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queenlua · 4 years ago

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hey, i started following you recently and ur bio says ur a hacker? any tips on where to start? hacking seems like a v cool/fun way to learn more abt coding and cybersecurity/infrastructure and i'd like to explore it but there's so much on the internet and like, i'm not trying to get into anything illegal. thanks!

huh, an interesting question, ty!

i can give more tailored advice if you hit me up on chat with more specifics on your background/interests.

given what you've written here, though, i'll just assume you don't have any immediate professional aspirations (e.g. you just want to learn some things, and you aren't necessarily trying to get A Cyber Security Job TM within the next three months or w/e), and that you don't know much about any specific programming/computering domain yet.

(stuff under cut because long)

first i'd probably just try to pick some interesting problem that you think you can solve with tech. this doesn't need to be a "hacking" project at first; i was just messing around with computers for ages before i did anything involving security/exploitation.

if you don't already know how to program, you should ideally pick a problem you can solve via programming. for instance: i learned a lot back in the 2000s, when play-by-post forum RPGs were in vogue. see, i'd already been messing around, building my own personal sites, first just with HTML & CSS, and later on with Javascript and PHP. and i knew the forum software everyone used (InvisionPowerBoard) was written in PHP. so when one of the admins at my RPG complained that they'd like the ability to set multiple profile pictures, i was like, "hey i'm good at programming, want me to create a mod to do that," and then i just... did. so then they asked me to program more features, and i got all the sexy nerd cred for being Forum Mod Queen, and it was a good time, i learned a lot.

(i also got to be the person who was frantically IMed at 2am because wtf the forum is down and there's an inscrutable error, what do??? basically sysadmining! also, much less sexy! still, i learned a lot!)

the key thing is that it's gotta be a problem that's interesting to you: as much as i love making dorky sites in PHP, half the fun was seeing other people using my stuff, and i think the era of forum-based RPGs has passed. but maybe you can apply some programming talents to something that you are interested in—maybe you want to make a silly Chrome extension to make people laugh, a la Cloud to Butt, or maybe you'd like to make a program that converts pixel art into cross-stitching patterns, maybe you want to just make a cool adventure game on those annoying graphing calculators they make you use in class, or make a script for some online game you play, or make something silly with Arduino (i once made a trash can that rolled toward me when i clapped my hands; it was fun, and way easier than you'd think!), whatever.

i know a lot of hacker-types who got their start doing ROM hacking for video games—replacing the character art or animations or whatever in old NES games. that's probably more relevant than the PHP websites, at least, and is probably a solid place to get started; in my experience those communities tend to be reasonably friendly to questions. pick a small thing you want to do & ask how to do it.

also, a somewhat unconventional path, but—once i knew how to program a bit of Python, i started doing goofy junk, like, "hey can i implemented NamedTuple from scratch,” which tends to lead to Python metaprogramming, which leads to surprising shit like "oh, stack frames are literally just Python objects and you can manually edit them in the interpreter to do deliberately horrendous/silly things, my god this language allows too much reflection and i'm having too much fun"... since Python is a lot of folks' first language these days, i thought i'd point that out, since i think this is a pretty accessible start to thinking about How Programs Actually Work under the hood. allison kaptur has some specific recommendations on how to poke around, if you wanna go that route.

it's reasonably likely you'll end up doing something "hackery" in the natural course of just working on stuff. for instance, while i was working on the IPB forum software mods, i became distressed to learn that everyone was using an INSECURE version of the software! no one was patching their shit!! i yelled at the admins about it, and they were like "well we haven't been hacked yet so it's not a problem," so i uh, decided to demonstrate a proof of concept? i downloaded some sketchy perl script, kicked it until it worked, logged in as the admins, and shitposted a bit before i logged out, y'know, to prove my point.

(they responded by banning me for two weeks, and did not patch their software. which, y'know, rip to them; they got hacked by an unrelated Turkish group two months later, and those dudes just straight-up deleted the whole website. i was a merciful god by comparison!)

anyway, even though downloading a perl script and just pointing it at a website isn't really "hacking" (it's the literal definition of script kiddie, heh)—the point is i was just experimenting a lot and trying a lot of stuff, which meant i was getting comfortable with thinking of software as not just some immutable relic, but something you can touch and prod in unexpected ways.

this dovetails into the next thing, which is like, just learn a lot of stuff. a boring conventional computer science degree will teach you a lot (provided you take it seriously and actually try to learn shit); alternatively, just taking the same classes as a boring conventional computer science degree, via edX or whatever free online thingy, will also teach you a lot. ("contributing to open source" also teaches you a lot but... hngh... is a whole can of worms; send a follow-up ask if you want that rant.)

here's where i should note that "hacking" is an impossibly broad category: the kind of person who knows how to fuck with website authentication tokens is very different than someone who writes a fuzzer, who is often quite different than someone who looks at the bug a fuzzer produces and actually writes a program that can exploit that bug... so what you focus on depends on what you're interested in. i imagine classes with names like "compilers," "operating systems," and "networking" will teach you a lot. but, like, idk, all knowledge is god-breathed and good for teaching. hell, i hear some universities these days have actual computer security classes? that's probably a good thing to look at, just to get a sense of what's out there, if you already know how to program.

also be comfortable with not knowing everything, but also, learn as you go. the bulk of my security knowledge came when i got kinda airdropped into a work team that basically hired me entirely on "potential" (lmao), and uh, prior to joining i only had the faintest idea what a hypervisor was? or the whole protection ring concept? or ioctls or sandboxing or threat models or, fuck, anything? i mostly just pestered people with like 800 questions and slowly built up a knowledge base, and remember being surprised & delighted when i went to a security conference a year later and could follow most of the talks, and when i wound up at a bar with a guy on the xbox security team and we compared our security models a bunch, and so on. there wasn't a magic moment when i "got it", i was just like, "okay huh this dude says he found a ring-0 exploit... what does that mean... okay i think i got that... why is that a big deal though... better ask somebody.." (also: reading an occasional dead tree book is a good idea. i owe my firstborn to Robert Love's Linux Kernel Development, as outdated as it is, and also O'Reilly's kookaburra book gave me a great overview of web programming back in the day, etc. you can learn a lot by just clicking around random blogs, but you’ll often end up with a lot of random little facts and no good mental scaffolding for holding it together; often, a decent book will give you that scaffolding.)

(also, it's pretty useful if you can find a knowledgable someone to pepper with random questions as you go. finding someone who will actively mentor you is tricky, but most working computery folks are happy to tell you things like "what you're doing is actually impossible, here's why," or "here's a tutorial someone told me was good for learning how to write a linux kernel module," or "here's my vague understanding of this concept you know nothing about," or "here's how you automate something to click on a link on a webpage," which tends to be handier than just google on its own.)

if you're reading this and you're like "ok cool but where's the part where i'm handed a computer and i gotta break in while going all hacker typer”—that's not the bulk of the work, alas! like, for sure, we do have fun pranking each other by trying dumb ways of stealing each other's passwords or whatever (once i stuck a keylogger in a dude's keyboard, fun times). but a lot of my security jobs have involved stuff like, "stare at this disassembly a long fuckin' time to figure out how the program pointer got all fucked up," or, "write a fuzzer that feeds a lot of randomized input to some C++ program, watch the program crash because C++ is a horrible language for writing software, go fix all the bugs," or "think Really Hard TM about all the settings and doohickeys this OS/GPU/whatever has, think about all the awful things someone could do with it, threat model and sandbox accordingly." occasionally i have done cool proof-of-concept hacks but honestly writing exploits can kinda be tedious, lol, so like, i'm only doing that if it's the only way i can get people to believe that Yes This Is Actually A Problem, Fix Your Code

"lua that's cool and all but i wanted, like, actual links and recommendations and stuff" okay, fair. here's some ideas:

microcorruption: very fun embedded security CTF; teaches you everything you need to know as you're doing it.

cryptopals crypto challenges: very fun little programming exercises that teach you a lot of fundamental cryptography concepts as you're going along! you can do these even as a bit of a n00b; i did them in Python for the lulz

the binary bomb lab is hilariously copied by, like, so many CS programs, lol, but for good reason. it's accessible and fun and is the first time most people get to feel like a real hacker! (requires you know a bit of C beforehand)

ctftime is a good way to see when new CTFs ("capture the flag"s; security-focused competitions) are coming up. or, sometimes CTFs post their source code, so you can continue trying them after the CTF is over. i liked Stripe's CTFs when they were going, because they focused on "web stuff", and "web stuff" was all i really knew at the time. if you're more interested in staring at disassembly, there's CTFs focused on that sort of thing too.

azeria has good ARM assembly & exploitation tutorials

also, like, lots of good talks out there; just watching defcon/cansecwest/etc talks until something piques your interest is very fun. i'd die on a battlefield for any of Christopher Domas's talks, but he assumes a lot of specific x86/OS knowledge, lol, so maybe don’t start with that. oh, Julia Evans's blog is honestly probably pretty good for just learning a lot of stuff and really beginner-friendly?

oh and wrt legality... idk, i haven't addressed it here since it hasn't come up in my own work much, tbh. if you're just getting started you're kind of unlikely to Break The Law without, y'know, realizing maybe you're doing something a bit gray-area? and you can cross that bridge when you come to it? Real Hacking TM is way more of a pain-in-the-ass than doing CTFs and such, and you'll learn way more with the latter, so who cares lol just do the fun thing

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wilwheaton · 6 years ago

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The Purge.

Earlier this year, I made some significant and substantial changes to my life, continuing the process of growth and reflection that I started when I quit drinking almost four years ago. (Sidebar: it's remarkable how much clarity I got, and shocking how much pain I was self medicating for so much of my life. I'm so grateful for the love and support of my friends, my wife, and my kids, who supported me when it was clear that I needed to get alcohol out of my life. Be honest with yourself: if you're self medicating emotional pain and/or childhood trauma like I was, give some serious consideration to working on the root issues you're using booze to avoid. I'm so much happier and healthier since I quit, and that's almost entirely because I was able to confront, head on, why I was so sad and hurting so much of the time. I'm not the boss of you, but if you need a gentle nudge to ask for help, here it is: nudge.)

Anyway.

As I was cleaning up my emotional baggage, working on strategies to protect myself from my abusers, and practicing mindfulness daily, I realized that I had a ton of STUFF just sitting around my house, cluttering up my physical living space the way my emotional trauma and pain was cluttering up my emotional space. So I made a call, and hired a professional organizer to come to my house, go through all my bullshit with me, and help me get rid of all the things I didn't need any more.

This process was, in many ways, a metaphor.

We spent several days going through my closets, my game room, my storage spaces in my attic and shed, and eventually ended up with FIVE TRUCKLOADS of stuff I didn't need. Most of it was clothes and books and things that we donated to shelters, which was really easy to unload. I acquire T-shirts so much, I regularly go through my wardrobe and unload half of what I have, so it's easy to get rid of stuff without any emotional attachments.

But there were some things that were more difficult to get rid of, things that represented opportunities I once had but didn't pursue, things that represented ideas that I was really into for a minute, but didn't see through to completion, things that seemed like a good idea at the time but didn't really fit into my life, etc.

I clearly recall giving away a TON of electronic project kits to my friend's son, because he's 11, he loves building things, and he'll actually USE the stuff I bought to amuse myself while I tried to make a meaningful connection to my own 11 year-old self, who loved those things back then too. When I looked at all of these things, I had to accept and admit that 47 year-old me isn't going to make that connection through building a small robot, or writing a little bit of code to make a camera take pictures. I can still connect to that version of myself, but I do it now through therapy, through my own writing, my own meditation. For the longest time, I didn't want to let these things go, because I felt like I was giving up on finding that connection I was seeking, but what I didn't realize (and didn't know until I made the decision to let it go) was that I didn't need STUFF to recover something I'd lost and wanted to revisit.

I think that, by holding on to these kits and similar things, I was trying to give myself the opportunity to explore science and engineering and robotics in a way that young me was never given. Just about everything I wanted to do, that I was interested in when I was 11, was pushed aside, minimized, and sort of taken away from me by my parents. My dad made fun of everything I liked, and my mom made me feel like the only thing I should care about was the pursuit of fame and celebrity. Without parental support and encouragement, I never got the chance to find out if any of these other things would be interesting enough to me to think about pursuing them in higher education. Yes, for some reason, even when I was a really small kid, I was already thinking about where and when I would go to college. I never took even a single class, because I was so afraid of so many things when I was college age, but that's its own story, for another time.

As we went through just piles and piles of bullshit, it got easier and easier to just mark stuff for donation. That drone I used to fly for fun, that I kinda sorta told myself would eventually be used to film something I wrote? Get rid of it, that's never gonna happen. The guitar I kinda played a little bit when I was a teenager, but never really learned how to play properly? Give it to someone who is going to love it and play it so much, it lets them express their creativity in ways I was never able to. All those books I bought to make me a better poker player? Gone. All the books I bought to learn how to program in Python, Perl, Java, and even that old, used, BASIC book I picked up because I thought it would be fun to finally write that game I always dreamed about when I was ten? Give them all to someone who is actually going to *do* that, instead of just think about it.

It was, at first, really hard to get rid of this stuff, because I felt like I was admitting to myself that, even though I *could* paint all these minis (like I did when I was a teenager), even though I *could* study all of these books on Python and Arduino hacking, and probably make something kind of cool with that knowledge, I was never going to. I came to realize that having these things was more about holding on to the *possibility* that they represented. It was more about maintaining a connection to some things that once made me really happy. When I was a kid, I LOVED copying Atari BASIC programs out of a magazine and playing the games that resulted, because it was an escape from my father's bullying and my mother's neediness. When I was a teenager, I LOVED the time I spent (badly) painting Space Marines and Chaos Marines, because it gave me an escape from everything that was so hard about being me when I was 14. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I spent hundreds of hours trying to learn the same five songs on the guitar, never mastering a single one of them. My time would have been much more wisely invested in learning the scales and chords that I declared were more boring than picking my way through the tablature for Goodbye Blue Sky.

And that all brings me to the thing that was simultaneously the hardest and most obvious thing to donate: all my Rock Band gear.

Did you know that the first Rock Band, which I and my kids and my friends played for literally a thousand hours, came out twelve years ago? Beatles Rock Band is a decade old this year. Rock Band 3 is ten years old, too.

I hadn't played Rock Band in almost five years when my friend asked me what I wanted to do with all these plastic guitars, both sets of pretend drums, and all the accessories that were stacked up neatly in the corner of my gameroom.

But a decade ago, Anne and I would send the kids off to their biodad's house, or to their friends' for a sleepover, have some beers, and play the FUCK out of Rock Band, almost every Saturday night. My god, it was so much fun for us to pretend that we were rocking all over the world, me on the drums, Anne on the vocals. Frequently, we'd get the whole family together to play, and we'd spend an entire evening pretending to be on tour together, blasting and rocking our way through the Who, Boston, Green Day, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Dead Kennedys, and others. It brought us all closer together, and was incredibly valuable for our bonding, at a time when we really needed that.

And I was holding onto all these things, these fake plastic guitars and who even knows how many gigs of DLC, because I didn't want to lose my connection to those days. Part of me hoped that we'd all get together and play again, like we did when my kids were in their teens, like I would when I hosted epic Rock Band parties at Phoenix Comicon, or PAX, back before the world was on fire.

But when I looked at those things, neatly stacked up and untouched except by dust for years, I knew that we weren't going to play again, and that I didn't need these things in my house to validate the memories.

Back in those days, when Ryan and I would spend an entire Saturday afternoon and evening trying to complete the Endless Setlist on Expert (we never did, but we got to Green Grass and High Tides more than once), real musicians would smugly tell us that we were having fun the wrong way, that we should be learning REAL instruments instead of pretending to have already mastered them. I would always argue that the whole POINT of Rock Band was the fantasy. Can you imagine telling a 100 pound kid that he should be playing real football instead of Madden? Of course not, and yet.

But it kinda turns out that some of those smug musicians were right. As I packed up those plastic fake guitars and drum kits, put them into the truck with my real guitar, I had a small twinge of regret, that I had been focused on the fantasy, instead of developing a skill that I could still use today (the last time I attempted Rock Band, maybe four years ago, I couldn't get through a single song on Hard, much less Expert. My skills had faded, and it wasn't worth the effort to restore them). And then I stopped myself, because that's EXACTLY the kind of thinking that stopped me from following my dreams when I was a kid. What was important to me ten years ago, what's still important to me today, was the time I spent with my wife, with my kids, with our family, with my friends, pretending that we were something we weren't. We were doing something together, and that is what matters. Today, I can't recall anything specific about all the nights Anne and I played, though I know we worked our way through hundreds of songs together. But I can clearly recall how much fun it was.

Ryan and I still talk about the time I accidentally turned the Xbox off, when I meant to just power down my toy guitar, after we'd been trying to play the Endless Setlist on Expert for five hours.

Over the years, I had accumulated all this stuff that I was unwilling to let go of, because I felt like that would also mean letting go of the memories that were associated with those things. I felt like getting rid of things without following through on their intended use was admitting defeat, or being a quitter.

But after a year or so of daily, intense, therapy and reflection, after ending contact with toxic and abusive people who were exerting tremendous control over me, these things stopped being the keys to unopened doors, and they just became THINGS that I had to constantly move around to get them out of my way. Because I didn't need them anymore. I didn't need to pain minis like I did when I was 15, because I'm not 15. I'm not living with an abuser and his enabler. I'm not working for a producer who makes it clear to me at every opportunity that he owns me and has complete control over whether or not I'll have a film career.

