EsteeBestee's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on Taskmaster Series 17, Episode 1 - 'Grappling with my life' | Full episode in ~tv
EsteeBestee Link ParentThat’s one of those tasks that isn’t that funny, but is genuinely impressive, I loved it! I’m 10000% surprised that Sophie is actually competent at something.That’s one of those tasks that isn’t that funny, but is genuinely impressive, I loved it! I’m 10000% surprised that Sophie is actually competent at something.
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
EsteeBestee Link ParentYeah, I'm definitely not skipping any! And after I'm done, I'll probably do a watch of Voyager, as well. I'm not sure I saw any of those episodes as a kid, so that will be entirely new, I don't...Yeah, I'm definitely not skipping any! And after I'm done, I'll probably do a watch of Voyager, as well. I'm not sure I saw any of those episodes as a kid, so that will be entirely new, I don't actually know who any of the characters are yet except Janeway.
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
EsteeBestee LinkI started watching Deep Space Nine a few weeks ago and just finished season 1 (and watched the 3 part start of season 2). I grew up watching Trek with my dad when it was on, so I've definitely...I started watching Deep Space Nine a few weeks ago and just finished season 1 (and watched the 3 part start of season 2). I grew up watching Trek with my dad when it was on, so I've definitely seen episodes of DS9 before, but unlike TNG, I haven't yet watched it all the way through, so I decided to start. I don't really remember any specifics from when I was a kid (I would have been watching this from like age 5-10), so it's basically new to me.
At first, I intended to look up a skip list because the thought of watching 7 seasons is daunting, but I found that I was immensely enjoying even the episodes some consider to be the "worst" episodes of the show. The vibes are just immaculate and it hits entirely different from any modern TV show. Obviously the special effects don't hold up, but the acting, writing, storylines, and emotional beats certainly do. Even though it can absolutely be cheesy at times (or even most of the time), it still manages to tug on the heart strings or get you thinking about a moral quandary almost every episode.
The characters are all likable, but all flawed; even Quark isn't one dimensional. It's honestly impressive how "real" the characters and atmosphere of the show feels when it was originally written to pump out 176 episodes over 6 years. So far, Jadzia is my favorite, though Kira grew on me a lot towards the end of season 1 and definitely during those first three episodes of season 2. Sisko is not yet my favorite captain, but I've heard the show in general is a lot better in later season and I'm guessing he'll grow on me later, he just solves problems in a way that I personally wouldn't, so I actually really enjoy getting to see that difference between what I would do and what Sisko does.
I'm still watching through some other modern shows like Fallout and Shogun, but DS9 has been fantastic for "I want to watch 2 episodes of something that is a low effort watch" (by "low effort" I mean that you aren't looking for pretty shots or there for the score, you're here to meet some lovely characters and watch them solve problems, it requires less investment even if you are still mentally and emotionally invested in the plots).
As an aside, it's almost astounding how far ahead of its time Trek was when it comes to social and political issues. The way it handles issues regarding sexism, race, LGBT people, conflicts, or other things is notable and mostly holds up as a good moral compass. I've been quite happy to watch an older show that actually treats the character in its universe fairly instead of a lot of other 90's dribble which can be filled with sexism, racism, and homophobia.
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Comment on I just switched to an iPhone, what should I do to make the most of this change? in ~tech
EsteeBestee Link ParentI very much feel that. I’ve had a Mac for work for a couple years now and a personal iPad for a year, so I knew coming into this that I’d have to do things apple’s way. For most things, that’s...I very much feel that. I’ve had a Mac for work for a couple years now and a personal iPad for a year, so I knew coming into this that I’d have to do things apple’s way. For most things, that’s fine, but it can be a bit annoying when it comes to small things (like how I just will not have a keyboard with a comma on the main layout now).
