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You aren’t meant to envy You Will (Not) Remain‘s depressed protagonist. Trapped alone in their apartment complex while an eldritch horror overtakes the city outside, there isn’t any contentment to be found in their drastically shrunken, dingily claustrophobic world. Still, I felt a twinge of jealousy as I moved them through their monotonous cycle from bed, to kitchen, to balcony, to bed.

“At least,” I thought, “nobody expects anything from them.”

Created in 48 hours for the 2021 Women Game Jam, Bedtime Phobias’ You Will (Not) Remain is a 2D indie game which examines mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and isolation. The 30-minute roleplaying game doesn’t have any puzzles to solve, answers to find, or days to save. There are simply days in which to exist, repeating the same patterns over and again with no anticipation that it might ever change.

It’s an experience that is unfortunately familiar in our pandemic-altered world, at least to those of us fortunate enough not to work on the frontlines. Just as You Will (Not) Remain‘s unspeakable abomination keeps its protagonist confined to their building, the COVID-19 pandemic has also kept us indoors while extracting a similar psychological toll. Even the game’s ominous public service announcements are familiar, warning citizens to stay inside and not let anyone in.

The rote rituals carried out in the shadow of inescapable dread and overwhelming depression are easily recognisable. Oh, there’s an all-consuming terror engulfing my city and devouring all that was once joyous or comforting? I guess I’ll water my plant, because at least that’s something to do.

Same.
Credit: You Will (Not) Remain / Bedtime Phobias

“After facing another lockdown after nearly two years of them, we decided to make a game that explored our collective experiences with isolation from each other and the world,” You Will (Not) Remain‘s narrative designer Gabriella Lowgren told Mashable. Based in Melbourne, Australia, her team had been excited to collaborate in person, but were forced to do so virtually after the city went into lockdown again.

“I felt that writing a story purely about lockdown would be too raw for both us and our audience, so decided the game needed an external reason that could be a stand in for the pandemic,” said Lowgren. “I personally love eldritch horror (as does the rest of the team) and our artist [T-Dog eXtreme] knew that it would be a strong visual motif. Thematically it ended up working, and the strong visuals are a key part of that.”

While You Will (Not) Remain‘s focus is clearly on narrative, the mindlessly simple gameplay is effective in reinforcing its dark themes. Walk to the plant, interact with it. Walk to the coffee cup, interact with it. Walk to the strange monster-dog, interact with it. Run out of things to interact with, go to bed because there is nothing else for you to do. Though an omnipresent Lovecraftian being looms overhead, it is simply set dressing to the horror of stark existence. Is this all there is? Is this all there will be? 

You Will (Not) Remain is a timely, relatable snapshot of many of our mental states after countless prolonged pandemic lockdowns. Still, despite how relatable and effective its marriage of themes and gameplay is, it does exclude one element that has made the pandemic experience so distressingly unbearable: the expectation that we still function. The protagonist may be starved of human interaction, but they also weren’t panicking about their productivity after staring blankly at a coffee cup for an hour.

The world seems to be crumbling before our eyes, but food needs to be cooked, jobs need to be performed, the show must go on. We continue because that is what is done, because that is what is left. In some ways these tasks give us a sense of purpose and structure, a way to mark time amidst a homogenous stream of it. But in others, they narrow our existence to routine labour and weigh down our already crushed souls until we forget we were once more than this.

We are dust and to dust we will return. I just kind of thought I’d be dead when it happened.

Also same.
Credit: You Will (Not) Remain / Bedtime Phobias

Lowgren hadn’t considered making You Will (Not) Remain‘s protagonist work from home, but thinks it would have detracted from the sense of solitude they wished to convey.

“I think if they worked from home there would be a clear sign that there was still life in the world, and I wanted them to be completely isolated,” said Lowgren.

As such, there is a strange, almost desirable comfort in the certain uncertainty of You Will (Not) Remain‘s societal collapse. The game’s protagonist has no sense of purpose, trapped in hopeless listlessness. But at the same time there are no demands laid upon them, no thought that they should be upskilling or hustling or continuing as normal in abnormal times. They are allowed to break down with little consequence, a luxury few are afforded. It’s simultaneously suffocating and freeing. 

