#Part 1: Stay Vectored

[vortexofadigitalkind]

“Stay vectored. Stay efficient. Stay alive.” But what happens when the system starts to crack? Caleb’s routine life in a dystopian city begins to fracture after a forbidden encounter. Can you hear the signal? Read Part 1 now: https://vortexofadigitalkind.com/the-burnout-protocol-part-1-stay-vectored

[armoredisopod]

Arknights CN 6th Anniversary PVs

New Operators

Confess-47, 1★ Pioneer Vanguard

"To cover up one's own sins, is to invite disaster."

Gracebearer, 5★ Primal Guard (new branch)

Are only perfect things worthy to be objects of faith?

Sankta Miksaparato, 6★ Welfare Sentry Protector Defender

I will not fall, you will not fall, no one will fall.

Lemuen, 6★ Deadeye Sniper

Ah, the smile on your face. Giving trust is just as reassuring as receiving it, don't you agree?

Exusiai the New Covenant, 6★ Limited Geek Specialist

Yeah, I met the "God" of Sankta.

But I reckon God is better off staying on 《The Saints' Travels》, from now on how we live our lives is up to us!

Operator Outfits Update

Total of 10 new outfits, 1 new addition each for the Epoque, Achievement Star, Iteration Provident and Rhodes Kitchen brands, 3 new additions each for the Bloodline of Combat and Test Collection brands

Epoque

Bard by the Lake - Cantabile

Achievement Star

A Player Forever - Mizuki

Bloodline of Combat

Primordial Ode - PhonoR-0 (Login Event)

Judgment Day - Fiammetta

Ignis - Vulcan (Event Reward)

Iteration Provident

Roar Against the Wilds - Młynar

Test Collection

Glory of the Devout - Archetto (21 OP)

Supernova - Wiš'adel (24 OP)

Doctor, won't you come and witness your masterpiece?

Come on, pull yourself together. At least we have time to do something about it.

星月漂流记 (The Drifting of Stars and Moon) - Kroos (Cumulative Login Reward)

Rhodes Kitchen

Secret Family Recipe - Savage (Event Reward)

Vulcan's outfit is a reward from Vector Breakthrough #1 「Inorganic Matter」

Kroos' new outfit is a 1000 days cumulative login reward

Savage's new outfit is a reward from the Arknights Link to the Limitless web event

Announced outfit reruns

Diversity Oneness - Virtuosa

Il Segreto Della Notte - Texas the Omertosa

Habitat - Silence the Paradigmatic

Operator Modules Update

All the new 6★s being part of branches with modules immediately get their modules

GEE-X module base effect increases Exusiai the New Covenant's SP Recovery rate by +0.25/s when her HP is above 80%

SPT-X module base effect reveals all Invisible enemies in Sankta Miksaparato's Attack Range

DEA-Y module base effect lets Lemuen restore 1 SP when her attack doesn't defeat/destroy the target

Liberator Guard branch gets 1 module type

Muelsyse, Thorns, Silence the Paradigmatic and CrownSlayer get their second modules

TAC-Y module base effect makes enemies blocked by Muelsyse's Flowing Shape more likely to be attacked and increases the trait effect to 165%

EXE-Y module base effect increases CrownSlayer's ATK by +10% if there are no allies units within 4 adjacent tiles

The base effect of LOR-∆ and BLS-Y modules are unknown at the time of writing

Events and Stories

The Masses' Travels, a Laterano side story event

If God intends for me to accept death as an angel Then I would rather live on this land in the ugly, fleeting, painful shell —of a human.

Before faith came to be A being imitating an angel began its prolonged yet transient pilgrimage And the starting point of its journey was but a single wish.

Vector Breakthrough #1 「Inorganic Matter」

Duel Channel: Green Grass Duel Centre Official, Cannot's April Fools event with multiplayer

Operator Archives update for Mostima, Broca, Nowell, Alanna and Arene

Misc Stuff

New QoL additions and changes

Starting from the Grand Bazaar annihilation mission, annihilation will start cycling on a 3 month rotation and future annihilation first clear rewards will give an additional 800 orundum to compensate for this change

Universal Certificates (blue certs) cost to hire 6★ operators lowered from 2k to 1.8k, cost for hire 5★ operators lowered from 500 to 450

Geek Specialist branch trait adjusted to lose HP slower and they will no longer go below 1 HP due to the trait effect

Auto deploy sweep feature upgraded allowing players to only need to watch one auto deploy for however many times they chose to sweep the stage

Added the ability to filter operators by their branch

Added a cumulative login reward system, after reaching level 80 and the corresponding number of logins players can claim dynamic profile icons and a special L2D outfit

Added 3 new activity rooms, improved performance when visiting friends bases and added a feature to instantly snap the camera to assistant operators

Saga, Mr. Nothing and Confess-47 added to recruitment

Asbestos' [Glen Sonata] Outfit will be available in the certs shop to players that don't have it

Livestream Stuff

Showcased Exusiai the New Covenant, a 6★ Geek Specialist with a unique support dps kit

Talent 1 - Firepower Radio makes it so when she's deployed and an operator consumes ammo she will immediately recover some HP and call a bombardment within that operator's Attack Range dealing a certain amount of AoE Physical damage

Talent 2 - Gun and Bullet Pact increases the ATK of all operators that have ammo when she's deployed, the effect is further increased for Laterano operators

Skill 1 - Clear the Skies is an ammo skill that makes her attacks deal a certain amount of Physical damage and prioritizes aerial enemies, if the skill is manually deactivated she will immediately fire all her ammo on random enemies within Attack Range

Skill 2 - Fire Unto Blight is an ammo skill that reduces her attack interval and makes her attack deal a certain amount of Physical damage, upon skill activation it also Steals ASPD from an ally operator within Attack Range and grants both her and the operator she stole ASPD from a Barrier that decays overtime, this skill gains additional ammo if she succeeds in stealing ASPD from an operator

Skill 3 - Mission Accomplished! is an ammo skill that has a passive effect of giving her a Delivery Marker on deployment. When activated the skill increases her ATK, makes her attacks hit 5 times in a row dealing a certain amount of Physical damage and if the marker is deployed before or during the skill is active, she will deal a certain amount of AoE Physical damage and deploy the melee operator with the longest redeployment time to the position of the marker, granting them some SP and retrieving the marker, each attack while this skill is active consumes 5 ammo

Showcased Lemuen, a 6★ Deadeye Sniper that has the ability to lock onto Elite/Leader enemies

Talent 1 - Cross-Border Pursuit License makes it so when she is deployed, Elite/Leader enemies that stayed within the Attack Range of Laterano operators for a certain duration will be marked as Wanted, attacks of Laterano operators deal more damage to wanted enemies and Lemuen can target all Wanted enemies

Talent 2 - Fugitive Extradition Procedures increases her ATK and max ammo after staying on the field for a certain amount of time

Skill 1 - Reunion Greetings is an ammo skill that increases her ATK and lets her attack an additional target

Skill 2 - Homecoming Invitation is an ammo skill that increases her ATK and ASPD and has a special mechanic where if there is a Wanted enemy on the field, she will immediately lock onto that enemy, take several seconds to aim and fire a shot that cannot be dodged. While aiming, her ATK gradually increases and if her ATK exceeds the sum of the enemy's remaining HP + DEF she will immediately stop aiming and fire

Skill 3 - Salute · Forced Memorial is an ammo skill that makes her stop attacking and consume one ammo every few seconds to lock onto enemies in sequence, when the skill ends she will carry out bombardment attacks on the locked-on enemies, each dealing a certain amount of AoE Physical damage with increased damage closer to the center of the explosions

Showcased Sankta Miksaparato, a 6★ Sentry Protector Defender

Talent 1 - Gun-Sweeping Welcoming Ceremony increases his DEF and ASPD for a few seconds every time he deals damage, this effect can stack up to several times

Talent 2 - Shield-Raising Send-off Ceremony grants him a Barrier equal to a certain amount of his Max HP after not attacking for several seconds, the timer resets when he loses the Barrier

Skill 1 - Gun Cavalry Inspector makes his next attack hit 3 times in a row dealing a certain amount of Physical damage and restores 1 ammo to a nearby Laterano operator with an ammo skill active

Skill 2 - Eight-Armed Chainsaw Man is an ammo skill that increases his ATK and DEF, if he happens to take lethal damage while the skill is active several rounds of ammo will be immediately consumed to block that damage instead

Skill 3 - Pre-Retirement Evangelism is an ammo skill that immediately restores several rounds of ammo of all other Laterano operators with ammo skills active upon skill activation, it also expands his Attack Range, increases his Max HP, ATK & DEF and stops him from actively attacking enemies. When attacked, he will counterattack and hit several enemies in his Attack Range at once (minimum counterattack interval is equal to a certain % of the regular Attack Interval)

