Starting a blog in 2024 is an exciting venture and can be accomplished with a few key steps. Here's a comprehensive guide to get you started from scratch:

1. Choose Your Blog's Niche

• Identify Your Passion and Expertise: Write about something you love and know well.
• Research Market Demand: Use tools like Google Trends or Keyword Planner to find popular topics within your niche.
• Analyze Competition: Check out other blogs in your niche to understand the competition and find your unique angle.

2. Define Your Audience

• Create Reader Personas: Think about who your ideal readers are – their demographics, interests, and problems.
• Tailor Content to Your Audience: Plan your content around what your audience needs and wants.

3. Choose a Blogging Platform

• WordPress.org: Highly recommended for its flexibility and control. Requires a separate hosting service.
• Blogger: Good for beginners, but limited in customization.
• Medium: Great for reaching an audience quickly, but less control over design and monetization.
• Wix or Squarespace: Easy-to-use website builders with blogging capabilities.

4. Pick a Domain Name and Hosting Service

• Domain Name: Choose a name that is easy to remember, relevant to your niche, and preferably a .com.
• Hosting Service: Popular options include Bluehost, SiteGround, and HostGator. Ensure the service offers good uptime, customer support, and scalability.

5. Set Up Your Blog

• Install WordPress: If you choose WordPress, most hosting services offer a one-click installation.
• Select a Theme: Pick a clean, responsive theme. Free and premium options are available on sites like ThemeForest or the WordPress theme directory.
• Install Essential Plugins: Some must-have plugins include Yoast SEO, Akismet (for spam protection), and Jetpack (for site stats and security).

6. Design Your Blog

• Customize Your Theme: Adjust colors, fonts, and layout to match your brand.
• Create Key Pages: Essential pages include About, Contact, Privacy Policy, and any other pages specific to your niche (e.g., Portfolio, Services).
• Optimize for Mobile: Ensure your blog looks good and works well on mobile devices.

7. Create Quality Content

• Plan Your Content: Use an editorial calendar to schedule posts. Aim for a mix of evergreen and trending topics.
• Write Engaging Posts: Craft compelling headlines, use images and multimedia, and write in a conversational tone.
• SEO Best Practices: Use keywords naturally, optimize meta descriptions, use header tags, and include internal and external links.

8. Promote Your Blog

• Social Media: Share your posts on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
• Email Marketing: Start building an email list from day one. Use tools like Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
• Guest Posting: Write guest posts for other blogs in your niche to reach a wider audience.
• Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments, participate in online communities, and network with other bloggers.

9. Monetize Your Blog

• Affiliate Marketing: Promote products related to your niche and earn a commission for every sale made through your referral links.
• Advertising: Use Google AdSense or work directly with brands for sponsored content.
• Sell Products/Services: Offer your own products or services, such as eBooks, courses, or consulting.
• Membership/Subscription: Provide premium content for subscribers or members.

10. Analyze and Improve

• Use Analytics Tools: Google Analytics and other tools can help you track your blog’s performance.
• Monitor Key Metrics: Focus on traffic, bounce rate, session duration, and conversion rates.
• Continuous Improvement: Regularly update old posts, optimize for SEO, and adjust your strategy based on performance data.

Conclusion

Starting a blog in 2024 involves careful planning, consistent effort, and a willingness to adapt and learn. By following these steps, you'll be well on your way to creating a successful blog that resonates with your audience and achieves your goals. Happy blogging!
4oStarting a blog in 2024 is an exciting venture and can be accomplished with a few key steps. Here's a comprehensive guide to get you started from scratch:

1. Choose Your Blog's Niche

• Identify Your Passion and Expertise: Write about something you love and know well.
• Research Market Demand: Use tools like Google Trends or Keyword Planner to find popular topics within your niche.
• Analyze Competition: Check out other blogs in your niche to understand the competition and find your unique angle.

2. Define Your Audience

• Create Reader Personas: Think about who your ideal readers are – their demographics, interests, and problems.
• Tailor Content to Your Audience: Plan your content around what your audience needs and wants.

3. Choose a Blogging Platform

• WordPress.org: Highly recommended for its flexibility and control. Requires a separate hosting service.
• Blogger: Good for beginners, but limited in customization.
• Medium: Great for reaching an audience quickly, but less control over design and monetization.
• Wix or Squarespace: Easy-to-use website builders with blogging capabilities.

4. Pick a Domain Name and Hosting Service

• Domain Name: Choose a name that is easy to remember, relevant to your niche, and preferably a .com.
• Hosting Service: Popular options include Bluehost, SiteGround, and HostGator. Ensure the service offers good uptime, customer support, and scalability.

5. Set Up Your Blog

• Install WordPress: If you choose WordPress, most hosting services offer a one-click installation.
• Select a Theme: Pick a clean, responsive theme. Free and premium options are available on sites like ThemeForest or the WordPress theme directory.
• Install Essential Plugins: Some must-have plugins include Yoast SEO, Akismet (for spam protection), and Jetpack (for site stats and security).

6. Design Your Blog

• Customize Your Theme: Adjust colors, fonts, and layout to match your brand.
• Create Key Pages: Essential pages include About, Contact, Privacy Policy, and any other pages specific to your niche (e.g., Portfolio, Services).
• Optimize for Mobile: Ensure your blog looks good and works well on mobile devices.

7. Create Quality Content

• Plan Your Content: Use an editorial calendar to schedule posts. Aim for a mix of evergreen and trending topics.
• Write Engaging Posts: Craft compelling headlines, use images and multimedia, and write in a conversational tone.
• SEO Best Practices: Use keywords naturally, optimize meta descriptions, use header tags, and include internal and external links.

8. Promote Your Blog

• Social Media: Share your posts on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
• Email Marketing: Start building an email list from day one. Use tools like Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
• Guest Posting: Write guest posts for other blogs in your niche to reach a wider audience.
• Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments, participate in online communities, and network with other bloggers.

9. Monetize Your Blog

• Affiliate Marketing: Promote products related to your niche and earn a commission for every sale made through your referral links.
• Advertising: Use Google AdSense or work directly with brands for sponsored content.
• Sell Products/Services: Offer your own products or services, such as eBooks, courses, or consulting.
• Membership/Subscription: Provide premium content for subscribers or members.

10. Analyze and Improve

• Use Analytics Tools: Google Analytics and other tools can help you track your blog’s performance.
• Monitor Key Metrics: Focus on traffic, bounce rate, session duration, and conversion rates.
• Continuous Improvement: Regularly update old posts, optimize for SEO, and adjust your strategy based on performance data.

Conclusion

Starting a blog in 2024 involves careful planning, consistent effort, and a willingness to adapt and learn. By following these steps, you'll be well on your way to creating a successful blog that resonates with your audience and achieves your goals. Happy blogging!

