IT General

A little more than a year into its lifespan, the Nintendo Switch 2 has almost everything you could ask for. We've gotten a great 3D platformer from the core Mario team, the triumphant return of Star Fox, a bevy of excellent third-party ports, and a library full of older games that look and run fantastic on the new console.

But one thing it's been lacking is a new, exclusive, original RPG to sink dozens and dozens of hours into. I feel the pain of people who have been begging for this since launch; I put a collective few hundred hours into the Xenoblade Chronicles series on Switch 1, and while The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is not strictly an RPG, it was a huge game you could devote your entire life to right when the older console came out in 2017.

Without beating around the bush, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave fixes that problem. Developer Intelligent Systems' latest entry in the long-running series of tactics RPGs is almost exactly what I wanted out of the true follow-up to 2019's Three Houses: A big, dense tactics game with memorable characters, a setting with lots of cool stories to tell, and multiple ways to experience it all.

While Fortune's Weave falls short of Three Houses in some respects, it outshines its predecessor in others, and gives Switch 2 owners exactly what they've been missing since last June.

SEE ALSO: The Nintendo Switch 2 is getting a 'Legend of Zelda' makeover Fire Emblem weaves a compelling, if occasionally scattershot, tale

Part of what endeared Three Houses to so many, including myself, was its grandiose story that followed a few dozen characters in a large-scale conflict across a period of years. Fortune's Weave is broadly similar, though it carves its own path, for better and worse.

After a relatively quick prologue, you're asked to choose from one of four protagonists for the first part of the story, which revolves around a large martial tournament in Dagsion, the capital city of the massive Dagdan Empire. The winner of the tournament will have one wish granted, and naturally, each of our heroes has their own motive for being there. Leda is a dancer hell-bent on revenge for the death of her father, Cai is a teenage boy who wants to rescue his father from prison and certain execution, Dietrich is a foreign warrior who live to fight increasingly stronger opponents, and Theodora is the newly crowned queen of a semi-autonomous nation within the empire with distinct cultural needs.

There isn't a dud among the crowd here, which is one of Fortune's Weave's strengths. I like all four protagonists a great deal, and thoroughly enjoyed playing through all four of their campaigns. What makes it work is that each of them gives the player roughly 25 percent of the information they need to piece together what's going on in the grander story, while showing off different parts of the very cool setting. Leda's campaign takes you through Dagda's seedy underworld, Cai's exposes some of the underlying tensions in its system of worship, Dietrich's illuminates the continent's relationship with wider Fire Emblem lore, and Theodora's adeptly sets up the latter half of the story.

Eventually, this is a story about saving the world, and that's a little bit less compelling than where it starts. Credit: Nintendo

Where things get a little jarring is that the tournament only represents a third of the story. Parts two and three almost tell entirely different stories of their own, though the events of each part do lead into the next. My problems begin here, as I found more to chew on and enjoy in the tournament arc than in the arcs that come after it. I became invested in each of the four protagonists' individual struggles, only for those struggles to largely get resolved and fall by the wayside about halfway through the game in favor of something grander and a little more conventional.

In contrast, from beginning to end, Three Houses had a pretty consistent thematic throughline about class stratification and the role of the church in that game's setting from beginning to end. Fortune's Weave touches on a lot of different things, like the relationship between the Dagdan populace and its gods to the way that seemingly minor decisions about imperial land transfers can destroy the lives of regular people. But ultimately, there isn't one single thread carrying you all the way through the story, and it's a slightly lesser experience for it.

You're doing tactics even when you're not doing tactics in Fortune's Weave Battles look like this, which is nothing new for the series. Credit: Nintendo

Of course, Fortune's Weave is a video game, so there's more to it than just watching cutscenes and pondering themes. As with every other Fire Emblem game, it's a turn-based tactics game with a strong emphasis on individual units in your army having their own personalities and relationships with one another that you nurture as you go along. That includes doing things like inviting people out to meals or to theatrical performances in order to increase their bonds with each other, which in turn has benefits in battle.

Battles work about the same as they always have. Each unit has its own class, which dictates what kinds of weapons and abilities they can use, as well as how many spaces they can move on the grid-based map. Different maps will have their own bespoke hazards and objectives, and these become increasingly challenging to work around as the game progresses. I am honestly not much of a tactics game guy, but I found myself consistently engaged with what Fortune's Weave threw at me. Some of the later battles are so large in scale and complex in strategy that I found myself legitimately exhausted by the time they were over, in a good way.

When you're not engaging in these chess-like battle sequences, Fortune's Weave throws almost an entire other game's worth of things to do at you. Aside from the aforementioned character-building activities, there is a board-game-like world map to traverse, and a limited number of turns with which to traverse it, depending on which part of the story you're in.

The world map is great. Credit: Nintendo

I really, really liked this aspect of Fortune's Weave, as it adds a second layer of strategizing on top of the tactical thinking you have to do in battles. It pays off to look at the world map and decide what you want to accomplish before the story deadline, and how you plan on accomplishing it without running out of time. Each protagonist also has unique actions only they can perform on the map, such as Dietrich's ability to conjure powerful opponents and Theodora's ability to recruit soldiers for her army in towns and cities. These serve to make each campaign feel a little different from one another, even when what you're doing is broadly the same across all of them.

All of that expands even more in the third part of the story, as you'll eventually have to command several squads on the map at once. At that point, Fortune's Weave feels like a tactics game on top of another tactics game, and it's absolutely riveting. I love being forced to think strategically outside of battles, and there's plenty of that here.

My only real issue with this aspect of the game is that one of the main activities on the world map becomes a little tiresome over time. I'm talking about dungeons, which are short, little areas you explore in third-person to find treasure and fight enemies. Dungeons are extremely useful for leveling up several units at a time, and the treasures hidden within can be game-changing. But the conventional RPG-style combat in these dungeons is fairly simple, and over time, I found myself opting to just let the game auto-battle my way through all of them.

These dungeons typically don't take longer than about 10 minutes to complete, but you might find yourself doing the same ones multiple times before the story is over, and that's kind of a bummer. I respect the ambition of adding these onto an already very large and experience-rich game, but they're not the best part of it.

The structure fixes the biggest problem with Three Houses

Quickly, I'd like to mention that Fortune's Weave allows you to play through each of the four protagonist campaigns in parallel with one another. You can bookmark and suspend one and go to another at any time with no penalty. This stands in contrast with Three Houses, which had several branching paths in the story, but no real way to see everything in one playthrough.

Fortune's Weave is structured in such a way that playing through each campaign is not only encouraged but also extremely rewarding. Not only do you get the full breadth of the story that way, but you can bring the armies you've recruited in each campaign into the game's exceptionally challenging final act. I sincerely cannot imagine finishing this game without doing all of that. It just wouldn't be a great experience, narratively or mechanically.

