#look don't touch is the rule

[thosewildcharms]

not to over-indulge in my own tags and this extremely hyperspecific au but walk with me for a minute. it's this scene from the series finale of LOST except make it rick and michonne. and instead of it being them reuniting in the afterlife it's them reuniting after the poof! no apocalypse timeline reset and they're getting flashbacks of the original zombie apocalypse timeline. do you see my vision.

#richonne #the IDEA is they both wake up and the apocalypse did not happen (like rick wakes up from his coma but the world did not end) #but they both feel panicked because something is not right. there is a sense of loss and grief they cannot explain #they look at carl and andre respectively and burst into tears and are hyper vigilant around them and don't know why #their partners go to touch them and they flinch and they DON'T KNOW WHY #meanwhile little things give them deja vu that they don't understand #and then because Invisible String of Fate they somehow cross paths and lock eyes and it's The Fence multiplied by like a million #and then idk if the flashbacks come all at once or a little over time but either way they Recognize each other #and it torpedoes both of their lives #idk what happens after that but DO YOU SEE THE VISION #oh and there are RULES such as #the stronger your connection with someone the more easily you ~remember them when you meet again #and also the longer you lived through the original timeline the stronger your memories are #so for example since richonne would obviously had been alive at the time of the reset #they'd have crystal clear vision of their memories once they regained them #but people who died quickly would have either a vague memory or no memory of the original timeline #this is so you could have the DELICIOUS dichotomy of rick and michonne remembering EVERYTHING while lori and mike remember basically nothin #AGAIN DO YOU SEE MY VISION

[the-earnest-system]

#hyperspecific poll #really stretching my 'don't post anything that would make people who know me in real life realize this is me' rule #but this looked so fun and I have so many silly things #fuck that orthodontist though #the whole way through he was doing these incredibly painful things and being like 'i think this has an about 10% chance of working' #and then when it did actually work he treated it like a success story #when for me it was just meaningless torture #that I guess means more than just my back teeth can touch now... #not worth it at all

[introspectivememories]

touch-starved bernard dowd is sooo canon to me

#hs!bear who had a reputation for sleeping around not bc he particularly enjoyed sex #but bc at least during sex sm1 would touch him #and he'd give anything to be touched like someone wanted him and not bc they were obligated to #college!bear who was initially interested in the pain cult at first but became hooked after they patched him up gently #hs!bear who would drape himself all over his friends and hope this time they wouldn't push him off #bernard dowd who goes his whole life being told by his family that he's too touchy and it makes people uncomfortable #bernard dowd at a young age creating rules for himself after being told time and time again that he makes people uncomfortable #and being unable to follow them bc he loves these people and he knows no other way to show it #bear watching his family shy away bc they don't enjoy and he knows that but why does it feel like they just don't want his touch? #bear breaking all of his rules and hating himself for it. loathing himself bc don't you see bear? you're too needy too touchy. you make #people uncomfortable. and the thing about children who grow up loathing themselves is that they rationalize any affection they recieve #someone from his family hugs him and he thinks to himself: they're only touching me bc they have to. they're uncomfortable doing this. #they're only doing this bc everyone knows how much you like hugs. look dowd you've made someone uncomfortable again. #so he categorizes every touch as Fake or Real but bc he grew up like this every touch is Fake. bc no one really wants to touch him. they're #only doing it bc they have to. bc they're obligated to. #bear who walks around feeling like a stranger in his own skin bc no one will touch him and if they do touch him he can't recognize weather #it's Real or Fake and so the cycle continues. #bernard dowd #dc

[sysig]

Wander-ful! (Patreon)

