Princeton review mcat books 4th edition

Continuing on from April's Update
May was all about pulling threads and diving down rabbit holes, but I found my project going in directions that I hadn’t anticipated, which is a lot of fun.
After over 3 months of work, I finished the Wizard’s Isle. I had thought that this location was going to be a modest sized wizard’s tower and cavern but I kept finding passages that led off the map, which inspired me to link maps and extend the cavern. The Isle ended up being the tower, a very large (4 areas across 3 levels totaling 88 rooms) cavern/dungeon, a school of magic, and its dungeon. A lot of room descriptions, monster adaptations, and work on magic systems went into this part of the project, which I had thought was only an out of the way side quest location.
After all those rooms, I wanted to try something new, so I went to the other side of the regional map and developed a 7 hex area of hills along a trade route. Using advice I got from u/EverRev in this subreddit, I applied the method in Filling in the Blanks and Into the Wild by Todd Lebeck to detail each hex.
While this approach seemed straightforward at first, the lair tables often referred to supplements and games that I didn’t have. There were also times that the randomly generated result was…just odd. Who needs Industrial agriculture in a wilderness hex? So if anyone asks why there are dinosaurs in my world, they replaced the cucumbers.
Each hex got lairs and features. I developed the sub hexes and type of encounter. Finally I created a random encounter table, relating the hex to the ones around it. I used Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game 4th edition as my source for the monsters that aren’t in the books that I have.
Really added to the region/ world building in unexpected ways. I’m still working my way toward the Demon Prince (the BBEG) but through this exercise, I chanced upon the Prince’s lieutenant, a lich, and the lich’s adversary, a fey forest spirit and her guardian.
The work plan for June is to develop the dungeons, caves, and structures generated in the hex development. I’ll need to squeeze in some work to detail the lich’s followers and the trade route, but that shouldn’t be too hard to do.

I purchased the CompTIA A+ 11th Edition Exam Guide. So I'm reading Mike Meyer's writing in all of its glory. I'm under the impression the last time I did this in 2011, the TotalSeminars redemption code gave me access to all the practice tests for each chapter. However, this time I only have access to two Core1/Core2 practice exams, and one that is over all of it.
Now I'm looking at buying either the CompTIA "Complete Certification Kit" on amazon, which includes the Study Guide, Review Guide, and complete Practice Tests for $63. OR, I can buy Jason Dion's Udemy Practice Tests, which people say are awesome for studying for the A+ certification. The reason I'm uncertain about doing the latter is, there only seem to be 6 practice exams, where I was hoping to use the practice exams for each book chapter to help memorize what I need to know.

• So, has anyone ever bought one or both of these? Was the complete certification kit on Amazon good for studying?
• Can anyone compare them against Jason Dion's practice tests?
• Would Dion's be objectively better than the Total Seminars' practice tests, even if they are organized topically, and not chapter-by-chapter?

I'm looking to finally replace my MSI GS63. I only do light gaming, mostly 4x games and occasionally MMO. Looking forward to Diablo 4. I mostly use my computer for Photoshop, CorelDraw, and 3d modeling for 3d printer. I have a slight preference to MSI machines since my last one served me well for many many years. But I'm open to other suggestions.
I was looking at the Asus ProArt Studio book 16 with i9 and NVIDIA 4070, 64GB memory and 8TB SSD. But it isn't out yet, so there are no reviews. And I'm not sure it's the right option. Also I'm getting impatient.
The Form LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: $3000, USD
Are you open to refurbs/used? New only, preferably newer models too
How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life? Build quality, then performance. No preference on portability/battery as it will mostly sit on my desk.
How important is weight and thinness to you? Not a high priority
Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put 16"
Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/ gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. Listed in original post. Photoshop, CorelDraw, 3d CAD, 4x games and MMO
If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? I'm a light gamer, I don't think FPS is as important.
Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/ touchpad)? Not thay I can think of.

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Prepare to journey into the heart of fear, where the boundaries of reality blur and the whispers of the mind become deafening. Trapped in the back rooms will leave you questioning your own sanity, your deepest fears clawing at the edges of your imagination. Are you ready to step into the labyrinth?
Available on Kindle at $.99 for a limited time. Trapped in the Back Rooms: : My Descent into Madness (English Edition) https://amzn.eu/d/bX1WVDh
If you enjoyed the book , I’d greatly appreciate it if you left an honest Star Rating and / or Review

Saw the "Badly Received in China?" post earlier and thought to share a longer take on the situation in China, why are there so many antis, and my own predictions on its future.