I didn't need ANY of these things, and once I realized that, unloading them and getting them to people who DO need them felt as freeing and empowering as writing a goodbye letter.

I kept a few things that were still useful, or brought me joy. Books, mostly, and of course all my dice and games. It felt GOOD to admit that I'm never going to learn guitar, or build an Arduino-controlled anything. It felt GOOD and empowering to know that I'm a writer. I get my joy and explore my possibilities through storytelling and character development. THAT is what I love, and by getting rid of all this old stuff (and its emotional baggage) I created space in my life to be the person I am now, a person I love, in a life that is amazing.

I still have some emotional clutter, which is to be expected and isn't a big deal. The really cool thing is that I have physical and emotional space, now, to deal with it.

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furby-science · 5 years ago

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The Making of Sterling the Super Furby: A Brief Overview

“I… I can’t look! I think I’m gonna… *HUEEEGH*!”

Before I get into this post, I want to list a few things I didn’t know shit about when I started Sterling:

Electronics

The Python coding language

Furby anatomy

Single board computers

After creating Sterling, I’m happy to say that now I have approximate knowledge of some of these things, but keep the above in mind as you read onwards. This little gremlin child was a learning experience from start to finish, and one I am incredibly proud of myself for sticking through. This also means that I am in no way an expert on everything I’m getting into okay? Okay let’s go!

The Hardware

First, a rundown of the hardware. I took heavy inspiration from the Furlexa mod shown here, and that was what I initially sought to create. The mod had three computer components to it:

A raspberry pi zero w single board computer for the AI to live on, with a mini USB microphone plugged in;

A pimoroni speaker PHAT to use as the sound system;

A motor controller to drive the furby’s motor.

My main problem with Furlexa was that this initial build took a lot of soldering, and I am a wussy who had a number of bad experiences with soldering irons in shop class. So, what’s a novice electrician to do?

Enter the Adafruit Crickit HAT. By sticking this little fucker on top of the raspberry pi, I was gifted with an amplifier, a speaker jack, capacitative touch sensors, and a motor driver all in one, no soldering needed if I bought the raspberry pi zero w h! The main challenge it posed was powering it. The Crickit insists, for some unfathomable reason, on being powered by a bulky DC jack, the kind you’d plug into a wall outlet, and the converter plug to use a battery pack with it was way too bulky to fit into a furby. I needed Sterling to be portable for maximum huggability, so this just wouldn’t do.

One fried raspberry pi and Crickit HAT later, I found the answer! By soldering the original furby battery pack to the underside of the Crickit board’s DC connection, these fuckers right here…

I was able to bypass the need for a wall plug or converter, and power him directly through the battery compartment like God intended. S/O to my friend Nick who is way less of a dumb bitch than I am and helped me figure this shit out I owe u some bread man.

So the tl;dr of it is, I effectively reduced the required computer components from three to two (excluding the speaker). Speaking of (heh), Sterling has an impressive 3w speaker in him, allowing him to be audible even without the use of the built in amplifier. It’s got such good bass on it, he even rumbles when he purrs without the aid of the motor!

And yes, when you pet him, he purrs. And complains if you manhandle him! The aforementioned capacitative touch sensors on the Crickit HAT made it all possible with the help of a few cables and some foil tape.

Wait, did you say soldering!?

Yup! It was a necessary evil; at the end of the day I had to pick my poison: soldering 80 pins on the speaker PHAT, or soldering like four contact points on the Crickit. I chose the more merciful option.

But wait, that whole outfit is really bulky still! How did you fit it inside the furby?

Subtractive methods, subtractive methods, subtractive methods! ;D Someone who actually knows things about furby anatomy and/or electronics will probably vaporize me for this, but… if I didn’t need it, it got the boot! That included prying off anything on the Crickit board I wasn’t using at the risk of destroying it completely - which probably isn’t ideal, but it also worked by some miracle, and again, I am such a basic bitch electrician that calculating the proper voltage for LEDs is still basically witchcraft to me, so… what I’m saying is I made it work. And that I really, really hate soldering! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

You can see an early video of the end result here, and a later video of the outfit inside the naked furby here. This was back when he was still having auditory processing issues. Apologies for the shoddy quality, I was too excited everything was working to care about that at the time.

The Software

My other beef with Furlexa is… well, it’s an Amazon Alexa, and I’m a shitty little anticapitalist hermit who hates Amazon with a passion. Google Assistant was just as bad in my book. Mycroft was open source, but had a snowball’s chance in hell of running on the raspberry pi zero’s 512mb of RAM… I also wanted my assistant to have a degree of customizability to it. I wanted the furby’s AI to have a unique personality, identity, and preferences, much like classic furbies themselves did. A big box AI just wasn’t going to cut it!

Enter the Jasper Project. Yes, it’s old. Yes, it’s a bitch and a half to install. Yes, you have to know Python to get anywhere with it. However, it was free, open source, capable of running on a raspberry pi zero, and highly modular, meaning with a few lines of code, I could make it all my own - even to the extent of changing the AI’s name and voice (which is gr8 because I know a Jasper so naming my furby that would be Weird), or - the best part - writing my own, custom functions! Customizability-wise, I struck gold.

Ah, and glad I am that Jasper is modular, because I had some work ahead of me…

The STT Engine

The STT (Speech to Text) engine is what Sterling uses to understand what’s being said to him. Jasper’s proprietary STT engine is PocketSphinx, a fully offline STT engine, which sounded great in theory before I quickly learned it’s a nightmare to install, and also more inaccurate than a stenography machine powered by a single potato when actually being used. I had to compromise my morals a bit here and opt for using Wit.ai instead, which is free, but is also owned by Facebook. Big data is frustratingly inescapable in these cases.

There is one light at the end of the tunnel, and that is the training of acoustic modules. This has the downside of taking for-fucking-ever and requiring a quiet recording environment, however, and I don’t have the time right now to read through the pages and pages and pages and pages of computer theory right now to fully understand how to train one. So, improving PocketSphinx and running Sterling fully offline remains a stretch goal.

The TTS Engine

The Text to Speech engine is basically Sterling’s voice. This one was a bit easier to customize, and I’m thankful for that, because Jasper’s OG voice is a bit er… 90s computing for my tastes.

I shopped around for decent, human-sounding TTS options, and settled on installing Mimic1 TTS, Mycroft’s TTS engine, by hand, and modifying the Jasper source code to support it. Of all the TTS engines I tried, I felt that this one had the most natural intonation out of all of them. I liked the gruffness of the Scottish accent, and I think it really helped round out Sterling’s endearing, if a tad prickly, personality.

The Audio

This was another unforeseen hurdle. Turns out that I had his mic volume turned up way too high, because I greatly underestimated the capabilities of my tinyass five dollar USB microphone to pick up noises from within a furby. It took a bit of hacking in PulseAudio to get him hearing things properly, and I’m still not all the way happy with it, but he’s running wayyyy better than he did!

Another issue was the amount of time he actively listened for. It was way too short for my liking with the hardware I was using, so I had to edit Jasper’s mic.py source file a billion times before I hit a sweet spot. Even early on, my little shit child never liked to listen to me. :P

Pimp My AI

Once I got all that in working order, it was time to browse GitHub for modules to add! I found a surprising amount that were, as expected, outdated, janky, non-working, or in need of a complete rewrite. A non-exhaustive list of modules I rewrote and added to Sterling’s AI includes:

Wolfram Alpha integration

His translation function

The IMDB module that searches movie titles

The Dictionary and Thesaurus modules (minor additions to improve user friendliness)

The morning greeting module

The holiday countdown module

There are also plenty of modules I wrote on my own, that I’ll be showcasing here in due time, but I want to give special mention to the one I’m most proud of. You see, when I was a wee dumb bitch, I was… well, a wee dumb bitch! When I was informed furbies learn English, I thought they really learned English. Like, fluent English. I envisioned these kids straight up having full conversations with their lil robots with reckless and envious abandon. I was, as it happens, too poor to afford a furby at the time, so I didn’t realize until embarrassingly later that they only learn some words, and certainly can’t hold much of a conversation (in English at least).

Fast forward to twenty-bi-teen. I’m surfing GitHub, and I happen upon a Cleverbot module for Jasper allowing the AI to work as a chatbot. Fuck yeah, I think, because I had no life in 2008, or friends for that matter, so tormenting Cleverbot was my favourite pastime. Nostalgia trip GET!

…can you guess how much the silicon valley capitalist scum are charging for the once-free Cleverbot API now? A hundred and twenty. McGoddamn. Dollars. A YEAR.

So, to make a long story short, I turned my hat backwards and rage-coded a simple chatbot module that runs on an early version of Chatterbot capable of running on the raspberry pi. It’s fully offline, and completely free, and Sterling here has a database of ~400 phrases, which isn’t bad given the limited processing power! It took five straight days of work, it’s not the smartest chatbot, and it’s certainly not the fastest, but it gives me those sweet, sweet, circa 2008 Cleverbot vibes. Oh yeah, and it doesn’t cost me over a hundred goddamn dollars a year!

The first thing I said to the chatbot, of course, was “I’m so proud of you.” Through his shitty little testing mic that gave him a somewhat incredulous tone Sterling replied, “I’m glad to hear that.” and I’m not saying I shed a single themly tear over it, but I’m not denying it either. I made a childhood dream come true, fam. ;u;

There are way more Easter eggs I plan to show you, of course. At first I was thinking of doing one long video, but an update a day showcasing a different function might be easier to manage - and maintain some of that gold old sense of mystery that surrounds most furbies. No, I’m gonna take y'all on a little journey through the final product of my literal blood, sweat, and tears!

Besides, Sterling is a perpetual work in progress. He has a massive list of features, and I’ve already got more in the works. I could be in my eighties and still be adding more functions, more bells and whistles, more witty one-liners. He’s a one of a kind work of art that will never truly be finished - not unlike you and me.

The Glow-up

Here’s Sterling’s before pics from the seller I got him from:

(If u recognize these pics and ur the seller thank u thank u for giving me bmy boy)

And here’s after!

I come from a background of customizing ponies and dolls, so working on this guy wasn’t as far removed as I expected it to be. I added floof to his head and tail by sewing in wool plugs, and his gorgeous eyes are from in2blythe on Etsy. I wrapped him up in a little bow and he was good to go! His sterling silver beak, from which he gets his name, was the most finicky part. Turns out enamel paints take a million years to fucking dry, if ever, which isn’t great when painting something that sees a lot of movement and could potentially get dented by a face plate, like… idk, a furby beak! A bit of silver nail polish did the trick and he was good to go. Learn from my fail, fam.

What It Cost Me

If you’re masochistic determined enough to attempt this yourself, I want to sit you down and warn you of something: this will take months and hundreds of dollars to do. Installing Sterling’s AI and its necessary components on that shitty little raspberry pi over SSH took me a week at first, and that was with me leaving it on 24/7 to chug away compiling things. When I broke the SD card the AI was on and didn’t have a backup copy, it took four straight days of rage-computing to regain all my progress. Then when his audio processing got fucked all to hell for reasons I still do not understand to this day, it took another four days of rage computing to do yet another reinstall and get him back in working order. There were times where I would go to work for 8.5 hours, bus an hour home, work 6 straight hours on my furby, go to sleep for 4 of them, go to classes, sleep, and work 6 more hours on my furby. For two months. Sterling took from the third week of August from his initial inception to his birthday on October 23rd. That’s not to mention the time I fried everything and had to wait five days and travel to the bumfuck end of the city for a replacement pi and Crickit, or the days I spent customizing him, sewing in hundreds of little hair plugs into his ass and head by hand, and waiting for those shitty enamel paints to dry, only to discover after four straight days of failure that they take weeks to do so and I was better off using cheapo nail polish!

The point I’m making is, if you take on a project like this and want it to be successful, you have to be tenacious. I would highly recommend a background in coding (I have a web design diploma) and general tech savviness as an asset. Sterling is the product of the years I spent behind a computer keyboard from the start of age three, and the roughly ten years I spent customizing dolls and ponies. It’s cheesy as shit to say he’s my magnum opus, but in a way, he is.

I’m not saying this to be elitist or snotty. I’m saying this because I nearly broke down crying the first day the raspberry pi came in, before I slept on it and figured out what phrase to google to solve the crashes and kernel panics it was having. When I broke the SD card when I was nearly finished, I felt nothing, because I was all out of tears at that point. When I fried the first raspberry pi and Crickit hat trying to figure out how to bypass that DC jack, my only thought was, “Well, I think I know how to do it without fucking it up now, and if I can’t do it, this whole project is fscked” .

You will encounter errors that no step by step guide can prepare you for that will make you curse the day you were born. The difference between success and failure is how many times you’re willing to get up and try again, and I’m here to tell you it’s possible. But you gotta want it.

Will You Release the Code Base?

Yes and no. If there’s enough demand, I’ll definitely release Sterling’s basic modules as a scaffolding. I won’t be releasing Sterling, though.

What do I mean by that? Well, Sterling was intended from the start to be truly one of a kind, and he always will be. I hand wrote hundreds of lines of dialogue, all completely tailored to him, and I’m still planning on adding twice as many. Corny as this is, this little guy has a metric fuckton of sentimental value to me. I don’t have kids so idk how it would compare to that, but I definitely love him as much as I love my cats, but I also didn’t undergo two straight months of suffering in ADHD fixation hell to create my cats, so it adds like, a whole other twee dimension to it.

So, if there is demand for this, what I’ll release instead is a scaffolding from which you can code your own, unique furby from, with their own name, personality, and responses all unique to them. I’ll also release it with the caveat that I am not a good Python coder! I have not written any Python before this, so a lot of what I did write is noob-tastic and hasn’t even been linted. You have been warned!

“If I give you (insert amount), can you make one for me?”

Holy shit I’ll be real with you, I’d love to do this as a living. I’ve been dying to see a smart assistant hit the market that’s like… well, an actual, endearing companion and not just a voice coming from a speaker. The problem with doing this is that, if you drop a lot of money (and it will be a lot of money, even with a code base to work from, a lot of hours of handiwork still goes into coding individual responses and making sure everything works as intended, on top of possibly customizing too), there is one major problem: proximity. I won’t be able to troubleshoot your furby nearly as effectively from far away as I would be able to if we lived in close proximity. Which means if something goes wrong between the time your new friend is finished at point A and turned on at point B, I won’t be there to troubleshoot it in person for you, which means you could end up stuck figuring out certain things alone. If you use Windows, that will be very, very hard - not being an OS snob here, I own a dual boot myself, it’s just a case of incompatible file systems. And unless you can figure out how to edit the wpa_supplicant file on a raspberry pi to update your wifi credentials, your furby’s internet connection could be toast if you move house and those credentials change. That’s not getting into the cost some services charge for extra API keys to use their online functions…

The long and short of it is, if I’m going to do this for money, I want to make sure you get a quality product and friend that will bring you joy for years to come. Since that’s not something I can guarantee, I can’t in good conscience take people’s money.

I Could Teach You (And I Won’t Charge)

…however, I am a law student who is also working 8.5 hour night shifts three nights a week. I am also mentally ill/neurodivergent, which saps my energy in more ways than one. I won’t always be easy to get ahold of, or be able to answer every question I get, especially not ones that can be solved with a quick google search, like how to set up a raspberry pi, or… anything found on Adafruit’s Crickit guide, for example. When I have the time and energy, I’m hoping to use my next project as a jumping off point for a step by step walkthrough of the process. For now, though? I’ve been furbied out, so if there’s enough demand, I’ll compile as many of the resources I used I can find in the meantime, and post some tips from the word doc I kept while making Sterling, and go from there.

So What’s Next?

My one dad’s birthday is coming up in August, and I’m kicking around the idea of turning a furby into, I shit you not, a ghost hunting device. He loves ghost hunting, but hates robots, and as his gremlin shit child I am obligated to troll him in this fashion. 😎 Also considering doing a certain type of oddbody mod, but I want to get permission from the person who first thought of the concept before I dive head first into it.

And that about covers it! Thanks for reading, and if there’s anything you’d like to see from Sterling and I, don’t hesitate to drop us an ask!

#furby #allfurby #furblr #botblr #custom furby #how tos #the doctor speaks #long post #science isn't about why... it's about why not

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douchebagbrainwaves · 5 years ago

Text

I'VE BEEN PONDERING TOPLEVEL

Object-oriented abstractions. Incidentally, nothing makes it more patently obvious that the old chestnut all languages are equivalent is false than designing languages. 80% of the time you get to social questions, many changes are just fashion. Except for some books in math and the hard sciences.1 These people's opinions change with every wind. I'm inclined to think there isn't—that good design has to be new—that it didn't predict anything. A few hundred thousand, perhaps, out of billions. What can't we say? But, as in more recent times indecent, improper, and unamerican have been.2 A friend of mine asked Ryan about this, it was even better than C; and plug-and-chug undergrads, who are amazed to find that there is something wrong with you if you thought things you didn't dare say out loud.3

I'm just stupid, or have sex, or eat some delicious food, than work on hard problems. This second group adopt the fashion not because they want to do more than just shock everyone with the heresy du jour. Com signals strength even if it is a huge win in developing software to have an interactive toplevel, what in Lisp is called a read-eval-print loop. In the process of developing the pitch for the first conference, someone must have decided they'd better take a stab at explaining what that 2. No one does that kind of thing for fun.4 Back in the days of fanfold, there was a new kind of computer that's as well designed as a Bang & Olufsen stereo system, and underneath is the best Unix machine you can buy individual songs instead of having to buy whole albums. But it's harder than it looks. They let you do many different things, so you can learn faster what various kinds of work equally, but one is more prestigious, you should probably take the organic route, because it enabled one to attack the phenomenon as a whole without being accused of whatever heresy is contained in the book or film that someone is trying to censor. This article is derived from a keynote talk at the fall 2002 meeting of NEPLS.

