#almost 4 months of ip

[emilyblame]

this is just me but I only started listening to waterparks when funeral grey came out. I didn't seek them out, only ever listened whenever they played in her car but as more and more singles kept dropping, I started liking them more and more. And right around the time intellectual property dropped, I started listening to more of their older albums. Now I'm obsessed. And I like Intellectual Property, even after 4 months!

I can feel the difference in lyrics in ip compared to their older albums like double dare and ent but I don't think it's a bad thing entirely! And I know Intellectual Property only dropped about 4 months ago but I cannot wait to see what waterparks is going to do in the future. I feel so so normal about them, I swear

you were kinda forced into the fandom haha i’m kidding. i also found them by chance.

five years ago, i was letting the youtube algorith dictate what i was listening to, and it decided to play Peach (Lobotomy). i was like, “ok. generic pop punk band. cool.” then, it played Blonde and my overdrive/distortion-loving sorry ass got a little more interested (also there was screaming.) but it wasn’t until it played Royal that it absolutely destroyed me and i was hooked forever.

i too love 'Intellectual Property' a lot! i like it better than 'Greatest Hits' in the sense that it feels more cohesive, more like an album. although, to be fair, the feeling of randomness in GH is probably deliberate. i mean, it feels like none of the songs fit together and it is called 'Greatest Hits'… i choose to believe that was on purpose.

on the lyrical front… there was a huge change between 'Entertainment' and 'Fandom', and it was because Awsten started getting tired of people ‘misinterpreting’ his lyrics— which is more a personal interpretation than a misinterpretation, but you go off, king— and he decided to start being more 'direct' with what he was trying to say. in other words, he sacrificed trying to sound pretty in order to just say what he wanted to say. which is not a bad thing entirely, but when you listen to the albums back to back it feels a little strange to go from this strongly metaphorical lyrics in 'Double Dare' to “i’d unfuck you if i could.”

all that said! i’m also excited to see what they do in the future, but i would love to see them live first. i would also love to see Awsten take a fucking break a let an album live for more than 2 years, but i know he’s probably already 50 songs deep into the new one, so…

[maryaandmorevna]

N.1 Pro hero!Touya who takes an interest in a civilian!you after seeing your anonymous comments on the popular hero forum.

You think he's only gotten so far because his father was Endeavor. You think everything was handed to him on a silver platter. You think he doesn't deserve such admiration from the part of the male fanbase when he's a supposed misogynist. (He was not! The fuck! Fuckin haters!)

You have such a stupid, ignorant opinion of him (who the hell do you think you are?) and you're not afraid to share it around.

So fucking what if he's not winning popularity contests and he's rude to the press? His crime-solving rate rivals his father at the height of the old man's career and he IS the strongest man around. Who are you to criticize him!? Some jobless lard pasted on a couch, most likely.

He decides to track your IP address and find you.

He makes an account and feels just a tad ridiculous for defending himself on a forum. "If you didn't know, hero Touya has the highest efficiency rate when it comes to saving multiple civilians from villain attacks! If you didn't know, hero Touya has trained harder than anyone else to hone his quirks!"

Yes, quirks, because some ignoramus clearly wouldn't know about him almost DYING when he was 13 to get his father to pay attention. It took him nearly perishing in unimaginable pain for his ice quirk to activate.

Through suffering, he had reached what his spoilt, little masterpiece of a brother was born with.

And Shouto was only n.4 now.

Touya goddamn Todoroki was n.1.

But the only response he gets is: " Go suck his privileged dick if you like him so much!"

You deserve to be put in your place for that alone!

So, Touya waits until his agents find you - the stupid anonymous hater.

He imagines you must be some microdicked fan of his brother, or one of those simps who would love for a female hero to overtake his n.1. Spot. Ha. As if.

A spot he bled and cried and burned for.

So what if he fucked a different chick every month, refusing to take his clothes off, and sending them packing the moment he was done?

None of them deserved to parade around with n.1 hero on their arm when they lived in a different world. They wouldn't understand the burn scars on his thighs and belly and what it fucking took to be here.

Touya didn't know what he expected when they informed him his hater had been found but he certainly didn't anticipate you would be so...cute.

You were a woman.

How could he not have realized that?

Touya scoffed.

You were jealous of him. He positively feels gleeful when he logs onto his account, "Fire123", to type away.

"Bet you'd love to do that, you irrelevant wanna-be."

He gets an answer that same night.

"I feel sorry for the poor woman whom he pays to get his nepo baby dick wet. Bet she wishes she could fuck Shouto instead."

The foulness of his glower scares all the sidekicks next morning.

Sorry? Oh, you'll be sorry when he shows up at your doorstep! When he has you fired! When he buys the apartment from your landlord! You'll be groveling little bitch then, he's sure!

[brian-in-finance]

Cait big birthday donor strikes again. 🎁🎂❤️

$10,479 - Anonymous donated

"Wishing you Caitríona a fabulous birthday and many many happy returns🎂🍾🎉🎁 May all your wishes come true!!! Kudos to Project CaiTREEna and OTP!"

Thanks for the message, Anon. 😃 That’s fantastic! I’ve been waiting since Friday for the final 2024 total before posting “you.”