First, a clarification, TTEOTM has been an massive hit in China. The data speaks for itself in every way you can measure commercial success: viewership, platform membership, app downloads, social media heat index, advertisements, merchandise sales, unintended tourism GDP contribution. The drama has shattered records and outperformed all the recent xianxias, which you'd never dare to expect for a drama with no dingliu (顶流) that airs exclusively in the dead April slot on a platform that's 3rd (sometimes 4th) amongst online streamers. (Some day I'll create a master post just on the stats.)
The only area it falls short on is critical response. It's not just the low Douban rating (opened at 6.x and now dropped to 5.6). The three Bs - Douban, Weibo, and Bilibili (which you can think of as China's IMDB, Twitter, and Youtube) were full of attacks against the show. This included trending topics on how the actors looked (LYX too thin, BL looking old/big/overshadowed by CDL, CDL 照骗 not looking as good as in photo) as well as allegations of plagiarism and drama behind the scenes between cast & crew members. A lot of people watched video edits that twisted the facts and had a poor impression of the drama and even left 1/2-star reviews on Douban without ever watching an episode. (This type of brainwashing is more effective than you'd think. I've been reading a lot of negative posts about the Little Mermaid movie and almost caught myself writing something negative about it without ever watching.)
As all of this unfolded, I kept asking myself, why all the smearing? Who is behind it? And why TTEOTM in particular?
A lot of what appears to be normal user activity is driven by water armies, marketing accounts, and "black" hot search ranking, all paid. This is all backed up by photo evidence captured by netizens. It comes down to commercial interests of rival platforms, productions, actors. This actually happens to every drama that is threatening in some way (almost a proof of success), but TTEOTM attracted more $$$. Why? For one, it's seen as the secret weapon that could elevate Youku's status as a 3rd/4th player to a close 2nd to rival and even at times overshadow Tencent. It's no coincidence that, Bilibili, which is owned by Tencent and has way more daily active users than Youku, has promoted hate videos and limited the traffic of fan videos - at some point not even recognizing the drama's Chinese title in search results. (Bilibili used to be a haven for LYX fans and a platform LYX has partnered with extensively. This flipped 180 degrees since he no longer has any unaired dramas with Tencent.)
TTEOTM is also a target for rival productions because it's got big name stars with solid acting reputation, one of the hottest IPs, and high anticipation from all the promotional materials - they've been super loud in letting everyone know that they have better costumes, special effects etc Meanwhile, there's a massive pipeline of unaired xianxia dramas that stick to the old formula and will likely feel dated after people have watched TTEOTM. So if you've invested in xianxia 101, you'd really want to discredit TTEOTM and stop people from watching it.
But there's also rival fandom jealousy, which is almost worse. Someone asked which fandom is behind it, I would say everyone. There are only so many "resources" to go around in the "entertainment winter" and it's a zero sum game. LYX and BL are both already big stars but still not at the top yet. They are big enough to threaten the dinglius, but not big enough to be accepted as having "made it" by other rising stars. E.g. Yang Mi, Yang Zi, Xiao Zhan receive a lot of hate too, but it's less realistic as a prospect to bring them down. In contrast, the smearing of Bai Lu actually kind of worked (And I'm really talking about the fans. The actors probably leave it to their agencies/companies.)
Other fandoms are especially bitter in this case because TTEOTM really upset the status quo and commonly accepted truths in a way that kind of discredits everyone else. A lot of the below have been used by fans of dinglius as excuses for when a drama doesn't perform:

• Youku is a rubbish platform and Youku exclusive web dramas will never have high viewership
• It’s impossible for an actor to break out twice within the same genre
• An actor can only develop a big dedicated fan base with CP marketing
• Breakout hits are always unanticipated dramas that come out of nowhere
• Autumn/Spring is a dead slot. Hits can only come out of the summer and winter holidays.

IMHO A lot of the intense hatred comes from long held beliefs being proven wrong. LYX has always been thought of someone who’s borderline A list and B list, yet the opening viewership of TTEOTM is like double that of dramas led by bigger stars. It would have been less threatening if it started low and slowly gained traction because the drama proved to be good. But the initial hype speaks to the market power of a LYX xianxia, so a lot of people wanted to see it fail and looked for faults everywhere.