#My art #Wander Over Yonder #Wander #Was I specifically drawing him with his eyes closed to avoid learning his particular eye style? Maybe #But hey look! I did for the second one! That's something! Lol #There's no consensus on his eye colour but I've chosen blue for the moment - it's the eye colour that seems most consistent #There are a lot of elements to his design where I kinda have to unlearn from my own habits lol #The rubberhose is no problem :D I really enjoy rubberhose even if I don't use it very often! #But things like his mouth shape and his teeth only showing when he's like fully smiling - or eyes touching in that cartoony way! #No pun intended but it's very alien to me lol #But it's little things like that that I'm noticing about the ''rules'' of his model like what I was talking about before #He'll still be recognizable as himself if I were to do those things but would they be true to his actual look? Hmm #And I'm totally not against taking some liberties lol - this is fanart that /I'm/ making and very much Not the show lol #But learning and paying attention to details and seeing just how close I can from within the constraints of my own abilities >:3c It's fun! #Plus then it makes my own little touches - calling cards - stand out even more hehe ♪ Blush marks are too fun to ditch completely! #He's a fun and cute lad to work with :3

[running-in-the-dark]

it's so funny when I rewatch a show but with a new/different/additional crush. like I'm rewatching the librarians with my partner right now and it just feels soo different lol

#anyway. Jenkins 😍 #on a completely unrelated note... #I need to learn more about pocket squares and ties. #because it's already driving me insane when they don't go together on night court but it's much worse on the librarians where I can actually #like. see stuff lol #I don't mean 'oh no the colour isn't an exact match'. more like 'these patterns and/or colours look fucking bad together' #but maybe there's like. reasons for that. rules that my silly little brain isn't smart enough to figure out #because all I'm basing that on is. my eyes and my opinion lol #anyway he's so baby. 🥰 and I definitely like him better now. very very huggable. #he takes that suit jacket off and I'm like 🥵 #man I feel so weird about this :') but I must talk about it anyway or I will never get over that :) #like it just feels like. ohh this is weird I'm not supposed to think he's hot because he's old 😬 but he just. is 🤷 #anyway touching his ears would fix me man it totally would #*with my mouth also. but whatever it's cool I'm not thinking about that #no haha why would I be thinking about it that :) #or when he sits on that table sometimes and I totally don't think about how I absolutely need to sit in his lap :) #haha noo I'm not thinking about fucking him at all who even brought that up #anyway i am very tired & have already taken my sleep meds so I am extra stupid rn :) and the dumb thoughts just keep coming out

[irregularbillcipher]

woe! cringy absolutely-not-canon-to-my-fic fankid be upon ye

(aka, i'm still going through old art files, found a character design experiment from like a year back and decided to touch her up)

#anyway i truly don't believe bill would purposefully have kids-- even in the silly screwball mlp au she was a complete magic accident #and it took a while for him to get truly attached to her and even longer to get attached in a way that wasn't “she's an extension of me :)” #he's completely uninterested in that sort of thing and has no desire to step into that sort of role. no rules no responsibilities after all #and kryptos at most had super vague “maybe it'd be nice” feelings about being a dad in the second dimension #and then post 2nd dimension burning partying with bill 'till the end of time seemed like so much more fun #so yeah. very much not fic canon in any way shape or form. pun intended #but i think the design is cute and i'm just a sucker for making fankid designs-- especially with nonhuman characters-- so... vernie! #you'll notice that this is the same name i gave the “daughter of a tumblr sexyman” meme design i did and a very similar “flatland form” #i just decided to touch her up a lil because she was leaning way too much into looking like kryptos #my art

[galehowl]

Maybe I should start taking photos of mushrooms I find starting this summer, just for the fun of it, we have quite a few interesting-looking species here if I can even stumble upon them

#honestly I think they're an amazing addition to forests and whatnot #well besides being an important part of ecosystems #I think they make the forests look so pretty #like fairytales #just no one should trust me on properly identifying them #never listen to what I say I'm surprised I'm alive lol #though my strict rule is to never touch anything I'm mildly unsure about #EVER #don't fuck with mushrooms seriously it's so easy to get sick or die #text post #mushrooms

[lunapwrites]

I wish every spider a merry get the fuck out of my bed

#WHY WERE YOU HERE #look. as scared as i am of them #i have a rule #don't touch me or get into my stuff #and you're welcome to vibe wherever #this was a violation of the treaty #and was dealt with accordingly #cw: spiders

[rubberbandballqueen]

hmm i have like, 500-600 taiwan dollars leftover in a tin from the last time i visited relatives... i wonder what would happen if i just handed it to my little cousins like. "yep. here is gift. have fun."

