#better Text rendering engine

[reiderwriter]

I’d love if you could do a very fluffy-smut with Spencer, like you had a tough case and the day after he calls asking you to go to his apartment and you see he has made food & made a fort to watch movies with fairy lights and just everything really romantic & it ending with very slow/soft sex🩵

A/N: I loved writing this one! Spencer is absolutely the type to build a perfectly engineered pillow fort just because you're having a bad day 😭😭 I hope you enjoy it!!

Warnings: 18+ minors dni, soft sex, oral sex (f receiving), slow/ gentle sex, multiple orgasms, implied creampie/ no contraception mentioned :) tee hee

There was something about the cases that took you to the other side of the country that sunk the ache into your bones just that little bit more. 

It didn't matter if you were going for a kidnapping or a serial or a spree, you always returned more weary than before. The weeks work that you endured was never as tough as returning home to your empty apartment, to the cold floor and the lonely bed. 

This time, your case had a happy ending. You weren't sure how many more of them you were going to be able to live through before the bad endings rendered them null and void. It didn't matter how many people you saved some days because your brain was crowded with the names and faces of the ones you didn't. 

The drive home from Quantico was unsurprisingly quiet. Having landed in the dead of night, there were never going to be too many people on the roads to your apartment. 

You weren't sure if it was fate, or the fact that you hadn't eaten anything in the last 18 hours that made you pull over to the side of the road to pick something up from the 24 hour drive thru, but in the end you were glad you did. 

The second you pulled your car off the road, taking a breather and deciding to stretch your legs a bit before going in to order, your phone screen lit up. 

“Spencer,” you answered the phone, “what's up?” 

“Y/N, hey, I just got home. Listen, remember last month I was talking to you about that one indie film that I couldn't find anywhere? Well, a friend of mine from college just sent me a file entitled ‘the movie.’” 

You weren't sure if it was Spencer’s enthusiasm or just the way you were always ready to drop anything to do something with him that had you giggling and nodding along. You didn't remember the discussion, let alone the movie he meant, but you liked hearing him talk about the things he was passionate about. 

“So I was thinking, we're both probably not going to get much sleep anyway since we clocked out only 23 minutes ago - movie night?” 

“You couldn't have called at a better time, Spencer. I'm grabbing food, text me your order and I'll see you in 15.”

-X-

The drive to Spencer’s apartment was clear, but the hum in the air was lighter than  the silence of before. By the time you pulled onto his street, your mood had already brightened significantly.

You trudged up to his apartment softly so as not to cause any complaints and sent him a text to let him know you were waiting outside. 

You knew instantly that he'd received and read it - the garbled sound of the large man tripping over his feet in his attempt to rush to the door were the same every time you arrived. Stubbing his toe on some pile of books or the other was practically ritual. 

“Hi,” he whispered, opening the door just a crack and giving you a bright smile. 

“Hi,” you smiled back. “I bought food.”

“Perfect. That's perfect. You're… come on in. It's cold, right?” He guided you into the small entryway in his apartment and let you drop your keys with his as if they were supposed to be tangled together. 

“I have a little surprise.” He said, suddenly sounding bashful as he grabbed for your hand in the dark - you hadn't realised as he'd led you in but there were no lights on in the small apartment on at all, as far as you could tell. 

“What? Spencer-” 

“You'll like it, I promise, you just have to trust me.” You relaxed as he wrapped an arm around your waist and tugged you with him into his living space. His hand was warm as it settled against the small on your back, and his chest was surprisingly broad and firm as you brought up your hands to steady yourself against him. 

“Okay, now close your eyes.” 

“The apartment is pitch black. Why am I closing my eyes?” You giggled a little, surprised that your whole body felt so light and calm now, when it had felt so terrible only half an hour before. 

“Trust me,” he said, and you did. Truth be told, your eyes were already shut before the words had even left his mouth. 

“Okay, you can open them now.” 

He must have flipped a light switch the second you opened your eyes because your vision was blurred by the dazzling light when you did. 

Blinking through the adjustment, you started making out shapes and couldn't stop the small tears that pricked the corners of your eyes. 

He hadn't just invited you around for a movie night - he'd built a fort. Held up by a few chairs and piles of books, he'd managed to prop up at least three layers of blanket to surround the most comfortable looking floor you'd ever seen. 

You didn't even know he owned this many pillows, but when he tugged your hand down as he began to move into the fort, you didn't need to care. 

Not with his fingers gently laced with yours and the fairy lights he'd surrounded everything with, giving his skin a golden glow. You didn't need any explanation. You just needed him to hold you. 

“Spencer this is beautiful,” you whispered, sound dampened by the lump in your throat that you tried to swallow, to no relief. “This must've taken so much time. How did you even-”

“PhD in Engineering. I don't get much use out of it these days, but it certainly comes in handy.” 

You couldn't help the laugh that burst from you, the tears finally flowing as tears of joy. 

“Spencer, what is all this for?” 

“It's just because. You looked like you had a hard day, and I enjoy spending time with you.” 

They weren't the most romantic words in the world. They probably didn't come close to some quotes he could recite as easily as breathing. But they hit you hard and fast. 

You knew you were in love with Spencer Reid long before this moment, but there was no holding back the flood after hearing the sincerity in his voice. 

You slowly stretched your neck up and pressed your lips against his. It was fleeting, a small moment that if this didn't pan out, you could brush off as a friendly show of appreciation. 

You pulled away to gauge his reaction, but you didn't get to. His hand on your neck had pulled you back to him for another slow, but deep kiss, and it was as if your entire body was on fire in those sheets. 

You weren't sure how long you spent breathing each other in, exploring each others lips softly. You just knew you were growing desperate for more. You didn't notice that you'd climbed into his lap until your eagerness knocked him onto his back, forcing you apart. 

Your chest lay atop his as you both gasped for air, legs tangled, eyes locked as both of you feared talking first. 

After almost too long without anything said or done, Spencer chose silence again, flipping your positions so you were the one on your back on the pillows as he hovered over you, lips meeting yours again. 

This time, you made the conscious decision to wrap your legs up around his waist, hand tangling in his hair as you smiled and giggled against his kisses, so obliviously happy to be there with him. 

“I love you,” you whispered between kisses, not even hesitating for a second to contemplate whether he felt the same. 

“I love you more,” he said as if it were a competition where you both won in the end. 

You became more talkative after that, responding to every touch, every kiss with praise and a confession, a moan as his fingers pushed under your shirt, a shaky breath as they unbuttoned your pants. 

“Fuck, Spencer, please touch me more,” you begged as his hand toyed with your nipple, having discarded your shirt and bra quickly after receiving permission to do so. 

“I will. I want to know all of you,” his voice was strong even in a whisper, as he dropped his head to your other nipple to begin suckling and teasing you. 

You always thought his hair would be soft, had been tempted on multiple occasions to tuck a strand behind his ear, or just run a hand through it, and now you held it firm, pushing him further into your chest as you arched into his mouth. 

“I want to feel m-more of you, Spencer.” 

He raised his gaze to you as he let go of your nipple with a pop and quietly complied with your will. Trailing his head lower, he kissed across the expanse of your stomach, biting and sucking here and there to leave a path of markings in his wake before arriving right where he wanted to be. 

He made quick work of your pants and panties both, surprised that a man who never failed to bump into things in his own living space could be so graceful when it came to divesting you of your clothing. 

You couldn't ponder for too long as he dived between your legs, spreading you open like a book he needed to read and memorise. His to guess hit your clit quickly, and a few twitches and moans here and there showed him how you liked it, where you needed him and his tongue. 

You again got to grasp his hair  pulling him further into your wet cunt as you chased your high, needing so desperately to ride out an orgasm against his face. 

When his two fingers stretched you open, you practically drowned him, thighs clamping shut as your brain emptied itself of stress. 

You calmed down and watched him come up for air, fingers still slowly and gently pumping inside of you, reminding you that this wasn't over. 

“You taste sweet.” 

“I know how much you like sweet things.” Your juices glistened on his lips and chin, a few drops running down his neck as you stared at him with pure desperation in your eyes. 

“Spencer, please, fuck-” his fingers picked up speed every time you tried again.

“Spencer, fuck me, please  just fuc-”

“As you wish, Y/N.” 

He didn't bother removing his own clothing, though you desperately wanted to see his entire length and explore him just as he had with you. 

But after cumming on his face already, you decided you'd let him go with whatever he wanted. 

Shifting up behind you as you laid there, he gently rolled your body onto its side as he pulled your back towards him, giving him better access to your cunt as you arched into him again. 

He sank in slowly, almost as if he was scared to break you, but didn't stop until he was almost fully inside of you, practically sheathed. 

He adjusted his hold on you, wrapping both arms around your waist and pulling your back flush against his chest as he pressed open-mouthed kisses against your neck.

With deep, slow strokes, he made love to you. You weren't sure if it was the fairy lights, or if it was just that good, but you saw stars, saw them burnt into your eyes, watched them every time the pleasure felt too good and your eyes rolled back into your head. 

The second orgasm came slower than the first, but it was just as hot. 

“Y/N, look at me - you're so beautiful, I want to watch you cum.”

“Spencer, love- I love you, I love you, fuck, oh my god, I love you so much.” You reached for his lips but he pressed his forehead against yours as he whispered in your ear a final time: “cum for me now.” 

Your body wasn't one for taking your queues, but it responded to him as if he'd been the missing part you'd missed this entire time. 

Your cunt tightened around him, milking his cock as he moaned and released seconds after you did. 

You lay tangled in those blankets and pillows for hours after, and you weren't afraid or lonely anymore. 

[yellowjestertfs]

Altered State: Part 1

IDK if anyone on here will be interested in this story, its kind of a long and slower but thought I would post it anyways. More parts coming next week!

Most great adventures start with a call to arms, a quest from on high, a declaration of purpose to serve the greater good. Edward’s and Leon’s started with a question asked through a mouthful of chips.

“Wanna play this new game dude?” Leon asked words barely intelligible. He stood in the doorway of their living room, his fat frame blocking most of the light. In one hand he held a bag of chips and in the other, he held up an unfamiliar battered keep case, the type that held video game disks inside. The thing had a red and blue design that Edward didn't recognize. 

“I guess. What is that thing, will it work on my Wii?” Edward asked. He lay on the couch, long thin body taking up the whole thing but sat up and moved over to make room for his roommate. 

Leon shook his head “I don’t think so dude, it's like super retro.” He walked over to the TV and started fiddling with the row of older consoles that belonged to their third roommate Alvis trying to see if any could accommodate the game. "It was free though." He said as he found the right one, an extremely retro blocky thing Edward was surprised even accepted disks. Leon booted up the system, the familiar hum of the machine filling the space. “I got it from that comic shop down the street. This buff dude at the counter just handed it to me. Said he thought I would put it to good use.”

“Alvis would kill you if he knew you were touching that,” Edward warned, always the one to show more caution. 

“Fuck Alvis. If he didn't want it to be used he shouldn’t have bought it” Leon countered. Neither of the two were particularly big fans of their other roommate, but Leon especially hated his guts. He only let the guy live with them because it made the rent cheaper and because Alvis’ weird retro tech fit in with their decor of half-finished Lego sets, empty pizza boxes, and superhero posters, and because for the most part, Alvis left the two friends alone, spending all his time in the engineering building or fiddling with tech in his room.

Leon opened the case and took out a dusty disk, growing on it to reveal the title “Altered State” and the manufacturer HunkTech, neither of which either Leon or Edward had ever heard of. Leon put the game back into Alvis’s video game console and pressed play. The TV flickered for a moment, then exploded with color so bright it forced both of them to squint. Flashes of neon light, strange symbols, and spinning images seared into their eyes, leaving dancing after images. Neither of the friends could look away, their senses overwhelmed by the pulsating lights that burned into the back of their brains. And just as suddenly as it started, the TV went black and both friends came back to themselves.

“Oh shit" Edward muttered, blinking rapidly to clear his vision. "Your game just fried the TV!Alvis is going to kill you.”

Leon opened his mouth to defend himself but before he could a green holographic display blinked into existence, floating in the air right in front of him. Growing text marched across the living room floor reading:

"Welcome to Altered State.”

Leon’s jaw dropped. "Uh, Ed? You seeing this?”

Edward stood motionless for a moment too shocked to speak. “What the fuck” he breathed “What's going on?”

Both of their holograms shifted to display naked, pixelated 3D models of the two friends, hanging awkwardly in midair. 

“Eww, what the hell,” Leon said. He tried to avert his gaze but the images followed the motion of his head and stayed even when he shut his eyes. 

Neither of the projections was a particularly flattering sight to behold.  Leon’s short, heavy frame was rendered in painful detail—his soft belly, narrow shoulders, pudgy limbs, and average penis were all fully extenuated under the brutally detailed holographic projection. Edward’s model didn’t fare any better. Tall and spindly, his twig-like arms and knobby knees, paired with a notoriously ugly face, gave him the appearance of a scarecrow. Edward was not helped much in its attractiveness by the acne on his face, the greasy thin hair on his head, and the pitifully small penis between his legs fully visible in the naked light of the hologram. 

“Your the one with your dick in my face.” Edward shot back, cheeks flushed with embarrassment at the display.  

The hologram flickered again, and new text appeared below both their models:

Analyzing subjects…

The text began to blink as new displays blinked into existence on the peripheral of both their vision, only really notable if focused on. Various menus that displayed statistics quests and a list perks were all there, though all were currently blank. The words level one along with an empty an empty progress bar beneath appeared at the top of their filed of view, though only visible to themselves and not the other. 

Neither of the two friends had time to examine the new features in detail as the words under their models shifted again.

“Analyzing Purpose: Class Selection”

"Class selected: Juggernaut.” Appeared under Leon’s character. 

Leon blinked. "Juggernaut?" he repeated, unsure what to make of the development.

Edward snickered, “I think that's the fantasy term for fatty.”

But before Leon could respond, Edward’s display changed too:

"Class selected: Snake Charmer.”

