#i have experience with like. python but this is cool

[mistyycowoa]

Guys,, my bro is making some kind of website for job seeking and I managed to help fix 2 lines of html.. I'm proud of myself!! Because I didn't know what the fuck html was prior to this

[thewertsearch]

Ask Comp 09/06

Anonymous asked: Now that you're so far in, I urge you to check out Ichellor's 3D Homestuck animations! They're super cool, though you may need to be cautious. They're mostly at and prior to cascade, but you can't be too careful.

(All of these were made after Homestuck finished, so many still contain spoilers. Their first video is definitely safe, though. -V)

It's an excellent piece of work, and a great taste of what's to come. I've also watched their Cascade animation - although, according to Vamp, it does contain some subtle spoilers that I missed.

I've been able to check out a lot of the earlier Ichellor videos, but I'm probably going to have to wait a while before I can see their full body of work. Looking forward to it, though.

@mrjocrafter asked: so in literally act 1 rose tries to prototype the tier-1 harlequinsprite with a box of betty crocker cake mix. like imagine if it actually went in. what a doomed timeline that would've been. there's a MSPFA called Nepetaquest 2022 that deals with exactly this. it's peak

That does sound peak. Is the implication that the Sprite would turn into some iteration of the Condesce? I think that's more than the kids could handle, unless Rose had already gone Grimdark.

@manorinthewoods submitted:

The Star Wars example is one that many people already know, but Discworld is also a great shout here. You can easily tell that Pratchett is a sci-fi nerd, through-and-through - and, despite their aesthetics, the Discworld novels have as much fantasy in them as your average Monty Python production.

@adorable-animus asked: just to nitpick, but in an earlier post you said that aradia and equius were together due to mind controlled aradiabot and- you are semi right? equius wanted to be FLUSHED, but the control chip was completely shattered, and aradia instead felt PITCH. i get where youre coming from, but i just wanted to point out that facet of the relationship.

I'm pretty sure they were both - or, at least, they were described as both in the infamous quadrant infodump. Granted, I don't know if this animation necessarily means that both parties are experiencing both quadrants, or if it just means that things are complicated.

And, oddly enough, I don't think Aradia stayed with Equius due to the mind-control chip. That was definitely his intention, but the chip was immediately destroyed, and she kissed him anyway - implying, I guess, that she did have a genuine thing for him, as unlikely as that seems.

...I don't even know, girls. This was a weird one, even for Hivebent.

@mrjocrafter asked: Not sure if you know or have been told this but the reason Kanaya wields a chainsaw Well, Google "why chainsaws were invented"

For a member of a species without mothers, Kanaya sure is drowning in motherhood symbolism, isn't she?

@walkerbehindyou asked: One day, may you be introduced to the fanwork that was Marchingstuck/Promstuck

Apparently, Promstuck still contains some spoilers, and I'd like to experience these two as a unit. Hopefully soon, though!

@count100 asked: I submitted an ask a while back and got a notification saying I was mentioned in an ask comp, but I didn't actually see my ask. In case it was lost: I never really considered just how much it took to make the trolls into monsters, I LOVE your analysis about that. Alongside the factors you discussed, It's possible that the "dreams of blood and carnage" that haunt the trolls originate from Gl'bgolyb, given it is a gift from Doc Scratch.

I'm pretty sure I remember that ask! Sorry it didn't get a response -and yes, it's honestly a little heartwarming to realize just how much the trolls resisted Scratch's corruption.

I could have sworn I answered it, actually, but I can't seem to find it anywhere in this year's ask compilations. It's possible I accidentally deleted it while editing the post, because deleted tags will actually still notify the blog in question when the draft is posted. Tumblr, eh?

@mrjocrafter asked: this is classic old homestuck fandom nonsense from 2011

I'm losing it at the implication that 'Vriska' is an allegory for some real-world political ideology which shares her name.

This is great, anyway. Can you imagine an analogous post being made about today's political climate?

@the-jaffster-official asked: On the subject of Dirk Gently, as someone who read the book and watched all of the show, they have almost nothing in common besides a character named Dirk Gently. However, the show still feels VERY Douglas Adams, especially in the first season. Worth a watch.

Noted. I have been looking for a new show to binge...

Anonymous asked: Damn, you do not trust Gamzee at all.

Well, no! Jesus, would you?

@pineapple-temporarily-moving asked: "ricky schrodinger" was terezi misremembering the name of ricky schroder! @likelyvampirical asked: Ricky Schrödinger is a pun on Ricky Shroder, child star in the 80s sitcom Silver Spoons, which Terezi used to make the gifs featured on pages 2779-2782. This is what Terezi is referencing during the coin incident on page 3097. @morganwick asked: I think "Ricky Schrodinger" was originally a pun on "Ricky Schroder", who was the star of the sitcom Silver Spoons, which Terezi used for some GIFs she sent to Dave. @sanctferum asked: Ricky Schrodinger is a reference to Ricky Schroder, a child actor from the 80s. Terezi defaced gifs of him during that conversation back in Act 4 I think? It's just his name combined with Erwin Schrödinger's name. As for Davesprite, he could already talk out loud on screen via Spritelogs Anonymous asked: Ricky Shcrodinger is a combination of presumably Ricky Schroder (I have no idea who that is, but I believe Dave mentioned him before) and Schrodinger's Cat. Anonymous asked: Ricky Schrödinger is a pun on Ricky Schroder @weltinator asked: Ricky Schrodinger is a reference to Erwin Schrodinger and Ricky Schroder. Former is known for possibly having a cat, latter is known for starring in Silver Spoons, which is the source of the gifs used in Dave and Terezi's MOTH3RFUCK1NG D4NC3 P4RTY.

Also featuring Alfonso Ribeiro (who was later Carlton in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) @semusepsu asked: If you are still wondering about the Ricky Schrodinger joke, I'm pretty sure it's a reference to Ricky Schroder, an American child star from the 70s who starred in a film called 'Little Lord Fauntleroy'. He looks more than a little like Dave in some pictures from that era.

Hell fucking yes.

This is the kind of reference humor that is quite hard to search for on the Collection. Ricky Schrodinger is a pun, not a real name, so it wouldn't have given me any connections to this dance party - and besides, they never actually said Schroder's name in that conversation, so even that wouldn't have worked.

To catch some of these references, you really do need helpful askers. Thank you for your service. o7

@herestoanotherweirdo asked: "ARADIA: i guess ive spent enough time here that i just dont see death as the terrible thing the living make it out to be" i've read this line as like. not just spending a bunch of time in the bubbles, but also having literally been dead herself for a not-insubstantial amount of time!

Oh, that's true, isn't it?

I don't think Ghostradia was ever in the Dream Bubbles herself, but it is true that her months as a wandering spirit would give her a different perspective on death.

Most obviously, it would show her that it's not actually the end of existence in this reality; despite what the living believe, death doesn't obliterate your soul, so it's really not as tragic as everyone thinks.

@liliflower137 asked: The more I reread the more i love karkat He's just such a spicy kitten type of guy. I wanna pick him up and give him a hug and tell him he's going to be safe But he'd definitely bite me and given how dangerous bites from humans can be I think I would probably get all kinds of infections He's just... really a sweet kid underneath it all. He's just scared, so he has to be angry instead. Reminds me a lot of Sanji from one piece :) At least, the parts of him I like haha

I actually think Karkat would fit in pretty well in the world of One Piece. He has exactly the right kind of personality to form and mobilize a crew, and I genuinely believe he has enough determination to manifest Haki.

@liliflower137 asked: I wonder if perhaps Hussie ever read one piece, because the way navigating the furthest ring sounds, it reminds me just a little of the grand line But then again its also just sort of a logical way for a place devoid of time and space to behave, I just really like one piece I wonder if you could get a hyper modified log pose to work out there...

Speaking of One Piece, I've really got to get back to it. I started the manga during the liveblog, and I'm currently most of the way through the Dressrosa arc.

I've been loving the series, but god damn, is it a serious marathon.

Anonymous asked: You're aware that the author for the locked tomb was a Homestuck fic writer, right?

