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sparklecarehospital · 7 months ago

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an overview of my progress on the new site over the past 5 months of building

i decided i would put together a big post compiling all of the things i have currently implemented to the new site since at the moment it's scattered amongst a million small update posts. i feel like this will be good reference for anyone who has ideas that aren't included yet

the comic reader

you can now change the placement of the comic pagination arrows to be above, below, or on both the top and bottom of the comic page.

you can search for individual page numbers via a search bar (and also search 'cover' 'back cover' etc)

you can bookmark pages and save your place at any time in any series, and the home landing page will give you a link to your saved page when you revisit the site so you dont have to go all the way to the read section just to access your place. saving your bookmark tells you what page you're saving (or clearing if you're removing it)

you can now select individual scenes in the volume that have non-spoiler names but proper associations to the content for returning readers to quickly find specific scenes

on desktop you can change the size of the page on your screen

on desktop you can hide the site header (this is not necessary on mobile)

there is a legend explaining what each button does

new comment service that does not have ads

transcripts now come from the sides of the screens and do not require scrolling down to read them, and they are correct and no longer inaccurate on certain pages

tooltips that explain what each navigation arrow button is for

content warnings

you can select individual categories of content you do or don't want to see via switches

you have the ability to disable warnings entirely if you wish, just turn all of them off

you can choose between verbal warnings (stuff in dialogue) or visual warnings (things seen on-screen)

you can suggest adding content warnings to specific pages if there are errors OR if there is something major i overlooked

there is a page that lists every content warning in a volume with contexts for each individual warning, whether it's verbal or visual, and links to the pages

there is a pre-moderated comment section that allows anyone to ask questions about content warnings (for example, asking if something will ever be in the comic or asking what category something specific would be listed under).

there is a list of things that do not get warnings and a list of things that will never be depicted in the comic

scenes that did not have content warnings before now have them to match the proper category system

archives

volume archives are now images instead of links, and they are displayed in a grid format which is mobile-responsive so it doesn't take absolutely forever to scroll through an entire volumes archive

volume summaries are more easily accessible

the new transcript archive which is a text-only version of the entire comic, including a clean version in case you need things in dialogue filtered out

mobile devices/tablets

the website is now properly mobile responsive and designed to function like a regular mobile website and is not unbearable to use anymore. it just feels and looks like any other mobile site!

comic pages now touch the edge of the screen and do not always require zooming in to read dialogue

transcripts are now more device-friendly and do not appear broken on small screen devices anymore

all comic reader features work on mobile (except the 2 desktop-only features)

content warnings do not take up too much space or overflow the comic page box

margins are improved to make basically everything more mobile friendly

you can still see page backgrounds faintly on mobile, but they have an overlay to make reading the comic page contents easier. this was not originally planned but i made it happen! yippie!

display

the site now has a built-in dark mode that works for every site theme, however, keep in mind that due to the nature of dark themes they are obviously not as colorful as the main site themes

there is now a saturation slider which changes the saturation of the site to whatever percentage you wish

saturation affects the background and does not ignore it

the screen does not flash as new elements load in, however, images specifically may take a moment to load depending on your internet speed. this is something i'm trying to fix but i can't guarantee it because it's not entirely in my control how websites load images depending on your internet speed

secrets!

cast page

cast page for each series is divided by individual character type (main patients, side patients, main staff, side staff, family, outsiders etc)

cast profiles are mobile responsive in an easy-to-use way and do not take forever to scroll through on mobile devices, instead they are collapsible and you only have one open at a time.

desktop has anchor links to specific profiles using my cute emoji edits :]

search bar on the main cast directory page that takes you to specific characters by entering their name (or variations of it)

profiles include allotpuns, genders, pronouns, nouns, sexuality, species, age, hatchday, height, and a list of all of their afflictions

there are popups that explain the meanings of certain phrases or words (like specific sexualities) and neopronoun usage explanations and examples

cast page profiles for all of the currently public cast members

biographies that contain character history (or at least the currently public history) and a detailed explanation of their personality that replaces the trait system for simplicity's sake

secrets!

comic itself

pages with errors have been corrected

pages with improper characterization/retconned information have been updated and replaced with new dialogue

character card intros now contain pronouns and retconned pronouns have been corrected

uni is no longer referred to with exclusively he/him anywhere except in the comic itself to avoid confusing new readers/people who do not look at other areas of the site

scenes that did not previously have site themes now have them, for fun!

secrets!

FAQ

the FAQ is no longer a million miles long despite containing all of the questions it originally had. it is now collapsible sections that make accessing certain question types easier

pre-moderated comment section that allows anyone to ask questions about the comic, even if they do not have a tumblr account. these questions are directly on the FAQ itself. it is pre-moderated to keep things on-topic.

bug report page where you can describe problems you're having if the site isn't working right for you. this is also pre-moderated. common/important issues will be pinned

navigation bar

there will be links to all of the ask blogs on the navigation bar, including the AUs

there is a link to the spinch lore page directly at the top. no more digging through the FAQ!

navigation bar has dropdowns to specific types of pages to increase the link count without cluttering/taking up too much space

the links are no longer poorly sized images, instead they are actually made with html

landing page

when you first open the site, you will be linked to a settings page that allows you to set your display settings and content warnings in advance

you can set saturation and select dark mode if you want

this landing page is not bright and has an overlay to prevent it from immediately forcing you to see bright colors

this is everything that is currently implemented. there may be things added in the future, this is just all of my current progress.

what do i have to finish?

uploading the comic. i currently have volumes 1-2 fully uploaded and transcribed, v3 is fully uploaded, and v4 is undergoing the upload process.

finish the archive pages to include all of the volumes

finish the cast profiles

work on the spinch lore page

do proper beta testing with the crew to make sure everything works on as many devices as i can possibly test it on

thank you to everyone for being patient with me over the past few months as i work hard on this. i feel really good actually writing out everything i've done overall because i have more progress than i actually realized!!! i hope everyone is excited to see all of this in action because i can't wait for you to see it either!

