#Why a logo is essential

[liveblack]

[depresseddepot]

I have to wait until I get paid and I'm sure I will sorely regret doing this but I am actually buying fabric to make a whole ass hand stitched quilt

[abowlofpetuniasandawhale]

i wish i could just handle someone being a little thoughtless and rude without it getting under my skin and poking at my wounds so much like. it’s so frustrating that the most inconsequential things just have me spiraling dramatically

[cryptixani]

jjk men cat cafe! au...

𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒇𝒆! 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒏. 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒆...

a/n: hii, this is the beginning to a oneshot series i've decided to do for a couple of the jujutsu kaisen men, set in an au where there's no curses or sorcerers or any tragic horrible deaths and they all work at the same cat cafe! this is sort of an intro chapter to set the scene and introduce them, then i'm going to write a continued installment for each specific man. i've also opened requests for this au, so feel free to ask for further drabbles of smut or fluff for any of the guys featured if you like. <3

warnings: none. following installments will likely contain smut, and may also feature violence, mentions of violence, and/or distressing themes. absolutely none of it will be cat-related, for those that might be worried.

characters: satoru gojo, suguru geto, choso kamo, kento nanami, sukuna, mahito, toji fushiguro.

there was a new cat cafe that had opened, on the outskirts of the city centre - not far from where you lived. it looked really nice, actually. every time you had peered into it in passing, you had noticed the warm lighting and comfortable seats, how nicely decorated the place was and how much stuff there was for the cats - hidey holes and platforms and bridges and shelves and scratching posts, the list went on. it was clear the place took very good care of their kitties.

you had been meaning to go for a while, it was just a matter of time. your regular local cafe had been getting boring recently, and you were on the hunt for a new place to buy a drink, sit about and do work on your laptop in.

---

it was a chilly weekday afternoon when you had randomly decided to give the place a go. you had been out anyway, picking up a few essentials from some other stores - fresh deodrant, some some new socks, boring stuff like that. your laptop was in your bag anyway though, as you had been intending on taking your favourite spot at your regular haunt and spending a few hours finishing up some essay drafts with a nice hot cup beside you. coffee or tea, didn't really matter at this point, as long as it warmed you from this biting wind.

but then you had passed that cat cafe, and it gave you pause. you were overcome by a sudden urge to go inside - why not? your brain reasoned, you'll get to do your work with some cute kitties about.

so your turned on your heel and headed over to the glass doors. they were heavy, though you managed to get them open by yourself. stepping inside, you felt a rush of warm air surround you, which was an absolute delight after walking around in the cold.

another door greeted you, these ones less difficult to open. you figured having two doors was a safety measure, so the cats couldn't escape. smart.

now you were fully in the cafe, and you took a little look around. it felt different on the inside, bigger and cosier. there were plenty of nooks to set up in, and plenty of cats lazing around. the air was warm with a subtle scent of coffee and clean cat - fitting.

you were pulled out of your little daze by the sound of someone clearing their throat beside you. turning your head, you blinked as you realized there was a guy stood by the front desk, smiling at you. he had an undercut, the top of his hair dyed a bold pink that somehow suited him. he wore what you assumed was the cafe uniform - baggy pants and a plain t-shirt, all black, though a small logo of the cafe was embroidered onto the left side of the shirt in white. on the right side of the shirt, a little black badge with the name 'YUJI' printed in bold white lettering was pinned, a little lopsided.

"hii!" the young man greeted you politely, already fiddling around pulling out a small black binder and pen from behind the desk. "welcome to catpuccino cafe, i'm yuji! did you prebook your visit?"

"oh, no." you shook your head with a small smile. "just a walk-in. is that okay?"

"definitely. we're usually super quiet in the middle of the week." yuji replied, flipping through the binder briefly. "if you ever wanna visit on a weekend or during the holidays, though..." he whistled, setting the binder down facing you on a blank page, the pen on top. "...it gets super busy. anyway, just write your name, phone number, and the date and time please! is this your first time visiting our cafe?"

you nod and pick up the pen, quickly noting down the details yuji had asked for. once you were done, he put the binder and pen away.

"yeah, it's my first time visiting any cat cafe." you replied with a little smile.

"aw, that's great! i'm glad you chose ours, you'll love it here!" he grinned, and from the genuine enthusiasm he seemed to radiate, you couldn't help but believe him. he continued. "we have a small hourly fee we charge seperate from any food and drink. it's mostly to cover the kitties needs, stuff like their food and litter. most people pay for one hour, but since we're currently so quiet, you can do more if you like?"

you thought over his offer for a moment, before nodding.

"i think i'll do two hours, if that's okay? i have my laptop with me, so i wanna do some quiet work here too." you replied. yuji's grin widened, if that was even possible.

"sure!!" he nodded, rattling off the total whilst getting the card machine ready for you. you tapped your card and he checked that it went through before stepping out from behind the desk. he was definitely a bit younger than you, though he seemed well-exercised and energetic. he gestured for you to follow, beginning to lead you through the cafe to find you a good spot. as he did, he pointed out various kitties you both passed by.

"that little guy over there is piper, he's pretty quiet. oh, there's cinnamon!! she's super soft, and has the cutest little meow. there's jazz and jibe on that little shelf up in the corner, they're a package deal."

you smiled warmly as you followed yuji, your eyes following his gesturing at each of the cats. you were surprised at how well he seemed to know them all, though then again it also made sense - you were sure the workers here were responsible for the cats too.

finally, yuji stopped at a cosy looking spot in the corner. a comfortable looking armchair by a bigger table, not far from a pretty big cat tree. you could see at least three kitties lounging there already.

"this spot seems like it'd be nice to do some work in." yuji spoke, smiling. "feel free to get settled down, one of our servers should be with you soon. there's a little menu there on the table for you to browse. hope you enjoy your time here!"

with that, yuji was off, bustling back to the front desk to greet more customers coming in through the door. you sighed softly and smiled to yourself, glad that you had picked this place out already. between the cute kitties and the cosy, quiet vibes, it seemed perfect for a few hours of focus. you set your bag down on the floor beside you, blinking in surprise when a small tabby kitten prowled out from under your chair. it stared up at you curiously for a moment, sniffing your hand when you held it out before giving it a little nuzzle. after that, it pattered off, looking to find something new to do.

you straightened and smiled, watching the kitten go. adorable. next you pulled off your coat, pushing it down into the armchair you were sat in. your eyes flickered over the table, before spotting the menu yuji had mentioned. you picked it up, turning it over slowly. the cafe seemed to offer a variety of drinks and snacks, including little treats to buy for the kitties. for now though, you decided to pick something out for yourself.

between hot and cold teas and coffees, alongside even a few various hot chocolate and smoothie options, you felt spoiled for choice. though as you scanned the menu, you eventually settled on a drink choice that clicked instantly. it sounded perfect, and you instantly knew it was what you wanted to try. now just to order it.

you looked up over the menu, finally taking in the view of the cafe from your seat. you had a good angle, pretty close to the back so you could see the entire interior from where you were. there was a handful of fellow customers scattered around, most already with food and drink in front of them, talking or petting relaxed kitties. you looked for any servers, beginning to spot them throughout the cafe. as you glanced at each one, your brows furrowed slightly, the warmth surrounding you suddenly feeling a little more intense. you couldn't help but notice how every single one of these servers seemed to be tall, male, and tragically handsome.

oh.

