This thing is pissing me off. WHAT CHORD IS VTX? Jesus fucking Christ, the entire FC is unlabeled, the packaging has no diagram or manual, and the website is of no use.
I need to try and mate this with the 3pin, 2pin, or those two merged.

Last time I got this far I tried doing the Samurai quest and died to the quest leader, I checked the armoury in the quest and didn't find anything note worthy. I've used the wand of wishing from the castle to wish for a blessed magic marker, gray dragon scale mail, and a ring of levitation. What else should I wish for? I've heard through the grape vine there's a wand of death in Gehennom but other than that I have no idea what Gehennom is like. Can I get some (mostly) spoiler free tips? I'm trying to avoid excessive spoilers. Playing on 3.7.0. With protection my AC is around -15
DUMP -
Coins
$ - 4368 gold pieces
Amulets
z - an uncursed amulet of magical breathing (being worn)
k - an uncursed amulet of reflection named reflection
Weapons
v - the blessed rustproof +5 Excalibur (wielded in right hand)
a - a rustproof +5 katana (wielded in left hand)
Armor
l - an uncursed rusty +0 dwarvish iron helm (being worn)
d - an uncursed +0 pair of yugake (being worn)
n - an uncursed fireproof +2 pair of speed boots (being worn)
g - an uncursed +0 cloak of displacement
K - a blessed fireproof +3 cloak of protection (being worn)
y - a greased +2 gray dragon scale mail (being worn)
Comestibles
c - 4 uncursed gunyoki
T - 4 uncursed lizard corpses
Scrolls
m - an uncursed unlabeled scroll
U - an uncursed unlabeled scroll
q - a scroll of remove curse
i - 4 uncursed scrolls of teleportation
Z - a scroll of teleportation
Potions
t - a yellow potion
M - a potion of gain level
N - a blessed potion of polymorph
s - an uncursed potion of restore ability
D - an uncursed potion of water
Rings
o - an engagement ring
x - an uncursed ring of invisibility
u - a ring of levitation
E - an uncursed ring of polymorph control (on left hand)
j - an uncursed ring of regeneration
A - an uncursed ring of slow digestion
G - an uncursed ring of teleport control
f - an uncursed ring of warning named warning (on right hand)
Wands
V - a wand of digging (0:2)
h - a wand of digging (0:1)
I - a wand of fire (0:4)
b - a wand of fire
Y - a wand of magic missile (0:4)
e - a wand of polymorph named polymorph (0:5)
F - a wand of sleep (0:7)
w - a wand of sleep (0:6)
P - a wand of striking (0:4)
p - a wand of teleportation (0:8)
C - a wand of teleportation (0:5)
R - a wand of wishing
Tools
H - a horn of plenty (0:13)
Q - a lamp
r - an uncursed brass lantern
O - a magic marker (1:3)
W - a magic marker
X - an uncursed skeleton key
B - an uncursed towel
Gems/Stones
S - an uncursed luckstone named luck stone
Intrinsics
https://imgur.com/a/k7xigfm

WEAPONS: AA/E/15R Fixer, AA/E/15V Fixer, B/25/15V Fixer, TS/E/15R Fixer, B/E/90 Fixer, EXE/E/15R Fixer (2), JUG/25/25 Fixer, V/E/90 Fixer, TS/50/15R Fixer (2), TS/25/90 Fixer, B25/15R Fixer, B/E/250 Fixer, AA/HIT/15R Fixer, B/HIT/25 Fixer, JUG/50H/25 Fixer, Q/HIT/15R Fixer, V/25/AGI Fixer, V/25/50DR Fixer, TS/25/PER Fixer, Q/50H/PER Fixer, V/E/25 Railway, TS/25/15R Railway, EXE/E/25 Railway, EXE/25/25 Railway, TS/50/25 Railway, Q/50L/15R Railway, Q/50B/15V Railway, B/50/90 Railway, Q/50L/90 Railway, AA/25/Dur Railway, I/25/25 Railway, J/25/15R Railway, GOUE/25 Railway, F/50/25 Railway, Q/50/PER Railway, ARI/50/25 Railway, A/50/25 Railway, TS/E/50DR Handmade, EXE/25/25 Assault, TS/E/90 Assault, F/25/25 Plasma, B/E/90 Lever, JUG/E/25 Lever, Q/E/15R Pipe, AA/25/15V Minigun, B/E/50DR Minigun, V/25/AGI Gatlaser, AA/50/15R Lmg, B/HIT/250 50cal, V/STE/15B Chainsaw, JUG/40P/S Drill, V/SS/90 Deathclaw, AA/SS/15B Deathclaw.
ARMOR: Hellcat Power Armor Chassis (tradable), Father Winter Helmet (tradable), BOL/END/WWR Ultracite Left Leg, BOL/1STWWR Ultracite Left Leg, BOL/RAD/SENT T-60 Right Arm, UNY/RAD/SENT Combat Left Leg.
NEW PLANS (alphabetical order): Alien Head Lamp, Alien Table, Assault Rifle Wraith's Wrath Paint (4), Bloody Rug (5), Chainsaw Ghostly Grinder Paint, Chainsaw Skeptikill Paint (9), Cultist Adept Hood (5), Cultist Adept Robes (4), Cultist Enlightened Hood (6), Cultist Enlightened Robes (6), Cultist Eventide Hood (9), Cultist Incarnate Helmet (3), Cultist Neophyte Hood (3), Cultist Neophyte Robes (5), Dried Wildflower Bouquet (3), Enlightened Lantern (8), Executioner Mask (2), Fluttering Moths (6), Fuzzy Enlightened Plushie (3), Fuzzy Mothman Plushie (8), Ghoul Chair, Giant Red Dinosaur (2), Glowing Flatwoods Monster Lamp, Hazmat Suit - Teal, Herdsman’s Bell, Honeycomb Paper Blue Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Brown Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Ghost Lantern A (4), Honeycomb Paper Ghost Lantern B (2), Honeycomb Paper Green Mothman (9), Honeycomb Paper Holiday Tree A (2), Honeycomb Paper Holiday Tree B (3), Honeycomb Paper Icy Snowflake (6), Honeycomb Paper Jack-o'Lantern A (5), Honeycomb Paper Jack-o'Lantern B (3), Honeycomb Paper Jolly Target, Honeycomb Paper Mothman Globe (8), Honeycomb Paper Red Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Ribbon Bell, Honeycomb Paper Snowman (2), Honeycomb Paper Spider Lantern (6), Plastiform Gingerbread (5), Plastiform Nutcracker (4), Plastiform Santa, Punty Pig Plushie (2), Rad Skull Rider Helmet (3), Sacred Mothman Tome (7), Scorchbeast Queen Beer Stein (7), Star Light (3), Super Mutant Diagram (3), Taxidermy Mutant Hound.
OLDER PLANS (alphabetical order): Alien Blaster (2), Alien Blaster Cryo Mag (2), Alien Blaster Poison Mag (3), Alien Corpse Operating Bed (3), Alien Disintegrator (2), Alien Disintegrator Automatic Receiver, Alien Disintegrator Cryo Receiver (2), Alien Jack O’Lantern (3), Alien Stash Box (3), Alien Tube (5), Antique Globe of Mars (3), Asteroid (3), Bos Officer Uniform (4), Boss Soldier Uniform (2), Barbed Walking Cane (2), Barbed Wire Fences (2), Bear Arm, Bear Arm Heavy Mod (3), Bear Arm Puncturing Mod (2), Bed of Nails (2), Behemoth Boss Plushie (2), Blue Devil Curtain Door (3), Blue Devil Outfit (3), Blue Devil Pelt Hood (3), Blue Devil Statue (2), Blue Ridge Rug, Blue Ridge Scout Outfit, Bos Medallion, Bottle Bot (4), Bottle and Cappy Balloon Statue, Bottle and Cappy Hoop Jump Statue, Bottle and Cappy Painting Statue (5), Bottle and Cappy Walking Globle Statue (3), Bottle Plush, Brahmin Backpack (3), Brahmin Grill, Brahmin Plushie (2), Brahmin Skin Rug (2), Burning Sheepsquatch Club, Canopy Tent (2), Cappy & Bottle Cowboy Cutouts (2), Cappy Clapper (3), Cappy Smashed Super Sledge Pain (4), Cartography Table, Chally the Moo-Moo Backpack, Circus Bench (2), Circus Cage Trailer, Circus Cube (2), Circus Seesaw, Circus Stilts (3), Circus Walking Globe (5), Civil War Era Suit (2), Civil War Era Top Hat (2), Classic Jack O’Lantern (2), Condemned Notification Sign (2), Confederate Hat, Costume Witch Hat (2), Crowd Bench Seats, Cryogenic Bed (5), Cryptid Hunter Boonie Hat (3), Cryptid Mobile, Cuckoo Clock, Cultist Backpack (4), Cupid Cappy Sign (6), Deathclaw Gauntlet Extra Claw (2), Decoy Ducks, Deputy’s Hat (3), Electrified Assaultron Blade, Evil Jack O’Lantern (2), Electrified Sheepsquatch Club, Electrified Shepherd’s Crook, Electro Enforcer (2), Flamethrower Trap, Freezing Electro Enforcer, Full Pumpkin Rack (2), Getaway Wagon, Glass Covered Sheperd's Crook, Gorilla Chair, Grim Reaper Vault-Boy Cutout (4), Gulper Head (5), Gulper Rug (3), Half Empty Pumpkin Rack (2), Half Full Pumpkin Rack (3), Halloween Skull Mask, Happy Jack O’Lantern (3), Hula Hoop, Human Tube 1 (5), Human Tube 2 (5), Insurgent Hat, Insurgent Outfit (3), Kids Brahmin Clock (3), Large Ultracite Shard (4), Marine Armor Helmet, Marine Tactical Helmet, Marine Wetsuit (2), Meat Cleaver, Milkman Hat (3), Milkman Outfit (2), Mirelurk King tube, Mobster Jack O’Lantern (3), Molerat Wind Chime (2), Mounted Blue Devil Head, Mounted Ogua Head (2), Musket Stack Monument (6), Nuka Cola Bottle Kiosk (3), Nuka Girl Area Rug (5), Nuka Launcher Model (3), Nuka Launcher Posters (2), Nuka Launcher Snow Globe (2), Nuka-Cade Poster (4), Nuka-Cola Ad Barrier (3), Nuka-Cola Balloons, Nuka-Cola Clock (4), Nuka-Cola Crate Stalls (3), Nuka-Stool, Nuka-World Cowboy Hat (3), Ogua Curtain Door (2), Ogua Egg (3), Ogua Hunter Hood, Ogua Hunter Outfit (2), Ogua Plushie (2), Ogua Shell Backpack (3), Overcharged Electro Enforcer (2), Paddock Gate (3), Pepper Shaker, Pink Brahmin Plushie, Pioneer Scout Bowie knife Paint (3), Plasma Gun True Flamer Barrel, Plastic Fruit Bowl, Poisoned Electro Enforcer (2), Practice Jack O’Lantern, Princess Castle Pink Sleeping Bag (2), Protective Lining Raider Underarmor, Pumpkin Rack, Radioactive Barrel (3), Red Rocket Gas Pump Wall Light (3), Red Rocket Gas Station Lamp (5), Red Truck Ceiling Light (4), Replica Gronak’s Axe, Rust Eagle Banner (6), Safari Crocolossus Backpack, Safari Gorilla Backpack (2), Sheepsquatch Staff, Shielded Lining BoS Underarmor (5), Shielded Lining Marine Underarmor, Shielded Lining Raider Underarmor (2), Sitting Gorilla (5), Skeleton Costume (2), Skiing Outfit, Small Vault Girl Statue, Spear, Spicy Tenderizer Mod, Spiked Electro Enforcer, Spiked Shepherd’s Crook (3), Spin the Wheel Snow Globe, Standing Gorilla (4), Strongman’s Super Sledge Paint, Surprised Jack O’Lantern (3), Tattered Curtains (5), The Fixer (5), Titan Plushie (2), Tomb Stones, Treasure Hunter Outfit Hat, Truckbed Trailer with Junk (2), Tunnel of Love Poster (3), Tunnel of Love Snow Globe (6), Ultracite Emergency Protocols, Ultracite Overdrive Servos, Vault Boy Jack O’Lantern (3), Vault Door Jack O’Lantern (3), Vault-Tec Jack O’Lantern (3), Vintage Water Cooler, Wall Mounted Fan (5), Wild West, Show Posters (3), Wise Mothman Throne, Witch Costume (2).
