#so ok here's the issue... for some reason some stuff isn't loading in

[the-moon-pal]

So guess who is trying to play Tomodachi life on his pc only to be fighting for his life to fix something No one has answers to

[bloggingboutburgers]

I think everyone will benefit from properly tagging posts. xreader fics abd ship fics ONLY include the relevent _x_ tags but none of the character's name on its own, allowing all the usual fanart, theories and such to stay on the main name tag and not be crowded out by horny fanfiction (I say this as someone who very much enjoys very horny, very smutty xreader fanfictions. I want to be able to search the fics I want directly without having to trawl through headcanon posts, fanart, unrelated ship posts, etc.).

No one really has a tailored experience on the internet (I'm glad tumblr is at least a little more user dictated than advertiser algorithm based), but I do get the frustration and discomfort that comes from the abundant hornyposting feeling inescapable.

It's tempting to take offence to persistent cries against xreader stuff. I like special POV episodes of shows for the same reason I like xreader fics. My favourite characters WERE the company I kept, my only real form of companionship (albeit simulated) for many many years. Not because I am allo, basically. I sought something to meet my social needs growing up where I was unable to find community or companionship in real life.

Unfortunately, because they are usually sexual in nature I just came to associate a need for human connection with sex (so am I allo or just conditioned to blend sexual, platonic and romantic feelings and actions together?). I was just happy to feel like I had someone to hang out with. I knew they weren't real and that I needed to find real people to connect with (not for lack of trying, kids are just cruel. Finally made friends as an adult, yay).

Didn't intend for any of that to be so sad or pathetic, but hopefully it gives context for the prevalence of xreader fics. Alongside the varied reasons people write / read them (no just blind allo horniness), especially in light of the widespread loneliness epidemic over the past decade.

It's still more than ok to not want anything to do with them either (be it due to being aroace or not - I know plenty of allos who find xreader fics cringe).

Something I need to clarify here – we get it. Well, we don't fundamentally get it, but trust me, we've been told time and time again why people would write/draw/be into xreader content (it's all part of the package of "aroaces MUST put themselves in allo people's shoes at all times"), and we know they're perfectly legitimate reasons, and we don't find it sad or pathetic, or cringe. At the very least I don't at all. That's not what it's about. It's not something as surface-level at that.

The thing is... The same kind of understanding effort is VERY rarely put forward in return for us. And the fact that we're perceived as naysayers is symptomatic of this. We're not crying against xreader content. People are free to do whatever they want. We just want it to be tagged to keep ourselves safe, and so we can appreciate some variety and find fandom content we can properly connect with with the identity we have.

The issue isn't that there is xreader content, or heck, that there's lots of it. It's that, as @kaoruko-han put it, "everyone is assumed to be into this", and that you can't express something as simple as "I'd rather read something else" without being finger-pointed as a villain.

Yeah, no one has a tailored experience online, but there's still a very clear lack of balance on what is acceptable to tailor to or not (and for us, that includes tumblr). And trying to find fan-content while being sex-repulsed? Bruh, you'd better pray on your lucky stars and be ready to trudge through an ocean of stuff that's loaded with the very thing that makes you scared, uncomfortable or downright triggers a feeling of sickness in you, because a lot of it ain't tagged. An alarming amount of people don't bother, because why would people like you exist, right? There's only ever them, and puritan bigots. It's that black and white in a lot of people's heads.

Here's the difference though: we, too, want people to be able to vibe to whatever fan content they want. We just wish "people" included us properly in this case. As it stands now, trying to find fan content that won't give you an uncomfortable feeling as a sex-repulsed person feels kinda like this (I'll try to illustrate that to the best of my ability as a vague comparison, please no one take that as a clear parallel, I'm literally just trying to explain how it feels in a way people who have no idea how it feels might understand): you're not into gore at all, you don't wanna look at it, but your streaming platform keeps recommending you those series that are loaded with gore. You try to filter it out, but no matter where you go, you keep being recommended those series. And no one ever gets your discomfort and you're being branded as nothing but a wet blanket for not wanting to see gore. It's kinda like that.

At this point I admire sex-repulsed or romance-repulsed people who still TRY to find anything at all in fandom spaces. I've stopped reading fanfic altogether and I've largely stopped engaging with the large majority of fandom spaces for those reasons. And that wasn't an easy choice, or one that I find fun because it feels incredibly lonely, but it's the result of years of exhaustion and strain on my mental health trying to navigate something that's so hostile to me at its core, even if it's unintentional.

So... Yeah. We know the reasons, just like the content itself, they're kinda impossible to ignore. But we are largely being ignored in this, and it's not just something at an "ick" or "picky" level ; for a sex-repulsed person, being spammed with sex entails much more than that. It's not even frustration anymore at this point, it's downright despair a lot of the time. So... Yeah, like you said, everyone would benefit from stuff being more properly tagged. For us it'd be so huge to know our safety is taken into account – that we're taken into account at all. Thing is, we're not, and we're so invisible in this and most other things that at this point, I don't have much hope. Sex-related controversies allo people can understand would sooner create a change than anything done for our sake.

