Master Yods

For everything we do here, please be sure to be careful with what you edit, and restart your computer to lock things in. If you don't have access to the Group editor, (likely to happen if you're on base windows) you can do this as well by opening your Registry Editor app, then inputting this after your 'computer' or whatever the initial segment is. (Mine is computer. If I just try and paste the below string it gets SO mad at me)

\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsCopilot

Navigating to your "turnoffwindowscopilot", hit modify, and set the value data to 1.

If done correctly, it'll look like this.

While we're at it, you can also get rid of the integrated search, (or that thing where it searches the web when you search anything, whether or not you want it to) and such through regedit as well.

Integrated search will have you going to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

Navigate to your "DisableSearchBoxSuggestions" bit, if you don't see it, you can make it by right clicking and creating a new registry D-Word key of that exact name. Edit the key, set it to 1. It'll look like this if you do it right!

To get rid of Windows Spotlight, (The thing where it pulls up ten billion pages on windows start page, shoving ads in your face and cluttering everything) we go to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DesktopSpotlight\Settings

And set "Enabled State" To 0. If you do it right, it'll look like this!

Disabling edge on startup will also help a fair deal with processing speed and the like. This you can do in all sorts of ways, the easiest being turning it off entirely on startup through settings in the like.

If you want to kill it *entirely*, though? :)

In regedit, run along to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft

Navigate to your MicrosoftEdge key subcategory. If you don't see it, you can make one! Note, this is a KEY, not a d-word. *inside* that subcategory, we want to either make or find the D-Word key of PreventLaunchEdge and set that to 1 in the same way as all the others. It'll look like this.

Aaaand while we're here, I'd HIGHLY recommend shanking Killer Networking Services. It's just bloatware. (Ostensibly it's supposed to monitor your network bandwidth and even things out, but that really means it's constantly monitoring and pinging things, which eats up the bandwidth you DO get, and also chunks your computer's processing power.) Getting rid of it entirely is borderline impossible, since it's set to redownload on regular updates and intel is very pushy with its updates.

This you can do by opening your Services.msc, which basically shows you all the background stuff that Windows does. Find Anything with Killer in the name, right click it, go to properties, and disable startup. It should look like this, if done successfully. It will probably reenable itself in time/in later updates for windows, but it's a quick fix. I'd also check your TaskScheduler app to make sure that nothing's scheduled to open up there, either.

If you CAN completely kill Killer services through uninstalling and the like, I would warn that at very least for my computer, the only ethernet/lan support applications that are available ARE Killer's. When you download updates, you really do have to do it manually and ONLY download the ethernet services, or just be cool with not having Lan functionality.

One last thing, not a shit application but is a shit service. If your computer's constantly overheating or just warm, you likely have Turboboost enabled. (Default setting that you can't change) If you want to be able to turn it off and drop your temps by like 40 degrees, in Regedit go to

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00\be337238-0d82-4146-a960-4f3749d470c7

(Note- This isn't the string copy paste from the reddit thread, this is mine that does the same thing. If my string doesn't work for you, check the reddit thread string. If that doesn't work either, you can follow the path and find it pretty easily. Probably has like, one letter of difference somewhere. The bits all start the same, though, so it's easy to find.)

and go to "attributes". Set the value from 1 to 2, and now in your advanced Power Plan settings in control panel, you'll be able to *see* turbo boost and turn it off.

It'll look like this, and in power options, a successful disabling of boost should look like this.

Turning off quick startup's also a good call, since that basically stops your restarts from actually shutting things down properly.

There's well over a hundred settings, here's just a few of them:

(sorry the classic taskbar option no longer works with current windows 11 version)

Fair warning: This is a powerful tool which means it can also do some damage if you don't know what you're doing, but every setting comes with an extensive explanation, as you can see in the Ads and unwanted apps screenshot.

Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656) : - In nomine

Compass Consort:

The last book I read: The Score by Elle Kennedy. I gave it 4 stars on storygraph because I love Allie and the romance was cute buuut I also think Dean/Allie should have stayed broken up because her dad was soo right. This is the hard part about reading romance: sometimes these people need to have a fling and then move on, but god forbid you end a book without the couple staying together 5ever.

A book I'd recommend: The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan. It's historical fantasy fiction about the Beast of Gevaudan, so it's a must read in my eyes. It's queer and actually fucking dark in a meaningful way, not in a "teehee, my mob boss protaognist actually hates crime and doing drugs" way.

A book I couldn't put down: Beach Read by Emily Henry. It was sooo fun, I love books about writing and writer's block. And the romance was delightful and a breath of fresh air after the year of faerie sex I've been reading.

A book I've read twice or more: Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. This is an annual read for me, it's alternate history where France was settled by fallen angels (actually based on angelology!) and is just so good. Lots of political intrigue and BDSM.

A book on my TBR: My TBR is massive but I gotta go with The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham. I just got my pre-order copy and I'm so excited to dive in!

A book I've put down: The Stars are Dying by Chloe C Penaranda. I heard before starting that the story is ridiculous while also being stupid, and it sure fucking was. The worldbuilding makes absolutely no sense, the plot is silly (it's like The Hunger Games run by vampires but that part doesn't start until 25% of the way in), and the big prophecy is extremely obvious and grammatically incorrect. Also there's another male romantic lead who is soooo dark and evil but he'd never hurt his beloved, a random blonde woman. Boring!!

A book on my wishlist: Minbak by Ela Lee. After reading The Seven Daughters of Dupree, I've discovered that I looove generational books. Uncovering family secrets, generational trauma that gets passed on from mother to daughter… I need more! So when I heard about Minbak, I immediately preordered it.

A favourite book from childhood: Maledicte by Lane Robbins. I think about this book constantly even though I haven't read it since I was a child. The protagonist is a woman who cross-dresses as a man to get her vengeance on the man who stole her childhood friend away. There's a lovely pantheon of gods, throat slitting, and a in-universe nursery rhyme that gets stuck in my head all the time.

A book I'd give to a friend: Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu. This is another one I think about all the time. It's about a woman named Ruth and her childhood friend Maria, and their codependent relationship over the years. The ending made me put the book down and stare at a wall for 20 minutes.

A book of poetry or lyrics I own: None! I do have a book about the Eras Tour, tho.

A non-fiction book that I own: So many haha. But the one I forced everyone to know about is Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham. It's so easy to read, but incredibly frustrating as it documents aalll of the human errors that resulted in Chernobyl blowing up. That, to me, made it absolutely chilling, even more so when I found out that Russia damaged the new containment structure during their invasion of Ukraine.

What I'm currently reading: The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown. As a LPOTL fan, this is a looong time coming. I'm about 20% of the way through it and it's fascinating!!

What I'm planning on reading next: I have four books that I'll be reading next!

The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham

The Wolf and the Crown of Blood by Elizabeth May

Outdrawn by Deanna Grey

Princeweaver by Elian J Morgan

HAVE I GOT SOME FRIEND SHAPED FRIENDS FOR YOU!!!

Golden Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus luteovirens), male, family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, endemic to the Fiji Islands

Photograph by Dubi Shapiro

Orange Dove (Ptilinopus victor), male, family Columbidae, endemic to Fiji

photograph by Chris Venetz & Chris Wiley

Jambu Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus jambu), male, family Columbidae, found in Malaysia and Indonesia

Photograph by @wendytpb

Cloven-feathered Dove (Drepanoptila holosericea), family Columbidae, New Caledonia

photograph by JJ Harrison

White-breasted Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus rivoli), male, family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, Papua New Guinea

photograph by Trevor Hardaker

Pink-spotted Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus perlatus), family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, found in New Guinea

photo: Irawan Subingar

Wompoo Fruit-Dove (Megaloprepia magnifica), male, family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, QLD, Australia

Photograph by Jun Jose

Wompoo Fruit-Dove (Megaloprepia magnifica), male, family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, QLD, Australia

