kfwyre's recent activity

  1. Comment on Tildes Book Club - The Poisoners Handbook by Deborah Blum - How is it going? in ~books

    kfwyre
    Link
    I am second in line for the audiobook at my library. I’m hoping the person ahead of me finishes it quickly or suspends their hold so that I can finish it for when the discussion topic goes live....

    I am second in line for the audiobook at my library.

    I’m hoping the person ahead of me finishes it quickly or suspends their hold so that I can finish it for when the discussion topic goes live.

    If not though, I’ll just wait it out and add my thoughts late.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on CGA-2025-10 🕹️⏰ 🗺️ 🐸 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Chrono Trigger in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Okay, bigtime spoilers this time. Bigtime Spoilers Went back to The End of Time, and noticed a sparkle in the upper right. This takes me to Lavos in 1999. Cool. Only wait, it turns out this is...

    Okay, bigtime spoilers this time.

    Bigtime Spoilers

    Went back to The End of Time, and noticed a sparkle in the upper right. This takes me to Lavos in 1999. Cool.

    Only wait, it turns out this is like, THE moment I have to change with THE Big Bad.

    The game asks me if I want to fight or flee. I’m like, hell, let’s fight and see how quickly I lose.

    Chat, I didn’t quickly lose.

    Instead, I fought Lavos for A WHOLE HOUR. He shuffled through I don’t know how many phases, including several bosses I haven’t seen yet.

    I was able to keep my head afloat for way longer than I expected, slowly chipping away. It took a LONG time. I had to dig deep into my mid-ether stash and have Reggie/Robo heal practically every opportunity it got.

    Unfortunately, I finally got overwhelmed in a phase where there were two consecutive full-party attacks against me that wiped my whole party.

    It was kind of cool that I was able to hold on that long, and it’s also cool that the game is like “Hey, you want to fight the final boss? Go for it!”

    I’m assuming that there is a lot more story left (I still only have four potential party members, and Frog isn’t one of them yet). I also haven’t fixed the Masamune. I genuinely wasn’t expecting to be able to waltz into the final boss so early.

    That is, of course, assuming that is the final boss? If not, then damn because it sure as hell felt like one. Very cool concept too with it mimicking the bosses you’ve fought so far.

    I don’t need any hints or pointers, but I wanted to share this.

    Also, the “early” boss access has me thinking about how the speedruns for this game must be very interesting, but that’s not something I’m going to look into until I’m done with it.

    3 votes

  3. Comment on CGA-2025-10 🕹️⏰ 🗺️ 🐸 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Chrono Trigger in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I forgot to mention Beginning of Game Spoilers Gato, the singing robot! Such a diva. Love it, and love the music that plays whenever it sings. Makes me smile. I fought...

    Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I forgot to mention

    Beginning of Game Spoilers
    • Gato, the singing robot! Such a diva. Love it, and love the music that plays whenever it sings. Makes me smile. I fought Gato a lot to grind out carnival points or whatever they’re called. Better than waiting out the race results (I rooted for the cat each and every time).

    Also

    Sevenish-Hour Spoilers
    • I’m currently in the Dorohedoro Mountains, and I enjoyed the enemies that were all “Shh, you’ll ruin our ambush!” when you talk to them, only to have them then ambush you. This game has a lot of little fun touches. (Like falling down the waterfall right there too).

  4. Comment on Weekly thread for casual chat and photos of pets in ~life.pets

    kfwyre
    Link
    I had a long workweek. This morning, I sat on my couch, and my dog came over and lay down on his back, wanting a belly rub. I sat there, rubbing and patting his belly until he fell asleep on his...

    I had a long workweek.

    This morning, I sat on my couch, and my dog came over and lay down on his back, wanting a belly rub.

    I sat there, rubbing and patting his belly until he fell asleep on his back, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. He was unbelievably relaxed, and you know what? So was I.

