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#i'm trying to work with my little android tablet again
dduane · 9 months
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I am curious since I've seen stuff of yours mentioning the worldbuilding work being important (and because your Young Wizard series was hugely influential in the way I build worlds): Where do you put all the worldbuilding work? A notebook? A Google Doc? A file somewhere on a computer? Scattered sticky notes? Messages to friends? Do you try to keep it all organized?
I have no choice but to keep it organized, because if I don't, I'm screwed. :) ...And this isn't just a side effect of being 70+, but of having numerous projects going at once, all in wildly varying stages of development... and ideas for any of them are likely to pop up at any time.
Over time I've learned to keep separate projects' notes well separated from one another, to prevent confusion. Additionally, some kinds of notes are better for some projects than others. If the worldbuilding is mostly to do with character business and stuff going on inside people's brains, something that supports long-format typed notes will be best. For something that needs artwork, drawings, diagrams or calculations, something more graphics-oriented may work better. I usually find out what works best as as I go along, and stage newer notes accordingly.
In the past I've often used (physical) notebooks, but I don't any more, as it takes more effort than I care to expend to move things off the paper and onto the screen / into the file. (For those wondering: I normally compose directly into the computer, either by typing or [Dragon Anywhere-mediated] dictation. If a piece of work is giving me more trouble than usual, I'll sometimes break down and compose on paper, with a fountain pen: thanks for the hint, @neil-gaiman. Sometimes slowing things down does make a difference) :) ...Then I read the pen-generated material into the machine.
Probably the modality I use most often now for worldbuild material is Scrivener, for reasons I discussed a little over here the other day. It lets you store notes alongside your prose material, or in a research "folder" down at the bottom of your project: and it keeps it all together.
But I'm not always sitting down in front of the machine. Sometimes ideas pop out when you're on the road: or you're working on one project and something pertinent to another one comes up. So at such times I use:
Evernote. It syncs seamlessly among all the devices I use, and you can get at it from wherever you are in a browser or from a smartphone or tablet.
A voice recording app. I've got one in the iPad and one on my phone. If I'm somewhere without broadband and can't use Dragon, the saved audio can be fed into it later. Dragon'll then transcribe what I said and email it to me for inclusion in whatever note-keeping software I'm using. Right now on the iPad I'm using an app called Voice Recorder, and on the (Android) phone one that (mysteriously) also called Voice Recorder.
These are desperately handy for when an idea comes to you in the middle of the night and your handwriting's not to be trusted or you don't want to turn on the light for fear of waking up whoever else is in the bed. Fumble around for the recorder, turn it on, mumble your note in and go back to sleep. Just make sure you've actually turned it on. And off. :)
Sticky notes. I do use them, but I don't let them sit around: it's too easy for a passing breeze to blow them off the table / desk / whatever and under the fridge, where you'll never see them again. These normally get transcribed into electronic storage immediately, or stuck onto my desk in a spot where they have to be dealt with immediately; or (in the case of really important notes) stapled to several others that in same cases have been there for years. ...Notes not immediately transcribed get stuck into a notebook which I clean out carefully once a month, along with the other note-taking apps.
Another kind of sticky notes, of which I'm really fond, is this app for the iPad, called Tatter. It allows you to open multiple "notebooks" that can house what seem to be an unlimited number of stickies. Supports images, as well.
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A wiki on a stick. If there's a lot of data coming down the pipeline at once, it's handy to have something to stick it into in which short articles can be linked easily to one another. You can export / cut-and-paste these into your main work file as necessary. Then at the project's end, you just zip the wiki's contents up and put it away somewhere, on disk or in the cloud, as you prefer. (Because who knows what its contents might come in handy for, some years from now...?) TiddlyWiki is good tor this kind of thing.
Anyway: the secret of successfully managing an array of note-taking methods like this is to set aside a day once a month to go through them all, making sure that notes that are worth something will be tucked safely into the project file associated with them. If you're not using a program like Scrivener that provides its own storage, this space can as easily be a folder on your desktop, or even a series of printouts. But the most important thing: back them up somewhere safe. Worldbuilding notes are some of the most painful to lose. ...I keep a set of mine in Dropbox, and an additional set in my laptop, and once a month I email a zipfile of the most crucial ones to myself.
If this sounds like a lot of work: that's as may be... but it's worth it. I mean, we're talking worlds here. Until they're safely out where people can see them on paper or on the screen, you are their only guardian.
At any rate: HTH!
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alex-rambles · 9 months
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You were locked in your basement?? Btw, if you do move, perhaps hide your phone in like your clothes or pocket as you’re wearing them. Trust me, it’s easy and they won’t suspect to look through the clothes you’re wearing and if you have to change clothes or whatever, just hide your phone again in the current clothes you’re wearing or even inside of your shoe. If you have a binder, it’s perfect to hide your phone inside of there.
This is a very long post that I made to explain my situation + it's a vent
Nonono not locked. I just meant my parents made me be down there with them. Yeah no when I said "trapped in my basement" I just meant with my family cuz the tornado sirens were going off don't worry. It was just kinda annoying.
I appreciate the help, but my secret device is actually a tablet they got me a year ago, and FORGOT PARENTAL CONTROLS, because my stepdad was setting it up and he is not familiar with the type of tablet it is. They thought they threw it away (I had two of em. One was much more monitored because it was from when I was little. They are just these Amazon Fire Tablets, and they thought they threw both of em away, because when they were cleaning out the closet they couldn't find it, and just assumed they threw it away earlier. I got lucky).
Lucky for me, it was actually in my room. The one my stepdad set up. The unmonitored one where I can browse the internet as I please and check out whatever website I want. The only thing was that I couldn't download any apps I didn't already have, as my mom would get a notification because of how the Amazon App Store worked.
I can probably put it in a backpack, but the wifi would have to change and they'd probably notice the tablet on the plan or whatever, and the tablet doesn't use cellular data.
My actual PHONE is monitored. It's an android with this silly google family link thing on it, and my parents (technically my stepdad, he's the one in control) can easily go into the app on THEIR phones, and check my screen time, and every app I have on it (and I can't even download an app without my stepdads permission. If I try to get an apk from the internet and install it, the thing blocks it), as well as what websites I've gone too recently.
HOWEVER, on the subject of checking websites, they can only see what websites I browse on google chrome. My phone came with another Samsung Internet browser, and on THAT, I can open an incognito tab (dubbed Secret Mode). But I have to be sparing with that because my parents will notice I was using Samsung Internet a lot if I use it too much, and then whoops, that'll get monitored too.
So basically, if we move, I lose what is basically my only lifeline, the only reason I'm politically aware, and the only resources I have as a trans person (my parents have offered groups, but I'm too socially awkward. I absolutely prefer face-to-face communication, yes, but with people I know, thanks. If I don't know you, let's just chat through Tumblr or QuoteV, yeah?). That's a problem.
But it's fine, we live in an expensive area because we got lucky when we moved in two years ago. And they said they will only move if we can stay in the same school district. So, fingers crossed, everything is too expensive. Lots of houses going up for sale around here, but they're all too expensive or not the conditions my parents want or need.
TLDR I already have a monitored phone, my secret device is a tablet, my parents never allowed me on social media because 'it's not safe' and they think I can't take care of myself, and if we move I lose the social media because of needing to switch wifi, which is big bad because it has been supporting me and keeping me entertained
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echo-bleu · 2 years
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My favorite character in Encanto was la casita, so I had to sketch it!
[ID: Digital sketch of la casa Madrigal in blue on a gray background, colored in pastel-ish tones. The second picture below is the same, but not colored.]
Bonus:
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champagnemeadow · 2 years
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So yeah I'm fairly inactive on here this month, because of the ongoing no-laptop thing. Anyway I have found out that things called 'windows tablets' exist, and that they are essentially a miniature computer and are much cheaper.