#text #site revamp devlog

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feral-ferrule · 2 months ago

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Saturday’s Child, Chapter 1

A Modern AU Bad Batch Echo/OC fic

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Word count: ≈4800

This piggybacks onto @clonethirstingisreal’s Hunter/OC fic Hunter and the Librarian but might end up diverging a bit (like a multiverse! lol)

Background: Modern AU; the Batch lives together in a vaguely modern, North American location. They are all actual siblings and veterans. (Well, Omega isn’t a veteran) My OC, Althea, is an artsy-crafty university student who has a part time job as a medical courier. Echo is a permanently disabled combat veteran and volunteers at the VA hospital where he starts noticing a new girl and becomes smitten. Althea is pretty much based on me but this story is not really autobiographical, although there are elements that are/were real. It is my escapism fantasy of how things could have been if I had had half a brain

Let’s see, warnings? Yes, warnings: so far I’ve got a very vague reference of abuse, but nothing specific and you’ll only notice if you don’t blink. There’s self image issues, characters going through medical procedures, some suggestive comments, and there will be discussion and situations surrounding mental health issues like depression and ptsd. It’s SFW (so far, at least this chapter, maybe not forever -I’ll warn ya)

Althea drove slowly around the service side of the hospital. She was still learning the ropes of her medical courier job and had started deliveries at the VA about two weeks ago. She was now comfortable navigating its large complex of buildings after getting lost the first time. She parked by the service entrance nearest to the lab and got out of the vehicle, zipping up her jacket against the winter chill. It was a sunny day but the crisp wind blew cold and dry. She pulled her lip balm out of her pocket and swiped a layer of shimmery pink on her lips.

Her wavy dark auburn hair was pulled into a ponytail under her fluffiest crocheted hat. Some strands framed her face and their red highlights caught the sunlight. Her skin was paler in the winter having lost its tan from the summer and her nose flushed pink with cold. She pulled out a small bin of vials and other packaged supplies from the trunk, closed and locked it and pocketed her keys in her hip pocket, the big plush school mascot on the keychain dangling. She walked up to the service door and balanced the bin on her hip. She tapped in the code to the door. It didn’t open so she knocked. The wind whipped around the building and through the too-thin material of her pants. She felt grateful for the warm, fluffy socks and boots the pants were tucked into.

A large pickup truck pulled up to the curb and a man in an orange vest got out with a tool box and approached her at the door. He glanced at her badge she wore on a lanyard around her neck.

“Delivery? Hold on, I'll get it open for ya,” he said, setting his tool box down and rummaging for something in it, “but we’ll be tearing this whole wall apart and taping it off so you’ll have to leave through another way.” Althea stepped out of the way for him to get at the door. Some more men arrived in another truck. Althea automatically widened her stance and held her head higher as they approached with a ladder and various construction tools. She leveled each in turn with steely eye contact then turned to wait as the first man removed the door’s keypad and got it open.

“Ok thanks for the help getting in, have a nice day,” Althea cheered and hurried inside wondering why they were getting started so late in the day.

The men went about their job while sneaking glances of her before she disappeared through the door. She was used to the male gaze. Althea didn’t consider herself pretty, but she was and had features that people always called “exotic” (she’d grown to really dislike that word) when she was younger and there were fewer people around who looked like her. Men, particularly, would stare- especially after she matured. Sometimes things got uncomfortable or downright ugly. So she was glad to get inside.

Inside she walked down a long hall, through a storage room and into the back of the laboratory where technicians were running tests on various samples of blood, taking things in and out of a refrigerator and checking logs on countertops. A timer for something beeped urgently. A shorter woman in a white coat and goggles came over and peered up at her. It was Phyllis. She was tiny, helpful, chipper and down to business. A real buzz bomb.

“Oh good, you’re here! I hope you have the reagent we ordered last week.”

She took the bin and unpacked it checking a printout of a manifest she pulled out of her pocket and unfolded. Althea looked around as Phyllis finished checking everything off. A door was propped open to what looked like the blood draw area across the room. She could see a tech wrapping an elastic band around the arm of a man who was sitting at her station. Althea thought to look away to not be nosey but she caught the eye of a man standing behind him. He looked familiar, maybe he worked here she thought. He seemed to startle but also seemed to recognize her then he looked away and down just as another tech paused at the door and blocked her view.

“Alright everything accounted for, thank you so much, how are you adjusting to the new job? Are you finding everything easier now?”

Althea handed the mobile device she carried for work over for her to sign for the delivery, “Yes, I think I know where everything is now and have made better time this week. Oh hey- they are fixing the door back there and said to go out another way, where should I go?”

“Oh there’s another way back there over past MRI.” She waved her hand vaguely towards the lobby, and tipped her chin up in that direction with her lips pursed out. “Just follow the signs but keep going.” Another alarm beeped, “gotta go -have a good afternoon.” She patted Althea’s arm and turned to another tech and started firing off instructions on what to do with the supplies.

“Bye, Phyllis,” Althea took her empty bin and opened the lab’s door to the hallway. Her device buzzed and she pulled it out. She tapped on the message and walked down the hall and through a door to the laboratory waiting room. There was a notification from dispatch, a stat pickup across town. Oh boy- just as rush hour was about to start.