RECIPES (alphabetical order): Caramel Mutfruit, Cranberry Moonshine, Cutting Fluid (3), Disease Cure (Savage Divide), Fasnacht Donut, Fasnacht Sausage, Formula P, Gulper Stuffed Foot (2), Healing Salve (Mire), Lead Champagne Bellini, Nuka-Cola Dark, Pickaxe Pilsner, Stimpak Diffuser (3), White Russian.
WANT: Adhesive, Aluminum, Asbestos, Ballistic fiber, Ceramic, Coal, Concrete, Copper, Cork, Crystal, Fiber optics, Flux: Cobalt/Fluro/Yellow/Violet/Crimson, Gold, Gears, Nuclear waste, Oil, Silver, Springs, Ultracite, Leader Bobbleheads, Backwoodsman 6, Rare Apparel, Enclave Forceful Stock Mods.
CAPS VALUE PER EACH (for reference): Adhesive 5, Aluminum 3, Asbestos 2, Ballistic fiber 7, Ceramic 2, Coal 1, Concrete 1, Copper 4, Cork 1, Circuit 3, Crystal 3, Fiber optics 7, Fiberglass 1, Flux: Cobalt/Fluro/Yellow/Violet/Crimson 100, Gold 4, Gears 4, Screws 3, Nuclear waste 1, Oil 5, Silver 4, Springs 5, Anticeptic 2,Ultracite 7, Leader 500, Backwoodsman6 500.
Shoot me an offer :)

WEAPONS: AA/E/15R Fixer, AA/E/15V Fixer, B/25/15V Fixer, TS/E/15R Fixer, B/E/90 Fixer, EXE/E/15R Fixer (2), JUG/25/25 Fixer, V/E/90 Fixer, TS/50/15R Fixer (2), TS/25/90 Fixer, B25/15R Fixer, B/E/250 Fixer, AA/HIT/15R Fixer, B/HIT/25 Fixer, JUG/50H/25 Fixer, Q/HIT/15R Fixer, V/25/AGI Fixer, V/25/50DR Fixer, TS/25/PER Fixer, Q/50H/PER Fixer, V/E/25 Railway, TS/25/15R Railway, EXE/E/25 Railway, EXE/25/25 Railway, TS/50/25 Railway, Q/50L/15R Railway, Q/50B/15V Railway, B/50/90 Railway, Q/50L/90 Railway, AA/25/Dur Railway, I/25/25 Railway, J/25/15R Railway, GOUE/25 Railway, F/50/25 Railway, Q/50/PER Railway, ARI/50/25 Railway, A/50/25 Railway, TS/E/50DR Handmade, EXE/25/25 Assault, TS/E/90 Assault, F/25/25 Plasma, B/E/90 Lever, JUG/E/25 Lever, Q/E/15R Pipe, AA/25/15V Minigun, B/E/50DR Minigun, V/25/AGI Gatlaser, AA/50/15R Lmg, B/HIT/250 50cal, V/STE/15B Chainsaw, JUG/40P/S Drill, V/SS/90 Deathclaw, AA/SS/15B Deathclaw.
ARMOR: Hellcat Power Armor Chassis (tradable), Father Winter Helmet (tradable), BOL/END/WWR Ultracite Left Leg, BOL/1STWWR Ultracite Left Leg, BOL/RAD/SENT T-60 Right Arm, UNY/RAD/SENT Combat Left Leg.
NEW PLANS (alphabetical order): Alien Head Lamp, Alien Table (2), Assault Rifle Wraith's Wrath Paint (4), Bloody Rug (5), Chainsaw Ghostly Grinder Paint, Chainsaw Skeptikill Paint (9), Cultist Adept Hood (5), Cultist Adept Robes (4), Cultist Enlightened Hood (7), Cultist Enlightened Robes (6), Cultist Eventide Hood (9), Cultist Eventide Robes,Cultist Incarnate Helmet (3), Cultist Neophyte Hood (3), Cultist Neophyte Robes (5), Dried Wildflower Bouquet (3), Enlightened Lantern (8), Executioner Mask (2), Fluttering Moths (6), Fuzzy Enlightened Plushie (3), Fuzzy Mothman Plushie (8), Ghoul Chair, Giant Red Dinosaur (2), Glowing Flatwoods Monster Lamp, Hazmat Suit - Teal (3), Herdsman’s Bell, Honeycomb Paper Blue Mothman (7), Honeycomb Paper Brown Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Ghost Lantern A (4), Honeycomb Paper Ghost Lantern B (2), Honeycomb Paper Green Mothman (9), Honeycomb Paper Holiday Tree A (2), Honeycomb Paper Holiday Tree B (3), Honeycomb Paper Icy Snowflake (6), Honeycomb Paper Jack-o'Lantern A (5), Honeycomb Paper Jack-o'Lantern B (3), Honeycomb Paper Jolly Target, Honeycomb Paper Mothman Globe (8), Honeycomb Paper Red Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Ribbon Bell, Honeycomb Paper Snowman (2), Honeycomb Paper Spider Lantern (6), Plastiform Gingerbread (5), Plastiform Nutcracker (4), Plastiform Santa, Punty Pig Plushie (2), Rad Skull Rider Helmet (3), Sacred Mothman Tome (8), Scorchbeast Queen Beer Stein (7), Star Light (3), Super Mutant Diagram (3), Taxidermy Mutant Hound.
OLDER PLANS (alphabetical order): Alien Blaster (2), Alien Blaster Cryo Mag (2), Alien Blaster Poison Mag (3), Alien Corpse Operating Bed (3), Alien Disintegrator (2), Alien Disintegrator Automatic Receiver (2), Alien Disintegrator Cryo Receiver (2), Alien Jack O’Lantern (3), Alien Stash Box (3), Alien Tube (5), Antique Globe of Mars (3), Asteroid (3), Bos Officer Uniform (4), Boss Soldier Uniform (2), Barbed Walking Cane (2), Barbed Wire Fences (2), Bear Arm, Bear Arm Heavy Mod (3), Bear Arm Puncturing Mod (2), Bed of Nails (2), Behemoth Boss Plushie (2), Blue Devil Curtain Door (3), Blue Devil Outfit (3), Blue Devil Pelt Hood (3), Blue Devil Statue (2), Blue Ridge Rug, Blue Ridge Scout Outfit, Bos Medallion, Bottle Bot (4), Bottle and Cappy Balloon Statue, Bottle and Cappy Hoop Jump Statue, Bottle and Cappy Painting Statue (5), Bottle and Cappy Walking Globle Statue (3), Bottle Plush, Brahmin Backpack (3), Brahmin Grill, Brahmin Plushie (2), Brahmin Skin Rug (2), Burning Sheepsquatch Club, Canopy Tent (2), Cappy & Bottle Cowboy Cutouts (2), Cappy Clapper (3), Cappy Smashed Super Sledge Pain (4), Cartography Table, Chally the Moo-Moo Backpack, Circus Bench (2), Circus Cage Trailer, Circus Cube (2), Circus Seesaw, Circus Stilts (3), Circus Walking Globe (5), Civil War Era Suit (2), Civil War Era Top Hat (2), Classic Jack O’Lantern (2), Condemned Notification Sign (2), Confederate Hat, Costume Witch Hat (2), Crowd Bench Seats, Cryogenic Bed (5), Cryptid Hunter Boonie Hat (3), Cryptid Mobile, Cuckoo Clock, Cultist Backpack (4), Cupid Cappy Sign (6), Deathclaw Gauntlet Extra Claw (2), Decoy Ducks, Deputy’s Hat (3), Electrified Assaultron Blade, Evil Jack O’Lantern (2), Electrified Sheepsquatch Club, Electrified Shepherd’s Crook, Electro Enforcer (2), Flamethrower Trap, Freezing Electro Enforcer (2), Full Pumpkin Rack (2), Getaway Wagon, Glass Covered Sheperd's Crook, Gorilla Chair, Grim Reaper Vault-Boy Cutout (4), Gulper Head (5), Gulper Rug (3), Half Empty Pumpkin Rack (2), Half Full Pumpkin Rack (3), Halloween Skull Mask, Happy Jack O’Lantern (3), Hula Hoop, Human Tube 1 (5), Human Tube 2 (5), Insurgent Hat, Insurgent Outfit (3), Kids Brahmin Clock (3), Large Ultracite Shard (4), Marine Armor Helmet, Marine Tactical Helmet, Marine Wetsuit (2), Meat Cleaver, Milkman Hat (3), Milkman Outfit (2), Mirelurk King tube, Mobster Jack O’Lantern (3), Molerat Wind Chime (2), Mounted Blue Devil Head (2), Mounted Ogua Head (2), Musket Stack Monument (6), Nuka Cola Bottle Kiosk (3), Nuka Girl Area Rug (5), Nuka Launcher Model (3), Nuka Launcher Posters (2), Nuka Launcher Snow Globe (2), Nuka-Cade Poster (4), Nuka-Cola Ad Barrier (3), Nuka-Cola Balloons, Nuka-Cola Clock (4), Nuka-Cola Crate Stalls (3), Nuka-Stool, Nuka-World Cowboy Hat (3), Ogua Curtain Door (3), Ogua Egg (3), Ogua Hunter Hood, Ogua Hunter Outfit (2), Ogua Plushie (2), Ogua Shell Backpack (3), Overcharged Electro Enforcer (4), Paddock Gate (3), Pepper Shaker, Pink Brahmin Plushie, Pioneer Scout Bowie knife Paint (3), Plasma Gun True Flamer Barrel, Plastic Fruit Bowl, Poisoned Electro Enforcer (2), Practice Jack O’Lantern, Princess Castle Pink Sleeping Bag (2), Protective Lining Raider Underarmor, Pumpkin Rack, Radioactive Barrel (3), Red Rocket Gas Pump Wall Light (3), Red Rocket Gas Station Lamp (5), Red Truck Ceiling Light (4), Replica Gronak’s Axe, Rust Eagle Banner (6), Safari Crocolossus Backpack, Safari Gorilla Backpack (2), Sheepsquatch Staff, Shielded Lining BoS Underarmor (5), Shielded Lining Marine Underarmor, Shielded Lining Raider Underarmor (2), Sitting Gorilla (5), Skeleton Costume (2), Skiing Outfit, Small Vault Girl Statue, Spear, Spicy Tenderizer Mod, Spiked Electro Enforcer, Spiked Shepherd’s Crook (3), Spin the Wheel Snow Globe, Standing Gorilla (4), Strongman’s Super Sledge Paint, Surprised Jack O’Lantern (3), Tattered Curtains (5), The Fixer (5), Titan Plushie (2), Tomb Stones, Treasure Hunter Outfit Hat, Truckbed Trailer with Junk (2), Tunnel of Love Poster (3), Tunnel of Love Snow Globe (6), Ultracite Emergency Protocols, Ultracite Overdrive Servos, Vault Boy Jack O’Lantern (3), Vault Door Jack O’Lantern (3), Vault-Tec Jack O’Lantern (3), Vintage Water Cooler, Wall Mounted Fan (5), Wild West, Show Posters (3), Wise Mothman Throne, Witch Costume (2).