[oscconfessions]

I will unironically ship cross-show host ships. Not just the ones from the smile crossover, things like AirCorn too where they've never met and have no chance of meeting.

People take issue with literally any ship Airy is in within his own show, which to some extent, I get. But I'm not saying I support actual irl relationships like any Airy x contestant ship, I literally ship BatJokes for God's sake. Having a host x host ship is good because usually their crimes are somewhat on level footing (even though most are treated like jokes), WHICH SIDE TANGENT HERE, I hhhhate people who will call me weird for trying to have a discussion about some of the character's immoral actions from less serious shows. Airy hfjONE for kidnapping and manslaughter is treated so much worse than Popcorn for SPREADING INFECTIOUS DISEASES. Just let me suspend disbelief a bit, ok. Yeah, so anyways, I think AirCorn is good bc Airy to some extent doesn't understand the severity of his crimes, whereas Popcorn does and would commit those crimes again.

I'm an avid lover of toxic ships, not an avid supporter.

I'm a sucker for the other host x host dynamics, too, and I just think we're so lucky to have gotten any crossover content we did, canon or not. TwoPhone has been fed?? I no joke started shipping AnimatiClock like three days before sacri uploaded the crossover, and I had no idea.

I'm trying to think of something else worthy of confession here, but I've already confessed a lot in different sessions, and this isn't an NSFW blog.

I still refuse to watch BFDI and affiliated shows, and I will say I find the writing utterly disgusting in the most literal sense. Gross-out humor is for children, but so is most of the stuff JnJ makes. I just think they could respect their audience's intelligence more. Even kids want well written humor in some ways, and I personally think object shows would do best as 'all ages' media that respect their audience. But JnJ makes so much money that I don't think it matters to them. Side note, I watched a livestream of theirs recently, and they seemed very tired. I could be reading into it, but seeing your audience is only children and that they've been doing this for over a decade, I wouldn't be surprised if they quit sometime soon and leave TPOT etc to be produced without them. I don't know if they have already or if they've talked about it, I don't plan to watch anything else from them, save for the specials with algebraliens in them. Needless to say, I won't keep track of it, and the only reason I'm not an outright JnJ hater is because of how close they work with AnimationEpic and the xfohv content. Other than that, grr.

Love you loads, thank you to anyone reading for your time, I hope you have a joyous day!

- (🫳🫴🦷) (mundane object show ranter, previously untagged)

.

[spiribia]

Poyo! I wasn't aware gw2 isn't sub ... I might get on it lol ~ even if it takes me forever to catch up

Also, what's living world, poyo? I see the expansion collection is about 35usd but with living world seasons it adds to 80 :0

yeah, no monthly sub! :]

ok so heres something kind of weird they do, but living world seasons are pretty significant sections of story that bridge the expacs. they introduce new maps and sometimes even new features, but for the latter, not to the extent that expacs do. if you simply log into the game in the time period surrounding a living world episode's release, you unlock it for free and have permanent access to it, seemingly no other conditions required. but if you are joining / returning after that time period you would need to buy the episode with gems. you don’t NEED all the living world seasons to play through later unlocked content, it’s not strictly chronological like ffxiv and you can chapter select, but of course a lot of people want to experience it all in order. 

i will say that because LWs can be bought with gems, unlike expacs (which i believe are all real money hard stop), you Can actually convert in-game currency to gems and purchase all the living world seasons technically at no real money cost, but this would take a ton of time and effort for a beginner, especially since some of the best gold farming maps are locked to later living world seasons.

currently, when you buy all the EXPACS (heart of thorns, path of fire, end of dragons), you dont automatically get the living world content too, unless you get the bundle with them included. i always didn't like the way they bundle this stuff -- it's reasonably very confusing for new people.

i have really mixed feelings about this structure in general. it's great for people who are already on the gw2 train -- you make your one time payments and then get to access free story updates continually for years, as long as you just log on to claim it. but i also feel this dauntingly front-loads the cost onto newbies who have an increasingly large backlog to catch up on, and makes it harder and harder to get on the train to begin with. they've recently released the expac that wraps up their big 10 year long story arc, so while we know there will be more story, it's a bit up in the air which direction they'll take the structure next, or if they'll continue doing it in the way they've done it. but it’s a good time to catch up at least! :)

season 1 has just been rereleased and will permanently be free for everyone (it's a long story, but it was previously unavailable for years). season 2 doesnt add any new maps that wouldn't be accessible to someone without the season, so you can actually play through its whole story for free if you can join someone who has it, if that appeals to you, but i dont think youll get any of the achievement rewards etc. for playing through it. this isnt as big an issue for s2 as it would be for some later dlc, since s2 doesn't really add any big features & a lot of people regard it as 'optional' unless you really care about story, but thats not to discount it either.

