasing it. End Image ID.]

So. Yeah. Nintendo doesn't like people doing things with their IP. Valve is most likely avoiding potential lawsuits, both for themselves and Lambert, the dev behind Portal 64. Nintendo is an enemy one doesn't want to have. Valve is walking the "better safe than sorry" path here.

---

There we go. This is my "let's try and clear up some misinformation" post. I am now going to play a game, because this took the better part of an hour. I cited my sources. Auf Wiedersehen.

[cnidocyst]

they forgot to make the punk hazard body swap stuff about franky Specifically . for me

[ID: Doodle page focused on Nami being body swapped into Franky's body and Franky being body swapped into Chopper. The main drawing is of Nami in Franky's body, freaking out as she timidly raises her hands up in front of her chest. Her knees are creaking and her hands keep clicking. A speech bubble containing only Nami's head making the same frightened expression is drawn over her head. The notes are: "-Going through the onslaught of losing more nuanced muscular movements, half of organs being replaced with mechanical parts constantly whirring, using cameras for eyes and the stark change in vision/color quality that comes with that, and a rubbery tongue. All while having to adjust to a body three times her size and constant soreness of the knees and spine having to support all of that. Scared of accidentally shooting bullets and stuff". Right beside her is Franky in Chopper's body, who is sweating profusely and looking down with a frustrated expression as he frantically waves his right arm. His other hoof is covering his left ear. A speech bubble of Franky's head making the same angry expression appears above his head. He's only wearing a backpack and shorts. His notes are: "-Everything is too hot, too loud, and too much . smells. -No dexterity/clumsy movements. Going from mostly naked to full fur coat is overwhelming". In the top left hand corner is a small doodle of Chopper in Sanji's body. He's just standing there with a big eye and a cat mouth. There's a doodle of Franky as Chopper nervously walking on all fours in brain point. He's thinking: "gosh i sure hope a hole doesn't open up beneath me and i drop into the ocean that i now cannot swim in. A truly frightening thought." as someone beneath the ground under him starts to saw a circle around where he's standing. There is a secret low opacity clip art of Wade from Garfield behind him. There's a sketch of Nami as Franky accidentally swinging one of her arms into the back of Luffy's head while she's talking. This drawing is captioned: "Dangerously clumsy". There's a drawing of Franky as Chopper talking to Nami as Franky. He tells her: "Nami i am just letting you know my flashback arrestor is not currently up to code and i haven't replaced it so i recommend you do not use any fire functions or you could blow up which would also blow me up . and i would not care for that". Nami starts quietly panicking. Lastly, there's a doodle of Robin sitting down while Franky in Chopper's body nuzzles up against her right shoulder like a cat would on all fours. He's looking up at her, smiling and wagging his tail, and says: "You can pet me if you'd like". Robin grips him by the abdomen with her right arm while lightly pushing him away with her other arm. She looks upset and refuses to look at him. She responds: "Stop talking." in a red horror type font. /END ID]

[codingquill]

JavaScript Fundamentals

I have recently completed a course that extensively covered the foundational principles of JavaScript, and I'm here to provide you with a concise overview. This post will enable you to grasp the fundamental concepts without the need to enroll in the course.

Prerequisites: Fundamental HTML Comprehension

Before delving into JavaScript, it is imperative to possess a basic understanding of HTML. Knowledge of CSS, while beneficial, is not mandatory, as it primarily pertains to the visual aspects of web pages.

Manipulating HTML Text with JavaScript

When it comes to modifying text using JavaScript, the innerHTML function is the go-to tool. Let's break down the process step by step:

Initiate the process by selecting the HTML element whose text you intend to modify. This selection can be accomplished by employing various DOM (Document Object Model) element selection methods offered by JavaScript ( I'll talk about them in a second )

Optionally, you can store the selected element in a variable (we'll get into variables shortly).

Employ the innerHTML function to substitute the existing text with your desired content.

Element Selection: IDs or Classes

You have the opportunity to enhance your element selection by assigning either an ID or a class:

Assigning an ID:

To uniquely identify an element, the .getElementById() function is your go-to choice. Here's an example in HTML and JavaScript:

HTML:

<button id="btnSearch">Search</button>

JavaScript:

document.getElementById("btnSearch").innerHTML = "Not working";

This code snippet will alter the text within the button from "Search" to "Not working."

Assigning a Class:

For broader selections of elements, you can assign a class and use the .querySelector() function. Keep in mind that this method can select multiple elements, in contrast to .getElementById(), which typically focuses on a single element and is more commonly used.

Variables

Let's keep it simple: What's a variable? Well, think of it as a container where you can put different things—these things could be numbers, words, characters, or even true/false values. These various types of stuff that you can store in a variable are called DATA TYPES.

Now, some programming languages are pretty strict about mentioning these data types. Take C and C++, for instance; they're what we call "Typed" languages, and they really care about knowing the data type.

But here's where JavaScript stands out: When you create a variable in JavaScript, you don't have to specify its data type or anything like that. JavaScript is pretty laid-back when it comes to data types.

So, how do you make a variable in JavaScript?

There are three main keywords you need to know: var, let, and const.

But if you're just starting out, here's what you need to know :

const: Use this when you want your variable to stay the same, not change. It's like a constant, as the name suggests.

var and let: These are the ones you use when you're planning to change the value stored in the variable as your program runs.

Note that var is rarely used nowadays

Check this out:

let Variable1 = 3; var Variable2 = "This is a string"; const Variable3 = true;

Notice how we can store all sorts of stuff without worrying about declaring their types in JavaScript. It's one of the reasons JavaScript is a popular choice for beginners.