one was currently taking an order, brows furrowed in concentration as he scribbled in his little notebook. his dark brown hair was tied up in messy twin buns, bangs framing his face. you squinted your eyes and swore you caught sight of a face tattoo. his all-black uniform, same as yuji's, looked a bit baggier, and he wore cargo pants instead of regular ones, along with heavy black boots.

another two men were chatting together in the corner idly. one had short, messy white hair and an idle smirk on his lips, dark rounded glasses sitting on his nose. his uniform was a bit more form-fitting, and he wore a black longsleeve shirt under the cafe logo t-shirt. the other man had long straight black hair, tied half-up into a bun with some loose bangs on one side of his face. his uniform was much more oversized, and he wore black baggy pants that tapered in at the ankle. he was listening to the white-haired man chatter, smiling slightly and nodding along, both men relaxed.

not far from the two, another man with short blond hair and green-tinted glasses was stood flicking through a binder, expression stoic and focused. his different uniform - still all black, but instead of a casual t-shirt he wore straight pants and a button-up with the cafe logo embroidered - seemed to indicate he had a slightly higher position. manager, perhaps.

you spotted two more men off near the back, by one of the doors. one had a haircut similar to yuji's, though he seemed taller and more muscular, his uniform tight around his torso. the other man had long, grey-ish blue hair tied in three sections by the ends. he seemed the leanest of them all, his t-shirt loose but his pants straight-fitted. they also seemed to be talking, though judging by the intensity of the pink-haired one's glare and the concealed venom of the blue-haired one's smile, their conversation didn't seem nearly as pleasant.

the door they were stood by was partially open, and through the small sliver you could see what you assumed was the kitchen where the drinks and food were made, seperated from all the cats. you just caught a glimpse of a man bustling about, tall and about as muscular as the pink-haired one with short black hair that fell around his face, black t-shirt tight and form-fitting.

mouth a little dry, you shift back into your seat and glance down at your menu again, processing everything your eyes had just seen. how the hell was this place so jam-packed full of testosterone? did every attractive man in this area just see the cafe opening and think, 'yeah, i'm gonna work here'? not that you were complaining, but this almost felt like one of those too-good-to-be-true situations. but it wasn't, it was real. and one of them was about to serve you.

holy shit, one of them was about to serve you.

you pull your phone out of your pocket quickly, heartrate picking up as the realization hit. using the black reflective screen as a little makeshift mirror, you do a quick check-over yourself. no smudges on your face or anything in your teeth... hopefully not. it was pretty difficult to see in the reflection on the screen. you ran a hand through your hair, trying to neaten it up a bit after how wind-swept it had gotten outside, when you suddenly hear a throat clearing right above you.

[smalltownrobin]

Amybeth posting a photo dump of "on set essentials" with the fucking netflix logo and some waffles VICKIE STANS WE ARE SO BACK

Those little smiley face flower earrings are so Vickie coded convince me otherwise

Also why is she getting up at 4am that scares me a little bit

[txttletale]

Not the same anon but i would like to answer, as an artist i really dont like the idea of my art being used in an algorithm without my consent because well, its my art. When an algorithm takes it i have no say in what its being used for, and could be used to actively represent something that i do not support. Its also just kinda dystopian, yknow? While its not the same as voice actors having their voice stolen, it feels wrong to have an artists work taken to make something they themself didnt approve of. I dont think its a big deal when were talking about fuckin van goghs art or whatever but real alove people's current art has no right being used like that imo (not angry or anything, i cant tell how my wording comes actoss)

i mean, i understand why that might bother you, but it could already happen. it famously happened to matt furie, creator of pepe the frog. he drew a silly frog for his silly webcomic and it became the face of the usamerican far right. he has tried multiple times to use IP law to try and impede this usage but, like, y'know--it hasn't worked. pepe is just fascist now. & all that happened without any AI involvement at all. it fucking sucks for him but there is absolutely no way to prevent that kind of thing without IP laws that would send the quino estate kicking my door down for my mafalda icon.

i also think many people are just fundamentally misunderstanding the technology. AI models do not have your art saved anywhere -- if they did, they'd be dozens of terabytes big. they cannot repurpose your art for anything. your art is used, essentially, to demonstrate to an AI what images look like -- it is the same level of 'use' as if, say, someone made a big excel spreadsheet of 'how many images in the world have the mcdonalds logo in them' and they put your image next to a big NO or YES in their spreadsheet and then from that they produced a statistic for how many images in hte world have the mcdonalds logo.

like i understand there might be some intangible sense of violation in that case, but i hope that people who feel that way can also understand why that would be a dangerous precedent for basically everything

[fandomfreakstudios]

Caine is a human and I will die on this hill (theory)

due to popular demand (losing the poll) I wanna post my Caine theory in proper depth.

My theory is essentially the idea that Caine is not an AI but is in fact a human trapped in the digital circus just as much as all the other players.

Sounds ridiculous, right?

good.

[LONG post incoming, be warned]

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To start, we need to understand the digital circus and its origins.

a place like the digital circus is very likely to be man-made as a place, a game, a computer program, whatever. This place did not appear out of nowhere. It is accessed through VR or some VR-esque technology, and takes on the appearance of a retro game (evidence given below)

Now, video games (unfortunately) don’t just code themselves, there has to be at the very least one person creating this game. Fortunately enough, we can deduce the name of the company from what is given within the show.

It is very common knowledge at this point that digital circus takes place within a computer in some sort of office building (as is implied by the ending scene in episode 1)

This computer is also seen at another point... namely when Pomni is running through the backrooms-like offices. She once again comes across this computer.

Now this implies that this area is at least SOMEWHAT a reflection of the real world, so analyzing this location isn't inherently pointless. Now one other interesting part of this office area is the logo on the wall, which reads "C & A" which people have unanimously agreed to mean Caine and Abel

The important thing about this is that Caine as a concept is somehow connected to the person who created this game, through the founder choosing to name Caine after the company, or vice versa. Now you could easily argue that the company was named after Caine, or Caine acts as a self insert for the creator, but I am here to argue that maybe Caine IS the creator.

More specifically, Caine is an original creator of the game (not necessarily the sole creator) aka the amazing digital circus, and in testing an incomplete game managed to get himself trapped, as does any other player who chooses to attempt to play.

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Looking back at episode 1 there is something interesting for us to think about. Caine attempting to create an exit door, but being unable to figure out what to put on the other side.

Now this could very easily be interpreted as Caine being unable, as an AI who's only knowledge is of what's within the game, to imagine anything outside of it, and therefore fumbling the task. This is a reasonable interpretation, this was MY first interpretation, and it honestly adds so much horror to the episode on a first watch through.

But in all honesty that still leaves a lot unexplained.

The question still remains why Caine, as a struggling AI, would choose to create something like what he did. From his perspective he has never seen anything as dreary as these office buildings, nor does this space make any semblance of sense as Caine's environments tend to do. It seems less like something a well-polished AI would create, and more like what a human would come up with when trying to create something from a distant memory.

That's something incredibly important to keep in mind going forward. If Caine is in fact human, he would have been trapped in the digital circus for a LONG time, with it becoming increasingly difficult to recall his human memories (something it is confirmed humans trapped in the circus can recall). at the very least, longer then Kinger, who is clearly very mentally effected by his time at the circus.

Caine would likely also be showing some level of insanity or mental instability if he had been trapped with no escape for this long (and yes I do believe that he also cannot leave, and I have some evidence later down the line that will explain this perspective), and he hasn't been seen to do this at all, right? Well, I think he is, but it manifests a little differently then Kinger, or anyone else for that matter. Keep this in mind as we go forward.

