#Top React frameworks

[inextures]

The 10 React Libraries and Frameworks to Try in 2023

In 2023, React’s popularity remains unrivaled, and the ever-growing ecosystem of libraries and frameworks built around it further empowers developers to create cutting-edge applications with ease.

In this article, we will take a look at the top react libraries and frameworks set to take center stage in 2023. These technologies have the ability to alter the way we build online applications by speeding development workflows, improving performance, and introducing astonishing capabilities.

Whether you are an experienced React developer looking to stay ahead of the curve or a curious newcomer eager to explore the latest innovations, this compilation will offer you valuable insights into the most promising tools in the React ecosystem.

OnsenUI

Onsen UI is a well-known open-source framework used to create hybrid mobile and online applications. It allows developers to construct mobile apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that have a native appearance and feel across multiple platforms. Onsen UI is built on Web Components and is intended to integrate with major JavaScript frameworks such as React, Angular, and Vue.js. It is well-known for its speed, convenience of use, and ability to construct cross-platform programs.

Tailwind UI

Tailwind UI is not a standalone React library or framework but rather a collection of pre-designed user interface components and templates built using Tailwind CSS. Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework that provides a set of low-level utility classes, allowing developers to quickly build custom user interfaces.

Tailwind UI offers a wide range of UI components such as buttons, cards, forms, navigation menus, and more, all styled with Tailwind CSS. These components can be used as building blocks for creating visually appealing and responsive user interfaces in React applications or any other web framework.

React Spinner

React Spinner is a library that offers a distinctive array of functionalities, including loading spinners powered by Halogen. This library enables developers to effortlessly enhance their loading spinners, ensuring an efficient and effective loading experience.

React Bootstrap

React Bootstrap presents a robust UI kit that empowers developers to swiftly create highly adaptable user interfaces. It provides an extensive selection of components and tools, such as modals, alerts, buttons, and more, enabling the creation of engaging and dynamic user experiences.

Create React App

Create React App is an indispensable tool for developers, streamlining the process of app development by eliminating the need for complex configuration. It provides a standard structure, allowing developers to initiate the development process with a solid foundation.

Rebass

Rebass offers developers a convenient way to craft customizable user interfaces, featuring a diverse range of components to facilitate dynamic and interactive experiences. It simplifies the development process by providing a standard structure and removing the complexities of configuring the development environment.

React-Motion

React-Motion, a renowned animation library for React, makes use of spring configurations to define animations. As a result, it simplifies the complexities and ensures a controlled duration for your animations.

Furthermore, within React elements, React-Motion facilitates development by employing stiffness, damping, and accuracy strategies. The React-Spring API bridges the gap between declarative and imperative approaches, allowing for smoother transitions and increased security during development.

Grommet

Grommet is a potent component library that aids in creating mobile-first, accessible, and responsive web projects. With its extensive collection of components designed to work seamlessly together, developers can easily create dynamic experiences while ensuring customization for each project.

Semantic UI React

Semantic UI React is an excellent choice for developers seeking compatibility with multiple devices. It boasts a declarative API, shorthand props, and other features to enhance user experiences and create modern, responsive user interfaces without relying on jQuery.

Overall, the expansion and diversity of the React ecosystem indicate the community’s dedication to driving innovation, making it an exciting moment to be a part of the React development environment. These top ten React libraries and frameworks in 2023 provide a solid foundation for building cutting-edge applications that push the boundaries of what is possible in web and mobile development, whether you are a seasoned developer looking to stay ahead or a newcomer eager to explore the latest technologies. Have fun coding!

Originally published by: The 10 React Libraries and Frameworks to Try in 2023

[i4technolab]

The ReactJS UI Framework list does not end here. There are other more frameworks on the market. It is always vital to select the Appropriate React UI Framework by examining the client's needs and the goal of the React app to be produced, as well as which framework is best for your project.

Don't just follow the excitement made by developer trends; instead, select the one to React UI Component Framework that is beneficial. This blog will help you understand the top-tier React libraries to learn this year to help you with rapid and flawless App development.