Showcased the event mechanic, special tiles that make your operators fall asleep when deployed on, sleeping operators can eventually wake up on their own but can also be hit by allies to wake them up faster, there are also sleeping allied units on some stages that can be woken up to assist you

The cost required to spark Skadi the Corrupting Heart will be reduced to 200 starting from this event, the cost to spark Ch'en the Holungday will be reduced to 200 in the 2025 Summer Carnival event

Revealed more detail on Duel Channel, an improved iteration of the Cannot April Fools event

Players can play the gamemode in single-player, 8-player and 30-player lobbies

Each round during the pre-battle countdown players can choose which side they think will win and can freely switch their choices back-and-forth, players can see each others' choices until the last few seconds of the countdown where they will immediately be hidden

On the first 5 rounds, players have a one-time pass that lets them get away with one incorrect choice

The pool of enemies have been expanded

Vector Breakthrough will return with a number of adjustments as an annual gamemode

Amount of stages increased from 8 to 12

Added new challenge stages that can be attempted after beating the 12 normal stages

Buffs have a higher tier variant and players will be restricted to only 4 buffs active at a time

Teased future events, one involving the Crimson Troupe and one possibly taking place in Higashi

IS#2 will be updated to adopt the newer difficulty system going up to D15

Players can start on D3/6/9 depending on if they cleared easy/normal/hard difficulty before the update

The chance to obtain alternate ending encounters/collectibles are greatly increased starting from D10

Starting from D11 combinations of certain Hallucinations can trigger special effects

Starting from D13 the Proof of Glory collectibles have stronger debuffs, but the effects can be reversed upon meeting certain conditions

Announced Trials for Navigator #5, no details yet other than that it will feature bosses from IS#2 and IS#3

Announced IS#6 Sui's Garden of Grotesqueries

Implemented a new "dungeon-crawl" type floor that players can enter via a special node

Upon entering the floor players are given a number of candles, these candles are used to move from node to node on the floor

When you run out of candles you will be immediately kicked out of the floor, but entering the floor again in the same run will place you exactly where you left off

Implemented the ability to store recruitment vouchers, players can use the vouchers upon reaching a new special node and it will cost less Hope to recruit operators there

The core mechanic of IS6 is Tongbao coins, players can collect coins throughout their run, the coins have different effects attached to them

Implemented general improvements to the investment system, changed the Cannot's Mark collectible to automatically convert a % of ingots obtained after beating a stage into investments (up to a certain amount at a time), increased the amount of starting operator class options, optimized support reward options and adjusted initial resources for different difficulty levels

Raidian is a special operator you can obtain from IS#6, she cannot be raised via normal means and can only be upgraded by completing weekly/IS missions

Showcased the new Kroos skin obtainable from 1000 cumulative logins, it has 2 different animated art that players can freely switch between

Discussed the new qol features and announced plans to adjust the pop-up that appears when you tap on a material and it shows every stage it can drop from

Revealed the Arknights Link to the Limitless web event, which opened for all servers simultaneously, players can get a special icon and a Rhodes Kitchen outfit for Savage

Arknights PC client announced

Arknights anime season 3 [RISE FROM EMBER] trailer released

More episodes of the U-Official mini series confirmed

Announced Arknights Art Book Vol.4 is in the works

Revealed Taiko no Tatsujin collab, confirmed to be a mini collab bringing collab outfits and furniture

Revealed BanG Dream! Ave Mujica collab, confirmed to be a side story event

[rgmwrites27]

@zinnia1506

Mine!

Cielo and Sky Gallop x ¡fem Cardbot! reader!

You were watching Sky Gallop and Cielo duel, Jun decided to take all the cardbots and includes you to Porcaca for a break. And that break turned into a bit of a fight because of Cielo and Sky Gallop having conflict, so Jun suggested for them to duel and the winner takes... You. Yes you, it turns out Cielo and Sky Gallop liked you no loved you so let's start from the beginning.

Rewind

You were flying beside Blasttrain who had Jun and his friends including uncle Edo inside, as you and Blasttrain lands you were greeted by Peruru, Red Blitz, Gigantrex, Musclehyde, Siero, Spark Beat, Flash Vector, and Sky Gallop. You transformed into your bot form and waved at them alongside Jun that ran to Peruru, Siero then went to you holding a bouquet of flowers (which is a whole bush) and winked at you "hello sweetheart, good to see you again-" but he then got pushed away by Sky Gallop that held a bigger bouquet of flowers for you and kissed your hand "for my beloved lady Y/n, welcome back to Porcaca my lady." Sky Gallop says like the gentlemech he is but he then got a blast by Siero, lots of arguments from both of them and Jun decided to take charge and made a duel. If one of them wins they can get you as their lover, and before you could even object his words the two cardbots agreed and started to fly across the air as you side eye Jun as he chuckles nervously hiding behind Blue Cop as he just sweat drops.

Present

Siero blasted Sky Gallop as he shot arrows back at him, it's now noon and the other metal cardbots were just watching them with bored and tired expressions. But you then stifled a laugh when they accidentally ram into each other and fell flat on their visor, you just shook your head with a fond smile. Peruru walked towards them "enough you two... Time to turn this down a bit, plus Y/n here already made a decision" Peruru said smiling slightly. Siero and Sky Gallop looked at her confused but didn't notice you snuck up behind them and kisses both their faceplate then started flying away "I'll be back at Motown first see ya!!" You made a break for it as you screamed to Jun and the others, Siero and Sky Gallop blushing slightly in surprise then Siero pointed to Sky Gallop mockingly "Hah! She kissed me first which means she likes me better!" He said earning a whack on the head by Sky Gallop "oh don't make me laugh" he said then the two glared at each other while the whole crew just sweat drops at the two metal cardbots, Jun and Peruru sighs "these two mechs..." They both spoke at the same time while their friends just laughed behind them.

Hooray!!! 1/3 request from @zinnia1506 done!, next is on progress so don't worry!! And working on the Blackhook + Buster Gallon+ Buffalo Crush x reader part two!! Stay toon for more updates thank you for reading ❤️❤️❤️

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi! Love your blog!

We know that made Lestat's abuse of Louis way more prominent in show (decision I still don't agree with but that's not the matter) and we have Jacob saying that s2 is way darker than book. People speculate that it's because they'll include FrankenClaudia who technically wasn't in this particular book but do you think they'll make Loumands relationship more toxic too like they did with Loustat? (I know they added romance to loustat but they also added beating scene that was on way way more smaller scale in book). Do you think they'll add more gaslighting? Emphasize on Armand making Louis turn Madeleine against his will?

Thank you for answering!

Hey nonny!

So glad you like!

I do think that they will heavily lean into that, yes. (And this "interview" is already held with the content of several books, so imho it doesn't really matter where the content comes from... Rolin held 6? or 7 books up to the camera^^). This will be a bit longer^^:

As all things are said to be revisited we will see how s1 will hold up, but of course it will stay correct that they emphasized the abuse vector. And that is a very valid thing for the Vampire Chronicles! There is a LOT in there, especially abuse, but also like... everything else, too. (As the Twitter discourse currently on Marius also... shows.)

So to get back to your actual question: yes I do think they will emphasize this part (though if they add more? We will see.), I think they have already hinted at that in season 1, but the book canon and their chosen promotional posters give us a very poignant hint here as well.

If we look at the "elevator posters" for example, we have Lestat, Louis and Claudia looking sideways at the observer*, in various state of emotions: fear, anger, and aware consternation (maybe), respectively.

And then we have Armand, *the observer, who looks down the length of his nose at them, with an air of superiority and a hint of a smile, clearly the one in charge:

It is also important to note that he is half in shadow but from the front here, not sideways as the others. The other three are almost completely "in the light", visible as it were. Armand... is not.

Now, if you remember the poster of season 1, then this is a direct echo of it, as well as a development from it:

Lestat was only half visible, behind Louis, since we only heard of him through Louis. Now he is in the same "position" as Louis and Claudia, almost fully revealed.

It is interesting that those elevator pictures keep Claudia in this position here, too, but it makes sense when one knows what will revealed only in later books about her and her play (I have talked about the twist from Merrick).

Now the posters sold at SDCC are equally interesting, because they speak their own language:

First off, we have Louis, holding the mask of Lestat in his hand, a mask taken off, and the mask echoes Lestat's "death face". He is looking into space, beyond it, and he seems to be seated in the back of a stage (given that we have a scene photo with Lestat seated on stage that carries ... repercussions^^).

"La mémoire est un monstre". The second half of IWTV is (among other things of course) Louis yearning for Lestat and learning a few... uncomfortable truths. Masks are taken off, and the revelations will be bloody. Louis will be condemned to be a spectator for some of them, and in the book it culminates in a very poignant speech about passivity.