Absolutely. The Serendipity Gospels is probably the fanfiction I'm most excited to actually read - that, and Sburb Glitch FAQ!

Anonymous asked: That scene when Gamzee tells Karkat to settle down is why they’re my favorite ♦️ ship Because in all the others we’ve seen it’s very onesided, with one party needing to placate the violent impulses of another But for them it’s like Karkat says! He stops gamzee from killing everybody and gamzee in return helps him calm down.

It is very funny to me that Gamzee's actually contributing to the moirallegence - for now, at least.

Slightly hypocritical, Makara, but you do you.

@drakethedeep asked: One of the benefits of the Homestuck quadrant system, arbitrary as it is, is that it allows for more platonic and romantic shipping. For example, Karkat<>Kanaya is a fairly decent morail ship, because a) the relationship of their ancestors makes it poetic cosmic symmetry, and b) both of them have a tendency of trying to be the responsible ones amidst their friend groups, and a lot of their interpersonal struggles are very similar.

Plus, one's a Blood Player, and one's a vampire, so we even have thematic synergy!

@liliflower137 asked: I think a lot about your assignment for Fedorafreak as a hope player It really really makes me smile, and I will hold onto it forever

He even references hope directly! Come on, Hussie, the guy deserves better than Piss.

Anonymous asked: so, your theory about karkat weaponizing teamwork and leadership- what do you think about his and gamzee's relationship in that light?

I suppose you could say that if Karkat is able to gain Sober!Gamzee's loyalty, then the group would gain a powerful ally - and consequently, Karkat's team would gain a powerful 'weapon'.

That said, I don't currently think it's possible for Karkat or anyone else to win Gamzee's loyalty. Right now, he's only loyal to Cal.

@duorogue asked: i just looked up your name in some DMs i have - it's with someone who's read homestuck, and I like to point out specific times you've made remarkably good or bad predictions, or figured something out really well, and just realized that the first time you were mentioned in those DMs was october 20th, 2022. five months off three years of following this, and yknow? time well spent

It was time well spent - for me, too. Here's to another three years, I say!

@liliflower137 asked: I've passed you in my personal reread and I keep getting to interesting conversations and lore dumps and going "oh Sally is going to LOVE this!!"

I hope you're right, and it's good to hear there are many loredumps in my future!

@morganwick asked: "#(also. does this mean mind ≈ choices/decisions? because seers 'know' their aspect and terezi can see people's possible decisions?) #(or does mind ≈ 'outcomes'‚ whatever that means?)" I think if you de-purple prose what Rose says it's not really inconsistent with what Terezi has said about her own aspect in the past, same with what Aradia says. Terezi has talked before, and in the confrontation with Vriska demonstrated, how she can trace the decisions people make and the thoughts they have inevitably lead to certain "outcomes". As for "knowing her aspect comprehensively", Terezi has talked about reality being something that people "4R3 M4K1NG 3V3RY MOM3NT W1TH 3V3RY THOUGHT", so at least to her, understanding people's minds means understanding reality, or at least one Aspect of it, and how to extrapolate from what's in people's Minds. (Also, does the link to "my own interpretation of her powers" go to the wrong place? I don't see anything in the linked post that relates to Rose's powers...)

I suppose Terezi's abilities could indeed be themed around sensing outcomes, rather than decisions, as I previously theorized - or, it could also represent some abstract 'Mind' idea with ties to both. With only one Mind Player to analyze, it's hard to say anything definitively.

Also - yeah, I fucked up that link. Will fix it once I get this comp out!

@relaxxattack asked: AAAAAAAAAA YOU FINALLY FIGURED OUT THE BLOOD THINGG!!!! karkat’s powers are quite literally the friends he made along the way… you can see the blood aspect appear in the panel where karkat befriends slick and adds him to their party! karkat’s powers have always been about whether or not he can forge meaningful connections between people to prevent tragedy… or at least, this has been the popular fan understanding now it might make more sense how the troll session might have “lacked blood” as that other ask theorized :)

They're literally blood brothers - and a handshake is also pretty decent shorthand for what I think Blood's all about.

Mind you, I'm not sure if the troll session did lack this interpretation of Blood. Hivebent seemed to imply that the trolls were, in fact, an extremely effective team, all thanks to Karkat's leadership - and the trolls have forged plenty of meaningful relationships across their group, too. If Blood represents strong relationships, then the trolls have Blood in spades, as well as hearts, clubs, and diamonds.

@baeddel asked: Your interpretation of blood definitely seems correct to me! I think blood and breath are a pair, where blood is leadership and bonds while breath is freedom and individuality

I was thinking that those two might be related, since they're both biological functions. Blood might also be in a dyad with Heart, since they're both aspects of the circulatory system.

After all, Nepeta's a shipper who loves relationships, and that seems adjacent to the 'teamwork/bonds' theming that characterizes Blood.

@manorinthewoods asked: I think Dave and Rose are an 'unbeatable combination' because Rose has a very powerful ability to navigate the present and future to ensure optimal outcomes, and Dave (being a time traveler) has a very powerful ability to actually enact what Rose needs done. Rose, after all, is a squishy wizard - and one wouldn't imagine Seers have any physical *or* magic damage. ~LOSS (22/5/25)

Good interpretation. I suppose Dave is technically one of the more 'durable' God Tiers around, since his time duplicates can't die in the Alpha Timeline until they've fulfilled all their loops.

Anonymous asked: I'm not familiar with Worm, so Contessa wasn't my first thought re: Rose's new power, but I did think of Sagume Kishin from Touhou, whose power is kind of similar to the Contessa example but in reverse: "When she speaks about a particular situation or event, that situation will eventually proceed to reverse itself, through whatever means possible. If she speaks about an attempt to achieve a goal, it will fail in some way. If she speaks about something bad occurring, it will be resolved in some way. [...] Note that it is the situation or the event she talks about that will be reversed in some manner; it is not that the opposite of what she says must occur."

I like this power a lot. Touhou seems to have a lot of really clever powers - which is weird, because I always thought it was a mostly plotless bullet-hell game. I guess there are tie-in materials?

I've really got to play Touhou sometime, but there are so many games, and I have no idea where to start.

@clueless-rarito asked: I remember I once come up with a characters with a power very similar to this "path of victory" stuff by pure coincidence. He was able to see "the realm of fortunes" a ethereal plane where one could discern the chance of success or the possible outcomes of any one actions. By completely shutting down his own mind and giving it to the "the will of fortune" his body would automatically lead him and carry any action needed to guaranteed the most favorable outcome for himself in any given scenario.

Nice. These abilities are sort of the ultimate expression of a 'luck-based' power - a power that guarantees the most optimal outcome possible. Now that Rose has a similar ability, she's finally thematically cohesive with Vriska!

@catofulthar000 asked: There are SO MANY classpect things (and other things) I desperately want to theory swap about with you because you are picking out SO MANY delicious classpecty details (and other things) but not always quite connecting them to classpects- BUT I am: A) not caught up with your live blog on account of being busy with doctorate degree stuff and trying to be responsible by not getting totally sucked into Homestuck stuff again (failing) so I have no idea if FWS (FUTUREwertSearch) actually HAS connected the dots (or some dots) already so I, PUC (PASTultharianCat), would just be saying redundant stuff to you B) not sure if pointing out things that you're pointing out are maybe or maybe not linked to things that might be solidified later even if they're being hinted at throughout- or might just be linked to wider collaborative aggregations of themes and patterns- would be too spoilery... [EXAMPLES THAT MAY OR MAY NOT REQUIRE REDACTION BY CAT (yours) OR BE REDUNDANT TO FWS] Like Time being strongly linked to the concept of Death and all time players having an affinity for it (archaeologist/necromancer Aradia, Dave's oft overlooked hobby of collecting preserved dead things (and less death related but his photography enjoyment could also be seen as him preserving moments in Time)) or [REDACTED] or [REDACTED] And basically that one thing you said about Sburb's Aspects maybe also being linked to authorial elements (or perhaps, I might nudge your thinking, metatextual narrative elements?) and oh my gosh I have SO MUCH I want to posit theorywise to you about that because you point out so much good stuff and just sdfalskjdfhakg;kskjfasdfhlkajsdfrrrraaugh! [END REDACTIONS MAYBE PROBABLY] (I'll say this much, both redactions above are meta interpretations of an aspect, but I'll give you an opportunity to come up with them yourself. -Vamp) Anyway there is just a lot I want to say, and a lot of idea threads you have made I want to tie into other thoughts, or perhaps cables you have laid that I want to plug in to other extension cords, and I have been trying to bite my tongue at least until I catch up but I have still added some replies to old posts of yours that I'm not sure you will ever see- tbh idk how popular you may have gotten or how many asks you get now or if you can even realistically reply to all of the ones that you get but I guess what I'm getting at is that you make me so excited about all of the really complex interwoven stuff in Homestuck and I really want to talk to you about it. Also you're very cool and smart and thank you for sharing this liveblog it is excellent. -PUC

If Time is death-themed, though, then where does that leave Doom? Because Sollux's arc was saturated with themes of death, and I've always assumed that was because of his Aspect.