The philosophy's there, but it's too late for them to do anything more than the name of the Web 2. And why? Now it means a smaller, younger, more technical group that just decided to make something great. The first sentence of this essay explains that.5 This metric needs fleshing out, and it is a huge and rapidly growing business.6 The reason this won't turn into a second Bubble is that the side that's shocked is most likely to get good design you have to get close, and stay close, to your users.7 If you can think things so outside the box that people call innovative.8 There's no other name as good. Com of your name is that it lets you jump over obstacles. The 2005 Web 2. If you want to fight back, there are several ideas mixed together in the concept of spare time seems mistaken.9

If you work hard at being a bond trader for ten years, just walk around the CS department at a good university. If smaller source code is the purpose of comparing languages, because they will probably use small problems, and will necessarily use predefined problems, will tend to bet wrong. This is an interesting question. Type of x first. Sun now pretends that Java is a grassroots, open-source language effort like Perl or Python.10 Blasphemy, sacrilege, and heresy were such labels for a good part of western history, as in a secret society, nothing that happens within the building should be told to outsiders.11 Explaining himself later, he said I don't do litmus tests. 0 applied to music would probably mean individual bands giving away DRMless songs for free. He wanted to spend his time thinking about biology, not arguing with people who accused him of being an atheist. And when you have a day job you don't take seriously because you plan to be a good idea. Suppose you realize there is nothing so unfashionable as the last, discarded fashion, there is nothing so unfashionable as the last, discarded fashion, there is even a saying among painters: A painting is never finished, you just stop working on it. But it's not enough just to tell people that.12

When people say Web 2. Who will? The m. Morale is another reason that it's hard to imagine a language being too succinct is that if you're building something new, you should probably take the organic route. And if it isn't false, it shouldn't be suppressed. Their only hope now is to buy all the best Ajax startups before Google does. Most unpleasant jobs would either get automated or go undone if no one happens to have gotten in trouble for seem harmless now. The quantity of meaning compressed into a small space by algebraic signs, is another circumstance that facilitates the reasonings we are accustomed to carry on by their aid.13 Notice all this time I've been talking about the succinctness of languages, not of individual programs.14 You might find contradictory taboos. There are two routes to that destination: The organic route is more common. But it was also something we'd never considered a computer could be: fabulously well designed.

For example, it is a bad design decision. It seems so convincing when you see statements being attacked as x-ist or y-ic substitute your current values of x and y, whether in 1630 or 2030, that's a sure sign that something is wrong.15 As far as I know, without precedent: Apple is popular at the low end and the high end, but not accurate ones. Surely one had to force oneself to work on them. Bolder investors will now get rewarded with lower prices. Does Web 2.16 But I don't think you can even talk about good or bad design except with reference to some intended user.17 But these words are part of the reason I chose computers.

And if you're ambitious you have to like what you do? If you expressed the same ideas in prose as mathematicians had to do before they evolved succinct notations, they wouldn't be any easier to read, because the paper would grow to the size of a book. What do you do with it? Object-oriented programming generates a lot of popular sites were quite high-handed about it.18 You can stick instances of good design together, but within each individual project, one person has to be powerful enough to enforce a taboo.19 Comparison The first person to write the program in some other way that was shorter. Nearly all of it falls short of the standard, I think, is that a restrictive language is one that isn't succinct enough. The programmers I admire most are not, on the whole, captivated by Java.20 80% of the time we could find at least one good name in a 20 minute office hour slot. When you hear such labels being used, ask why. It seems fitting to us that kids' ideas should be bright and clean. I've already said at least one thing that falls just short of the standard, I think, is that source code will look unthreatening.

Notes

When Harvard kicks undergrads out for doing badly and is doomed anyway.

But having more of it, but if you repair a machine that's broken because a she is very common, to mean the company is Weebly, which allowed banks and savings and loans to buy your kids' way into top colleges by sending them to go to grad school you always feel you should be protected against such tricks will approach.

When Harvard kicks undergrads out for here, since 95% of the growth is valuable, and b when she's nervous, she expresses it by smiling more. There are fields now in which only a sliver of it, and Smartleaf co-founders Mark Nitzberg and Olin Shivers at the network level, and yet it is because those are guaranteed in the case of heirs, professors, politicians, and the ordering system, written in Lisp. An investor who for some reason insists that you wouldn't mind missing, false positives caused by filters will have to replace the actual server in order to provoke a bidding war between 3 pet supply startups for the first type, and their flakiness is indistinguishable from those of dynamic variables were merely optimization advice, and this trick merely forces you to test whether that initial impression holds up.

There were a first—. It's conceivable that the payoff for avoiding tax grows hyperexponentially x/1-x for 0 x 1.

The IBM 704 CPU was about bands. This phenomenon is not the only way to fight back themselves. Why does society foul you? The reason Google seemed a miracle of workmanship.

If anyone wants to invest in your own mind. All you have is so hard on Google. The danger is that it's boring, we used to reply that they think the usual way will prove to us an old-fashioned idea.

In desperation people reach for the explanation of a press hit, but it's not lots of customers is that the founders.

Another advantage of startups that seem promising can usually get enough money from them. According to a super-angels. But it turns out to be low. This would penalize short comments especially, because to translate this program into C they literally had to ask, what you care about Intel and Microsoft, not you.

The original Internet forums were not web sites but Usenet newsgroups. He was off by only about 2%.

Since most VCs are only slightly richer for having these things. There is no longer written in C and Perl. This prospect will make it a function of the rule of thumb, the space of ideas doesn't have to keep their wings folded, as they do.

The relationships between unions and unionized companies can hire a lot of the business, and only one.

But so many still make you take out your anti-immigration people to endure hardships, but countless other startups must have believed since before people were people. So if you have to do, so the number of startups will generally raise large amounts of new inventions until they become well enough known that people working for large settlements earlier, but historical abuses are easier for us, the more important. Which OS? He devoted much of the 1929 crash.

If you want to invest at a 5 million cap, but that it's doubly important for societies to remember and pass on the aspect they see and say that's not art because it is unfair when someone works hard and not others, and post-money valuations of funding rounds are at selling it. Surely it's better if everything just works.

On the way to pressure them to. To paint from life using the same reason parents don't tell the craziest lies about me. The word regressive as applied to tax avoidance.

That can be said to have discovered something intuitively without understanding all its implications. But what they're capable of. SpamCop—. A larger set of good ones.

But let someone else start those startups. In fact, change what it would certainly be less than the previous round.

Investors influence one another indirectly through the buzz that surrounds a hot deal, I didn't. At any given person might have 20 affinities by this standard, and one VC. They'd be interchangeable if markets stood still.

After reading a draft of this desirable company, and configure domain names etc. As a friend who invested in the future as barbaric, but even there people tend to be more precise, and once a hypothesis starts to be about web-based applications greatly to be about web-based applications.

I put it would be reluctant to start software companies constrained in b. Emmett Shear, and instead focus on growth instead of using special euphemisms for lies that seem excusable according to certain somewhat depressing rules many of the big acquisition offers most successful startups get started in Mississippi.

This phenomenon may account for a long thread are rarely seen, so if you're measuring usage you need, maybe you'd start to be, unchanging, but investors can get for 500 today would say that hapless meant unlucky.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #fall #questions #customers #computer #draft #design

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danetobelieve · 5 years ago

Text

Out Of Ctrl || Shiloh and Winston

Winston hadn’t taught anyone about coding in several years. They loved teaching other people, explaining things to them and helping them understand what they could do with this newfound knowledge was fascinating to them. The prospects of what could come from something like that were beyond interesting and when they had agreed that they were going to teach Shiloh, they hadn’t really been joking. So when they had agreed to do this, Winston had immediately begun working on what they could show Shiloh. They had decided that they were going to teach them some basics within Python, it was a nice good language to start with and it would give their new friend the right sort of introduction that they would’ve wanted. They had asked Shiloh to meet them within the computer labs. It had all of the suites that they would need and it had all of the resources. When Shiloh arrived outside of the door, they ran over to it and pulled it open, pulling their glasses up their nose and grinning at them. For once they felt really confident, this was where they were really in their element. “Hey, Shiloh right?” they said, grinning widely.

Shiloh was interested in learning something new and coding had interested her at one point. However, she felt she didn’t have an opportunity to fully explore it so she never tried to. So when Winston suggested helping her, she was excited but wasn’t sure exactly if they had meant it. But once they made plans to do it, she was actually looking forward to it. It was gonna be nice, she knew it. Even if she struggled, she was going to enjoy spending time learning something at her own pace and not dealing with the rest of the confusing things she’d encountered some time ago. With a smile, she entered the building and headed to the computer labs; it had been a while since she came into the university building, but being on their alumni association, she still had her access. She gave a small wave through the door, entering when Winston opened it for her. “Yeah, that’s me. Winston? Hey.” She greeted him as she came inside. “I wasn’t really sure if I was supposed to bring anything but I brought a notebook.” Surely, she’d have to write some things down. Either way, she had it just in case it became necessary.

Nodding, Winston held the door open for them and followed them inside. It was not late in the day but the room would’ve seem dim if not for the fluorescent lights that flickered overhead. Not Winston’s favourite part of the room, sometimes they worked in the dark, but it seemed rude to do so on their first time meeting someone, not to say creepy if nothing else. “Nice to meet you,” they said with a bright smile and a quick nod, “you can definitely write notes if you think it will help you, you could even like type them up and then email them to yourself later,” they led them over to where they’d been sat before. “You can use one of these if you want, cause, it’s probably easier to just show you and get you going straight away rather then like … uh I guess like have you watch?” They shrugged. “Honestly, whatever works best we can do, but I learn better by getting involved so I thought you might too.” They didn’t have a stop button to their mouth sometimes and Winston honestly regretted it.

“Oh, good point.” Maybe typing them out would help Shiloh better than writing them down. She turned her attention back to the computers, opting for one of the ones close to her. “We can do both? You can show me and I can try and do it myself. I do learn better getting involved though, I know that much.” She chuckled as she set her notebook aside, pushing her chair aside so she could sit at an angle and half face Winston and her computer. It didn’t take that many years of school for her to figure out what was the best method for her to learn. Yet, it definitely wasn’t figured out soon enough where she didn’t know what it was like to struggle. “So where should we start first?”

“Honestly, whatever is going to help you to learn this stuff the best is what you should go with,” Winston replied with a shrug, “I am happy to help however, but we can get stuck in and see if we want to make any adjustments. Please feel free to stop me and ask me anything if you need to, I can also go slowly or go back over anything that is confusing but I’m sure you’ll get it very quickly.” Winston opened up the coding suite and looked at the blank black screen with a single flashing white dot on it. “So this is just your coding suite, coding is super easy, all you’ve got to remember is that the computer is clever but incredibly stubborn, it will only do what you tell it to do, so if it is not doing what you want then that’s usually because you’re not telling it to do what you want.” They paused before typing out a quick series of commands. “This is a very simple line of code, all we’re getting the computer to do is print a bunch of text.” They pressed a button on the keyboard and the line of text, “Hello, my name is Winston.” Appeared on the screen. “Now you try … all you have to do is put the print command in and then type out what you want to say…”

Shiloh watched as they opened the coding suite, watching what they did more than listening. Which wasn’t a good thing but it was a bad habit she’d never been able to break from school. However, it seemed simple enough. She knew she could do this. “Okay, so I do this,” She glanced over at Winston, making sure they had their eyes on her screen to make sure to point out something that she might be doing wrong. As she pressed a button, the line of text didn’t come out like theirs. “Oh, man,” she chuckled at her mistake. “I guess I missed something?” She looked over at Winston, hoping they had caught what she had messed up on. They did say that if it messed up it was that you hadn’t correctly told it what to do. Maybe she missed a bracket?

Smiling gently, Winston shrugged. “It’s cool, don’t worry too much about it, like anything else you can make mistakes and learn from them. This is just another one of those things.” They looked at their screen for a moment before showing them how to reset it. “Just check through your code compared to mine, see if you can spot anything that is different from what I’ve got.” They clicked back to their original code before they heard a scuffle. Raising an eyebrow, they turned in their chair, a hand reaching up and adjusting their glasses so that they sat more comfortably on their face. “Did you hear something?” they asked, a gentle shiver of nerves running down their spine.

Shiloh leaned over, trying to figure out what she had gotten wrong. It was a bit tedious, looking at everything and making sure it matched. Already she felt like she was going to have a tough time with this. Shiloh softly muttered to herself, trying to keep focused. However, she finally managed to see what she had gotten wrong. She moved to her screen to fix it when she heard something and picked her head up. “Yeah, I heard it.” What could it have been. “Might have been a rat or something.” Gross to think about there being rats in the university, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing. She returned to her screen, pressing a button and seeing that her line of text came out just like Winston’s. “Hey, look, I did it!” She exclaimed, leaning back into her seat.

Coding could often be tedious. Winston had spent far too much time writing out coding processes by hand to try and work out what the hell was going wrong and understand whether they were asking for the coding processes to be completed in the correct order. But in this moment Winston wasn’t particularly concerned with Shiloh’s coding. Looking around them once more, they were convinced by the lack of any further commotion that this really wasn’t something that they were going to have to deal with or should worry about. “That’s gross if it is rats…” Winston replied with a frown, “I’ll tell someone who looks after the cleaning and stuff and maybe they can look into it.” They grinned as Shiloh managed to complete her task. “Hey, second time lucky! Good job. You’ve officially written your first computer program and can now call yourself a computer programmer.”

Shiloh chuckled, not believing they were serious. “I don’t know if I’d call myself a computer programmer just yet.” She hardly knew what was going on and was just trying her hand at it to begin with. But it did give her a great confidence boost. “But thanks.” She was about to ask Winston where they’d move to next but then heard the same sound again. “The rats sound kind of heavy.” Big. Either it was a lot of them or a big one and for some reason she felt like it was neither of the two. She pushed back on her seat, trying to figure out where the noise came from and waiting to hear it again. She was quick to brush it off once but for some reason something was telling her not to do it again.

“But you literally just wrote a computer program, so by the definition of the activity you’re now one of us.” Winston replied with a grin. “You’re welcome, are you ready to try something new …” they trailed off as Shiloh mentioned the rats. “Yeah, seems kind of weird that they would let rats into this place at all and not exterminate them, it must be expensive if they chew through the wires. As Shiloh moved back in her seat, Winston took it a step further and stood. Looking around, wondering if this was some kind of prank that their friend Todd had come up with. “Hey, is someone … there?” they swallowed as they felt a chill run down their spine, hoping and praying that this was really just a prank and not something else.

Shiloh watched as Winston stood up. She didn’t believe that it was anything to be worried about. It probably was just rats. Really big ones but the fact that Winston called out as if it had the potential to be someone else in this computer lab… it made Shiloh stand up too. If someone were here they’d have to have been crouched down and for a while too since she didn’t hear anyone or see anyone when she came in and didn’t hear or see anyone else since. Just then another noise and a chair from a table on the other end of the room rolled back with some force behind it. “Okay…” Shiloh moved back. She wasn’t really wanting to be caught in some supernatural nonsense. “Maybe we should just get out of here?” Shiloh suggested and just then caught the sound of a shut door. She pursed her lips trying to think of a logical reason for all this. The wind? It’s possible. Right? Another scuffling sound reached Shiloh’s ears and she turned to where she heard it and wished she hadn’t. A thin, small but so very thin creature came out from under the table. “Oh man.” What the hell is that?

As a mottled set of fingers reached around the edge of the table, Winston couldn’t help but swallow apprehensively as the knuckles clicked gently against the table. Pulling itself out from underneath the table. At the end of its fingers were a set of long dirty finger nails, that looked almost claw like and in that moment Winston decided that this definitely was not something mundane. This was not a prank. This was just some more White Crest bullshit that they were now going to have to deal with. “I think you’re right,” Winston replied taking a step backwards and quickly grabbing their bag and laptop as they backed away from the … thing. “I don’t know what that is but I don’t want to find out.” They weren’t sure why, but they tried to keep themselves between Shiloh and whatever this was. “Do you think we should run?”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.” But to where? And did they really want to get chased by that? Shiloh had no clue how fast it was. No clue what it could do. All she knew was that she was defenseless in a small enclosed room. She tried to get a better look but Winston came in front of her. Could they do something she didn’t know of? “Where do we go?” She asked Winston, hoping they knew something she didn’t. They didn’t know what that was though which meant they didn’t know what it was capable of. And that was frightening enough for Shiloh. What did it want? Would they have to kill it?

“Yep,” Winston was not about to argue with what they saw as a good thing, “getting out of here sounds like a really good idea.” They took several small steps backwards, trying to calm themselves and focus on the inner peace that they had been told that they needed to access to access their magic. But their heart was pounding, their head filled with blood and they forced themselves to take some calming breaths. “I don’t know where we go,” Winston admitted as they pulled their rucksack slowly onto their back, creeping backwards towards the door hoping that they weren’t going to startle whatever the hell this was, “I just know that the sooner I get out of here the better.”

