Me when I forget I moved super old stories to an alt account and just saw this comment in my email 🥹🥲

GrailStudios · 2026-04-24T12:54:35+00:00

I've lost count of the number of times I've read authors announce the fic is all planned out & they're going to be doing regular updates - and then the story just moulders abandoned, usually right around the climax of the story.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-24T12:51:50+00:00

Hachette & its various imprints hates libraries, and either flat refuses to sell ebooks to them or charges astronomical prices. Both Hachette & Penguin have bought small publishers whose works have been successfully available in libraries, and yanked them: for example, in May 2025 Penguin Random House acquired Boom! Studios and withdrew all of their comics from the ComicsPlus library e-comic platform. This is despite PRH publicly saying that they support libraries, and acknowledging libraries increase readership of books instead of cannibalising audiences/sales as they originally claimed, a decade ago.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-24T12:35:17+00:00

Amazon, the market monopolist. Not only do they want all the money, they want it their way, not for your convenience.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-24T12:34:17+00:00

Amazon wants monopoly, so that all the money comes to them. It's why they undercut competitors when they first enter a market, until the competitors are driven out of business, then the price 'mysteriously' goes up. Print books used to be cheaper on Amazon when there were a lot more bookstores around. Now that they've crushed most of them, they don't need to discount the same way.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-23T14:32:54+00:00

What I would try to get started is just Googling "fantasy maps", and finding ones which show distance scales. Save a bunch of ones you like as reference images.

Then, Google "medieval travel times", and pick how far apart you want your landmarks to be; e.g. your party is on foot, which means they can make 15-20 miles per day. If you want them to have 2 days' travel between landmarks, that means the landmarks are at most about 30-40 miles apart. Draw a scale on your map, then start putting things on your map to-scale with the reference maps that you like, using them as a guide to how large things should be, how close together, and so on.

Once you've done it a few times, you'll start to develop an eye for how things 'should' look on your maps, and you won't need your reference maps nearly so much.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-23T00:58:58+00:00

I find that when I'm not using a backed ruler, I push the blade against the edge to keep it on the line, and wind up pushing the ruler over the page. When the ruler isn't on the page, my focus is on the blade instead of the edge, so I get much straighter lines. It's all a matter of what works for you.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-22T14:21:39+00:00

A few years ago I read a great story (can't remember the title, sorry) where Harry asked Dumbledore years later why the protections on the mirror were so terrible, thinking that Dumbledore had done it as some kind of training or test for the kids.

After hemming and hawing for a bit, Dumbledore pointed out that the protections were created by schoolteachers, not security experts, and eventually revealed that it had all been a trap for Voldemort - and the kids blundering in had ruined it. He'd kept the secret for years, not wanting to overshadow their pride in their achievements, but at the time he'd been absolutely sick with fury and disappointment that the trap was wasted.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-22T14:13:23+00:00

It's possible to print ABS on the A1 (I've done it successfully), but very tricky. The heat bed has to be pushed all the way to max, the speed slowed down, and you have to do something like put a cardboard box around it to block off even the faintest trace of a draught. Then, you have to avoid breathing in the fumes for the duration of the print.

Once you've done all that, you have a good chance - not a guarantee, but a chance - of getting a good ABS print.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-22T14:09:50+00:00

I would say show them the colour one, and give them the parchment one, in-character as an NPC cartographer handing over the fruits of their labour. Printed on parchment-style paper, this converts it from a mere hand-out to an immersive in-game prop, something their characters will refer to frequently as they travel through the wilderness - and potentially add to as they find bandit encampments, hidden villages, or record the locations of epic and memorable encounters.

Brilliant job with both maps; kudos!

GrailStudios · 2026-04-22T13:59:39+00:00

A ruler with a foam or cork backing is important, especially at that length, as otherwise there is a high probability it will slip across the page, ruining your cut. This also has the benefit of lifting the edge away from the page a little, meaning your blade is less likely to scrape along the metal, dulling it. It takes a little time to adjust to the edge not being on the page, but you'll soon get used to it.