Anyways, thank you for the kind words! I'm still doing my best to reply to the majority of asks, so if you do want to talk Homestuck, my ask box is always open - and as for your replies, I'll be checking out all the blog's replies at the end of the liveblog.

Anonymous asked: does john have the context to be making that joke on purpose, though? iirc, the only time it's come up for him, vriska opted Not to tell him what it Actually means, instead just saying All cleaning products are Vaguely Taboo. funny either way

There's no definitive answer - but personally, I think that John was at least able to pick up that buckets were an innuendo in troll culture.

When it comes to pranks, our boy's got a killer instinct - so I think his specific reference to the bucket's 'heartfelt payload' was just a very lucky shot.

@sanctferum asked: watch Karkat's mental breakdown again. Particularly the end of it. There might be a special little secret hidden in there to perchance click upon...

The inner mechanisms of Hussie's mind are an enigma.

@dopplesgryndthloggle submitted: Here u go

https://www.tumblr.com/aerofarce9/91930492500/got-bored-so-i-got-on-google-and-made-this?source=share (og post)

@wickedsick submitted: A handy rOWOse for whatever you may need it for

Hell yeah. I knew y'all would come through!

[omg-snakes]

Ugh my spotted python bit me today. Hes my first snake and I feel bad he’s getting all my newbie mistakes but he’s done really well with handling and this is the first time I just don’t know what happened? I know they don’t bite out of the blue but I had taken him outside and he was very relaxed in my arms with his head on my shoulder, I stepped off the porch so he could feel some sun and made sure to keep his head in the shade and after a few seconds he moves around to the front of me and just slams my lip. Obviously it’s not bad I’m just so frustrated and feel like every step forward has like three back. And maybe he just doesn’t want to be handled that would be ok but he seems so good and happy to explore most of the time. I have looked into choice based handling but he never wants to wake up and come out of his hides during the day but he always is relaxed once he is out.

Aw, I'm so sorry you got tagged. That sounds like it was really jarring. Please don't be discouraged, though. Snake keeping is a journey, not a destination, and though it may feel like you're not making good progress, every experience is an opportunity to learn and grow with your pet.

Spotted pythons are nocturnal, so he may have been startled by the sudden sunshine and warmth and either mistook you for a predator or a snack. Bites are disheartening (and a bite in the face doubly so!) but it's part of snake ownership. We will all take a chomp at some point.

I once had my leucistic Texas rat snake on my lap while I was reading and I guess he fell asleep at some point, and when I moved my arm I must have startled him awake because he freaked out and tagged me out of nowhere. I was shocked and a bit hurt in the moment, and I totally get how you're feeling. It's nobody's fault. These are animals and sometimes they react to stimuli we think are pretty benign in ways we didn't expect!

If you're going to implement choice-based handing, it'll likely only happen after the sun has gone down. It might be good to try to interact on his terms for a while, as late in the day as you can and in low-light situations. He's less likely to be a butt if he's up and active during the part of his natural rhythm when he's most alert.

I mean, imagine having somebody pull you out of bed at 3am and shine a flashlight with the power of the sun at you. Even if it wasn't right in your eyes, you might be a touch irritable!

I hope that the two of you can find some common ground and that you are able to build more confidence as a keeper. Forgive yourself when you make mistakes, as you so quickly forgave him when he bit you. I know spotted pythons are considered a decent beginner species but I've definitely found them more challenging than some of the other options.

At the end of the day you're just two completely different animals trying to understand each other, and that's pretty cool.

[lord-kyle-yann]

My thoughts on Animation Vs. Coding

Spoiler under the cut

I LOVE it !

I like how it shows the different uses of coding with the uses of different libraries. I also like how it's in Python, the most used programming language. And how it can be used to do incredibly complex things at the end of the episode.

However I do think this is the weakest of the Animation Vs Education episode we got so far.

The first reason for this is the time. It's only 8:28 minutes, it's litteraly shorter than Animation VS Geometry ! Now don't get me wrong I don't think the longer is the better, far from it. But with a topic as vast as coding is, I think it's kinda sad we didn't get more.

The second reason is because of the narrative structure of the episode : It's Animation Vs Math, but worse.

Let me explain : Act 1 Yellow/Orange explore their new environnement while learning the base knowledge they'll need in this new world. Act 2 an inhabitant of this world interrupts them and a fight ensue, while fighting they learn more and more complex knowledge but still quite simple. Act 3 They're now fighting with really complicated concepts and in their conflict, they'll end up destroying the world with a nuke/a big laser. And in act 4 they discover they've gone too far and become friends with the episodes antagonist.

Of course there's difference, but essentially it's basically the same

With near half the time AvMath had, this episode is really fast. There's no pause between the fight to let Yellow truly learn the intermediate knowledge. Why is Yellow capable of what they're doing in the end ? When did they learned how a function or a class worked ? The computer (we need a name for this lil guy) was the one coding all the time when Yellow was just Interrupting it or doing minor adjustements. How did Yellow went from playing with a print and two variables to doing a whole neural network ? ("but you see there's a time lapse between when they started and finished the neural network, they learned during that time" No they didn't, they immediatly started like they knew exactly what to do and not experimenting. Yellow didn't learn there, they already knew)

And with these two reasons combined, I think that's why Animation Vs Coding feels less mastered than the previous AvE episodes.

I still love this episode as someone who loves coding, but with previous episodes being such bangers it's normal that this one was gonna have some flaws. As I said, coding is a big of a topic to choose, so of course things would've been missing and all.

Plus the music is cool (It's from the same guy who made AvGeometry's. What a banger)

[usagirotten]

Why Mr. Robot Is the Cyberpunk Masterpiece You Didn’t Know You Needed

Mr. Robot: The Show That Made Hackers Cool Again (But Also Sad, Real Sad) Alright, fellow sci-fi heads and tech romantics, let’s talk about one of the most underrated psychological thrillers of our time: Mr. Robot. If you’ve ever wished Fight Club had more code, fewer abs, and a darker, glitchier aesthetic—this show’s for you. It’s not just a drama about hackers. It’s a deep, moody exploration of mental health, capitalism, and whether we even control our own lives in a surveillance-obsessed society.

