#eliminate render blocking

[gimmick-blog-bracket]

oh no

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Every complex ecosystem has parasites

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me at NEW ZEALAND'S UNITY BOOKS in AUCKLAND on May 2, and in WELLINGTON on May 3. More tour dates (Pittsburgh, PDX, London, Manchester) here.

Patrick "patio11" McKenzie is a fantastic explainer, the kind of person who breaks topics down in ways that stay with you, and creep into your understanding of other subjects, too. Take his 2022 essay, "The optimal amount of fraud is non-zero":

https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/optimal-amount-of-fraud/

It's a very well-argued piece, and here's the nut of it:

The marginal return of permitting fraud against you is plausibly greater than zero, and therefore, you should welcome greater than zero fraud.

In other words, if you allow some fraud, you will also allow through a lot of non-fraudulent business that would otherwise trip your fraud meter. Or, put it another way, the only way to prevent all fraud is to chase away a large proportion of your customers, whose transactions are in some way abnormal or unexpected.

Another great explainer is Bruce Schneier, the security expert. In the wake of 9/11, lots of pundits (and senior government officials) ran around saying, "No price is too high to prevent another terrorist attack on our aviation system." Schneier had a foolproof way of shutting these fools up: "Fine, just ground all civilian aircraft, forever." Turns out, there is a price that's too high to pay for preventing air-terrorism.

Latent in these two statements is the idea that the most secure systems are simple, and while simplicity is a fine goal to strive for, we should always keep in mind the maxim attributed to Einstein, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." That is to say, some things are just complicated.

20 years ago, my friend Kathryn Myronuk and I were talking about the spam wars, which were raging at the time. The spam wars were caused by the complexity of email: as a protocol (rather than a product), email is heterogenuous. There are lots of different kinds of email servers and clients, and many different ways of creating and rendering an email. All this flexibility makes email really popular, and it also means that users have a wide variety of use-cases for it. As a result, identifying spam is really hard. There's no reliable automated way of telling whether an email is spam or not – you can't just block a given server, or anyone using a kind of server software, or email client. You can't choose words or phrases to block and only block spam.

Many solutions were proposed to this at the height of the spam wars, and they all sucked, because they all assumed that the way the proposer used email was somehow typical, thus we could safely build a system to block things that were very different from this "typical" use and not catch too many dolphins in our tuna nets:

https://craphound.com/spamsolutions.txt

So Kathryn and I were talking about this, and she said, "Yeah, all complex ecosystems have parasites." I was thunderstruck. The phrase entered my head and never left. I even gave a major speech with that title later that year, at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference:

https://craphound.com/complexecosystems.txt

Truly, a certain degree of undesirable activity is the inevitable price you pay once you make something general purpose, generative, and open. Open systems – like the web, or email – succeed because they are so adaptable, which means that all kinds of different people with different needs find ways to make use of them. The undesirable activity in open systems is, well, undesirable, and it's valid and useful to try to minimize it. But minimization isn't the same as elimination. "The optimal amount of fraud is non-zero," because "everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." Complexity is generative, but "all complex ecosystems have parasites."

America is a complex system. It has, for example, a Social Security apparatus that has to serve more than 65 million people. By definition, a cohort of 65 million people will experience 65 one-in-a-million outliers every day. Social Security has to accommodate 65 million variations on the (surprisingly complicated) concept of a "street address":

https://gist.github.com/almereyda/85fa289bfc668777fe3619298bbf0886

It will have to cope with 65 million variations on the absolutely, maddeningly complicated idea of a "name":

https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/

In cybernetics, we say that a means of regulating a system must be capable of representing as many states as the system itself – that is, if you're building a control box for a thing with five functions, the box needs at least five different settings:

http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/REQVAR.html

So when we're talking about managing something as complicated as Social Security, we need to build a Social Security Administration that is just as complicated. Anything that complicated is gonna have parasites – once you make something capable of managing the glorious higgeldy piggeldy that is the human experience of names, dates of birth, and addresses, you will necessarily create exploitable failure modes that bad actors can use to steal Social Security. You can build good fraud detection systems (as the SSA has), and you can investigate fraud (as the SSA does), and you can keep this to a manageable number – in the case of the SSA, that number is well below one percent:

https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF12948/IF12948.2.pdf

But if you want to reduce Social Security fraud from "a fraction of one percent" to "zero percent," you can either expend a gigantic amount of money (far more than you're losing to fraud) to get a little closer to zero – or you can make Social Security far simpler. For example, you could simply declare that anyone whose life and work history can't fit in a simple database schema is not eligible for Social Security, kick tens of millions of people off the SSI rolls, and cause them to lose their homes and starve on the streets. This isn't merely cruel, it's also very, very expensive, since homelessness costs the system far more than Social Security. The optimum amount of fraud is non-zero.

Conservatives hate complexity. That's why the Trump administration banned all research grants for proposals that contained the word "systemic" (as a person with so-far-local cancer, I sure worry about what happens when and if my lymphoma become systemic). I once described the conservative yearning for "simpler times," as a desire to be a child again. After all, the thing that made your childhood "simpler" wasn't that the world was less complicated – it's that your parents managed that complexity and shielded you from it. There's always been partner abuse, divorce, gender minorities, mental illness, disability, racial discrimination, geopolitical crises, refugees, and class struggle. The only people who don't have to deal with this stuff are (lucky) children.

Complexity is an unavoidable attribute of all complicated processes. Evolution is complicated, so it produces complexity. It's convenient to think about a simplified model of genes in which individual genes produce specific traits, but it turns out genes all influence each other, are influenced in turn by epigenetics, and that developmental factors play a critical role in our outcomes. From eye-color to gender, evolution produces spectra, not binaries. It's ineluctably (and rather gloriously) complicated.

The conservative project to insist that things can be neatly categorized – animal or plant, man or woman, planet or comet – tries to take graceful bimodal curves and simplify them into a few simple straight lines – one or zero (except even the values of the miniature transistors on your computer's many chips are never at "one" or "zero" – they're "one-ish" and "mostly zero").

Like Social Security, fraud in the immigration system is a negligible rounding error. The US immigration system is a baroque, ramified, many-tendriled thing (I have the receipts from the immigration lawyers who helped me get a US visa, a green card, and citizenship to prove it). It is already so overweighted with pitfalls and traps for the unwary that a good immigration lawyer might send you to apply for a visa with 600 pages of documentation (the most I ever presented) just to make sure that every possible requirement is met:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/2242342898/in/photolist-zp6PxJ-4q9Aqs-2nVHTZK-2pFKHyf

After my decades of experience with the US immigration system, I am prepared to say that the system is now at a stage where it is experiencing sharply diminishing returns from its anti-fraud systems. The cost of administering all this complexity is high, and the marginal amount of fraud caught by any new hoop the system gins up for migrants to jump through will round to zero.

Which poses a problem for Trump and trumpists: having whipped up a national panic about out of control immigration and open borders, the only way to make the system better at catching the infinitesimal amount of fraud it currently endures is to make the rules simpler, through the blunt-force tactic of simply excluding people who should be allowed in the country. For example, you could ban college kids planning to spend the summer in the US on the grounds that they didn't book all their hotels in advance, because they're planning to go from city to city and wing it:

https://www.newsweek.com/germany-tourists-deported-hotel-maria-lepere-charlotte-pohl-hawaii-2062046

Or you could ban the only research scientist in the world who knows how to interpret the results of the most promising new cancer imaging technology because a border guard was confused about the frog embryos she was transporting (she's been locked up for two months now):

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/horrified-harvard-scientists-ice-arrest-leaves-cancer-researchers-scrambling/ar-AA1DlUt8

Of course, the US has long operated a policy of "anything that confuses a border guard is grounds for being refused entry" but the Trump administration has turned the odd, rare outrage into business-as-usual.

But they can lock up or turn away as many people as they want, and they still won't get the amount of fraud to zero. The US is a complicated place. People have complicated reasons for entering the USA – work, family reunion, leisure, research, study, and more. The only immigration system that doesn't leak a little at the seams is an immigration system that is so simple that it has no seams – a toy immigration system for a trivial country in which so little is going on that everything is going on.

The only garden without weeds is a monoculture under a dome. The only email system without spam is a closed system managed by one company that only allows a carefully vetted cluster of subscribers to communicate with one another. The only species with just two genders is one wherein members who fit somewhere else on the spectrum are banished or killed, a charnel process that never ends because there are always newborns that are outside of the first sigma of the two peaks in the bimodal distribution.

A living system – a real country – is complicated. It's a system, where people do things you'll never understand for perfectly good reasons (and vice versa). To accommodate all that complexity, we need complex systems, and all complex ecosystems have parasites. Yes, you can burn the rainforest to the ground and planting monocrops in straight rows, but then what you have is a farm, not a forest, vulnerable to pests and plagues and fire and flood. Complex systems have parasites, sure, but complex systems are resilient. The optimal level of fraud is never zero, because a system that has been simplified to the point where no fraud can take place within it is a system that is so trivial and brittle as to be useless.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/04/24/hermit-kingdom/#simpler-times

[kharla-k]

At great personal expense (3 Module Data Blocks) I got Kal'tsit's Integrated Strategies module for testing purposes.