Arrays

Arrays are a basically just a group of variables stored in one container ( A container is what ? a variable , So an array is also just a variable ) , now again since JavaScript is easy with datatypes it is not considered an error to store variables of different datatypeslet

for example :

myArray = [1 , 2, 4 , "Name"];

Objects in JavaScript

Objects play a significant role, especially in the world of OOP : object-oriented programming (which we'll talk about in another post). For now, let's focus on understanding what objects are and how they mirror real-world objects.

In our everyday world, objects possess characteristics or properties. Take a car, for instance; it boasts attributes like its color, speed rate, and make.

So, how do we represent a car in JavaScript? A regular variable won't quite cut it, and neither will an array. The answer lies in using an object.

const Car = { color: "red", speedRate: "200km", make: "Range Rover" };

In this example, we've encapsulated the car's properties within an object called Car. This structure is not only intuitive but also aligns with how real-world objects are conceptualized and represented in JavaScript.

Variable Scope

There are three variable scopes : global scope, local scope, and function scope. Let's break it down in plain terms.

Global Scope: Think of global scope as the wild west of variables. When you declare a variable here, it's like planting a flag that says, "I'm available everywhere in the code!" No need for any special enclosures or curly braces.

Local Scope: Picture local scope as a cozy room with its own rules. When you create a variable inside a pair of curly braces, like this:

//Not here { const Variable1 = true; //Variable1 can only be used here } //Neither here

Variable1 becomes a room-bound secret. You can't use it anywhere else in the code

Function Scope: When you declare a variable inside a function (don't worry, we'll cover functions soon), it's a member of an exclusive group. This means you can only name-drop it within that function. .

So, variable scope is all about where you place your variables and where they're allowed to be used.

Adding in user input

To capture user input in JavaScript, you can use various methods and techniques depending on the context, such as web forms, text fields, or command-line interfaces.We’ll only talk for now about HTML forms

HTML Forms:

You can create HTML forms using the &lt;;form> element and capture user input using various input elements like text fields, radio buttons, checkboxes, and more.

JavaScript can then be used to access and process the user's input.

Functions in JavaScript

Think of a function as a helpful individual with a specific task. Whenever you need that task performed in your code, you simply call upon this capable "person" to get the job done.

Declaring a Function: Declaring a function is straightforward. You define it like this:

function functionName() { // The code that defines what the function does goes here }

Then, when you need the function to carry out its task, you call it by name:

functionName();

Using Functions in HTML: Functions are often used in HTML to handle events. But what exactly is an event? It's when a user interacts with something on a web page, like clicking a button, following a link, or interacting with an image.

Event Handling: JavaScript helps us determine what should happen when a user interacts with elements on a webpage. Here's how you might use it:

HTML:

<button onclick="FunctionName()" id="btnEvent">Click me</button>

JavaScript:

function FunctionName() { var toHandle = document.getElementById("btnEvent"); // Once I've identified my button, I can specify how to handle the click event here }

In this example, when the user clicks the "Click me" button, the JavaScript function FunctionName() is called, and you can specify how to handle that event within the function.

Arrow functions : is a type of functions that was introduced in ES6, you can read more about it in the link below

If Statements

These simple constructs come into play in your code, no matter how advanced your projects become.

If Statements Demystified: Let's break it down. "If" is precisely what it sounds like: if something holds true, then do something. You define a condition within parentheses, and if that condition evaluates to true, the code enclosed in curly braces executes.

If statements are your go-to tool for handling various scenarios, including error management, addressing specific cases, and more.

Writing an If Statement:

if (Variable === "help") { console.log("Send help"); // The console.log() function outputs information to the console }

In this example, if the condition inside the parentheses (in this case, checking if the Variable is equal to "help") is true, the code within the curly braces gets executed.

Else and Else If Statements

Else: When the "if" condition is not met, the "else" part kicks in. It serves as a safety net, ensuring your program doesn't break and allowing you to specify what should happen in such cases.

Else If: Now, what if you need to check for a particular condition within a series of possibilities? That's where "else if" steps in. It allows you to examine and handle specific cases that require unique treatment.

Styling Elements with JavaScript

This is the beginner-friendly approach to changing the style of elements in JavaScript. It involves selecting an element using its ID or class, then making use of the .style.property method to set the desired styling property.

Example:

Let's say you have an HTML button with the ID "myButton," and you want to change its background color to red using JavaScript. Here's how you can do it:

HTML: <button id="myButton">Click me</button>

JavaScript:

// Select the button element by its ID const buttonElement = document.getElementById("myButton"); // Change the background color property buttonElement.style.backgroundColor = "red";

In this example, we first select the button element by its ID using document.getElementById("myButton"). Then, we use .style.backgroundColor to set the background color property of the button to "red." This straightforward approach allows you to dynamically change the style of HTML elements using JavaScript.

[luigiblood]

Something is going on with Retro NSO

I figured this stuff should be part of a post because I think it's an interesting thing to talk about.

As of the last few updates, I started to notice some changes to the NES and SNES emulators specifically, particularly related to emulation of accessories.

NES Four Score

If you don't know what the NES Four Score is, it's an accessory that allows you to play the NES up to 4 players.

I had actually never really datamined the NES emulator that much but at one point I randomly decided to give it a real shot for the July 2024 update (version 6.9.0).

Then I got actually surprised to notice code for playing using the Four Score, so I eventually went versions back, and found out it was a recent addition of 6.6.0, back in September 2023.

However, it is a little weird, it doesn't seem to be really accurate (to be more exact it only implements one ID for the second controller port, if you know, you know), but it seems functional. In fact in the 6.5.0 update (June 2023), it seemed to have been actually forced on all games, for some reason.

I couldn't notice any code regarding the NES Zapper or any other accessories however, but something that kind of gets me is that I don't notice any code for the Hori 4 Players Adaptor, which is like the Four Score but for the japanese Famicom, and it has some differences on a technical level.

