kfwyre's recent activity

  1. Comment on Tildes Book Club - March 2026 - The Metamorphosis by Kafka in ~books

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    This isn’t exactly about her reaction, but I figure this is a good place to put a question I’ve been stuck on: How poor was the family, actually? We get the sense from Gregor that he was working...

    This isn’t exactly about her reaction, but I figure this is a good place to put a question I’ve been stuck on:

    How poor was the family, actually?

    We get the sense from Gregor that he was working himself to the bone to keep the family afloat, but also the family could afford hired help? And continued to do so even after Gregor stopped working?

    Also their apartment was big enough to have three porters stay with them?

    It seems like they were more well off than Gregor might have believed. I’m not sure if this is one of those “different time/culture” things and I’m misjudging the situation, or if the family’s wealth is actually intended to be something that makes Gregor’s situation and sacrifice all the more sad (as in, he didn’t need to work so hard and feel so much pressure, because the family was doing okay financially).

    2 votes
  2. Comment on Olympic committee announces a broad ban on transgender athletes and athletes with differences in sex development in Women’s events (gifted link) in ~lgbt

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    To add on to this thread: The reason that trans people in sports is a salient issue for many is because it creates a perception of unfairness, and most people want things to be generally fair. If...

    To add on to this thread:

    The reason that trans people in sports is a salient issue for many is because it creates a perception of unfairness, and most people want things to be generally fair.

    If someone is legitimately concerned about fairness (and isn’t just hiding transphobia behind a pretext), then it’s worth sharing with them that, in 2026 alone, there are over 700 bills targeting trans people in the US (and this isn’t counting the hundreds more from previous years).

    6 votes
  3. Comment on Rigging bingo: Creating seeded randoms in JavaScript in ~comp

    kfwyre
    Link
    This isn’t just hypothetical on @Wes’s part, by the way. It got an actual, unintentional real-world test from me! I had to use the seed function to recreate my bingo card after accidentally...

    This isn’t just hypothetical on @Wes’s part, by the way. It got an actual, unintentional real-world test from me! I had to use the seed function to recreate my bingo card after accidentally deleting it while distro hopping

    twice. XD

    1 vote
  4. Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    I can recommend this. I played through Aria of Sorrow last year via the Advance Collection and it was great. Worked perfectly on Steam Deck, and it even has some emulation features like save...

    I can recommend this. I played through Aria of Sorrow last year via the Advance Collection and it was great. Worked perfectly on Steam Deck, and it even has some emulation features like save states built right in.

    2 votes
  5. Comment on RetroDECK is more than emulation: an interview with the devs in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Asking out of curiosity: what don’t you like about EmulationStation? (I personally think it’s great.)

    Asking out of curiosity: what don’t you like about EmulationStation? (I personally think it’s great.)

    4 votes
  6. Comment on Tildes Book Club - March 2026 - The Metamorphosis by Kafka in ~books

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Agreed! The story feels like something you’re looking at without glasses on. There’s a faint, fuzzy shape that’s quite familiar but not immediately recognizable. Depending on how you look at it...

    It's open to a wide array of perfectly valid interpretations that are influenced by the reader's own direct experiences with, or witnessing, similar circumstances in their own life.

    Agreed!

    The story feels like something you’re looking at without glasses on. There’s a faint, fuzzy shape that’s quite familiar but not immediately recognizable. Depending on how you look at it and what you’re thinking about, you can get several different plausible possibilities for what it might “actually” be.

    3 votes
  7. Comment on Tildes Book Club - March 2026 - The Metamorphosis by Kafka in ~books

    kfwyre
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    No, I think you’re right on the money! I did a ctrl+f to check, and “daughter” isn’t used up until the final few paragraphs of the story. Up to that point she had been labeled as “sister.” I think...

    No, I think you’re right on the money!

    I did a ctrl+f to check, and “daughter” isn’t used up until the final few paragraphs of the story. Up to that point she had been labeled as “sister.”

    I think it’s a confirmation of her transformation as much as it is a dark acknowledgement that Gregor is both gone and forgotten.

    (Note: this might vary depending on the version of the story. I’m using the Susan Bernofsky English translation. If we have any German readers here, I’d love to know if this is the case in the original text.)

    5 votes
  8. Comment on Tildes Book Club - March 2026 - The Metamorphosis by Kafka in ~books

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    The “swapping” of Gregor for Grete makes the ending dark in a really understated way. Gregor worked tirelessly to support his family to the point that it might have been the cause of his...

    The “swapping” of Gregor for Grete makes the ending dark in a really understated way.