Be ready to lock in for the long haul with this one Well, hello, stranger. Credit: Nintendo

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave took me a clean 100 hours to finish. Yes, that says 100. This is a beast of a game, almost as if it's trying to over-compensate for the lack of a big Switch 2 RPG up to this point. Fortune's Weave does earn that length, as you'll get as much out of it as you put into it, but the fact that it's so long means it isn't for the faint of heart.

One minor disappointment I should acknowledge before closing out here is that Fortune's Weave is not exactly a visual showcase for the Switch 2 hardware. Character models are largely excellent, thanks in part to outstanding art direction, but environments are pretty plain. It is also one of the few first-party Nintendo games to be locked to 30 frames per second, despite looking worse than several games that run more smoothly. This is not a particularly huge deal, as frame rate does not impact playability in turn-based tactics games to any real extent, but it does stand out among Nintendo's other Switch 2 titles.

Despite a handful of shortcomings, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is that beefy, juicy Switch 2 RPG you've been looking for. It marries great character work with demanding tactics, battles, and a lot of things to do when you're not engaging in said battles. Even with its somewhat unfocused story and some kinda boring dungeons, this is one of the best Switch 2 games yet, and one of the best games of 2026 so far.

Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave $79.99 at Best Buy
  Pre-order Here at Best Buy Pre-order Here at Nintendo Pre-order Here at Amazon

Need a reminder of the many times Trump has been accused of falling asleep on camera? Jimmy Kimmel has you covered.

Inspired by Trump apparently napping during the recent 9/11 remembrance event at the Pentagon ("He was sleeping so much on camera the White House had to put out a statement that said he wasn't asleep," says Kimmel), the host plays a montage of the president appearing to doze off at various events.

"It's so perfect, the guy who spent four years screaming 'Sleepy Joe, sleepy Joe,' constantly falling asleep on camera," Kimmel says.

Want more of the best of late night? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter.

Those of us who complain about slow Wi-Fi are often left scrambling for answers. And scramble, I have.

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is arguably one of the most popular text editors and integrated development environments widely used by individual coders and professionals. But the standard setup can make you work harder than necessary for simple tasks. Whether it's catching a syntax error that requires you to squint at the Problems panel at the bottom or scrolling through dozens of lines to find a matching closing tag for your HTML block.

TL;DR: As of Sept. 16, Amazon has discounted every model of Fire TV Stick (4K Max, 4K Select, 4K Plus, and HD) ahead of its Prime Big Deal Days sale event in October.

Amazon Fire TV Stick Deals Best Fire TV Stick HD Deal Fire TV Stick HD 17.99 (save $17) Get Deal Best Fire TV Stick 4K Select Deal Fire TV Stick 4K Select 19.99 (save $20) Get Deal Best Fire TV Stick 4K Plus Deal Fire TV Stick 4K Plus 39.99 (save $10) Get Deal Best Fire TV Stick 4K Max Deal Fire TV Stick 4K Max 49.99 (save $10) Get Deal

Shoppers, ready your wallets: Amazon has officially announced that its Prime Big Deal Days event is returning next month, running from Tuesday, Oct. 6, through Wednesday, Oct. 7. Compared to the summer's four-day-long Prime Day event, that's a shorter 48-hour period to explore what's available, but the good news is there's actually already some solid discounts popping up before the sale even begins.

Fire TV Sticks are some of the discounts that have caught our eye at the retailer, with the 4K Max, 4K Select, 4K Plus, and HD models all on sale right now. And while the discounts may not seem that big at first glance, Amazon actually has the typical price listed on the store pages. These devices were all recently hit with a price hike, so you're actually grabbing them for much less than they're usually priced nowadays.

Below, you can learn a little more about each model's discount and the differences between each model, so you can find the best fit for your streaming plans.

Fire TV Stick HD Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Fire TV Stick HD $17.99 at Amazon
$34.99 Save $17.00   Get Deal Why we like it

If you're not interested in dropping cash on one of the 4K models, the Fire TV Stick HD is also on sale right now, and for just $17.99 (which is a good deal cheaper than its new $39.99 list price). It supports 1080p Full HD picture quality and WiFi 6, plus it comes with 8GB of storage for holding all of your favorite streaming apps.

Fire TV Stick 4K Select Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select $19.99 at Amazon
$39.99 Save $20.00   Get Deal Why we like it

The 4K Select is a great entry-level pick if you're just making the jump from HD streaming. Priced at $19.99 right now, it supports 4K Ultra HD streaming with High Dynamic Range 10+ picture, and WiFi 5 for streaming quality. It also lets you play games through Xbox Game Pass via cloud gaming and comes with 8GB of storage, just like the 4K Plus model.

If you're not looking to spend too much on a streaming device but still want to enjoy 4K picture, this option is well worth a look.

Fire TV Stick 4K Plus Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus $39.99 at Amazon
$49.99 Save $10   Get Deal Why we like it

If you don't need that much storage, the 4K Plus model could be the perfect fit for you. Similar to the others, it offers 4K Ultra HD picture quality alongside Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos audio, though it uses WiFi 6 instead of WiFi 6E and comes with 8GB of storage instead of 16GB.

If you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, this model also lets you play games via cloud gaming. So, if you're not looking to splash out on the 4K Max, you can get a lot of the same features with the 4K Plus for $10 less.

Fire TV Stick 4K Max Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max $49.99 at Amazon
$59.99 Save $10   Get Deal Why we like it

The 4K Max recently had its price raised to $84.99, so it's quite a treat to grab it for $49.99 right now. With this streaming stick, you'll be able to enjoy your favorite shows and movies in 4K Ultra HD with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It even supports Dolby Atmos audio, so you can feel fully immersed in the sounds on screen, and WiFi 6E for smooth streaming.

Not to mention, it also comes with the Fire TV Ambient Experience, which lets you display art and photos on your TV when you're not watching anything, and it has 16GB of storage. That's double what the other streaming sticks offer, so this is a great pick if you want to go all out on a streaming device.

Plus, you can play Xbox games on it via Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming (though a Game Pass subscription and a controller are required).

SAVE $9.01: As of Sept. 16, preorders for the new Apple Watch Series 12 (GPS, 42mm in Dark Bronze Aluminum with Olive Sport Band) are down to $389.99 on Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Watch Series 12 $389.99 at Amazon
$399 Save $9.01   Get Deal

Amazon has already dropped the preorder price on Apple's new flagship smartwatch before it hits store shelves. The base 42mm GPS model in Dark Bronze Aluminum technically has a $399 list price, but you can lock in your order at $389.99 right out of the gate.

After last year's minor incremental updates, Apple is officially pitching the Series 12 as the "ultimate device for a healthy life." In her reporting for Mashable, Anna Iovine notes that the centerpiece of this push is a majorly upgraded Health Sensing System. It takes background heart rate readings every five seconds — 60 times more often than before — and tracks HRV every five minutes to deliver precise stress and recovery tracking.