And then there's Claudia. "La famille est un monstre." Dancing as Carmen, the red flamenco dress making her seem older than she is (supposed to be). The dress emulates flames, the audience is dead. She is almost smirking at the beholder, definitely proud of who she is, and her feet are naked.

"Carmen, a searing depiction of a woman who craves love, but creates obsession and jealousy, is one of the most popular operas ever written." (x)

The Carmen reference feels perfect for me, it will be very interesting to see which aspects they take up for the show, who Madeleine will be, given the World War 2 context, and the jealousy of the soldier in the original opera.

Then there is "L'amour est un monstre". Love is a monster. Love is the monster. The lover is the monster. For these vampires all these variations fit, and I do not just mean Loumand here, but generally.

Armand seems to say something to Louis, who is looking into space, with a slight frown.

The movie poster from "Gaslight", a movie about a whirlwind romance and the new husband isolating the wife from the world and "gaslighting" her to make her appear mad and doubt her own sanity to get at what she possesses... now the IWTV people know what they're doing *laughs*

Anyone who has read IWTV and TVA knows that Armand spell-binds Louis on several occasions, and influences him to do things, for example turning Madeleine, as you mentioned.

Interestingly enough there is also a man with a face half in light, half in shadows here - and that is echoed on Louis in the poster, one half is painted red - indicating he doubles with the police officer of the movie, discovering the things that are supposed to be hidden from him.

And, last but definitely not least, the general poster, without caption:

Lestat is "almost" revealed, our "view" of him still restricted somewhat by Louis and Claudia, as well from the theater curtain.

Claudia is engaged with whatever is happening beyond our view, Louis... is not. He is restraining himself, hands in pockets, mouth set and his gaze is dark, somewhere between accusation and anger. Lestat's gaze is open here, carrying a vague challenge, an expectation.

If we take the elevator pictures back into account one could argue they are looking at Armand here - and that would fit with the story:

Lestat will come to Armand hoping for something, expecting something. Louis will come to some very uncomfortable realizations, and events that will make him beyond angry. Claudia will try to move on, leave Armand behind. And even Louis, arguably.

So to wrap this up: I'm not sure they will add more gaslighting. More toxicity.

Because I don't think they actually need to! There is plenty there already. They will however build on what's there, and it has been more than hinted at imho. (Arguably that happened in season 1 as well, as a lot of that ep 5 scene echoes something in later books, and we will know only after season 2 how it will click into place.)

Armand uses his spell-gift on Louis even after promising not to do it (in the book, I talked about it here), and given how this show drags things into the light they will definitely hook into this. I think both definitions of "gaslighting" will apply - given the structure of the show they might make Armand the "villain" (that he was in the first books) this time round, though of course this word doesn't quite fit for these vampires.

Armand is the one who tortures Nicki and chops off his hands. We are getting flashbacks to that time, and we know that we will get to see Lestat and Nicki in that time. I would bet money on it that they will explore that part of their history.

Armand is the one who tortures Lestat, and uses him to pull the mock trial off.

Armand is the one who throws Lestat off a tower, challenging him to love him... a scene many book readers expect to at the very least echo, if not replace the ep5 scene, depending on how they spin it.

Armand is the one who influences Louis to do things, and who lies to both Louis and Lestat about the other.

Armand is the one who has Claudia (and Madeleine) killed, because she was in the way.

I know show only viewers see Lestat as the epitome of toxicity right now, but... he's actually not. Jacob put it well in that interview that Louis is "angry at him and presents him as a monster".

The show made choices, and given that it's Lestat (who is just the tiniest bit important for the following seasons/books after all)... this requires other choices to be made.

And going by the posters they have given us - they do.

[awkward-tension-art]

Viral Vector Chp.1 (Echo X Reader)

Another addition to Caduceus. We've hit The Bad Batch now! This may be a bit of a brief series, but we'll see!

Enjoy!

Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Epilogue

Galactic Empire

TW: Order 66, death, shooting, Jedi genocide, mention of blood and gore, reader insert, Reader is gender neutral, Reader a medical scientist, Echo x Reader, a bit of a slow-burn though

Minimally proofread and edited LOL

Minors DNI

DNA.

Deoxyribonucleic acid

Definition: a self-replicating material that is present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information.

Living organisms. Humans. Pantorans. Twi’leks. Togrutas. Many more species in the wide Galaxy.

And clones.

Clones of Jango Fett. a Mandalorian bounty hunter with a strong paternal instinct and superior fighting skills. 

Handsome too, but you try not to let anyone know. 

Kamino, your home and workplace as a medical scientist, did not see clones as living beings. Most of your colleagues viewed them as property. A notion that went against everything you knew with ethics and morals. 

Even if you weren’t technically a part of the cloning experiments, you still interacted with many of them daily. Afterall, along with your lab and research, Shaak Ti had put you and several others incharge of running a clinic for the clones. 

Your place was taken from a lower level Hospital on Coruscant and put all the way to Kamino at the Jedi’s request. Once the war had begun, they wanted several non-Kaminoan doctors overseeing the clones' health as they grew and trained. You, along with a few others, had volunteered to stay on the stormy planet. To you, this was an escape away from the dark, crime filled low levels of the Republic planet. 

Apparently the Jedi tried to stress ethics to the Kaminoans, only for their words to fall on deaf ears. So, the compromise was the clinic.

You mostly saw cadets with bruises from tussling with batchmates, training accidents and occasional sicknesses their rapidly developing immune systems couldn't handle. Rarely did you receive any true emergencies, but it was fine. Less emergencies meant more time for you to research. 

It was medicine. Created specifically to slow a clones ' accelerated aging.

It was a secret. One that you were careful not to tell anyone. 

Well…Except for Omega. 

The little girl was a helpful assistant. Nala Se didn’t like her going out of the lab, so you meeting her was entirely an accident. She hid in your office months ago during a surprise lockdown. Apparently a clone had triggered a false alarm, but no one knew that at the time. 

Ever since then, when Nala Se didn’t have her, she wanted to spend time with you.

Right now, she was with you and Rig Nema, a Jedi healer. The older woman had come to visit Kamino at the request of Shaak Ti. You weren’t entirely sure why, but she seemed interested in your clinic.

“How many patients do you see in a day?” The Jedi asked as she helped you tend to Rein, a Kamino guard who, unfortunately, was hit by the shrapnel of an exploded training droid. 

“It can vary,” You informed her with a smile, “depending on when specific batches train. Some are more prone to injuries than others.”

“Like Clone Force 99?” Omega chimed in from where she was organizing some medicine for you.

Rig tilted her head, silently asking you to explain. 

“Genetically different clones.” You explained quickly, “They had genetic mutations that gave them…advantageous traits.” They were your friends. Having developed a rather close relationship with them since they were often at Kamino. 

Especially Echo. The ARC trooper had always been polite and kind to you. He’d visit your clinic first whenever Force 99 had returned from a mission. You were already friendly with the other members of the squad when he officially joined them.  His addition was welcome, and you treated him with the same amount of respect as you did the rest of them. It helped him feel welcome, even normal after everything he went through on Skako Minor.

She nodded in understanding. The Jedi was about to speak before an alarm blared. The lights overhead turned red, bathing everywhere with crimson. In between the high pitched beeps, a gravelly, unfamiliar voice announced.

Execute Order 66. 

You looked around confused, stepping away from the clone on the medical bed. What the hell was Order 66? The beeping stopped just as quickly as it started, but the lights were still a deep red.

Beside you, Rig stumbled back, gripping her head. You were at her side, hands holding her arm firmly. She was weak all of a sudden, and worry washed over you.

“Ms. Rig?” Omega approached, looking concerned. She had abandoned her task, and approached the two of you. 

“I got her.” You informed the blonde child, “Omega, go to the back of the room and hide behind the scanner. Can you do that?”

She nodded and rushed back, getting out of sight quickly.

You weren’t sure what was happening, but you’d be damned if anything happened to Omega.

“The Force…” The woman in your arms was trembling, “It's…It's weeping.” 

Your hands squeezed her arm, “Stay with me, Jedi.” You lead her to the bed across from Rein, who was already standing. He seemed ready, tense and prepared to fight if needed.

It was a relief, having a trained guard. Once he was up, you turned to see him holding a laser scalpel. Your brow furrowed and you spoke, “Rein…What are you-”

“Good soldiers follow orders.” He mumbled coldly, twirling the medical instrument in his hand, “The Jedi have committed treason against the Republic. Step aside or you will be executed.” His steps were slow and deliberate.

“Rein, what…?” Your confusion was palpable. You tried to get between him and the Jedi healer behind you, “Slow down, whats-”

The clone guard grabbed your shoulder and shoved you out of the way. He used enough force to cause you to stumble, hands and knees hitting the sterile white tiles. You looked up as soon as you heard the Rig and Rein scuffle.