    Gregor worked tirelessly to support his family to the point that it might have been the cause of his transformation. He eventually gets discarded by the family, and as soon as he’s out of the picture, Grete’s role changes from “sister” to “daughter” and her parents note her nascent womanhood.

    It really feels like Grete is next in line for what Gregor went through, being forced into a narrowly defined lane centered on the parents rather than her own wishes.

    I think this is why Gregor continually emphasized that he wanted to pay for her to study music and was sad he missed the opportunity to do so. I don’t know if he was necessarily conscious of it or not, but it seems like that was his way of wanting to break Grete out of the suffocating expectations put on her.

    I also think it’s why we see Grete be so kind and thoughtful at the beginning of the story. She, like Gregor, was going above and beyond to try to support her family, planting the parallel for the two characters’ paths.

    4 votes
  9. Comment on Tildes Book Club - March 2026 - The Metamorphosis by Kafka in ~books

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    It wasn't until I read your comment that I even considered that it could be referring to Grete instead of (or in addition to) Gregor. It seems so obvious now, but I was genuinely oblivious. Thanks...

    It wasn't until I read your comment that I even considered that it could be referring to Grete instead of (or in addition to) Gregor.

    It seems so obvious now, but I was genuinely oblivious. Thanks for pointing it out!

    2 votes
  10. Comment on Tetris: The Grand Master [documentary] in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Thanks for the ping. This looks awesome! I’m excited to dive into it when I have some time.

    Thanks for the ping. This looks awesome!

    I’m excited to dive into it when I have some time.

    2 votes
  11. Comment on RetroDECK is more than emulation: an interview with the devs in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link

    That’s why RetroDECK stands out to me. It doesn’t portray retro gaming like a checklist of consoles to emulate, instead it treats it like a whole space to explore. You’ve got emulators, sure, but also interesting engines, ports, tools: things that go beyond just “run this ROM.” It feels less like setting up a bunch of systems and more like opening a door to everything that retro gaming actually is, and maybe can be to you too. Not just the big, obvious classics, but the forgotten corners too. The stuff you didn’t even realize you missed until you see it sitting there.

    To dig into that idea a little deeper, I spoke with the developers of the RetroDECK team about how they view retro gaming, emulation, and gaming as a whole. What comes through clearly is that RetroDECK isn’t just a tool, it’s their way of bringing all of those experiences together. Their ongoing effort to make the full spectrum of gaming history easier to access, understand, and enjoy.

    8 votes
  12. Comment on Queering the Map in ~lgbt

  13. Comment on Queering the Map in ~lgbt

    kfwyre
    Link
    I zoomed all the way out and clicked on a random area, and the message that came up simply said: It was beautiful. Then I did it again and got: Equally beautiful. 😂

    I zoomed all the way out and clicked on a random area, and the message that came up simply said:

    we are not alone

    It was beautiful.

    Then I did it again and got:

    bigfoot is gay and he's up here somewhere

    Equally beautiful. 😂

    18 votes
  14. Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    Sounds good! We’ll keep the schedule as is. Thanks for doing double duty!

    Sounds good! We’ll keep the schedule as is.

    Thanks for doing double duty!

    2 votes
  15. Comment on Your AI Slop Bores Me: Larp as an AI by answering prompts as a human in ~tech

    kfwyre
    Link
    Type in prompts, get a response from a human. Larp as an AI, answer other people's prompts. Simple, irreverent fun. (Note: I have no idea if there are actual humans on the site or if it's lying to...

    Type in prompts, get a response from a human.

    Larp as an AI, answer other people's prompts.

    Simple, irreverent fun.

    (Note: I have no idea if there are actual humans on the site or if it's lying to me.)

    18 votes
  16. Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of March 15 in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link
    Tiny Crate is free to keep on Steam right now, but it will become a paid game tomorrow. Of note: the game is open source, made in Godot, and will remain free on itch.io and Flathub. I haven't...

    Tiny Crate is free to keep on Steam right now, but it will become a paid game tomorrow.

    Of note: the game is open source, made in Godot, and will remain free on itch.io and Flathub.

    I haven't played this game, but I played ROTA by the same dev and thought it was really good (and surprisingly difficult).

    3 votes
  17. Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games

    kfwyre
    Link Parent
    We'd love to have you captain both ships! Would you rather do them as is and host back-to-back, or would you rather I swap Lufia II and Pirates to break things up a bit?

    We'd love to have you captain both ships!

    Would you rather do them as is and host back-to-back, or would you rather I swap Lufia II and Pirates to break things up a bit?

    1 vote