These stats will also feed into a redesigned Health app featuring "personalized guidance powered by Apple Intelligence, Health Age, and a new Longevity tab." To tie all those metrics together on your wrist, Apple introduced a new Readiness score based on your sleep, vitals, and activity, alongside smart Audio Intelligence features like Live Rewind and Siri Recap.

However, as Iovine points out, these additions come with a couple of caveats: "the Oura Ring already has a Readiness score," and those clever Audio Intelligence tools won't actually be ready on day one, rolling out in English beta later this year.

Aluminum models now feature Ceramic Shield 2, paired with up to 24 hours of normal battery life and fast charging that delivers 12 hours of power in just 15 minutes. You also get deep hands-free capabilities powered by Siri AI and Apple Intelligence, including Live Rewind to replay conversations and Workout Buddy for real-time fitness motivation.

Secure your preorder on Amazon to get Apple’s most capable health and fitness tracker delivered straight to your door on launch day.

Android trackers used to lag far behind AirTags, but they've closed the gap considerably. Google's Find Hub now supports crowdsourced location finding, tracker sharing, and Ultra Wideband (UWB) precision finding when using compatible phones and trackers. AirTags still do a few things that Android trackers can't when using Google's Find Hub.

SAVE $599.02: As of Sept. 16, the Anker Solix C2000 power station is on sale for $899.98 at Amazon. That's a 40% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Anker Anker Solix C2000 $899.98 at Amazon
$1,499 Save $599.02   Get Deal

If you're heading off-grid, camping, traveling, or just want a backup for when the power goes out, a portable power station can be a seriously welcome bit of kit. These rechargeable battery packs let you power or charge everything from phones and laptops to lights, small appliances, and other essentials, without needing to be near a wall outlet. 

There are hundreds of models to choose from at Amazon, but right now, the Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 has dropped in price by nearly $600, taking the list price down to $899.98

This portable power station has a 2,400W rated output and 4,000W peak power, making it a great option for running multiple appliances at once. It's even powerful enough for most window and RV air conditioners. 

It uses 9W on standby and can power a dual-door fridge for up to 32 hours, or up to 64 hours with an expansion battery that increases its capacity to 4kWh. When it's time to recharge, it can reach 100% in just 58 minutes using either AC or solar power, while an 800W UltraFast alternator charging can fully recharge it in three hours from a car. 

It's also a great addition to your camping kit, because, despite its high power capacity, it weighs only 41.7lb. According to Anker, this makes it 25% lighter and 29% smaller than similar products, and also easier and less bulky to carry to your pitch site.

Find this limited-time deal at Amazon now.

It's been a few months now since Stephen Colbert's finale Late Show episode, and he's used the summer since to 1. write a movie, and 2. grow a beard.

In his late night return interview above on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host talks to him about both those things — before suggesting he shave one of them off.

SEE ALSO: Stephen Colbert tries to get 'Late Show' staff jobs in Emmy acceptance speech

It's an entertaining 20-minute segment featuring anecdotes about a wedding Colbert and Kimmel attended (including a red wine spillage that occurred over Colbert's tan suit), and the former Late Show host being pulled over by a friendly officer in New Zealand for speeding (a conversation he recreates with the help of his own son John, who calls into the show to roleplay the incident).

Want more of the best of late night? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter.

When MeganPlays started uploading gaming videos to YouTube in 2013, being a "creator" wasn't exactly a conventional career path.

She wasn't thinking about brand deals, TikTok algorithms, audience retention, or the creator economy. A college freshman who had been gaming practically her entire life, Megan saw people uploading videos of themselves playing The Sims and had a simple thought: I could do that.

So she did.

"I just downloaded a capture thing and just talked into it and threw it up on the internet," Megan told Mashable at VidCon in June. "It was really raw. Not a lot of great content there, but it was a really fun start."

More than a decade later, MeganPlays has built an online career spanning YouTube, Roblox, and an audience of millions across platforms. She's also been doing this long enough to watch practically every supposed rule of content creation change.

SEE ALSO: How MeganPlays has adapted through every era of YouTube

YouTube went from raw and relatable to highly produced and back again. Long-form gave way to short-form, only for longer videos to begin creeping onto vertical platforms. Games rise and fall in popularity. Algorithms change so quickly that, as Megan puts it, "what you knew two weeks ago is no longer relevant."

Her career has changed with them — sometimes successfully, sometimes painfully. She's burned herself out running too many channels, learned the risks of sharing too much personal information, struggled to escape the niche that made her famous, and discovered that millions of views on one platform don't necessarily translate into a sustainable business.

For Mashable's Creator Playbook, MeganPlays shares what 13 years online have taught her about building an audience, surviving the algorithm, knowing your worth, and why sometimes the best creator advice is the simplest: Just start.

Credit: Ian Moore/Mashable/Getty Images

Mashable: Take me back to the beginning. How did you get started on YouTube?

MeganPlays: In 2012, I made my channel. In 2013, I started posting content. I saw other people posting gaming content, and I was like, "I want to do that. I could do that." So I just started. I downloaded a capture thing, just talked into it, and threw it up on the internet. It was really raw. Not a lot of great content there, but it was a really fun start.

I started with The Sims, then I went to Minecraft, and then it kind of went into Roblox. It developed from there over, like, 13 years. I haven't done the math.

Was gaming already a natural community for you?

Super natural. I've been gaming my entire life. There's a video of me when I was two years old on my dad's PC, playing an Elmo game. So I've been gaming my entire life. I just kind of naturally fell into place.

You said your advice to people starting out is simply to start. Why do you think people get hung up on that first step?

I feel like a lot of people don't start because they're like, "Well, I don't know if I have the perfect idea. I don't know if I have the perfect editing software. I don't know if I have the perfect title."

You don't need it. You should just start, and you learn that stuff along the way. You figure out what works as you gain experience. No one's going to be amazing at something the first time they try it, so you've got to just start.

And audiences don't necessarily want everything to be perfect anymore, right?

They have swayed back. It started out with people really wanting raw, relatable stuff. Then there was a time on YouTube where it started becoming very overly produced, and people were like, "This is amazing. It's TV quality." Then things started getting overproduced.

Now we're back in the swing of, "No, no, let's bring it back. Let's make it more personable, more real, more raw." People are definitely more interested in that these days, which I love, because I never went the high-production route. I don't have the budget, the time, or the energy. I just like being myself.

What's one lesson you wish you'd learned earlier?

I wasn't very consistent when I started, and I learned that consistency is key. If you do start, of course, as I said, do what you can do. But what you need to do eventually is start getting really consistent with your uploads so people and the algorithm know what to expect, because we are all playing to the algorithm at the end of the day. That's one lesson I wish I had learned sooner. Not that I suffered any consequences from it. I think it just would have jump-started my growth.