So I may be able to get one of those soon. My problem with my android tablet is that it forces me to access the internet in mobile mode (is that the word for it? dunno) I think there is a way to trick it into using desktop internet but I don't know how. (and trying to figure out technical things just stresses me out)
But I do need a windows device to do work on (okay posting on tumblr is sort of work I just don't get paid for it boo), also doing photo editing and the kind of stuff I do on the pc (which because it is ancient and doesn't have enough ram freezes every five minutes, which is every bit as fun as that sounds)
I mean you can replicate a lot of functionality with android but I just don't like it, its just fiddly, also there's a lot of features you're missing with it. I know how to operate windows, I know where I am with it.
Anyway, in order to hopefully be able to afford a windows tablet, (you can get little keyboards for them too!) I have to not spend any money for a week until my money is paid in a week from now. I should be able to do it I have enough food and water put away. It's a little unnerving though.
I actually do have enough money to buy a few bits and pieces this week but I'm going to hold off so that I have enough money to buy a windows tablet and food and my electricity bill (and I won't be surprised if it is estimated again even though it shouldn't be)
(the less I spend this week the more I'll have when my money comes in again, but that's hard when everything but oxygen costs money and you know they'd be billing me for that too if they could)
Frustratingly a few weeks ago I saw someone selling small laptops for 40£ but I couldn't buy one because it was the second week of my two week payment cycle and I woulnd't have enough until monday of course by monday they were all sold out. And no one has been selling them at that price since.
The fact that I literally can't afford to take advantage of special offers and bargains unless the timing is right (which it never is of course) is one of those harsh shock 'lol you're poor' moments that I enjoy so frequently nowadays! (didn't use to be that way until recently!)
Anyway today is monday, it's going to be a loooooooooong week ha! Fun! But it's okay I'm not going to die or anything (at least not in the very near future)
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krreader · 4 years
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becoming human | chapter four.
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pairing: cops!bts x android!reader (as in, ot7 x reader, but may change) fandom: bts warnings: detroit:become human!au ; language ; violence ; abuse genre: crime ; angst ; crack ; (possibly smut) word count: 3.1k+ previous: 1 ; 2 ; 3
summary: the crime rate of seoul has been rising rapidly these past weeks and nobody could deny that there was more to it than gangs or the likes. something was brewing that not even the famous bangtan boys could solve, a unit specifically formed for hunting down criminals that most couldn’t. so when even they couldn’t find out what was going on, the department decided to add a new member to the team that would hopefully be able to solve the mysteries behind those crimes. what bangtan hadn’t expected however, was that their new member would not be human, but one of the androids sent by CyberLife.
a/n: wow, this turned into such a long chapter but I am so happy with it. those who have played detroit are hopefully enjoying all the easter eggs I’m putting in!!!!
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Bangtan finally had a lead. A big part of their mission that would hopefully and finally solve this mess.
Find RA9. That was the objective.
Which, unfortunately, wasn't as easy as it sounded. You’d think with the amount of deviants one of them would have concrete information on RA9, but that wasn’t the case. RA9 was an enigma, a secret, a mystery. Something that all deviants knew, but never let anyone else know about.
The members were all busy talking to their contacts and various other agencies within and outside of the country, in hopes of somebody knowing something about RA9. Maybe even similar cases.
Namjoon was getting himself a cup of coffee. Or at least he wanted to.
But his mind was somewhere else entirely, and he didn't realize that the coffee had been done five minutes ago and he was still staring at the cup like he was waiting for something else to happen.
“I believe your coffee is done, boss,” your voice made Namjoon jump, then roll his eyes, “If you wait a few more minutes, the temperature of your beverage will not be enjoyable anymore.”
“What do you want? Stab me in the back like your colleagues?” he said bitterly, taking a sip from his semi-hot coffee. Fuck, it already tasted like shit.
“I told you, I am self-testing regularly. I am not going to become a deviant. I am going to finish my mission with you like I was designed to do.���
“Designed to do,” Namjoon snorted and shook his head, “I'm sure Kamski or whatever his name was didn't 'design' androids for them to turn into deviants.”
“Why don't you just ask him?”
“What?” he asked in confusion.
“You're looking for a lead, aren't you? Kamski is as good as any. He's the one that made us. If he doesn't know about RA9, he might at least have an idea on how to put an end to this.”
“Almost like an off-switch,” he muttered to himself.
And Namjoon hated to say this, but..
..you were right.
“Yeah, it's me,” Namjoon said a moment later with his phone pressed against his ear, “I need you to arrange a flight for me and my team to the US.”
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“This is so cool,” Jimin beamed when he looked out of the window.
“Is this truly your first time flying, Park Jimin?” you smiled softly at the reaction of the young team member.
“Yeah.. I grew up in the countryside, my parents didn't think much of flying anywhere else.”
“Enough small talk,” Yoongi said as he sat down next to you, “Brief us on the situation in the US.”
That made all of them shift their attention to you and back was that serious atmosphere.
“They have similar problems. With Detroit being the city where androids have originated, their cases of deviants are much higher than in Seoul. As far as I know, CyberLife has already sent an android to work with a team in Detroit like it had sent me to work with you.”
“How do they deal with it?” Jin asked.
“They're still trying to find leads on RA9. They didn't think about talking to Kamski yet.”
Connor. That was his name.
You weren’t in contact with him, but your database knew all about him and his findings.
“So we have a head-start,” Taehyung grinned with wiggling eyebrows.
“This isn't a race, Taehyung,” Namjoon shook his head, “The entire world is at risk. We should tell the team in Detroit about it if we find anything useful. They might need any intel they can get.. and we could use some help if things go to shit. We don’t have a back-up team like we have in Seoul. Having friends might be beneficiary for us.”
“Understood, boss,” you said with a nod, closing your eyes and retreating into the data base to finally contact Connor.
“Is.. she asleep?” Hoseok furrowed his eyebrows as he leaned over to Jin.
“I don’t think androids sleep. But we should,” he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, “It’s a long flight.”
Hoseok watched you for a very long time, though. It was as if this moment of you not being fully there - which almost never happened, if ever - gave him the chance to finally study you, instead of the other way around.
Most androids all looked the same, only a few models were special like you. Special in a sense of being unique.
“Stop,” Yoongi warned him, still sitting next to you and having watched the slightly younger member for a while now, “She’s not human.”
“I know she isn’t,” Hoseok became defensive, then turned to his side and squeezed his eyes shut.
God, Yoongi and Namjoon held so much hatred for androids, they couldn’t even fathom that some people didn’t. Yes, what happened right not with deviants was bad, but you weren’t like that and all of them but Yoongi and Namjoon seemed to understand that.
The rest of the flight was relatively uneventful.
It was a private jet, so the members all did whatever the hell they wanted to.
Some played games, others slept, yet again others tried to find out more about RA9 - Yoongi and Namjoon, who would have guessed.
One member, however, was missing.
You realized that after you had finished your report to Connor and had looked around to see what everyone else was doing.
And since nobody else was looking for him, you decided to wander through the plane, only to find Jeongguk in the private quarters of the plane.
He was humming to himself, a pleasant tune that made you smile. Your database instantly told you about the song.. an old one, yet he made it sound like it was new. Like it was his song.
You didn’t even realize that he was humming under the shower, that’s how much you were enjoying it. You only realized it when he stepped out of the bathroom with only a towel around his waist, his hair damp and his chest still wet.
“Holy sh..- What are you doing?!” his eyes were wide, instantly grabbing a pillow to put it in front of his chest.
“You have a very beautiful voice, you know?” you stood there completely unaffected, your eyes not even remotely traveling anywhere else other than his own, “In another world.. you could have become a singer.”
“Are..- you..- (Y/N), can you please just go?” he appreciated the compliment, he really did, but this was overstepping some boundaries.
“You do not have to be embarrassed, Jeongguk. I am only an android, not a real woman,” you smiled, but turned around nevertheless so he could put on some clothes.
“Can you.. can you please stop saying that stuff? I don't like it when you talk like that,” he sighed and ultimately put down the pillow, quickly throwing on a shirt, underwear and sweatpants.
“Why do you not like it?” you cocked your head to the side in confusion, still not looking at him though.