Twitter

Donation Page

Once more a very generous person/group anonymously donated to Project CaiTREEna, commemorating Caitríona’s birthdate. 🥳

Considering the donor paid in U.S. dollars, it makes sense the donor is American or U.S.-based, right? Just for fun, imagine if the donor was a Scot, for example.

First, the donation template automatically sets the currency to match one’s IP address, so a Scot would donate in British pounds:

Wow! 😳 That’s more than 1.3 times the original donation.

Second, they would write Caitríona’s birthdate as Day Month Year — 4 10 79:

Wow! 🤯 That’s more than five times the original donation.

And what if the generous donor was more detail oriented? The birthdate would be 4 10 1979:

Wow! 😵 That’s more than 513 times the original donation.

Imagination aside, $10,479 U.S. is a lot of money, and everyone’s donation, regardless of its size, makes a difference. 🌲🌲🌲

Remember… when I am among the trees, especially the willows and the honey locust, equally the beech, the oaks and the pines, they give off such hints of gladness. I would almost say that they save me, and daily. — Mary Oliver, When I Am Among The Trees, Thirst, 2006

[academicfever]

46/100 days of productivity!

Beautiful morning guys!

Today is 9th October and this is a reminder for me:

I’m so proud of me this morning! Just 2 months ago I was in bed almost all the time with joint pain and fatigue… now I’m doing better … in a better place where my days doesn’t include 5 hrs of cooking food… I’m out of my toxic family home… I’m away from my stepmom so she can’t hurt me directly anymore… I’m taking care of my body… I’m making effort to do better everyday…

I don’t have the urge to end my life anymore… that’s a huge progress… no matter how bad it gets I don’t wanna leave anymore… my chronic illness is almost manageable now… I don’t hate my body anymore… I’m starting to love me …

Today:

+ mental health Check

+ Chalmens modele. [1.5, 1'6

+ Paritech - 6.3, 7.1

+ Ansys / Simulink Practice

+ Polemy Application

+ Breakfast

+ lunch + meds + shower

+ EV- drive Study - IP

+Cold shower before bed

Went on a walk at night like a fucking The weirdo😭

It was fun 🤩

[lulu2992]

This interview with Drew Holmes, now the IP Director of the Far Cry franchise, is two months old and I haven’t talked about it yet, but there are a few things he says that I really like and think (hope) bode well for the future of the series!

Like what he said during the 20th Anniversary livestream, the article confirms they’re aware many fans love the villains, but what’s even more interesting is that it suggests they know some people would like to have the possibility to side with the antagonists. This has never been an option (except in New Dawn, sort of) but we know it’s an idea they’ve been considering at least since Far Cry 4. When I read,

“Some players may see that the villains are going too far, but also see their point, and think: ‘If I work with them, I can make them see the error of their ways and change them.’”

or,

In continuing to fight the antagonist, all the woes of the world are not resolved; and in joining them, society does not collapse. “Defeating the bad guy may seem like the thing that you should’ve done,” he continues, “but what are the things that you’ve done along the way to get here? And if you joined the bad guy, is there a glimmer of hope? What happened to the people you met along the way?”

it makes me think they might seriously consider finally letting us join the villain(s) in a future game. As he implies, making such a choice would surely have big repercussions on the story and characters, but it’s part of the reason I would love to have this possibility. I’ve never seen that in any other game I’ve played, and I think it would be a bold and interesting decision if it became an option.

I like this as well:

Drew mentions that [Far Cry 3] holds a mirror to the player and asks: “Look at the things you’ve done. What do your actions say about what you value?” 

It’s pretty much what Jeffrey Yohalem (Lead Writer) and Dan Hay (Executive Producer and basically Drew Holmes’ predecessor as head of the brand) said about Far Cry 3 at the time (for example here), so seeing that they’re all on the same page is great. Of course, you’d expect an IP Director to have a good knowledge and understanding of the franchise, but since I’ve already seen Far Cry 3 devs completely contradict each other in interviews, that wasn’t guaranteed… At least, and even though he wasn’t even working at Ubisoft when the game was released, I’m glad he knows what he’s talking about!

I also really like the parts about how Far Cry games are supposed to make players feel uneasy or are really about how far someone (protagonist or antagonist) is willing to go for what they consider right because what seems “moral” can change depending on the situation we’re in, and everyone, in very specific and extreme circumstances, can potentially “become the jungle” that initially looked so scary and foreign to them.

Usually, in Far Cry, the characters’ motivations are clear, and even if we rarely agree with what they do, we can almost always understand why they do it and even have sympathy for them. As he concludes:

“When we help each other, what is the reason behind it? When we hurt each other, what is the reason behind it?”

These questions have implicitly been asked many times in the series, but no clear answer has been provided because, as the interview explains, Far Cry games are supposed to “evoke feelings and make space for introspection”. In the end, only we, players, by experiencing the stories and meeting the characters, can find out who we truly are.

In my opinion, it appears the franchise is in good hands, and for now, I have hope for the future :)

[yuki8563]

It's just a small announcement. I don’t use Tumblr as a mood journal, and I’m not familiar with the platform, so let me quickly and simply describe the current situation that has caused my art updates to temporarily stop:

1. company employee travel (many of my work projects are best completed early) and health check.