Moreover, because TTEOTM had an explosive opening, it did not have enough time for word of mouth to develop before people started bashing it. If you look at Douban ratings, shows that fewer people watched tend to have better reviews because only fans bother to rate it. Starry Love and Back from the Brink, both harshly dismissed as flops by the industry, both have >7.0 on Douban. Meanwhile, people love to hate on a show that is receiving a lot of hype - suddenly they are held to completely different standards even if the budget is similar. Why are people more accepting of the rise of Dylan Wang and Esther Yu in LBFAD? In the end because the expectations were pretty low. They were able to build up a fan base while no one was watching.
Finally, TTEOTM does have lots of production problems, some of their own doing and others not their fault. Either way this left the drama less defensible in the face of scrutiny or tucao 吐槽 culture. The production is very ambitious and took risks but did not deliver everywhere. It's got parts that look like a blockbuster film and parts that look like a B grade TV show. I personally did not like some of the editing, lighting, cinematography, color grading, special effects, makeup. AND this is precisely the type of production details Chinese viewers LOVE to fixate on. Meanwhile, compared to western viewers, they are more forgiving about things like mediocre acting, dubbing, slow pacing, repetitive tropes or storylines, uninteresting characters. (I think this has something to do with cultural differences around rewarding perfect execution over innovation/risk-taking, sum of the parts over parts that carry the sum.)
And then, there are creative choices that are daring and controversial. These are not problems per se - for every viewer that hates it, someone loves it because it's different. But this perhaps explain why its score has dropped further, even in non-Chinese platforms like MDL, even amongst fans of the show. For example...

• Opting for a bad/open ending, knowing that it'll upset some fans, but sticking to it because it protects the overall integrity of the story (no deux ex machina for the lead character, people love watching leads being resurrected but at the same time complaining that it's a cop out)
• Packing lots of details in a fast-paced, highly complicated, non-linear plot, trusting viewers to be engaged enough to use their brain, rewatch, and discuss outside the show (a bit like Christopher Nolan films). The downside of this is that it's hard to edit out a scene. There's also high risk of viewers getting confused and complaining that the plot makes no sense. Even though most things do if you go several layers down, some rightly point out that they just want to be entertained and the drama should stand on its own.
• Making this a male lead centric (大男主) drama, which is rare in the xianxia genre that more recently has targeted young women exclusively. The story shifts from focusing on LSS's mission to TTJ overcoming his fate, perhaps at the expense of the romance (a criticism I see a lot for people looking for a pure love story). However, for context viewers in China (including CCTV itself) have been complaining that the xianxia genre has lost the "xia” (heroism). It's gone from Chinese Paladin, which is about ordinary people overcoming odds to become heroes, to stories that are just about pretty people, who happen to be gods, falling in love.... since the success of Eternal Love and Journey of the Flower. So this is also a change that many welcome.
• Allocating a crazy portion of budget and screentime to superhero fight sequences. I agree with all the critics who say these scenes don't add much to the story, the B roll looks better without CGI, and they could have kept other scenes instead. BUT guess which scenes I find myself rewatching and showing off to friends the most? Episodes 14, 15, 32. Because it is thrilling and glorious. Plus after enduring so many Marvel films over the years, I'm pleased to see a version that's genuinely Chinese (not some pan-Asian BS), rooted in our philosophy and martial arts tradition, featuring Chinese faces that have real kungfu training.
• Going over the top on aesthetics - colorful costumes, hair accessories, and heavy makeup. A violent reaction against the simple pastel aesthetics that have dominated xianxias over the years. Of course, lots of people hated on the eyeliner and found the extravagant visuals distracting.

However, even with all its flaws, I'm glad it aired and did not wait for perfection. (A lot of May dramas did not go live last minute due to "technical problems" i.e. government censorship. These days, airing = success.) In addition, I predict that over time people will come to appreciate TTEOTM more. Here's why:
1) A lot of dramas now widely lauded as classics started out with poor ratings. Over time, the noise will die down and make way for what really matters - compelling acting and story. Empresses in the Palace (2011) open with a Douban rating of 2.7 out of 10 (yes, this bad). Viewers didn't like the casting choice. They thought the actors looked bad. There were also issues with the costumes. Over time, its rating increased to 9.4. It's now a show rewatched so loyally that data analysts use its viewership to track market size. Similarly, a lot of the issues people have with TTEOTM are superficial. The things that matter most like acting are good, and even if you dislike the story and editing choices, it did manage to keep 70M people watching and engaged till the end, incl. people who don't watch a lot of TV or like this genre.