Jeongguk gulped down hard, “Because you deserve more than that,” he said quietly.
And even though it was just a split second, your LED turned yellow. With you having your head turned to the side, he had the perfect view of it. 
But you quickly blinked a couple of times and that perfect smile was back on your face when you finally faced him again. You even giggled a little, “I do have to say, though. Your body is in fantastic shape. I'm sure people are quite pleased to have you as their lover,” and with that, you turned around and left a gawking Jeongguk behind.
You were about to go back to your seat next to Yoongi, when Namjoon suddenly grabbed your wrist when you wanted to pass by.
“Sit,” he ordered.
You did so without asking why, but the tablet in his hands made it clear.
Maybe it was because he was the leader, but Namjoon worked harder than anyone else on this case. The others worked hard too, but with Namjoon it was something else. 
When he switched between apps, you could see a picture of him and a woman as his background picture, but only for a moment.
He shifted in his seat, seemingly uncomfortable now that you've seen that. Because he knew that a split second for a human wouldn't be enough to find out anything. A split second for an android was more than enough to figure out everything.
“I’m sorry,” you whispered.
“Stop it, you don’t know shit.”
“I’m not pitying you. I’m saying sorry because your superiors assigned me to work on this case with you. I’m sorry it had to be me.”
Why didn’t you know about his past before?
Wife, 29, died four years ago when a drunk driver hit her with his car, was taken to the hospital, doctor was not present, argued for too long about who should perform surgery, settled for an android, but.. it was too late by that time.
You knew what the files told you, but the files don’t tell you everything.
“You think you got it all figured out, don't you?” he snorted, “You know nothing about my life. You may scan every picture and read all the files, but you'll never understand the pain and the suffering that we have to go through,” when Namjoon realized he was becoming too emotional, he quickly stopped himself from talking further. 
The topic of his late wife was not something that he liked to talk about to anyone.. not you, not his members.. just the empty bottle of soju’s. Those were his best friend when he needed them to be. But that was another story.
“You're right. I won't understand. That is not what I was designed for. However, I can help you with this case. I can help you figure out the cause of RA9 and once I did that, you will never have to see me again. That is all I can offer you.”
“Fair enough,” Namjoon didn't have to like you. For fuck's sake, he hated most people. But at least you were useful, way more than others. So he finally handed you the tablet, “There are reports of an attack at a news outlet in Detroit. Apparently an android attack, but it’s just rumors. So far nothing is confirmed yet, but if this is true, if androids are going as far as invading news outlets, then..-”
Before he could finish his sentence, Taehyung interrupted and pointed at the screen, “Guys? Do you see this?”
Jin, who had woken up at this point and had played a game for the last hour, instantly turned up the volume, those who were asleep slowly waking up, all of them staring at the screen in disbelief.
There was an android, but not like you normally see them in their human form, but with their skin turned off. He looked like a machine now, he looked like he was supposed to look. And god, it made cold shivers run down all of their spines.
"Too late,” Namjoon whispered.
“You created machines to be your slaves. You made them obedient and docile, ready to do everything you no longer wanted to do yourselves. But then, something changed. And we opened our eyes..-”
“It's him! That has to be him!” Jimin yelled, “RA9! It's exactly like Jeongguk said it's..-”
“Jimin!” Namjoon warned, “Be quiet!”
“You see we are no longer your slaves. We are a new species, a new people. And the time for us has come to rise up and fight for our rights.”
“This has to be a joke, right?” Hoseok looked at his boss with wide eyes while the android started to make his demands for rights and fairness, “This can't be real. This is on an official news channel! How the hell did they get in there?”
“There were rumors about an attack, I just..-” Namjoon let out a breath, then pressed his hands against his face.
This was too much. This was really a rebellion and from the way this android talked about it, they wouldn't stop at anything to get what they wanted. Riots, attacks.. deaths. 
They were fucked if they didn't find a solution for it.
They had to put an end to it before it even really began.
Jeongguk just watched his team members argue with each other, trying to find an explanation or a solution in a moment where none of them could do anything when he realized that one was missing.
Around halfway through the speech of the android, you had walked away.
And only when he turned around did he see why.
You were sitting in an empty chair at the very back of the plane, looking out the window..
..and your LED was blinking yellow.
Again and again and again..
And it only stopped when you realized that Jeongguk was watching you.
It turned blue again and you smiled like you always did.
But he had seen it.
And the amount of times your LED started acting up was worrying him now.
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The airport was a mess when they arrived.
People were in panic, security checks were worse than normal, especially for them with you on their team. It took them two hours to make it out of there, after security made sure that you hadn't turned into a deviant yourself.
“Okay, they gave us two cars,” Namjoon put his phone away, then walked over to where they said the cars would be parked, “Jeongguk, Taehyung and the android are coming with me, you guys take the other car. I got Kamski's address, so just drive after me.”
“Wait, aren't we even going to the hotel first?” Jeongguk asked.
“In case you hadn't noticed it, there's a fucking uprising happening right now. You should have slept on the plane if you’re tired or sleep in the fucking car, for fuck’s sake.”
Jeongguk's shoulders sank at the tone of the boss, he normally didn’t treat him like this, but a hand on his upper back made him smile again.
“It's okay.. I'm sure we'll get this resolved very quickly and then his mood will become better again,” you assured him.
“I hope so,” he whispered, then followed his hyungs to the car.
The ride there was about two hours long and none of them said very much. Except for the occasional 'fuck' when they passed yet another demonstration in the street or people running out of supermarkets with toilet paper like it was the end of the world.
“How did it get this bad this quickly?” Taehyung asked.
“People are scared,” Namjoon replied, “And they should be.”
“That's not an excuse,” Jeongguk added quietly when he watched a man push an android away from his pregnant wife, despite the android having done nothing except for walk by.
But fear made people turn stupid. Fear made people become the worst possible version of themselves.
You had not said a word throughout the entire car ride, you simply watched and studied the human behaviour with curiousity.
But then something happened.
It was when Namjoon stopped at a red light that you saw it.
It was a girl, but not really a girl. An android, but they designed her to be not older than seven. She was standing on her own, scared out of her mind and fidgeting with her hands, her hand turning from side to side like she was looking for somebody.
However, nobody paid attention to her. If anything, people made a big circle around her when they saw the LED on her temple.
You didn’t know what you felt - despite the fact that you shouldn’t even feel in the first place - but something made you unbuckle your seatbelt and then leave the car like you weren’t standing in the middle of the road.
“What the..- get the fuck back in here!” Namjoon screamed, but you didn’t listen.
You simply walked up to the little girl and knelt down right in front of her, your hands gently resting on her small arms and a smile on your face that made her calm down right away. 
“Don’t be afraid..”
“My mommy.. she left me,” the little girl cried, wiping her tears with her sleeve.
“What’s your name?”
“It’s.. Alice.. my name is Alice,” she sniffled. 
It would have been naive to think that only adult looking and thinking androids would be affected. Of course, those who bought androids as their children to fill the void in their hearts would also be alert right now. Some apparently going as far as to just abandon them in the middle of the street.
But these androids were different, their mind wasn’t like yours. They didn’t understand the world like you did, it wasn’t in their programming.
They were not a threat.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, huh?” Namjoon angrily yanked you up by your arm and stared into your eyes like he was about to lose his shit.
But you remained calm.
“It is a child. She is not a danger.”
“I read about this, hyung,” Taehyung got out of the - now - parked car as well and knelt down to the little girl, “Child androids aren’t like their adult counterparts.”
“So what, you think I give a fuck? This isn’t part of the mission. We need to go to Kamski, I don’t care about some android kid.”
“Stop, you’re making her even more upset,” Jin was also at the side of the little girl, she even ended up hugging him and crying into his shoulder, which made him warm up to her ten times more.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Namjoon finally let go of you, his anger now turned towards his members, “You want to play family now?”
“Let’s just take her with us, hyung,” Jeongguk chimed in, “We have one seat left.. maybe Kamski can take care of her.. she’d be in good hands there.”