They don’t have a name, but there’s nobody who might call it if they did. It’s likely been months since they last smiled, with no cause to do so even as a facade. Everything is falling apart, and there is no respite on the horizon. Yet all they need to do is quietly water their plant, feed their dog-monster, care for themselves, and wait for a change. It’s far from a good situation. Still, in some respects, it’s enviable.

You Will (Not) Remain is currently free to play on Steam.

If you want to talk to someone or are experiencing suicidal thoughts, Crisis Text Line provides free, confidential support 24/7. Text CRISIS to 741741 to be connected to a crisis counselor. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email info@nami.org. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Here is a list of international resources.

In 2017, Lindsay Melbourne had never heard of the British-Irish rock band Idles. In the five years since, she’s unwittingly helped launch one of the most vulnerable and inclusive fan communities online today.

Melbourne — a talented photographer out of Yorkshire, England — was asked to photograph Idles’ launch show for their debut studio album, Brutalism, in March 2017. Her husband and friend had seen the band live before, but she wasn’t particularly familiar with their work.

“That was when they kind of changed everything for me,” she told Mashable.

It was only her second year working in music photography, but Melbourne realized quickly that Idles wasn’t getting the coverage they deserved. There weren’t any other photographers at their shows, which are notoriously rowdy and, occasionally, violent. It’s the kind of concert where the audience brings just as much action to the show as the band does on stage.

“Their performance has an incredible energy that doesn’t hold back in intensity but remains conscious of the audience’s experience,” Parker Alexander, a 20-year-old from New York City, told Mashable. He’s seen the band twice. “The 2019 show I was right behind the pit, but not in it. Seeing the movement and excitement of the crowd from that perspective is unreal.”

Joe Talbot, the vocalist for Idles, describes the live shows as “magic.”

“The violence of our live show is a beautiful thing and it’s a thing of visceral love and wanting to be loved that is immeasurable, really,” Talbot told Mashable. “It just is magic and it’s not something you can replicate without pure love. And that’s what we have.”

That kind of energy can be a photographer’s dream. So Melbourne started shooting as many Idles shows as she could.

“I started to get to know the band really well, and they got me on board to do some press photography and some promo shots,” Melbourne said. “And I also started to get to know all the fans. A lot of people were doing the same as me — they were traveling around to different cities in the UK to go and see the band.”

Idles during their live show
Credit: Courtesy Lindsay Melbourne Photography

Like many communities of music fans, the people got really close. Everyone started “buddying up” and going to gigs together. She thought it would be helpful to start a group online that would be able to help connect people to go to shows together and share some of her photography. So she went to Facebook and started the ALL IS LOVE: AF GANG (IDLES Community) page.

She was close with the band members, and Talbot — who isn’t on social media at all himself — actually came up with the name.

“It’s like, the As Fuck Gang, as in a group of people who are willing to put themselves out there and be enthusiastic about life. One of life’s cheerleaders. Be fucking vivid. Don’t hide behind whateverness. It’s bullshit. I’ve always been hungry and I think it’s important to show that, and that’s why I called it AF Gang,” Talbot said. But that was all he had to do with the creation of the community. Melbourne created the page on Facebook, and the fans have made it what it is today. “They’ve come to our shows and they’ve supported us, and they’ve created a whole network of people with the philosophy of hopefully acceptance and empathy as a tool to kill fascism.”

Be fucking vivid. Don’t hide behind whateverness. It’s bullshit.

Fans creating online communities to celebrate bands and music isn’t specific to Idles in any way. The “Jeff Rosenstock I Look Like Shitposting” page, for instance, is delightful. And because the pages are created and managed by fans, they’re typically friendly communities. But the rarity that sets AF Gang apart, is the way they talk about things that seemingly have nothing to do with Idles’ music — particularly mental health issues. That didn’t happen immediately, but once the group got rolling, there were passages and posts from people talking about how to deal with the death of a beloved pet, their nervousness about going to a show alone, or the loneliness and isolation that so often comes along with the pandemic, all among discussions of the band.

“But knowing that they were going to meet some AF Gang members [at shows] made them feel comfortable,” Melbourne said. “Naturally, people just started to talk about them and to health and their stories and their journeys.”

The group started with about 50 people, and it stayed that way for a long time. Once the band started playing bigger shows, the group grew with them  — slowly, at first. Now, there are more than 31,000 members of the private group. And, somehow, they maintained the ethos of kindness from the original page.

