I think it’s good to vent and let your feelings out. Have you had therapy before? You’ve clearly had a rough upbringing so maybe talking about it with a professional will help.

Yesterday when I was walking home from work I noticed a butterfly sitting on the pavement. Its wings were coloured as follows: predominately orange, black edges, white spots. As I went past it slowly closed and opened these wings before idly fluttering off. What do you make of this?

I’ve just seen the Storygraph challenge - that makes it easier to keep track, thanks! However I noticed that the announcement and card link are the ones from 2024 so you’re aware :)

Any books in the Slough House series by Mick Herron (the jerk being Jackson Lamb).

The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa (who passed away a couple of weeks ago)

Neat! I appreciate all the work that has gone into this (the design of the bingo card is excellent and clear).

Now to look at my TBR and work out what would fit best… I was planning to read One Hundred Years of Solitude next anyway, which I think would be suitable for several squares (Number in the Title, Author from a Different Continent, Minority Author, Now a Major Motion Picture, Late to the Party)! As it’s one book per square I’ll have to work out which one is most suitable :)

Borderlands is a funny one for that, as yes whilst they are technically single player, I think they were predominately designed with co-op in mind. However if you were able to enjoy B3 regardless then that’s a good sign!

I’ve played some single player FPS games recently - Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein 2. I suppose these are no longer ‘new’! If you come across any other good ones I’d love to know :)

It kinda sucks how hard it is now to share a game with a friend. That was one of the main draws of console gaming for me; how you’d have ownership of the game to do with as you wished. PC gaming switched to predominately digital downloads years back, which is fine when you consider how affordable those games eventually become during Steam sales. But first party Nintendo games seem to hold their value and the sales are never that great, so you’re left with more expensive games and no longer the option to share them.

I think B3 was a free game on PS+ a while back so I could probably play it… But yes I’ve also heard mixed things, so I’m in no rush considering my existing backlog. If 4 is well reviewed I might skip straight to that :)

I haven’t played a Borderlands game since the second one, but this looks neat! Hopefully it’s good as I wouldn’t mind jumping back into the series.

I’ve had Balatro on a trial of Apple Arcade for the last couple months and enjoyed it - though I feel like I hit a wall not knowing how to improve my score. That trial is due to end next week, so this PS+ announcement has come at the right time! Unfortunately it doesn’t look like there’s a way to transfer my save.

Hey, if it works, it works :3

Not now Rose, I need to focus on sAvINg ThE pReSiDEnT!

I can definitely relate to some of the points you’ve made here. Regarding things feeling the same day-in-day-out, I get this feeling when I fall into a rut. Like get home from work, play the same game I’ve been playing for a few weeks, watch the next episode of a show I’ve been watching, tidy up etc. When I notice this happening, I realise it’s time to shake things up a bit; go for a walk, draw something, alter my schedule and try a new game. Variety is the spice of life and all that.

I think it’s pretty normal to move on from old friends after a while - life kinda just gets in the way and you get out of rhythm with them as you say. Maybe you need to find a new community to involve yourself with, one that reflects your current social needs. I might get downvoted for this, but on a personal level I’m quite glad I found the furry community after I moved away from my hometown. There’s a lot of hate online for the group, but at the end of the day it’s filled with cool nerdy people who don’t take life too seriously, and this feels especially valuable at a time when we’re bombarded with depressing news of politics and war. Obviously you don’t have to join this group in particular, but having any kind of community around you I think is really useful.

And like someone else has said, try to step away from social media if you use it at all. The algorithms usually steer towards negative, controversial topics that gather the most clicks. It’s not a healthy thing to consume.

Why would you flush them? Do people not look forward to eating the cardboard tube whenever they finish a roll?

Yipee!

😭

New shell? :3

Couldn’t you ask them to give you gift cards for places you might visit?

I worked at a McDonalds for a month. I’d done bar work before that and really enjoyed it, but fast food was depressing. Although my colleagues were pretty cool, the managers were absolute assholes. They made fun of all the staff and took the piss for the fact that I had a degree but was having to work somewhere like that. I was ‘sick’ for my notice period (I’d found work elsewhere).