As she approached the waiting room’s door to the main part of the hospital she noticed a person in a wheel chair in her line of sight as she was looking down at the map on her device. She reached out and pressed the door’s large silver accessibility button on the wall and stepped aside.

She looked over at the person and smiled. It was the guy getting his blood drawn. He’s just a kid, really, she thought. He had an arm in a sling and blanket over his legs -and the foot rests were folded up. Oh, Althea thought, and made her eyes move up again. That’s when she noticed two hands on the wheelchair’s handles- one was prosthetic. She looked up further and saw the man from the blood draw room, staring like a deer in headlights.

Up close she could see he had sharp features. A strong nose, almost hooded eyes. His cheekbones were prominent on his angular face. He was on the pale side of swarthy, like he should be darker skinned but lost his pigmentation- but didn’t seem unhealthy. He had warm, light hazel eyes and well defined lips and a hint of a five o’clock shadow along a square jaw. Oh he’s so interesting, handsome, Althea thought. She looked down at his volunteer badge. Echo, that’s an interesting name. And he was in shorts? In this weather? Oh- those are both prosthetic legs. Her eyes snapped back up to his face, self-conscious of staring.

The lower man looked up at him, smirked, and gave him big eyes and tipped his head toward her. Althea looked at the doorway and the spell broke. The volunteer, Echo, cleared his throat and stammered, “Thank you, ma’am, af- after you.”

Wow, nice deep voice, Althea thought to herself. “Thank you, gentlemen,” she said and walked out, pressing the button again to keep the door open for them. She strode into the lobby realizing she wasn’t sure which way to go. She turned around to see the two men just outside the lab. It looked like they were stopping a disagreement short as she approached them and asked Echo where MRI is.

He opened his mouth to talk but only said, “Um..”

The younger one in the chair pointed and said, “Just down there to the left.”

“Thank you again and nice day to both of you.”

“Wait- what’s your name?” asked the younger man.

“Althea,” she said, turning back to face them.

“Oh that’s a beautiful name, don’t you think so, Echo?” He paused looking at Echo who just nodded slightly and swallowed. “I’m Trace and this is Echo. We were just going to get a coffee if you’d like to join us.” He said hopefully. Echo looked like he wanted to hide and Althea noticed his cheeks flush.

“Well, thank you, but I have to run a stat pickup right now.”

“Oh you’re a courier,” he said looking up at Echo, "Will you be here later?”

“Stop bugging her, she’s working.” Echo finally broke his silence- in his nice deep voice.

“Not today.” Althea said with a tiny smile at the two of them.

Trace made a show of disappointment.

“But I might be later in the week -just not sure exactly when with my schedule.”

“Ok well maybe we’ll see you around then, huh, Echo?”

“Oh yeah maybe yeah,” Echo blubbered.

Althea smirked at Trace and slid her eyes up to Echo who was standing rather stiffly at this point. Her work device buzzed “Alright gotta go guys, see you around, maybe.”

“Bye,” Trace cheered.

Echo mumbled a “ma’am” with a nod.

She smiled at him and he brightened up, the flush on his cheeks reaching his neck.

“Bye, Echo.” Althea said, holding his almost golden eyes in her gaze before turning away.

His body tension slackened and his mouth hung open a bit as she walked away briskly looking at her device. Turning the corner she glanced back and Trace was facing Echo gesturing and shaking his head. Echo was pacing around a bit, running his hand down his face and tugging at his collar. His legs looked really high tech and he wore actual shoes. He moved around so naturally, if he had long pants on she’d never have guessed he was an amputee.

That was interesting, she mused, Trace sure was outgoing and friendly. Does Echo not like me or was he embarrassed, he sure was acting funny? Maybe he was nervous around me. Guys can be like that. Oh maybe he does fancy me. The thought gave her a little thrill that she tried pushing down to focus on work.

She found the hall for the MRI, passed its door and pushed through the heavy exit door to the back parking area. The door she came through was covered in plastic and a scaffold was in front of it. The guys working on it milled around. She hopped in the car setting the bin on the passenger seat and started last week's recorded class lectures on the car’s audio system. Just this last job and then she could run to the store before doing some real cramming for tomorrow’s exam.

*******

“What in the hell was that?” Trace jibed, “ ‘Ma’am’,” he added in a mock lowered voice mimicking Echo’s deeper timber.

“What are you doing, Trace?”

“I’m doing what you should be doing, talking to that girl you’ve been mooning over the past two weeks.” Althea was out of earshot so he had raised his voice some. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you’ve been here a lot more lately, always with your head on a swivel. Lookin’ for her the whole time. Shoot, you almost pushed me into a wall last time she was here. Then, when you have a chance to talk to her, you blow it!” He threw his arms out to convey his point and winced, having forgotten his injury.

Echo sighs, “What’s the point? I’m not in her league.” He said as he went around to the back of Trace’s chair, gripped the handles and steered Trace into the coffee shop across the lobby.

“Stow the self deprecation, man. I saw how she looked at you,” Trace said and Echo’s eyebrows raised up a bit. But then he lowered them into a frown.

“She could have anyone, she could be with an athlete or some rich guy’s trophy girlfriend. Why would she waste her time with me?”

“Imma tell you right now if she wanted that she’d be doing that and wouldn’t be a courier going to university.”

Echo side-eyed Trace at the counter. “We’ll take two regular coffees please,” he said to the barista.