PRESENT
This is Part 2 of 3, the Present, in game events we see! Onwards!
The Protagonist is some sort of content creator, one that goes to abandoned or forgotten places and "searches" them, as can be gleaned from the cameras facing the protagonist on his desk, and his conversation with a certain Laura, or LSparks53 (there's also an error in this Harmony tab, with one of the messages from Laura reading as from LauraSparks53 instead of LSparks53. Just a note). This Laura helps our protagonist, who goes by the username of eEnsign. His profile picture are the letters UF, which is weird, since it doesn't match the username, nor what Laura calls eEnsign: Ed. Anyways, I digress. From now on, I'll call the protagonist Ed as well. Laura helps Ed get footage of these places as per the conversation.
eEnsign: "Hey Laura! I'm doing another search this weekend! Wanna come with me?"
LSparks53: "The last few times I've gone with you SUCKED LMAO."
eEnsign: "Remember that old theme park we went to see as kids? Indigo Park?"
LSparks53: "yeah? I kind of forgot about that place? Been closed for a while, right? how would you even get in?"
eEnsign: "Honestly, I don't know. I'm not even gonna bring my equipment. Jump a fence of something? We've done worse lol”
LSparks53: "aight, well just be careful. I'm gonna pass on this one. if you can get in i'll go with you to help record some other time. i'm looking it up now and there's like NO info online about it. probably swarming with cops too."
eEnsign: "I guess we'll find out! I'll check it out, maybe we can go together next week?
Lsparks53: "just be careful, Ed. I don't want to be paying your bail."
And with that conversation, we learn that these two are like a dynamic duo of sorts, having some sort of channel or website where they post footage of places lost to time and "search" them, breaking laws of trespassing and such, apparently also having "done worse", whatever that means. Maybe they took a few things from the place, so burglary? It's never specified. Probably burglary, though, considering that Ed has taken to collecting all sorts of plushies and such from Indigo Park.
What I want to point out is how weird this Laura person acts. As soon as Indigo Park is mentioned, Laura instantly seems to dislike the idea, but never directly says it. Instead, she becomes reluctant to go with Ed, despite having done worse, as Ed puts it. Perhaps she's just cautious, and based on her last sentence, they haven't been caught before, or else she would have said "I don't want to be paying your bail again."
However, I don't think that's the case. Remember when Laura said she looked up Indigo Park and found nothing? Well, we know the website is still up and running, or at the very least, Ed used some sort of service like the Wayback Machine to pull it up on the right most monitor on his desk, which can be seen in the opening cutscene. On it, there's even an option to purchase tickets still, which is incredibly weird, which I'll also go into later on. Why would a defunct theme park need a still running website? After all, if you evacuate everyone from it with no explanation, wouldn't you want to get rid of all evidence of it? If not destroy the property outright, then at least take the website down. Again, digressing, the point is that Laura didn't find this website ... or she did, but didn't say anything.
Again, this is purely speculation at this point; I mean, the two of them have broke into a few places trespassing and recording and documenting abandoned places at least a few times for the internet, and maybe she really is just that cautious, worried about being imprisoned and charged for trespassing, and even attempted burglary.
And it seems like Ed is asking the same questions we are. Behind the Harmony tab is a notes tab with several questions such as "Why did it close?" and "What is left?", among a few others that are cut off. The next question seems to ask "Is it still" something. Seems like Ed and us are in the same boat. Hopefully we can help each other out.
Regardless, Ed ends up climbing the fence and enters the closed off Indigo Park, where dozens of crates stamped with the Indigo Park logo, along with trash, can be seen. Walking around, the main gates are closed off, and one of the doors seem to open on their own, allowing Ed entry into the Registration Center, a desk with a few monitors where a Rangler would sit and check Ed in.
Inside, the Rambley AI comes to life, noting that Ed is the first person there in just over eight years, before directing us to the previously mentioned Registration Center. It is revealed here that AI Rambley has access to the cameras (both computer cameras and CCTV cameras), where he notes that Ed isn’t on the guest list, probably because he snuck in, and didn’t pay for his tickets. However, what stands out as odd is that Rambley doesn’t recognize Ed at all, asking if he was here for the first time. We know that it’s most definitely not Ed’s first time here, but it’s unclear if AI Rambley doesn’t recognize Ed because he grew up, or the registration process requires a photo upload.
Rambley AI: "Hm, I don't seem to have your face in the guest list. Is this your first time here in the park? Or did you just get plastic surgery?"
From here, Ed’s directed to go through the gates, but both AI Rambley and Ed realize that the gates are not open and are instead sending an error message. Going back to the Registration Center, Ed finds and replaces a missing gear, and the gates finally open, from where Ed is free to explore. He’s directed to the Critter Corner, where he receives a Critter Cuff to enter certain areas, and the park, from where he’s directed to Rambley’s Railway to get to know most (poor Salem) of the characters. A massive statue of Isaac Indigo and Rambley can be seen at the entrance.
As Ed makes his way through to Rambley Railway, it’s clear that the park is not in the best condition. Ransacked gift stores, empty cafes with rotting food and festering drinks, tunnels collapsing at the drop of a hat, and weeds spouting everywhere even disconcert the AI Rambley, who tries to shrug off the state of the park by claiming renovations, but it’s clear he’s unsettled with how empty and broken the park is. We’ll cover that later as well.
On this ride, Rambley introduces us to everyone, except for Salem, indicating he’s friends with everyone except her and Lloyd, for whom he has … let’s a bit of distaste for. He’s shown to be sarcastic and snippy with Lloyd, but even his supposed friends aren’t safe from his occasional jabs.
Rambley when speaking to Mollie Macaw: “You sure are [the best pilot you ever saw], Moll! Why, you only crashed into six barns this week!”
Mollie: “I’m not crashin’, Rambley! I’m barnstormin’!”
Rambley: “Haha! What’s barnstorming?”
Mollie: “It’s crashing, with style! I-it barely hurts at all!”
The stutter in Mollie’s audio is what interests me. It could be interpreted as a glitch, which is certainly possible. The park hasn’t been maintained in eight years, and it is falling apart. But it could also be interpreted as Mollie losing her characteristic confidence, upset that Rambley seems to be so keen on pointing out her failures in her hobby sphere.
Rambley, when speaking to Finley the Sea Serpent: “Why the long face? And body? … Oh Finley, you should come out of YOUR shell!”
Finley, in response. “How about YOU come into it instead?”
I would also like to note AI Rambley’s interaction with Finley’s plushie.
AI Rambley: “Ooh, you found my buddy Finley! You know, he’s really shy, like, TOO shy, like OBNOXIOUSLY shy, but he’s got a good heart.”
I want to point out the fact that when Rambley speaks about how shy Finley is, he doesn’t seem to be doing it in a jesting way. In fact, he seems genuinely annoyed with how introverted Finley is, to the point where you can hear it in his voice, and he also uses his annoyed model with slanted eyes when mentioning it.
There’s also a note here that, apparently, Rambley and Finley have known each other for over 100 years, though it’s unclear if this is actually real information, or just something the creators of the ride decided to include for the fun of it.
And another thing. At the very end of the Finley section, Finley hopes that the rider will actually visit him and Oceanic Odyssey, because he’s lonely. Why should he be lonely? He’s friends with Rambley and Mollie, at the very least. Is it because he lives on the bottom of the ocean? Or for other reasons?
Ed then reaches Salem’s area, which is noticeably, horrifically destroyed, a splatter of something bright red front and center. This is where the ride breaks down, and Ed’s required to go and fix it, before continuing onto Lloyd’s area.
I’d like to stop the story to consider the state of Salem’s area; why is it so destroyed? I’m going to avoid thinking of the red splatter as blood, to be honest, but we do know that the Mascots bleed red, thanks to Mollie Macaw. In my mind, there are three potential perpetrators.
The first two are noticeably weak connections, and the reasoning isn’t 100%, so take it with a grain of salt. We know that all the characters received Mascots, so there are three of them that, in my mind, are capable.
The first is, admittedly, a bit weird: the Mascot of Salem. We know she despises Rambley and his friends (her relationship with Lloyd remains a mystery), so it’s possible that Mascot Salem was the one to sabotage her area, as a way of getting back at Rambley. Why her area only is admittedly a bit weird, so she’s not the strongest match. Another piece of evidence would be the smashed animatronic of Mollie. Again, we do know that Salem has used Mollie before by dumping her potions onto her and making Mollie Salem’s minion. Could she also have smashed the animatronic bird?
The second suspect is Mascot Mollie. She can be seen following Ed throughout the ride, and the whole park, for that matter, and we do know there is some bad blood between her and Salem because of the arcade game Rambely Rush. It would give motive for Mascot Mollie to do such a thing, and she’s the only Mascot running about Indigo Park that we know of; Lloyd remained in his theater, not pursuing Ed when he leaves. At the end of the chapter, when Ed enters Oceanic Odyssey, it’s unclear whether a robot or Mascot Finley appears in the aquarium, but he’s likely confined there as well. Mascots Rambley and Salem aren’t even mentioned once.
Now, this one is also kind of a stretch, but the only character that would have more reason to hate Salem more than Mollie is Rambley. They are clear nemeses (again, Rambley Rush), and have been for quite some time. While the AI Rambley is generally benevolent, but still with a sharp tongue, it remains to be seen what exactly the Mascot Rambley is like. His Mascot is still likely here in Indigo Park somewhere, one of the remaining two (Mollie being dead, unless there are several of each Mascot present, in which case this elevates the terror a few notches. Imagine being chased by seventeen Mascot Lloyds) besides Salem. He could very well be the perpetrator. However, I do have a bit of trouble explaining why he would wreck the Animatronic Mollie. Maybe because he knows it’s just a fake, and not the real Mascot Mollie?
However, there is one convenient detail that I have not mentioned. Remember the smashed Animatronic Mollie, and how we were questioning why she was wrecked in the first place? Well, she does offer us one clue. When Ed approaches the bird, Mollie flickers to life momentarily, her voice garbled and distorted until finally, she says this:
Animatronic Mollie: “Not Rambley! He hurts Lloyd! He hurts Lloyd!”
After that, poor Animatronic Mollie finally shuts off for good, her painted eyes devoid of the life she once had. Well, this certainly got interesting, didn’t it? Rambley hurts Lloyd? How? I mean, think about it! How would a raccoon actively hurt a lion? This isn’t like a honey badger situation; raccoons are much more vulnerable and weaker than honey badgers. What’s also interesting is her words themselves. Why would someone program an Animatronic Mollie to say this? We eventually find out that Mascot Mollie will memorize and be able to repeat words or phrases she’s heard, if Ed has the misfortune of being caught by Mascot Mollie later down the line. Is it possible that the same is true for the animatronics? And if so, does that mean that Animatronic Mollie was shouting bits and pieces out of context, or was it supposed to be something she was never meant to hear, and was thusly wrecked?
And even if this was out of context, that still opens up a major can of worms. Even if Rambley never hurt Lloyd, who is this ‘He’ that did hurt Lloyd? Keep this in mind until we reach Lloyd’s attraction.
Anyways, onto Llyod’s area. It’s clear that Lloyd and Rambley both don’t like each other, quite possibly because Rambley hates how Lloyd used to be number one, and Lloyd possibly because he’s not happy that he was replaced by Rambley as head honcho. Rambley, for his part, doesn’t really try to antagonize Lloyd, just wearily going through the ride and trying to get out as fast as possible here.
And that’s essentially it for the ride, AI Rambley suggesting Ed go visit Jetstream Junction. Careful observation would yield the fact that Mascot Mollie has been stalking Ed, studying him from behind the scenes, though she won’t end up being an antagonist until later on.
What’s interesting to note is that at the end, AI Rambley says this: “So, whatddya think? Pretty fun, right? Now you know all about my friends! And Lloyd …”
We know that Rambley cannot stand Salem, Rambley Rush made it quite clear. So, why refer to Salem as a friend? Why is her area so wrecked? Is it possible that AI Rambley has no reason to hate her, because he’s not aware of how often he’s pitted against her in media? But that would also mean that AI Rambley would have to be quite unaware of the media surrounding him, but he seems to know a lot about the history of the park. He still dislikes Lloyd, after all. And then that would beg the question if Mascot Rambley actually dislikes Salem enough to destroy her area in his ride. Too many questions that, unfortunately, there are no answers for. We can’t even see AI Rambley’s thoughts on Salem through a plush or anything, because there are no current collectibles in Chapter 1 that refer to her.
This is actually why I think one of the more intriguing aspects of ‘Birds of a Feather’ is Salem, and her ambiguous presence within the game. There aren’t even any posters in regard to her, unlike Lloyd or Rambley or Mollie or Finley. She’s just so wrapped up in mystery … anyways.
After finding out Jetstream Junction is locked away, AI Rambley sends Ed to Lloyd’s Main Stage Theater, where Ed first catches a glimpse of Mascot Lloyd, dozing on the stage. When Mascot Lloyd notices Ed, he runs into the back, and unfortunately, that’s where Ed has to go.
When Ed reaches the stage himself, AI Rambley tells Ed to be careful, because he has no vision of the backstage area, which is weird. AI Rambley seems to have access to the rest of Indigo Park, why is this area so special? It’s just storage, for the most part … and Mascot Lloyd, but AI Rambley still thinks they’re just as good as they were in their hay day, so he has no reason to be wary of the Mascots themselves until later. It’s true that it’s a Ranglers Only area, and we haven’t really seen AI Rambley in these areas before, so that could be it? Maybe because of his dislike for Lloyd? But then why give AI Rambley access to the stage at all? I don’t know, to be honest. Yet another question. However, AI Rambley does say something interesting.
AI Rambley, to Ed, regarding the behind the stage area: “Hey buddy. I got eyes all over the park, but I can’t see anything behind the stage. If you’re going back there be careful. Your Critter Cuff is not yet able to resuscitate you.”
Why should a Critter Cuff be able to resuscitate a person? From what I understand, it’s supposed to be like those Disney Bands that you can wear at parks, giving you access to different rides and such, even having complementary features of being a pedometer, mood ring, and a heartbeat sensor. This could either be a sort of tease to future upgrades Ed might be able to get in future chapters … or implies something darker. These Critter Cuffs were given to regular guests, for what purpose should they be able to revive someone from being unconscious?
Anyways, as Ed makes his way backstage, Lloyd makes some appearances, even once trying to attack Ed before being foiled by the massive boxes landing on him, causing him to slink away. Along the path, however, is something interesting. Binders, pages, even notebooks are scattered, almost like a bread crumb trail. I was never able to make out what they say besides some months like January, or vague Table of Contents with no explanation. Just thought it was weird. Food for thought. Grabbing the keys, Ed heads back, finding the door locked behind him. Trying to open the door yields an attack by Lloyd, who is strangely repelled by a high-pitched noise.
Now, from all that I have read, there seem to be two theories as for why Lloyd flees. The first cause is that Mascot Lloyd is driven away by the high-pitched beeping from the Critter Cuff. The second, and arguably more intriguing theory, is that someone blows a tamer’s whistle. A tamer’s whistle is a whistle used by tamers to direct animals, usually in settings like circuses where the animal has to perform some sort of trick or feat of athleticism. As it’s used more and more often, the animal learns to recognize the pitch, or duration of the shrill sound, associating it with a certain action that needs to be performed. In this case, the theory states that the tamer’s whistle caused Lloyd to fall back, before fleeing.
Now, while I think the tamer whistle theory is cool in concept, I don’t know who would be able, or more importantly, willing to save Ed from Mascot Lloyd. AI Rambley is not able to see what’s back here, nor should he understand what’s happening, so that removes him from the picture. Mascot Mollie is a possibility, perhaps wanting to save Ed for herself, as she’s seen stalking and watching Ed ever since Rambley’s Railroad, and even appears briefly in the hallway when Ed exits the theater backstage, but why want Ed for herself? They probably don’t need food, else they would have died, sweet pastries and sugary drinks present or not. They were left alone for eight years, after all. The thrill of the hunt would be the only explanation. And then there are our two unknowns, running about the park: Mascot Rambley and Mascot Salem. Could they have been the ones to do it? But why assume they’d act differently towards Ed? Surely they’d still be hostile?
And if the Critter Cuff was the savior, why was it ineffective against Mascot Mollie? Could it be because of the physiological and biological differences between Mascots Lloyd and Mollie? And why did it go off only when Lloyd was nearby? After Lloyd is repelled, the noise stops, after all. Was it the elevated heart rate that tipped off the defense mechanism? But again, surely it would have done the same when Ed would be chased by Mascot Mollie?
Remember what Animatronic Mollie told Ed with her dying breath? ‘Not Rambley! He hurts Lloyd! He hurts Lloyd!’ Could this be what Mollie was referring to? After all, Lloyd didn’t just run away; he collapsed a few feet away from Ed for a brief stint, paws pressing against his ears as Lloyd curled up into a fetal position, only running away when the high-pitched sound ended. Mascot Lloyd genuinely seemed in great pain, and was only able to run away, quite hastily, may I add, once the sound stopped. Was Rambley, AI or Mascot, the one who abused such a feature? Or was it someone else?
Remember, we have no idea why the Mascots turned hostile. Possibly due to a lack of exposure to humans, and thus claiming certain territories for themselves. After all, Mollie didn’t attack Ed until he entered her designated area. But then that brings into question Mascot Rambley. Where was he all this time? Rambley Railroad is his place, after all. But this isn’t Rambley’s only attraction in Indigo Park. At least one other location that we find that bears Rambley’s name is ‘Café de Raton Laveur’, which is French for Raccoon Café. Does that mean that Rambley owns other attractions, and is stalking those? It’s unclear.
Anyways, want to know another possible reason why there was a sudden evacuation with no explanation? What if the Mascots rebelled against the humans because of mistreatment? Think about it, Animatronic Mollie says ‘Not Rambley! He hurts Lloyd! He hurts Lloyd!’ What if Animatronic Mollie wasn’t referring to Rambley hurting Lloyd, but someone else? Someone who would want to design a special feature built into his Critter Cuff that he could activate and subdue, if not straight up hurt Lloyd? And who is the only other male character that we know of besides Rambley, Lloyd, Finley, and Ed?
That’s right, Isaac Indigo himself. This could very well be a case of mistreated creatures rebelling against the horrors they endured. Think about it, when in stressful situations, the mind, both human and not, is much more willing to go into fight or flight, is much more likely to punch first, question later. Is it possible that this Animatronic Mollie caught a snippet of a conflict that arose between the Mascots, when Mascot Mollie was trying to mediate? While this does go against the theory that Animatronic Mollie was destroyed by Mascot Rambley to silence her, it’s still a possible theory, no?
Again, these theories are very much a stretch, I just wished to lay them out on the table and offer them up for people to see and debate.
After grabbing the keys, Ed goes to Jetsream Junction, where Ed goes about exploring and solving some puzzles in order to progress further into the building, as it seems to be the only other place that isn’t falling apart and seems to be in somewhat stable condition. Inside one of the rooms is the Rambley Rush arcade game, and there is something interesting that Salem says in here.
Salem, speaking to Rambley: “Meet the new and improved Marley Macaw! Now with none o’ that ‘friendship’ garbage stopping her from tearin’ you to pieces. I wonder what she REALLY thinks of you now? Have fun finding out!”
Now, this could just be me overanalyzing this thing. It’s our only reference to Salem, and some of the things I cite as evidence could very well just be regular dialogue for an arcade game. However, on the off chance that this means something, I was very interested in what Salem said about what Mollie thought of Rambley. She makes it seem like Mollie is under some sort of illusion in regard to Rambley, like he’s a villain masquerading as a good guy, but has everyone around him convinced he’s good. This could tie in with the broken Animatronic Mollie, as if Mollie found out about some truth in regard to Rambley. After all, her broken, jittering speech made it seem like Rambley was actively hurting Lloyd. Could she have gone to someone to get help, but that other someone suggested Rambley as an ally? That could explain why Mollie felt the need to emphasize that ‘He hurts Lloyd’ twice, like she’s genuinely freaking out that her best friend actively hurt others he didn’t like.
Putting that theory aside, Ed goes through the area, heading up to Mollie’s ride, only to find it inaccessible due to major chunks of broken debris. AI Rambley seems sort of horrified to find the place so broken and calls up a repair technician. It’s no surprise that the line is discontinued, due to most Ranglers likely being laid off after the closure of Indigo Park.
From here, AI Rambley, still somewhat jarred by the wreckage he’s seeing, encourages Ed to go and visit Mollie’s Landing Pad, strangely acting as if Ed had just finished his journey on the attraction, when he couldn’t even step onto it. From there, Ed goes and solves some puzzles, making his way deeper into the building. He spots Mollie a few times as she gets away from him, hiding. What’s an interesting note is that some sort of liquid seems to be dripping from Mollie. When you encounter her in one of the tubes, she leaves behind some sort of reddish grime that disappears once her animation is done. Her eyes, also, aren’t the way they’re usually portrayed. They’re similar to Lloyd’s in that there are white pinpricks of light in dark sockets, Lloyd’s being thin ovals in dark sockets.
As Ed finishes up the puzzles, he goes deeper before he’s attacked by Mascot Mollie herself, fleeing through the numerous tubes and tunnels, before eventually leaving it all behind and entering some sort of Ranglers Only Area.
Before we continue, I’d like to point out something. When being chased, Mascot Mollie occasionally rehearses some lines she once heard, repeating this.
Finely, to Rambley: “You’ve known me for 100 years.”
Reasonable enough; she was there when Ed was in the Rambley’s Railroad attraction. No, what concerns me are two other lines, identified by SuperHorrorBro in his analysis of chapter one.
Mascot Mollie: “Get back in your cage, bird.”
And finally, this.
Mascot Mollie: “Get up you stupid freak!”
Remember, Mascot Mollie only repeats what she has once heard. She doesn’t actively make her own dialogue. Remember the theory I had about the Mascots having enough of their terrible living conditions, and rebelling against the staff? It seems like this is the right direction to go in. Lloyd and Mollie do not attack immediately. While Lloyd runs away, Mollie observes, watching, biding her time. She follows you to Lloyd’s theater, and what does she see, or, rather, hear? Lloyd being pushed further and further back into his domain, the one place he should be happy, before being forced into a corner, and where he lashes out. Even though Ed ends up leaving, he ends up claiming a piece of Lloyd’s territory, and Lloyd goes back onto his instincts, to hunt. However, when he gets too close, that blasted, accursed Critter Cuff lets out its horrible whine, Lloyd collapsing, consumed with nothing but pain. Once the sound ends, he flees, like a terrified animal.
And what does Ed see when he leaves? Mascot Mollie, observing Ed. She’s seen that, yet again, a human encroaches, pushes their bounds, eventually hurting Lloyd to get what he wants. And then, he goes to Mollie’s home, the Jetstream Junction, a place she’s been locked out of due to needing a Critter Cuff, but she wouldn’t dare touch one. She saw what happened to Lloyd, who knew what sort of anguish it would inflict upon Mollie?
She enters behind Ed, stalking him, fury building as she watches Ed run about like he owns the place. How dare this man, this human, walk upon her domain whenever he wants, but she has to wait until she’s let in, like some sort of caged bird. Well, she’s not a caged bird, and she’ll make Ed see that.
At first, when AI Rambley sees Ed, he wishes to stop Ed, but seeing a towering Mascot Mollie chasing him, he opens the door, slamming it shut behind Ed just as Mascot Mollie’s head enters the room, killing the Mascot instantly as blood sprays all over the metallic door and floor. AI Rambley attempts to act like nothing happened, but fails, sighing.
He explains that he didn’t realize the danger of Indigo Park and its inhabitants due to being stuck in that early Reception Center for all of those eight, lonely years, unable to see or interact with anything inside. He was just so excited to finally see an actual person that he pushed Ed into this tour, realizing that, with the way things were, there was no way Ed would come out unscathed, and the AI seems genuine in his sorrow. However, he asks for Ed to help restore the park to the former glory, and, miraculously, Ed agrees. However, before Ed leaves, AI Rambley drops this one last piece of vital information.
AI Rambley: “Whew! That was exhausting to say that whole spiel, but Rambley’s Ranglers (registered) is a registered trademark … that expired yesterday.”
Okay, so couple things. From my impression, I had the feeling that somehow, someway the Indigo Company as a whole was alive and kicking. I mean, look at what Ed has to say when he interacts with the Rambley Raccoon plushy.
Ed: “Ah, there’s my buddy. Kinda feels like Rambley has a whole empire now, being the main man of Indigo and all.”
Ed gives us the distinct impression that not only is Indigo still around, but it’s also positively thriving, yet they allow their trademarks to expire? Trademarks essentially last forever, but you have to fight, in court, to let them continue every ten years or so. If Indigo is based on Disney, the stingiest, largest entertainment company, why would they let their trademark expire, and give access to others? Well, this might have to do with the initial terms.
You see, in order to keep a trademark, you have to defend its usage every ten years. Well, okay, then why didn’t Indigo do so? One of the terms for renewal is that you have to continuously use that trademark. You can’t just claim one and never use it again, that’s basically an infraction upon free speech. Sure, you can fight for its ownership, but there are rules and regulations to these kinds of things, you can’t just trademark something like ‘Oof’ or ‘Lmao’ and keep it without at least saying those phrases occassionally.
And, so far as we know, there are no other places such as Indigo Park owns. Ranglers are synonymous with staff in the park, so obviously, it would be hard to justify keeping a trademark when you never expect to use it. So, that’s my theory on why the trademark did indeed expire the day previously, October 6^th, 2023 (apparently, the creator confirmed the game takes place in 2023, so, that means that Ed arrives on October 7^th, 2023, and the last person to enter park left on October 7^th, 2015).
Anyways, after that, AI Rambley leads Ed to Oceanic Odyssey with the intention to get it back up and running, as it has been closed due to repairs, something that AI Rambley hopes Ed can assist with. As Ed exits, he tries entering a hallway, which AI Rambley blocks.
AI Rambley: “Uh oh. That Rambley’s Ranglers room is only accessible by Royal Ranglers. Maybe you’ll grow up big and strong enough to enter it! But for now, don’t.”
This is the first instance of hierarchy within the Ranglers that Ed has been introduced to so far, and the dark undertone AI Rambley takes when he tells Ed not to go there is somewhat concerning. What exactly is AI Rambley hiding back there? Well, I have a few hunches.
Let’s point out the obvious regarding our friends, the Mascots; they’re not regular animals. Obviously, regular animals don’t have dark orbitals with thin white slits, or have turquoise noses, or have macaws the size of cassowaries. However, they are still animals, creatures of flesh and blood that act like their regular animal counterparts; Lloyd is an ambush predator, stalking until he himself is presented with an opportunity to attack. However, lions are known to just straight up attack if they are discovered by accident, especially if the prey is weaker and slower than them. Lloyd runs away instead of attacking.
Similarly, Mollie follows Ed warily, unsure of what to think of him for most of the time. She never aggresses until he enters her territory, and even then, she’s surprisingly lenient with Ed, straight up until he finishes those color-coded symbol puzzles. Only then does she attack. And even then, this is a behavior reflected in regular macaws as well, as these birds are fiercely territorial of their area.
So, these Mascots didn’t pop up straight from the ground, did they? They had to be bioengineered at the very least, mutated regular animals becoming the Mascots guests once knew and loved. They are, however, animals at their core, animals that do not attack for no reason. They try to deescalate the situation, as Lloyd does when he runs backstage, and when Mollie pulls herself back through the tunnels, away from Ed, and striding through the corridors, until she eventually loses patience and chases after Ed through Jetsream Junction.
I’d like to propose the theory that these Mascots were created in that area of Jetstream Junction, hidden underground and away from prying eyes. This is also where the Mascots were likely mistreated and abused, called horribly names at the very least, and endured beatings and humiliating acts at their worst. This is also likely where the Mascots originally snapped. After all, literally not a single guest understands why they were evacuated. Unless the guests who saw what happened were silenced, there should have been something floating around the Internet, on some obscure forum.
Now, why would AI Rambley hide this? Because he now understands that these Mascots are dangerous, a risk he cannot allow, since he enlisted Ed to bring the park back from the dead. AI Rambley realizes that Ed doesn’t have the tools to survive that area; perhaps because one of the Mascots lurks in there, locked away, or because he doesn’t want Ed to flee, horrified as to the scientific process that allowed for the mutated abominations to roam Indigo Park.
Regardless, Ed finally makes his way to the entrance of Oceanic Odyssey, home of the Mascot Finley. In fact, we actually get to see a glimpse of Finely’s actual size in one of the aquariums as his large head and long torso appear, before the chapter ends. I don’t believe that this is an animatronic, as electricity and water do not mix, especially animatronic with running current of electricity in water.
And that’s where Chapter 1 of Indigo Park, ‘Birds of a Feather’, ends off. Chapter Two will likely revolve mostly, if not totally, around Oceanic Odyssey and Mascot Finley.
So, I have two predictions as for where the next chapter might go. Based on the reactions Mascots previously had to Ed, I believe that Mascot Finley will not be attacking immediately. He’ll likely be observing, like Mollie, at least for a certain amount of time, until he proceeds to attack and harass Ed around his attraction. Ed will eventually get Oceanic Odyssey up and running, and have to leave Mascot Finley behind, as he’s still hostile and very much a danger to Ed.
The alternative to this is that once Mascot Finely realizes what Ed is trying to do, he stops being aggressive, and might instead become a temporary ally, allowing Ed to reach certain locations with his knowledge of the place.
Regardless of Mascot Finley’s ultimate fate, Oceanic Odyssey being powered on will likely catch the attention of Indigo. Based on the information we know so far, Indigo is still a well known, public entity. It’s possible that Indigo abandoned the theme park route, instead focusing exclusively on media such as cartoons, movies, and merch, or they might have other sister locations to Indigo Park. It’s unclear.
Whew. In the words of AI Rambley, this is a lot of information. Almost nine thousand words in, and we finally finish covering Chapter 1. So, let’s proceed to the Conclusion I draw regarding the story Indigo Park tries to tell, and the future events that might transpire.

DAY: MAY 31 2024
5-31-2024

RESEARCH SUGGESTS LEADERS’ SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS ARE TAKEN JUST AS SERIOUSLY AS FORMAL STATEMENTS

Over 180 world leaders maintain social media accounts, and some of them issue policy warnings to rivals and the public on these platforms rather than relying on traditional government statements. How seriously do people take such social media postings? A new study suggests the general public and policymakers alike take leaders’ social media posts just as seriously as they take formal government statements. The research, by MIT political scientists, deploys novel surveys of both the public and experienced foreign policy specialists. “What we find, which is really surprising, across both
5-31-2024

SCALE OF ONLINE HARM TO CHILDREN REVEALED IN GLOBAL STUDY

More than 300 million children a year are victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse, research indicates. Pupils in every classroom, in every school, in every country are victims of this hidden pandemic, according to researchers who have conducted the first global estimate of the scale of the crisis. The statistics, from the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute at the University of Edinburgh, amount to a clear and present danger to the world’s children, according to the crime agency Interpol. Online risks One in eight of the world’s children, about
5-31-2024

PRONATALISM IS THE LATEST SILICON VALLEY TREND. WHAT IS IT—AND WHY IS IT DISTURBING?