#i heard them trying to sound out 'eidelweiss' on the piano so i've also been thinking of giving them this little music box i bought #a while back that plays eidelweiss. put it in little box with money and letter that is like. 'hello. cousin cares about you.' #'but cousin is awkward and has bad hearing and speaking skills. anyway here's some money and a music box for you.' #i checked n it's like the equivalent of almost 20 usd so like. that's an appropriate gift for nine-year-olds i think #today at work i was cutting glow sticks in half for our craft and i was not wearing any gloves so i got minor chemical burns <3 #like part of the skin on my thumb n pointer finger got bleached so i went around n showed alllll the kids #like. 'hey. check out my chemical burn. this is why we wouldn't let you guys cut open the glow sticks yourselves.' #'because it will do This to you if you touch them too long. this is why we had you wash your hands when you finished.' #n some of them were like 'just wash it off' n i was like. 'it is a chemical burn. it is on my skin.' #at least i Think it was a chemical burn but i mean it was very minor (makes sense bc it's just glow sticks) so the skin's flaked off by now #similar happens when i touch my hair bleach w/o gloves so i'm Pretty Sure it was chemical burns #we had a table of kids who were speaking cn to each other so at some point i pieced together they didn't seem to pay attn. bc low en skills #anyway i broke my own rule abt no phones at work to look up 'chemical burns' in cn for them bc although they know i speak Some cn #(by giving them minor instructions for the glow stick craft) i was like. 'chemical burns... how to say....' #apparently they are mostly from taiwan which is fun i love it when i Don't receive microaggressions for writing in traditional c': #today's my only camp shift for the week tho... one of my coworkers died last week so i told my boss i could pick up his camp shifts #if no one else had but apparently i'd go over hours this week... feelsbad man. it's summer + we're always understaffed #so there's gonna be a point when the front desk worker is gonna be covering the camps for a little bit which is. i feel bad ahaha #the worm speaks

[sapphic-schizo]

still so mad that my mom threw out my 3/4 full tub of gochujang....

#like if u don't know what it is never seen it before don't know what's in it don't remember buying it #then maybe like don't touch it perhaps #easiest rule of living with other people #if u don't recognize something in the fridge don't touch it don't look at it pretend it doesn't exist

[jedi-bird]

Partner asked me to clean up their old computer area today so they can get to some parts. They've been refusing to clean up this area for years and suddenly it's a priority. I'm very willing to do, even though I had other things I wanted to do today. However I did warn them that they don't get to get upset when I make executive decisions and throw things out (like the old broken chair and the fifty empty packages for things we don't even own anymore and the junk mail); if they wanted to keep that stuff, they needed to clean up for themselves. I'm about half way through the area, which is good because my allergies are going crazy.

#birdy tries to be a good adult #the rule in the house is everyone needs to sort out their own possessions #i will do the housework and clean and do laundry #but i will not throw out other people's things unless they tell me to #my mom used to throw mine and my grandparent's stuff out without asking and we lost a lot of important things #but funnily enough she got mad if we even dared touch something that was hers #so i don't like getting rid of others things unless they're gone forever #I'm carefully packing up partner's art supplies so they stop falling down and putting old magazines in a box for them to look at #I'm only getting rid of things that are definitely trash and that i know they will be okay with once they see what it is #or things like supplements that expired 6 years ago #I'm glad I'm almost done though #my eye itch and my nose won't stop running

[stranger-awakening]

person at that convention holding a copy of the social network during his photo op with andrew garfield is the realest of all of us oh my g o d

#losing my damn mind that is so iconic actually #i don't like looking at fans photos cause like that's for you not for me but that one made me do a lil cackle it must be said #also his no touching rule was absolutely valid and ok and A Lot of people are showing themselves are creeps real quick #people are not products and you are not entitled to be in their personal space #jess rants about life

[ms-demeanor]

So You Need To Buy A Computer But You Don't Know What Specs Are Good These Days

Hi.

This is literally my job.

Lots of people are buying computers for school right now or are replacing computers as their five-year-old college laptop craps out so here's the standard specs you should be looking for in a (windows) computer purchase in August 2023.

