You're so very welcome, sweetness!!

leaving home might be more fun if there were places to go to that didn't require buying something! 😭 i love to eat at restaurants even alone, but it'd be nice if there were also options to just sit and chill otherwise. :( though payment aside, it's comfy indoors and that's nice too. also sometimes public washrooms are scary (even if they're completely clean and stuff), but your toilet at home?? that's like a family member honestly

it sounds like EMachine has had quite a life. i do cherish the storage (or at least what's stored in it, since files can be moved) most of all, but there IS something about the device itself that is meaningful too, and it's a bit of a shame not everyone feels that way about them! i am approaching a ship of theseus situation with my PC where, if i replace a few more key parts, i don't know if it'll have any of its original parts. but it still keeps its identity as "eurydice" to me!

if you're able to keep EMachine around, you certainly have the chance to refurbish/rebuild her in the future. i do keep some smaller sentimental stuff in boxes, and it's nice to look back at them here and there!

yeah the companion cube skin(?) makers didn't ask for permission from valve, i guess they just hoped valve wouldn't take action against them... but at least it's a fair response to what happened. the reduction/removal of physical media (like that whole GTA6 thing having no disc thing, just an empty case????!!) and .. so many other decisions. at least we have valve... also i heard a story where someone's digital library (i think this was xbox) was restored after he sued microsoft or something, and that courts in china have sided with gamers in treatment of their digital stuff as property that can be protected like physical stuff. of course it still sucks when huge companies like sony and microsoft make garbage, anti-consumer decisions, but at least it's not ALL bad .....

Of course, love!

thank you, you're too sweet!! 😭 honestly i'm just jazzed to have someone to chat with here, i'm bad at being social LOL so i do my quests and all this solo stuff .... but getting to toss over gifts is quite novel for me so expect more sometime - though don't ever feel pressured or rushed to reciprocate! 😅

i don't think naming your devices should be considered a bad habit LOL i think it's fun! it shows you care about something you own and i feel like it encourages taking better care of it, too. rather than just another object or possession out of many, that's your friend Snowflake or Julia or Megalightning 8000 😌 you're definitely right about them having a soul. if i'm not mistaken, that way of thinking is cultural in japan so treating non-living stuff (objects and buildings and such) with respect is standard. i think it's a good mindset to have - certainly better than treating your possessions carelessly. even if stuff isn't alive and it's easy to replace, i'm sure it doesn't hurt to treat your surroundings with respect in general!

funny thing about your computer making the noise that reminds me, my friend once told us her computer was turning off or something once and she pulled the plug on it because there was a strange noise which had us all . stunned into silence of course . and she was like "in retrospect that noise was just the fan/PC shutting off" 😭 girl your poor PC!!! you killed it!!!!! she probably doesn't make scary decisions like that too often, but i wouldn't be surprised if she and your aunt had some similarities in terms of technology use ...

there was actually a third party companion cube skin (or shell?) for the steam machine! but i think valve sent them a C&D since they didn't ask for permission 💀 i could see valve releasing their own way to customise their hardware though, so the idea might not be lost. it'd be super cute to have a straight up companion cube device rather than just decor.

Thank you, this really made me smile! I like yours a lot too. (I wish we could give likes straight from the dance floor!)