#responsive image slider

[codingflicks]

Responsive Client Logo Slider

[chumbyy]

i love your art so much, what does your process look like? how do you edit images to be saturated/glitchy & also cohesive w your art?

awww thanks so much!!

its a lot of playing around with layer settings (shine&shade and burn&dodge are favorites but screen, multiply, overlay, exclude, those are fun too) and turning up saturation & contrast (in whichever program im using at the time). most saturation sliders have an upper limit. you must. go beyond 😈😈

to get a glitchy look i'll either literally look up "free use glitch overlay" on google images (i have all AI sites filtered out on my browser), or a LOT of the time i'll take pictures of trees or clouds around me, and i'll mess with the saturation of those images until its SUPER crunchy and low quality. zooming in on a random part of the image also helps make it crunchier and lower the quality (you'd be surprised how cool and ""glitchy"" a SUUUUPER oversaturated and zoomed in img of a cloud can look. i <3 cumulonimbus and nimbostratus but it doesnt rain much here 🥺)

i'll add a random layer effect, duplicate the layer, add a different effect, overlay a color gradient or random assortment of scribbled colors, etc... just til it looks sufficiently microwaved and cluttered. i also have quite a few glitch brushes on SAI 2 for some additional clutter

then for the main focus of the art i'll usually draw a little critter on MS paint, zoom in so u can see the pixels, copy the image&cut out the whites around it with magic wand, then put it on the image. its fun to do this with a lot of tiny little colorful cats just to add more color to the bg XD

sorry if thats all over the place. i dont have much of a cohesive process since i just goof around until i like how it looks or i recreate whatever my brain wants. sometimes i'll just do everything on a 200x200 canvas and size it up after editing and it looks crunchy on its own (i do this a lot for gifs, like my most recent piece). integrating photography is very fun. mixed media is fun

i might make some speedpaints sometime if i can get over my anxiety of ppl watching me draw XD

but ty again for the very nice msg. sorry if my response is a tad bit incoherent lol

[sirfrogsworth]

Frogman's Camera Buying Guide

A few weeks ago someone asked if I could recommend an interchangeable lens camera (ILC) to supplement their smartphone photos and hopefully get better pictures of important things like vacations and pets.

I decided to go very extra with my response and due to that... I'm still not finished with it.

I'm worried I am letting this person down because they did not ask for a giant post explaining every detail about cameras in the history of forever.

So I am going to do a camera recommendation post without as much explanation and hopefully I can finish the giant post at some point in the near future.

If you want to take better pictures you are probably going to need a camera with a decent sized sensor, a fast lens, a tripod, and a flash.

The bigger sensor gives you more dynamic range so you can capture brighter and darker things in the photo.

A fast lens has a giant hole in the front that lets in a ton of light. That hole is called the aperture and the bigger it is, the better your photos in dark environments will be. So you will want something that does f/1.8 or f/1.4 (lower f-stop number = bigger hole = more light). This can also help you get a lot of cool background blur.

A tripod will help get you longer exposures without any blur from camera shake. Especially good for landscape photos.

And a flash is for taking photos of pets and other moving subjects when you are indoors and don't have a lot of light. A flash is an absolute game changer for indoor photos.

HOWEVER, never point it directly at your subject.

Point it at a large white ceiling or wall. The flash happens so fast that it freezes motion. It is how I got all of my indoor photos of Otis.

Here he was playing and being rambunctious and he is not blurry.

I used no special settings. I just stuck on a flash and pointed it at the ceiling and suddenly sheep are sticking to things.

Oh, and one other huge benefit of using a flash... you can take much better photos of pets with dark fur. So if you have a cute little void in your home, a flash can help you capture detail in their fur.

Just lift the shadow slider in your image editor and that beautiful fur will reveal itself.

If you get an ETTL or TTL flash, it will output the correct amount of light automatically. You can literally just put your camera in automatic mode, aim the flash at the ceiling, and press the shutter button.

Before I talk about recommendations I want to make one thing very clear.

GETTING A GIANT CAMERA WILL NOT AUTOMATICALLY GIVE YOU BETTER PHOTOS.

Aside from my flash aimed at the ceiling trick, a big boy camera is not a magic solution for better photos. In some cases, you might actually get *worse* photos than your smartphone. You need to learn the basic fundamentals of photography and you also need to learn some basic photo editing skills.

Smartphones employ powerful algorithms and computational processes to make every photo you take look as good as possible.

ILCs say, "Here is your RAW data, you figure out the rest."

You don't have to become an expert, but if you watch this free 6 hour photography course, that will ensure you have the knowledge needed to improve your photos.

Okay, let's get into the nitty gritty of buying a nice new old ILC.

If you are on a tight budget and cannot afford a fancy mirrorless camera, I would highly suggest a used DSLR. You can get them for very reasonable prices. And unlike just about every other modern technological gadget, cameras and lenses are built to last for decades. So I have no qualms about recommending used photography gear.

However, I do highly recommend using either KEH or MPB, as they have a long trial period and decent customer service. If something goes awry with your used gear, KEH has a 180 day warranty and MPB has a 6 month warranty. So there is much less of a risk than eBay or Facebook Marketplace. You pay a bit of overhead, but the piece of mind is worth it.

Before I start my recommendations I want to quickly explain the difference between APS-C and Full Frame camera bodies. (For brevity's sake I am going to omit Micro Four Thirds bodies as they are not typically geared toward beginner photography.)