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Comment on Have you had a life-altering change in who you are? in ~talk
EsteeBestee LinkOh my god yes. I even sometimes laugh to myself about how different I am now at 31 than I was even at 26, much less 18. Nobody in my life right now would believe me if I told them, but in my early...Oh my god yes. I even sometimes laugh to myself about how different I am now at 31 than I was even at 26, much less 18. Nobody in my life right now would believe me if I told them, but in my early 20's, I was the quintessential right leaning atheist neckbeard. Now I'm a very left leaning woman who cringes at the very thought of who I used to be, it almost doesn't feel like that was me at all, since I'm so radically different from that person in almost every regard.
I grew up in a rural, religious, republican family. I was always a good egg, but it was pretty hard when growing up trying to reconcile my own feelings on world views, political issues, and equality vs what people around me would say and do. I don't remember ever hating minorities, LGBT people, etc. growing up nor do I remember being "pro-life" at any point or anything like that, but I think I probably did or said some racist or homophobic things without thinking much of it, considering how I was raised. Even when I went to college in a very left leaning area and started leaning more left, myself, I was still holding on to some old ideals that I want to barf about nowadays.
There was a definite and specific point where it changed for me: when I finally accepted I was transgender. That fact forced me to reconstruct my entire world view, since now I'm somebody who is discriminated against and somebody who benefits from social structures that are generally created by or associated with left leaning communities. I did a complete flip of who I was in the last 7 years, and even who I was after my first couple years of transition is completely different to who I am now, now that I sort of found my footing in the world (the first couple years of transition was a lot of overcompensating for me, since I was excited that I could finally try to be myself, though I didn't know what that meant).
So yeah, for me, it was maybe more sudden, quick, and radical changes compared to some, but it genuinely felt like opening my eyes for the first time when I started to find out who I was and what that actually means.
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Comment on I just switched to an iPhone, what should I do to make the most of this change? in ~tech
EsteeBestee LinkI'm in the exact same boat! I've been an android user since 2010 or so and I bought an iPhone 15 just last week, coming from a Pixel 6. I desperately needed something smaller and I kind of wanted...I'm in the exact same boat! I've been an android user since 2010 or so and I bought an iPhone 15 just last week, coming from a Pixel 6. I desperately needed something smaller and I kind of wanted to switch up ecosystems a bit and try something new. There were also some annoyances with the Pixel platform (mostly from it being a cheaper phone, like it just didn't have as good of a camera, for example), so it was time to switch.
The biggest thing for me was setting up sleep focus (and customizing the do not disturb focus). What it does (or at least what I have it set up to do) is that you can set a schedule where your phone turns off notifications at a certain time at night and then automatically sets an alarm for the morning. You can also have certain contacts or apps bypass the notification blocker. So I have it set up to stop notifications at 11:45pm (bed time for me is usually 12:30-01:00 am) and set an alarm for 8:10am every day and allow texts and calls from my family in case of emergency. You can also have it change your phone's background or other options, too, to help you wind down.
As far as a "do not disturb" focus, I found that when the "ring/silent" switch on the side is set to ring, you cannot have it set to vibrate only, it always has an audible ringer (though you can make it quiet, but I was hoping I could use the switch as a toggle for vibrate and silent, and you kind of can't). So a DND focus was the closest thing I could find to a silent mode on android, so that's why I set that one up (I only ever use vibrate or silent, I hate using ringers).
In the same vein, I recommend getting a magsafe charger on a stand that lets you charge your phone landscape, like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9X1RY8G because "StandBy" is fantastic. I have it set so it shows a clock and the weather when I tap the phone while it's charging at night, so if I get up before my alarm and want to check the time, I can use it as basically an alarm clock without having to pick it up and then see notifications and all that.
I'm sure you'll hit the same learning curve annoyances as me, but I've been using my phone heavily for about 10 days to get used to it now and I'm very satisfied. The keyboard still feels not quite right to me and I keep forgetting I have to go to the phone's setting menu to change app settings instead of through apps themselves, but I'll get used to it. I definitely found some great features so far that will keep me satisfied with this phone for at least four years. I wanted to get something that I would be okay using for more than 2 years to stop being wasteful and I just couldn't stick it out on my pixel 6 for another 2 years.