Gaming is an incredibly crowded space. What do you think helped your content stand out?

Initially, because I have been in the space for a long time, it was that I was a girl in the gaming space. That was a little bit of an uphill battle.

When I switched to the Roblox space, there were already a lot of women content creators. I think what people really liked and enjoyed about my content is that I was more personable. I spent a lot of time in my comments section talking to people, reacting to them, sharing their comments in my videos, and really building up my community, because that's what I like most about being a YouTuber: my community.

I love coming to VidCon. I love doing stuff like this because I get to meet the viewers. Building that community and having them really close to me makes me feel really happy.

Does meeting viewers in person change your perspective on the numbers you see online?

Yes. It really humanizes it all because you can get really bogged down when you only see the numbers — big ups, big downs, big ups, big downs. Your brain starts to work a little differently, and you start not to really process them as individual people but instead as numbers.

That is really harmful in a lot of ways. It's like, "Oh dang it, this video only got 300 views." Put 300 people in a room and be like, "That many people spent 10 minutes of their time watching a video."

Coming to stuff like this and being close with your community really helps put everything back into perspective whenever things get a little bit too analytical.

You spend a lot of time in your comments. How do you engage with your community without letting the negativity get to you?

I heard a little piece of advice a long time ago. I can't remember where I heard it, but it was: "If they don't know you personally, don't take it personally." They don't know you, so what do they even have to say?

I find that when people are being mean online, they're trying to hurt you. I don't know what that's about, but it doesn't [resonate] with me because I'm like, "OK, if you're trying to hurt me, then it doesn't hurt me because you're only trying to be mean." You don't even know if they really believe what they're saying.

Normally, in those situations, if it's too bad, I'll block it. I'll just delete it. I don't like that stuff to pile on. Constructive criticism is great, but some people can just be really hateful for no reason, so they've got to go. No freedom of speech on the page if you're gonna be a bully. Sorry.

You've watched the internet change dramatically over the past decade. If everything around creators keeps changing, what actually stays consistent?

The person. The creator. The personality and what they like to do. That's what's steady. That's what brings people back, and that's your anchor. Your anchor should always be yourself or your community. You can ride those waves, and you can always learn and adapt.

How much should creators actually be paying attention to their analytics?

Personally, I'm not making decisions based on the algorithm, which is not a smart decision. If I were to give advice to somebody who's more left-brain than me — because I'm very, like, whatever, la la la — you want to play to the algorithm.

You have two seconds to catch somebody's attention. If somebody's dipping out at one part of the video where you're kind of lulling a bit, you can learn so much in your back-end analytics: when people are jumping out, when they're jumping in, what they're rewatching.

If they're rewatching a part, add more bits like that. If they're clicking off at a part, stop doing those bits. That's stuff you try to wire into your brain to know what people consistently want to see throughout your content, and to get them to stick. The longer people watch your content, the better it does in the algorithm and the better it monetizes.

Is it difficult to move an audience from one platform to another?

It's very hard to transfer audiences per platform. A lot of people have tried over the years, and many have failed. If someone's enjoying short-form, they often aren't enjoying long-form. Those ideas don't really overlap for a lot of people.

But remember: We had long-form, then we're all doing short-form, and now the short-form verticals are going back to long-form, and they're making them all 10 minutes again. It's going back to long-form, but now vertical. These algorithms, these trends — they all cycle.

So how did you approach building your TikTok audience?

On TikTok, you just post every day, multiple times a day. Whatever you want, anything you think of — if it comes to mind, do it. If there's a filter, put it on. Just anything at all.

What I like to do is little vlogs and stuff like that, and connect with my audience that way. But sometimes a fun little lip sync doesn't hurt. Makes you feel cute. Throw it up.

You've always been very open with your audience. Have you ever felt like you shared too much?

I've always just had no filter. I kind of went in being an oversharer. That's always who I've been. I would say I'm a super open book — but also, not everything. But that's why I'm like, don't do everything I did, for sure.

I had a whole year of burnout, and it was really difficult. It was after COVID, in 2021, because I had my biggest year during COVID in 2020. I was running four or five channels at the time, and they were uploading consistently. It was a lot of work. I got really tired, then really uninspired, and hit a wall. It was really hard to create content after that. You do not want to burn yourself out.

Also, if I could go back and do anything, I would not have shared my last name or my middle name online. There are people making TikTok pages with my full government name on there, and I don't like that. Do not share your name online. Just your first name. Make a fake last name.

Are there any other hard lessons you've had to learn from spending so much of your life online?

It's really hard to go into a space and assume that everybody is your friend, because I do that. Then you find out they're not your friend. You've done a lot for them, they've taken from you, and all of a sudden, you're left in a position you wouldn't have been in.

I'm not saying don't trust anyone. Keep your heart open, but guarded. Don't give everybody everything. Don't over-pour yourself into anybody, and always take care of yourself first.

You have millions of followers on TikTok, but you've said that doesn't necessarily translate into income. How do you decide which platforms are actually worth investing in?

Personally, I've just acquired little knowledge over time, so I kind of do what feels right in my gut. Looking at it from a fresh perspective, I think YouTube is really valuable, and TikTok is really valuable. Those are your two most important platforms for growth.

TikTok is really good for discoverability. It's not good for monetization. YouTube is good for monetization, but it's very oversaturated. That's the thing you have to juggle.

For me, I'm doing amazing on TikTok. I have 5 million followers, and each of my TikToks right now is getting like a million views. I'm not making any money. So I'm going back to YouTube and starting to make Roblox content again, long-form, because that's what monetizes.

At the end of the day, creators have to pay their bills, so you kind of have to go where the money goes.

When you first started getting brand deals, how did you figure out what you were worth?

I didn't. And a lot of people don't. When brands come to you, they'll offer you anything, and you kind of just take it because you're like, "Oh, this is exciting." You've got your hat in the ring. You're making connections in the space. Everyone does that.

Over time, I started talking to other creators. I'd be like, "Hey, I got this deal. What do you think I should charge for this?" You can always ask your big brothers or sisters in the space what they're doing, and that can be helpful. At this time, I still wouldn't know what I'm worth. I hand it over to one of my friends — and "friend" is a fancy word for agent — and I'm like, "Can you just give them a price?"

I would ask around. Ask your friends. Ask your creator friends and see what they're doing.

Do you find that creators are pretty open with one another about rates?

I'm an open book. Everybody that I've ever asked has been helpful. I know it can be rude to ask, so I like to ask close friends. I'm not going to randomly walk up to somebody. But if I'm hanging out with somebody or I'm collaborating with them, I'll be like, "Hey, this brand did this. What do you think I should do?" And they'll give you advice. You should always, first and foremost, never go back to a brand immediately and give them your numbers. Say, "What's your budget?"