For Malcolm and Simone Collins, declining birth rates across many developed countries are an existential threat. The solution is to have “tons of kids,” and to use a hyperrational, data-driven approach to guide everything from genetic selection to baby names and day-to-day parenting. They don’t heat their Pennsylvania home in winter, because heating is a “pointless indulgence.” Their children wear iPads around their necks. And a Guardian journalist witnessed Malcolm strike their two-year-old across the face for misbehavior, a parenting style they apparently developed based on watching “tigers
5-31-2024

HOW SCIENCE, MATH, AND TECH CAN PROPEL SWIMMERS TO NEW HEIGHTS

One hundred years ago, in the 1924 Paris Olympics, American Johnny Weissmuller won the men’s 100m freestyle with a time of 59 seconds. Nearly 100 years later, in the most recent Olympics, the delayed 2020 Games in Tokyo, Caeleb Dressel took home the same event with a time that was 12 seconds faster than Weissmuller’s. Swimming times across the board have become much faster over the past century, a result of several factors, including innovations
5-31-2024

BANNING SEX CRIME OFFENDERS FROM CHANGING THEIR NAMES DOESN’T MAKE US SAFER

The government of British Columbia recently introduced a bill to ban people convicted of serious offenses from legally changing their name. The proposed amendment to the province’s Name Act would also prohibit those found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder from changing their name. The government announced the move after media reports that Allan Schoenborn legally changed his name to Ken Johnson. Schoenborn was found not criminally responsible for the deaths of his children in 2010 because of a delusional disorder, and was placed at a psychiatric hospital.
5-31-2024

SILICON VALLEY ISN’T THE START-UP UTOPIA WE THOUGHT, RESEARCH FINDS

Silicon Valley—considered the world’s hub of technology and innovation—can breed inequality and sameness among budding entrepreneurs, according to new research. Behind the multi-million-dollar deals and tales of start-up utopia, Silicon Valley’s “uneven” investment landscape is in fact a barrier to many budding businesses, says the study from the University of Stirling and Georg-August-University Göttingen. But the researchers suggest other countries could still learn from the more discerning entrepreneurial ecosystem that bred giants such as Apple and Google, to be more selective in backing start-ups. While it is not uncommon for
5-31-2024

I WANT TO KEEP MY CHILD SAFE FROM ABUSE—BUT RESEARCH TELLS ME I’M DOING IT WRONG

Child sexual abuse is uncomfortable to think about, much less talk about. The idea of an adult engaging in sexual behaviors with a child feels sickening. It’s easiest to believe that it rarely happens, and when it does, that it’s only to children whose parents aren’t protecting them. This belief stayed with me during my early days as a parent. I kept an eye out for creepy men at the playground and was skeptical of men who worked with young children, such as teachers and coaches. When my kids were
5-31-2024

OVER 300 MILLION YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE EXPERIENCED ONLINE SEXUAL ABUSE, EXPLOITATION, FINDS METASTUDY

It takes a lot to shock Kelvin Lay. My friend and colleague was responsible for setting up Africa’s first dedicated child exploitation and human trafficking units, and for many years he was a senior investigating officer for the Child Exploitation Online Protection Center at the UK’s National Crime Agency, specializing in extra territorial prosecutions on child exploitation across the globe. But what happened when he recently volunteered for a demonstration of cutting-edge identification software left him speechless. Within seconds of being fed with an image
5-31-2024

CYBERFLASHING IS A FORM OF GENDERED SEXUAL VIOLENCE THAT MUST BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY

Sexting—sending sexually suggestive or explicit messages and images—is now a widespread practice, and can be a healthy way to express and explore sexuality. However, there is a need to distinguish between consensual sexting and forms of sexual harassment like cyberflashing. Cyberflashing refers to the act of non-consensually sending sexual imagery (like nudes or “dick pics”) to another person. It is facilitated through communications technologies including text, AirDrop and social media applications like Snapchat and Tinder. Similar to flashing—when a person unexpectedly and deliberately “flashes” their genitals to others—that occurs in
5-31-2024

VIRTUAL TRAINING MAY BE AN EFFECTIVE, COST-EFFICIENT OPTION FOR CHILD EDUCATORS

Teachers and other child educators can benefit from regular professional development, but in-person training can be expensive. New research found that virtual training can be a budget-friendly alternative—and especially effective for certain groups of educators. The study—a collaboration between researchers at Penn State and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and published in the International Journal of Professional Development, Learners and Learning—found that educators who took a virtual training reported feeling more confident in their abilities to implement practices shown to support positive youth development. In particular, after-school providers who did not
5-31-2024

HUMBLE LEADERS BOOST EMPLOYEES’ WORKPLACE STATUS AND LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL, FINDS STUDY

There are many different types of workplace leaders, from those who prioritize the needs of team members and the organization above their own, to authentic leaders who foster openness, trust and transparency. A recent study by the University of South Australia published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior has highlighted the significant benefits of humble leadership in the workplace. According to the study by UniSA’s Dr. Xiao Lin, humble leadership can effectively elevate the workplace status of employees by boosting their sense of respect and prominence. It also leads to
5-31-2024

WHY ARE GROCERY BILLS SO HIGH? A NEW STUDY LOOKS AT THE SCIENCE BEHIND FOOD PRICE REPORTING

Rising food costs are squeezing Canadians around the country. Nearly everyone is feeling the pinch, and it’s not just an inconvenience—high food prices are a major threat to food security for many Canadians. Understanding why food prices are so high and why they are changing is critical to the well-being of our society. Unfortunately, consensus on why food price are so high is in short supply. Explanations given in reports like Canada’s Food Price Report and the news media range widely, from the war in Ukraine to supply chain issues
5-31-2024

WILL GENERATIVE AI CHANGE THE WAY UNIVERSITIES COMMUNICATE?

Is artificial intelligence an unprecedented opportunity, or will it rob everyone of jobs and creativity? As we debate on social media (and perhaps use ChatGPT almost daily), generative AIs have also entered the arena of university communication. These tools—based on large language models that were optimized for interactive communication—can indeed support, expand, and innovate university communication offerings. Justus Henke has analyzed the situation of German realities about six months after the launch of ChatGPT 3. “The research was conducted about a year ago when enthusiasm was high, but it was
5-31-2024

STUDY SHOWS RELATIVELY LOW NUMBER OF SUPERSPREADERS RESPONSIBLE FOR LARGE PORTION OF MISINFORMATION ON TWITTER

Classification of superspreader accounts. A large portion (55.1%) of accounts are no longer active. For each class annotated with political affiliations, colors indicate the ideological split. The last group aggregates all accounts with political affiliations. Credit: PLOS ONE (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302201 A small team of social media analysts at Indiana University has found that a major portion of tweets spreading disinformation are sent by a surprisingly small percentage of a given userbase. In their study, published in PLOS ONE, the group conducted a review of 2,397,388 tweets posted on Twitter
5-31-2024

HOW LIFE’S BIG MOMENTS CAN CHALLENGE STARTUPS

Life-changing events like the birth of a child, the purchase of a new home, or a lottery win could threaten the survival of a new business venture, the positive family events had a comparatively greater influence, albeit negatively, on the survival of a new venture, compared with
5-31-2024

RUDE AT WORK? FEELING GUILTY CAN MAKE YOU A BETTER, KINDER WORKER

We’ve all done it. A bad night’s sleep or a tough commute made us cranky, and we lashed out at a coworker who did nothing wrong. What can we do to make up for it? According to a new study published in the Journal of Business Ethics, embracing our guilty feelings can help us make up for our bad behavior by encouraging us to act more politely and work harder the next day. “We found that anyone can be rude at work, because anyone can
5-31-2024

RESEARCHERS INTRODUCE A PLANETARY INCLUSION SCALE TO FOSTER BROADER ETHICAL THINKING

Social inclusion and having a sense of belonging with other people are key elements of a good life. However, the fate of humanity is a challenge that extends beyond our social reality. Experiences of belonging and inclusion, understood in a broader sense than before, may be crucial for a sustainable future. In an article published in the International Journal of Social Pedagogy, a team of researchers propose a new planetary inclusion scale that structures our planetary relationship three-dimensionally based on temporal, spatial and ethical orientation. The temporal element relates to
5-31-2024

‘LEAN IN’ MESSAGES CAN LOWER WOMEN’S MOTIVATION TO PROTEST GENDER INEQUALITY

Women in leadership are often told to “Lean In,” designed to be motivational messaging demonstrating that they are more confident, strategic and resilient to setback. However, new research indicates that such “lean in” messaging can hinder women’s motivation to protest gender equality. Popularized in a book by American technology executive Sherly Sandberg, the “Lean In” solution to gender inequality advises women that demonstrating personal resilience and perseverance in the face of setbacks is key to career advancement. Now, a new study led by the University of Exeter, Bath Spa University
5-31-2024

ALGORITHMS COULD HELP IMPROVE JUDICIAL DECISIONS

A new paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics finds that replacing certain judicial decision-making functions with algorithms could improve outcomes for defendants by eliminating some of the systemic biases of judges. Decision makers make consequential choices based on predictions of unknown outcomes. Judges, in particular, make decisions about whether to grant bail to defendants or how to sentence those convicted. Companies now use machine learning based models increasingly in high-stakes decisions. There are various assumptions about human behavior underlying the deployment of such learning models that play out in
5-31-2024

DIGITAL CAMPAIGNING IS A HUGE PART OF ELECTIONS NOW—BUT GOING VIRAL ISN’T EVERYTHING

The election has commenced and the race is on—to amass as many likes, shares and comments as possible. Digital campaigning, particularly through social media, is now a key part of political candidates’ communication toolkit. In fact, every general election campaign since 1997 has at some point been lauded as the first to make effective use of digital campaigning. But it was in 2015 that David Cameron’s campaign first made strategic use of social media to drive an election victory. As political reporter Tim Ross outlines in his excellent book, Why
5-31-2024

WHY ARE ORGANIZATIONAL COVER-UPS SO COMMON?

The TV dramatization of the UK Horizon Post Office scandal evoked outrage and disbelief. However, as another example of dysfunctional organizational behavior, it was expected rather than exceptional. The Post Office saga joins a long list of cover-ups or scandals that includes Hillsborough, Enron, Grenfell, the infected blood scandal, the Tuam babies scandal in the Republic of Ireland, Boeing 737 Max and Nasa (Columbia space shuttle). They represent what happens when there is a move within organizations and institutions to cover up the causes of
5-31-2024

AMONG GEN Z AUSTRALIANS, 38% IDENTIFY AS SPIRITUAL AND HALF BELIEVE IN KARMA. WHY IS SPIRITUALITY SO POPULAR?

Spirituality is increasingly popular with young Australians: recent research shows 38% of Gen Z Australians identify as spiritual. It also reports 50% of them believe in karma, 29% in reincarnation and 20% in astrology. When it comes to activities equated with spirituality, 28% of Gen Z Australians practice meditation and 22% practice yoga. In Australia, spirituality is strongly, enduringly central to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and culturally and religiously diverse communities. Yet until recently, spirituality has received far less attention than religion. Spirituality may be
5-31-2024

COMPANIES CAN IMPROVE THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THEIR PRODUCTS IN THE EARLIEST PRODUCT-DESIGN STAGES

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Lithuanian and Italian universities propose a tool that allows companies to assess the circularity of their future products. The self-assessment tool emphasizes the co-creation of circular design in the early (creative) stages of product development, encouraging entrepreneurs and designers to think more systematically and collaborate better by integrating related stakeholders into the product development process. The study is published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology. “The majority of existing practical tools (systems of indicators) are aimed at measuring the environmental impact of products already
5-31-2024

RESEARCH EXAMINES HOW RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AFFECTS A STATE’S COLLEGE ENROLLMENT

New research has revealed up to a 9% increase in college first-year enrollments in US states that have legalized recreational marijuana compared with states without such legalization. The study, which is published in Economic Inquiry, found that the increase was from out-of-state enrollments, with early adopter states and public non-research institutions experiencing the most pronounced increases. Recreational marijuana legalization did not negatively impact degree completion or graduation rate, and it did not affect college prices, quality, or in?state enrollment. The findings suggest that some students perceive recreational marijuana legalization as
5-31-2024

RESEARCH EXAMINES HOW RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AFFECTS A STATE’S COLLEGE ENROLLMENT

New research has revealed up to a 9% increase in college first-year enrollments in US states that have legalized recreational marijuana compared with states without such legalization. The study, which is published in Economic Inquiry, found that the increase was from out-of-state enrollments, with early adopter states and public non-research institutions experiencing the most pronounced increases. Recreational marijuana legalization did not negatively impact degree completion or graduation rate, and it did not affect college prices, quality, or in?state enrollment. The findings suggest that some students perceive recreational marijuana legalization as
5-31-2024

HOW THE ‘MODEL MINORITY’ MYTH HARMS ASIAN AMERICANS

May is Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month, a time when Americans celebrate the profound contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders—a group that is commonly abbreviated as AAPI—to U.S. society. It’s also a time to acknowledge the complexity of AAPI experience. And as a professor who studies equity and inclusion in business, I think the focus on AAPI communities this month provides an excellent occasion to push back against a stereotype that has long misrepresented and marginalized a diverse range of people: the myth of the “model minority.” The
5-31-2024

WONDERING HOW TO TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT CONSENT? HERE’S AN AGE-BASED GUIDE TO GET YOU STARTED

The Australian government’s new campaign Consent Can’t Wait challenges us all to improve our understanding of consent. It asks a series of questions to illustrate this issue is more complex than simplistic “no means no” messaging. The campaign invites viewers to consider the nuances of consent, so we can raise these important issues with children and young people in our lives. But what is a good age to start talking about consent? How do parents tackle such conversations when this information probably wasn’t readily discussed in our own upbringing? How
5-31-2024

A PRODUCT OF NATURE OR NURTURE?

The concept of cultural entrepreneurship has many facets. It encompasses both the cultural and social impact of entrepreneurial training, and the environmental factors that influence its development. Some societies, such as the U.S., have a strong entrepreneurial culture. This means that certain characteristics are celebrated and encouraged, such as the ability of individuals to assume risks, patience when confronting challenges, and innovative problem solving, especially in uncertain situations. However, not all countries have such an entrepreneurial culture. Entrepreneurship struggles to take off in Europe In general, entrepreneurship can drive economic
5-31-2024

STUDY BRIDGES ANIMAL BEHAVIOR RESEARCH AND COMPUTER CODING TO ENGAGE CHILDREN IN STEM

A graphic depicting a student coding. Credit: Carnegie Mellon University Teachers today face a bit of a conundrum, according to a new study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Their goal is to prepare young students to enter a rapidly changing world. Even basic jobs require technical proficiency, which requires computational and analytical skills. To address this need, many educators are pushing to fold these important STEM skills into elementary curriculum. Here’s the problem. Young students can lose interest and even develop an aversion
5-31-2024

STUDY SHOWS VR CAN HELP TEACHERS BETTER DISTRIBUTE THEIR GAZE

On the left, a bird’s-eye view of the virtual classroom; on the right, screenshots of each of the four gaze-visualization conditions. Teachers need to know their material, but they must also keep their students engaged and interested. Part of that involves making eye contact with their students—all of them. A multidisciplinary team of researchers tested several methods of data visualization in an immersive virtual reality (VR) classroom, to give teachers a way to gauge
5-31-2024

MARKETERS CAN MANAGE ‘FEATURE CREEP’ SO CONSUMERS FEEL LESS INTIMIDATED BY TOO MANY FEATURES IN A PRODUCT

Wifi-enabled washing machines. Voice-controlled microwaves. App-enabled TVs, vacuum cleaners, and even window blinds you can control from the comfort of your couch. Many of the technological features now included in everyday products are useful and accessible. But research has shown that having too many can overwhelm potential buyers, making them less likely to make a purchase. In recent research, Wayne Hoyer, marketing professor and James L. Bayless/William S. Farrish Fund Chair for Free Enterprise at Texas McCombs, digs into the phenomenon of “feature creep” and its impact on consumer sentiment.
5-31-2024

RESEARCHERS EXPLAIN SOCIAL MEDIA’S ROLE IN RAPIDLY SHIFTING SOCIAL NORMS ON GENDER AND SEXUALITY

A new paper summarizing decades of research demonstrates how social media has supported an explosion of diversity in gender and sexuality in America during the 21st century, and also how these technologies have equally enabled a cultural backlash. The paper’s authors, UC Santa Cruz Psychology Department faculty members Phil Hammack and Adriana Manago, identified five main narratives about gender and sexuality that they believe emerged through social media as people have strived to be “authentic” on these platforms. The findings, along with resulting recommendations for psychology researchers and practitioners, were
5-31-2024

KEY FACTORS IN TRAINING ASSESSORS FOR ENHANCED PERFORMANCE RATINGS

New research is examining how organizations can improve their training programs by customizing frame-of-reference training to emphasize identifying negative behaviors critical to their goals. While assessors naturally identify positive behaviors, C. Allen Gorman, Ph.D., associate professor in UAB’s Department of Management, Information Systems and Quantitative Methods, says targeted training helps them recognize harmful actions that can hinder organizational objectives. Involving assessors in defining important performance dimensions and examples of behaviors, both good and
5-31-2024

STUDIES CHALLENGE WIDELY HELD BELIEFS ON APPLICANT DIVERSITY AND WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE

Justin Frake is interested in cause-and-effect relationships in real-world data and the hidden dynamics that shape workplace behavior and equality—or inequality, as the case might be. His curiosity has led to research that challenges some popular beliefs as well as published studies related to women in the workforce. One study shows that firms promoting flatter hierarchies inadvertently discourage female applicants and another study counters several recent studies that claim women CEOs negatively impact career outcomes of other women. Both are published in the Strategic Management Journal. The assistant professor of
5-31-2024

CHALLENGING LEWIN’S MOTIVATIONAL CONFLICTS THEORY

A recent series of experiments challenges the longstanding theory of motivational conflict resolution introduced by Kurt Lewin. According to Lewin, conflicts between two undesirable outcomes (avoidance–avoidance conflicts) are typically harder to resolve than those between two desirable ones (approach–approach conflicts). Lewin posited that avoidance–avoidance conflicts, where individuals must choose between two undesirable outcomes, are typically more challenging to resolve compared to approach–approach conflicts, which involve choosing between two desirable options.
5-31-2024

MEN WITH ‘TOXIC MASCULINITY’ ARE MORE LIKELY TO MAKE SEXUAL ADVANCES WITHOUT CONSENT, STUDY FINDS

No means no when it comes to sex. But what happens when a woman makes a more passive response to a sexual advance? According to new research from Binghamton University, men differ in how they interpret these types of responses, and men who display hostile masculinity, known commonly as “toxic masculinity,” tend to act on them regardless of whether or not they think it’s consensual. A team of researchers, including Binghamton psychology professor Richard Mattson and graduate student Michael Shaw asked men between the ages of 18–25 to respond to
5-31-2024

WHY WE DEHUMANIZE OUR POLITICAL OPPONENTS

Some of human history’s greatest atrocities—genocide, slavery, ethnic cleanings—are rooted in our ability to dehumanize people from other social, political, or cultural groups. Whereas prior research has traced dehumanization to the belief that others think or feel less than we do, new research co-authored by Haas professor Sameer Srivastava shows that our tendency to dehumanize can also be influenced by how we think others view important facets of the world. The greater the difference between our perceptions of an outgroup’s worldview
5-31-2024

STUDY SUGGESTS CHILDREN ARE OFTEN EXPOSED TO PROBLEMATIC CLICK BAIT DURING YOUTUBE SEARCHES

When a child peruses YouTube, the content recommended to them is not always age appropriate, a new study suggests. Researchers mimicked search behaviors of children using popular search terms, such as memes, Minecraft and Fortnite, and captured video thumbnails recommended at the end of each video. Among the 2,880 thumbnails analyzed, many contained problematic click bait, such as violence or frightening images, according to the Michigan Medicine led research in JAMA Network Open. “Children spend a significant amount of time on free video sharing platforms that include user-generated content,” said
5-31-2024

STUDY FINDS WOMEN ARE VULNERABLE IN POST-WAR PEACE PROCESSES

Post-war peace processes are a dangerous period for women. Many are forced to live close to men who committed serious abuse during the war or are expected to testify in various types of truth commissions, which can be both retraumatizing and stigmatizing. These are the findings of a new study by peace researchers at Uppsala University, published in the journal PLOS ONE. “In short, peace projects can force women to live side by side with ex-combatants who committed atrocities during the war. This puts them at risk of further threat
5-31-2024

HOW EMBRACING THE CRINGE CAN HELP YOUR DATING LIFE

We can all agree that dating is hard. Getting to know people can feel vulnerable, but at the same time, exciting. We can also agree that feeling rejected can be one of the worst feelings, especially after we put ourselves out there. Dating can also expose us to a lot of cringey things, maybe even something we didn’t know we’d consider cringey. Think of cringe like something that makes you uncomfortable, or something about someone else that you don’t find attractive. Before dating, most of us consider what we’re looking
5-31-2024

PERSONAL CONNECTIONS AT WORK POSITIVELY IMPACT RETENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH, SAYS REPORT

New survey results from Wiley suggest people still feel connected at work despite the prevalence of hybrid and remote work environments and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). According to the latest Wiley Workplace Intelligence report, “Human Connection: The Crucial Secret to Thriving in the Digital Age,” nearly 8 in 10 employees surveyed (78%) said they feel connected with their coworkers, and almost 7 in 10 (69%) said they also enjoy making connections with their colleagues. Around half even said they want to learn more about their coworkers by doing
5-31-2024

RESEARCHER DEVELOPS MODEL OF INFLUENCER IMPORTANCE WITHIN INSTAGRAM NETWORKS

A study has provided new insights into social media influencers, particularly focusing on those in the women’s fashion sector on the well-known image and video sharing platform Instagram. In a departure from the approach taken by earlier studies, Jens K. Perret of the International School of Management in Cologne, Germany, has used network statistics and centrality measures to establish a model of influencer importance within their network. Perret analyzed data from 255 influencers covering a four-year period. Influencers are loosely
5-31-2024

MOST PEOPLE TRUST ACCURATE SEARCH RESULTS WHEN THE STAKES ARE HIGH, STUDY FINDS

Rank (X-axis) does not affect the evaluation of trustworthiness (Y-axis, mean-centered) of accurate results. This lack of relationship is robust across experiments (columns) and for clicked results (top row, red) as well as non-clicked results (bottom row, blue). The trend lines represent the predicted change in trustworthiness ratings per unit decrease in rank fitted by the linear regression models. Credit: Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61645-8 Using experiments with COVID-19 related queries, Cornell sociology and information science researchers found that in a public health emergency, most people pick out and click
5-31-2024

