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kung fu jive posted:Thanks for the encouragement folks. It's a challenging build, especially if you got the one with the LCD screen and/or the tri-mode PCB. Lots of teeny screws and the way it's all assembled is kind of a pain in the rear end, and the setup was not intuitive at all. It took me about 6 hours from box to caps (including time to lube all the stabilizers). It's worth the patience though, it really feels like a big, sturdy, premium board.
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Apr 8, 2024 01:20
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Framboise posted:It's a challenging build, especially if you got the one with the LCD screen and/or the tri-mode PCB. Lots of teeny screws and the way it's all assembled is kind of a pain in the rear end, and the setup was not intuitive at all. It took me about 6 hours from box to caps (including time to lube all the stabilizers). Oy vey… I got the tri-mode with the LCD. Well, at least I know what’s up in advance, and that the payoff is there.
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Apr 8, 2024 05:09
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Lemme drop you some tips then. The instructions are pretty godawful. 1. Yeah, there are more holes on the back than there are screws. Just put 'em wherever they make most sense to you. 2. For some reason the instructions don't tell you to install the weight on the back until about halfway in. You can do this pretty much immediately. 3. Really consider whether or not you want the wireless capabilities. (Are you really gonna be lugging this behemoth around?) The batteries are a pain in the rear end to install and basically means the board is on 24/7 unless you actively put it to sleep. It says that it goes to sleep on its own, but I've yet to actually see it do that. You also are instructed to tape your batteries down with double sided tape that's provided in the box. This stuff is insanely sticky, so be absolutely sure you've got the wires facing upward or they'll be stuck under the foam and you'll be having to use a knife to pry them off and praying you don't break anything. Ask me how I know!  4. The instructions say to test the PCB using tweezers before installing anything. I never got that to work. I just lightly pressed a switch to each socket and tested each in VIA. Pay attention to how each socket is oriented. You'll need to install some upside down or sideways. 5. Make sure your stabs are lubed real good. You will NOT want to take this thing apart to fix them. Just follow that video to the letter and you should be okay. Also, pay close attention to how your spacebar will be installed based on where your keycap's connectors are. I had to install the stab upside down and the switch upside down. I didn't see how it could work any other way. The stab tabs go in the larger hole, the place where you screw them down lines up with the smaller one. 6. That really paper thin piece of foam goes on top of the PCB, then the stabs, then the plate foam. Be careful you're not creasing or wrinkling the thin one when installing the stabs. It helps to use some switches to hold that material down. Once you've got the stabs all on, then you put the plate foam over all that. Then the plate gets fastened on top of that. Install the standoffs on the plate first and the screws go in from the back of the PCB. Yeah, it's weird and probably unnecessary but it's nice to have everything held together. 7. The ribbon cable that connects the LCD screen to the PCB is ridiculously finicky. Pay very close attention to how pictures show how to install it in the instructions. Blue side goes up, and the sockets do not act the same. You kinda just cram it in on the LCD screen socket but you'll need to lift and latch the fastener on the PCB. 8. You'll need the Wuque Studio app on your phone to do anything with the LCD screen. You'll also need some firmware for some other Meletrix board to implement some of the LCD screen settings. You can find more info on the Meletrix Discord. I haven't figured that poo poo out yet. I just uploaded a goofy picture to my screen and left it at that. 9. The board comes with a cheatsheet with a bunch of pre-installed hotkeys. The NKRO enabling one did not work for me. Just make your own keybind for it in VIA. Also, if you want to turn the telescope LEDs off, those are connected to the under-board LEDs. Use Fn+Shift+| to turn those off if you don't like them. The board also comes with some very thin pieces of foam strips. Those apparently are used to block the under-board LEDs from shining up through the inside of the board. I did not know this and the instructions never mention them. I'll need to tear the whole drat thing apart just to put them on, but since I turned the under lighting off to turn the telescope light off, I don't really care. 10. Getting the board set up in VIA didn't work until it did. I don't know how or why. Good luck. Framboise fucked around with this message at 11:54 on Apr 8, 2024 |
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Apr 8, 2024 11:45
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They sell lube in syringes. You should be able to take the keycap off and use the syringe to lube up the stabilizer in the future. https://upgradekeyboards.com/collections/lubes/products/syringe-of-krytox%E2%84%A2-205g0-stabilizer-lube?variant=40886440558724
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Apr 8, 2024 17:04