2. irregular menstruation (my menstrual interval is more than 3 months, so I feel unusually tired during my period),

3. I bought the Steam deck for my trip, and I plan to play Persona3 R, Kingdom hearts.

4. (Serious) (below)

…a criminal case

(I sued someone who has been stalking me online for 3 years, and the police are investigating, I mentioned it here because that person doesn't use a platform with many foreigners, so I'm glad I still found a chance to say it.)

One of the Taiwanese people's native languages, only Taiwanese people can understand it. I can't find a way to express myself that only I and foreigners can understand, but Taiwanese people can't.

So when I talk to my foreign friends, I feel embarrassed because I'm afraid my texts will be discovered.

(The prosecutor’s investigation period is 3 months, and it’s almost a month now, I have no idea if they found his IP location.)

Anyway, that’s it.

No one should have to deal with any scary kids who go crazy because their friend request was rejected…😔

These are the reasons why I am so busy in real life, but don’t worry, I have therapy every two weeks and I am learning how to properly release and express my emotions.

I wish you a nice day!

[umichenginabroad]

Madrid Week 17: Exams and (Another) Weekend in Paris

¡Hola! Scarily enough, the countdown of days until the end of my program has begun: only 15 days until I fly back to the United States. It feels like yesterday that I was touching down in the Madrid Barajas airport for the first time. Regardless, I’m going to make the absolute most of my time left in Europe.

Midterm and Final Exams

UC3M, much like Michigan, has a final exam period directly after classes end. Their finals period is different though in that it spans 2 to 3 weeks instead of only a few days. This gives students a good amount for studying. However, it can also force you to stay longer in Madrid than you want, potentially missing the beginning weeks of any summer internships. I personally did have to push my summer internship back 2 weeks to adjust for this.

Before this though are the second round of midterm exams. Around the time of Spring Break and May Break is when teachers often schedule these. At least for me, the amount of travel I was doing during this time period impacted my ability to prepare. Additionally, it meant that my final exams were right after my midterms.

I actually got super lucky with my exam schedule in that I actually had the opportunity to take no exams in the final exam period given that I did well enough in my courses (which happened!). I’m already done with all school at UC3M and am able to use my remaining time here entirely for traveling and exploring Madrid.

The downside to this was that I was absolutely swamped with work after I got back from my trip in southern France and Milan. I essentially had 4 back to back exams. With some proper planning, it all ended up working out pretty well despite this.

Going Back to Paris

My studying for midterms was interrupted by a weekend trip in Paris. My mom was there for a work conference, so I decided to revisit to hang out with her for Mother’s Day weekend. It was our third time in the city and my phone had actually stopped working before flying there, so we ended up spending a lot of time in the Apple Store and not touristing. Regardless, here are some highlights.

River Seine Dinner Cruise

The food was pretty good and the ambiance was amazing. 10/10 would recommend. Plus we got to see the Eiffel tower sparkling from the boat.

Orangerie

Such a gorgeous collection of Monet’s work!

We walked around the city a lot, just catching up after being apart for almost 4 months. It was a very relaxing way to spend my weekend, especially after an intense period of studying.

What’s Next

Tomorrow, I leave for a longer trip to Lisbon and Lagos in Portugal. The weather is supposed to be really nice, so we’re spending a good amount of our time swimming, surfing, and beaching. This is sadly my last trip with my friends before my family visits at the end of my program, but I’m so so excited. Stay tuned to hear all about it!

Best,

Alyssa Cheslek

Aerospace Engineering

IPE Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Madrid, Spain

[roninkairi]

My Thoughts On The Nintendo Switch 2 (Hopes, Predictions)

This week, Nintendo will be having a Direct that will be focused on their next home console, the Nintendo Switch 2. I haven't said too much about the system, or to be more precise, I have not had any time to actually sit down and collect my thoughts on it. The original Switch has been around for 8 years now, and that is a remarkably long time for a Nintendo home console to be active, as the average time for their game systems tend to be 5 years between systems. The Nintendo Switch right now is the sole exception to this trend, and the fact that it has lasted this long is in many ways a miracle. But time marches on and technology evolves.

We got a small peak at the design back in February and the basic design has not been altered too much, but there have been some notable changes to the system, which include additional ports in the base console, magnetic locks for the Joycons and the addition of a C button, which function has yet to be revealed. And with the Direct coming this Wednesday, I guess I have some things I want to address:

A Better Home Screen Interface- Let's be honest here, the home screen for the Switch is VERY bare bones, with the only really customizable part being your profile pic. Customizable wallpapers and themes, like what we had with the 3DS, would be very much appreciated by the players, along with a way to organize what games or apps are featured. Make folders be selectable so that we can access games faster. And speaking of games and apps...

Get The Apps That The Other Systems Already Have- I know, I know, some of you have certain feelings about certain services (gives Max the Evil Eye) but people still religiously use them. So if you can get an app like Tubi or, yes, Netflix, on your system, you will make a lot of people more receptive to purchasing a Switch 2. Me personally, it's not really a deal breaker but it would be nice to have that option.