APS-C has a "crop" sensor. It is a bit smaller than full frame and does not perform as well in low light (more noise). However these bodies are cheaper and can still produce great photos. You can see above the sensor is still significantly larger than a smartphone. APS-C adds a 1.5x zoom to all lenses. This can be annoying in small spaces but advantageous for outdoor photography like wildlife and sports. You can use full frame lenses on a crop sensor body (within the same brand). APS-C lenses are usually cheaper but of lower quality.

Full frame has a larger sensor that will give you less noise in low light. It is also much easier to get background blur. Full frame also allows you to work in more cramped spaces. You *cannot* use APS-C lenses on a full frame body. However, the lenses meant for full frame cameras tend to be better quality in general.

If you can save up a little more and get a full frame body, I would recommend it. These bodies used to be geared more toward professional use, but since mirrorless cameras became popular, used full frame DSLRs have become much more accessible to those on a budget. Full frame cameras make it easier to get better results in challenging circumstances. And challenging conditions are really the main area where ILCs still kick a smartphone's ass.

For tight budgets I would recommend the following...

Canon or Nikon APS-C DSLR camera body

50mm f/1.8 lens (Nifty Fifty)

18-55mm APS-C lens (good for landscapes and portraits)

Yongnuo ETTL Flash

There are lenses called "superzooms" which can go from (as an example) 18-200mm or 70-300mm and other crazy focal lengths. That sounds fantastic and very versatile... but these are usually utter shite. You may be tempted to get one of these lenses hoping it can do everything you need, but there are no free lunches in lens land. Unless you are spending many thousands of dollars, the wider the focal range, the worse the lens will be.

When you stick to the 18-55mm range, you can be assured the images will be decent. And if you find yourself really needing a telephoto lens, you can save up and add it to your collection later on. The 18-55 will give you wide angle for landscapes all the way to slightly telephoto for portraits and moderately close wildlife. This lens cannot be used indoors or at night without a flash. Which is why I recommend the Nifty Fifty for that purpose. $100 for a moderately sharp low light lens is a no brainer.

Also, stick to Canon, Nikon, Sigma, or Tamron lenses. You can try exotic 3rd party lens brands when you know more what you are doing. And always make sure the lens has autofocus before buying.

It's hard to give you exact recommendations as used items are not reliably in stock. So I'm going to show you an example of the above, but I am not necessarily saying you should buy this *exact* combination. You might be able to get something similar with Nikon as well.

Canon 60D APS-C DSLR

50mm f/1.8 lens

Canon 18-55mm APS-C lens (EF-S mount)

Yongnuo TTL Flash

(I wouldn't recommend getting a used flash, as the Yongnuo is already a great price and you can't know if someone used the flash 100,000 times or 20 times.)

Altogether that is about $500. You can start with the 60D and the 50mm Nifty Fifty for $330 and add on the other two items later on.

My recommended full frame setup...

Full frame Canon or Nikon DSLR body

50mm f/1.8 lens (same as before)

24-70mm full frame zoom lens (full frame equivalent to 18-55mm)

ETTL Yongnuo flash (same as before)

And an example from KEH might be...

Canon 6D Full Frame DSLR

Canon 50mm f/1.8 Lens

Sigma 24-70mm Full Frame Zoom lens (EF mount)

Yonguo ETTL Flash

And that would be about $800 total.

Again, you can start with just the camera and 50mm lens and add the other items later. So invest $500 initially and go from there.

And just to give a Nikon example as well...

Nikon D600 Full Frame DSLR

Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Lens

Tamron 24-70mm

Yonguo ETTL Flash (Nikon version)

I highly recommend researching any camera body and lens before purchase. I can vouch for the items above, but you should definitely check out some YouTube videos before buying.

All of the stuff on KEH and MBP is marked down in price for aesthetic reasons. They do test everything to make sure it is functional. If you care if the camera or lens looks pristine, it will cost a little extra. But if you don't mind if it is beat to hell, you can save some money. Ugly or not, you will get the same photos out of the gear. As I said, photography stuff is built to last for a long time. Almost all repairs are due to user damage and not defects. And usually defects manifest when the product is brand new.

Oh, I forgot about the tripod!

Amazon's $35 tripod is surprisingly decent. It even got a good review on a very picky tripod review site. I recommend starting with this and then upgrading when you know more what you need out of a tripod.

Amazon 60 inch Tripod

I worry I'm leaving out a lot of important information, but hopefully I can expand in the other post I am working on.

That said, if anyone is thinking of buying a camera and you are not sure about the items you selected, please feel free to message me and I will help you assess your choices. Please make sure you include a budget range when asking for buying advice.

I hope that helps. I will try to finish the more in depth post soon. And it will include tips for how to get better photos from your smartphone if you cannot afford an ILC at the moment.

Further resources...

Recipe for Landscape Photos Froggie's Encyclopedia of Lens Terms

[tmnthq17-blog]

Always Wanted

{A/N: This story is the first sequel to "Dream Come True"; The image above is Y/N's gift to Donnie}

It's been one year since Donnie and Y/N confessed their feelings for one another. Tonight is the one year anniversary of their relationship, and Donnie has something big planned.

Per Donnie's instructions, April, Leo, Mikey, and Raph took Y/N to a karaoke bar to celebrate. For the sake of not raising suspicion, the guys had on the human watches Donnie had made and recently upgraded.