RECIPES (alphabetical order): Caramel Mutfruit, Cranberry Moonshine, Cutting Fluid (3), Disease Cure (Savage Divide), Fasnacht Donut, Fasnacht Sausage, Formula P, Gulper Stuffed Foot (2), Healing Salve (Mire), Lead Champagne Bellini, Nuka-Cola Dark, Pickaxe Pilsner, Stimpak Diffuser (3), White Russian.
WANT: Adhesive, Aluminum, Asbestos, Ballistic fiber, Ceramic, Coal, Concrete, Copper, Cork, Crystal, Fiber optics, Flux: Cobalt/Fluro/Yellow/Violet/Crimson, Gold, Gears, Nuclear waste, Oil, Silver, Springs, Ultracite, Leader Bobbleheads, Backwoodsman 6, Rare Apparel, Enclave Forceful Stock Mods.
CAPS VALUE PER EACH (for reference): Adhesive 5, Aluminum 3, Asbestos 2, Ballistic fiber 7, Ceramic 2, Coal 1, Concrete 1, Copper 4, Cork 1, Circuits 3, Crystal 3, Fiber optics 7, Fiberglass 1, Flux: Cobalt/Fluro/Yellow/Violet/Crimson 100, Gold 4, Gears 4, Screws 3, Nuclear waste 1, Oil 5, Silver 4, Springs 5, Anticeptic 2,Ultracite 7, Leader 500, Backwoodsman6 500.
Shoot me an offer :)

Ive been in Colorado Springs for a year now and being a cook Ive seen in quite a few kitchens. Ive worked in some very popular places in town and some under the radar places, and some interviews will give me a tour of their kitchen. Some kitchens look clean and organized, some do not. The experiences Ive had in this town so far have led me to believe that not many people in this town know proper food safety. Here are just some of the things Ive seen so far in multiple restaurants here in town, popular or otherwise. Handling raw foods right next to ready to eat foods. Handling said raw foods with gloveless hands and not washing hands before touching other things. Putting a container of food on the floor and then putting it on the cutting board where ready to eat food is handled. Leaving personal items everywhere. Personal drinks with no lids. A worker stirring a drink for a guest with their ungloved finger. Workers stuffing their face while also making food for a guest. Wrapping steaming hot foods for storing. Many unlabeled foods. Keeping food for so long that it gets moldy. Half assed washing of dishes and kitchen tools. Workers either not washing their hands and/or not changing their gloves until hours later. Sometimes they even handle their personal items with these gloves on and then go back to touching your ready to eat food. A general lack of knowledge with allergies and never asking a guest if cross contamination is ok because there is an insane amount of cross contamination in the places Ive worked at and that question should always be asked when allergies are concerned.
Im not saying I want these places to be Michelin star restaurants but I do expect proper food safety to be well known and adhered to, or people will get sick. Some of these places with severe improper food handling should be shut down until they can be more certain that their guests will not get sick from the food. Health inspections are always available for viewing and can tell you a lot about a kitchen, but some things are overlooked or just not seen at the time they were there.
I also think that the privately owned places really need to step it up. Giant corporations run smooth because they have organization, cleanliness and proper training. The owners of these small one off places really need to have a bit more structure and organization or they will continue to deal with these issues daily. Im not here to completely throw someone under the bus and trash their business, I want to see them grow and thrive. Some owners are not good people, but others are fantastic people and I want nothing but the best for them. But if they continue in this fashion they will never be the best, they will never retain workers, they will always have a skeleton crew and headaches from trying to keep their business running.
So my questions for the cooks here are firstly do you know proper food safety? Does the restaurant you work in follow food safety?
Do you feel safe eating out in this town?
Thoughts?

WEAPONS: AA/E/15R Fixer, AA/E/15V Fixer, B/25/15V Fixer, TS/E/15R Fixer, B/E/90 Fixer, EXE/E/15R Fixer (2), JUG/25/25 Fixer, V/E/90 Fixer, TS/50/15R Fixer (2), TS/25/90 Fixer, B25/15R Fixer, B/E/250 Fixer, AA/HIT/15R Fixer, B/HIT/25 Fixer, JUG/50H/25 Fixer, Q/HIT/15R Fixer, V/25/AGI Fixer, V/25/50DR Fixer, TS/25/PER Fixer, Q/50H/PER Fixer, V/E/25 Railway, TS/25/15R Railway, EXE/E/25 Railway, EXE/25/25 Railway, TS/50/25 Railway, Q/50L/15R Railway, Q/50B/15V Railway, B/50/90 Railway, Q/50L/90 Railway, AA/25/Dur Railway, I/25/25 Railway, J/25/15R Railway, GOUE/25 Railway, F/50/25 Railway, Q/50/PER Railway, ARI/50/25 Railway, A/50/25 Railway, TS/E/50DR Handmade, EXE/25/25 Assault, TS/E/90 Assault, F/25/25 Plasma, B/E/90 Lever, JUG/E/25 Lever, Q/E/15R Pipe, AA/25/15V Minigun, B/E/50DR Minigun, V/25/AGI Gatlaser, AA/50/15R Lmg, B/HIT/250 50cal, V/STE/15B Chainsaw, JUG/40P/S Drill, V/SS/90 Deathclaw, AA/SS/15B Deathclaw.
ARMOR: Hellcat Power Armor Chassis (tradable), Father Winter Helmet (Tradable), BOL/END/WWR Ultracite Left Leg, BOL/1STWWR Ultracite Left Leg, BOL/RAD/SENT T-60 Right Arm, ARI/FIRE/WWR Excavator Right Arm, UNY/RAD/SENT Combat Left Leg.
NEW PLANS (alphabetical order): Assault Rifle Wraith's Wrath Paint (4), Bloody Rug (5), Chainsaw Ghostly Grinder Paint, Chainsaw Skeptikill Paint (9), Cultist Adept Hood (5), Cultist Adept Robes (4), Cultist Enlightened Hood (6), Cultist Enlightened Robes (6), Cultist Eventide Hood (9), Cultist Incarnate Helmet (3), Cultist Neophyte Hood (3), Cultist Neophyte Robes (5), Dried Wildflower Bouquet (3), Enlightened Lantern (8), Executioner Mask (2), Fluttering Moths (6), Fuzzy Enlightened Plushie (3), Fuzzy Mothman Plushie (8), Ghoul Chair, Giant Red Dinosaur (2), Herdsman’s Bell, Honeycomb Paper Blue Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Brown Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Ghost Lantern A (4), Honeycomb Paper Ghost Lantern B (2), Honeycomb Paper Green Mothman (9), Honeycomb Paper Holiday Tree A (2), Honeycomb Paper Holiday Tree B (3), Honeycomb Paper Icy Snowflake (6), Honeycomb Paper Jack-o'Lantern A (5), Honeycomb Paper Jack-o'Lantern B (3), Honeycomb Paper Jolly Target, Honeycomb Paper Mothman Globe (8), Honeycomb Paper Red Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Ribbon Bell, Honeycomb Paper Snowman (2), Honeycomb Paper Spider Lantern (6), Plastiform Gingerbread (5), Plastiform Nutcracker (4), Plastiform Santa, Punty Pig Plushie (2), Rad Skull Rider Helmet (3), Sacred Mothman Tome (8), Scorchbeast Queen Beer Stein (7), Star Light (3), Super Mutant Diagram (3), Taxidermy Mutant Hound.