“Four years down the line, I feel like there is a real family in there,” Melbourne said. “It almost says that they’re brothers and sisters, and if someone goes through something, you feel it too, and you just want to be there to support.”

Much like the organic growth of AF Gang, everything about the Idles community happened naturally. Talbot didn’t go out looking for a group of fans who would love his music and his message  — it’s just what happens when people listen to the lyrics, show up to the shows, and vibe with each other.

“I don’t think every artist should ever feel a necessity to do anything for their audience, but the whole reason why I started music and I started art was because I was saving my life because I felt isolated and my loneliness and my vitriol towards the universe and its randomness led me to drug abuse, violence, and other things that led me down a pathway that I could have not lived much longer,” Talbot said.

That’s when he started DJing and, later, writing music and working with the other members of the band — Adam Devonshire, Mark Bowen, Lee Kiernan, and Jon Beavis. “I realized that my focus wanted to be on making sure that I never felt alone again through vulnerability and through openness and catharsis. And that came with our rock music and our live act. It’s still there now.” 

Slamming a cucumber at their live show
Credit: Courtesy Lindsay Melbourne Photography

Dr. Hae Joo Kim, assistant chair of professional music at Berklee College of Music and an expert on fandoms and how they impact artists’ success, told Mashable that when musicians show this kind of immense vulnerability in their music, “fans will respond in kind.”

“The fans, when they’re meeting, going on social media, and going on all these apps, and websites, and platforms, and seeing all this vulnerability, there’s a certain relationship that builds there and they themselves become vulnerable to the group and with the group — in a very one-directional way, obviously,” Kim said. “And then a community goes across the fans. So there’s this, like triangulation.”

And Idles fans aren’t just communicating with vulnerability on Facebook — their fan pages all over the internet are filled with the same vibe. Alexander, the fan who described seeing Idles live as “unreal,” has been one of the moderators for the Idles subreddit for nearly four years. He says the Reddit community feels like a “great extension” to the “communal aspect that you experience at their shows.”

“It’s the band’s consistent message contained in the lyrics of the betterment of one’s self and leading with joy and compassion that creates a strong base for the fans to stand on and pick each other up,” Alexander said. “The original fan group on Facebook also set the standard for others to follow when it comes to leading with kindness regardless of background.”

But it didn’t happen without some bumps. 

“It was this perfect, sweet, amazing little place on the internet for about two years,” Melbourne said. And then Covid happened. Lockdowns ensued. Everyone was spending more time on the internet. “There were people coming in and kind of trying to cause trouble.”

The ethos of AF Gang is that all is love — but it’s hard to love the trolls. “We are this all-encompassing, all is love vibe and we’re not gonna just going to kick people out. So it was quite hard managing these situations where members were feeling uncomfortable.”

Melbourne realized she needed more people to help moderate. For the first two years of the group — in a world before COVID — there was no political talk allowed.

But as the group grew, Melbourne said she couldn’t play gatekeeper or ban any topics. At first, it caused a bit of blowback, but she found that the group eventually settled. For every post about Brexit or the U.S. elections, there was one about someone’s mental health journey. “There was still all that love that people wanted to share and support, and that ultimately brought people back together again,” Melbourne said.

For Idles, all is love
Credit: Courtesy Lindsay Melbourne Photography

To help foster that community, the moderators manage AF Gang in the most Idles way imaginable — by listening to everyone’s point of view before making any big decisions.

“Even if someone’s coming in and they’re being quite angry, there are probably reasons behind that,” Melbourne said. “So just trying to be as open as possible and trying to encourage everyone to listen to each other, but it’s much easier than it sounds. It’s been really hard, but I think in the last year, it seems to have gone back to that place where it was when we first started.”

All of this kindness and vulnerability might feel at odds with Idles’ music if you’re paying attention only to the aggressive sound and not at all to the aggressive — but tender — lyrics. It’s the kind of music my mom would hate to hear across the house, bleeding out of my room, but would love to see written as a poem. Pitchfork described Talbot as “modern post-punk’s most voracious life coach,” and his music as delivering sensitive and introspective moments” with the same bull-in-a-china-shop aggression and lack of subtlety as their protest-placard rockers.” There’s a violence to their vulnerability.