[lilbasthet]

OK, I have no clue if anyone has talked about the discussion on period products in Germany and recent developments. So let me do this here.

I think it's kinda nice of Druck to address this issue even if it's just in order to make Lou look like a bad influence (I'm not buying it) and to show us that Constantin has a job now.

Not only in Germany but also in other European countries people with periods have petitioned and demonstrated for free period products. In Germany period products were taxed at 19% because they were seen as luxury items(!) until 2020. After a lot of fighting feminist groups got that lowered to 7% (that's the tax on all necessary items like bread and stuff). But there was no reason to celebrate. Because all producers of such products (except for Einhorn Period which is kinda run by feminists for feminists) just raised the prices so that in the end all period products cost the same as before. Now we're just paying "pink tax" on them just like we do on loads of other products that are specifically marketed to women. (who of course aren't the only people with periods, but a big chunk of them)

So, I get it. Period products and their cost are a legitimate issue, and I'm glad we're getting a character like Lou who makes young people aware of the fact that this shit isn't fair. I didn't even dare think about such things when I was her age.

Another thing for all those people trying to say she's not stealing from big corporations and only hurting the shop assistants. I don't know how this works in your country, but I know enough people who work in retail (and specifically in one of our 2 big drugstore chains) in Germany. And believe me, the shop assistants usually don't get in trouble for people stealing from the shop (especially not if it's tampons rather than 50€ worth of makeup). The store has insurance for that. Loads of products aren't sold and have to be thrown out or taken home by the people who work there. That's why many shop assistants (at least in Berlin) don't even bother going after thieves in their stores. Too much hassle for a job that gives you a living wage and no more for a product that might be thrown in the trash anyway...

So believe me, the only thing Constantin should be worried about is the shopping baskets that fell over because he has to clean that up. And those were still neatly stacked so that's like a 5 minute job.

And don't get me wrong I don't condone stealing, but I'm also in the privileged position where I never had to steal to get by. (not saying that Lou has to steal)

I've been out of money for necessities like food, but I always had friends or family that could help me out. However, I have friends who don't have that luxury who sometimes steal from shops because they have to. And I know they're not hurting the workers with that (and usually not even the corporations). So I refuse to hold that against them.

So, long story short, I wouldn't praise Lou for stealing some tampons for herself and people from her school, but I also wouldn't demonize her for it. (Especially not when we see other crimes like underage drinking, smoking weed, trespassing and vandalism in Skam and Druck and celebrate it.)

[samuelsjudgments]

It's difficult to judge the farmers and that for the small creature kills. Companies do not pay for slow workers. I've been reprimanded in a job, and definitely looked down until I left the place, for choosing to take 2 minutes to save a butter fly trapped in some old cobby window. All the way up until I set the thing free into the sky, the guy was moaning about something.

That kind of compassion isn't efficient, doesn't make the corporations the money.

So in turn, I don't think it's fair to judge vegans for their products also having this issue at a production level. You try farming honestly and see how long it takes to stop and save every single one of the insects. All the snails and worms. The more you save, the more are there to eat whatever you're planting, too.

Farming is in itself kind of violent, you're stabbing chopping cutting at the earth, and whatever is in the way just gets dunked on. You bring heavy machinery into this and its like.... not even a corporate concern.

If you were to go and get a full time job somewhere and you're stopping all the way and doing things in completely different ways to save all the animals they will just fire you.

I'm not justifying it happening, I wish we didn't stretch ourselves so thin, and slowed things down, and took care, I'm saying there's no point arguing about these kinds of things, because we can't fix them. Humans are big, clunky, hasty greedy fuck machines and even vegans have cars, bikes, and accidentally kill bugs, or kill bugs at work etc.

Remember that the way we get this meat thing is still requiring a club to the head, and it's got so bad now that we're doing like, mad scientist shit in order to make them reproduce x a billion every month, and clubbing ALL of them over the head still. And most of the reason why people love the stuff so much is the ads and the tasty secret recipes that have been forced on people since we were all children. The corporations are branching out and building A.I and robots and shit and still clubbing the animals over the head to get the meat thing.

That's the core of the situation veganism thing here. All the women of the species are forced to make breast milk that's so fucked up. If we keep up being OK with these horrible things we do and only focus on advancing the things that make us money and give us power, then I don't wanna see what we turn into down the line. A species that's totally fine with the absolute molestation of a living being in order to satisfy themselves will never rid themselves of crime or war. I really think that casting out the original evil deed we ever did as sentient beings on this planet, will have some kind of cascading effect that we, this generation set of people, might not even get to benefit from. Personally it's a load off my mind, but a lot of people still don't see the evil in what's going on.