PROCESSOR

Intel i5 (no older than 10th Gen)

Ryzen 7

You can get away with a Ryzen 5 but an intel i3 should be an absolute last resort. You want at least an intel i5 or a Ryzen 7 processor. The current generation of intel processors is 13, but anything 10 or newer is perfectly fine. DO NOT get a higher performance line with an older generation; a 13th gen i5 is better than an 8th gen i7. (Unfortunately I don't know enough about ryzens to tell you which generation is the earliest you should get, but staying within 3 generations is a good rule of thumb)

RAM

8GB absolute minimum

If you don't have at least 8GB RAM on a modern computer it's going to be very, very slow. Ideally you want a computer with at least 16GB, and it's a good idea to get a computer that will let you add or swap RAM down the line (nearly all desktops will let you do this, for laptops you need to check the specs for Memory and see how many slots there are and how many slots are available; laptops with soldered RAM cannot have the memory upgraded - this is common in very slim laptops)

STORAGE

256GB SSD

Computers mostly come with SSDs these days; SSDs are faster than HDDs but typically have lower storage for the same price. That being said: SSDs are coming down in price and if you're installing your own drive you can easily upgrade the size for a low cost. Unfortunately that doesn't do anything for you for the initial purchase.

A lot of cheaper laptops will have a 128GB SSD and, because a lot of stuff is stored in the cloud these days, that can be functional. I still recommend getting a bit more storage than that because it's nice if you can store your music and documents and photos on your device instead of on the cloud. You want to be able to access your files even if you don't have internet access.

But don't get a computer with a big HDD instead of getting a computer with a small SSD. The difference in speed is noticeable.

SCREEN (laptop specific)

Personally I find that touchscreens have a negative impact on battery life and are easier to fuck up than standard screens. They are also harder to replace if they get broken. I do not recommend getting a touch screen unless you absolutely have to.

A lot of college students especially tend to look for the biggest laptop screen possible; don't do that. It's a pain in the ass to carry a 17" laptop around campus and with the way that everything is so thin these days it's easier to damage a 17" screen than a 14" screen.

On the other end of that: laptops with 13" screens tend to be very slim devices that are glued shut and impossible to work on or upgrade.

Your best bet (for both functionality and price) is either a 14" or a 15.6" screen. If you absolutely positively need to have a 10-key keyboard on your laptop, get the 15.6". If you need something portable more than you need 10-key, get a 14"

FORM FACTOR (desktop specific)

If you purchase an all-in-one desktop computer I will begin manifesting in your house physically. All-in-ones take away every advantage desktops have in terms of upgradeability and maintenance; they are expensive and difficult to repair and usually not worth the cost of disassembling to upgrade.

There are about four standard sizes of desktop PC: All-in-One (the size of a monitor with no other footprint), Tower (Big! probably at least two feet long in two directions), Small Form Factor Tower (Very moderate - about the size of a large shoebox), and Mini/Micro/Tiny (Small! about the size of a small hardcover book).

If you are concerned about space you are much better off getting a MicroPC and a bracket to put it on your monitor than you are getting an all-in-one. This will be about a million percent easier to work on than an all-in-one and this way if your monitor dies your computer is still functional.

Small form factor towers and towers are the easiest to work on and upgrade; if you need a burly graphics card you need to get a full size tower, but for everything else a small form factor tower will be fine. Most of our business sales are SFF towers and MicroPCs, the only time we get something larger is if we have to put a $700 graphics card in it. SFF towers will accept small graphics cards and can handle upgrades to the power supply; MicroPCs can only have the RAM and SSD upgraded and don't have room for any other components or their own internal power supply.

WARRANTY

Most desktops come with either a 1 or 3 year warranty; either of these is fine and if you want to upgrade a 1 year to a 3 year that is also fine. I've generally found that if something is going to do a warranty failure on desktop it's going to do it the first year, so you don't get a hell of a lot of added mileage out of an extended warranty but it doesn't hurt and sometimes pays off to do a 3-year.