“What like I’m going to play the flute?” Edward asked.

It was Leon's turn to laugh. “No bro, the game just called you a homo.” 

It took Edward a second to understand. “Not funny,” he said swatting his best friend on the arm, blushing somehow harder. “This is seriously messed up. We need to go to the hospital or something.”

“Relax charmochondriac, don't you see what’s happening?” 

“Group psychosis?” Edward guessed.

“No dude, we are in a video game, and we fucking rule at video games.”

“Leon” Edward said warningly. Before he could say more though quests populated onto both their displays.

“Dude chill this is awesome. My first quest is easy too. I bet I can get level ten before you.”

Edward wasn’t as ready to accept this rapid series of unexplainable events but he also wasn’t ready to let his best friend think he was a chicken. “Fine. I’ll meet you back at the house when I kick your ass.”

Leon laughed and with that both boys raced out the door, shoving each other playfully to get out first. From there both took off to opposite sides of campus, towards their various objectives and their differing yet intimately intertwined destinies. 

-

Leon raced, or his version which was something between a fast walk and an awkward jog, across campus to his first quest. It seemed easy enough: “Go to the gym” it read. Leon wasn’t exactly one for physical fitness but he at least knew where the health center was from campus orientation tour.

Despite his slow pace by the time he reached it he was out of breath. For a moment he stood in front of automatic double doors, panting and intimidated. He stuck out like a sore thumb on this part of campus, dressed in the ratty strained Superman shirt and baggy shorts his protruding belly and wild unkempt hair stood in stark contrast to the muscular adonis in low tank tops and tall fit women in matching sports sets who brushed by him without a second thought. Mustering his courage Leon walked through the doors and into the gym. His ears were greeted by the sound of slamming weights, rhythmic grunts, and a small ding as he completed his first quest and leveled up. He watched as the experience bar filled fully, bumping his level up to two and filling his vision with notifications. The bar continued to fill until it had reached halfway to the next level. A notification appeared in a gray box with plain white blocky text.

You have reached level two. You receive attribute points based on your class: +3 Strength, +1 Charisma +0.3 Intelligence.

Leon grinned as he felt himself change. He couldn’t actually feel himself getting smarter or more charismatic. He wasn't sure if that was because those were more cognitive stats or if it was because the increase was marginal compared to his strength. Either way, it was a strength that Leon felt himself receive. It wasn't much. Leon didn’t suddenly become a hulk or a bodybuilder but he felt something shift. His shoulders widened slightly, his chest inflated a bit and his butt became less saggy. A single vein buried deep in the layers of fat in his arm engorged itself with blood and snaked its way to the surface, pushed upwards by growing muscle and diminishing fat. He felt physically stronger, faster, like he might be able to actually run a bit without throwing up. He didn't actually look all that different, a quarter of an inch taller, a few pounds shifted from fat to muscle, but inside he felt amazing, electric, like this is what he was made for. Leon suspected that feeling had to do with the other notification waiting for him just below the first.

“You have gained a class perk.”

“Gym Rat: as a juggernaut, you feel comfortable in all athletic spaces.”

Leon felt all his worries and insecurities about being in the gym fade away. He scanned his student ID and strode past the muscled jock at the front counter confidently, flashing him a smile and a slight wave. Leon felt just as comfortable in the gym as if he was at the comic book shop, no more, he felt like he was at home chilling with Edward, like he could do anything and give a damn about who judged him. Leon knew he should be concerned about how this game had physically changed his body and mind so easily but he was too invigorated, too electrified, and he had another quest to do. 

“Do a push-up.” It read simply. 

Leon hadn’t tried to do a push-up since 8th grade gym class but he felt confident he was capable of it with the boost to strength he had received. Leon weaved through the various machines and stations manned by the university’s resident hunks and athletes, some gave him dirty looks but most looked right through him. Leon found he couldn’t care less. He found a corner of the free mat and assumed the push-up position. Despite the recent slight boost to his athleticism, it was a task easier said than done. Leon went down as far as he could until he felt his arms begin to shake, about an inch, then pushed himself up with substantial effort.

To his disappointment, the quest still read as incomplete. He reasoned it must be due to his, form. He tried to go lower but ended up face-first on the mat, unable to push himself up. He went to his knees and did a push-up but that didn’t count either. Nor did a push-up with his butt out in the air, or one in which he rested on the ground for a few seconds in the middle. Leon was about to give up when he saw a guy around his age approach. 

He didn't have the same gorilla bulk as some of the huge men in the gym but his body was visibly lean and defined through his tee-shirt, maybe a runner. “Need any help there” he asked. Leon couldn’t tell if he was being genuine or mocking but his new total comfort in the gym provided by his “Gym Rat” perk made him not care. 

“I’m trying to do a push-up.”

“Just one?” The guy asked with a grin. 

“Gotta start somewhere,” Leon said humbly. 

“Your problem is your stance.” He said. He instructed Leon to assume the plank position and then went about correcting Leon’s form. His arms were too close together, his core was not properly engaged, back not fully straight. The man introduced himself as Cal and then instructed Leon to try again. Leon tried another pushup lowering his body slowly “Lower, lower” Cal called Leon and complied though his face turned red and he wanted to die. Cal didn't let him stop till the tip of his dick was practically touching the mat. Then he went back up, slowly and with more exertion than he had ever used in his whole life. 

He was rewarded with a ding and a slew of notifications. 

“You have reached level three. You receive attribute points based on your class: +3 Strength, +1 Charisma +0.3 Intelligence.” 

“You have gained a class perk.”

“Perfect Form: as a juggernaut, you instinctually know the proper form to maximize the performance of any athletic endeavor.”

Leon felt his body shift again from where it lay crumpled on the mat. His stomach deflated slightly, and under his man boobs pecs started to form. His legs lengthened a bit causing his shorts to only reach his knees instead of past them. The changes were as small as the first but Leon couldn’t help but feel amazed. He tried to do another push-up and found that his body now naturally assumed the perfect position without him having to think about it. With his new points in strength, he was able to push out another perfect military-style push-up, and two more before he flopped down onto the mat, fully spent.

“You're getting the hang of it,” Cal said smiling. If he had seen Leon's body change he made no indication. “good luck on your workout,” he called out as he left.

“Yeah see you around man” Leon called after him. He felt on cloud nine. At this rate, Leon would reach level 10 by the hour. On cue, two more quests appeared for him to complete. He wondered how Edward was doing, if he had even gained one level by now. Maybe once Leon had power gamed his way into OP status he could help his friend with a quest or two. 

-

Edward walked across the quad at a brisk pace. He would have run if his bony arms and legs didn't make him look like a chicken when he did. Edward wasn’t quite as sold on this whole bizarre real life video game thing as Leon was but he also wasn’t about to let Leon leave him in the dust. Edward's first quest was pretty simple if non-specific, “be within 50 feet of 30 or more people”. 

Edwards tendency to avoid large crowds gave him the advantage of knowing exactly where they often were. The coffee shop by the quad came right to his mind. At this time of the day, the place was packed with students either leaving or going to their mid-day classes. The place terrified Edward, the thought of so many eyes on him, judging him, mocking him, and yet Edward reasoned there was no harm in at least checking the place out, it not as if the quest required him to talk to anyone. 

As he walked Edward wondered at the game. Leon, true to self had accepted the game right away without question. If his friend was muscular instead of fat he might be called a himbo. It wasn’t that he was dumb, he was getting a degree in public health, but he also didn't have a habit of thinking things through particularly throughly. Their freshmen year Leon had built a glider out of the shower curtain and broke his arm jumping off the second floor of their dorm with it. And last year Leon had thought it was a good idea to subscribe to some shady porn website that had given his computer a virus so corruptive even tech wizard Alvis couldn’t remove it. 

Though they were inseparable best friend Edward was the opposite. He was much more cautious about everything, sometimes to irrational extremes. Last semester Edward had almost dropped out because he was too nervous to get approval for his classes from his sociology advisor. If he was scared of his sixty-five year old sweet as candy professor talking to guys he liked was surly out of the question, not that he would have any hope of success with his appearance. 

As Edward walked across the quad he avoided eye contact with students crowded onto the open green sitting and chatting or throwing frisbees. Edward felt drowned in the sea of people, though the lawn wasn’t nearly dense enough to fulfill the quest. 

The line for the coffee shop was out the door which made him want to throw up. He walked slowly forward waiting for the quest to complete. Finally, when he was only a few feet away, practically in line the quest was fulfilled and his experience bar to level two filled fully.

Edward heard a “ding” in his head and several notifications filled his vision startling him.  

“You have reached level two. You receive attribute points based on your class: +3 Charisma, +1 Intelligence +0.3 Strength.”

“You have gained a class perk.”

“People Person: Those around you feel your natural charm and are more likely to accept you in a neutral or positive way, potentially even striking up a conversation.”

Edward felt a strange itch on his brow and a pressure on his jaw but ignored it. He didn't know what to make of the messages. The stats seemed somewhat consistent with role-playing video games, and he supposed the break down made sense with his class. Still, he wasn’t sure how something like charisma would be incorporated into real life, nor his new People Person perk. As a sociology major Edward knew all too well how complex human interaction was. The perk seemed to imply that not only would the game be changing him but also the people around him and their perceptions. He wasn’t sure if that was even possible not to mention ethical.

“Introduce yourself to a stranger,” the next quest said popping up on the side of Edward's vision. That more than any ethical quandary made Edward scared. It was all well and good for the game to claim that people would react positively to Edward but he knew firsthand that wasn’t true. 

“Hey, are you in line” two girls who had walked up behind him asked. Edward froze, realizing he had positioned himself at an awkward spot half in line half not. The girls didn't seem disgusted by his presence but they also didn't seem particularly enthralled, they just wanted to get their coffee. 

Edward nodded his head, the best he could do with his crippling social anxiety. He moved more obviously in line and the girl went back to chatting. As the line crept closer Edward tried and failed several times to work up the courage to introduce himself to the girls. He came up with various scenarios in his head of how he could make an introduction, all of which ended with the girl calling him a creep. 

Finally, after ten minutes, Edward reached the front of the line. He realized in his attempts to complete the quest he hadn’t so much as glanced at the menu. 

“What will you be having today” a tall tan worker asked, his tattooed arms pleasantly stretching out the sleeves of his shirt. Edward just opened and closed his mouth like a fish, mind suddenly blank of every coffee drink ever, including coffee. 

The worker, whose name tag ironically read “Tag” saw his confusion and smiled. “It's a big menu I know. It's fall, so you can never go wrong with a PSL.” He saw Edwards look confused and he sheepishly clarified “Pumpkin spice latte.”

“I’ll do that,” Edward said, voice quiet but clear. He took a deep breath then before he could think about it blurted out “I’m Edward by the way”. 

Tag gave a handsome grin and wrote the name on a cup. “Thanks, Edward, I’ll that get you out for you right away.”

Edward heard a “ding” but ignored it and the notifications that popped up as he paid on the tablet Tag turned towards him. His hands shook as he selected the largest tip options and stumbled over to the designated area to stand while waiting for a drink and looked at the notifications. 

“You have reached level three. You receive attribute points based on your class: +3 Charisma, +1 Intelligence, +0.3 Strength.”

“You have gained a class perk.”

“Social Sync: You are naturally attuned to the tone and rhythm of conversation making awkward pauses and interruptions a thing of the past.”

New quests popped up as well, two this time. “Make someone laugh” and “Offer someone advice.”

As the messages appeared Edward felt the same strange pain in his face, like the soreness he sometimes got after smiling all day with Leon. He lifted a hand to his face and felt skin much smoother than his normal rough, dry, pockmarked complexion. His weak chin, which had always been a source of insecurity no longer felt totally concave but pushed out somewhat lending a strange sharpness to his jaw. Edward was about to take out his phone to examine his reflection when he heard a voice beside him. 

“He’s so dreamy, isn’t he,” a man said in his right ear. All his life Edward had been painfully scrawny, wrists the size of cucumber and ribs showing through his pale skin. This man was even more slender like he could break with a strong gust of wind. He held a coffee cup that had the name Trent on the side. The guy didn't seem to mind Edwards's silence and continued staring at Tag longingly. “The coffee here is so bitter but the eye candy is so sweet” he mused. 

“Yeah that guy is what I would call a full-sized candy bar” the comment came out before Edward had time to think. It was a mediocre joke, wordy and unoriginal to a fault, but to painfully shy and unfunny Edward he felt like he was a standup comedian. Trent smiled and gave a slight chuckle, though his quest remained incomplete, probably because the laugh was fake.

“He’s a Snickers, and let's just say I’m not allergic to nuts.” Edward tried again, this time eliciting a better reaction from Trent. A slight giggle was all it took for the quest to complete and Edwards' experience bar to increase half the way to level four. 

“Well both of us are going to go hungry. He’s straight.”

“Really” Edward asked. As a closeted gay until he was 19, when he had finally worked up the courage to tell Leon, Edward thought he had pretty good gaydar, and that Tag guy was anything but straight. “How do you know?” He asked Social Sync perk causing him to put the perfect pause between his declaration of doubt and his question without him even noticing.

“He used to date some girl” Trent responded with a touch of disgust.

“Maybe he’s bi,” Edward said and Trent’s face lit up as if he had never considered the thought.

“Oh wow, do you really think so” He asked excitedly. “Now that you say it he is kind of flirty when he gives me my drink.”

“You should just go up and talk to him” Edward advised sagely. “I mean what is the worst that could happen.” The advice was hollow seeing as how Edward had never even breathed in the direction of any of his crushes. Trent seemed to sense this and looked at Edward dubiously. The game system however didn't seem to care. It marked his “give advice” quest as complete and alerted him he had reached level four with a ding. At this rate, Leon didn't stand a chance of reaching level ten before him. 

“You have reached level four. You receive attribute points based on your class: +3 Charisma, +1 Intelligence, +0.3 Strength.”