These brands have a lot more money, and they will lowball you. Ask, "What's your budget? And I'll see what I can do with your budget." Do that in reverse. And if they're like, "No, you tell us," say, "No, you tell me."

If somebody created their first channel tomorrow, what's the one piece of advice you'd give them?

Find a niche and follow it. If you really like Roblox, find a niche within Roblox. Find out what you want to do.

If I had a recommendation, it would be variety content. I think that's everyone's dream because it doesn't put you in a box. But that is very hard to achieve. The more niche the niches, the easier they are to achieve.

Because if you get too niche, you risk putting yourself in a box.

And when that box goes down the river, you're going with it. That happened to me. I'm not saying that to throw shade at anyone but myself. I put myself in a box. I was the Adopt Me! girl. I was doing Adopt Me! all the time. Then people stopped caring about Adopt Me!, and they no longer needed to watch my videos for news. All of a sudden, I had built this profile of, "Oh, this is the Adopt Me! girl." Then I tried to break into other spaces, and it just didn't work as well because they didn't know me for that. They already had their other favorite creators that they went to for that.

Putting yourself in a corner can be difficult. But, you know, you go where the money goes because you have bills to pay.

I feel like you're going to break back in. You're going to find it.

Adopt Me! is back up, baby! I'm excited. I love Adopt Me!, so that's the best news for me.

TL;DR: Prime members can get Audible for just $0.99 per month for four months.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Audible: $0.99 per month   Get Deal

If your audiobook backlog is getting longer and longer, this new Audible deal is a great excuse to start making a dent in it.

Right now, eligible Prime members can get Audible Standard for just $0.99 per month for four months. That's more than 80% off the usual $8.99 monthly price, with Amazon calling this Audible's "best deal of the year."

With an Audible Standard membership, you can select one audiobook each month from Audible's entire collection and listen to it for as long as you remain a member. You can also purchase additional audiobooks at the full price if one book per month isn't quite enough to satisfy your listening habit.

There's no long-term commitment, so you can cancel at any time. Just remember that the membership will automatically renew at the regular price of $8.99 per month after the promotional period unless you cancel. If you don't want to continue at full price, set a reminder on your phone for the day before renewal.

One thing to remember is that not all audiobooks remain accessible after you cancel. Any titles you've purchased outright with cash or credits are yours to keep, but you'll lose access to books from the Plus Catalog and any audiobooks you selected as part of your Audible Standard membership. These will show with a lock icon in your library and become available again if you resubscribe.

Interested? Don't wait too long to sign up. This offer is available to eligible members but ends on Oct. 7 at 11:59 p.m. PT / 2:59 a.m. ET.

TL;DR: Ahead of October Prime Day, Prime members can get four months of Apple Music Unlimited for free.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Music Unlimited: Free for 4 Months (Prime Exclusive)   Get Deal

Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, the list goes on. There are plenty of platforms to consider when it comes to your tunes. And the best way to decide? A free trial. And this month, Amazon Music is taking that trial to new extremes, giving you a chance to try Amazon Music Unlimited for four months, totally free.

The offer gives you access to the Individual Plan for four months (after which your subscription will automatically renew at the standard price of $12.99 per month, or $11.99 per month for Prime members). You can cancel at any time in your Amazon Music settings, but make sure you do so before the trial ends to avoid being charged.

SEE ALSO: Amazon announces dates for Prime Big Deal Days, its 48-hour 'October Prime Day' sale

This is a limited-time offer available only to new Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers. It also can't be combined with any other promotion and is limited to one offer per customer and account. If you're not a Prime member, you can still try out the service for three months.

Find this Amazon Music Unlimited deal online now.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Booster Display Box is on sale for $354.39 at Amazon, down from its $377.53 typical price.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokemon Company Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Booster Display Box (36 packs) $354.39 at Amazon
$377.53 Save $23.14   Get Deal

All eyes in the Pokémon TCG space may be on the 30th Celebration expansion, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t deals on other collections. In fact, you can save a good amount of money on Mega Evolution right now.

As of Sept. 16, the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Booster Display Box is $354.39 at Amazon. That puts $23.14 back in your pocket for a discount of roughly 6%. The listing comes from third-party seller Collectors Expedition, with free delivery currently estimated for Sept. 22, and only 10 units left in stock at the time of writing.

When that listing sells out, third-party seller Air Capital Supply is also selling the display boxes at a discount for only $354.40. 

Split across all 36 booster packs, Amazon's price works out to approximately $9.84 per pack before tax. Each pack contains 10 random cards, giving you 360 trading cards to crack through altogether. That’s over $5 cheaper compared to buying single Mega Evolution packs à la carte — currently going for $15.20 on Amazon.

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Walmart and TCGplayer have swept in with opportunities to save you even more money. TCGplayer's English unopened listings start at $308 shipped, while Walmart has the same Mega Evolution Booster Box for $299.95 with free shipping. That even undercuts TCGplayer’s own market price of $314.34. 

Those 36 packs give you three dozen chances to pull one of Mega Evolution’s most valuable chase cards — including the $240+ MHR Mega Lucario ex. 

If there is a particular card you want from the expansion, you can buy any single Mega Evolution card right now on TCGplayer. 

SAVE $4.01: Preorders for the new Apple AirPods 5 are down to $124.99 on Amazon. That’s a 3% discount on brand-new ANC hardware before release day.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirPods 5 $124.99 at Amazon
$129 Save $4.01   Get Deal

Preordering brand-new Apple gear usually means paying full retail price and waiting by your front door for the delivery truck. But Amazon is bending the rules just enough to make hitting "preorder now" feel a little sweeter.

While you won't see dramatic clearance-rack strike-throughs on unreleased tech, Apple's new AirPods 5 are already seeing a quiet preorder price drop. They technically sit at a $129 list price, but Amazon currently has them listed for $124.99 right out of the gate.

SEE ALSO: AirPods 5 review: Are these really open earbuds?

If you’ve been waiting to upgrade your daily earbuds, the AirPods 5 hit a really nice sweet spot. In her coverage for Mashable, Bethany Allard points out that "unlike the previous gen, both [AirPods 5 models] feature active noise cancellation — but this doesn't result in a price hike." Even at the base level, you get solid upgrades. Apple packed in "50% more active noise cancellation than the AirPods 4," an "improved transparency mode for a more natural sound," and an "updated adaptive EQ, which helps power better spatial audio."

Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking creates a theater-like soundstage across movies, music, and games. On top of that, it includes Live Translation and hands-free access to the upgraded Siri AI via Apple Intelligence.