My suspicion is that this was worked on when they were looking into Rare Studio titles, and R.C. Pro Am 2 is definitely a game that uses it. That said, there is one game on NES NSO already that supports the Four Score, but you cannot use it: It's Downtown Nekketsu March Super-Awesome Field Day!, which is kind of a sports games with various sports. (For some reason Nintendo is not using the newly localized ROM and that's a shame.)

SNES Super MultiTap

This is not new, this was part of the SNES emulator's code the entire time since launch, but considering we just talked about the Four Score for NES, I figured it it would also be a good time to talk a little bit about it, and bring you up to speed.

On SNES, there is the Super MultiTap that can let you play up to 5 players on the same system (it plugs into the second controller port, where you can plug 4 controllers on that, plus the first controller on the first controller port on the system).

There are actually 6 games that can use the Super MultiTap on SNES NSO as of right now, but you cannot play more than 2 players currently, BUT I confirm that it actually does emulate the accessory regardless, just that the application does not let you go past 2 players, but the games do recognize that the device is plugged.

Those games are Super Puyo Puyo 2 (actually available since SNES NSO launch!), Natsume Championship Wrestling, Amazing Hebereke, Kunio-kun no Dodgeball da yo Zen'in Shūgō!, Smash Tennis, and The Peace Keepers.

I figured it would be worth mentioning, because I don't think the addition of Four Score to the NES emulator is just an experiment, it might be possible that SNES NSO might get a major update too regarding the ability to play up to 4 or 5 players for a limited amount of games in the future... especially because of...

SNES Mouse

Like the Super Multitap, the SNES NSO emulator actually contained code to emulate the SNES Mouse the entire time since launch. However, there has been a new development as of today.

I already talked about this in one of my posts, but I'll just do a roundup of what we datamined in the past: Initially, the SNES emulator checked for specific game identification to enable the SNES Mouse emulation, and looked for 3 specific games.

We don't know what those games are, but considering the limited amount of games, I believe it is reasonable to assume they were limited to games on SNES that only worked with the SNES Mouse and nothing else, in which case, we can assume the following games:

Mario Paint

Mario & Wario

The problem however... those are the only SNES games that released that requires the SNES Mouse to play. You'd wonder what could be the 3rd game that could be best played with a Mouse, but I have a list of what could be it:

Mario Paint (PAL version)

Sound Fantasy

For a few reasons however, I don't believe the PAL version of Mario Paint would be likely, and it leaves the unreleased Nintendo game Sound Fantasy as the other option, we know it was actually completed, and it required the SNES Mouse to play. I won't delve too much on that game, but think of it as a mix of Mario Paint and Electroplankton on DS together, but back in 1994.

In later updates, they removed code that refers to the game identification and relied on game metadata instead. That was done fairly quickly in its life even.

That would have been the end of it if it wasn't for today's SNES NSO update (3.10.0), where a major rework of SNES Mouse emulation was done:

They added the ability to emulate the SNES Mouse on both controller ports, it used to be only on the first controller port.

Internally they can now do input replays of SNES Mouse devices.

There's code for configuring the behavior of the SNES Mouse between either Original, or something else.

This is actually rather interesting, this was added in the emulator between February and August 2024, so this is a legit recent development.

The mention of the SNES Mouse behavior configuration is also interesting, because it means they're looking into ways to support the SNES Mouse in different, possibly more accessible ways than using a USB Mouse.

The fact that they can also emulate the SNES Mouse on both controller ports is also potential evidence that they're looking further into other games than just SNES Mouse only titles, as some games did use the mouse on the second port instead, while leaving the first SNES controller plugged.

To this day, I haven't seen any code for the Super Scope just yet, or the Satellaview for that matter, unfortunately.

Conclusion

Just as a bit of a tl;dr for people who don't like reading:

They secretly added support last year for the NES Four Score to allow 4 player multiplayer, but isn't used yet.

They secretly had SNES Super Multitap support since day one to allow 5 player multiplayer, but isn't used yet.

They secretly had SNES Mouse support since day one, but today (18 September 2024) they released an update that reworked it significantly.

The developers seems to be busy adding or reworking accessories as of the last year. I gotta be honest, I find this a little suspect. We might be going onto something major soon that reworks the NES and SNES applications for multiplayer and more.

I hope so much that would be sooner rather than later.

...also, please, add localized ROMs to NES and SNES NSO. There's no reason not to have them.

[kaonarvna]

Feathers Rotting on the Isles

Summary: Not long after Lazard's departure from SHINRA, Genesis-like figures are spotted occupying territory on a chain of islands to the south-east of Gongaga. General Affairs approaches Sephiroth, hoping he will agree to eliminate the likely base of copies swiftly.

Having largely refused to engage with the so-called "Genesis War" up to that point, Sephiroth concedes to take on the assignment so long as he can work unaccompanied.

Characters Featured: Sephiroth, Genesis, Genesis Copies, Tseng

Contains mild/coded sephesis, though not explicitly sexual-romantic.

Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Terminal Illnesses, Degradation, Light Angst, Angst, Genesis Copiers Just Existing, Sane Sephiroth/CC Sephiroth, No Smut

WC: ~10,000 (a 25-40 minute read)

brief sample below the cut

Ring—ring—ring—Sephiroth glances at the desk-phone’s caller ID: 5006 Public Relations. He lifts the phone off the hook just to set it on hold indefinitely, before popping the receiver back down. He has better things to do than speak to Heidegger’s Head of PR. Not now. If it were important, he thinks, PR would surely come upstairs himself.

He redirects the attention back to the spray of briefing papers and training records laid across the Director’s desk. Well—it was the Director’s. Now, it is his. Amidst it all lays a note from the Public Safety Director himself: “Out-of-Midgar assignments for SOLDIER are restricted until everyone in the division is screened for collusion with Deusericus. Every excursion requires a General Affairs or PPF escort. Get everyone a new training plan and superior. Recruitment has been suspended for the meanwhile. Not replacing Deusericus. If you encounter any difficulties, create solutions. Do not come to me with your problems.” On the one hand he appreciates the minimal oversight for managing the demoralized remains of SOLDIER. On the other, Lazard managed to leave the department in a state of extreme disrepair. It’s as though he wanted the department to sink as soon as it left his hands, Sephiroth thinks. The lack of support from Heidegger, too, feels like a recipe for decay.

