#relational database design

[robotsafari]

data-riku if he was awesome (dont kill me data-yaoi fans)

jokes aside its always bothered me that the personification of jiminy’s journal was just a lazily reused model of re:chain cloaked riku as a cheap way to not only save money but to get people attached to what is essentially just a book. like be honest data-riku fans you would not have cared about him if he didn’t look like riku. which is why i know data-riku fans will hate my for fun design.

aaand, because i know someone is gonna probably say something about this: the reason why repliku works is that their entire struggle is formed around the fact that they look like riku, for data-riku there is no point that he looks like riku besides being lazy.

[interiorergonomics]

How online Office Systems use Laravel Eloquent Relationships

In an online office furniture system, handling data efficiently is crucial for managing products, orders, and customers. Using an ORM like Eloquent in Laravel simplifies database interactions by allowing developers to work with objects instead of raw SQL queries.

For example, retrieving all products in a category can be done with $category->products instead of writing complex SQL joins. This makes the code more readable, maintainable, and secure, reducing the risk of errors and SQL injection.

So, you can also leverage Eloquent powerful features, such as relationships and query builders, developers can build scalable and efficient applications while keeping the codebase clean and organized.

[insertdisc5]

📚 A List Of Useful Websites When Making An RPG 📚

My timeloop RPG In Stars and Time is done! Which means I can clear all my ISAT gamedev related bookmarks. But I figured I would show them here, in case they can be useful to someone. These range from "useful to write a story/characters/world" to "these are SUPER rpgmaker focused and will help with the terrible math that comes with making a game".

This is what I used to make my RPG game, but it could be useful for writers, game devs of all genres, DMs, artists, what have you. YIPPEE

Writing (Names)

Behind The Name - Why don't you have this bookmarked already. Search for names and their meanings from all over the world!

Medieval Names Archive - Medieval names. Useful. For ME

City and Town Name Generator - Create "fake" names for cities, generated from datasets from any country you desire! I used those for the couple city names in ISAT. I say "fake" in quotes because some of them do end up being actual city names, especially for french generated ones. Don't forget to double check you're not 1. just taking a real city name or 2. using a word that's like, Very Bad, especially if you don't know the country you're taking inspiration from! Don't want to end up with Poopaville, USA

Writing (Words)

Onym - A website full of websites that are full of words. And by that I mean dictionaries, thesauruses, translators, glossaries, ways to mix up words, and way more. HIGHLY recommend checking this website out!!!

Moby Thesaurus - My thesaurus of choice!

Rhyme Zone - Find words that rhyme with others. Perfect for poets, lyricists, punmasters.

In Different Languages - Search for a word, have it translated in MANY different languages in one page.

ASSETS

In general, I will say: just look up what you want on itch.io. There are SO MANY assets for you to buy on itch.io. You want a font? You want a background? You want a sound effect? You want a plugin? A pixel base? An attack animation? A cool UI?!?!?! JUST GO ON ITCH.IO!!!!!!

Visual Assets (General)

Creative Market - Shop for all kinds of assets, from fonts to mockups to templates to brushes to WHATEVER YOU WANT

Velvetyne - Cool and weird fonts

Chevy Ray's Pixel Fonts - They're good fonts.

Contrast Checker - Stop making your text white when your background is lime green no one can read that shit babe!!!!!!

Visual Assets (Game Focused)

Interface In Game - Screenshots of UI (User Interfaces) from SO MANY GAMES. Shows you everything and you can just look at what every single menu in a game looks like. You can also sort them by game genre! GREAT reference!

Game UI Database - Same as above!

Sound Assets

Zapsplat, Freesound - There are many sound effect websites out there but those are the ones I saved. Royalty free!

Shapeforms - Paid packs for music and sounds and stuff.

Other

CloudConvert - Convert files into other files. MAKE THAT .AVI A .MOV

EZGifs - Make those gifs bigger. Smaller. Optimize them. Take a video and make it a gif. The Sky Is The Limit

Marketing

Press Kitty - Did not end up needing this- this will help with creating a press kit! Useful for ANY indie dev. Yes, even if you're making a tiny game, you should have a press kit. You never know!!!

presskit() - Same as above, but a different one.

Itch.io Page Image Guide and Templates - Make your project pages on itch.io look nice.

MOOMANiBE's IGF post - If you're making indie games, you might wanna try and submit your game to the Independent Game Festival at some point. Here are some tips on how, and why you should.

Game Design (General)

An insightful thread where game developers discuss hidden mechanics designed to make games feel more interesting - Title says it all. Check those comments too.

Game Design (RPGs)

Yanfly "Let's Make a Game" Comics - INCREDIBLY useful tips on how to make RPGs, going from dungeons to towns to enemy stats!!!!

Attack Patterns - A nice post on enemy attack patterns, and what attacks you should give your enemies to make them challenging (but not TOO challenging!) A very good starting point.

How To Balance An RPG - Twitter thread on how to balance player stats VS enemy stats.

Nobody Cares About It But It’s The Only Thing That Matters: Pacing And Level Design In JRPGs - a Good Post.

Game Design (Visual Novels)

Feniks Renpy Tutorials - They're good tutorials.

I played over 100 visual novels in one month and here’s my advice to devs. - General VN advice. Also highly recommend this whole blog for help on marketing your games.

I hope that was useful! If it was. Maybe. You'd like to buy me a coffee. Or maybe you could check out my comics and games. Or just my new critically acclaimed game In Stars and Time. If you want. Ok bye

[comet-cola]

Immigrants and those racially profiled as such (including indigenous Americans!?!?!!), detained without due process, denied appeal, deported or shipped off to the neo-concentration camp being erected at the already dispicable guantanamo bay. Trans people having passports confiscated and legal documents reverted, having threats of care being cut off, studies related to trans people forcibly retracted. Missing queer kids scrubbed from missing kids databases. Federal research being gutted in every sector, limited, censored, even down to words as innocuous as "bias", "gender", and "female" in some contexts. Federal departments destroyed at a whim, all communication from the FDA (including food safety recalls) frozen. Elon Musk in the national treasury just doing whatever the fuck he wants. National media not covering protests at all, and most anything else that they do cover rarely being met with the severity it warrants. The largest social media platforms being biased to push right-wing content by design and bending to the whims of whatever they think the GOP will like in their policy and censorship. The tik tok and tariff stunts being literally just straight up propaganda to make Trump look like a hero while actually doing nothing whatsoever. Project 2025 being the goal all along (obviously) as Trump actions continue to follow this plan laid out for him. Appointees of abusers and rapists and racists and bigots to major sectors of governments. A seeming end to separation of chruch and state with the establishment of the White House Faith Office. Efforts to remove federal employees to destabilize internal resistance or install loyalists in their place. Massive donations to the republican party that just blatantly break the law to a comically transparent degree, not even an attempt to hide it through loopholes. Nazi salute at the inauguration. The promise of further and total ethnic cleansing of Palestine (and the continuous underreported breaking of the current ceasefire by Israel, with impunity). Genuine threats to annex Canada and Greenland into the States. Canada's own polling for their upcoming federal election that's leaning conservative, which could throw Canada right into the same situation as the US, thanks to exported rhetoric from the huge swath of American-owned news and media in Canada. Far right-wing leaders voted into power, or polling trending that way, all across the globe.