MISLEADING COVID-19 HEADLINES FROM MAINSTREAM SOURCES DID MORE HARM ON FACEBOOK THAN FAKE NEWS, STUDY FINDS

Despite the greater potency of “fake news” on Facebook to discourage Americans from taking the COVID-19 vaccine, users’ greater exposure to unflagged, vaccine-skeptical content meant the latter had a much greater negative effect on vaccine uptake. Credit: Jennifer Allen, Duncan Watts, David G. Rand Since the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021, fake news on social media has been widely blamed for low vaccine uptake in the United States—but research by MIT Sloan School of Management Ph.D. candidate Jennifer Allen and Professor David Rand finds that the blame lies
5-31-2024

CRITICAL DIALOGUE HELPS STRAIGHT MEN CONFRONT SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC BELIEFS

Adult heterosexual men with sexist and homophobic views can potentially improve their attitudes toward gay men and women by engaging in critical dialogues that use illustrations as a springboard, according to a new University of Michigan study. The work is published in the journal Sexual and Gender Diversity in Social Services. The process by which people shift from a prejudicial stance to one of relative acceptance is a key innovation of the study. Guided by trained facilitators, critical dialogues reflect illustrations depicting different gender roles and sexual identities. The images
5-31-2024

RELIEVING A FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

If you dread public speaking you are not alone. It is a leading social phobia, one that can cause a state of anxiety that reduces otherwise articulate people to nervous incoherence. A strong fear of public speaking is known as glossophobia. Academic studies estimate it affects 20% of the population, but depending on the sample and methodology, the figure could be as high as 40%. As American writer and humourist Mark Twain said, “There are two types of speakers: Those who get nervous and those who are liars.” But help
5-31-2024

HOW SOME PRIVATE COMPANIES ARE MARKETING TECH AND AI SOLUTIONS

How do universities and colleges decide who to admit? Given the earnings advantage of a post-secondary degree both globally and in Canada, this is an important social mobility question. While the answer varies from one institution to the next, most focus on education criteria like exam scores and grades. However, Canada’s new intake cap on study permit applications puts increased pressure on Canadian institutions to also consider immigration criteria when admitting international undergraduate students. This is just the latest example of immigration’s growing influence on the societal roles of Canadian

Back in college, the TTRPG club was pretty large, and the cast of players and GMs in any given game changed all the time. “Campaigns” didn’t last longer than a semester. Bobcat and I met in this club. She was one of my closest friends in college, and we gamed together all the time. Never in a long term campaign, though, mostly one shots or mini-campaigns over school breaks. Because of this, I never saw how controlling, hypocritical, and mean Bobcat could be.
You see, in every social group, Bobcat needed someone to be angry at. Someone to complain about, make fun of, and turn others against. To justify her need to rage. During school, this was always other players in the long campaigns she was in or people that she lived with. I never saw that side of her.
Until, after college, the target became me.
Fast forward a few years after college. I’m in an online TTRPG group that meets twice a week for different games; some players play in both campaigns, others play in just one. The important ones are three college friends (Labrador, Bluejay, and Snake) and one highschool friend of mine (Hawk). When the campaign that I ran wrapped up and a new one was about to start, I missed hanging out with Bobcat, so I invited her in. A few months later, Bluejay invited her to the game that he* was running. That was around when the horror really started.
First, the At-The-Table Horror:

• Toward the end of Bluejay’s first campaign, it was clear it would be our final game in Pathfinder 1e, and my desire to test out un-tried character ideas just happened to coincide with my PC having several in-character reasons for helping a group of NPCs complete a side mission while the party had the spotlight. Bluejay okayed it, this sort of thing wasn’t new in this group, and I had no reason to think there would be anything wrong. But, when the moment came up, Bobcat screamed at me, becoming incredibly angry when I expressed that I wanted to do something different than she did. After the session, she, Bluejay, and I talked about it, and she claimed that this showed I “didn’t care about anything” or how anyone felt, which in the moment I took really hard. I caved, and I kept my current PC in the game, and I thought that was that. Just a single disagreement that had unexpected emotional consequences. I thought we buried the hatchet, and we could go back to being friends. Boy was I wrong.
• As soon as we switched to 5e for Bluejay’s next game, Bobcat acted like she owned the system. She was incredibly pedantic about terms. I.e. when Bluejay said “Make a Reflex save” instead of “Dexterity save”, or used the word “Trained” instead of “proficient”, she audibly scoffed and usually felt the need to correct it, despite the fact that no one was confused and everyone knew but Bluejay meant. The same went for any actual rule that anyone got wrong. Maybe she didn’t say something, but she always gave a little snort or scoff to make sure everyone knew what she thought of it.
• Bobcat decided to make a prankster of a bard for this new game that needled my character constantly, frequently arguing with her or responding sarcastically to her suggestions. In hindsight, this was an insane thing to do when we had had beef before. You don’t choose to make a character that pushes the buttons of someone you have fought a lot with unless you want to keep fighting a lot. This eventually got so bad that it turned into a not-quite-in-character swearing match.
• Bobcat was incredibly hypocritical about the party sticking together. For example, in one session, Labrador’s PC had arranged to meet an NPC at the in-world equivalent of a cop bar, and my PC, who had a bad history with the local government, didn’t want to go, and I chose to have her stay behind. There was no expectation of danger, and I was happy to make some rolls for crafting and then cede the spotlight for awhile. Bobcat was incensed, but later on, during a much more dangerous stealth mission, she decided to split off from the group for her own reasons and literally shooed me away when I raised concerns.
• Ultimately, she left this campaign and the group. It was during a session where we were in a “dream battle” that was insanely tough, but clearly wasn’t going to have permanent consequences. Most of us were having fun and hamming up how hard we were getting beat. Evidently, it didn’t match what Bobcat felt DnD was “supposed to be” or something, so she abruptly left mid session and never came back. When she “officially” left the group, she told Bluejay that he didn’t “listen to his female players”, claimed that Bluejay lets Snake and I “control the table”, but she is the only lady in the group that feels this way. Labrador and Hawk, both women, did not feel that way. If anything, Labrador at times felt like Bluejay was giving her too much control over the story, but that’s another issue.

If this had been it… well, it would be a horror story for sure, but it wouldn’t be a horror story I still feel compelled to write about. The worst parts are everything that was going on around the games.
About a year and some change after Bobcat joined the online group, Labrador and I started dating. It wasn’t until after we were married (a few years later) that Bluejay confided in us that Bobcat had been saying I was “bad for [Labrador]” behind our backs, and didn’t approve of our relationship. Bluejay defended me, and that seemed to get Bobcat to soften up, so he didn’t bring it up to us until after the even bigger rift opened.
Then, for life reasons, Hawk needed to move to a new state, and decided to move to Bobcat’s city to start a new chapter of life. They had met in our group, and become good friends online. When this started, the rift between Bobcat and I was growing, and I was low-key worried that Bobcat would try to turn Hawk, my oldest friend, against me. I don’t know what I would do if she did.
Then came Wedding Two: Electric Boogaloo. This one was Bobcat’s wedding. As with mine, we had been given invitations well before our big rift at the table, and it was only the dimmest hope of salvaging our friendship (and avoiding the faux-pas of saying you will go, and then changing your mind after a fight) that Labrador and I went. It felt even more awkward than ours did, and I would have felt alienated if it weren’t for the fact that there were lots of old college friends attending that I was able to catch up with. Among other things, it was the first time I got to see Hawk in a long while. She was actually one of Bobcat’s bridesmaids, which is what made what happened next so… intense.
Earlier this year, during Hawk’s birthday weekend, she wanted to have a big online hang (if you have ever heard of a PowerPoint Party, that was part of it). The entire gaming group was there, but Bobcat was not. This immediately stuck out to me, since as far as I was aware, Hawk and Bobcat were close IRL friends, living pretty close to each other. I hated the idea of Bobcat not being invited to this just because of me, and that our beef might put pressure on Hawk, so I asked her about it.
It turns out, I was right! I was right about everything! Hawk had decided to distance herself from Bobcat and eventually end their friendship outright because of how toxic Bobcat really was. Apparently, Bobcat would go on rants about Bluejay and I, both in person and online, about her experiences in the group, but always the incredibly one-sided, self-righteous version that Hawk knew wasn’t true. When Hawk decided to take a road trip with Bluejay, Bobcat wrote this horrible series of twitter posts about it, saying that Hawk was “under [Bluejay’s] spell”, painting him as some kind of abuser, when Bluejay is actually a big marshmallow wouldn’t hurt a fly.
That wasn’t the full extent of Bobcat’s toxicity, but the rest isn’t really relevant. Suffice it to say: Hawk wasn’t having any of it, and she chose to cut Bobcat out for herself. My mind went back to the people in college that Bobcat would talk smack about, and turned people against. Were any of them that bad? Maybe they weren’t. Maybe they were just like me, and they were just the easy targets for Bobcat’s attacks, I don’t know.
That conversation with Hawk was in January. You might ask “OP, why do you feel compelled to write about this after so much time?” Well, it’s because Labrador and I are about to go to another wedding in a few months, the wedding of an old college roommate. Bobcat is definitely invited and probably attending. Most of the guests that I know from school are going to be mutual friends with Bobcat, and most of what we had in common was our experience with the gaming club. It will easily be the most awkward of the three, and I honestly don’t know if I’m going to live to tell the tale.
TL;DR: A friend reveals her true colors at the gaming table, tries to alienate members of the group that she can’t control, and keeps running into me at weddings.
*Side note: Bluejay is a nonbinary person that, while accepting of male pronouns, is still outspoken about being not-cis and having gender dysphoria, even back then. While this fact is not essential to the story, it was an added sting for Bobcat to make a gender-based attack on Bluejay while also doing all of this performative allyship online. In her various twitter rants since, Bobcat has only ever referred to Bluejay as a man, because Bluejay being NB doesn’t suit her narrative.