Sounds heavy? It is. But stick with me, because it’s also one of the smartest shows you’ll ever binge. 🧠 Meet Elliot: Our Favorite Unreliable Narrator At the core of Mr. Robot is Elliot Alderson, a hoodie-wearing loner who’s basically the Batman of the darknet—if Batman had social anxiety, insomnia, and a serious dissociation issue. Played by Rami Malek (yes, that guy who crushed it as Freddie Mercury), Elliot is equal parts genius and mess. And then there’s Mr. Robot—his rebel mentor, played by Christian Slater—who may or may not be real. I won’t spoil anything, but if you like plot twists that make you question everything, you’re in for a ride. The rest of the fsociety crew? They’re misfits with purpose. You’ll love Darlene’s punk energy and curse the name “E Corp” every time it flashes on-screen. (Seriously, it’s Evil Corp. Not even subtle.) 🎥 What Makes Mr. Robot Hit Different? Fourth Wall? What Fourth Wall?Elliot talks to us—yep, you—like we’re part of his broken reality. It’s trippy, unsettling, and incredibly effective. Cinematic AFWeird angles. Silent tension. Haunting scores. You don’t watch Mr. Robot. You experience it. Actual Tech AccuracyForget movie hacking with 3D cubes and blinking lights. Mr. Robot keeps it real—Linux terminals, Python scripts, social engineering. It respects its nerds. When it premiered in 2015, it looked like another cyberpunk thriller. But what creator Sam Esmail delivered was far deeper: a complex narrative about mental health, capitalism, surveillance, and identity—all wrapped inside the story of a socially isolated hacker trying to bring down a corrupt conglomerate.

🚧 The Flaws (Yeah, It’s Not Perfect) Okay, even masterpieces stumble. Some episodes in the later seasons slow to a crawl. Dialogue gets... philosophical. Occasionally, you’ll yell “Just hack something already!” at your screen. And a few side characters? They fade into plot devices. Still, the emotional and thematic payoff by the finale? Worth every minute. 🧩 Themes That Stick With You Mental Health ≠ GlorifiedElliot’s mental illness isn’t a superpower. It’s raw, painful, and treated with care. Late-Stage Capitalism Gets RoastedFrom debt culture to surveillance to Big Tech overreach—Mr. Robot isn’t subtle about the system being broken. It’s here to smash it. Morality Isn’t BinaryHeroes make bad choices. Villains have sympathetic motives. You’ll be questioning who you’re rooting for the entire time. 📺 How It Stacks Up If Black Mirror had a long-lost, emotionally tortured cousin with a vendetta against capitalism, it’d be Mr. Robot. Unlike the anthology format of Black Mirror, this show follows one wild, spiraling plot across four seasons. Fans of Fight Club, The Matrix, and even Breaking Bad will find plenty to obsess over here. 👾 Should You Watch It? If you: Love tech Are fascinated by mental health Like stories that don’t spoon-feed you Appreciate stylish, smart storytelling Then yes. Plug in. Hack in. Fall in. But if you’re looking for quick payoffs or feel-good fluff? Maybe not this time. 🧠 Final Thoughts Mr. Robot isn’t just a TV show. It’s a layered, brain-breaking critique of everything from data privacy to the illusion of choice. It’s dark, it’s demanding—and it’s absolutely worth your time. So the question is: Are you ready to wake up? In an age where data is currency and algorithms shape behavior, Mr. Robot isn’t just relevant—it’s prophetic. It asks the big questions: Who owns your identity? What is real in a curated digital world? Can individuals still disrupt systems? For anyone working in a space influenced by tech (which is all of us), those questions aren’t fiction. They’re strategic considerations. 🖥️ Have you watched Mr. Robot? What did you think? Drop your thoughts below or hit me up on Discord—we’ll debate capitalism and keyboard shortcuts all night.

Read the full article

[randomness-is-my-order]

wwx is sooo smart! in a modern setting, what subject do you think he would teach? what about in college?

seriously, i can wax poetic about wwx’s intelligence, ingenuity and smartness any day!! and ooooh, your question puts me in a bind because i cannot just name one subject. i think wei wuxian is good at too many things and the younger generations deserve to have his mentorship for an array of subjects. but i’m gonna try my best to just discuss one for this post!

see, i don’t want to mention fine arts because i think wwx would be a hobbyist about it and prefer to be one of those guys hopping around museums and galleries and curating a small but insightful review blog to engage with that side of the arts. an aspect of him that his students would probably find a bit later once they go stalking their professor’s social media profiles (which wwx would be VERY lowkey about) and find that, oh, the cool professor is so much cooler still.

also, because this got me thinking way too much, before we get to the subject, imagining wwx as a full time faculty member–i’ll go out on this fanfic fuelled limb and say he would totally be the teacher coordinator for a university play and/or the debate society! the latter especially, because if the second siege showed us nothing else, it made clear that wwx knows how to frame his arguments logically w/o getting too personal/emotional (not that some debates don’t need an emotional input!) and knows how to keep the audience hooked to his words. the same goes for the deft way in which he handled his defence at the nightless city. so, yeah.

okay, so the subject i think wwx would teach has to be....

physics!!!!!

like this is the one that pops in my mind first and foremost and it fits wwx so well and not just in the realm of engineering. not that wwx’s inventing streak won’t be profoundly useful there but when it comes teaching the subject, when i say “physics” i mean the pure science. that would be wei wuxian’s jam!! he would come up with elaborate setups to simply but elegantly explain and exhibit a complex physics law or phenomenon. he would assign practical-oriented projects to his students and allow for fun which is sorely lacking in intensive pure science classes! he would make time to go over some relevant historic trivia about some theory a guy in the 18th century came up with and he would TOTALLY gossip about the scientists of the past and the scandals so many of them were engaged in. and the most important part!! he would conceptualise different and unique experiments for his class to practice for that part of their grade! alot of the time we forget how important the practical ingenuity of physics professors need to be when it’s not applied physics because the emphasis on the theoretical classes overshadows it. but wei wuxian would plan the practical course himself, even discuss the experimental configurations with his students, and design a whole booklet with them! and ykw?? he’d teach them coding too! which is one aspect of our technological era that i think wwx would excel at because there is so much craftiness required for coding and since coding is so essential for simulations and analysis in physics, wwx could teach them...some python, lol. 😭😭 also, i want to add, wei wuxian would 100% be that college professor with a league of papers published and held in high regard so that for each course he teaches, his own work could be a relevant reference which his students would find SO cool and maybe even funny.

okay, i’m done feeding you my physics professor!wwx agenda but i also think him teaching an ethics class would be fun. and also P.E. no but imagine a sociology course with wei wuxian? or a music major? the possibilities are literally endless but you probably won’t catch wwx anywhere near a culinary school.

[gatoburr0]

Oohh snakes? What sort of starting terrarium and heating spaces would you recommend for beginning snake owners? (Yes I know research for each but advise is advise plus opinions and maybe sneaky photos of snakes)

Tanks depend on what species you own. For my lil girl I have one of these with doors on the front. This is temporary as specifically female boas grow up to 4 meters long (like 10-11 ft) but this is enough for a few couple of years. After that I think I’ll have to give her a separate room… if the species you’re beginning with stays little, then this one or a bigger one is ideal.

Just make sure to make it a fun and nicely decorated space for your noodle so they have stuff to do, especially with all that space.

All terrariums need a warm side and a cool side for them to regulate their temperature, with hides on both sides. Water bowl usually kept in or near the cold side of the terrarium so it won’t evaporate. For heating, her terrarium has an internal heat mat that I keep on the same side as the light bulb. Just an individual UV bulb. Not sure what brand or what kind but as long as it serves as a heating lamp (not exactly basking because those are usually very strong and boas don’t exactly bask that much from what I’ve observed). <- also I turn off all lights at 7:40/8:00 pm every night to mimic the natural day-night cycle (which reduces heat) and only leave the heating pad on *in case it gets too cold*.

I don’t really measure the heating in the terrarium as it’s quite wide and there’s a lot of space for my boa to move around in, but I do measure the humidity. Mine needs 80%-90% humidity all the time, and strictly 90%-100% if she’s shedding;

I don’t know much about species I don’t own, but in my opinion, hognoses (venomous but not deadly), corns, corals (specifically the non venomous ones bc venomous ones are dangerous), Mexican blacks, bull snakes (they’re a bit sassy and have attitude) and boas/pythons are great for beginners. There are a few constrictors (as in the non venomous constrictor snakes) that aren’t beginner friendly at all like for example the emerald tree boa…

They say ball pythons are good beginner pets but I don’t really agree because they’re picky with their food, they need certain humidity regulations and they can get sick pretty quickly if the terrarium is off. <- my opinion based on experience.

And here you have some more pictures of her.