The barista pushed two piping hot, lidded paper cups over to him and took the cash he handed her. “Need a receipt?”

“No thank you, keep the change.” He said sliding the cups down the counter a bit.

He steered Trace over to a table and returned for the coffees. He sat down across from Trace, handing him one and asked, “How do you know she’s going to university?”

“Her keychain, it was hanging out of her pants pocket, eye level for me.” He waggled his eyebrows and Echo rolled his eyes. “It has the university mascot on it and she’s wearing one of those rubber bracelets with university logos. I'm telling ya- she’s going to school, not looking for a sugar daddy.”

“She probably has a boyfriend.”

“You can’t know if you don’t ask, Echo.”

They sipped their coffees. Echo stared across the cafe with a scowl. Trace had let up on him, letting him work it out in his head.

Echo drained his cup, “You’re right, I shouldn’t assume anything about her. Come on, let’s get you to your PT session, you’re making good progress.”

Trace shakes his head, “Yeah let’s go.”

********

“Bye Echo.” “See you later, maybe.”

Althea’s voice replayed in his mind along with the image of her deep brown eyes studying his face, her lips barely parted. He ran through all the glimpses he’d had of her over the past couple weeks. He was sitting in the living room at home. The tv was on but he was staring out the window watching his memories of her lips curving in an easy smile for everyone, her politeness to the veterans, and her sweetness to him and Trace, glimpses of her curves under her jacket, that perfect a-

“Is everything alright, Echo?” Tech had just come downstairs and noticed Echo sighing and staring out the window.

“What, oh, yeah, fine.” Echo said, grateful he had a throw pillow in his lap. His train of thought had started having an effect on him. He had it bad he suddenly realized.

There were voices at the front door and it swung open. Wrecker and Hunter clomped inside in their work boots and started peeling off their jackets. Crosshair came down the stairs freshly showered, in his work uniform.

“Ah hey Echo is here,” Wrecker boomed, “Where ya been?”

“Volunteering at the VA, like usual.” Echo said a little defensively, taking in the abrupt change in the room with everyone suddenly in it.

“This is the first afternoon you’ve been home in over a week,” Tech pointed out, picking up the tv remote and turning down a loud commercial.

“Yeah Crosshair was just asking yesterday if you still lived here” Hunter laughed.

“So, what’s her name?” Crosshair sneered with a knowing smirk.

Echo looked at him quick, scowling.

“Aha, it is a girl!” Wrecker pointed his finger at Echo.

“Hey I never said that.” Echo grumbled.

Hunter raised his eyebrows, he and Tech side-eyed each other. Cross smirked and went to the kitchen to make coffee.

“So, when do we get to meet her?” Hunter teased as he sat down on the couch near the chair Echo was in.

Echo sighed, “Never. She’s way out of my league, probably forgot I exist already.”

“Have you tried speaking to her?” Tech asked.

“Well, Trace was playing wingman for me today but I blew it big time,” Echo said despondently looking back out the window and rubbing his arm at the prosthetic absentmindedly. He huffed a louder sigh.

“So who is she? Does she work at the hospital?” Hunter asked.

“Not really she’s a courier, drives between the hospitals and labs and places. Her name’s Althea. Trace said she’s a student at the university.”

“I see why you’ve been there so much, you don’t know when to expect her, do you?” Tech said.

“Yeah,” Echo huffed through his nose, “I guess I’ve been kind of a creep.”

“Does she like you back?” Asked Wrecker.

“I don’t- I don’t know, she’s friendly enough but she seems to be that way with everybody,” Echo said a little bitterly.

Suddenly, Omega burst in the front door yelling, “Bye, thank you!” over her shoulder. She sees them all facing a pensive Echo. “Hi guys, what's going on?” she asked, picking up on the energy in the room.

“Hey Omega, how was your study session at the library? You got homework?” Hunter tried distracting her.

“Yeah my table group did a bunch of research today, Kate’s mom drove us all home, and we have a big history project due next week. I need to go to the store for supplies.” She was talking a mile a minute as usual.

“I can take you,” said Tech. “I was just going to go buy a few things myself. What exactly do you need to get?”

“Craft things. Like for a building model.”

“Perfect, the craft store is right next door to the electronic parts store.”

“Alright I’ll be right back.”Omega dashed for the stairs with her backpack, almost crashing into Wrecker who’d come out of the kitchen with a handful of something he was snacking on.

“Slow down on the steps!” Hunter calls up to her.

“So what are you gonna do, Echo?” Wrecker said.

“I don’t know. If I see her again and she can spare a moment I’ll try to talk to her. I just don’t know when that will be. And it’s making me so distracted while volunteering. Trace really gave me a ration about it today.” He shook his head rubbing at his temple.

“Well you better do something, I don’t think I can put up with you like this,” Crosshair snarked, sipping on his coffee. Echo glared at him.

“I know, you can write her a note and put your phone number on it and give it to her when you see her.” Wrecker said, “you got this! Just don’t over-think it, brother.”

“Hey, you’ve faced so much fearlessly, are you really afraid of a no from this girl?” Hunter asked.

“It’s just been so long I didn’t know what to say. And besides, what do I have to offer her?”

Tech cleared his throat, “You are capable, strong, confident-“

“Uuuusuallly-“ Hunter interrupted. Echo side eyed him.

“Outgoing, resilient, intelligent and very creative in the kitchen.” Tech continued. “You are caring and dedicated and I’ve seen how women look at you- they find you alluring.”

“Are you trying to encourage him or stroke his ego?” Crosshair sniped.