When I was ten, I formed a junior detective squad.
Mom bought me the entire box set of What's New Scooby Doo, and I was inspired to start my very own detective gang. I held auditions outside the gymnasium at recess (serious enquiries only) after a number of kids tried to apply for the role of Scooby Doo despite me reiterating I was not interested in playing make believe.
When I was laughed at in class, I made posters strictly asking for SERIOUS wannabe detectives, even going as far as using my Mom’s printer to make flyers, sticking them all over the school.
Auditions were simple. I asked them to solve a simple riddle.
Whoever impressed me got to sign their name down, and I’d get back to them.
I spent three days sifting through kids who definitely had charm, but they lacked the intelligence of a junior detective. Most kids were only auditioning to make fun of me, anyway.
Still, though, I didn't give up.
My flyers had five requirements:
1). You had to be smart.
2). You were not allowed to be a scaredy cat.
3). You had to accept your inevitable death at the hands of our town’s evil villains.
4). You had to have a fully registered driving licence (I quickly changed this to a bike).
5). You cannot have a criminal record.
(I later scribbled this one out, writing over it. *“You cannot have any tardies.”
Narrowing the applicants down to three kids, all of whom failed to share my enthusiasm for solving cases. The kids I picked didn't even know how to make plans, and when I invited them to my house, they stole my Mom’s necklace.
I didn't even need to solve the mystery of who stole Mom’s necklace. The girl was wearing it at school. I punched her in the face, and was immediately sent to the principal’s office. When I was being given the mother all lectures, the door quietly opened, a head peeking through.
It was Ben Callows, a freckly kid with overgrown brown hair hanging in his eyes. Ben really needed a haircut.
He was always wearing the exact same baseball cap, and I found myself wondering if it was permanently glued to his head, stuck on top of unruly brown curls practically matted to his forehead.
In class, Ben was also known as Bloody Ben. In the second grade, the boy had a nosebleed in the middle of a spelling test, bleeding all over his paper.
It's not like he didn't try and detach himself from the name.
Ben brought in Digimon cards, so kids would call him Digimon Ben instead.
Then he “accidentally” spilled yoghurt down his shirt in hopes we would call him Yoghurt Ben. But no. The kids in our class were relentless in reminding him of his name. No matter what he did, he was still Bloody Ben, and when anything related to blood came up in class, fifteen pairs of eyes would swivel to him, like he had invented the concept of bleeding.
I feared the nickname would follow him to junior high.
Ben didn't wait to be let in. He didn't even knock, striding in with his arms folded. Over the years, Bloody Ben, had definitely soured his personality.
He smiled rarely, and when he did smile, someone was falling over or hurting themselves.
Which definitely strengthened the claims of him being a sociopath.
The rumor mill was churning, with the latest claiming Bloody Ben killed his cat. That wasn't true. Ben’s cat was seventeen with cancer, and that was why he was sobbing all the way through reading time.
According to Ellie Daly, however, Ben had killed and dissected his kitty, and buried her in his Mom’s flowers.
Now, my principal did not like being interrupted, especially when she was in the middle of screaming at me.
Principal Marrow was old old (like, thirty, in my ten year old mind) stick thin like a pencil, and always wore the same stained sweater.
She used to be pretty, but I was convinced she had kissed a frog and been cursed. After our old principal suffered a stroke, she stepped in as a temporary replacement, and since becoming principal, had banned my favorite book series, colored shoe laces, and hamburger helper, even officiating a uniform.
(vomit green shorts and a tee, and plain white sneakers).
Kids were convinced she was a witch, and I kind of believed it.
Principal Marrow’s whole existence was built on sucking the fun out of school.
I was already reprimanded for my mystery gang flyers.
Her office smelled of peppermint and she was definitely sneaking sips of whisky in her coffee cup. I could see the bottle sticking out of the trash.
She straightened up, folding her arms across her chest, squinty eyes narrowing at the boy. I had spent the whole time she was lecturing me trying not to cry, my fists bunched in my lap.
I took the distraction as the perfect opportunity to swipe at my eyes, allowing myself to breathe.
Ben Callows was her victim now.
I was right. The woman's voice was like a thunderclap in my ears.
“You better have a good reason for not knocking, young man.”
Ben wasn't fazed by her tone. “You took my Switch two weeks ago,” he said, “I want it back, or I’m telling my Mom.”
At first, I thought I'd misheard him.
No, I was pretty sure he'd threatened our principal.
I swore I heard all of the breath sucked from the room.
“I'm sorry,” Principal Marrow cleared her throat. Her soft tone was dangerous.
She wasn't being nice. The lady was about to explode.
I could see visible veins straining in her temples, her right eye twitching.
It was straight out of a cartoon.
“Did you forget something, Ben?”
Ben sighed, like she was inconveniencing him.
He held out his hand. “Please can I have my Switch back? It counts as stolen property. Give it back, or I'm telling my Mom.”
The kid put so much emphasis on the word please, I couldn't resist a smile.
I think our principal was too shocked to get angry.
“Get out.” She said, firmly. “I don't have your gaming device.”
“It's in your drawer.” Ben nodded to her desk, “Under your divorce papers and the restraining order ordered by Jake Willow, the seventeen year old boy you've been having math ‘tutoring sessions’ with.” He quoted the air, his gaze lazily rolling to me. “Tutoring”
Principal Marrow went deathly pale, her eyes darkening.
“Benjamin Callows–”
“The school already knows about the restraining order, but your uncle is the head of the Board of Education, so all you get is a slap on the wrist and a warning to leave the boy alone."
Ben continued, and I found myself mesmerised by his words. He was a natural, his expression stoic, mouth curved with satisfaction that wasn't quite a smile. “However.” He held up his phone, pulling it away at the exact moment the teacher attempted to grab it. “You were outside Jake Willow’s house at 6:12am, drunk, and trying to climb through his window, which, I think violates the restraining order, does it not?”
Ben pretended to think real hard, his gaze flicking to the ceiling.
“I mean, I'm just a kid, right?” His mouth curled into the hint of a smirk
“What do I know, huh?”
Principal Marrow’s expression twisted, her lip wobbling.
“Mr Callows, remove yourself from my office, or I am calling your father.”
Leaning comfortably against the door, Ben’s lip twitched.
“Why? Are you planning on telling my Dad about your relations with a teenage boy, or will I have to tell him instead?”
I was enthralled, and fully disgusted, making a move to inch away from the woman.
“But it doesn't end there.” Ben continued. He straightened up, taking slow, intimidating steps towards the woman's desk. “You don't even want Jake, do you? Because, once upon a time, you were in love with his father. Jason Willow. You despised him for rejecting you, so you decided to defile his son.” Ben leaned over the principal’s desk, slipping his hand into the drawer, and pulling out his switch.
Painfully slowly.
She stood there, speechless, her shoulders trembling.
Ben smiled, and I found myself liking it.
“Thank you!” He said, waving the console in her face. Ben mimed locking his mouth and throwing away the key.
“My lips are sealed.”
Ben’s half lidded eyes found mine. “Are ya coming, Panda?”
I forgot my own nickname.
Panda.
I wore my Mom’s eyeliner because I thought it looked cool.
It did not.
Finding my breath, I snapped out of it.
Jumping up, I followed him out of the office, and when the two of us were safely on the hallway, I burst into hysterical giggles. “How did you know all of that?!” I whisper- shrieked.
Ben surprised me with a splutter. “Wait. You believed me?”
Something very cold trickled down my spine.
I stopped walking. “You lied?”
He shrugged. “I had a dig around her office before she caught me a few days ago,” Ben swung his arms, a smile curling on his mouth. “There's no restraining order, but there is prescription anti-psychosis medicine, and an extremely detailed story on her laptop about a teachestudent romance, which I presume is a self insert.”
Ben shot me a sickly grin. “The school refused to make her condition public.”
He prodded at his own cotton shirt embroidered with the school emblem.
“Why do you think she's made all these dumb rules? The woman is a certified Looney Tune.”
I nodded slowly. “Wait. What about Jake and his dad?”
“I made them up.”
I choked out a laugh. “And… the video?”
Ben walked faster, pulling out his phone and shoving it in my face. The video was real. Principal Marrow was walking around in circles, draped in her nightgown. “It's her own house,” he explained. “She locked herself out.”
Nodding slowly, I was in awe. Bloody Ben was kind of fucking amazing.
“But the restraining order isn't real.”
Ben raised a brow, coming to an abrupt halt. It was his smile that cemented his place in my gang. His lack of empathy for a woman he had gaslit into being a disgusting human being. Ben Callows wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but he fascinated me. Maybe for the wrong reasons. “Her filing cabinets are filled with tinned cat food, Panda,” he said with an exaggerated sigh, “I’m not psychic, but I thiiiiink we’ll be okay.”
I turned to him, unable to stop myself jumping up and down with excitement.
“Will you be my first?!”
Ben inclined his head. “Will I be your what?”
I shook my head. “Sorry. I mean, will you join my mystery gang?”
The boy’s eyes lit up, and I shoved him playfully.
“To solve real cases,” I corrected myself. “Not make them up.”
Ben wore a real, proper smile. But there was something in his eyes, a darkness that was so hollow and polluted and wrong, I pretended not to see it for the sake of his smarts and intellect. “Well, if you insist, sure!” Ben held out his hand, and I shook it. I'll be your first.”
We found our second member, who was, ironically, looking for her glasses under the table in class. Lucy Prescott, the quiet girl, was born to be with us.
The class eraser went missing, and she found it in the blink of an eye.
When questioned, Lucy’s face turned as red as her hair. “I asked everyone in the class and followed the clues to the last person who had it,” she pointed to Chase Simpson. “Which was Chase, who was throwing it at Marcus Calvin.”
Twisting around in my chair, I aimed to get Ben’s attention. But he was already looking at me, chin resting on his fist, eyes ignited with excitement.
The two of us cornered Lucy after class, and when she motioned for us to get back, I dragged Ben (who was a little too excited) to my side.
Lucy looked mildly horrified when I said, dangerous cases, though her expression pricked with intrigue.
She agreed, her gaze lingering on Ben, cheeks smouldering.
Our last two members were a surprise.
Violet Evergreen was what you would call popular on the middle school hierarchy. Not just because her mother was the mayor, but because Violet could get away with murder. The girl refused to wear the school uniform, coloring a single purple streak in her hair to cement herself as the it girl.
She was also one of the girls who started the Bloody Ben rumor.
Ben, Lucy, and I were sitting on the grass during recess, trying to come up with a name for our detective service, when Violet came storming over, hands planted on her hips. She was copying how her mother held herself during town meetings.
“What are you doing?” Violet demanded.
Lucy opened her mouth to answer, Ben nudging her to shut up.
“Making a mystery gang.” I told her. “Why?”
Violet inclined her head. “Oh.” She folded her arms. “Well, can I join?”
Ben stood up, stepping in front of the girl. Violet didn't move, stubbornly standing her ground. “Sure.” Ben flashed a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. He stepped closer to her, his smile widening. “If you can pass the test.”
Violet’s lip curled. She took a single step back. “What kind of test?”
Ben nodded to me. “Meet us at the swimming pool at 8pm.”
To my surprise, Violet nodded. “Do I need to bring anything?”
“Nope!”
8pm. The four of us met outside the local swimming pool.
Violet was already on the other side of the fence, waving.
“Hey guys!”
I noticed Ben’s expression, his eyes darkening, lip curling.
Still though, he maintained positivity, vaulting over the fence.
“You made it!”
I followed him, helping Lucy, who was immediately freaking out. I didn't blame her. The pool looked cold and dark, a hollow oblivion carved into the ground.
Ben and Violet stood on the edge, the two of them shoulder to shoulder.
Violet Evergreen was braver than I thought.
Standing with her arms at her sides, Violet's hands clenched into fists.
“What's the test?” Violet said, her gaze glued to bleeding black depths.
“I don't know,” Ben murmured, his voice teetering on a giggle. He leaned forwards, arms spread out. “I didn't think you'd actually come meet us.”
Violet hummed, stretching out her leg, teasing it across the surface. “Was that the test?”
The boy leaned back. I caught the glint of a grin under the floodlights. “Nah.”
Before I knew what was happening, he shoved Violet into the pool. The girl didn't scream or shriek, she just hit the surface, sinking into pitch dark nothing.
“Sink or swim,” Ben said in a low murmur, when Violet’s head bobbed under water. I could see her shadow under the surface, imagining the freezing cold depths pulling her down.
“Drown, and you can't join us.”
It was so quiet, suddenly. The three of us staring into rippling water.
A minute passed, and my tummy started to twist.
“Fuck.” Ben’s expression stayed stoic. I wasn't expecting him to say a bad word.
He cocked his head. “I thought she could swim.”
I hit him, holding in a cry. “You need to get our parents!”
But he didn't listen to me, taking a single step, and dropping into the pool.
I fell to my knees, scanning the water.
Lucy was crying. “Are they dead?!” she shrieked.
“Shhh!” I was watching two shadows lingering under the water.
Violet broke through. I expected her to be crying, but her expression was unwavering. She was silent. I thought the splashing underneath her was her legs trying and struggling to tread water, before Lucy shoved me. Hard.
“Panda! What do we do?!”
Looking closer, Violet was perfectly still, her gaze on the sky.
While she shoved Ben under the water, drowning him.
Violet’s eyes sparkled, and somehow, I knew she belonged in my gang.
Her gaze found mine, glinting with that darkness, that poisonous streak I found myself drawn to. It was a starving, insatiable need to understand a fractured mind. Know your enemy.
“Do you want to see if Ben’s a witch?” Violet asked me, her tone something else entirely. This girl did not make sense, using barely her finger to drown Ben Callows. I knew she was wrong.
I knew there was something loose, something unlocked and unbridled and drowning inside her mind and heart.
But I wanted more of her. I wanted Violet Evergreen in my detective gang.
I think that is why I stood there, frozen.
When the thrashing stopped, Ben broke through.
He wasn't coughing or spluttering, his head inclined. “You didn't drown.”
Violet climbed out of the pool, offering her hand. “And you're not a witch.”
He declined her hand, taking the steps instead.
I asked Violet in a shaky voice. I was trembling with terror, but I was excited.
Exhilarated.
“Violet, will you join my gang?”
She didn't answer me until we were sharing hot cocoa in my house.
I told Mom we fell in the pool, and she believed me. I should have told her that my friends were sociopaths, and I was kind of maybe in love. Violet sipped her cocoa, nodding with a smile I didn't recognise. Violet never smiled at school.
Well, she did. But it was always the prick of a cruel smirk.
I don't think her smile was genuine, but she was definitely enjoying herself.
Our last member came to us, instead of finding him.
Jules Howell, a straggly brunette pushed his way in front of me in the lunch line. I didn't really know the kid.
He sat at the back of the classroom and slept through most of class. I did like his accent though.
Jules had moved from Melbourne in the second grade. He didn't talk much.
When he did, I found myself enveloped in his voice, which sounded like water to me, a bleeding cadence to his tone.
Jules piled his plate with fries, smiling widely at the lunch ladies.
“I saw you last night.” He murmured through that perfectly moulded grin.
“Saw me where?”
“At the pool,” Jules said. “You, Bloody Ben, Violet Evergreen, and that Lucy girl. You were doing a suiciding pact.”
“That's not what we were doing.” I said, “What's a suiciding pact?”
“When you kill yourself together.” Jules said. “I saw it in a scary movie my Mom was watching.”
I grabbed a fork. “We weren't doing that.”
His eyes were strange when I took the time to notice them. The excited gleam had fizzled out. Jules’s hands tightened around his tray. “Then what were you doing?”
I didn't reply, making my way over to our usual table. Ben was already waving me over, Violet and Lucy holding up the flyers we were making.
THE REDBLOOD DETECTIVES.”
Do YOU need our help? We can find/solve anything! Contact us on the number below. (We take donations!)
When I bothered turning around, Jules was lost in the crowd of kids.
We were on our first official case, searching for Mrs Lake’s missing mail, when Jules appeared seemingly out of nowhere. And with him, a golden retriever puppy he introduced as Arlo.
It took a dog jumping up at them for Violet and Ben to find their real smiles, their real selves slowly seeping through these facades they had built around themselves. Ben dropped to a crouch, ruffling the dog's ears, his smile faint.
“Who's a good boy?” He chuckled.
Arlo didn't move, tail wagging, eyes bright.
Ben motioned the dog towards him, but Arlo stayed put.
Jules joined us…quietly.
I don't remember asking him, or even him asking me.
He just became part of us, side by side with Arlo.
We soon came to quickly realize that our town was boring.
There were no monsters or thieves, or soul sucking demons. No criminals or serial killers. Not even one missing person. We did, however, get calls about missing cats. I turned eleven years old, patiently waiting for a murder or a kid going missing. But there was nothing.
All we did was chase cats, and the occasional dog. Maybe a budgie if we were lucky. Twelve years old, our detective club became a joke.
The five of us (and Arlo hiding under the table) were trying to pinpoint Mrs Tracy's lost hamster, when three girls came over, dumping their soda all over us.
We watched crime shows for inspiration on catching killers.
Ben’s favorite crime was one that happened in the 80’s in our town.
2 girls murdered.
Their intestines stuffed into envelopes and mailed to family members.
“That's what we should be solving,” he told me one night, “Not missing cats.”
Thirteen years old, we lay in Violet’s backyard under the cruel glare of the summer sun. We called it working and didn't like to admit it was hanging out, or that we were even friends. However.
That didn't stop us growing closer.
Even if it wasn't quite the way I’d expected.
I proposed a plan, standing up, wobbling a little off balance.
“I've got it.” I said, my voice kinda slurry from Violet’s special summer cocktail, which was just random alcoholic beverages we found, thrown into a blender, and diluted with water.
The town wasn't taking us seriously.
So, we were going to make our own mysteries.
I ordered a full-scale assault on our small town. One that they could not ignore. Ben stamped on Mrs Mason’s flowers, and Lucy threw mud pies at people's cars. Jules trashed the high school gym, and Violet and I spray painted threats and warnings on every store window. Now, this did cause panic, but also an official curfew.
Thirty minutes before curfew, we met in our usual spot, deep in the forest near the lake. Ben yelled at me when I was three minutes late. He was real passionate about finding a real mystery.
“You're late.” Ben was sitting on a rock waving a stick in Arlo’s face.
The dog still wasn't going near him, whining softly.
I took my place, muttering an apology. “I had to lie to my Mom.”
Violet, sitting with her legs crossed, idly digging her manicure into the dirt, suggested we buy mannequins and masquerade them as dead bodies, hanging them from the school rafters.
Lucy, who had slowly grown out of her shell, becoming a lot more outspoken, nudged her. “That's a stupid idea.”
The girl groaned, leaning into her. “Urgh. You're right.”
Jules was the only energetic one, standing on the tireswing.
He jumped down, definitely twisting his ankle.
But his smile only widened, kind of like he enjoyed being in pain.
“Why don't we pretend to be kidnapped?” He said, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt over blondish curls growing out. Jules did a dramatic spin, his eyes shining. “We can ‘go missing’ for like a week, and then when our parents are really scared, we can turn up, and tell them we escaped a kidnapping.” His lips split into a grin.
“And then we solve our own kidnapping!”
Ben awkwardly patted Arlos head, only for the dog to pull away with a snort.
“I like it,” he murmured. “I'm in.”
Jules’s idea was stupid.
But.
It was worth a shot.
The five of us agreed to meet the morning after with enough food and supplies for a week. Then we were going to hike to the next town, and hide out for a week. It was an almost perfect plan, using ourselves as victims of our own mystery.
Packing as much as I could, I kissed my mother goodbye (I told her my pack was for a picnic) and set off to the rendezvous we agreed on.
When I arrived, I was the first one there. I checked and re-checked my pack.
I waited ten minutes, unable to contain my excitement.
Then 20 minutes.
It was getting kind of cold.
One hour.
I sat on a rock for enough time to watch the sky change color.
When the clouds were orange, I stood up and stumbled back home. They had gone without me. Mom lectured me when I got home, and I stuck to the plan of pretending my friends had gone missing, even if I they had betrayed me.
Ben said he'd text me when he arrived at the redervous. I at least expected him to text an explanation, but there was nothing. I was in the dark, and after three days of nothing, our town finally began to take us seriously.
“Our children have been kidnapped!” The adults were screaming.
Mom was crying in the kitchen, praying to a god I knew she didn't believe in that I wasn't taken next. I was interviewed and stuck with the exact same story I came up with when I was with the others. Our plan was to return after a week, claiming to be locked up in a dark room with a masked man.
I told my Mother and the other parents that I didn't know where my friends were, repeating the same thing over and over again until I was tongue tied.
“I saw them the day before they went missing, and… yes, everything seemed okay.” I slowly sipped my glass of milk provided, looking the sheriff directly in the eyes.
“No, I didn't notice anything suspicious, sheriff. Yes, I'm sure, sir. No, they didn't tell me anything.”
It was Ben’s mother who shattered my mask.
“Did I know about… what?” I whispered.
Something warm filled the back of my mouth, foul tasting milk erupting up my throat. I leaned forward, trying to look Mrs Callows in the eye. “No, I… I didn't know about Ben’s…condition.”
Mrs Callows was screaming at me about her son’s troubled past when I barfed all over myself, my eyes burning.
In the privacy of my own room, I sobbed until I couldn't breathe.
I tried to tell Mom, but we had come so close.
One more day, and the others would be back.
But that day came. I sat cross legged at our usual spot, which was now covered in police tape. I waited for their thudding footsteps, their laughter congratulating each other for coming up with a great plan. I waited, my face buried in my knees, for my friends.
It was dark when my phone vibrated, and I'd fallen asleep.
I wasn't scared, forcing myself to my feet.
“Where are you?” Mom yelled down the phone.
“Coming home now.” I muttered.
“Sorry.” I paused, holding my breath against a cry. “Mom.” I broke down, forcing my fist into my mouth to hide my squeak. “Mommy, did they come back?”
Mom didn't reply for a moment.
“I'm so sorry, baby.” She whispered, ending the call.
I took my time walking home that night.
There were no stars in the sky.
When a hand clamped over my mouth, I could smell him.
When he dragged me back, stabbing a kitchen knife into my throat, I stared at the sky and looked for stars. His arms were warm around me, violently pulling me into the back of a pickup truck. The pickup truck he'd said he was bringing.
It was his grandfather's, and he could just about drive it.
Hitting the backseat, my body was numb, my thoughts in a whirlwind.
The pickup flew forwards, and I remembered how to move.
I rolled off the seat, my hands pinned behind my back.
Twisting around, blinking in the dim, I could feel something warm, something seeping across upholstery seats. Blood.
It was everywhere, sticky on my hands and wet on my face when I struggled to get up. I was lying in someone's blood.
A scream clawed its way out of my throat.
The pickup flew over a pothole, and something dropped off the seat.
Arlo’s leash.
I screamed again, this time his name gritted between my teeth.
I didn't stop screaming until the jerking movement stopped. The doors opened, pale light hitting me in the face.
Flashlight. Warm arms wrapped around me, pulling me from the car, and then, pulling me by my hair, into our old tree house. It was always our secret place, our saving grace on the edge of town.
The flickering candlelight caught me off guard, illuminating my surroundings.
Two bodies slumped over each other, lying in stemming red.
I felt suffocated, like I was going to die. I screamed, and that warm hand cradled my mouth again, gagging my cries.
Violet and Jules.
There was something wrong with them. And it was only when I forced myself to look closer, when I realized their insides had been carved out, heart, stomach, everything, pulled out.
There was paper on the floor.
No, not paper. Envelopes.
Envelopes stuffed with gore, bright red leaking through white.
Shuffling back, my brain was too slow to react, while my body was trying to vault to my feet, only to be violently pulled back by my ponytail.
I felt his fingers twining around my hair, revelling in my screams.
With another tug, my head was forced forwards.
Orange candlelight felt almost homely, this time lighting up a third body.
Lying on their back, curled up, pooling scarlet dried into the floorboards, their wrists restricted with duct-tape.
I could feel blood underneath me, sticky, a congealing paste.
“Do you know what happened on October 3rd, 1987, in our town?”
Lucy Prescott stood over me, her arms folded across her chest.
I managed to shake my head, when she grabbed Ben’s legs, dragging him under the candlelight. I dazedly watched her stroke the blade of a carving knife, the teeth already stained scarlet. “The intestine murders.” Lucy hummed, tracing the knife down the floorboards.
“A man murdered two high school girls, carving out their insides and sending their pieces to their loved ones.”
Lucy's eyes found mine, ignited in a familiar gleam. I saw it in Principal Marrow’s office. Then the swimming pool. The cafeteria. “It was the sheriff's only murder case, Panda. Ever since then, our town has been boring. There's no mysteries to solve. Nothing to find.”
The girl jumped to her feet, retrieving a blood stained envelope.
She held it up, a smile curved on her lips. The girl turned around, and I heard a horrific squelching sound. Lucy held up a bright red sausage, ripped into it, and slipped it into the white paper.
“But I can change that.” she said, in a giggle.
“I can create a real serial killer, who we can hunt down together.”
Lucy stabbed the blade into the floor, laughing.
“Or! I can bring a fan-favorite back! I can bring the intestine killer back from the dead!”
Her gaze flicked to the others. “There are casualties, of course. The story is, I was kidnapped with Ben, Violet, and Jules. The scary intestine killer killed them, and I managed to get away.”
Lucy shuffled over to me, her eyes wide. “Then! He came back and struck again!”
With those words, she shoved me onto my back.
“First he took Violet,” Lucy hummed, tracing the blade down my shirt.
“Then… Jules.” I squeezed my eyes shut, pulling at the restraints around my wrists. “Then Ben.” her breath tickled my cheek. “And finally… Panda.”
Lucy lifted the knife, and I accepted my death.
Until a low rumble in my ears.
Shouting.
Thundering footsteps, followed by the pitter-patter of paws.
“Lucy!” The sheriff was screaming, and the girl stumbled to her feet, the knife slipping from her fingers. Lucy stumbled, tripping over Ben’s body.
“He got away!” she shrieked. “He…he killed them! Oh, god, please help me!”
I don't think Lucy even realised the traces she'd left behind.
The blood slick on her fingers, her manic, grinning smile full of mania.
I was looking for stars when an officer crouched over me.
I couldn't understand what she was saying.
Her voice was white noise.
“Rachel? Hey, try and sit up, honey. You Mom is on her way.”
Instead of listening to her, I curled into myself.
My gaze found Arlo sticking his nose in Ben’s hair, trying to nudge the boy awake.
I didn't fully register the next few days.
They went by in a confusing blur.
Part of me tried to eat, and spent hours with my head pressed against the toilet seat.
I could still see the slithering, scarlet remains of my friends every time I closed my eyes. There was so much red, soaked in that hunting orange light.
Blood that I could still see, a starless sky that stretched on forever.
Weeks went by.
Then months.
I think I turned 14. I wasn't sure. I didn't feel alive anymore.
I stood at my friend’s funerals with a single rose I dropped into their casket.
Violet’s mother was quick to cover the whole thing up.
Lucy's plan didn't work after all.
Our town’s murder cases stayed stagnant at one.
It's been four years since my friends were murdered by our ’Velma’.
Now, at seventeen, Mom asked if I wanted to visit Lucy in juvie.
I'm not even upset or angry anymore.
I want to know why.
Ben picked me up. Arlo was at his side, wagging his tail.
Ben was…different. He'd dumped his baseball cap and gotten a haircut, swapping his old wardrobe of drab colors for an attempt at changing style.
That day, he looked awkward in a short sleeved tee and shorts.
At school, Ben is no longer Bloody Ben.
Now, he is Survivor Ben.
I’m still Panda.
Every time I was with him, I felt like my soul was being sucked out.
Guilt so deep, so fucking painful, I lost my breath.
I live knowing that I immediately assumed it was him that day.
Ben was barely alive when I found him. Lucy had started to carve into him before remembering she needed me.
After admitting it to him, his lips formed a small smile.
“Can I tell you a secret?” He said to me, at sixteen.
"Yeah?"
Whatever he was going to say, Ben never told me.
Presently, I nodded at the dog’s new collar.
“Peppa Pig themed?”
The boy shrugged, ruffling Arlo’s ears. “FYI, he chose it.”
“It's cute.” I said. “Very… chic.”
We didn't speak the whole ride, but Ben did entangle his hand in mine.
We spent half an hour outside the detention centre. I was panicking, and Ben was trying to hide that he was panicking. In the end, we joined hands, and strode through the doors together.
Lucy greeted us with a wide smile. Just as psychotic.
The orange jumpsuit suited her, though I had zero idea why.
“Hey Arlo!” she giggled at the dog, and Ben pulled the pup onto his lap.
“Ben.” She sighed. “I wish I got to finish you. I would have loved to solve the mystery of your gutted corpse.”
Ben’s smile was wry. “Nice to see you too.”
Behind a glass screen, I asked Lucy one simple question.
“Why?”
Lucy didn't reply. Or she did, but it was just nonsensical bullshit.
But there was one thing she said has stuck with me, chilling me to the core.
I am fucking terrified of Lucy. Of what's she's done, and what she's capable of doing.
It was a throwaway line, and I don't even think Ben noticed.
Or he did, and was in denial.
Lucy's smile was wide, her eyes empty pools of nothing.
The exact same glint in Ben’s eyes.
Jules’s eyes.
Violet’s eyes.
Like something was gnawing away at their psyche, twisting and contorting it, filling them with darkness, poison, that was so vast, so endless, I had craved it as a child. I still don't know what it is.
But I'm going to find it.
Lucy's laugh was shrill, and next to me, Ben didn't move a muscle.
But he did smile.
Yes, my gang were psychos.
But I kind of maybe loved it.
“I don't even wear glasses!”

I haven’t seen much information on the Dark Horse Track Attack online, so I figured I’d write up my experience. Sorry in advance for the long post.
Background: When you buy a new Dark Horse, Ford offers a free one-day event at the Ford Performance Racing School (FPRS) where you can learn more about your car and how to drive it well. I optioned to pay for a second day to get more drive time. I had zero experience driving on track before this event.

