gshc2020.com

when you launch an extremely popular age assurance update that everyone on Discord was really looking forward to and it has bugs https://t.co/I9dVu9ZhET pic.twitter.com/BLAz9fWTSn

— Discord (@discord) September 24, 2026

"When you launch an extremely popular age assurance update that everyone on Discord was really looking forward to and it has bugs," Discord said.

The post in question was posted earlier this week and has 36K likes, but the nearly 10K replies already signal that not all is well amongst users. Open up the quotes for the post, and you'll be met with what feels like an endless sea of fan art featuring none other than Discord's plum mascot, Wumpus. These days, he's looking more red than purple, though.

The top post quoting the original message is accompanied by no text. Instead, it features a hyper-realistic version of Wumpus being subjected to a form of torture called "quartering," which sees an individual pulled into pieces by horses tied to each of their limbs.

This post alone has 260K likes. It is far from the only image of its kind.

https://t.co/tiscKCgzOj pic.twitter.com/teeA9k8vS0

— fishman (@asianfissureman) September 25, 2026

“Extremely popular” pic.twitter.com/vq9Ke1seg9

— radionerd (@radionerdxbox) September 25, 2026

I will never be a memory, Wumpus. https://t.co/ZcXfKG1e1T pic.twitter.com/t58VixRwmv

— Capidol 🍀|| C0mms OPEN (@CapidolArt) September 26, 2026

pic.twitter.com/MoamXpthQT

— Conor D. Oil (@RealConorOil) September 24, 2026

Whether he's facing eldritch horrors, Broly, Sephiroth's Masamune, or packs of wolves, Wumpus is going through it. Everyone online is having a great time watching the leaf-wearing avatar get torn to shreds, but they've also made it clear that the violence being unleashed upon him isn't coming from a positive place.

It's all in response to Discord's age verification system, which has faced its own onslaught of backlash since it was first announced earlier this year. As the platform has been reminded today, many of its millions of users have been vocal when it comes to privacy concerns following a significant data breach just last year.

"If you want to be a serious grown-up data stealing company you can’t smol bean post anymore," one user said in response to Discord's post.

"Stop trying to quirk chungus your data harvesting scheme," another said. "We cannot stand your ass."

lol https://t.co/T5DLuzxjdQ pic.twitter.com/Sdvb8jXmcN

— Junjou Laina 🔥 GIGGINOX 4 ASCENDANCE 🔥 (@Jun_on_Fire) September 26, 2026

"'Extremely popular age assurance update.' Are we f**kin serious," another user asked.

"No we are so fckin sarcastic," Discord replied.

Shortly after Wumpus was (quite literally) thrown into the line of fire, Discord posted an update saying that bugs blocking age-restricted servers had been fixed. The company has not addressed the criticisms filling its replies section since the new system went live.

Michael Cripe

Freelance Writer

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

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However, the changes for The Legend of Vox Machina started from the beginning, causing a ripple effect that ultimately led to one particularly heartbreaking quote from Campaign 1: Vox Machina hitting very differently within the constraints of its animated adaptation.

The Critical Role quote that changed everything

Critical Role, Amazon Prime, animation, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, actual play

Throughout Campaign 1: Vox Machina and The Legend of Vox Machina, Scanlan, a gnome bard played by Sam Riegel, was a reliable source of comedic relief. He often caused trouble alongside the other members of Vox Machina, whether by pranking others or playing into the Don Lothario archetype. Yet as the campaign progressed, it became clear there was more to Scanlan than met the eye — especially when the campaign introduced his estranged daughter, Kaylie. He remained a jokester, but now he had a solid reason to change his ways and become a better man. In episode 85, “A Bard’s Lament,” Critters saw how strong that desire was when Scanlan asked a question that stopped the party in their tracks: “What’s my mother’s name?”

Coming shortly after Scanlan’s resurrection following the defeat of the Chroma Conclave, Riegel’s single question became one of the most jaw-dropping moments in Campaign 1: Vox Machina. Despite having told the party he wanted to connect with his daughter, Vox Machina defiled Scanlan’s comatose body by covering his room in pudding, dressing him in Pike’s nightgown, and, in short, making him look like a fool in front of her. If the party had done this during the early stages of Campaign 1, we don’t doubt Scanlan would have laughed it off. Yet, with all that Scanlan has been through, the gnome bard turns the tables on his party and accuses them of caring about him only for what he can do for them in return.