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Been tumbling down the rabbit hole mostly in regard to macro keypads. I use them for gaming and over the past couple of years as I’ve learned more and experimented with the different stock options I’m finally coming around to wanting more particular things and not finding my exact preferences. That in turn leads me down a path to wanting to mod, particularly desoldering and replacing switches. At first I thought this was too extra but I kept doing some homework and I’m kind of talking myself into it. Still, I’m casting about for any insight, tips, or straight up better ideas for some product I’m not seeing on the market. In particular what I’m wanting is a 23ish key macro pad that sits flat, almost like a half keyboard. I was ok with a number pad layout and just adjusting it sideways, but every single option has an ergonomic/tilted design and I want it to lay flat because I use an array so having them side by side and flat is the ideal. The best flat options I’ve seen that offer switch sockets either have too much footprint or really unnecessary (for me) features like rotary nobs. I v briefly surveyed some split keyboard options thinking I could just pipe the halves to different devices but a split keyboard is a little bit more than what I’m needing. I have an almost perfect option that I’ve mostly happily been using already for a few years. But ultimately it’s why I’m here. The keypad that’s mostly been working is a koolertron 23 key macro pad I found off amazon. They’re not pretty or anything but they’ve been functional for me. Through ignorance and happenstance over time I picked up and daily driver use a model with stock cherry red switches next to one with stock blue switches, so I’ve gotten a good chance to suss out how I feel— the blues are too clicky and the reds too squishy. They function alright, but the blues are too noisy and I live in a smaller home with family and I’m increasingly unhappy with the clacking I put out into our shared space. The red switches, on the other hand, are too linear. I have accidental keystrokes not constantly but more than I want. After a little research I identified a number of switches that offer more resistance than stock reds and less noise, but then after further homework I realize my beloved koolertrons have soldered switches. Which is almost where I gave up but a few youtube videos have convinced me I can maybe do this and just mod the switches on one myself. I find soldering a little intimidating so I’m trying to decide if I really want to go this route. But I think I do. Though rusty with it, I have a decent iron already. I’m not averse to grabbing an extra to tinker with and the mod itself seems straightforward enough. I’m just changing switches. If anyone has a good lead on smaller custom keypad builds or ideas or insight on my particular niche problem I’m all ears. There is a dizzying amount of options for wider keyboards but all the macro pads seem either to be tilty numpads or nobby things. 9 keys and smaller are fine for what they are (I use those too! With layers) but I am just needing a little more keys on the pad. Yiggy fucked around with this message at 17:37 on Apr 8, 2024 |
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Apr 8, 2024 17:33
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mariooncrack posted:They sell lube in syringes. You should be able to take the keycap off and use the syringe to lube up the stabilizer in the future. If you happen to have a syringe like this sitting around and anyone asks what on earth it is for, just saying "lube" does nothing to straighten their frown. TBH, trying to explain that it is for your keyboard will only help a little
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Apr 8, 2024 18:43
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Framboise posted:Lemme drop you some tips then. The instructions are pretty godawful. Thank you so much. Truly, this is so helpful.
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Apr 8, 2024 20:38
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For laughs, I decided to replace the Tecsee Purple Pandas in my stupid M65-A with some Durock Dolphins (from what I understand these are the same as the Durock Silent Alpacas, just different colored) because I've been staying up a lot later and wanted to quiet my board down, plus I am years behind the curve on keyboard stuff so I might as well try some stuff I've never tried before, and to finally give linears in a daily driver an actual chance (I usually use tactile or clicky if I want to be a dick). Holy moly these Durocks are super quiet, especially in comparison. https://dai.ly/k6t4vhEFbq5jU2ArEDM I just ordered a syringe of Krytox off Amazon because the quietness of these switches made me realize that I lubed my stabs like 6 years ago and it's about time to give it another squirt or two because my stabilizers are comparatively loud now and I don't feel like taking my keyboard apart again. HamburgerTownUSA fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Apr 11, 2024 |
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Apr 11, 2024 01:43
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Here we go.... Well, I can't get VIA to connect to the zoom 98 for now so I'm in the same boat. Higher priority item: I might have a dead socket? The Fn socket won't register on the VIA key tester. Everything else on the board tested fine. I used a switch and lightly pressed it into each socket. For this one I fully seated the switch and it still won't register. I also noticed the LED is glowing green weakly and 'off' from the rest of the LEDs which are in sync. It pulses between green and then dims completely off and then back to green again. The rest of the LEDs do the rainbow. Terrible pic incoming:  If it doesn't register anything in VIA key tester that means it's dead right? That would be a tragedy but if I need to get a replacement I'd like to start on that right away. Please tell me there is something special about that socket and I'm okay. 