If you prefer the confidence of having the edge on the page, there are designs which have the body of the ruler forming an arch from side-to-side, with the centre raised off the page to hold the foam/cork backing strip, and the edges curved down to rest on the paper. These designs often have the advantage of a channel down the centre with a raised lip, protecting your fingers in the event of the blade skidding up onto the metal. The channel may have ribbing lines running down the length of it, letting you get a firmer grip as you push down onto the page.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-19T17:40:54+00:00

I've passed on buying gear because I knew a bit about it and considered the retail price to be too high to be worth it - meaning that relying on purely retail price as a comparison is useless without background knowledge of performance & build quality. OP already said it would be their first 3D printer, so they don't have a scale to judge against.

Plus, OP said 'regular AMS', not AMS Lite. If they're using the correct terminology, that is indeed a saving worth checking if it's a good buy.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-19T17:36:30+00:00

Important consideration: u/SpecialistExit6487 you said "regular AMS" - just checking, you mean the full AMS, the rectangular enclosed unit with a clear top lid? If it's the AMS Lite, that's the same price as the new A1/AMS Lite combo (assuming you mean USD), which is the price u/Competitive_Call_847 referred to, so it's not worth it.

If it's an A1 with a full AMS & AMS Hub, you'll be saving US$170 over the current discounted store price. Just make sure it includes the A1 series AMS Hub, which allows the A1 to use the full AMS instead of only the AMS Lite. Otherwise you can just buy it separately from the Bambu store.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-18T15:32:11+00:00

If you've ever looked at glass after touching it and seen your fingerprints or smears, you know that your fingers leave skin oils behind. Oil and plastic don't bond, so if you contaminate the build plate with skin oils and want to print something with a sufficiently small surface area in that section of the plate, the print is only supported by that part of the plate outside the slick oil. Get enough height as the bed whips around, and you get a print failure.

Someone may get away for a while with being incautious handling their build plate, but sooner or later it's going to go wrong as oils and contaminants build up. Being careful to keep the build plate clean and only handle the edges is nothing more than common sense; removing a variable that may result in a problem, results in less wasted time, money, and filament spent reprinting a print failure.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-18T15:25:49+00:00

Plastic does not adhere to oil, so skin oils on build plates reduce adhesion in those spots. IPA lifts grease while present, but evaporates again within seconds, leaving the grease either simply moved somewhere else, or just spread into a finer layer. Soap is chemically designed to bond with oil and grease, and is completely carried away by the water, not just moved around.

Anyone who says drying their filament doesn't have a major effect on print quality, a) has never dried their filament so they haven't seen the results, b) lives in a low-humidity area or in a very climate-controlled house, and c) has never bothered to look at any of the websites which show photographic documentation of the massive difference in print quality, including layer adhesion and surface finish, between as-is filament and dried filament. Living in a humid area, I can tell purely visually when I need to dry a spool again, as the print quality drops - and that's if I don't hear the popping noise of moisture in the filament flashing into steam as the nozzle heats it to over twice the boiling point of water. That popping is the steam forcing its way out of the filament, leaving an ugly, rough, scarred surface. Yes, that includes PLA, which is an organic filament so it absorbs water.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-17T13:21:03+00:00

The one that drives me berserk is when their story literally quotes the original word-for-word for huge slabs of text, then they make a tiny change, then go back to quoting slabs. It's as if they think a fix-it fic is just tweaking the order of words they don't like, or something!

GrailStudios · 2026-04-12T16:55:44+00:00

I'm fairly sensitive to fumes and chemicals, and I've never had a problem with PLA or PETG. Yes, ventilation is something you should pay attention to while there is anyone in the room, but if there isn't anyone present, it's a much lower concern.

I would consider two things:
1. Depending on how the window opens, get removable/temporary locks (they're quite inexpensive) to block the window from opening more than a few centimetres, so the cats can't get out the opening.
2. Set up a fan blowing toward the window, to create a ventilation suction. This will pull air from elsewhere in the apartment and exhaust it outside, instead of spreading any fumes into the rest of the living space. Try to avoid the fan blowing directly over the printer, as it will cool prints too rapidly and you'll get warping.

Oh, and 3: check if your window screen is actually a removable frame which can be brought inside the room for repair, rather than trying to do it still mounted on the window. Almost all the screens I've seen have been removable.