“Sage: Your charisma gives you an innate knowledge of people's desires, both conscious and unconscious. Note: The higher your charisma the more attuned this sense becomes. Note: this effect is 92.22% more effective on people with a penis.”

Edward felt a shift both in his physiology and in his brain, like before he felt his face move, bones like continental plates drifting every so slightly apart into a more attractive configuration. 

Inside his head, he felt something shift far more drastically. The three +1 boosts to his intelligence had been so slight he barely noticed them, just a slight speeding up of his thoughts and a boost to his reasoning ability. This new change in his mind was drastic, impossible not to notice. A sixth sense emerged, filling his head with a source of knowledge he wasn’t quite sure what to do with. It was almost as if he had gained the ability to read minds only not so strong and without any words, only feelings. Suddenly Edward felt Trent’s desire, a sexual one, not just for the barista, but also for the group of frat boys in the corner of the shop and strangely enough for Edward. He felt others' desires too, though much less clearly. 

Two guys standing to his left both hoped the other would buy the alcohol for tonight's party. The other men in the shop only gave wisps of desire. Edward suspected that had something to do with proximity and his still relatively low charisma.

The women on the other hand Edward could barely sense, only receiving a small tingle like TV static instead of anything readable. Edward wondered at that strange 92.22% bonus towards men. Edward took a moment to reflect on the class he had been assigned. Could Leon be right? Could the name of his class be a gay joke, that he was meant to charm not venomous creatures in baskets but instead the snake in men's pants? It seemed somehow too vulgar for a video game though Edward knew that was illogical. If it was true it begged some concerning questions, like how the game had known he was gay and what exactly it was setting him up to do. 

“Would you go talk to him?” Trent asked suddenly snapping Edward back to the present. His sixth sense faded to the back of his mind, though he could still sense Trent’s desire. “Sorry I know that's a lot to ask but I think you would have more luck than me.” He looked at Edward with puppy dog eyes filled with earnest hope. “Be my wingman?”

A notification appeared obscuring a part of Edward’s vision. 

“Quest offered! Set up Trent and Tag romantically. Reward: XP”

A box under the quest notification had two boxes with “yes” and “no” options. Edward had no idea how to select either option. Out loud he said “I’ll do my best,” the notification disappeared and reappeared small in the quest part of his interface. 

Trent smiled “Really? I can’t thank you enough.” He felt Trent’s desire shift from lust to hope. “Just like using a pickup line or something. Don’t make it too awkward” he said suddenly nervous.

“Don’t worry I got this,” Edward said with about 1000% times more confidence than he felt. He had absolutely no business getting other people's tail when he was still a virgin himself. Edward just knew he was going to make an absolute fool of himself.

-

It turned out that the quests to advance to level four were not as easy as Leon had imagined. The first quest “run a lap” proved exhausting but doable. Leon made his way to the elevated track that encircled the gym and with perfect form, if less perfect endurance, ran the loop. Before the game, Leon would have had to walk most of it, but the two levels and six points he had gained in strength allowed him to push through with a slow jog. The quest's completion bumped him 3/4 of the way to level four. He had no doubt the other quest would get him all the way there if only it was possible. 

“Do a pull-up.” How hard could one pull up be? Extremely difficult it turned out. Dangling from the elevated bar Leon tried with all his might to heft his flabby body up. He only managed to lift his head halfway before the effort became too much and he was forced to give up. 

Leon knew it wasn’t his form keeping him from completing the exercise like it had been with the push-up. Instead, it came down to a plain and simple lack of strength. Leon didn't know what to do. He felt frustrated that he had hit a roadblock so soon. He looked at the experience progress bar, so tantalizingly close to the next level. Maybe he would have to do it the old-fashioned way. Train his back and his biceps extensively until he could do a pull-up on his own. Leon knew something like that would take weeks if not months but he was nothing if not stubborn.

Determined not to give up Leon found a set of dumbbells and began to lift with perfect form. The activity didn't provide the same instant gratification as leveling up did, but Leon was starting to understand how people could get addicted to this. As he worked his eyes wandered to the graphical display imprinted on either side of his vision. He found he could unfocus on the information and the display would blur unobscuring his vision. He focused again and the quest and progress bar came back into his field of vision. Leon couldn’t tell if he was imagining it but it seemed as if the bar was more full. He did a few more curls and watched the progress bar tick up the tiniest amount. He lifted the other arm and it moved again. He grabbed the largest weight he could conceivably lift and using all this strength curled it with both arms, the progress bar moved, still not much but more than before. Leon grinned. He was pretty sure he had just found an exploit.

Thirty minutes later a tired Leon prepared for his last set of leg presses to get him to level four. The “exploit” he had found wasn’t as much of a hack as he had originally hoped. Working out gave him experience to fill the bar but not nearly as efficiently as quests. He had to go from machine to machine loading up the maximum amount of weight he could lift, not much, and completing various exercises until that part of his body was completely exhausted. His “perfect form” perk ensured that he was able to complete each exercise to its fullest despite not knowing how to do any of the exercises. All he had to do was approach a machine or a set of weights and his body would suddenly assume the position.

Even with his perfect form protecting him from injury Leon was exhausted. The day's gym session was more exercise than he had ever done in his life. His hair was matted to his forehead and dark sweat spots had appeared around the collar and pits of his Superman shirt. His body felt like a sack of bricks like he could fall asleep and not wake up till his next birthday. Leon persisted and as he performed his tenth leg press he heard a ding. His legs slammed back to their resting position and he breathed heavily, feeling his body begin to change and notifications pop up. 

“You have reached level four. You receive attribute points based on your class: +3 Strength, +1 Charisma +0.3 Intelligence.” 

“You have gained a class perk.”

“Animal Endurance: The rate at which athletic activities tire you is decreased significantly while the rate of recovery is greatly improved. Note: the potency of this effect scales off of strength.”

Leon felt his muscles harden, his arms bulge, his legs bulk up and shift. His core burned as his abs shredded themselves and strengthened. The layer of fat on Leon’s body, though still present thinned. Underneath it his muscles went from average to distinctly fit, no great titan yet but also not a slouch either. His weariness from all the exercise it took to reach level four drained away thanks to his perk and Leon once again felt reinvigorated. 

He marched over to the nearest pull-up bar and with only a small amount of effort hoisted himself up with the power of his upper body. The completed quest brought him a third of the way up to level five. Two more quests appeared. “Bench press a third of your body weight.” And “exchange workout tips”. Neither seemed especially difficult. 

Leon looked around to see if he could find Cal to knock out the more social of the quests but the helpful runner was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Leon found a benchpress machine and went to load it up. Leon was shocked to realize he had no idea what his body weight was. Before Altered Reality, Leon had weighed 230 pounds, now though he could be anything. Leon squinted at the holographic display in the sides of his vision and found with effort he was able to bring up a stats page. 

Leon: 

210 Pounds

5’10’’ Feet

Strength: 11

Charisma: 7

Intelligence: 8.9

When he played video games with his roommates Alvis was the one who focused on the numbers, min-maxing his character to be the strongest possible. Edward liked to talk to the NPCs, to understand the story, and Leon, well Leon liked to punch things and not worry too much about the boring stuff. Still, with his 8.9 in intelligence, Leon couldn't help but notice some changes to his body composition. There was the inch in height his body had gained from those three levels and the twenty pounds of weight he had lost. Leon suspected the total loss was more like 30 or 40 pounds of fat but that the added muscle made up the difference. His stats were interesting too. Leon hadn’t much thought about it but based on the quests and perks he had received the Juggernaut class seemed to be one that focused on athleticism. Despite that, he still received a marginal boost to charisma and intelligence at each level which he supposed were meant to keep him well rounded. Leon did the math, the current numbers would mean that his intelligence before the game had been eight, which seemed right, and his strength a two, also unfortunately right. The four in charisma seemed rude, but Leon supposed he had never had much luck with women for a reason.

Doing math once again Leon loaded up the bench press, factoring in the weight of the bar to reach seventy pounds one-third of his weight. He assumed the position under it, with perfect form thanks to his perk; then with substantial effort, Leon lifted the bar over his chest and with as much control as he could manage lowered it. That was the easy part, the hard part was pushing it back up. Leon clenched his toes, bugged his eyes, and pushed with all his eleven strength upward. His mind suddenly flashed to the bar crushing him, rolling down onto his neck and ending this game. Panic more than determination got the bar up and back to its starting position. The quest was completed and the progress bar to level five was filled in another third. 

Only once the bar was fully returned to its resting position could Leon see the girl standing over him, upside down from his prone view. 

“I was ready to pull that thing off you.” The girl said in something between a mix of condescension and admiration. Leon sat up.

“Umm, thanks.” He said nervously. He recognized this girl from his advanced biology seminar, although she didn't seem to know him. She looked very pretty with her high ponytail and tight yoga pants, which only made his voice stutter more. “I’m Leon.”

“Cassy,” she said.

An idea came to his mind. “Got any tips for this one?” Leon asked, hoping to knock out his remaining quest. 

Before Cassy could answer though a tall man in a low-cut tank top that showed off his ripped torso and cannonball shoulders approached and wrapped his mammoth vascular arms around her. “Cassy, why the fuck are you talking to this fatty?” He asked as if Leon were some flaming garbage outside his window, offensive to his sight. Leon recognized him as a member of Alpha Sigma, one of the best and most dickish fraternities on campus.  

“Fuck off Hunter” Cassy said rolling her eyes.

“Yeah fuck off Hunter” Leon repeated. He instantly regretted it.

Hunter's eyes went wide, and a vein on his neck began to pulse. Leon stared back at him with a level of defiance he knew defied both the social order and logic. Leon had always been brash, a trait now manifested in full force by the extreme comfort he felt in the gym due to his Gym Rat perk.

Cassy shot him a look asking if he was trying to get himself killed then turned to Hunter to defuse the situation. “Come on babe let's go.” 

Hunter heard none of it. He got right up in Leon's face so close Leon could smell the sweat on his body and the ZYN in his breath. “Listen here tubby, this is a gym. The McDonalds is down the street. Now fuck off or I’ll turn your happy meal into chicken tenders. Ya hear?” He stood up and started to walk away Cassy unhappily following after him. “And don’t ever talk to my girl again homo.”

Leon knew he should be scared but instead, he found the whole interaction funny, his “Gym Rat” perk really might be working too well. “Got any gym tips for me” he called after Hunter, wanting to still get something out of the interaction. He couldn’t wait till he was bigger than that arrogant prick and no one could talk to him that way.

The frat bro turned around “Eat a fucking salad” he called. Leon’s last quest remained incomplete. He wondered why for a second then realized it said “exchange workout tips.” 

“You should really get off the roids, it's killing the last two of your brain cells,” Leon called after him. Hunter moved to turn around, probably to beat the shit out of Leon but Cassy grabbed his hand and dragged him away. The quest completed and Leon reached level five. Not too bad for seven charisma he thought proudly. The now familiar ding sounded along with a wall of notifications. Leon began to feel strange. A biting ache began to thrum in the pit of his stomach. Doubled over Leon rushed to the bathroom, careful to head in in the opposite direction of Hunter and Cassy. 

He burst into the empty men's room and then into the nearest stall he could find. As he sat on the toilet the pain intensified. Something was happening and it hurt like all hell.

-

Edward had no idea why Trent had even started talking to him. That wasn’t something people ever did to ugly Edward, maybe point and whisper, but never strike up a conversation and surly never ask him for help. It must be his stupid charisma and perks scrambling everyone's brain he concluded. Edward was about to turn back to Trent and tell him he had made a mistake and that he actually couldn’t help him when he heard “Edward” yell from behind the bar. He saw Tag the sexy fit barista holding a steaming to-go cup and looking around the coffee shop for Edward. Trent gave him an encouraging smile and a thumbs up.

Edward felt as if he was moving in slow motion like he was making his way to the gallows. Tag saw him coming and smiled, extending the drink towards him. Edward reached out to take the drink, his finger ever so slightly brushing up against Tag’s hand in the process. He wasn’t sure if it was the touch or just the proximity but he felt his new “Sage” perk activate in vivid detail.

A picture suddenly flashed in Edward’s mind. A subterranean location full of flashing lights and loud rhythmic music, a rave Edward realized. He saw Tag standing alone in an open button-down shirt showing off sexy tattooed muscles. Edward flashed back to reality. His sudden vision had caused him to linger a bit too long grabbing his drink and he jerked his hand away awkwardly. 

Edward retracted his hand and gave a smile hoping to save the moment. “Hey, are you going to the rave tonight?” Edward asked as casually as he could “I think I have seen you at a few before. I heard the one tonight is supposed to be especially hype.”

Tag seemed surprised for a moment then reassessed Edward his demeanor shifting from customer service friendly, to peer in-group easygoing. “You mean sewer fest? I want to man, but all my friends are busy tonight and I don’t want to go alone.”

“Oh damn that sucks,” Edward said. He was mindful of the stares he was getting from the other students around him but couldn’t bring himself to care, this was going too well. “I wish I could go but I have a paper I have to write tonight. My friend Trent was actually just saying he was thinking about going though.” Edward pointed back at Trent who gave a little wave. 

“Oh, I know him.” Tag said when he saw Trent. “That would be sick man. I really don’t want to miss Sewer Fest. How about this,” he took a cup sleeve and started to write on it, “Give your friend my number and tell him to text me” he handed it to Edward. 

“Will do. You two have fun” Edward said as he walked away. Trent looked at him wide-eyed and was about to say something but Edward made a signal that they shouldn’t talk about it inside.

“This is for you,” Edward said as he handed Trent Tag’s number once they were outside. 

“No way. You're actually a god. How did you do that?” Trent asked amazed.

“Don’t get too excited,” Edward said sheepishly. “You're going to a rave, and it’s in the sewer.” 

“A rave? You know what, I’ll take it. I really can’t thank you enough.” 

“Oh, it was nothing. Honestly, you helped me just as much as I helped you.”