[ahex-technologies]

As we move further into the digital age, frontend development continues to evolve rapidly, driven by the increasing demand for dynamic, high-performance, and user-friendly web applications. In 2024, several frontend development frameworks are set to dominate the landscape, each bringing unique capabilities and benefits to the table. This article will delve into the top frontend frameworks to watch in 2024, with a particular focus on Next.js, React, Vue, and others that are shaping the future of web development.

For more details, visits Ahex Technologies.

[photos-or-inkblots]

there's a lot of love for computer science genius Skye/Daisy Johnson, but i think a lot about pattern recognition anaylsis expert Daisy too. she was the first to react to Fitz's run-down of the Peruvian 0-8-4, clocked how highly militarized the Hub was about Ward and Fitz's mission despite the brief being about disabling a weapon, saw the connection between Hannah Hutchins and Tobias Ford and this is just off from the top of my head from season 1 alone.

she knew something was happening in SHIELD when the Iliad crew hunted for her in the Retreat. she understood Fitz's theory of using her powers to open the Kree Monolith when he was still halfway explaining himself. she found Ivanov and Coulson’s connection in 4x14 The Man Behind the Shield, which ultimately revealed Ivanov’s motive. she even knew that there would be some incident or event in which they will need her powers back in season 5, which was her entire reason of staying behind.

also the Framework. it’s essentially a world made of binary. it makes sense that even if she didn’t have her avatar’s memories, she caught on when May and Coulson pointed out AIDA’s strategy in 4x22 World’s End. May saves the girl in Bahrain, the Cambridge Incident happens, Hydra reveals themselves and blames the Inhumans. “It’s me. I’ll be the monster. She wants the same fascist state she had in the Framework.” she was there for ten days tops and she got all that without the memory duplicity thing? she fucking rocks

[hallabun]

Piecing Together Why Kaidan's Romance is My Favorite in the Series

To preface this, several of my points will also be applicable to Ashley's romance... and I do have the same thoughts on hers! It's just that this post will be about Kaidan, as being able to romance him with both Shepards is a game changer, and I prefer some of the nuances his romance offers.

Also, I will primarily be discussing a vanilla run of the trilogy.

That being said, my love of Kaidan's romance boils down to three main points: variety, ample build up, and conflict.

Variety

The sheer amount of ways you can play out Kaidan's romance is actually mind boggling. To prove a point, I am going to list out every single possible path you can take.

[F!Shep] Romance in ME1 > Stay loyal in ME2 > Romance in ME3 [F!Shep] Romance in ME1 > Don't stay loyal in ME2 > Romance in ME3 [F!Shep] Have Kaidan express interest, but turn him down in ME1 > Romance in ME3 [F!Shep] Abort the romance before it starts in ME1 > Romance in ME3 [F!Shep] Romance in ME1 > Conflict overtakes the two and ends in Shepard shooting him in ME3. A tragic end. [F!Shep] Romance in ME1 > Remain friends in ME3. Bittersweet. [M!Shep] Romance in ME3. Important to note that with mods, a Male Shepard can follow all of the above routes as well.

Now, as you can see, there is a lot of variation. And this doesn't even touch upon the even more complicated nuances of how you want your Shepard to feel and react. Does your Shepard only realize their feelings for him in ME3? Do they know in ME1, but hold off because of regulations? Or something in between?

And the real kicker? You can express this, canonically, in ME2. There are several opportunities for Shepard to comment on Kaidan, especially in conversation with The Illusive Man, Kelly Chambers, and Joker. This can range from feeling hurt, to being a bit too invested in Kaidan, to brushing off concerns entirely, or to being angry.

There's even variation to be had between Kaidan's thoughts on a male Shepard and a female Shepard. It's implied Kaidan will always fall for a female Shepard in ME1, which would make a slow burn route more... yearning flavored. On the other hand, with a male Shepard, Kaidan seems to come to this realization over the course of the trilogy and will always fall for a male Shepard by the time of ME3.