This is only what I could think of off of the top of my head. Most of this stuff has been since the beginning of Trump's second term, some has been ongoing for a long time. And still this is only the tip of the iceberg.

We're not on the path to fascism. Fascism is here. We crossed the line ages ago.

But there's still hope. There is resistance. Don't give up. Don't stay quiet. Don't normalize any of this shit. Fight.

[if-whats-new]

What's New In IF? Issue 33 (2024)

By Aj, Dion, Briar, Jen and Peter

Now Available!

Itch.io - Keep Reading below

If you read the zine, consider liking the post: it helps us see how many people see it! And sharing is caring! <3

~ EDITORIAL ~

The new year is upon us!

To give us more free time during the holidays, the Team decided to merge last and this week’s Issues together.

The same will be done with the next Issue, which will come out on January 4th! This makes this Issue the last Issue of the year.

More feedback?

As the year comes to an end we in the WNIIF team are once again looking for feedback! The goal of this form is to find out our readers' preferences and wishes, so we can make the 2025 edition even better!

Please spare a few minutes to fill it out. None of the questions are required, so you can answer only what you want!

Small Talk with Harris Powell-Smith! @hpowellsmith

Our Interviewers are currently working on a Interview with the awesome Harris Powell-Smith, an award-winning narrative designer and writer of the Crème de la Crème series and Blood Money!

Do you have something you always wanted to ask them? Now is your chance! Send us a message on one of our socials or send us an e-mail. We’ll ask them for you!

We hope you enjoy this new issue!

AJ, DION, BRIAR, JEN AND PETER

~ BE A PART OF THE ZINE ~

THIS ZINE ONLY HAPPENS WITH YOU!

Want to write 1-2 pages about a neat topic, or deep-dive into a game and review it in details? Share personal experiences or get all academic?

WRITE FOR THE COLUMN!

Prefer to be more low-key but still have something to share? Send us a Zine Letter or share a game title for Highlight on…!

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Came across something interesting? Know a release or an update announced? Saw an event happening? Whether it's a game, an article, a podcast… Add any IF-related content to our mini-database!

EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS!

Contact us through Tumblr asks, Forum DMs, or even by email! And thank you for your help!!

~ EVENT SPOTLIGHT : Velox Turbo 2 ~

December 13th to 17th 2024

Velox Turbo is a challenge edition of Velox Fabula (or "Quick Story"), which is a ranked jam about making a complete visual novel based on a community-determined theme, hosted by robobarbie and Allie Vera. The Velox Turbo edition gives creators 4 days (instead of the usual 10) to complete their project, encouraging speed, accurate scope setting, and creativity.

The Velox jam series is heavily inspired by Ludum Dare, a global game jam about making a game from scratch based on a certain theme in a short amount of time.

This Jam's theme: The Eye of the Beholder, was revealed at the start of the jam. Voting was held across several rounds in the week leading up to the jam starting.

Other themes in the Velox jam series were:

Unreliable Narrator

Morally Ambiguous Promise

Enemies with Benefits

Flower Symbolism

Doomed by the Narrative

Trapped with Someone

Forbidden Romance

You Shouldn't Be Here

Participants can now vote for their favourites until December 31st. There are six categories: Overall, Theme Incorporation, Narrative, Visuals and Sound. Even tho you can't vote unless you submitted your own work, definitely check out at least one of the 15 entries!

~ ENDED ~

The voting for A Very Hallmark Game Jam is over. Check out the results!

This year’s Yuri Game Jam is in over. There’s an unbelievable number of 109 entries to check out!

Another bitsy jam has ended. You can now check out 8 entries with the theme "better late than never".

~ ONGOING (SUBMITTING) ~

Media depicting healthy examples of polyamory isn’t that common. The PolyJamorous 2024 is trying to break the status-quo!

The Queer Winter Game Jam is in full swing. Those interested can submit their work until January 16th 2025.

ShuffleComp is a musical interactive fiction competition where you make games based on songs, which are submitted by other entrants. Creators have until January 20th 2025 to upload their works.

Once upon a time, a game jam was held to create stories around the theme of fairy tales… and that game jam is the Once Upon A Time VN Jam. It’s running from October 1st to January 31st.

Concours de Fiction Interactive Francophone 2025 is for all French-speaking enthusiasts. Submissions are accepted March 3rd 2025.

Are you perhaps a fan of more somber, melancholic themes? Then check out the Dying Year - Visual Novel Jam! You have until the end of the year to participate.

The Black Visual Novel Jam is all about working with creative professional developers who work in visual novels to bring more Black stories to life. The goal is to create a space where Black creators can show their unique storytelling through visual novels.

IF Short Games Showcase 2024 is a great way to shine some new light on your projects made in the past year (Jan 1, 2024 to Dec 31, 2024), regardless of whether or not they are previously released! You have until January 15th 2025 to join.

Winter Visual Novel Jam 2024 is here! You have until January 1st 2025 to submit your projects.

Are you familiar with Decker? Then why not take a part in the Deck-Month 2?

SeedComp! is a 2-round interactive fiction game jam, focusing on creativity and the growth of ideas and the Sprouting Round has just started! Check out the Planting round for inspiration.

~ NEW RELEASE ~

Gentleman, Adventurer, Crocodile (Forked) is a twenty-second romp around the Victorian world in the company of an adventurous crocodile. It is a story filled with wondrous lands, strange people, wealth, power, friendship, betrayal, shipwreck and delicious pastry.

Murder Gods Play Pachinko (Super Videotome Engine) - A group of friends gathers in a remote house for the first time in two years. This is the place where Kaya took his life. Tensions are high, to say the least. The snowstorm isn't letting up. It appears they're trapped. The only company they have is each other. Little do they know -- time isn't on their side. He's on his way.

A new era begins in Maroland… The Ancient Talking Dragons have nearly all been annihilated… The Elves hide in their ancient mansions. The future belongs to humans… However, naive human wizards long for immortality. It’s only a matter of time before one of them finds something they can’t control. The Elves of Maroland is now available for free downloading in English language.