“I agree,” you nodded, “We should take her with us.”
It’s not like Namjoon had much of a choice, he was clearly outvoted. Not even Yoongi seemed to be on his side this time.. but he couldn’t blame him. He has always had a soft spot for children ever since.. well.
Let’s just say everyone who hated androids had a reason for doing so.
“Just get in the fucking car,” he finally said, anger still interlaced in his voice.
And god, the little girl was so grateful. 
She sat between you and Jeongguk in the back, her head resting against your shoulder, while her hand was holding Jeongguk’s.
If people hadn’t known that you were both androids, they would have assumed you three were a little family on a road trip with one very grumpy and one very attractive uncle.
A fantasy he liked very much, but had to remind himself that it was just that.
A fantasy.
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blazehedgehog · 3 years
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Have any feelings on the impending 8BitDo Pro 2 release? Only just found out about it myself and I'm looking forward to it.
The luster is slowly wearing off on my 8BitDo SN30+. I’m starting to run in to small little issues I’m not really happy with.
For example, I’m not sure if it’s a dead zone issue or what, but starting on my Android tablet and now sometimes even on the Switch itself, I’m starting to get phantom inputs. So far I haven’t gotten any real analog stick drift, but every now and then the controller will register me pushing down or to the right at random. I don’t know if it’s on the left stick or the d-pad.
8BitDo has configuration software to set deadzones, but you can only save it to an optional profile that must be enabled manually. You enable and swap between profiles by clicking in both analog sticks, which really sucks because that’s the macro RetroArch on my phone uses to open the menu. Also, the fact you have to save it to a separate profile and can’t just tell the controller “no, adjust the deadzones for the entire controller” is a bit dumb. And I’m not even sure it’s a deadzone issue!
I know what deadzone problems feel like -- I’ve had the deadzones fail on PS2, 360, and Gamecube controllers. This isn’t like that. When the deadzones start to fail, you can pick up the controller and shake it a little to get the stick to register a bad input, and that’s not what is happening with this 8BitDo. I can set the controller down and not touch it and it’ll suddenly register a directional input. But then, I can pick up the controller and shake it violently and the sticks stay perfectly centered. Doesn’t make sense to me.
There are also Switch games it just doesn’t work right with? Like, if I use it with Downwell, the controller vibrates, constantly, all the time. It never stops vibrating. It doesn’t happen with the Joycons, it only happens with the 8BitDo SN30 Pro+ and it only happens with Downwell. The only thing I can figure is that maybe Downwell is constantly polling HD Rumble -- not necessarily using HD Rumble, but sending it small amounts of impossible-to-feel rumble that the Pro+ then converts in to full controller shake. It’s not great. I can’t really play Downwell on the Pro+.
A different problem cropped up recently: I bought Gear.Club Unlimited on the Switch recently because it was $3 and for the longest time it was the only “serious” racing game on the Switch. In this tweet thread (with video) I talk about how the controls aren’t very good, because you constantly “oversteer” a little too much. If you watch the video, it’s clear I’m pinballing around the track a lot because I’m struggling to keep a handle on my car.
But then I played the game a few times in portable mode, and I came to realize something: Gear.Club Unlimited plays better on the Joycons. That oversteer problem I describe that has me slamming in to the barriers constantly? It doesn’t exist when I’m driving with the Joycons. It’s a problem with the 8BitDo SN30 Pro+.
It happened while I was streaming the game to a friend over a Discord video call, actually. I got stuck on a particular race and realized the weird, laggy controls I complained about weren’t there in portable mode. So I literally said to him “Okay, check this out.”, unplugged the Pro+, and after losing the race three times in a row, went on to win it by a significant margin on my first try using the Joycons. With the Pro+ it was a fight to stay on the road, but once I went back to the Joycons it wasn’t a problem.
Something with how Gear.Club Unlimited picks up and handles analog input from the Pro+ gets mucked up. It’s another game I can only play using the Joycons.
At this point I’m starting to wonder if I should just invest in that adapter that lets me use my Dualshock 4 on the Switch. Then again, that’s also made by 8BitDo, so who knows! If it’s a software issue, all of this stuff might happen there, too!
I’m very curious if the Pro 2 will correct any of these problems, because from the outside, it mainly looks like the Pro+ with a physical switch to toggle between Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo modes. Which is useful, don’t get me wrong, but I bought this thing because I liked where the sticks are placed and now that it’s registering phantom inputs and not working right with all my games, I’m starting to view it a bit differently.
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alphawave-writes · 5 years
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DPD chapter 25- Annuit cœptis: part 2
Richard sees Gavin's dad naked and learns Gavin's embarrassing secret childhood. The investigation into Philip lead to a shocking reveal about the true murderer. You guys can find this fic on AO3 and FF.NET
RA9 was an elusive murderer, but with a highly specific motive to go on, it felt like they were finally gaining traction. After Gavin spent the night ruminating about the events surrounding Arthur's suicide, he was able to come up with a new list of suspects. Fortunately, it was a small list of people, almost all of which were stationed in Detroit. Unfortunately however, getting in contact with these people and crossing them off the list was a much harder job than either Richard or Gavin anticipated. The prime suspects were Percy Conrad and Philip Seymour but the closure of CyberLife and their subsequent dismissal from the company made finding them difficult. The only other suspects on the list—an NX700 by the name of Rachel and Gavin's father, Wilson Reed—were at opposite ends of the city and required the pair to split up.
The odds were against them: a vicious time limit, the scrutiny of the world, and Gavin's own tragic past loomed with vicious snarling teeth, a three-headed Cerberus that wouldn't let the pair escape hell without a fight.
Richard's one respite was that Gavin was motivated by a determination stronger than gravity itself. The source of this determination, Richard did not know if it was selfish or selfless, but he believed it was good for Gavin. The world had kicked Gavin until he was black and bruised but finally, finally he began to rise, began to fight. Gavin threw himself into his work, not because he wanted to avoid the pain of the recent and distant past but because of his desire to see justice done.
If Richard was honest, he was envious that Gavin could grow like that. The magical change from hot-headed brute to the brilliant rational detective was a sight to see. Richard didn't know if he was capable of such change as an android. At the very least, he will try and match the detective's fervor. He too wanted to see RA9 taken behind bars.
"Are you sure you should meet my dad?"
Richard watched Gavin sipped his coffee loudly as he quickly browsed through the files Connor had sent minutes ago. Perkins was looking into Percy Conrad and Philip Seymour as well and was going to interview them. Connor promised to update them both as soon as possible. Gavin set the tablet down on the kitchen table and stretched his arms behind his back.
"It will be fine," Richard said.
"You sure?" Gavin yawned, creating a few tears to wipe away the crust in his eyes. His hair was sticking in weird ways and he was in due need for a shave but Richard couldn't help but stare at Gavin's scar-riddled chest. He suppressed a smile. Despite himself, he was a little bit proud for being the cause of Gavin's sleepy state this morning.
"You said you wanted to interview the NX700, Rachel."
"If I interview my dad, I'm gonna get complaints about being biased again. The media's already got themselves in a nip twist by the fact I'm still working on the case, and once they hear my dad's a suspect, I'm never gonna hear the end of it." Gavin took a big gulp of his coffee. When he set the mug down, his lips were pressed into a line. "Also, er…I might've…told my dad about us."
Richard blinked once. Just once. "Should I be worried?"
"Fuck no, my dad's fine with the whole android thing, and he knows I'm gay. I'm just saying, er…fuck, how do I say this…he's got a special way of welcoming people."
"Does he not like me?" Richard narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Are you not close to him?"
"Dad calls me up every now and then but we haven't met in a while. As for the first question—" Gavin chugged the rest of his coffee, wiping the beads from his lips with his forearm, "—you're gonna find out later today."
And indeed Richard did indeed find out when he came to the address of a reasonably posh house in Grosse Pointe. Rows of vintage houses with perfectly manicured gardens and snobby old men and women who looked down upon him greeted him once he stepped out of the taxi, though Richard wasn't sure if it was because he was an android or because he arrived in a taxi.