And on top of this, variation wise, there's the fact that Kaidan is the only romance option in ME3 who will stay with Shepard if they turn down sex. Which is so, so important to me.

There's an absurd amount of customization to be had. And it's partially because of this customization that Kaidan's romance will always have a ton of build up. The framework is there regardless of what you do.

Ample Build Up

Where to even begin? This will be the longest section. With pictures too!

Most romances in the Mass Effect trilogy have no proper romantic build up. I know this will get me a lot of flak, but honestly... it's true.

Aside from the romances that will always have the characters fall for Shepard, and have scenes that heavily imply that regardless of your own actions (Tali, Kaidan, and Liara for example), most other romances have a jarring shift from platonic to romantic.

To me, the best part of a romance is the build up. So when most of the series' romances involve walking up to your friend who hasn't expressed interest in you, nor vice versa. And just. Asking to bang. With no notable in game build up, flirting, or hints. That is just so... unsatisfying to me.

And like mentioned above, while there are a few romances that dodge this pitfall, this post is about Kaidan's romance, so I will be discussing him.

Romance Kaidan in ME1? This is the quickest way to romance him, so you'd think there is no build up. Wrong! You have a slow build up between several conversations. You get to know each other and become friends. You get to flirt. You get altered scenes and dialogue (good example being post Virmire).

Now, what about those who don't romance Kaidan in ME1? What do they get? I've seen several posts about how much content his route has, even when holding off his romance until ME3.

So, I'll just briefly go over them. How much content do you get if you hold off Kaidan's romance? How much potential build up? A lot, actually.

You still get the scene right in the very beginning of ME1 where you shove him out of the way of the beacon and take the hit for him. At Virmire, you still get to rescue him and then get the charged back and forth discussion with him after Virmire.

You get his conversations between missions. You still get him being visibly distraught over Shepard being lost in the debris following the fight with Sovereign.

And ME2, the game where he isn't even a companion? You get the introduction scene where Kaidan insists he won't leave the ship, and steadies himself against Shepard when the ship is throttled. You get Shepard calling him "Kaidan" after a whole game (ME1) of referring to him primarily as Alenko.

You get the Collectors AND Cerberus specifically using Kaidan as bait for Shepard to go to Horizon. Because they seem to believe Kaidan is important to Shepard.

Like. The sheer amount of charged moments when you haven't even romanced Kaidan, just in ME2 alone, is enough to fill up a phone book.

Kaidan's whole speech on Horizon reeks of pure hurt. The level headed guy terrified of losing control of himself lets his emotions get the better of him. He's relieved, he lashes out, he feels betrayed. He's upset Shepard didn't reach out to him sooner. He explicitly states he trusts Shepard, but he doesn't trust Cerberus.

And in my opinion - he's right. He is right about Shepard being manipulated by Cerberus. And he is right about Cerberus potentially altering them somehow. It was only by a stroke of bizarre luck that the Illusive Man told Miranda not to put a chip in Shepard.

Kaidan is rightfully concerned about Shepard's well being and is upset. But still wishes them the best. And to take care. And lets them go without issue. Despite working for (sorry, I mean "with") an extreme terrorist organization. Because if anyone can make it through insane odds, even as insane as working alongside Cerberus. It's Shepard.

I started to go into this above, but you also get to angst about him after this. A lot. In several different ways. You get to come across as stern, but very obviously broken up about what happened. You get to hint at more happening under the surface with Shepard. And it is SO good.

And in ME3? Hell, don't even get me started. Kaidan staring at Shepard in the beginning of the game. The borderline couple's spat they have with each other on Mars.

Shepard is visibly torn up about Kaidan getting injured. It is one of the few times in the whole trilogy where Shepard very, very noticeably loses their cool.

Kaidan doesn't have a loyalty mission. He doesn't need Shepard to take his hand and guide him through his problems. I see this as a benefit. Kaidan's "loyalty" mission in ME3 is literally just... visiting him in the hospital. And showing him you care. And that you're the same Shepard he once knew. It is literally something right out of a fanfic.