Ring—ring—ring. The caller ID reads again: 5006 Public Relations. He does the same again: lift; hold; abandon. Sephiroth picks up the record of a promising SECOND—he drags his pointer finger down its centre. “All assignments successful over the past three quarters…frequently top ten in group and solo simulators…” he whispers to himself throughout the speed-reading. “…should be able to delegate some of Angeal’s THIRDs to him…” he reaches across the desk to place it in a pile of other packets, laying it crossways to differentiate it from the one below.

The phone rings again. Caller ID: 5006 Public Relations. Sighing to himself, he picks up properly, “This is Sephiroth speaking.”

“It’s Tseng.” The TURK’s voice sounds clearly through the phone.

“Why are you in Quirinus’ office?” the FIRST asks, though the questioning inflection is nearly absent.

“He called me up here for a conversation, I wanted to include you. Would you rather we discuss it over the phone, or come to you?”

Sephiroth says nothing.

“It’s about Genesis,” Tseng clarifies.

( Read the rest on ao3! )

[hand-written-dreams]

CRIMSON SHADE

Chapter 18

Monsters stuck in my head

You've got no place to hide.

And I'm feeling like a villain,

got a hunger inside.

One look in my eyes

And you're running 'cause I'm coming

Gonna eat you alive

- ( The song of this chapter is 'Monster' by Ruelle.)

A steaming cup of coffee slides into view, the rich aroma pulling her from her intense focus. She blinks, realizing how long she’s been staring at the screen of the bullet-riddled laptop.

She looks up, startled, to find Mr.Mathur’s smiling face.

“You’ve been at it all day,” he says, nodding toward the laptop. His gaze flickers to the disarray of cables and tools scattered across the desk.

Khushi sighs, stretching her arms. She pushes the laptop aside, satisfied that most of the data has been extracted. The rest still need more work. “Thank you, Mr.Mathur. You’re a lifesaver,” she says, reaching for the cup.

“Please, call me Aman,” he replies with a light chuckle. “Mr.Mathur sounds too formal. Makes me feel ancient.”

She smiles. “Only on one condition… call me Khushi.”

She can see why someone like Mr.Raizada is friends with Aman. He carries an aura of comfort, a natural ease that draws people in. Everyone within his radius seems to instinctively relax, their guard lowering without even realizing it.

For someone like her, who’s spent the better part of her life building walls, it’s a bit disarming.

“Deal.” He leans against the desk, folding his arms. “So, you graduated from college with honours, huh? I was dragging my ass just to pass my computer science course,” Aman says with a chuckle.

Khushi arches an eyebrow, momentarily surprised by his candidness. “The Harvard course must’ve been tough, no?”

“I actually graduated from MIT,” he corrects, his smile easy and relaxed.

“Oh.” She blinks, caught off guard. “I thought you graduated from Harvard with Mr.Raizada.”

Aman shakes his head, a soft laugh escaping him. “Oh no, that man went to Harvard for business studies, all high and mighty. Meanwhile, I was at MIT, knee-deep in code and circuits. We were in a…long-distance friendship.”

There’s a playful lilt to his tone, but Khushi catches a subtle fondness beneath it. The contrast between him and Mr.Raizada intrigues her. They couldn’t be more different.

She chuckles, "I don't have that much knowledge in geography, but I believe both these universities are situated in the same city in Massachusetts... Cambridge, right?"

"To me, it seems like you have pretty good knowledge of geography."

"I searched all things about MIT. I wanted to go there." She doesn't know why she shares this with Aman.

"Your father didn't let you, did he?"

Khushi keeps sipping her coffee. Not responding to him.

Aman sighs, settling into the chair in front of her, letting the matter drop.  “So....Arnav didn’t really explain what ‘special task’ he’s assigned to you. Something about finding a hacker? What’s all that about?” he says, his tone turns slightly curious.

Khushi takes a careful slow sip, the heat of the coffee settling in her stomach. “Someone stole some important documents from me,” she says, her tone clipped. “And made it look like Mr.Raizada was behind it.”

Aman tilts his head, his brows furrowing slightly, his eyes scanning her face. “You know I’m not really into the whole dark web hacker business. But let me know if you need my help with anything. By the way… mind telling me the hacker’s ID? Just curious.”

For a moment, she hesitates. Her hand tightens around the mug. “TheShadowMonster,” she replies.

Aman stares at her, deep in thought and what looks like confusion, as his brows furrow. Then, his lips quirks into a half-smile. “Huh, that sounds like something a kid would come up with.” He gives a short, quiet laugh, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, yet his tone struggles to contain his amusement.

Khushi watches him closely, something in his reaction unsettling her. “It actually was,” she responds, deadpan, her tone colder than before.

Can it be him?

BSc in Computer Science from MIT.

But, but, but..

Why would he frame his best friend?

And why didn't Mr.Raizada share this information with Aman?

Does Mr.Raizada not trust him fully?

Does he suspect Aman or what?

If that was the case, then sharing this information with Aman would be dangerous. But it could also open new doors for her.

If he is indeed that hacker, the one pulling the strings from the shadows, she could play him. Mislead him.

Just like he did to her.

Aman’s gaze sharpens, just for a moment, before his expression softens again. “Excuse me?”

“He created the account when he was twelve. He’s older now…I guess.”

“And how do you know that?”

“He told me.”

Aman studies her for a second, his brow furrowing further. “He told you? When? How? I mean, I’m happy to help you find him if you need, but I don’t want to get tangled up in some… lovers' spat.”