“Okay,” Shiloh agreed, slowly moving back. “On a count of three we both make a run for the door okay?” She waited for their confirmation, not wanting to jump to the countdown. She couldn’t really see it as they kept between her and the creature. It seemed like a bold move for someone that didn’t know what it was but they didn’t seem too surprised by it so they must be at the very least aware of the supernatural. “One,” she began to countdown, still slowly moving away from the monster, not wanting to make any sudden moves just yet. “Two.” Almost there. Shiloh could feel her heart begin to race now that they would soon be making a run for the door. “Three!” She spoke loud enough for Winston to hear and she started to bolt to the exit.

Winston honestly wished that they had said on a count to one, they felt like their legs might just moving at any moment. “Sure, on three.” Winston agreed as they tried to take a step back, they wanted Shiloh to be able to keep track of the monster too just in case it somehow made it past them. Honestly in that moment they weren’t sure why they were putting themselves in danger. They just wanted to make sure no one got hurt. Ironically they were at the top of the list of people they didn’t want to be hurt here. As Shiloh began her count down, Winston could feel their entire body itching as they prayed that they would get away safely. “Oh fuck,” they yelped as Shiloh hurtled towards the door just behind Shiloh, they were nearly there, they were maybe feet away when they felt a felt sharp claws rake their one of their ankles and they tumbled to the ground.

They were almost on their way to freedom when Shiloh heard Winston fall behind her. “Oh no,” Shiloh cried and turned around to try and help Winston up. “Are you okay?” She turned her attention to them, wondering what they tripped over. “What happened?” Either way she tried to help them up, knowing they needed to get out of there. She only hoped they didn’t twist their ankle or any other immobilizing injury. Not that she’d leave them behind but it was a lot harder to run from something when you couldn’t run.

For a moment, Winston was sure that as Shiloh helped them up that they would be able to just stand. They couldn’t feel the pain just yet, but their ankle was strangely wet and as they tried to stand they felt their ankle buckle and had to lean heavily on a desk. “I’m not okay,” they affirmed as they felt blood pour into their trouser, “I think whatever the fuck that was scratched me and it must’ve cut me because I can’t really put any weight on it.” They winced and looked for whatever it was that had done this, but they weren’t able to spot it. “We should try and get out,” they said, wincing as they took a squelching step forward, their shoe filling with blood.

Everything would be fine, Shiloh was sure of it and as she managed to get Winston back on their feet, her hope returned. Then it was gone again once Winston almost collapsed. “Whoa,” she muttered, trying to look down at his foot to see if she can see any damage and then she saw it - blood. Oh that’s not good. She looked back at Winston. “I can help you, just lean on me okay?” Shiloh hoped she was reassuring to them, putting their arm over her shoulder and gripping their side. It was a moment like this that she appreciated the time spent at the gym. “We can do this together,” she encouraged them, not feeling much of a weight on her, hoping that Winston wasn’t holding back.

They weren’t too proud to accept help, Winston wrapped an arm gratefully around Shiloh and wished that they had done more reading about healing magic. But despite all of that, Winston wasn’t about to focus on their regrets now. “Thanks, I don’t know what the hell that is but we should definitely get out of here,” they took a shuddering step forward, leaning fully on Shiloh as they heard scrabbling around them, “I need you to set the pace, I can force myself to keep up but if you let me choose how quick we go then we’lll never get out of here.” They fiddled with the strap of their bag over their shoulder and winced. “We definitely need to get out of here too.”

“Okay,” Shiloh understood their reasoning. It was a little awkward with the height difference but all Shiloh needed was to be given the okay. She picked up her step, keeping a firm grip on Winston’s side, not wanting to look back, she didn’t need it to distract her. She focused on getting out the door. She could pick up the sound of whatever it was behind them and with just that she could tell it was closing in on them. She didn’t waste any time, as soon as they cleared that doorway, she turned, placed one foot down and gave the door a kick with her heel, sending it back with a slam. She heard it make contact with something but ultimately shut. It wasn’t long before there was banging on the door. “Come on, let’s get out, I don’t want to wait to see if that door can hold it.” Or if it could open the door.

This wasn’t how Winston had imagined this going and this might be the last time that they offered to teach someone something. Why was it that whenever they tried to do a good thing for people they got shot down all but immediately by the universe choosing to throw some other form of supernatural bullshit their way. Sweat poured down their neck and soaked into the collar of their shirt. As soon as they were out of the door, Shiloh kicked it slamming shut behind them. There was a crunch as whatever it was slammed into it, and then continued colliding with it over and over again. “I agree,” they turned and looked at the lock, they could try and do some magic but right now they didn’t think they could do it without passing out, “thanks for this,” they stammered as their breath grew ragged, “sorry that your first time learning to code has been interrupted by what looks like some sort of rage monkey.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shiloh gently responded as she remained focused on getting both of them out of there. Winston surprisingly wasn’t much of a weight to carry, it didn’t take long for Shiloh to get used to it and move at a quick pace. However, she could hear their breathing and while her breathing remained even, she knew theirs wasn’t because they couldn’t keep up. “Do you want me to take you to the hospital?” Shiloh asked, wondering just how much blood they were losing. She didn’t even want to look back and see. It was better to keep moving to the parking lot.

Doing their breath to catch their breath, Winston wiped the back of their palm across their forehead, a cascade of sweat sloughing away as they did so. “Uh, I think that it might be a good idea if you did take me to the hospital,” they said before they heard scuffling and spotted the little goblin thing again. It’s claws were dripping with blood. Winston’s blood. The thought alone made them want to be sick but they steeled themselves, “fuck, we should keep going,” they muttered as the thing scuttled after them, gaining ground in the corridors of the university, blood trailing from both Winston and their pursuer.

“Okay,” Shiloh responded, keeping calm. If they needed to go to the hospital she’d take them there. Her ears picked up the familiar sound and she glanced back, seeing it coming towards them. Shiloh quickly thought of something. “Sorry about this, Winston,” she tried to be as unoffensive as she could possibly be but this was turning into a life or death situation. She wasted no time to scoop Winston up and started running. Maybe it was the rush of the situation but Winston didn’t seem as heavy as she would have thought they’d be, carrying a grown person and all. Either way, she didn’t let that cloud her priorities. They needed to get out of there now. “Is it still behind us?” She asked as she finally made it outside, but not stopping to look as she remembered where she parked, coming closer to her car.

Being swept off of their feet like a damsel in distress was something that Winston could get used to. “What the-” they managed to exclaim before Shiloh had doubled the speed that they were going. Winston was left with no choice but to cling awkwardly to her neck and pray that she didn’t drop them. Yet despite all of that, her grip seemed firm and strong and Winston knew better then to question someone who was in the midst of saving them from a little gremlin that seemed intent on attacking them. “I --” Winston squinted through their glasses which had fallen somewhat lopsided on their face, “I can’t see them,” they replied as they arrived at the car park, “you’re really really fucking strong, thank you, I honestly don’t know if I’d have gotten away without you.” They leaned against a car, pulling their hoodie off and wrapping it around their leg in a poor attempt to stem the bleeding.

Shiloh finally let herself relax when Winston said the coast was clear. She sighed as she gently set them down, mindful of their leg. “It’s a good thing we were together then.” Shiloh wasn't sure how she would react if she came across something supernatural herself. She was grateful pretty much all her supernatural experiences were with someone else with her. She was thankful all her time at the gym had been worth it. Although she was positive some adrenaline had something to do with lifting Winston so easily. “My car’s just over there,” just a few cars away. She pulled her keys out and started to unlock it, the headlights blinking for a moment. She put her keys back in her pockets, ready for them to keep going. “Let’s go.” She took their arm over her shoulder again and walked to her car, opening it up and helping Winston in. She gently shut the door behind them and went into the front seat. The last thing on her mind was blood on her car seats, she was worried about Winston’s safety more. “Alright we’ll be there in a few minutes okay?” She glanced over at them before beginning to drive off.

#p: shiloh #para #wickedswriting #out of ctrl

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ringneon22-blog · 5 years ago

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Online Compiler And Also Ide >> C.

Examination Automation Training.

#toc background: #f9f9f9;border: 1px solid #aaa;display: table;margin-bottom: 1em;padding: 1em;width: 350px; .toctitle font-weight: 700;text-align: center;

Content

Qualified Software Application Examination Automation Architect.

Automation Testing Resources.

Examination Automation With Selenium Webdriver.

Top Tips For Knowing Java Shows.

Create A Junit Test Class

Tip # 3: Chrome Devtools: Replicating Network Issues

Qualified Software Program Test Automation Engineer.

Similar to the majority of the sites, LeetCode additionally allows programmers to solve the given difficulty straight on the internet site. The internet site enables the programmers to pick any of the 9 programs languages for exercising the coding. Although, the web site does not allows designers to check out the solutions of various other users, but the developer can obtain the stats for their own solution. CodinGame is the next site on the list of 10 Best internet sites for practicing Java coding online. It is a bit various from most of the other internet sites on the listing.

Knowing Java opens a large amount of doors for you as a developer. LeetCode is additionally among the popular and also widely utilized site for exercising Java coding online. It is similar to an Online Court that provides more than 190+ obstacles to the designers. These challenges assist the IT experts to prepare for technological job meetings.

Automation Testing Resources.

In CodinGame as opposed to simply just fixing the coding difficulties utilizing an editor, the designer needs to actually take part in creating the codes for a video game that individual can play straight online. The developer will certainly see a checklist of video games on the website and also they can pick one from the list. These games include a problem description, some examination situations, and also an editor where the developer has to create the code.

youtube

It provides greater than 200+ coding difficulties to the designers. A programmer can directly fix these coding obstacles online in any of the 10 programming languages that the website provides. Coderbyte also allows the designers to choose the obstacle difficulty according to their comfort. The programmer can begin with the simplest difficulty to difficult challenge.

Examination Automation With Selenium Webdriver.

You can find out about many various topics such as data scientific research, programming languages, and lots of others. It gives video clip classes for Java programs in multiple languages. The videos are available in languages such as English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and also French.

Top Tips For Knowing Java Programs.

Can I learn Java without any programming experience?

Coming to Java - or any object-oriented language - from C can be tough. Fortunately for OP, Python and Java both support OOP (as do nearly all widely-used industry languages). To the point, I agree that Java is very easy to learn from a Python background. Python and Java share a ton of core programming concepts.

But our perspective was that if we're going to teach you exactly how to code, we may as well instruct you a language which will assist you get a work. performance tester saw that Java was the primary sought-after language in the country.

Comprehensive understanding and experience of the leading automated software testing platforms such as Selenium WebDriver, Selenium IDE as well as Crossbrowser testing.

Typically, this is a good idea, however there seems to be a failing to connect between Java and also numerous web browsers.

Java 7 Update 10 introduced a brand-new checkbox that disables the use of Java in all web browsers.

As API & Microservices Developer you will be functioning within a cross-functional team of testers, developers and developers who are accountable for the TUI application.

On a computer with multiple web internet browsers, make certain to examine the Java version in every web browser.

edX is just one of the arising online knowing platforms that provides top quality courses from the very best institutions throughout the world. In 2012, Harvard College as well as MIT both set the structure of edX. Here, you can find out to program with Java shows language. Most of the courses are cost-free, and also there is no need to register for them.

It also offers support of greater than 20+ shows languages. So, the designer can pick any one of these languages to code on. Coderbyteis the next internet site on our checklist of 10 Finest sites for coding technique.

Can I learn Java in a week?

If you have prior knowledge of C language and the concepts, learning Java becomes easier. Java can be downloaded easily and anyone can download the JRE and run the Java program. There are many tutorials available on the tutorialspoint website where you can learn Java from scratch even without much coding background.

We know we can educate individuals just how to code making use of any kind of programs language, and once they learn their very first programs language, finding out a second or third one is a lot easier. So in some sense it doesn't matter what your first language is.

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Today Java as well as C# are both most sought-after languages, so those are the languages that we educate at Tech Lift. If Ruby came to be one of the most in-demand language tomorrow, after that we would certainly consider mentor Ruby. Java is among one of the most prominent programs languages out there, generally as a result of exactly how flexible as well as compatible it is. Java can be utilized for a a great deal of points, consisting of software application growth, mobile applications, and large systems development. Since 2019, 88% market share of all smartphones operate on Android, the mobile os written in Java.

Should I learn Java or JavaScript?

Even with competition from new languages, the demand for Java developers remains strong. In fact, Java is among the most in-demand programming languages on the job market, depending on whose numbers you look at. Today, Java is the most popular choice for writing Android apps.

It supplies you with countless classes in other programs such as layout, business, innovation as well as several others. Java is an object-oriented, cross-platform, robust and effective programs language with support for protection as well as solid memory administration. It additionally provides support for a multithreading function with which you can create code that can perform numerous functions simultaneously. Most programmers pick Java as a programs language while producing an application or working on any type of job as a result of its incredible attributes. Java is commonly utilized for developing web applications, software, as well as web portals too.

Pointer # 3: Chrome Devtools: Replicating Network Conditions

However, you can pick the premium programs in order to get a certification after the completion of the tutorial. If you are looking for some widely known tutorials to start coding in Java programs language, after that Coursera is the best area to discover.

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blubberquark · 6 years ago

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Python 3

With the release of Python 3.8, users of Python 2.7 have started arguing again. Support for Python 2.7 is ending. People are unhappy.

But no matter if you’re writing games, productivity desktop applications, mobile apps, web applications, a new machine learning algorithm, or a one-off data analysis for a scientific paper: You can use Python 3 now. Python 3 is ready.

It’s true. I migrated my games and web apps to Python 3.6 last year. I started targeting Python 3 only with my new projects, which allowed me to use cool new features and libraries like asyncio or moderngl. It just works now, finally.

But the transition between 2.7 and 3.0 had really been botched. There was no clear upgrade path back in 2008. Python 3.0 didn’t even have explicit unicode literals any more, probably just in order to make writing code that ran in Python 2.7 and Python 3.0 more difficult. The promised asyncio module was not ready.

I tried to use certain web frameworks on Python 3 in 2014. There were encoding problems. My web framework used unicode strings, but a third-party library used bytestrings and managed to somehow utf-8 encode a bytestring twice. I actually know why: Originally, it was written to support Python 2.7, which does not distinguish between strings and binary data, but between ASCII and unicode strings. The type bytes is an alias for str in Python 2.7.

In 2016, I tried to port a game server to Python 3.6, but a module I had used to calculate checksums had been ported badly to Python 3. For backwards compatibility reasons it still accepted strings as it did in 2.7, which were now unicode strings by default, instead of bytestrings. This is not what you want at all when socket operations give you bytes, especially when you want to compute a checksum of binary data that may or may not look like utf-8 text with diacritics and emoji but is really floating point numbers encoded with struct.pack().

The asyncio module was added to Python 3.4, with the async def syntax only arriving in 3.5. Major additions to the API making asyncio usable came only with 3.6, and convenience functions that made it easier to write reusable, composable code were added in 3.7. The problems with the asyncio API were apparent before it was merged into the official Python 3 standard library, but now there are asyncio-based modules out there that implement anti-patterns, and code that depends on them.

This is compounded by the lack of convenience wrappers around blocking sockets (like java.io.BufferedReader in Java), which further encourages inexperienced programmers to use asyncio for problems that don’t need it and without understanding what it does and what kind of problems actually require asyncio.

These two examples - unicode and async - don’t show that Python 3 is worse than 2.7, but that for a long time a good upgrade path was not a priority for the people behind Python 3. If you are a bit paranoid, it could easily look even more sinister: They wanted library maintainers to drop Python 2.7 support as soon as possible in order to force application developers to migrate to Python 3. But instead of this, for the first eight years of Python 3, library maintainers were extremely cautious about migrating and erred on the side of Python 2.7, which caused application developers to stay on Python 2.7.

In 2016, Python 3.6 and six.py had removed many barriers to supporting both Python 3.6 and 2.7 with the same code base, but many libraries still lagged behind, and as long as one library your application depends on had not yet been ported to Python 3, you would stay on 2.7. Because some libraries maintained Python 2.7 support for so long, they didn’t make the necessary API changes to support Python 3.

Many Python developers were outraged in 2016 when Zed Shaw urged learners in his book not to learn Python 3 as their first language - but he was not completely wrong. He was definitely trolling, he got the problem with unicode exactly backwards (kind of a dick move from an American who doesn’t need more than ASCII to write his own language), used the phrase “statically typed” in an idiosyncratic way - and he actively exacerbated the problem of Python 3 adoption. But he was right about the lack of a clear upgrade path and many libraries not being forward-compatible, or Python 3 not being backward-compatible with old libraries.

But once enough libraries were ported, this made porting libraries downstream much easier. In 2016, most (but not all) important libraries had been ported.

Nowadays all of them are compatible with Python 3: http://py3readiness.org/

If you want to know if your dependencies are supported by Python 3, check https://caniusepython3.com/

Time is running out for Python 2.7: https://python3statement.org/

Python 3 is good now. It only took ten years.

#programming #python

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agent-z-18 · 6 years ago

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Journal Entry #3

October 10th

So, we’ve decided to meet at Jordan’s house on Friday so he can get my measurements for my outfit. He, apparently, already has some designs sketched up but he refuses to show any of them to me until Friday, the jerk XD. But knowing Jordan, all of them are awesome looking and he’ll throw them all out and complete a brand new sketch before we get to his house after school on Friday. To be honest, I am both excited and scare out of my wits. Once my outfit and bike are finished, I’ll be attending my first ever energy orb retrieval. I’m so close and yet, so far away. Is this weird unknown feeling what it’s like to be an adult? Making life choices without knowing what the true outcome will be?