You can bring him a gift. You can flirt with him. Kaidan is visibly shocked that he's being flirted with and jokingly assumes this is just something he must be hallucinating.

And then this comes BACK when Kaidan flirts with Shepard later on in the game, and Shepard asks if he's flirting with them. God and then the Apollo's date, and the EVERYTHING. I love the slight difference in the F!Shepard and M!Shepard confessions, because it acknowledges and implies that Kaidan had liked F!Shep as far back as ME1 and that she started to feel the same but pushed it aside. While with M!Shep, Kaidan seems to have realized his feelings later on.

And in case you forgot, this whole entire side rant I'm on is all moments where you haven't romanced him in ME1. Because there is an absurd amount of build up hidden in his "slow burn" route and it makes me feel INSANE. Not only does his ME1 romance path - the fastest one to being with him - have ample build up, but the whole trilogy slow burn is actually stacked.

Conflict

And of course. My last point - conflict.

Kaidan is allowed to call Shepard out on their bullshit, have a life outside of them, and solve his own problems. And it's this very conflict in Kaidan's romance that reinforces one thing for me: they're equals.

Kaidan won't be Shepard's yes-man. He won't just blindly agree with everything Shepard does. He won't compromise who he is for them, just as Shepard wouldn't do that for him. Like I said. They're equals. In life, you NEED someone who is willing to call you out when you're messing up. Because it comes from a place of love and care. It comes from a place of trust.

Where would we be if we didn't have people to grow with together? Where would we be without push back?

Kaidan will frequently voice his opinions to Shepard, even if it puts them at odds. And Shepard will do the same. Through proper communication, they trust each other to be able to take the criticism.

Even in the most damning of situations, with Shepard holding a gun to the Council during a Cerberus attack, Kaidan chooses to trust them. He trusts that Shepard isn't some sleeper agent. That this is truly them. And Shepard chooses to trust him! And lowers their weapon! Because the two of them took the time to sit down and talk to each other. To communicate! To understand each other's point of views and realize they were both wrong about certain things. Both Kaidan and Shepard had genuinely GOOD POINTS. Cerberus was such a wild card; it made it hard to know what was really happening. It's raw, it's human. It's realistic!

And it's DELICIOUS because during that scene, and in ME3 in general, it's Kaidan who is being manipulated. Not by Cerberus specifically (though they are pulling the strings), but by Udina. Both Kaidan and Shepard have their fair share of time wearing their Boo Boo The Fool hats. Which. Screw couple's shirts, we got couple hats!

Conclusion

You have these two Spectres with horrific, traumatic events that have happened to them. Kaidan didn't feel human. Shepard constantly doubted if it was truly them at the end of the day and not just some Cerberus clone.

They have insane responsibilities. They can't afford to show weakness. People expect them to act a certain way, to always make the right decision. But with each other? They're allowed to have conflicts. They're allowed to mess up. They're allowed to get to know each other. They're allowed to fall in love.

Something, something... You're real enough for me. Something, something... You make me feel human.

[thedubiousdallon]

What's up everyone it's sympathy for Cradle time.

There's a very specific experience I relate to very strongly where a certain behavior that is essential to living a healthy, moral life in society exists that Most People can seemingly do on instinct or without effort that you simply cannot. For Cradle, that is Care About Other People.

And when you don't have the Instinct that everyone else seems to, often people simply can't fathom that you don't have it, let alone even try to help you learn the Behavior. Very often, you have to meticulously construct the Behavior from first principles, and before you can do that, you have to recognize why the thing you are failing to do even matters! It is a long, extremely difficult process, and it's one that you can rarely talk about or receive acknowledgement for from others because to them it can seem like you're just bitching and moaning about how Hard it is to Do the Easiest Thing/Be a Decent Human Being, or worse, like you're asking for a prize for doing the bare minimum.

Ryan figured out how to care about and have positive relationships with other people, and it took him years, and being honest about that damaged his relationship with those people irreparably, but he did it anyway and he's fucking proud of it! The world ended but he held onto his care and his connections and he's proud of it! And good on him for being proud honestly!

