I wanted to do something a bit silly for this one, so I did!

Come and get a small Goblin On Your Head! They will stay with you and give you very small hugs wherever you go! You can even chose their colors, to match your outfit.

Here's my submission for this reward! Catcus, ever so cute, even in papier maché. Bonus pic of The Mess the joys of artistic creation!

Here's my submission! One of my favorite character: Midna the Imp Queen of Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Adding a screenshot of the sketch for "this is not AI" purposes but also to show that I used the official concept art from Hyrule Historia as a reference because she has a feral aspect that I really like but she slightly lose in the final in-game version.

“The café is opened unusually late, and is unusually full on top of that," I thought as I was lounging in my usual place. It's a hard work running a café, you know? I have to entertain the guests, receive pats and pets, deliver purrs, and I have to make sure that the Human serves the customers in a timely manner. Hard work, I tell you, for such a small Mogbert.

Tonight in particular, I am hard at work with one of my favorite patrons, making sure their lap stays warm. A calm and reserved human, with massive hands yet a delicate touch, who somehow always know where to scratch behind the ears. Their emotions are easy to smell, even through the ambient smog of coffee. They range from the acre, smokey smell of stress when they arrive, to the sweet scent of a quiet joy when they scribble in their sketchbook. No doubt portraying the charismatic profile of yours truly, as one would. Lately, though, there has been a new smell. A spicy smell. Like a weird mix of pepper, cinnamon, and sweat. I don't like that smell. It's been too often followed by vigorous and clumsy head pats, when it's not face pats entirely.

As I lay on their lap, enjoying the relative calm of this solitary individual among the noisy crowd, I suddenly smell their scent turns to spices. Here we go again! I check the front door, and Lo and Behold, there it is. The most flamboyant peacock a human can be, strutting through the door like they own the place. My place!

This human is a weird one. Always the same scent of minty boredom, with never more than a hint of variations, yet never twice the same look. They've been coming regularly for a few weeks now and have probably shown the whole rainbow at least thrice, in all possible combinations. They flap around in incomprehensible shapes of fabric, sometimes flowing around them, sometimes tighter than seems comfortable. Not that any of this "clothes" thing looks any comfortable to begin with. Truly a mysterious being.

I barely have time to make sense of their Plumage Du Jour that they grab the coffee my Human had prepared for them in advance and come straight at us. The spices fills the air in a thick cloud. My seat turns into steel. I brace for impact as they approach and speak:

"Hiii, Alex, is it? Mind if I join you?" They ask, gesturing at the fluffy paw shaped armchair in front of us.

A second pass before Alex manages to answer: "Huh? Uh, yes! I mean no, I mean... please go ahead!"

"Thank you, darling," they answered. Somehow they managed to sit down folding their layers of fabric with one hand while still holding their coffee with the other. "Nice to meet you, Alex. My friends call me Mosspatch, I invite you to do as well."

"Nice to meet you too!" They say, their voice surprisingly stable for someone currently distilling pure essence of panic. "I like your name! Hummm how did you know mine?"

"I simply asked the owner of the Café"

I don't remember them ever talking to me, but I am interrupted in my confusion by the loudest scream I've ever heard:

"FIIIIVE!"

I jolt from my place--

"FOUUUUUR!!"

--and jump in the nearest shelter available, Mosspatch's nest of fabric.

"THREEEEE!!!"

What is going on??

"TWOOOOO!!!!"

Is this war? Are we under attack?!

"OOOOOOONE!!!!!"

Surely nobody would think of hurting such a cute, yet refined little Mogbert?!

"HAPPY NEW YEEEAAAAR!!!"

The whole population of the Golden Leaf erupts in screams that I can only assume are agony. Yet the smell is of joy!? What is that? What is going on? Also, could they not? Could they possibly not?!

As I hide in the layers of fabric, terrified and confused by the chaos and the screams, I feel a soft hand lay on my back and gently stroke my fur. There is something reassuring to this constant smell. Now that I'm buried in their clothes, I can see that what I thought was a thick fog of boredom is actually a complex patchwork of weariness, kindness, and a tinge of fury. The scent of someone who knows the value of anger, and the strength of compassion.