Location: The event took place at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. The track was set up in a variant of the Roval configuration.
Students: There were about 20 people in my class. There were 16 drivers and 5 non-driving guests. This will come as a shock to no one, but the average driver was a 40-50 y/o white guy. Anecdotally, a good portion of the owners also owned a Ford truck.
Staff: The staff could definitely make or break the event, but everyone there was very kind and knowledgeable. It seems like all the instructors got their start in karting as kids, and they all seemed to have professional racing careers in the past. The student to instructor ratio was about 3:1, and the student to staff ratio was about 1:1.
Cars: We were each assigned our own cars. On day 1, it was a basically stock DH, except for a half cage, 4-point harness, and radio. The radio plugged into your helmet and was super helpful for all the events. On day 2, it was a more modified car with a full cage, and still had a 4-point harness and radio. It was great that we got our own cars so we could set up the seat and wheel and not worry about for the rest of the day. If you’re doing the math, this means they had over 40 Dark Horses at the facility. Also, all the cars had the handling pack. However, they all ran Pilot Sport 4S tires instead of the Pirelli Trofeo R tires. My understanding for the change that the PS 4S’ had slightly less grip, but were way easier to warm up.
Day 0: The night before the class, we had an introductory meeting and free private dinner at The Speedway Club. We went over the history of FPRS and a general overview of the next two days with a Q&A at the end.
Day 1: We met at the FPRS HQ at the speedway. We were given a racing suit, helmet, and HANS device. Then there was maybe an hour or two of class time, where we went over track rules, flag colors, and the basics of weight transfer and racing lines.
Next, we drove our cars out to a giant lot and were split up to do three separate events.
1. We learned how to feel for and control oveundersteer. This was done with an absolute unit of a Ford Five Hundred with hydraulically actuated outriggers front and back. While we drove through a small course, the instructor would take weight of the front or back wheels so we could feel it losing grip. The exercise was surprisingly helpful for the track sessions to come, and by far the most fun you can have in a Five Hundred at 18 mph.
2. We learned how to use the drift brake. Before this event, none of the students in my class ever tried it. The course was a small oval that they watered down (with a water tank towed by a Raptor). We would go out one at a time and an instructor would coach us over the radio. I over-rotated constantly and I’m perfectly fine never using this feature again.
3. There was an autocross course set up. It included a long straight-away, a few curves and chicanes, and a stop-box. A good time on the course was about 36 seconds. We did the course in normal, sport, and track mode to feel the difference. We also practiced using launch control and the no-lift shift. I didn’t like the no-lift shift since it was contrary to general shifting muscle-memory, so I didn’t use it much.
Then back to the classroom for lunch, which was sandwiches, chips, salad, cookies, etc.
In the afternoon, we finally went to the roval. We used a building in the in-field as a home base. We did 3 lead-follow sessions getting progressively faster. We stayed in 3^rd and 4^th gear for the whole course. The groups were one instructor and up to 3 students. The instructor talked us through each corner in real time on the radio: what to look for, where to hit the apex, etc. Each lap we swapped places so we each got a turn right behind the instructor to follow their lines. In between each session, the other half of the students went out while we hydrated and debriefed with the instructor (e.g. “none of you hit the apex at turn 4, and here’s why”). Lead Follow Video
At the end of day one, we each got a “demo lap” in the passenger seat while an instructor drove. It was WILD how much faster they were. Corners where I was going 60, they were going 80. On the straight, I was going 115 and they were going 130+. The tires were chirping the whole lap. The demo lap gave me confidence to push it a bit harder on day 2.
We then travelled back to the classroom where we “graduated”. We got a certificate and shirts, stickers, a koozie, etc. We also received a diecast FPRS Dark Horse. There’re going to ship us trophies as well.
Day 2: Day 2 we were essentially on track all day. There were a couple lead-follow sessions in the morning, but with the “hairpin” track configuration. Looking at the track map I posted above, they changed the back chicane into a hairpin turn that puts you back at turn 3. I liked this configuration a lot as it was just turn after turn after turn.
We also got in a van and walked the track at important turns, discussing track camber, bumps, dips, etc.
Lunch was the same as day 1.
In the afternoon, the track was converted back and we had a “slow” demo lap with an instructor on the first configuration where they drove us through at like 50% and discussed their thoughts in detail. Afterward, it was on to two open sessions.
For the open sessions, the instructors told us to build up to a fast but safe pace and just don’t crash. They staggered us out so there was minimal bunching up, but there were two designated passing areas where the slower person in front had to indicate and initiate the pass. I’m by no means fast, but I was able to pass people, and no one passed me, so that was great. Also, no one crashed. These two sessions alone were worth the second day.
Facilities: The facilities were top notch. Everything was new and clean. Everywhere we went, they had cold water, snacks, and bathrooms available. The instructors had iPads they could cast onto TVs and sketch out lines on the course. Also, all the cars were clean, always fueled up, and in perfect running condition.
Options and Cost:
Day one: Free
Day two: $1,795. 100% worth it.
Non-driving guest: $179/$219 (one day/two days). I didn’t bring anyone, but probably not worth it in my opinion. You get to ride in the car a few times, but you’re mainly just watching from a distance. Most people did bring a non-driving guest.
Driving guest: $1895/$3690 (one day/two day). A driving guest is treated exactly the same as an owner. It seems steep but I’d say it’s worth it, especially if you and your guest split the cost of the first day.
Insurance (optional): $225/day. You go from being liable for the total cost of the car, to a max of a $6500 deductible. Seems lame to me this isn’t included, but I purchased it for peace of mind. I felt like I was ok pushing the car harder with less money on the line.
Roadkeeper (optional): $179/day. You get a video of every time your car was on. On the track, it overlays your speed, a view of the driver, and where you are on the course. You can also hear what people are saying on the radio. It required no effort on my part. An SD card just showed up at my classroom seat at the end of each day before we got back. Definitely worth it.
TL:DR The Dark Horse Track Attack was an awesome experience. If you ever have a chance to do one of the Ford racing schools, do it. Let me know what questions you have!

Hello! How's your weekend going? I went on a bike ride today, and tomrrow I'm meeting a potential new friend to attempt tennis! Other than that, just lots of piano practice. I have a lot to get done before the semester starts!
I'm a software engineer and a piano teacher, living on my own with three awesome kitties. I recently got a slow-cooker, so I'm trying out all kinds of cool recipes for that, and my fridge is always full of something delicious! Tonight I'm going to attempt a breakfast casserole, which looks to be incredibly greasy, but delicious.
Are you elbow-deep in any cool projects? I'd love to hear about them! Or what are you excited for this summer? What's your favorite color combination? What do you wish you were good at?
Looking forward to hearing from you. :)

Hey
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Cycling
Swimming
Dancing
Strength training

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Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Incorporate these practices into your daily routine:
Meditation: Spend a few minutes each day in mindfulness or meditation.
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Water is essential for every cell in your body. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, and more if you're active or it's hot outside. Not a fan of plain water? Try infused water with slices of lemon, cucumber, or mint for a refreshing twist.

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Social connections are vital for overall well-being. Nurture your relationships with family and friends, and don't hesitate to seek out new connections. Join a club, volunteer, or engage in online communities that share your interests.

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https://preview.redd.it/6c1awu3ad04d1.jpg?width=1344&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e4b7f4bb3715317f71803bb6d9721347a6dc169
Hey all! Over the years I've got some messages about baybayin runes -- a concept I expressed interest about upon the resurgence of the precolonial text of Baybayin. I won't go into the history of the language and script in this post, but I highly recommend checking out Kristin Kabuay, Taipan Lucero, and Babalik Baybayin for some in-depth posts they've made about Baybayin -- from history to modern day interpretations and appearances in pop culture. And these are just a few artists out of hundreds who are educating on this subject as well as and Philippine history, culture, and language in general. A more comprehensive list on pagan / witchy resources will be at the end.
As a pagan whose spirituality is rooted in decolonization and embracing my ancestral roots, it has been my goal to engage with my heritage intentionally through my practice. Growing up in an immigrant family in the U.S, it was all too easy to be rinsed completely from my lineage as I was not encouraged to embrace my cultures [being half filipino and half mexican -- affectionately, a mexipino :) ]
I threw myself into researching filipino witchcraft, animism, and reconstructionism. I was rather surprised to find I was not alone in my journey, and have since found and been approached by many filipino folks of all kinds of mixed backgrounds seeking to reconnect. Baybayin seemed to be growing in popularity, at least in the states. I found clothing brands, jewelry stores, apothecaries utilizing the script in their own way. I once again nerded out and did more digging on the script, whereupon I found this chart by Rhodora "Bing" Veloso and this post by the Diwahatan Collective detailing about how Bing Veloso created the oracle of the Baybayin runes.
I would love to distribute this information, but have been unable to contact "Bing" Veloso. It's all over pinterest anyhow, but I am in the process of making my own chart of other interpretations inspired from this original text. Until then, I will be using Bing's chart as a starting point.
I don't use a ton of tools in my practice, but it is nice to turn to an instrument every once in a while for divination. I wanted to fill the void and create something made intentionally with the filipino cultures and ancestral connection in mind so that it may feel closer to home for myself, and hopefully, for others.
So I bought a bunch of wooden half-domes, pulled out my pyrography toolkit, and started creating. On the "face" of the domes I etched the baybayin characters. As the Baybayin alphabet is syllabic, I did not include the modified/modernized Baybayin alphabet that includes a pamudpod. [For further reading on how Baybayin works, check this out!] This leaves 18 characters in a set.
It's not perfect, but I got pretty ecstatic about the results. You can follow the process and peep the other colors and patterns I made in an instagram post since I wasn't able to upload it all here. I'd love to take commissions on these and have premade sets available, so if you're interested please check out my Etsy!
I'd love to hear thoughts about how folks would go about practicing with these runes. I don't think there's any one way to engage with a tool, and I believe the power of witchcraft is the power you bring to it, not the other way around. Lately I've been laying them out, face down, and plucking one rune to meditate on and sit with whatever it may evoke or center it around an intention for the day, etc. I also think another fun practice is pulling several runes, discovering what words it may reveal to me as a meditation for that day. This is especially helpful for me to feel connected to a language I feel I was robbed from learning growing up. These are just a few ideas, and maybe I'll create another full post all about using these runes once I've familiarized myself with them.
And of course it's not set in stone! I hope this sparks more curiosity and conversation about the Baybayin characters as a divining instrument and tool of personal intuition. I am in no way claiming to be a Baybayin expert. In fact, some still debate and challenge Baybayin as a shallow way to connect with the culture, but I disagree. Rather, I hope to add to the rejuvenation of such a beautiful culture and history, and I hope this inspires others to engage with this beautiful script in a way that feels completely authentic to themselves and their craft.
Finally, here is an ongoing list of some helpful resources I've discovered over the years for filipino-centered mythologies, rituals, folklore, philosophy, indigenous wisdom, and more witchy things. I hope this helps!
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An Ongoing Resource List for Pagans/Heathens/Witches in the Pin@y Diaspora
Books I Have Access to In Print: [reach out for photoscans!]
Centennial Crossings: Readings on Babaylan Feminism in the Philippines edited by Fe Mangahas, Jenny Romero- Llaguno
Aswang (monsters) and Supernaturalisms: Nocturnal Deities by Alta Grace Q. De Gracia
Outline of Philippine Mythology by F. Landa Jocano
Witchcraft, Filipino-style. Author: Nid Anima.
Way of the Ancient Healer: Sacred Teachings from the Philippine Ancestral Traditions by Virgil Mayor Apostol (Author)
Books (available online for FREE)
Babaylan Sing Back: Philippine Shamans and Voice, Gender, and Place Volume:
Author(s): Grace Nono
Online Resources:
The Aswang Project
Thepinaywriter
Philippine Spirits
Bukobomba
Maharlikan Chronicles
Center for Babaylan Studies - Definitely any of Leny Strobel’s texts are amazing!
Instagram:
The.drtherapinay
igorot.sky
sikodiwa
Pre_colonial_philippines
maniwalamovement
bringackbaybayin
Jana Lynne Umipig - Creator of the Kapwa Tarot which I love!
Podcast:
Tabitabipod
The Gods Must Be Crazy

UltraVanilla is a small-scale community Minecraft server with minimal enhancements to the core game, founded in January 2019 with the same world it has today. Everything is built in survival. 30 player slots is a sweet-spot for a server that is not crowded, promoting a tight-knit community feel. Community Projects are suggested and discussed on the discord, anyone is free to contribute!
Address: play.ultravanilla.world - 1.20.4 - 1.20.6 Java edition.
Looking for 1.20 land? Go to /outpost. Feel free to homestead your own place (150 blocks from other builds, please!) or join a town by asking around.

Discord Invite Link to Wiki

Screenshots

Random Screenshots Random Screenshots Random Screenshots Random Screenshots Random Screenshots Random Screenshots Random Screenshots Random Screenshots Random Screenshots Random Screenshots Random Screenshots

What are we? TL;DR:

• Extremely friendly community 🌈
• Old-school Minecraft server vibes
• Minimal enhancements to the core game
• 5 to 20 people online most of the time (and consistently active for the past 5.5 years)

Features:

• Dynmap
• Discord Server with channels like #projects-and-events, #market-and-trade, #compsci-tech, #art, #sports, #music, #gaming, and more
• No map resets ever, we have 1.13 to 1.20 chunks. Perfect server to start a long-term town — we will be updating to 1.21 when it comes out.
• /sethome, /home, /home bed, /outpost /spawn, /oldspawn for basic fast travel
• Brewery
• A variety of vanilla-friendly events and competitions (organize your own, too!)
• A wiki where you can publish info on your towns or builds
• Time-based ranks — Those who have been around for 10+ days can set a username color.
• Staff that do not cheat or play favorites

Technical:

• Tool-friendly, litematica easy place works
• Redstone is enabled, farms are allowed
• Primed TNT entity duping is allowed as long as you're not using it to mine diamonds or ancient debris
• Automatic 3 hour archival backup
• Stable server. We patch crashes and vulnerabilities quickly. If the server glitches out, we will repair your farms.

We also have a creative server that is tool-friendly, with 641x641 plots and redstone enabled.

Community projects

We do tons of community-organized projects:

• Events
• Nether highway system
• Seasonal decorations for Spawn and Outpost
• Shopping districts
• Towns/settlements
• Libraries
• Map art collections
• Meeting locations for diplomats

Rules:

• No griefing
• No stealing
• No PVP without consent
• No spam
• No hacks or exploits (see specifics)
• No graphic/gross NSFW
• No AFK alt accounts
• Follow the 150 block distance rule unless you have asked for permission from the builder or town
• Be respectful and be respectable (swearing yes, fighting words no, hate speech absolutely no)
• Having ingame text chat enabled is required (voice chat is not required)
• Read the full rules here

Check out our wiki, dynmap, and our discord!