Trent ignored the cryptic comment. “Well I should go, I guess I have to find an outfit to wear to a sewer. Would all white be a bad idea?” He handed Edward his phone. “Will you put your number in my phone? I’ll text you how tonight goes.” 

The two exchanged information then Trent left. Edward stood there sipping his latte, which really was too bitter. He saw Trent typing out a message on his phone as he walked away.

Moments later Edward heard a “ding” as the quest was completed and he reached level five. Notifications sprung up in his vision, more than usual. Edward couldn’t read them, he couldn’t focus on anything. His mostly full coffee slipped out of his hand and spilled onto the ground as a golden nebula sprung up around him and his face and body were wracked with pain. He started to scream.

[multiheadcanons]

THE MERCS AS MY CLIENTS. WHAT A WEEK ITS BEEN AND AT THE TIME OF WRITING THIS ITS ONLY WEDNESDAY.

scout: shittily bred pit bull mix named bosco. comes in and asks me to shave the dog because the shedding is bad. i have to tell him that’s not how shedding works and i won’t be doing that. he is the only client in this list i would even feel remotely confident contesting with. talk him into the cheaper option; a deshed treatment and regular visits. becomes a good client of mine! doesn’t tip, but that’s okay.

soldier: well bred, if only overweight english bulldog named colonel pigskin. i am to address him with his title or soldier will raise a fuss. brings him in for the works. everything i could possibly add on, add it. and he better have a handkerchief and it better be america themed or so help him god. tips four bucks every time. i keep him as a client because i know nobody else will take him with his insane aura. dog fucking reeks every time. takes three washes to even begin to break the stench. but a sweet dog. bites for nails.

pyro: brings in a small super-mutt on enough trazadone to kill a horse. in the system as a shih tzu named princess. if i can get to the dog while it is still absolutely tripping balls on its traz, it’s honestly not a bad time. quarter inch all over with a short teddy bear head, bob the ears, trim the tail, potty trail. is honestly very cute when it’s done. but it will always be a dog i have to push through. i get two hours before the dog starts fighting. and it’s enough to make me stop services. asks for nail polish. when i accomplish it they tip twenty, no tip if there’s no polish. i do my best to paint the dogs nails. irregular client, but the dog is short enough that it’s not a problem.

demo: beautiful, old scottish terrier named jodie. an honest to god menace to society but i would never ever tell demo that in a million years. she’s perfect and i love her. it shocks him because he’s been fired by other shops. i tell him she’s an old lady with a high maintenance trim and she takes a lot of time. standard scottie trim, long skirt, like barely off the ground. it is an honest challenge and i never think she looks good. demo has never, ever complained, even when i directly ask him. genuinely makes me want to cry because it is a battle when she is on my table. jodie has dementia and does not know where she is half the time, and is blind and deaf the other half of the time, so she is an all day process.

heavy: blue maine coon named feliks. leash trained. the cat looked to be a normal size in his arms. he weighs in at 27.5 pounds. comes in for a bath and a thorough brush, no clippers nor scissors are to even hover around the coat. dude’s like triple my size so i say “absolutely sir, i will contact you when services are rendered.” feliks is in stellar condition. an absolute star when he’s checked in. i take my time, and the cat reacts with little interest in my badgering. which frankly, when you’re that big and a cat, is an honest to god blessing to my arms. yowls in the bath, but does not try to escape. okay with the dryer on a low setting. must be an express, which halves my bookings for the day. when i tell heavy the price the first time he frowns. tells me to double it. he pays that price and leaves no tip, other than i leave room to be taken advantage of with those pricings. irregular client, but faithful. it’s always a joy when they come in, even if he doesn’t know it.

engineer: brings in a shepherd mix named bingo. comes in for an outline trim. bingo has two dew claws on every foot. bingo would be cool if bingo didn’t feel the need to shit fifteen times on my table and then yell at the top of his lungs when i start trimming his nails. bingo would be uber cool then. but instead, three baths and a couple deep breaths later, i send engie a text letting him know services have been completed. i up the price three times during the process, and the man will still tip. a regular client, which i am not particularly pleased with. but he’s cool enough. if bingo can chill out i’ll lower his price. he never will.

medic: brings in a jet black pomeranian named hypatia. i call her nightmare. her and her owner are absolutely horrid. he will not fill out paperwork, we have to physically place ourselves behind his car to get a signature, and he is annoyed about it. brings in a note with chicken scratch of which all that is legible is his phone number and “call for questions, do not text” that essentially sums up to tight outline trim with a full mane. nicer on the phone than in person, but he will spend twenty minutes making sure i know how to do my job. i chalk it up to him being european. picky, so i take my time on her. he never tells me this dog is trained in german, so it is a consistent fight to render services until i just start trying other languages. once i realize she is trained, just not in english, it is an infinitely easier time with her on my table. makes her owner much more bearable, though i am never happy to see him on the books. does not tip, never seems happy with the finished product, but is a regular, consistent client. so he pays well in the long run. if i ask whether he even likes my work he will wholeheartedly say yes, and i’m not sure whether to believe him because his mannerisms never change. but i start painting her nails. that gets a good reaction out of him.

sniper: rat terrier named dog. chill little thing for a rat terrier. face feet and tail, no spray no bandana. does not like the dryer, so he takes longer than he feasibly should for a little rat terrier. that is the most annoying part of his process. will watch whatever show i have playing on my phone while i work. it’s a good distraction. has weirdly human eyes. when i ask snipes about dog he says he found him in a dumpster and tried to foster and failed. so now he’s got a dog. i think it’s funny, and the dog wasn’t horrible, so i give him a discount. tips whatever small bills are in his pocket, so anywhere from two to ten bucks. smallest tip i ever got was a quarter from him. it’s the thought that counts? twice a year client. i don’t even know why he brings the dog in at that point. nice to make small talk with, though.

spy: the most snobbish poodle owner you’ve ever met, but god is the dog gorgeous. snow white coat, feels like a pillow. dog’s name is beau. gets a continental trim with poms on the feet. topknot long enough to reach jesus. this dog takes me all day. and he is the only dog i can put on my books. and spy is never happy with the finished product. there is always something that can be done better. comes in every three weeks and it’s a nightmare. he wants to talk every time to go over notes and fixes. eventually i ask him why he continues to come to me if he doesn’t like my work. he responds “i don’t want someone else; i want you to get better.” which like, so do i, but not with him as the client. beau is an unremarkable dog otherwise. but it is teeth gritting when his owner is in that building. everyone cries when he starts bringing his cat in, too. we fear we may never escape him.

A LITTLE EXTRA

pauling/admin: miss pauling brings the administrator’s nasty, rotten old bichon mix under the alias “fido” every six to eight weeks with very specific instructions. when miss pauling is in the building, it is almost like every animal becomes twice as anxious. and i really wish they would stop coming. i’m almost willing to leave the industry entirely. the administrator sends pauling with pictures of dogs that do not even remotely look like her dog, and i am crossing my fingers and praying i do it close enough that i don’t get a complaint, but that she decides she can find better. flat out refuses to sign paperwork, and we kind of just shrug. i am consistently filled with dread that the dog is going to drop on my table. it’s old enough to drink.

saxton hale: incredibly aggressive belgian malinois named hastings. must be muzzled while handling feet or he will bite. bites at the water, bites at the dryer, whips around when i’m trying to brush, gives me multiple heart attacks. i charge a pretty penny every time hale comes in, because his dog is taking active years off of my life. hale himself is not the worst guy in the world to interact with, and he understands that his dog is a lot to handle; but his dog is a complete liability and he won’t get the thing trazadone. he honestly thinks it’s funny that i am the one who took the dog on. he respects the moxie. doesn’t feel bad if i get bit though.

[eliyips]

Xisuma's Helmet 💜

My 3D final for the fall quarter! 4 assets made from scratch, modeled in Maya/Zbrush, textured in Substance Painter, and rendered in Unreal Engine 5.

Detail shots and some rambling about my process below the cut! :)

The helmet! I've talked about it a lot before, but my design for X's helmet is very heavily inspired by Motocross! :) this model was done with an AHR motocross helmet as my main reference, as well as my own art of Xisuma. The tubing was the main addition!

The pedestal was the final asset I made. I designed, modeled, and textured it in one day, and I'm very proud of how it turned out! I wish I could have shown it off better in the final render, but alas, the composition didn't allow for it. I still think It's pretty neat :) The decals along the top and at the center were designed by myself as well. At the top, we have some text art. It's hard to read (deliberately) but it spells out "XISUMA," repeating four times on each side. The front decal is dragon wings, framing an end crystal.

The flowers I selected are Asters! I was under the impression when I started this project that these were Xisuma's birthflowers, but it turns out his birthday is in October, not September, LOL. I was thinking of the his Youtube anniversary... I still associate these flowers with him either way though!

The flowers were probably the most difficult asset, but the skull might be the one I'm least satisfied with. Skulls are weird and complicated. If I were to do this over again, I'd go for a skull that I can find more precise reference for, rather than a sailfin lizard :') I picked out a lizard because I wanted to invoke dragons a lot in my imagery, but felt like choosing an extinct animal, like a dinosaur, wasn't appropriate for what I was going for? The sailfin lizard is a species which is vulnerable but not extinct, which I decided was more in line with my vision. Again though, if I were to do this over, I'd pick a skull which is more readily documented.

To conclude, some WIP screenshots! :] My initial sketch for the composition, two Maya screenshots, of the high poly helmet and pedestal, and an early screenshot from UE5, figuring out the composition, before I'd finished the pedestal model.

Happy to talk more about this, or answer any questions that people have! :D my ask box is open. I've been considering writing a short fic about the concept behind this piece as well... It's a little fuzzy, the details, but I do have a concept, and most of my choices for this project did have intention behind them. :)

Thanks for reading! 💜

[szonikuscsavarhuzo]

Doom QR code-ban

From Reddit post:

Hi! I'm Kuber! I go by kuberwastaken on most platforms and I'm a dual degree undergrad student currently in New Delhi studying AI-Data Science and CS.

Posting this on reddit way later than I should've because I never really cared to make an account but hey, better late than never.

Well it’s still kind of clickbait because I made what I call The BackDooms, inspired by both DOOM and the Backrooms (they’re so damn similar) but it’s still really fun and the entire process of making it was just as cool! It also went extremely viral on Hacker News and LinkedIn and is one of those projects that are closest to my heart.

If you just want to play the game and not want to see me yapping, please skip to the bottom or just scan the QR code (using something that supports bigger QR codes like scanqr) and just paste it in your browser. But if you’re at all into microcode or gamedev, this would be a fun read :)

The Beginning

It all started when I was just bored a while back and had a "mostly" free week so I decided to pick up games in QR codes for a fun project or atleast a rabbit hole. I remember watching this video by matttkc maybe around covid of making a snake game fit in a QR code and he went the route of making it in a native executable, I just thought what I could do if I went down the JavaScript route.

Now let me guide you through the premise we're dealing with here:

QR codes can store up to 3KB of text and binary data.

For context, this post, until now in plaintext is over 0.6KB

My goal: Create a playable DOOM-inspired game smaller than a couple paragraphs of plain text.💀

Now to make a functional game to make under these constraints, we’re stuck using:

• No Game Engine – HTML/JavaScript with Canvas

• No Assets – All graphics generated through code

• No Libraries – Because Every byte counts!

To make any of this possible, we had to use Minified Code.

But what the heck is Minified Code?

To get games to fit in these absurdly small file sizes, you need to use what is called minification

or in this case - EXTREMELY aggressive minification.

I'll give you a simple example:

function drawWall(distance) {

const height = 240 / distance;

context.fillRect(x, 120 - height/2, 1, height);

}

post minification:

h.fillRect(i,120-240/d/2,1,240/d)

Variables become single letters. Comments evaporate and our new code now resembles a ransom note lol

The Map Generation

In earlier versions of development, I kept the map very small (16x16) and (8x8) while this could be acceptable for such a small game, I wanted to stretch limits and double down on the backrooms concept so I managed to figure out infinite generation of maps with seed generation too

if you've played Minecraft before, you know what seeds are - extremely random values made up of character(s) that are used as the basis for generating game worlds.

Making a Fake 3D Using Original DOOM's Techniques

So theoretically speaking, if you really liked one generation and figure out the seed for it, you can hardcode it to the code to get the same one each time

My version of a simulated 3D effect uses raycasting – a 1992 rendering trick. and here's My simplified version:

For each vertical screen column (all 320 of them):

Cast a ray at a slightly different angle

Measure distance to nearest wall

Draw a taller rectangle if the wall is closer

Even though this is basic trigonometry, This calls for a significant chunk of the entire game and honestly, if it weren't for infinite map generation, I would've just BASE64 coded the URL and it would have been small enough to run directly haha - but honestly so worth it

Enemy Mechanics

This was another huge concern, in earlier versions of the game there were just some enemies in the start and then absolutely none when you started to travel, this might have worked in the small map but not at all in infinite generation

The enemies were hard to make because firstly, it's very hard to make any realistic effects when shooting or even realistic enemies when you're so limited by file size

secondly, I'm not experienced, I’m just messing around and learning stuff

I initially made it so the enemies stood still and did nothing, later versions I added movement so they actually followed you

much later did I finally get a right way to spawn enemies nearby while you are walking (check out the blog for the code snippets, reddit doesn't have code blocks in 2025)

Making the game was only half the challenge, because the real challenge was putting it in a QR code

How The Heck do I Put This in a QR code

The largest standard QR code (Version 40) holds 2,953 bytes (~2.9 KB).

This is very small—e.g:

a Windows sound file of 1/15th of a second is 11 KB.

A floppy disk (1.44 MB) can store nearly 500 QR Codes worth of data.

My game's initial size came out to 3.4KB

AH SHI-

After an exhaustive four-day optimization process, I successfully reduced the file size to 2.4 KB, albeit with a few carefully considered compromises.