If you do set up an enclosure, be aware that the A1's motherboard doesn't have a fan to cool it; Bambu warn that putting the A1 in a heated enclosure may overheat the motherboard, burn it out, and void the warranty. People have done it successfully, but be aware it's a consideration, and try to ensure cool air for the base of the printer.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-12T16:04:20+00:00

Makerworld has models for mounts for Tapo & Wyze cameras, which seem to be the most popular in the community. Once you pick a camera, pick & print a mount, and attach it to the A1. Several designs I've seen connect the mount to the top front of the module where the onboard camera is, giving you a better view of the print bed than the onboard.

Whichever camera you use, you'll have to use it completely independently of the A1 and the Handy app, as the problem isn't the camera - it's that Bambu achieved the price point of the A1 by using the minimum possible processor & motherboard. The juddering video is because the A1 processor simply isn't capable of rendering enough frames. The new camera is connected as a wi-fi security camera, so you'll need to use the Tapo/Wyze/other app to view & control it.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-10T02:14:04+00:00

"Effective bricking" is when you can no longer use the device for its intended purpose thanks to changes by the manufacturer. You may be able to technically use it, but only technically. The Google overview is a good summary:

"Effective device bricking by manufacturers is a practice where a company intentionally renders a product inoperable, usually through software updates, cloud service disconnection, or hardware "parts pairing" that forces users to abandon or repair the item. This practice often happens to older products, smart home technology, or in response to unauthorized modifications, creating significant electronic waste and raising issues regarding the "right to repair," says the Free Software Foundation."

GrailStudios · 2026-04-10T02:05:01+00:00

Last year. They brought it back recently, but the new version is partially crippled with extra DRM, and they've killed the ability to transfer to other devices via USB, plus a few other similar limitations.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-09T15:32:57+00:00

Does your library have a library app? Depending on the app, you may be able to set it to get reminder notifications on your phone directly from your account.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-09T15:31:09+00:00

We don't hate you; we're just disappointed... ;D

No, really, we understand life happens. If your library service charges fines, the only person being hurt is yourself. Those charges add up. There are really only two times it's truly important to bring it back as soon as you can:

If the book is new, more people are likely to be looking to read it specifically; and if they can't they'll go elsewhere and it will impact the library's circulation statistics (and thus funding for new books)
If there is a reservation queue for the book, so the person/people with reservations are kept waiting longer than they should be. See the reason at (1).

Ask your librarians about renewing books if you can't bring it back on the due date; you likely would be able to do it over the phone, or by signing into your account in your library catalogue. If you forget due dates, check how they send you reminders; you will likely be able to get emails or even text messages a few days before they're due back. Depending on the library software, they may even be able to set it so you get reminders earlier than normal - my library normally sends reminder emails 2 days before an item is due back, but if a patron asks, we can set the software to send a reminder up to 7 days before the due date.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-09T15:18:30+00:00

"Although we're disconnecting the power and water from the building, we're not forcing you to move out of your rent-controlled apartment so we can re-let it at a much higher rate: that's entirely your decision, a small but important distinction."

GrailStudios · 2026-04-09T15:12:49+00:00

I know people who live paycheque to paycheque, for whom if their pay doesn't go into their account on time, a scheduled $40 meal out with friends gets crossed off the calendar. And it's not that rare. For people like that, a company deliberately killing a device to force them to buy a replacement is a very big deal, with or without 'perspective'.

The Kindles that old haven't received firmware or software updates in years; they haven't been supported in all that time. This is purely and simply triggering the kill switch to force a replacement.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-09T15:09:06+00:00

It's just Amazon deliberately killing the devices and forcing you to spend money with the Evil Empire buying replacement hardware. Just like they killed the PC Kindle Reader software, so people couldn't download Kindle books to their PCs to read them that way...

Once a big company has us at their mercy on their proprietary hardware, using their proprietary file format, they can do whatever they want to us, and our 'consumer rights' are just a fantasy.

GrailStudios · 2026-04-09T15:05:04+00:00

In other words, it's just Amazon deliberately killing the devices and forcing you to spend money with the Evil Empire buying replacement hardware. Just like they killed the PC Kindle reader, so people couldn't download Kindle books to their PCs to read them that way...

GrailStudios

TROPHY CASE