First
Previous
Sorry for the delay. Reddit was being Reddit, and the Old Reddit trick didn't fix it. I had to add everything in markdown mode and switch back to the rich editor before it would let me post. So there's that workaround now, I guess.
“So that's what happened,” Ryn'Ala said as her magical servants set out plates loaded with food. They had decided on a late dinner of dried meats and cheeses, once their host had seen her other guests off for the night.
“I remember my first ghoul encounter. It was a roamer, split off from a nest and wandering the countryside. We had been asleep after clearing out a pack of wolves that were terrorizing a farming village, and it managed to get the drop on us. I still think Randolph was asleep instead of keeping watch, but he always maintained his innocence. Anyway, Randolph shouted as he tried to hold the thing off with his axe, and the rest of us had to fight in our sleepwear. It's a good thing there was only the one.”
“Yeah,” Fulmara agreed, “I got bit even through my armor. I shudder to think what would have happened if it managed to grab a proper chunk of me.”
“It wouldn't have been pretty,” the elven woman said, shaking her head. “Spells and potions are all well and good for scrapes and bruises, but it takes something truly powerful to staunch a cut artery or regrow limbs.”
There was a moment of silence as they all contemplated the implications of their new lives. Finally, Jeron grabbed a roll from the basket and they all started eating.
“So,” Verrick began, breaking the silence, “good news first?”
“Right,” Ryn'Ala agreed, “I did promise you some news. Good news first then! The two gentlemen you met earlier are some of my colleagues, here to study the egg like I promised. They were able to determine that the material is indeed onyx, which hasn't been documented before, and that the engravings are related to the Celestial tongue, but are not a known dialect. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they were possibly the written form of the Muses' own tongue. We're trying to find any commonalities we can to start deciphering it, but as none of us speak Celestial, it's a slow process. The other good news is for you, Verrick.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. I managed to find some old books from when Jeron was young. They're aimed at teaching the children of nobles to read, and should help to get you to a basic level of competency. Once you get the basics down, the rest of it is just a matter of experience.”
Verrick blushed slightly. “You don't have anything suited to teaching adults to read, do you?”
She laughed. “Unfortunately, no. Though I suspect the subject matter would be much the same, but with less color in the pictures. I'll help you get started tomorrow, if you like.”
“I'll help get Fulmara up to speed while you're working with him,” Firun agreed. “Between the two of us, we'll have them reading like functional members of society in no time.”
“Hey!” the dwarf snapped. “I can read! Just not very well. The big words trip me sometimes.”
“The big words are some of the most important, dear,” Ryn'Ala countered. “How else would we know what alchemical reagents are in a flask, or what stuffy old monarch is buried in a newly discovered tomb?”
“I know that,” she replied, looking down at her food. “I just don't think it was very funny.”
“Also fair,” the elf agreed. “But he still makes a valid point. As you are now, you will struggle, especially if you're to continue your travels. Give us a little time to work on your reading comprehension, and you'll have a much easier time whenever you need to purchase supplies, or conduct research.”
“What's the bad news then?” Jeron asked, spearing a piece of fish.
“Our options are more limited than I originally thought. As... talented individuals, groups like yours naturally attract attention. It's something I went through in my younger days. Some attention is a good thing, of course. Having the right eyes on you can open doors in the most unexpected places, after all. The problem is that some of the attention you'll receive is significantly less beneficial. The Imperial Order of Inquisitors has taken an interest in you, as a new group with connections to the Imperial Court.”
“We know someone important?” Verrick wondered, confused.
Ryn'Ala finished her wine and held her glass out for a magical servant to refill. “As a classically trained performer of the Imperial College of Performances, and as a citizen gifted by the Song, I have some influence in the Elven Court. The Inquisitors don't particularly care how little the influence is, just that it exists. As long as they're watching us, I won't be able to leverage my connections as much as I would like.”
“So we're not really any worse off than before, right?” Jeron asked.
“Not entirely. The Egg research is still going to happen, but I can't exactly help you make new friends like I'd hoped. You'll have to do it the hard way.”
“So not really any different than before,” Firun confirmed. “We weren't exactly expecting elven royalty to help, although it would've been nice.”
“In any case, I have one more bit of news to share, and this one is a bit more concerning.”
She left the room for a moment, returning with a small stack of parchment in her hands. Jeron cleared a space on the table and she spread the stack for them to see.
“I took your descriptions of the warlock's benefactor and contacted a few of my colleagues in the royal archives. Don't worry,” she said, seeing the concerned look on Jeron's face, “I didn't give them any information about any of you. I just told them I had received information about interference from a powerful being. While we do not have an exact identity, our information does match descriptions of a being that has been encountered before.”
“What is it?” the dwarf asked. “What do we need to kill?”
“While I admire your enthusiasm,” Ryn'Ala began, “I must warn you that beings like this can't be killed. Not truly, in any case. But knowing what it is can help you to lessen its influence on the world.”
She pointed to the first sheet. “It is, as Jeron suggested, fond of presenting itself as a cloud of powdered bone. To the casual observer, it's not much different to a cloud of ash or dust, but it's a fitting appearance that drips with symbolism to those who know. The being is a powerful entity residing in the space beyond the Pale Reach, the realm of undeath.”
“The Pale Reach is a lifeless corruption of our realm,” Jeron explained, noticing the confusion on the faces of his companions. “Both it and the Deepwood were created by the Echoing, twisting the parts of the Song that created life in the world to create unlife and a bountiful overgrowth respectively.”
“Exactly,” his mentor continued, pride in his studies evident in her voice. “The Pale Reach, while not exactly the source of undead, still resonates with their energy. It's a place beyond life and light, where the sun is pale and weak. The air is as stale and unmoving as a tomb, and yet a howling gale tears at your very soul. It is a place no living being should tread, and in the darkness beyond even that, your adversary lurks.”
Fulmara shuddered, her face pale as she remembered the touch of the being's energies as it fed on her father and corrupted her mother. She felt Verrick's hand on her shoulder, and soon her friends were with her, driving back the memories with their presence.
“Exactly,” Ryn'Ala said, noticing her discomfort. “You have felt the touch of a being that was never meant to be. A thing that has no soul yet craves one above all else. It is an existence that should not be possible, even for the Echoing. That is what you have sworn to thwart. Knowing this, do you regret your Oath?”
Fulmara's answer was immediate. “No. I do not regret swearing vengeance on this vile thing, and if I cannot kill it, then I will kill its ambitions.”
“Well said. I believe you will make for a fine champion of Fulmos.”
The morning was frigid as Jeron entered the archives, nestled beneath the monolith of the Tradespire. His footsteps echoed on the marble floors, rebounding from the shadowy recesses of the vaulted ceiling above. Between the columns along the walls, statues of knights stood at attention, their stone swords as tall as Jeron himself. At the back of the room stood more, carved to resemble accountants. A dwarven woman sat at the wide desk ahead of him, watching his approach while she sorted paperwork. Finally, she called out to him.
“How can I help you this morning?” she asked, clearing a space in front of her. “If you have an appointment, I'm afraid there's been an emergency cancellation for anything before midday.”
“I'm here for research, actually,” Jeron clarified. “I'm looking into some events from a couple decades ago.”
She opened a drawer and began rummaging through more papers. “Alright, one moment then while I locate the form you'll need. If everything is valid, I'll also need your entry fee of fifteen silver, to help us maintain the files and our equipment.”
The receptionist brushed a lock of blond hair out of her face as she sat back up with a sheet of paper. “If you'll just fill this out, we'll get you started.”
The form was a simple one, with wide spacing for each category to allow for individuals with larger hands. Jeron scanned the page as he walked a short distance to the standing desks at the edge of the chamber, working over the wording he would use for each line.
Name, that's easy enough...
Benefactor, Ryn'Ala Leth
Group or Organization... I'll have to think about that.
Reason for request, Research on recent plagues and the means by which they were cured.
Additional Notes... Possible link to recent ghoul case in crossroads village of Caldren.
Jeron filled in the answers he could, but he was stumped by the request for a group name. He knew they'd need one eventually, and if they didn't start introducing themselves properly, then someone else would come up with a name for them. Those names were rarely ideal, if the Mud Biters were any example. Deciding to leave it blank for the time being, he returned to the receptionist and made a mental note to bring the topic up later.
“Alright, Mister Blackbough,” the dwarf muttered as she scanned the page, “let's see here.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Plague research? Not planning on spreading one, are you?”
“More looking into the cures,” he countered. “Never enough Clerics to cure a population once it gets out of control, so I'm looking into the alchemical cures that have been used recently. Easier to stockpile and transport ingredients than powerful people, after all.”
“Fair point, but what makes you think you'll find the answers you're looking for here?”
“If I don't, then I'll at least find something that will point me to the right answers. And besides, Do you honestly expect me to believe the formulae aren't kept here? Having them accessible may lose you a little money, but having them locked away where nobody can find them could completely kill a market.”
“Well done,” she said, filing the form in another drawer. “You pass, although we technically could keep the formulae in a separate section that the typical trader couldn't access.”
She clapped her hands, the sound echoing unnaturally throughout the chamber, and a statue peeled itself away from the wall behind her. The golem, Jeron realized, thudded forward and halted just behind her.
“Take our guest into the archives,” the woman said, turning to look up at the living stone. “Section four, subsection three. He has four hours to research before you bring him back.”
The golem grunted, a hollow groaning sound, and motioned for Jeron to follow.
“Stay with the guide,” the receptionist ordered. “Their default instructions include removing anyone who strays into areas they haven't been invited into, and they can be a lot faster than they look.”
“Got it,” Jeron said, turning to follow the lumbering accountant. “Lead the way.”
The golem led him deep into the building, through rooms filled with shelves and tables. More than once, he had to sidestep a gnome or a dwarf with stacks of scrolls so tall they couldn't see where they were walking, and he could swear he saw a wheeled golem zip across the hall at one point. Finally, they stopped in an unmarked room, which looked almost exactly like the ones they had already passed through. The golem gestured to a section of the wall, and the indicated shelves began to glow with a pulsating blue color.
“The focus of my research is a plague from about twenty years ago,” he said, turning to face the statue. “Any chance you can narrow that down a bit?”
The golem shrugged before gesturing to the wall again. The illuminated shelves did not change.
“Right, on my own then. Let's see how these are organized.”
His search took almost an hour to truly get started, but once he determined the pattern by which the information was stored, he was off. Books held verified accounts of events as recorded by city officials, merchants, and adventuring groups, which had all been corroborated by third parties. Scrolls with a blue end cap held accounts which matched the established timelines but could not be fully verified, such as the accounts of a group called The Dawn Star, which had claimed to have killed a necromancer responsible for an outbreak of Crushing Syndrome some sixty years ago. Accounts which were found to have possible merit but did not line up with the official account were written in scrolls with a red end cap.
Jeron sat down with a small stack of books, scanning each before setting it aside and taking the next. He jumped decades at a time, clearing the gaps between major disease outbreaks each time, until finally, he found it. Almost twenty years prior, the city of Varien about a month's travel bowlward, an outbreak of Leadbone. Admittedly, there wasn't much to go on. The disease was almost always fatal, and was magical in origin. Little was recorded about the cure, and nothing at all about the alchemist who discovered it. The scrolls, red and blue markings alike, shared in the dearth of information, and Jeron suspected the information had been deliberately withheld.
As he began returning the books to their shelves, the golem grunted, signaling the end of his time in the archives. Jeron gestured to the books, and the golem nodded, allowing him to finish returning them before it lead him back to the front desk. It returned to its place along the back wall as the receptionist sat back up from her search through yet another drawer.
“Find everything you needed?” she asked.
“Not quite, but I did get some clues. Quick question, if you have a minute,” he added, glancing at the sunlight streaming in through the bowlward window.
“Go on.”
“If I wanted to join a caravan headed toward Varien, who would I speak to?”
“Caravan offices are near the dawnward wall, about three streets from the gates. You'd have to ask about the schedules there.”
“Thank you very much,” Jeron said, bowing slightly. “You have been more helpful than you realize.”
“Tell that to my boss, maybe I'll get a raise.”
Jeron laughed, and was soon on his way home. His notes were folded and tucked into a bag at his waist, and he puzzled over the questions that had arisen in his research. Why was that plague so poorly documented? Was it even the right plague in the first place? The questions swirled in his mind, but above all of them, one rose to the top.
What do we call ourselves?
Next
Wiki
Seriously, do what the title says. Local libraries are the best source of information you have, because if you can't find something online, the librarian will often know where to direct your search. They're also a great place to play D&D if nobody can host. Just be sure to keep your celebrations to a low roar.

(Note: ‘retail’ refers to the regular Neopets website, currently owned by NetDragon, previously owned by JumpStart - thank you u/fancytables)
BACKGROUND
Before I begin this post, it is important to talk about what Neopets is and why a classic version of it was created in the first place. Neopets is a virtual petsite where you can own pixel pets, converse with other players on the neoboards, play games, meet people through guilds (which are like clubs geared toward certain interests), and partake in daily activities. Because Neopets is now a 24-year-old site, many of its users have been around for a while and remember what Neopets was like pre-conversion.
In 2007, Viacom (the company that owned the domain at the time) decided to “convert” all pets in order to introduce customization–a new site feature where you could spend real money to dress up your pets. While pre-conversion Neopets had dynamic poses and character, post-conversion Neopets were static and rather awkward. Most species and color combinations were automatically converted, but owners of certain combinations were given the option to keep their original unconverted pet. This drove up the value of unconverteds (otherwise known as UCs), and created a fierce trading system on Neopets. In a sea of converted pets, everyone wanted an unconverted.
Players had the option to trade around and work their way up to getting one of these highly coveted pets–but starting from ground zero often meant working on a singular trade chain for years, if not decades. This was a daunting task for many. Soon enough, there was a robust black market for unconverted pets…and when I say robust, I mean, people who desperately wanted these “UC” pets were flooding the “black market” with thousands of US dollars per year.
Millions of players who had been there since the beginning of Neopets would continue to be discouraged by the site's direction for years to come. In 2020, it was announced that Adobe Flash would soon be discontinued. With the termination of Flash, all the beloved Neopets games that relied on it were lost. Three years ago, Neopets further dug its own grave by introducing NFTS. Needless to say, the active player base has dramatically decreased over the years.
NEOPETS CLASSIC IS DEBUTED
Enter Neopets Classic (NPC), a fansite made to model early 2000s Neopets when there were around 3 million active users. For privacy purposes, the name Kiko will refer to the site’s creator (all screenshots with him will be censored in YELLOW). Kiko began working on this project as a way to learn code in his offtime. He began posting screenshots of the progress he was making with NPC on Reddit as far back as 5 years ago (2019). To say Neopets fans were excited is an understatement. When the site eventually opened to the public in December 2020, tons of users rushed to make accounts and create the unconverted pets they had never imagined getting to own, along with names that are probably stuck on frozen accounts from 2003 or so on retail. Instead of Rose6920Neopets, it was possible for a user on Neopets Classic to actually make the pet “Rose”. In its early days, the site was incredibly nostalgic and fulfilling for many people.
Kiko opened a Patreon account where people could show their support through monthly donations ranging from $1 to $25. Each tier unlocked special rewards on NPC’s Discord server, but the most appealing was the ability to make an NPC account for $1. After the initial wave of sign-ups, the site closed regular sign-ups to manage the influx of users as there were easily 200 members already. The only way people could get accounts after this point was by donating, or to wait for sign-up links to be posted about every month or so to the Discord. After receiving an email from Patreon where they warned him of Neopets copyright issues, Kiko moved to Buy Me A Coffee (BMAC).
A few months into Neopets Classic, there was a surge of site bugs and issues that went unfixed and quickly piled up. Kiko was nowhere to be found for almost two months. There was no communication indicating when users could expect fixes to the issues they were facing in game. Not even the mods were able to tell the users when or even if he would be back. He came back eventually, with no word of apology or explanation for his absence. This left users quite upset at the lack of communication while he was MIA, and not knowing whether their ongoing donations were going to waste if the site never started working properly again.
Kiko’s prolonged absence opened a door for many cheaters to abuse the site. This included the use of various bots and scripts that could auto-refresh around the site and auto-buy items from shops. Additionally, several users funneled items and neopoints (the in-game Neopets currency) from their side accounts to their main accounts, which was against the rules. Upon his return, Kiko was made aware of the massive cheating issue and started issuing bans accordingly. He created a channel within the Discord titled “Wall of Shame”, where he mocked the users he froze and immortalized their “crimes.” Ironically, Kiko himself had quite a bit of experience with similar illegal behavior on retail Neopets. He had previously been a black market seller of “UC” pets for real money on retail - and Clraik, a forum-based website dedicated to sharing and engaging in Neopets cheats, did not hesitate to expose this in his ban message from their site. Interestingly, Kiko had previously been fairly involved in the Clraik community and even recruited his first Neopets Classic players from there. He eventually deleted the channel.
Kiko also shamed his own playerbase behind closed doors in BMAC-only channels, but the Wall of Shame wouldn't be the first time he did so publicly. During the Halloween event in 2021, players collected candy around the site that came in different varieties. To redeem prizes, you had to collect certain varieties of candies - and if you didn’t have those varieties, you could swap candies with other users to get what you needed. One user made an unpopular choice to ask for multiples of one kind of candy for less of another and received severe backlash from not only the community but Kiko himself. While some users agreed that the player was acting out of line and applauded Kiko’s condemnation of the user, many others were grossly uncomfortable with the site creator openly ridiculing a player who wasn’t breaking any known game rules. Kiko had started a dogpile where members of the community continued to speak against the user, who then felt bullied off the site. A few friends of his followed suit and quit playing.
ART CHAOS
On March 7th, 2022, an NPC artist (who will henceforth be referred to as Carmariller) asked Kiko for permission to add a commissioned pet to the site that had been commissioned by a user with Neopoints. Kiko said yes and gave her permission, noting that it wasn’t any different from a user paying for a commission, as long as the user was fine with it being on the site. Their stone Shoyru design was eventually added to the site. Later on, several other users pitched in together to pay for a commission of another pet design from Carmariller in hopes of it being added to the site. When the site’s main moderator (let’s call her Lupe) found out about this in a public channel, she made it clear that commissions for pets to be added to the site were not allowed anymore, claiming it was unfair for users who couldn’t pay to affect site art through neopoints. However, those who had commissioned the art were confused and upset that this decision was made in direct opposition to the precedent of the Stone Shoyru. Following Lupe’s claims of unfairness, several users chimed in to express that it was problematic that users had commissioned art to be added to the site. Carmariller took a lot of heat from this discourse, which caused them to take a break from NPC. This series of interactions will be important later on.
ISSUES WITH INCLUSIVENESS
During April 2022, it was announced that a spring Easter event would take place on NPC. In the suggestions channel of the Discord server, a user submitted a suggestion to incorporate small nods to other religions because all the events around the holiday season were Christian-centric. This opened the door for a few users to vehemently disagree, stating that religion had no place on Neopets, that the site could never be “100% inclusive”, and that someone will always be upset. What started off as an innocuous suggestion for more inclusive features on the site ended in a heated debate, with many users feeling hurt and angry by the seemingly xenophobic arguments being made against the suggested features. Users from marginalized groups began to feel unsafe in the server as users were allowed to freely speak out against suggestions to make the site and community more inclusive with no mod intervention. When Kiko eventually came online, he did little to comfort those marginalized voices when he wrote that he wasn’t interested in “pandering to other cultures”, and that “Christian holidays are secular in western societies”. A user suggested adding a menorah or sugar skulls to represent Jewish and Mexican holidays, respectively. He wrote that he wasn’t interested in adding these items “any more than he was interested in adding a crucifix” item to the site. Some users responded that a crucifix is a symbol of the entire Christianity movement, whereas a menorah would be a symbol of Hanukkah and wouldn’t be different from the features that already exist on the site to represent Christmas, such as the advent calendar and the Christmas paint for pets and petpets. To this, Kiko just responded with a screenshot of his Google search where he googled “is menorah a religious symbol”.
Users became even more upset with his response, which seemed tone-deaf and careless in light of the conversation. A Jewish user argued that the menorah is tied to a single Jewish holiday, whereas a crucifix embodies Christianity as a whole. (NOTE: this is noted in the screenshots provided in the link, but several of the screenshots were taken recently whereas some were taken the day of this incident. In the last screenshot, where it says that a Discord user is responding to a message that has been deleted, the original message entailed Kiko’s message where he sent screenshots of his Google searches).
Users grew more weary of Kiko as he wrote that he would introduce a slow-mode in the suggestions channel since the users “couldn’t behave themselves”. To many users, it felt as though Kiko had been punishing and scolding them for expressing their hurt, without reprimanding the users who argued against the implementation of inclusive features.
Kiko and the users who were against adding features to represent other religions and cultures besides Christianity wrote that they would not have been able to “get it right” anyway since Kiko and his moderators were all white. A user responded to this and wrote that those kinds of arguments were often used as an excuse by non-marginalized individuals to not try to be inclusive by seeking out advice from the groups that they were attempting to represent. To this, Kiko reacted with an eye-rolling emoji instead of responding to the user directly and having a conversation about his reasoning.
After this debacle, some of the Neopets Classic Discord moderators created a separate server to invite BIPOC and address their concerns. A number of players disagreed with this move, because they felt that they were being pushed out of the main server and forced to express their concerns elsewhere, but the change was pushed regardless. Notably, Kiko, Kiko’s sister (who had been invited on to help him with the site), and the main moderator Lupe were not in this server. At first, the moderators involved piled the server members with apologies and asked for advice on how to do better. The advice was forthcoming from BIPOC players who committed to the emotional labor necessary to help the team understand–but they never understood. It was very quickly evident to everyone in the server that the team had no intentions of promoting inclusiveness, or a safe space for BIPOC players.
One member expressed that they were deeply uncomfortable with Lupe because of her pattern of silencing BIPOC users. The moderator running the server (let’s call her Moehog) meant to address BIPOC concerns told this member, and I quote, “I’m not going to comment on that. You can view her as you wish.” Immediately, the other members of the server called Moehog out on her inappropriate response. Moehog did not apologize or take any action against Lupe. It is important to note that during these conversations which were supposed to be geared toward making NPC a more inclusive space, Moehog was responding to messages in the private NPC staff chat with approval about how a Black member of the community would rant about being painted as a “an angry Black woman” while having a “nasty personality”. Screenshots of this are included further down.
BANNED NAMES - AND THE START OF NPC'S DOWNFALL
On May 24th, 2022, a user reported the pet ‘Soviet’, claiming that it was an insensitive name that shouldn’t exist on a p​​et site given the fact that Russia had very recently invaded Ukraine. The NPC mod team forced a “name change” for the pet Soviet, where the user received a name change token so that they may change the new name to another untaken name. Users began reporting other names that could be deemed offensive, such as Bimbo, Twink, and the username ‘slut’. Other users immediately took issue with the removal of pet names that were reclaimed slurs, such as Bimbo, and began asking the moderators about it in the NPC Discord server. One user, a Black woman (we’ll call her Aisha), pointed out that pets as harmless as Bimbo were being removed yet the pet Minstrel was owned by a NPC moderator - in fact, it was owned by the main moderator, Lupe. (While the word minstrel may mean medieval singer or musician, it is also strongly associated with blackface as in American history it referred to a member of a band of typically white actors with blackened faces. Minstrels performed songs, dances, and formulaic comic routines based on stereotyped depictions of Black Americans.)
Lupe swiftly deleted Aisha’s message that called out her pet Minstrel and wrote a reply stating that the pet Minstrel was in the process of being name-changed, and that users should submit tickets for any issues they have with pet names. It was never made apparent why action was immediately taken with Soviet and Bimbo, but not Minstrel. Aisha wrote another post about how it felt like her voice was being silenced, especially as a Black woman speaking about the hypocrisy of the moderators deleting pet names while owning a pet with harsh racist connotations. Aisha was swiftly banned from the server. It didn’t take long for users to come to her defense and demand to know why she was banned from the server for expressing her feelings of discomfort. Another moderator (Maple) claimed that he had attempted to mute Aisha for ‘inflammatory speech’ but had accidentally banned her instead. This caused outrage in the community, as more and more users denounced the silencing of marginalized voices without addressing any of the harm that was done. You might be asking: where was Kiko during all of this?
Kiko had been gone for several weeks at this point. By now, the users were used to this. Kiko was often gone without word, and left it up to his moderators to handle any and all issues--really, it was often Lupe dealing with the public chat while the other moderators held more of a backseat position. He did, however, come out of the woodworks to write about how angry he was with the community for “causing drama”. Once again, he placed the blame in the playerbase and found no fault within the community moderators for inflicting harm to their players. Furthermore, he wrote that he was proceeding to shut down non-informational channels. Only BMAC supporters (i.e., people who were paying real life money) were allowed to converse and use the Discord server as normal. In his post, Kiko also wrote that the server was shutting down in order to find new moderators to help keep the peace within the community. During this time, on the evening of May 24th, screenshots from staff chat had been leaked where Kiko is seen claiming that the “argument for reclaimed slurs is dumb”, followed by a joke about how NPC supports bullying minorities and white supremacy. This led several users to feel uncomfortable, believing that Kiko was joking about something that still felt so raw and painful for them.
After most of the player base was suddenly unable to communicate in the main server, many users moved to the site’s neoboards. Although they were glitchy and had many broken links, it sufficed as everyone needed a way to talk about the mess that just occurred in the main NPC server. Remember Carmariller? People were still unsatisfied with how Carmariller was driven away from the site. Some users took to posting “JUSTICE FOR CARMARILLER” on the neoboards, but were swiftly frozen (in which you are never allowed to play NPC again) or temporarily banned/muted. Carmariller returned to the boards to reveal that she never knew commissions for site art weren't allowed as Kiko had previously given her permission to accept commissions from users to eventually add to the site (as shown in a previous screenshot). Kiko showed up to say that he only did that the one time. Carmariller wrote that he said it wasn’t a problem that one time, so she assumed it wouldn’t be a problem later. Kiko then asked Carmariller if she would take time off from work any day she wanted if her boss had previously given her a day off. This was enough for Carmariller to quit the site and never partake in the community ever again. That, however, wouldn't stop the site from continuing to use her art and pet designs that she only had given permission for before quitting the art team. Not too long after, the entire board was deleted by either Kiko or his staff.
KIKO'S ABSENCE
The shutdown of the main server for NPC occurred on May 24th, 2022. After Kiko wrote that long post, he disappeared for nearly three months. The main server became a ghost town, and hardly anyone ever posted there. Much of this is due to the fact that most of the playerbase couldn’t chat there, since they weren’t BMAC supporters. Even though Kiko had left and there was no news of change or progress on the site or in the community, the BMAC stayed open. This meant new users were continuing to donate $1 for accounts that they weren’t getting because Kiko was M.I.A. and unable to process their links. As familiar as prolonged disappearances of Kiko were to old players, several new people who had not come to expect this by now were anxious about where their money was going. There were frequent inquiries posted in the discord about when new users could expect to receive a sign-up link. Mixed messaging from the moderators in response made the situation all the more tense. Lupe made an announcement that Kiko and his sister will return but was unable to say when, and used privacy concerns as reasoning to not elaborate on why they had “to take some time away due to IRL, external matters.” This left many users genuinely concerned that something may have happened to him that pulled him away from the site that the mod didn’t want to share publicly. One artist even mentioned that Kiko tends to his grandfather who was sick at the time, leading users to worry as they began to wonder if everything was alright. Later, a user asked the mod Moehog if Kiko left because of the heated discourse surrounding pet names like Soviet and Minstrel. Moehog responded that the Kiko and his sibling were simply away on holiday, and just needed some relaxation time. Users were bewildered at the lack of simple communication prior either by the devs or the mod announcement to say that they were taking a short break and would be back. Donors in particular were frustrated that they could have saved their monetary contributions for an account had they known it would be some time before Kiko returned.
During Kiko’s long absence, the NPC moderators decide to promote a prominent art team member to moderator status. We’ll call them Chia. The first action Chia took as a moderator was to delete the Spanish-Chat channel, where Spanish and Portuguese NPC users previously talked about the game in… well… Spanish and Portuguese. Given the fact that much of the tension in the NPC community stemmed from issues regarding racism and xenophobia, many users felt like this was a terrible decision which went against the very thing they sought: inclusivity in the NPC community. Chia responded and wrote that their intention was to delete non-essential channels, and that it wasn’t uncommon in larger Discords to exclude non-English channels. Users were quick to note that this was a popular xenophobic sentiment in those very gaming communities.
Because over half of the playerbase was shut out of communicating in the main NPC server, a few individuals made a side server titled “NPC Peeps”. Many NPC users migrated to this server to keep up with the community while these harsh changes were implemented upon the playerbase. It is important to note that none of the NPC staff or moderators were allowed in this server, as it was created initially to aid NPC users in airing out their grievances without the fear of being punished in the community or on the site. Site artists were allowed but later removed.
Then, it came to light that Maple had been actively spying in the “NPC Peeps” server on a burner account, and taking unauthorized screenshots within a private venting channel to use against players. Many players were frozen on the site or banned from the main discord server at the whims of the moderator team. Reasons were never given for these bans, so many assumed it was simply for speaking negatively about NPC, even though these discussions took place in a separate server. The second server had been created as a safe space for all NPC players, especially BIPOC members, and many users felt as though this was a gross invasion of privacy that made them feel even more unsafe.
After Maple’s burner account was banned, he and other moderators and artists continued to attempt to get into the second server and spy on users. (A screenshot of a site artist proposing the idea of sending friends to spy in the NPC Peeps server with Lupe agreeing is provided here)
In the BIPOC server, members expressed their concerns about the unwelcome surveillance, but were again met with unsympathetic ears. Moehog informed the members that she planned to quit as a moderator, and that the BIPOC server would have to take their concerns elsewhere. Members of the server took the opportunity to once and for all express serious frustration with how their concerns had been handled, and how nothing had ever come of their concerns (Moehog had only told them she would pass on their recommendations to Kiko, and Kiko had never responded). Moehog then said that she was keeping the server open as a favor to them and because she didn’t “want their emotional labor to go to waste.” Another member who had applied to be a moderator months earlier expressed that, if they became a moderator, the first thing they would do would be to ask Maple to step down from his position. Immediately following that message, Moehog deleted the entire server.
PROMINENT MEMBERS LEAVE TO CREATE THEIR OWN SITE
All the discord server drama aside— if you asked any NPC user, you’d find that, from 2020-2022, there was little to actually do on the site: you could restock (which entails buying items from non-playable character shops and reselling them for a profit in your shop or on the trading posts), feed kadoaties, paint your pets with Neopoints you earn through Random Events or by restocking, or do fetch quests from non-player characters, where you must find the item they are asking for and they will give you Neopoints in return. A few long-time NPC users had previously offered their services to Kiko multiple times, constantly telling him that they are familiar with web development and could assist him in adding new features to the site such as games and the Battledome, but Kiko always refused.
So, in July 2022, these same members had become increasingly frustrated with NPC and began working on a new site called Grundo’s Cafe. Grundo’s Cafe was designed to resemble early 2000s Neopets, as well. The idea of an early 2000s Neopets fansite was not new by then, and several had popped up such as Virtu.pet and Moderneo. The creators of Grundo’s Cafe aimed to implement more than NPC already had to offer such as recreating flash games using HTML5, the Battledome, and the beloved Habitarium. On August 12th, Grundo’s Cafe had their Grand Opening, and allowed 100 slots for signups which quickly filled up as dedicated Neopets players were eager to try this new clone. Many former NPC users were excited to play a new site that had many features to offer that actually did represent early 2000s Neopets: functional neoboards, restocking, guilds, flash games, and games such as Sakhmet Solitaire, Dice-a-Roo, and Lenny Conundrum. A few of these were features that took over a year for NPC to provide, and many are features that NPC still does not have.
The next day, on August 13, 2022, all of the Grundo’s Cafe developers and Discord moderators were shocked to find their Neopets Classic accounts had been frozen. Their ban messages simply read ‘C/ping custom text and content from NPC is not allowed.’ Allegedly, the Neopets Classic staff suspected Grundo’s Cafe ripped their code and content and consequently froze their accounts. It was widely unclear, however, what content was thought to have been stolen from NPC as the HTML, content, and images used were from the original Neopets as might be expected from a clone site like NPC itself. There was also no way to dispute their account freezes, as the “contact our support staff” link was broken and led nowhere. The Discord server had also been locked down, requiring users to submit verification forms through Google Forms where a moderator would reach out to them via neomail on the site and give them a password that they had to in turn message to a moderator via Discord. The Grundo’s Cafe moderators in particular were confused and upset that they would be frozen if the reason was stealing website code and content, because their roles as moderators had nothing to do with working on the site development.
Long-time NPC players were horrified by the NPC staff’s actions for a while, but this was the final straw for many. Several users who had been playing since the first couple of months quit NPC and happily joined Grundo’s Cafe never to look back. Some friends of the Grundo’s Cafe staff took it one step further by going directly to the Neopets Classic Discord to air their disappointment. These messages were quickly deleted by the mods online at the time, and the five users involved in the conversation were permanently muted in the server and on the neoboards, and eventually frozen on the site. Several users were also frozen for expressing their discontent with the NPC staff. Users complained that the server felt like severe censorship as they couldn’t express any discontent with the site’s actions without it being deleted or their accounts being muted.
STAFF CHAT LEAKS
Long-time NPC players weren’t the only ones disgusted by the behavior of the NPC staff. One staff member took a huge risk to expose some controversial conversations from the NPC private staff chat which included Kiko, his sister, the mods, and artists. In these screenshots, staff members/moderators and artists are seen mocking Aisha, calling her a “nasty spiteful little bitch” and referring to the player base as “cunts”. They joked about making Aisha’s verification word to get access to discord “minstrel”. Although Kiko and the NPC staff accused the Grundo’s Cafe team of copying and pasting content, screenshots were also leaked of them snooping around to steal scripts and code from Grundo’s Cafe staff members. These scripts were initially created by the Grundo’s Cafe team when they were active users on NPC, and many of the playerbase depended on them. However, after being frozen on NPC, the Grundo’s Cafe team removed access to their scripts, leaving NPC users at a disadvantage. In the previously linked screenshots, staff members are seen discussing how to get those scripts back in order to add them to the NPC website and pass off as their own. They also accused the Grundo’s Cafe main developer of stealing the footer text from NPC, but a Reddit comment from Kiko himself would prove otherwise. Through the leak of these screenshots, it became swiftly apparent to users that the Grundo’s Cafe team was frozen out of pure jealousy or spitefulness at their quick success without any solid reason to back it up. Many of the players who had been loyal through the ups and downs of Neopets Classic over the past two years felt disgusted by the racist remarks made behind closed doors. Any messages regarding the staff chat leaks in the NPC server were deleted, and some users were muted or frozen for attempting to talk about it.
After August 2022, many users stopped playing NPC. Between other Neopets clones such as Grundo’s Cafe, Moderneo, and Virtu.pet, many people found that there was much to do on other sites compared to NPC. Many users also refused to be associated with a site run by individuals such as Kiko and his staff. The drop in active numbers was evident even to NPC users that remained active. On the site homepage, there is a counter of how many users are online at the moment, and there were often only 30-40 members online (whereas in the past, numbers would easily reach triple digits, especially on the weekends). NPC users grew frustrated with the lack of updates and small player base, claiming that it was now difficult to complete quests as no one was restocking and filling their shops with items. In October 2022, users expected a Halloween event, and staff members responded that it was coming, keeping it vague at best. On October 28th, it was announced that a Halloween event would be coming that day. However, the site broke the very same day. Users grew more and more frustrated as they just desired to play on a functional site where the developer actually had an interest in improving the site. A few days went by with radio silence as the site remained unplayable. Then, on November 3rd, Kiko wrote a very important announcement. He announced that, because of some issues with the server, the site had lost 5 months of data. Many users were shocked and devastated, as all their progress and hard work from the past 5 months had suddenly been erased. Several users wondered how Kiko had gone five months without backing up data onto any external site. Users who lost pets due to the rollback were required to message mods with proof of which pets they owned so that they could be replaced. Typically, Neopets Classic would do “pound releases” where previously stuck pets on frozen accounts would be released to the pound where any user could adopt them to their own account. However, as a result of the chaos from the rollback, mods used this rollback as their chance to take pets from frozen accounts for their own use, giving themself a secretive priority over which pets they wanted for themselves before they were released to the pound for the general public.
THE STATE OF NEOPETS CLASSIC TODAY
To this day, several Neopets fansites and projects exist, and many Neopets fans are members of multiple sites. The sites, such as Grundo’s Cafe, Virtu.pet, and Moderneo, remain friendly with each other, and oftentimes the developers even work together on each other’s sites in various ways. Grundo’s Cafe has even been referenced by the official Neopets team multiple times (example 1, example 2). All three sites have an active community.
The exception to this is Neopets Classic. Users are no longer able to check how many players are online, as either Kiko or his team have removed the feature. You can try and gauge activity with their latest news announcement which stated that they received zero poem submissions for Moehog Day (a pet day where Moehogs are celebrated on every Neopets site, often including new pet art and user-submitted poems).
Neopets Classic is the only Neopets fansite without any affiliates or relationships with other Neopets fansites, which begs the question of whether this can only be attributed to Kiko and his inexperienced mod & art team.