Remember how I said QR codes can store text and binary data

Well... executable HTML isn't binary OR plaintext, so a direct approach of inserting HTML into a QR code generator proved futile

Most people usually advice to use Base64 conversion here, but this approach has a MASSIVE 33% overhead!

leaving less than 1.9kb for the game

YIKES

I guess it made sense why matttkc chose to make Snake now

I must admit, I considered giving up at this point. I talked to 3 different AI chatbots for two days, whenever I could - ChatGPT, DeepSeek and Claude, a 100 different prompts to each one to try to do something about this situation (and being told every single time hosting it on a website is easier!?)

Then, ChatGPT casually threw in DecompressionStream

What the Heck is DecompressionStream

DecompressionStream, a little-known WebAPI component, it's basically built into every single modern web browser.

Think of it like WinRAR for your browsers, but it takes streams of data instead of Zip files.

That was the one moment I felt like Sheldon cooper.

the only (and I genuinely believe it because I practically have a PhD of micro games from these searches) way to achieve this was compressing the game through zlib then using the QR code library on python to barely fit it inside a size 40 code...?

Well, I lied

Because It really wasn’t the only way - if you make your own compression algorithm in two days that later gets cited by a NASA Scientist and cites you

You see, fundamentally, Zlib and GZip use very similar techniques but Zlib is more supported with a lot of features like our hero decompressionstream

Unless… you compress with GZip, modify it to look like a Zlib base64 conversion and then use it and no, this wasn’t well documented anywhere I looked

I absolutely hate that reddit doesn’t have mermaid graph support but I’ll try my best to outline the steps anyways haha

Read Input HTML -> Compress with Zlib -> Base64 Encode -> Embed in HTML Wrapper

-> DecompressionStream 'gzip' -> Format Mismatch

-> Convert to Data URI -> Fits QR Code?

-> Yes -> Generate QR

-> No -> Reduce HTML Size -> Read Input HTML

Make that a python file to execute all of this-

IT WORKS

It was a significant milestone, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of humor about this entire journey. Perfecting a script for this took over 42 iterations, blood, sweat, tears and processing power.

This also did well on LinkedIn and got me some attention there but I wanted the real techy folks on Reddit to know about it too :P

HERE ARE SOME LINKS RELATED TO THE PROJECT

GitHub Repo: https://github.com/Kuberwastaken/backdooms

Hosted Version (with significant improvements) : https://kuber.studio/backdooms/ (conveniently, my portfolio comes up if you remove the /backdooms which is pretty cool too :P)

Itch.io Version: https://kuberwastaken.itch.io/the-backdooms

Hacker News Post

Game Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QWPr10cAuGc

Said Research Paper Citation by Dr. David Noever (ex NASA) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/392716839_Encoding_Software_For_Perpetuity_A_Compact_Representation_Of_Apollo_11_Guidance_Code

DevBlogs: https://kuber.studio/blog/Projects/How-I-Managed-To-Get-Doom-In-A-QR-Code

Said LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7295667546089799681/

Original source:

[fereldanwench]

i'm still holding off final judgement until the gameplay today, but seeing some stills on twitter kind of helped me solidify what i found so off-putting about the style in the companion trailer

although before i post those, a few counter arguments because i'm already tired of ppl bashing the ppl who aren't vibing with it, and my head is clear enough to put these thoughts down:

"cinematic trailers rarely look like the actual game" - true to a point. however: 1) typically cinematic trailers strive to look like a higher definition version of the game, which seems to be the opposite here. in the case of DAO and DA2, i would say the cinematic trailers actually strived for more realism, not stylization, as that was the trend at the time. 2) this is a cinematic trailer, but it is also done in the game engine so it's not unreasonable to assume that the end product is gonna look somewhat similar 3) this was supposed to be their best foot forward so suddenly going "don't worry, it's gonna look better in-game" is just a bad marketing move. it's not on the audience to give this company the benefit of the doubt (particularly in light of all the shit that has gone down there in the past decade)

"not everything has to be super realistic!" - agreed! not liking elements of this particular style doesn't mean i'm opposed to stylization in DA at all. i think DA2 is much more stylized than DAO, and not only does it look nicer, it looks more distinctly dragon age. DAO visually is also very generic, especially for its time. i still love the almost painterly look of DA2, even all these years later

and i think DAI has issues with the character models, especially the uncanny valley disconnect between the really stiff animations and realistic faces (having played it within the past year, they've aged pretty roughly), but in terms of environment and armor and whatnot, it did build off the style presented in DA2 in a way that effectively modernized it for that era. it did go for a more realistic look, but it was cohesive and still distinctly dragon age

"people reacted like this to DA2 and DAI's trailers too" - no, they did not, lmao. DA2's trailers were the reverse--they looked more realistic than the actual game. now there was some backlash against the stylistic choice in the actual game. i remember david gaider talking about it in a panel at dragon con in 2012--apparently ppl were upset that the companions looked like they were made with cosplayers in mind, which i thought was an interesting criticism. but no, the trailers did not get this sort of response.

and DAI's trailers used a lot of in-game footage, and the cinematic ones were both pretty accurate to the game and well-received by the audience. DAI's marketing was also absolutely bonkers and nonstop for like 9 months before the game was released, which in hindsight i think was way too much, but in terms of visuals, we knew exactly what we were getting.

"you guys just think anything with a style to it looks like fortnite" - lmao, okay, yeah, describing it as fornite is probably unfair and inaccurate, but i know for me, i kind of use it as a shorthand to reflect my general dissatisfaction with the way so many 3D styles (in both games and movies) just have this bland, cartoonish look to them. the pixar-ification of everything. i just don't like it.

and the logo with the bright purple and overly smooth text doesn't really help here either. i think a less saturated and darker purple paired with a grungier font would also help in making this feel like less like fornite season 3458345: dragon age avengers.

plus it was originally gonna be a live service game and i think that it still has some of that dna artistically

SO ANYWAY

these stills, which i think are also in-game engine but im not entirely sure if they're from cinematics, gameplay, or just renders but they seem to be in-line with the trailer:

and seeing emmrich and to a lesser extent neve in these pics solidified why the stylization didn't work for me on a visual level (never mind it being paired with the light-hearted planning-for-a-silly-little-heist vibes)

so when i first saw the trailer, and i saw varric, i was like "nice"

he looked like a higher definition, older version of a DA2/DAI hybrid of his model. he looked really good. i thought harding looked good, too. it did take me a minute to realize who she was, but it really wouldn't be a DA trailer if we weren't left wondering who tf a returning character was lmao (remember the confusion over alistair's appearance in one of the DAI trailers? this is actually tradition now)

but as the trailer goes on, the style doesn't even stay consistent--it just gets progressively more cartoonish right up to emmrich, which is the exact moment that made me go WHAT

he looks like a cartoon character. the hard lines in his face, the stiffness of his hair, his overall proportions--he looks like he should be a villain in a pixar movie. like i'm digging his overall vibe and as a concept of a character design, i love it. but this execution of it next to fellow old wrinkled man varric looks so off

and then we go right into davrin who is beautifully rendered and designed--he doesn't look out of place next to varric or harding

some characters have the soft, wispy hair while others have hair that looks like a hard shell with lines carve into it. some characters have finely detailed wrinkles while others have thick, cartoonish ones. some characters have realistic proportions while others have more exaggerated features.

stylization is only effective when it's purposeful and consistent, and from what i've seen so far, it's not. it's all over the place.

so there's my thesis about why i dont like the art direction in the trailer lmao

and like i've been saying since it dropped, i am reserving full judgment for the gameplay reveal, but based on the other stuff bioware has teased, i'm not expecting this aspect to change too much. i've seen other ppl who were on the fan council thing say the tone in the game is more in-line with the tone in the other games, so maybe that'll help smooth out this disconnect

[dailycharacteroption]

Junk Technomancy Technomancer (Technomancer Alternate Class Feature)

(art by David Bonilla on Artstation)

Perhaps one of my very, very favorite things about the Starfinder technomancer class and their spells is how well they integrated technology and magic together, (in the spells at least, the magical hacks are kinda hit and miss for me) and nowhere else is this clearer than in the “junk” spells. Junk spells include those that either transmute nearby junk into a form usable by the mage, conjure junk usable for the former as their primary function or as a side effect, or that utilize already transmuted junk in a new way.

It began in the core book with the various junkbot spells, which were a stand-in for summoning until they perfected that with Alien Archive, but as more books came out, we got junk armor, junk swords, barricades, grenades, extradimensional shelters, and even the ability to detonate junk or transmuted creations!

It only makes sense, then, that there would be technomancers that specialize in these sorts of spells. They might be self-taught mystical tinkerers using the most readily available resource they know of in low-income neighborhoods, or they might be enthusiasts that see the ruined beauty and functionality in what others deem worthless.

Regardless of where they come from or how they feel about these things, only a fool would underestimate a junk technomancer just because their arsenal is all secondhand. It may not look pretty or be as sturdy, but they can squeeze surprising amounts of power out of what others cast off.

In exchange for having a cache and cache capacitor, these techno-mages specialize in junk spells, learning junk armor and junksword immediately in addition to their normal spell allotment, as well as upgrading to higher level versions of junksword as they gain levels (the text suggests that junk armor upgrades as well, but that spell doesn’t have variable level. It’s just a first level spell. A mistake on the author’s part?) Additionally, they can cast either one of these spells once a day without expending any energy.

Their junk spells also prove just a little bit better, their armor becoming tougher, and their transmuted creations lasting longer.

Given their focus on cobbling together contraptions than programming, they also focus on engineering rather than computers.

Finally, they improve their junksword and junk armor to allow for upgrades, their armor gaining an armor slot which they can install an upgrade into, and their junkswords able to incorporate a fusion seal the technomancer has on hand into their design.

The junk spells of a technomancer are versatile, ranging from defense to attack to utility, but they all require scrap electronics to work, which is why spells that conjure junk, be it the junk shards attack spell or the fabricate junk cantrip are very important for when you venture beyond junkyards, broken-down slums, or easily-smashable tech labs. That being said, you also still have all your other spell slots to diversify for those times when junk is not available and conjuring some would waste precious seconds. In any case, the focus on junksword and junk armor does mean the build expects you to be at least partially a melee build, so your spell and feat selection could probably do with options that tilt melee combat in your favor, such as debuffs and battlefield control options, to say nothing of enhancing your own combat prowess.

The versatility of junk spells cannot be denied, but one must also remember that no only are these creations temporary, but they render the junk used in them inert to any more castings of the spell, valuable only for their use as scrap. As such, I imagine that many of these technomancers also enjoy making longer-lasting creations as well, possibly from the junk they’ve spent on previous castings of their magic, incorporating components harmlessly into the whole of a project.

Strange attacks have been happening in the upper city, with people being slain by beams of light from invisible foes. The culprits are a group of lurkers-in-light, led by a lightweaver. However, confronting the fey in the upper city will be nearly impossible without first causing a blackout. The simpler option would be to track them to their dark undercity lair, home to junkers of all descriptions.

Most would consider Visak’s Folly, a debris field of derelict ships left over from the last great war, to be a poor place to forge a community, but for the xulgaths that dwell there, it is a golden opportunity. So much salvage to recover and sell. Many of them take up technomancy as well, turning the scrap that surrounds them into tools and weapons, the latter especially one those that attempt to muscle in on their claim.

It wasn’t the plentiful resources or the verdant wildlife that attracted Polgan to the colony world of Pillar, it was the ancient superstructure that gave the planet its name. Attempts to explore or survey it have been met with disaster before, but the young technomancer is certain that with his junk magic and know-how he can make the attempt alone and self-sufficiently. Such is the foolishness of youth.

[fishwingdev]

I spent a lot of time recently on non-visual work recently, which is hard to demo. I've revamped my asset & sprite atlas engine to allow states to filter/specify which assets they want to load into a shared sprite atlas. This shared atlas (a single giant image containing all the sprites I might want to draw) is used with a batch rendering engine to greatly reduce the amount of resources it takes to run the game. It's currently sitting pretty at ~30MB of RAM. Most importantly, this work required me to fork the pixel v2 library to support this batching with the built-in text package. After that, I did the work to render the opponent health in combat, and got rid of the debug text rendering. It looks much better now!

Next up, I want to continue to add UX features to combat to make it easier to see what's happening (and what's happened), and add the tempo counter.

[zpuaacapstone]

Update #3 (Part 1)

This'll be progress for the past week, since I went over Update #2 close to the 18th. I'm technically finished with the necessary elements to my Game Design Document. Any changes to it will be a result of edits. I've finished reading Jenny Harder's Creative Character Design for Games and Animation, which has helped greatly with the overall character design process and what I should be looking for when sketching.

Overall, since technically I'm the client and the briefing & character description is done, I'll do a style guide, the iterative sketching phase, the lineart + flat color and expressions, the color iterations, and the final render.

For the game section, the "sandbox" in RPG Maker MZ, where I've been inputting plugins to see what works and what didn't, has also been finished. These are the plugins I'll be including, as follows:

To summarize, the features are:

A title screen made of custom graphics.

A parallax mapping plugin.

"Gab windows" that are message windows where the player can move as they appear.

Sound effects for dialogue text (like in Undertale).

A plugin that allows for character bust images in dialogue.

Smoother game camera.

Weather effects.

A custom menu system excluding the program's default "Status" and "Equipment" features.

"Skills" assigned for each playable character on the map, to be coded with my common events.

A "Proximity Compass" that serves as a major navigational feature in the game.

I'll have to rethink some mechanics, but at least I have a slightly better grasp at how Javascript works.

Writing the narrative script has also begun, with the introductory cutscene as well as some character establishment having been typed out. It's currently on Google Docs, and I usually have a more screenwriting-related format since I took a course on screenwriting years ago.

Perhaps I'll put in edits while putting this dialogue into the game engine, and try to make it seem less stilted and full of information dumps. Some hurdles is that now that I have a better grasp at how long each task will be, I'll have to edit my Workback Plan accordingly. It's less than a week left of February, and I want to have at least 95% of what I wanted finished before March to be done, which is made harder by delays. At least by now, the pre-production is ending and the production phase has begun.