    His calmness calmed me. His comfort comforted me. We sat like that for a long time, with me and my husband idly watching TV together and our dog getting a nap that was restorative for all of us. It was wonderful.

    6 votes

  5. Comment on Real talk with Skyline High School’s violence interrupter in ~society

    kfwyre
    Link
    There’s a great documentary called The Interrupters which focuses on a similar program in Chicago. It’s well worth a watch for anyone interested

    There’s a great documentary called The Interrupters which focuses on a similar program in Chicago.

    It’s well worth a watch for anyone interested

    2 votes

  6. Comment on CGA-2025-10 🕹️⏰ 🗺️ 🐸 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Chrono Trigger in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link
    So, one of my favorite things about The Last Express topic was hearing people talk about their current progress. Those comments were SO fun to read as someone who was already familiar with the...

    So, one of my favorite things about The Last Express topic was hearing people talk about their current progress. Those comments were SO fun to read as someone who was already familiar with the game.

    I hope to return the favor here, as this is my first playthrough, and I know we have a lot of CT veterans here.

    I’ve had a few canned cocktails this evening and am feeling sprightly and time-travely. I’m sharing everything below in the spirit of fun (I’m not looking for hints or anything). Everything is just scattered thoughts I’ve had as I’ve played:

    Minor Spoilers (approximately 7 hours in)

    • I’ve been using the default names for everyone just so I can be on the same page when people talk about characters. This was fine until R-66Y came around. His recommended name is… “Robo.” BORING. I wish I’d stuck with my original thought to name him “Reggie.”

    • I loved that you could go to 65 billion-or-whatever BC. I was hoping the whole time to have a Tomb Raider 1 T Rex moment, but instead nothing really happened? I’m assuming I have to come back here later.

    • I also spent like, a good hour or so grinding in that Jurassic era because the enemies were scary and powerful. It was only towards the end of the hour that I realized I wasn’t getting any money for my grinding. 😭

    • (That’s honestly a great detail though. I’m not mad about it.)

    • I thought the desolate future setting was cool.

    • It’s impressive how the game re-uses assets. You can simultaneously see the limitations of the memory in the cartridge and how the devs tried their best to work around them.

    • When I finally got the chance to select my three-person party from four people, it was like: “do you want to take this cool new robot you found and the person who repaired it, or do you want to separate them?” Felt like a complete non-choice. 😂

    • Felt even easier when I learned that Robo has a healing tech, which was the main draw for having Marle in my party.

    • AND the decision was further vindicated once I unlocked Robo’s heal-all tech.

    • The music is great.

    • The animation for spells/attacks is great in an old-school kind of way. I unlocked Lightning II for Chrono, and when I used it, it was a cool full-screen WOW moment. I bet these visuals SLAPPED back in the day.

    • I like that if I’m a little bit lost, I can just go into a time period and talk to the townsfolk who all have not-so-subtle nudges about what to do next.

    • The petty brother feud between the cook and the commander was fun.

    7 votes

  7. Comment on Help choosing a new linux computer? in ~tech

    kfwyre
    (edited )
    Link
    I've been very happy with my System76 laptop, to the point that my next computer will probably be one of their Thelio desktops which look like they hit a lot of your key points. You do pay a...

    I've been very happy with my System76 laptop, to the point that my next computer will probably be one of their Thelio desktops which look like they hit a lot of your key points. You do pay a premium with them, but they're one of the few Linux-first (and -only) computer vendors out there.

    Also, their support was great in my experience. My motherboard ate the dust and System76 replaced it under warranty. They even sent me their specific packaging for the laptop to ship it to them safely instead of making me box it up myself and hoping for the best.

    Now, getting one right now might be suboptimal. They have their own distro, Pop!_OS (which I really like), but it's been in a bit of a holding pattern while they've been building their own DE, COSMIC. COSMIC just entered beta two weeks ago, so it'll be a bit before it's fully cooked and they move Pop!_OS to use it by default.