Bring Back Certain IPs- I don't think it needs to be said, but there are certain games I think are LONG overdue for new entries in their series, like Donkey Kong (a game Pranky REALLY wants to make a comeback), Kid Icarus, Star Fox, F-Zero, hell let me throw in one you weren't expecting: StarTropics. That's right I said it, I think we need a new StarTropics game or at the VERY LEAST an HD Remaster. The point is that there are a lot of games in the Nintendo catalog that could use a new game to spark interest and those games are long overdue Now as far as my predictions go for the Direct:

-A new Mario Kart will be a launch title: If it's not a launch title then it will more than likely be released before the end of the year, and we are going to see an expanded roster and bigger courses. I also have to believe Online play is going to be just as big.

-The next 3D Mario game will be announced: As far as I can remember, there has almost always been a 3D Mario title to be released within the first year of a system release. Super Mario Odyssey was released on October 27, seven months after the Switch was launched. What the new game will be like is anyone's guess at this point.

-No Smash Bros. announcement...YET: Most likely, we will hear something about it next year.

-Nintendo Switch 2 versions of Metroid Prime 4 and Pokemon Z-A: It happened with The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild, so Nintendo Switch 2 versions of these two games are not out of the question. And I do not think these will be the only ones.

-A Nintendo Switch 2 version of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake games: This is a personal hope of mine, given that supposedly the Switch 2 s a lot more powerful than the previous system. And with how things are now with Nintendo and Square Enix, I would not even bat an eyelid if they really do put these games on the Switch 2. I also think the possibility of certain other very popular games being ported to the Switch 2 is very high.

-Nintendo Switch Online will get GameCube games: GIVE THIS TO US NINTENDO, YOU OWE US THIS BOON!!!

-Atlus ports certain other games: I mean, come on, Persona 3 Reload and Metaphor Refantazio? Those games would sell like freaking pancakes on this system. (The only reason why I'm not playing Metaphor is because I'm STILL PLAYING PERSONA 3 RELOAD. And yes, I'm on the October Boss. Yes, that event is about to happen...damn it...)

That's all I've got for now. The only thing left to do is...wait... But for now though enjoy the beats of a rapping monk.

[davekat-sucks]

I do have to say that anon who soeculated on Dirk’s role does have a good idea for where the plot may be going and the setup for Dirk’s ultimate session, although I never considered the horrorterror session, generally because I have a hard tike taking it seriously. What’s notable as well is apparently it was 48 players that made the 48 zodiac signs of Alternia, but that got retconned to 288 signs of Hiveswap. What I think Dirk is doing is two-fold.

1. Dirk states in the epilogues this is being done to maintain the existence of their Universe. Homestuck is shoulder-deep in metatextual fuckery so of course the characters treat the in-universe existence of canon as real and like a story they exist in. If the story ends, the characters will decay away into unobserved, undefined, and untended void of irrelevance. Without us, the audience to pay attention to the narrative and characters of Homestuck, Homestuck doesn’t exist. Of course, narratives need conflict, and Dirk makes a new session to run a new overarching story that keeps Dirk and Rose in focus, and in a sense the cast alive. It could have gone a lot of different ways but Dirk is better at abrupt action than long term planning, the real plan comes from the second reason.

Earth C is the Cherub’s birth planet. Billions of years after Earth is ruined, a cherub will lay the egg of Caliborn and Calliope inland a ruined field somewhere on the dead planet, with only communications via a radio tower that transcends the narrative… Hussie’s IP server!

Of course, the earth now orbits a red giant with all the water evaporated and food wasted, so they are cared for by Gamzee who got sucked into the black hole caused by Lord Jack’s big-ass head implosion in [S] collide, giving that version of Jack his one true purpose: to die and transport the cherubim guardian to the right place.

Now the next requirement for Earth C to house the Cherubs is all the immortal Gods to be gone. Inevitably over the course of 3-4 billion years the beta and alpha kids, Kanaya, and Calliope are going to have to leave Earth C and never come back. Something happened for them to be gone. The cause doesn’t matter, only the effect is destiny. Dirk was nesting the Cherubs, he just had to pull their biggest threat off the Earth.

One final addendum, I don’t know what Dirk’s successful species is gonna be, and if the HICU will actually let the species exist and build the new sburb session or fakeout kill them in classic Hussie trolling style. What matters is Dirk gave the species a name: Sartyr, amd looking at sillhouettes it looks to be a bipedal anthromorph, much less a squid creature. I don’t think the HICU has the balls to do the horrorterror session.

They don’t have to, they heavily implied Dirk is dating Rosebot and fans on r/homestuck avoided the topic to talk about how good the art is and how the update is finally getting the ball rolling and how the sequel writing is finally good, stuff we’ve all heard before. The HICU posted another 12 pages of a monthly update where something almost happened and fans ate it up. This is Homestuck now. Where something almost happens, and then we wait a month for something to almost happen again.