“The violence that we put in our art is supposed to remind people of the humanity of it,” Talbot said. “One of the worst things that has ever happened to our society is advertising companies convincing people that imperfection is wrong and that everyone’s ugly, everyone’s too old, everyone’s too fat, everyone’s too poor, and you can invest in buying into a dream that will not ever succeed because perfection can’t exist in the human race. And we wanted to just bring back a sense of belonging through the violence of everyday life and celebrating imperfection.”

Whatever the opposite of toxic positivity is — they have it. And the new album — which has moved away from their past albums baiting their haters — proves that.

“The new album is incredible and the lyrics are really strong,” Melbourne said. “It feels like a really lovely place to be.”

In the closing line of the last song of the newest album, Crawler’s “The End,” Talbot continues to see the lotus in the swamp. “In spite of it all,” he growls, “life is beautiful.”

Yellowjackets has no business being as good as it is.

Not that we aren’t deeply grateful for a show this twisted and intriguing, but so much could have gone wrong and is instead beautifully right. Ever since its November premiere, the Showtime series has given us fresh plotting and stunning character work right up to Sunday’s penultimate Season 1 episode, “Doomcoming.” We’re about to spoil it, so take care.

After wrongfully suspecting and, you know, stabbing Adam (Peter Gadiot), Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) returns home to find her journals back in the safe and realizes she never suspected the person she actually shares that closet with. It takes Jeff (Warren Kole) less than 30 seconds after she says “Do you have any idea where this glitter came from?” to sigh, shake his head unconvincingly, and immediately give up the ghost. 

Jeff turning out to be the blackmailer should not be endearing in the slightest, but it is somehow nothing but. Fans hadn’t ruled him out as a suspect, but it did seem a bit unlikely that the Yellowjackets’ tormenter was leaving Shauna out of it because he has a crush on her. And you know who would’ve thought of that immediately? THE POLICE. This is the definition of hearing hoofbeats and thinking of horses, not zebras. Jeffrey, my guy, what are you doing?

So yes, Jeff is an adorable blackmailer because he’s kind of terrible at it. His marks don’t have the money, and he goes after them despite knowing the reality of what happened in the woods and what they’re hiding. Did he think invoking the symbol would strike fear into the hearts of known cannibals? Did he think Nat with a loaded gun and citizen detective Misty Quigley would let him live if they knew that he knows?

Tweet may have been deleted

Too many TV shows reap conflict from characters not acting like themselves. Yellowjackets has never been guilty of this, but it’s new enough that we take that for granted because we’re still getting to know the characters. Autostraddle’s Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya repeatedly notes in her recaps that Shauna is a bad liar, which we’ve seen corroborated from her high school days through to adult storylines that point very much to being bored and longing for excitement. 

With episode 9, Shauna and Yellowjackets viewers finally got to see the real Jeff — which it turns out is the same Jeff we’ve known all along. The show always kept him on the edge of TV drama’s favorite tropes: Secrets, infidelity, and vindictive male rage that would undoubtedly rear its head when he learned about Shauna’s affair and everything that really happened in the woods. Though there was nothing about his characterization to concretely support any of this, at least some of it had to be true — but it turns out that’s just not Jeff. 

The real Jeff Sadecki is well and truly obsessed with his furniture store, to the point that he enlisted loan sharks to help keep it afloat. The real Jeff has possibly been aware of his wife’s diet circa 1996-1997 for years and loves her anyway! The real Jeff barely bats an eye when he finds out his Shauna cheated on him and then stabbed the dude. He was even ready to turn himself in and take the fall for it. Real Jeff wanted a date night at book club and is devastated that it doesn’t exist! We stan the real Jeff.

Unless he killed Travis, and then he’s got some explaining to do.

Yellowjackets airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on Showtime. 

UPDATE: Jan. 10, 2022, 4:25 p.m. EST This story has been updated with a new Furbo deal, plus new discounts on smart litter boxes, dog toys, and more.

• BEST PET TECH DEAL: Furbo, a virtual dog sitter and treat tosser for when you’re away — $108 $249 (save $141 with code NEWYEAR10)

• BEST DNA KIT DEAL: Embark Dog DNA test, a comprehensive DNA kit that checks for over 350 different breeds — $99 $129 (save $30)

• BEST PET BED DEAL: Paw.com New Year sale — save up to 70% on stylish pet beds

• BEST PET TOY DEAL: Nina Ottosson by Outward Hound Interactive Puzzle Game, a challenging brain game for smart pups — $12.60 $24.99 (save $12.39)

Got a pandemic puppy or a quarantine cat? You’re not alone. Tons of people are adopting new pets — and figuring out that the cost of buying toys, beds, treats, and pet tech adds up quickly. To keep you from spending your entire paycheck on your four-legged friend, we’ll be compiling a list of the best pet deals weekly so you can be the best pet parent ever — even if you’re on a budget.