OLDER PLANS (alphabetical order): Alien Blaster Cryo Mag, Alien Blaster Poison Mag (3), Alien Corpse Operating Bed (3), Alien Jack O’Lantern (3), Alien Stash Box (3), Alien Tube (5), Antique Globe of Mars (3), Asteroid (3), Bos Officer Uniform (4), Boss Soldier Uniform (2), Barbed Walking Cane (2), Barbed Wire Fences (3), Bear Arm, Bear Arm Heavy Mod (3), Bear Arm Puncturing Mod (2), Bed of Nails (2), Behemoth Boss Plushie (3), Blue Devil Curtain Door (3), Blue Devil Outfit (3), Blue Devil Pelt Hood (3), Blue Devil Statue (2), Blue Ridge Rug, Blue Ridge Scout Outfit, Bos Medallion, Bottle Bot (4), Bottle and Cappy Balloon Statue, Bottle and Cappy Hoop Jump Statue, Bottle and Cappy Painting Statue (5), Bottle and Cappy Walking Globle Statue (3), Bottle Plush, Brahmin Backpack (3), Brahmin Grill, Brahmin Plushie (2), Brahmin Skin Rug (2), Canopy Tent (2), Cappy & Bottle Cowboy Cutouts, Cappy Clapper (3), Cappy Smashed Super Sledge Pain (4), Cartography Table, Chally the Moo-Moo Backpack, Circus Bench (2), Circus Cage Trailer, Circus Cube (2), Circus Seesaw, Circus Stilts (3), Circus Walking Globe (5), Civil War Era Suit (2), Civil War Era Top Hat (2), Classic Jack O’Lantern (2), Condemned Notification Sign (2), Confederate Hat, Costume Witch Hat (2), Crowd Bench Seats, Cryogenic Bed (5), Cryptid Hunter Boonie Hat (3), Cryptid Mobile, Cuckoo Clock, Cultist Backpack (4), Cupid Cappy Sign (6), Deathclaw Gauntlet Extra Claw (2), Decoy Ducks, Deputy’s Hat (3), Electrified Assaultron Blade, Evil Jack O’Lantern (2), Electrified Sheepsquatch Club, Electrified Shepherd’s Crook, Flamethrower Trap, Full Pumpkin Rack (2), Getaway Wagon, Glass Covered Sheperd's Crook, Gorilla Chair, Grim Reaper Vault-Boy Cutout (4), Gulper Head (5), Gulper Rug (3), Half Empty Pumpkin Rack (2), Half Full Pumpkin Rack (3), Halloween Skull Mask, Happy Jack O’Lantern (3), Hula Hoop, Human Tube 1 (5), Human Tube 2 (5), Insurgent Hat, Insurgent Outfit (3), Kids Brahmin Clock (3), Large Ultracite Shard (4), Marine Armor Helmet, Marine Tactical Helmet, Marine Wetsuit (2), Meat Cleaver, Milkman Hat (3), Milkman Outfit (2), Mirelurk King tube, Mobster Jack O’Lantern (3), Molerat Wind Chime (2), Mounted Blue Devil Head, Mounted Ogua Head (2), Musket Stack Monument (6), Nuka Cola Bottle Kiosk (3), Nuka Girl Area Rug (5), Nuka Launcher Model (3), Nuka Launcher Posters (2), Nuka Launcher Snow Globe (2), Nuka-Cade Poster (4), Nuka-Cola Ad Barrier (3), Nuka-Cola Balloons, Nuka-Cola Clock (4), Nuka-Cola Crate Stalls (3), Nuka-Stool, Nuka-World Cowboy Hat (3), Ogua Curtain Door (2), Ogua Egg (3), Ogua Hunter Hood, Ogua Hunter Outfit (2), Ogua Plushie (2), Ogua Shell Backpack (3), Paddock Gate (3), Pepper Shaker, Pink Brahmin Plushie, Pioneer Scout Bowie knife Paint (3), Plasma Gun True Flamer Barrel, Plastic Fruit Bowl, Practice Jack O’Lantern, Princess Castle Pink Sleeping Bag (2), Protective Lining Raider Underarmor, Pumpkin Rack, Radioactive Barrel (3), Red Rocket Gas Pump Wall Light (3), Red Rocket Gas Station Lamp (5), Red Truck Ceiling Light (4), Replica Gronak’s Axe, Rust Eagle Banner (6), Safari Crocolossus Backpack, Safari Gorilla Backpack (2), Sheepsquatch Staff, Shielded Lining BoS Underarmor (5), Shielded Lining Marine Underarmor, Shielded Lining Raider Underarmor (2), Sitting Gorilla (5), Skeleton Costume (2), Skiing Outfit, Small Vault Girl Statue, Spear, Spicy Tenderizer Mod, Spiked Shepherd’s Crook (3), Spin the Wheel Snow Globe, Standing Gorilla (4), Strongman’s Super Sledge Paint, Surprised Jack O’Lantern (3), Tattered Curtains (5), The Fixer (5), Titan Plushie (2), Tomb Stones, Treasure Hunter Outfit Hat, Truckbed Trailer with Junk (2), Tunnel of Love Poster (3), Tunnel of Love Snow Globe (6), Ultracite Emergency Protocols, Ultracite Overdrive Servos, Vault Boy Jack O’Lantern (3), Vault Door Jack O’Lantern (3), Vault-Tec Jack O’Lantern (3), Vintage Water Cooler, Wall Mounted Fan (5), Wild West, Show Posters (3), Wise Mothman Throne, Witch Costume (2).
RECIPES (alphabetical order): Caramel Mutfruit, Cranberry Moonshine, Cutting Fluid (3), Disease Cure (Savage Divide), Fasnacht Donut, Fasnacht Sausage, Formula P, Gulper Stuffed Foot (2), Healing Salve (Mire), Lead Champagne Bellini, Nuka-Cola Dark, Pickaxe Pilsner, Stimpak Diffuser (3), White Russian.
WANT: Adhesive, Aluminum, Asbestos, Ballistic fiber, Ceramic, Coal, Concrete, Copper, Cork, Crystal, Fiber optics, Flux: Cobalt/Fluro/Yellow/Violet/Crimson, Gold, Gears, Nuclear waste, Oil, Silver, Springs, Ultracite, Leader Bobbleheads, Backwoodsman 6, Live&Love 8, Rare Apparel, Enclave Forceful Stock Mods. Shoot me an offer :)

WEAPONS: AA/E/15R Fixer, AA/E/15V Fixer, B/25/15V Fixer, TS/E/15R Fixer, B/E/90 Fixer, EXE/E/15R Fixer (2), JUG/25/25 Fixer, V/E/90 Fixer, TS/50/15R Fixer (2), TS/25/90 Fixer, B25/15R Fixer, B/E/250 Fixer, AA/HIT/15R Fixer, B/HIT/25 Fixer, JUG/50H/25 Fixer, Q/HIT/15R Fixer, V/25/AGI Fixer, V/25/50DR Fixer, TS/25/PER Fixer, Q/50H/PER Fixer, V/E/25 Railway, TS/25/15R Railway, EXE/E/25 Railway, EXE/25/25 Railway, TS/50/25 Railway, Q/50L/15R Railway, Q/50B/15V Railway, B/50/90 Railway, Q/50L/90 Railway, AA/25/Dur Railway, I/25/25 Railway, J/25/15R Railway, GOUE/25 Railway, F/50/25 Railway, Q/50/PER Railway, ARI/50/25 Railway, A/50/25 Railway, TS/E/50DR Handmade, EXE/25/25 Assault, TS/E/90 Assault, F/25/25 Plasma, B/E/90 Lever, JUG/E/25 Lever, Q/E/15R Pipe, AA/25/15V Minigun, B/E/50DR Minigun, V/25/AGI Gatlaser, AA/50/15R Lmg, B/HIT/250 50cal, V/STE/15B Chainsaw, JUG/40P/S Drill, V/SS/90 Deathclaw, AA/SS/15B Deathclaw.
ARMOR: Hellcat Power Armor Chassis (tradable), Father Winter Helmet (tradable), BOL/END/WWR Ultracite Left Leg, BOL/1STWWR Ultracite Left Leg, BOL/RAD/SENT T-60 Right Arm, UNY/RAD/SENT Combat Left Leg.
NEW PLANS (alphabetical order): Alien Table, Assault Rifle Wraith's Wrath Paint (4), Bloody Rug (5), Chainsaw Ghostly Grinder Paint, Chainsaw Skeptikill Paint (9), Cultist Adept Hood (5), Cultist Adept Robes (4), Cultist Enlightened Hood (6), Cultist Enlightened Robes (6), Cultist Eventide Hood (9), Cultist Incarnate Helmet (3), Cultist Neophyte Hood (3), Cultist Neophyte Robes (5), Dried Wildflower Bouquet (3), Enlightened Lantern (8), Executioner Mask (2), Fluttering Moths (6), Fuzzy Enlightened Plushie (3), Fuzzy Mothman Plushie (8), Ghoul Chair, Giant Red Dinosaur (2), Glowing Flatwoods Monster Lamp, Hazmat Suit - Teal, Herdsman’s Bell, Honeycomb Paper Blue Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Brown Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Ghost Lantern A (4), Honeycomb Paper Ghost Lantern B (2), Honeycomb Paper Green Mothman (9), Honeycomb Paper Holiday Tree A (2), Honeycomb Paper Holiday Tree B (3), Honeycomb Paper Icy Snowflake (6), Honeycomb Paper Jack-o'Lantern A (5), Honeycomb Paper Jack-o'Lantern B (3), Honeycomb Paper Jolly Target, Honeycomb Paper Mothman Globe (8), Honeycomb Paper Red Mothman (6), Honeycomb Paper Ribbon Bell, Honeycomb Paper Snowman (2), Honeycomb Paper Spider Lantern (6), Plastiform Gingerbread (5), Plastiform Nutcracker (4), Plastiform Santa, Punty Pig Plushie (2), Rad Skull Rider Helmet (3), Sacred Mothman Tome (8), Scorchbeast Queen Beer Stein (7), Star Light (3), Super Mutant Diagram (3), Taxidermy Mutant Hound.