I can safely say, if there was any doubt, that it makes an already powerful unit stronger, and is better than the other modules when applicable. Full stop. I could end this post here, but I like running my mouth and will now explain why.

Kal'tsit is an obviously powerful unit to any who use her, a semi-subpar medic that comes with a fast redeploy centurion. She can easily fulfill the roles of laneholder, bosskiller, blocker, tank, and interceptor, all on the same map with proficient usage. However, there are of course downsides, weakness, and limitations that help keep her in check: - The centurion, Mon3tr, can only be healed by her, and she will prioritize healing it and herself over anything else. When forgotten it's possible for this detail to lose a map, especially when she decides topping off herself is more important than Cuora dying to poison mist. - Secondly, Mon3tr occupies a second deployment slot, which can be a hindrance and on certain levels hard to justify over bringing an actual medic and an actual guard. - Lastly, as Kal'tsit cannot deal with enemies by herself, and Mon3tr cannot be deployed without Kal'tsit, it renders the combo a relatively expensive DP investment of 30.

These issues are often even more sore in Integrated Strategies; - If she is your only healer, it can prove disastrous to try and depend upon if she or Mon3tr take any damage, chip or heavy. - You can be extremely limited by deployment slots midway or late into a run, and a unit that requires two deployment slots to function can be a bad investment and rendered useless. - IS stages are prone to attacking quick and ramping up quicker, and trying to accrue 30 DP when enemies are already engaging is rough.

Despite that, due to Mon3tr's egregious stats and Kal'tsit's outrageous skills, she can pull ridiculous weight and is often a great pick in IS due to her insane role compression. She can fulfill nearly any role outside of anti-air. So if we look at her new capabilities via the new module in relation to these issues, the first two of her main drawbacks have been completely eliminated: - She heals a target on top of Mon3tr or herself, nullifying her weighted targeting (and making her heal way better when at full health). - There's no longer a deployment slot issue, giving Mon3tr even more incredible utility.

These alone, in my mind, would be enough to make the module the ideal pick in Integrated Strategies, as Kal'tsit's flaws that the gamemode exacerbates are completely patched. From the perspective of making her better suited for the gamemode (and ignoring how bizarre an IS-only-module is), it does a good job of making her feel better to use and addressing the issue of incidence.

Also, it's completely broken and objectively the best choice (it's not even close) because on top of that it also gives Mon3tr the stats of a 7* crusher that goes insane with any form of scaling: - +50% Max HP (5048 -> 7572) - +50% ATK (1317 -> 1975) - +50% Healing Received

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Erin Reed at Erin In The Morning:

The assault on transgender adult healthcare has long been a quiet undercurrent in right-wing circles—now, it's breaking into full view. Anti-trans organizations have floated raising the age limit for care to 25 for years, and GOP architects of youth care bans have been explicit: the real goal is to eliminate gender-affirming care entirely. Donald Trump himself has vowed in the past to target trans healthcare “at any age.” Now, with a new letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) circulating to clinics nationwide, the first formal warning shots have been fired. Transgender adults should take notice—and prepare. The infrastructure to strip their care is already being built. According to a recent CMS letter, clinics across the country are being warned against providing gender-affirming care to individuals under the age of 21. “Federal financial participation (FFP) is strictly limited for procedures, treatments, or operations for the purpose of rendering an individual permanently incapable of reproducing and, under 42 C.F.R. 441.253(a), is specifically prohibited for such procedures performed on a person under age 21,” the letter reads, citing a 1978 regulation restricting federal funding for sterilization. But gender-affirming care for adults rarely meets that definition. Many transgender men and women retain the ability to have children after temporarily stopping hormone therapy, and fertility counseling is routinely offered. When sterilization does occur, it is not the goal of the care—it is an incidental outcome of treatment meant to alleviate gender dysphoria. More troubling is the use of this decades-old regulation to pressure health care centers into dropping transgender care for adults. The expansion of restrictions to include people up to the age of 21 follows a recent Trump executive order barring gender-affirming care for anyone under 19—a category that includes legal adults. Although that order has been blocked in multiple courts, hospitals have still used it to justify halting care for this population. Now, the CMS letter is having a similar chilling effect: Planned Parenthood of Arizona has “paused” gender-affirming care for all adult patients. This is a deeply alarming development, especially considering that Planned Parenthood is the largest—and often the only—provider of transgender adult healthcare in many parts of the country. It appears increasingly likely that the Trump administration is preparing to target transgender adult healthcare nationwide. In his campaign video, Trump stated he intends to investigate gender-affirming care for transgender people of any age. At the same time, reports indicate the Department of Health and Human Services is preparing to release a junk science review targeting both transgender youth and adults, with one internal letter referencing plans to study the “chemical and surgical mutilation of children and adults.” The warning signs for transgender adults are blaring: when Republican legislators say behind closed doors that their goal is to end gender-affirming care “for everyone,” and when figures like Michael Knowles call for the “eradication” of transgender people at CPAC, this is what it looks like when those words begin turning into action.

The Trump Regime’s war on trans people’s existence has expanded to adults, and they seek to ban gender-affirming care entirely, with attacks on GAC services for trans adults coming under the microscope.

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

This week, word got out that the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was looking to hire “world-class talent to work long hours identifying/eliminating waste, fraud and abuse.”  It turns out that people had a lot of ideas about who should apply for those jobs. Elon Musk and his team of 19-24 year old tech minions have been bulldozing through federal agencies, hacking into sensitive data, shutting down USAID, threatening federal workers with termination, and a host of other illegal and questionable activities. Protests against Musk and DOGE erupted in cities nationwide. Now, the hiring site join.doge.gov has become a focal point for the outrage as people submit mock applications.  Hitler, Mussolini and Franco all “submitted” applications. One comment quipped “There’s a lot of out-of-work fascists since WWII.” Under qualifications, their applications mentioned things like “good at getting rid of bureaucratic red tape” and “leader in downsizing populations.” Cruella De Vil (using the email hatespuppys@disneyvillainsunited.com) let Musk know that she has experience in breaking up Black/white relationships, views DOG(E)s as part of her brand, and has conducted round-ups before. Ebenezer Scrooge, though ineligible for being a British citizen, nonetheless lauded his world-famous “penny-pinching” and “ruthless cost-saving measures” and “willingness to work on holidays.” The Grinch wrote, “I stole Christmas. What more do you need?” At one point, the website threw up blocks to prevent online attacks. It’s back now (in case you were wondering).

This flood of spam comments and fake responses to the DOGE hiring site is one of many similar campaigns aiming to overwhelm hotlines and emails.  A Missouri government tip site for submitting complaints about gender-affirming care was taken down after people overwhelmed it with rambling anecdotes and the “Bee Movie” script. Similar protest emails have been sent to the Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, which is trying to get reports of noncompliance with their anti-trans efforts. Sending messages to defendingwomen@opm.gov, people are attempting to use a flood of complaints to prevent snitching from targeting federal workers upholding trans inclusion. After the Trump administration warned federal employees of “adverse consequences” for not reporting colleagues resisting orders to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, citizens began submitting false reports to the special email account: DEIAtruth@opm.gov. Here’s one example: “A man named Donald Trump is doing affirmative action for billionaires and oligarchs against the mandate to stop hiring minority groups.” Another campaign has been emailing the DOGE Caucus and suggesting that they cut the military budget or SpaceX contracts instead. (DOGE itself has no publicly available emails, but people can contact this pro-DOGE group at: doge@mail.house.gov) The tactic of spamming websites, emails and hotlines tries to render them inoperable, or at least inconvenient, to those trying to use them to report or repress resistance. These kind of tactics have been used numerous times, often to great success. In 2021, Reddit users supported striking Kellogg’s workers by crashing the scab hiring website. In 2022, a teen coded a program to help other teens spam a tip line for reporting critical race theory being taught in schools. In 2024, Utah and Indiana’s snitch lines on bathroom accessibility was overwhelmed with hoax reports. Humor and rebellious defiance play an important role in these bleak times. The fake applications aren’t just about jamming up the system. They’re returning a sense of agency to people, affirming their humanity and unleashing a bit of much-needed laughter. 

Click the link at the top to read the rest.

[pleucas]

Would you ever consider doing a colouring tutorial?

Heyooooooo

I've done a coloring post before (a few months prior), but somehow, my coloring/painting process has changed a lot since then lol. I'll give a breakdown of my process (and go into specifics on coloring) here, but please do take it with a grain (or a spoonful) of salt... I'm still very much learning, and though you can use my process as a guide, experiment on your own to find what works for you! This post got a little long I'm ngl so. open at ur own risk. it's really just me rambling and being a bit too pretentious for my own good

using my recent post as an example, my process is basically just:

first i get a clean sketch (after many hours of pain finding detailed references lol), not gonna go into that since you asked abt coloring

then i immediately go to block out shapes over the sketch. For big paintings, I don't do lineart (because i find that it eliminates a lot of depth that can be achieved with shapes and shading) — for smaller sketches and pieces, i'll do lineart tho.