Remember the thrill of unwrapping a brand new PS1 game and flipping through the manual? Those manuals weren't just there to explain the controls; they were portals to another world, filled with backstory, character art and detailed lore that made the game universe come alive!"
Imagine having high-quality scans for EVERY PS1 game manual! K1rkl4nd, a true hero of the retro gaming community, is almost there, having tackled the manuals for SNES, PS2 and venturing into ATARI 7800, GameBoy, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance and Xbox 360! But the final stretch is tough. Only 125 PS1 manuals remain, and many are becoming super expensive.
We need your help to cross the finish line and preserve this important piece of gaming history!
Here's what you can do:

• Check Your PS1 Collection! Do you have any manuals for games that belong to these categories: missing (yellow), poor (blue), no cover (orange)
• Send Your Manuals for Scanning! You'll get your manuals back after they're scanned
• Donate Manuals!
• Upvote & Share! Let's Get This Post Seen!

Let's Finish This Together!
Anyone can personally follow the progress here: Playstation 1 Progress Report
Current status: (as of 6/1/2024)

Manual Count	Status
732	in-hand manuals
129	loaned/leased for scanning - hi-res
86	from online sources - good
88	in-hand manuals - no cover
122	from online sources - poor
125	missing

How to Scan:

• Recommended: Pop the staples and scan at 600DPI. Higher DPI is welcome!
• Scanner only supports 400DPI? Scan it anyway if you have manuals from missing, poor quality, or no cover categories.

Do you have anything to share?

Contact K1rkl4nd via PM or email: jgrimm (at) atensionspan (dot) com

Links to K1rkl4nd's domain:
http://www.videogamemanual.com/
Initial plea for assistance from K1rkl4nd: https://www.reddit.com/psx/comments/y7cwed/playstation_manuals/
Note: Scanning manuals is a time-consuming task, and editing them post-scan is necessary. Even after gathering all the manuals, processing and publishing them will take some time. The plan is to release all the scans simultaneously for a complete and organized archive. The primary goal of the collection is to gather manuals for NTSC games, with a secondary goal of collecting manuals for games not released in the NTSC region.
K1rkl4nd's collection stands as a testament to dedication and passion, encompassing all well-known manuals that are freely available online. This monumental effort has spanned 25 years, highlighting his unwavering commitment to preserving gaming history. While numerous collectors have emerged over the years with intentions to scan and publish their collections, all of these initiatives have unfortunately faded away.
In rare cases, K1rkl4nd might potentially accept financial donations for the purpose of acquiring the missing manuals. Personally, I consider it important to mention this information; however, K1rkl4nd has never publicly solicited financial donations, nor will he organize a public fundraising campaign for this purpose. The goal of this post is to bring attention to this project and reach out to collectors who own these games and are willing to share their manuals.

Missing manuals:

• Adidas Power Soccer ’98
• Adventures of Lomax, The
• Alone in The Dark: One-Eyed Jack’s Revenge
• Armored Core: Master of Arena
• Armored Core: Project Phantasma
• Assault Rigs
• Baldies
• Barbie: Explorer
• Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
• Batman Forever: The Arcade Game
• Battle Arena Toshinden 3
• Bear in the Big Blue House: Ojo’s Birthday
• Blockids
• Board Game: Top Shop
• Bottom of the 9th ’97
• Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror
• Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2
• Bug Riders: The Race of Kings
• Bust-a-Groove 2
• C: The Contra Adventure
• Capcom vs. SNK Pro
• Carnage Heart
• City of Lost Children, The
• Crow: City of Angels, The
• Crusader: No Remorse
• Cybersled
• Cyberspeed
• D
• Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Mix
• Danger Girl
• Darklight Conflict
• Discworld II: Morality Bites
• Discworld, Terry Prachett’s
• Disney’s 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue
• Disney’s Peter Pan in Return to Neverland
• Disney’s The Lion King: Simba’s Mighty Adv.
• Disney’s Winnie the Pooh Preschool
• Divide, The: Enemies Within
• Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout
• Dragon Valor
• Easter Bunny’s Big Day
• Eggs of Steel
• Elemental Gearbolt
• Expendable
• Extreme Go-Cart Racing
• F1 World Grand Prix 2000
• FIFA Soccer 2002
• FIFA Soccer 2003
• Fisher Price Rescue Heroes: Molten Menace
• Fox Hunt
• G Police: Weapons of Justice
• Gekioh Shooting King
• Glover
• Goal Storm
• Grand Theft Auto: The Director’s Cut
• Gundam Battle Assault
• Herc’s Adventure
• In the Hunt
• International Track & Field 2000
• Iron Man / X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal
• Johnny Bazookatone
• Jumping Flash!
• King of Fighters ’95, The
• King of Fighters ’99, The: Millennium Battle
• Lego Island 2: The Brickster’s Revenge
• Lego Racers
• Lethal Enforcers 1 & 2
• Lode Runner
• Marvel Super Heroes
• Master of Monsters: Disciples of Gaia
• Muppet Monster Adventure
• Muppet Race Mania
• Namco Museum Vol. 4 – C
• NASCAR Thunder 2004
• NHL Open Ice: 2 on 2 Challenge
• Novastorm
• Pajama Sam: You Are What You Eat
• Philosoma
• Pink Panther: Pinkadelic Pursuit
• Play with the Teletubbies
• PO’ed
• Point Blank 3
• Power Move Pro Wrestling
• Power Slave
• Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction
• Primal Rage
• Project: Horned Owl
• Psychic Detective
• Psychic Force
• Rascal Racers
• Rise 2: Resurrection
• R-Types
• Rugrats: Totally Angelica
• Rush Hour
• Shadow Tower
• Silverload
• Skullmonkeys
• Smurfs, The
• Sol Divide
• Soul of the Samurai
• Space Griffon VF-9
• Space Hulk: Vengeance…
• Star Gladiator
• Starblade Alpha
• Street Fighter Alpha 2
• Street Fighter Collection 2
• Street Fighter: The Movie
• Tail Concerto
• Tail of the Sun
• Team Buddies
• Team Losi: RC Racer
• Tennis Arena
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf 2001
• Tobal No. 1
• Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return
• Transformers: Beast Wars – TransMetals
• Trap Gunner
• Ultimate Brain Games
• Viva Soccer
• Vs.
• War Gods
• Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat
• Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style
• XS Junior League Football
• Zero Divide

Manuals from online sources - poor quality + no cover

• spreadsheet

A bit over 3 months ago I tripped on 300ug for my 2nd trip ever and my life hasnt been the same since. I don’t know whats happening. It feels like I have broken out of the Matrix, that I have realized some grand truth or enlightenment and am just observing the world as a delibrately fabricated show by God. A lot feels fake and that all sorts of niches are just filled out by God to color the world. I am also God and so are everybody else but at a lesser capacity. I have lost all my interests, my ego has no desires and I am superdepressed, I just lay and rot in bed 16h a day. I don’t value my life anymore since idealism has overtaken my materialistic view. Life feels like a dream and I cant wrap my head around nonduality, it’s a mindf@&$ it’s solipsism but worse since its ethereal with an expanded scope. Reincarnation and solipsism is bad enough on their own but this is just beyond messed up. Believing that you can /reroll and end up in Maya again is terrible and makes you not respect life… Whats the point of self improvement if I will respawn as 8 billion other people or even in the form of rats and insects?
I just want to live a normal life not in this psychotic-like state. To any normal person this would obviously be considered psychosis, if I went to a psychiatry right now and told them about this I would get locked up. However online communities call this spiritual awakening, so what is it? I am suffering deeply and I dont think I will find happiness beyond the ’veil’ or whatever since I have schizoid like tendencies and have a hard time staying engaged. I dont need to be even more disassociated and feel like Neo. I dont understand how people can trip and go through ego death without realizing the implications of it.
I was already happy beforehand and had a healthy ego that couldnt get hurt because it was already detached and openminded, now the difference is have no sense of self at all to believe in. Imagine talking to your dad and believing you are talking to yourself. Lmfao do you hear how psychotic that sounds? I really don’t know whats happening. Psychosis or spiritual awakening? My conceptual framework has been completely collapsed and I am vulnerable to believe any theory presented to me right now. Anyone that has been in a similar spot and what has helped you?