Scanlan lists all the times the party has sacrificed for one another — battling giants for Grog, going to the Hells for Pike, etc. — but not for him. When some of the party begin to protest, Scanlan’s question and later demand that they tell him his mother’s name (Juniper, if you’re curious) is so scathing the party can do nothing but fall silent. After all Vox Machina has been through, Scanlan uses his mother’s name — and the party’s ignorance of it — as further proof that they don’t really know or respect him.

What’s particularly memorable is that this quote marks the first time in Campaign 1 that Riegel raises his voice in anger at Vox Machina. Riegel often played Scanlan as exasperated, but here he reveals a man who realizes his choices have made his relationships feel transactional or skin-deep. It’s little wonder that Scanlan chooses to leave to work on his relationship with Kaylie.

How the “What’s my mother’s name?” changes in The Legend of Vox Machina

Image: Critical Role via YouTube

The “What’s my mother’s name?” quote in The Legend of Vox Machina differs markedly from the actual play. For one thing, we spend much more time with Scanlan as he grapples with his strained relationship with Kaylie. Second, Pike Trickfoot (Ashley Johnson) appears far more often in The Legend of Vox Machina than in the actual play, so Scanlan has someone in his corner much more often. The animation also gives Scanlan less time for pranks and jokes, focusing more on his heroics than on portraying him as comic relief.

Most importantly, the quote occurs in different circumstances. In The Legend of Vox Machina, it happens after Scanlan learns that Vox Machina visited him during his musical tour with his daughter, Kaylie. Scanlan thinks the party has come to visit him after being apart for so long, but in reality they've arrived to obtain the magical item Mythcarver. While still hurtful, that isn’t quite the same as being thrown at the party after they had humiliated him in front of his daughter.

As a result, Scanlan’s quote isn’t as shocking as it is in the tabletop campaign. It still shames Vox Machina when they realize they don’t know the answer, but the circumstances around the quote aren’t as dire as in the actual play.

Image: Prime Video

Yet that doesn’t mean the shift from actual play to animation is inherently bad. As we’ve mentioned, the change largely stems from Critical Role’s need to condense hundreds of hours into 12-episode seasons. It also reflects the co-founders’ hindsight about their characters’ endgame in Campaign 1, and how to introduce them to an audience that hasn’t watched hundreds of hours of the tabletop campaign. Would viewers who know nothing about Critical Role’s history as friends — or how wacky shenanigans can get during a tabletop role-playing campaign — accept Vox Machina’s heroes torturing one of their own in a moment of vulnerability? We doubt it.

Critical Role made a bold shift in how it presented Scanlan’s powerful quote, and it’s clear every Critter has a favorite version. Ultimately, though, we're satisfied that both versions — tabletop and animation — work well in depicting what the narrative needed at the time. %!s()

Having led 8-6 at the end of a tight first period, the visitors took full advantage of Adam Keighran's second-half yellow card, with Tom Johnstone, Jack Sinfield and Corey Hall all crossing while the Wigan centre was in the sin-bin.

England winger Johnstone had earlier replied to Brad O'Neill's opener for the Warriors and Ky Rodwell added Wakefield's fifth try as Trinity registered 33 unanswered points to book their spot at Old Trafford.

A Championship side as recently as 2024, Wakefield have made huge progress in recent seasons under ambitious owner Matt Ellis and experienced head coach Daryl Powell - and they are now just one win away from becoming Super League champions.

They will face Warrington Wolves in the title decider on Saturday, 3 October.

Wigan went into the play-off semi-final on a 16-game winning run and with two trophies - the Challenge Cup and the League Leaders' Shield - already secured.

However, their hopes of getting to a fourth consecutive Grand Final were crushed on home soil by an outstanding Wakefield display.

Only five clubs have won Grand Finals since the first was staged in 1998; Wigan, St Helens, Bradford Bulls, Leeds Rhinos and Hull KR.

Wakefield's win guarantees there will be a sixth name on the trophy and a new champion for the second successive year, following Rovers' victory in 2025.

Warrington have lost all four previous Grand Finals in which they have appeared, the most recent of them in 2018.

Powell, who was in charge of Castleford Tigers when they lost the Grand Final in 2017, is sure to be a central figure in the build-up, given his unspectacular season-and-a-half spell in charge of the Wolves which ended midway through the 2023 campaign.

Meanwhile, try-scoring half-back Sinfield is set to play in a Grand Final 11 years after his father, Sir Kevin Sinfield, made the last of his eight Grand Final appearances.

Sir Kevin won seven titles with Leeds Rhinos and he is scheduled to deliver the match ball before next Saturday's game to round off his latest fundraising effort for motor neurone disease (MND) charities.

"Hopefully he'll be there!" Jack Sinfield told BBC Two. "He's not here tonight because he's starting in the morning, but I'm sure he'll be watching and I can't wait to see him next week.

