I jumped into TTYD recently after playing some other notable timing-based RPGs (Clair Obscur, Super Mario RPG) and having a blast with those. I know it's a really beloved game that isn't known for it's difficulty, but I'm about "eight hours" (minus deaths) in at Chapter 2, stuck at the Shadow Sirens boss fight, and am finding it to be a really hard game.

There's been several occasions where I make significant progress in a dungeon and then get defeated by regular enemies and lose a lot of progress after making enough timing mistakes.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with my character builds. Overall, I feel like HP, FP, and BP are all bottomless pits, and no matter what I put points into, I never have enough of any resource. Right now, I'm level 7 with 10 HP, 15 FP, and 15 BP. Not enough health to have an error margin, not enough FP to use abilities much at all, and being introduced with a staggering number of badges without the points to equip even half of them.

The lack of a consistent healing ability is also a bit annoying. Sweet Treat is tied to SP, puts you into a minigame, and isn't a consistent way to get HP back. And I haven't encountered a game with more restrictive item management since Mother 1 on the NES. I think the challenge there is the number of enemies impervious to regular abilities, so (I think) you have to always have POW Blocks and Fire Flowers to deal with them instead of more mushrooms.

Koops and Goombella aren't very good allies at the start either. Multiple boss fights so far have been multiple enemies, so I'm fairly worn down by the time Goombella is done Tattling them all. So that's why I'm stuck at the Shadow Sirens.

In regular encounters, I'm consistent about dodging and stylish moves with Mario, and am decent at Superguarding. Getting the timings right in boss fights, though, can be tough because if I die, it's all the way back to the save point, so not many consistent opportunities to practice. And very little margin for error.

A lot of people online say TTYD is easy, and they're probably right. Are there any experienced players here who can point me in the right direction?

TW: Dysphoria

Yesterday, my guy friend sent me a text that I'm still thinking about. I just wanted to vent about it here.

"I went to a recording of a podcast and one of the guests reminded me so much of you. Very similar speaking pattern and mannerisms. It was a comedy show with all autistic people so I guess that adds up."

I should mention that there isn't anything wrong at all with being autistic, but I'm personally not autistic and it gets old after a while constantly being assumed to have a neurodivergent identity I don't. It's also a delicate issue to just assume that about a trans woman due to how often the trans/autism correlation is weaponized. I can be a socially awkward person, especially around strangers, but I've had two therapists and three doctors and I've never been diagnosed with anything other than anxiety, depression, and gender dysphoria.

So far, not too bad, but it gets worse. I politely mentioned to him that I'm not autistic, but it's wild to have seen someone so similar, and then asked about the podcast and who the comedian was. I then click into the video and realize he was talking about a male comedian. I did see, unfortunately, a lot of my pre-transition (or post-transition? I don't want to know) self in this guy, not just in terms of mannerisms and speaking pattern, but also some of the physical traits I was most dysphoric about.

I don't think my friend was genuinely trying to hurt me. It's surreal and cool to see someone new you think looks like someone you know. But he just shouldn't have said anything in this case. I can't shake the question, Is this how my friend sees me? Is this how everyone sees me? We were friends pre-transition, so that's a thing. I've just worked so hard on my appearance and my voice over the past five years, and I thought HRT was working great, but now I'm second-guessing all of it.

I'm not sure what to do. I definitely need some space. I don't know if it's worth it to have a conversation about this, since you can't control how others perceive you. I'm even at the point where I'm considering if I want to remain friends with him.

TL;DR My friend texted me about a podcast featuring someone he thought looked and sounded like me, along with assumptions about trans women and autism. It turned out he was comparing me to a man. I'm feeling dysphoric, questioning all my progress, and unsure if I want to continue being friends with him.

I'm less interested in Unicomp/IBM's novel buckling spring technology (as cool as it is) and more that they're built well, are corded and not wireless, offer replacement parts on their website, and have a mail-in repair service.

Unicomp's Model M keyboard was my first choice for a long-lasting keyboard, but now I want to lessen my dependence on American-made companies (especially since Unicomp is based in Kentucky) and wanted to see if any alternatives existed. I've heard good things about Cherry, but I don't fully understand their business model or how to order their products.

I'm in the market for a compact, but durable camera to complement my dumbphone, but also be a potential gateway to 1080p amateur photography, mostly nature and street photography. I've narrowed my search to either the Olympus Tough TG-3 or TG-4, but I can't decide which one to get.

They have mostly identical specs, but have a few minor differences:

-TG-3 has manual exposure and TG-4 doesn't.

-TG-4 has manual focus and a live composite mode, as well as access to RAW format, with a slightly better battery.

Based on that, what does the community think might be the better option?

I'm so glad this community exists! I thought I'd jump in and share my personal exercise goals.