I started darker to lighter in this painting because I knew I wanted harsh light. For me, it's a lot easier to project "additions" onto a surface — ie, if there's a harsh light, that's the addition vs. a shadow in neutral lighting as the addition. dunno if that makes sense, but breaking tones down like that helps me understand how i want to chronologically color smth and choose my bases:

for example, since I knew I was gonna have harsh light here, I felt comfortable with just getting the tones for my shadows down immediately. There won't be many midtones due to how extreme I saw it to be, so there was no point in finding a neutral base tone.

how i choose colors varies from painting to painting, but for this one, I decided to lean purple-blue because skk are just one of many red and blue gays (same reason why most of my other skk works lean red-blue-purple), and also because I knew I wanted my light to be on the warmer side — thus, the shadows and unlit areas will be cooler.

i also wanted it to recede (to emphasize the perspective and for depth), so for the base colors, i made them cooler + darker as they went back. This wasn't as clear in the finished product, but i think it did a good job at reminding me the vibe i wanted as i rendered

By how much I've written for this step, I guess you can assume that it's the step I put the most consideration into — and you'd be right. I think base colors really determine the vibe, and it sets you up for the rest of the painting. Sometimes I have to color adjust my bases over and over (with hue adjustments, color balance, curves) until I'm satisfied. I think that satisfaction is obtained w/ more ease as I've painted more and more. Alongside the sketch, this step takes me quite a while. Sometimes it's fun to mess with really wild color combos, but that's another topic.

Then I block out the lighting, which is probably the most drastic step but also somehow the quickest for me. Once you understand how light affects color (warmth, tone, etc) and you gain confidence with it, blocking out values in relation to base tones isn't too hard. That ofc takes practice and a lot of fundamental understanding of Shapes & Colors but there's a lot of stuff online abt the theory specifically from professionals, so I'm not gonna lecture y'all as a fanartist for glorified literary author rpf

then i just start rendering, layer by layer. above is a screenshot i took mid-rendering; at this point, dazai's clothes were basically done but I later worked on the face + hair more and textured the tie.

I try to do the stuff I want people to focus on first, because at least for me, that's when I have the most energy to make smth detailed — the more detailed an area is, the more naturally drawn you eye is to it (this is because the brain likes areas of high contrast, and details are entirely founded on the placement of contrast).

My art has never been too extremely detailed — I enjoy flatter + bigger shapes, styled texturing and silly patterns, but I find that "detail" still translates into "effort". When I look at paintings, it's very clear where someone put most of their effort — and when I can't tell, then I know I have a very confident + experienced artist who can effectively distribute their workflow (goalz). So yeah, I render in my very silly poly style but still keep that in mind.

eventually, I finish rendering. This part is kinda a blur tbh, and it always varies from artist to artist. I'd say the things I keep in mind are:

shape + form (making sure my rendering doesn't mess up gesture or vibes, and that it keeps things loose)

composition (making sure i don't overdo areas where i don't want people to focus on)

and tone (ensuring that the depth and believability of the scene stays intact so that my non-realistic style can work)

I added the bullet because i wanted a reason for the goofy expressions, just a bit more pizazz so that skk's drama was also believable lol. also visual storytelling or whtv (but that's not something i usually prioritize, it mostly comes with the concept and sketch).

I also added the bullet for some compositional spice. the dark shadow on dazai's arms was there to also emphasize the warped perspective, but it also left a weirdly empty vibe that I didn't enjoy lol. So yeah, bullet! and ofc my favorite, weird flowy line pattern thing that doesn't adhere to the laws of physics

I think a lot of my traditional painting experience leaks into my digital painting practice. I don't like lineart too much, and since I mainly work with acrylic, I rely on opaque color blocks, layering, and "carving out" shapes. probably explains my affinity for solid flat brushes in Procreate,,,,, but yeah. It's a little all over the place, but at its core, it's a lot of technical stuff mixed with habits after finding what works for me.

Dunno if this helps at all, or if it was interesting lolol. Thank you for reading until the end if you're still here! I appreciate it. I'm still learning but I've definitely learned a lot since I started this blog so it's exciting to track my progress. I'm sure I'll see this in a few years and laugh lolol.

[comshipbracket]

Antis DNI - Block the tag "comship" if this causes discomfort.

Remember, you are voting for the ship you prefer, not the ship you find more problematic

Propaganda for both ships under the cut.

Disclaimer: All ships (other than the now-eliminated NozoCoco) on this bracket are FOLLOWER-SUBMITTED ships, the Mods do not always hold necessary knowledge to be aware of any errors or fanonizing what should be canon material that may arise.

Aeshaia Propaganda (Species Difference, Age Gap)

"It's their love for each other that kickstarts the main conflict in the show. Strophaia is this powerful being whos been around for longer than… basically everyone, except like. Satan. Ichiro is just some normal person (at first), and yet, Strophaia decides that this human is his favorite. After Ichiro accidentally hurts Strophaia, causing him to retreat to heal, he's… adopted? Kidnapped??? By Shingo, and he becomes Akuma Kun II. But Strophaia wants him back, and Ichiro misses him. It's so bad it causes Solomons Flute to crack over the years, and it's revealed the flute cracks when Ichiro loses someone he loves. They canonically love each other. Ichiro tries to shoot Strophaia with a gun, and Strophaia just giggles. He plays along, then assures Ichiro he knows he'd never try to actually kill him. And Ichiro can't bring himself to kill him. He beats him, rendering him weak enough to lose his physical form, but he doesn't kill him. He loves him too much. They're just. ourghhhhhh"

Elriccest Propaganda (Incest)

"Siblings so Codependent… Who else literally gave an arm and a leg to bind his brother's soul into a suit of armor so he didn't have to lose his only living blood relative (to their knowledge)? And Al was always willing to reciprocate to get Ed's arm and leg back. Inseparable."

[entryn17]

Your art is so striking, I love the painterly quality it has and the use of color! Would it be okay if I asked what your process looks like? (If not, that’s okay! Hope you’re doing well regardless)

AW THANK YOU SO MUCH! yeah sure i don't mind!

i start out by sketching the whole thing and afterwards setting the layer to something like multiply or burn and figuring out what colors i want to put beneath. that one's the lengthiest process especially if i have no idea what i want it looking like, though i often choose contrasting colors. it's a mix of blending different shades and picking something out from that blended mess, playing with effects like soft light and darken and so on.

after that i forgo the lineart completely and merge the whole thing into one layer to start working just on that layer. since i made the sketch dark all i have to do is clean it up when filling in parts of the drawing. i've kinda always hated lineart cause often it turned out much worse than the sketch or lost the expression on a character or the pose was less dynamic so i kinda eliminated it.

the "rendering" is just uh. going with a textured brush and meshing the colors together block by block? or something like that. i am sorry if this didn't help at all because i myself am not even sure what else i can add or how else i could describe it 😭

[theydjarin]

Build an Inquisitor Results & Master Post | Follow Tag

Qunari won the race poll - so it's time to vote on class! I'll include the specializations on here, and I'll use the specialization to drive how I play the social game as well.

Mage

Those who can tap into the raw energy of the Fade and block the whispering temptations of demons are truly exceptional. When they turn that mental focus onto the field of war, they can be truly terrifying opponents. Rains of fire, walls of ice, or even the ability to heal allies make up a mage's toolkit. Most employ considerable skills rendering foes not only weakened, but also vulnerable to physical attacks, setting up opportunities for their teammates to exploit.

Knight Enchanter

These rare mages received special dispensation from the Chantry to serve in battle. They summon blades from the Fade and are experts in protection and defense.

Necromancer

These mages specialize in binding the spirits that are drawn to death. They can put the fear of death into enemies, bring spirits to fight on their behalf, and even cause devastating explosions when their enemies die.

Rift Mage

These mages draw upon the force of the Fade, either pulling matter from the Fade to attack or twisting the Veil itself into a weapon to stagger or crush their enemies.

Rogue

Armed with bows, daggers, and any number of dirty tricks, the rogue's primary focus is damage: tearing foes down one at a time with systematic efficiency. Rogues commonly use a mixture of stealth and mobility to reach positions of advantage, be it a sniper's perch away from enemy blades or behind an unsuspecting mage. Deadly and resourceful, rogues can tip the balance of any strategic assault.

Artificer

These specialists control the battlefield with deadly traps. Neither they nor their explosive mines are ever where the enemy expects them to be.

Assassin

Any rogue can kill a target, but assassins make death into an art form. They specialize in quick, deadly kills that let them slide back into the shadows undetected, or indirect kills that eliminate targets while the assassin is safely away.

 Tempest

These unpredictable experts specialize in using alchemical mixtures that wreathe them in frost or flame. Fast, chaotic, and possibly mad, they wade into the fight and dare enemies to face the storm.

Warrior

Battle-hardened and masters of close combat, warriors are pivotal to any group entering battle. As front-line fighters, they absorb the brunt of opponent attacks, steal enemy focus, and create an opening for deadly ranged assaults from other classes. While some warriors prefer visceral, sweeping damage, many are silverite-clad bulwarks, weathering any blows they don't deflect with their shields.

Champion

These powerful defenders protect their allies from harm, standing strong against devastating blows with expert training and fierce determination. Enemies can't kill them—and usually can't survive them.

Reaver

As the battle gets bloodier, these vicious and deadly warriors get even more brutal. Hurting them just makes them mad, a mistake most enemies don't live to repeat.

Templar

These unrelenting warriors specialize in fighting mages and demons. No enemy's magic can withstand them, and they inspire and protect their allies with their righteous power.