That really seems to be the case. Before under Hussie and Whatpumpkin, the bad art and story were noticeable within each update. It's been routed in our brains that every update would be this. James Roach and HICU took advantage of it by getting to focus on the pretty art first before the story because most of us would skim through the text. Nobody would actually pick up on what it is going on until they read it 3-6 more times to let it sink in. It was like this before for many new readers of Homestuck. Most would look at the pretty picture or flash and less reading on the text. Vox's Let's Read at least makes it accessible for those who struggle reading, but even they don't update frequently and are at a certain stopping point where others need to go to the webcomic to continue. And I think a person watching the LR Homestuck and having to go back to the webcomic during ACT 6, is probably not a good experience for those entering the series. It's funny back in MSPA Forums, talks of incest was banned despite the themes of said incest being a common thing in Homestuck. And it was TOBY FOX who made The Baby Is You to troll at the mods that tried to cease the topic of incest. People may have known Toby Fox wrote some crazy funny m-preg song and it got relevance again thanks to a modern Pokemon game, but I don't think people actually knew the context and history behind on WHY he made it in the first place. And now we got people too scared to speak about it openly.

[genuflectx]

I found the novels that were made by Fawnling’s old owner, and they are… nothing like the group she killed… so I’m a bit peeved and heart broken that it was scrubbed from the internet for literally nothing. “I’m using it for a book” my ass. It’s closer to ATLA than Fawnlings :^p

So while being nostalgic and a bit sad, I ended up discovering the books that were created out of Fawnlings being wiped off the face of the internet. For context, Fawnlings was an open art roleplay game and after the owners return after a 6-7 year absence (it had been run by the abandoned mods) she decided to shut it down to use her “original concept in a novel.”

I was a roleplayer there for roughly two years before that happened, accumulating almost 10 characters, but the group had 1,6k members and many had been there from the start. It was very popular, friendly, active, and well maintained by the passionate mods who the owner had left behind. Tons of the game, lore, and changes to the species were created by them without any direction from the missing admin.

Back to the discovery… I couldn’t find the book by looking up anything that had been an aspect of Fawnlings, so I thought the damned novel just didn’t or hadn’t come out. I found it by her pen name (or real name?) which I will not divulge even though she’s technically publishing under that name, and has been writing articles under a different once since at least 2021. But the reason I could never find the book in connection to Fawnlings was… because there is none.

The main reason she claimed to want to separate herself from Fawnlings, which led to her refusal to give the group to the mods who had been caring for it, was because she intended to use the IP she made in a novel. When the mods didn’t bite they made their own group with a separate similar species and new but also similar world mechanics. Sadly, the new group has never been as active as the old one, I’d say there is activity (like art) made every 3-4 months. I’ve seen a lot of RPs die, and it is dying.

Now, I find out that Fawnlings was deleted for nothing. The novel is just… an ATLA AU, sharing little to nothing with the destroyed Fawnlings group. Fawnlings were deer, the book is humans. The ex-owner played characters in the Irish/Scottish inspired part of the game, but the book is based on Asia (specifically Japan). Fawnlings didn’t even have an Asia inspired location (ironically the new game does, which she didn’t even play a part in). The second book is about pirates, Fawnlings didn’t have those nor could they make boats. There’s a map in the first book and none of the locations are named after anything from Fawnlings, so the herd names she had originally requested be changed weren’t even used in the book.

The only similarity to Fawnlings is shared by both ATLA and (again ironically) the new game that she didn’t even play a part in. That magic and gods had disappeared but are now returning, and the main character turns out to have powers. Blessings and curses are also a thing. I can see some vague plot points that resemble Fawnlings plots, but they’d never make that connection if you didn’t know her involvement and are again generic (royal betrayal- generic- and stealing children for a cult- generic). Basically, she deleted Fawnlings because she wanted to use… magic tropes that already existed? While everything else unique to the group and it’s members wasn’t even used.

What makes it worse is two three things:

1. The article she published (again I won’t reveal her name) two months after the incident with the group about how you shouldn’t take negative comments personally and how it’s “something going on in the other persons life, not your fault.” Which is true advice but the context is shitty, she had been pretty heavily criticized at that time.

2. A Tumblr blog post months after (unless you get her Twitter which I won’t share you won’t find it, she didn’t use that blog much) the closure saying the story draft for the novel “started 9 years ago” and then a joke about “flushing” the evidence of the first draft.

3. (edited in) About a year or so after deletion, she got Wayback Machine to exclude or redirect the majority of captures. New captures and ones showing any criticism or discussion involving the shut down were excluded, and many older captures were turned into redirects that directed to captures from circa 2012-2016. Years 2020 and 2021 were completely wiped. Petty as Hell! This alone makes me feel like I would be in the right to give the name of her book series, just so you could avoid ever supporting it or her, but I still wouldn't feel good about doing that.

getting into RPs is hard for me as an adult and I’m still peeved that Ciel had only just turned 1 in game year old when the plug was pulled, and the new game is as good as dead so there’s really no community to keep playing with. Imagine playing one giant DND game for 8 years, then the DM (who had been napping through the majority of it) throws all of it into a garbage can, changes 95% of the plot everyone loved until it’s unrecognizable and tries to monetize it against the wishes of everyone who contributed to it. That’s what it’s like ☠️ and the new DND game just doesn’t have that same spark or comradery, so most of the players left. Or, like making a rudimentary toy for the public to play with. Then they build onto the toy so it’s more fun, then after years you come back, yoink it from everyone, strip it of everything they made it into, and started reselling it under a different package. And the new toy they tried to replace it with just doesn’t bring everyone the same joy, so it starts gathering dust.