[creativemorningsdublin-blog]

Meet our Musician: ROE

Meet our Musician: ROE

Our musician for the month of April is ROE. Devastatingly sincere and relatable, ROE is a songwriter that pours her heart into every word that she writes. Her work spills truths from her own life, and from speculations on the planet on which we exist. Hailing from Derry, NI, ROE left college before finishing to travel the world playing festivals and to focus on writing songs that felt real. Her 2020 EP ‘Things We Don’t Talk About’ saw ROE cross 1 million streams on Spotify and is the culmination of 4 years of relentless writing, releasing and touring as a completely independent artist.

We sat down with ROE to talk about all things creative.

What does our monthly theme of procrastination mean to you? Procrastination is, for me, taking time away from something that you love just to make it better. I'm one for procrastinating all the time and then whenever I finally sit down to do something it works out really well because I've taken that time away. People perceive it as a negative thing, but I think that having that time is important.

What do you find most challenging about the creative process?

Probably the hardest thing for me is actually taking the time to sit down and write and keep going with this thing that I love. This is my career but also, it's therapy for me; sitting down and writing and knowing that it's good for my head. So whenever I procrastinate I know that I'm procrastinating because I can feel it in my brain.

You've quite a close-knit team, I love that you guys are all friends and that's such a big part of who you are as an artist. So is the solo time where it's just you in your room, writing, is that where you find committing to doing that most difficult?

Yeah because there's nobody there to push you on to do it, you’re literally relying on yourself to do this thing and you know that it's going to take maybe an hour or whatever. And I’ve started this technique where you put a timer on your phone for 15 minutes to do something and that's been very helpful. I know that it's only a tiny section of time that I have to do the task for and then you end up doing it for far longer because you're really into it.

But whenever I have the team around me, I feel the buzz. Whenever they’re around you and everybody is kind of gearing towards the same goal really. It brings you out of your shell as well, because when you're having the craic with people and you're all thinking about the same thing and they’re all like-minded and just want to get the best out of everything that you do. Especially whenever it’s my own stuff, because everything I write is written by me and it's kind of my baby, so it's nice having people around that make you kind of think that OK, I'm an actual professional musician. And they're just there to support you the whole way and I love that.

Is there any experience in particular that you've been reminiscing about? You know those moments that you live in?

Yeah, we were on tour just before lockdown happened up here. Literally just got back home in time and we had the show down in Dublin in Whelan’s Main Room and before that, we'd sold out upstairs and that night was just insane, and it was crazy because we were literally on stage and then we had to go back home up to Derry.

It was just a complete rush the whole night and it was just the best craic and I miss the connection with people. I miss the whole buzz after the show and just talking to people after the show and just chatting to people about their own experiences.

This whole point in life just feels so surreal because everybody’s taken a pause in everything that they do, especially in the creative sector and it's one of those professions that are really tied into your personal life as well. We were chatting about how like most of my friends, if not all of my friends, are involved in the music scene or the creative scene in some way. And I miss that being at a show with them so much and I miss just the thrill of being on stage and being able to perform my songs with people.

Do you think that mental health is the main message in your songs that will keep cropping up and is what’s really important to you or are there other themes that you’ve started to bring into your writing over the past year?

For me, writing is really personal. It's kind of like a diary, a scary diary, but I use writing as a form of therapy, so everything that I write is very much linked to my mental health and the things that I go through, and people really close to me go through. And it’s a way of getting these thoughts out of my head without having to talk about it because I am the worst person, as much as I sing about it, I'm really bad at talking about my mental health and actually opening up to people.

So I think if I can do that in a way that helps other people as well as it helps me. That's the aim for me. You know it's just to connect with people and have a little bit of hope because all of these songs that I write, they might have really sad topics behind them or themes behind them, but I get to do what I love because of them. I get to connect with people, I get to talk to people and get to make friendships and it came from all of these mental health songs that I've written about. It makes me realise how important it is to talk about these things, especially if you have the strength to.

I still get terrified before I go on stage because I know that I'm pouring my heart out on stage in front of all these people and I have no idea how it's going to go each night, but it's really important to me to keep spreading that message of: It's OK to have mental health issues. Everybody has some form of mental health issues. Nobody is perfect and it feels like a very human thing to communicate. I don't understand why there's such a stigma around it.

How do you feel about the narrative that if you write music, you don’t need therapy, that the music is therapy and is cathartic?

I think if you need help, get help. Your music isn't going to suffer because your mental health is getting better, and I think that's really important for people to understand.

There's this narrative of a tortured artist and you have to be suffering to make good art, and there's no logic in that. There's no reason why you can't better your mental health and feel happier and still write really good songs.

If you need help, get help. Your music isn't more important than your own mental state.

This year loads of people have been learning new coping mechanisms… are there any rituals that you do before stage or daily?