Pet tech deals

Why we love it

The Furbo Cyber Week sale was already pretty great, but to sweeten the deal even more, Furbo is offering an additional $10 off with code NEWYEAR10. The latest discount brings the price down to just $108, giving you a total savings of $141. You’ll also score 30 days of Furbo’s Dog Nanny for free, which will give you smart alerts, record videos, and will give you a highlight reel of your dog’s day when you return home.

More pet tech on sale

• Fi Smart Dog Collar — $49 $149 (save $100 with code WALK100)

• Whistle Pet GPS trackers — save up to 20% on all devices

• Petcube Bites 2 Lite — $99.95 $149 (save $49.05)

• Petcube camera — $39.99 $49.99 (save $10)

• WOpet Smart Pet Camera Treat Dispenser — $93.91 $159.99 (save $66.08)

• PetSafe Healthy Pet Simply Feed Programmable Dog and Cat Feeder — $109.95 $129.99 (save $20.04)

• Owlet Home Pet Camera with Treat Dispenser — $76.49 $159.99 (save $85.50)

• PETLIBRO Automatic Cat Feeder — $66.50 $75.99 (save $9.49)

• Franklin Pet Supply Ready Set Fetch Automatic Tennis Ball Launcher — $87.23 $99.99 (save $12.76)

• Arf Pets Smart Automatic Wi-Fi Enabled Pet Feeder with HD Camera — $111.99 $139.99 (save $27.91 at checkout)

• PetSafe Eatwell 5-Meal Automatic Dog and Cat Feeder — $54.95 $69.99 (save $15.04)

• PetSafe WiFi-connected ScoopFree Self Cleaning Cat Litter Box — $209.95 $229.99 (save $20.04)

Pet DNA kit deals

Why we love it

While most of the dog DNA kit deals left with the holidays, this Embark deal has stayed constant since Black Friday. With a simple cheek swab, you can check for your dog’s breed makeup across over 350 different breeds, find breed contributions down to 5% of your pup’s total breed makeup, and find doggy relatives. You can also choose to upgrade to Embark’s Breed + Health kit at any time if you want to get even more in-depth with your dog’s genetics.

More pet DNA kits on sale

• Embark Breed + Health Dog DNA Test — $149 $199 (save $50)

Pet bed deals

Why we love it

Let’s say you want your dog to be cozy, but you also want their bed to match your stylish home decor. Checking both boxes might sound like a far-off dream, but Paw.com’s rug beds actually fit the bill. With a removable, washable cover, memory foam inner, and a design that’s meant to look like a decorative rug, these beds are the all-in-one pet product you’ve been looking for. You can also score up to 70% off select dog beds and blankets on the site during Paw.com’s New Year Sale.

More pet beds on sale

• Casper dog bed (medium) — $136.89 $169 (save $32.11 with on-page coupon)

• Best Friends by Sheri The Original Calming Donut Pet Bed (Large) — $82.46 $109.99 (save $27.53)

• K&H Pet Products Original Elevated Bolster Cot Dog Bed (small) — $32.99 $57.99 (save $25)

• K&H Pet Products Original Elevated Bolster Cot Dog Bed (medium) — $56.99 $81.99 (save $25)

• K&H Pet Products Original Elevated Bolster Cot Dog Bed (large) — $61.98 $115.99 (save $54.01)

Pet toy deals

Why we love it

If you have a genius dog on your hands, a puzzle toy is one of the best ways to release some of that mental energy. This well-rated Nina Ottosson toy has multiple compartments that hold treats, and your pup will learn to flip, slide, and lift the pieces to reveal their snacks. It’s sure to keep boredom at bay, so you can get some work done while your dog plays. It’ll also arrive before Dec. 25, if you need a last-minute gift for the pup in your life.