“It’s not like that,” her voice sharper than she intended, her eyes studying him. She then quickly looks away. “We bumped into each other.....talked from time to time. He's intriguing, kind of a genius...he taught me many online spying techniques. With that, I collected lots of evidence. Evidence that he ultimately stole.”

“So… you were friends?” The way Aman is looking at her now makes her uncomfortable. It’s as if he’s studying her, dissecting every word, every movement as if she’s some specimen under a microscope.

She shifts uneasily, wishing she could retreat from his probing eyes.

She feels the knot in her stomach tighten. “I don’t know,” she murmurs, staring at the screen but not really seeing it. “Can you even call online acquaintances friends?”

His gaze softens, and he nods slowly.

“I think you can. And I think you’re upset because, online or not, you considered him as a friend....or at least a confidant. You trusted him.” He pauses, a flicker of something unreadable in his expression. “And he betrayed you.”

She doesn’t know why his words feel like they’re cutting deeper than they should. She looks at the laptop, forcing herself to focus on the work that still needs to be done.

It doesn’t matter.

But it does. She doesn’t know why, but it does.

All her life everyone just did that.

Betrayed her.

Her parents betrayed her.

Her best friend betrayed her.

TheShadowMonster betrayed her.

It's the new trend.

Betraying Khushi Sen Gupta.

“Can I have a word?”

She pauses at the threshold of the lavish office, her steps faltering as her eyes land on him.

Seated in the high-backed, leather chair, he exudes an almost unnatural stillness, his sharp features illuminated by the faint glow of the sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Mr.Raizada looks up, “Isn't that why I am here?”

She rolls her eyes. She texted him yesterday after she recovered all of the data from that laptop. That was some highly encrypted CBI laptop, and it took almost two days for her to decrypt it.

"Glad that your sarcastic tongue didn't fall off. But I want to talk about something else."

"Hmm, take a seat."

“We got interrupted discussing our deal terms that night,” she says, her voice steady but her hands fidgeting at her sides. “We didn't settle actually what I want from our deal." He remains silent, so she continues, "I want you to make me disappear. New identity, new address…somewhere far away from here...anywhere, as long as it's not here.”

He leans back in his chair, his sharp gaze scrutinizing her. “Done.”

Her breath hitches at his quick agreement. “I have it open,” she says, turning the laptop screen toward him. “What do you want me to do with it?”

“That was fast.”

She smirks faintly. “Was that a test?"

He chuckles, "No."

"Why are we looking into a CBI agent’s laptop? And I know you took it from my father’s study, don't you dare deny it.”

"Good morning, Boss," Aman enters the room and takes the chair beside her, "Good morning, Khushi."

It doesn't escape her eyes how his eyes narrow, and his browns darken at Aman's calling her by her first name. But he quickly drapes his stoic mask over his face.

"I promised you evidence against Mr.Gupta, didn't I? Consider it a token of appreciation for you to accept my deal." His lips curl into a smirk that doesn’t reach his eyes. “And...I’m not entirely sure about the CBI agent part. Either he was an undercover mafia operative in the CBI, or an undercover CBI agent in the mafia, doubling as a dealer in the Triad Tribe.” He leans forward, his tone low and pointed. “You know about the Triad Tribe, right?”

She stays silent, nodding faintly.

“Anyway, Mr. Gupta killed him,” Mr.Raizada continues, his voice growing colder. “The owner might have used the laptop as a shield to protect himself from getting shot.”

“There are multiple IP addresses of warehouses,” she says after a moment, her fingers flying across the keys. “Information about shipments… What’s in these warehouses? Arms? Drugs?”

“Humans.”

Her fingers freezes mid-typing. She looks up sharply, her face pale. “But human trafficking was shut down…”

“The Serpents are trying to reopen it,” he says, his voice dark, his jaw tightening. “They’re exploiting their special privileges with the border in West Bengal and the influx of Rohingyas in Bangladesh. They’re collecting people, trying to strike a deal with the Chicago Outfit as a test run. If it works, every other family will jump at the chance to restart it.”

She stares at the screen, her throat tightening. “I looked into all of them. Only few of them have CCTV cameras. I hacked into them yesterday. They were empty."

"They'll probably fill up the warehouses a few days before the shipment. To avoid suspicion." Aman adds.

She looks at the dates of the shipment and sees the warehouse with a CCTV camera has the closest date, two days from today. "Let me look into it again." The feed appears instantly. Her voice trembles as she continues. “They’re all kids… boys mainly. What, six or seven years old?”

Mr.Raizada's face darkened. “The Chicago Outfit has an assassin-making organisation called the 'League of Shadows',” he says, his voice cutting through the air like a blade. “They train children into killers and sell them to clients....or use them to eliminate their enemies. Kids that young are more impressionable. Easy to mold. Loyal....they might be in storage of children to train.”

"This shipments can't happen...I don't want to empower the enemies any further. Tomorrow, they could send one of these boys to slit my throat in my sleep. Who knows?" He adds with a shrug.

“Can’t we do anything to stop it?” she asks as she glances back at the screen.

“I hope you can,” he says, his tone softening for the first time, though his expression remained grim. “Alert CBI about the shipment discreetly, not the police. The police are in Mr.Gupta's pocket.”

She nods her head faintly

"Are you guys up for an outing this evening?" Mr.Raizada asks, his voice low and calm, but his eyes glint dark.

"Excuse me?"

"A celebratory outing to welcome you in our company. We are going to a casino." Aman says with fake enthusiasm.

"What do you mean?" She asks utterly bewildered.

"You will see," Mr.Raizada says in a grave voice.

.

.

.

That’s what she’s seeing.

A tablet screen.

It is balanced precariously on her lap as she sits on the lid of a commode in a restroom stall. The underground fighting arena roars to life just beyond the walls, the sound vibrating through the tiled floor beneath her feet.