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Caine's purpose within the circus is fairly straightforward. He is the ringmaster, he creates daily adventures akin to ttrpg oneshots, and he exists to essentially guide the player through this video game world.

Now in the event that Caine was a human who was pulled into the game, why would he need to fill this role? Even as a dev he should still be playtesting as, well, a player. I believe that at the time of the dev's entrapment, the ringmaster AI had not been programmed into the game.

Y'see the Caine we know is a MAJOR perfectionist. He neeeever likes anyone seeing his unfinished work, kinda odd for an AI within a game to be embarrassed about. Yeah, he's a generative AI that creates locations, but creating something in multiple steps is something an AI cannot do. Furthermore, an AI should not feel "embarrassed" about it's work, AI by virtue is always 100% convinced what it generates is perfect, or else it wouldn't have generated it like that.

Also, if we're working under the assumption that the backrooms-esque offices were just an AI hallucination or bad generation, why would Caine KNOW it's not what his players are looking for? For a dev however, this makes sense.

Caine also has a lot of other actions that, as an AI require a bit if suspension of disbelief, but make tons more sense if he's actually a human, and furthermore a dev.

As mentioned, perfectionism, not wanting people to see incomplete or unpolished areas of the game

Realistic depictions of emotions (frustration, embarrassment, confusion)

Annoyance at Bubble for being a sucky AI (her swearing, interrupting him, inhuman and unrealistic speaking patterns and behaviors)

the need to "Reuse AI" which, if the characters are all AI created by other AI would be unnecessary because AI generating would take Caine no effort. Nor should a generative AI ever run out of ideas.

As mentioned, perfectionism, not wanting people to see incomplete or unpolished areas of the game

Realistic depictions of emotions (frustration, embarrassment, confusion)

Annoyance at Bubble for being a sucky AI (her swearing, interrupting him, inhuman and unrealistic speaking patterns and behaviors)

the need to "Reuse AI" which, if the characters are all AI created by other AI would be unnecessary because AI generating would take Caine no effort. Nor should a generative AI ever run out of ideas.

I wanna highlight that, while this is a joke post, I am enjoying the implication that Caine has a name (something only a human would have)

(top right is a particularly interesting example of him just acting super human and "dropping the act" so to speak. Getting distracted, stuttering, losing track of the conversation, all that. And bottom right is similar as he is nervously fidgeting).

Caine has all the fixings of a human dev, trapped in his now incomplete game. A game that had not had it's "ringmaster" character implemented at this point in development, likely with nothing more then some competed (albeit unpolished) locations for the game.

The idea Caine is actually a dev as opposed to an AI is further supported by Caine's ability to create and alter things from within the game. Creating areas without human prompt, deleting characters, he seems to have a level of autonomy and intelligence that no AI should EVER have.

----------

Furthermore, the man ACTS human, a weird ass human, but a human nonetheless. He's responsive, emotive, emotional, and he's not nearly as glitchy as the other AI. He never slips up and activates some sort of internal filter like bubble, or insists on weird mannerisms like the moon or the sun, he seems to just KNOW better somehow.

He acts like the more "immersive AI" from ep2 if anything, which he's clearly been around longer than. Someone needed to program that AI, and based on previous patterns is implied to be Caine. Once again, way out of his job description as another AI (plus how would this AI be MORE realistic if it was learning from another, older AI).

Not to mention the fact he's ALWAYS around somewhere, whether he's in his own realm he made, or just chilling around the circus (unlike bubble for example, who comes and goes at Caine's will).

It's clear he does this for his own comfort, but WHY would he be programmed to do that as opposed to only existing when necessary to prioritize memory or something.

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But one would be right to say he's slightly... off. He is a strange one, if he was a human. He's erratic, unpredictable, and often manic at times. This goes back to the point I made with Kinger, where I claimed Caine should also be exhibiting signs of mental illness

Under the assumption that Caine, in the act of playtesting the game, got trapped, a handful of things would happen (the finer details are negotiable, this is just my knee-jerk reaction):

He'd realize what happened and that he can't get out

He likely felt as though he was in his own personal hell, as he was trapped in a scuffed, incomplete skeleton of his own passion project

He likely found some sort of way to alter stuff, a backdoor that only he as the creator knew about, or some sort of privilege in being the first to enter the realm

He got his first or first few players. This was probably alarming to him as there was no ringmaster, no worlds, nothing. All the AI he had created thus far had been poorly made and could not function which such a difficult task. But then he realized... HE could be the ringmaster

This is probably around the time as well that he realized he could not remember his own name. But he remembered what he wanted to call the ringmaster... Caine

He takes on the identity of Caine, acting as ringmaster, polishing the game behind the scenes, and creating daily activities on an "as needed" basis

----------

Now this is where it gets interesting. I believe, at this point, Caine has taken on the identity of this AI generated ringmaster for so long that he's beginning to lose himself. He's beginning to lose memories of his life, he's becoming more detached from the side of himself that ISN'T Caine, and he's starting to catch himself believing he IS Caine, he IS an AI.... and he's scared

He's completely lost the ability to create any meaningful connections with others, as he needs to keep up the illusion of being an AI. He's lost his humanity, become detached from the way other humans think and feel, and its starting to make him become more AI then human if anything.

(left image does not crop nice, plz click to view the whole thing TvT)

He's probably seen at least a dozen people lose their mind in so many different ways. While he knows he's different then them, TECHNICALLY he's still a player, and can abstract all the same. This is why he seemed to freak the HELL out at the idea of an AI and a human getting mixed up.

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One last bit, and it's a simple one I promise. Caine has been described as the main antagonist outside of the show. This is interesting as up until now Caine hasn't done anything actively malicious (aside from Gummigoo, but he seemed to have solid reasoning for that, just not anything he chose to share with the audience).

[does ANYONE have the "weight of Caine's sins?" tumblr ask I am having no luck finding it again]

At this point, this would be shooting the messenger. He is simply a byproduct of the system that is keeping these folks trapped, right? Caine himself didn't put them there, he just takes care of them.

Unless... Caine was the one who made the AI. Then he would inarguably be the reason everyone else was trapped there. And goose is right, that wouldn't make him an AWFUL person either, but he does still have many sins weighing on his back, and many deaths on his hands. And there's nothing he can do about any of it, because he's just as helpless as they are.

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So yeah, TLDR: Caine was the creator of the circus. In attempting to playtest he got trapped in the game and eventually took the initiative to play the ringmaster within his own game, but he is slowly beginning to lose his mind, as happens to everyone.

Hope you all enjoyed the read! If anyone's still interested at this point I have a few more small bits of evidence (more from outside the show on Goose's socials and whatnot) which I could not fit in the bulk of the theory. I'll reblog with some extra bits so this post is still complete but I don't break the flow of my main ideas.

And if you get this far, thank you so much. I don't typically post long form theories like this but if this gets any sort of traction I definitely will begin too.