It's something that I'm working on. I've been reading into it a lot more. There's this book called Sound Advice that I've absolutely been loving and it's about creating rituals, especially with your bandmates, because you need a connection before you go on stage, that's why people play ball games or silly word games before they go on stage, to get that connection and bring the best onto the stage.

But before all this, I definitely took maybe 5 minutes before I went on stage and just didn't talk to anybody. I'd kind of take the time for myself because of the nature of the songs. I had to be in the right mindset to go sing them before, without breaking down onstage.

It's talked about all the time, how exercise helps your brain, and so I've started running and doing yoga a lot more and not for any physical benefits. But just because I know that it's going to help me in the long term and my brain.

What habits do you think you've had to unlearn over the last few years?

Finding my voice was difficult. We're in the middle of recording my album and this time I've taken the reins a little bit and realise that I like having a hand in everything in every aspect of my music. So, I'm definitely a lot more assertive than what I was, maybe three or four years ago whenever I was just starting out. And it is something that you learn – that you have a voice. And you're allowed to use it, even if you're young.

Some of the youngest people in this industry are the ones with the most inspirational ideas.

Always remember that you have a voice and you're allowed to have that creative expression and guide your own music like it's your music, so don't let anybody else take charge of it.

You put up a post recently saying that you were really excited about your new tunes and how they were really different... in what way are you excited about them being different?

They’re very true to what the songs are about. It’s shown in my writing how I’ve evolved as an artist. Practice makes everything better, so I'm really proud of these songs and I'm really excited about them. The whole mental health thing has carried over a whole lot and I'm glad that it has and I don't think I'll ever step away from talking about things like that.

There's been so much talk about how the music industry needs to step up, and I think it's really important to talk about these things ... what do you wish people knew about being a musician that isn't always visible or obvious?

All of the hours that go into and everything that goes into behind the music. Whenever people hear your music, it's a finished product. It's all shiny and bright and they don't realise how much has gone into the thought, the artwork or the production or the videos and all that aspect of it as well.

I think it's really hard to see music as a nine to five because you always end up coming up with ideas and the best ideas that I have always come at like two in the morning whenever I'm going to sleep, and I have to roll over and write them in my notes app or else I won't remember them in the morning.

Is there anything else you would say about your new tunes?

I’m being very mysterious at the minute! We’re working away trying to get everything done for my debut album and it’s the first time that I've had so much space to sit with every aspect of a project without shows in between. I want it to be something special to me and I think putting in the time into it is making that real.

What do you hope for the music industry going forward, what changes would you want to see?

That it’s more of a gender-neutral environment, especially when it comes to radio because I think everybody has seen the disparity when it comes to Irish radio at the minute. I want to see more opportunities for women in the music industry that aren't token, that you're not the only woman on the line-up.

Also more transparency. There’s a lack of transparency when it comes to a lot of the industry stuff and I know my manager, Liam, he's been great at the minute because he's started this Instagram page all about the industry and everything you need to know about labels, publishers. Everybody seems to keep to themselves and I wish that there was less of this competitive nature. There's room for everybody to get the opportunities that they deserve and there shouldn't be this need to be better than somebody, because we're all in this.

I want it to feel like more of a community than competition. I feel like if there was a worldwide community of musicians and everybody in the music industry was helping each other, that would be the day.

I think if it was more accessible and more open to young artists, people wouldn't be as scared or feel as if they need somebody else to know all this stuff. They wouldn't be taken advantage of. There needs to be more education when it comes to that, especially when it comes to the younger artists.

---

You can check out ROE's music here.

[zerohour1974]

Playing with the Pi's

Hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my ongoing world of waffle. So as the title suggests a friend lent me a Raspberry Pi 3 with 1GB of RAM and a Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB RAM.

Now in the past I have always been dismissive of the Raspberry Pi so they were lent to me to play with to see if using the items in question would change my perspective.

Well started off with the Pi3. Installed Raspberry Pi OS (Raspbian as it used to be known). It works fine if a little slow but that's to be expected given it only has 1MB of RAM. It will browse the web, but try and do anything beyond that and you start to see the slow down.

I did get the ZX Spectrum emulator Fuse working and providing you never got above double height video it worked alright. I managed to play TLL without too much stutter.

Installed RISC OS next which was interesting for all of about ten seconds. It didn't support the WiFi so I could not install any different software so that was that.

Looked at Retropie... Nice idea but unfortunately it's using RetroArch (the most annoying multi-emulator ever) so I quickly got out of that.

I have yet to find a core on Retroarch I can say yep that works without problems. So as soon as I saw that it was RetroArch. Oh dear well it was a nice thought.

Now I'm sure I am going to get people complaining that if you set Retroarch up correct it's fine. I don't doubt it but it's a faff to sort so it can take a run and jump.

Right having messed around with the Pi3 it was time to move onto the Pi4.

That's when I hit the wall. For some strange reason I was not getting a video output. Now remember this isn't my Raspberry Pi. I am borrowing them from a friend. I am quite concerned.