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Comment on Networked geothermal is catching on in Minnesota in ~enviro
EsteeBestee LinkThis is awesome! I'm so proud of my state lately for making so many advances in social issues, economic issues, and energy issues! I don't know a whole lot about geothermal, but that article was...This is awesome! I'm so proud of my state lately for making so many advances in social issues, economic issues, and energy issues! I don't know a whole lot about geothermal, but that article was very well detailed and got me up to speed. I'm looking forward to advances in renewable energy here, since that's one main area we're lacking when compared to similarly sized/populated european countries that do a good job with renewables.
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Comment on Pompeii: new paintings found in ~humanities.history
EsteeBestee LinkThat's incredible! When I was in Chicago, I made sure to go to the science and industry museum. At the time, they had a Pompeii exhibit and it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. It was...That's incredible! When I was in Chicago, I made sure to go to the science and industry museum. At the time, they had a Pompeii exhibit and it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. It was just absurd how well preserved some art and architecture was, much of it looked brand new and all of it was beautiful! If any of you get a chance to see a Pompeii exhibit, do it. It's both beautiful and absolutely haunting.
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Comment on Destiny 2: The Final Shape | Developer gameplay preview in ~games
EsteeBestee LinkThe gameplay for The Final Shape is looking absolutely stellar! Bungie is correct when they said they were holding things close to their chest, these changes look MASSIVE. Never did I think we'd...The gameplay for The Final Shape is looking absolutely stellar! Bungie is correct when they said they were holding things close to their chest, these changes look MASSIVE. Never did I think we'd get a chance to mix and match subclasses or mix and match exotic perks and combine them, even between other classes!
I, like many Destiny 2 players, am currently burnt out after having played a thousand hours since Witch Queen, but I'm ready for another good expansion and to wrap up the story.
Additionally, Into the Light came out yesterday, their new game mode/story/weapon drops leading into The Final Shape. The main new thing is a wave based defense game. It actually plays quite well, and you spend the rewards you get in a new Shaxx themed social space where you can unlock some of his "forbidden" weapons (previously sunset weapons). It's a free thing, so definitely log in to try it, I had more fun than I thought I would yesterday.
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Destiny 2: The Final Shape | Developer gameplay preview
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Comment on Tildes is changing the way I use and think about online engagement. How about you? in ~tildes
EsteeBestee (edited )LinkThis sounds dramatic, but Tildes has been life changing for me. Really, it could have been any singular small forum similar to this, but it has fundamentally changed how I interact with the...This sounds dramatic, but Tildes has been life changing for me. Really, it could have been any singular small forum similar to this, but it has fundamentally changed how I interact with the internet. I'm a 90's kid and definitely used to use old school forums back in the day, but I very much fell in with the rise of social media in the 00's and 10's. I was never much of a twitter user, but I was using facebook daily and was, in retrospect, addicted to reddit.
I signed up for Tildes in 2018, used it for a little bit, and I'm pretty sure I fell off since I was still addicted to reddit. In the last 2-3 years I started to turn a leaf in the way I consume content on the internet. I stopped freaking out at headlines posted on reddit and spent more time reading sources, reading studies behind sources when applicable, etc., but I was still stuck in that stupid angry box where comment sections are 99% arguments.
When reddit started doing reddit things last year, that gave me an opportunity to quit cold turkey and start using Tildes as my main "online social interaction" site (not calling it social media since it really is not). At first, it was rough trying to train myself out of the reddit mentality. It took a lot of effort to be satisfied with 10 new posts in my feed a day instead of 200, and losing image or video based communities also took some getting used to. I found it was harder for me at first to keep up with news in sectors I care about (motorsports, gaming, etc.) since on reddit that stuff gets posted immediately, but here there's maybe one person that posts F1 news, nobody posts Indycar, etc., so it started prompting me to go out and actually seek news myself instead of waiting for it to plop in my lap.
