mackerel sky

ffxiv had a major patch which added tons of new things (story chapters, raids, dungeons, etc) but one of the unintentional additions was a bug that spawned a bunch of level 1 deers with no name in coerthas western highlands.

(the third image is the normal version of this enemy- note that it's called a steinbock, and it's level 50)

the . is called the . because it's what appears in the chat log when you emote at it;

the . has no purpose. it has no intention behind its existence. it exists to aimlessly wander through the snow, soon to be snuffed out by the cruel hands of square enix realizing they can't let a bug like this exist in their bestselling mmo in 2025. it is a temporary, wholly spontaneous spectacle. and it is beautiful. we all love the . #ourthe .

to leave off, here's a poem by a user on bluesky:

An Egyptian programmer created a page dedicated to every Palestinian soul killed by the occupation during the war of extermination in #Gaza.. So far, he has registered 72,000 names.

Each point of light on the screen represents the name of a martyr, and when it is clicked, the name of the person it belongs to appears.

The link is in the first reblog :

hello everyone, happy holidays. if anyone is in the spirit of giving this time of year, my wife and I are still struggling badly. I am disabled & cannot work, and even if I wasnt, we only have one car that i am not insured to drive. my boyfriend is also disabled, but works at a job that cuts his hours whenever they see fit. we get anywhere from $100/week to $300/week that always immediately goes to our car & insurance payments. it is impossible to stay afloat on our own. we really need help, and anything at all is appreciated. I will not be setting a goal as we need as much help as we can get. thank you in advance, reblogs are just as appreciated as well. ❤️

Sometimes, in fandom, we just want to write id-tastic fic that rolls around in tropes that might be viewed as problematic. But we don’t want to address the problematic side of things in this particular fanwork; we just want to roll around and wallow.

It is considered courteous to give readers a heads-up via use of AO3 tags. I propose a tag that signals that a given fanwork is for rolling around, not giving a measured evaluation of anything. The MCU has carved out a space for this sort of fic with the “HYDRA Trash Party” tag, for which I commend them. Trash Party is a bit too specific to cover all of the ground I’m thinking of here, though; I propose “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat.”

For those of you not familiar with Arrested Development, Michael Bluth finds a paper bag in the freezer labeled “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat.” He opens the bag, finds a dead dove, and reacts as follows:

[gif of a white man saying “I don’t know what I expected” in a deadpan manner]

The “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat” tag would essentially be a “what it says on the tin” metatag, indicating “you see the tropes and concepts tagged here? they are going to appear in this fic. exactly as said. there will not necessarily be any subversion, authorial commentary condemning problematic aspects, or meditation on potential harm. this fic contains dead dove. if you proceed, you should expect to encounter it.”

apparently clouded leopards can use their claws to hang upside down

The European Union is going against online privacy by trying to pass a bill in october where AI will monitor all your texts before sending them! Even encrypted ones! If you don’t have the time to read it fully at least read the basic explanation and the what to do part. Our privacy depends on it!

then after the first boss you had to get on the elevator. all 8 of you. at the same time. yeah if we forgot someone we have to go back. then every single person has to pick up a key to turn on the magitek armor and get on another elevator. hope you didn't miss that one.