[diioonysus]

my favorite historical facts

mayans believed that having crossed-eyes meant you were favored by the sun god kinich ahau, who was cross-eyed as well. in hopes that children would be, they would have objects dangled between their eyes to permanently cross their eyes.

ancient rome had a 4-story shopping mall with 150 shops and offices which was made in 113 AD

ancient egyptians invented toothpaste, they made it with rock salt, pepper, mint, and dried iris flowers

until recently (20th century) bones and mummies were used in traditional medicine, as some believed they could cure ailements by ingesting related body parts.

left-handed people were considered unlucky in ancient rome

lots of medieval barbers were also dentists and surgeons, which is why barbershops use red and white stripes because the stripes represent bandages used during bloodletting.

in medieval germany, married couples could legally settle their disputes by fighting a martial duel.

married women were not allowed to watch the ancient olympics, under penatly of death, but the vestal virigins in ancient rome were allowed to in some circumstances because their sacred building was knocked down to make a stadium

ancient greeks invented the first alarm clock in a system where pebbles would be dropped onto a gong and this would then make a loud sound

if a pirate ship approached flying a red flag with a hourglass on it then the defenders knew they were in some shit as red meant "give no quarter" and the hourglass meant essentially your time on earth was about to run out

shakespeare originated the "yo momma" joke, as in his one play titus androcius, a character says "thou has undone our mother," to which another character says "villain, i have done thy mother."

before abraham lincoln became a politician, he was a champion wrestler with more than 300 bouts under his belt, and only lost one match in his career. he was inducted into the national wrestling hall of fame in 1992

the gauls when trying to sack rome, caedicius had to get approval from the senate on the besieged capitoline. a messenger snuck through the gallic camp and scaled the unguarded cliff side of the hill to deliver the message. It was quickly decided to restore camillus to his command and to give him dictatorial powers and then the messenger snuck his way out again. the senone scouts discovered the messenger’s footprints and figured out that there was a way to scale the cliffs. they choose a night with a full moon and sent their bravest warriors up the cliff. none of the romans noticed, but the geese did. they started honking loudly and woke up the sleeping romans, the romans than pushed the gauls off the hill, and due to this fight the gauls suffered food shortages and diseases, so geese saved the day.

a pig was executed in 1386 after attacking a kid who would die from their wounds. the pig was arrested, kept in prison, and then sent to the court where it stood trial for murder, eventually being found guilty and then executed by hanging.

forks used to be considered blasphemous. when forks arrived in 11th century italy, it alarmed religious leaders because eating with artifical hands offended god.

the bluetooth design and name was named after the viking king harald bluetooth, based on an analogy that the technology would unite devices the way harald bluetooth united the tribes of denmark into a single kingdom. his intials in runes is the design of the logo

throwing an apple at somebody in ancient greece was considered flirting because the apple was sacred to aphrodite, so throwing it was declaring ones love

king george v of england was euthanized as his staff wanted his death to make the morning papers rather than the evenings ones, so they put him to death early without his consent

robert liston, a surgeon preformed an operation with a 300% mortality rate; he killed the patient and two other people

[mrs-gauche]

I think it's interesting how on the new official cover, the characters and darkspawn are all placed within the outline of the dragon's wings, which is reminiscent of the vinyl artwork with the blighted Black City and how in this one, the heads of the elven pantheon were also "merged" with the wings of the blighted dragon!

And on top of that, as people have already pointed out, the fact that we have seven companions now, matching with the number of elven gods that were imprisoned by Solas, is a little suspicious as well. 👀

Then there's also the seven statues seen at the ritual site in the gameplay showcase and at the end of the reveal trailer. And as we know now, these statues were an essential part of the ritual itself!

And speaking of the ritual, the Game Informer article told us that Solas had planned to "move" the elven gods to a new prison, as the old one was failing. With the concept art(?) that was revealed along with the Game Informer article, we now have three different depictions of Solas' ritual...

(Btw, I will forever be sour that they got rid of the cape! 😂 Also, either Solas went from being right handed to left handed to right handed again OR the concept art image is mirrored, I guess? lol)

What stands out to me is how the concept art shows this huge rocky structure.. object (how would you describe this? 😂) right above this magical "sphere" that is obviously not there in the gameplay showcase (though note that there *are* some floating rocks seen above the statues in the reveal trailer!). And it's interesting how, in the cinematic version, it looks more like the Veil is "shattered", revealing a bright sphere in its center, where it previously showed another sphere right above the Golden City? 👀

And speaking of the Golden/Black City... we also have this sequence at the end of the reveal trailer, showing a massive battle against a horde of darkspawn(?) and a ginormous dragon (that doesn't seem to be the one on the vinyl cover?), in a location that has similar architecture as the Golden City depicted on the vinyl cover, as well as the eclipse in the background of course!

Which is so baffling to me, because I would've assumed that the Black City would be, like, some climactic moment/reveal/endgame stuff, and I doubt they would show something like this if it was in fact part of the final boss battle of the game or something, right?? 😂 Like, why would they spoil the friggin Black City in the reveal trailer? o_O (Then again, they kinda already revealed the look of the Black City on the vinyl cover, too? 😂)

Anyway. 😂 Let us go back to the cover art again, because I've seen a lot of people talk about the shape of the wings in particular!

Like, I've even seen people compare the shape of the wings here to a spider? 😂 To me, it kinda looks more like the wings could also resemble those of a corvid (as in the "rook" bird) that could just as well belong to Rook here with the way this is composed (like, the wings could belong to either Rook or the dragon)?

And in the background, behind the dragon, I can see a hint of the "tambourine"/circle image we've seen since the 2018 teaser.

And maybe it's just my eyes playing tricks on me, but I can also kinda see how the bright light in the background has a similar outline to the Veilguard symbol?

And the shape of the Veilguard symbol looks to me like a mix of a dragon/wolf and a bird's head or simply "V" for Veilguard, on top of resembling ancient statues of Mythal (reminder that Solas has "absorbed" some part of Mythal now and that the Dread Wolf in Tevinter Nights was described to be "the size of a high dragon with shaggy spiked hide")! 👀👀👀

And btw, who else is kinda going a little bit crazy over the fact that Rook's mask/helmet thingy looks an awful lot like Mythal's mask as well???

The funniest thing though, was probably seeing people compare this symbol to the Batman logo?? 😂

Which is especially hilarious to me, given that the last chapter of Tevinter Nights was entirely inspired by an old episode of the animated Batman series from 1992 (specifically, season 1 episode 35) in which Batman does pretty much the same thing as Solas in that chapter. lol There's also the "The Dread Wolf Rises"/"The Dark Knight Rises" and is it just me or has Trick Weekes made a ton of Batman references on Bluesky lately? 😂

Anyway, that's all I've got for now, what do you guys think?? :D

[saltywatercrocodile]

Quick (Informal) PSA For Therian Minors

I see a lot of minors in the community who seem very...comfortable, I guess, with sharing personal information and photos on here and other sites, and I just wanted to speak my piece about it.

Something I remembered from another post that I wanna steal because I love the wording: before you share something on the internet, think what could someone who wanted to hurt me do with this information? Not trying to be condescending, I'm an adult and I think that exact sentence in my head before I post/comment/DM anything related to myself.

Just saw a post where a well-meaning therian minor linked their Youtube channel, which has videos of them irl (wearing a mask, but still) doing quads outside and at an indoor non-chain business with the name/logo of the building clearly visible.

I cannot emphasize how much I was taught to be extremely careful about posting any irl images as a kid/teen, as people can infer your location from very minor details, MUCH LESS VIDEOS OF MY WHOLE BODY IN AN EASILY GOOGLE-ABLE LOCATION. What happens if someone with malicious intent sees that video, which is public on youtube? What will you do when someone attempts to blackmail or doxx you? Not only would this would-be criminal know where you are, they can also see how old you are and exactly what you look like. Terrifying.

(I understand we're in a culture of many people posting videos of themselves online, but (in my opinion) it's just not safe to be uploading public content that's advertising "Hi I'm bodily a child/teenager and this is what I look like and this is close to where I live and I'm also a therian who's probably hiding this account from my parents")

This individual is essentially just trusting that no one on the entirety of Youtube will just google the name of the indoor facility (along with any other location-identifying posts they may make) and either threaten them via doxxing or just straight up threaten their life/safety.