The adaptor he supplied as soon as I connect the HDMI to it, goes snap. Not good. So I connect up a micro HDMI to HDMI cable. Nothing.

Odd. I eventually get another adapter type and finally I get video. However if you straighten the cable the video cuts out.

I don't know if this is common but video works if it's pulling slightly to the right. I don't think this is common but as the saying goes when in Rome.

Raspbian works as it should and the extra ram is definitely noticed when typing stuff.

One of the things I installed on both versions was Focuswriter (a minimalist word processor). On the Pi3 you had to wait for it catch up when typing. It would normally get it but there was a delay before it appeared on screen.

On the Pi4 this delay seems to have gone thankfully which is to be expected given better processing power, more RAM.

Web browsing works but is still underpowered. However on the 4GB I can open more than one tab which the Pi3 could not.

Video playback is not great and for all they claim the Pi4 can do 4k. Not streaming it can't. It could just say manage 320p without it falling apart.

However that could equally be the fault of my internet as it is not exactly quick.

Audio playback was equally a bit choppy.

Part of me is suspicious due to the strange connection angle required maybe I'm not getting optimal signal here.

I moved on from Raspbian and attempted to get Manjaro ARM to work.

This was a fail. It ran through it's setup then on the reboot refused to start up into X. It just sat there looking dumb and would not accept any keyboard input.

Oh dear not a great start. Ok moving on I discovered a system called Twister OS.

Now it's a modified version of Raspbian but allows window theming, overclocking and seems to have several more basic programs.

Well it starts off fine. It can indeed be themed to look like Windows 95, Windows XP, Windows 7, Mac OS X (light and dark modes) and its own TwisterOS desktop.

They all change easily using the Twister themes and each time you have to restart but it's quick and responsive so not bad at all.

The overclock can be set manually or be set using the modes of on-demand or performance from the system tools menu.

Being it is a modified Raspbian install it can use all of the same programs so tested with Focuswriter.

It runs smoothly. Loaded Fuse the Spectrum emulator and it has no real issues. Then I try the challenge.

MAME is always a good test. I had ran it on the Pi3 before now and while things loaded it struggled with sound and frame rates were inconsistent.

Well it seems running under TwisterOS. MAME ran my test games of Frogger, R-Type, R-Type II and StarForce without issue. I did not even seem to have to switch it to performance which I thought I might but they all worked fine with no major slowdown.

So bonus points to the Pi4 it worked regarding basic emulation pretty well.

To be honest running the Pi4 with TwisterOS it really isn't bad. Obviously provided you don't intend to use it to stream video the Pi4 is definitely an improvement over the Pi3.

Now I admit the Raspberry Pi isn't aimed at me. Don't get me wrong it can emulate stuff, but the Pi is aimed at programming types or engineering people.

They will try and connect the Raspberry Pi to cameras to monitor birds, or connect to your doorbell be a monitoring device. Or sit and teach your kids how to program in BASIC using Scratch.

I don't have the patience for that sort of stuff or the skill as normally it involves soldering or programming neither of which I can be fussed about.

Is the Raspberry Pi a bad idea. Not at all I'm sure someone always finds ingenious ways to use one. Am I one of those people... nope.

Do I think I will ever invest in a Raspberry Pi. Answer probably not but now at least I can admit that the Pi4 is not as bad as I thought it was.

Now my experience is over I can return the Pi's to their owner forthwith. Job done...

Not the world's worst thing available but not something I really need in my life.

[punkscowardschampions]