Photograph by Jun Jose

Cinnamon-headed Green Pigeon (Treron fulvicollis), male, family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, Singapore

photograph by Hong Yijun

Pheasant Pigeon (Otidiphaps nobilis), family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, found in New Guinea and nearby islands

The Phoenicia, built in 2007–2008, is a modern replica of a 600 BC Phoenician merchant ship.

in new zealand, our evil government are trying to legislate definitions of women and men, in ways that are legally incoherent but clearly trying to pave the way for more horrifically transphobic legislation. we have an election in a few months but our main opposition party, and all our mainstream news media, are so spineless and cooked that there's a good chance the ghouls will win reelection.

it took 2 whole months for local terf group 'speak up for women' to get 2,000 signatures on the petition that led to this new bill in our parliament.

it's taken five days for this pro-trans 'they don't speak for us' petition to get 17,000 signatures.

this is a show of support that is really heartening for a lot of trans people in our corner of the world.

cis/ish women, if you're from here but haven't signed yet, please do. and if you're not from here and you know any new zealanders, could you send them this petition? a full fifth of our population lives overseas, and there's a good chance they don't follow the news.

(“Where are you going?”) “I’m going to Tiananmen square.” (“Why?”) “Because It’s my duty.”

Duty is a powerful thing. It is not a sense of obligation towards the government or the state, but to your country, or county, or even your community. These young men and women were patriots, eager to fight with words and their very presence against tyranny.

09/04/2026 • every time @softinvasions writes a villanelle about how sonnets suck i write another suckful sonnet*. metrical malpractice!

Fata Morgana

Brigg Roald Amundsen (1952) in the North Atlantic

I have tea now. And chocolate. And have vented my rage in many other mediums. Fingers crossed for not devolving into incoherent cursing again.

Let’s look at what we have here: Deucalion has spent the last ten years as the Alpha of Alphas, the Apex of blah blah and so on, DEMON WOOOOOOOLF. For ten years his MO has been to take other alphas and turn them on their packs, slaughtering them for power before joining his little club. A very low ball estimate of his victims or victims-by-proxy is 20 people, figuring that he’s only responsible for four smallish packs of deaths (his own, Ennis’, Kali’s and the twins’, estimating 4 betas/emissaries per pack with room for Season 3 Spoiler Deaths) and that he didn’t kill anyone else in cold blood other than that in the intervening ten years. The chances that he didn’t kill anyone else in that decade? Are not good. This man is a cold-blooded mass murderer.

Derek and Scott not only let him go, Derek arranged to have his single weakness healed. He’s still fully powered. He has nothing to lose, nothing to hold him back other than to protect himself, and if he can take out Scott and Derek it won’t matter because there won’t be any more threat to him. (Can I also say that it is super fucking skeevy how his disability has been tied to his villainy? “HE’S HEALED NOW, HE CAN BE A GOOD GUY AGAIN.” A;LKSDFHDKSAHJ WHAT NO.)

And looking at all of that, at the dozens of deaths *(some committed right in front of them after they saved his sorry hide), Derek and Scott did this. THEY LET HIM GO WITH A STERN WARNING. THEY SERIOUSLY LET THIS FUCKER GO WITH A, “NO NO NO, BAD WEREWOLF, NAGHTY.” THIS ASSHOLE JUST KILLED A WOMAN RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM AFTER THEY STOPPED HER FROM (RIGHTFULLY) TRYING TO STOP HIS ASS FROM DOING MORE OF THE SAME, AND THEY LET HIM FUCKING WALK.

WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BUY THIS SHIT?! WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE THAT DEUCALION ISN’T GOING TO COME BACK AND SEEK REVENGE? ISN’T GOING TO TRY AND TAKE OUT THE ONE ACTUAL THREAT TO HIMSELF THAT EXISTS? DOESN’T WANT SOME OF THAT TASTY, TASTY TRUE ALPHA POWER?

WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK IS WITH THIS GODSDAMNED PILE OF FUCKING HORSESHIT I JUST \

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