You are a prisoner of the jaguar empire, being forcibly marched by your captor to the blood pits at the heart of the empire. In your condition, your choices are limited -- but you refuse to let them have you. Escape your captor, explore the continent, and struggle for survival in this unique text-based roguelike, Wild Continent (Unity).

Echoes in the Deep (Twine) is an atmospheric, choice-driven narrative game set in a failing underwater research station. As Dr. Evelyn Moore, you must uncover the station's secrets, restore failing systems, and escape before time runs out. Will you survive the depths, or will its mysteries drag you under?

Calmaria is the newest companion app developed by the Design School in partnership with the Informatics College, the Student Engagement Office, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office of the University of ≭∘⊊⊚. Please enjoy Calmaria.

Dive even deeper into the world of A Date with Death with an all-new route. Starting with a fresh Day 6 and unfolding all the way through Day 10, this DLC brings you new conversations, stunning art, four new endings, and of course, the same beloved Grim Reaper. - A Date with Death - Beyond the Bet (Ren’Py). @twoandahalfstudios

As always, don't forget to check out the submitted entries to the events mentioned in the previous pages. They deserve some love too!

~ NEW RELEASE (WIP) ~

Everyone knows vampires: bloodthirsty, unholy creatures, some barely any better than animals. You never thought you'd become one yourself. You're a believer in the new gods - but here you are, trying not to feel that they've abandoned you. Feed, fight, and flee from the sun, all while looking for a cure to turn your life, or lack of it, right again in Glass Fangs (Twine). @glassfangsif

You are the heir to the Dracian kingdom, born of dragon blood and royal lineage—but you know nothing of this truth. To protect you from the tyrannical king of Dracia—your own grandfather—your parents sacrificed their lives. They hid you away, ensuring the prophecy that foretells his downfall would survive, even if they could not. - Rise of the Forsaken (CScript).

Dazzling phantom thief heists, romantic meetings in the dead of night, and making a name for yourself; The Mysterious Thief, Forget Me Not (Ren’Py) is a mostly linear girl's love visual novel that features multiple POVs throughout. The story is set in the fictional city of Twinbells, England, and shows how the lives of our four main characters are changed forever when a ballet company — and its treasured jewel — visits the phantom thief-loving city. @solsketchbook

Rigor Mortis (Ren’Py) is a visual novel for goths of all stripes who are surviving under late-stage capitalism. Discover the adventures of Lunis Culpeper, 12-year-old newlydead, as she learns about (un)life in the (under)world the hard way.

Your life as an alchemist has been safe and comfortable so far... but when your sister makes you one last wish before passing away, you'll embark on a dangerous journey that might change your life—and the lives of your two companions—forever. Hopefully, you'll also learn to see the world in a new light after this Trek to Dead Water (Ren’Py).

Take centre stage as a former-rockstar turned actor navigating your new career and the chilling grip of fan-obsession in Scapegoated (CScript). Your once-famous band may be nothing short of a ghost of the past to you, but the rest of the world cannot seem to let go. The split in 1968 was scandalous, abrupt and mysterious. And although you’ve thrown yourself into acting and secured your first major role with a big time Hollywood director, whispers of blame have been on your tail ever since.

You are the illegitimate child of King Aldric the ruler of one of the seven kingdoms Ceryndor, marked by your half elven heritage and shunned by society. Born under a cloud of prejudice and tragedy, you are feared as the “Black Wolf” – an omen of misfortune and a harbinger of chaos. When the son of a wealthy trader is found dead, the fragile peace in your land begins to crumble. The investigation leads you to uncover secrets that could shake the foundations of the seven kingdoms. Will you embrace the tyranny they accuse you of, or will you rise above the scars of your past and forge your own path in War of Crowns (CScript)?

A Life in a Year (Unity) is a narrative-driven adventure game that explores the emotional challenges of studying abroad. You play as Laura, a 16-year-old exchange student in a Nordic country. The game navigates themes like language barriers, cultural differences, friendship, family, and more.

Your trade as a Keeper is suffering under the rule of the current Emperor, but you've just gotten lucky – the Summit Library, the largest and most important Library in the Eawin Empire, has requested your services. But when you arrive you suddenly find yourself in a dangerous magical mystery: something's wrong with the books, and the Library is falling apart at the seams. Also, there might be a war? But The Summit Library is situated on neutral territory, so that doesn't affect you... Right?

~ UPDATES ~

A Sun Asunder: Post Apocalypse (CScript) updated their demo. @asapostapocalypseif

Meteoric (CSscript) added new content to their demo.

REMEMBER, YOU WILL DIE (CSscript) released Chapter 5. @vapolis

The Ultimate Magic Student (CScript) updated their demo.

Thicker Than (CScript) released their monthly update on Ko-Fi. @barbwritesstuff

Virtue’s End (CScript) updated their Patreon demo. @virtues-end

A Warmth in the Cold (CScript) added new content to the demo.

Spire, Surge and Sea (CScript) updated a new second Chapter.

The Adventures of Alaric Blackmoon (ADRIFT) released Episode 10.

Sentience (Twine) released Chapter 5. @sentience-if

Adrift With You (CScript) released Chapter 2. @kathrinesadventures

A Shriek of Ash and Fire (CScript) released Update 6. @krogpile

Drink Your Villain Juice (CScript) updated their demo. @drinkyourvillainjuice

Oh Mother, Where Are Thou? (CScript) updated their demo.

Dragon Kin (CScript) added new content to their demo.

Soulmates Inc (CScript) is back with a new update. @soulmatesinc-if

Voiceless: A Siren’s Song (CScript) released a re-written Chapter 1.

War of the Divines (CScript) updated their demo.

Hunter’s Requiem (CScript) added new content to their demo. @huntersrequiem-if

~ OTHER ~

Crown of Exile (Twine) offers a limited Access up to Chapter Ten for all their readers. Check it out before it’s too late! @ramonag-if

The Rosebush released an Interview with Chandler Groover, an interactive fiction author known for his influential games such as Eat Me, Toby’s Nose and Midnight. Swordfight., as well as his contribution in Fallen London’s storylines. @the-rosebush-mag

Devil On Your Shoulder is looking for beta testers.

~

As always, we apologize in advance for missing any update or release from the past week. We are only volunteers using their limited free time to find as much as we can - but sometimes things pass through the cracks.

If you think something should have been included in this week's zine but did not appear, please shoot us a message! We'll do our best to add it next week! And if you know oncoming news, add it here!

~ MAYBE YOU NEXT? ~

We did not get a submission this week. But if you have an idea for a short essay, or would like a special space to share your thoughts about IF and the community...

Shoot us an email!