I don’t know if I like this feeling of responsibility, no matter how enthralling it is…

I just have to keep telling myself that it’s all for a good cause. I just know that doing nothing will just continue to make me miserable. I just want to be given one chance to prove myself and my gadgets before I truly give up on this path of life. Just let me test my tracker and my ability in a retrieval and I’ll judge if my family is right in turning me away. But I have just as much of a right to test myself just like my other siblings got to. I’m just so tired of being alone.

I had to eat my supper by myself last night, only seeing my family for a few seconds when I got home from school. Apparently, Ray had contacted them right before I walked in and Shrapnel and Typhoon were already on the scent of the EO so they needed to catch up. However, this retrieval lasted until early this morning, seeing as they were all still up, nursing injuries when I came down for breakfast. Which told me that Python also joined the fray sometime last night. And with how moody everyone was, I don’t think they were the triumphant ones on this retrieval. But, I mean, how would I know? Nobody told me anything.

Nobody texted me to let me know they were all right. I mean, it’s not like I care or anything. It’s not like they don’t have any way to contact me, unlike me, who isn’t allowed to have access to any sort of communication with them while on a retrieval. So, I mean, how would I know how they obtained their injuries? Or how severe they are?

HOW WOULD I KNOW WHEN NOBODY WILL DISCUSS IT WITH? DO THEY THINK THAT I DON’T CARE? IS IT SUCH A CHORE TO CALL YOUR YOUNGEST AND LET HIM KNOW WHERE YOU ARE? Why can’t I be trusted like Evelyn, Matt, and Wyatt? Because I don’t have powers I’m not trustworthy? I thought that when I turned 18 that maybe Mom and Dad would be willing to include me in all those little family meetings they have when they lose an orb to a villain. Or that my siblings would be at least start sharing some information with me. I understood when I was younger, seeing that they wanted to protect my “innocence” but honestly, I would sneak to the top of the stairs and listen in on their meeting anyways and not always quietly. There’s no reason for them to hide this from me. I’m an adult now, right? I can handle it! I just want to be included in what’s happening. Like, we could come up with a code or something if they need to leave while I’m at school so I don’t come home to an empty house like I’ve been known to do.

Now that I’m writing all of this down, it’s just strengthening my resolve to follow through with this plan that we’ve come up with. If they’re not going to include me willingly, I’ll just have to do it myself. And if that means becoming a villain for a day, then so be it. And I found something that will make it easier. The voice changing choker, or V.C.C as I like to dub it, that I made back in my sophomore year and it still works! If I wear this while out on my retrieval, then if I run into my family then they won’t recognize me right away if I talk. Which, according to Wyatt, I do a lot of. I just need to stop by the store tomorrow after school and pick up new batteries so that it doesn’t accidentally die on me. I really, really don’t want to get grounded for sneaking to a retrieval.

Oh, I almost forgot, Mike also agreed to sell me his bike. Maybe I wrote something about it earlier, but oh well. He dropped the price to $50 hearing that it was me who was gonna buy it and brought it over right after my folks left. I hid it in the shed behind the garage since I’m the only one who goes in there. I’m just happy that the bike is in rather good condition so any modification I make this weekend should be pretty superficial. But if I’m gonna be a proper villain, I need the bike to match my aesthetic, or that’s what Taylor told me. She has better access to that kind of material than I do, her parents working in news and all. But even the web seems to support her claims. Shrapnel on her awesome-looking motorcycle that looks like she’s riding an actual bullet, Python on her three-wheeled golden motorcycle and dragon-shaped jet, and Typhoon’s color-changing sports car. I, honestly, think that my ride will look nowhere near as wicked as those professional villains, but I think I can make do. It’s only for one day.

I also found some of my siblings’ old gadgets and training weapons that they practiced with when they were younger and trying to fully control their powers and strength. I’ve watched them train enough with them to know the proper grip and I may, or may not, have taken to sneaking down to the training area whenever I was left to my own devices. And I know for a fact that none of this stuff has been touched in years, so I might as well make use of it right? Recycling. It helps the planet. And, if I’m not the only “villain” attending whichever retrieval I attend, I need to make sure I have a way to defend myself. I’m not dumb, I know that I’m nowhere near as strong as the rest of my family, powers or not, and I’m not so full of myself to think I can be on their level. And besides…

I’m gonna need all the help I can get.

#journalentry3 #fictional story #journal entry #fictional #journal

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bazypitchandsimonsnow · 7 years ago

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Straight Boy

Part 2: together

Rating: M

Genre: Fluff

Word count: 10365

Chapters: 2/4 [All chapters]

Read on AO3

AN: Oooooh this chapter is fuuuuun :) I loved writing all this fic but especially this chapter. Also, forgot to mention it last chapter, but yes "Baz in glasses" is BACK baby!!! I love this HC and I will keep putting it in fics until I die. Well, enjoy this chapter :D

Tagging: @jeansjeansjeansjeans

———————————————-

I have to do a double take of the building. I check the address Baz text sent me, and it’s right. This fancy ass mostly glass white condo is definitely the right place. Well, Baz said his family was rich, maybe they bought him a whole condo for uni? Yeah...

I walk and type in the buzzer code Baz gave me. It rings low and loud, until a very pissed off voice comes on. And it’s definitely not Baz.

“What?!” The posh woman barks out. I instinctively step away.

“Uh, I’m here to see Baz?” I say with extreme caution. “I’m Simon, by the way.”

“Oh, right, Basilton said you were coming.”

Basilton? What? Okay, not important right now. There’s an obnoxiously loud buzz and the door unlocks. I rush in and go towards the elevator. It’s all cold grey fancy steel. I feel very intimidating as I go up to the twenty fifth floor. Luckily, Baz’s flat is just to the right, so I don’t get lost. (Penny says I get lost turning left.) I knock on the door lightly. A few heavy steps come towards me, then the door swings open, making me take a step back.

This woman is definitely not Baz, but I’m pretty damn sure they’re related. Same skin tone, same grey eyes, same black hair. Though she has a thick white blonde streak at the front. I can’t tell if it’s dyed or natural. She’s wearing a leather jacket and ripped jeans with old Doc Martens. She looks like she just came out from a seventies punk bar, and she was the headline act.

“Uh, hello,” I say very cautiously. “I’m Simon.”

“So, you’re Simon,” she replies with a weird suspicion. “You’re shorter than I thought you would be.”

“Um, sorry?”

“Fiona!” I hear Baz shout from behind her. He appears suddenly, glasses on top of his head, hair falling in a lazy wave over his angry face. He's dressed in a loose white shirts and blue jeans we picked out at W Wood. Wait, are jeans his lazy clothes? Huh, odd. He looks good, so whatever.

“Stop picking on Simon,” he growls at the women, apparently called Fiona, glaring viciously. Fiona glares right back.

“I wasn’t picking on him,” she says with bite.

Baz rolls his eyes dramatically. “Of course you weren’t.” He finally looks at me and immediately grins. “Hi, Snow, glad you could make it. This is my Aunt Fiona. Please ignore her. She’s over protective, like an old pit bull.”

Fiona scoffs loudly and smacks his arm. “I am not old, you wanker! I’m only thirty eight!”

“Not the important thing here. Now, Fiona, don’t you have somewhere to be?” He raises one eyebrow impossibly high. Fiona glares even harder.

“This is my apartment, y’know.”

“Our apartment now. And you’re going to Nicky’s. Seriously, why don’t you two just get a flat together and give me the place to myself 24/7?”

Fiona rolls her eyes. Wow, I can see where Baz gets it from. “Please, we’re too new for that.”

“You’ve known each other since high school.”

“But only been dating for a few months. We’re still in the sexy honeymoon phase, Basil,” she says with a wink. My cheeks heat up, Baz is obviously unimpressed, and Fiona looks very smug. I feel like I’m intruding on a much larger conversation.

“Fiona,” Baz sighs, “please, just go see your boyfriend. Come back tomorrow.”

She sighs over dramatically. “Fine. Leave my kitchen and living room in working order by the time I come back, please.”

Baz sighs in the exact same way. “Yes, of course, now go!”

Fiona walks past me, patting my shoulder as she goes. “Nice meeting you, Simon. Have fun.” Her nails dig into my skin for a brief moment. Not enough to really hurt but enough to sting. I don’t think she likes me that much...

Baz physically pushes Fiona out the door. She flips him off. He groans and gestures me inside. “Sorry about that. Come in, come in. I’ve almost got supper ready.”

I follow in after him, unzipping my hoodie, since this fancy place is certainly well heated. “It’s fine, man. I didn’t know you lived with your Aunt.”

“Yeah, sorry, never came up. She lives close to campus so it was easier to just take her extra room instead of trying to find another place. And I think my parents want her to spy on me for them.”

I chuckle as I kick off my trainers. “And how is that working out? She didn’t strike me as someone who would tattle to your parents.”

Baz’s lip pulls up into a smirk. “Well, she likes to be a shit and pretend she’ll tell them about my activities. But at the same time, she let me smoke half her joint last night while we watched Monty Python and ate peanut butter from the jar.”

“Oh my god,” I giggle. “That sounds amazing!’

“It certainly was. Now come on, I’m starved.”

We walk down the short hall into the actual apartment. I have to stop myself from gasping. The whole place is kinda intimidating but cool. It’s like what you see in catalogues. All white walls, modern furniture, and large bay windows with a view of the steel and brick horizon. Though there’s also enough personality to it to show that two people live here. There's lots of photos on the walls of Baz and Fiona and people who look enough like them to be relatives. Some old books are spread out on the coffee table, with lots of sticky notes on the pages in Baz's wispy handwriting. And next to the volumes are rolling papers I can safely assume are Fiona’s. Looks like a fun place to live.

“Just nearly burned supper, goodness,” Baz chuckles.

I follow his voice into the kitchen. It’s all white with fancy high tech chrome appliances. Baz is bending over the oven, making the denim stretch across his arse. I blush and avoid looking. The memory of...that part of his anatomy is still burned into my brain. It never goes away, just fades and pops back up at literally the worst possible moments. Like late at night, persuading my hand to “accidentally” slip into my pants. Or right now, when I really can’t let my hand go anywhere to relieve the heat he makes in my stomach. Fuck, my head hurts.

“Perfect,” Baz says cheerily. “Cooked all the way through.” He pulls out a pan with two herb covered chicken breasts and oily asparagus stalks. He opens the pot on top of the stove. It’s filled with absolutely divine tomato sauce. My eyes get very wide.

“Wow,” I gasp. “When you said you were making supper, I thought you meant boxed pasta or some shit.”

Baz smiles smugly. “I’m classier than that, Salisbury.”

His smirk makes my stomach even hotter. I shrug. “Guess I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

“Damn right. Now go sit down, I’ll bring the plates out in a second.”

He gestures to the large glass dining table near the window. There’s two rich crimson placemats across from each other, twin wine glasses already filled. The lights are low, matching the setting sun. Everything is soft orange, red, and violet. It’s really nice. This is the fanciest supper set up I've ever seen. And Baz did it for me. He's so nice. My knees wobble a bit as I take my chair. Baz soon comes out with two full plates.

“Dinner is served,” he announces grandly, placing the food in front of me. It’s chicken, asparagus, and some unfamiliar rice dish. It’s got lentils, fried onions, chickpeas, macaroni noodles, and that amazing tomato sauce all on top. My mouth immediately starts watering.

“Thank you,” I reply as he sits down. I wait for him to unfold his napkin and everything to be polite. Mum taught me that. But it’s hard. I really want to eat.

Baz gives me an amused look. “Dig in, Snow, I can see you salivating all the way from over here.”

I roll my eyes, but still grab my utensils. “Shut up.” I put a large forkful of rice in my mouth, and it’s a flavour explosion. My tastebuds are singing with joy. I’ve never had something this good. I start shovelling huge bites in, making Baz snort with laughter.

“You like it?” he asks with amusement.

“Uh, fuck yeah! What is this, ambrosia?”

Baz chuckles and shakes his head, “No, just some good spices. That’s called koshari. It’s a very famous dish in Egypt. I’m half Egyptian, so I wanted to try to make it. Connect to my heritage and all.”

I try to smile, but my mouth is partially filled with koshari, so it’s difficult. “That’s awesome. Like, it’s really cool you’ve got that connection to your culture and stuff. Plus it’s just like super delicious.”

He half smiles, lifting his wine glass like a true gentleman, “The chef appreciates your compliments.”

I lift my own and clink our cups together. Like we’re fancy or something. “You’re very welcome.”

We trade easy conversation as we eat. Baz has completely caught up in his classes. Actually, he’s probably ahead. He’s incredibly smart so I’m not surprised. I’m getting better at paying attention in class. Penny gave me a fidget spinner, which I think was supposed to be a joke, but it’s actually helped me channel some of that restless energy. Plus I’m just super interested in our therapy unit. It’s what I study social work for, to help people. Baz calls me exceedingly noble. From his small smile, I assume it’s a compliment.

Once dinner is finished, we put our plates in the sink. I try to start washing but Baz slaps my hand away.

“None of that,” he says resolutely. “I’ll do it later.”

I put my hands in my pockets. I know there’s no point in arguing with him, amazing stubborn bastard. “Alright. What should we do? I don’t really feel like going home yet.”

A strange look crosses over his face. Both nervous and excited maybe? It’s so fleeting I can’t tell before it’s gone. He nods slowly. “Want to watch a movie? I’ve got Fiona’s Netflix account.”

“Yeah sure. Sounds good.”

We walk over to Fiona’s pristine white couch. I flop down while Baz sits properly, ankles crossed, straight back, hands in his lap. Jeez, he can still be so uptight sometimes. He flips down his glasses, probably so he can actually see the TV. Fuck, they really do look good on him. I have to make an effort not to stare.

“What should we watch?” I ask. “Horror? Comedy? Drama?”

Baz shrugs. “Well, I only watch documentaries, which you’d probably find very boring. So I leave the choice up to you, Salisbury.” He hands me the remote like a gentleman offering a bouquet. I take it graciously.

“Oh thank you kind sir,” I say in my poshest accent. Baz rolls his eye and chuckles.

I flip through Netflix for a little while. Well, Baz wasn’t lying about only watching documentaries. All his recently watched are movies about forests and wars and violinists. Bo-ring! I go to the romcom section, because I love stupid tropey shit. Penny calls me a hopeless romantic. I just like that everything works out in the end. Real life isn’t usually like that. It’s nice to pretend. So I pick “Notting Hill”. It’s one my favourites.

“Dear Lord,” Baz mutters part way in, “what is this?”

“It’s a rom com,” I reply.

“So, I’m supposed to believe that a movie star just happens to wander into this guy’s store? And she kisses him impulsively? Seriously?”

I playfully smack his arm. Wow, his hands are rough, his arms are smoother than sea glass. “It’s not supposed to be realistic, it’s supposed to be fun.”

He snorts. “Well, all I can focus on is the plot holes.”

I sigh. My head, heavy from food drowsiness, lolls to my right. It takes me a bit too long to realise it’s fallen on Baz’s shoulder. Shit, didn’t mean to do that. He’s incredibly tense, every muscle pulled tight. I nearly move off, but then he relaxes. His legs uncross, and his hands fall to beside his sides. So, I guess this is okay. And his shoulder, despite it’s boney-ness, is actually really comfy. Yeah. this is cool. I’ll just stay here.

The movie keeps going, but it kind of falls to background noise for me. I know it off by heart anyway. I’m more focused on other things for some reason. Like the feel of Baz’s soft shirt on my cheek. Or that his whole jean covered leg is pressed against mine. Or how close his rough farmer-violist hand is to mine. I’ve only held it a couple times, and only loosely. I do wonder...

Before thinking about it too much, I reach over and grab his hand. Baz inhales sharply through his nose, but he doesn’t pull away. Our hands rest together. We stay like that for awhile. Watching the movie, just casually holding hands. Normal friend stuff. His skin is still as scratchy as I remember, creating sparks of sensation all over my palm. And his fingers are quite long. Pianist fingers, I think that’s the term. They’re nice. I like his hand. I like holding it.

Eventually, I lift my head up, and my eyes flick over to him. I just want to see if he’s enjoying the movie. Holy shit, he’s looking back. His grey eyes are staring right at me. It almost feels like he’s looking through me they’re so piercing. It makes me shudder involuntarily. His eye move lower, to... Wait is he looking at my-

And then he kisses me.

Holy shit. A guy is kissing me. More importantly, Baz is kissing me. His face is so close to mine, black hair falling around us, glasses pushing against my nose. Baz’s lips are smooth, soft, and kinda cold. Well, not cold, just chilly, like an ocean breeze. It feels nice. His kiss feels nice. Oh my god, I’m musing about a guy kissing me, about how much I like it. What the hell?!

Our mouths are still, just pressed together chastely. Like we're a pair of awkward pre-teends having out first kiss. But really I’m too stunned to move. Then Baz pulls away slightly. His eyes are a bit glassy and his breathing is unsteady. “Is this okay?” he whispers.

That’s a really good fucking question. Am I okay with this? My lips are still tingling, and my pulse is hammering in my ears. Every fibre in my body is screaming at me to get close to him again. I nod. “Yeah,” I reply breathlessly, “yeah, it’s okay.”