Laptops are a different story. Laptops mostly come with a 1-year warranty and what I recommend everyone does for every laptop that will allow it is to upgrade that to the longest warranty you can get with added drop/damage protection. The most common question our customers have about laptops is if we can replace a screen and the answer is usually "yes, but it's going to be expensive." If you're purchasing a low-end laptop, the parts and labor for replacing a screen can easily cost more than half the price of a new laptop. HOWEVER, the way that most screens get broken is by getting dropped. So if you have a warranty with drop protection, you just send that sucker back to the factory and they fix it for you.

So, if it is at all possible, check if the manufacturer of a laptop you're looking at has a warranty option with drop protection. Then, within 30 days (though ideally on the first day you get it) of owning your laptop, go to the manufacturer site, register your serial number, and upgrade the warranty. If you can't afford a 3-year upgrade at once set a reminder for yourself to annually renew. But get that drop protection, especially if you are a college student or if you've got kids.

And never, ever put pens or pencils on your laptop keyboard. I've seen people ruin thousand dollar, brand-new laptops that they can't afford to fix because they closed the screen on a ten cent pencil. Keep liquids away from them too.

LIFESPAN

There's a reasonable chance that any computer you buy today will still be able to turn on and run a program or two in ten years. That does not mean that it is "functional."

At my office we estimate that the functional lifespan of desktops is 5-7 years and the functional lifespan of laptops is 3-5 years. Laptops get more wear and tear than desktops and desktops are easier to upgrade to keep them running. At 5 years for desktops and 3 years for laptops you should look at upgrading the RAM in the device and possibly consider replacing the SSD with a new (possibly larger) model, because SSDs and HDDs don't last forever.

COST

This means that you should think of your computers as an annual investment rather than as a one-time purchase. It is more worthwhile to pay $700 for a laptop that will work well for five years than it is to pay $300 for a laptop that will be outdated and slow in one year (which is what will happen if you get an 8th gen i3 with 8GB RAM). If you are going to get a $300 laptop try to get specs as close as possible to the minimums I've laid out here.

If you have to compromise on these specs, the one that is least fixable is the processor. If you get a laptop with an i3 processor you aren't going to be able to upgrade it even if you can add more RAM or a bigger SSD. If you have to get lower specs in order to afford the device put your money into the processor and make sure that the computer has available slots for upgrade and that neither the RAM nor the SSD is soldered to the motherboard. (one easy way to check this is to search "[computer model] RAM upgrade" on youtube and see if anyone has made a video showing what the inside of the laptop looks like and how much effort it takes to replace parts)

Computers are expensive right now. This is frustrating, because historically consumer computer prices have been on a downward trend but since 2020 that trend has been all over the place. Desktop computers are quite expensive at the moment (August 2023) and decent laptops are extremely variably priced.

If you are looking for a decent, upgradeable laptop that will last you a few years, here are a couple of options that you can purchase in August 2023 that have good prices for their specs:

14" Lenovo - $670 - 11th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD

15.6" HP - $540 - 11th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD

14" Dell - $710 - 12th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD

If you are looking for a decent, affordable desktop that will last you a few years, here are a couple of options that you can purchase in August 2023 that have good prices for their specs:

SFF HP - $620 - 10th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD

SFF Lenovo - $560 - Ryzen 7 5000 series, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD

Dell Tower - $800 - 10th-gen i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD

If I were going to buy any of these I'd probably get the HP laptop or the Dell Tower. The HP Laptop is actually a really good price for what it is.

Anyway happy computering.

[lgbtlunaverse]

There's a version of the "don't go grocery shopping while hungry" rule specifically for writers where you should never under any circumstances be allowed to touch your draft within 3 hours of reading a really good story. Because sometimes when you read something great your head goes "fuck this is so much better than my stuff I should make that more like THIS instead!" Look at me. That's the devil talking and you should close the document NOW.