As the tumult dies down, I can hear the muffled sounds of Alex and Mosspatch's voices.

“Are they ok?” Alex asks.

“Yeah, just a big fright. It must have been quite a shock to see everyone suddenly scream at the same time.”

You bet it was! I’m glad they agree on that. Still, it takes a good while for things to calm down enough for my taste. I feel much better now, so I decide to poke my head out my hiding, to the delight of Alex and Mosspatch alike. Why, it's true, I AM a delight to have around after all. I could go back to Alex's lap, but I decide to linger on this small nest I made with Mosspatch. They are much more pleasant than I initially thought, and I can smell from here that Alex is not in urgent needs of purrs.

Mosspatch catch the opportunity of a lull in the conversation to ask Alex:

"So, I often see you draw in this sketchbook of yours. Got m curious. Can I see your art?"

At those words I sense a wave of fear and apprehension coming from Alex who freeze entirely. But I must admit, I'm also very curious! I have never seen all those picture they've made of me! So I chirp and purr a little as an encouragement. Alex opens the sketchbook, turn it around, and show us... a bunch of indecipherable scribbles.

"Oh my god! That's my outfit from Thursday!" Mosspatch exclaims, their usual scent of cool mint turning into genuine fruity delight, "you're so talented! You really captured the shapes and movement of it!"

Treason. Infamy. All this time, they've been drawing that... human-shaped bird of paradise?

"And this one is from last week! Oh but I don't recognize this one"

My charismatic profile... ignored. My honor... sullen. And they smell so proud of it too.

“This one is an idea I had after seeing your coat from Monday.”

“I need it, it looks amazing!”

Dejected, I hop down from Mosspatch’s lap. Clearly those two don’t need me. And they don’t deserve me either! They don’t even notice me going away. This is ridiculous. This café is going downhill-- I need to talk the Humanager!

I have not used google in years, since they replaced the person in charge of accurate research by the person in charge of advertising, who promptly started to dismantle the search engine in 2019.

I mostly use Duck Duck Go, I have tried Ecosia too, both gives very good results, in the last years they went from "sometimes less accurate than google" to "at least just as good", so I recommend them.

When the search is specifically for the source of an image though, I use Tineye or SauceNao. Very practical to hunt down the artists who don't sign their work!

I'm tired of predictions about AI (I am firmly in the team "the bubble will finally burst and genAI will burn to the ground and we will all dance and drink".) so let's find another subject, here's my prediction:

The EU will make audio port mandatory for smartphone, just like they made the charger port USB-C mandatory.

Airpods are an ecological disaster, they're easy to lose, easy to break, and even if everything goes well they have a ridiculously short lifespan. in the rare occasions where they don't end up in landfills, or worse in nature, they are hard to deconstruct and full of polluting material because of the small batteries. While the EU can't forbid industries to make those products, it can at least rule in favor of new productions standard, and a mandatory audio port would greatly reduce the pressure on consumers to buy and use those airpods.

I am very partial to art challenges, the one about designing your own critter was fun!

So how about design challenges about other parts of the game like "Design a piece of furniture you'd like to place in your coffee shop" or "Design a decor element you'd love to offer to your critters in their enclosure"

I do love environments =)

Hello!

It's my first time participating in a reward, thank you JustAbout and Critter Café for organizing this!

I present to you: Gobliblin, whom I painted by hand in Krita! Gobliblin loves trinkets, moss and mushrooms. They can be found in Emerald Bay rummaging through the trash or combing the sand in search for shiny things.

Due to their love of trinkets, they can make excellent critter in booking session, though people are advice to keep their keys and other shiny objects in their pockets. They will love to show their own trinkets to guests, for everyone's delight.

Please remember to give enrichment in Gobliblin's enclosure by regularly hiding colorful buttons and polished pebbles in corners and under leaves, so they can rummage to their heart content and add their loot to their hoarding pile hidden in their nest!