[tdvotes]

Counting the Votes, s6be6

Canoe Believe It? We've reached the final merge of Total! Drama! Counting... the Votes! Today our jousting tournament was taken by the nerd squire. Everybody else was up for elimination. Let's take a look at those votes!

Invincibility: Damien

Marshmallows: Zee, Priya, Caleb, Axel, Ripper, Julia, Wayne and Raj

Final marshmallow: MK

Eliminated: Bowie

Who voted for who and why? Julia told the former Rat Faces that it was Bowie's idea to cheat with the intern costume. MK probably voted with her since she was friends with Julia all of a sudden this season. That makes it 7 votes for Bowie, which renders Bowie, Wayne, Raj and Ripper's votes meaningless. But we're going to do what we always do on this series and figure them out anyway!

Bowie, Wayne and Raj probably voted together for MK for her incessant cheating. But what about Ripper? He spent so much time making out with Axel that it's hard to pinpoint his vote. Even so, he had to have noticed that MK was on the chopping block for cheating. So I'm going to have to go with MK.

My final verdict: 7 votes for Bowie, 4 for MK

But as always, what do you think? Why did Julia pick this episode to send Bowie home? Who did Ripper vote for? And why did the Rat Faces believe Julia when she threw Bowie under the bus? Leave your theories in the notes below.

[kiiamn]

Minecraft in Desmos

Links:

Empty world except for corner blocks to orient yourself. You can place blocks on the invisible floors/walls/ceiling.

Full world with stuff I made while debugging. Very laggy.

Instructions:

Hit 'ctrl+alt+p' then tab to access the controls. Inputs are:

Turning: plain arrow keys,

Forwards movement: 'shift+up'

Jump: 'shift+down'

Change held block: 'shift+right'

Place: 'shift+left' with block in hand

Break: 'shift+left' with nothing in hand

I've been working on this on and off for a few years, and things turned out pretty good I think. I'm pretty sure there's no desmos community on here, but why not, right? Rambling below the cut.

memory

The memory is waaay over engineered. I thought the world was going to be bigger than it ended up being. The bottleneck turned out to be how fast desmos could run rather than the memory.

I still managed to get a 520,000 bit object in desmos, so that's cool. (It could be bigger, I think you can get 540,000 but eh.)

rendering:

The rendering is fairly standard, I generate sides for all the blocks (stored as a point (block, direction)), then kill the ones that face another block. After placing/breaking, I update the sides for the block and all surrounding blocks.

I thought of doing backspace culling, but it didn't seem worth it.

The actual rendering is just a bunch of functions (rotation, translation, projection) then displaying them based on distance from player.

movement/collision detection:

Movement and collision detection were an absolute pain. I'm sooo glad that all the vectors are orthogonal to each other. I can just treat each vector separately and eliminate them when they result in a collision. There's some edge cases that won't work, but that's fine.

Gravity was fine, a bunch of if statements for when you should fall, move and stop.

place/break:

My favorite part is the place/break detection! I'm pretty sure if I was doing this on not-Desmos, we could get the data for which sides are colliding with the centre while rendering, but I can't do that.

2d version here:

You start with a parametric line going from the player to a point one block in front of them. You have t=0 at the player, and as t increases to 1, you linearly interpolate to the point. (If you put a negative number you go backwards, and t>1 goes beyond the point)

You can do basic algebra to find the t value when the line intersects with the gridlines surrounding the player, then sort the intersection-type (horizontal or vertical in 2d) by t value. (ie, how close they are to the player.) (I also remove the points behind the player and too far from them.)

The list can be used to see how the block the line is 'in' changes over t. (If the line crosses a horizontal gridline, the next block would either be above or below the previous one.)

And since a) it's in order, and b) the line always starts from the player, you can find the nth block that the player is looking at by adding the first n translations together.

With that, I can easily find the first block on the list that isn't an air block.

[corrupteddoodles]

infodump away

murder drones ep 8 spoilers

murder drones is an indie animated show by liam vickers and produced through glitch productions, which you may also know for tadc

the main premise of murder drones is thousands of years into the future humanity spread itself all across the cosmos, and made a brand of robot to help them, called worker drones. the workers were mistreated, but it’s not like they revolted and killed all humans, because the humans did that by themselves. the core of the planet copper 9 collapsed, eliminating all biological life from the planet and plunging it into a perpetual winter. the workers picked where humanity left off. the parent company of the workers, jcjehnson (in spaaace!!!) wasn’t exactly happy with the concept of runaway ai, so they deployed a variant of drones to copper 9, the disassembly drones, aka murder drones (!!!) to kill the workers

our main protagonists are uzi, an angsty teen worker drone, n, a rebellious and friendly murder drone, and v, a violent murder drone who puts up with uzi

in the pilot we also meet j. she isn’t exactly very relevant in the show so we’ll just say she’s the leader of the copper 9 squad

in the second episode the main antagonist of the show is introduced, the absolutesolver, a monstrous ai who grew to resent humanity. it mutates in damaged ai and grants its hosts strange powers. one of these hosts is a worker named doll, who lost her parents to v and wants to take revenge. at the end of ep 3 it’s revealed that uzi is another host the solver

in ep 4 we learn about cabin fever labs, which apparently did some funky things to doll and uzi’s moms to cause their weird powers. also uzi overheats and transforms into her solver form yea that’s a thing apparently. large wings and a cool tail. not much lore wise to go off of in this episode but it’s still cool!!

in ep 5 we are introduced to my pookie pie cyn. the basics of this episode reveals that the murder drones used to be workers and have absolutesolver code inside them which allows them to heal and revive cause that’s a thing for some reason, and that cyn was the first absolutesolver host. uzi has to hack into n and v’s memories to block the solver from trying to delete them

we also get more info on a character who was introduced at the end of ep 3, tessa. tessa is one of few human characters who treats the workers with respect and care, and cyn plans to massacre a gala being held in tessa’s parents manor. tessa, despite being warned not to by cyn, ambushes the gala to try and stop cyn. cyn tells her “you didn’t have to see this”. and the massacre is never shown on screen.

in ep 6 tessa as a grown-up appears!!! she, n, v, and uzi all have to head down to an elevator shaft to try and get into cabin fever labs before doll. it’s not said why yet. while they are there, we are introduced to our two main antagonists of the episode. alice, a feral worker who was trapped underground for a long time, and the sentinels, a dingo-esque robot designed to kill any drone, worker or murder. they do this by flashing a big glare of light that renders the drone immobile and unresponsive and then just tears em apart. alice ambushes the crew and along with her adopted child beau just?? tortures them?? for some reason? alice particularly doesn’t like uzi because apparently alice knew her mom nori. there’s also higher stakes in this episode because the absolutesolver is now trying to possess uzi. n and tessa manage to escape but are cornered by sentinels who bootloop (the term for the light) n. tessa tries to control the sentinel but the sentinel bites her and upon tasting her blood, has a bit a fit and ends up breaking its head

uzi and v manage to escape after the sentinels find their way into alice’s little torture room and kill her. the crew meets up after n manages to snap out of bootloop, and then after a bit of sentinel shooting we reach the main climax of the episode. the crew comes up to see doll has been bootlooped with the keybug in hand but WAIT it’s a trap and she puts the keybug into the reader and falls down the cavern into the labs, but not before opening all the doors to allow the sentinels access. v and tessa handle the dingos while n and uzi try to get into the elevator. uzi uses her solver, which causes the ai to be able to brieftly take control and turn the original translate code into a [null] singularity, which is basically a black hole. the solver uses its moment to give n a single message; “MISS ME?” 

after the singularity sort of collapses on itself and disappears, they are left with an entrance to the elevator. tessa, n and uzi all enter while v targets the main priority; the sentinel from earlier who bit tessa and rebooted. this red eyed sentinel targets both drones and humans and also has a murder drone arm for some reason

v is about to laser the dingos head off until she sees another sentinel figure out there’s a battery making the elevator go down, and thus rip it off putting the team at risk. v decides to sacrifice herself by instead using her laser to cut the wires making the elevator go up. her last words are “uzi. i trust you.”

ep 7 starts off with a flashback. it’s shown that nori, uzi’s mother, was an experiment, intentionally infected by humans with the absolutesolver to study it. it’s also shown that there is a cure, a patch, designed to give the host more control over their powers and eliminate the risk of possession by the program itself. cabin fever labs look a lot like a church, this isn’t important i just think it’s cool. it’s also shown that doll’s mother, yeva, is also a host of the solver, who was successfully patched. 