I knew someone in school who got too comfortable in an in-game chat, and was lulled into a false friendship and tricked into mentioning his address. Then he was threatened and told to send them money or they would physically find him. Thankfully he felt safe enough to tell his parents, who knew how to stop the situation. I know a lot of us aren't out to our family, and I dread to think what would have happened if the boy I knew hadn't felt safe enough to explain the situation to his parents.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TLDR; before you post personal info/photos, think of the absolute worst evil that someone could do to you with that information. I know it's a bummer, but doxxing/blackmail happens more than you think, and even if your posts only seem to get low notes/likes/whatever, they can theoretically be seen by ANYONE, including people who want to hurt you.

(also I don't mean to call out or harass anyone, I'm not trying to be mean, I just wanted to use an example bc it's what inspired me to make this post and also I wanted to outline why real behaviours I'm seeing can be dangerous, rather than just making up hypotheticals)

[trans-jon-rights]

What is the Magnus Protocol ?

(And how does it tie in with the Magnus Institute ?)

With MAGP 19 being the bombshell it was, I think we might have enough information to at least draft up the beginning of a theory.

So what could it be ?

I suppose it might be just that, a Protocol of containment. To contain Newton's creation and whatever happened in London*. Still enacted to this day by the government, the O.I.A.R and Starkwall**. And maybe it is the reason why the Institute burned.

*I suspect what happened in London to be the Great Fire of London, which did help stop a plague and happened 18 years before the letter was written.

**As mentioned in MAGP 4

So with that we have the more concrete stuff set up, I think we can go into the slightly more crack theory, because I've had too much coffee and my brain is going to explode.

Albertus Magnus was a German alchemist from the 13th century. He was very interested in stones, and believed they held power, as stated in his work 'De Mineralibus'. There were also numerous rumours that he achieved immortality using the philosopher's stone, which was a huge achievement in alchemy (basically the ultimate goal).

His work inspired numerous others, including :

Metals and Materials

The Secrets of Chemistry

The Origin of Metals

The Origins of Compounds

Doesn't this remind you of something ?

The case also refers to Wilhelm Homberg, though I couldn't find much on him other than he was an alchemist, and that he looked to create the philosopher's stone as well (which confirms that whatever Newton found, it was about that).

Anyway.

Let's consider this. Sam confirmed in the latest episode that it at least somewhat related to alchemy. And look at this from MAGP 9 :

They were looking for catalysts. Even better, they had an entire department dedicated to them ! Maybe I'm totally wrong, but the direct synonym of it in my native language (un catalyste) is something that was used in alchemy, at least to my knowledge.

So yeah, we know it has to do with alchemy. I've yet to found it again, but I recall tumblr user @misfitmagpie did this very extensive post about alchemical symbols on the logo of the show, and others on more alchemical stuff if you are interested.

But it is very obvious the Institute studied alchemy, looking for something. I do have a theory as to why they studied it, but its not about the Protocol, so we'll hold that thought for slightly later.

To me, the Protocol is something meant to regulate things, and was enabled by the government. But the government might have at some point considered the Institute dangerous, much like Robert Hooke did with Newton's experiment, and decided to destroy it. Usually the destructions involve fire. Newton's lab did burn down, and the mentionned previous iteration was likely to be the Great Fire of London in 1666.

(It is also notable that, although irrelevant to the current theory, the charity shop in MAGP 7 did burn down as well, which would further strengthen the idea that Starkwall is the current enabler of the Protocol for the government)

What else burned ? The Magnus Institute.

The very same Institute that was invested in alchemy, and that I am uninclined to believe was well intentioned.

And here I'd like to introduce you to something. The Franciscans.

Those guys held the belief that the Antichrist was coming and that the philosopher's stone was essential to stop it.

There's also a concept of balance (something something Robert Smirke something something) involved which dictates that for an Antichrist there needs to be a Christ.

And the Institute did research on children, measuring their development, empathy and compliance. Whether they were looking for the Christ or the Antichrist is unsure, (though seeing that high empathy level children were rejected speaks for itself) but they were looking for something.

So here, I could conclude. Say that the Institute was looking for the philosopher's stone, and the Antichrist, and that the Protocol was used to destroy them. But there's more.

Do you remember MAG 140 ? In this episode, Basira says this about Maxwell Rayner :

And here I have a fun fact for you. Did you know that Albertus Magnus wasn't originally named like this ? His name was Albertus the Great, and he became 'Magnus' after his death (Magnus meaning 'The Great' in Latin).

So what if ?

What if Jonah discovered Albertus' old works, and decided to follow them, resulting in an imperfect immortality like in TMA, and founding his Institute to further his research it and access a perfect one ?

And maybe he succeeded, and then decided that he wanted more, and tried to find the Antichrist. Finding use for the child would be easy, and he could hold it as a Damocles sword up everyone's head.

Then, he almost found them, and the Protocol was executed. That would give us a potential identity for [ERROR], being either Jonah or the child that yhey couldn't destroy. If it is Jonah, that would explain why he was following Alice, if she was indeed Connor Dyer (and Alex confirmed that she was trans mtf, so the possibility is more than likely). But also, considering [ERROR] I voiced by a woman, I rather think it might be the child.

I don't believe Albertus to be Jonah, mostly because if he already had access to immortality that early, why wait so long to look for the child. Though Jonah being a relative would explain the origin of his last name and how he found Albertus' old works.

In short, I believe the Magnus Protocol to be a Protocol of containment/destruction of knowledge by fire, related but not only limited to alchemy. It was used in 1999 to stop the researches conducted at the Magnus Institute. These researches were looking for an Antichrist, and conducted by the maybe immortal Jonah Magnus, who had discovered the secret to eternal life and the philosopher's stone exploiting the work of Albertus Magnus.

I am going insane.

Please send opinions and corrections ! I am far from an expert, I'm just a sleep deprived guy who did some research so don't hesitate to correct me ! You won't come out as rude and I won't be offended I promise.

[badhabitscollection]

So Much (For) Blitz —An exclusive reveal of the star of Fall Out Boy’s latest album cover

Fall Out Boy’s latest effort So Much (For) Stardust) has been critically acclaimed and lauded by fans as some of their best work to date. The album artwork, prominently featuring a doberman, has left some puzzled and looking for additional context as to the dog��s identity and how the artwork came to be. The Bad Habits Collection is proud to bring you the exclusive reveal of the dog featured on the cover of their eighth studio album alongside the full story of how they were discovered.

— 

When Fall Out Boy officially announced their eighth studio album on January 18th, 2023 and unveiled the album artwork for So Much (For) Stardust, there were a lot of opinions to be had. Some of the fans immediately felt connected and claimed it as their own, some compared it to Fiona Apple’s 2020 release Fetch the Bolt Cutters, and some downright found it revolting. Overall, most agreed that it was polarizing to say the least. Donned in an all black background, the front cover features both the name of the band and the album itself in the work of Omar Mroz (hereinafter referred to by his online moniker Mr.Oz). The text is covered in glitter and written out in the same style featured earlier in the rollout of FOB8’s album cycle with A Claymation Fall Out Boy Celebration, dropped as a surprise present from the band on Christmas one month earlier. The headlining attraction of this sideshow was in fact just a simple square box, containing a swirling artistic depiction of a doberman barking in the presence of a froth of bubbles.