Where it holds back compared to the $149 step-up version comes down to charging and battery. This base pair comes with an ultra-compact USB-C wired charging case — so you'll need to plug it in rather than using a wireless charging pad — and offers up to four hours of listening time per charge with ANC (or 20 hours total with the case).

Claim this early $124.99 preorder deal on Amazon ahead of the official release date.

How to watch 'Toy Story 5' at a glance: Best long-term deal Disney+ Premium annual subscription (no ads) $189.99 per year (save $37.89 per year) Get Deal Best bundle deal Disney Bundle Duo Basic (Hulu and Disney+ with ads) $11.99 per month for 6 month (save $11.99 per month) Get Deal Best deal for Verizon customers Disney Bundle: Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Select (with ads) $10 per month for Verizon customers with myPlan (save $9.99 per month) Get Deal Best way to get Disney+ for free Disney+ Premium (no ads) Free with the Total by Verizon $60 plan (save $18.99 per month) Get Deal Another bundle deal Disney Bundle: Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max (with ads) $19.99 per month (save $14.98 per month) Get Deal Buy it Buy "Toy Story 5" on Prime Video $19.99 (save $10) Get Deal Buy it Buy "Toy Story 5" on Fandango $19.99 (save $10) Get Deal

It's hard to believe that a sequel, let alone a fifth installment of an animated feature film, can break records, but Toy Story isn't just any old franchise. Raking in over $1 billion globally, Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5 now ranks as the highest-grossing movie in the beloved franchise and the highest-grossing release of 2026.

Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko calls the sequel "wacky, warm, and unapologetically weird" in her review of the film. While it grapples with the theme of tech versus analog toys, Puchko says the film uses that debate as "a way to explore how to find human connection."

If you missed it in theaters or can't wait to watch it again, Toy Story 5 is officially coming to streaming this month. Keep scrolling to find out how to watch the latest Toy Story film at home.

As a bonus, if you can't get enough of Taylor Swift's hit single "I Knew It, I Knew You" or the original score from Randy Newman, you can preorder the Toy Story 5 Original Soundtrack on vinyl or CD now. Both will be released on Friday, Sept. 25.

Opens in a new window Credit: Disney "Toy Story 5" Original Soundtrack on Vinyl $37.99
  Pre-order Here Opens in a new window Credit: Disney "Toy Story 5" Original Soundtrack on CD $11.98
  Pre-order Here How to watch Toy Story 5 Credit: Walt Disney Studios

Toy Story 5 will be available to watch at home a few different ways as of Sept. 23. We've broken down the details below.

Buy or rent it on digital

About two months after its theatrical release, Toy Story 5 made its digital debut on Aug. 18, 2026. While it was originally available to rent for $24.99 or purchase for $29.99, the rental option has now disappeared ahead of its streaming debut. You can still purchase it on digital, however, for a reduced cost of $19.99. The rental option will likely return in the coming weeks.

Here are some quick links to purchase the film.

• Apple TV — buy for $19.99

• Fandango — buy for $19.99

• Google Play — buy for $19.99

• Prime Video — buy for $19.99

• YouTube — buy for $19.99

Stream it on Disney+

Toy Story 5 will officially make its streaming debut on Disney+ on Sept. 23, 2026, which is right on track with most Disney theatrical releases. It joins the four previous Toy Story films in the Disney+ catalog, so you can plan the ultimate marathon.

Not yet a Disney+ subscriber? Subscriptions start at $11.99, but we've rounded up a few of the best ways you can save some money on the streaming service below.

The best Disney+ streaming dealsBest Disney+ standalone deal: save 17% on an annual subscription Opens in a new window Credit: Disney+ Disney+ Premium annual subscription (no ads) $189.99/year (save $37.89) Get Deal

You can save over $37 on a Disney+ subscription on its own by signing up for an annual plan upfront. The yearly plan without ads will cost you $189.99 per year, which breaks down to just $15.83 per month instead of the usual $18.99 per month. That's 17% or a total of $37.89 in savings. When you check out, be sure to select Disney+ Premium, then "annual" to secure the discount for the year. Unfortunately, there is no annual plan available for the cheaper ad-supported tier.

Best Disney+ bundle deal: save up to 52% on Hulu and Disney+ Opens in a new window Credit: Disney / Hulu Disney+ and Hulu (with ads) $11.99/month for 6 months (save $11.99/month) Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Disney / Hulu Disney+ and Hulu Premium (no ads) $17.99/month for 6 months (save $19.99/month) Get Deal

Want more bang for your buck? Disney's bundle deals are hard to beat. You can bundle Disney+ with Hulu with ads for just $11.99 per month for your first six months or without ads for $17.99 per month for your first six months. Either option basically gets you one streamer for free. After your first six months, the price will only go up one dollar.

You could also go ad-free and get both for $19.99 per month (about 47% in savings) or throw HBO Max or ESPN into the mix for a three-part bundle. We've rounded up some other bundle options below for comparison.

More bundle deals:

• Disney+ and Hulu for Students — $6.49/month $12.99/month (save $6.50/month)

• Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Select (with ads) — $10/month with select Verizon plans $19.99/month (save $9.99/month)

• Disney, Hulu, HBO Max (with ads) — $19.99/month $34.97/month (save $14.98/month)

• Disney, Hulu, HBO Max (no ads) — $32.99/month $56.47/month (save $23.48/month)

• Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Select (with ads) — $19.99/month $36.97/month (save $16.98/month)

• Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Unlimited bundle — $35.99/month $53.97/month (save $17.98/month)

Best way to get Disney+ for free: get the Total Wireless $60 plan Opens in a new window Credit: Total by Verizon Disney+ Premium (no ads) Free with the Total Wireless $60 plan (save $18.99 per month) Get Deal

Total Wireless customers on the $60 per month prepaid Unlimited+ plan can enjoy Disney+ Premium (no ads) for free. No terms or trial periods; just keep your account in good standing. That's an $18.99 per month value tacked onto your phone plan for $0. If you're on the $50 per month plan, you're also eligible for six free months of Disney+ Premium. You can extend your trial by upgrading to the $60 per month plan.

Venus' sluggish spin may be the key to why it doesn't have a moon — anymore, at least, new research says.

The study, led by University of California, Riverside astrophysicist Stephen Kane, appears in The Astrophysical Journal. Kane's team built computer simulations of how gravity ties a planet to a moon in space, then ran Venus through them again and again.

Nearly every run ended the same way. An ancient Venusian moon crashed onto its host planet — sometimes within 30 million years, sometimes after 1.7 billion. At any rate, it was destined for demise.

That may crack one of the solar system's oldest cases: why Earth and Venus, near-twins in size, weight class, and composition, turned out nothing alike. Though scientists don't yet know whether a world needs a moon to be habitable, they do know that our moon plays many crucial roles for Earth, such as steadying its tilt and controlling ocean tides. It's not far-fetched to suppose the moon may also help keep the planet geologically active. If Venus once had a moon but lost it, its absence could have bent the arc of that scorched world's history.