Bonus big yawn.

[cyberstudious]

Tools of the Trade for Learning Cybersecurity

I created this post for the Studyblr Masterpost Jam, check out the tag for more cool masterposts from folks in the studyblr community!

Cybersecurity professionals use a lot of different tools to get the job done. There are plenty of fancy and expensive tools that enterprise security teams use, but luckily there are also lots of brilliant people writing free and open-source software. In this post, I'm going to list some popular free tools that you can download right now to practice and learn with.

In my opinion, one of the most important tools you can learn how to use is a virtual machine. If you're not already familiar with Linux, this is a great way to learn. VMs are helpful for separating all your security tools from your everyday OS, isolating potentially malicious files, and just generally experimenting. You'll need to use something like VirtualBox or VMWare Workstation (Workstation Pro is now free for personal use, but they make you jump through hoops to download it).

Below is a list of some popular cybersecurity-focused Linux distributions that come with lots of tools pre-installed:

Kali is a popular distro that comes loaded with tools for penetration testing

REMnux is a distro built for malware analysis

honorable mention for FLARE-VM, which is not a VM on its own, but a set of scripts for setting up a malware analysis workstation & installing tools on a Windows VM.

SANS maintains several different distros that are used in their courses. You'll need to create an account to download them, but they're all free:

Slingshot is built for penetration testing

SIFT Workstation is a distro that comes with lots of tools for digital forensics

These distros can be kind of overwhelming if you don't know how to use most of the pre-installed software yet, so just starting with a regular Linux distribution and installing tools as you want to learn them is another good choice for learning.

Free Software

Wireshark: sniff packets and explore network protocols

Ghidra and the free version of IDA Pro are the top picks for reverse engineering

for digital forensics, check out Eric Zimmerman's tools - there are many different ones for exploring & analyzing different forensic artifacts

pwntools is a super useful Python library for solving binary exploitation CTF challenges

CyberChef is a tool that makes it easy to manipulate data - encryption & decryption, encoding & decoding, formatting, conversions… CyberChef gives you a lot to work with (and there's a web version - no installation required!).

Burp Suite is a handy tool for web security testing that has a free community edition

Metasploit is a popular penetration testing framework, check out Metasploitable if you want a target to practice with

SANS also has a list of free tools that's worth checking out.

Programming Languages

Knowing how to write code isn't a hard requirement for learning cybersecurity, but it's incredibly useful. Any programming language will do, especially since learning one will make it easy to pick up others, but these are some common ones that security folks use:

Python is quick to write, easy to learn, and since it's so popular, there are lots of helpful libraries out there.

PowerShell is useful for automating things in the Windows world. It's built on .NET, so you can practically dip into writing C# if you need a bit more power.

Go is a relatively new language, but it's popular and there are some security tools written in it.

Rust is another new-ish language that's designed for memory safety and it has a wonderful community. There's a bit of a steep learning curve, but learning Rust makes you understand how memory bugs work and I think that's neat.

If you want to get into reverse engineering or malware analysis, you'll want to have a good grasp of C and C++.

Other Tools for Cybersecurity

There are lots of things you'll need that aren't specific to cybersecurity, like:

a good system for taking notes, whether that's pen & paper or software-based. I recommend using something that lets you work in plain text or close to it.

general command line familiarity + basic knowledge of CLI text editors (nano is great, but what if you have to work with a system that only has vi?)

familiarity with git and docker will be helpful

There are countless scripts and programs out there, but the most important thing is understanding what your tools do and how they work. There is no magic "hack this system" or "solve this forensics case" button. Tools are great for speeding up the process, but you have to know what the process is. Definitely take some time to learn how to use them, but don't base your entire understanding of security on code that someone else wrote. That's how you end up as a "script kiddie", and your skills and knowledge will be limited.

Feel free to send me an ask if you have questions about any specific tool or something you found that I haven't listed. I have approximate knowledge of many things, and if I don't have an answer I can at least help point you in the right direction.

[kazehita]

Congrats on publishing your game, it's really cool! I was wondering if you created the dialogue system from scratch, or if you've used a plugin like Dialogic, Dialogue Manager, and so on :)

And if it was made from scratch - if you recommend any resources for learning to code such things!

Hihi!!! Thank you so much anon!!!! It doesn't quite feel real to me yet - making a game had always seemed like such an unobtainable dream... And what a fun question!!! Yes, I did it from scratch - I (was) very much a godot beginner, and I wanted to use this project to learn the base engine as much as I could!!! Conclusion: ... Doing it from scratch sucks. I didn't make my own plugin or nice system either (that's what I want to do on my next project maybe), I just went in raw - each event is an instantiated scene and it's dialogue is just stored in a dictionary. It's hectic and a bit spaghetti, but I'm glad I did it for learning purposes. Speaking of learning!! I have a little bit of misc programming experience (mostly python and html lol) but i had an excellent introduction to gdscript and godot from this early access course by GDquest.

If you're brand new to coding, I also recommend CS50 from Harvard Uni (free!!! online!!!). It's so so good but it is a lot, I got a friend to do it with me so that I could actually stick with it.

[mask131]

Why the Time Bandits remake makes me feel an angry despair (1)

I announced it before: I am mounting my high horses for this matter.

"Time Bandits" is a children fantasy movie by Terry Gilliam, released in 1981. It is one of those "almost Monty-Python-movies" thanks to two other Monty Python actors joining Gilliam's project: John Cleese, playing Robin Hood, and Michael Palin playing a poor guy who keeps being reincarnated throughout history and always has the worst love life. This movie is part of the "Imagination Trilogy" of Gilliam, meant to represent the "childhood imagination" - alongside the dark movie "Brazil", for "adult imagination", and Gilliam's adaptation of the Adventures of the Baron Münchausen, for "old man imagination".

I love Time Bandits. It isn't just that I love, I adore it. This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and it was such a huge part of my childhood it literaly shaped my imagination in many, many ways. It is still to this day one of my favorite movies, with such a unique feeling I couldn't find anywhere else but in other Gilliam-related or Python-related movies.

It is one of these rare things where I can say I am really a huge fan. I bought the Criterion Collection DVD, I bought the official script-book, I went online to find alternate versions of the scripts which contained deleted scenes NOT in the official script-book...

I even chose this movie as the subject of my presentation for my high school diploma, doing a full analysis of it that gave me a very good grade. I am really in love with this piece.

NOW if you haven't heard about it, a trailer was released for an Apple + series of (10 episodes I think?). "2024 Time Bandits". A remake by Taika Waititi (among others but he is the main guy behind this).

I had heard of this project a long time ago because Waititi's desire to do something Time Bandits related has been around since his glory days with "What we do in the shadows". He kept speaking about how much he loved Time Bandits and how he wanted to do something related to it.

... I never realized he meant doing a remake a it. Time Bandits has so much potential for sequels or prequels or alternate takes or whatever cinematic terminology you have.

Now, that being said, I don't mind a remake. Waititi has proven to have good ideas and cool projects, and he seemed to really be a fan of the original - plus it was a project he had been dragging for quite some times, so I had still some interests and hopes...

... and then the trailer came out. And I saw it. And...

... You know it will be the first time in my life I will turn into one of those angry Internet ranters mad about a remake of their favorite thing. Never in my life before I was involved on a personal level with disliking a remake but OH BOY here I am.

There are so many things BAD with this trailer. Not wrong. BAD. I don't dislike all about the trailer... But I dislike most of it, and I don't just "dislike" it as in "Oh yeah, they could have done better", no, we are talking about a "I DESPISE this".

Honestly it looks like the people behind this series considered everything that made Time Bandits unique and powerful and cool and weird... and decided to remove it to make it bland, flat and... a sort of flavorless, mass-marketable Americanized modern vaguely super-hero like movie (did Waititi's experience on the Thor movies screwed his imagination THAT badly?)

I literaly do not understand how someone so hellbent and so dedicated to Time Bandits could create a product that looks like was designed by people who only vaguely heard of the original movie's plot. Because the people who made this series clearly did NOT understood the heart, soul or goal or the movie.