In addition to the above, the smaller community here is just so lovely. Not only are heated arguments less common, thoughtful discussion is more common, friendly discussion and casual discussion is more common, and I absolutely love seeing some of the same usernames around. When I post and read through the "what are you playing this week" gaming thread, I feel so much more engaged with the community when it's now people I "know" and I can see their gaming habits over time. It feels much more like a community and almost like a shared blog space (that thread in particular, not necessarily the entire site). I know Tildes probably isn't for everybody, but the vibes for me are immaculate.
Now that I'm about a year into primarily using tildes for online interaction (besides discord to talk to IRL friends), I don't want to ever go back to social media. The way I consume content and view the internet in general has drastically changed for the better partly because of this site. It's very noticeable now how my internet habits differ from my friends, the level of "terminal onlineness" between them and I is staggering. I'm still online every day of my life, but the way I use the internet is with more purpose now. Instead of logging into reddit for 3 hours because I'm bored and want to scroll, I'm logging into tildes with the goal of learning something new or having a good discussion, or going to a news site to read actual news instead of just having the headlines pop up in my feed.
As an aside, rage bait news is almost entirely out of my life now and it genuinely affects my daily mood. I didn't realize how in the dumps I constantly was from the endless barrage of depressing news. While it's extremely important to stay informed on current events, now instead of seeing 100 headlines a week about how LGBT people are losing rights or something, I'm instead reading two or three articles. I'm just as informed, but my mindset is a whole lot less doomer.
I can't help but feel sad about the whole thing. It's now very clear to me how social media users are the product of their site. Feeds exist to addict you, get you to click on things, make you dependent on the site, to shove ads in your face, etc. It's very dystopian from my current point of view and I wish more people realized it. There are ways for people to interact with reddit, facebook, or twitter in a healthy and moderated manner, but so many people just get addicted instead, which isn't their fault. So for everyone's sake, I hope more people can find small communities they vibe well with, such as tildes, to kick social media to the curb!
Edit: one more thing I thought of is how my need of validation has significantly dropped. Places like reddit and twitter train you to want to see your likes or upvotes or whatever go brrrrrr and teach you that your opinion is only valid if a hundred other people think so. While that habit has been extremely hard to kick, it has less of a hold on me now. I do still check all of my comments on Tildes after a few days to see if someone read it/voted it, so I still deep down "need" that validation, but it's a lot less intense now and rapidly waning (I find myself satisfied if just a single person read my comment rather than needing an army of people to validate me).
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee LinkThe iRacing grind continues! I've been doing a pretty good job of doing at least a race or two a week, and it helps that there have been a ton of team events lately so that I have more incentive...The iRacing grind continues! I've been doing a pretty good job of doing at least a race or two a week, and it helps that there have been a ton of team events lately so that I have more incentive to race than if I was just driving solo. I'm definitely getting better again after I lost some skill when I was only doing a race every month or something. I'm still trying to find a series that is "home" for me, right now I'm still jumping around to different cars, but I'll get there. I really, really enjoy the indycar, but those races can be pretty disastrous compared to something like a GT3 car, which can at least take a little bumping.
I picked up Slice & Dice this week and I enjoy it! It doesn't have the same addictive factor that Balatro has so far, but I think it's a nice change of pace if I want to stop seeing clubs in my sleep. The strategy is deep enough where it's definitely not weenie hut jr's, but it's also not over the top difficult; I feel that it strikes a good balance. My favorite part is probably the leveling up system and how that's handled. For those that haven't played, you have a party of 5 adventurers. Each has a class and each class has a unique die (d6). The faces might have attacks, defense, mana, special abilities, or blanks. After each fight, one of two of your adventurers gets to level up, so you get a couple classes to choose from that essentially make the character's die better or more specialized. It might get better attacks, the blanks might fill up, or they might get different abilities all together! The abilities range from simple attacks to attacks that do extra damage if a condition is filled, some abilities can redirect damage, etc. It's a little like darkest dungeon, where positioning and trying to balance damage is a key mechanic. It's a cheap and fun strategy game, I do recommend!