2) Moreover, when people look back or rewatch, they tend to focus on just the highlights, and TTEOTM is full of memorable scenes. There are also so many standout memes/gags (出圈梗) that will live in our cultural fabric forever. Fans on Douban were surveyed on who they would have chosen as the director instead and still overwhelming "rehired" Kuk Kok Leung. Biases aside, I think people realize that you could have a better executed drama overall - higher production value, greater consistency, more attention to detail, BUT you might also lose a lot of the things we loved. I don't know if another director would have allowed TTJ go full creepy/evil/weak in the first few episodes or filmed all the steamy love scenes without a modesty backlight. TTEOTM feels so different because it breaks ALL the rules (see above) that I'm not sure if dramas in the future will try to replicate it again. If they do, TTEOTM would have started a trend. If they don't, TTEOTM will remain the only option.
3) Only dramas that inspire passion will stand the test of time. Those that don't will fade away over time. The TTEOTM fan community is intense - there's so much discussion and engagement everywhere. Its Douban group is the #3 most active ever (measured by # of comments). Its MDL page has 68K comments, highest of all aired CDrama. Its Douyin topic has close to 29B views, highest of all costume drama. (Interesting to note that TTEOTM has an excellent reputation on Douyin, the platform with the most active users and least amount of toxic fan activity.) Fans have spent >25M RMB on merchandise, an unprecedented amount - 3M RMB on a character that appears for <10 mins (OG Devil God). It's got to have done something right because this is way more buying power than the fans of LYX and BL combined. And in my N=1, I've not been this excited about a franchise since Game of Thrones and then Harry Potter.
Bottom line, you might have liked it, liked it with regrets, hated it... but if you're spending the time to read this post, all the way till the end, you've become a luna-tic (or 烬神病人)!

[edit] Without any response to my request for refund, the seller has moved the status into shipped, despite telling me it cannot ship until June 7th, and that he does not have the additional pieces needed for the order. With this update, the deadline has changed from April, to June, and now to August and Etsy says I can now only open a case after this new deadline in August. The written agreement for deadline was March, and the original Etsy-provided delivery was April. This leaves me, the buyer, totally powerless because that date can slide off indefinitely even with the seller being three months late even if this had the completed product. There must be some other way to open a claim. I really hope someone has insight into this.
I am afraid that I’m becoming a victim of a scam while purchasing on Etsy, but I am unsure what the angle is. I have officially requested a refund, and it now seems easily disputable but there are details in the story that make me unsure if I should file a dispute before or after the estimated delivery date has passed. I am aware I seem very trusting and even stupid here, but bear with me. It’s a very long story and I am trying to be concise but also have enough detail to receive informed answers, so I’m formatting this as follows:
- A short tl;dr of how I view the situation, and what makes me afraid it’s a scam - A consolidated list of the red flags in the story - A detailed list of events for those interested enough in delving deep into my problem
TL;DR:
I wanted to order a fairly expensive costume on Etsy. $1600, enough that I'm quite nervous about it. Found a seller with fair reviews and a good looking product, and discussed a delivery of March. Excuses were made, and strange inconsistencies in the images he sent me made me nervous. He asked to do shady splitting of deliveries to allow other orders to process on his Etsy store. Eventually I told him to just send me what he has and I’ll build the rest, for full price and leave a 5 star review. That seems like a golden opportunity to get away with delivering a sub-par product but he still didn’t take advantage of that offer. He claims it can be shipped in the unfinished state, exactly one day after Etsy’s delivery deadline one week from today. This timing makes me worry there is some scam but I can’t comprehend it yet. With the deadline for delivery approaching, it seems like I’d be able to file a dispute easily after 48 hours (per Etsy’s resolution rules) since he hasn’t responded to my request for refund. But this all seems too easy of a resolution that I must be missing something.