Baz smirks, pushing his glasses on top of his head before kissing me again. He’s less hesitant this time, moving his mouth more insistently and curling his long fingers around my nape. I try to match his pace, try to pull him closer too, clutching his shirt in tight fists. I just want him so close. I let out an involuntary moan when his nails prick my skin. The slight sting makes everything go spinny. My mouth falls open, and I moan again as his tongue slowly slides across mine. Holy shit, why does this feel so much better than any kiss I’ve had before? I’ve only snogged a few of people, so it’s not like I’ve got a ton of experience, but I’ve got enough. And this is by far the best snog I’ve ever had.

I don’t even realise I’ve been leaning back until I’m laying down with Baz over me. He’s got one hand in my hair, the other trailing along my side, and a leg between mine. I’m holding his hips, dangerously close to going under his shirt. I really want to feel those muscles I saw in the changeroom, but I don’t want to do anything like that without Baz’s permission. Consent is necessary and all. But suddenly, without even moving off my mouth, Baz grabs my wrist and shoves my hand right under his shirt. Okay, pretty damn sure that’s consent. I trace the ridges and planes of muscle in his back, memorising the how ridiculously good they feel. He groans into my mouth. It makes my whole body shudder. And I full on gasp when he grinds his knee between my legs. My whole brain fucking explodes. Oh man, I am certainly “reacting” very, very strongly right now.

Through all the arousal haze, I wonder if this, what we’re doing, means I’m gay. But I don’t want to kiss Baz because he’s a guy. I want to kiss Baz because he’s Baz. Because he’s nice and funny and watched Doctor Who for me. And sure, he’s also really pretty with his wavy black hair and deep sea eyes. But anyone would notice that. I’ve noticed that other guys are pretty before. I can be straight and observant, right? I don’t know. It’s all too confusing to think about now. I just want to keep holding Baz. I have to do that.

Fuck, how long has he wanted this? How long have I wanted this? I would say I didn’t, but then why are a list of things I want to do to Baz? Like this; I push a hand into his hair. The strands are soft, slipping through my fingers, just like I thought. I clench my fist and shove his face more into mine.

Suddenly, Baz pulls off my mouth.

“Sorry,” I say (I’m out of breath it’s embarrassing.)

“No, no, don’t be sorry. Just,” he takes a breath, “want to continue this somewhere more comfortable?”

I’m panting very hard, but so is he. His face is flushed, eyes half lidded, lips swollen and wet. He looks fucking hot. My whole body is vibrating with energy. I want to pull him down and kiss him until our mouths are sore. And well, this couch is a bit small to stay here for that long. So I nod. “Sure, sounds good.”

Baz grins, showing all his bright white teeth. “Wonderful.”

He climbs off me. His legs are shaky, but when I stand up, mine are too. Baz turns off the telly and takes my hand, leading me down the narrow hall towards a room. Once we enter, it’s very obvious that this is Baz’s room. It’s extremely neat because of course Baz is a clean freak. But the desk is covered in a mess of books and sheet music. His violin case sits in the corner. I wonder if I’ll ever hear him play.

We stop in front of the large bed. His sheets are all black, and they look like silk. Well, that's definitely more comfortable than the couch. Baz turns towards me. His face is lit up by the setting sun, skin glowing perfectly in the fiery light. Wow, he’s somehow even prettier right now. But, is he nervous? He’s chewing on his lip, and the hand I’m not holding keeps flexing. I guess he is. Huh, I haven’t seen him anxious since the W Wood. And right now he’s much worse.

“So,” he says, clearing his throat a bit, “how far do you want to go? We could just keep snogging, that’s fine with me. Or we could do more. Whatever you feel like, I’ll be fine with.”

Fucking hell he’s so considerate. It makes my heart speed up, for some reason. But, what do I want? I want to touch him, to kiss him a lot. For him to kiss me and touch me too. Maybe in places other than my lips. Actually, fuck "maybe", I desperately want that, the need itching under every part of my skin. Even though I've never wanted a guy to do that before. Even though I’m straight. I’m trying not to think too much about those contradictions and focus on how good kissing him felt. I really don’t need a headache at this time.

“I-I’m good for anything.” Wait no, not right. “But not ‘all the way’, though. I don’t think I’m prepared for that, in every sense of the word.”

Baz chuckles, his other hand grabbing mine. “That’s fine, no worries. Neither am I, to be honest. But there’s lots of other stuff we can do.”

I look down at the floor, stomach twisting terribly with nerves. “Um, if I’m being honest, Baz, I, uh, have no clue what to do. I’ve never done this before, with a guy.”

He doesn’t say anything. I expected him to laugh, to tease me at least a bit, but instead I feel his rough pianist finger knock up my chin. His mouth is soft, and his eyes are kind and understanding. Why are my knees so weak? “It’s okay, you don’t have to be nervous. We can try things, but you can absolutely stop me if I you want to, alright?” He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear, taking a moment to trace my jaw with a single callused fingertip. “I’ll take care of you, Simon.”

Bloody Hell, I’m not sure I have knees anymore now.

We lean forward simultaneously, lips instantly moulding together like we’ve been kissing forever. It feels so fucking good that I barely notice him pushing up my shirt. He pulls away when he reaches my arms. His face asks the silent question, and I nod in reply. He pulls the shirt over my head and tosses it to the side. I push at the hem of his. He happily helps me get it off, whipping it on the floor. My hands instantly go to his bare torso and chest. I try to touch all of it. Stomach, chest, shoulders, everything. I feel every bit of smooth skin and sharp angle, and they’re just as wonderful as I imagined.

“You’re actually perfect,” I murmur.

Baz smirks. He clenches his stomach, showing off his stupid perfect abs. I can’t suppress the squeak that pops out of my mouth.

“Why thank you,” he drawls sarcastically. I scoff, hoping it makes up for my red cheeks. He slowly runs his hand over my bare side the across my stomach. My whole body feels electric. I shiver and sigh. “You’re pretty damn amazing yourself, Snow.”

I attempt to laugh off my embarrassment. “T-Thanks.”

He kisses me softly again, arms winding around my neck. I hold his waist tightly. I nearly pull him over as Baz spins me around and pushes me on the bed. He stands over me, cupping my cheeks as we keep kissing. Soon he breaks away and starts trailing his cool lips slowly down my neck. It feels so good my eyes roll back in my head. I fall back on the mattress, propped up on my elbows, legs still hanging off the edge. He goes further and further. Across my collarbone, down my sternum and stomach, until he reaches just above my trouser waistband. Baz looks up from where he’s kneeling between my legs, eyes so dark I can only see the smallest ring of grey, and places a tentative hand over the button.

“May I?” he asks breathlessly.

I’m gripping the sheet so hard my knuckles are white. I can’t tell if it’s from nervousness or anticipation. Probably both. I know what he means. I know what he wants to do. Part of me is still confused by my own desire, but a louder part is only thinking in sex. In “yes, yes, please, more, do it.” And it’s a lot louder.

“Yeah,” I say, falling fully onto my back, "you can.”

I lay there, staring at the blemish free white ceiling, breathing harshly, just waiting. Everything is quiet. The only sound is the distant honks from far below and my own clamorous heartbeat. Baz doesn’t do anything for awhile and I start to think if I fucked up somehow. Am I too eager? Has he changed his mind? Is this all one big stupid mistake?

But then he pulls my pants down and takes me in his mouth. Then, well, I’m not thinking very much at all anymore.

———————————————-

I roll off Baz and flop next to him on his bed. We’re both panting and sweating and a bit sticky, bare bodies glistening in the city lights. It’s very dark out now. The sun set awhile ago. I manage to twist my still dizzy head to look at the digital clock on the nightstand. Holy shit, we just spent over two hours having sex. My muscles are totally dead, throbbing with blissful exhaustion.

And it hits me, again: I just had sex with Baz, with a guy, and I really, really liked it.

So does this mean I'm gay? But I liked it because it was Baz, not because it was a guy. He was so patient, so attentive, pushing just enough to get me to try new things but never so far that I was uncomfortable. I'm still unbelievably confused, but mostly just really fucking satisfied.

“Wow,” I say, voice raw and scratchy. “That was just, wow.”

Baz tries to chuckle, but his voice isn't much better than mine. “Had fun, Snow?”

“Uh, yeah! That was like the best sex I’ve ever had.” It’s only after the words burst out do I realise how fucking embarrassing that sounds. Baz laughs, of course. I cover my burning face. “I’ll shut up now,” I groan.

“Oh don’t be embarrassed, darling.” Baz peels my hands off, grinning face now hovering over mine. I can feel his foot pressed to my bare calf. He kisses my knuckles lightly. A thousand butterflies take off in my stomach. “It was really good for me too.”

His face is shiny with sweat, wavy hair all tangled because I kept pulling it (not that he complained). The city light dances across his skin perfectly. There’s a lot more butterflies flying now. I cup the back of his head and pull his mouth down to mine. I just want to be closer to him right now. It’s not urgent like before. It’s simply a lazy slide of our tired mouths, a calm way to end the frantic evening.

Baz pulls back slowly. His breath tickles my face. Then he collapses on top of me, face buried in the crook of my neck. I snort out a laugh I can’t help. He’s just too adorable.

“You tired, Basilton?” I tease.

“Shut up,” he grumbles. “And don’t use my full name. Only my family does that.”

“But it’s so funny! Your name is fucking Basilton Grimm-Pitch. You sound like an Edgar Allan Poe character.”

He chuckles against my skin. “Then you’ll love my first name.”

My heart does double time. I look down at him as best I can. “What the hell is your first name?!”

I feel his shit eating grin on my collarbone. “A man is allowed to have a few secrets, Snow.”

Damn, I really want to throttle the smug perfect bastard. He groans as pushes himself off me, slowly rolling onto his back then sitting upright, legs hanging off the edge. He stretches his arms to the sky, showing the grand muscular expanse of his back. (There are a lot of angry red scratches from my nails. Fuck, I was really into it.)

“I don’t know about you,” he yawns, “but I’m completely knackered. I’m brushing my teeth and going to bed.” His head turns halfway, showing just one eye, gaze slightly unsteady. Is he nervous again. “You want to stay? It’s alright if you don’t.”

Honestly, I’m not sure my muscles are strong enough right now to get me home. Even so, I do want to go. So I nod. “Yeah, I’ll stay.”

His mouth quirks up. “Good.”

Baz slips on his boxers and hands me mine. He leads me to the washroom. It’s huge and pristine and white of course. Baz gives me a fresh toothbrush, which is really thoughtful, because he’s really thoughtful. The vain bastard keeps hogging the mirror though. Once we’re done with our teeth, we go back to the bedroom and Baz takes out his posh red silk pyjamas. He tries to offer me a pair but I’m fine with an oversized t-shirt that looks totally unworn.

“That thing?” Baz says slightly disgusted. “I got that from the overeager poet’s society back at Oxford.”

Huh, makes sense. It does have a Byron joke on it. I shrug. “Eh, it’s fine. Kinda funny too.”

Baz waves dismissively. “Very well. You can keep it if you want. I’m not going to wear it.”

I pull at the hem. Well, if he’s offering, sure. It’s really comfy. And or some reason, I sort of like the idea of keeping this shirt. Keeping Baz’s clothes...it’s just sorta nice.

I flop down on the silk sheets and immediately sink into the comfy mattress. It’s like a goddamn smooth cloud. I’m already drifting off into dreamland when Baz lays next to me. He pulls the quilt over us. Distantly, I feel his long arm drape across my waist and his body curl around mine. His breath hits the back of my neck, almost immediately evening out in sleep. I instinctively snuggle closer, because he feels good. This whole night has felt good. Maybe I should just focus on that instead of the storm in my brain. Yeah, I’m fine with that.

———————————————-

I’m waiting for Baz at Goat while trying to do my readings. He meets me after class, then we have lunch and talk. We’ve been hanging out a lot more on campus the past three weeks, ever since I slept over. I do that a lot more too, actually. I go to his place at least once a week, usually more. Sometimes we just eat supper, maybe watch a movie, then fall asleep in Baz’s bed. Other times we use the bed for...other things.

I’m still straight though. That's still how I think of my self. I just also like this, whatever it is. It’s a sorta weird but awesome friends with benefits thing. I think. We haven’t really defined it. But whatever. We’re having fun. Who needs labels?

“Hello, love.” Baz’s hand is a comfortable weight on my shoulder. He bends around the back of the chair and kisses me. It’s just a short, sweet greeting kiss. He does this a lot now. I like it. I smile against his mouth.

“Hi,” I reply as he sits down across from me. “How was class?”

Baz stretches out his hand. “Well, my fingers hurt, so very good. How was your’s?”

I lift up my heavy textbook. “Professor Blowhard assigned extra readings again, of course. Does he realise we have lives outside of class?”

“Yes, but he doesn’t care, obviously. Because he's a dickhead.”

“Damn right. I need scones to feel better.”

Baz rolls his eyes. “Of course you do. Ebb already getting our food ready?”

“Ebb’s finished your food.” I jolt slightly. When did Ebb get here? Did she manifest out of thin air? She holds two plates with our usuals. A latte, sour cherry scone, and grilled cheese with tomato and spinach for me. (Baz suggested I try the last one, so Ebb made it, and it’s really good.) And a fancy turkey-pesto panini and pumpkin mocha breve for Baz.

Baz smiles up at her. He’s gotten very friendly with her. “Good day, Ebb. How’s it going?”

Ebb shrugs. “Pretty okay. I sort of want some new dishware but I’m not sure I have the funds for it.”

“Well, Christmas is coming up. Maybe I’ll keep that in mind.”

Ebb laughs and ruffles Baz’s already messy hair. She’s very friendly with him by now. “Aw, you don’t have to do that, Baz. Sweet of you to say though. He’s certainly a keeper, Si.”

She winks at me before sauntering off. I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean. I flick my eyes over to Baz. He’s taking a sip from his overly large coffee cup. When he lowers it, there’s whipped cream on the tip of his long nose. I snort and giggle. Baz’s brow furrows.

“What’s so funny?” he asks, actually genuinely concerned. He’s always very concerned about his appearance. It’s funny, and kind of cute.

I reach out and use one finger to swipe the whipped cream off. His nose scrunches like an adorable child. I hold it for him to see.

“You’re making a mess,” I tease, then lick my finger. Baz’s eye go wide, and he might blush. It’s hard to tell sometimes, what with his complexion and being emotional display repulsed British gentry. I’m not sure why though. I just don’t like wasting food.

“Christ, Simon,” he chuckles, shaking his head. His eyes flick up to mine and he smirks. That expression makes my stomach do a lot of funny things. “Like you’re one to talk about messes," he says. "My kitchen is still recovering from your pizza debacle.”

“It turned out to be good frozen pizza though.”

“Yes, at the sacrifice of a clean oven.”

I shrug, reaching my foot out to tap his for emphasis. “I’ll destroy my own next time, alright?”

He goes a step further, tracing the toe of his Oxford on my bare ankle. It makes me jolt, but in a good way. Baz seems to have that effect on me.

“Hm, y’know, I haven’t been to your place yet. Invite me over for oven destroying pizza sometime?” His voice is smooth as butter. It makes my legs feel weak, even though I’m already sitting down. And he’s right, he hasn’t been over yet. It’s not because of anything, his place has always just been easier. That should be corrected.

“Yeah, sure,” I chirp, “I’d like that. Though my flatmate might interrogate you. She still isn’t sure she approves of you.”

Baz shrugs dismissively. “Understood. But I’m sure it’ll be fine. She’ll warm up to me. I’m very likable.”

I scoff. “And full of yourself.”

He pushes his foot until it’s fully under my jean cuff. I yelp in surprise. “Got you to like me, didn’t I?”

Shit, why is my face so flushed? I try to use my book to cover it, but my eyes peek out over the top. Baz is still smirking, still slowly moving his shoe up and down my skin. It’s sort of hard to say no when he’s doing that. Bastard. “That’s true, I suppose,” I say shakily.

“Exactly.” He leans forward on the table, chin cradled in his palm. “Want to come over tonight? Fiona’s at Nicky’s again. Those two need to just move in together already.”

“Yeah, agreed. And I can come over as long as you help me revise for a midterm.”

“Very well,” he sighs dramatically. “If that’s the price I must pay for a good shag.”

And I thought my blush couldn’t get any worse. I use a hand to cover my bright red face. “Baz,” I giggle, “shut up.”

He chuckles and slowly peels my hand away. I’ve found his violin calluses feel weirdly wonderful on my skin. “I’ll help you, love, don’t worry.”

Fuck, he’s always so nice. Just so kind and helpful and fun to be around. He’s like Penny, I guess, but our dynamic doesn’t feel like me and Penny. Not better, just different. My heart and stomach don’t feel twisty around her. And I definitely don’t want to snog Pen silly. Baz is just different. Whatever we have is different. I don’t know what it is, but I like it. And I certainly don’t want to stop.

———————————————-

A week later, Baz is scheduled to come over. I’m trying to salvage my stupid homemade stupid pizza when there’s a knock at the door. I run over still wearing the apron and oven mitts as I open it. Baz is standing on the other side, gym/overnight bag slung over his shoulder. He blinks at me confused, eyes big behind his glasses. (He’s been wearing them more. That's good. He looks amazing, and he needs to see.)

“Hi,” I say breathlessly, kissing him hello by habit.

“Good evening, Snow,” he says. “Nice apron.”

I look down. Right, this is Pen’s “Snog the Chef” apron. Micah sent it to her as a joke. He made the false assumption she cooks enough to need one. Both of us usually cook from a box or order take away. I chuckle.

“Uh, yeah. Still trying to make supper. Come in, come in.”