“We’re trying to get him to get this girl to stroke his ego,” Wrecker laughed at his own awful joke. There was a round of groans, head shaking and snickering.

“That’s another thing- would she want to be with me?” He gestured toward his arm and leg prosthetics.

“Who knows? She could be a real freak,” Crosshair said into his coffee. Tech shot him a glare and Wrecker smacked him upside the head as he walked by heading back to the kitchen. Echo didn’t seem to hear that.

“Give her the benefit of the doubt,” Tech said, “You’ve got all the necessary equipment,” he added matter of factly.

“I’m leaving,” Crosshair sneered, acting disgusted. He took the mug back to the kitchen.

“I get you have concerns,” Hunter leveled Echo with a steady gaze, “but you have to figure this kind of thing out with the other person. You deserve love and happiness and you absolutely can give that to her.” He stood, patted Echo’s shoulder and followed Wrecker into the kitchen. Crosshair left for work and Omega bounced down the stairs babbling at Tech as they left for their shopping trip. Echo turned back to the window, considering his brothers’ advice and decided it was a good idea to have a note like Wrecker suggested on hand in case he saw her and she was in a rush again.

******

“I’ll be in here, if Hunter didn’t give you enough cash for your supplies come get me.” Tech and Omega were on the sidewalk in front of a row of shops.

“Ok, see you in a little bit, Tech,” Omega said as she bounced into the craft store. She wandered around until she found the aisle full of diorama supplies. She pulled the project outline and list of things she needed to build out of her pocket and started counting up the dollar amounts she needed for everything. It was adding up fast and she realized she didn’t have nearly enough money for everything. She put the few things she’d picked up back on their shelves and, looking at her project outline from her teacher, left the aisle and turned the corner to leave the store.

-And bumped into a woman carrying entirely too many skeins of yarn. All the yarn went down around them bouncing and rolling every which way in the aisle.

Omega looked around at it all and then up at the woman. “Oh I’m so sorry! Let me help you.” Omega said in earnest.

Althea laughed, “No worries kid, I wasn’t paying attention and really should have a cart for all this. I didn’t know it would all be on clearance. I couldn’t pass up all these great colors.”

“Do you knit?” Asked Omega as she reached for some pink yarn.

I only know crochet. But maybe I’ll try learning knitting.” She gathered up several skeins and picked up Omega’s project outline. “I remember making one of these in school. Are you here to get supplies for it?”

“Yeah but it’s all so expensive, I didn’t bring enough money.”

“Well the diorama stuff really is spendy, but you can DIY a lot of it for practically nothing. Do you have paints and glue?”

“Yes, I got a paint set for Christmas. And I have school glue”

“Well you just need some cardboard, newspaper and maybe some little sticks from outside to make trees.”

They walked up to the registers and plopped all the yarn down on the counter. Omega looked at the clearance stickers, “Wow you are saving a lot of money on these!”

“Oh yeah, they’re so expensive when full priced. It usually costs more to make a sweater than to buy one.”

The cashier rang her up and stuffed all the yarn into some bags. Althea made her way outside with Omega holding the door for her. “Thank you, you are so helpful!” Althea said as they walked towards her car parked backwards in a spot out in front of the store.

“You're welcome and my name’s Omega.”

“I love your name. I’m Althea, it’s really nice to meet you.”

Omega beamed. “I don't think I’ve met anyone named Aleetha before.”

Althea smiled, “Al-thea, but you can call me Allie if that’s easier. “It’s pretty old fashioned. I’m named after my mother’s grandmothers, Althea and Rose.” She opened up the back of her car and set all the bags of yarn inside then shut it. And turned back to Omega who looked a little sad for the first time since she’d met her.

“So you can get packaging materials in there that they just throw away,” Althea pointed at the electronics store. “They should have pieces of foam, too. Just go online and watch videos of diy diorama buildings and you’ll see so many demonstrations. Here, let me just show you where they keep it all.”

“Oh good, you’ll get to meet my brother, he’s a computer guy and is in there right now looking for parts.” Omega had cheered right back up. Althea opened the shop’s door and let Omega inside.

“Back for more trash or are you going to actually buy something today, Allie?” said a pimply, skinny guy older than Omega but younger than Althea. He was sitting on a stool behind the counter in front, slouched over a catalog.

“This is my charming cousin, Brad. Brad I have a crafting protégé here who needs supplies for a history project. You got boxes and foam in the back?”

“Yeah you know where to look.” He leaned back, flipping through the catalog which they could now see was for car parts.

They went to the back and found some boxes, foam panels, and scraps of clear plastic. “These are good for windows, you can color them with sharpies to make stained glass.”

“Oh that’s a great idea!” Omega’s eyes lit up every time Althea told her another technique or hack with different materials.

They heard a throat being cleared behind them and turned in unison. Tech was standing a few steps away with handfuls of cables and components, looking between the two girls with a curious expression.

“Hi Tech!” Omega turned to Althea, “This is my brother Tech. This is Althea,” she said carefully, “but you can call her Allie. She’s helping me with my project. She is showing me how to do it for free!”

Big age difference Althea noted, he’s probably close to her age. Maybe Omega’s the baby of the family. Ohhhh that makes her name make sense, hmmm. And why did he look familiar? He was good looking in a way she couldn’t put a finger on.

“Nice to meet you, your sister is so sweet, very bright.”

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you too.” Tech replied in his clipped manner. There was an awkward pause as Tech wondered if she is the same Althea as at Echo’s work; it's not a common name. He made a mental note to look up the company name on the jacket she was wearing.

“Well I better be going. I need to get back to studying.”