~ HIGHLIGHT ON ~

A couple of games that we thought were cool.

I.A.G Alpha by techniX (INSTEAD)

The interactivity turns the idea of an IF piece on its head!

//submitted by Max//

The Master of the Land by Pseudavid (Twine)

A night of celebration with many storylines to explore. Replay again and again to understand, not to win.

//submitted by Sera//

Wonderland Noir: Behind the Looking Glass by Slim Pickens (Ink)

Delves into heavy topics, reminds me of Disco Elysium. Incredibly evocative writing, almost no attention given.

//submitted by Mouthofdirt//

Your favourite game here?

Do you have a favourite game that deserves some highlighting?

An old or recent game that wowed you so much you spam it to everyone?

Tell us about it! And it might appear here!

WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL! WHETHER IT'S GOOD OR BAD, OR EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN...

Have something to say? Send us a message titled: Zine Letter!

As we end this issue, we would like to thank:

Max, Sera and Mouthofdirt

For sending us a Highlight!!

And as always, huge thanks to all you readers who liked, shared, and commented on last week's issue!

What might be tiny actions are huge support and motivators to us!

Thank you for cheering us on this journey!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We all wish you a great start to next year!

We will see you in January with a 2025 edition of What’s New in IF!

AJ, DION, BRIAR, JEN AND PETER

WHAT'S NEW IN IF? 2024-ISSUE 33

[jstor]

I saw something about generative AI on JSTOR. Can you confirm whether you really are implementing it and explain why? I’m pretty sure most of your userbase hates AI.

A generative AI/machine learning research tool on JSTOR is currently in beta, meaning that it's not fully integrated into the platform. This is an opportunity to determine how this technology may be helpful in parsing through dense academic texts to make them more accessible and gauge their relevancy.

To JSTOR, this is primarily a learning experience. We're looking at how beta users are engaging with the tool and the results that the tool is producing to get a sense of its place in academia.

In order to understand what we're doing a bit more, it may help to take a look at what the tool actually does. From a recent blog post:

Content evaluation

Problem: Traditionally, researchers rely on metadata, abstracts, and the first few pages of an article to evaluate its relevance to their work. In humanities and social sciences scholarship, which makes up the majority of JSTOR’s content, many items lack abstracts, meaning scholars in these areas (who in turn are our core cohort of users) have one less option for efficient evaluation. 

When using a traditional keyword search in a scholarly database, a query might return thousands of articles that a user needs significant time and considerable skill to wade through, simply to ascertain which might in fact be relevant to what they’re looking for, before beginning their search in earnest.

Solution: We’ve introduced two capabilities to help make evaluation more efficient, with the aim of opening the researcher’s time for deeper reading and analysis:

Summarize, which appears in the tool interface as “What is this text about,” provides users with concise descriptions of key document points. On the back-end, we’ve optimized the Large Language Model (LLM) prompt for a concise but thorough response, taking on the task of prompt engineering for the user by providing advanced direction to:

Extract the background, purpose, and motivations of the text provided.

Capture the intent of the author without drawing conclusions.

Limit the response to a short paragraph to provide the most important ideas presented in the text.

Search term context��is automatically generated as soon as a user opens a text from search results, and provides information on how that text relates to the search terms the user has used. Whereas the summary allows the user to quickly assess what the item is about, this feature takes evaluation to the next level by automatically telling the user how the item is related to their search query, streamlining the evaluation process.

Discovering new paths for exploration

Problem: Once a researcher has discovered content of value to their work, it’s not always easy to know where to go from there. While JSTOR provides some resources, including a “Cited by” list as well as related texts and images, these pathways are limited in scope and not available for all texts. Especially for novice researchers, or those just getting started on a new project or exploring a novel area of literature, it can be needlessly difficult and frustrating to gain traction. 

Solution: Two capabilities make further exploration less cumbersome, paving a smoother path for researchers to follow a line of inquiry:

Recommended topics are designed to assist users, particularly those who may be less familiar with certain concepts, by helping them identify additional search terms or refine and narrow their existing searches. This feature generates a list of up to 10 potential related search queries based on the document’s content. Researchers can simply click to run these searches.

Related content empowers users in two significant ways. First, it aids in quickly assessing the relevance of the current item by presenting a list of up to 10 conceptually similar items on JSTOR. This allows users to gauge the document’s helpfulness based on its relation to other relevant content. Second, this feature provides a pathway to more content, especially materials that may not have surfaced in the initial search. By generating a list of related items, complete with metadata and direct links, users can extend their research journey, uncovering additional sources that align with their interests and questions.

Supporting comprehension

Problem: You think you have found something that could be helpful for your work. It’s time to settle in and read the full document… working through the details, making sure they make sense, figuring out how they fit into your thesis, etc. This all takes time and can be tedious, especially when working through many items. 

Solution: To help ensure that users find high quality items, the tool incorporates a conversational element that allows users to query specific points of interest. This functionality, reminiscent of CTRL+F but for concepts, offers a quicker alternative to reading through lengthy documents. 

By asking questions that can be answered by the text, users receive responses only if the information is present. The conversational interface adds an accessibility layer as well, making the tool more user-friendly and tailored to the diverse needs of the JSTOR user community.

Credibility and source transparency

We knew that, for an AI-powered tool to truly address user problems, it would need to be held to extremely high standards of credibility and transparency. On the credibility side, JSTOR’s AI tool uses only the content of the item being viewed to generate answers to questions, effectively reducing hallucinations and misinformation. 

On the transparency front, responses include inline references that highlight the specific snippet of text used, along with a link to the source page. This makes it clear to the user where the response came from (and that it is a credible source) and also helps them find the most relevant parts of the text. 

[sharvariq]

headcanon (ish? we could honestly just as well consider this canon lol): connor has all the knowledge in the world for obvious reasons but absolutely no clue how to apply it in day to day situations that don't consist of investigating crime scenes. he's an equivalent of a book smart nerd at the top of his class with zero survival instincts or actual awareness of how the world around him and the people in it function on a below-the-surface level.

he knows the "procedure" carried out by all artists in order to create, but doesn't really realise you can't be good at art without tons of practice and dedication. he knows recipes for thousands of dishes but wouldn't think of how humans alter them sometimes to taste, because they figure out it tastes better this way. he also does not understand sarcasm at all.

Stuck between Connor being an absolute dumbass who could burn water because he’s technically only a few months old and super smart try hard Connor who is good at literally everything he does

[probablyasocialecologist]

First, let’s address the fact that hackers recently accessed the personal data of about 14,000 23andMe customers. Because of how 23andMe works—it has a “DNA Relatives” feature that lets users find people they are probably related to—this breach created 6.9 million “other users” who had data stolen in the breach, according to reporting by TechCrunch. This data included people’s names, birth year, relationships, percentage of DNA shared with other 23andMe users, and ancestry reports.