“Get back!” Rig shouted. She raised a hand, lifting him with the Force. Her free hand activated her bright green lightsaber, “Why are you doing this!?”

“Good soldiers follow orders.” Rein repeated, raising a shaky hand to make a weak attempt at a stab. She, however, raised him higher before throwing him into the wall.

You heard a crack and Omega yelp from her hiding spot.

Before you could speak, the healer panicked. She ran out of your clinic, lightsaber ready. However before the door fully closed, you saw Kamino guards with their blasters aimed, as if waiting for her.

The sound of multiple rifles firing pierced your ears through the door. After the barrage of noise, there was the thump of a body hitting the metal floor of the hall. Then silence.

“What…” You scrambled to your feet and shot to the door. It slid open and you nearly tripped over Rig’s smoking corpse. She had been riddled with blaster bolt holes. Her eyes were still wide with terror, and her lightsaber was tight in her palm. Blood began to surround her, staining the once white floors.

All around you were clones. Those you recognized. Those you treated. But they looked…empty. Their helmets were on. Their blasters were steady. 

“Doctor,” Captain Silvo lowered his gun, “Did this traitor harm you?” 

“What…What is going on?” Even the Captain sounded unlike himself. It seemed like every clone had their personality stripped away, leaving only husks. 

What the fuck was going on!?

“The Jedi have committed treason against the Republic.” He answered, repeating Rein’s words. He motioned for the others to lower their own weapons, “We were given orders to execute them.” 

“The Jedi…as in…All of them?” 

“Yes, Doctor.”

It felt like the floor beneath you collapsed. The Jedi. Peacekeepers. Were ordered to be executed?

Omega had crawled from her hiding spot, and you turned, raising a hand to her, “Stay back. Close your eyes and stay right there.” You didn’t want her to see…Rig.

Kamino suddenly felt…cold. Empty. Everyone around you, your former friends, were now strangers. 

“I..I see Captain.” You swallowed. Your instincts were screaming at you to run. But Omega was behind you. She could be in danger if you acted out, “Well…I…I’m glad none of you were…hurt by the…traitor.” 

The word barely managed to leave your mouth. You swallowed thickly.

“There is still more out there. But they will be brought to justice.” He answered your statement with coldness. 

Your nod was stiff, “Thank you, Captain.” 

“Return to your duties, Doctor.” He turned swiftly before commanding his men, “Spread out, there are more Jedi on Kamino. Find them and execute on sight. You three, get this body covered and out of the way.” 

You were shaking when you turned back into your clinic. the door closed behind you, and there was silence. The light switched back and you blinked, adjusting your eyes to the sudden lack of crimson.

Omega stared at you, wringing her hands and looking so small. Wordlessly, you knelt and she ran into your arms for a hug.

You waited as you held her. Until you didn’t hear the plastoid boots outside. Until you didn’t hear the shuffling of Rig’s body being taken. Until you were certain the chaos had passed.

You waited until Nala Se walked into the clinic, “There you are.” She sounded as steady and emotionless as ever, “Come. There is still work to do.” 

Behind her were two clones, both wearing the identifiable Coruscant red. 

Shock troopers.

“Nala Se…?” You looked at the Kaminoan, “What…happened?” 

“The Jedi have betrayed the Republic.” She stated, repeating things you already knew, “They are being hunted and executed.” 

None of this made sense…

You squeezed Omega before letting her go to follow your boss. She gave you a sad look but remained silent as she stepped behind Nala Se. Wordlessly, you watched as the two of them walked out of your clinic. Once they were gone, you grabbed your holo, attempting to get a hold of your other colleagues. 

Silence. The others, those you came to Kamino with, didn’t answer. 

Assuming the worst, you tried to seek them out. Your assumptions were half-correct. Some of them were killed, either by interfering or cut down by panicked Jedi. Others you managed to catch in the hangar before they left to go back home. 

“The war is over, we’re leaving before Nala Se fires us officially.” Doctor Ulluk stated, stepping on the transport. You debated on going with them. Leaving the cloning facility behind, but before you could move, another ship touched down. 

The Marauder. Clone Force 99. 

You stepped back, watching your colleagues and friends leave Kamino.

The troopers, Guard, Shiny and Shock, shuffled and moved around. They resembled droids, emotionless and empty as they walked in line. Announcements rang out from the intercom system, directing them. No one bid you any mind.

Level five lockdown remains in effect. Security teams report to the command center.

You walked towards the ship slowly, waiting until the clone force stepped off. Once they did, you approached.

Hunter stepped down first, brown eyes scanning the area. He was alert, guarded yet calm. He gave a questioning look to you when he was on the Kaminoan floors. Wrecker was the same, but more curious than tense, he gave a friendly wave. Tech was beside him, unsurprisingly tapping a datapad. Crosshair looked uninterested, bored even, at the state of Kamino.

Once Echo Stepped down, he saw you and got to your side first, “You look spooked.” He was concerned, looking your form over for any injuries, “What happened?”

“Doctor, do you know what's going on?” Hunter got beside the ARC trooper, “This…isn't a drill.”

“Oh, man. What did we miss now?” Wrecker huffed, crossing his arms. 

A shock trooper, one with a datapad, stopped and answered, “The end of the war.”

The sergeant turned to him, “Say again, trooper?”

He answered, voice flat and emotionless, “General Grievous was defeated on Utapau. The Separatist leadership has collapsed. The war is over.” Behind him, two other clones were pushing a wheeled autopsy table. Draped over it was a white sheet, covering the body underneath.

Your eyes widened, watching as it passed. You were frozen, hyper focused on who was on the table.

“Just like I said.” Tech barely looked up from his datapad. His eyes roamed the screen, uninterested in the world around him.

Wrecker gasped, “It is like you said!”

Crosshair and Tech both rolled their eyes.

A lightsaber rolled from the autopsy table and hit the floor with a clatter. A hand, Rig’s hand, slipped out, confirming it was her under the sheet. 

Your throat tightened as the Shock trooper knelt and picked up the Jedi weapon, “Is there a problem?”

Hunter answered first, “No problem.” He looked to his squad before continuing, “We'll just head to our barracks then.”

The trooper nodded, continuing to walk, “Best hurry. There's a mandatory general assembly at 1500.”

Echo put a gloved hand to your shoulder, “Doc?” 

“That was Rig,” You whispered, “I watched them…they just…”

“Stay calm.” Hunter’s harsh, hushed tone snapped you out of your state, “Explain everything once we have some privacy.”

With a nod, you followed them to their barracks. Echo was at your right, and Crosshair was at your left. Occasionally Hunter would cast a glance back to you, as if making sure you were still present. Wrecker and Tech were behind you. The squad encircled you, as if intending to protect you. 

“Are you ok?” The ARC trooper leaned closer to whisper, “did anyone hurt you?” He was protective. Ever since you met him he’s always tried to keep you safe. 

Really all the clones had the drive to protect. To fight and defend. But after….after order 66….

That instinct was gone now. From all of them.

You shook your head and were about to speak when a shock trooper snapped, “Where do you think you're going, doctor?” He wore the standard painted red armor. There was a rifle in his hands as he spoke to you. 

You froze and damn near jumped out of your skin when he demanded an answer. Echo stopped beside you, as did the others of his squad. 

“I…They..” Your voice was lost, and after a quick clearing of your throat, you gave a proper answer, “Examining Clone Force 99. They’ve just returned from their mission and…”

“There is a Level Five Lockdown in effect.” The trooper stepped towards you, “All nonessential personnel are to go to their quarters and remain until the all clear is given.” 

You hated pulling rank, but in the hierarchy of Kamino, you stood above most clones, “Excuse me,” your tone became stern, hiding your shock from earlier. With a quick movement, you had your I.D out and nearly shoved in the clone's helmet, “I head the clinic in medical wing B. I am essential personnel. If it's such an issue for me to be out, you can take it directly to Nala Se.”

After a second, the Coruscant Guard stepped back, “My apologies Doctor. Continue on your way.”

Echo shared a look with you, “Are…you allowed to be with us?”

“No.” you admitted once the guard was out of earshot, “But I…I’m scared. I don’t want to be alone.” It felt like you were in the ocean, surrounded by predators. All they needed was a single drop of blood before they attacked.

Would they gun you down like they did the Jedi? Or would they opt to throw you in a cell? Would they try to mind-wipe you the same way many of their brothers had been? 

Your pace was hurried once you got to their barracks. The door slid open, and Crosshair damn near shoved you inside. Hunter caught you and gave the sniper a harsh look. 

Their barracks were messy but homey. There were posters and used targets on the walls. There were scribbles and doodles carved into the once shiny metal. Tables had droid pieces, tools and other projects that Tech most likely worked on. 

It was…personalized. Very Un-Kaminoan.

Hunter was about to speak when his comrade cut him off.