Lastly, the gameplay preview for Destiny 2: The Final Shape came out today. I guess it's not really something I "played" but wow do they have some great ideas for the expansion. I did however login today to play Into the Light, the new activity/story/weapons drop or whatever you want to call it. The new game mode is unique (to destiny) and pretty well done! It was a good balance of fun, but spooky. They absolutely shower you with rewards, too. If you haven't played in a while, I recommend checking it out (it's free, not another season).
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Comment on This is World of WarCraft in ~games
EsteeBestee (edited )LinkThis hits hard, and it hits even harder when this is happening to MMOs as a genre (and even multiplayer games as a whole), not just WoW (though WoW specifically is probably very special to many of...This hits hard, and it hits even harder when this is happening to MMOs as a genre (and even multiplayer games as a whole), not just WoW (though WoW specifically is probably very special to many of us on here and is certainly the most culturally significant MMO). I played FF14 for a while 2 years ago and while that was more social than WoW at the time, it still has the conveyor belt dungeon finder, boosts, etc. With the current state of gaming, I'm not sure we'll ever get another MMO that feels quite the same as some of the classics, and I don't think it's just nostalgia saying that.
I do think there's still room in the genre if a developer can come in with some fresh ideas, but I don't think it would ever be possible to emulate the social feel of a 90's or 00's MMO, you just don't have as many people willing to communicate with strangers in games that much anymore and it's probably hell as a developer to try to keep people active in your game in this day and age, considering the level of choice people have in gaming. We keep seeing new MMOs come and then go almost immediately and I personally would love to see a revival of the genre. I know there are still some out there going strong (WoW, WoW Classic, FF14, Destiny 2*), but I can't say that anything has really captured the same feel in a very long time.
The closest for me has been Destiny 2, I suppose, it got me back into doing dungeons and raids as a group with people, but that's because I was able to enlist a dozen friends to play with regularly. I imagine if I started playing by myself that I would have the same experience as a new WoW retail player might have these days, where even though you're playing a "massively multiplayer" game, it's utterly lonely. Personally, I'm extremely thirsty for another social game like 00's WoW, but I think it's just wishful thinking, gaming is too large now and I think with how easy it is to connect with people online now (though forums, discord, etc.), people are getting their fill of social activities elsewhere or in other games that are more accessible.
And I'm not really trying to say the current state of gaming is bad or anything, in some ways it is many times better than it used to be, I think it's just harder for a game like 00's WoW to be successful nowadays, the landscape has completely changed and it's just not the "in" thing.
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Comment on What's a game that you feel is almost great? in ~games
EsteeBestee LinkI played through a bunch of Star Wars: The Old Republic last year and I think that's my pick. There are a lot of good bones in that game, especially after many, many updates, but I just can't help...I played through a bunch of Star Wars: The Old Republic last year and I think that's my pick. There are a lot of good bones in that game, especially after many, many updates, but I just can't help but feel it was held back due to releasing at the exact time it did. It's certainly a good MMO both by 2011 standards and by somewhat modern standards, but I can't help but feel the game would have been received much differently if it just came out a few years later to get some distance from the tab-targeting MMO graveyard and instead have a combat system closer to Black Desert or something, that would make you more "in control" of your character. But the story, voice acting, and atmosphere is all there, it just needed some extra "oomph" to make it it's own thing instead of an attempted WoW killer that resulted in "yet another tab target MMO" combat holding back an otherwise good game.
To be honest, I think this is the case with many MMOs. Most are serviceable, or even good games, and then there's a handful that are just on the verge of greatness, but nearly all of them just miss the mark (Wildstar and New World might be others, where they were doing some unique things and just never quite got the traction they needed to stay alive).