From the moment I first laid eyes on the iconography of Fall Out Boy’s new era, I had just two questions in mind: Who is the dog? & Why choose the dog? A few obvious possibilities were immediately ruled out. Solely based on what’s been posted to social media, this dog did not belong to Pete, Joe, or Andy. Patrick has remained dormant online for years at this point, but still the odds felt slim. I did my best to brush it off, but ultimately I kept coming back to the thought of WHY? If you’re familiar with my previous work on the history of Take This To Your Grave’s album cover, you already know this type of sentiment means a lot to me. After a while of waiting for the band to bring up the topic in an interview or statement, I had essentially given up hope on any type of official explanation. It was at this moment, just 3 days before the release of the record, that I accepted the reality of the situation. This wasn’t a hot topic within the fandom. And no one was going to provide me with the answers I was looking for. If I wanted to know more, it was solely up to me. So… I got to work. — 

To take a step back, the artwork for So Much (For) Stardust first hit the internet on January 11th, seven days before the official reveal. Posted alongside the name of the first single Love From The Other Side, our barking pup friend was featured on the home feed of FILTER | NEWs on VK, a Russian social media site that I’ve been told is comparable to Facebook. The artwork was watermarked with a subtle, transparent white logo for FILTER in the background. Despite this post being up for five days (a millennia on the worldwide web), it wasn’t until the 16th that the fandom at large made this discovery, with many claiming it was an outright fake.

However, the *stars* started to align proving this leak to have a dose or two of authenticity. Mr.Oz’s claymation video from earlier in the rollout followed the story of a similar looking doberman, who just so happened to pose in the final frame in a style strongly resembling the leaked cover. 

Beyond that, a post from lyricist and bassist Pete Wentz’s Instagram dating back just two days earlier was quickly dug up. On the 4th slide of the carousel, there it was: a selfie of Pete with a Santa hat on and propped up on the shelf behind him... the physical painting of the doberman seen on the leaked cover.

All but confirmed at this point, one last clue presented itself online. The freshly created Twitter account “@muchstardust” popped up out of nowhere, making itself known by following myself and a few other notable hardcore fans in this space. @muchstardust made just one single tweet before being suspended (for reasons unknown). 

The post featured three images, the watermarked cover, Pete’s selfie, and notably, a compressed form of the actual photo taken of man’s best friend —the same one the leaked cover features an oil painting rendition of. 

—  As we all know now, this leak was indeed real and confirmed as the album artwork just a few days later by Fall Out Boy themselves. But that’s when the trail went cold. Later promotional photos featuring the band and taken by their long time collaborator Pamela Littky included another doberman, but clearly not the same one once examined a bit closer. On March 21st, the Chicago rock group posted “What do you think the dog’s name is? 🫧”, but never followed up with the answer. It’s as if they were taunting me specifically with how vocal I had been about wanting to solve this mystery. Just before the album’s official release, I was tipped off by someone with an early copy of the CD that the liner notes of So Much (For) Stardust credit Safia Latif for the cover painting and Jen Patterson for the photograph the cover painting was based on. With new pieces of the puzzle in play, my search for the dog in question was reignited. However, my leads proved of little to no help. I could not get in touch with Safia and could not properly identify Jen Patterson online for the life of me. Taking the hunt back to the drawing board, I reverse image searched the photo @muchstardust had originally provided, which even at this point, months later, was our only source of the actual photograph. Littered with results of the album artwork naturally, I did come across one potential connection. Once again, I found myself on the public timeline of someone’s VK.com profile. “dextromethorpan 3” had included the same photograph in a gallery of different doberman puppies posted on December 21st, 2020. This was…something. Sure, this photo likely did not originate from the VK profile I had unearthed, but at least now I knew it had been around the web for a few years. Scratching my head, I wondered how Fall Out Boy had originally come across this image. Was it something that came up on one of their feeds? Or perhaps just a keyword search? Taking it to different forms of social media, I found a potential match on the /r/doberman subreddit posted 10 months ago. Titled “Cool pic of us playing with bubbles”, the dobie in question featured strikingly similar features and color patterns, and was of course, playing with bubbles. 

So I did what any other sane fan would do… and sent a private message to the Redditor the night before the album dropped with Jen’s photograph. “/u/drc55555” responded Saturday morning agreeing that the dog did look a lot like their own, but that they didn’t recognize the photograph. I woke up in a cold sweat seeing the glimpse of the Reddit notification on my iPhone and replied informing them of the cover of Fall Out Boy’s brand new release and asking if the user was the Jen Patterson credited in the album’s booklet. A day later, they replied once again noting that they weren’t Jen, but that this has sparked a memory of another DM they had received in the fall of last year from an Elektra Records personnel, Fueled By Ramen’s distributor who Fall Out Boy had publicly rejoined the roster of just this January. Indeed, 200 days ago from this very conversation, a marketing representative from the label had reached out to the Redditor through the same platform letting them know that an artist they work with had come across the very same photo I myself found and that the artist had fallen in love with it, hoping to use it as part of the artwork for an upcoming project. /u/drc55555 had conceded that they regretted not responding at the thought of how their dog could have become famous. This is when I knew, I was HOT on the trail. Either a member of FOB discovered this photo of their dog while scrolling Reddit or had specifically sought out the same search terms as me, which meant the actual photograph used on the cover could have potentially been found through the very same method. My search accelerated and within a few hours I had run a variety of similar terms by Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, really any social media site I could get my hands on. Nothing had come up, but I hadn’t called it a day quite yet as one of the more obvious sites remained: Instagram. Heading to the explore page I have barely used in my own time on the platform, I typed in the same keywords that brought me to the pup’s uncanny match on Reddit: “doberman bubbles”. And there it was, exactly 60 rows down, right in the center, the original image of the dog I had been looking for all along along with an alternate photo of the same dog in the next slide in the same setting captioned “BUBBLES!!!!!”, posted —you guessed it, in 2020. 

—  With this case officially closed, I’m beyond stoked to introduce Blitz the Doberman to other fans of Fall Out Boy. At the time of publication, Blitz has 12.8k followers on his public Instagram account, which lead me to question how this match hadn’t already been made. Blitz’s bio reveals he was born on February 27th, 2019 and lives in Las Vegas with his human, one Jen Patterson.

In a beautiful twist of fate, within the hour of finishing the final draft of this piece, Blitz’s humans responded to my inquiry from earlier in the week. I spoke with Jen at length who was happy to share her story exclusively with The Bad Habits Collection. Similarly to the Redditor from earlier, a marketing rep from Elektra Records had reached out to her through Instagram on September 20th, 2022 inquiring about using a picture of her pup for one of their artists’ work, a message she initially regarded as spam. Eventually, she came to an agreement with Elektra, however, this story ended there for her. Up until Jen read the direct message I sent to Blitz’s account, she had not the slightest idea that he was featured on the cover of the new album of one of the biggest modern rock bands left in the world. I was shocked to hear this, but Jen on the other hand was incredibly excited to learn of the breaking news. I shared a photo with her of her name printed in the liner notes of So Much (For) Stardust, a cool moment for us both. Jen told me “I never considered myself a photographer, but that’s amazing!” When I asked about how Blitz already had such a huge following on Instagram, she told me all about how she’s networked with others in a doberman group and has kept a steady stream of posts coming on the daily. In discussion of what she’d like for others to take away from this article, Jen simply hoped others would get to know Blitz’s name —my entire goal of this investigation all along. Half-joking, she expressed that she’d also love to have gotten her hands on some merchandise with his face on it. Infinitely grateful for her responding to my DM and taking the time to talk with me, I’ve personally sent Jen physical copies of So Much (For) Stardust in both vinyl and CD format. I’ll be sure to update this write-up with a photo of FOB’s newest mascot posing with his album cover when they arrive! Closing out our conversation, Jen let me know that she “felt like if you hadn’t reached out, we would not have known.” To be honest, there were times in this journey that I thought it might be for the best if I gave up the search for this pup as to not invade anyone’s privacy. I figured if Blitz hadn’t already made himself known publicly, maybe there was a specific reason behind not doing so. I would have never guessed that reason was because his family were simply unaware of his new-found fame. I feel honored to have been the one to share this discovery with Blitz’s owners and again want to thank them for their contributions to this piece. Jen has also graciously shared the original photograph of Blitz the cover was based on in its full resolution, uncropped:

— 

After scouring the internet to to uncover this story, it all leads me to just one final question: Why Blitz? What’s the connection? Moreover, what’s the intended meaning here? Jen let me know that she herself was unaware of how and why the photograph was found and selected, but we can naturally draw our own conclusions. Discussing this topic with other longtime fans of the band, all have come to the same conclusion that Fall Out Boy’s latest effort features some of Pete’s bleakest lyrics in a long time paired somehow ever so perfectly with some of Patrick’s most uplifting and dance-worthy melodies to date. As my partner pointed out, the album artwork depicts a breed known for their usage as guard dogs with a tough exterior, but shown playing lightheartedly with what’s usually associated as a child’s toy. In the words of fellow Fall Out Boy historian and Bad Habits Collection collaborator Tommy McPhail, the cover displays “the epitome of boundless joy and simplified bliss amongst chaos”, a phrase that perfectly sums up the entire feeling artistically and masterfully expressed in So Much (For) Stardust in my own eyes. Fall Out Boy’s newest full-length studio record So Much (For) Stardust, produced by the legendary Neal Avron, is one of their strongest statement pieces in years and is now available everywhere music is streamed or sold. You can follow Blitz’s adventures on Instagram: @blitzdoberman —  “The kind of pain you feel to get good in the end. Inscribed like stone and faded by the rain: ‘Give up what you love before it does you in.’” Written by Alex Toor for The Bad Habits Collection

[lsartcorner]

I think it’s time to reveal my Wir/Turbo AU isn’t it?

Yes, yes it is

(Logo, basic character designs & a lil exposition of the au below!)

—————————

You ready? Lets go

Welcome too…

Game explanation

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A Version of TurboTime where instead of racing cars the characters are racing on Jetski’s and to fit the theme the landscape of the game is a summer paradise by the shoreline where the characters can relax and hangout in after the arcade closes.

Not only is there Turbo and the Twins in this game but also two new summer themed racers Sunny and Flora to join them in the competition!

Sunny would be considered the secondary protagonist of the game who has comparable stats to the man himself.

In this version of the game any of the 5 racers can be chosen, not just Turbo like from the base game, this is to ensure people can choose their favourite character and to ensure multiplayer capability.

Each character has their own unique stats and skill sets with Turbo and Sunnys being the best being the protagonists, but it doesn’t mean you can win with anyone else, you’ve just got to try a bit more.

With each character comes with character exclusive skills and abilities which is to encourage players to play the secondary characters, for there to be a reason on why they should be played in the first place.

There are an assortment of maps, upgrades and achievements to unlock playing the game if you are skilled or lucky enough in finding them. This is to ensure that each game is unique from the last, with each player upgrading and choosing to their style so it rarely would get boring for the characters, testing stuff on different maps alongside the player.

Why was developed? (In lore)

><><><><><><><><><><><><><

The developers wanted to create a motorcycle esque racing arcade cabinet with a summer twist and decided to reutilise an old classic ip of theirs into the modern day for the modern audience, so putting them on the beach with new characters and jetskis just worked!

The arcade

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Mr Litwak saw this and decided to give it a go for old times sake and kids like the summer and racing so why not combine them? And who knows maybe it could be as successful as the OG TurboTime?

However the characters in the arcade seeing this are weary and uncertain of this new game, only thinking of the worst and what happened last time, with not only the Roadblasters incident of 1987 but also of what Turbo did in Sugar Rush behind everyone’s noses, especially Vanellope, for 15 years nonetheless.

This would cause most characters to go past it with a 5 metre poll, not wanting to be involved in what would happen if they did. Even when a character or two go inside to have a look and say it’s fine, people are still cautious because “it’s only early days” and continue with their daily routine and spreading rumours about what they see from their cabinets on the game and its characters.

Despite this intermingling, when characters that were in the OG game (Turbo & the Twins) ask what they’re talking about, they act inconspicuous and nonchalant with the twins while being more defensive and hostile with Turbo himself, irritating him to no end especially when he has no clue what is going on having just been plugged in and being seemingly on hated by everyone in the arcade immediately.

With this uncooperative behaviour from many people in the arcade the characters tend to stay in the game itself most of the time and considering they have all the amenities they need in game, this isn’t much of a conundrum. Essentially leaving the game in a world of its own unknown of the main body of the arcade and they intend to keep it that way for the most part, until a certain something happens lore-wise which you will need to stay updated on if you want to find out what!

(Wink wink nudge nudge 😉)

How/what kind of posts will be done?

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For this au I will post either,

- Non story based artworks/doodles of the characters

- Short comic strips of character interactions which I intend to mostly be unrelated to the main story itself, but no promises here

- The AUs main story comics

- Updates/revamps

- Answering questions on the AU

In a few hours time I will start releasing full character designs & descriptions, so look out for that!

Then once that’s all said and done, expect what is on the list to come after, especially the comics, have had many ideas for them!

Now that’s all I can think of from the top of my head for now, so now I think it’s time you saw the basic character designs for this AU!

(Btw if you got this far well done I kinda wrote more than expected and may or may not have created a text wall, whoops! This AU has been on my mind for days and it needed to be seen sooner or later.)

(Fun fact! The idea of this AU is actually from my first WiR/Turbo fixation around this time last year, and it only came back with a roaring passion after being reminded of it having watched a particular 2 hour video everyone knows of *cough cough*, so if you want to see og sketches let me know!)

I have written so much and definitely need some sleep.

Hope you enjoyed & stay tuned!

- LsArtCorner

[ezlo-x]

tbh my biggest gripes with totk is the fact that they did it beginner friendly new comer friendly... like i know this is gonna sound mean but genuinely I wish it didn't try to cater to new fans who want to get into tloz cause totk's story failed cause it needed to cater to new zelda fans

idc abt the lore getting rebooted, sure im going to miss the triforce being an essential piece of the story and lore, only to become the Hylian symbol and game's logo (which tbh is strange its like pokemon using the pokeball as their logo/symbol but pokeballs becoming obsolete in new pkmn games). But because it wanted to be new comer friendly botw's story and lore aspects are long gone and only to be referred to as easter eggs to ppl who played botw know. When characters talk about things that happened in botw as if it was a long time ago like the attack of the Calamity 100 years ago but things that actually happened a very long time ago make it sound like its pretty recent.

I don't like how the new sages just don't remember the champions at all. If you get the divine beast helms through sidequests and read their dialogue they speak in this way as it is their first time seeing it like?? Which is so strange cause totk would gladly reference Sidon and Link's companionship with a statue when trying to access Vah Ruta in BotW, but Mipha gets barely a mention from him? My biggest hopes before we got the title of the game was to let go of the champions, as in we don't need them to be back as they already have done what they need to do. But also I didn't want them to be completely gone from the game and only know them through easter eggs and references.