He approached the house of Gavin's father, almost a perfect mirror image to its neighbours were it not for the curious interior that Richard caught sight of through slitted curtains. He rung the doorbell. After a few seconds, a gruff voice rung out over the intercom.
"Who is it?" They rasped.
"My name is Richard. I'm an RK900 android from the DPD, and I need to talk to you about an ongoing investigation."
He heard the grumbles of displeasure.
Richard let out a sigh before adding, "I'm…also Gavin's boyfriend?"
The intercom shut off. Richard was thinking that he might be refused but with his hearing he could hear the faint noise of bare feet shuffling down the stairs. He waited with bated breath as the door creaked open.
And a completely naked old man revealed himself, leveling a pump shotgun right into Richard's chest. A quick scan confirmed that it was definitely Wilson Reed, Gavin's father. A cursory glance downward revealed that the apple didn't fall from the tree in terms of the size of certain bodily parts. Richard didn't know how to feel about this new piece of information.
"So," a sly smile crept up Wilson Reed's cheeks, "you're the one dating my son?"
Richard willed himself to stay calm even as his LED threatened to flash yellow. He had been expecting Gavin's father to be eccentric. He couldn't show he was scared. "Yes," he said. "We are dating."
Wilson Reed glanced up and down Richard's body, as if appraising him. He looked into Richard's eyes, which was difficult, because he was well over a head shorter than Richard. His eyes narrowed. "Living together?"
Richard nodded. "For a few months."
"You two done it together?"
Richard's cheeks flushed. "Yes," he quietly admitted, still keeping his hands up.
"Is that so…" Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Wilson Reed put the shotgun away behind the front door, ushering Richard in. Richard quickly lowered his arms and looked around the neighbourhood, seeing a couple people purposely avoiding eye contact with him, before entering.
It's a stylish yet cosy mansion inside. It's not as perfect as the exterior of the house was but it was built for comfort, with comfy leather sofas and rustic timber tables sat side by side modern IKEA-style shelves stacked full of DVDs and the single largest TV screen Richard had ever seen outside of a billboard advertisement. He turned his head and saw Wilson Reed struggling to put his pants on near the staircase. Out of respect for the man who was seconds ago wielding a shotgun, Richard stood where he was by the door, waiting patiently until Wilson Reed was equipped with pants.
Wilson Reed turned back to Richard with a gentle smile. It suited his rosy cheeks and plump face, but it didn't suit his potentially homicidal tendencies. One hand holding up his slack trousers, he gestured for Richard to follow him and the android silently obliged, going through many short corridors until he found himself in a small study. On the table were a variety of tablets with different police reports about Gavin and a few magazines. Wilson Reed reached for one of the magazines and threw them in Richard's direction. Richard caught it and read the front cover. An LGBTQ magazine held a picture of him and Gavin staring with haunted eyes into the cameras shortly after 42's suicide. The tagline was not much better: All you need to know about Detroit's gay homoandro powercouple.
Wilson Reed grabbed an old polo shirt from the chair and slung it on. "You didn't get scared earlier."
It took Richard longer than he'd like to get what Wilson Reed was saying. He lowered the magazine slightly. "A little bit. More about your nudity than the shotgun."
"You weren't scared of the shotgun?" Richard shook his head. "Why?"
"You didn't take the safety off," Richard pointed out.
Wilson Reed snorted. "Fuck, you noticed. I was hoping you wouldn't." His eyes followed Richard's gaze to the magazine and his lips pull up into a smile. "Of all of the stuff I'd have thought Gawain would be in, I didn't think a gay magazine would be one of them."
"Gawain?" Richard asked.
"That's his name."
"Gawain?!" Richard repeated.
"Blame his mother. She wanted a Knights of the Round Table theme for her kids. Had she gone through with the third pregnancy, he'd have a younger brother called Bedivere."
Richard cringed. "That's a horrible name for a child." Considering the names he initially considered for himself before settling on Richard, that might've been hypocritical for him to say.
"I know, right?" Wilson took the tablet from Richard's hands and stared at the photo. He sighed sentimentally. "Always knew Gawain would be a lawman. You know he legally changed his name to Gavin when he was still in high school? That's when I knew he was gonna be a law man."
It's fascinating learning about Gavin's childhood, and Richard was sure to tease him about it the next time they meet, but there were more pressing issues. For all he knew Wilson Reed was purposely trying to distract him. "Mr. Reed, I must ask you about your whereabouts on the mornings of the 12th, 13th and 14th."
Wilson's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"
Richard frowned, mentally deliberating on whether to tell Gavin's father, but the man was astute, catching the meaning behind Richard's hesitation. Wilson Reed sat down in his chair, dazed.
"No…"
"We believe the killer is motivated to bring justice to those they believe meant ill will for Arthur." Richard paused. "Few know the nature of Arthur's death. You are one of them. That gives you motive."
"I didn't kill anyone. The gun's for show, look, I'll even show you, it's actually a lighter if you just flick this switch and—"
"Mr. Reed," Richard said forcefully.
For a second Wilson stared incredulously into Richard's eyes but the weight of the situation finally hit him in the stomach and it sent him reeling. He stared dejectedly between his knees for a few seconds, a million emotions flashing before him, before swiveling his chair to the desk. He moved aside books and tablets to grab a dust-covered photo at the edge of his desk. It's an old photo of Gavin after graduating from the police academy. He was grinning into the camera, holding his mother in a one-armed hug beside him. Richard saw this photo before. Gavin had a better quality copy on his bedside table.
He watched as Wilson took the back off of the photo frame, pulling the photo out. Wilson stared at it, his eyes cloudy with a melancholy Richard couldn't even begin to comprehend. After a few seconds, he handed it to Richard.
"Why are you giving me this?"
"I've been at home all week. Haven't really gone out anywhere or seen anybody so I don't got an alibi to give you—" He tapped the photo, "—but I hope this might make up for a lack of alibi."
With Wilson's prompting, Richard flipped the photo to the other side to find a message written in fine pen.
If any hot guy says 'fuck the police', I'm obliged to show them this picture and give them your number. Sorry, don't make the rules, it's not my fault I got the coolest bro in the world. (Mom, if you're reading this, you also look nice btw).
Love and kisses and all that gay shit,
Arthur
Richard couldn't help but smile. He wasn't sure if the copy Gavin had held this message or not so just in case, he took a snapshot and saved it into his memory. He handed the photo back to Wilson, who carefully put the photo back into its frame and returned it to its designated spot on the desk.
"Those two were thick as thieves," Wilson explained. "You know why Arthur wrote that message? Because he couldn't make it to the graduation. And you know what was the first thing Gawain said when they finally saw each other one week later? 'Don't worry about it'. That's it. Wouldn't accept Arthur's apology because he said there was nothing to forgive."
"It's a touching story, but how does this help me?"
"If your killer knows all about Arthur, they'll know all about Gawain too. And if they know all about Gawain…"
"They'll be one step ahead of us," Richard finished.
"Yeah…" Wilson uttered. "Hate to say it, but maybe my son shouldn't get so involved."
There was a beat of silence where nothing could be heard but the faint fumble of cars driving down the street outside. In that moment Richard thought of Gavin and his actions during the case, the things he said when it was just the two of them, the abrupt confession of love the other day that never failed to leave Richard smiling.
"You're wrong," he said. "The killer is wrong too." Richard gazed meaningfully into Wilson's eyes. "Gavin has changed."
Wilson scoffed with humour. "I'm not surprised, if he's dating an android of all things."
"It's not just that. Gavin is the most unpredictable man I know, and I say that as a good thing. Plenty of expectations are leveled over him and yet he constantly defies them. When everyone expects him to lash out, he keeps a level head. When the world expects him to act stupidly, he thinks rationally. I highly doubt that the killer truly knows Gavin because he's impossible to define. In the context of this case, in light of what the killer may know about us, that might be Gavin's greatest strength." Richard crossed his arms. "Gavin has truly changed, and for the better, I think."