    That said, if you have no issues with changing DEs shortly after getting your new computer, or you're planning on using something besides Pop!_OS instead, then I highly recommend them.

    Also, gaming on Linux is a dream these days! Especially if you're going through Steam. It has Proton built in, and by and large, most games Just Work™ to the point that I genuinely don't pay attention to which games have native builds versus Windows builds anymore. If you're more of a GOG and/or Epic gamer, then Heroic is a great launcher for those.

    The one weakspot for Linux gaming is with games that use anti-cheat, as @ogre mentioned here. Many of these simply won't work.

    Also, if you have a particular title that you adore and can't live without, definitely check to see if it's working in Linux. If it doesn’t, I've gotten around that particular limitation a few times by streaming them from my Windows machine using Sunshine + Moonlight.

    7 votes

  8. Comment on CGA-2025-10 🕹️⏰ 🗺️ 🐸 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Chrono Trigger in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    I’m in a similar boat. FFVII was actually the first JRPG I ever played, and I played it with a guide my first time. There are so many missable things in it that it kind of gave me a complex. It...

    I’m in a similar boat. FFVII was actually the first JRPG I ever played, and I played it with a guide my first time. There are so many missable things in it that it kind of gave me a complex. It set deep within me the feeling that an ideal playthrough of anything is a complete one, and I need to scour and study everything so that I don’t miss out.

    This, of course, isn’t very fun, and I’ve been on a decades-long journey to undo that part of myself and just enjoy part of a game rather than killing my enjoyment to see the whole of it.

    With Chrono Trigger I’ve just tried to go with the flow and not consult a guide. It’s been nice. The pacing of the game is good, and I haven’t yet felt that I don’t know what to do, nor have I felt entirely railroaded either.

    I’m only six or so hours in, so those feelings might change with time, but I’m going to try to stick to a deliberately suboptimal playthrough in hopes that I’ll enjoy it more than a technically perfect one.

    4 votes

  9. What happens when the internet goes out at your work?

    ~tech Ask (survey)
    Can you pivot to other tasks, or are you dead in the water? What about others? Your team/department? Tell us what its like for those minutes/hours. How often does the internet drop for you (if at...

    Can you pivot to other tasks, or are you dead in the water? What about others? Your team/department? Tell us what its like for those minutes/hours.

    How often does the internet drop for you (if at all)?

    If you don't ever lose internet at work (lucky you!), answer hypothetically about what would happen.

    32 votes

  10. Comment on High pollen count: The last straw effect on suicide risk in ~health.mental

    kfwyre
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I appreciate the insight, and I’m glad they were life-changing for you! And I hear you on mowing the lawn. I wear an N95 and goggles. To an outside observer it looks like I’m afraid of catching...

    I appreciate the insight, and I’m glad they were life-changing for you!

    And I hear you on mowing the lawn. I wear an N95 and goggles. To an outside observer it looks like I’m afraid of catching COVID from my lawn, but the truth is that I need those to make the process tolerable. Otherwise the grass absolutely destroys me.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on High pollen count: The last straw effect on suicide risk in ~health.mental

  12. Comment on Timasomo 2025: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo

    kfwyre
    Link
    Pinging all Timasomo participants/conversationalists: here’s the new topic for the week. Notification List @ali @Amarok @aphoenix @Areldyb @arqalite @Banazir @bendvis @boxer_dogs_dance...

    Pinging all Timasomo participants/conversationalists: here’s the new topic for the week.