"Venus didn't require a catastrophe to arrive at what we can see today," Kane said in a statement. 

SEE ALSO: Scientists knew Mercury was shrinking. They didn't know the true extent.

The physics comes down to spin. Earth turns once every 24 hours — fast enough to fling energy outward into the moon's orbit. NASA astronauts left mirrors on the lunar surface during Apollo 11, and by bouncing lasers off them, scientists have been able to measure the moon retreating about four centimeters per year — roughly the rate your fingernails grow.

Venus does the opposite. It takes 243 Earth days to turn around once. At that pace, the planet's gravity wins the tug-of-war and reels in an orbiting moon instead of pushing it away.

NASA's robotic Parker Solar Probe, which studies the sun, caught a rare view of Venus during a flyby in February 2021. Credit: NASA / APL / NRL

Kane tested moons ranging from half the mass of ours to 10 times heavier. The heavier the moon, the faster it spiraled in.

"When I made this discovery, I was shocked," Kane said. "I thought surely the broad range of scenarios I was exploring would lead to a variety of results. But it all went pretty much in the same direction."

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Earlier explanations of why Venus doesn't have a moon leaned on drama. Perhaps something enormous smashed Venus' ancient moon apart. Perhaps Venus never suffered the kind of collision that builds a moon in the first place. Kane's research undercuts both — and the reason centers on how moons get made.

Moons don't come from nowhere. Ours formed when a massive object struck the young Earth and threw debris into orbit, where it clumped together. That same blow did something else: It set how fast the planet spun for billions of years afterward.

On Venus, those two outcomes work against each other. A big moon lasts only if the collision leads to the planet spinning once every 10 to 12 hours. But impacts that leave a planet spinning that fast scatter their debris too close, where the rubble falls back to the surface before it can coalesce into anything in space. The crashes that throw debris far enough away to build a moon leave the planet turning slower than that.

If there had been a moon-forming collision in Venus' ancient history, it resulted in the planet turning once every 12 hours at best — most likely slower. That means one blow could hypothetically give the planet a satellite, along with the power to destroy it, with nothing else having to go wrong.

But proving whether Venus swallowed a moon is hard. A resurfacing event about a billion years ago paved over roughly 80 percent of the planet, wiping out older scars. Any evidence now lies deep below the surface. 

Scientists have detected strange structures within Earth that may be leftovers from the collision that created our own moon; similar measurements at Venus could turn up something comparable. NASA's planned DAVINCI mission, which could drop a probe through the Venusian atmosphere in the early 2030s, may also catch chemical traces of a moon that broke apart.

The researchers stop short of claiming Venus once had a moon. Though Kane suspects it did, he insists that remains an open question. What his team's work shows is that a massive moon could not have lasted — something he believes astronomers should keep in mind as they hunt the galaxy for habitable exoplanets, the rocky worlds around other stars. 

"My feeling is there are benefits to having a moon, but it isn't required for habitability," Kane said. "The moon has definitely changed the way Earth has evolved through time, but we don't fully know how important that role is." 

TL;DR: This refurbished HP EliteBook 830 G8 PRO is on sale for $389.99 (reg. $549.99), with an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, up to 32GB of RAM, and a 13.3-inch Full HD touchscreen.

Opens in a new window Credit: HP HP Elitebook 830 G8 2020 (Refurbished) $389.99
$549.99 Save $160   Get Deal

If you’re looking for a business-class laptop that provides both power and portability, you’ll want this refurbished HP EliteBook 830 G8 PRO. It’s currently on sale for $389.99 (reg. $549.99), giving you capable hardware and professional features without the steep price tag.

The EliteBook 830 G8 impresses with its 13.3-inch Full HD touchscreen and a 360° convertible design — practical whether you’re typing reports, giving presentations, or catching up on streaming after hours.

The 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and Intel Iris Xe Graphics are built to handle heavy workloads, multitasking, and creative projects with ease. You get up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM and a 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, ensuring quick startups and smooth performance.

Security is another reason you’ll like having this EliteBook. HP Wolf Security features include HP Sure Start, HP Sure Sense, HP Sure Click, and TPM 2.0, with an optional fingerprint reader for an extra layer of authentication. Bang & Olufsen-tuned speakers, AI-powered noise reduction, and a multi-microphone array also make it suited to video calls and remote meetings.

At 2.8 lbs, the CNC-machined aluminum chassis is built for portability, making it easy to move from meeting rooms to coffee shops. Battery life stretches up to 16.5 hours — and HP Fast Charge means less time plugged in, more time getting things done.

The Grade A refurbished rating means the laptop should arrive in near-mint condition with minimal to no visible scuffing.

For those seeking a dependable, feature-rich laptop at a reduced price, this refurbished EliteBook is on sale for just $389.99 (reg. $549.99).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Grief can be weird and funny sometimes. For example, when I turned up to my grandmother's funeral years ago, I didn't wear a black dress, because I didn't own one.

I was going through a phase where I was avoiding black in anything, save for one pencil skirt that had a white print of octopus tentacles climbing up the side. So, I wore that skirt with a white top. When my cousin saw me, she took in my outfit head to toe, then smiled tightly at me, as if she were biting her tongue. She was dressed all in black formalwear. I self-consciously explained why I was wearing such non-traditional attire, and she replied, "Gram would have said, 'Well, that sure is something."

SEE ALSO: TIFF 2026 preview: 18 films (and shows) you'll want to see (and how)

I laughed. Then she laughed, and then we cried and hugged. My Gram's back-handed compliments were deeply woven into our family tapestry. Imagining what she might say if she'd been there was a spark of joy we both needed, even if it came with a bit of a sting. But there was something healing imagining it all the same.

I thought of this moment while watching Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! Co-written by Nicholas Huynh and Josef Kubota Wladyka, and helmed by the latter, this movie walks the line of comedy and drama, aptly reflecting how grief can bring tears and sparks of odd laughter, sometimes at the same time. And what a wonderful something to bring to cinemas!

What is Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! about?

Pacific Rim's Rinko Kikuchi stars as Haru, a Japanese woman who loves to dance. She and her adoring Mexican husband, Luis (Alejandro Edda) share this love, competing in the Amateur Latin Senior in Tokyo, where they live. Together, they cha-cha happily, though not masterfully. And Wladyka captures Haru's bliss in this experience by showing us how she imagines them floating together, gracefully ascending from the dance floor as if they could cha-cha-cha all the way to heaven.

But then, Luis falls back slowly but relentlessly. His hand leaves her grip. His body hits the floor. His heart seizes in its final beats. The inciting incident is Luis' death, leaving Haru alone and unable to reconnect to her life or love of dance without him. That is, until her sensible sister Yuki (Yoh Yoshida) and chaotic cousin Hiromi (YOU) show up, lovingly bullying "Ha-Chan" (as she's endearingly nicknamed) to get back in the groove.

