No, I still haven't replaced my decaying mousepad Rock Paper Shotgun Support us Join our newsletter Visit our store Sign in / Create account If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. No, I still haven't replaced my horrible decaying mousepad Learning to live with a corpse News by Alice O'Connor Associate Editor Published on Aug. 11, 2022 39 comments You knew it would happen. First the wound opened and sprayed you with viscera, then the skin peeled back to raw flesh, and this next step was bound to happen one day. Yet even as the lump shifted beneath your wrist, and you knew it was worming its way free, maybe it wouldn't? Maybe it would be fine? Maybe it would stay there. Please, let it stay there. You can't deal with losing it now. Oh god, let it stay there. Not now. Please, not now. But it happened (of course it did!). And you know what? You're okay. It wasn't the end of the world. You felt the pressure give out against your wrist, heard a flop, and looked down. There it was. A lump fell out. A big lump, by your foot. After the dread of what might happen when it inevitably emerged, it was just there. You pick the lump up and look at it. It's a big lump, no doubt. And it did look like a bubbled and cracked lump of charred flesh still soft with tacky yellow fat on the inside. Yet you're surprised by how calm you feel. It's not so bad out in the open. This is what you were so worried about? This was the pressure shifting beneath the skin, the pinch in your vein, the tumour you kept pushing back, the horor you hoped to never experience in daylight? So what? It's not so bad. Suddenly, it's just... there After turning the lump in your hands for a while, examining it from every angle, you pop it back under the skin and shuffle it into its old spot. This is not perfect, but it'll work. You realise you can live with this, for now. More than that, you think you need to live with this right now. A sweeping solution is more than you can currently manage. One day, your mouse will give out. At that point, do away with at all. Cast the mousemat away, trash the mouse, and start over. Rebuild from a clean (and Sheen-fresh) desktop. Who knows what you'll use! Some vertical mouse, maybe? That could work for you. A combination of vertical and horizontal mice, even, swapping off as needs must? Maybe! You feel it shift beneath the skin again. You know it's still there, still loose, still waiting to reemerge. But if it does, so what? You understand what it is, now. You understand the problem. You have solutions lined up. And you can cram it back in, if you must. It's disgusting, no doubt. But it'll be fine, one day. Hopefully soon. More News Jack King-Spooner's next handcrafted game has a teaser demo out Judero brings chat and action in the Scottish Borders Alice O'Connor 17 hours ago 1 If you were hoping for any Overwatch 2 balance changes then you'll have to wait until season two The next season begins in December CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 3 The Dead Space remake will chuck random Necromorphs at you as you wander the Ishimura In space, no one can hear you proper bricking it CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 8 Valve register mysterious new Neon Prime trademark in the US It doesn’t seem to be for a particularly colourful Steam Deck CJ Wheeler 20 hours ago 11 Latest Articles What are we all playing this weekend? Well? Alice O'Connor an hour ago 21 Past Wordle answers Here's an archive of previous Wordle words Ollie Toms 2 hours ago 1 Wordle answer today (Saturday 15 October) Hints and the answer to today's Wordle word Rebecca Jones 9 hours ago Overwatch 2 hero tier list Which are the best heroes in Overwatch 2? Ollie Toms 16 hours ago Supporters Only You're probably better than me at One Many Nobody You go on without… uh, you? Sin Vega 17 hours ago Supporter podcast - The Nate Files episode 13: dry bones Bad science is also FUN science! Alice Bell 18 hours ago Japanese dating show Love Wagon has surprising parallels with Yakuza and Persona My new obsession Ed Thorn 2 days ago If you're hankering after Bayonetta 3, Valkyrie Elysium might be a good substitute It's not out on PC until next month, but the console demo has been a surprise charmer Katharine Castle 1 week ago 4 We've been talking, and we think that you should wear clothes Total coincidence, but we sell some clothes Buy RPS stuff here