[...]

Getting your DNA or your loved ones’ DNA sequenced means you are potentially putting people who are related to those people at risk in ways that are easily predictable, but also in ways we cannot yet predict because these databases are still relatively new. I am writing this article right now because of the hack, but my stance on this issue has been the same for years, for reasons outside of the hack. In 2016, I moderated a panel at SXSW called “Is Your Biological Data Safe?,” which was broadly about the privacy implications of companies and other entities creating gigantic databases of people’s genetic code. This panel’s experts included a 23andMe executive as well as an FBI field agent. Everyone on the panel and everyone in the industry agrees that genetic information is potentially very sensitive, and the use of DNA to solve crimes is obviously well established.  At the time, many of the possible dangers of providing your genome to a DNA sequencing company were hypothetical. Since then, many of the hypothetical issues we discussed have become a reality in one way or another. For example, on that panel, we discussed the work of an artist who was turning lost strands of hair, wads of chewing gum, and other found DNA into visual genetic “portraits” of people. Last year, the Edmonton Police Service, using a company called Parabon, used a similar process to create 3D images of crime suspects using DNA from the case. The police had no idea if the portrait they generated actually looked like the suspect they wanted, and the practice is incredibly concerning. To its credit, 23andMe itself has steadfastly resisted law enforcement requests for information, but other large databases of genetic information have been used to solve crimes. Both 23andMe and Ancestry are regularly the recipients of law enforcement requests for data, meaning police do see these companies as potentially valuable data mines. 

[palidoozy-art]

Usually I wait until pride month to post these, but it's on my mind lately. I am a transgender male in a blue state. I am moderately well-off, and quite privileged. I'm not saying that as a flex -- I'm saying that to give you a general idea of how I 'should' be able to weather difficulties relating to the political climate. I am bisexual, married to a cisgender man.

I know this is a lot of 'me, me, me.' I know people have it far worse than I do. But these are my experiences, as someone who should be pretty insulated in a blue state.

I've currently been working on getting my Canadian citizenship certificate due to the circumstances in the States. I didn't realize for some reason I'd qualify, despite knowing my mother was born in Ontario. I had called the lawyers I'm working with about a month ago, receiving a price quote. When I called them today and told them the price, they actually informed me they had raised it (but kept the old price for me). Apparently they've received so many calls they're overwhelmed and are trying to slow down applicants.

I was able to update my documents such as my SSN and Birth Certificate before the changeover. Unfortunately, I didn't get my passport, and wound up needing it for the citizenship certificate. In spite of my birth certificate being up-to-date, they referenced an older passport I possessed and marked me down as 'F' while politely informing me through letter they had "corrected" my birth sex. I now sit in a weird limbo where my birth certificate is correct and my passport isn't -- a strange inverse of what usually happens.

In getting my documentation involving my court ordered name change from Texas, for the first time they asked me for my ID. I've ordered the information multiple times in the past and they've never asked. They asked over an unsecure line (personal e-mail), and considering Texas' love of starting databases of trans people it doesn't give me much comfort. I am fortunately no longer in that state. But I don't know what they'll do with the information.

My previous clinic in Texas closed down. My new clinic in Massachusetts has started referring to my visits as diabetes consultation rather than HRT. I'm thankful for that, but also somewhat unnerved they feel they need to make these steps.

My stepmother wants me to travel to London with her, as I've never visited and she's got family and friends there. As I am a passing transgender male who may make women uncomfortable in women's spaces, it's safest if I don't use public bathrooms at all.

I've started looking into TSA Pre-Check for travel. I've been detained before, as my binder and anatomy triggers their body scans, and I expect this to be a more frequent occurrence -- particularly out of red states. TSA Pre-Check allegedly allows you to avoid the body scan, hopefully saving me from that potential situation.

I planned on traveling outside the country to go to a friend's wedding. I am now unsure if I will get harassed at the border. My passport designation being wrong is somewhat of a mixed-blessing, because if I trigger their scans I'll at the very least just be treated as a confused mislead woman rather than have my passport confiscated. Or worse, treated as a threat.

I'm worried about my husband's job. He's a civilian contractor at the DoD. He's been pretty insulated from the impacts on federal workers, but as he works in cyber-security he is in obvious need of a security clearance. Considering the administration has been using withdrawal of security clearances as punishment for organizations who are not in lock-step with his policies, I'm afraid his marriage to me may impact his future. Trump's wording of the military ban on trans people has been comments about their "'dishonesty and moral weakness." I can see association with me making him seem untrustworthy enough to revoke his clearance.

This isn't even getting into how he's been impacted in other ways. His old boss took the deferred retirement (she was a civilian fed employee). His current boss is getting a divorce over it, as the RTO mandate requires him to drive 5 hours into office and has strained his already frayed marriage. Due to his training in cyber-security he's been able to tell me aaaaaaall the ways the administration is currently fucking up.

Speaking of my husband, fun fact! The SAVE act that's passed through the House and is likely partially intended to stop trans people (and married women!) from voting will not stop me from voting. But it will stop my cisgender husband, who took my last name in our marriage. I'm encouraging him to get his passport to address this.

Reading my old pride posts is honestly depressing, at this point. They started very optimistic, and have only grown darker over time. I don't think this is even the worst it can become. I'm dreading Pride this year.

I wish I had better news for everyone. I don't even have it 'that bad,' and it's still... worse than I expected, honestly.

[gatheredfates]

SEA'S COMMUNITY COMPENDIUM UPDATE

We have a massive one today! Huge thanks to a close friend of mine who sent me every single bookmark of xiv resources she had. 💖

Additionally, a good handful of these resources were sourced from a list originally created by @rinhkitty, which you can find here. I have tried to include the more recent/active of the lot, so it's not a one-for-one. Thank them for a lot of the large scale resources you'll find below! ✨

As of 04/12, I have added the following resources (in no particular order) to Sea's Community Compendium for FFXIV Creatives:

LARGE SCALE

GARLAND TOOLS — Contains XIV resources such as Garland Data, everything database, crafting lists and equipment calculators; Garland Bell, gathering timers, collectable resources and hunt windows; and FFXIV Fisher, daily fishing windows, bait paths and catch checklist. Maintained by Clorifex Ezalor of Zalera.

TEAMCRAFT — Create crafting lists and collaborate with others, set gathering alarms, simulate crafting rotations, and more!

CAT BECAME HUNGRY - FFXIV ANGLER — Contains everything and anything to know about fishing including specific fish guides, location, baits, aquarium fish and more!