Does the DM have the right to throw away their campaign and ignore the feelings of others? And does the toymaker have the right to take their toy away and sell it? Yes, but it doesn’t make it any less shitty, especially when thousands of players were in that DND game/playing with the toy. “Has the right” is not equal to kind, ethical, or selfless.

Well, there’s nothing to be done, it’s been three years. But it wasn’t what I was expecting to find and it kinda fucked me up :p

[destinyc1020]

So Tom can't pull numbers outside Spider-man? Uncharted is looking at you anon.

A movie with not good critics reviews, released in not a good month February, With Omicron still a thing (several theater close or with limited sittings). The movie didn't have a proper red carpet premiere, the promo was very limited. The movie made almost 4 times its Budget at the box office (13th movie at the worldwide box office in that year. It was top 10 when It was released in streaming.

It was confirmed the script for the sequel was written.

That screem success to me, against all odds

Yea, IP or not, Uncharted definitely performed tremendously well, despite the odds.

Gosh, was the Omicron virus still a thing back in 2022? Geez 😬

But anyway, I think it's definitely a sure thing that when Tom performs in action films, he can def bring butts to seats with the box office numbers. 😁👏🏾

I just don't want fans to be defeated if he has a film that does NOT being billions of dollars to the box office like these other IP-heavy films, ykwim?

Like, it's okay if he does just a regular non-action blockbuster film, and it just does decent at the box office. That's OKAY too y'all. ☺️

[emilyblame]

Intellectual property is my all time favourite parx album!! Awsten really let himself experiment with the sound this album and i love it so much. And the religious meaning behind a lot of these songs really hit home for me because i also grew up being told all these things about sex being sinful and wrong and having to learn to grow past that guilt and shame. It really feels like Awsten gets me and it feels so good to be seen in this way. It takes so much to open up about these things and Awsten was able to. This album really shows how much Awsten has grown and i think that’s absolutely amazing!! Plus this era has just been super fuckin fun!! I love ip and i love Awsten and im so proud of him and this album!!

ah, the other side of the coin!

yes! this is why i love art so much. it’s subjective, it’s personal. this is what i mean when i say you have to have an emotional conection to music in order to love it.

thank you for sharing your story with me!

[govindhtech]

ASUS ROG Ally X vs ROG Ally: Latest ROG handheld tweaks

The newest portable in the ROG family, the ASUS ROG Ally X, is improved over its predecessor in almost every way.

ASUS ROG Ally

AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme  Processor

With its remarkable performance, you may play demanding games at fluid frame rates with this state-of-the-art processor.

Integrated AMD Radeon RDNA 3 GPU

For a wide range of games, the integrated graphics card guarantees excellent graphics and fluid gameplay.

120Hz IPS panel

The 120Hz refresh rate panel offers remarkable responsiveness and smoothness. The ROG ALLY keeps up with the action whether you’re racing around an open environment or taking on opponents in fast-paced shooters.

Extra Elements

Versatile connectivity

Use the USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 connector and the 3.5mm headphone jack to connect to external displays, controllers, or peripherals.

Expandable  Storage

A microSD card can be used to increase the ROG ALLY’s  storage capacity.

Xbox Game Pass Integration

Get a free three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and enjoy a huge selection of games.

If you want to play high-performance games while on the road, the ROG ALLY is a great option. Whether you’re searching for an efficient way to play your favourite indie games or a potent handheld device for AAA titles, the ROG ALLY offers an alluring blend of mobility, performance, and immersive features.

The ASUS ROG Ally X is not just a straightforward update with a single or double the specs. In order to incorporate as many of the user’s suggestions as possible into the hardware build of this device, ROG even went so far as to entirely restructure the internals to accommodate all of the upgrades you requested from ROG Ally. This is a comparison between the ROG Ally X and the original Ally.

Upgrades for ROG Ally X

The ASUS ROG Ally X, first and foremost, offers notable specifications improvements, beginning with a larger battery. With its 80Wh battery, the ROG Ally X can play for longer periods of time in handheld mode than ever before, all without the need to recharge in the middle of a session. Furthermore, a compatible Type-C charger, like as their new ROG 140W GaN Charger, is the way to go if you want to charge that large battery even faster. The ASUS ROG Ally X now supports chargers up to 100W.

The 1TB of  storage and 24GB of LPDDR5X-7500 RAM in the ASUS ROG Ally X continue the ROG Ally enhancements, giving you more space for your games and quicker memory to dedicate to the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor’s visuals.

However, there are other plans besides spec increases. Almost everything has been modified in some manner, even the chassis, which now boasts rounded grips for far greater ergonomic comfort. The ASUS ROG Ally X feels perfect in your hands and will control better than ever with to upgraded D-Pad and stronger, more resilient joysticks. The back macro buttons have been resized to lessen inadvertent presses, and the face buttons are slightly more tactile than on the original Ally.

Additionally, ROG included a second USB Type-C connector that supports Thunderbolt devices and can operate at USB 4 speeds. This port is ideal for connecting an external GPU or other accessories. In order to keep the internal components and touch screen cooler than before, the new cooling system offers additional ventilation and uses dual 77-blade fans, an increase from the original Ally’s 47-bade fans. The speakers have also been updated, including larger chambers for a deeper, louder sound.

Unrestrained Power

Unmatched Performance

The AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme  Processor, which powers the ASUS ROG Ally X, ensures fluid gameplay for demanding games.