When I (F28) was 18, I had a flat tummy and a thigh gap (I'm old enough to remember when that was the beauty standard 💀). At the end of college, I stress-ate my way into gaining about 20 pounds and got a muffin top that my partner assures me is adorable. This year, I finally got back to my college freshman weight, mostly through diet, but even after all my hormones, my body just doesn't want to get rid of my excess tummy weight.

It's probably not safe to lose any more weight, and age is probably the determining factor, so I'm working strength training into my routine to develop my abs. If that doesn't help either, that's okay -- it's still good to stay active. Here's what I'm doing this winter:

-Mondays/Thursdays: Cardio (mostly Dance Dance Revolution lol, but also spinning occasionally. The best exercise is the one you're excited to do every time.)

-Tuesdays/Fridays: Strength (I did a bunch of research and found a routine that targets both my glutes and my abs. Tried it out this morning and felt the burn.)

-Wednesday: Vinyasa yoga

For the past year, I've struggled with consistency after being really good about exercise for a few years, so I'm hoping I can carry my two-day streak (so far) into something bigger!

I hope this is okay to post here. My (F) relationship with my wife (F) is wonderful except for household issues. The thing I want to talk/vent about here is me trying to cook meals for the past two years while navigating our incompatible palates.

I gave up being a vegetarian when I moved in with her, because she doesn't like most vegetables or any mock meats, so chicken unlocked a rare protein that we agree on beyond just eating bean burritos every day. She doesn't eat as much beef as she used to, so I wasn't the only person who gave things up.

She would probably be happy eating scrambled eggs without any sides or fast food for dinner every day, and I need something more nutritionally balanced to feel nourished. So I'm the one who cooks every day.

We've tried compromising every which way, coming up with new meal plans, researching recipes for hours, and I feel like I've made hundreds of meals she's disliked. It feels like she only likes my cooking when it's unhealthy and lacks vegetables, which is great sometimes, but not every day. It's really gotten to me, and I've lost my love of cooking and my self-confidence in the kitchen. Most of all, I'm extremely stressed out about dinner every night.

We're at the point where we're talking about making our own meals, other than a few of my less-than-healthy comfort food recipes she likes. It's probably the most harmonious way to live, but the idea has me feeling really sad because cooking for others is a love language, and I learned to do this in the first place because I always dreamed of cooking for whoever I ended up marrying.

TL;DR My wife and I can't agree on meals we both like. I do all the cooking in the relationship, but now we're talking about making separate dinners. This is painful because cooking for others is a love language and I feel like I've failed.

Update: I really appreciate all the kind words and advice. I definitely don't plan to make it a habit to use this community as a space to vent, but you're all wonderful and I appreciate you. 😃

Putting on black nail polish used to be the highlight of my week in the early days of transition and way before I came out. I was never good at it, but I liked how it looked on me and it felt like a way to get control back in my life in one of the few ways that I could.

Now HRT has done some pretty nice things to me after three years and I don't feel as connected to nail polish, and everything I didn't like about it feels much more of a pain. Like that it's expensive, that it can be a mess, and after a decade, I still always miss my nail bed and get paint on my skin.

I do still like taking care of my nails. I enjoy filing the shape just right and exfoliating them and moisturizing to keep them healthy. That's all fine.

But then I get the intrusive thoughts that I'm not femme enough or not alt enough if I don't wear black nail polish. Of course, I know that's not true, but it is what my brain tells me. So that's kind of where I'm at.

My Torrid combat boots are falling apart, so I'm in the market for a new pair that are specifically platform boots that come in black.

Unfortunately, the pair from Solovair (pictured) that I've had my eye on for a while (their 8-eye derby platforms) is no longer being sold, and it was replaced with a visually worse alternative where the zippers face outward.

I've never owned Martens before, but knowing that Martens aren't what they used to be, how much do I have to lose by picking up a pair of Jadon III's instead? If anyone knows any alternatives in the same style that are also Goodyear Welt, that could also be an option.

cw: TERFs and general transphobia

For the most part, I avoid Reddit like the plague, but when I'm feeling sad, I find myself going on r/terf_trans_alliance, and then I feel worse.

I don't know what drives them to participate, but the minority of trans posters are ridiculed, subjected to abusive comments, and mass downvoted for any attempt to get through to them in a way that isn't absolute self-flagellating placation. Some things I noticed after just a minute or two of scrolling:

There's this stereotype that Reddit is this liberal echo chamber, but I seem to know all of the many places where it's not, and I seek out those places when I know they'll hurt me.

For those of you just on Lemmy, what are your strategies not to stray back to Reddit?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/35731489

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/35630243

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I was just thinking about how there's so many ways to play our old favorite games these days: Collecting for original hardware, playing ports and remasters on modern consoles, throwback consoles like the SNES Classic, having a dedicated emulation machine or handheld, etc.

What method works best for you? Has it changed over time?