“What are you studying?” Omega asked.

“Getting my BS in biology- I want to go into medicine.

Remember what I said about scrounging and don’t forget the corrugated cardboard for the roof.”

“Can we meet again? I want to show you when I finish,” Omega pleaded.

“Well I don’t know….” She said giving Tech an apologetic look to convey that she’d understand if he wouldn’t be keen on a strange adult befriending his kid sister.

Without batting an eye he asked, “What are you doing for Super Bowl?”

“Oh I'm not the biggest football fan, didn’t have anything planned-“

Omega gasped, “You can come over for our Super Bowl party! We’re going to have lots of food! And all my brothers will be there and some friends and we can play games- pleeeeese can you come?”

“Oh ok that’s this Sunday right?” Althea chuckled.

Omega was carefully writing on a scrap of cardboard and handed it to Althea. “Here’s our address. It’s not too far from here, a little past the library.”

“Well alright I guess I could swing by for a little bit and see your project.”

“Ok great!”

“What can I bring?” Althea looked at Tech.

“Well we are not big alcohol drinkers so if you want anything like that- but really you don’t need to bring anything,” Tech said.

“Ok, I’ll come up with something.” Althea said playfully, “see you both Sunday. Good luck with the project, Omega.”

“Bye, Allie! Thank you for all your help, I can’t wait to show you Sunday,” Omega said.

“Good evening, Allie,”said Tech.

She waved as she left, shooting a “see ya around, Brad” at her cousin. She hurried to her car and turned on the heater as she drove out of the parking lot, it was getting really chilly. She went over the encounter in her mind. Well, this evening went differently than I thought it would. And now I’ve got some serious peopling to do on Sunday. I suppose that’s going to be safe, after all Omega will be there and they seem like a nice family. And it will be nice to do something besides school and work and rotting on the couch with yarn.

*****

Tech clicked the search button on the screen. The first result was a sponsored ad for medical courier drivers.

“…first in medical delivery services and logistics…”

Bingo. His hunch was right. He felt very pleased with himself and his observations and sleuthing. But then started thinking better of it- is this too manipulative? Is Echo going to be upset with him? Will this be too much? He sat there with his doubts.

No. No, she is genuinely nice and a new friend of Omega’s regardless of the Echo connection. No, this will work out nicely. Should he tell Echo now? But what if she doesn’t show up? He got up and headed down stairs. Hunter would know what to do.

#the bad batch #the bad batch au #modern au #the bad batch echo #ferrule writes #echo x oc #tbb echo #echo my beloved

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redactedasmr-not-the-project · 2 months ago

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This one is dedicated to my dear (initially instagram) mutual @99sin who initially said that Guy should've been assigned a delibird bc you are still completely correct for it.

ID: three images of pokemon pngs edited onto an orange background. The first picture shows the logo of Guy -a heart shaped pizza- with a delibird, a whimsicott, a tranquill, a corviknight, a pidgey, and an emolga. The second picture shows the delibird, whimsicott, and tranquill with the respective pokedex entries: "It carries food all day long. There are tales about lost people who were saved by the food it had.", "They appear along with whirlwinds. They pull pranks, such as moving furniture and leaving balls of cotton in homes.", and "No matter where in the world it goes, it knows where its nest is, so it never gets separated from its Trainer.; These bright Pokémon have acute memories. Apparently delivery workers often choose them as their partners." The third picture shows corviknight, pidgey, and emolga with the respective pokedex entries: "With their great intellect and flying skills, these Pokémon very successfully act as the Galar region's airborne taxi service.", "Pidgey has an extremely sharp sense of direction. It is capable of unerringly returning home to its nest, however far it may be removed from its familiar surroundings.", and "As Emolga flutters through the air, it crackles with electricity. This Pokémon is cute, but it can cause a lot of trouble". End ID.

#redactedverse #redacted audio #redacted asmr #redacted audio pokemon teams #redacted asmr guy #redacted audio guy #redacted guy

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mistressdragonflame · 3 months ago

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HOURS of my life...

The whole margin issue I was having was driving me a bit batty, so I resolved to try and figure it out. After all, it's a full inch difference out of a mere 8.5inch space to get the margin to .5inch from standard.

Guys

HOURS

Of my LIFE

Spent adjusting, printing, adjusting again, and printing some more. I went through dozens of booklet samples, and cross referencing different print methods, size of PDFs, reformatting the export doc, marking down size and differences between each version--

SO MUCH

And finally, finally... I didn't figure it out, but got a work around.

I (apparently wastefully) bought BookletCreator, and thus had been using that product. For some reason, they will not export to 8.5x11 without adding to the top/bottom border. If they produce to (their default) 11x17, when you print, it'll add top/bottom margin. Fuck if I can figure out why.

So I used the old version of bookbinder.js, as the new version prints out of order for me for some reason. I uploaded my tester file, and voila! Margins that match what you have in the original PDF. Bookbinder.js is a free service, so fuck me for buying the other one, I guess.

Now I just have one final boss to fight for the typeset. Printing via Adobe, or via Brother's iPrint&Scan App.

With Adobe, it's clear, crisp lines. However, it's fainer than I'd like, and makes reading a bit of a pain.

With Brother's, it's more bold so easier to read, buuuut the font is visibly grainy.

Ugh, why.

Anyway, I made a image for my draft book, The Perfect Match. I sent it to the company I plan to use for the other HTV print, to see if the image came out as I intended. If not, well, I have a friend who has a HTV machine thing, but has never used it and said she'd lend it to me. Sweet, in case the order drops off.