kung fu jive fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Apr 12, 2024 |
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Apr 12, 2024 02:03
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kung fu jive posted:Here we go.... Well, I can't get VIA to connect to the zoom 98 for now so I'm in the same boat. Higher priority item: I might have a dead socket? The Fn socket won't register on the VIA key tester. Everything else on the board tested fine. I used a switch and lightly pressed it into each socket. For this one I fully seated the switch and it still won't register. I also noticed the LED is glowing green weakly and 'off' from the rest of the LEDs which are in sync. It pulses between green and then dims completely off and then back to green again. The rest of the LEDs do the rainbow. Terrible pic incoming: First step is to remap the key you have as a layer modifier to a different key like a letter or something, and then test it. Layer modifiers like MO on their own won't show up when tested in VIA tester or Switch Hitter because they don't output a signal for a tester to pick up. Temporarily remapping it to something that you know for sure outputs something is how you would test it definitively. If that doesn't work, try a different switch or just jump it with a paperclip to complete the circuit to rule out a dead switch. Secondly, if you have some buttons set to toggle specifically R, G, and B, cycle through those colors while watching the LED light. It may be a case that the LED has some bad solder points or is broken, and you aren't getting red and blue, so you're just getting green, and it'll dim depending on the color it's trying to show because of the varying levels of green present in the color it's trying to do.
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Apr 12, 2024 03:06
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Fn is special and won't show up when pressed in VIA, correct. To test if it works, put a switch in the Fn socket and another in the }] socket and press them together. If your LEDs change, it's fine. Also be SO CAREFUL with the ribbon cable. I reopened my board to adjust the plate and...  Snapped the socket right off. Framboise fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Apr 12, 2024 |
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Apr 12, 2024 03:09
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Thanks! Fn + }] worked. That also conveniently taught me how to turn off the LEDs which was one of my objectives here. This was a ride. I am so tired (I did get some sleep) and this thing still won't connect in VIA but here we go:  
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Apr 12, 2024 15:58
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Framboise posted:Fn is special and won't show up when pressed in VIA, correct. NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! The actual socket? That part took forever and was a huge pain in the rear end. Is there any way to fix that?
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Apr 12, 2024 16:28
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Nah, looks like the plastic busted. And while I have a cheap soldering iron I've never used it and don't know how, much less for something so tiny. So even if I could fix it, I don't trust myself to. Meletrix doesn't have any more LCD screens in stock, and I wasn't in love with it anyway, so I'm gonna replace it with the knob module instead. That way I get a way to control volume in a convenient way and have an extra key to set up something fun to.
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Apr 12, 2024 17:55
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Framboise posted:Nah, looks like the plastic busted. And while I have a cheap soldering iron I've never used it and don't know how, much less for something so tiny. So even if I could fix it, I don't trust myself to. That sounds like a good move. I'm not in love with the LCD either, and yes it is always on for me too. It really detracts from the classic look I was going for. I'm kinda stuck with it since there are no knob or 2-key modules in SE black. Is that how these things normally go for a keyboard release? Since I missed the window of the group buy I'm going to be hard pressed to find the addons? VIA connected and I was able to load the json file! Thank you Framboise, for all the advice. Everything you wrote out ended up being helpful and saved me headaches.
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Apr 12, 2024 19:06
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kung fu jive posted:That sounds like a good move. I'm not in love with the LCD either, and yes it is always on for me too. It really detracts from the classic look I was going for. I'm kinda stuck with it since there are no knob or 2-key modules in SE black. Is that how these things normally go for a keyboard release? Since I missed the window of the group buy I'm going to be hard pressed to find the addons? Like I said, it won't work until it does, hahaha. If you want to turn the LCD screen off, you can press Fn+Delete and that should do it. Don't forget to set a VIA hotkey for enabling NKRO, the pre-programmed shortcut is either presented incorrectly or doesn't work. And yeah, all that's really left on Meletrix's site is knob modules (and no knobs), in various colors. I picked plum for my color and they're out of those, so I may do Strawberry Icecream instead since it'd go with GMK Daifuku well enough (and my rose gold weight that pointlessly sits under the board)?
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Apr 12, 2024 19:45
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Lol, I knew something like this would happen. I got the Tux keys from Unicomp, mostly because shipping costs didn't change and I was getting the keyboard cover anyway. I selected "Pebble", thinking that was a pretty good match for the keys I already had. There are no pictures on the website, so guesswork was all I could do.  Oh well, it's not a POOR match. And Linux is all different and poo poo I guess? Or something? Right? Justify this please????? Nobody Interesting fucked around with this message at 01:04 on Apr 13, 2024 |
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Apr 13, 2024 00:59
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Wouldn't be Linux if something weren't a little wonky.