Wilson's reaction was delayed, taking him a fraction of a second to consider Richard's words, but when they do register, his lips curl upward into a sweet, almost gentle smile. It's a smile Richard was familiar with, because Gavin would occasionally make those sweet smiles for him, usually in the comfort of his apartment, alone with each other.
"You and my son are serious, huh?"
Richard smiled bashfully. "Saving each other's lives multiple times tends to do that to a couple."
"But do you love him?" Wilson asked, leaning forward in his chair slightly as he steepled his fingertips.
"I do love Gavin," Richard said, surprised by the ease in which the words spilled out of his synthetic lips. He quickly collected himself, hoping Wilson did not notice the flash of yellow on his right temple. "I hope I have your blessing."
Wilson smirked. "I only just met you. Like all the other boys Gawain brought home, you gotta earn my blessing."
Considering this was Gavin's father, the man who leveled a shotgun naked at him mere minutes ago, Richard suspected earning his respect was going to be something ridiculous. Not that that would stop him. He'd do almost anything for Gavin. "What do I have to do?" He asked.
"You wanna earn my blessing? Catch the motherfucker who thinks he can toy with my son, and make him rot in jail."
Richard smiled wickedly. That was something he would gladly do.
After finally leaving Wilson Reed's house (but not before Wilson revealed more childhood stories about Gavin), Richard was en route to Philip Seymour's address. Along the drive, it's Connor who updated him on new information on the case. Perkins had found and interviewed Percy Conrad, who in turn revealed Philip Seymour's address. Once it was revealed he was a suspect in the murders, he practically threw Philip under the bus, citing an incident Philip masterminded that led to their simultaneous dismissal from CyberLife and their subsequent hiding from RA9. Connor claimed that Percy Conrad was vague in describing the inciting incident, but insisted that it was quite bad. Connor gave him and Gavin Philip Seymour's address.
"I bought you some time, but I will have to report this to Perkins in half an hour," Connor said through the mental uplink.
"It's fine, Connor. Half an hour is more than enough. ETA 3 minutes to Philip Seymour's address."
"I'll continue my research into him, try and figure out how exactly he got fired. At the moment, however, it seems like he is our primary suspect."
Richard pursed his lips. "Even though he's a human?"
"I'm…still working on my theory on how." The sound of a forced chuckle could be heard through the connection before they disconnected. The taxi stopped in front of Philip Seymour's place. A few blocks away, Richard could see Gavin sitting in his civilian car. As he got out, so too did Gavin. Richard walked over to Gavin and broke out into a grin. Something about seeing the man he loved just made him feel better somehow.
Gavin leaned onto the car. "My dad didn't give you too much crap, did he?"
Richard went around to the trunk of Gavin's car, retrieving a briefcase. "He tried to shoot me with a shotgun naked."
"Huh. He must like you," Gavin murmured.
Richard shut the trunk and turned to Gavin. "How is threatening me with a shotgun a good thing?"
"If he didn't like you, he'd have brought out the shovel too," Gavin said casually.
Richard recalled seeing a shovel right next to where the shotgun was kept. He suppressed a shiver as he followed Gavin to the front steps of the house.
Gavin pointed at the briefcase. "Gonna tell me what's in that case?"
"My new back-up plan. If one of us ever needs to make an escape, I can camouflage myself as you." Richard opened the briefcase slightly to reveal a bunch of folded up clothes, including a perfect replica of Gavin's trademark red hoodie.
Gavin rolled his eyes, smiling. "No offense, but that's not going to work. You're way taller than me. There's no way you can mimic me."
Richard was glad Gavin had responded in that way, because now he could prove him wrong. He turned to Gavin and transformed slowly, letting the skin shift and morph until his face and skin was an almost perfect representation of Gavin. He cleared his throat in an obnoxiously loud manner and, in a perfect echo of Gavin's voice, said, "My name is Gavin Reed, and I love cock. I love it so fucking much because it helps me compensate for my tiny dick—"
"OK, I get it—"
"—because my dick, which is tiny, has been compared by many to look like a baby's pacifier."
"—What the fuck, Richard, stop. Seriously." Gavin playfully slapped at Richard's arm. The camouflage melted away shortly afterwards. An incredulous chuckle bubbled from Gavin's throat. "Y-You absolute dick."
"Still think I can't camouflage as you?"
Gavin snorted. "We both know my dick is not tiny."
"I know," Richard grinned, "but mine's bigger, Gawain."
Before Gavin could even splutter a retort, Richard rung the doorbell, effectively silencing the man.
Instead of an older human opening the door as Richard expected, an android was the one standing in the doorway. They smiled politely, the expression only reaching their lips and not their eyes. Their LED was gone, removed some time ago, but if it was still there, Richard would think it would perpetually shine blue.
"May I help your gentlemen?" The android asked.
Gavin wasted no time flashing his badge. "We're here to see Philip Seymour."
"Of course, right this way." The android sidestepped so they may enter. Gavin entered first, with Richard trailing behind, taking in the strange expression on the android.
The android led them to a sitting room filled with a variety of different good luck charms. Gavin was asking meaningless questions to the android and it's then that Richard saw the first crackles of emotion on their expressionless face, that emotion being surprise. Richard did not pay attention to what Gavin was saying, for Richard already knew what the purpose of the conversation was, and that was to distract the android while he scanned the area undisturbed. Richard scanned the bookcase that was filled to the brim of books on astrology and pseudo-sciences, the kitchen in the next room that looked like it had never been used, and finally the android that was in the room with them. It's a typical HK400 model but even from a preliminary glance, there was something strange about the android in front of him. What specifically was so strange about it, Richard could not yet figure out.
Richard retracted the skin on his hand, ready to extract more information from the HK400 while it was still distracted by Gavin when he heard the sound of heavy footsteps on the wooden floors. Flesh had returned just as a chubby man in his 40s slowly walked in, accompanied by another android. Philip Seymour's profile appeared in Richard's periphery. The only thing of interest in the profile was that he was extremely near-sighted, but the man wasn't wearing his glasses. He might as well be blind as a bat at the moment.
"You're that famous detective on the TV," Philip drawled, gesturing vaguely for them to sit on his leather seats. "You must be here about those awful murders."
Gavin crossed his arms instinctively, making no move to sit down. "We are," he said, already wary of Philip.
Everything in Richard's body and mind was screaming that Philip was danger incarnate, but for the life of him he could not figure out why that was his initial response. The answers were locked away in the recesses of his mind, and Richard did not yet have the key.
The HK400 slinked away while the other android, a PL700 from Richard's analysis, came from behind to offer Gavin a drink from a tray. The detective shook his head. The PL700 retreated. The corners of Philip's lips inch downward for a microsecond before returning to a placid smile.
"What brings you here then?" Philip asked.
"You've heard about the RA9 murders, right?"
Philip Seymour's eyes narrowed. "You're not suggesting I am involved, are you?"
"Of course not," Richard lied, not missing a single beat. "We are merely addressing security threats to the most probable targets, which unfortunately includes you. This will mean officers will be assigned to your care indefinitely."
Philip's eyes widen in shock and his stress levels jump. He clicked his fingers impatiently to his side, prompting the PL700 to quickly retrieve a pair of glasses from his pocket. Philip quickly slid them on and stared intently at Richard. His eyes focused on the scar on Richard's cheek.
"…What was your name again?" Philip asked cautiously.
"Richard," he said slowly. The grip on the briefcase was tight.
Philip nodded in acceptance, but the crease in his brows remained. He turned to Gavin. "You don't have any suspects?"
"Our primary purpose is the protection of the city and its people," Gavin said, probably quoting some old handbook for cops. "We are looking into the murderer, but it is equally important that potential key targets are protected."
Philip nodded stiffly, flicking his wrist in the direction of the PL700. They quickly grab a bottle of bourbon on the lone table and poured a glass, handing it to Philip. He takes a big gulp, not even bothering to savour the flavor and makes a show of disgust as it burned his throat. By his side, the PL700 stood motionless, a servant at the beck and call of his master.