Grace & Janis

Little Twin Times

Grace: It's not too late to change your mind! Get dad to bring you xxx Grace: 👍💜💭 Janis: Nah, you're all good, I'm going out to play footie with lads from down the road after tea Janis: You having fun? Grace: 😮😈 WHICH LADS??! Grace: of course! it's the best! 🙌 Name a film and we've got it ready to watch Grace: her mum ordered from the posh bakery too Grace: They've got each of our names iced on so you've gotta come Janis: You know, they live in the farmhouse one along if you keep going down the lane, renovated all fancy, like but they're actually alright Janis: shit at football though 😉 Janis: s'alright, you eat mine Janis: think they use too much cream, s'not as good as Da's stuff Janis: got any horrors? Grace: EW JANIS THOSE BOYS ARE GROSS DON'T PLAY WITH THEM Grace: they always shout stuff at us they think they're so 💪😎 Grace: You always say that! You'd eat custard tarts every day and never try anything new ever! Grace: 🙄 Grace: OBVIOUSLY WE'RE NOT AMATEURS Grace: the cinema room has everything it's like being out at the poshest one you can imagine 😍 Janis: Only 'cos you act like such a drip whenever you see a boy Janis: If you shouted back instead of going all giggly and red maybe they'd not take the piss, ey? 🙄 Janis: I would if I was faced with all that pastry and cream...tastes like fusty old tissue paper 🤢 Janis: At least that'll be a laugh then Janis: Her house smells like an old lady's handbag though 😂 Grace: OMG I DO NOT! Grace: what would you know anyway you're too busy trying to BE like a gross boy to get a boyfriend Grace: such a 👽 weirdo for a sister, how and why Grace: AGAIN DUH! It is such a laugh and you're missing it Grace: for football 🙄 Grace: RUDE JAN-JAN IT DOES NOT Grace: you're just jealous of how cool her house is Janis: Yes you do, you all just nudge each other and laugh like a bunch of loonies Janis: LOL and what would you do with a boyfriend, gracie? you can't even talk to one nevermind anything else Janis: for you, maybe, i'm good where i am tah 👌 Janis: why would i be jealous of having a too large tv in a too small room and calling it a cinema Janis: they ain't even got that much money, we've probably got more, they're just snobby twats about it Janis: how cool, so cool, woooow Grace: DO NOT Grace: I can't believe you've already forgotten that Jake and two of his friends are all fighting over who gets to be my boyfriend rn so Grace: I'm gonna be a great girlfriend like in all the films excuse you Grace: ugh you're the snobby one thinking we're richer than everyone and talking about how much money everyone's got all the time Grace: what am I gonna do with you? 🙄 Janis: how buzzin you must be Janis: doesn't mean you'll know what to do Janis: s'the stuff that happens after the happily ever after you need to know, graciekins Janis: only cos she's a show-off when she's got no right to Janis: always bragging that one Janis: you just don't like it 'cos you're up her hole, like 😂 Grace: I will too! I've practiced kissing loads Grace: Just because you don't have a clue don't tell me I don't Grace: You're the showoff always trying to beat the boys ugh Grace: just brush your hair, put some gloss on and come over Grace: you'll see she is cool and you're just being salty as usual Janis: yeah, we've seen the gloss on the oranges, its manky Janis: at least eat them when you've frenched them Janis: there's no trying involved, i'm just better than all the boys 😏 Janis: no thanks, i've got plans, like i said Janis: if she's so cool why you ignoring her rn hmm Grace: YOU'RE MANKY I don't even use 🍊 thanks Grace: You think as much of yourself as the boys do it's cringey Grace: and im not even ignoring her she's setting the spa up Grace: nobody's allowed to see what's she's done until she's done it so you're wrong again there Janis: Well all the others have got fellas rn or experience under their belt so don't think they're still getting in 'practice' like its a shitty teen movie 😂 Busted Janis: soz, I'll develop an eating disorder and self-esteem issues asap Janis: oh wait, no, fuck that i'm great Janis: don't hate cos u ain't Janis: better get ur surprised face ready now, you're a shitty actress, like LiLo bad post-all the drugs Grace: It's likely you, J, you've gotten really embarrassing lately 😂 make sense why you don't wanna come out. gotta stay in with the fruit bowl Grace: Don't even joke Kirsty Dixon from number 22 had to go to the hospital loads in the summer it's so serious Grace: you're the hater on me and my friends, read the chat back if you don't believe Janis: Whatever you say, Graciepoo Janis: So? She's still a lame bitch Janis: or you gonna be her best friend now too? Janis: Last I remember, it was your pals calling her names Janis: but now she's in the hospital, you all wanna send her flowers Janis: just not chocolates, she'll be raging, like Grace: YOU'RE SO RUDE AND SOOO WRONG Grace: i know you're blinded by your jealousy but it's sad how much you have no idea what you're talking about Grace: cute but still cringey of course Janis: lol jealous of what? Grace: me having friends and you being the lone loser Janis: 😂 no Janis: firstly, your 'friends', you can keep 'em, there's a reason they were free to let you tag along and be their bitch Janis: secondly, i'm happy being alone, you're the one begging me to come hang, so nice one there 👍 Grace: I'M TRYING TO BE NICE Grace: won't next time, bitch Janis: please don't 😂 Grace: laugh it up all you want you were the one tagging along with us for ages Grace: you're not too good, you're too much of a freak now that's all Janis: yeah because wittle baby gracie doesn't want to do