OLDER PLANS (alphabetical order): Alien Blaster (2), Alien Blaster Cryo Mag (2), Alien Blaster Poison Mag (3), Alien Corpse Operating Bed (3), Alien Disintegrator (2), Alien Disintegrator Automatic Receiver, Alien Disintegrator Cryo Receiver (2), Alien Jack O’Lantern (3), Alien Stash Box (3), Alien Tube (5), Antique Globe of Mars (3), Asteroid (3), Bos Officer Uniform (4), Boss Soldier Uniform (2), Barbed Walking Cane (2), Barbed Wire Fences (2), Bear Arm, Bear Arm Heavy Mod (3), Bear Arm Puncturing Mod (2), Bed of Nails (2), Behemoth Boss Plushie (2), Blue Devil Curtain Door (3), Blue Devil Outfit (3), Blue Devil Pelt Hood (3), Blue Devil Statue (2), Blue Ridge Rug, Blue Ridge Scout Outfit, Bos Medallion, Bottle Bot (4), Bottle and Cappy Balloon Statue, Bottle and Cappy Hoop Jump Statue, Bottle and Cappy Painting Statue (5), Bottle and Cappy Walking Globle Statue (3), Bottle Plush, Brahmin Backpack (3), Brahmin Grill, Brahmin Plushie (2), Brahmin Skin Rug (2), Burning Sheepsquatch Club, Canopy Tent (2), Cappy & Bottle Cowboy Cutouts (2), Cappy Clapper (3), Cappy Smashed Super Sledge Pain (4), Cartography Table, Chally the Moo-Moo Backpack, Circus Bench (2), Circus Cage Trailer, Circus Cube (2), Circus Seesaw, Circus Stilts (3), Circus Walking Globe (5), Civil War Era Suit (2), Civil War Era Top Hat (2), Classic Jack O’Lantern (2), Condemned Notification Sign (2), Confederate Hat, Costume Witch Hat (2), Crowd Bench Seats, Cryogenic Bed (5), Cryptid Hunter Boonie Hat (3), Cryptid Mobile, Cuckoo Clock, Cultist Backpack (4), Cupid Cappy Sign (6), Deathclaw Gauntlet Extra Claw (2), Decoy Ducks, Deputy’s Hat (3), Electrified Assaultron Blade, Evil Jack O’Lantern (2), Electrified Sheepsquatch Club, Electrified Shepherd’s Crook, Electro Enforcer (2), Flamethrower Trap, Freezing Electro Enforcer, Full Pumpkin Rack (2), Getaway Wagon, Glass Covered Sheperd's Crook, Gorilla Chair, Grim Reaper Vault-Boy Cutout (4), Gulper Head (5), Gulper Rug (3), Half Empty Pumpkin Rack (2), Half Full Pumpkin Rack (3), Halloween Skull Mask, Happy Jack O’Lantern (3), Hula Hoop, Human Tube 1 (5), Human Tube 2 (5), Insurgent Hat, Insurgent Outfit (3), Kids Brahmin Clock (3), Large Ultracite Shard (4), Marine Armor Helmet, Marine Tactical Helmet, Marine Wetsuit (2), Meat Cleaver, Milkman Hat (3), Milkman Outfit (2), Mirelurk King tube, Mobster Jack O’Lantern (3), Molerat Wind Chime (2), Mounted Blue Devil Head, Mounted Ogua Head (2), Musket Stack Monument (6), Nuka Cola Bottle Kiosk (3), Nuka Girl Area Rug (5), Nuka Launcher Model (3), Nuka Launcher Posters (2), Nuka Launcher Snow Globe (2), Nuka-Cade Poster (4), Nuka-Cola Ad Barrier (3), Nuka-Cola Balloons, Nuka-Cola Clock (4), Nuka-Cola Crate Stalls (3), Nuka-Stool, Nuka-World Cowboy Hat (3), Ogua Curtain Door (2), Ogua Egg (3), Ogua Hunter Hood, Ogua Hunter Outfit (2), Ogua Plushie (2), Ogua Shell Backpack (3), Overcharged Electro Enforcer (2), Paddock Gate (3), Pepper Shaker, Pink Brahmin Plushie, Pioneer Scout Bowie knife Paint (3), Plasma Gun True Flamer Barrel, Plastic Fruit Bowl, Poisoned Electro Enforcer (2), Practice Jack O’Lantern, Princess Castle Pink Sleeping Bag (2), Protective Lining Raider Underarmor, Pumpkin Rack, Radioactive Barrel (3), Red Rocket Gas Pump Wall Light (3), Red Rocket Gas Station Lamp (5), Red Truck Ceiling Light (4), Replica Gronak’s Axe, Rust Eagle Banner (6), Safari Crocolossus Backpack, Safari Gorilla Backpack (2), Sheepsquatch Staff, Shielded Lining BoS Underarmor (5), Shielded Lining Marine Underarmor, Shielded Lining Raider Underarmor (2), Sitting Gorilla (5), Skeleton Costume (2), Skiing Outfit, Small Vault Girl Statue, Spear, Spicy Tenderizer Mod, Spiked Electro Enforcer, Spiked Shepherd’s Crook (3), Spin the Wheel Snow Globe, Standing Gorilla (4), Strongman’s Super Sledge Paint, Surprised Jack O’Lantern (3), Tattered Curtains (5), The Fixer (5), Titan Plushie (2), Tomb Stones, Treasure Hunter Outfit Hat, Truckbed Trailer with Junk (2), Tunnel of Love Poster (3), Tunnel of Love Snow Globe (6), Ultracite Emergency Protocols, Ultracite Overdrive Servos, Vault Boy Jack O’Lantern (3), Vault Door Jack O’Lantern (3), Vault-Tec Jack O’Lantern (3), Vintage Water Cooler, Wall Mounted Fan (5), Wild West, Show Posters (3), Wise Mothman Throne, Witch Costume (2).
RECIPES (alphabetical order): Caramel Mutfruit, Cranberry Moonshine, Cutting Fluid (3), Disease Cure (Savage Divide), Fasnacht Donut, Fasnacht Sausage, Formula P, Gulper Stuffed Foot (2), Healing Salve (Mire), Lead Champagne Bellini, Nuka-Cola Dark, Pickaxe Pilsner, Stimpak Diffuser (3), White Russian.
WANT: Adhesive, Aluminum, Asbestos, Ballistic fiber, Ceramic, Coal, Concrete, Copper, Cork, Crystal, Fiber optics, Flux: Cobalt/Fluro/Yellow/Violet/Crimson, Gold, Gears, Nuclear waste, Oil, Silver, Springs, Ultracite, Leader Bobbleheads, Backwoodsman 6, Live&Love 8, Rare Apparel, Enclave Forceful Stock Mods. Shoot me an offer :)

Disclaimer I'm writing this at like 4 am I am sorry if any of this sounds incredibly stupid. No hate to realism btw yall can do whatever you want if its what you like
I often see that realism artists make super stiff cartoon art, anime artists struggle with oversizing eyes in realism, and cartoon artists can seem like they're really good until you ask them to step out of their style. It's not even always just beginners.
With this I wonder, would practicing in realism not make non realism artists art styles suffer? I see a lot of people around here saying to study basics, which yes, I agree, but then they add that it should be realism. This is the part where I start to feel iffy.
Personally I have almost never drawn realism except for rarely in art class. My sister introduced me to anime when I was a little kid, and I also liked a lot of Undertale animations. As such, my art style developed into a anime-y style. In fact, I cannot recall a single time I did legit realism before high school. I probably did, but that just means I barely did it and definitely not to the extent people are suggesting practice.
But guess what? My realism is fine. I would say it's pretty ok. I know I am not a master, the people at the more aggressive subreddits would probably dig into me somehow, but I've drawn for about 14 years so I would think I can decently judge myself.
What I think is that because the average anime proportions can be quite similar to proportions of "you should practice realism for anatomy!!!" after all this time I've been able to know the basics and have a good understanding. I think that really any style can follow the "learn the rules before breaking them" rule, but it's just that after mastering one style if you want to learn another you need to take time to get used to it, no matter what the style is. I learned the 6-8 head height rule from anime, I learned the ear tips aligning somewhere between your top eyelid and eyebrow rule from a friend who does anime-ish art, I learned to measure using clavicles and knee bones and abs from reading a lot of Webtoon (Not exactly anime but the average person would probably call it anime), how to build feet with triangles from anime tutorials, and also how to draw male chins (I used to only be able to draw women) from Webtoon as well. And guess what? It can all apply to realism too.
I would like to add that yes, much of this does not apply to cartoon at all. Cartoon has HUGE ability to exaggerate, but then lets go back to what I aaid at the beginning. "Cartoon artists can seem like they're really good until you ask them to step out of their style".... Doesn't this mean cartoon just has different rules? That a lot of these people are masters.... but they just mastered cartoon and not realism? They can "learn the rules before breaking them" but of cartoon and then breaking them would be to try realism and anime, right?
Does what I am saying make sense yet? If a kid wants to learn, you can tell them proportion rules without specifically telling them "Oh, you must do realism." You can tell them anatomy rules because styles can generally follow them a lot even if it is not realism. Even with cartoon there is still some semblance of it, like how you wouldn't want your elbow on your shoulderblade. You can explain how lighting works fine without realism. You can explain how angles work fine without realism.
I think a lot of people will say "But a lot of good artists began with realism," but to that I say maybe you see a lot of people do it, but what about everyone else? I certainly already said I didn't. My art teacher often says that every professional uses references (False), and the very first things that go through my mind for the realism ones are always "Nuh uh, what if I want to draw a fabric in cartoon or anime? All these wrinkles for a real image would be overkill. A lot of the artists I know maybe use a little bit, but definitely not for everything." Or stuff like how in fact, references can be detrimental by following them too closely and making the intended style look uncanny.
Another way I can think of to explaim it is one time when I was going to draw a skeleton horse from the front I searched up a skeleton horse diagram and got one from the side. I was thinking if I knew the way the bones worked, i could apply the rules to a different angle of the horse (Similar to how you can learn anatomy without specifically knowing realism). She made me get an image of a front horse (Similar to being told you must do realism to know these things).
I'm not sure if that one made sense, but I'm trying to get all my thoughts out so I don't go back to edit and add a million things.
Another thing that I want to add that is pretty important is that sometimes being told to practice in a style that you dont want can be discouraging. I certainly was super pissed off when one of my old teachers kept telling me to learn 3d art and when another teacher really really wanted the class to do experimental abstract art because she thought it was fun (Everyone hated it). How many people could be being discouraged when people tell them to do realism? I'm sure that knowing the basics and anatomy can make sense, but why does it have to be realism? It doesn't! I know for me doing art I don't like makes me do it slower, so how many people could be out there forcing themselves to do realism because they think it is necessary which is ending up stunting their improvement? There is probably a lot of other things I can say but I can't think of them right now
I realize this was very ranty. Thanks to anyone who took the time to read and sorry for making you wrap your head around my unsorted thoughts.

A bunch of us have already heard it. Apparently after 10 years of being completely fine with it, TOHO doesn't like the idea of Godzilla being a member of a larger species, and is forcing Legendary to write the lore such that he is the only member of his species to have ever existed. Well that's it then. 10 years of lore, within interwoven biology and histories with other Titans like the MUTOs and Kongs, all down the drain......
.....or is it?
Well readers, I'm here to tell you, that I have a new theory regarding this information, that both perfectly fits within the established MV lore, and also adheres to the new rule given by TOHO(It's still a bullshit rule that never should have existed. Someone at TOHO better reverse that decision by the next movie).
So what do I mean by this? Well, we shall simply go through all the lore regarding Godzilla himself and his 'species', and determine how it can all fit together. And we shall start, at the beginning.
2014 - Now this movie was the first(obviously) to introduce Godzilla as potentially being part of a wider species. Not just with how kaijus in this universe are, but also due to the fact that there's Dagon's skeleton in the beginning of the movie. And the first skeleton Diagram shown to Ford during the MONARCH debriefing scene was in fact a diagram of Dagon's skeleton. So that's it then? Godzilla HAS to be a part of a whole species then? Not neccessarily. I'll come back to Dagon later.
Now regarding the MUTOs, there's no possible way that they could be a whole species on their own without Godzilla being part of a wider species right? Otherwise if he wasn't, then 2014 shouldn't possibly have happened, because the MUTOs shouldn't exist. An entire parasitic species cannot evolve the way they did, if only one member of the species ever existed. So that's DEFINITELY has to be proof that Godzilla isn't the only one of his species? Again, not necessarily.
2024 - Fast forward to GvK and GxK(not much regarding his species is discussed in KOTM or dominion), we find out that there was an ancient war that occurred between both Kong's and Godzilla's ancestors. Keyword being ANCESTORS. They don't say anything regarding Godzilla's species, they just say ancestors. Curious.....
And now here is the big reveal that I am about to dump on all of you. Godzilla is the first of his species to ever exist, because he quite literally THE NEXT STAGE OF EVOLUTION FOR HIS GENUS.
Think about it. All the legends about Godzilla eating a star to gain power, they all seem to believe that it's somehow unnatural for a creature like that to have such power like that. Yet there's also proof that it's biologically ingrained into their bodies.