Such a celebratory outing.

“Khushi, are you done?” Aman’s voice crackles through her earpiece, his tone strained but calm.

“Almost,” she whispers back. “Just ten more seconds.”

The chanting from the arena grows louder with each passing moment, a relentless tide of sound pressing against her nerves. Her disguise feels stifling. The jet-black straight-haired wig with its blunt bangs and the large black-rimmed glasses perched awkwardly on her nose, that was all she could come up with to hide her identity. She shifts uncomfortably, hoping the disguise is convincing enough.

They are all on an undercover mission, Aman and her. Mr.Raizada tasked them with hacking the Triad Tribe database stored in a server room of the casino above this underground arena. It could only be accessed from close proximity, forcing them into this chaotic labyrinth, or should she say restroom. She is sure two people in her next stall are having sex.

She closes her eyes, taking some deep breaths. She instantly regrets her decision. It smells like something have died in here, something probably have.

She taps rapidly on the tablet, installing the undetected virus into their system. Once successful, they’ll have full access to the Triad tribe’s sprawling empire... casinos, resorts, hotels, and more.

Finally, the screen blinks in confirmation. Mission accomplished.

“Done,” she whispers.

Minutes later, they make their way toward the main hall where the fights are taking place. The moment they step inside, a bell rings, and the crowd erupts. A massive, burly man thumps his chest like a gorilla, roaring in triumph as his opponent lies unconscious on the floor. The crowd is mostly men and a few women, with some bouncer-type scary men standing around the ring and against the walls keeping an eye on everyone.

She adjusts her glasses, keeping her head low as she and Aman take their seats in the gallery overlooking the fighting ring. She has never been in places like that before.

The cacophony of the crowd swallows them, the metallic tang of sweat and blood sharp in the air. And despite the overwhelming chaos, her focus zeroes in on the centre ring.

The announcer's loud voice echoes in the space, "NOW TAKING THE STAGE...THE LEGEND, THE ALL TIME WINNER...THE STOWSTOPPEEEERRR, AT 225 POUNDS, 125 VICTORIES, DHRUUUUV RAO."

Dhruv Rao steps into the ring. Shirtless except for his boxing shorts with all of his muscles in full display. The crowd goes crazy at his arrival.

Her nose crinkles in disgust like she smells something rotten. Well, she won't mind watching Dhruv Rao taking some punches tonight.

"AND HERE COMES OUR ANONYMOUS GUEST TONIGHT. AT 200 POUNDS, AND 0 VICTORIES."

A roll of "haha's" and "boos" ripples through the crowd as the man in question steps into the circle of harsh fluorescent lights.

A predator in disguise among his prey.

A wolf in a black coat.

Well literally in full black.

He’s dressed in a black full sleeved t-shirt that clings to his defined, muscular frame like a second skin, paired with dark combat pants. Thick white gauges wrap around his knuckles.

His face is obscured by a simple black mask, covering the top half of his face, leaving his eyes and his already damp-with-sweat hair exposed. The strands falls back over his eyes in tousled disarray. His mouth and jaw below the mask are visible, highlighting the tension in his clenched teeth. Yet he seems utterly unaffected by the roaring crowd. His calm is unnerving.

"Are you disappointed that he'll fight like that?" Aman asks, his eyes carefully scanning the arena.

"What do you mean?" She leans slightly closer.

"I mean, he’s fully clothed," he gestures toward the ring with a subtle nod. "I came to my first underground fight expecting flesh, blood, and sweat. Instead, I get a guy in a tactical black outfit. Feels like I’ve been cheated."

She smirks, her tone teasing. "You wanna see him shirtless, huh?"

"What?" Aman scoffs, though the corner of his mouth twitches. "Don’t act like you don’t. After all the pain that bastard put me through, I at least deserve the satisfaction of seeing him beaten black and blue." His tone is almost affectionate, almost.

"You know very well why he can't be shirtless."

Aman sighs dramatically. "Yeah, yeah. It’s not like I forgot." He pauses, his expression shifting to one of mock pride. "But let me tell you about that shirt...it’s a polymer blend. Practically indestructible. I pitched the idea, of course...That guy is very particular about what he puts in his body."

Her brows knit slightly, and she glances back at the figure in the ring. "I noticed…" shit, "I mean, not noticed. Please forget that I said anything," she fumbles, immediately regretting her words as Aman chuckles under his breath.

He shouldn’t be here, same as them.

None of them should be here.

If he went shirtless, his tattoos would be visible. People would know who he is.

"If they could’ve seen just a glimpse of that bird tattoo on the back of his hand, this arena would be dead silent right now," Aman chuckles, more to himself than anyone else.

The weight of his words hangs heavy in the air. She finds herself staring at the man in the ring again, wondering how someone can command this much power without even lifting a fist yet.

"Does that tattoo mean anything, or only for aesthetics?" She asks feigning nonchalance.

"Probably, I don't know."

That man is a vault. Ever his best friend doesn't know everything about him. She chuckles internally.

"He got that in his first year of college. He trademarked it in his name. Nobody in the Triad is allowed to have this tattoo." Aman finishes with a low chuckle.

"That's pretty early. How many tattoos does he have other than that?"

Aman smirks, tilting his head as if to taunt her. "Wouldn’t you like to know? Though I haven’t seen him shirtless in a long time...but not much. He’s got his Eagle on his back and a Bratva tattoo on his chest."

"The Bratva? As in the Russian mafia?" Her eyebrows furrow.

"He is an honorary member of that mafia family, particularly a captain."

"How? Is he going to marry the Russian mafia princess," she says teasingly, but the expression on Aman's face turns sly, so she adds bewildered, "He is, isn’t he?"

Aman chuckles, shaking his head. "That’s his personal matter. You have to ask him."