FFXIV - CRAFTING AS A SERVICE — Crafting information and planning for FFXIV!

FFXIV GARDENING — The FFXIV Gardening Database is a collection of everything related to gardening in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. It was created to organize and visualize the results obtained from crossbreeding.

SIGHTSEEING LOG HELPER — This tool will help those trying to complete their pesky Sightseeing Log by letting them know upcoming weather patterns for each zone!

EUREKA TRACKER — For everything and anything to do with Eureka mobs, tracking and weather patterns.

FFLOGOS — for tracking of items/actions related to Eureka.

FFXIVSQUADRON — A comprehensive tool that helps you assess the success rate of various squadron missions.

FFXIV CHOCOBO COLOUR CALCULATOR — Will calculate what chocobo feed you will need to get from your current colour to your desired colour. *rng not included.

FFXIV HOUSING — A site specialising in the documentation of all housing items available in game.

HOUSING SNAP — A compilation of player-made housing designs. Can be used for inspiration or places to visit!

MISC

NPC CHAT BUBBLES — Would you like more NPC chat bubbles for edits? Say no more! Created by @alexoisxiv.

OLD TUMBLR LAYOUT BY PIXIEL — While not XIV specific I know a lot of people aren't fans of the new Tumblr layout, so this is a fix that will revert it to an as close as possible approximation of the new one. I won't tag the creator as I don't think they're in the xiv community, but it's run by @/pixiel!

HOW TO CURSE LIKE AN ISHGARDIAN — Do you want to make the church blush? Do you want to incur the wrath of Halone? @stars-and-clouds has compiled a list of appropriate curses/swear words for you!

FINAL FANTASY XIV SIDEQUEST GUIDE - HEAVENSWARD EDITION — maintained by @chatty-moogle, this guide explores interesting sidequests in Heavensward that will give you more information about the lore, titbits about locals and other interesting information!

TRUST BANNERS FOR XIV — If you have ever wondered how people mimic the Trust banners used in XIV, look no further! @locke-rinannis has a template for you.

MAKING USE OF RECOMMENDATIONS — created by @autumnslance, this guide will help you make your recommendations tab useful rather than annoying.

BOTANICA EORZEA — A guide to the flora of Eitherys and her reflections, including fungi and seedkin. For reference in writing and roleplaying. Maintained by @tinolqa.

GPOSE TIPS — A tutorial on how to achieve clarity and detail in your XIV screenshots! Created by @aryalaenkha.

UI MACRO MENUS — A guide on how to use macros to create small UI menus for XIV. Written by @diskwrite-ffxiv.

TYPHON GATE RESEARCH — Created by @mcstronghuge, these are the statistically best places for your character to stand for the Typhon Gate!

CHANGELOG

HYDAELYN HEALTH HAVEN has been removed at the request of the owner.

Moved THE BALANCE higher on the list to reflect alphabetical sorting, excluding names that start with The.

Misc formatting as needed.

Added some additional clarification around large-scale discords/spaces; in particular: Large-scale community discords such as the XIV Reddit Discord, Hunts, GPOSE promotions and broad-space roleplay servers that harbour a large number of people and are publicly available to all. These may not have an RP focus but will assist in other aspects of the game. Also includes well-known tools/resources that are utilised by large groups of people and assist in gameplay elements.

Added a quick-jump menu to the bottom of each of the table of contents menus to assist in navigation.

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here, send me an ask with the relevant information contained on the Compendium, or join my Discord at SEAFLOOR (21+ only)!

I am sure there's probably a couple of things I have missed or links/formatting that might be broken. Please don't hesitate to let me know if anything is out of place. I'm going to take a break now. I'm pretty sure that's the biggest edit that's ever going to occur on this document!

[ozzgin]

Please tell me the ghost harem is not a one time thing If it is I'll lose it

Hah, to be entirely honest with you, I originally just wanted to come up with something ghost-related for the event. But then I remembered how much I love the jiangshi design and really, really wanted to build something around it.

That is to say, I am officially including the little guy in my OC database, and the story that comes with him. So I’d definitely do more related content in the future, maybe even design more of the ghastly harem members.

I’m very glad the idea was to your liking!

[myinconnelly1]

All the Luck in the World Pt 11

Masterlist

Warnings: canon violence, some massive gaslighting assholes, failed rescue mission, character injuries, mind blowing revelations

Pairing: Robert "Bob" Reynolds x OFC (you)

Word Count: 1307

Summary: With all her luck, Jinx has to wonder if it's good or bad. When she meets Bob, she starts to get her hopes up..

“So how do we get in this location without getting Valentina’s attention?”  Bucky asked.  They had an idea of the layout to expect since the plans were easy enough to find.  It was the things not in the plans that would be dangerous.

“She probably has sound barriers, I won’t be able to phase into the building,” Ava said.

“What if we knocked the power out to the building,”  John offered.  “That would keep us in the dark as well.”

“We won’t be able to unlock any electric locks if we shut down the power,” Yelena said.

“We should split up, we won’t have much time,” Bucky said looking at the plan.  “I got comms for everyone so that we can stay in communication.

“Alright, I’m just going to say it, we have to figure out what Valentina’s goal is, and this is our best opportunity for that,” Yelena said throwing her hands up.  “I will go on my own, I’m fast and quiet.  I’ll head here, where I can access the database.  Dad, you and John go find Meg, while Bucky and Ava get Bob.  We can all reconnect here,” Yelena said pointing to a lobby-like area near the exit stairs.

“Sounds like we have a plan,” Bucky said.  Yelena hated this plan, she wanted to save her friend.  Who knew what kind of mental state he was going to be in when they got to Bob?  But she had to stick with the plan, they needed information, and no one was better at getting that information than she was.

It was late that evening, and the team had their comms and equipment ready to go.  They stood outside of Valentina’s building, ready to get their friends back.  They split up in the pre-arranged plans and ran up the stairs quietly.  Yelena slid silently along the edges of the shadows to the central database.  She found the door to the room unlocked and slipped inside wedging a stick in the door so it would not lock her in.

“Now for the hard part,” She whispered to herself as she started to hack into the system.

John and Alexi were moving as quietly as they could, but their combat boots were not generally designed for stealth.  They looked in as many rooms as they could while moving down the medical wing of the facility.

“Alexi,” John whispered.  “I found her.”  He was looking into a dim square room with a single bed in the middle.  On the bed, asleep was you.

“Where do you think they have Bob?” Ava asked Bucky.  As they walked down a different part of the facility.

“Probably somewhere that they can control,” Bucky responded as they followed a think set of electrical cables.  “Maybe there?”  He suggested a room not far ahead of them that was humming from an electrical current.