"I've been there [to Grand Finals] a fair few times watching so it will be nice to do it the other way round and he can hopefully watch me win one."

Wigan: Field; Daniel, Keighran, Eckersley, Marshall; French, Smith; Havard, O'Neill, Thompson, Nsemba, Partington, Ellis.

Interchanges: Farrell, Walters, Mago, Kerr.

Sin-bin: Keighran (46)

Wakefield: Jowitt; Johnstone, Hall, Scott, Walmsley; Trueman, Sinfield; McMeeken, Smoothy, Rodwell, Lipowicz, Vagana, Tevaga.

Interchanges: Lino, Pitts, Hamlin-Uele, Faatili.

Sin-bin: Tevaga (15)

Referee: Liam Moore. %!s()

Head coach Sean Lynn says he is still seeing the positives despite Wales' narrow WXV defeat to USA.

Wales had gone into the game full of confidence after their eight-try mauling of South Africa, but failed to produce a repeat performance in front of the Cardiff Arms Park faithful.

The first half was encouraging enough, with Wales clawing back a 14-point deficit, but hopes of a second-half resurgence were short-lived amid a string of individual errors that allowed The Eagles to emerge 26-24 winners.

But as Wales head into their week off ahead of next month's double-header against Japan, Lynn said he has seen enough progress.

"I saw some grit, I saw some effort there," he told BBC Sport.

"Before, when we were 21-7 down, I would have seen heads drop, but we're in a good place and came back. Now it's about us learning how to see games off and going back to the simple things we're doing well."

Lynn had hopes of making it three wins on the bounce after the summer's victory over the Barbarians, but saw Wales fall agonisingly short against a side ranked five places above them at sixth in the world.

"When we came into it [pre-season] at the start of July, we said we're going to be a competitive 80-minute team... we did that today," he said.

"Shame we just didn't come up with the penalty, maybe at the end, but we needed to be better elsewhere around the park.

"We need to look at ourselves and individual errors; we can't play Test match rugby if we make those individual errors, and we all know that.

"We just couldn't keep the ball; we had opportunities to get out of our 22, we had opportunities to go into their 22 and put pressure on."

Wales co-captain Kate Williams was in tears of joy last week, but said the team was "deflated" after their USA showing.

"As a team, we were there at the 60th minute; we just needed to execute and we didn't," she said.

"What happens then is you're just looking at each other, because it's a mistake here, a mistake there; we just needed to come together and do what we're good at, which is being physical and taking it to them.

"This might sound like a big statement, but it didn't feel like a game that they out and out won against us; it felt like a game that we lost, and that's just really frustrating."

Wales will have a week to reflect on such frustrations before returning to camp to prepare for next month's trip to Japan, where they face the Sakura Fifteen in two Tests on 24 and 31 October. %!s()

A smart home composed of devices from several different companies can make for a messy setup. Although standards like Matter and Thread are designed to smooth that out, fragmentation still hasn't been solved. So, some people prefer to build their own solution. The software that holds it together is Home Assistant, an open-source platform that acts as a local control center for different brands' smart home devices.

Home Assistant can run on a wide range of hardware, from premium gaming PCs to Raspberry Pis. But that dusty old laptop is another option. If you aren't ready to buy dedicated hardware just for Home Assistant, an otherwise retired laptop can at least give you a good trial run.

Why Home Assistant?

[deleted user] / Reddit

Home Assistant can serve as the brains of a scattered collection of smart devices. It supports integrations for many popular services, including Philips Hue, Google Nest, Ring, Sonos and Ecobee.

Fair warning: Home Assistant isn't always the most user-friendly platform. It has a bit of a learning curve, and its interface probably isn't as intuitive as you'd like. (Although you could say the same for many native smart home apps.) But if you're open to some tinkering, you might find a lot to like.

Home Assistant makes the most sense if you have a mix of smart home devices from different brands that won't otherwise work together. (If yours is already working smoothly, this probably isn't for you.) In exchange for some setup friction, the software can ease your reliance on your devices' companion apps. Some of the platform's integrations do still rely on manufacturer accounts or cloud services, but others can run locally, bypassing company servers. Part of the appeal is taking back control of at least one corner your digital life from big tech companies.

Home Assistant supports automations, scenes, scripts and other features that help those devices work together. You can set a rule that turns on your coffee maker on when you dismiss your morning alarm or one that dims the lights and locks the doors when you start a movie. (Provided you have all the requisite smart home gear.) You will need to run Home Assistant on hardware that stays on all the time, but hey, it's not like that old laptop was doing anything else, right?