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is a love story.

It's Hiromi who delivers the title line, urging Haru to join her family at a dance class taught by a beguiling instructor named Fedir (Alberto Guerra). No sooner does Haru see this fleet-footed dancer than we're once more whisked into her romantic imagination, where she envisions him taking her into his arms for a sexy spin around the floor.

More fantasies will follow, as will some well-intentioned lies. When Haru learns through the rumor mill that Fedir is in an open marriage, she decides to pursue him. But rather than confessing her loss and heartache over Luis, she says she, too, is in an open marriage.

Much like my cousin and I once did, Haru imagines how her lost loved one might respond to her actions posthumously. And Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! follows her imagination by allowing Luis to come back, in a sense. She sees him return to their home, wearing a kawaii costume of a crow. He bops about, an adorable yet bittersweet reminder of her husband. But later, as she gets closer to Fedir, she dreams of them meeting each other, discussing Luis' record collection over a glass of whiskey. In this fantasy, there's no jealously, only mutual appreciation, as both look lovingly to Haru. Then, in a move that will thrill the Heated Rivalry crowd, a MLM kiss will come, much to Haru's pleasure. And while a kinky delight, this scene also gently illustrates that Haru is not looking to replace her husband, but is seeking to understand how to move on.

SEE ALSO: Why is the sex in 'Heated Rivalry' so hot?

Of course, grief is a wild thing. So, not all of Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is spicy fantasy or spirited musical numbers. (Though there is a detour through a Japanese stage production of Dirty Dancing that's pretty dang delightful.) As Haru begins to catch feelings for Fedir, things get messy. Her decisions go from bad to bonkers. Yet while she becomes a fool for love, the filmmakers' delicate care for her characterization and Kikuchi's compelling performance prevent us from judging her. Instead, perhaps in her outrageous journey in coping with grief, we may see ourselves. For who among us hasn't gotten bizarre in their mourning?

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is a feel-good movie and a tearjerker.

Props to Wladyka. Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! refuses to be simply a comedy or a drama. Its story feels firmly situated in the latter camp, as the film at its core is about a widower struggling to find a reason to live. However, Haru is a heroine full of passion and quirks. Her movie, therefore, reflects that, never losing touch with her joy or silliness, even when things turn tragic. For instance, when jealousy spurs her to lash out at Fedir's wife, the resulting domino effect involves a bit of home invasion with perhaps the most comical conclusions imaginable.

Elsewhere, this chaotic collision of pain and joy takes the shape of Haru hanging out with her supportive sisterhood. You is a particularly lively addition to the cast, bringing plenty of moxie and physical comedy that play as a terrific foil to Kikuchi's performance, which carries an ingenue's sweetness with a hint of mature heartache. But Guerra also deserves props, ably shifting from the romantic ideal Haru imagines to the messier man Fedir really is. All of these performances tangle into a charming choreography, both literal and metaphorical, making for a movie that is a true crowd-pleaser, while reflecting some tricky truths about life and death.

You'll laugh. You'll cringe. You'll cry. And I suspect you'll love Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! was reviewed out of the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie will open in theaters on Sept. 25

TL;DR: IsThisSpam Ultimate Personal Plan is on sale for $29.99 (reg. $179), offering unlimited checks of suspicious emails, messages, websites, links, and more.

Opens in a new window Credit: IsThisSpam IsThisSpam Ultimate Personal Plan: Lifetime Subscription $29.99
$179 Save $149.01   Get Deal

A suspicious message can look convincing enough to make you hesitate before clicking. IsThisSpam gives you a place to stop and check first. The Ultimate Personal Plan is on sale for $29.99 (reg. $179), with unlimited standard checks and AI-assisted investigations across up to five personal devices.

Rather than depending on a database of known-bad threats, IsThisSpam analyzes the content and context of strange-looking emails, messages, websites, links, and phone-related signals. Results come with straightforward results: Low Risk, Needs Caution, or High Risk, plus explanations and supporting evidence.

This service is especially useful when an unexpected message asks you to click a link, provide information, or take some other sketchy action. You can check questionable websites and links before interacting with them, investigate unfamiliar phone numbers, or run a more detailed SuperScan when a standard check doesn’t provide enough information.

IsThisSpam also works as a browser extension inside Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Facebook, and LinkedIn, so checking a suspicious message doesn’t necessarily mean leaving the platform you’re using. There’s also web and PWA access, plus priority email support.

That makes the service a practical extra checkpoint for people who regularly encounter unfamiliar messages, links, or contacts and want more context before deciding how to respond.

It can also be useful for households where several people regularly deal with online accounts, messages, and unfamiliar links. With support for up to five personal devices, the plan can cover multiple phones, computers, or tablets under the same subscription without limiting the number of standard checks.

Get IsThisSpam Ultimate Personal Plan for $29.99 while it’s discounted from $179. The lifetime subscription covers up to five personal devices with unlimited checks, giving you another place to pause and investigate before you start clicking away.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Get an Apple MacBook Pro 2020 (refurbished) for $369.99 (reg. $1,580.00), and a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021 for Mac for $89.97 (reg. $219.00).

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Pro 2020 (Refurbished) $369.99
$1,580 Save $1,210.01   Get Deal

If you’ve been saving up for a MacBook at a price that doesn’t hurt your wallet, this Grade A refurbished 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro is worth a look. It comes with a 2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz), 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Those are great specs for everyday productivity, light creative work, and most things in between. The 13.3-inch Retina display with True Tone is sharp, and the battery lasts up to 10 hours. Four Thunderbolt 3 ports let you charge, use DisplayPort, and transfer data quickly without a hub for most setups.

Yes, it’s a 2020 model, but for most everyday workflows, the difference between this and the latest MacBook is hard to notice. Grade A refurbished means it’s in near-mint condition, with minimal to no scuffing. It ships with a charger and a 30-day aftermarket warranty, with returns accepted within 30 days of shipment. Contiguous US only.

Get the Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch 2020 (Refurbished) for $369.99 (reg. $1,580).

Once you’ve got the laptop, a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021 for Mac gives you access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and OneNote for a one-time payment of $89.97. With Microsoft recently raising the price of Microsoft 365 for the first time in 12 years, a no-subscription alternative is really worth consideration.

Worth knowing: this is not Microsoft 365. It’s a permanent license for one Mac, tied to your Microsoft Account rather than your device. It also works fully offline, so you don’t need cloud access to get things done. Compatible with macOS Sonoma, Sequoia, and Tahoe, and you must use your redemption code within 7 days of purchase.

Get Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021 for Mac for $89.97 (reg. $219).

StackSocial prices subject to change.