Wrecker walked past you, letting out a small cheer, “Ah! Good to be back!” He stretched his large arms above his head, entirely missing your state, “Well, I'll get the board. Eleven more successful missions.”

“Kaller wasn’t a win,” Hunter softly chastised his brother. He wanted to hear what you had to say, but Wrecker chimed in again to argue.

“Says who?” The larger clone turned, facing the team leader, “We completed our objective.”

“Not every objective.” It was Crosshair that spoke, not allowing you to talk, “Hunter let that Jedi kid escape.” His arms were crossed, glaring at the long haired sergeant, “Or do you want to keep lying to us?”

“E-even the padawans?” Your throat tightened. Horror washed over you all over again. Nausea slammed into your stomach, and you nearly dry heaved. You slapped your hand over your mouth and bent slightly. 

Children were executed too?

Echo’s arms were around you, “Everyone, shut up!” He snapped, “None of this makes sense!” His angry gaze was trained on the sniper, clearly not happy he wanted a padawan dead, “Those clones served alongside General Billaba for years. How could they have turned on her like that?”

“Because of the regs programming,” Tech finally spoke up, hands tinkering with a small robotic project.

Programming…

You looked up at the intellectual clone, realization dawning on you. 

Months before this, Kamino was put on lockdown. A clone and a Coruscant doctor had infiltrated the labs and went through genetic files searching for something. To your knowledge they were trying to cure another clone from a disease of some type. 

The trooper had died anyway. And according to the news from Coruscant, once the ARC trooper and doctor left, the clone had gone insane and killed the doctor before trying to assassinate the Chancellor. 

It was shared with the medical team that every clone had a bio-mechanical chip in their brains. You were told that the chip was planted to help the clones deal with the stresses of war. What caused the ARC trooper to go insane was a breakdown of said chip. In his insanity, he killed the doctor.

But now it was clear, you had been lied to. 

“It's been well documented that the Kaminoans inhibited the cognitive functions of clones to engineer them to follow orders without question,” Tech continued, “The good doctor here can confirm.” His eyes were on the small trinket he was working on.

You nodded, “I…I think…Yes. But I’d need to confirm. Check some records…” You straightened, still feeling sick to a degree, “All the clones were programmed to kill Jedi after being given an order.”

Wrecker furrowed his brow, “If that's the case, why weren’t we affected?” 

“Obviously, we are different,” The intellectual clone picked up a small screwdriver and continued to tighten something in his project, “They manipulated preexisting aberrations in our DNA, resulting in your brute strength, Crosshair's sharpshooting skills, Hunter's enhanced senses and my exceptional mind.”

“Those differences make you immune.” You looked at Echo. He still kept a hand on your shoulder, something you appreciated, “And Echo, most likely what happened to you on Skako Minor…it might have affected the chip. So the order didn’t affect you either.” 

He sighed and looked down, “Lucky me…” However, his eyes met yours again, “All the Jedi executed, even…”

“Most likely General Skywalker too. I’m sorry, Echo.” You raised a hand to squeeze his shoulder before pulling him into a comforting hug. 

He told you stories of Skywalker. How he was a good, if adventurous general. How he cared for his men deeply enough to risk everything for them. 

And now…the Jedi general was most likely dead too. Shot in the back by the very troopers he fought alongside.

You hoped, for Echo’s sake, he was alive and in hiding. 

The former ARC trooper accepted the embrace before he pulled away, turning to look out the window. You could see the storm of emotions in his soft brown eyes. Hunter was about to speak, most likely offer words of sympathy, but he had been cut off by an announcement over the PA system.

All personnel report to the staging area for a briefing on the state of the Republic.

You shared a confused look with Wrecker. That was sudden…

“This is one meeting I don't want to miss,” Hunter shrugged and began to walk out of the barracks. 

“First time for everything.” Crosshair snarked, following the sergeant. 

You followed the others before bidding farewell and going to your designated place. Your thoughts overwhelmed your mind and you nearly walked right into Nala Se’s back when you met up with her and Omega.

The young girl greeted you happily and grabbed your hand. She smiled up at you, “Good to see you, doctor!” 

Your smile was small but you were relieved to know that she seemed to handle the rapid change well enough, “Glad to see you, Omega. Are you alright?” 

She nodded, but remained silent when Lama Su joined you three.

You were behind the heads Kamino. The scientists and leaders you reported to walked steadily to the observation deck. None of them seem bothered from the chaos just hours before. No one seemed to care that Shaak Ti was gone…

Was she dead? Did Commander Colt shoot her down? Or did she escape and survive? 

You were so deep in thought you missed the entirety of the beginning of the briefing. In fact, you didn’t even register that it was Chancellor Palpetine announcing the news. By the time you snapped into focus, he was already giving a speech. 

“and the Jedi rebellion has been foiled. The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated.” The holo echoed around the large staging area. “The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed. But I assure you. My resolve has never been stronger!”

Troopers stood in line. You could easily spot clone force 99. Their black and red armor was stark against the white plastoid of the other soldiers. 

“In order to ensure the security and continuing stability the Republic will be reorganized,” Palpetine continued, and you perked up. 

“into the first Galactic Empire!”

Immediately troopers began to cheer. Many raised their fists in celebration, however, some of them looked around as if confused, entirely shocked by the news.

Your head spun, no longer hearing the speech. 

Galactic…Empire…?

[cerastes]

hey, i'm planning to get armored core 6 despite never playing any of those games before and since you seem pretty knowledgeable about them i was wondering if you have any tips for someone totally new to the series?

Sorry for the super late answer!

The first thing I can tell you about Armored Core is that you have to get comfy because half of the game is high speed intense high octane combat, and the other half is accounting. Brother, I know how much you want to go back to the part where rifles go bang and swords go swoosh and you have enough Gs on your body that you could passably cosplay a plate of mashed of potatoes, but you gotta do the Excel spreadsheet part, too.

It's really not as bad as it seems, and once it clicks, you know exactly what to look for. But if you want to get all the juice out of the tenga, you have to sit down and take a deep gander at how the systems click. Once you do, trust me on this one, an endless horizon of options will stretch before you because that's when you'll know exactly how to tailor your big death machine to your exact specifications and playstyle. It's deep, but also deeply rewarding!

Next up, something universally useful in Armored Core: Turning Speed. If you can mod, upgrade, or otherwise improve your "Turning Speed" (or equivalent) stat, crank that up as often as you can. It's always a powerful tool, it's always very useful, it's never superfluous. This ties in to the next point:

Your strongest weapon is your camera. When fighting other ACs, player controlled or otherwise, your strongest tool, throughout the games, has been to keep your opponent in your camera, and to stay out of your opponent's camera. Movement is huge in Armored Core, you need to move so as to 1) keep your enemy in your sights, 2) stay out of your enemy's sights, and 3) line up shots. We call this "lining up a vector" or "keeping the enemy in a vector". What this means is that you want to set up your enemy in such a way that they are moving in a direct vector relative to you -- directly towards you or away from you -- so that your shot with stronger, single shot weaponry will land and deal significant damage. You set up this vector while also trying to not be 'caught' in one yourself, and as you may think, this is hard, because if they are in your vector, you are in most situations also in theirs. So, the solution? Be outside of their camera while they are in yours. Can't shoot what they aren't aiming at, right? This is a lot to take in, I know, but you don't have to commit all of this to execution off rip, just keep it in mind, develop your playstyle and learn naturally with this in the back of your head until it clicks and you start being able to see, through your own playstyle, how it is you'll do that.

One final thing I want to recommend is that you don't fall for the allure of The Big Damage Number without considering other factors. Especially when learning, you want to make a balanced build: Have your single shot strong weapons, like a grenade launcher or sniper rifle, paired with a weaker but easier to land weapon, like assault rifles or machine guns, and compliment this further with some sort of auxiliary tool or weapon, like flares that give you leeway, or missiles that can put further pressure on your enemy. In general, when starting out their Armored Core journey, I recommend to people the following loadout: Grenade launcher, assault rifle, laser sword, missile launcher. This is a well rounded toolkit that'll keep you effective at most ranges, and more importantly, will reveal to you, your own preferences. Once you become a super Newtype ace pilot fuckhouse, you'll doubtlessly make your own deathkaiser machine with quadruple railguns or missileboats or pure melee builds, but to get to that point where you know exactly what you want to do, a balanced build helps in letting you learn where your heart leans, what kind of movement-to-bulk ratio works best for you, which weapons are your favorite, etc.