Something I imagine that a lot of neurodivergent people have experienced is an outside force that abruptly and almost inexplicably renders a major coping mechanism ineffective. It is a disorienting, terrifying experience, because this thing that you worked very hard to figure out and which you have built so much of your life upon has suddenly stopped working and everything on top of it is suddenly collapsing and you barely know why and you definitely don't know what to do! It makes you desperate, and it very often pushes you to do things that are deeply counterproductive.

The trauma of his trigger and the emotional cluster bleed completely destabilizes Ryan's framework. All of his strategies and coping mechanisms are built on his understanding of his own emotional reactions, and those have been radically, maybe permanently, altered in ways both covert (trauma) and overt (cluster bleed) and he feels his entire life collapsing as a result. Both of those factors are very easy to blame on Rain. Throw in the fact that killing his cluster seems like it might fix his emotions, throw in the fact that his shard is ramping up his aggression towards all of them, throw in the fact that he already believes himself to be a monster because of his neurodivergence and the actions he took before he had figured out how to value other people's well-being, and it's so, so easy for Cradle to turn to the behavior he does, and in so doing, cause the actual irreparable harm to himself and others that he is trying to prevent.

Because that's the tragedy, the very real tragedy, that underlines Cradle for me. When a load bearing coping mechanism fails, so often the best thing to do is nothing. Endure the panic, endure the collapse, try to find calm, and reach out to people you trust with more objectivity than you to get help figuring out what to do next. But that is so, so hard to do even in relatively mundane examples, so hard to even consider as a possibility. In Ryan's circumstances? He had no chance. He was never going to be able to rebuild without help, and the way he reacted meant he was never going to get that help.

[communistkenobi]

i’d love to get your take on the physical geography/human geography “divide”. we spent a lot of time debating the merits of having both in my first year phd course and in my opinion as a physical geographer the opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration far outweigh any of the issues with housing physical and social scientists together

my familiarity with this debate primarily comes from the academic discourse around the concept of the “Anthropocene” (ie the period in Earth’s history where human beings have made a measurable, global impact on the environment, almost always spoken about in the context of climate change). The way I’ve seen this term used is to argue that the period of the Anthropocene is collapsing the physical/human geography divide, that even if we could separate these disciplines in the past, we can no longer partition the environmental from the social.

I’m partial to critical interventions in this discourse (which is how I will answer your question) - that the ‘human impact’ we’re talking about is actually a function of colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism, not some abstract universal ‘human impact’. Modern human beings have existed on Earth for nearly two hundred thousand years, and human-made climate change has only occurred in roughly the last two centuries - a microscopic timeframe when talking about Earth’s climate. People in the Global South, in imperialized countries, and indigenous and Black peoples in settler colonies are not the classes who produce industrial levels of carbon emissions or wreak industrial-scale environmental devastation - that is the ruling class & the imperial states of the world. Hoelle & Kawa (2021) argue in Placing the Anthropos in Anthropocene that we should call it the plantationocene or capitalocene, because human-made climate change is a function of specific historical and material processes, not some generalized, ahistorical "human impact." Likewise, "human impact" is an imprecise and colonial definition of human involvement with the environment, which dismisses Indigenous peoples' complex and highly sophisticated relationships with what are understood by the Western world to be "pristine environs" (arising from the doctrine of terra nullius, or empty land, which justified colonial expansion into the American continent because there was "no civilization there") such as the Amazon Rainforest, which should be understood as a human-made ecological system the same way we understand farmlands to be human-made (see Roosevelt's 2014 The Amazon and the Anthropocene: 13,000 Years of Human Influence in a Tropical Rainforest).