Red Flags: - Red flag 1: The March delivery date gone by with no updates was my first red flag, but felt I couldn’t do anything until the ship date passed, according to my incorrect understanding of Etsy’s rules at the time. - Red flag 2: Two pictures of progress were sent of the helmet, but they were of totally different construction methods (3d printed vs cast resin/fiberglass, the listing didn’t say which, and I don’t care as long as it looks good) - Red flag 3: Seller updates the estimated delivery to Feb 5 - Jun 11, apologizes and says updated the wrong delivery date, and the current order delivery date as of posting this is June 6th. I wasn’t aware that sellers could even change the advertised delivery date. - Red flag 4: Offers to send a completely finished, unrelated helmet of comparable value as an apology bonus gift for the delay. - Red flag 5: Seller requests to send just the costume elements as a first shipment, with the helmet coming later, because enough new orders have come in and he cannot start because Etsy sees delay in my order. - Red flag 6: Seller claims he had finished painting a helmet, then a cat knocked it over, and that he had to print it again, but shows a picture of two resin/fiberglass helmets, not 3d printed - Red flag 7: I offer to take the entire costume in its current state, and finish all painting, clear coat, etc. Seller very happy about this and says he will finish the clips for closing the helmet before taking me up on the offer. 10 days later I find out he is still waiting on a shipment of those parts (that he should have had for the original deal three months earlier) If there wasn’t something else strange going on, why not just get the free 5 stars for unfinished work? - Red flag 8: Details below, but the gist is it is uncovered that there was never painting done on the helmet that was ‘ready for clear coat’, and a new helmet was not yet printed. (Possible explanation for red flag 7 above) - Red flag 9: Seller says it can now be shipped on the 7th of June, just one day after the deadline for Etsy’s delivery. This is the biggest question I have from this whole post. Is there significance to this date that I’m not piecing together, or is it a coincidence? - Red flag 10: I offer to purchase just the costume with no helmet through a new custom listing on Etsy (a feature of the site, I also sell there) and he instead offers to refund me for the helmet’s value through Paypal, keeping the original full price order intact. Yeah right. Red flag me nine times, shame on you. Red flag me 10 times… shame on me.
Detailed List of Events:
Jan 26th - Wanted to find a costume for a July 1st expo - Reached out to an Etsy seller for a costume that I was hoping was ready to send as-is, no customization. Their listing had an estimated ship date of February to April, which would have been plenty of time, but I wanted time for options in case it didn’t work out. I asked the seller if there were any just ready to go in the general size and he said that they are all custom. - Me: “Unfortunately it's just too much risk of not arriving in time. My event is not until July, but I want to make sure that if something about it does not work out, that I can find replacements in time. Thank you for the information though.” - Seller: “if july doesn't matter, that's a long time,March is in your hands, it shouldn't be a problem”. - He also showed me screenshots of previous shipping updates from his country to mine between 2-10 days. This convinced me to go ahead and purchase.
April 2nd - Red flag 1: This amount of time passed was my first red flag, but felt I couldn’t do anything until the ship date passed, according to my (potentially incorrect) understanding of Etsy’s rules - Me: “Hello, just checking in to see how it is going.” - [a picture of an unpainted resin or resin/fiberglass casting of the helmet]- [a picture of a 3D printed helmet] - Red flag 2: Why is there a picture of a cast resin helmet as well as 3d printed helmet? I shrugged it off as showing me process pictures of how he made it: First 3d printed, then a mold made, then cast in resin/fiberglass. He would only need to 3d print once, and then cast the copies, so the 3d printed image must be old, and my helmet was the resin/fiberglass. - [various pictures of the costume elements in progress] - Seller: “I am apologies advance , currently constrained by the weather in my country, the rainfall is very high these few months.” - Red flag 3: Seller updates the estimated delivery to Feb 5 - Jun 11, apologizes and says updated the wrong delivery date, and the current order delivery date as of May 30th is Jun 6th- I misunderstood and thought that by apologizing about updating the wrong thing, that my order was still coming before June. I simply reply “Oh, neat. Thank you for these updates!”
April 11th - Me: “do you have any updates on shipping time for the costume?” - Seller: Excuses about the paint not drying because it’s raining, an employee in the hospital, and a bit of discussion between us with him offering to send also an unrelated helmet and me saying that’s not necessary. - Red flag 4: [image of the unrelated helmet being offered, itself listed at around $400] - Me: “There's no need to send anything extra. I was only asking because you had mentioned I might have it in hand in March, but I hadn't heard anything during that month. If you had told me about the weather and hospital issues when they came up I would have understood as I do now.”
May 7th - Me: “Hello, how is the costume going?” - Seller: “this month I hope it's in your hands, now just need to finish the final polish :)” - Me: “Cool, thank you for the update.”