"Why would I? Not that I care," she mutters quickly, crossing her arms. Heat rushes to her cheeks as she quickly looks away.

"Of course not," he quips, biting back a laugh. "Why should you?...Anyways, Dhruv Rao’s about to regret ever stepping into that ring....I am waiting for this crowd to go pin-drop silent when Dhruv hits the ground."

She arches a brow, "Confident much?"

"That’s what best friends are for," Aman said lightly, though his gaze lingered on Arnav, a glimmer of something deeper flashing in his eyes. "Cheering through life...and making sure the world knows who’s boss...and besides do you know who trained him."

She shakes her head.

"The league of Shadows. Dhruv Rao doesn't even stand a chance. But we have let him think that he does. It's fun, isn't it?"

The league of Shadows.

The assassin organization he was talking about in the morning. That explains all his wall climbing and all.

Her attention shifts as the crowd erupts in cheers. The arena turns into a brutal, chaotic world of sweat, blood, and adrenaline. The roar of the crowd echoes off the concrete walls, deafening and relentless. Harsh fluorescent lights cast an almost theatrical glow over the bloodstained mat.

And there he is.

The man in black.

The sharp angles of his face are illuminated under the stark lights, his expression unreadable. He looks entirely out of place in this savage setting yet utterly at home.

A loud bell rings, signalling the start of the fight. Dhruv charges first, roaring, fists flying, hoping to overwhelm the masked man with sheer force. But the vulture is faster, more precise. He sidesteps, the rush of Dhruv's attack barely grazing his side.

Dhruv charges again, throwing wild

punches. This time, his blow connects. A brutal hook to the jaw that sent the vulture stumbling. The crowd erupts in cheers.

Her heart leaps forward as she winches as well. The crowd’s cheers blur into white noise as her focus narrows to the man in the ring. She doesn't like the idea of him being hurt.

What's wrong with you, Khushi?

He's the enemy.

He straightens up slowly, his expression unreadable at first as blood trickles down the corner of his mouth. He drags his thumb from the corner of his mouth across his chin, smearing the blood along his jawline before spitting

a crimson glob onto the ground.

Slowly, he turned back to Dhruv, his lips curling into a sinister smile. The crowd hushes seeing this menacing aura. Dangerous, dark, and unsettling.

It sends a shiver down her spine. 

He tilts his head, wiping the blood by the backside of his hand as if savouring the taste of his own pain.

She hates the helpless awe curling in her chest. He is as sinister as the devil and twice the pretty. He is all seven of the deadly sins wrapped in a tall, alluring frame.

She can't comprehend how something as menacing as this moment can be so maddeningly captivating and so utterly mesmerising.

He cracks his neck, and then, in a fluid motion, the devil delivers a brutal elbow to Dhruv's ribs before Dhruv can block them. The sickening crack of bone echoes in the arena. Dhruv stumbles, gasping for breath. The vulture delivers some quick jabs to Dhruv's shoulder and a spinning kick to his knee, making Dhruv kneel on the ground.

Still Dhruv stands up and lunges again, this time with a knee aimed at the gut, but the vulture catches him mid-air, twisting with brutal force, slamming his body to the ground with a brutal thud. The sound reverberated through the arena. The crowd's roar falters, and their cheers turn into stunned silence.

Blood drips from Dhruv's mouth as he groans, struggling to lift himself. The vulture circles Dhruv as he pushes himself to his knees. With a sharp twist of his torso, the man in black delivers a punishing uppercut to the kneeling man's jaw. The force of the punch snaps Dhruv's head back, his body collapsing back to the ground.

But the devil doesn't stop. He's relentless, almost animalistic. He takes hold of Dhruv's hair as his fist slams into Dhruv's face once, twice, three times, each blow raw and brutal. His knuckles crack and bleed, but he doesn't stop.

A few more strikes and Dhruv is barely conscious, his face a mangled mess of bruises and cuts. He stands over Dhruv, breathing heavily, eyes wild as his opponent lies sprawling on the bloodstained mat.

And the arena falls into the pin-drop silence Aman wished before. And all she does is watch, watch and watch him. His breathing is ragged, and knuckles are raw and bleeding, but his face remains impassive, a mask of icy composure.

But his eyes, they tell different story.

Dark. Unyielding. Wild.

And they meet hers, the same time the crowd erupts again. This time in a roar for him.

Yet, his eyes hold onto hers, unwavering, through the chaos around them.

They pierce through her with a force that causes goosebumps to erupt in her skin. His browns darkest she ever saw.

Raw. Untamed. Feral.

And that leaves her utterly undone.

It feels like an eternity.

There's a dangerous intimacy in his gaze, an undeniable claim.

She should be afraid. But she's not.

The animal in him calls to the animal in her, and she can’t look away.

He is a weapon.

There's a raw, primal violence in him.

The violence that paints the floor with his opponent's blood. Each strike is devastatingly precise, his strength terrifyingly controlled. She's captivated by the way he stands untouched by the brutality he's just unleashed.

lt's terrifying.

It's magnetic.

It's beautiful.

It's making her feel alive in a way she’s never felt before. A raw monsterous hunger consumes her, burning through every nerve, every inch of her skin.

And the answer to that hunger terrifies her. The beast in him, the predator in him, the monster in him that calls to her, but it’s also the thing that could destroy her.

And she has a frightening feeling.

This beauty won't survive her beast.

If Arnav Singh Raizada ever happens to her, she won't survive him and she won't let him survive her either.

She and him.

They are monsters.

They will rip each other apart, limb by limb, drowning in destruction, before they'll let each go, before he'll be out of her system.

Author's Note:

This author is very lazy. Lovely Readers please have your patience. See you soon. Coming up next: a date night 😜.