I heard something about Terry Gilliam being hired as an executive producer, coming on the set for a planned three months, but leaving abruptly after only three days and never returning. And people concluded that it was because he was pissed off. Seeing the trailer, I am inclined to believe he was.

[fallen-and-holy]

I don’t think I've talked about our dæmonism much on this account, and I wanted to fix that! So, here’s just me yapping about my& experiences with it!!

I’ve had a dæmon for longer than i’ve known i was plural, before my headmate Cypher even formed. Phi’s been with me since around March 2022. Her full name is Delphi, or Delphegor if I’m feeling silly. As soon as i learned about dæmonism, i started talking to Phi and she started talking right back. I’ve always known she was a snake- even before she was there, back when I was reading His Dark Materials on my own for the first time. Even back then, i just knew- my dæmon would be a white snake. And she is. Usually a ball python, but occasionally other ‘domesticated’/common pet snake species. She flirts with other forms sometimes, because we’re researching them or just for fun, but at her core fae are and always will be a snake. Because of that, wei consider muirself settled. Fae take other forms regularly, but she always comes back to her first one. There are a couple forms that she takes regularly, some based on the form finding system and some based purely on vibes. She does prefer white forms though- and will often be a leucistic or albino version of the chosen form. Her analytic forms are cotton-top tamarin, asian small clawed otter, and giant river otter. Her pullman forms are the aforementioned snake and cat. And then for fun, she’ll be a barn owl, white bat of some sort, or snow leopard. Fae likes experimenting, and definitely represents the more playful side of me. 

I’ve heard from faer a little less since Cypher formed, and it can be hard to hear/’see’ both of them at the same time. I have to be focusing pretty hard to keep track of all of them. But she’s still there, and always will be. She says fae don’t mind, but i do feel a little guilty sometimes.

Speaking of Cypher, ae have aer own dæmon: Ink. His formation is actually a pretty interesting story. We were out doing stuff, I was projecting and trying to focus on Cypher and Phi together, and Cypher touched Phi for the first time ever. It was a really interesting sensation- looking at my messages from that day, I described it as “indescribable, like a live wire and a full body shudder- wei felt the sensation more than when Cypher touches me.” It was wonderful, a strange and alien feeling that was so full of love and connection. About thirty minutes later, Ink was there. It was. A really strange time but it was super cool!! Ink formed as a black cat, and has stayed a black cat- along with varied corvid forms. He generally doesn’t show up or talk unless Cypher is fronting. 

We didn’t do this on purpose, but we think it’s super cool how our dæmons naturally settled as a kind of yin and yang- Phi takes white forms, while Ink takes black forms. Our souls… compliment each other. We’re Symbiotic, and it's really awesome and meaningful to us the way our dæmons work together <33  

So yeah!! That’s all i can think of for now- but please ask muis questions!! Wei love talking about this!!!

[thegirlborninthelate90s]

Give me Top 10 interesting facts about Graham Arthur Chapman.

Aaaaaaannnnndddddd GO!

Oh god…this feels a bit open-ended and I don’t know what is expected that hasn’t been mentioned before, so I’ll writing what *I* think are fun facts about him, I guess, with the good and the sad 🤷🏻‍♀️ This means the information I put here aren’t going to necessarily be about commonly known facts about him, but rather information that requires a bit of further digging.

(This isn’t ranked most to least interesting btw. This is just how I’m organizing everything. I am, after all, a Virgo moon and rising.)

1) Around the time Graham’s cancer had spread to his spine, he first found out something was wrong when he had gone out to pickup Chinese takeaway and he noticed that his legs were wobbly as he walked, because he couldn’t tell where his legs were, even though he could feel with them. Later, he had his son do an experiment on the sole of his foot: John had to scratch the bottom of Graham’s foot and Graham’s toe would’ve had to have gone down (somewhat like how, when the doctor bangs your knee, your lower legs kicks by itself). However, Graham’s toe went up instead of down, and this was when Graham found out something was wrong with his spine. (This is really sad, I admit that, but I always found it cool how he self-diagnosed himself, in a way, and I appreciate how he shared this prior to his death for us to recognize simple signs of something being wrong with our spine too which we never would’ve thought of otherwise…a true doctor through and through 🥺)

2) There is a Christmas TV special with David Berglas, who invited four celebrities, one of them being Graham, and in the end, they all had to choose something to give a sick child in a children’s hospital as a Christmas present. The thing that struck me was how, while everyone else chose a toy of some sort, Graham was the only one who chose a book (and it was Peter Rabbit), which I felt was quite revealing about his character.

3) When Graham bought his home in Kent, he had taken up the habit of painting. Apparently, after he passed away, David Sherlock showed Michael Palin an oil painting Graham had done of a gate in his garden.

4) Speaking of Graham’s home in Kent, he had arctic roses there, and David said that those were his favorite in the garden.

5) Graham mentioned that, amongst Python, he felt he was the most similar to Eric (in his own words, he said Eric was likely his “parallel” in the group), except that he acknowledged they were polar opposites when it came to trusting others. These were his words on the matter:

“I think Eric expects people to be devious, where I expect them to be straightforward. I’m stupidly trusting, and Eric’s unduly suspicious.” (from the book, “Graham Crackers”)

6) In 1986, Graham was actually in the process of writing a musical about the Jeremy Thorpe trial, with the goal of making everything camp. Unfortunately nothing came of it, but just the fact that he came up with such an idea…😚🤌🏻✨

7) Someone once asked Graham how he felt about Benny Hill, and Graham allegedly threatened to defenestrate them, which…honestly, considering Hill’s sense of humor, is such a mood.

8) Graham was very into cooking elaborate meals, which would take him a few days to complete. The meals themselves were usually simple, but Graham just took a lot of time in making them. According to Michael Palin, his meals were usually a lot more delicious than the style in which they were served.

9) Graham’s favorite Beatles album was “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” but his favorite album overall was John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Truly a man of taste (particularly regarding Sgt Pepper).

10) This isn’t so much about Graham as it is about his dad. His father was born on November 11, 1911…so basically, 11/11/11. Impossible to forget 😅 I just always thought that was pretty neat. Graham’s parents were somewhat akin to helicopter parents, but Graham was rather close to his father, particularly since he was the first out of the parents to be accepting of Graham’s sexuality.

11) [you can’t expect a Graham Chapman fan to follow rules] It often bothers me how other Pythons and people Graham worked with or knew complain about how Graham was a ‘freeloader’ when, after becoming sober, he proved just how much of a hard-worker he was during “Life of Brian.” The dude was out in the sun all day in the titular role, then served as the set doctor. In fact, even David mentioned that Graham could be quite disciplined, perhaps even more so than other Pythons in that he was really good at multitasking. He truly became much more hardworking after becoming sober, but no one really talks about that, because they didn’t trust that he had changed and they rarely gave him the opportunity to prove himself.

12) As I’m now full-blown cheating in this challenge, here’s a bingo card I made awhile back which is a rudimentary summary of Graham’s personality:

[Sorry this took so long; Graham has a lot of interesting tidbits to limit down to 10]

[tods-void]

Breaking fictional canon isn't inherently bad actually

Gonna write something out that's been on my mind ever since I watched a let's play of Fallout New California. For those that don't know about it, it's a prequel mod for New Vegas. It's mostly pretty good, starts off great, some of the companion characters are uhhh... let's just say they have a faint stink of "my precious OC" if that makes sense. The story itself is for the most part interesting tho near the end it goes into some Mary Sue crossfic bullshit that might turn some people off and turned me off at first. But after watching that playthrough, there was one small part that made me reconsider my opinion of the ending, as well as what canon means for a piece of fiction.

=SPOILERS FOR FALLOUT: NEW CALIFORNIA AND FALLOUT IN GENERAL=

So the story's big reveal at the end is that the area you play in is what will become the Divide in New Vegas and you are the Courier. And the story is about a top secret government experiment using some pre-war symbiotic organism discovered in the Marianas Trench (i think?) that makes you basically immortal. You're immune to disease, radiation, don't age, can only be killed by taking a nuke to the face, that sort of shit. And you're the child of a super mutant who somehow figured out a way to not be sterile anymore. Oh, and you're also genetically a clone of the Vault Dweller from Fallout 1.