What if, the early Gojiras could ONLY ever unlock their Atomic Breath powers after they reached an elderly level of age? It would explain why the MUTOs were able to evolve against such weapons and know how to fight them.
But what if Godzilla himself was BORN with that power? From the moment he hatched, he had the most powerful weapons in the universe right in his jaws, and he was only going to get STRONGER FROM THAT POINT. Plus he was also born with the ability to absorb power unlike any other creature ever could. If a caveman had watched that reactor scene from GXK, I'm pretty sure he'd think the monster was eating a star.
In Aftershock, it's revealed just how perfectly evolved the Jinshin-Mushi is at taking down its prey, but I'm sure we all had a question lingering in our minds. Why the hell didn't Dagon use his beam against JM?
Answer: HE WASN'T OLD ENOUGH. And we all saw just how easily JM bitch slapped Dagon to the ground, instantly KO'ing him.
And yet when Godzilla fought JM, that wasn't there. Not only was Godzilla physically stronger than JM, but JM had to RUN AWAY, and use defensive tactics to be able to actually face off against Godzilla. Godzilla isn't just built different from his species, he IS DIFFERENT.
Godzilla is quite possible the Titan equivalent of an X-man in this universe. He is the next stage of evolution for his Genus, and is reaching Godly levels of powers that none of his ancestors could ever HOPE to come close to.
It honestly actually makes sense. Also before people say, "Oh but you can't just get a brand new species just like that out of nowhere from an already existing one."
Dude this universe has creatures that can absorb and incorporate the DNA of other creatures to modify their own bodies, and ghosts are confirmed in this universe. If all that is possible, then it's possible that Godzilla hit the genetic jackpot of all existence to become the peak lifeform of Earth.
It's like Mark said, "Always evolving, adapting, that's how he's survived for so long."
NONE of the other Gojiras had the power to adapt like our Big G did. He is a completely different species, and the only one. But he still had ancestors that birthed him, even though they aren't the same species.
Thank you for attending my TED talk.

Hey! DGG orthodontist here, vumby in chat. DGGer since 2017. With Destiny's latest journey into the world of Invisalign a lot of tooth/face/jaw discussion has come up (VOD) in the past few months and I thought I could explain and debunk a few things while upping the Oral Health education of the community!
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Dentist vs Orthodontist, Invisalign vs. Braces
Some discussion has been had about going to a dentist versus an orthodontist for tooth movement. It is my opinion that most dentist's are not knowledgeable enough to do orthodontics. Historically, most dentist's did not do orthodontics due to the large barrier of entry including supply, knowledge and skill required to bond braces to patients. With the invention of Invisalign, now nearly all dentist's offer some form of tooth movement because it eliminated those issues.
Invisalign has done an incredible job marketing to promote its product as faster and better than braces with easier to accomplish results (the downstream effect being the DIY companies like smiledirect). In my specialized opinion, this is not the case (source). In reality, it has only made highly specific situations easier to correct. In fact, many tooth movements are fairly inaccurate (source). The trick is that you have to actually be knowledgeable enough to be selective on the cases you treat with aligners. When aligners don't work they slip off of the teeth instead of moving them.
Unfortunately, Invisalign education for dentists is essentially non-existent. Some dental schools including my own did not require any clinical orthodontic care on a patient to graduate. Buffalo and Harvard have students just observe orthodontic residents (Harvard, Buffalo). Finding time in dental school to treat orthodontic patients when most dentists need to learn crowns, root canals, fillings and dentures is difficult.
In contrast, ortho residency requires 3700 hours of ortho lecture and patient care to graduate. Unfortunately, 95% of that education is in braces, not aligner therapy. The principles of biomechanics are the same, but the tool is quite different. I've personally found it necessary to take additional CE courses for me to feel comfortable treating these patients and have just recently gained a strong understanding of the ability and limitations of Invisalign. The best thing about being an orthodontist is that I always have braces as a backup, which the dentist does not.
When I'm selective.. Invisalign works just as well as braces.
How do teeth move?, Root resorption, & Diet vs Genetics
Teeth are really cool. Teeth do not have enamel-to-bone contact. We do not need to break the roots or jaw to move them. Teeth sit in the alveolar bone in a socket, but are connected to the bone by the periodontal ligaments. These are like little fibers all around the root of the tooth. When teeth are pushed, the ligaments get stretched on one side of the tooth and compressed on the other. The compression of the ligament promotes resorption (subtraction) of bone and the stretching promotes osteoblastic deposition (addition) of new bone (pic). You can actually create bone by moving teeth. Neat.
To stretch those fibers and move teeth only 50-250 grams of force is needed (source). Excess forces and increased duration of tooth movement can lead to a phenomenon called root resorption (pic) (source). Many teeth show mild, clinically insignificant root resorption after treatment. 14.8% of patients show severe root resorption (greater than 1/3 of root resorbed) (source). Other research shows its as low as 1-5% (source), which is closer to my clinical experience.
Our final tooth position is determined by the equilibrium of all of the small forces around our mouth contributed by our face, tongue, cheeks, food and habits. These forces change while we develop and continue to change while we age. Orthodontic tooth movement actually disrupts natural equilibrium to establish improved function and esthetics which is why retainers are especially important.
There is a lot of conjecture about why human skulls are smaller than our ancestors and why we can't fit in wisdom teeth. The truth is that there is not strong evidence, but like most human things - it's probably a combination of genetics AND environment. My best guess is that most people have a range of predetermined jaw sizes available to them which is then modulated by their environment during the growth phases especially while the skull is soft (wiki)%20(colloquially%2C%20soft%20spot)%20is%20an%20anatomical%20feature%20of%20the%20infant%20human%20skull%20comprising%20soft%20membranous%20gaps%20(sutures)%20between%20the%20cranial%20bones%20that%20make%20up%20the%20calvaria%20of%20a%20fetus%20or%20an%20infant). Hard foods and breast feeding initiated and terminated at proper times is linked to improved tooth position (pilot study). In contrast, we know bad habits like thumb-sucking beyond appropriate ages will negatively impact the position of jaws and teeth (pic).
What is mewing? Is it real?
Mewing is a fad, fueled by the pseudoscience “orthotropics”. Like all pseudoscience it hinges on just enough truth to make it believable. The figurehead, Mike Mew is currently being taken to court) for false claims and patient damages.
The truth is that as children the bones of our skull grow at aspects called “sutures”. Pressure at the sutures allows our skull to adapt to changes in size of our muscles and organs. If sutures didn't exist or don't work this happens: (wiki)). One such muscle that influences bone growth at a suture (pic) (pic) is the tongue. With proper tongue posture the tongue should sit at the roof of the mouth and hold its width. If not, the counter-pressure from the cheeks will collapse the width. Children with typical tongues tend to also breathe nasally and the passage of air actually helps develop the face as well (source) (pic). After the age of 12, sutures are mostly fused bone-to-bone contact (source) and tongue pressure alone will not widen the maxilla (upper jaw). As the skeleton matures and growth is completed there is nothing left to modulate. The theory of Mewing relies on a misunderstanding of growth and development combined with deceptive photography as evidence. (pics: temporary changes in posture, lighting, weight loss + exercise > reddit comment where he claims he lost 8% bodyfat)
Now that we understand more about bones, teeth and growth; here are Mike Mew's radical claims on facial changes you can expect in an adult with mewing: Video, 6M views, 3 months
If you have issues with speech, or don't like the way your face or teeth look find an orthodontist :)
This was longer than I expected it to be, but let me know if you want to know about anything else. Also I've been trying to get that sweet health professional flair in chat... drvumby out.

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“In the beginning, there was nothing.” The fox began with a certainty and absoluteness of unassailable academic authority. “And I don’t mean this in a metaphysical manner, nor in a literal sense, but from a historian’s earnest and pragmatic perspective. For in the beginning, as any good historian can tell you, there was nothing - by virtue of there being nothing present from the time to infer from, nor anyone present at the time whose records we could likewise draw conclusions from. So I am afraid I will be unable to touch upon the matters of what some may strictly consider as: the beginning. I will, however, be able to tell you what sources tell us of said beginning. Of the tales and stories passed on by those closest to that time, by those who might have heard whispers and echoes of a time before time.”
The end of that monologue had me yawning hard.
And it wasn’t even five minutes past o-ninehundred yet.
I was quickly starting to dread what the rest of the class was shaping up to be. Because if this first impression was anything to go by, then there was little hope for much in the way of anything even remotely resembling excitement in this class.
“We begin our story-” Articord continued, her voice deepening, as its formerly grouchy undercurrents gave way to an epic score of narration. “-with creation.” Several mana radiation pings suddenly hit me at once, the first marking the amplification of the fox’s voice, the second coinciding with the sudden manifestation of an emerald-encrusted staff, and the third… plunging the entire room into complete and utter darkness.
Gasps and startled breaths quickly followed, echoing in the emptiness that was the vast and all too familiar darkness. "They say that the time before beginnings wasn’t so much time at all, as it was a formless and vague state of nonexistence." True to the professor’s words, there was indeed, nothing around us; save for her and the rest of the student body hanging listlessly in the void. “This nonexistence manifested itself as a state of unbearable heat-” The professor’s staff shifted from its natural shade of green to a brilliant and vibrant shade of ruby-red. “-of chaotic and violent manastreams-” The ruby-red gem started glowing abruptly, eliciting both sharp breaths of shock and wide-eyed looks of confusion, as the heads of a hundred different students cocked every which way. Their eyes focused on something in that dark, jumping and darting from invisible object to invisible object, seeing something that my human eyes and human-built sensors just couldn’t see - manastreams. “-set within a space so small you could rest it comfortably upon the tip of a pencil.” Sure enough, the diffused glow of Articord’s staff shrunk whilst its intensity only grew. It shrunk to the point where the light was the size of a dot, yet it continued to glow so bright that it forced those among the crowd without auto-tinting lenses to shield their eyes with a mix of magic and a good old-fashioned squint.
“They say that in this smallest of smallest spaces, was birthed a force so powerful that no apocalyptic cataclysm on record could ever, or will ever contend to.” She raised her staff once more, the pin-prick dot of intense light continuing to grow brighter and brighter until finally…
It could glow no more.
ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 400% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS
And an explosion rocked the once void-filled space.
This very-real force knocked many students from their invisible seats, buffeting them back with wave after wave of successive shocks, eventually forcing the smaller amongst the crowd to be flung back to the back of the lecture hall itself; eliciting screams and wails that were mostly drowned out by the heart-stopping thumps of this visceral explosion.
My gut twisted more than it should’ve during the whole episode.
The shockwaves, the blast, the suddenness of it all took me out of the classroom, placing my mind back in a time and place that I tried desperately not to think about.
Anxiety started to well up in the form of this sickly nausea, this sense of disconnect… but ended just as abruptly as it started - leaving me dazed, confused, but otherwise unharmed.