Leo: "A toast, to the world's best, albeit most odd and geeky, couple ever."

Leo dons a sly grin as they all raised their lemonades in unison.

Y/N: "All joking aside Nardo,"

Y/N used the nickname she knew he had a strong disliking for, which received an annoyed glare from the blue-clad slider turtle.

Y/N: "I wouldn't say we're the world's best couple."

Y/N dons a shy smile, unable to resist thinking about her brainy 'bad boy', as he liked to call himself, of a boyfriend. Y/N had a surprise of her own for her knight in purple armor, which was underneath the very table the five of them were seated at. However, she would soon realize that her gift may pale in comparison to his wondrous surprise.

April: "Are you kidding Y/N/N? You two are like birds of a feather, or in this case turtles of a shell."

Both girls laughed at her joke.

Just then, a the sound of microphone feedback filled the room as everyone in the establishment turned their heads to find the sound's source. Only for them to find Donnie in his human form with a nervous smile as he addressed the crowd.

Donnie: "Good evening, everyone. So, tonight is the first anniversary of me and my girlfriend's relationship, and I figured if she has enough courage and bravery to stand in front of a crowd of people, I see no reason why I shouldn't do the same. So, this is dedicated to the one and only Y/N, my Nightingale. I only hope I can do as amazing of a performance as she can."

The crowd aww'ed in response as Donnie took a deep breath to calm his nerves, while Y/N couldn't help but smile in surprise and astonishment at the soft shell's grand romanic gesture.

She turned towards her friends, who all had prideful, knowing smirks towards each other.

Y/N: *whispers* "Did you guys know about this?"

Mikey: "We may have had a teeny, tiny inkling about this. We would've told you earlier, but Donnie wanted it to be a surprise."

Y/N: "It's fine, guys. I'm glad you didn't ruin the surprise. But now the gift I got him for today seems so much smaller compared to this."

Raph placed a hand on her shoulder and dons reassuring smile.

Raph: "Relax, Y/N, I'm sure that whatever you got him, he'll love just the same." 

Y/N turned back towards the stage as the music began to play.

{A/N: Bold and underlined is wherever I've changed the lyrics}

Donnie:

You know I'd fall apart without you

I don't know how you do what you do

'Cause everything that don't make sense about me

Makes sense when I'm with you

Like everything that's green, girl, I need you

But it's more than one and one makes two

Put aside the math and the logic of it

You gotta know you're wanted too

'Cause I wanna wrap you up

Wanna kiss your lips

I wanna make you feel wanted

And I wanna call you mine

Wanna hold your hand forever

And never let you forget it

Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted

Anyone can tell you you're pretty, yeah

And you get that all the time, I know you do

But your beauty's deeper than the make-up

And I wanna show you what I see every night

When I wrap you up

When I kiss your lips

I wanna make you feel wanted

And I wanna call you mine

Wanna hold your hand forever

And never let you forget it

'Cause, baby, I wanna make you feel wanted

As good as you make me feel

I wanna make you feel better

Better than your fairy tales

Better than your best dreams

You're more than everything I need

You're all I ever wanted

All I ever wanted

And I just wanna wrap you up

Wanna kiss your lips

I wanna make you feel wanted

And I wanna call you mine

Wanna hold your hand forever

And never let you forget it

Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted

Baby, I wanna make you feel wanted

You'll always be wanted

Before the audience could applaud, Y/N stood in shock as Donnie got on one knee and opened a small box to reveal a gorgeous engagement ring. With every word he spoke, she walked slowly towards the stage.

Donnie: "Y/N, ever since I met you, you've been all I ever wanted in a best friend, in a girlfriend, and now, in a wife. You gave me something I never knew I needed, and made me feel something I've never felt before in my life. It's taken me a while to be brave enough to ask something I've wanted to ask you from our first official date, and to plan this down to the very last microscopic detail. But I finally have the courage of doing this. So, Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N, my Aphrodite, my Nightingale, will you do me the greatest honor in the world, maybe even the universe, of becoming my wife?"

As Y/N walked to the stage, her eyes filled to the brim with tears, she didn't hesitate for even a second before answering.

Y/N: "Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes!!! Of course, I'll marry you Donatello!"

As soon as she finished her reply, Donnie stood back up, slid the ring on her finger and gave her a kiss full of relief, passion, joy, happiness, and of course pure and true love.

As the newly engaged couple kissed, the audience gave them a standing ovation as Leo shouted.

Leo: "Took you long enough, D!"

Everyone laughed as the two of them walked off the stage towards the table Y/N had previously sat at.

Y/N: "So, are you ready for your surprise, Handsome? It kinda pales in comparison to all of this, though."

Donnie: "Babe, whatever you got me, I'll love no matter what it is."

Donnie lovingly smiled towards her. As they sat down, Y/N brought the purple-wrapped gift out from under the table and handed it to her newly engaged fiancé. He opened it to find a replica of the purple satin jacket he had worn during his first run-in with The Purple Dragons.

Donnie: "Y/N, this is so amazingly thoughtful. This is by far the greatest gift I've ever gotten"

Donnie had a look of sincerity and thankfulness as he looked over his new gift from front to back.

Mikey: "Hey, what about the family portrait I made for you on your 6th birthday?"