uzi, n and tessa crash down and land in a 

mineshaft and after n says “we won’t hurt you” to uzi, she gets scared. a rockslide starts, separating the 3. n is forced to face trauma hallucinations of v in the past and cyn, and cyn tries to take back control via forcing him to relive memories of him slaughtering humans when he was first converted into a murder drone, along with other murder drones, this thankfully is unsuccessful but he is still dragged through the mines by one of the solver’s tendrils before being saved by a disembodied drone heart who is revealed to be nori. she’s alive‼️‼️ meanwhile uzi finds cabin fever labs and tessa is ambushed by doll, who asks her where the patch is. after some conversation, doll is jumpscared and fatally injured by an important character we’ll see later

nori explains that the absolutesolver is trying to consume and destory planets, humanity, and other absolutesolver hosts. we also learn that cyn is the one who deployed the murder drones and replaced their memories to make them think it was jcjehnson who did

she makes n promise not to tell uzi she’s alive, and he does. uzi learns about her mother and the experiments when she reaches cabin fever labs. she is understandably horrified when doll shows up, horrifically injured and slips on her own oil. her last words are displayed on her visor. “FIGHT BACK”. tessa shows up and attacks uzi, almost successfully killing her until n appears, and asks tessa if she knew about the patch. she’s about to monologue until n cuts her head off, and tessa collapses. uzi is still on the ground. n hands her the patch like “yea that’ll help” until it’s shown that the solver has successfully possessed uzi and destroys the patch. it almost kills n until nori shows up, and thus a very cool fight scene

the solver successfully manages to make n take a hit and sends him flying to the ground. meanwhile it focuses on nori and almost eats her until n tells up at nori and tells her that he and uzi have been “hanging out”. nori is furious and slaps uzi, which manages to make the solver lose control. uzi doesn’t realize nori is nori and kicks her down a large pit leading to the core of the planet. n panics like “THATS YOUR MOM!” and the two just mindlessly scream until they hug together because WOW the horrors

it cuts to tessa’s head rolling towards the pit before it’s stopped and picked up by…tessa? she screw’s her head back on and removes her spacesuit. n and uzi realize something is wrong when doll’s corpse is dragged away and when they turn around they see someone devouring it. we see this person eat dolls heart and slurp it up, and it’s revealed that cyn killed tessa at the massacre and was wearing her skin. in ep 6 tessa wasn’t really tessa. she ambushes n and uzi, attacking them. uzi uses what little time she has to save n and send it flying out of the labs along with the keys to tessa’s spaceship before being dragged into the pit leading to the planets core. the end of the episode shows uzi just floating through space and looking at an imploded planet.

in episdoe 8, it's revealed that j knew cyn was pretending to be tessa, nori's alive, and v's alive!!!! n and uzi have the goal of destroying cyn's heart because the absolutesolver needs a host. the entire episode is awesome fight scene after fight scene so i'll keep it brief. cyn Fucking Dies and the absolutesolver is now melded with uzi, possessing her tail. uzi and n are dating now. j is alive i think and nori and khan (uzi's dad who REALLY likes doors) are back together i think

[whitesinhistory]

Louisiana Officially Disenfranchises Black Voters and Jurors

On May 12, 1898, the State of Louisiana adopted a new constitution with numerous restrictive provisions intended to exclude African American men from civic participation. At this time in the U.S., women of all races remained barred from voting, while Black men had recently gained the right to vote under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The new Louisiana Constitution, however, created a poll tax, literacy and property-ownership requirements, and a complex voter registration form all designed and enforced to disproportionately disenfranchise Black male voters.

The year 1865 included the Confederacy's defeat in the Civil War, widespread emancipation, and the abolition of slavery. All of these developments threatened to overturn Southern culture and social relations, which were based on white supremacy and racial hierarchy. After Reconstruction ended in 1877 and white politicians and lawmakers regained control and power in the South, many efforts were made to restore that racial order through very strict laws that stripped Black people of many of their new civil rights—including the right to vote. In Louisiana, framers explicitly expressed their goal to “purify the electorate.”

When the restrictive voting provisions were first proposed for the 1898 Louisiana Constitution, some white officials expressed concern that the property and literacy requirements would also disenfranchise an estimated 25% of the white male population of voting age. In response, lawmakers drafted a “Grandfather Clause” which created an exception for those whose ancestors were registered to vote before 1867. This clause enabled many illiterate and poor white men to get around the literacy and property requirements. Black people remained blocked because Louisiana laws before 1867 disenfranchised nearly all Black men—especially those who were enslaved.

The 1898 Louisiana Constitution also eliminated the requirement of unanimous jury verdicts, allowing as much as a 9-3 split to still stand as a conviction. Because the U.S. Constitution now prevented states from wholly barring Black people from jury service, this provision was enacted to render small numbers of Black jurors inconsequential. Thomas Semmes, a former Confederate senator and head of the convention’s judiciary committee, praised the provision for success in its goal “to establish the supremacy of the white race in this State to the extent to which it could be legally and Constitutionally done.”

The 1898 Louisiana Constitution eliminated federally enforced voting rules that had enfranchised Black men in Louisiana during Reconstruction. As a result, in a state with 650,804 Black residents, the number of Black registered voters dropped from 130,000 before the new Constitution to just 5,000 by 1900. By 1904, the number dropped to just 1,000.

Throughout the Southern states, disenfranchisement laws targeted Black communities for generations. Louisiana’s 1898 Constitution was revised slightly in 1913, but most of its restrictive language remained until 1972. The non-unanimous jury rule remained in effect for more than a century, until Louisiana voters approved a Constitutional amendment to abolish it in November 2018.

[outpost51]

🧠 and 😭 for the snippet asks hit me with your car

Snippet Asks

[revs engine]

🧠 share a snippet where the character realizes something important

highkey popped off with this sequence but also foxy figuring out Something's Fishy About Victor's Death before frankie is [chef's kiss]

“Dammit,” he hisses. “Damn her. Damn whatever rogue process decided to give me feelings.” The static-touched poof of his tail swings into his peripheral vision as it twitches with his growing discontent, and he glances up. The clouds are so dark they’ve turned day into night, and that’s just what he needs, isn’t it? A nightmarish storm roiling above him to match his mood.

He doesn’t have follicles, he knows he’s just fabric over plastic and silicone and metal, so it gives him pause when he can feel more of his fur standing up; it tingles across his synthetic flesh like the first sip of a fresh soft drink, all carbonated fizz dancing up and down his body. If he was in a better mood, maybe he’d even enjoy it, pop open his chest plate and see if he could guide the pleasurable sting to his wires. But he’s not, and he takes the frustration of it out on a nearby trash can with a rough kick. “And damn the stupid.” He kicks it again. “Fuckin’.” And again. “Rain!” And again.

Light and static render him blind, and it’s like the sky cracks open another can of soda, but much louder, like a gunshot in the night, like a skyscraper humbled, collapsing to its knees in surrender to the small, insignificant thing that creates all other things far more significant than itself.

There is no god to a machine, only man, but the gods of men still like to make themselves known, prove their point that man is not the god of this world by far by kicking man’s silly little creations around.

Foxy chokes like only a machine can as his fans seize all of a sudden — one hell of a lightning strike, he thinks for a moment, and then he can no longer think at all. Burning, tarry smoke seeps through his filter and sits there, festering, searing, and he’s unable to blow it back out, to move his arms to open his chest, and like the skyscraper humbled, he too collapses to his knees in surrender to a force even man can’t control. For all his great significance, there are still things far greater.

There is no god to a machine, but there is to this one, specifically, and if he can just get his phone out of his pocket, he can test his faith that she won’t leave him for dead.

NO SERVICE.

Well played, Mother Nature.

A few of his sensors manage to reboot and he can finally toss the cigarette away; it skitters across the ground like a rock skimming the surface of a lake, sparking instead of splashing and finally comes to rest in the pool of coolant kit left behind.

And ignites.

He has no choice but to gaze into the flames as the rest of his body tries to come back online.

CAUSE DETERMINATION: ACCIDENTAL

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CAUSE: Suspected heat emissions or sparks from welding equipment igniting open container of coolant placed too close to workbench. All other potential fire causes have been eliminated.

Foxy can’t help but to think of the tiny case file he shouldn’t have pried into, but did anyway. Was this really how Victor went? he wonders as he watches the fire creep closer. Another thought slips through behind the first before he can shut the door on it. This was the last memory Frankie had of her childhood. He flinches when it reaches the edge — and stops. It doesn’t explode. It doesn’t spread.

A strong gust of wind blows an old rug off the metal fence blocking the end of the alley. The fire dies beneath it.

Victor wasn’t a drunk. He wasn’t careless. He loved his kid more than anything, and he would have known how to put the fire out, if he somehow fucked up enough to have something flammable near him while working with anything that could create sparks. A cheerful ding precedes the release of his body from the safety paralysis and he yanks his phone from his pocket to tell her she’s right, something is going on—

NO SERVICE.

“Fuck!” he snarls, and it comes out halfway as a sob, and he hates that tiny sliver of vulnerability even more than the lack of service and the impending rain that decides, in that moment, to no longer settle for ‘impending’.

😭 share a snippet that will break our hearts

[cracks knuckles]

She wants to push, but she holds her tongue. If he can extend her the courtesy of leaving a few of her stones unturned, she can leave a few of his where they are, even if they’re in the way. She covers the stone with a blanket and changes the subject, like it was never there. “Your turn to ask me one.”

Monty raises a brow. “That how we’re doin’ it?” Frankie shrugs. “Arright, then. Why’s it called an… illegal decommissionin’, or whatever? Ain’t it still murder?”

Frankie desperately wants to knock the stone from his hands and demand he pick a different one, and when she meets his eyes to silently plead him to put it down, what she finds there isn’t antagonistic, or accusatory, or even judgmental. It’s just a question, a discussion, nothing more. “I–” Her voice catches. It would be easier if it was a fight. She doesn’t know what to do with the diatribe she’s been spoonfed her entire life in any other context but a passionate screaming match, because that’s what it’s always been.