    Notification List

    @ali
    @Amarok
    @aphoenix
    @Areldyb
    @arqalite
    @Banazir
    @bendvis
    @boxer_dogs_dance
    @Bullmaestro
    @CannibalisticApple
    @chocobean
    @chosenamewhendrunk
    @crialpaca
    @davek804
    @delphi
    @dhcrazy333
    @em-dash
    @Evie
    @Falcon79
    @faye_luna
    @feanne
    @Fearghal
    @first-must-burn
    @fnulare
    @Habituallytired
    @IsildursBane
    @Kraetzin
    @longwave
    @lou
    @mat
    @patience_limited
    @Pavouk106
    @RheingoldRiver
    @scrambo
    @sorkceror
    @Tardigrade
    @TheRtRevKaiser
    @TheWhetherMan
    @Tmbreen
    @TonesTones
    @Tygrak
    @tyrny
    @unkz
    @Weldawadyathink
    @WrathOfTheHydra
    @wysiwyg
    @zixx

    If anyone would like to be added to/removed from the list, let me know either here or by PM.

    15 votes

  13. Timasomo 2025: Week 1 Updates

    ~creative.timasomo Text 56 words
    Update us on your progress so far! What did/didn't you get done this week? Anything go according to plan? Anything go off the rails? Any successes or struggles to share? Do you need feedback or...

    Update us on your progress so far!

    • What did/didn't you get done this week?

    • Anything go according to plan?

    • Anything go off the rails?

    • Any successes or struggles to share?

    • Do you need feedback or help on anything?

    This is your topic to share anything and everything you want about what you’ve made so far.

    14 votes

  14. Comment on High pollen count: The last straw effect on suicide risk in ~health.mental

    kfwyre
    Link
    No joke: I just started allergy shots last week. Have my second round tomorrow. I had my first round of allergy testing right before COVID hit. When the nurse went to look at the results of the...

    No joke: I just started allergy shots last week. Have my second round tomorrow.

    I had my first round of allergy testing right before COVID hit. When the nurse went to look at the results of the patch tests on my back, her word-for-word response was “Whoa. Let me get my supervisor.”

    COVID, of course, derailed all of that. I only recently got treatment for my allergies back up and running, and in order to qualify for allergy shots, I had to have current allergy testing, so I had to have it done again.

    This time, with the prick tests, I had so many positives they had to check to make sure I wasn’t allergic to the plastic used by the tests.

    The doctor also said that they look for a 3mm diameter on a reaction to determine a positive, and one of mine was 35mm(!).

    One of my siblings is way more allergic to things than I am (which is genuinely hard to believe). They did allergy shots and said “it brought my allergies down to the level of what most other people would consider ‘allergies’”.

    That sounds like heaven to me. Last spring I almost had to pull my car off the highway one morning on my way to work. I was crying and sneezing so much that I was literally unable to see where I was going. That is: my allergies were so bad that it was unsafe for me to drive.

    The shots take five to six months to take effect, so this coming spring will be the perfect test to see if they’re working.

    13 votes

  15. Comment on Humble Choice - October 2025 in ~games

    kfwyre
    (edited )
    Link
    You: "Hmm, something is different about the table this month." Me: "Yes, it has an new, inescapably more positive aura." You: "But isn't it the same regular table it always is?" Me: "Yes, but also...

    You: "Hmm, something is different about the table this month."

    Me: "Yes, it has an new, inescapably more positive aura."

    You: "But isn't it the same regular table it always is?"

    Me: "Yes, but also no."

    You: "That's a contradiction."

    Me: "Yes, but also no."

    You: "Please stop."

    Me: "Okay okay, I'll let you in on the secret. This table didn't take me a painstaking half hour to assemble by hand."

    You: "Oh, of course! You probably used @talklittle's amazing new browser extension to build it!"

    Me: "Naturally. It's too good not to use! It saved me so much time. That's why the table seems so light; so fresh; so carefree."

    You: "I really can feel it! What are you going to do with all your extra time?"

    Me: "This will give me even MORE time to praise Proton this month. In fact, I've written a one-man play about it."

    You: "Errr, I, uh, really have to be going."

    Me: "NO! Don't leave! It's really good, I promise!"

    You: "I have to take this phone call. It's an emergency."

    Me: "Your phone's not even ringing. The scene opens on a room full of windows. In the middle, the model of an atom sits on a pedestal under a spotlight."