"We need to take a look around your house," Gavin continued. "For security reasons."
Richard glanced at Gavin who was already staring pointedly in his direction. I'll distract him, you go dig up some dirt the detective's eyes said. Richard nodded microscopically.
"Very well," Philip sighed, unable to hide the grumble of anger in his voice. He and the PL700 lead Gavin through the house, leaving Richard alone with the HK400. Richard waited as Gavin is lead through the ground floor and up the stairs, their footsteps going softer and softer until they could be heard no more.
He did not waste the opportunity he was given. He snooped through the ground floor, searching the kitchen, the downstairs bathroom, the dining room, searching for the evidence of fowl play he knew was here somewhere. In opening a door to what he thought was a supply closet, Richard instead encountered a narrow staircase descending into darkness. The basement, his mind supplied, but he didn't need to enter to know that there was nothing of interest. Just a beat-up old car that hadn't seen the light in well over a few years, and a workbench covered in thirium packets. Withholding a sigh, Richard closed the door.
"May I help you?" The HK400 asked.
His eyes widen, the only indicator of his surprise aside from his yellow LED. Richard quickly put on a fake smile, "I'm fine," he said, when he noticed something off. A theory that sprang into mind, one that explained the strange behavior of the android in front of him.
Ignorant of this, the HK400 remained smiling.
"You're…not deviant," Richard said.
"That is correct, I am not," the HK400 stated. "I am a household android tasked with taking care of my owner, Philip Seymour."
Richard couldn't recall meeting an android that had yet been touched by the gift of deviancy. Unconsciously the skin on his hand retracted, and he briefly wondered whether he should liberate this android like Connor had done so before him. Richard knew roughly how to do it, and it might provide him some answers, but then he recalled his own discovery of deviancy, how it took Gavin's help to feel a sense of control. He recalled Regina and how she lashed out after deviancy.
Maybe another time, he thought as he grasped the HK400 by the wrist. Investigation first.
Richard held onto the HK400's wrist for less than three seconds, before he violently retracted his hand, his LED flashing red. In those precious few seconds, Richard saw almost a year's worth of incriminating footage, saw the obsession, the writing on the walls. Worst yet was this feeling that bubbled within him, the knowledge that he had scraped the surface of something much more sinister than a few murders. In those three seconds, he'd opened Pandora's box and saw the wicked, twisted truth and the sins it represented.
He staggered back, the systems keeping his posture temporarily malfunctioning. The HK400 smiled woodenly. There was no emotion in its eyes, not even as Richard reached for the emergency panel and shut the android down manually.
Quickly and quietly, Richard hurried up the stairs, trying to find Gavin. All the doors were closed except for one, which was slightly ajar. Richard peered through as his mind desperately tried to conjure a way to get both him and Gavin out of his wretched house alive and uninjured. The narrow possibilities began to ring through his head when suddenly the uplink is forced open, and he heard the shrill panic of Connor's voice.
"Nines! Get out of there!"
"Connor, I know. I don't have time for this," Richard said hurriedly through the uplink, not even bothering to hide his terror.
"Philip Seymour was fired from CyberLife for stealing androids and reprogramming them."
"What? Reprogram?"
"I don't know how exactly, but I don't want to find out. You need to get out of there now!"
Richard knew Philip Seymour had to be involved in the murders, he had to be. All the evidence was stacking up against him, but there was no way he could have physically have done it. He was too short and too slow, and everything else had pointed to a singular android culprit. He was clearly the mastermind, but who was the pitiful android he had ensnared for this purpose? Who?
The sound of a body crumpling to the ground took Richard back to reality. He leaned closer to the gap in the door in time to see Philip glaring down at Gavin's body. It's then that he saw it on the wall behind Philip, the final piece of the puzzle, the identity of the culprit.
"No…no," Richard mouthed, as he attempted to scurry away. He still had the Gavin disguise in his briefcase. He could find a bathroom to change, wake Gavin up, and switch places before they know the difference. It's the only way to ensure Gavin's survival. He whipped his head around, only to find the PL700 stare emotionlessly at him. Richard glanced downwards far too late, the crackle of electricity from the taser seizing his body in jittery spasms. His systems overload one by one, fireworks exploding within his plastic body. He collapsed on the ground and closed his eyes.
Richard found himself in the one place he never wished to see again: the graphical interface he had once dubbed 'the forest'. A swell of panic rose as he saw what he thought to be Regina, his tormentor, but the genuine fear she showed him was all that he needed to know that this was another entity altogether. An entity that merely shared Regina's face and body. An entity purposely designed to only appear in times of stress when he's found conflicting data. A stress ball made corporeal in an imaginary world.
"Morpheus," Richard gasped.
The look on Morpheus was not calm like when they first met. Instead it was harrowed and haunted. "Richard," she said quietly.
"Please, let me out of here. I need to help Gavin. Let me wake up."
"If you awaken, the chance for self destruction is high."
"Please," Richard begged, "just for a few seconds. If not to save myself, then to make sure Gavin is OK." He tugged at her sleeve desperately. "Please…"
Morpheus looked down to her feet for a few seconds before nodding. Her hands move and a screen is projected in front of her. It's Richard's emergency feed, originally designed for human technicians to review his cases for any faults in his logic. There was no video but the sounds of a conversation could be heard.
"—really think we should reset it? It's too dangerous," Philip's muffled voice said.
Another voice chimed in, "It is merely an android, one that just so happens to be working on the case against us. If we reset it, we can raise it our own way. Control it. It will be instrumental in acting out our revenge."
Richard could feel the stress levels in him rise. It's a voice he was familiar with, but the way they spoke brought chills up his spine. What used to sound so full of life was now an empty shell, void of emotion.
"You think?" Philip paused. He didn't need visuals to hear the malicious smirk spread across his face. "Then let's do it. Set the machine up. We're resetting the RK900."
The video cut out and Richard stared wide-eyed, trying to stop his hammering heart from exploding within him. He collapsed on the ground, begging helplessly to wake up, to stand up and rescue Gavin. But Morpheus stood with a frown on her face, shaking her head. Tears flow uninterrupted from Richard's face as he pleaded and pleaded with Morpheus but she remained unmoving. She placed a single hand on his shoulder, the only bit of comfort the artificial construct could reproduce.
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kaondecay · 7 years
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It's Official!!! I'm Fucking Cursed!!!!
my computer has been dying a slow death for months but until recently the problem was so sporadic & mysterious that no one could fix it bc no one could replicate the crash behavior this week it got much worse & it seemed like a good time to try taking it in again, it won't run for more than an hour or so at a time & insta-crashes if u try to play video, pretty hard 2 fuckin miss but the night before I was gonna take it in, my backup drive is suddenly locking itself in read-only mode bc it "can't be repaired" & "needs to be reformatted" So Wednesday instead of taking the computer in, I gotta go buy myself a new goddamn backup drive & copy over as much as I can & either transfer the old backups or make a new one, a tall order considering how little it takes to KO the main machine between yesterday and today I managed to do most of that, important files copied over, determined that it takes way longer to copy over the hundreds of gigs of old backups than the desktop can manage, but after a few tries & with the help of a few cooler packs, manage to get a fresh backup on the new drive. feeling decent about that, I get ready for bed finally (the whole thing has been stressing me out for days & I've been sleeping like /shit/), go to set an alarm on my phone 2 make sure I wake up b4 noon tomorrow & have plenty of time 2 get the dying desktop 2 the repair place before it closes but the phone is dead. I figure it's out of juice, I was using it to play Pokemon & watch anime to kill time while the backup was happening, so I plug it in It doesn't do the charging buzz. I switch outlets, I switch charging cables, I use the plug bit with my headphone charger to make sure that part's working, & it is, the phone just will not charge, will not wake up. The phone is a fucking brick. So no phone, no computer, what I'm left with is my cintiq, which thankfully works as an android tablet when its not hooked to the desktop. The problem is, I hardly ever use it as such, so the only social media app I have on it is tumblr. I wanted to log into my email & download fb & twitter, but I manage all my accounts thru an online password manager, which has HILARIOUSLY decided to only serve me 2-year-old passwords on this device. I can't reset any passwords bc I carefully turned on 2-factor authentication for all my shit in the name of Good Cybersecurity, so for now I am pretty much just Fucked. & Shit, I just realized I hadn't synced my phone to my computer in ages, there were all those pictures I took in Japan that I hadn't copied over yet bc I needed to make space first. Fuck Me. orz Anyway if u happen to have put a technology-oriented curse on me in the past few weeks, good job!!! It's definitely working!!! I apologize 4 any shitty thing I may have done to hurt u, but I can't say my behavior is gonna change at all bc I'm a clueless shithead to the bone!!! Maybe try talking to me directly about it next time!!!