Mikey used a playful tone with an equally playful pout, knowing his older brother meant well by his previous statement. As the six of them laughed and talked into the night Y/N couldn't help but imagine her new future with her fiancé, as well as her future brothers-in-law, while thinking one thing: This was where she belonged, and who she belonged with. It didn't matter where or when her wedding to Donnie was, all she knew was that as long as he was by her side, she would always be wanted.

[askfuse]

Hatfield - Responsive Portfolio Tumblr Theme

Preview / Download / Support / Remove Branding

This is a responsive portfolio tumblr theme

Features:

NPF Post Friendly

2, 3 or 4 columns of posts

Sticky Navigation

Responsive Layout: Looks great on phones, tablets, and desktops

Customizable Fonts: Adjust font size and family; supports Adobe Fonts, Google Fonts, and more

Animated Modal Pop-Up: View full posts on the index page

Custom Image Logo: Upload standard and high-resolution logos

High-Resolution Media: Supports high-res images and videos

Social Icons: Supports Email, Phone, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Linktree, GitHub, LinkedIn, PayPal, Pinterest, and more

Dynamic Loading: Load the next set of portfolio projects on the homepage with Ajax

Customization Options:

Rounded corners for photos and videos

Full-screen banner with text and buttons; choose a background image/color or a custom YouTube/Vimeo background

Footer bar with custom text and social media links

Responsive photosets: Choose between Tumblr traditional NPF layout or carousel slider

Background and text color options

Unlimited custom links through Tumblr pages; 10 through options

Easy Google Analytics integration

Featured tags on menu

Option to filter the homepage using a default tag

Remove Branding?

For help with white-labelling your website to remove all branding purchase a Full License.

Commissions

Need help with customising your website get in touch with us here.

[unidentifiedcoinings]

Grandparent+(Grand)Child: an All-Ages nichelink relationship/relationship dynamic where one person is the "(grand)child" and the other/s are the "grandparent/s."

this is a subset of Familial Nichelink. this relationship may include, but isn't limited to:

liking the appeal of Parent+Child but wanting a slightly different relationship with room for less responsibility/obligation, or having a larger (mental or bodily) age gap

attraction terms like familial, cedural, tutelary etc

people who identify as "found family"

the child being an age regressor/dreamer, age slider, chronosian, dissoage, desirchild/desirpermachild etc etc

the grandparent identifying with grandmacore/grandpacore aesthetics, the child identifying with kidcore aesthetics

the child being spoiled by the grandparent in similar ways to grandparents in real life

nichelink carrd

i based the flag off of existing familial nichelink flags (keeping the red stripe, although muted on this one), grandmacore images, and the colour of werther's originals lol

tagging: @nichelink

(ask if you'd like to be tagged as well!)

[shanicodes]

Alchemy Skin ($70, Unlimited) by Shani Codes

ALCHEMY is a responsive skin for JCINK forums coded specifically for Sandbox RPs and is optimized for Google Chrome. If you have questions about the skin, or seeing a full preview, feel free to join my support discord: discord[DOT]gg/G9zb4sQxdp

SKIN INCLUDES:

Two versions: One with pre-made Custom Profile Fields for plug-and-go usage and one with the option to add your own Profile Fields,

Character info replacement BBCode AND Avatar replacement code with either a single image OR a 4-image moodboard,

A main profile with sections for information about the writer, including preference sliders, and FizzyElf's automatic thread tracker,

A light/dark mode toggle and font size toggle,

Pop-out with navigation, updates, welcome section, and user links,

Full responsiveness for various screen resolutions, supporting both mobile and smaller screens,

Easy to edit member group variables,

CSS variables for fonts, colors, sizes, etc. for easy customization,

A filterable, searchable, and sortable isotope member list with counts,

And an included installation guide PDF with comprehensive instructions.

PURCHASE LINK: ko-fi[DOT]com/s/c2324c8862

[velnat004]

I sent an ask I believe a day ago but it’s possible tumblr could’ve eaten it. 😭 At any rate, I basically have all the importing the hairs in the game but the issue I have is getting the UV maps correct. Every guide doesn’t go into much detail if at all about shading and UV. The trouble I’m having is having them match up with each other in blender bc I don’t know how it’s supposed to look. Bc in frosty editor the hair looks fine but in game BIG chunks of the hair is missing, even when I have a texture slider. I’m using gimp to combine the sims 4 diffuse and then the thick wavy hair diffuse but I don’t know if this goes into frosty or blender. I would just like to know the entire process including image sizes of the diffuse, where to put them etc sorry this ask is so 😭 thank you in advance 💕

hii! i saw your previous ask but it sounded too broad to be answered right away so i was trying to make potential answers for the issue, sorry for my late response :'). i figured out your issue better here now that you've written a more detailed ask, thank u for being more clear <3 1)blender (or any 3d applications) doesnt work the same way as gimp (or any other 2d application), and it takes some time and practice to figure out blender 2)frosty only shows the tintable meshes' .fbx model in the viewport (skin, hair etc), so you couldnt see the textures on the hair in the viewport but in-game 3)i think this video will help you with your hair port :D with this tutorial you can see how the textures look on the hair mesh while editing the uv map

have fun modding! <3

[apritellointeractive]

Sworn to Devotion: Chapter 1 - Part 1

(Proofread by @lovelyladylavie / AlienMadame22 (AO3)! Thanks!)

(Art by @lovelyladylavie) Donnie really doesn’t want to be doing this right now. 