He caps the lacquer and releases her foot. “Do you think we’re alive, Frankie?”

She desperately wants to hide under the covers until the big monster with his big questions far scarier than any teeth or claws goes away. “I don’t… I don’t know anymore.” She averts her eyes, but he cups his hands under her chin and moves closer. “I thought. I thought I knew, I thought I had everything figured out, droids were just droids, AI was AI until it comes untethered, and then it’s dangerous, because it’s–”

“‘Cause you can’t control us,” he finishes for her. “Is Perry dangerous?”

“No, but–”

“Is Chica?”

“I guess not–”

“Foxy?”

“That’s not fair, he–”

“Me?”

Frankie’s heart stops. “Monty–”

The heartbreak clearly etched on his face hurts worse than if he would have just punched her for not having a direct answer. She knows what to do with that. She can punch back, but she can’t break her own heart back at him.

She doesn’t have any right to.

Frankie tries to pull back, but he doesn’t let her go. Monty slides his legs under hers and lifts his knees to slide her into his lap, and it’s that undeserved softness that finally shatters her. “I’m sorry,” she croaks. “I’m so, so fucking sorry.”

“What are you sorry for, peaches?”

The kid gloves with which he’s handling her aren’t soothing at all, not with the roiling storm of self-loathing and disgust raining acid on her already frayed nerves, and it only serves to make her more incoherent until she finally finds her breath again. “I’m just… you and Foxy and Perry and Bonnie and all the rest, you all feel so… human,” she hiccups. “And my whole life I’ve had myself convinced I treated Perry better than everyone else treats droids, but that’s just fucking it, isn’t it? I’m not. I’m still not treating her like I would Sawyer or Russo and she’s been there for me since the beginning, but—”

“But we’re not human, Frankie.”

Her confusion goes up like a brick wall and inertia carries her right into it. “I don’t understand. Bonnie said Dad treated you like humans.”

“He treated us like people, sugarplum. Not humans, ‘cause we aren’t, an’ maybe sometimes I get a lil—”

“Jealous?”

“—sad.” The soft, warm sigh in her damp hair makes her feel like a dick. “I get sad, Frankie, ‘cause one day—” His voice cracks, and he doesn’t have anything to sniffle, but he sniffles regardless. Monty takes another deep breath. “You’re gonna get older, you’re gonna find somebody that can grow old with you, and then you’re gonna die. Or there could be an accident, or somebody’s gonna target you for bein’ a detective, an’ you’re gonna die, an’ I’m still gonna be here, an’ I don’t know what to do with that, ‘cause I’m not human, Frankie.”

She lets him lift her chin, though not without a fight, and the light breeze from the fan above them chills the tears on her cheeks. Her skin feels tight where they’ve dried into salt trails.

It’s okay, you know.

“But it don’t mean I’m not a person.”

That you don’t think of us as people yet.

Before, she questioned the confidence Foxy poured into that ‘yet’.

Now she understands it.

[tenebraevesper]

Five Nights at Freddy's: Nothing Remains, Night 24: Living In A Memory

''Night comes, Freddy let's me keep lights on, but I can't stand. There's knocking like before, Bonnie's at the door. Wake up, Foxy just left. Now, Chica's creeping on me. I can't sleep anymore. What's she waiting for? How beautiful the night can be! I'm never getting any sleep, I'm losing all my sanity! Have you seen what I've seen? How beautiful the night can be! I'm living in a memory, I'm losing all my sanity! Have you seen what I've seen?''

 – Memory by Rockit Gaming ft. Vinny Noose (The Joy of Creation)

xXxXxXx

The door creaked slightly as Springtrap opened it, poking his head into the room. Sam was lying on the bed, fast asleep. He glanced across the room at the other door and the closet that was across the bed, both of which were closed. He sighed and stepped away, closing the door behind him. Rest assured, he didn't want Sam to run from one side of the room to the other trying to keep the Nightmare Animatronics out.

As he walked down the hallway, he felt that it was a bit ironically that Sam didn't mind sleeping in the bedroom that Sammy had hated and feared so much. Obviously, the circumstances were different now, but he had figured that she might've at least attempted to check under the bed and the closet for monsters. He sighed.

Sam's mind doesn't work like that. She knows that, if you want to find an actual monster, you should turn towards your fellow human. You never know what they're hiding.

Slowly, he made his way back to the private room that overlooked the corridors that led to the hidden bedroom. On the desk was a book, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, with Springtrap having managed to get past several chapters in the past few hours. While he didn't have a clock on him, he had figured that it was already well past midnight.

He wanted to continue reading the book, but something was bothering him. He knew that it would've been better for him to work on how to eliminate the Drawkills and Connor. He knew that he couldn't rest until he was sure that he found a solution to this problem, something that would work without making too many sacrifices. His eyes glowed faintly as he marked the page in the book and reached for Sam's backpack that was under the table, taking out the black device that was capable of rendering an animatronic almost completely useless. He didn't activate it, as he knew that, despite being a spirit operating an animatronic suit, he'd be affected as well.

Nevertheless, maybe it is possible to nullify this device's effects?

The purple glow his eyes emitted had grown stronger as he stood up, opening the drawers. He was glad that he and Sam had decided to clean this place up, as it was easier for him to find the necessary tools for this little project.

This device works like a jammer or an interference device, working on a frequency that causes animatronics to have their senses disrupted. If I figure out how to block them or at least lower the effect it has, we could use it against the Drawkills without suffering through the same ordeal as they would. Of course, that would only be possible in the case Connor hadn't decided to make them immune to the device as well.

Springtrap tilted his head as he came across an old, portable radio. He was a bit surprised, having forgotten that he had actually brought a radio here. He snorted, wondering what he was thinking about bringing a radio into an underground location, where the reception would obviously be poor. However, he was curious about whether it still worked. He turned the radio around, popping the lid and noticing that there were no batteries. He searched the drawers for them, remembering that he had seen a pair. After finding them and putting them into the radio, he turned it on, hoping that it would still work.

There was a wave of static as he switched through the stations and adjusted the antenna, but he had finally managed to find one that actually worked and was clear. By the sound of the announcement the host made, it seemed to be a station that played late-night music. He turned the radio off, suddenly hearing footsteps. He turned around, noticing Nightmare Freddy staring at him.

''Tell the others to gather at the Funtime Auditorium,'' he told the animatronic. Nightmare Freddy nodded, leaving. Springtrap then turned back to the black device, with a determined look on his expression. This has to work.

xXx

After placing his tools on the stage, Springtrap turned to the animatronics that had gathered. Nightmare Freddy, with the Freddles, Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Chica, Nightmare Foxy, Nightmare Fredbear and Plushtrap were all eagerly waiting for his instructions, for whatever task he had for them this time. It was a bit unusual, mostly because Springtrap was used to be given weird looks from other animatronics, not to mention the fact that he had been tormented by a replica of Nightmare Freddy, Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Chica, Nightmare Fredbear and even Plushtrap in the pseudo-Hell he was trapped in.

Rest assured, the animatronics that were gathered here bore no ill will towards him and were completely loyal to him. Springtrap sincerely hoped that things would remain that way, having grown a newfound respect for his own creations. He took a deep breath, crossing his arms as he addressed the animatronics.

''You are going to assist me in a little project that should make you immune against this interference device,'' he said as he held up the black device Connor had created. ''It'll be a bit of a trial and error and I will have to shut down your system temporarily to work on it, but I believe that the ending result will be satisfactory.'' He waited for a response, but the animatronics kept silent, having no objections towards his plan. He continued, ''I will have to first test it, though. As you will find out soon, this device will interrupt your system, cutting off all your senses, particularly the auditory and visual one. So, are you ready?''

The animatronics nodded without any hesitation. Springtrap then activated the device. The moment he did that, a wave of static overwhelmed him, followed by a noise that hurt his ears. However, it didn't seem to be as bad for him as for the rest of the Nightmares who were clutching their heads in agony, the Freddles and Plushtrap screeching in pain. He quickly turned the device off. As the Nightmares recovered, they all gave him startled looks, having obviously not expected that it would be this bad. Springtrap couldn't help, but feel bad for them.

''Trust me, once I'm done, the effect this device has on you won't be as bad as it is now,'' he told them. ''Afterwards, I will inform you about your actual task.''

''This task requires us to be immune to this device, doesn't it?'' Nightmare Freddy asked. Springtrap nodded. He exchanged looks with the others, with all of them walking to the nearest wall and sitting down. Springtrap walked over to them and, one by one, shut them down. He then stepped back, staring at them, a strange feeling spreading through his chest.

He remembered then endoskeleton that he had encountered at the Machinations Factory, one that had been tormented by Connor. It was still active, but unable to move, completely at the mercy of the two strangers that found it. Despite being just a robot, it had been clear to Springtrap that it was suffering and he quickly put it out of its misery.

Springtrap shook his head, feeling chills and tried to ignore the memory, but he had to admit to himself that, despite the circumstances of his condition, he was just as much an animatronic as they were. He knew well how it felt being unable to move, being controlled by someone else, damaged by fire and electric shocks, and even losing your limbs and having to replace your entire body with spare parts.