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee Link ParentThanks for the rec! I'm a fan of physics puzzles (I think I told you I'd be getting to TP2 soon, too), so I'll definitely wishlist Entropy Centre!Thanks for the rec! I'm a fan of physics puzzles (I think I told you I'd be getting to TP2 soon, too), so I'll definitely wishlist Entropy Centre!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee Link ParentWell, I suppose it was your turn to addict me to a game after I addicted to you Balatro lmao. Thanks for the rec for Slice and Dice, I'll check it out this week!Well, I suppose it was your turn to addict me to a game after I addicted to you Balatro lmao. Thanks for the rec for Slice and Dice, I'll check it out this week!
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Comment on What makes you chew fire? in ~talk
EsteeBestee Link ParentI'm a massive Mass Effect fan and I have yet to fully come to terms with BioWare not being the same. I know that even if ME4 comes out, it will not be the same, but I just keep hoping. Here's...I'm a massive Mass Effect fan and I have yet to fully come to terms with BioWare not being the same. I know that even if ME4 comes out, it will not be the same, but I just keep hoping. Here's hoping to a good DA4 and ME4 for both our sakes. You're right that I should be looking elsewhere for my epic RPGs now (thanks Larian, lol).
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee LinkI'm still addicted to Minecraft. It just hits different when you have a handful of dedicated friends to play with. Not much to say, it's Minecraft, but it is scratching the creative outlet itch I...I'm still addicted to Minecraft. It just hits different when you have a handful of dedicated friends to play with. Not much to say, it's Minecraft, but it is scratching the creative outlet itch I have. I've built a Viking themed house and forge, which I'm in love with, and I started a wizard tower! The majority of my friends are currently working on a rail system from our town to nearby villages and points of interest!
Besides that, I talked about iRacing the past couple weeks and it's been going great! I've held myself to doing more official races, my new wheel has been utterly fantastic (which I talked about last week), and my team got P3 in GT3 in our split of the Sebring 12 hour! That makes two Sebring podiums in a row for me, and four podiums in my last 5 team races! I'm definitely improving and I was a lot closer to top team pace in this race than usual! I'm going to keep doing Indy open on Mondays, F4 Americas on Sunday, and I'm still trying to nail down a sports car series and night.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee (edited )Link ParentI'm going to have to skip over most of your comment because TP2 is my #1 wishlist game and I'm very excited to play, but don't want to spoil myself! Glad to hear you loved it!I'm going to have to skip over most of your comment because TP2 is my #1 wishlist game and I'm very excited to play, but don't want to spoil myself! Glad to hear you loved it!
I've been playing the new onslaught mode in Destiny 2 and it's quite fun. I'm spending the next few weeks getting the weapons and armor from that while clearing up some older quests in my quest log to have a clean slate when The Final Shape drops in a couple months. The game is still fun for me, but I'm definitely not binging it like I used to. I'll probably play the first few months of TFS and do some raiding again, but I feel like the game has run its course for me at this point, and considering that TFS is the conclusion of the current story, I suppose it will be a good stopping point if I start to get bored.
Other than that, I haven't been much in a gaming mood lately. I want to be, but I keep finding myself parking my butt in front of the TV instead to watch the NBA playoffs or Deep Space Nine. While I'm out on the couch though, I should really try to finish Ghost of Tsushima. It's one of my favorite games, but because the game is massive and I want to do all the side quests and collectibles, it is taking me ages to actually get through the main story, but I'm still having fun with it. I boot it up ever month or two and play 10-20 hours and then rinse and repeat.
I may resume my playthrough of Fallout: New Vegas or Fallout 4 soon, as I'm in a fallout mood from the show, now. I've been feeling in the mood for action games, though I don't know if those will quite scratch the exact itch I have. My exact itch is more of a hack and slash or a diablo-esque itch (though not diablo 4 specifically, so idk), but I don't really have anything on deck for that.