[cubikcadd03]

Revit Architecture Online Training - cubikcadd

Revit Architecture Online Training - cubikcadd

In today’s fast-paced design and architecture world, staying ahead of the curve requires mastering the right tools. One of the most powerful and widely used software platforms for architects, engineers, and construction professionals is Autodesk Revit. If you’re serious about elevating your skills and advancing your career, enrolling in a Revit course can be a game-changer. This blog will explore the benefits of taking a Revit course, what you can expect to learn, and why it's essential for anyone in the design industry.

What Is Revit?

Revit is a Building Information Modeling (BIM) software developed by Autodesk that allows architects, engineers, and construction professionals to design, visualize, and manage building projects in a 3D environment. Unlike traditional CAD software, Revit is more than just a drawing tool. It enables users to create intelligent models with real-world information about materials, structures, and systems, providing a holistic approach to design and construction.

Why Take a Revit Course?

A Revit course is crucial for professionals who want to maximize their productivity and accuracy in design. Here are a few key reasons why learning Revit is a smart investment in your future:

1. Industry Standard

Revit is an industry-standard BIM software widely used in architectural firms, engineering companies, and construction projects worldwide. Employers often seek professionals proficient in Revit, making it a valuable skill on your resume.

2. Improve Design Efficiency

Revit allows you to work smarter, not harder. By learning how to use the software’s advanced features, such as parametric modeling and automatic updates across the project, you can significantly reduce the time spent on revisions and manual updates.

3. Enhance Collaboration

Revit supports team collaboration with ease. A Revit course will teach you how to work with cloud-based models, enabling multiple users to access, modify, and update a single project file in real-time. This is especially important in large projects where coordination between different disciplines (architecture, structural engineering, MEP) is crucial.

4. Create Detailed 3D Visualizations

One of the standout features of Revit is its ability to generate highly detailed 3D models and visualizations. By enrolling in a Revit course, you’ll learn how to create photorealistic renders, walkthroughs, and simulations, helping you and your clients better understand the design before construction even begins.

5. Better Project Management

Revit’s intelligent data system ensures that every part of your model is interconnected. This allows for accurate cost estimates, material takeoffs, and construction timelines. A Revit course will show you how to use these tools to improve project management, ensuring projects stay on time and within budget.

What Will You Learn in a Revit Course?

From basic to advanced, a well-designed Revit course usually covers a wide range of topics. The following summarises what you can anticipate learning:

1. Introduction to BIM and Revit Interface

You’ll start by getting familiar with BIM concepts and the Revit interface. This includes learning about tools, menus, and how to navigate the software efficiently.

2. Modeling Techniques

The course will teach you how to create accurate architectural models, including walls, floors, roofs, doors, and windows. You’ll also learn how to model structural components and MEP systems, depending on the course's focus.

3. Documentation and Annotations

Learn how to generate construction documentation, such as floor plans, sections, elevations, and details. You’ll also cover how to annotate your drawings with dimensions, text, and other symbols necessary for clear communication with contractors and clients.

4. Advanced Modeling and Customization

Once you master the basics, you’ll dive into more advanced topics such as custom family creation, curtain wall systems, complex roofs, and parametric design, which allows you to create flexible models.

ph : +91-9500024134

Visit our website: https://www.cubikcadd.in/revit-training-in-coimbatore.html

Ramnagar Branch, Coimbatore : https://maps.app.goo.gl/boAyupUoqtda9fXU6 

Saravanampatti Branch, Coimbatore : https://maps.app.goo.gl/xrtknmSk76d8cnQV9 

OMR Branch, Chennai : https://maps.app.goo.gl/HCpHhcFHGdKsPCPx7 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cubikcadd 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cubikcadd/ 

Tiwtter:  https://x.com/CubikCadd

[jessiealston]

How to Safely Use SVG Files in WordPress

SVG files are a popular choice for web graphics, but is SVG supported by WordPress by default? Unfortunately, no. WordPress doesn’t allow SVG uploads due to potential security risks. However, if used correctly, you can safely enable SVG support. For detailed instructions, check out How to Allow SVG in WordPress to add SVGs without compromising your site’s security.

What is SVG and Why Should You Use It?

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is a file format designed for vector images that can be resized without losing quality. What is SVG? Unlike traditional image formats like PNG or JPEG, which use pixels, SVGs are defined by XML-based code. This means they can scale to any size while remaining sharp. How does SVG work? Since SVGs are text-based, browsers render them by interpreting code, making them ideal for responsive websites.

Why is SVG Important for WordPress?

SVGs offer unique advantages, especially when used on a WordPress website. Why is SVG important for WordPress? SVG files are incredibly scalable, which is crucial for responsive design. Whether viewed on mobile, tablet, or desktop, your images will look crisp and clear. Additionally, because SVG files are lightweight, they help reduce page load times, improving both user experience and SEO performance.

Why Can’t You Upload SVG Files to WordPress?

You might wonder, why can’t I upload SVG images to WordPress? While SVGs are useful, they also pose a security risk. Since they are XML-based, they can be manipulated to include malicious code that hackers could use to harm your website. For this reason, WordPress doesn’t allow SVG uploads by default. But don’t worry—there are safe ways to enable SVG support.

How to Enable SVG Files in WordPress?

Enabling SVG support in WordPress is possible, but it requires a few precautions. How to enable SVG files in WordPress? The easiest and safest way is to use a plugin that sanitizes SVG files before uploading them, removing any potentially harmful code. If you prefer a manual approach, you can modify your theme’s functions.php file to allow SVG uploads, but using a plugin is highly recommended to mitigate security risks.

What Are the Advantages of Using SVG in WordPress?

The benefits of using SVG files on your WordPress site are clear. What are the advantages to use SVG in WordPress? SVGs offer superior scalability, meaning they look sharp on all screen sizes without becoming pixelated. They are also lightweight compared to other image formats, which helps your site load faster. Plus, SVGs are text-based, so search engines can read and index them, improving your SEO.

Why Should You Consider SVG for Your Website?

As websites become more focused on performance and responsiveness, SVG is emerging as an essential tool. Why is SVG important for WordPress? Its ability to scale without losing quality ensures your website looks professional and modern on any device. Additionally, faster loading times provided by SVGs contribute to a better user experience, which is a key factor in SEO rankings.

Conclusion

Although SVG is not supported by WordPress out of the box, you can safely enable it with the right precautions. SVGs provide a range of benefits, from scalability to better performance, making them an excellent choice for modern web design. To learn how to safely add this functionality to your WordPress site, follow this guide on How to Allow SVG in WordPress.

[davidmariottecomics]

Copyrights and Wrongs, Part 4 (A.I.)

Greetings! 

We come, at last, to the end of our discussion on copyright (for now)! And we're talking about it specifically in relation to "Generative A.I.", a buzzword for copyright theft tools! And, hopefully, if you weren't feeling secure with your understanding of copyright before now, you'll be feeling pretty groovy after this and will be able to submit an informed and thoughtful comment to the Copyright Office's A.I. study, where they are requesting public comment--particularly from those most affected by A.I.--to help determine their future policy on it. 

Where We Are Right Now

Honestly, like most things in the world, it's kind of a mess with a ring of hope. 

First and foremost, remember that all of this is new and at the beginning of legislation, so from a legal standpoint, they're playing catch-up to the technology, which isn't uncommon. It's also happening at a tumultuous time in the U.S. as the country is dealing with the coupling of increased facism (hey, fuck KOSA) and unyielding capitalism. It's almost like those things are all related in some way... 

The Copyright Office has started fielding submissions of A.I. generated material, and so far their general policy seems to revolve around a matter of substantial contribution. So, obviously, there was that really terrible comic that made the rounds a while back, and that I alluded to last week, that was one of the first big test cases. It was fully "illustrated" (stolen) by A.I. with original text written by the "creator" and submitted to the copyright office. Initially, it was registered, then modified as the A.I. component became clear, and ultimately the copyright was registered for the original text, but not granted for the visual component.

But, my understanding is that there have been works that use a similar enough model or technology or "A.I." that have been easily registered with the copyright office because the amount of technological contribution was minor. For example, if a similar tool was used to intuitively do color flatting, but the final color rendering--all the final tones, effects, shading, etc--was all done by the artist, that wouldn't pop. Or if an artist created 95% of a work and fed their own piece into an engine that then finalized that last 5%, that might not pop. And I think the essential difference, that they're currently recognizing, is the distinction between a human being putting in their own work to create something that is copyrightable and using "A.I." as a tool in the process of creation and a tool being left to fully create the "new" work. 

Meanwhile, a number of lawsuits have been filed and are in various stages of processes, which is where the frontlines of the battle are being fought. A lot of the claims are being brought specifically on the basis of copyright violation (and a few cases of trademark violation). For probably pretty clear reasons, creatives of all sorts are saying "hey, fuck this noise, you took my work without permission and your robot is allowing people to inherently copy it for their own benefit, without payment or attribution." 

The complication--and the reason why we need clearer directives put forth from the Copyright Office, as well as some legal wins to better define case law around this--is that the A.I. developers are basically claiming that:

1. They don't actually have the data. Either the way their system functions, they don't actually keep it on hand, they just let the program go wild online or through whatever they at one point used to train it and they don't know how exactly it chooses what it does, but it just goes and makes something and there's so much information in these systems that you wouldn't actually be able to prove whether it used your thing or not.

2. Along those same lines, since they have so much data, if you can't definitively prove that your work was taken, that you suffered damages, your lawsuit should just be dismissed. Doesn't matter if your work turns up in Book3 and was probably torrented to get there (which... if we could prove that would actually get most of this stuff thrown out as violation because the FBI says you wouldn't steal a car! Nah, but, really, if we could prove that the way the works were obtained to fuel the datasets was illegal, that'd be a huge boon to these cases), if you can't prove that your work has specifically been violated because, well, they have 183000 other books it could've stolen from, the case doesn't have clear standing and should be dismissed.  

3. That they are not inherently responsible for how their technology is used by consumers. Basically, your work being in their dataset does not cause harm by itself and any damages that may result from your work being in the set are actually the responsiblity of the person who, say, used "A.I." to write like a Sparknotes-esque summary version of your book. The company didn't ask the program to write that, the user did, and if the user then sold it, the responsiblity rests with them. 

4. That it's fair use. Basically, as long as they're using publicly available data, or data submitted by the users with the *understanding* that they are knowingly submitting their own material, the resulting generation is a transformative work. We're going to put a pin in this one and come back to it. 

Current Caselaw

Naruto v. Slater et al is a particularly bizarre case that has a lot of weight in this fight at the moment. It's a really wild little story about a nature photographer who went out to take photos. He stepped away from one of his cameras for a minute and a crested macaque named Naruto picked it up and took some selfies! The photographer printed them in a book of his and said "look at these monkey selfies!" PETA said "Hold on! That monkey deserves restitution! He took those selfies and holds that copyright, not you, hoo-man!" And so they sued on behalf of Naruto. And the judge said "Well, no. I'm not giving a monkey copyright. He's a monkey and copyright is something that goes to works with human authorship." Following this case, the Copyright Office issued directives claiming "only works created by a human can be copyrighted under United States law, which excludes photographs and artwork created by animals or by machines without human intervention" and specifically lists "a photography taken by a monkey" as something that doesn't count. Now, whether Slater, the guy who owned the camera, actually owns the copyright on Naruto's selfie is a little... ambiguous. The court's dismissal of the case definitively says Naruto doesn't own it, but it doesn't specifically say Slater actually gets to maintain it or if the image just doesn't have copyright. 

But I bring all of this up because, again, this is the standard that the Copyright Office currently follows. They're looking for human intervention and they're looking for substantial contribution. 

Author's Guild v. Google, Inc also comes up a lot, particularly in the fair use defense. And it's one that's... tricky. Basically, you know how you can look up a book on Google and often there's a little thing on the side of the screen that lets you read the first like 20-ish pages (I looked up House of Leaves for an example, and they'll let you preview 77/738 pages). Well, authors said "they're copying our books without permission, that's a violation of copyright." And Google and the courts said "no, it's transformative. They aren't doing it in competition with the books, they're creating a new way of access that refers back to the original work in market purposes, not a supplanting version of it." And this is the exact sort of precident that makes these current proceedings really legally rough. Like, it is understood and appreciated as a function of Google (well... old Google, not post-"A.I." Google...) that it is a search engine and that for it to work, it needs to be able to conduct searches based on the information it's given and be able to post results for ya. And that means taking what's publically available to it to search, which often includes copyrighted material. Now, the exact nature of how they "transform" copyrighted material into more easily searchable material is something that gives me pause--I do feel like there should be more of an opting-in from the copyright holders--but I can see how the court came to the conclusion it did. 

The bigger issue is, of course, that this is one of the big cases that "A.I." developers are using as justification of fair use. The data sets they're using are essentially acting like Google--searching through existing material like a search engine--but with a new result at the end which is transformational of the original information. There are a couple of differences here that I think disclude that premise, but again, pin in that for a second. 

Feist Publications, Inc., v. Rural Telephone Service Co. is a really interesting one in this whole discussion too. This case was about a telephone book. Short version: both Feist and Rural made telephone books. Feist covered a larger area than Rural. Feist ldecided to print a phonebook with a dozen areas all in one. They contracted with 11 of them, but Rural held out, so Feist just copied the names and numbers and printed them anyway. Rural said "that's infringement" and the courts said "no, they're just printing facts. There's no significant creative authorship to the phonebook, and a set of factual data can't be copyrighted." This one's important on two fronts. First, it's one of the major cases that begins the definition of threshold of originality. Basically, there needs to be some actual creative thinking involved in making a copyrightable work, but it requires actually trying to inject thought into the result and make it distinct from existing works, not just having done the effort of work. That is to say, sure, it took time and work to originally compile the phonebook, but it is organized alphabetically and just a set of facts and was not arranged in an artistic manner. Second, and something that I think will be interesting going forward, it set that the U.S. doesn't recognize database rights. I will be very interested to see if, say, once competition starts stealing the datasets from some of these bigger A.I. developers, they'll suddenly worry about their own copyright--which actually doesn't exist for those datasets. 