Like yeah TotK is a sequel to BotW but its more so "ok botw was a rough draft, THIS is the story we wanted to do" and it turns out to have inconsistencies. Zelda mentions the Calamity a few times, there are tombstones to placed around Hyrule commemorating people who lost their lives by the Calamity. But the Sheikah technology is completely gone, the towers that were there for eons are gone. I feel like the towers could've been an easy fix to explain why they are gone like "oh these chasms appeared and collapsed the towers, so now we built these new towers in replacement."

Like with Majora's Mask being separate but also a follow up to Ocarina of Time works because. While yes they are using the same characters and same game mechanics. They are using a whole different world/setting that is different from OoT. Where it excuses using the same characters and same game mechanics, cause it has a complete different story but is consistent on where it left off with Ocarina of Time. I honestly thought TotK was going to take place mostly in the skies than in the surface. Since they kept hyping people up with the teaser trailers and then we had SkSw HD being released. Like yeah it will be like some glorified version of SkSw

When I was reading the interviews Nintendo uploaded a few days before TotK's release and saw Fujibayashi say ,"We put in some effort to make sure that it feels comfortable for both first-time players and those with experience of the previous game." In the back of my mind I questioned a bit this cause I mostly asked myself "isn't this a sequel?" but then I reassured myself that they'll probably would reexplain certain things about the previous game and what happened in the story for new comers. But not to this extreme

[needforspeed161]

You loved him….didnt you (Teaser WIP)

It didn’t feel like two years, yet here Pete was, sitting in the living room of his house, a perfect San Diego evening, the skies golden with the gentle wisps of clouds being carried too and from with the salty ocean breeze.

Here Pete Mitchell was, tracing his fingers over a folded up flag that he’d had now for two years, a joyful laugh replaced with perfect stitching, warm skin replaced with rough vinyl, a sparkle in a pair of icy blue eyes traded in for 50 white stars on a field of blue….

Stifling back a quiet sob he opened a box, pulling out a few items and placing them on the table in front of him….a USNA hoodie, clearly worn quite often, but still in good condition with the embroidered logo fading in color but holding strong….

The light metal sound of not one, but now two pairs of dog tags hitting the wooden surface beneath. The weight of one pair all these years was heavy enough, and now here Maverick was with two….

A pair of eye glasses, cleaned and untouched since they last rested upon the gentle sloped bridge of a blonde man’s nose….

A framed picture, one that sat upon the desk of the COMPACFLT for many many years….it’s wooden frame being taken such

Good care of, aside from one scratch….

And lastly an old video camera. One from the 80’s sitting on top of a box full of tapes.

“Mav?”

A voice startled the man out of what he was doing, almost dropping the flag that set on his lap, Before he picked it up, setting it on the coffee table as well.

Quickly wiping away a couple newly formed tears he stood, smiling up at the young man who stood in his foyer.

“Bradley, it’s so good to see you” he brought the man in for a hug, smiling into the solid foundation of his shoulder. Giving him a slightly tighter squeeze before he let go.

“Thought I’d bring by some dinner….is all this-“ he trailed off, setting down the bags of takeout, looking at the table. “Is this ices stuff?”

Bradley took the liberty to sit down on the couch in front of Mavericks table of wonders, small nick knacks he’d collected over the years, now seemed more like a graveyard than keepsakes.

“Yeah….” The brunette trailed off, sighing softly with a small sniff, “yeah it is….”

Bradley looked at him, with those beautiful brown orbs, full of so much sympathy and heartbreak for his (essentially) father figure. Who had sacrificed so much to be there for him when he lost his dad, then later when he lost his mother, Maverick was all he ever had. Was there to stay up with him on nights when he couldn’t stop crying, take him to school on days he couldn’t bear to drag himself out of bed. Even help him enlist when he turned 18.

But now, it seemed Maverick was the one that needed him.

“Todays the-“

With a hand on his shoulder Bradley squeezed maverick softly, letting out a sharp sigh through his nose. “Yeah I know….its been two years today”

So that’s why the kid was here, well, much less of a kid now, closer to pushing 30. But Maverick will always see the boy sitting on the piano at the diner wearing his dad’s cowboy hat as they played the piano.

(AHHHH THANK YOU FOR READING!! I wanna continue this and upload it to Ao3! Let me know what you guys think and if you want more!)

[maximumzombiecreator]

I have a question about mapping the dungeon - all the games I've been a part of that weren't theatre of the mind had the GM prepare and draw the maps, both for encounters and dungeon exploration, typically on a whiteboard or dry erase mat. What are the pros and cons on having players map out the dungeon instead? How is this handled for OSR dungeon crawling typically? I can foresee miscommunication and distraction leading to incorrect maps - how much should the GM intervene in these cases? Does player mapping slow down the game?

Typically, OSR games will have someone assigned to be the mapper, both literally, in terms of drawing the players' copy of the map and within the fiction, having their character (or a hireling) doing the mapping. In most systems, the rate of movement through the dungeon includes mapping as part of what the party is doing (hence why if you look at the actual pace of movement it's really slow.) This means that in situations like fleeing from enemies, the characters are not able to map and the GM won't give them things like measurements, just a vague sense of what they see. Similarly, it's often something that a character does while exploring a room. Someone will investigate the interesting thing, someone will keep watch, someone will be mapping the room.

Now, if you're running on a grid, then I think it's pretty much essential for the GM to draw the maps when they're needed for combat. There's no sense adding a game of telephone into the mix every time you're setting up for a fight. In this case, I think you can either just accept that the party gets some free detail when they get into a fight, or you can go all the way and just have the GM provide the map that the characters draw.

For the most part, the decision whether to do manual mapping depends on if it's a type of gameplay that you care about. Because it is gameplay. Classic D&D dungeon maps often contained elements designed to confuse and frustrate mappers. Dwarves have the ability to detect slopes in passageways specifically because dungeons would contain features like that so that the party could switch levels without knowing that they had. In that sense, incorrect maps are a desirable outcome.

Typically, a GM will only want to intervene if something has gone unfairly wrong. If the map of a room or section is so wildly incorrect that the in-world character couldn't reasonably have arrived at it, it needs to be corrected. But for small mistakes (or just tricky dungeon design) your mapper could potentially end up sitting, staring at their map, trying to puzzle out what's gone wrong so that they can find their way back to the surface. Certified map sicko (affectionate) Dyson Logos has even made Mapper's Challenge dungeons that really put this skillset to the test.

And this can lead to some really great moments! Good mapping can be a way for the party to find secret doors and rooms, with their mapping leaving conspicuous gaps for them to look into. Likewise I've had players figure out based on their mapping that a wall was thin, and opt to mine through it in order to circumvent a difficult fight. In classic dungeons, partial maps were also often part of loot. This might include treasure maps, as well. A fragmentary map that shows a secret treasure will have the mapper scrambling to figure out how it fits into the map they have so far.

It does slow down the game, but all gameplay slows down the game, right? That said, I think it's a form of gameplay that works best if there are players who are going to engage with it enthusiastically. If the party is going to be in the position of forcing someone to be the mapper, it may be better just to work collaboratively with the players to keep an accurate map of what they should have been able to map so far. But if the players are into that gritty kind of playstyle, where the characters might be sitting in a dank hole, looking at their scribbles, trying to figure out how to make their way home? It's great, it's honestly fantastic.