#you will make superficial edits that do not gell well with the rest of your work #and won't actually capture what you thought was so good about that story #close the doc. sit down. think about it for a while. inspiration is fine. getting a 'eureka' moment from another story is fine #but if you find yourself comparing your work one to one with someone else's and taking any differences to be flaws on your part then STOP #you will never write good stuff by trying to make it look less like you wrote it #writing #writing advice #guess who just had to go into her google doc history and undo a bunch of panic-induced edits #because she read a fic about the same characters she's writing for? #meeee. they aged badly within just a few hours of hindsight. learn from my mistakes #self-hatred is not a good motivation for creation #fic writing

[running-in-the-dark]

and it just occurred to me that when we move, I might try to find a new therapist. there might be one/a few right in the town we're moving to (I haven't checked), but we'll be really close to a city then. so I could get there regularly (maybe. it's very scary but maybe I can manage it). so. I should probably do that? maybe find someone who'll like.... do more than just accept that I've got social anxiety (because that's what I said when I first saw my previous therapist) and help me figure out the real problem.

#like I mean I. probably have autism or adhd yeah sure. like that's just. I'm just assuming that for now. #but. the thing that really affects me more than anything at this point #is the stupid fucking rules I have to follow because my brain makes them up and I don't have a choice #and the. well everything else that's probably all related to that. #but i don't wanna go there and be like hi I think i might have ocd #because I've been so ashamed of all of this stuff for 20+ years that the thought of talking about it with a person I have to look at and wh #will ask questions about it and then possibly say nope your brain's just really fucked up. #that thought is. so horrifying idk I don't think I could do that #but I struggle with it so much every day that. idk maybe I need to do it anyway? I didn't think I could talk about the social anxiety stuff #either and I did that for years in the end. and it helped a bit. #but idk maybe it's just. pointless? I don't know how to be any other way. I've never not lived like this? I don't remember ever not having #to follow these rules and feeling like I'm disgusting for having bad thoughts and having stupid routines that I have to follow because if I #don't a Bad Thing will happen. but that part got better so maybe it's not that serious anyway and I've just been imagining all of it #because my brain is bad and all of that. #maybe it's fine that I can't touch dirty things and that if I don't tell my husband to drive safe I have to think about him crashing the ca #and it being my fault all day and almost breaking several door handles because I have to check three times if the door is really locked and #it's never enough so it's usually 3x3 times or more. and just. #just. everything I like has to be good and pure and perfect and if it's not and I can't stop myself from liking it anyway I feel disgusting #and guilty and like I'm personally responsible for every bad thing in the world because I just can't be right. #and if I could the bad things would stop #I don't think. that's how people are supposed to think? right? I feel like if everyone spent most of their time thinking about this and #doing everything to make sure they follow these rules then. idk nothing would ever get done? it's just so hard? #but no it's probably just that I'm so bad at handling it and everything is always hard for everyone and no one complains because they're #better at being human. #idk man all I know is this is fucking exhausting and I can't do this for. however many years I'll be alive for. it's been long enough #I'm tired of it #and maybe I shouldn't be on here. maybe it's time to step away again for a while. so much of this messes with my head. I can't handle the #guilt I feel from every stupid post that I saw. oh that's something people argue about? great that's been added to the list of things that #have to feel bad about now. #doesn't matter how much I disagree on a rational level. I don't get to decide. if I know it exists it will bother me. and I can't do it

[madegeeky]

Epic Free Games (til 17 Nov 2023, 10am ct)

Earthlock is an indie developed, adventure RPG inspired by the classic 3D RPGs of the late 90's, with a fresh take on turn based combat and character progression.

Survive and thrive in a post-apocalyptic future — resources are scarce, but opportunity calls! Build the ultimate disaster proof colony, protect your colonists, and restore civilization to a devastated world.

#free games roundup #next week's game is a sci-fi adventure #which my ears always perk up a bit when i see a game that looks like an old school adventure #i have a harder time with sci-fi stuff though #ironically enough first person shooters #which i also don't normally like #are the exceptions to the rule #the only fps that i've ever really liked #are ones that have sci-fi elements to them #metro 2033 and last light as well as bioshock infinite #very different game with very different themes but in some ways they're weirdly similar #do you like games that are apocalyptic or feel that way #do you like touches of supernatural elements #do you like a story about a man trying to right an unforgivable act (metro last light not 2033) #i'm sure there are several more but it's been a very long time since i've played bioshock infinite