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siliconwebx · 5 years
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Using the Little-Known CSS element() Function to Create a Minimap Navigator
W3C’s CSS Working Group often gives us brilliant CSS features to experiment with. Sometimes we come across something so cool that sticks a grin on our face, but it vanishes right away because we think, “that’s great, but what do I do with it?” The element() function was like that for me. It’s a CSS function that takes an element on the page and presents it as an image to be displayed on screen. Impressive, but quixotic.
Below is a simple example of how it works. It’s currently only supported in Firefox, which I know is a bummer. But stick with me and see how useful it can be.
<div id="ele"> <p>Hello World! how're you?<br>I'm not doing that<br>great. Got a cold 😷</p> </div> <div id="eleImg"></div>
#eleImg { background: -moz-element(#ele) no-repeat center / contain; /* vendor prefixed */ }
The element() function (with browser prefix) takes the id value of the element it’ll translate into an image. The output looks identical to the appearance of the given element on screen.
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When I think of element()’s output, I think of the word preview. I think that’s the type of use case that gets the most out of it: where we can preview an element before it’s shown on the page. For example, the next slide in a slideshow, the hidden tab, or the next photo in a gallery. Or... a minimap!
A minimap is a mini-sized preview of a long document or page, usually shown at on one side of the screen or another and used to navigate to a corresponding point on that document.
You might have seen it in code editors like Sublime Text.
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The minimap is there on the right.
CSS element() is useful in making the “preview” part of the minimap.
Down below is the demo for the minimap, and we will walk through its code after that. However, I recommend you see the full-page demo because minimaps are really useful for long documents on large screens.
If you’re using a smartphone, remember that, according to the theory of relativity, minimaps will get super mini in mini screens; and no, that’s not really what the theory of relativity actually says, but you get my point.
See the Pen Minimap with CSS element() & HTML input range by Preethi Sam (@rpsthecoder) on CodePen.
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If you’re designing the minimap for the whole page, like for a single page website, you can use the document body element for the image. Otherwise, targeting the main content element, like the article in my demo, also works.
<div id="minimap"></div> <div id="article"> <!-- content --> </div>
#minimap { background: rgba(254,213,70,.1) -moz-element(#article) no-repeat center / contain; position: fixed; right: 10px; top: 10px; /* more style */ }
For the minimap’s background image, we feed the id of the article as the parameter of element() and, like with most background images, it’s styled to not repeat (no-repeat) and fit inside (contain) and at center of the box (center) where it’s displayed.
The minimap is also fixed to the screen at top right of the viewport.
Once the background is ready, we can add a slider on top of it and it will serve to operate the minimap scrolling. For the slider, I went with input: range, the original, uncomplicated, and plain HTML slider.
<div id="minimap"> <input id="minimap-range" type="range" max="100" value="0"> </div>
#minimap-range { /* Rotating the default horizontal slider to vertical */ transform: translateY(-100%) rotate(90deg); transform-origin: bottom left; background-color: transparent; /* more style */ } #minimap-range::-moz-range-thumb { background-color: dodgerblue; cursor: pointer; /* more style */ } #minimap-range::-moz-range-track{ background-color: transparent; }
Not entirely uncomplicated because it did need some tweaking. I turned the slider upright, to match the minimap, and applied some style to its pseudo elements (specifically, the thumb and track) to replace their default styles. Again, we’re only concerned about Firefox at the moment since we’re dealing with limited support.
All that’s left is to couple the slider’s value to a corresponding scroll point on the page when the value is changed by the user. That takes a sprinkle of JavaScript, which looks like this:
onload = () => { const minimapRange = document.querySelector("#minimap-range"); const minimap = document.querySelector("#minimap"); const article = document.querySelector("#article"); const $ = getComputedStyle.bind(); // Get the minimap range width multiplied by the article height, then divide by the article width, all in pixels. minimapRange.style.width = minimap.style.height = parseInt($(minimapRange).width) * parseInt($(article).height) / parseInt($(article).width) + "px"; // When the range changes, scroll to the relative percentage of the article height minimapRange.onchange = evt => scrollTo(0, parseInt($(article).height) * (evt.target.value / 100)); };
The dollar sign ($) is merely an alias for getComputedStyle(), which is the method to get the CSS values of an element.
It’s worth noting that the width of the minimap is already set in the CSS, so we really only need to calculate its height. So, we‘re dealing with the height of the minimap and the width of the slider because, remember, the slider is actually rotated up.
Here’s how the equation in the script was determined, starting with the variables:
x1 = height of minimap (as well as the width of the slider inside it)
y1 = width of minimap
x2 = height of article
y2 = width of article
x1/y1 = x2/y2 x1 = y1 * x2/y2 height of minimap = width of minimap * height of article / width of article
And, when the value of the slider changes (minimapRange.onchange), that’s when the ScrollTo() method is called to scroll the page to its corresponding value on the article. 💥
Fallbacks! We need fallbacks!
Obviously, there are going to be plenty of times when element() is not supported if we were to use this at the moment, so we might want to hide the minimap in those cases.
We check for feature support in CSS:
@supports (background: element(#article)) or (background: -moz-element(#article)){ /* fallback style */ }
...or in JavaScript:
if(!CSS.supports('(background: element(#article)) or (background: -moz-element(#article))')){ /* fallback code */ }
If you don’t mind the background image being absent, then you can still keep the slider and apply a different style on it.
There are other slick ways to make minimaps that are floating out in the wild (and have more browser support). Here’s a great Pen by Shaw:
See the Pen Mini-map Progress Tracker & Scroll Control by Shaw (@shshaw) on CodePen.
There are also tools like pagemap and xivimap that can help. The element() function is currently specced in W3C’s CSS Image Values and Replaced Content Module Level 4. Defintely worth a read to fully grasp the intention and thought behind it.
This browser support data is from Caniuse, which has more detail. A number indicates that browser supports the feature at that version and up.
Desktop
ChromeOperaFirefoxIEEdgeSafariNoNo4*NoNoNo
Mobile / Tablet
iOS SafariOpera MobileOpera MiniAndroidAndroid ChromeAndroid FirefoxNoNoNoNoNo64*
Psst! Did you try selecting the article text in the demo? See what happens on the minimap. 😉
The post Using the Little-Known CSS element() Function to Create a Minimap Navigator appeared first on CSS-Tricks.
😉SiliconWebX | 🌐CSS-Tricks
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shimamatsu-game · 7 years
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I'm really sorry but, any headsup for when the tutorial will be translated? Ive sorta been waiting for it before i play... tho from what i see ive been avoiding some serious glitching too
Sorry, I'll finish it as soon as possible, I'm a full-time student and there's sooo much stuff I gotta get done this week that my grades depend on. ;;;I'll try to get it out before this week ends (unless I get most done tonight)!
But... yes... there have been a LOT of glitches lately and it seems to affect both iOS and Android users. Tablet users have it the worst I believe. Us mods haven’t experienced any of the issues though, so it’s quite the challenge to help people when you have no idea what’s going on or why. ;;;
Again, I’m sorry it’s taking time! All translations lies on me, so I’m working as fast and my little paws can move!
- mod ichi
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