[winterwollf]

I wasn't able to stop thinking about it so i'm making it into a story But i'm doing it in multiple parts because I don't wanna make Too long

What if bumblebee was a star and Found and taken care of by the prime's PART 1

All the primes are sitting in the living room board

Megatronus: "Scrolling Through To see if there are any movies That He wants to watch Ants not finding anything" There's nothing to watch

Prima: There is literally a whole list that you have not watched So what do you mean there's nothing

Megatronus: Because There's nothing That I want to watch And I actually care for what I watch Would you apparently don't care about

Prima: You want to fight or something

Megatronus: That's better than being bored

Micronus: There's no need to fight we can go explore.I know we have explored the whole planet so maybe space

Alpha Trion: Good idea You guys can do that And i'm staying here to make sure nothing bad happens

Micronus: I'll get stuff ready Snacks and drinks "Runs off to get the The snacks in the drinks"

Prima: Fine better then nothing and better than Megatronus Complaining that there's Nothing to watch

Megatronus: Rude

Alpha Trion: I will go tell everybody about what you guys can do

Micronus: So who have you all are coming

"Alchemist, Amalgamous, Liege Maximo, Micronus, Nexus, Onyx, Prima, Quintus, Solus, Vector and Zeta All stick their hands up"

Micronus: Okay perfect So alpha Trion You're staying here right

Alpha Trion: Yes you all have fun

[nostalgebraist]

Can I ask a question about AI?

I'm given to understand that sometimes neural networks (particularly image-recognizing ones) will be found to have a particular neuron that corresponds to a particular concept, like 'dog'. I don't understand why this would happen. My understanding is this:

Each layer of the neural network can be thought of as a nonlinear function R^m to R^n. If we imagine a 2-layer network, we can call layer 1 'f' and layer 2 'g', and the machine learning is trying to approximate some function h as g∘f. But if we imagine another version of the network, with f' which does the same thing as f, except then rotates it some amount (f' = rf), and g' undoes the rotation (g' = gr^-1), then g'∘f' = g∘f, so both are equally good approximations of h. So there's no reason for the machine learning to prefer one over the other.

If the original network had a dog neuron, 'dogness' was an axis in the codomain of f, in the direction of one of the basis vectors. But after a rotation, this won't be aligned with a basis vector anymore, so in the new network, g'∘f', if you want to read off the 'dogness', you have to take a linear combination of all the intermediate neurons. These f' and g' are no more complicated to approximate, so there should be no reason to prefer f and g to f' and g'. So why would we ever happen to find that 'dogness' is aligned with one of the basis vectors rather than at an awkward direction? Or more likely still, it's some messy nonlinear function on the codomain of g, because none of this argument depends on r being linear.

Or is there some reason the learning process would sometimes prefer the 'dogness' axis to be aligned with a basis vector?

Sorry if this is unclear.

Ah, the part you're missing is that NN layers aren't fully generic "nonlinear functions."

They are particular, restricted kinds of nonlinear functions. Most commonly, each layer looks the composition of

first, a linear map from R^m to R^n

then, a "pointwise nonlinearity" from R^n to R^n

By a "pointwise nonlinearity," we mean some function S() from R^n to R^n, such that applying the function to a vector v is equivalent to

writing out the components of v in a particular basis for R^n

replacing each component a with s(a), where s() is some function from R->R

And usually when we say "neuron" in this context, we mean "one of the components of S(v), as written in the basis over which the s() functions get applied."

Of course, since S(v) is a vector, we can look at it in whichever basis we feel like. But if we rotate our axes so they no longer line up with the axes along which s() was applied, then we're no longer talking about what people call "neurons." (It's the same vector, but it's no longer written in the "neuron basis.")

In short, it's not generally the case that if a layer can learn a particular function (f), it can also learn that function followed by a rotation (f'). The last step in a layer is this pointwise-nonlinear thing whose definition fixes a particular "preferred output basis," and the layer's outputs will always look special in that one particular basis, no matter how the layer's weights are set.

(The action of an NN layer bears some resemblance to the SVD or eigendecomposition view of a matrix multiplication, but with the final part of the decomposition set to the identity matrix: we change to a new basis, do something aligned with the axes, and then just stay in the new basis.)

[pokoinsides]

Well...

There was some kind of conference inside of my brain,which tried to solve the discussion,when the second part of the list with characters included to Traumatic pasta AU would be dropped,and as the result I'm going to post it only before the end of the week due to serious reasons (I'm too exhausted to write such long posts T_T).

Now I'm going to feed you some headcanons for the characters,who have already been mentioned in previous posts.

Here are some Laughing Jack headcanons!:D

1.Laughing Jack is the factual butler of the mansion: everything,beginning from the rules and finishing with supplying Slenderman's proxies with food, medicine and clothes,is under his control.He also greets the newcomers,explaining all the sharp edges of living in a butt hole as their mansion.

It's kinda hard to believe,that such a bubbly bastard,as Jack,can take care of the whole group of people with their own needs and problems,but afterall the clown is a human-oriented creature,so,as the faceless fucker has decided,it would be easier for him to understand all the human's whims(he protec but he also attac).

2.Sexuality: LJ is aromantic asexual (aroace).Due to the specifics of his nature,Jack isn't able to experience sexual or romantic attraction (like...c'mon,dude has been literally created to take care of a child and be his friend to the end of his life.There have never been such things like falling in love or getting turned on in his duties).

The clown sometimes makes Slenderman copy the behaviour of the human couples (like holding hands, talking about each others' problems,cuddling,bubbling,remembering the dates of deaths of all Jack's victims and other),but he does it only from curiosity or because of own thought,that it will help to keep things in the household stable,not really feeling anything towards the faceless fucker.

3.LJ is a freaking simbiot with layered personality,whose traits have been collected through the centuries of his existence,and the first one is the strongest.He isn't able to exist without factual owner,because he has to copy their behaviour,likes/dislikes and emotions.If Jack doesn't,he isn't able to exist for too long.Even if his owner dies (like Isaac,fucking little shit I hate him so much,did and then other poor little children) he still works with some "database" his organism has collected before he sticks to another vector.

At the current moment,Slenderman is the factual owner of Jack and "bestie",so the clown also follows some of his steps: he got more serious,rude and intimidating,but his silly personality also hasn't vanished anywhere.

4.Gender: Boyflux.LJ is kinda...sexless.He has no genitals or any other characterizations of sex.What about his gender - it's also complicated,because he copies everything his owner is,so,since his first ward was a male,Laughing Jack is also mostly a male with some other-genders urges.

5.Yes,during the imprisonment in the box, Jack's colours had become monochrome,but all the other gruesome and frightening features the clown got only after making a deal with Slenderman and selling his soul to get protection from him.

Jack's eyes also were changed from pale blue to black ones with tiny white pupils as the fact of him losing his soul completely(eyes are the mirrors of soul and blah blah blah,yk).

6.Slenderman's brothers,enemies and other older proxies don't take Jack seriously - in LJ's position,only following the faceless fucker's orders,he's literally no more dangerous,than a chihuahua on a leash and muzzled :P

Some of them don't even mind to tease the poor one because of him suddenly changing the craft of killing innocent souls to babying them (f.e,Splendorman references to Jack as "Mary Poppins" during his stays at the mansion,making the clown's shit boil).

7. It's still hard to say,what kind of feeling LJ feels towards children:since Isaac has abused kids,he also despises them,but less,because of other layers of his personality (less baby hating,ofc).

What about Jack's own wards - sometimes he can be really irritated no matter what they do,but the clown truly cares for them,being interested in their fates and well being.

8.It's hard to say,that Laughing Jack has enemies in his surrounding - except Slenderman,he can make a deal with everyone and there have never been any serious arguments between him and the residents of the mansion.

The only creature he's really aggressive to is Offenderman,because,when he's around,the chance of someone being assaulted gets higher,and Jack is no exception.

9.Even in spite of being betrayed by the heaven in his opinion,LJ is still pretty dog-like to Christian values, trying to protect it by any cost (just to feel myself a little bit rebellious and bitchy,he supports all LGBTQ+ proxies).

That's all,I guess :D

[shankhachil]

Countdown to JEE (Main): Week 1/33

Yep, I'm doing it. Forgive my attempt at aesthetics (but if you like it, then don't).

I've been a bit less productive than usual this week, mostly because I've been spending far too much time on Discord — should really cut down on that — and also staying up late, which has a terrible impact on my daily activity level.

But, well, it's going.

Targets: 3 topics of each subject covered per week; 400 questions solved per week, at least 80 of each subject

Topics covered:

Physics: Potential and Capacitance; Motion in One and Two Dimensions (2/3)

Chemistry: Halogen Derivatives; Alcohols, Phenols, and Ethers; Chemical Thermodynamics and Thermochemistry (3/3)

Mathematics: Definite Integrals; Area Under a Curve; Matrices (3/3)

Looks like I'll need to work on Physics, then. I'm a bit behind with respect to Allen, but my physics tuition is helping me along in that regard so no need to worry.