It’s a pleasant day out. A rainstorm that rolled through the mountains the day before has left the air smelling crisp and fresh. A few songbirds are still out singing, flying between the forest trees and ignoring the convoy passing through their domain. Dappled shadows provide ample coverage from the late morning sun that’s shining through the dense foliage of the trees. The hard dirt road is level and smooth, providing for a pleasant horseback bride through the woodlands.

And yet, Donnie really doesn’t want to be part of the entourage protecting the human princess. He could be doing much more important things right now, like testing the capabilities of the boom cannon he recently developed in the archery range. This updated weapon could improve the defensive and offensive capabilities of their kingdom! Or he could be doing a number of other things, like testing out mystically enhanced weapons in his lab, fixing some of the automatons roaming the castle halls, improving the furnaces in the kitchen, building Mikey a newer, sturdier easel… he could be doing literally anything else right now.

But no. As the future co-captain of the Royal Guard, he must accompany the human princess on her trip back home to the Kingdom of Old York. It would be irresponsible not to, or at least that’s what he was told. 

Though if he had to be honest, he didn’t want to disappoint his brother, Prince Raph. The first meeting between their kingdoms in decades was already stressful enough for him, his Raph-chasm carving out a deeper divot in his forehead. Their father would also get on his case too, and he didn’t want to endure another lecture.

So, begrudgingly, he’s accompanying the convoy, picking up the rear with his twin, Leo, while their boss, the Captain of the Royal Guard, leads up at the front with the human captain. They must show that they are trustworthy enough to ensure the human princess’s safe return to her kingdom. Speaking of which, the royal carriage carrying Her Royal Highness is flanked on all sides by more guards, though they are all human. 

One of the human guards on the left keeps turning his head to give Donnie the stink eye every half hour. And as much as he would like to give that guard a piece of his mind, he remembers Raph and swallows down any retort. 

Instead Donnie sighs, leaning down to rub his beloved horse Shelldon’s neck as they continue their trek through the forest. He softly whinnies, nodding his head a few times as if in appreciation. The purple-clad turtle smiles; he’ll probably treat him to an apple when they take another stop to rest.

“So, do you think Captain will let us do some explorin’ once Princess April is safely back home?” Leo asks, riding a bit close to his brother so the human guards don’t overhear. “We’ve never been in a human settlement before. Kinda curious to see what they have for leisure.”

Donnie sighs, sitting upright and turning his head to look at his counterpart. “I highly doubt that we will be relieved of duty once we’ve ensured the safe transfer of the princess back home. We will more than likely be tasked to oversee the preparations for our trip back home this evening as well. I don’t think we will have the time.”

The blue-clad slider leans in a bit closer, his voice dropping down to a whisper. “Don’t even want to sneak out to see the sights?”

The image of Raph’s forehead chasm flashes in Donnie’s mind. “Absolutely not. If we were caught, we would never hear the end of it, and I don’t want Dr. Delicate Touch to pay a visit to my lab either.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Leo sighs, sitting upright and looking at the forest around them. “Guess we need to be ‘responsible’.”

Donnie hums, agreeing with his twin but saying nothing more.

They keep riding for a few more minutes, the constant but reassuring noise of horse hooves and carriage wheels against the dirt road filling the air. 

The sound of a snapping branch catches Donnie’s attention, and he whips his head around only to be blasted in the face by a murder of crows! Shelldon rears back and whinnies while Leo swats at the air. The commotion is enough for the entire entourage to come to a halt.

“Leo! Donnie! Is everything alright back there?” Their Captain hollers from the front of the group.

Donnie… >> Decides to investigate where he heard the snapping noise.

<Ch. 2> <Ch. 3> <Ch. 4>

[nani-nonny]

Okay!! Dialogue 24 where LCD say it to WDS as the injured one is teen leo (or any teen of the mad dogs)

I got a little confused with the wording but I think I get it hehe

Enjoy this little snippet :D

To make it easier on me, I’ll refer to LCD F!Leo as Achilles and WDS as Blue and the injured teen Leo as Leo :D

24. “Help them! Please!”

Achilles stands frozen a mere foot from the younger’s limp body.

Anger builds far larger than the usual amount, spreading throughout the farthest reaches of his body that he didn’t know anger could go.

He’s so used to being angry. Angry at himself, —at the world, —at every single one of his past actions.

But this, this is new. This is entirely new. This is a newfound anger that wasn’t supposed to be found within himself. It didn’t belong to him, and yet here it was. Burrowing itself under his fingernails so uncomfortably that he had to curl them into his palms to form a tight fist.

And he had no one else to direct that anger except the mirror. But there wasn’t a mirror in sight.

Unless you count the mirror standing five feet away from him.

The same mirrored image of himself that came unannounced, and so suddenly that he wasn’t able to register what was happening. All he knew was his mirror arrived ready for a fight. A fight he could accept any other day, but not today. Not when he had to protect the kids, especially Leo.

Leo had a target this past month, followed by an “old friend” that was waiting for the right time to strike.

Achilles tried to reason with Blue, not that the mirror would bother to hear him out. So he tried to end the fight quickly, —tried to get back into action and return to keeping watch over Leo. Because the target on the young slider’s back always left when he was around.

But no matter what he tried, Blue’s fury never died down. Blue has never liked him, never attempted to get over it. Achilles didn’t have plans to correct Blue, it was a deserved response to what he had done in the past.