Articord, all the while, maintained this genuinely merry smile. “Such a force would have been the final moments heralding the end of time and yet… it instead marked the end of that nothingness that came before. For following this point, came the ceaseless expansion of reality as we know it. A reality consisting of the realm of the gods, and the realm of mortality, with the latter coalescing into what we recognize today as the Nexus.”
Upon de-tinting my lenses, I was met not with the featureless void like before, but instead a large expanse of green beneath our feet, and an equally expansive bright blue sky above our heads.
It was as if the whole class was now floating above one of those pre-alpha test-maps for some immersive VR-sim, but one that was quickly being populated by all sorts of things, with life below us growing, changing, shifting, with trees and forests rising and falling by the second.
It was around the same time that a hand was finally raised.
Auris’ hand.
“Yes, Lord Ping?”
“Professor, what you are saying is sacrilege.”
Here we go again. I thought to myself with an internalized sigh, the bull’s predictable stubbornness being the thing that finally grounded me after that whole experience.
“How so, Lord Ping?” The Professor urged, crossing her arms.
“You mention nothing of the gods. You mention the myth of creation without any utterances of the Gods which played a role in its formation.” He continued, prompting the Professor to respond in a way I wasn’t expecting.
A small, yet sly, smile.
There was something she found amusing in Ping’s comment.
“Indeed. And I do in fact applaud you for taking proactive note, Lord Ping. However, I would request that you reserve your judgment for the very end of the story; at least with your grievances as it pertains to the Gods.”
This sentiment was more or less confirmed by her response, as it was clear there was something she wasn’t addressing just yet. Something that made it so that she didn’t have to dock points from Ping, which meant that there was something else there to her story that hadn’t come up yet.
“I will obey, Professor.” The bull dipped his head low in acknowledgement, before sitting back down.
With that out of the way, Articord continued, bringing back the blackboard behind her as several floating pieces of chalk were now busy not just writing down her talking points, but illustrating it; or at least creating an animated illustration of something.
That something eventually started resembling a timeline of sorts, a fact that was confirmed by the label at the bottom denoting it as the: “Timeline of the Beginning.”
The further the diagram was developed however, the less it started resembling a traditional timeline.
Instead, it started resembling something eerily familiar, yet not quite the same given its magical flourishes and absurd contents.
Starting on the left farside of the board with a single chalky dot, the ‘timeline’ expanded rightwards, flaring out wider and wider like a sort of cone or funnel. This cone-like shape was quickly segmented into different ‘sections’, and within each section were what looked to be different visual representations of anything from intangible concepts to physical objects. With the ones closest to the small chalky dot consisting of wave-like squiggles, which I interpreted to be manastreams, and the ones furthest from the dot consisting of anything and everything from sketches of rocks to dirt and water. Eventually however, this weird ‘timeline’ ended at the very right of the board with what looked to be two bubbles - one containing a flat top-down view of a map, and the other consisting of a realm of clouds and starless darkness.
It took a while, but the moment that last piece of chalk had retreated from the board, was the moment I was suddenly struck with an utterly crazy realization.
One that I knew for a fact wasn’t possible.
“EVI…” I began, turning to the only other… ‘person’ here I knew could dispel my insane conspiracy theories. “Is it just me, or does that ‘timeline’ resemble one of those simplified big bang timelines?”
I hoped the EVI wouldn’t immediately decide that I’d finally passed the psychological threshold of being fit for active duty.
“Error: Unable to provide a sufficient answer within current operating parameters. Cause: Insufficient data for inference and extrapolation within the given question parameters, Cadet Booker.” Was all the EVI had to say on the matter however.
Prompting me to breathe a sigh of frustration at being the only person who was seeing this.
“Suggestion: manually lower the Abstraction-to-Veracity Tolerance Value (AtVTV) to allow for a lower-fidelity, but higher than tolerable abstraction margin.”
“Alright.” I nodded, my eyes flying across my HUD to do just that. “But only temporarily.” I reiterated, setting a limited time window for just this one instance.
“Acknowledged. Parsing… Superficial likeness detected between Artifact Snapshot C02-001a [Timeline of the Beginning.] and that of the common graphical depiction of the ‘Timeline of the Expansion of the Universe’.”
“I knew it.” I whispered internally.
“Disclaimer: the answer is abstracted beyond tolerable working limits (TWL) as dictated by IAS and LREF joint data analysis protocols (J-DAP).”
“Acknowledged, EVI. Still, the resemblance is uncanny.” I muttered out, just as Articord began shifting the whole scene once more, moving the whole class into what was essentially a bigger version of the sight-seers Thacea, Thalmin, or Ilunor had shown me thus far.
We were now in the middle of an untouched woodlands, with birds chirping, wolves howling, and a great many more insects performing a whole host of natural orchestral symphonies; all of which would’ve made Kolby Digital’s 10DX sound systems blush.
“Now with that prologue out of the way, we can begin our story in earnest. Our story starts, as with many stories, with the birth of sapience, and the emergence of cultures. We start with a collection of people.” The immersive VR experience that was the classroom illustrated this point rather vaguely, revealing a bunch of elves that had popped into existence, looking more like your typical fantasy wood-elves more than anything. “The formation of the earliest cultures were forged through mutual strife, and a collective desire just out of mere survival.” Torrential rains battered this would-be group of hunter-gatherers, buffeting them with wave after wave of unrelenting winds and deafening them with heart-stopping thunder. “These peoples, despite being as sapient as you and I, did not start off as particularly mighty. Nor did they start off with the more obvious gifts endowed to the other creatures of the world.”The professor paused, as a carousel of animals resembling a character selection screen appeared before us. Highlighted by a beam of sunlight penetrating the thick forest canopy. “Neither claws for slashing-” A Bear. “Nor teeth for gnashing-” A sabertooth tiger. “Nor wings for flying-” A bird of prey. “Nor legs for leaping.” A… giant frog. “Or even eyes for stalking-” A bird-wildcat hybrid. “These peoples that were destined for greatness, did not start out as particularly great. They had none of the obvious gifts which would otherwise save them from nature’s wrath. Save for one exception, which they harnessed to their fullest potential.”
The scene soon shifted, to the group of wood elves forming primitive stone tools, building early shelters, and hunting wild animals… all with the help of magic.
“The gift of the sapient mind, and the will of the enlightened spirit. For the gift of sapiency is the gift of creation with intent. Because unlike any of the beasts of the forests, whether magical or typical, they did not merely fight for survival. No. They were fighting for a higher calling, a greater purpose, a desire that prevails to this day.”
The group of elves finally took a step back from their projects, and out of the thick impenetrable world that was the forest, they’d carved out what looked to be the start to an actual proper home.
Although a modest one, consisting of what Ilunor would happily describe as mud huts.
“A desire for civilization-” The professor announced with a degree of finality, before shifting to what looked to be a funeral procession, with the group of elves pouring mana into the body of a deceased older elf; in what Thacea had formerly described as harmonization. “-for the preservation of legacy.”
The next few minutes were spent in silence as time sped up. In a scene reminiscent of my own NYC timelapse, this timelapse of the early Nexus proceeded with the same breakneck pace, and the same intensity of industriousness… barring the industry, of course.
The small village quickly evolved into a proper town, its buildings growing in size and complexity. From simple huts to log cabins, to stone and brick buildings, to fully masoned houses, things progressed rapidly, through the aid of what could only be described as a mix of basic tools and advanced magical spells to make up for the lack of certain technologically inclined apparatuses.
Cobblestone roads gave way to roads that looked bizarrely smooth. Having been flattened and reformed using a combination of heat and other unknown magical means. Streetlights appeared, lit by a combination of oil lanterns and magical orbs. Carts, wagons, and even what looked to be a horseless trolley appeared floating above the smooth cobblestone road, all pieces of anachronistic technologies and implements seemingly out of place, but working in cohesion through unseen magical means.
Eventually however, our perspective shifted once more, zooming out higher and higher still as we saw that the heart of what was formerly that small village was now merely just a fraction of a fraction of the bustling town that had since taken its place. The woodlands around it were gradually, meticulously, and with great precision, being torn down mile by circular mile. Treelines were felled left and right. First with the aid of simple tools, with magic-use filling the gaps where those tools had underperformed. Then with the advent of magically enchanted tools, consisting of a fleet of floating magical saws wielded by a handful of mages, replacing non-magical implements entirely. Eventually, this too was replaced by the arrival of a particularly well-dressed mage, floating above the forest itself, who simply uprooted an entire spherical mile’s worth of trees with the flick of a single wrist; the trees, the plants, and the animals hidden within all floating towards a portal that simply swallowed them up to some unknown destination.
There was a precision and an ordered chaos to everything, with a lack of any true standardization embodied by the rapid development of clashing architectural styles, haphazard zoning, as well as what looked to be a fierce series of land grabs marked by the occasional battle, duel, and skirmish that whilst violent only lasted for barely a second given the pace of this timelapse’s speeds.
“This is just one of many such groups that emerged from the dirt. Yet no matter where you go within the nexus-” The professor paused once more, her staff flashing every few seconds, causing the sights around us to radically shift from location to location, teleporting us from city to city to city to city just to illustrate the sheer number of similar such kingdoms dotting the Nexus at this point in time. “-you will find similar stories highlighting the triumph of sapiency.”
The professor promptly brought us back to the original village-turned city, traveling towards the outskirts of town that now bordered a mountain range harboring a tiny enclave of untouched woodlands. There, she focused on the carousel of animals from before. Their forms have since become emaciated, probably due to a destruction of the local ecology. “A thousand generations, and we see that the only true way forward, the only true march towards success, lies not with the mindless animal, but the enlightened sapient mind. As is written in the oldest of oldest texts: On The Nature of Sapiency and the Disillusionment of the Animal; The Necessity of the Obliteration of the Animal from the Sapient Being.”
“And why exactly is that?” The professor asked, although I couldn’t tell if it was rhetorical or not.
The raising of a few hands clued me in to the answer. As the professor once more picked out a random member from the crowd.
This time, it was the bat-like Airit from Qiv’s group.
“Because the sapient mind is capable of living not just for the sake of survival, but for higher values and aspirations.” Airit answered with a bright smile.
“Five points.” The professor responded. “But only if you can answer exactly what higher values and aspirations you are referring to. Which one above all else? Chivalry? Loyalty? Vengeance? Selflessness?”
“Remembrance. Legacy. A fealty to what came before and the understanding that it is the responsibilities of the present to forward the stories of the past.” Airit spoke out in that high-pitched bat-like manner, yet managed to hold her own all the same despite that.
Articord paused as she pondered that answer, her one hand rubbing the gem of her scepter, whilst the other went to soothe a crease forming on her temples. “Five points. But I will not award points for the bare minimum of answers following this first class.” She warned, before moving on just as quickly, zooming back from the small patch of forest as we now looked down upon the Nexus from high above.