Questions solved:

Physics: - Allen Electrostatics module, JEE (Main) archives — 34 questions, 30 correct - Tuition Potential and Capacitance module — 192 questions, 172 correct - Tuition Vectors and Motion in Two Dimensions module — 108 questions, 102 correct Total: 334/80 questions, 304 correct

Chemistry: - Allen Thermodynamics (Part 2) module, O1, O2 and JEE (Main) archives — 82 questions, 76 correct - Himanshu Pandey, Alcohols, Phenols, and Ethers chapter — 110 questions, 93 correct Total: 192/80 questions, 169 correct

Mathematics: - Allen Definite Integrals module, O1, O2, O3 and O4 — 75 questions, 61 correct - Allen Area Under a Curve module, O1 — 30 questions, 23 correct Total: 105/80 questions, 84 correct

GRAND TOTAL: 631/400 questions, 557 correct

I've been having some trouble with calculus, as you can see. I'll need to work on that as we go. Nothing to do but practise.

Upcoming tests:

07/05/24 (Friday) — test at physics tuition center. Topics: Motion in One and Two Dimensions; Units and Dimensions; Potential and Capacitance; Chemical Thermodynamics and Thermochemistry; Alcohols, Phenols, and Ethers.

09/05/24 (Sunday) — Aryabhatta National Maths Competition

That's all for this week.

[bartgames]

Dev Log #4 – Chapter 2 Progress

Hey everyone!

I don’t have a ton to share this time, but that’s okay — progress is still progress!

What’s new? 

The text for Chapter 2 is almost done! It’s currently sitting at around 13,000 words, and all that’s left is the grammar and proofreading phase.

I’ve started coding the chapter as well. About half of it is already in the engine! What’s left is to… well, add the second part of the chapter and take care of the smaller details like sprites, CGs, and UI bits.

What about the art?  Well, I’ve got a little something to show off! I recently learned how to use a couple of super basic but very helpful tool — like how to select a whole layer and work with vector layers (don’t judge me, I’m an amateur!) But it’s already speeding up my workflow a lot.

Drawing backgrounds is still a pain, though.

While working on Chapter 2, I’ve also been doing small art updates to Chapter 1. Just little tweaks and touch-ups here and there.

Release timeline 

 I’m still aiming for a July release, but I also want to leave myself a bit of buffer time to polish everything properly. So I can’t give a solid date just yet, but it’s coming!

Thank you so much for playing my game 💛 And if you enjoyed it, please consider leaving 5 stars if you loved it, or less if that’s how you really feel. I appreciate all feedback 😊

Stay tuned! Play The Eclipse Mage!

[mistermalaprop]

For the TF ask game…

1, 3, 5 and 22

What first drew you into Transformers? Has this draw remained the same over time or has it changed?

I was first drawn to the franchise because my family liked the Bay movies, and little me, going through my father's constant deployment and subsequent absence + my physical health issues, really latched onto Optimus. It's been a long time since then, and after a few years, I've returned with a central love for the diversity and the many, many directions this franchise has taken. I love that, for the most part, there's something for everyone. I guess the draw has shifted, but Oppy boy stays in my heart.

Least favorite part(s) of the Transformers canon/franchise?

I don't really enjoy the Rescue Bots portion of the franchise. It's super cute and 100% has its place. I'll never hate someone for liking it, it's just not for me.

What concepts in Transformers do you think should be dropped/abandoned?

I'm not too sure? I think every concept has a chance to be good, if given the correct care. Besides, every concept I could hate is... not in use anymore! Like Kiss Players. It's over and done with for the most part.

Characters you wish would be teamed up together?

There are so many answers to this question-- I guess I'd say... It's not a CHARACTER, instead a concept, but I want more Primely characters involved in the main stories again. Not as one-note villains (rid-15 megatronus is not my fav), not as a vision, not as a ghostly presence only one can see, or a past deity, but just... there. Like Vector Prime and the Autobots + humans in Cybertron. He was just there. A normal character with more unique abilities. I want big Primes to be regular characters along side Optimus or Rodimus again. I want a modern Prime teamup.

[rookerystories]

Star Trails and Ash Rails: Mistakes Part 1

20 Years Ago

“We’ve got reports that the Parishi are massing to launch an assault on Tir Nybad City during the address,” Captain Vales brought up a map of the city. “The Pelican has moved into position to provide aerial support. You’ll be in atmo on security detail until the address is finished and we’ve confirmed no threat has manifested. Keep your patrols tight and your eyes open. Farrish, you’re on point for this. Any questions?”

“Who’s the ready squad?” Rei asked, leaning back in her chair and studying the layout of the city. “And what’s the word on assault? We talking about an attempt to take the city, or are they trying to level it?”

“Trugood’s on ready five, and we don’t know. All we’ve got is a potential threat.”

Rei rolled her neck then nodded. “All right, you got it Cap.”

“Dismissed. Farrish, you’re launching in 10, get to it.”

The room emptied and Rei and the rest of her squadron broke off from the group to a chorus of “break a leg” from other pilots. Hitting the locker room, Rei looked at her wing.

“Tempest, Mobius, I want you on alert, in case we need back up.”

“This is cause I took the last slice of pie, isn’t it?” Tempest complained and Rei grinned.

“You bet your ass it is.” She punched him in the arm and the man grinned.

“Worth it. Good ass pie.”

“I wouldn’t fucking know, would I, you bitch?’ Rei laughed as she pulled off clothes.

For a moment, there was only the sound of rustling clothes as six people changed into flight gear. An adrenaline laden tension filled the room, electric in intensity. Finally, Farrish walked onto the flight deck and to the X710 Falken’s waiting for them. Every time Rei saw her fighter she felt a sense of calm wash over her, like she was seeing an old, trusted friend.

The squad launched with no issue, leaving Tempest and Mobius behind in case of emergency. The flight from the flying carrier was quick; it was stationed just outside city limits, and the sun was just beginning to rise over the ocean of Hasbitu. It was a beautiful morning, especially from the seat of a fighter.

“Farrish Squadron, I’ve got you on scope. This is AWACS Stormfront and I’ll be along for the ride,” the man’s voice sounded jovial and pleasant.

“Roger Stormfront, good to have some eyes in the sky. Anything for us yet?” Rei responded.

“Scope’s clean. Captain Vale issued a no fly for the day, so anything up there with you isn’t supposed to be.”

“What’s the civilian situation like?” Rei adjusted her flight path slightly and Dex followed suit without a word.

“Most of the city’s at the stadium for the address, though we’ve got people spread throughout the city.”

“Roger that. Let’s hope the morning stays beautiful. Farrish 7, out.” Rei cut her comms and focused on scanning her surroundings.

The Falken had the benefit of exterior cams so she had a nearly 360 degree view of her surroundings. As time passed and nothing happened, Rei started to feel her body relax slightly. It was possible that the intel had been wrong, or maybe the presence of the Pelican had scared off an assault. Then, she spotted something on the horizon.

“Stormfront, this is Farrish 7.”

“Go for Stormfront.”

“I’ve got something on visual on the horizon. My scope’s not picking anything up though. Could be a really big fucking bird, but I can’t tell. What’s your scope say? I’m looking at 177.”

Stormfront was silent a moment, then came back. “You’ve got good eyes Farrish 7. We’ve got 6 bogeys incoming. You’re cleared to engage.”

“Dex, you got my back?”

“You know it,” Dex came back and she could hear the grin in his voice.

“Preacher, Ozzy, on my wing. Let’s see if we can’t turn these bastards back before they hit the city proper.”

Rei felt the surge of the Falken’s engines as she kicked up the speed and moved to intercept the incoming fighters.

“Farrish, you’ve got more incoming. Scope’s saying another 6 fighters, plus a bomber wing. Vector 155.”

“Roger Stormfront. Preacher, Ozzy, change of plans. Bring the bombers down before they hit the city, then deal with the escort.”

She watched as two Falkens broke off from their formation and blazed a new trail for interception.

“Farrish to Pelican, you’re gonna want to launch Trugood.”

“Negative Farrish, we’re dealing with mechanical problems, you’re on your own for at least 5.” Pelican responded.

“Fucking hell,” Rei muttered and adjusted her course.

[anim8oryash]

The Orphanage Background

This was by far the most trickest part of the entire production for me. I used several references to find and understand what an orphanage would look like from the outside? What can be the visual elements that can describe an orphanage?

My first references were real life photographs. The picture below seemed a bit more iconic compared to the others i saw which just looked like your regular school, hostel or a co-living space.

The entrance yard to Allen House, c. 1900

Then i decided to look at what kind of backgrounds have cartoons based on foster's home have used. The only relevant reference i found was of "Foster's Home for imaginary friends". Everything else seem to be a vector styled After effects element.

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends

Finally, in the end i decided to create my custom background using a reference i found.

Background from Freepik.com

The building is heavily influenced by this background but the over style i customized to make it viable for my short.