So he had to make a different move. He had ran. He ran away from the fight, much to Blue’s furious surprise. He hates running away, despite it being the only action he does nowadays. It’s all he can do, unable to come to terms with his life—or anything about himself.

But, time and time again, his actions cause others to get hurt. And this time, it happened to the one he promised himself he wouldn’t hurt again.

He has no one to blame but himself.

And he’s afraid again. Afraid to get any closer than he is now. He doesn’t lift his gaze from the ground, but he makes a slight turn in Blue’s direction. He knows Blue had followed him, and he knows Blue has stopped some distance behind him. He’s hesitant to speak, but this is Leo… even Blue wouldn’t ignore what he has to say now.

“Help him.”

Blue doesn’t respond fast enough for Achilles.

He raises his voice, “Help him! Please!”

Leo groans at the raised volume of Achilles’s voice, but he can’t move as much as a finger.

And that’s all it takes for Blue to snap into action and kneel at Leo’s side.

Achilles doesn’t have to do anything, Blue knows exactly what to do. And it makes Achilles feel useless. So he has to do something—do something about his anger and guilt.

He takes a step back, garnering enough of Blue’s attention to make a slight turn of his head in Achilles’s way.

Blue’s voice is cold when he asks, “Where are you going?”

There’s a threatening undertone to the question, but it’s clear he doesn’t intend to do anything until Leo is okay.

Achilles doesn’t stop from taking another step back then turning on his heel and walking away. Blue doesn’t have to know where he’s going, but he knows exactly what he’s going to do with his anger.

[natalioamadofakhre1]

How Natalio Amado Fakhre Helps Brands Dominate Google Rankings Across Europe

An organization's visibility on Google can make or break its success in the crowded digital marketplace. Across Europe, one digital strategist is helping companies rise to the top of search results—Natalio Amado Fakhre. Based in Madrid, Spain, Natalio is known for his sharp SEO strategies, social media expertise, and brand-building capabilities that consistently deliver results.

Let’s examine how Natalio helps brands claim top positions on Google and build sustainable search engine dominance.

Who Is Natalio Amado Fakhre?

Natalio Amado Fakhre is a Madrid-based digital marketing expert focused on SEO, social media marketing, and branding. Over the years, he has worked with businesses across multiple European markets—developing and executing data-driven campaigns that directly increase visibility, traffic, and conversions.

His approach is technical, creative, and laser-focused on what Google values most: quality content, authority, and user experience.

Foundations of His SEO Success

1. Fixing What Holds Brands Back

Natalio starts with deep technical SEO audits, identifying and resolving issues that hinder performance:

Page speed and core web vitals

Broken links and crawl errors

Mobile responsiveness

Duplicate content and indexing gaps

These elements lay the groundwork for everything else—because even the best content can’t rank if a site’s foundation is flawed.

2. Keyword Targeting That Matches User Intent

Ranking is only valuable if it matches what users are actually searching for. Natalio conducts intent-focused keyword research, building strategies that cover:

Informational queries (e.g., guides, tips)

Transactional searches (e.g., buy, hire, services)

Regional keywords tailored for each European market

This precision helps generate not just traffic—but qualified, conversion-ready visitors.

3. Strategic On-Page Optimization

Every page is optimized with:

Clear heading structures (H1-H3)

Internal linking to boost topical relevance

Optimized images with alt tags

Schema markup to improve search visibility

His focus on semantic SEO ensures that content communicates value to both users and Google’s crawlers.

Localizing SEO for European Markets

Natalio understands that SEO in Europe isn't one-size-fits-all. Search behaviors, languages, and competitors vary across countries. He tailors strategies with:

Local keyword research (Spanish, French, German, etc.)

Region-specific backlink outreach

Hreflang implementation for multilingual targeting

This attention to regional detail gives his clients an edge in markets like France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and beyond.

Creating Content That Drives Rankings

Tone and Voice

Natalio builds a consistent brand voice that aligns with each client’s identity. Whether it's professional, approachable, or bold, the tone remains uniform across:

Blog posts

Service pages

Landing pages

Social content

Content Formats That Work

He favors high-performing formats such as:

1000–2000 word blog posts

How-to guides

Comparison articles

Case studies

Listicles and resource hubs

These formats naturally earn backlinks, increase time on page, and support Google’s E-E-A-T principles (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust).

Visual & Interactive Elements for Better UX

User experience is now a direct ranking factor. Natalio boosts engagement by incorporating:

Optimized Images: Branded graphics with alt text and compression

Infographics: Great for link-building and quick summaries

Embedded Videos: Increases time-on-site and builds trust

Interactive FAQs and Sliders: Enhances UX and improves mobile engagement

This reduces bounce rates and encourages deeper content exploration.

Safe, Scalable Link-Building

Natalio doesn’t chase shortcuts. His white-hat link-building tactics include:

Guest posting on relevant, high-authority blogs

Securing digital PR coverage in European outlets

Collaborating with influencers for natural link placements

Building citation links for local SEO strength

These efforts improve domain authority and create ranking durability—especially useful in algorithmic volatility.

Performance Tracking That Matters

Every strategy is backed by clear reporting. Natalio tracks and shares progress through:

Google Analytics 4

Google Search Console

SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs

Custom dashboards tracking key KPIs

From organic traffic to keyword rankings and goal completions, clients see exactly where their growth comes from—and what to optimize next.