    You: "NOPE. Not a chance. I’m gone."

    Me: ”Enter: Proteus Tonnerby -- a GNOME."

    You:

    Me: "WAIT! Come back! Proteus is about to sing his first song!”

    14 votes

  16. Humble Choice - October 2025

    ~games Text 119 words
    October 2025's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games. Steam Page OpenCritic Steam Recent/All Operating Systems Steam Deck ProtonDB Atomic Heart 74 72 / 78 Win ✅...

    October 2025's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games.

    Steam Page OpenCritic Steam Recent/All Operating Systems Steam Deck ProtonDB
    Atomic Heart 74 72 / 78 Win ✅ Verified 🎖️ Platinum
    V Rising 83 85 / 89 Win ✅ Verified 🟨 Gold
    System Shock 77 80 / 91 Win 🟨 Playable 🎖️ Platinum
    STORY OF SEASONS: Pioneers of Olive Town 71 63 / 83 Win ❌ Unsupported 🟨 Gold
    Cryptmaster 76 93 / 95 Win 🟨 Playable 🎖️ Platinum
    Shogun Showdown 87 97 / 97 Win ✅ Verified ✅ Native
    Hotel Renovator 70 82 / 77 Win 🟨 Playable 🟫 Bronze
    Caravan SandWitch 72 67 / 89 Win ✅ Verified 🟨 Gold

    Does anyone have experience with any of the games and, if so, would you recommend them? Is there anything in here that you're particularly excited to play?

    12 votes

  17. Comment on Tildes Book Club Discussion - September 2025 - Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang in ~books

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    I mentioned Exhalation above, and I’m happy to report that the ebook is on sale for $2 USD! I think it’s safe to say that, if you enjoyed Stories of Your Life and Others, then you’ll like...

    I mentioned Exhalation above, and I’m happy to report that the ebook is on sale for $2 USD!

    I think it’s safe to say that, if you enjoyed Stories of Your Life and Others, then you’ll like Exhalation.

    The feature story for me was “The Lifecycle of Software Objects”. I won’t say much about it specifically because I want people to be able to experience it on their own, but I put it up there on par with Story of Your Life from this collection. I read it years ago, and it has still stuck with me. In fact, based on its subject matter, it’s probably more resonant now than ever.

    4 votes

  18. Comment on Volcano - A motion picture by Jungle in ~arts

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    I hadn’t had time to sit down and watch the whole thing yet, but the bit that I have is 🔥 Thanks for thinking of me!

    I hadn’t had time to sit down and watch the whole thing yet, but the bit that I have is 🔥

    Thanks for thinking of me!

    4 votes

  19. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 29 in ~society

    kfwyre
    (edited )
    Link
    White House freezes $26 billion in funds for 16 Democratic-led states

    White House freezes $26 billion in funds for 16 Democratic-led states

    U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday froze $26 billion for Democratic-leaning states, following through on a threat to use the government shutdown to target Democratic priorities.

    The targeted programs included $18 billion for transit projects in New York, home to Congress's top two Democrats, and $8 billion for green-energy projects in 16 Democratic-run states, including California and Illinois.

    12 votes

  20. Comment on What are some of your routines or habits? in ~life

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    I use an AM/PM pill organizer for the same reason. My brain takes a bit of time to come online after I’ve woken up, so my morning routine is basically me running on autonomous autopilot through...

    I use an AM/PM pill organizer for the same reason.

    My brain takes a bit of time to come online after I’ve woken up, so my morning routine is basically me running on autonomous autopilot through the things consciously I set up the night before (e.g. laying out my clothes). As such, I’m pretty much unable to answer the question “Did I take my meds?” in the morning because my brain genuinely doesn’t know. It’s just running the script.

    As such, a pill organizer is a complete necessity for me. It also stops me from taking more than one of the same pill because, if I do them directly from their bottles, I won’t be able to remember if I took certain ones.

    5 votes