More pet toys on sale

• Sign up for a multi-month BarkBox subscription and get a free pair of dog pajamas

• Outward Hound Hide-A-Squirrel Squeaky Puzzle Plush Dog Toy — $22.99 $29.99 (save $7)

• Petstages Cat Tracks Interactive Cat Toy — $8.95 $24.99 (save $16.04)

• Chuckit! Ultra Rubber Ball Tough Dog Toy — $3.86 $13.99 (save $10.13)

• KONG Cozie Ali the Alligator Dog Toy — $3.99 $10.99 (save $7)

Other pet deals

Whether you have a bird, fish, snake, or hamster, this Petco sale has products for you. Pet owners can receive $30 off online orders of $100 or more on select products. Save on everything from fish tanks to bird toys and more.

More pet deals

• Animaze Double Gray Cat Condo — $44.99 $77.99 (save $33)

• Leaps & Bounds Blue Cat Tunnel — $11.99 $20.99 (save $9)

• Outward Hound Fun Feeder Interactive Dog Bowl — $9.83 $19.99 (save $10.16)

Explore related content:

• 5 of the best automatic dog feeders to keep your BFF fed on time

• The best automatic cat feeders to keep your pet fed while you’re away

• 6 of the best dog beds to help your pup rest easy

SAVE 60%: This massage gun from Cryotex was originally priced at $149. As of Jan. 10, it’s on sale for 60% off at Amazon, so it’ll only cost you $59.99.

Whether you’re a fitness fanatic who wants some gear to help with recovery post-workout or just stiff from hunching over a laptop during that nine-to-five WFH life, a massage gun can come in handy.

The Cryotex Handheld Percussion Massager has six heads, each of which is shaped to target different parts of your body, from a U-shaped spinal head designed to fit around the lower neck to a soft air cushion head for sensitive spots that require gentler pressure. It also boasts 20 speed modes for maximum customization.

This massage gun clocks in at just two pounds, so it won’t be too much added weight to your gym bag. Its battery lasts up to six hours.

Explore related content:

• Massage guns are everywhere. But do they work?

• A look at the best massage guns for percussive therapy

• Pound out your pandemic stress with Theragun and Hypervolt’s massage guns

Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Sydney Sweeney and the cast of Euphoria explain all the backstory you need to know before diving into the show’s second season.

SAVE UP TO 39%: Get a head start on filing your 2021 taxes. Amazon has a bunch of TurboTax software for PC and Mac on sale as of Jan. 10. Take your pick from TurboTax Deluxe (now $39.99), TurboTax Premier (now $54.99), TurboTax Home & Business (now $64.99), or TurboTax Business (now $104.99).

Yes, we’re not even two weeks into 2022 yet. Yes, it’s already time to start thinking about filing your taxes. (Insert screed about the g*vernment’s absolute audacity to ask for money after the past year here.) But at least you’ll be done with 2021 for good as soon as your return is processed — that’s something, right?

If you need some assistance navigating the process, head over to Amazon to pick up some TurboTax tax prep software. As of Jan. 10, select packages were on sale for up to 39% off. Each one is designed to get you your biggest refund possible, with tools that reduce your chances of an audit, guide you through various life/company changes, and search for over 350 potential deductions and credits — even industry-specific ones for different businesses. Simply download it onto your preferred platform (there are separate versions for PC and Mac) and import your W-2s and investment information to get started.

You can take your pick from TurboTax Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, or just plain Business, depending on your filing status. We’ve included a brief rundown of your options below.

Note: You can do your taxes for free on TurboTax.com through Feb. 15, but only if your return is super simple (i.e., you’re just filing Form 1040).

TurboTax Deluxe 2021 — $39.99 (save $20)

Who it’s for: Anyone who owns a home, has charitable donations to deduct, and/or has high medical expenses.

What it includes: Five federal e-files and one for the state of your choice, plus extra guidance for homeowners and a tool that tracks/values stuff you’ve donated to charities in the past year.

It usually retails for $59.99, but Amazon has it on sale for just $39.99 — a 33% savings.

TurboTax Premier 2021 — $54.99 (save $35)

Who it’s for: Anyone who owns rental property, sold stock/bonds/mutual funds, sold employee stock, and/or is a trust beneficiary.

What it includes: Five federal e-files and one for the state of your choice, plus retirement tax help, IRA tools, support with employee stock plans, and guidance on setting up new rental properties (including how to determine their fair market rent value).

Grab it on sale from Amazon for $54.99, which is 39% off its suggested retail price of $89.99.