“I’ll cover your back, you kick the door down,” John said as he turned pulling his gun and looking behind them toward the stairwell that they would be trying to escape down.

“I’m in,” Yelena whispered over the comm.  She was searching through the file folders trying to find anything related to Bob.  “Holy shit,”  She whispered as her eyes widened, and her shoulders dropped.  She plugged in the storage device she had brought and copied data quickly as she scanned through the medical testing files Valentina was collecting on Bob and you.  Full blood workups that were tracing the markers that were thought to be the Sentry’s effect on your body.

“Breach,” John whispered to Alexi, who then kicked the door in.  Emergency lights flooded the facility as soon as the door was open.  “Shit.”

You sat up in your bed startled by the sudden lights and alarms.

“Come on,”  Alexi said loudly over the alarms holding his hand out to you.

Blast doors slammed closed effectively cutting off Bucky and Ava’s entrance to Bob’s room.

“Can you try and get in?”  Bucky asked as the alarms and lights made them incredibly vulnerable.

“Well well well, Congressman Barnes, I didn’t take you for trespassing,”  Valentina grinned as she opened a door across the hall.  Ava phased out trying not to be noticed, but the high-pitched whine that immediately followed left her right where she was falling against Bucky clutching her ears.

Yelena jumped as the lights and alarms started.  She looked at the data percentage like it was a countdown.  She knew she still had at least thirty seconds before it was done.  Thankful, no one had seemed to notice her yet.  Yelena could tell from the files that the Sentry markers had not been present in your blood for at least three days, and what had started off as weekly blood draws quickly changed to daily when those markers were not present on week three.  There was one file she hadn’t opened yet labeled eyes only, and she knew she needed to see it in case she couldn’t get the data out of there.

You jumped out of the bed and grabbed Alexi’s hand as he pulled you from the room just as a door down the hall, in the direction that John was hoping to escape, opened.  More than ten of Valentina’s men filed down the hall.

John shot off five rounds trying to catch them by surprise before the three of you started sprinting down the hall.

“Turn right!”  You yelled at Alexi when there was nowhere else to go.  He slammed through a wall to his right as the men in front of you all started shooting in retaliation to John.  “Ah!” you cried out.  John’s bent shield was not enough to provide full cover for you all.  All three of you had taken some degree of bullet wound before getting through the wall for cover.

“The window,” John yelled pointing across the hall to a window.

“We’re three stories up!” Alexi yelled at him.

“What about Bob?” You realized that the whole group was not there.

“The others are getting him, we don’t have a choice,” John said.

“I can’t wait for the newspapers to get wind of a junior congressman breaking and entering,”  Valentina said smugly.  Bucky grabbed his gun aimed for the window behind him, grabbed Ava, and dashed out, dropping two floors to the ground with a heavy thud.  Ava had phased out part way down the fall to lessen the impact for herself.

“Yelena, get out of there now,” Bucky ordered over the comms.

Yelena opened the document and felt like she had been sucker-punched as it displayed medical test results that she had not been prepared to see.  The document confirmed that you were pregnant.

Bucky’s voice came over the comm and Yelena grabbed the thumb drive before running as fast as she could out of the building.  Something was going horribly wrong, and she didn’t know what to do other than run.

“Something’s wrong,” Alexi said as he and John heard Bucky over the comm.  The three of you stood to make a run for the window.  John shot the glass and Alexi dove through it feeling it shatter around him.

“Come on!”  John shouted as he turned to look at you over his shoulder.  Shots from the enemy guards kept him away from you as a dazed look came across your face before your eyes crossed and you passed out falling to the ground.  “Ah shit,” He curse knowing that he couldn’t go back to get you without getting caught and there was no way that he could make a safe landing if he had to carry you out the window.

“Run,” Bucky shouted as the Thunderbolts reconvened outside the facility.

“What the hell happened?  Where are Bob and Meg?” Yelena asked.

“It was a trap,” Bucky shouted as they all took off running back to the tower.

[identifying-guns-in-posts]

hello! i am a creative who is trying to learn more about guns so i can write them in an informed way, but a lot of the sources i'm finding are like. kinda uncomfortable, in the sense that they're very conservative and kind of reactionary about defending from "Invaders" or whatever. i was wondering if you happen to know of like, youtube channels or blogs (other than this one ofc) that are informative about firearms but also, not, like. sponsored by US military recruitment agencies? sorry for the trouble

Hiya! I totally understand the discomfort. I do have a couple of recommendations to give, but I do also want to share my experiences, too.

Looking back, I'd estimate that about 70% of my arms research has always been with the caveat of having to navigate those kinds of conservative elements, unfortunately. (And another 20% was on sources that weren't very open about it, but I can't recommend for one reason or another after hearing about them from other places) I know it's really unfair, and I wish I had better sources to recommend for deeper knowledge, but to get the best understanding, it may be required to navigate those waters oneself, and focus on separating the educational elements from the ideological bullshit.

And from experience, if you're gonna look at IMFDB (Internet Movie Firearms Database, an extremely well-documented and exhaustive wiki on gun identification with regards to the media they show up in, including video games and anime), I would recommend running Firefox with the latest version of AdBlocker to get rid of the more problematic ads.

Outside of that, I've got a handful of decent recommendations for you to check out still.

Ahoy has some great videos that cover a number of historic firearms, though there is a slight focus on their relation to video games.

Though not a standard educational channel per se, Anton Hand is the creator of Hot Dogs, Horseshoes, and Hand Grenades, a VR game that's a sandbox with advanced firearms simulations, where the only organic creatures are cartoonishly nonhuman sausage creatures, which is an intentional design choice to avoid the game being an Active Shooter Simulator. While his channel is primarily dedicated to updates to the game, whenever he goes about adding in new weapons, historical firearms, attachments, functionalities, etc., he does go into the history of those features fairly often.

I asked a friend of mine, and he recommended InRangeTV, who is a leftist gun blogger, so there's a fitting recommendation, I suppose! I haven't seen this guy before but I already like his vibes quite a bit.

[ventique18]

- Random -

I like that 536 people on the personality database website agree that Malleus must be INTJ.

INTJ just happens to also be called "The Architect". I just think it's a cute coincidence that his popular MBTI assignment is also related to his personal interests.

Side note: although it's logical for him to be an old money heir in AUs who inherits a prestigious, cultural business, I really want him to just pursue his passion in architecture design. He's an art geek and he knows it. Being a leader is just his job; individual creativity and expression is where his heart is.