And the last case for right now that I'll mention is Twentieth Century Music Corp v. Aiken. This was a particularly wonky case. A restaurant owner was sued for having the radio on for his customers, under the basis that the radio station had the right to broacast songs and that was fine and good, but the restauranteur did not have the same broadcasting rights within his establishment. And this was a major copyright case. Ultimately, the court decided that, no, having a radio (or TV or whatever) on in an establishment did not inherently violate copyright because it is not a performance of that work. But the really important thing in this case is it definied again the goals of copyright. Copyright exists at the intersection of the authors, the disseminators, and the users. The rulings describe copyright's purpose “to secure a fair return for an ‘author’s’ creative labor'” and “to stimulate artistic creativity for the general public good." And I'd contend, as so many other people are doing right now, that generative A.I. is not securing a fair return for author's creative labor, nor stimulating artistic creativity for the general pubic good. It is engaging with existing, copyrighted material outside of fair use and without return for the original author, and supplanting creativity--both in discouraging existing authors and in flooding the markets with creatively bankrupt material. As Gallup reports, 3 out of 4 Americans believe that A.I. is going to reduce jobs and 80% of Americans do not trust that companies will use A.I. responsibly. 

Transformative Use

Okay, here we are. I've said so much about all of this, but here's the crux of my arguement, at least. The standard for copyright is that to qualify for copyright, materials must meet certain standards of originality, creativity, and fixation. The products of A.I. (and "products" is used particularly pointedly here) certainly qualify for fixation. They can be seen and in some form exist, much as I may personally hate it. But I don't believe they meet the standards of originality and creativity. 

A comparison I have frequently made is that of a blender. You can write a grocery list and by most standards, that's going to fall under the same idea as a dataset. Now, in one version, you can use your expertise to buy your own groceries and combine them to make a meal--taking the time, effort, skill, and your existing or gained in the moment knowledge to create something nourishing. Maybe it goes wrong and you burn something, or maybe you forget a key ingredient, or maybe you decide to experiment and the result is less than appetizing, but it's all a result of your thought and efforts. Now, if that's how you're approaching any sort of creative work--art, writing, music, film, etc--that should qualify for copyright. What "generative A.I." is doing is being fed a grocery list, *somehow* obtaining the items on the list, but in a vague way where they may or may not be the correct items on the list, they may or may not include more or fewer items than on the list, and the legality of how they were brought to you is unclear, and putting them all in a blender. Yes, you get a sludgey smoothie at the end of it, and the smoothies may be distinct in what they put out, but they lack the skill, refinement, and knowledge of even an amateur chef working with the ingredients. They just regurgitate what they're fed, and if you just add a pinch of salt at the end, that's not really doing anything.  

But this only applies to why works created by A.I. shouldn't be copyrightable. The other crucial part is whether they're violating copyright. So much of the defense of fair use relies on the transformative standard. Is the original material being infringed upon? In the first place, let's just say that, as long as we're talking about "A.I. works" as commercial enterprises, most of them are not going to fall under fair use under the standards of parody, satire, or commentary. When we see something like that bad Batman comic I mentioned last time, or the bad "A.I. illustrated" comic I mentioned earlier, those are clearly meant to be taken seriously as new, original works. They aren't commenting on or engaging with existing copyrighted work as a way of making a point. They're seeking to create a new work with existing elements, but particularly in the case of that terrible Batman comic, without a real understanding of the work they're engaging with. The artistic styles are all over the place specifically because the "creator" couldn't be bothered to know whose work he was taking from--and, I'd contend, if he was specifically attempting to copy the works of specific artists in an attempt to replace their work, that also would not fall under fair use standards.

Additionally, to the argument that the developers are making, they say that their databases are so full of information that you can't *really* tell what the original works were, and in that way, they are not a repurposement for the identification of the original work. Which, again, to that bad Batman comic, I think is a really damning defense. I, and many other people in my industry, were able to clearly and recognizably point out what authors and works were being taken from--no, maybe not every work that was being used, but enough that it would generally be considered plagiarism. The products created are meant to be in competition to, not additive to, the original works without acknowledgement of the works that they are taking from.

Judge Pierre Leval has described it as "Transformative uses may include criticizing the quoted work, exposing the character of the original author, proving a fact, or summarizing an idea argued in the original to defend or rebut it. They also may include parody, symbolism, aesthetic declarations, and innumerable other uses." These aren't critiques. They don't expose the character of the original author, provide facts, summarize anything other than the exact work itself, or parody. And they don't make aesthetic declarations, they take and recycle others aesthetic accomplishments. The whole issue is that they claim they're making something new, something different, something worthwhile from whatever data they may have within the system, but the system is a tool. It doesn't have the human recognition to actually synthesize the material and make a transformative work. It just regurgitates what it's fed. 

Final Bits, I Swear

Apparently you can opt-out of Dall-E now, but the process is arduous. So much of what these folks are relying on is making their processes so difficult, people don't engage with them when there is an option to opt-out, and such misinformation and obfuscation on how things are created that it's difficult to identify when your work may be used, and for the public to understand how the work is being harvested. 

I'm supremely frustrated with companies like Disney who keep using "generated A.I." in their promotional materials. I'm also disappointed in shows like Last Week Tonight where John Oliver and crew shared a bunch of A.I. generated Johns that had been posted to Reddit. Like, Disney's a company that has literally changed copyright law in the U.S. to suit their purposes. John Oliver's only now back because the writer's strike is over, where the writer's won protections of their jobs against A.I. Like... the hypocrisy is astounding and disappointing that they cannot square their own desire for copyright protection with protecting others. 

You may've seen the recent A.I. manga lettering debacle (hey guess what, it was bad!). Here's an interesting little conversation with some actual letterers about it. 

Finally... yeah, I do actually think there are uses of A.I. as a tool that are fine. And most of that comes down to being a person who inputs your own data. I think about how Pixar has a "character generator" that works on these same principles, where they drew a bunch of base features and fed them into a system and the system helps them animate by populating backgrounds with characters who have random combinations of those features. But, that works off of stuff that the Pixar animators put in. Or, again, fairly similarly, I know meteorlogists have talked about how this sort of system can be really helpful in taking the data they've recorded and helping them predict upcoming weather patterns. But these are so vastly different from how bullshit like ChatGPT or Dall-E or any of these other scam machines are being operated and I just wish people could understand that. 

I think that's it for this week! Don't forget to submit your own comments on the Copyright Office's study and also to say fuck KOSA to your senator! 

What I enjoyed this week: Blank Check (Podcast), Craig of the Creek (Cartoon), One Piece (Manga), Pokemon Violet (Video game), The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon (Book), Sex Education (TV show), Only Murders in the Building (TV show), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video game), Wipeout (TV show), Whisper of the Heart (Movie), Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (Movie) 

New Releases this week (10/4/2023): No new books from me this week.

Final Order Cut-Off next week (10/9/2023): Godzilla Rivals: vs. Mechagodzilla (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog: The IDW Comic Art Collection (Editor)

New Releases next week (10/11/2023): Sonic the Hedgehog #65 (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog Halloween Special (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog: Seasons of Chaos TPB (Editor) 

Announcements: I'm still doing a member drive over on my Patreon! You can read about it in a public post there! If you join, renew, or updated to the Feature Fan ($10) tier or above, you're going to get a Mystery Comic Grab bag! And as a patron, you're going to have a bit more choice on what all it is! All the info is on there, so if you're curious, please do give it a look! And it'll be going through all October!

If the Patreon isn't your cup of tea at this time, or you wanna do more of a one-time donation, from Oct 3rd to the 18th, so right now, I have 2-3 comic Mystery Bundles in my Ko-Fi store! Same premise as the Patreon--there'll be a bundle for grown ups and one for kids. They're pay what you want with a $15 minimum. If you send $25 or over, I'll ship you a trade paperback too!

It will be US only on both the Patreon and Ko-Fi just because shipping internationally's very expensive right now. But, for international folks, I will put together a nice little digital goods bundle for ya!

Wanna support me otherwise? I'm on Ebay, there's my webstore, or you can support Becca through their channels! Good news: We don't need a new laptop! But your support is still appreciated because we, like so many other folks right now and I get it, are kinda struggling. 

Pic of the Week: OOO, been a while since we've done one of these! The pic of the week is Becca's Rouge the Bat, over on Bsky! And big ups to Michelle Perez for encouraging everyone to do more Rouges. But the one I'm posting is the promo for my membership drive/Ko-Fi sale! Y'know how I'm always talking about advantages of the Patreon? They've got a different pic of the week! 

[ectomoog]

The Ecto Moog Vanilla Experience

Updated for 1.20.4

I’m the unwilling user of a MacBook Air, and I’m also someone with strong (picky) preferences for ✨vibes✨, and so to play Minecraft casually on my laptop, I’ve had to jump through several hoops to achieve what I would consider a good vanilla experience.

At this point though, I’ve put probably too much time and effort into it, and so I thought to justify that I’d make a beginner's guide to all the mods, resource packs and game options I use, as of February 2024 (1.20.4). 👇

I will attach a hyperlink to any resources I mention :)

Mods

Ok so to start off, yes, I technically I don't actually play true vanilla Minecraft, but the mods I have installed are all client-side, and for the purpose of improving or optimising the vanilla experience. You can find me and a list of (almost) all these mods on Modrinth.

Fabric & Modrinth (Intro)

To mod the game, I use Fabric. I know that Forge has had some… drama? recently, and I’m gonna be honest I’ve never tried Quilt (I will at some point), but Fabric is super widespread, tons of mods use it so it works just fine for me 😁. When I’m looking for mods, I really prefer to use Modrinth, just because I can follow everything and it’s a really well designed website. (I also tried their launcher but I think it needs a little work?)

As part of Fabric, I do have the Fabric API in my mods folder.

Performance & Optimisation

I use these mods are to make the game run better. Minecraft is notorious for being very poorly optimised, and these mods have been made by a ton of very talented people to fix that.

Sodium

JellySquid’s Sodium is the hot optimisation mod right now for rendering and graphical fixes. It doesn’t have the cosmetic features of Optifine, like dynamic lighting or zoom, but it’s super compatible and gives me great performance. Combined with my other mods, at a 15 chunk render distance in the overworld, I averaged around 50 fps. For a MacBook, that's not bad at all.

To accompany Sodium I've also got Indium, an add-on that provides support for the Fabric Rendering API, which is required for mods that use advanced rendering effects, and Reese's Sodium Options, which adds a better options screen for Sodium’s video settings- it looks better basically.

Lithium

Lithium is a general purpose optimisation mod that improves systems like game physics, mob AI, block ticking, etc without changing vanilla mechanics.

Starlight

Starlight rewrites the entire lighting engine to fix performance and errors. Made for bigger servers, but helpful for client users. I think this is in place of Phosphor.

Dynamic FPS

Dynamic FPS can reduce the game’s FPS when it’s just running in the background- useful for a laptop.

Some more specific optimisation mods:

Entity Culling avoids rendering entities that aren’t directly in your field of view, which is much more thorough than the vanilla approach.

Ferrite Core reduces the memory usage of Minecraft in a ton of different ways.

Immediately Fast optimises how things like entities, particles, text, GUI are rendered, by using “a custom buffer implementation which batches draw calls and uploads data to the GPU in a more efficient way.”

I'm not a programmer so I can’t really explain what Krypton does, something to do with networking stacks, but I know it optimises.. things, lowers server CPU usage and reduces memory usage. I’m barely following along with a lot of these mods.

Fabric Language Kotlin is a dependancy that enables the use of the Kotlin programming language for other Fabric mods. To be honest, I’ve forgotten what mod needs this but I don’t want to delete it, just in case.

Experience

These mods aren’t necessarily about performance, but they do enhance the game in a vanilla kind of way, in my opinion. Some of these could be up for debate but I do think they compliment the base game.

Lamb Dynamic Lights

Lamb Dynamic Lights is a simple but thorough dynamic lighting mod that adds light-emitting handheld items, dropped items and entities.

Zoomify

Zoomify is a super configurable zoom mod. Maybe this is just because of Optifine’s influence, but i think they should add zoom to the base game. At least I feel cool using it 😎

To make Zoomify work, you’ll need, YetAnotherConfigLib, a config library that fills in a couple of holes.

Better F3

Better F3… makes the F3 menu better. There’s the option to customise literally everything, you can colour code, shift and delete parts of the menu depending on your use case, it’s less insane and looks a whole lot better.

MiniHUD

MiniHUD allows you to display customisable F3 lines on the main screen, along with several client-side overlay renderers. I just use it for the mini-F3, and I have my FPS, coords and cardinal direction in the top left corner. It’s honestly more helpful than you’d assume.

MiniHUD requires MaLiLib (masa’s Litemod Library) which is a library mod for mods made by masa and others.

ModMenu

ModMenu adds an in-game menu where you can view the mods you’re running and access their details and setting menus.

Shulker Box Tool Tip

Shulker Box Tool Tip adds a preview of the inside of a Shulker box when it’s in your inventory.

Some more specific experience mods:

Bobby is a rendering mod that allows the player to render more chunks than a server’s fixed distance, by loading in previously generated chunks saved client-side. You can also render them straight from a singleplayer world file. To be honest, I don’t often run into this issue but it’s helpful to have lol.

Cloth Config API adds a config screen for mods in-game.

Iris is a mod that makes shaders super easy, and compatible with Sodium. It's down here because I don’t use shaders often, but it’s essential if you do.

A lot of these mods are subject to change as I find better or updated alternatives, and I'm always on the lookout for more 😁

Resource Packs

For vanilla Minecraft, I actually only use one resource pack, but if you’re familiar with Vanilla Tweaks, you’ll understand why this deserves its own category.