anything on her own Janis: don't cry about it now 😂 Grace: no i didnt want my sister to be an antisocial weirdo Grace: makes me look bad too Janis: Literally going out after tea, did you not hear? Janis: You wanna control WHO I'm friends with Janis: I've got friends, I don't want your hand-me-downs Grace: those creepy boys who want to look at you in your shorts aren't your friends saddo Janis: Your mind, Gracie 🙄 Honestly Janis: lads don't care about things like that, they wanna play footie Janis: and I have plenty of other people I hang with, not everyone wants to be in a sad lil gang Grace: now who's being a baby 😂 lads always think about stuff like that Grace: 🙄 you only think its a gang because you've made yourself unwanted Grace: whatever Jan-Jan i've got fun to have Grace: be boring Janis: They really don't, they think you're mental Janis: also a right slag 😂 Janis: sure you do 😏 laters! Grace: at least they think of me you're furniture Grace: I've got plenty of time and chances to change their mind but you're always gonna be blah Janis: lol yeah, so much chance, when i'm the one that gets to chat with them every day on the pitch and you just stand there staring and dribbling, not the ball, like 😂 Grace: 🙄 so jealous at least they know me and my friends are interested they all think you play for the other team Janis: so? I'm not the slag, I'm NOT interested Janis: how lame Grace: i'm no slag either Grace: you're just being too judgey and weird to know the difference Janis: whatever you say 👌 not me you've gotta convince otherwise, is it Grace: thank god for that 😂 Janis: eurgh don't be disgusting Janis: now who's the freak Grace: EWW THAT'S YOUR MIND I MEANT YOU'VE BEEN HIT IN THE HEAD BY THE BALL TOO MANY TIMES TO HAVE A CLUE ABOUT ANYTHING Grace: 👽 Grace: so gross Janis: no you didn't Janis: you're a shit liar Janis: why would you even say something like that Janis: you're messed up, grace Grace: WHY WOULD YOU WEIRDO Janis: I didn't Janis: you're always like this Janis: you're so fucking creepy Grace: I am not Grace: you're the gross creep Janis: get your own comebacks Janis: this is why i don't want to hang with you Janis: you're so boring Grace: get a life and stop being so disgusting all the time Grace: it's not cool its just gross Janis: I've got one Janis: and it isn't yours to ruin with your lameness Janis: ✌ Grace: I can't ruin what doesn't exist Grace: can't compete with how much of a loser you are anyway Janis: stop trying then Janis: weirdo 😂 Grace: 🙄 pathetic Janis: Oh, FYI, you forgot your jammies Janis: Rio's dropping them in so you better run unless you want her to come in and show you up for being a fake little bitch Grace: No I didn't we've all got matching here already Grace: I'm doing fine get over it Janis: That's literally the most hilarious thing I've ever heard Janis: Hope you're snapping pictures so we've all got something to laugh at Janis: 'Course you are, remember to let Jake know the # Janis: so sexy 😂 Grace: You're so obsessed it's embarrassing Grace: leave me alone Janis: I'll remember that when you're pestering me later Janis: Thanks for putting in writing Grace: Don't flatter yourself that I care Janis: So blatant Janis: N'awwwwh Grace: so annoying 🙄 Grace: go away Janis: go soak your manky feet Grace: go lose on the pitch you try hard bitch Janis: me? LOL ok Janis: trying so hard to be white and likable Janis: of which, you are neither Grace: Plenty of people like me as I am thanks Janis: oh, and who are you today? 😂 Janis: you haven't got a clue Janis: faker than your brands Grace: and you do? 😂 trying so hard to be a badass all of a sudden Grace: everyone's laughing at you Grace: not me Janis: By everyone you mean your sad little friends Janis: who no one but you gives a shit about Janis: be more mad 'cos I've ditched you FINALLY Janis: and I can actually enjoy myself Grace: go and do it then Grace: you'd have to stop talking rubbish at me first Janis: do you see me there rn? Janis: I already am Janis: laughing at you takes no time outta my day Grace: 😂 Grace: like i said, obsessed Grace: nothing better to do than be this lame Janis: like i said, bad actress Janis: i still, unfortunately, have to share a room with you, remember? i've heard you crying Janis: 😂 Grace: not everything is about you Grace: nothing is pretty much Janis: Why'd you go crying to mum about me then Janis: Now I've gotta be nicer to you Janis: What a drag Grace: you're a drag Grace: and a worse actress than you think i am Janis: I'm not pretending otherwise Janis: Its impossible to be nice to you, faking it or otherwise Grace: can't be harder than dealing with being around you Grace: too cringey for words Janis: Aww Jan-Jan please come Janis: PLEEEEEEEEEEASE ITS SO MUCH FUN Janis: now that's cringe Janis: 👍💜💭 Grace: not sorry for trying to get you to keep your invite Grace: you said you'd come and the girls were expecting you Grace: some of them wanted you to be there, because they feel sorry for you or whatever Janis: I don't recall that coming from my mouth Janis: more like YOU said I would Janis: boohoo Janis: the ONLY person who gives a shit is you Grace: blah Grace: bored of you thinking you know everything about me Grace: if you don't care then leave me alone like I already told you to do Janis: how could i not? EVERYONE knows you, right gracie? Janis: ur as transparent as a window and as shallow as a puddle Janis: doesn't take a genius babe 😂 Janis: i'm having fun, fuck off yourself if you can't deal Grace: 😂😂😂 Grace: your definition of fun is so sad Grace: I'm off to have some for real Grace: bye Janis: enjoy your spa and matching jimmies Janis: you wild one 😂