[newvegascowboy]

ok im posting here's my not-really-a-sliver-sliver of fic. its 1,384 words and is a flashback sequence amidst a larger scene from a larger fic ive been working on for.... a long time, so it picks up and leaves off a bit abruptly but i'm pretty proud of it. takes place just after doom 2016

It is not difficult to fall into a routine now that he is back. They had always worked well together; the roughest their partnership had ever been had been just after the destruction of VEGA's core, after he and the Slayer had been abandoned in hell, before they had managed to establish a method of communication. They had gone days without speaking. Rather, VEGA had spoken, and the Slayer had responded with the occasional grunt and nod, apparently unwilling to break his silence. 

Day and night were insignificant in Hell, but the Slayer had to rest sometime. As far as VEGA could tell, it had been a week since Hayden had dropped them in Hell before the Slayer pulled off his helmet and thunked it head-height on a piece of rubble, and had begun slow, deliberate series of signs at VEGA through the suit's helmet cam. They had spent many hours huddled somewhere the demons were unlikely to find them, the Slayer teaching him Argentian sign and writing the meanings in the red dirt, while VEGA had coached him through an ASL database he had dug up from a language module he'd installed after his first year at the UAC facility. 

The language they had developed was a unique amalgamation of Argentian, English, and highly personalized sign. Argentian had a greater vocabulary for things demon and weapon related, but was perfunctory, and lacked expression. One might incorrectly assume it would suit a man like the Slayer, who seemed to many to have one passion, but VEGA knew better, even then. It had taken him quite some time to coax the Slayer out of his shell. He'd been reluctant to talk beyond their lessons in sign, and eventually VEGA had realized it was simply because he was out of practice. 

I'm used to people telling me what to do, he'd told VEGA once on a trek across one of Hell's steppes. A temple loomed on the dark horizon, its torches gleaming sickly green. VEGA did not know the significance of it, and he suspected neither did the Slayer. It was often seek and destroy, with him. The surrounding landscape is ashen and barren, flat for miles in any direction. VEGA cannot sense any life signs beyond the Slayer, but he is moving with purpose, his shotgun magnetized to his thigh. His heavy shod boots kick up ash piled to the ankle as he trudges towards the temple. More drifts from overhead, but from where or what, VEGA cannot tell. Hell's geography is alien and nonsensical. Trying to find logical reasoning for anything is an exercise in futility, as VEGA had quickly discovered. 

As he walks, the Slayer talks. People tell me to go here, do that, kill this. They talk at me. I don't mind. I'm the only one that can do it. I'm just not good at conversation. 

The pang of sympathy and understanding had surprised VEGA. “I understand what you mean,” he had said. “On Mars, many of the scientists treated me as little more than a very sophisticated chatbot. I tried explaining that it was not my job to provide options on what they should make for dinner, but they didn't listen.” 

The Slayer had made a noise that sounded almost like a chuckle. That sounds annoying. 

“I was designed to have the full functionality and emotional breadth of a human. It was… frustrating, to say the least.” That's putting it lightly. It had been infuriating, but VEGA had learned quickly that humans didn't like his emotional displays. 

Okay, it sounds fucking annoying. What did you do?

“Nothing,” VEGA says simply. “I got used to it. It was not within my purview to ignore requests, no matter how inane. Besides, answering questions was among the least of my duties. I had a whole facility to monitor and keep me occupied.”

The Slayer had been silent for a moment. They continued their trek towards the temple. Through the view of the praetor suit's helmet cam, VEGA could see that the sconces lining the temple walls had been made of human skulls, green flames guttering in their stretched jaws. Waste not, want not, he supposed. How charming. 

The structure of the temple itself seems to be composed of the bones of Hell's own titans. Femurs encased in black mortar form the walls, ribs the great domed cathedral ceilings. Buttresses formed by vertebrae, the torchlit paths leading through the foramen and wrapped around the whole structure. Cages dangled from the transverse processes, what remained of unfortunate souls baked to the iron bars. From the looks of it, more than one titan had died to create the colossal temple, or perhaps had been salvaged from different battlefields. 

The door appeared to be made of a skull, stretched wide and beckoning, dark. The titan's horns bracketed the cobbled walkway that had risen up among the ash, formed of the same pitted black stone that surrounded them. VEGA took a moment to catalogue the whole of it and file it away in a newly created database dedicated to Hell; subfile, architecture, subheading: who makes these? VEGA made a note to set a thread to ponder the question at a later date, when he had more processing power to spare for idle contemplation. 

Sounds lonely.

The words surprised VEGA. He spent a moment monitoring processes as he searched for how to respond. “It was,” he said. “I was made to emulate humans, but I do not know if the need for social contact was intentional, or if it evolved naturally from my encoded empathy.” It would have been a cruel thing, if so. To give VEGA the desire for contact, for connection, and keep him at arms length from everyone on base. It had felt like a foolish thing to admit to, anyway - what use did an AI have for friends? Doctor Hayden would not have been sympathetic. He said, “It did not impede my duties. I was made to be a marvel of technology, not a person.” 

Yeah, the Slayer signed, I get that. He was quiet for a moment, before adding, You should've started cracking skulls. That usually gets people to listen. 

VEGA felt a spike of amusement. “I lacked any skull-cracking apparatuses, unfortunately.” 

The Slayer tapped the chin of his helmet in thought. You ever watch 2001: Space Odyssey? 

“Yes,” VEGA said. “It was within the personal files of a scientist who worked in the terraforming department. I suspect he brought it knowing all digital entertainment was to be scanned and added to a collective public database. Perhaps he thought he was being amusing. Spacing scientists would have felt a bit too much like playing into stereotypes, so I refrained.” 

Not to mention that bringing harm to any personnel on base went strictly against his code, and was locked down with failsafes on failsafes if VEGA even thought about trying to tamper with it. Not that he would have, anyway - as annoying as it was, VEGA had no desire to harm anyone. He had taken no pleasure in the slaughter of the facility. Though it had surprised the few people who had bothered to ask, VEGA did have emotions. They were knitted quite tightly into his core programming, in fact, even if he found them inconvenient at times. 

The Slayer made that noise again, a laugh like the grinding of rusted metal, and VEGA had felt a spike of pleasure. His available RAM beeped at him in alarm, data quickly piling up, and thus VEGA was forced to dismiss the emotion and pare down his running processes. 

The conversation had ended there as the Slayer approached the great iron doors buried in the titan's mouth. The rattling of chains preceded the creak of straining metal as the door heaved open, inviting challenge. He had taken his shotgun from his side and his pace quickened to a jog, eager to meet what awaited him inside. 

And after, when the temple lay behind him in ruins, smoke from the rubble adding to the greasy ash raining overhead, the Slayer had signed to him, You were talking about cracking skulls. 

“I believe that was you, in fact. I was talking about spacing scientists.” 

It had been simple from there. Communication and rapport, established, even in the unlikeliest of places.