Now I know what you might be thinking: this sounds so fucking dumb, it breaks canon in half, all in an effort to canonically explain why the game's protagonist can do the ridiculous shit they do, like surviving a headshot at point blank, not needing food, water or sleep, getting stronger ridiculously fast (i.e. leveling up) and tanking damage that would drop a normal person if not outright vaporise them. And overall it turns both your character, the Courier and the Vault Dweller from opportune shmucks whose accomplishments were a mix of skill, perseverance and luck, into deity-like figures whose accomplishments were genetically predestined or whatever.

And yes, all this is true.

BUT!

Hear me out: in the mod when you are faced with that revelation as the character, there's a Wild Wasteland dialogue option which turns into a reference of the Vader/Luke confrontation from Empire Strikes Back where the antagonist that tells you all this breaks the 4th wall and goes "Damn your canon" and it's kinda cringy but also it made me laugh. It's honestly kind of funny. And it was the devs basically laying out their mission statement "Fuck canon, rule of cool, canon isn't a divine gospel to be followed". And I like that. I'm a long-time Fallout fan and the series as a whole has some great writing and worldbuilding but it has a lot of dumb shit in it as well. Dumb shit that was put in because the devs thought it'd be funny. No, it doesn't make sense that you find the TARDIS randomly in the desert or come across a weirdo in a robe guarding a bridge and asking you to solve 3 riddles to proceed or a group of BoS knights who are LARPing as medieval knights from Camelot (both being Monty Python and the Holy Grail references) or the cast of the original SW trilogy chilling around a campfire or a fourth wall breaking cafe where characters from Fallout 1 are hanging out and talking like actors discussing their roles off set. But it's the exact kind of dumb shit as the revelation in New California.

There's more tho. If it was just funny, sure, it made me laugh but it would still be bad writing. A decent joke at the expense of the writing wouldn't negate that. I'm someone who hates Fallout 3's story and worldbuilding for shoehorning in super mutants, the Enclave and the Brotherhood of Steel just because they're "iconic" to the Fallout setting and barely giving them the justification to be there. Super mutants?

"Oh, there was a vault experimenting with FEV."

On the other side of the country. Meaning that the entire plot and worldbuilding of Fallout 1 went from something unique with long-lasting consequences for the entire Wasteland to a cheap threat you can find anywhere from Alaska to Florida.

Why are all the mutants stupid brutish savage cannibals that scream at you and keep human remains in literal gore bags?

"Uhhh... there's one super mutant who's smart, friendly and will join you as a companion."

Why's the Enclave here? They were destroyed in Fallout 2. They were literally nuked out of existence. What few of them remained off the oil rig would not have had the resources or manpower to A) mount an expedition across the continent and B) present as big of a fighting force and threat as they do.

"*cricket noises*"

Why are the BoS here? They were isolationist pseudoreligious weirdos who were almost wiped out by the Enclave. How the fuck did they get here and why are they the default good guys now?

"*vaguely gestures at internal schism*"

Okay to be fair, there is a tiny bit more justification for how and why the BoS are there and the way they are.

Why are there fucking deathclaws in Washington DC?

"*radio silence*"

You get the picture, you know the song and dance. Hbomberguy made all these criticisms and more years ago.

So why do I shit on these retcons for feeling cheap and cynical on top of ruining established canon but the bullshit in New California doesn't feel as bad?

Well, I have a lot of love for Fallout but I've also embraced the reality that Bethesda doesn't give a shit about the lore or art of the series, or the labor of its original creators, and will shoehorn in whatever they need in order to churn out a marketable inoffensive product. I have no faith that they can make anything as even remotely good as New Vegas or as stupidly sincere and sincerely stupid as The Frontier or, to a much lesser extent, New California. I don't need Fallout to be gravely serious or follow strict canon and relative realism (although that would be nice), what I want most is to experience something that makes me feel, something that was made by people who wanted to make it, who had genuine love and passion for what they were making, and the source material they were drawing from. Does it matter if it's fanfiction? Not really. Fallout London is technically fanfiction and it's one of the best Fallout games I've played. It's also the queerest Fallout game I've ever played and as a filthy queer, that matters a lot to me. (You can join a faction of punk anarchists who are actual political anarchists and not just the pop-culture bastardisation of what anarchism is. Play it, it's great). All this to say that merely breaking the canon of a piece of fiction doesn't have to be inherently bad. It matters who does the retcon, how and why. Even moreso if the creators have the balls to say "we know it breaks canon, we don't care, we just want to do it".

(Also should go without saying that retcons made out of bigotry are pathetic and "creators" who do that should be sealed in a vault with a panther)

[jakeluppin]

taro orchid cactus aloe vera <3

taro ⇢ if someone called you right now to catch up, what’re the things you’d tell them about?

probably about visiting my family and then, depending on who it is, talk shit about work a lot. since there's been a lot of bullshit there recently. i'd also specifically mention that i had some of the best mexican food yesterday.

orchid ⇢ what’s a song you consider to be perfect?

the first song that came to mind was dark blue by jack's mannequin. like.... the piano is just? Beyond!

cactus ⇢ something you’re currently learning (about)?

not something specific at the moment, but i'm planning on working some more on some basic data analytic languages (python, R) to expand in those areas

aloe vera ⇢ what’s something (mundane) you really want to experience in life?

i want to eventually travel to every US state. i've maybe done half? so have a good amount left to go but i think that'd be pretty cool (my first thought reading this was how i used to joke that i wanted to experience breaking my leg once since i broke my arm three times and wanted to be able to experience both! i don't really care to at this point)

﹟random get-to-know-me ask game !!

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

@intertexts I AM going to take you up on this and it WILL be everyone else's problem . this is going to be so long and disjointed and stream of consciousness and not at all organized. my enrichment for work today

GOD where do i even fucking start. im literally thinking about him constantly dude. i hate it here. i love when a character is allowed to be a bad person and also still like. care. he cares so much. he cares so much it fucking HURTS but also he sucks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and this is a good thing. i never want him to get better however i do want him to give his son a hug just once.

uhhhhhhhhhhh ok ok ok. lizard biology is a good place to start i love fucked up fantasy biology. keep in mind while i do like to talk about science and things i do also love to suspend my disbelief when it conveniences me. yes i know this would not work irl thats why i like it. anyway. hey why the fuck did they make him do that. i know overlords whole deal was fucking with dna but how insane is it that hes like. "oh you want to work for me? awesome. get experimented on idiot." awesome way to keep your employees from quitting: subject them to genetic torture. do you think he fought it. of course he fucking did hes mark winters he would not agree to that shit.

how disorienting do you think it was to wake up and suddenly have a whole extra sense. not just that but also a whole extra LIMB. what the fuck do you do. do u think it was sudden or gradual. i cant decide which is worse tbh. i guess this is a good excuse to talk about what exactly i think his lizard mutations look like.

he obviously has the scales. theyre on mostly the left half of his body, i think his right side is generally pretty untouched by any sort of mutation. the ones on his face are pretty much localized around his eye, (which i think looks like a tokay gecko btw. theyre yellow and have cool shaped pupils) but probably also extend down his cheek and maybe even down onto his neck a little. i think theyre probably scattered on his back and chest, hes got a bunch of distinct big patches rather than like a smooth transition from skin to scales. i think his left hand is completely covered with scales and his nails are more like claws on that side. he probably files them down a little (or like. just scratches them on concrete and metal and shit until theyre filed down. not healthy behavior). i like to imagine he has a tail too but its kind of short and stubby and not very. useful for anything except fucking up his balance and being generally Uncomfortable. OH also once every couple months the scales get SUPER uncomfortable and itchy and they shed. also when this happens he goes blind in the lizard eye and the first time that happened i think he was scared as FUCK that it was gonna be permanent