TurboTax Home & Business 2021 — $64.99 (save $35)

Who it’s for: Anyone who’s self-employed, a freelancer, an independent contractor, a small business owner/sole proprietor, and/or has a home office or home-based business.

What it includes: Five federal e-files and one for the state of your choice, plus guidance for industry-specific write-offs (like vehicle tax deductions) and those notoriously complicated self-employment deductions (like office space, phone bills, and utilities).

A $99.99 value, it’s yours for just $64.99 (or 35% off) when you buy it from Amazon.

TurboTax Business 2021 — $104.99 (save $45)

Who it’s for: Anyone who needs to file a separate tax return for their business, has a partnership, owns an S or C Corp, is part of a multi-member LLC, or manages a trust/estate.

What it includes: Five federal e-files in addition to unlimited W-2 and Form 1099 prep for employees and contractors; the ability to import QuickBooks data; a tool that calculates asset depreciation; help with industry-specific deductions (from advertising to travel); and extra tips for new businesses.

Amazon’s 30% discount brings it down to just $104.99 (typically $149.99).

Explore related content:

• Hey, small business owners: These tax software programs make filing (almost) painless

• Doing your own taxes? Here are the best tax software options for freelancers.

• The best antivirus software options for keeping PCs and Macs protected

Netflix has officially ordered not one, but two more seasons of Emily in Paris starring Lily Collins.

The second season of the fish-out-of-water comedy series dropped on Dec. 23 and debuted in the Netflix Top 10. Ever since its 2020 premiere, Emily in Paris has proved to be a breezy binge and veritable meme factory. Is it good? Does anything happen? Has anyone on the show ever used social media? These are questions that no longer matter, and maybe never did. Emily in Paris is now one of our few chaotic constants in this world, and we must accept it.

Watch Emily in Paris on Netflix.

The metaverse, a VR playground Mark Zuckerberg is forcing down everyone’s throats, might threaten to consume us all over the next few years. However, it seems Apple CEO Tim Cook isn’t buying what Zuck is selling yet.

That’s if Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is to be believed, anyway.

Gurman wrote in his weekly Power On newsletter that Apple won’t participate in the metaverse zeitgeist, most recently accelerated by Meta, even with plans to release its own mixed reality headset possibly as soon as this year. The excerpt in question is in the subscribers-only section of the newsletter, but Gurman shared it for everyone on Twitter.

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“I’ve been told pretty directly that the idea of a completely virtual world where users can escape to — like they can in Meta Platforms/Facebook’s vision of the future — is off limits from Apple,” Gurman wrote.

He went on to say that Apple wants the headset to be used for “bursts of gaming, communication, and content consumption” rather than lengthy VR excursions like the ones Meta seems intent on bringing to the world.

Apple’s currently unconfirmed and unnamed headset is said to have two 8K displays as well as a significant focus on augmented reality. In other words, Apple plans on users spending more time looking at the real world around them than an Oculus Quest allows, lending some credence to Gurman’s prediction.

Though we have yet to hear a firm “no” from Apple itself, the company’s stance, as described by Gurman, would be an encouraging one for anyone who’s suspicious of big tech’s metaverse push. Now you’ve got at least one big tech titan on your side. They’ll still try to sell you an expensive cyber helmet, but at least you probably won’t wear it for all your work meetings.

Save for one day only: The TCL 55-inch Class 4-Series LED 4K TV is just $319.99 — $130 off its usual price — at Best Buy. You’ll want to act fast, as this 29% savings is active through Jan. 10 only as part a flash sale.

Now that we’ve officially started a new year, you might be looking to refresh some spaces in your home. Maybe you’ve been thinking about getting finally getting that new TV for your living room, but also want to avoid folding on your “save money” resolution so soon. Don’t worry, we’ve got a solution for you.

As of Jan. 10, you can grab the TCL 55-inch Class 4-Series LED 4K TV for just $319.99 at Best Buy. Its affordable price, size, and smart TV capabilities make it a solid choice for those investing in their first TV, or for those ready to add a second TV to their space.

The 4K LED screen makes your picture pop with plenty of color contrast and brightness. It also runs Android TV, so all your fave streaming apps will be ready to use the first time you turn it on. It’s also compatible with Google Assistant, so you can run these fun features and more with just the sound of your voice.

While this TV is no top-of-the-line OLED, it does provide quality picture, good sound, and smart capabilities for a fraction of the price of fancier models. Sounds like a good deal to us.

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