My background

I had already lost enough time behind one single background and i had to make a decision to stay on track. I'm not too unhappy with the solution however, being a creative person i expect myself to come up with better solutions in future.

References:

Cotswold Archaeology (2019) Highlight 24 - Cotswold Archaeology. https://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/how-we-work/about-us/25-highlights/highlight-24/.

https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/school-building-educational-institution-college_7101629.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=1&uuid=03f61c7a-0b3c-4b87-b59e-473bc371cecd&query=Institution

Staff, A.O. (2023) 'Writing ‘Foster’s home for imaginary friends,’' Animation Obsessive, 12 June. https://animationobsessive.substack.com/p/writing-fosters-home-for-imaginary.

[sonicasura]

Transfromers Prime/ Pomemon

A Timeline

A Darkness Rising Part 1- Cliffjumper is saved by Frontier and the Pokémon

-Masters and Students- Skyquake is saved and repaired by Frontier and the Pokémon and goes neutral. Also contacts Dreadwing too come too Earth.

-Scrapheap- Frontier and Meltan help the Autobots fend off the Scraplet horde

-After Scrapheap but before Con Job- Frontier accidently discovers Hound in a power reserve mode and help the bot get back on there feet. Autobots discover Hound's signal and bring him in. Hound joins the Autobots, bolstering there forces.

Epilogue Of Con Job- Wheeljack stays a couple extra days too see Frontier and the Pokémon and quickly becomes friends with the strange group

Convoy- Frontier helps Agent Fowler and The Autobots transport the D.I.N.G.U.S. Miko gets Frontier's number before they leave.

Before Deus Ex Machina- Frontier saves Lazerbeak from a rouge Insecticon

During Dues Ex Machina-Frontier picks up Hotshot's signal while in the Canadian Rockies and help the Transformer. Hot Shot tells Frontier of potential other villages of Cybertronians they could go check out. Hot Shot's village learns about Frontier and the Pokémon.

Sometime before Speed Metal- Frontier finds Barricade on Scotlands Coast and restores the Decepticon. Barricade goes Neutral.

During Speed Metal- Agent Fowler and Frontier cross paths and accidently scare each other. Agent Fowler finds out about Frontier and the Pokemon

During Sick Mind- Xurkitree crosses paths with M.E.C.H and short circuits there bases power grid and ends up furthering there interest in the strange creatures.

-A bit after Out Of His Head- Frontier goes too Griffin Rock and meets the Burns Family and the Rescue Bots

The Episode Shadow Zone is replaced with a mini story- This is when Celesteela appears the Autobots are shown the Park Ranger Drone footage of Celesteela appearing. Raf and Bumblebee find Mini Celesteela and the hunt begins for the others and ends with the Autobot gang saying goodbye too Sprout and the other mini Celesteela as they go back home.

Operation: Breakdown: Breakdown is saved by Frontier and the Pokémon from M.E.C.H and joins back up with Knockout

After Crisscross- Dreadwing makes it Earth and meets up with Skyquake. It is decided that Dreadwing will join the Decepticons only too help keep an eye out for creatures from Frontier's world and help keep them safe. Skyquake will remain Neutral.

During Metal Attraction- Frontier finds the Badge Of Vector Prime along with a Blade Of Time

Sometime After Metal Attraction- Frontier is offered a resting place at Autobot headquarters when 2 Pokémon Eggs are about too hatch. The Pokémon are Fidough and Greavard

A before Rock Bottom- Optimus and Soundwave both come across there own Pokémon companions. Golett for Optimus and Charcadet. Both Pokemon stay with the respective Transformer

After Partners- The Autobots deal with a group of Alolan Geodude and Graveler led by a Alolan Totem Golem

Sometime before Stronger And Faster- Golett chases after Optimus in a maze that constantly shifts as Optimus had too go alone due too the energy draining effect the maze had as the Matrix Of Leadership slowed down the effects. Golett saves Optimus from Megatron after evolving into Golurk and riving off the Decepticon leader. Both head home with the artifact they were after, a exposure patch.

Alright I think I have timeline of events before One Shall Fall. This was too get all the events straight.

What do you think? Anything too change or shift around?

This is perfect! You pretty much nailed what I had in mind the timeline of events.

[salemsimsrender]

Blender Tutorial: Building a Scene Part 2: Creating the Room & Adding Lights

Welcome back!

Let's get started shall we!

I built out my set behind the scenes using the same process as in Part One, so for Part Two I'm staring with this:

Some things will need to be moved once there are walls, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

If you want to create the same scene, here's the objets/cc used:

Sofa, loveseat & small globe (base game)

Fireplace (vintage glamour)

Hand & hanging plant (paranormal stuff)

End table (realm of magic)

Rose vase by Natalia-Auditore

Crocus rug by Wondymoon

Step 1: Adding a Room

I'm sure there are "better" ways of doing this, or ways that'll result in thicker walls that more closely mimic real ones, but for my uses, this quick solution has worked really well without adding too much render time onto my work. So let's add in a room the simplest way possible, by adding a cube:

Adding it in gives us this mess, but it's ok! I'm going to size it up and move it around using the axes keys (x, y, and z) so we get this:

The shape and size of the room doesn't super matter for this specific render because there are no windows or built in bookshelves or anything like that, but that said - Make sure your floor is at 0 (on the grid) and the back wall is right behind the fireplace so you don't get any weird shadows when you render, like this:

Now, adding texture to this style of room can be a little tricky, but once you learn this process it's not too bad. First, we have to separate the pieces. Scroll/zoom out until you see the whole cube and select it (it'll outline in orange), then press the Tab key to go into edit mode:

Points appear at each corner of the cube, this is what we want. Select the four points that make up the ceiling using shift+click until only the top face is highlighted orange, like this:

Then press P on your keyboard to bring up the separate menu, and select "Selection," this will separate the ceiling from the cube so you can adjust its textures independently

Do the same for the bottom of the cube to separate the floor. Be sure to stay organized by renaming the pieces in your outliner! Now let's add the floor texture first, select the floor We're going to follow the same process we use to texture objects, but with an additional step. So go into the materials tab and select "new"

Like with any other object, add in an image texture node, but this time we're going to use a floor texture. You can get these from Sims 4 Studio by selecting CAS from the main screen then saving down the .png files. After adding in your nodes and switching to alpha hashed, you should have something like this:

It's a floor texture alright, but it's way too big, let's fix that. I like to adjust the sizing and rotation with vector mapping, which is way easier than it sounds! In our shader editor, we're going to add in a vector map node, like this:

Then we're also going to need a texture coordinate node, added like so:

Arrange them like this:

That will appear to have done nothing:

But that's because we need to adjust the values! I adjusted mine (as pictured below) and now I have this:

For floor textures, it's super simple because you only have to adjust the scale. For walls, it's a little more complicated, but follows the same steps. So let's add in a wall texture. I follow the same steps, and, yikes:

This is obviously not what we want, but we can adjust it with texture mapping! The most important step is to adjust the Z axis rotation by 90, so that the pattern is vertical instead of horizontal. After that it's a game of adjusting the scale value until it looks how you want it to, like this:

Look at that we have a scene! I'm going to change my floor texture to match and add in the painting I just realize I forgot to add, so now I have this: Now I have this:

Step 2: Adding Lights

Adding physical lights (like the wall sconces in my original render) works like any other object, we just need to add in a point light to actually light the space. Usually I would fight these to make them transparent so I can put the point light inside the fixture, but for this simple scene I'm content to let the point lights hover just in front of the fixtures, like this:

I accomplished this by adding in point lights (shift+a -> light -> point) and using the axis keys to move them where I want them, then I adjusted the light values like this (please note that I'm set to Cycles):

There's a long and tedious process to add real fire (which I'll cover in a separate tutorial), but because we don't actually see the fire in the fireplace, I'm going to mimic it with area lights (which will also shorten render times) Add in an area light in the same way as a point light - Shift+A -> Light -> Area:

Then it's a matter of using the axis keys to move it inside the fireplace and rotate it

I like to rotate the lights to be facing outward and down, and I do duplicate the area light and make one more orange and the other more yellow. Then I added in a point light and placed it inside the fireplace so it all looks realistic. I ended up with this arrangement, but you'll have to play with it to find what's right for you!

From the front (my camera view), it looks like this:

I learned early on in my render journey that using "realistic" room lighting isn't always possible, so I'm also going to add a point light and move it up closer to the ceiling, to mimic a chandelier or ceiling light Now we have a bit more even lighting:

From here, all you have to do is add your sims and run your render! I hope this helps! Please comment here or send me an ask/submission if you have any questions!

Render School Homework

Your homework, should you choose to accept it, is to build your own scene and run a render of it! You can include sims or not, but if you do it and post it please tag me so I can showcase it!