And yet none of that had managed to faze me, Springtrap thought, aware of the irony. He sighed, trying to focus on the task ahead. He already knew at which frequency the Nightmares worked and he figured that there would be a way to, if not block, then at least somehow mute the interference. Maybe… He took out the diagnostic tool, connecting it to the interference device. I could reduce it to just white noise and while they might still sense it, it wouldn't be as bad as it is now. Yes, that should work.

He then walked over to the stage to get a few tools, as well as the radio, and walked back to the Nightmares, crouching down in front of Nightmare Freddy. He then turned the radio on, simply to have some background noise, and payed not attention to the host as he briefly interrupted the pop song that was playing in order to announce the next artist, Nox Arcana.

Let's see… Springtrap removed Nightmare Freddy's mask, tracing down the wires that connected to the various parts of the animatronic. A few seconds later, he heard an eerie, haunting melody playing. He hummed along absent-mindedly, knowing that he'd be stuck here the whole night, upgrading the Nightmares. He wasn't in a hurry, though, despite the possibility that the Drawkills might figure out where this location was and try to break inside. Springtrap snorted, feeling that, even if they had entered the building, they probably wouldn't be able to figure out how to enter any of the rooms not connected directly to the elevator, let alone the hidden area where Sam was currently at. Rest assured, they were safe here.

That's quite ironical… Springtrap shook his head lightly as he reached for the screwdriver. Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental was never a safe place, especially not for its employees or even the customers. The only thing that could've been considered a safety feature would be the electric shocks the animatronics were submitted to and even that didn't work.

His ears stood up as he stopped working for a brief moment, having a strange feeling. He then realized that it was the music and glanced the radio. He had a feeling that he heard it before, and while it probably wasn't the same song and artist, it sounded quite familiar. Or, maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's something different… I mean, can I really trust my own memory? His eyes suddenly glowed as he realized why the song sounded so familiar.

''No way, Scarborough Fair?'' he muttered, a bit startled. It was quite an old song and he was a bit surprised that it was still played on the radio, even if it was a different version of it. Nevertheless, he was a glad to hear it.

''Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Yesterday holds memories in time.''

I knew it… He was aware that it was probably a bit foolish of him to be happy about recognizing something so trivial, but he didn't care. Wait, didn't the verse go 'Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme?'

''Remember me to the one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine.''

He relaxed a little, focusing back on his work. He knew that it wouldn't take long until something happened that would stress him out again, and he wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet he had as long as possible. Something always happens… He shook his head, trying to ignore the uncanny feeling of anxiety that was creeping upon him.

''Tell her to think back upon younger days; Yesterday holds memories in time.''

Would I really be able to say that it's been a while since I had tinkered with animatronics without a care in the world? Springtrap sighed. Those kinds of memories are few and far between.

''And seek yonder crossroads where we parted ways, then she'll be a true love of mine.''

He was well aware that the last time he had actually worked on an animatronic project like this was when he and Henry made Fredbear and Spring Bonnie. It was something they both took pride in, combining their talents to make something great. They both had plans for a successful future, but this happiness didn't last long thanks to his own bitter feelings. Out of the two, he was always the more ambitious one, the one who sought more recognition, who felt that he deserved better.

I never deserved anything. My own desires don't matter anymore due to the pure selfishness I had shown. Springtrap lowered his head. If there was just a way to make things right… Why the hell did it take so long for me to realize what really matters?

''Daddy, what are you doing?''

Springtrap turned around, noticing Elizabeth staring at him with a curious look on her expression. However, she looked a bit reluctant about approaching him. He couldn't really blame her for that, as he had made it clear to her years ago that she should never bother him when he was working, a lesson she obviously never forgot. Springtrap stared at her, with a look of guilt on his expression. He lowered his head.

''I am just making sure that the Nightmare Animatronics won't be affected by this device,'' he explained in a calm and gentle tone, pointing at the black device that was lying next to him.

''Okay,'' Elizabeth muttered, still a bit reluctant about approaching her father, with Springtrap feeling a cold sensation spreading through his chest, tearing him inside.

''Tell her to follow the path to the shire; Yesterday holds memories in time.''

''Lizzy, I'm sorry,'' he said. ''I'm sorry for being so abusive and neglectful towards you. I know that nothing I say or do will ever make things right, but I still wish that there was something, anything…''

''So, you won't get angry at me for interrupting you during work?'' Elizabeth asked cautiously. Springtrap stared at her, devastated, and he shook his head.

''For there she'll find her heart's true desire, then she'll be a true love of mine.''

''No, I won't, trust me,'' he said remorsefully. ''I know that you were just curious, that you only showed interest in my work, and that you wanted to learn something. I know that simply wanted to make me proud.'' He lowered his head. ''I regret what I had done to you and attempting to turn you into a monster like me. I made so many mistakes, and the way I treated you, Michael and Sammy is something I will always regret. I can apologize as much as I want, but nothing is going to change what had happened.'' He sighed, looking up. ''Honestly, I'm just happy that you're here, whether you hate me or not, as I don't even deserve that.''

''No, you don't,'' Elizabeth replied in a quiet tone, her eyes narrowing as she stared at her father. She looked past him at the animatronics, then turned back to him, giving him a questioning look. ''You won't mind then if I watch you working on them?''

''No, I won't,'' Springtrap replied, feeling a bit relieved as Elizabeth approached him. However, that feeling of relief was soon replaced by grief.

He knew that his daughter hadn't forgiven him, and he was aware that this would never happen, but he was still glad that she had shown interest in talking to him, or at least acknowledging him. He felt a sting of guilt as he remembered how, after her death, he had left her here all alone, her soul trapped inside Circus Baby. Sure, he may have sent Michael to free her, but it was clear that he should've done that himself. He knew that he should've died instead of his son. While he eventually met his own demise, it still paled in comparison to what his own family had to go through.

''Lizzy…'' he muttered. ''I'm sorry…''

He looked at her, with Elizabeth giving him a look which was a mix of apprehension and confusion. He knew that she was probably wondering what he was apologizing for now, but he simply couldn't find the words to convey how he truly felt. His mental and emotional state was a complete mess; regret, guilt, despair, grief, sorrow, misery and bitterness were all mixed together, the result being complete chaos, with him having had no idea what to say or how to react.

Then, there was the cold feeling of emptiness, the realization that it didn't matter how he felt. He wasn't a person anymore, but an emotionless monster he himself had created. Am I even allowed to show remorse or sorrow? He clutched his head as agony tore through his mind and body, ripping him apart. The memory of Elizabeth's mangled body flashed through his mind. He could still clearly remember the blood flowing through his fingers as he cradled her broken body in dismay.

No... He wanted to scream, but he couldn't. He had stolen other people's lives, so if they had lost their voice, why should he be allowed to say anything instead of suffering in silence? No one could hear them, so why should anyone hear him? Why?! Why have I done that?!

''Daddy, what's wrong?''

He opened his eyes, realizing that he was on his knees, staring at the ground. He looked down at his hands, startled to see red marks covering the tips of his fingers. Blood? He glanced at Elizabeth, who looked genuinely worried.

''Daddy, you're crying…'' she said uneasily.

''It's fine, don't worry about me,'' Springtrap told her calmly. ''This isn't the first time it happened.''

''It looks a bit disturbing, though,'' Elizabeth replied. Springtrap wiped away the blood that formed around the corner of his eyes.

''I didn't mean to scare you, Lizzy,'' Springtrap said. Elizabeth gave him a bitter smile.

''Well, I saw worse of you,'' she said. Springtrap kept silent.

''Nevertheless, you still have to wonder whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.'' Springtrap and Elizabeth turned around, noticing Michael and Sammy standing in the room. Sammy's lips curved into a bitter smile. ''Hey, Dad.''

''So, you two decided to pay a visit as well?'' Springtrap asked, at the same time feeling happy and anxious about seeing them.

''Tell her to come to the old willow tree; Yesterday holds memories in time.''

''We're only here because Lizzy wanted to see you and we didn't want to leave her alone with you,'' Michael explained, as he and Sammy approached Springtrap and Elizabeth. He then looked at the animatronics his father was working on. ''You look quite busy.''

''I had figured that it would be better to be prepared for whatever may come next,'' Springtrap replied. Michael rose an eyebrow.

''Really? Since when did you ditch your 'make things up as you go along' approach?'' he asked.

''Trust me, I don't have any solid plan,'' Springtrap replied. ''I only know what the end result is supposed to be, but not how to achieve it.''

''Where spirits of lost love yet whisper to thee, thou art still a true love of mine.''

''Okay, what do you want to achieve?'' Michael asked curiously. Springtrap lowered his head, staring at the animatronics.

''All I know is that I need to take out Connor,'' he said in a firm tone.

''Fine, but what is going to happen afterwards?'' Michael asked. ''I assume that you want to stay here.''

''Yes, I do want to stay here, but that's not important now,'' Springtrap told him, noticing Michael, Sammy and Elizabeth giving him weird looks. He shook his head. ''I will explain you that another time.''

''So basically, never?'' Michael asked sarcastically. ''It's always the same with you.''

''Tell her to gather three lilies of white; Yesterday holds memories in time.''

''No,'' Springtrap replied. ''Trust me, this time, I have learned from my mistakes.''