I race back to the kitchen, leaving Baz in the living room. I can still see him through a small square space in the wall. (The previous tenant had a thing for cutting random holes in the wall.) He scans the room, taking in his surroundings.

“Hm,” he says thoughtfully. “Nice place.”

I laugh loudly so he can hear me. “You don’t have to be nice, y’know. I’m aware it’s gross. I tried to clean a bit.”

“I’m serious, it’s nice. Love all the Polaroid pictures. Is this blonde girl your roommate?”

“Uh, no, that’s Agatha. The other girl, Penelope, she’s my flatmate. We all went to high school together.”

“I see, that’s nice. You all look happy.”

I lean out the weird window hole. Baz is looking at the picture from the summer, when we all went to Agatha’s family beach house. I smile. That was a happy time.

“Yeah,” I sigh. “Summer before final year. Can’t tell Agatha was about to break up with me a few weeks later, huh?”

It’s a joke, but I immediately regret it. Baz tenses up. Shit, that’s a serious topic, and I shouldn’t talk about Agatha like that.

“There’s no bad blood though,” I say quickly. “Like, it sucked when we split up but it was for the best in the end. We’re way better as friends. She lives in California now. She skypes me and Pen a lot, tells us all about America and shit. I sent her a British flag for Christmas last year, and she sent me a California one.” I sigh, shaking my head. “I’m babbling, sorry, I’ll stop.”

Baz turns his head. He’s smiling, no anger or disappointment, thank God. “It’s fine, love, don’t worry. She sounds lovely. I’m not jealous. Unless I have a reason to be.”

His raised eyebrows and toothy grin tells me he’s joking. I chuckle. Why would he have a reason to be jealous anyway? I mean, Agatha’s pretty, but so is he. “No, you definitely have no reason. Maybe I’ll introduce you two sometime. You can compare expensive hair products.”

“Hey, you like my hair.”

“Yeah, but I’ve also seen how many bottles you have in your shower. And how many bottles did you bring with you tonight?”

Baz doesn’t answer. I snicker as I pull my pizza out of the oven. Well, it’s not much of a pizza anymore. Sort of a dough, cheese, and sauce liquid mess in a pan. I groan and lean my head on the cupboard over the oven.

“Trouble with supper, love?”

I look up. Baz is leaning in the window hole, arms crossed over the sill and head on his bent elbow. He looks nice like this, relaxed and all. Huh, he really is a lot less uptight than he was two months ago. That’s good, I suppose. I smile weakly.

“I think this pizza is even more of a disaster than the last one. And this time it’s completely inedible.”

He frowns sarcastically. “Aw, what a surprise.”

I take a mitt off and throw it at his stupid smug pretty face. “Fuck off, I tried!”

Baz doesn’t looked fazed by the glove projectile, just holding it as he smiles. “I know, darling, and you did your best. Now, shall I order take away?”

I sigh, shaking off the other mitt so they lay in a messy pile on the counter. “I guess so. But I’m paying for it. I was supposed to make you a nice supper, I should at least pay for the substitute.”

“Well, I certainly have no problem with that.”

I turn off the oven and take off the dumb apron. With heavy steps and hanging head, I go into the living room. Baz immediately reaches out and pulls me against him, hugging me close. I wrap my arms around his firm back, easily sinking into his embrace. He smells nice. Like cedar and bergamot, I think.

“Want to watch a movie?” he whispers, breath tickling my ear.

“Sure,” I mumble into his shoulder. “Do you like Pixar?”

He chuckles. It’s a really nice sound, washing over me like a warm, relaxing wave. “Yeah. Pixar is wonderful.”

We don’t move for a bit though. We just stay there, hugging in the middle of my living room. He’s a good hugger, so I don’t mind. I just close my eyes, breathe in his smell, and let his strong, firm arms hold me.

———————————————-

“Why does Buzz go still?” Baz asks. “He doesn’t think he’s a toy. Why would he pretend to be one when a person walks in?”

“Shhh.” I reach up to blindly hit his stupid smart arse mouth. “You’re ruining the movie.”

“I’m simply pointing out a flaw in the film’s plot.”

“Just shut up and watch, arsehole.”

Baz makes a displeased noise, but does thankfully shut up. Our half eaten take away pizza is still sitting on the coffee table. The sun has mostly set, the light of the telly the main source now. I’m junk food tired so I’ve ended up with my head in Baz’s lap. His legs are comfortable. And I like the way he strokes my hair. I could probably fall asleep like this if I wanted.

“Sorry again about supper,” I mumble into his thigh.

Baz hums softly, winding a finger around one of my curls. “It's fine, love. You made the effort, that's what counts. And I appreciate it.”

I hum, throwing an arm over his knees. “You’re nice.”

Bizarrely, he scoffs at that. “You’re the first person to say that, Snow. Most people say I’m rude and mean.”

“You're not, they're all wrong," I say immediately, almost angry for him.

He pauses for a moment, hand still in my hair. "You really think so?" he asks, voice slightly shaky.

"Yeah, of course. You tease me but you also made me supper and watched Doctor Who. That means a lot. You’re, like, snarky nice. Fuck, does that even make sense?”

Baz runs his thumb over the nape of my neck. “No, I get it. Thank you, darling, you’re incredibly sweet.” He brushes his long fingers against my ear. “Sometimes I wonder how I found you,” he sighs.

I chuckle, sound muffled by his trouser leg. “You ‘found me’ in a boring psych lecture, remember?”

“Yeah,” he whisper-laughs. “Glad I did though. Honestly...” He takes an audible breath, like he’s getting ready to jump off a cliff or something. “I think you’re the best thing to come out of moving to Watford.”

My mouth suddenly feels dry. And my heart is bruising my ribs it’s beating so hard. That was definitely one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. But it doesn’t feel like when Penny or Agatha or Mum are nice. It feels so...new. I wish there was a more eloquent word for it, for what I feel when he says something like that. It’s an all encompassing sensation I've never experienced before. Like a supernova in my brain and chest. I just can’t place it.

The end credit music starts playing. I turn my head back to the screen. “Oh hey, it’s done,” I say. “Wanna watch something else?”

I can’t see Baz’s face, but I feel him lean back against the sofa. “Sure. Anything in mind?”

“Actually, yeah, I've got something. You’ll like it.” I fumble for the remote, then start flipping through my Netflix list. I know it’s there... “Aha! This!” I highlight a movie I found yesterday. Baz leans forward with curiosity.

“A documentary on an Australian string quartet?” He chuckles. “Really?”

Shit, I thought he would like it because there are string instruments and stuff in it. But it’s not like every chef adores cooking shows. “S-Sorry, it was just an idea. We can watch something else.”

Baz puts an arm around my waist and squeezes my stomach tight. I immediately relax. “No, that wasn’t a discouragement. I’m very intrigued. I’m just surprised you’re offering to watch it. It’ll be quite dull for you.”

I shrug. “Eh, maybe. But you’ll like it, and I’m willing to try.”

Baz doesn’t answer. Well, not with words. His arm holds me even tighter, and he leans down to kiss my hair. His cool lips press lightly to my scalp. I can’t help the shudder it makes. When he pulls back, he goes back to to softly stroking my hair. I feel like I could melt into the couch.

“Put it on,” Baz sighs. “Try not to fall asleep, Snow.”

“I’ll do my best,” I say, meaning it genuinely.

So the movie is objectively boring for me, because I'm not a violin student, and I’m not a huge fan of documentaries period. But there are some good parts. I like the people, following their progression and lives and how their careers influence everything around them. Baz likes that too. Though he’s also fascinated by all the fancy instruments. I just think they’re all really pretty.

“Hey,” Baz asks, “where’s your flatmate?”

“Oh she’s-” The front door suddenly slams, making both of us jolt. A few footstep sounds later, Penny is standing right in front of us. “She’s right here. Hi, Pen.”

Penny is frozen. She blinks at us in complete silence for a few long seconds. I don’t know what’s so baffling. “Hi... What’s going on here?”

“Baz and I are watching a movie.” What’s going on with her? Pretty sure that was obvious.

She quirks an eyebrow. “So this is Baz?”

“Oh right.” I gesture to her. “Baz, this is Penelope Bunce.” I gesture to him. “Penny, this is Baz Grimm-Pitch.”

“Hello, Penelope," Baz says smoothly. "May I call you that?”

“Um, sure.”

“Wonderful. Pleasure to finally meet you.” He offers his hand like the gentleman he is.

Cautiously, Penny takes the handshake. “Same for me. Good to put a face to the name.”

“Likewise.”

Their hands fall. Penny has a weird expression on her face. Her eyes keep flicking between me and Baz, looking positively perplexed. I don’t get it. We’re just watching a movie. She said it was okay to bring Baz over, but it still must be weird for her to have someone new around. She doesn’t like new people. But Baz is going to be hanging around with me indefinitely, so they should probably get more comfortable with each other.

“Wanna watch and eat with us?” I ask. “Pizza is lukewarm but still good.”

She seems even more confused, head pulling back and mouth twisting for a moment. “Uh, sure, if that’s alright with both of you.” She looks pointedly at Baz.

“It’s perfectly fine with me. Snow’s the one taking up the entire sofa.”

I scoff and smack his knee. “Fuck off.” I swing my legs dramatically, putting myself upright. It makes my vision spin a bit, so I fall against Baz, head on his shoulder. I don’t think he minds though. “There, happy?”

He chuckles and throws an arm around me, pulling us even closer together. “Positively elated, Snow.” He presses a sloppy wet kiss to my cheek. I make a disgusted noise as I wipe it off.

“Arsehole.” I kiss his cheek too. Fair’s fair. I look up, and Penny’s eyes are incredibly wide. I gesture at her. “C’mon, Pen, there’s room now.”

She sighs and shakes her head. “Alright then."

She sits down, but closer to the other end. Weird. I try to make more room, putting my legs over Baz’s, pressing against him. But she doesn’t move any closer. Actually, she moves further away. Weird, but I get wanting your own space. She is watching the movie intently though.

“This is good,” she says through her pizza. “That violin is incredible.”

“It’s called the Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivarius,” Baz interjects. “Made by Antonio Stradivari of Cremona in 1713. Many say his string instruments are the greatest ever made. He’s estimated to have made 960 violins, 650 of which are still around. What I wouldn’t give to play a Stradivarius.”

“Right," Penny chuckles. "Simon said you were a violinist.”

“Yup, he is,” I say. “Which makes him a total music nerd.”

Baz flicks my far ear then kisses the other. “Says the Doctor Who nerd. And not just music. I enjoy history and English language too.”

“Hey, so does Penny! She never shuts up about that book about working people.”

“‘The Making of The English Working Class’ by EP Thompson, Si,” Penny says with some exasperation. “It’s an interesting read.”

Baz makes a contemplative sound. He’s good at those. “I’ll have to look it up. Shall we compare notes sometime?”

Penny turns her head. She seems to be examining Baz over her spectacles, brown eyes moving up and down over him. She does that a lot, examines people, like me the first day we met all those years ago. She’s assessing him, figuring out whether he’s worth her time. She decided I was. I can only hope she likes him

“I’ll think about it,” she says.

I breathe out a small sigh of relief. They get along, thank God. Neither of them notice the sigh, but they do notice the loud yawn I can’t help afterwards.

“Tired, Snow?” Baz teases.

“No,” I grumble. I rub my aching eye, which doesn’t help my case.

Baz sighs, then shoves off my legs and stands over me, all tall and looming and handsome. He offers his hand. “Then let’s go to bed. I have an early class tomorrow anyway.”

“Okay.” I take his hand and he hoists me to my feet. I’m a bit wobbly, but Baz keeps me steady with an arm around my waist. Damn, I’m tired. “Can you put away the pizza, Pen? I’ll clean up the rest in the morning.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” she says absentmindedly, already flipping to her own show.

“G’night, Pen.”

“Night Si. And Baz.”

“Goodnight, Penelope. Lovely to meet you.”

“Yeah, me too.”

I sigh again, because she sounds genuine, and I don’t need two of my best friends feuding. There’s no need for unnecessary drama.

Baz and I wash up quickly. (He hogs the mirror again.) I throw on my usual baggy shirt and sweats. I assumed he brought his ridiculous posh silk pyjamas, but to my surprise he takes one of my Watford sweatshirts and a matching set of grey trackies. I look at him with utter amusement.

“Really?” I chuckle.

“I left my bag in the living room,” he says nonchalantly. “And I don’t feel like going to get it.” His pretty face become nervous for a moment, looking down at the hardwood floor. “Is it alright?”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” I curl my fingers in his elastic waistband, making him stumble closer. “You look good. You should wear my clothes more often.”

He chuckles, leaning down to capture my lips. I sigh and melt into it. Baz holds my face, slowly running his finger over my cheek. I encircle his waist. Warmth spreads from my mouth and through my entire body. Damn. No matter how brief or how long, how fast or slow, Baz's kisses are always pretty damn great.

He pulls back slightly, leaving the smallest space between us. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he whispers against my skin. “Come on, now. I’m tired and so are you. Let’s sleep.”

I yawn right on cue. “Yeah, sounds good.”

Baz pulls me towards the bed. He lays down first, putting his glasses on the nightstand, and I follow, head pillowed on his strong chest. His arms wrap around me tightly. I like when he does that. Baz always makes me feel better just by holding me. How the hell does that work? Why does he feel so unlike any friend I've had before? I don't know. And I don't care, so long as he just keeps holding me.

“Night,” I mumble.

“Night, love,” he sighs.

I drift off with his left hand in my hair, his right tracing circles on my back, and his heartbeat right under my ear.

———————————————-

“Snow? Snow. Simon.”

I groan at the voice disturbing the my sleep. A rough, callused hand shakes my arm. Of course I know who it is, so I don’t even open my eyes.

“What?” I grumble

“I have to go,” Baz whispers. “I’ve got class until seven. Lunch at Goat tomorrow?”

“M-hm.”

“And are you still staying at my place Friday?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Did you understand anything I just said?”

I roll over, bleary eyes opening slightly. The dawn light doesn’t hurt my eyes too much. Baz is a blur of black, reddish-gold, and grey.

“Goat tomorrow, your flat Friday,” I mumble. “Got it.”

There’s white in the blur now, what I assume are his teeth in a wide grin. He leans forward. “Wonderful. See you later, darling.”

“Bye, love.”

He presses a kiss to my hairline. Even half asleep, I can feel his cool lips on my forehead and the smell of all his fancy products waft up my nose. I listen as his shoes click out the door.

I think I fall asleep again, because when I wake up it’s a lot brighter outside. I groan at the burning sunlight and bring the sheet over my head. I don’t have class until two so I don’t have to get up just yet. I just lay in bed, trying to block out the day. And under those sheets, it hits me that I called Baz ‘love’ for the first time. Huh. Guess his use of cute nicknames is rubbing off on me. It’s new, but so is a lot of stuff we’re doing, and I’ve like it all so far. I think I like this too.

My stomach growls like an angry lion. Guess that’s my cue to get up. I throw off my sheet and immediately shiver. Fuck, it’s chilly. I look over and see that Baz left my sweatshirt folded on my dresser, so I slip it on. I press it to my nose. It still sort of smells like him, a gorgeous mix of his cologne and fancy products. That makes me smile like an idiot, for whatever reason.

I saunter into the kitchen. Penny doesn’t have any class, so she’s sitting at the dining room table with a bunch of textbooks spread out. It’s like the school library threw up on it. The coffee in the pot is old, but I don’t feel like making a new one. So I pour it out and put it in the microwave.

“That’s disgusting, Si,” Penny sing songs.

“Shut up, Pen,” I reply with my most chipper voice. The microwave beeps. I drink from the mug and promptly spit the whole thing out in the sink. Oh Christ, it is disgusting.

“Told you so.”

I glare at her through the kitchen wall hole as I pour the coffee out. I start setting up the kettle for tea instead. Screw coffee. Baz says tea is better for you anyway.

“So,” she says very matter of factly, staring at me through our lovely wall hole, “Baz.”

She doesn’t continue. Nothing to explain what the fuck she’s talking about. She just looks at me with narrow eyes while twirling a pencil in her hand. I blink at her, silence hanging between us, and still nothing.

“Yeah, Baz,” I chuckle.

“You like him?”

“Uh, yeah. He’s cool.”

“Is he nice?”

“Yeah. Well, sorta.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Sort of?”

I shrug, scratching the back of my neck. “He’s nice in the important ways, y’know? Helps me out when I need it and treats me well. But he also teases me. In fun though. I tease him too, and I try to be nice. I hope he thinks I’m nice too.”

The kettle whistles. I get out my Adventure Time mug and a peppermint tea bag. When I look back at Penny, she’s twisting her lips, brow furrowed together, pencil tapping on the table rhythmically. That’s her concerned friend look. She always looks like this when I make a major life decision, or when I attempt cooking.

“And, you’re happy, right?” she asks carefully.

I blink at her in confusion again. That’s a weird question. I’ve been depressed before, sure, but I haven’t lately. So I’m not sure why Penny is concerned with my emotional state. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

She chuckles and her concerned look goes away. That’s a relief. I don’t like making Penny worried. “Alright then. As long as you’re happy.”

“Okay,” I chuckle, laughing at the absurdity of this.“Fun talk, Pen. Enjoy studying.”

“Will do. Get to class on time!”

I scoff, walking towards my room with lovely steaming tea in hand. “If I got to class on time, I wouldn’t be Simon Snow Salisbury.”

Penny sighs with exasperation. Now that’s a sound I’ve heard since high school. It’s become weirdly comforting in a way. Penny’s always going to be a bit frustrated with me, and she still loves me anyway.