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Apr 13, 2024 01:01
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You would not believe how hard gray is to color match.
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Apr 13, 2024 01:02
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Thirst Mutilator posted:Wouldn't be Linux if something weren't a little wonky.
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Apr 13, 2024 01:04
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Find another key or two in the same color and you've got yourself a custom set!!
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Apr 13, 2024 02:22
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Nobody Interesting posted:Justify this please????? Mechanical Keyboards- Justify this please?????
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Apr 13, 2024 03:05
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well why not posted:Mechanical Keyboards Megathread- Justify this please?????
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Apr 13, 2024 03:13
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Time to buy grey tux keys and pebble modifiers so you can switch it up whenever. I have five or six model m's and unicomps so I know good decisions when I see them.
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Apr 13, 2024 03:15
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Jesus christ this isn't going well at all. One of the cats is obsessed with the cover. She just bit it and pulled it off to play with it.
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Apr 13, 2024 03:22
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well why not posted:Mechanical Keyboards- Justify this please?????
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Apr 13, 2024 12:24
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kung fu jive posted:That sounds like a good move. I'm not in love with the LCD either, and yes it is always on for me too. It really detracts from the classic look I was going for. I'm kinda stuck with it since there are no knob or 2-key modules in SE black. Is that how these things normally go for a keyboard release? Since I missed the window of the group buy I'm going to be hard pressed to find the addons? Take real good care when you open your board again, if needed. The LCD screen ribbon is so fragile and so is the socket it attaches to. I reiterate this because they have no more LCD screens in stock, and while they have some knob modules left in stock, they have no knobs. And their customer service sucks. I've had a service ticket open for 3 days now and have barely received any responses. My last response was a question I answered immediately, and received no response despite me pinging them once yesterday and once today to say "this isn't going anywhere, is it". So save yourself the grief and the $12 for the module and $15 for shipping.
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Apr 13, 2024 17:24
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well why not posted:Mechanical Keyboards- Justify this please????? I'm just glad someone got the thread title updated for the first time in seven years
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Apr 13, 2024 22:08
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everyone out on a saturday night, living it up me, sat at home: GIVE ME SOMETHING TO TYPE I’m seriously in love with how this keyboard sounds. Glad I found this hobby and this thread.
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Apr 14, 2024 05:53
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kung fu jive posted:everyone out on a saturday night, living it up Pretty sure drug addictions are the cheaper route.
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Apr 14, 2024 08:23
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kung fu jive posted:everyone out on a saturday night, living it up Monkeytype is your friend.
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Apr 14, 2024 18:55
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HappyCapybaraFamily posted:I'm just glad someone got the thread title updated for the first time in seven years I was going to ask if you all wanted to keep the 2017 for old time's sake, but figured I'd make an executive decision with my big boy pants.
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Apr 14, 2024 19:51
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Framboise posted:Monkeytype is your friend. This looks awesome! I've never really stuck with a typing practice tool because I always run into something about them that annoys me but this looks customizable enough to solve any little issue I might have.
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Apr 14, 2024 21:55
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There are also a few typing-based games out there to kill some time with. Asides from the most obvious/known one of Typing of the Dead, there are/should be a few other typing games out there on Steam. I remember liking Epistory back when it came out, and I think the publisher made a few other typing games, and I think that a few more typing games have come out now that mechanical keyboards have become more popular.
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Apr 14, 2024 23:06
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CRAYON posted:This looks awesome! I've never really stuck with a typing practice tool because I always run into something about them that annoys me but this looks customizable enough to solve any little issue I might have. If there is something lovely about monkeytype I haven't found it yet. It's a great little time killer between meetings at work or whatever.
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Apr 14, 2024 23:17
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Apr 14, 2024 23:32
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wash bucket posted:You would not believe how hard gray is to color match. On his deathbed, the master keyboard artist croaked "son, I painted all the other modifier keys to match the super key"
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Apr 15, 2024 04:33
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i'm looking for simple wired keyboards that resemble the Apple A1243 but doesn't cost €350. Any candidates.
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Apr 15, 2024 07:46
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bolind posted:i'm looking for simple wired keyboards that resemble the Apple A1243 but doesn't cost €350. Any candidates. https://matias.store/products/fk418btlb
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Apr 15, 2024 15:26
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kung fu jive posted:everyone out on a saturday night, living it up A game of Typing of the Dead can be quite fun (or frustrating, if you make a lot of mistakes. Like me).
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Apr 15, 2024 18:25
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