May 18th - Seller: “Haii brother All part already , just wait just waiting for the helmet to finish clear coat, hopefully next week it can be finished and immediately packed and shipped, sorry for the long wait”- [picture of the costume elements, they don’t look exactly like the advertised image, but I’m happy enough with the look] - Red flag 5: Seller requests to send just the costume elements as a first shipment, because a new order has come in and he cannot start because Etsy sees delay in my order. - Me: “If you mean that it's raining too much to do clear coat, if you send the helmet as is, I am able to do clear coat myself and it does not rain here. I think if you just send me what you have, I can handle the rest. I am somewhat skilled with mold making and painting.” - Red flag 6: Seller says he printed a replacement helmet (why are we back to talking about a 3d printed helmet?) because a cat knocked it off the pole when painting. “actually I reprinted a replacement helmet, because previously it had damage when I dried it on a tall support pole outside and was hit by a neighbor's cat yesterday, too much when reconnecting and repair it, and I make it again.” - [picture of an unpainted cracked portion of a helmet] - [picture of two helmets, both clearly resin/fiberglass as I can see little bubbles in the surface] - Me: “Well let me just put this forward: I can do the clear coat myself in a very dry environment, so if you want to just send me whatever is undamaged I can even paint it myself if you only have unpainted. I understand you don't feel that is up to your quality, but it is enough for me and I will still give you 5 stars” - Seller: “really you are really good my brother, I am touched, I’ll be doing what lacking right away, like cutting and pasting the side locks.”
May 30th - Me: “Please send me whatever state the helmet is in so I can do my best to salvage this situation. Whatever hinges and locks need doing I will figure out a way to do it myself.” - Seller: “don't worry my brother, I have booked a flight with the courier, they said they would get it before the 10th, because this week there is a red date and joint leave, and I have prepared everything. flights using the fastest possible 4-7 days will arrive at your place.” - Me: “Okay, great. And just to clarify, when you mention you have prepared everything, do you mean that you ended up finishing all of it, or do you mean it's prepared for me to do the clear coat work we discussed last week?” - Seller: “I'm waiting for the clip lock to come, it's on the way, I'm afraid you can't get it there, I'm still refining the raw helmet kit at the moment. because after printing it must be completely dry and hardened and then it can be trimmed. this week I had health problems with the flu and had a fever for 2 days. my bro said you would do painting and be creative on the helmet” - Red flag 7: How are we waiting on the side clips to arrive to his location still if the original promise was to be in-hand in March? - Me: I ask about why we are still waiting on side clips and “Also, you mentioned ‘just waiting for the helmet to finish clear coat, hopefully next week it can be finished and immediately packed and shipped’. Is there a helmet currently painted or not? If I understand correctly, clear coat is the final step after painting it up. You mentioned one got damaged, but the picture you send of the damaged piece was white.” - Seller: “As we agreed last week, we have talked a lot, I will make another helmet to replace a helmet that has been damaged by a fall, if I send it cracked and broken, I won't do that.” - Red flag 8: Not only is the helmet unpainted, but a replacement has not been printed. So “just wait just waiting for the helmet to finish clear coat” was a lie, “actually I reprinted a replacement helmet” was a lie, and images of resin helmets was a lie. - Red flag 9: Seller mentions he can get it shipped by Jun 7th, one day after Etsy’s current delivery estimation deadline- I decide I will just buy a big FDM printer and make a helmet myself. (That seems like a big decision but please note I am well versed in 3d modeling, 3d printing, and mold making, used to use FDM printers but currently only have a small resin 3d printer, I am just unskilled at making them nice and clean) I offer to either purchase the costume with a new Etsy listing that contains just the $1200 costume elements without the $400 helmet, or that I will request a full refund. - Red flag 10: Seller offers to refund me for the helmet through Paypal - I officially request a refund through Etsy. After reviewing Etsy’s rules, I was mistaken in thinking I could only submit a dispute after the official estimated date in the system. A date which changed from April to June so I thought it was completely out of my control. Apparently I can make a claim after 48 hours of not resolving it with the seller. - Seller hasn’t responded to the separate refund message thread that Etsy created.