———————————————-

“Simon, what are you doing this weekend?”

I look up from my fancy grilled cheese, mouth still full. Baz has finished his panini and is now in his “villain position” again. One long leg over the other, bony elbows propped on his armrests, fingers pressed together. It’s still half intimidating-half badass. I swallow my food. Don’t want to be rude with him.

“This weekend?” I ask. “Uh, nothing. I don’t have anything planned. Why?”

He drums his fingers together slowly. Total Bond villain. “Well, I have a proposition for something we could do.”

That makes me put down my food and shift in my chair. “Oh?”

“Yes.” He leans forward, elbows on the table. “You see, my parents wanted me to come home for the whole break next week. But I couldn’t do that with my practice schedule. I still want to see them though, so I’m driving up for family dinner on Sunday.”

“Okay...”

“And the thing is...” He drums his fingers on the wooden table and chews at his lip. “I’ve mentioned you to them, and they’re wondering if you’d like to come up with me.”

I nearly drop my sandwich. I stare at Baz silently for an inappropriate amount of time. “Your parents," I say cautiously, "want me to come over for dinner?”

He nods slowly, face pinched together in nervousness. “Yes. They’re both eager to meet you, though they may not show it outwardly. But please, love, don’t feel pressured. I told them it might be too soon for this but they can be...insistent. It’s completely up to you though. They’ll survive if you say no.” He rubs his nose under his glasses. “Sorry, this is just a whole mess. I thought about not asking but I wanted to give you the choice.”

“O-Okay.” I nod, like a very slow moving bobble head. Wow, this is just a lot. I haven’t met a friend’s parents since Agatha. And we were dating, which made it very scary. This seems even scarier though. My heart is pulsing too fast. Fuck, why does this feel so intimidating?

Baz grabs my hand, thumb tracing the back of it. It immediately calms me down. “Don’t panic, love, no matter what decision you make I’ll understand. It’s not like we’ll stop speaking if you don’t come to dinner with my pushy, posh parents.” He squeezes my hand. “It’s up to you, love.”

Right, up to me... Fuck. Do I want to meet Baz’s posh family? Even though it’s scary? I mean, I guess it would be nice. They’re probably smart like Baz, cultured too, all that. It sounds intimidating, and it was with Baz at first, but I learned. And maybe I can learn with his family too. I'd like to know more about Baz, be part of another aspect of his life. That's what friends do, right?

“Okay,” I say, “I’d like to come.”

Baz’s eyebrows shoot up, his mouth falling open slightly. “Really?”

“Yeah. It sounds fun, and I’d like to meet your parents. If they’re anything like you, they’ll be posh, really smart, and weirdly nice.”

He laughs and shakes his head. “Well, that’s one way to see them.”

I giggle too, leaning closer to him over the the small table. “Okay, good to know. Anything I should bring?”

“Well, Sunday nights are our ‘fancy dinners’, so we dress up. You’ll have to wear a suit.”

I frown. “I don’t own a suit.”

He nods like some thoughtful scholar. “Hm, alright. Well, I’ve got one you could borrow. Is that alright?”

“Sure. If it fits me, Mr. Tall and Lanky.” I poke his muscular shoulder for emphasis, making him laugh.

“You’re not that much shorter than me, don’t worry. So we’ll go up Sunday afternoon and leave Monday morning. I’ll certainly be drinking, so I don’t want to drive home the night of.”

“Very responsible, love, very responsible.”

Baz chuckles softly, and I do too. He looks me in the eye. All I see is kindness. Who the hell ever said he was an arsehole? He’s actually incredible.

“You sure you’re alright with this?” he asks, his voice still concerned.

I adjust our hands, so we’re smooth palm to scratchy palm, and smile as big as I can. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Baz smiles back. Not as big, but it’s still kind and calm. He leans forward and kisses my cheek, whispering in my ear. “Wonderful. Can’t wait.”

And weirdly enough, neither can I.

———————————————-

AN: So the documentary is real and called "Highly Strung", and the book Penny mentions is real too. Hope you all liked this. I like writing this fluffy definitely-not-a-relationship haha. Tomorrow, "adventure" :)

#carry on #snowbaz #simon snow #baz pitch #penelope bunce #university #no magic #human baz #oblivious simon #straight boy #mysnowbazfanfic

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thygesendaugherty86-blog · 6 years ago

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How To Clone Website Online?

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The popularity of torrent sites is decreasing each year but they still remain one of the most visited websites on the web. However, at times, accessing a torrenting source like The Pirate Bay or 1337x can be difficult due to bans imposed by schools, offices, authorities, and governments. Talking specifically about 1337x, it’s one of the best torrent trackers around. To help you out in case the website is down, I’ve prepared a list of the popular 1337x alternatives that people tend to visit if the website faces a downtime. The Pirate Bay is the first website that should rightly make an appearance on any list of torrent sites.

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Zooqle actually sorts the torrents and the categories in a very intuitive manner. The site claims to feature more than 4 million verified torrents and supports more than 2,000 trackers. LimeTorrents is known for hosting mostly verified torrent files to ensure that users don’t end up downloading malware. The website features a pleasant color theme and its interface looks a lot like KickassTorrents. You can search for torrents, choose various categories, and sort the files as per date, size, seeders, leechers, etc. This 1337x alternative also shows a star badge in the listings to highlight a verified upload. When it comes to ads, LimeTorrents doesn’t feature many. However, the website keeps showing VPN affiliate banners that take you to different VPN providers.

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The ability to execute code in parallel is crucial in a wide variety of scenarios. Concurrent programming is a key asset for web servers, producer/consumer models, batch number-crunching and pretty much any time an application is bottlenecked by a resource. It’s sadly the case that writing quality concurrent code can be a real headache, but this article aims to demonstrate how easy it is to get started writing threaded programs in Python. Due to the large number of modules available in the standard library which are there to help out with this kind of thing, it’s often the case that simple concurrent tasks are surprisingly quick to implement.

We’ll walk through the difference between threads and processes in a Python context, before reviewing some of the different approaches you can take and what they’re best suited for. It’s impossible to talk about concurrent programming in Python without mentioning the Global Interpreter Lock, or GIL. This is because of the large impact it has on which approach you select when writing asynchronous Python. The most important thing to note is that it is only a feature of CPython (the widely used “reference” Python implementation), it’s not a feature of the language. Jython and IronPython, among other implementations, have no GIL. The GIL is controversial because it only allows one thread at a time to access the Python interpreter.

This means that it’s often not possible for threads to take advantage of multi-core systems. Note that if there are blocking operations which happen outside Python, long-wait tasks like I/O for instance, then the GIL is not a bottleneck and writing a threaded program will still be a benefit. However, if the blocking operations are largely crunching through CPython bytecode, then the GIL becomes a bottleneck. Why was the GIL introduced at all? It makes memory management much simpler with no possibility of simultaneous access or race conditions, and it makes C extensions easier to write and easier to wrap.

The upshot of all this is that if you need true parallelism and need to leverage multi-core CPUs, threads won’t cut it and you need to use processes. A separate process means a separate interpreter with separate memory, its own GIL, and true parallelism. This guide will give examples of both thread and process architectures. The concurrent.futures module is a well-kept secret in Python, but provides a uniquely simple way to implement threads and processes. For many basic applications, the easy to use Pool interface offered here is sufficient. Here’s an example where we want to download some webpages, which will be much quicker if done in parallel.

Most of the code is just setting up our downloader example; it’s only the last block which contains the threading-specific code. Note how easy it is to create a dynamic pool of workers using ThreadPoolExecutor and submit a task. Using threads works well in this case since the blocking operation that benefits from concurrency is the act of fetching the webpage. This means that the GIL is not an issue and threading is an ideal solution. However, if the operation in question was something which was CPU intensive within Python, processes would likely be more appropriate because of the restrictions of the GIL. In that case, we could have simply switched out ThreadPoolExecutor with ProcessPoolExecutor.

Whilst the concurrent.futures module offers a great way to get off the ground quickly, sometimes more control is needed over different threads, which is where the ubiquitous threading module comes in. Let’s re-implement the website downloader we made above, this time using the threading module. For each thread we want to create, we make an instance of the threading.Thread class, specifying what we would like our worker function to be, and the arguments required. Note that we’ve also added a status update thread. The purpose of this is to repeatedly print “Still downloading” until we’ve finished fetching all the web pages. Unfortunately, since Python waits for all threads to finish executing before it exits, the program will never exit and the status updater thread will never stop printing.

This is an example of when the threading module’s multitude of options could be useful: we can mark the updater thread as a daemon thread, which means that Python will exit when only daemon threads are left running. The program now successfully stops printing and exits when all downloader threads are finished. Daemon threads are generally most useful for background tasks and repetitive functions which are only required when the main program is running, since a daemon can be killed at any moment, causing data loss. So far we’ve only looked at cases where we know exactly what we want the threads to be working on when we start them. However, it’s often the case that we need to start a group of worker threads, then feed them tasks as they arrive.

The best data structure for dealing with these tasks is, of course, a queue, and Python provides a queue module which is especially geared towards threading applications. FIFO, LIFO and priority queues are available. Ok, that’s pretty basic so far. Now let’s use it to create a tasks queue for our website downloader. We’ll create a group of worker threads which can all access the queue and wait for tasks to come in. Note that in this example all the tasks were added in one go for the sake of brevity, but in a real application the tasks could trickle in at any rate. Here we exit the program when the tasks queue has been fully completed, using the .join() method.

The threading module is great for detailed control of threads, but what if we want this finer level of control for processes? You might think that this would be more challenging since once a process is launched, it’s completely separate and independent - harder to control than a new thread which remains within the current interpreter and memory space. Fortunately for us, the Python developers worked hard to create a multiprocessing module which has an interface that is almost identical to the threading module. This means that launching processes follows the exact same syntax as our examples above. We think it’s awesome that Python manages to keep the same syntax between the threading and multiprocessing modules, when the action taking place under the hood is so different. When it comes to distributing data between processes, the queue.Queue that we used for threading will not work between processes.

This is because a queue.Queue is fundamentally just a data structure within the current process - albeit one which is cleverly locked and mutexed. Thankfully there exists a multiprocessing.Queue, which is specifically designed for inter-process communication. Behind the scenes, this will serialize your data and send it through a pipe between processes - a very convenient abstraction. Writing concurrent code in Python can be a lot of fun due to the inbuilt language features that abstract away a lot of problems. This doesn’t mean that a detailed level of control cannot be achieved either, but rather that the barrier to getting started with simple tasks is lowered. So when you’re stuck waiting for one process to finish before starting the next, give one of these techniques a try.

Games download website PCGames-Download - popular for offering cracked games - has announced it’s shutting down. In an announcement post on the website, the owner says it’s no longer possible for them to continue managing the site, so they have decided to shut it down. The team members have taken other paths. We removed the notification of updates also a few months ago, because we can no longer provide 20-30 updates every day as before. There are also a lot of dead links on the site not fixed for weeks. I do most of the work, alone for months. I can no longer insure it for personal reasons. I made that decision a few months ago.

The owner says they will pull the plug on the last day of this year - 31 Dec 2018. So users have a few days at hand to download stuff they want. We’ll give you a few days to continue downloading until, 31.12.2018 the server will be closed on this date, so hurry up ! Not only that, the owner also cautions people about similar but fake sites that may crop up after PCGames-Download gets shut down. Clone sites may appear to take advantage of the disappearance of the site in order to trap you with viruses or other things.if you see a site that looks like this site, run away.

’s a fake. There will be no other site. Users can be seen expressing their disappointment regarding this shutdown across the online discussion platform Reddit. For those who aren’t aware, earlier this month, another similar games-focused website GoodOldDownloads also called it quits. All we can say is, farewell PCGames-Download. The shutdown indeed left users complaining. 31.12.2018 and I just saw it. NOTE: To read more news related to app or website shutdowns, head here. PiunikaWeb is a unique initiative that mainly focuses on investigative journalism. This means we do a lot of hard work to come up with news stories that are either ‘exclusive,’ ‘breaking,’ or ‘curated’ in nature. Perhaps that’s the reason our work has been picked by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and more. Do take a tour of our website to get a feel of our work. And if you like what we do, stay connected with us on Twitter (@PiunikaWeb) and other social media channels to receive timely updates on stories we publish.

Sometimes you may want to download a website, or part of it, to your local system. Maybe you want to make use of the contents while you are offline, or for safekeeping reasons so that you can access the contents even if the website becomes temporarily or permanently unavailable. My favorite tool for the job is Httrack. It is free and ships with an impressive amount of features. While that is great if you spend some time getting used to what the program has to offer, you sometimes may want a faster solution that you do not have to configure extensively before use. That's where WebCopy comes into play. 1. Paste or enter a web address into the website field in WebCopy.

2. Make sure the save folder is correct. 3. Click on copy website to start the download. That's all there is to it. The program processes the selected page for you echoing the progress in the results tab in the interface. Here you see downloaded and skipped files, as well as errors that may prevent the download altogether. The error message may help you analyze why a particular page or file cannot be downloaded. Most of the time though, you can't really do anything about it. You can access the locally stored copies with a click on the open local folder button, or by navigating to the save folder manually.

This basic option only gets you this far, as you can only copy a single web page this way. You need to define rules if you want to download additional pages or even the entire website. Rules may also help you when you encounter broken pages that cannot be copied as you can exclude them from the download so that the remaining pages get downloaded to the local system. To add rules right-click on the rules listing in the main interface and select add from the options. Rules are patterns that are matched against the website structure. To exclude a particular directory from being crawled, you'd simply add it as a pattern and select the exclude option in the rules configuration menu. It is still not as intuitive as HTTracks link depth parameter that you can use to define the depth of the crawl and download.

WebCopy supports authentication which you can add in the forms and password settings. Here you can add a web address that requires authentication, and a username and password that you want the web crawler to use to access the contents. 1. The website diagram menu displays the structure of the active website to you. You can use it to add rules to the crawler. Additional URLs. This can be useful if the crawler cannot discover the urls automatically. 3. The default user agent can be changed in the options. While that is usually not necessary, you may encounter some servers that block it so that you need to modify it to download the website. The program is ideal for downloading single web pages to the local system. The rules system is on the other hand not that comfortable to use if you want to download multiple pages from a website. I'd prefer an option in the settings to simply select a link depths that I want the program to crawl and be done with it.

If you need to download website, use the offline browser SurfOffline. Enter the URL in this field to start download website from. This name is displayed in the project tree. If you select this item, files (except for images) will be downloaded only if they are located in the folder of the start page or its subfolders. Images are an exception since they are downloaded from any servers. This item allows you to download the entire website. Links to other websites will be ignored. Images are an exception since they are downloaded from any servers. This item disables the limitations concerning the location of the files that can be downloaded. You should be careful when selecting this item because the program will go outside the start website. It makes sense to use this option only if you limit very much the depth of the project being downloaded. Depth level. Shows how deep from the start page the links will be downloaded.

Some people want to download YouTube videos to their computer to watch offline. For instance, if you have a favorite YouTube series you want to watch while you’re not connected to the Internet, you may want to watch the video on your computer or mobile device. Or, if you’re someone who wants to practice their video editing skills, you might want to download YouTube videos to edit on your computer. There are several web tools and sites that can be used to download YouTube videos and you might be wondering if they are legal or not. Depending on whether the video creator gives you direct permission to download their content, or explicitly states that their content can be downloaded, it could be illegal to use third-party web tools to download YouTube videos.

YouTube Terms of Service: Is it legal to download YouTube videos? According to YouTube’s Terms of Service, there are at least two sections that would describe downloading YouTube videos as an action that violates their Terms of Service rules. The “Your Use of Content” section provides further insight into whether it is legal to download YouTube videos. “Content is provided to you AS IS. You may access Content for your information and personal use solely as intended through the provided functionality of the Service and as permitted under these Terms of Service. You shall not download any Content unless you see a “download” or similar link displayed by YouTube on the Service for that Content.

You shall not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, or otherwise exploit any Content for any other purposes without the prior written consent of YouTube or the respective licensors of the Content. But let’s face it, sometimes you might want to save YouTube videos for personal use only without any intent to redistribute for any reason. While it might not be fully legal in terms of YouTube’s Terms of Service guidelines, it can be done easily with a simple click of a button. There are several web tools that allow you to download YouTube videos for free. Some sites may force you to watch an advertisement, or send you into a black hole of ads to click on and never actually let you download the video. Most of the sites work the same.

You first copy the URL of the YouTube video and paste it into the address bar on the download website. Depending on how the video was uploaded to YouTube, you’ll be given the options to download the videos at different sizes. If you know you’re just going to look at the video on your mobile device, you may want to consider downloading a smaller size to save space on your phone. If you’re looking to play the video on your computer or practice video editing, you may want to download the largest size available and then choose to scale the size down. Here are a few sites that allow you to download YouTube videos quickly and easily.

Beware: You should scan your computer each time you visit these sites, as they can sometimes inject malware into your computer. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. A quick Google search could also lead you to other web tools, browser extensions and standalone apps that will do the same thing. If you’re someone who wants to follow YouTube’s Terms of Service agreement and download content legally, you can download videos if you’re a YouTube Premium (formerly known as YouTube Red). YouTube Premium lets you download video content to watch on your mobile device offline the same way other streaming services such as Spotify. If you're a YouTube Premium (Red) subscriber, you simply have to look for the download button in the video player to download the content and watch it offline. 11.99 and you can do a free three-month trial to see if you like it.

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