NOW IM GONNA START TALKING ABOUT. PIT ORGANS AND THIS MIGHT GET LONG AND TECHNICAL SO ILL TRY TO KEEP IT. SOMEWHAT SHORT. so. he can see william when hes invisible. and that has been CONFIRMED a lizard mutation thing and not just a result of one of his powers (which is still insane to me). and the ONLY WAY i can think of justifying that is by thermoreception or. heat sense. like infrared sensing. which is a thing that certain species of snakes can do!! specifically boas and vipers have these things called pit organs which are little holes usually around their nose with a membrane that is extremely sensitive to temperature changes and allows them to basically see in infrared. its not exactly SEEING and more like sensing which i think in a human would be so EXTREMELY disorienting. i havent figured out what exactly that would look like from a mark first person pov but the way i vaguely imagine it is if you overlayed an infrared camera over a normal camera and turned the opacity down to like 30% (<< clear enough that he can still see normally but still bright enough to be WEIRD). i think hes got sorta like what pythons have where they have multiple smaller pits rather than a single large one like a viper, and theyre right underneath the lizard eye so that when he has that eye covered with bandages it sort of dulls down the thermoreception. UGH.

ok enough about lizard powers i want to put you in the winters family torment nexus. actually ill talk about his powers a little bit first. so i am a little unclear as to what his powers actually ARE mechanically but based on the vague descriptions of things he can do i think it has to do with manipulating electricity and other types of energy (hence. wavelength.) i dont think its solely based on LIGHT but rather on likeeee. energy. i dont actually know a whole lot about electricity i havent taken a physics class since high school. ANYWAY. i think he was born with them and naturally theyre sort of weak and he cant do much with them which is why he uses the suits. (inserting my vague bit of worm knowledge i would put him under the Tinker class bc he makes a lot of his own tech hehe). his powers naturally without the suits manifest as like. a constant low buzzing in the background kind of like if youve ever. touched a crt monitor. sort of fuzzy and staticky. and maybe he can use them to like. run extra power through a wire or make a lightbulb glow a little brighter or power a battery. nothing really major useful for fighting but could be used in everyday activities! bizly mentioned once that he powers his suits like a battery and they amplify his powers and i have not let go of that ever since. do u ever think about how he has . holes in his back that his suits stab into. i think about that a lot. do you think he did that to himself. anyway.

NOW its winters family torment nexus time. before ashe's mom died. i think they were happy :( i dont think mark was always as shitty as he is now. i think he used to be just like. a normal dad. a little gruff and emotionally repressed because thats just. who he is. but very obviously loved his family and. idk. would take ashe fishing when he was little or something. weekend trip to the lake. he has a fucking cabin in the woods dude! i like to think heeee had a job as an electrician because it made his powers really convenient. (side note here i just really really like the worldbuilding of people casually having powers and using them to make their lives easier. i just really like that a lot and have a lot of thoughts about it.) I thiiiiiink ashe's mom worked in a library or a museum or something. something with a lot of books. maybe a museum. i think mark would take ashe with him in the mornings and drop him off at school before he went to work. i think ashe would put stickers on his dashboard when he got old enough to sit in the front seat (there are still. old faded stickers on the underside of his glove box and the old leftover residue of long term stickers dried out by the sun on the dash. the kind of shit that gets grey and kind of gross but is impossible to remove).

ashe's mom died when he was ... like 8 or 9. and i think for a really REALLY long time mark was just fucking terrified. i mean how the fuck do you recover from something like that. how do you look your kid in the eyes when you saw him do. that. i specifically wrote out part of this scene in my fic so at risk of sounding like a broken record i wont talk about it TOO much but. i think mark was at work when it happened. he got home from work and the house was way too quiet and then he found ashe still half-possessed in his room with a dead body. and his immediate first thought was that someone had broken in or something so his first instinct is to get ashe out of there but when he goes to pick him up from the floor he sees. trickster. or at least like. partial trickster. and he doesnt know what to do and theres that fucking book on the floor and his 8 yr old son is holding his mothers heart in his hands like its just a piece of meat and . whuh oh. hes just like. a regular guy. what the fuck is he supposed to do here! he considers just. running. leaving. getting back in his car and driving away and never coming back. and then he realizes thats fucking stupid and this is his child and he needs to do *something*

ashe is able to fight off full possession on his own (iiiiiii have a theory about ashes powers and what they are but i cant talk about that in detail until later) and i havent worked out the details of how i think the IMMEDIATE aftermath goes but. mark covers for him. gets rid of any sort of evidence that could POSSIBLY point to ashe being the one that killed her and sticks to the story that it was a freak villain attack instead. closed casket funeral. he tries to get rid of the book so many times and every time it reappears on ashe's bedside table the next morning. i think there was like. an IMMEDIATE rift between them. ashe is. old enough to understand what happened and since the possession was only partial i do think he remembers it. but hes not old enough to really understand why. why everything is so different now, how to process grief, why his dad is treating him so different now etc. probably goes. very nonverbal for a while. mark is a fucking wreck with grief and fear and anger and confusion and he stops going to work. they gave him a bit of a grace period due to the circumstances but eventually he got fired and couldnt get a new job and he thought about just taking ashe and moving out of that house out of that neighborhood maybe out of the city. but everything was too expensive and now he's got a 12 yr old who needs to eat and keeps growing out of his clothes and hasnt been to school in a year and a half and !!!!!!

so he starts. villain work. i dont think he really means to at first he might just. shut down a security camera here and there and make the lights flicker in a gas station and if there are a few extra snacks in his pockets whos to say. maybe he eventually tries to do hired gun work for some bigger villains and then moves to solo jobs and then gets picked up by overlord. (personally i think the overlord job was still somewhat new at the beginning of pd. maybe only like. a couple months to a year max)

ANYWAY he listens to vanessa carlton and thats just canon but i also think he likes shitty scifi movies and goes fishing for fun and finds being out in the woods relaxing (again. cabin) . and he does all the dad things in the car that we've talked about a bunch. and hes so so so paranoid and afraid all the time but he expresses that through anger but it comes from a place of love bc he loves ashe so much and doesnt want anything to hurt him ever and he just wants to keep him safe. head in hands. his methods are not good but also its all he knows how to do and i think he desperately just wants ashe to be happy and he wants to see him smile (even though it fucking hurts because he has his moms smile and her laugh and he looks so much like her when hes happy) and . take him on a weekend trip to the lake again. i think there was a moment halfway through season 1 where he saw how happy ashe was with pd and thought "maybe this is good maybe i can let him be a normal kid for a while" and then william dies and ashe gets shot and overlord has a hit on their heads and he doubles down because thats the kind of shit that happens if he lowers his guard for even a second!!!!!!!!!!! ughhhhhhhhh im insane.

um. also when he was just starting out villain work tide was still doing like active hero work and not a mentor yet and they were like rivals. smile. ("ive fought tide dozens of times and hes never spoken to me like that" << never going to forget this btw). i think tide was the one to tell him what happened at the end of season 1 . because. again. he was UNCONSCIOUS FOR THAT WHOLE THING. i think tide went to visit him in prison before he got depowered and told him everything.

[i-m-snek]

I was showing my reptiles to a couple who came to buy my last ball python baby from 2022, and they commented how big Dante is for a corn snake, especially a male corn snake. Dante was my first snake, and a learning experience for me. When I was reading my first ever care sheets, I didn't know yet how to sus out the bad ones. For the first two ish years of his life, he was fed r@ts once a week. He was very very overweight at around 1,100g and I didn't realize it. Idr who it was, but someone on here was kind enough to let me know how overweight he was, and so he went on a diet. However, because of being overfed he also grew veeery large. I want to say he's around 5ft long, I'll get a measurement on him today. -THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING-

The strain on him for being overweight in the past has not shown yet, but it very likely harmed his longevity. Snakes do not have limbs to rest on, and so being overweight can be deadly for them. So while it might seem 'cool' to have a larger corn snake, or any snake for that matter, it is not good for them in the long run. Please feed your snakes properly and don't try to grow them extra large by over feeding them.