Notable Results Across Europe

Clients across industries and regions have experienced:

+200% organic traffic growth in 6–9 months

Page one rankings for competitive keywords

Reduced paid ad spend due to organic lead generation

Improved domain authority across multilingual sites

Whether it’s a Spanish B2B SaaS, a French luxury e-commerce brand, or a German real estate agency, Natalio’s SEO blueprint adapts to deliver.

Final Words

Natalio Amado Fakhre isn’t just helping brands appear on Google—he’s helping them stay at the top. His strategies are rooted in data, refined through experience, and shaped for performance in diverse European markets.

For businesses aiming to lead their niche online, partnering with a digital strategist like Natalio can be the difference between showing up—and dominating.

[cssscriptcom]

Responsive Image Comparison Slider for Before/After Views

This is a responsive, accessible, touch-enabled image comparison slider built with HTML range input, CSS/CSS3, and a little bit JavaScript. How to use it: 1. Create the HTML structure for the image comparison slider. Wrap your images in a div with the class compare. Include your “before” and “after” images. Add a range input for the slider control. <div class="compare" style="overflow:…

[idiot-swanwich]

Pumpkins!

My gift for @peachlover28

This is for the @rottmnt-secret-gifting thing.

(story under cut)

" Ready, set, go! " April said as she started the timer for this years Lair Games. This year they had decided to theme each event. Seeing as Halloween was right around the corner, this year's events were themed around well, Halloween! The first event was a timed pumpkin carving contest. Each contestant had 60 minutes to clean, design, and carve their respective pumpkins. With Splinter judging each of their pumpkins. And with that, they were off for the races.

Donnie started off strong, using his tech to quickly clean out the inside of the pumpkin. However, he was strictly forbidden to use it in any way during the actual carving. The runner up for this first step was Raph, who decided the best course of action was to smash. Mikey was third, he simply used the carving knife they were each given to cut out the top and scoop out the insides. He placed the goopy insides of the pumpkin into a large plastic grocery bag next to him. The very last turtle to finish the first step was Leo. The blue clad turtle used his ōdachi to cut open the pumpkin but somehow got teleported to Run of The Mill Pizza. He scored dead last in that part of the carving contest.

The next step was to start planning out their design, this one was relatively easy to do. The first to finish this step was last step's runner up, Raphael. He drew on with the markers that were provided a simple smiley face, with two dots for eyes and a line for the mouth. Mikey finished next, he made a classic pumpkin design with triangle eyes, a wide grin, and a simple triangular nose. Leo surprisingly finish third choosing to his name on the pumpkin. Finally, Donnie finished, he chose to draw on his pumpkin a "highly detailed" image of himself that was definitely not traced (that was sarcasm).

The final step finally came and Mikey was the first to finish with a remaining 10 minutes on the clock. His pumpkin turned out exactly as planned. He even had enough time to add lights. Raph finished next with his smiley face pumpkin. Next was Leo, his name was kinda messed up. And Donnie was once again the final contestant to finish. His self portrait did not turn out as expected. Who woulda thunk that Donatello Hamato would be had with carving tools.

Now that each turtle had finished making his pumpkin, it was time for Splinter to judge his sons. First up was Mikey.

" Wow orange! It looks great. A bit bland but it's nice. 8.5/10. End of critique. Go now " Splinter said to Mikey before shooing him away.

" Thanks Dad! " Mikey happily responded.

" Blue, your turn." Splinter said. Leo showed his creation to his dad and waited to hear his father's opinion. "it's . . . interesting. a bit egotistical to slap your name across the front but you did good enough with the carving. 6.5/10. Now go" he said as he shooed the blue clad turtle aside.

Donnie's turn was next.

" Purple . . . is that Orange's drawing of you from when he was 7 . . . on a pumpkin? " Splinter questioned. The slider simply nodded in response to his father's remark. "5/10 be more original purple."

And finally, it was Raph's turn to be judged.

" Simple and sleek. Good job Red. 9.5/10 could use some more detail, but I like it! "

And like that, Raph had won the first game! The next games were sure to be hard, but hey, Raph won and that was that.

The End!

Author's Note:

Was originally gonna make some art but couldn't find time in my schedule to draw so I made a story instead. Hope you liked it. ^^

[opinated-user]

Funny how the question regarding Courtney is a anon…even though Lily has anons turned off.

Did she turn them on for an hour then turn it right off? Maybe it’s someone she follows that asked this, or is this a self-ask?

If it’s the latter, guess Lily figured out that we all know that sucky-boi is just her lol

(for those who don't use tumblr and don't know what that second image means: if anons were allowed then the slider would be in blue to let you choose it. meaning that LO has asks on, but only for registered users) we have been calling out these mysterious "anons" who happen to write her while it should be impossible for anyone to write her for a while. she just trusts everyone to not pay attention to that kind of thing. see too how Courtney went from "an abusive rude horrible person who threatened my life three times and allowed my abuse to happen by enabling it" to not "i don't know if there's even anything to apologize for"... i have asked many times before, but it's worth repeating: how is anyone supposed to make sense out of this? how are you, even as a fan of LO and someone that believes her, supposed to follow any of this? Courtney, in LO's story, was one of her main abusers who is also responsible for not stopping the CSA she was going through. Courtney is also the monster who is making all these wild accusations against her because... attention, i guess, since we all know LO has no clout for anyone. just look at the numbers of her own wife to know her name means very little. Courtney is the evil encarnate according to LO, who was never abused or molested by anyone ever. but suddenly LO doesn't know if there's even something to apologize for. furthermore, read her answer again. the answer is not "me, apologizing to her, after all she has done to me? never!", which would have made perfect sense with her version of the story, and it's not either "i never did anything to her worth apoligizing for", which is overtly defensive but still easy to understand. instead it's "she won't want to hear it" and there's something about it that i just find so interesting. as if in some level LO knows there is no apology big enough to ever cover what she actually did to Courtney. so the only thing she thinks she has left is to double down until her dying breath.