Graphics Boost

Never skimp on style or quality. Stunning graphics are produced by the inbuilt AMD Radeon RDNA 3 GPU, so you can enjoy your favourite games in all their glory.

Memory Upgrade

Increasing memory to 24GB LPDDR5 makes it possible to multitask and guarantees a smooth gaming experience.

For hardcore gamers, the ASUS ROG Ally X is the best portable gaming companion. Its outstanding performance, long-lasting battery, and elegant design enable you to conquer the competition and take your favourite games with you wherever you go. The ASUS ROG Ally X is a compelling option whether you’re an experienced gamer on the road or searching for a strong and portable entry point into the world of premium mobile gaming.

Read more on govindhtech.com

[fantasyfantasygames]

ZIM

The official Invader Zim roleplaying game, Serendipity Books, 2016

For those of you unfamiliar with it, Invader Zim was a kids cartoon about a child-sized alien invader with plentiful organs and a robot dog, written by the same guy who made a comic called Johnny the Homicidal Maniac which was entirely not for kids but was absurdly influential for only being 7 issues long. You should google Zim. It is very memes.

The official Zim game uses, of all things, the house system from the Chi-Chian official licensed game. You roll and add your stat and skill vs. a target number. If you double or triple the TN you get extra effects. Attributes start in the -1 to 4 range, skills add +1 or +2.

However, whereas Chi-Chian had you rolling 2d10, ZIM gives you 2d6, with the same set of target numbers, making you basically incompetent at anything where you need to roll. Unknown Armies skills are rated at the same % success chance, but that's your "while being shot at" chance in UA. In ZIM it's your "everyday task" chance. You are unlikely to be walking around with your shoes tied in this game is what I'm saying.

But maybe that was part of the point. I mean, it's not like Zim actually succeeded in taking over much of anything.

Your characters are other invaders, their weird robot or biotech or cyborg pets, their hulking bodyguards/bullies, and their diabolical love interests. Totally up to you whether you play all evil "geniuses" or one "genius" and their entourage. Character creation is a simple point-buy affair that's fairly difficult to min-max but seems to have a fair number of options that aren't helpful.

Some NPCs from the show are statted up. There are lots of suggestions for how to adjust those stats for variation on a theme. The setting is "real world", but as much "real world" as any other surreal comic. If you want to toss in a Dracula or two it will work just fine. The assumption is that there will be some sort of evil mastermind NPC who is thwarting you, a few NPC-type NPCs who are also thwarting you, no one who's really there to help, and that's the storyline.

The show ran in 2001 and 2006 (two seasons). Ten years of legal wrangling (you try wresting copyright away from a major network) later and the once-shuttered Serendipity Books reopened to publish the book they hoped would make them big. As is the story for almost every book on this blog, it did not, and they are shuttered once again. Paramount's much bigger lawyers reappropriated the IP in 2 months flat and the game was effectively de-published, with many unsold copies being pulped.

[howdy-folks-its-showtime]

April Update!

Howdy! Cobalt here, as many of your guys know It’s Showtime and its characters/story are gonna be turned into a horror game by the same title. So for both Gamejolt and this blog I am gonna start trying to do monthly updates on development. I think it’ll be a good way to put into perspective how much progress is being made each month and keep you guys in the know about how things are going. These are gonna be formatted with work made that month going first and then afterwards any other small announcements or thoughts we’d like to share on development. That or things that weren’t created that month that I basically keep stored in case we have months where progress is slow or I can’t show much behind the scenes stuff. These logs will likely contain personal stuff too, since with me and my partner being the main heads of the project. Our well-being or IRL goals are relevant to how much work is being done. Also while developing Showtime I intend to create other games similar to it, to sort of learn and test the waters + Since those ones aren’t tied to an IP I can actually make money off of them. Something I can’t [or at least not without Mike n Meatly’s permission I suppose] with Showtime or its characters.

April was sadly, not my month, I found out I was vitamin D deficient and got a slight fever. So I spent a lot of days tired and recovering from that. Progress has still been made though, mostly on learning 3D modeling more, I’m almost done with a model I’m making for someone else actually and while it is not perfect by any means… I think it looks really awesome for being my maybe fourth or third model and it’ll be my first truly finished model as well. I also have made good progress on writing both dialogue and summaries of Showtime’s story. I did particularly get ideas for a good chunk of Showy's campaign however, which involves a character I was on the fence about including in Encore!... Until very recently... Art wise not too much has been done specifically this month besides some concept art for cycle designs and some progress on textures for the studio. But that’s okay cause we’re not really at a spot where major progress can be made art wise yet. There’s so much more I want to share but I’ll be doing my best to space out those things out between updates. So no update is too long or too short with nothing interesting in there. Also sorry this is all so vague and non-specific I’m gonna try and get in the habit of actually documenting what work is being done on Showtime monthly from now on, so I’ll be able to be more specific about what parts are being chipped away at.