The book is a gold/green, so the black should look nice on it.

I also went back and updated the Lionheart drafts, both for the clarified Vol. II and Vol. III thing with the yellow/blue cover, and for the images. If I had the images without a background, than I'd both save money for printing and ensure the company doesn't do anything weird as I'm certain its some sketchy company pretending to be a US based one.

I changed out the cup from what @greenerteacups had on her original, as it was a grey colored item and not a sketch that could have its "background" removed. As I might HTV these myself, I may change the color additions on the Yellow volume back to black. Depends on the tester.

Next on the chopping block is getting the balls to actually hit print. I'm still waiting on the leather to arrive to wrap the books, but that delay doesn't prevent me from starting on the booklet. I also want to figure out any spacing I want with blank pages using some free online program, as I don't have a PDF editor so can just add pages before making the booklets. But that's a weak excuse, really; I just am concerned I'll miss something during printing and I'll notice it when its too late.

Welp, oneward.

#bookbinding #ugh why #dramione #harry potter #lionheart #The Perfect Match #Technology is a bitch sometimes

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clippingnext-blog · 10 months ago

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Why You Need a Photo Cropping and Resizing Service

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Why You Need a Photo Cropping and Resizing Service

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#clipping path service #professional photoshop services #best clipping path service #clipping path service usa #remove background from image photoshop #photo editing services #image editing service #clipping path service company #color correction service #clipping usa

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pixelsgarage · 1 day ago

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What is your creation process? :3c

hey, thanks for the inquiry! i've been meaning to make a post like this for some time now. NOTE: this will only cover how i make my blinkies. if you want me to go in depth about how i make stamps, please send another ask! i just think they're kind of self explanatory in comparison >_>

MY BLINKIE MAKING PROCESS

for this demonstration, i will make this graphic of Acht Mizuta from Splatoon 3. it's free to use btw:

i make my graphics in Krita, which is great for editing pixel art, but does not have an option to disable font antialiasing. this leads me to generate my pixel text through external online services, but i usually generate it on blinkies.cafe and get an editable template to go along with it. my go-to is the simple purple template, since it has a simple palette and the text has its own color so i can put it in a separate layer easier.

i import it as a single frame that i will animate later. usually what i do first is cut+paste the inner content of the blinkie into a separate layer:

then i remove the background with a fill erase on the third mode, and move it around as i see fit. i put it in a separate layer before this so it's easier to color and add things like outlines.

let's import graphics! usually i find a transparent png and overlay it onto the background, but in this case i'm using a full background, so it needs to be prepared:

(source: splatoon 3 side order locker reward banner)

i import the image into a new file with the same resolution as the blinkie. i edit it to have a wider resolution so it fits better:

i use a lasso tool to put acht in a separate layer (so they stick out of the frame)

i import the two layers into the original file with the text. though i feel the images could use a little color grading...

at this point i begin to mess around with the layout a little, trying to match the original "sanitized" theme i had in mind. i also do color grading on the render of acht and change out the background. now we're getting somewhere! i also color the text at this point to be a nice gradient green.

let's color the outer part of the blinkie! i thought i would make the border a transparent black, with the lights being neon green and a dark magenta respectively.

i also want to make the text have a nice little border around it, so i put a stroke filter on the text layer with the following settings. these usually change depending on graphic but the thickness is always 1px (any more and it gets antialiasing)

that's it for designing the blinkie, now it's time to animate it! i do this internally in krita, since it has an animation feature:

i make a new frame for the animation and change the colors and positions around. i also set up my clip settings - ending at frame 1 (2 frames - frame 0 and frame 1) at 6fps.

that's pretty much it! the gif is ready to export, just make sure you export it in the right format and don't accidentally compress it or make it too big.

the gif is ready!! wahoo!! i hope this was somewhat enlightening, i'm not the best at explaining stuff but i tried to go in depth as much as i could

#dj's commentary #pixels garage #web graphics #blinkies #dedf1sh #acht mizuta #acht splatoon #blinkies.cafe

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farzananazia · 3 months ago

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Farzana Nazia

A background removal service is a digital photo processing service that removes the background from photos, leaving the main subject of the photo with a clear appearance. Our graphic design team of expert editors uses advanced technology and techniques to remove distracting or unwanted backgrounds from your photos, leaving you with clean and professional-looking images that are ready to use for any purpose. Let's get started with us now.

#Farzana Nazia #Backgroundchange #Freebackgroundremover #Photobackgroundremove #Backgroundremovalservicefree #RemoveBGfromImageforFree #ImageBackgroundRemover #OnlineImageBackgroundRemover #ProfessionalImageBackgroundRemoval #Removebackgroundservices #Backgroundremoval #RemoveBackgroundfromImage #BackgroundRemovalService

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gacha-incels · 8 months ago

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below is a machine translation of the article into english. If you see any discrepancies lmk and I’ll fix it asap. Thanks everyone for your help and continued patience

Ten Million Downloads for the Photo App 'SODA'… Criticism Over AI Being Out of Control Subsidiary of Naver, Snow, Responds Mechanically to AI-Generated Inappropriate Content

Snow, a subsidiary of Naver and the creator of the camera application 'SODA', has come under fire for generating sexually inappropriate images using its AI editing function. The company has stated that it "cannot 100% control AI-generated content," sparking criticism from experts who argue that commercializing an uncontrollable AI service is irresponsible. SODA is a popular camera app with over 10 million downloads on the Google Play Store.