This resource pack allows you to pick which small changes you want to add, and a lot of them are really cool. Some of my favourite tweaks are:

Dark UI

Quieter Nether Portals

Circular Sun and Moon

Numbered Hotbar

Golden Crown

The other tweaks I have are: Classic Minecraft Logo, Lower Warped Nylium, Lower Snow, Lower Crimson Nylium, Lower Podzol, Lower Paths, Lower Grass, Wither Hearts, Ping Color Indicator, Borderless Glass, Lower Fire, Lower Shield, Transparent Pumpkin, Noteblock Banners, Quieter Minecarts, Variated Unpolished Stones, Variated, Terracotta, Variated Stone, Variated Logs, Variated Mushroom Blocks, Variated End Stone, Variated Gravel, Variated Mycelium, Variated Planks, Variated Bricks, Random Moss Rotation, Variated Cobblestone, Variated Grass, Random Coarse Dirt Rotation, Variated Dirt, Darker Dark Oak Leaves, Shorter Tall Grass, Circle Log Tops, Twinkling Stars, Accurate Spyglass, Unique Dyes, Animated Campfire Item, Red Iron Golem Flowers, Brown Leather, Warm Glow, Horizontal Nuggets, Different Stems, Variated Bookshelves, Connected Bookshelves.

Game Options

For the sake of the full experience, here's the important game options:

The End 😇

And that's the whole thing! A lot of this could change at any moment based on my play style, but I think this is a really well rounded experience for vanilla Minecraft. Let me know if there's anything else I should try 😁

[nickgerlich]

Point And Search

Back in the Stone Age, meaning when I was growing up and trying to do “research” for high school and university papers, the only way we could search for something was in the card catalog at a library. The Dewey Decimal System was our best friend—well, it was basically all we had—and if this handy numerical indexing didn’t help us, we were just out of luck.

Of course, search is an expectation, an entitlement, of the modern era. We take it for granted. We do it so many times each and every day that we probably could not even begin to count them all.

Unknown to many people is that the first search engine of this era was not Google. It wasn’t Yahoo, Lycos, Ask Jeeves, or any of the others. No, it was Archie, launched in 1990 by a graduate student at McGill University. It motivated others to think in this realm, and a slew of competitors arrived on scene in due time. It wasn’t until 1998 that Sergey Brin and Larry Page wrote the code for what they then called Back Rub, which quickly morphed into the Google we know and love today.

You’re welcome for the trivia point. Play that card wisely at a cocktail party.

In the two-and-a-half decades since, Google emerged as the dominant force. The other early search engines have faded into the rear view, most defunct, the others seldom used. New search engines have arrived in recent years to carve small niches for themselves, but today Google maintains about a 90% share of the market. It’s the default on all Android devices, and most iPhone users don’t even realize that when they do a search in Safari on their phones, it too is accessing Google. Score one point for a virtual monopoly on mobile search.

But search has also evolved considerably through the years. Once upon a time, framing a query was critically important (it still is, but Google can read our minds better these days). You had to use quotes and plus or minus signs and a variety of delimiters. It’s much easier now, though. Google has been using AI for quite a few years now to predict what we’re going to type next. Furthermore, its ancillary services, like Google Maps and YouTube, also act as search engines. It pretty much owns the search eco-system.

The arrival of Open AI’s ChatGPT caused Google to have to put on its big boy and girl pants, because suddenly the world changed…again. ChatGPT allowed people to search in a different way, one that could write lengthy tomes about a subject. The old days, if you will, of all the blue links on a search query result page were suddenly rendered questionable at best.

Straight out of the gate, though, Google tripped and fell with its Bard me-too service, and laughably so. Its stock endured a sucker punch—albeit temporary—because of it. But they have since cleaned themselves off, and launched new AI search that piggybacks nicely with its other services, and will allow folks to get far more accurate results than just entering text. It’s only available to certain Android users right now, but I suspect it will be unleashed to the rest of us soon enough.

Think new and improved phone search, something it already had in place, either in its Google Translate app, or in its standard search engine. Heck, even reverse image search uses AI, but many people do not know about its existence, much less how and when to use it.

But now those select users will be able to circle and annotate images to seek information. They will also be able to point and click their camera in real time to do the same, much as my daughters and I did in Beijing to translate subway signage, which was critically important for us trying to get around.

So why is this important? Simple. It all amounts to the user experience (the UE) being maximized, which then will translate into ad revenues. In Q3 2023 Google’s ad revenue was $76.7 billion. Your eyeballs are important. Very very important. And if Google had not seen fit to up its game in AI search, someone else would have. After all, Microsoft owns a huge piece of OpenAI, and could quickly make its Bing search engine actually competitive with Google.

All of which means that the way we search is soon going to undergo another paradigm shift. Just like evolving from a physical card catalog system—oh, the nightmares—to online search, now we will be moving on to a more visual type of search. We do not need 2.3 million results either. We need nuanced answers to our questions.

Sure, there will always be text-based search, because some things are simply not conducive for visualization. But for those that are? This is golden. Imagine standing just south of El Capitan on US 62, and doing a search based on the amazing mountain your phone’s camera sees. You could get everything you need to know about one of the least visited National Parks in the US. No fluff, no garbage results. Just the story about that mountain and the park in which it is located.

The applications are endless. Scribble on that image if you want more granular information. Zoom in. Do whatever. Our jobs are getting easier, but since Google is a for-profit company, they still have to monetize everything they do. The ads will keep coming, but at least we will be able to search more efficiently.

Sure beats having to dive into that card catalog.

Dr “Search Me” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[jediplinth]

Did Acrobat offer free editing?

I ask this because I was one of the original engineers who worked on Acrobat in the 90's and there was a distinction at that time between viewing and creating/editing PDFs. The reason was that (1) Adobe wanted to make money so giving away everything wouldn't work and (2) Adobe wanted PDF to be adopted so they tried to make it easy to view documents.

But let's take a moment and talk about why the general problem of "editing PDF" is so challenging. The file format for PDF is an object-based text format that is derived from the PostScript programming language. This is a language that uses postfix notation for all operations. So instead of writing, say "3 + 4" you would write "3 4 +" or more precisely "3 4 add". The problem with PostScript for documents is that it's a full programming language which is Turing complete, which means it can computer anything we think is computable. It also means that it's prone to the halting problem, which is "how can you determine a priori if a program will halt". That's a problem when you're trying to read a document because page 16 might have an infinite loop on it. PostScript printers can get away with this because they have something called "page timeout" and "job timeout" both of which are acceptable in a printer but not in a desktop app.

So PDF uses syntax similar to PostScript, but it has no looping and you can't define functions, so it's guaranteed to halt.

What happens on any given page is that the page has an element called Contents which is supposed to be a stream of operators that might look like this:

BT /F0 12 Tf (This is some text) Tj ET

which means Begin Text, set the font to F0 which is a named font resource in the page to size 12 (Tf is the operator) Write the text on the page (Tj) and End Text.

The problem is that there is nothing from stopping you from writing this:

BT /F0 12 Tf (This ) Tj (is ) Tj (some t) Tj (e) Tj (x) Tj (t) Tj ET

which is equivalent, but not identical.

Another issue is that the file format is very tricky to get right. Nearly everything is based on where the objects lived in the file. So something that sounds simple like "remove a page" can be devilishly hard. Imagine taking a fishing net loaded with fish, cutting out all the sections of the net that have barnacles on them, picking up the net and putting it down somewhere else without losing any fish.

So things that *sound* simple may be very very hard. For example, just extracting the text from a page is a real pain in the ass. I worked with the guy who wrote that code and it's...OK, but it was not easy to do because we kept finding reasonable examples that broke it.

Some 20 years later, I wrote a modern toolkit for reading and writing PDF and it took me a long time to figure out how to do text extraction better than the original code. I'm going to explain it and maybe you'll understand it, maybe not, but it will give you a sense of the task.

First you create a bounded space. Then you "render" a page. Every time you hit a text operator, you bundle up all the elements that describe the text which includes the text, it's encoding, the font and size of the text, the transformation matrix, and the bounding quadrilateral. You throw it at the bounded space and divide it into quadrants around the text. This process is building a 2 dimensional spatial tree. Every time you throw another piece of text, you either resubdivide the space, you find that the text is "close enough" to text in the space to join it together in fragments. Lather rinse repeat until you're done with the page. So when you're done, by walking the quad tree you get all the text off the page in fragments that group logically together. Next step is to sort the page into reading order. But wait - what's the reading order of the page? Depends on the language or languages in which it is written.

And ta-da, you now have the text extracted from the page. Want to correct a typo? Sure - go for it, but that is, how we say, non-trivial because where a word is in the stream of operators may be a profound effect on the rest of the page. The general solutions are hard.

When I wrote my toolkit, I focused on (1) making the API I surfaced easy to use (2) hiding the details of the PDF spec (3) making it performant and (4) making it easy to maintain.

One of my favorite things that I did was make a piece of code that could take an existing PDF and and a JPG, decompose the JPG into pixels and drop a rectangle annotation on the page for every pixel in the image. In doing this, I found that my code could do that correctly in a second or so. That's laying 4000ish rectangle annotations and rewriting the document (remember the fishnet?). It took Acrobat MINUTES to open the document. I could open it in well under a second with my code.

tl;dr - anything that involved writing PDF had a price tag put on it at Adobe. The PDF spec is amazingly flexible - it's meant to represent anything you can put on paper. It is devilishly hard to do simple things with PDF - it was more or less designed to be write-only.

[techstuff19]

Core Web Vitals Optimization for Front-End Developers

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, website performance is no longer just a luxury – it's a necessity. Google's Core Web Vitals (CWV) provide a crucial framework for measuring and improving user experience, impacting both search engine rankings and business success. For front-end developers, mastering CWV optimization is crucial to building high-performing, user-friendly websites.

Understanding Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals consist of three key metrics that directly measure user experience:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures loading performance by tracking how long it takes for the largest content element (image, text block) to become visible within the viewport. A good LCP should be under 2.5 seconds.

Interaction to Next Paint (INP): Measures a page's overall responsiveness to user interactions, like clicks or taps. It reflects the time taken for the page to respond to the worst interaction delay throughout the user session. An optimal INP is less than 200 milliseconds.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures the visual stability of a page by tracking unexpected layout shifts during loading. A low CLS score (ideally less than 0.1) indicates a stable layout, ensuring a smooth user experience.

Optimizing LCP for faster loading

Image optimization: Compress images using modern formats like WebP or AVIF and implement lazy loading for images that are below the fold. Ensure the largest images, particularly hero images, are optimized and prioritized by explicitly setting width and height attributes in the HTML. Consider preloading critical images early using the tag.

CSS and font optimization: Inline critical CSS for above-the-fold content to avoid render-blocking requests, and defer non-critical CSS. Use font-display: swap; in your CSS to display a fallback font while the custom font loads, preventing a flash of unstyled text or invisible text.

html

<!-- Preloading a critical image -->

<link rel="preload" as="image" href="hero-image.webp" type="image/webp"> 

<!-- Optimizing images with fetchpriority and lazy loading -->

<img src="hero-image.jpg" alt="Hero image description" width="1200" height="600" fetchpriority="high">

<img src="lazy-loaded-image.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Lazy-loaded image description" width="800" height="400">

<!-- Inlining critical CSS -->

<style>

/* Critical CSS rules for above-the-fold content */

</style>

<!-- Using font-display for better font loading -->

@font-face {

  font-family: 'CustomFont';

  src: url('custom-font.woff2') format('woff2');

  font-display: swap; 

}

Use code with caution.

Server response time and network optimization: A slow server can significantly impact LCP. Utilize a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to serve content from servers closer to your users, reducing latency.

Eliminate render-blocking resources: Minimize or defer the loading of JavaScript and CSS files that block the rendering of the main content.

Improving INP for better interactivity

Minimize JavaScript execution: Reduce the amount of JavaScript running on the main thread. Use code splitting to break down large bundles and defer the loading of non-critical scripts with async or defer attributes. Consider using web workers to offload heavy computations to background threads.

Optimize event callbacks: Reduce the processing time of event callbacks by removing unnecessary tasks and deferring non-critical tasks, ensuring faster response times to user interactions.

Leverage caching: Implement robust caching strategies, including browser caching and server-side caching, to store resources locally and reduce server load, contributing to a better INP.

Reducing CLS for a stable visual experience

Specify dimensions for media elements: Always set explicit width and height attributes for images, videos, and iframes in the HTML. This reserves the necessary space and prevents layout shifts when the elements load.

Reserve space for dynamic content: Allocate space for dynamically loaded content, such as ads or social media embeds, using fixed containers or the min-height CSS property.

Optimize font loading: Preload critical fonts using to ensure they are available when the page renders. Use font-display: optional; for web fonts to avoid layout shifts if the font is not immediately available.

Use performant animation techniques: Utilize CSS transform and opacity for animations rather than properties like width or height that trigger layout recalculations.

Tools for monitoring and debugging

Several tools help front-end developers measure and optimize Core Web Vitals:

Google PageSpeed Insights: Analyzes a page's performance and provides actionable suggestions for improvement.

Google Search Console: Offers a Core Web Vitals report to identify pages needing improvement.

Lighthouse: A comprehensive auditing tool integrated into Chrome DevTools that assesses performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices.

WebPageTest: Provides advanced testing and analysis with features like waterfall charts and multi-step transaction testing.

Chrome DevTools: Offers a suite of in-browser developer tools for real-time monitoring, debugging, and performance profiling.

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Conclusion

Optimizing Core Web Vitals is an ongoing process that requires careful planning, implementation, and monitoring. By understanding these crucial metrics and leveraging the right tools and techniques, front-end developers can build faster, more engaging, and visually stable websites that rank higher in search results and provide exceptional user experiences. For robust and high-performing front-end development, consider partnering with experienced professionals. Most companies choose to hire front end developers to elevate your web presence.