''Yeah, and you're only going to end up making more mistakes,'' Michael replied bitterly, only to notice Springtrap's eyes glowing in a faint purple.

''Is it really a mistake to tell you that I wish that I had appreciated you more?'' he asked.

''To place at my headstone, beneath the moon's light, then she'll be a true love of mine.''

''I don't think it is,'' Sammy interrupted the two, frowning. ''However, you're a bit too late. You should've told us that before we all ended up dying.''

Springtrap kept silent, looking rather crestfallen.

''Well, at least we got an apology,'' Elizabeth said, crossing her arms, then glanced at Michael and Sammy. ''However, it doesn't really matter, does it? Nothing is going to change.''

''Forever she'll be the one true love of mine.''

''I won't argue that I'm able to fix this situation, since it's obvious that there's no way to do that,'' Springtrap told her. ''Nevertheless, I wanted to at least tell you how much I regret what I had done to you. I know that at this point, I'm just repeating myself, but being able to see you and talk to you is something I'm incredibly thankful for.'' He smiled bitterly. ''This isn't the family reunion any of us was hoping for, but it's the best we got.''

''Not to mention, we still have doubts whether we made the right decision when we decided to visit you,'' Michael replied. Elizabeth smiled mischievously.

''Well, we are missing one person to make this 'family reunion' complete,'' she said, causing Sammy to glare at her.

''Lizzy, I don't think that it would be a good idea to wake Sam up,'' he told her.

''I know that,'' Elizabeth replied in an irritated tone, turning her attention back to Springtrap. She tilted her head, a look of concern on her expression. ''Still, if you break down again… It can be really scary at times, even more than when you get angry.''

''Lizzy…''

Springtrap stared at his daughter in silence, not sure how to respond. Moments later, he realized that it was too quiet, glancing at the radio and figuring that the battery had probably died. Nothing is forever, right? He then took a deep breath, looking back at Michael, Sammy and Elizabeth.

''I promise that you won't have to worry about me anymore,'' he said.

xXx

Drawkill Freddy stared at the house, clenching his fist. Despite the fact that he knew that this was the place where he and his companions would find help, he was still reluctant about going inside. They weren't welcome here, or anywhere for that matter, and, even though no one said it, they had their doubts about the plan and whether it would even work. They simply knew that there was no way they would ever get help from the people they had attempted to kill and destroy respectively. Why would those two even trust them?

''Are we really going through with this plan?'' Drawkill Chica asked Drawkill Freddy.

''We should hurry up, before Connor decides to check on us,'' Drawkill Foxy added, tapping his head, where the communication device was.

''Com'n, Freddy,'' Drawkill Bonnie said. ''Or, are we just going to stand here all night?''

Drawkill Freddy kept silent. Despite the fact that he was the one who insisted on coming here, he too was at the point where he was doubting his own plan, much to the frustration of his companions, who wanted some kind of answer, anything that would solve their current problem. He turned back to his companions, with a downcast look on his expression.

''I'm sorry,'' he said. ''I don't think that they are going to listen to us. We didn't exactly made a good first impression on them and things might only get worse for us if we do ask them for help.''

''So, this is it? We're not going to do anything?'' Drawkill Chica asked incredulously.

''Do you have any better idea?'' Drawkill Freddy asked her. Drawkill Chica paused for a moment, staring at him, then shook her head.

''Come to think of it, we don't even know whether they're at home,'' Drawkill Bonnie said. ''Aren't we going to at least knock on the door?''

''Even if we appeared with a gift basked and an apology letter, I don't believe that they would let us inside, let alone help us,'' Drawkill Foxy replied in a dry tone. Drawkill Freddy sighed.

''We're leaving,'' he said dejectedly, seeing the looks of disappointment the other Drawkills gave him. ''This is pointless.''

His companions just nodded, following him. They knew what was awaiting them once they returned back to the warehouse.

''You know, maybe we won't have to endure another punishment tonight?'' Drawkill Bonnie said, trying to cheer his companions up. ''Connor specifically sent us here to get the parts from Ricky's. Searching for Afton was an optional task.''

''I wouldn't be so optimistic, Bonnie,'' Drawkill Chica replied.

xXx

''Another night, another failure I have to deal with,'' Connor said calmly, his eyes glowing as he glared at the Drawkills, who had all their heads lowered, not daring to look him in the eye. ''Haven't you learned anything, but anything for your past experience?!''

The Drawkills kept quiet, as they knew that there was no use arguing with Connor. The latter was getting quite impatient, staring at them.

''Well? Do you have an answer?!'' he asked. While the rest of the Drawkills didn't react, Drawkill Bonnie clenched his fist. ''I have programmed you to talk and to act, but all of you are good for nothing, absolutely pathetic…''

''So, you want an answer?'' Drawkill Bonnie spoke up, much to everyone's surprise.

''Bonnie-'' Drawkill Chica hissed, but Connor held up his hand, silencing her.

''Go on,'' he told Drawkill Bonnie. ''I'm listening.''

''If you want to know my opinion of you, it's that you're someone who enjoys to have power and induce fear into people,'' Drawkill Bonnie said defiantly. ''However, behind all those devices you made, you are a complete coward.''

The other Drawkills stared at Bonnie in shock, then glanced at Connor, fearing his response. However, instead of screaming at the animatronic or threatening him, Connor remained disturbingly calm.

''So, you're claiming that I'm a coward?'' Connor asked in a quiet tone.

Drawkill Bonnie just nodded, despite the feeling of dread that spread through his body. However he knew that, whether he remained compliant or not, the end result would always be the same. To Connor, they were just tools he could easily discard and if he was already going down, he wanted make it clear that he wasn't Connor's puppet. Connor stared at him for a moment and then looked at the other Drawkills.

''Do you share the same opinion?'' he asked. Drawkill Freddy, Drawkill Chica and Drawkill Foxy exchanged glances, remaining silent. They truly wanted to speak up, they wanted to say that they agreed with Drawkill Bonnie, but the memory of the torture Connor had put them through caused them to freeze. They didn't want to experience the same again, despite the fact that they wanted to side with their friend. ''There really isn't anything you want to say?''

Drawkill Bonnie glanced at his companions, seeing the reluctance in their eyes. He shook his head lightly, much to their surprise, and turned back to Connor.

''They obviously have nothing to say,'' he said firmly. ''However, I'd like to know your thoughts.''

''My thoughts?'' Connor snorted.

Drawkill Bonnie started to scream in pain, falling down on his knees, clutching his head. Connor smirked, walking past him, looking quite satisfied with the result. A few moments later, Drawkill Bonnie felt the pain fading, with Drawkill Freddy helping him up. However, before anyone could say anything, Drawkill Bonnie suddenly walked past all of them.

''Bonnie, what are you doing?'' Drawkill Chica asked.

''I have enough of this,'' he growled, with his companions realizing that he was going towards the room where Raven was. They all had a bad feeling about this, but followed him nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Drawkill Bonnie opened the door and marched inside, with a determined look on his expression. He stepped in front of Raven, who was startled by the former's sudden entrance.

''What are you-?'' Before Raven could say anything more, Drawkill Bonnie grabbed the metallic spike that was wedged into the animatronic's chest. Raven's eyes flared up in shock, with him fearing that the Drawkill Animatronic would attempt to destroy his endoskeleton. ''Bonnie, what-?''

''Keep quiet and hold still!'' Drawkill Bonnie hissed as he wiggled the metallic spike. Raven closed his eyes, his head hurting from the sudden static that obscured his vision. His ears were buzzing, but he didn't dare to move in fear that he'll suffer from more damage. The torment he experienced, however, didn't last long, as he felt the spike being ripped out of his chest. A sensation, which could only be described as relief, overwhelmed him and he opened his eyes. While he was still cuffed to the pipes, he could now breathe more easily. However, Drawkill Bonnie's actions made no sense to him.

''Why?'' Raven asked. Drawkill Bonnie's eyes flared up.

''Because I hate Connor,'' he said, walking over to the nearby table and placing the spike on it. He then reached for the drawer, taking a key out of it and walked back to Raven, unlocking the cuffs. A moment later, Raven was free. He stepped back, staring at Drawkill Bonnie in shock, unsure what to make out of this. He looked at the entrance, seeing the other Drawkills staring at him.

''You're are crazy,'' Raven said. ''You know what Connor is going to do to you once he finds out about this.''

''Honestly, I don't care anymore,'' Drawkill Bonnie replied. ''Connor can do to me whatever he wants, but I'm not going to obey him anymore.'' He frowned. ''You need to leave right now, before Connor decides to pay you a visit.''

''What about your friends?'' Raven asked, glancing at the other Drawkills. ''How am I supposed to know that you won't hurt me in some way or that this isn't some kind of trick?''

''If you leave now, we won't stop you,'' Drawkill Bonnie said, stepping away.

Raven glanced at the other Drawkills, who too stepped away from the entrance, waiting for his move. Raven was still a bit hesitant. Now, that he was free, he wanted to go after Connor, but after he saw what Connor did to the Drawkills, he knew that he needed help. He frowned, walking out of the room and into the hallway, with Drawkill Freddy pointing towards where the exit was.

Raven nodded and, with one last glance, he quickly went to the exit, leaving the Drawkills to their fate.

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