<previous> | <next>

@arshifiesta @featheredclover @phuljari @chutkiandchotte @jalebi-weds-bluetooth @simplycurlz @9artsdragon @chaiandtakkar

[bluejayblueskies]

De Tocht Der Koeien \\ The Journey of Cows | MxCaptain

[ID: A hand-bound book shown from the front. There is gray bookcloth along the spine and black bookcloth on the front pasted on top of silver and black marbled paper. The title in both English (The Journey of Cows) and Dutch (De Tocht Der Koeien) is painted onto the cover in silver fabric paint, as well as the author name MxCaptain and a graphic of grass. /End ID]

As another gift as part of Fandom Trumps Hate 2023, I did a bind of MxCaptain's fic De Tocht Der Koeien and its English translation The Journey of Cows! Both fics are contained within this volume, one after the other.

[ID: A hand-bound book shown from the spine. The front cover can also be seen from an angle. There is gray bookcloth along the spine. The name in Dutch (De Tocht Der Koeien) and the author name, MxCaptain, are on the spine in silver fabric paint. /End ID]

The cover and spine are both stenciled with silver fabric paint, and the cover has black bookcloth glued atop black-and-gray hand-marbled paper (not marbled by myself). This is, like my previous book, a sewn board binding, and the ends of the boards are painted black.

[ID: Two images of the interior title pages of the book. The first shows the half-title page, which has both titles De Tocht Der Koeien and The Journey of Cows separated by a line and the author name, MxCaptain, beneath a graphic of a cabin. The second shows a two-page spread with a watercolor painting of a pine-tree-covered hill with some highland cows on it. The same titles can be seen on the righthand page, as well as the same author name. /End ID]

The half-title page precedes the title spread, which has a full-spread painting. The edges have been trimmed (very carefully, using a utility knife, which I only attempt with thin books like this one because it is generally very perilous to trim this way) to bring the book down to A6 size and to get the white space away from the edges of the spread.

[ID: Two images of interior pages of the book. The first image shows the front matter on the left and the summary page on the right. The front matter has QR codes with links to the fics, the Blue Skies Books logo with a bluejay, the Renegade Publishing logo with a bookpress, and information about the book. The summary page has the summary in Dutch and English as well as sketches of cows. The second image shows the chapter header on the righthand side. The chapter header has the English title, The Journey of Cows, encased within a woodcut print of cows, with the text of the fic beneath it. /End ID]

The summary page and chapter headers have some more public domain cow images from rawpixel, and I'm especially pleased with the chapter headers, which I think are very cute!

[fostersffff]

If you're someone who's interested in collecting physical media, especially DVDs and blu-rays, I cannot overstate how good an investment a blu-ray drive for your computer is.

There are copious free resources that will allow you to digitize your collection for additional preservation and convenience... and I've placed them beneath this break!

MakeMKV: https://www.makemkv.com/

MakeMKV is the program I use for backing up blu-rays and DVD. It’s “free while in beta”, and as far as I can tell it’s going to continue to be in beta forever. You just need to register the program with the beta code, which can be found here: https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1053. If your registration ever expires, you can just go to that post and they’ll have it updated with a new one.

“MKV” is “Matroska Video”, which is a container format (named after the Russian nesting doll) that collects the video track, audio track(s), and subtitle track(s) all into one file, which is super convenient for anime, because that means you don’t need to worry about making separate files for different combinations of dubs and subs. My understanding is that this is, essentially, a lossless video copy, and I’ve done comparisons comparing screenshots taken from video playing off the disc and from the .mkv, and I haven’t been able to notice a difference. As for playing .mkv files…

VLC Media Player: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

The Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP): https://download.cnet.com/Combined-Community-Codec-Pack/3000-2139_4-10966585.html

VLC is my media player of choice for watching back the stuff I back up. I’m not 100% sure if you need to download the CCCP for this- my backups play fine on my tablet just using the VLC app, and I recently found out they even work off a USB stick plugged into a Samsung Smart TV- but it doesn’t hurt to have.

MakeMKV can also be directly integrated with VLC Media Player to play blu-rays right from the drive, which is tremendously valuable if you're not interest in/don't have the hard drive space for digitization. I think I’ve encountered maybe one thing that couldn’t be played off the disc with this solution, and that was fixed in a subsequent update to MakeMKV. The full breakdown of how to do that can be found here: https://stolafcarleton.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/1893/StOlaf/KB/ArticleDet?ID=128854.

MKVToolNix: https://mkvtoolnix.download/downloads.html

Different companies author discs differently, and I like to keep my stuff organized the same way, which is where this tool comes in. I won’t go into too much detail on this here, but if you ever need to split one large file into smaller files (for example, a disc has 9 episodes of a show to a single title/file, and you want to split them into individual episodes), edit or remove chapter information, or rename audio/subtitle tracks, this is the tool to do it. There's a lot to this, so I would suggest reading the official documentation, but I could also whip up a guide if people are interested.

HandBrake: https://handbrake.fr/

The video encoder for shrinking those backups down to size- my favorite example was getting all 49 episodes of G Gundam down from almost 300gb off-the-discs to just under 50gb. This is also going to be heavily dependent on how powerful your computer is, because encoding takes up a lot of resources. On my computer, which is by no means top-of-the-line, I’d say on average it takes about 50 minutes to encode a 24 minute episode of anime, and that increases exponentially the longer the source material is.

I got the settings I use in HandBrake from this incredibly detailed breakdown of how video encoding works: https://kokomins.wordpress.com/2019/10/10/anime-encoding-guide-for-x265-and-why-to-never-use-flac/#tldr-summary-for-x265-encode-settings. There's a lot of information there, too, but it also provides generic settings to plug in to HandBrake if you don't care to manually adjust the settings for each project you're doing.

And that’s everything I use for my process! A lot of this was trial and error with other programs that cost money, performed worse, and were generally aggravating to use. It's a bit of elbow grease, but the reward is that once something is digitized, you have it forever, exactly the way you want it.

[plucky-y]

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