With Midnight hitting at 12 pm EST, the world premiere of Across the Spiderverse has arrived, and reviews from Across the Spiderverse ae beginning to pour in as well. Some early reactions from audience members online have begun to appear:
“Spider-Man: #AcrossTheSpiderVerse is so f\**ing good, I want to refrain my children from ever seeing any other entity of the character because they pale by comparison. This is MY Spider-Man. This is what we've long deserved. It's better than the first, and I LOVED the first.”* ~ Clayton Davis, Variety
“SPIDER-MAN: #AcrossTheSpiderVerse is very much a Part 1, but when it's this great of a first part who cares?! Perfect in every aspect, with a metatextual element that interrogates the very nature of the Spider-Man mythos. A new high for Hollywood animation AND superhero films.” ~ James Preston Poole, Discussing Film
“It’s amazing. Even better than the first. It took 5 years to make and it shows. Absolute piece of art. And that’s all I’m gonna say. Surprises await you.”~ Patton Oswalt, Actor“
Absolutely bonkers how good Across the Spiderverse is! The animation team is too powerful and they must be stopped. I’m going to have a six pack on my face from alternately grinning like an idiot and staring in slack-jawed amazement.” Dan Casey, Nerdist“
Right when you thought EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE peaked with multiverse stories, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, swung in to take the Miles Morales’ story and the animation medium to the next level. It’s a transcendent work of art that should be held as 2023’s first Best Picture. Believe the hype. See it on the biggest screen possible. Lo and behold the artistry and rich storytelling about identity unlike any Spider-Man story done before. Yes, bolder than its predecessor. I—ooof. I need to see it again immediately.” ~ Rendy Jones of VanityFair and Ebert Voices
“Every once in a while, an animated film pushes the medium to new frontiers. Into the Spiderverse was one of those movies. #AcrossTheSpiderVerse takes it several steps further! Just, wow!” ~ Nicholas Spake, Watch Mojo
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is EVERYTHING I wanted it to be and more. The animation is the best I’ve ever seen in any film ever. The story is phenomenal. The future is so bright for this franchise. 10/10. Go see it right away. You will love every moment.” ~Jack “CouRage” Dunlop, Co-owner of 100Thieves
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is one of the most visually stunning movies ever, regardless of format, style, live-action, or animation. It outdoes the first film and gives us one of the finest examples of film in recent memory. It’s about as perfect as it gets.” ~Hunter Bolding, MPA certified press
“#AcrossTheSpiderVerse take the saying “Every Frame’s a Painting” to an entirely new level. Your eyes dance around the screen in awe as the film brings arthouse animation to the mainstream. You’re so captivated by the dazzle and heart that you forget the film’s 2+ hours runtime” ~Robert Butler III, Geeks of Color
Edit: More rolling in.
"There’s never been a SPIDER-MAN movie quite like ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE! What an incredible, exhilarating, ingenious cinematic triumph & a landmark achievement in groundbreaking animation! So much heart & humor too! An epic winner! Can’t wait to see it again!" ~Scott Mantz, Film Critic
"Across The Spider-Verse is a masterpiece." ~Stephen Amell, actor
"And just like that #AcrossTheSpiderVerse just skyrocketed to one of the best comic book movies in the last 5 years. The animation was a thing of pure beauty. A visual rollercoaster for my eyeballs. This felt like the truest Spider-Man movie ever. Take notes, Marvel." ~Emmanuel Noisette, Film Critic
"Still catching my breath from #AcrossTheSpiderVerse*. Absolutely blew me away. Not just a powerful restatement of everything that made the first film special, it expands the Spider-mythology for a story that’s both bigger and deeper. The wait until the next part will be agonizing!*" ~Zaki Hasan, Journalist
"After the hype for Spider-Man Across the Spiderverse, I couldn’t imagine how it could meet the glory of the first film. Trust me, it does. Gorgeous art design. Heart wrenching turns. A powerful tale for ANYONE who has ever felt like a mistake. See it this weekend! In a movie landscape clogged with multiverse fiction, Across the Spiderverse accomplishes the difficult task of establishing easy-to-understand architecture and holding variants’ actions accountable. I’ve been dying for the MCU to at least TRY to do this. This movie fixes it all. " ~Erik Voss, DeepDiveNR
"We’re going to look back at #AcrossTheSpiderVerse as the film that revolutionized animation. It is such a technical achievement and I’ve never seen a more beautiful looking movie. The way the incorporated all of the different types of art styles together was amazing. We thought the first movie blew away animation and this one is 10x the animation of the first one…" ~Matt Ramos, Actor