Cities dotted the landscape.
Each one rivaling even the capitals of Aetheronrealm, not to mention Havenbrockrealm.
Along with that, monuments and magical megastructures were placed either around, within, or all along the paths that connected each and every city.
“This is the story of our legacy. This is the story of a people who understood the values of permanence, of their responsibility to never drop the torch.” The professor announced not with pride, but solemnity.
A pause punctuated that brief aside, as we watched as the cities grew closer and closer together, and in what felt like one of those informational animations of the Acela corridor forming into a cohesive megacity; except they didn’t.
They simply stopped expanding horizontally, and simply decided to continue going vertical.
Spindly towers erupted in the span of what was probably weeks, and eclectic designs sprung up that ranged from appropriately-tall cathedral-towers, to what was ostensibly just a circular castle tower rising far beyond what should’ve been physically possible.
Some of these projects seemed to have been just for show. Clearly just extensions of palaces, towers, or other such wasteful noble endeavors.
Whilst others seemed to serve some strange magical purpose, at least, I assumed so judging by their sameness and ominously glowing tops.
All of this development eventually came to a head in one spectacular night.
As large plumes of light shot up from several of the major city centers, painting the sky in a dizzying array of colors similar to a fireworks display that spanned the breadth of not just a city, but an entire region.
More time passed following this triumphant moment.
But as it did, that pace of development, that rate of expansion, was suddenly interrupted.
First by what looked to be specks of light erupting from the farthest reaches of the the most far flung of cities.
Then, by plumes of smoke emerging from all around the region.
The frequency, intensity, and ferocity of which seemed to wax and wane with each passing second, captivating the eyes of the entire classroom as they darted back and forth between different sections of the map. So much so that a few of them completely missed the start of something completely new.
The birth of a large, sickly-black fireball that had erupted suddenly and out of nowhere from a quaint countryside town. A ball of luminescent dark that grew larger and larger, encompassing more of the landmass beneath its circumference until finally… it’d gone beyond just the confines of that town, consuming farms, roads, towers, and eventually, half of an entire city.
Following that, was what I could only describe as a torrent of destruction.
As fire.
Lava.
Storms of lightning.
And fireballs of atomic proportions began peppering the once idyllic landscape.
This… war? Continued without a single word uttered from Articord. As she simply allowed the class to watch as the timelapse went on for a full five minutes.
Battle lines were drawn where storefronts had once stood.
Trenches built up by magically-augmented conventional (for the eclectic pseudo medieval-renaissance era) armies, only to be covered by magically induced earthquakes and avalanches.
Mountains… toppled over atop of some cities.
Whilst others were simply swallowed into the bowels of the earth itself.
Eventually, after a full five minutes of carnage, we returned to that first city.
To the middle of what was formerly the first village.
To what remained of the fountain that stood silent atop a pile of rubble.
To a timelapse that continued on relentlessly, showing unrepentantly, the bodies of fallen soldiers and noblemen alike, withering away into nothing but skeletons; with the marble and granite of their legacies crumbling around them.
Until finally, that forest we’d started off with eventually returned.
With little in the way to remind the unobservant viewer that anything man-made had once stood here at all.
“And yet… they did.” Articord managed out with a pained, hurt-filled breath. “They dropped the torch.” The professor took a moment to compose herself, before finally re-establishing eye contact with the class.
A single reluctant hand was raised following that whole debacle.
One that belonged to [A98 Navine Ladona].
“Professor… if I may… I… I’d initially assumed what we were witnessing through this sight was the birth and evolution of the Nexus?”
“You would be correct in that assumption, Lady Ladona.”
“Then… why is the Nexus in ruins? What-”
“The story isn’t finished yet, Lady Ladona. So if you would please allow me to continue, we are near the end of my first tale.”
“We learned of these first Kingdoms, by unearthing what remained of their failed and pitiful state.” The fox continued on, unabated. “Just as we learned of the second-” She paused, gesturing towards the world around us. Time once more hastened into speeds previously unseen… as yet another village was constructed around us, evolving into a town, growing into a city, and then rising up high into the heavens… where it abruptly, and almost unceremoniously, crumbled back into the dirt. “-the third-” The cycle once more repeated, this time just across the river. Village to town to city to fantastical heights… to ruin. “-the fourth-” And it repeated. “-the fifth-” Again. “-the sixth-” And again. “-the seventh-” And again. “-the eighth-” And again. “-the ninth-” And again. “-until finally… the tenth.” The professor breathed out a sigh of strained frustration, her eyes not even hiding the sheer ire welling within.
“Now tell me, class. What did we lose from these failures? What exactly was lost to time from these fallen civilizations?”
A hand was raised.
Qiv’s hand.
“Knowledge, professor. The knowledge of the ancients, the artifacts of unknown potential, the great and learned means of magical acumen that has taken us so long to regain.” He spoke with confidence.
A confidence that was definitely not reciprocated by the likes of Articord as she stared down the reptile with a look of indifference.
“Knowledge now, is it? Artifacts, magical acumen? The utilitarian things in life, yes?”
“That is precisely what I mean professor.” The nobleman nodded deeply, as if expecting himself to be rewarded with a flurry of points, as he had been in Vanavan’s class.
“Then you are a fool, Lord Qiv Ratom.” Articord began with a barely restrained contempt.
“I beg your pardon, Professor?”
“Knowledge, pure knowledge of the magical arts… is easily replaceable when status eternia is applied. In time, given enough time, knowledge will reaccumulate, will be rediscovered, will be found and reimplemented within society. These are the concerns of the short-sighted, the power-hungry, those same peoples who led the way to the destruction of those early kingdoms. They are the concerns of the typical adventurer looking for the next lost artifact of old, the concerns of those who see the past only for its utility and not its philosophical quandaries. But with that being said, you technically are correct Lord Qiv, and as a result, I shall deduct no points.” The professor cautioned, before turning her eyes back towards the class.
Several hands were raised up high.
Two of them from the gang.
Thacea, and Ilunor.
The pair stared at each other for a split second, as they mimed the same word from the corners of their mouths in a way that prompted them to both nod.
“Yes, Lord Rularia.”
“Stories, professor.” The deluxe kobold spoke with a hint of knowing satisfaction.
A sentiment that was proven to hold some weight if the professor’s raise of both brows was any indicator.
“Elaborate, Lord Rularia.”
“What is lost to the sands of time, by these… pathetic excuses for Nexian civilizations, are stories. From the stories of fiction crafted by the minds of brilliant poets and playwrights, to the compositions of the great composers and orchestras, to the beauty and majesty of the canvas and even the recordings of whatever constituted for sight-seers back then… these are the true tragedies lost with time. These are the legacies forever lost - the beauty torn asunder by the unfeeling, unforgiving, cruel and animalistic tendencies of a world left without the enlightened rule of the sapient hand.”
Articord’s face beamed great at the start of that little monologue. However, the further Ilunor got, the more she seemed to be teetering on the edge of praise, only to recede the more he went on.
Still, her face was at least satisfied, at least when compared to that of Qiv’s answer.
“Five points.” Was all she said at first. “Lord Rularia, you were very nearly there. However, your appreciation for the spirit of the answer, and your conclusion hinting the necessity of the sapient hand in the taming of the savage natural world, elevates your answer beyond a mere technically correct one.”
Ilunor bowed deeply, before taking a seat as the professor eyed the tens of other arms that had been raised since then.
She ignored it at this point, unlike Vanavan who would’ve entertained each and every answer.
Instead, she pressed on, finally getting to the point. “What is truly lost is the unbroken chain. Lord Ratom is correct, in that knowledge is in fact lost. Lord Rularia is even more correct in pointing out that which cannot be replicated: the arts and the sanctified expressions of the sapient mind. However, what both have not touched upon is the loss of the unwritten story. Legacies of fathers passed down to sons, of mothers passed down to daughters, of Kings to Princes and Dukes to Barons. It is not just knowledge or the arts that is forgotten, but eons of history, of the stories of everyone from the greatest of Kings to the humblest of peasants that is forgotten. This… loss, this great and tragic loss is something far greater than the loss of any grand spell or mystical artifact. For what truly is civilization if not the greatest creation of the sapient mind in its ceaseless and endless quest to derive meaning from meaninglessness? It is the stories we create, the lives we lead, the experiences of our day to day that make up meaning in this cruel and unforgiving universe. It is in the legacies we leave behind, and the lives we touch along the way, that our lives derive meaning. The loss of a civilization is the loss of that living history, and is the admission of the defeat of the sapient mind to that of the forces that should be beneath it.”
Qiv raised his hand following that monologue.
However instead of allowing him to speak, Articord simply glossed over it.
“My point, as it stands, is thus: not all of history is written and recorded. Utilitarian knowledge is but a sliver of a civilization’s collective identity, the recorded works of a civilization’s culture are a larger but still modest fraction. What we truly have lost, is the collective legacy of all, the living history of civilization - the avatar of sapiency itself.”
Auris finally raised his hand once more, his eyes practically ready to spout out whatever dumb idea of the hour he had bubbling within.
“Yes Lord Ping?”
“And what of the gods, professor? I assume your story is at an end, and yet not once have you mentioned the matter of the gods.” He urged, though this time his tone was different. As if he was speaking like someone who knew the answer to the very question he was asking. “Where were they throughout this tale of tales?”
“Everywhere, Lord Ping. They were always everywhere.” The professor paused, a small knowing, expectant, yet decidedly reserved expression forming on her face.
“And what were their contributions? What have they done to prevent these most heinous tragedies from befalling the mortal realm?”
A small pause punctuated that question, and the professor’s anticipated answer.
A pin drop could be heard now, amidst the static backdrop of the magical forest around us.
“Nothing, Lord Ping.” Articord spoke with a resting rage that threatened to spill over at any moment.
“And is that why you refuse to make mention of them just yet?”
“No, Lord Ping. I refuse to mention these insipid creatures for the most part because there is only one true being worth his title in the divine right to rule. Only one being I see as the one true god above gods - His Eternal Majesty.”
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(Author’s Note: Here we go! The start of Professor Articord's classes! I've always intended for these classes to have a fundamentally different vibe between all of them, because I want them to reflect on the characters and personalities of the teachers teaching them. Each of the professors have their own lives, their own desires, and thus their backstories and biases that they view the world from and that they're trying to impart on the next generation. In many cases it's a mix between personal belief and the Nexus' ideology. In Articord's case, I really enjoy portraying how she presents this information and how she tries her best to convey her points in a way that's really visceral and to an extent surprisingly emotional. All of this ties to the backstory behind her character, which is featured on the latest monthly bonus story over on Patreon! I have a lot planned for this character, which I'm excited to get into as the series progresses! I hope you guys enjoy! :D The next Two Chapters are already up on Patreon if you guys are interested in getting early access to future chapters!)
[If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 74 and Chapter 75 of this story is already out on there!)]