Ms. G, an office worker, complained in an online messenger conversation with Hankyoreh on the 9th, “I didn't expect to feel shame while using the app. It's so unpleasant and traumatizing.” On the 4th, she applied the 'AI background expansion' feature, a paid service of the Soda app, to her photo. The intention was to correct the photo, which was cropped in the middle of her shoulders, to show her entire upper body, but the AI generated a result that made her appear to be clutching her chest with both hands. The rest of the results were normal, but Ms. G said it was hard to get over the shock of the image she suddenly received while using the app.

In response, Snow explained, “Due to the nature of the service that applied A.I. technology, the result was unexpected.” Snow explained that the AI-generated images are filtered to remove offensive or sexualized images as much as possible before they are finally displayed to the user, but this feature did not work perfectly in G's case.

However, experts argue that the issue is more complex. The core problem lies in the AI image generation engine applied to the SODA app, called 'Stable Diffusion'. Developed primarily by the UK startup Stability AI, it was revealed that this model had included explicit content in its training data. Professor Kim Myung-joo of Seoul Women’s University (Information Security) explained, “Unlike other AI models, Stable Diffusion was designed to generate graphic images and included pornographic content in its training data, which has raised concerns since its release.”

Experts are calling for measures like age restrictions on the app to prevent irresponsible commercialization. At the moment, SODA is rated for use by individuals aged 3 and older. Jang Yeo-gyeong, the director of the Information Rights Research Institute, stated, "Even if it doesn't lead to sexual exploitation, consumers who suffer mental harm from AI tools should be able to hold the companies that release these services accountable. Snow's response that 'current technology can't prevent this' is irresponsible."

In response to The Hankyoreh, a Snow representative said, "All companies utilizing AI are struggling to address issues like this. We are working to enhance the service by strengthening filters to prevent similar cases in the future."

plain text in the original Korean

카메라 애플리케이션(앱) ‘소다’(SODA)의 인공지능(AI) 편집 기능이 성적 불쾌감을 일으키는 사진을 생성한 사례가 발생한 것에 대해 이 앱을 만든 네이버의 자회사 스노우가 ‘인공지능 생성물을 100% 통제할 수 없다’는 입장을 내놨다. 통제할 수 없는 인공지능 서비스를 상업화한 것에 대해 무책임한 행태라는 전문가들의 지적이 나온다. 소다는 스마트폰 앱 장터인 ‘구글 플레이 스토어’에서 1000만회 이상 다운로드된 인기 카메라 앱이다.

직장인 ㄱ씨는 9일 한겨레와 온라인 메신저 대화를 통해 “앱을 사용하다 수치심을 느낄 줄 몰랐다. 너무 불쾌하고 정신적 충격이 크다”고 호소했다. 그는 지난 4일 소다 앱의 유료 서비스인 ‘인공지능 배경 확장’ 기능을 자신의 증명사진에 적용했다. 어깨 부분 중간에 잘린 증명사진을 상반신 전체가 나오는 모습으로 보정하려는 의도였는데, 실제 인공지능이 생성한 결과물에선 자신이 가슴을 양손으로 움켜쥐고 있는 듯한 모습이 나왔다. 이 이미지를 제외한 다른 나머지 결과에선 정상적인 사진이 나왔지만, ㄱ씨는 앱을 사용하다 갑자기 받은 이미지의 충격에서 벗어나기 힘들었다고 했다.

이에 대해 스노우 쪽은 “인공지능 기술이 적용된 서비스의 특성상 결과물이 예상치 못한 형태로 구현된 것”이라고 설명했다. 인공지능이 생성한 이미지를 사용자에게 최종적으로 노출하기 전 필터 기술을 통해 모욕적이거나 선정적인 이미지를 최대한 제거하고 있지만, ㄱ씨의 사례에선 이 기능이 완벽하게 작동하지 않았다고도 설명했다.

하지만 문제가 간단치 않다는 게 전문가들의 지적이다. 소다 앱에 적용된 인공지능 이미지 생성 엔진인 ‘스테이블 디퓨전’ 자체에 문제가 있다는 이유에서다. 스테이블 디퓨전은 영국 스타트업 ‘스태빌리티 에이아이(AI)’가 개발을 주도한 모델인데, 개발 단계에서 음란물을 학습 데이터에 포함시킨 것으로 알려져 있다. 김명주 서울여대 교수(정보보호학)는 “다른 인공지능 모델과 달리 스테이블 디퓨전은 그래픽 이미지를 생성하기 위한 목적으로 포르노 영상물을 학습 데이터에 포함했기 때문�� 공개될 때부터 많은 우려가 제기됐다”고 말했다.

전문가들은 소다 앱의 이용자 연령을 제한하는 등의 방식으로 기업의 무책임한 상업화를 막아야 한다고 지적했다. 현재 소다 앱은 3살 이상이면 누구나 사용할 수 있다. 장여경 정보인권연구소 상임이사는 “성착취물로 연결되지 않는다고 해도 인공지능 도구로 정신적 피해를 입은 소비자들이 서비스를 출시한 기업에 대해 최소한의 주의 의무를 요구할 수 있어야 한다”며 “‘현재 기술로는 막을 수 없다’는 스노우의 태도는 무책임하다”고 꼬집었다.

스노우 관계자는 한겨레에 “인공지능을 활용하는 모든 회사가 이번과 같은 이슈를 해결하기 위해 분투하고 있다. 유사한 사례가 발생하지 않도록 필터를 더욱 강화하는 등 서비스 고도화를 노력하겠다”고 했다.

#South korea #deepfake crimes #naver #snow app #soda app #Beauty filter app #Ai filter #deepfake ai #stable diffusion

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