[oydis]

Anonymous asked (external ask form):

Hi, this is the person from earlier with the issues with the Morgan hair V2. I apologize for taking so long to get back to you - my computer takes a long time to load the Sims and doing that multiple times in an afternoon just takes longer. Anyway, the issue was in CAS only. My only sliders are a hat slider and a pointed ear slider for all ages. I took those out and the warping didn't happen until I clicked on the body to change outfits. I know I probably have a mod conflicting somewhere with this specific hair (no other hairs do this, thus far) so I will just keep testing. I thank you for your patience and your prompt response to me. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon!

I tried to paste an image into here but it didn't work so I will just say it looked like the braid was stretched through the Sim at a downward angle and their face was being stretched like a it was made of rubber.

Hi! 💕 Don’t worry about it, you didn’t take long at all :) also, thank you for coming back with all of this information! Out of curiosity, do you also have the side version of this braid? Does it get warped too?

I have an idea for a possible resolution of this issue, in order to see if it works you can momentarily remove the one you have and put this one in your game instead:

» new Morgan Hair Back « (SFS)

If it works, then it would be great. If it doesn’t, I still have something I can try. But hopefully this will be enough *fingers crossed!*

🌟 Edit: the fix works, download links can be found in the original post.

[boringbones]

What do you think The Sims 4 should have been? How should they have looked? I see people say they have the best graphics in the series and damn, that's a slander. I think The Sims 4 should have been an evolution of The Sims 3 and instead it looks cartoony and the shadows don't even catch the sims. I even think The Sims 2 looks better than The Sims 4, I think the sims can look great with a lot of custom content but that's the only thing because the world looks so papery and so green. I'm asking you this because I think you're one of the most objective simmers right now and I think you really appreciate The Sims 3.

Objectively, this is what The Sims 4 should have been. A significant evolution of the 3, keeping everything the 3 brought, without the performance issues of that period. That at least was what I expected when the first image came out. It sold us mystery, it sold us the idea of interconnected narratives like in ts2, it sold us the idea of a game that would bring everything that was left out in ts3, but that was in 2!

It's very kind of you, thank you for seeing me that way. My take on Ts4 is that the game is in the condition it is in and part of that is the fault of the extremely "positivist" community. Who celebrates Patch who brings class to the kit, and is happy with considerably superficial and insignificant deliveries.

I've been playing The Sims for 19 years. I criticized The Sims 3 a lot in its time, for (compared to ts2) presenting sims so robotic and with "hard" animations. This has improved over time and HAPPY is fixable. My idealization is that I wouldn't complain about this in ts4, however, 4 went the complete opposite way, giving us goofy sims that look more like they were made for kids than adults. They are literally silly. There is no significant consequence, there is no risk.

What made Ts1, 2 and 3 special was not in 4. However, I cannot deny that The Sims 4 was perhaps one of the games that best managed to represent the original idea of The Sims: House Building Simulator. Houses and Sims. But that alone doesn't sustain what The Sims franchise has become. That goes far beyond these two concepts. By the way, it's not because the ts4's CAS is push and pull that it's the best. It's easier to work on sims in ts2 and 3 with sliders than in 4, especially if you decide to change "ethnic" traits. Since, if you choose the wrong eye, and spend two hours editing it, you'll have to start all over again on the next swatch (model) you choose.

The Sims 4 needs to end. But if it's approaching 10 years, the community is responsible for that. Every time someone annulled themselves, every time someone stopped criticizing, every time someone accepted it and thought it was normal, it corroborated for that. It is worth remembering that it took almost a "third war" on twitter, to give us more variation of skins. And I ask: Do we REALLY deserve to go through this? Should we really lower the bar to charge for essentials?

The Sims 4 is so popular for embracing diversity, but TS3 did it without show, and the mainstream media never applauded it for it. Why? Because he was performing a natural evolution, it was his destiny. In 4, however, it seems that they program evolutions, to be applauded, handing us first a piece of dry bread, then a nice sandwich and…: "Aren't you going to applaud us? We're doing everything you asked!" In exchange for what?

The Sims 4 didn't even have a family tree in the base game. This is a bad joke. To those offended, I can only apologize, I'm not talking about you, I'm giving my opinion about this generation of almost 10 years. As a longtime Simmer, I've never seen maxis deliver so little, charge so much and still be idolized for it. This was not the maxis that revolutionized the industry 20 years ago.

And Yes!! Nothing beats the sims 2 even today.

In addition to having extremely malleable graphics that can look amazingly good 20 years later, it has the best lighting system in the entire franchise and the CRAZIEST sims (WHICH I LOVE)

By the way, do the poles light up the roofs on the ts4 too? (I really have no idea)