"#AcrossTheSpiderVerse is so absurdly good. A ton of fun, and \gorgeous.* I want to go back and just stare at almost every frame. Really, don’t temper your expectations - you’re gonna love it as much as people say. I was specifically looking forward to #AcrossTheSpiderVerse partly because I was told there was a lot more Spider-Gwen (a personal fave). Tried to keep my hopes in check just to be safe, but guys. We get SO MUCH. Hailee Steinfeld remains a heroic casting & she really gets to flex*" ~Andi Ortiz, The Wrap
"Wow! Even for a Part One, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE exceeded all of my expectations. More emotional & thrilling than the first with a vibing soundtrack & dazzling animation. Oscar Isaac is the voice MVP. A highly ambitious but satisfying set up for what’s to come." ~Matt Neglia, Owner of Next Best Picture
"There aren't enough words to describe how much I LOVED #AcrosstheSpiderVerse! The animation, the art direction, the music, the performances, the story. 10/10. WHERE IS THE 3D VERSION?!" ~Adam Hlaváč, Creator of Heroes Reforged
"#AcrossTheSpiderVerse is spectacular! The animation is a visual delight and more impressive from one scene to the next. What is really great is how dramatic and emotional the story becomes for Miles and Gwen. It’s an excellent sequel." Leo Brady, film critic
"Believe the hype! #SpiderMan #AcrossTheSpiderVerse is even better than I expected. Every character, action scene, and conversation are executed so well incredibly well. I can’t wait to watch this again. Get ready to be in awe of this movie." ~Wendy Lee Szany, Film Critic
"WOW! #AcrossTheSpiderVerse was incredible! A heart racing & emotional addition to the Spider-Verse franchise. Spider-Gwen and Spider-Punk were among the many standouts, but Miles is the anchor. The visuals were phenomenal. SO many twists, turns, and surprises. I loved it!" ~Duane Miller, creator of Cinemaniaworld, film critic
"SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE can be described with one word⁠—masterpiece. From the first beautifully animated frame, it’s a masterclass on believable characters and worlds. The gap between this and other superhero films is wide." ~Sheraz Farooqi, Film Critic
"#AcrossTheSpiderVerse is incredible. Visually, emotionally, it’s bigger and more intense than the first movie, but that mirrors how Miles is growing up and dealing with more complex problems and emotions. Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen is the stand-out. It’s her movie as much as Miles. The critic in me wants to point out that in some respects #SpiderVerse is half a movie (it’s not a spoiler, we all know there’s another one). But as a Spider-Man and animation fan I was too busy muttering “holy shit” to myself on a loop for two and a half hours to really care." ~Alex Zalben, The Decider
"I can't quite sing the praises of #AcrossTheSpiderVerse as the greatest thing ever because it is currently incomplete. It is, however, well on its way to being half of the greatest achievement in animation since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. #AcrossTheSpiderVerse builds on the first movie in brilliant ways, it finds new emotional stakes for Miles that make sense and fleshes out Gwen brilliantly. Does it have a million Easter eggs and references? Yes, and I don't care. It's about the characters." ~Dirk Libbey, Cinemablend
"'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ is a practically perfect movie. Its color palette and blending of different animation styles is a treasure trove for the eyes, making it one of the most visually innovative films in years.There are dozens of cameos and easter eggs for superhero fans to obsess over for weeks to come. The #SpiderVerse story masterfully balances heart, humor, and action throughout its 2h20m runtime.Audiences will adore several characters, both old and new, with Miles Morales remaining an absolute star. Other standouts include performances from Oscar Isaac, Daniel Kaluuya, and Luna Lauren Velez." ~PopCrave
"#SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse isn’t just a masterpiece, isn’t just THE definitive Spider-Man film…it’s one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. I’m still picking my jaw off the f\**ing floor from this REMARKABLE work of art. Truly at a loss for words.*" ~Griffin Schiller, creator of FilmSpeak
"#SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse is not just the BEST Spider-Man film of all time, it’s not just the BEST COMIC BOOK FILM of all time, it’s not just the greatest sequel ever made, it’s bar none one of the best films I’ve ever watched. More than a masterpiece. This is everything. The feeling this film gave me brought back the feeling of when I watched my first movie.. every core memory of Toy Story being watched for the very first time. I’m in tears #spiderverse" ~Zach Pope, Critic