Sizing up your laptop

Fortunately, Home Assistant doesn't need a powerful, or even remotely new, computer. A dated laptop that struggles with modern apps may still be perfectly capable of listening for sensor updates and toggling lights. The bigger question is whether it's something you'll be happy to leave in one place and powered on.

That rules out any laptop you take to work, travel with or shut down at night. A Home Assistant device should sit quietly in the background, keeping your smart home humming without interruption. Power it down or take it with you, and your automations lose their brains.

Storage requirements aren't particularly demanding. A solid-state drive (SSD) might make life easier than an old mechanical hard drive via faster boot times and responsiveness. But a spinning hard drive can still be fine. Home Assistant recommends an ethernet connection for stability, so setting up near your router is ideal. Wi-Fi can work, too, although it's more vulnerable to interference, dropouts and other connection hiccups.

Battery: Proceed with caution

Before you leave the laptop running around the clock, make sure its battery is in good condition — or remove it if the laptop can safely run without one. If the battery is in good shape, it can act as a built-in safeguard during brief power outages. (Although its usefulness will be limited unless your router or other networking equipment also has a backup power supply.) Either way, a swollen, leaking or otherwise damaged battery isn't something you want to roll the dice with.

A battery that doesn't hold the same charge as it used to isn't automatically a problem. But if it's swollen or damaged, stop using it and follow the laptop manufacturer's instructions for replacement or removal. And if your laptop has a removable battery and you decide to run Home Assistant without it, confirm that your model can operate normally from its power adapter alone.

Some laptops let you cap the maximum charge level, either through manufacturer software or a BIOS setting. That's probably worth using if it's available, since keeping a lithium-ion battery at 100 percent for long periods can make it degrade faster. Older laptops may not offer that option, so check which battery management features your model supports.

Using the laptop as a trial run

Although Home Assistant is Linux-based, you don't need to install the operating system or become a command-line enthusiast to get started. A relatively low-commitment way to try Home Assistant is to run it inside a virtual machine (VM). This lets you keep the laptop's existing operating system, whether it's Windows, macOS or Linux, as Home Assistant OS (HAOS) runs inside that virtual environment.

Running Home Assistant in a VM does add some overhead, so an extremely weak laptop might struggle with it. But at least the requirements are fairly modest: When run in a VM, Home Assistant currently calls for at least 2GB of RAM and two virtual CPUs.

Free options include VirtualBox (Windows, macOS, and Linux), VMware Workstation Pro (Windows and Linux) and VMware Fusion Pro (macOS). Home Assistant provides VM images and setup instructions for several popular platforms.

If you plan to dedicate the laptop to Home Assistant, installing HAOS directly is a cleaner and permanent option. It replaces the laptop's existing operating system and avoids the extra overhead of running a VM. That could be especially useful for an underpowered laptop with little horsepower to spare. (Before you do so, check that the laptop's specs meet Home Assistant's x86-64 requirements.)

Whichever option you choose, the idea is for the laptop to be essentially invisible after the initial setup. Once you do that, you can manage Home Assistant from another device (via web browser) or with the mobile app. Just change the power settings so that closing the lid doesn't put it to sleep and leave the laptop sitting near the router with its screen off. (And if you're running it through a VM, check the host operating system's sleep settings as well.)

Getting started with Home Assistant

Smart Home Solver / YouTube

Home Assistant isn't exactly plug-and-play. It may discover some of your devices automatically, but others will probably require manual setup. Fortunately, there's plenty of documentation to help when you get stuck.

You might find that the best approach is to start small. Get a few smart plugs, lights or one room's worth of devices up and running. Then, see if you're feeling it enough to keep going. Pick something you currently do manually (or rely on another smart home app to handle), and try automating it with Home Assistant. Or, try duplicating a scene or automation you currently use through a manufacturer app. Most of all, be prepared to exercise a little patience.

Check electricity use

Using an old laptop costs nothing upfront, but running it around the clock still uses electricity. (And older laptops may use more power than a modern Raspberry Pi or mini PC.) If you want hard data, a plug-in power meter can tell you exactly what yours is drawing.

That doesn't necessarily make the laptop a bad choice. But, again, it may make more sense as a way to test Home Assistant than as your long-term server. See how well your devices cooperate, if you can live with Home Assistant's UX "quirks" and whether the whole setup is useful enough to keep. If so, you can always move to smaller, more power-efficient hardware later.

Home Assistant's backup and restore tools make that transition easier. Backups carry over your settings and automations, so you can restore them to a new device without starting from scratch. %!s()