So onto something that didn’t happen this month but is important we have decided to switch to Unity instead of Unreal Engine 4. I’d like to take some time to explain why and also make sure nobodies too anxious over the change. For one thing, not a lot of progress was made on Unreal Engine, you could hear footsteps as you walked, use a buggy animation to enter a miracle station and the map was just a room full of lights. This is due to the fact while working in Unreal Engine was interesting and I learned quite a bit, I found myself often feeling it was not a good fit for Showtime and that trying to make it so was fighting against the engine as opposed to working with it. Unreal Engine seems to be built for realistic, open world or multiplayer FPS type games. That’s not to say you can’t make anything else with it, but finding tutorials for things I wanted to do was. Basically a nightmare because youtube was flooded with videos on how to make those games specifically. Another big aspect however was the general style. Unreal Engine is great if you want very realistic lighting and have a computer that can tank the sort of weight of that too. Neither is true for me however, Showtime’s characters are all very stylized, our humans are cartoony have clear shapes and most of all, I just want Showtime’s overall style to pay loving homage to 1930’s and general 2D Animation. I think both are really underappreciated and god do I love them. Also I’m making this on literally a laptop, a new one and not a janky one by any means, but still not a desktop. Unreal Engine works great for those who know how to use it and want to create the games it was optimized for, but it’s not ideal for my purposes, Godot seems promising but Unity is just great at specifically doing what I want to do with Showtime. It’s great for beginners to Game Development, has plenty of tutorials for all kinds of games and is very flexible in style. Sadly nothing is better at being Unity than Unity right now. I’m still mad about what the CEO did, and I’m glad for those who were able to switch engines to those with better management but it’s not really an option for us currently. Of course, this will put things back a bit but I’ve already been learning how to build a basic map in Unity and so far have only run into a few issues. Still I would love any advice on how to do this, esp from those who had made games similar to BATIM and other mascot horrors. [I have been thinking of building the maps inside Blender first and then importing them into Unity, to see if that’s easier or practical, but mostly I would love to hear what others commonly do to build such intricate interior design in Unity.] Either way while this month wasn’t terribly exciting by no means was no work done, just nothing too fun to show off yet.

[dspdick]

hello everyone. i hope you have some snacks on you because i have yet another thing to rant about. fortunately it isn’t about the bunch of idiots i have the misfortune of calling classmates, instead it’s the cursed place where i chose to continue my education. let’s yell about university.

for starters, i would like to point out that this is an expensive university. like. 900€/month expensive. i get to pay almost half of it because i have a discount due to my high school grades, but you have to keep it up during your stay in college and once it’s taken away you can’t ask for it again.

given the exorbitant price every single of its students is paying, you would think that my class would be in a decent building. wrong. we’re in a prefabricated shitty three-story building in the other side of campus from our labs. because medicine students have their own simulation clinics and the business students get a bajillion brick buildings but fuck the genetics kids amiright?

speaking of labs. the installations are cool and all but the materials need a serious upgrade. I CANT DO A PROPER GEL ELECTROPHORESIS IF THE MICROPIPETTE DOES THE EQUIVALENT OF A DRIVING NEWBIE WITH A MANUAL CAR. also the ph-meters are the bane of my existence and me the bane of theirs.

also. the lab practices are four hours long. which wouldn’t be too bad if they didn’t make us start them at three or four pm when we’ve been in classes from eight or ten am. yes i spend close to twelve hours on campus on lab weeks yes they also pretend that we have time to study.

BY THE WAY. OH MY GOD. studying. i know it’s necessary. but i have EIGHT SUBJECTS THIS SEMESTER. EIGHT. students in other universities have less subjects per year. one of them is a lab subject and we have a fuckin. oral and practical exam. ITS A LAB SUBJECT?? WHY DO I HAVE TO LEARN THE PROCEDURES AND WHY EVERYTHING IS DONE PLUS DO A NiCE LaB nOTeBoOk. SUCK MY DICK.

that and the fact that i not only have science subjects but also philosophy, communication and fucking BUSINESS. yes they’re useful but i frankly haven’t seen a subject with a worse organization than my philosophy class. and on top of that my business teacher just keeps sending projects and questions. maam your class is worth three credits. be grateful i do an effort to get out of bed and spend two and a half bitchass hours to listen to you yap about ip and business life cycles at eight thirty in the morning on a friday.

and now that i mention this, i still can’t believe we’ll have to do 50 mandatory hours of volunteer work next year. yay for volunteer work, i’ve done before and it’s amazing. but you can’t expect someone who spends 10+ hours in college regularly to do the same amount of time as people who only have 3 to 4 hours of class per day.

the worst part of all is the fact that our degree supervisor just expects us to act like phd students or some shit. she literally told to the class presidents that “we can’t expect to have compromises and extracurriculars outside of university. we have to focus on our college life”. this is our first year. i don’t even want to think about how we’ll be treated from now on.

and i guess this is why im so scared. i like genetics. love it, even, when applied to things i enjoy and not a clinical environment. but i want to live my life and be able to truly rest and enjoy and not want to kill myself constantly over the amount of workload that we have to deal with.

i don’t know if i’m going to drop out or keep going but all my options are bleak. either i continue and somehow survive college enough time to get my degree without having killed myself, or i drop out. and from there i have more options. a) immediately switching to a different college and/or undergrad, b) taking an off year and changing my undergrad.

i don’t even know what i’m going to do. i’m exhausted on all the levels a human can be tired and i have no idea if i have it in me to keep going or just take the easy out.