therefore I think it's productive to think of the divide between the physical and the human geographies as a colonial framework, or at least one that is deeply implicated in colonial thinking - it positions the environment as an ‘object’ terrain that ‘subjects’ are situated on top of, as opposed to understanding human beings as part of nature. This is part of the logic that relegates Indigenous people to the status of animals ("savages"), as "part of" nature, while human 'subjects', ie white bourgeois Europeans, are separated from nature (see Quijano's 2000 Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America). This type of thinking is attributed to climate change-denialism in fascist circles (see Acker's 2020 What Could Carbofascism Look Like?), whose denialism is premised on a settler colonial understanding of the environment as a resource to be dominated and extracted from - the environment has no agency in this framework, no ability to react to the violence of colonial extraction, it is a purely inert economic resource. Likewise, this psychical/human divide obfuscates the fact that historical processes like colonialism are also environmental processes. In North America, the genocides of indigenous peoples carried out by European settlers over the past five centuries have been so monumental that the resulting reduction in carbon dioxide output by human bodies is measurable in the geological record (see Hoelle & Kawa again). The environmental devastation of silver mining in South America led by Spanish colonizers, and the resulting misery inflicted on colonized peoples forced to conduct this mining (see Galeano's 1971 The Open Veins of Latin America) was foundational to the forming of the modern Spanish nation-state, who imported so much stolen silver into Europe that they crashed their own economy (see chapter 3 of Perry Anderson’s 1974 Lineages of the Absolutist State).

Likewise, efforts at environmental protections from Indigenous nations has resulted in unique advancements in the law, such as enshrining legal personhood on rivers, as was the case with the Whanganui River in Aotearoa (see Brierly et al's 2018 A geomorphic perspective on the rights of the river in Aotearoa New Zealand), or the forsaking of sovereign mining rights by the state in order to protect indigenous land claims for environmental protection, as was the case in Ecuador (see Gümplova's 2019 Yasuní ITT Initiative and the reinventing of sovereignty over natural resources). These are social, political, and legal efforts at environmental protection, done with an eye towards decolonization (or at the very least, decolonial policy regimes), and separating the environmental from the social in trying to understand this subject would be absurd.

And so the question of discipline specificity is obviously bound up in these debates, and the academic production of environmental scientists on the one hand and geographic social scientists on the other is part of the maintenance of that divide. Environmental protection policy requires specialised knowledge of the environments being protected, and that specialised knowledge likewise requires expertise in how state policy functions. And it has required decades and centuries of resistance and legal challenges for Indigenous people to be involved in these respective sites of knowledge production - all of this is bound up in debates about if we should keep the physical and human geographies separated. I think the example of medical doctors talking about “shit life syndrome” (ie the medical problems faced by people as a result of poverty and inequality) speaks to a consequence of the debates around disciplinary divides - most medical doctors are not social policy experts, it’s not their job to write legislation or policy programs, their job is to provide medical services to people, but they are nonetheless identifying in their supposedly separate discipline of medicine and human biology the harmful social outputs of capitalist societies, which is intense systemic poverty

[izicodes]

Mini React.js Tips #1 | Resources ✨

I thought why not share my React.js (JavaScript library) notes I made when I was studying! I will start from the very beginning with the basics and random notes I made along the way~!

Up first is what you'll need to know to start any basic simple React (+ Vite) project~! 💻

What you'll need:

node.js installed >> click

coding editor - I love Visual Studio Code >> click

basic knowledge of how to use the Terminal

What does the default React project look like?

Step-by-Step Guide

[ 1 ] Create a New Folder: The new folder on your computer e.g. in Desktop, Documents, wherever that will serve as the home for your entire React project.

[ 2 ] Open in your coding editor (will be using VSCode here): Launch Visual Studio Code and navigate to the newly created folder. I normally 'right-click > show more options > Open with Code' on the folder in the File Explorer (Windows).

[ 3 ] Access the Terminal: Open the integrated terminal in your coding editor. On VSCode, it's at the very top, and click 'New Terminal' and it should pop up at the bottom of the editor.

[ 4 ] Create the actual React project: Type the following command to initialize a new React project using Vite, a powerful build tool:

npm create vite@latest

[ 5 ] Name Your Project: Provide a name for your project when prompted.

[ 6 ] Select 'React' as the Framework: Navigate through the options using the arrow keys on your keyboard and choose 'React'.

[ 7 ] Choose JavaScript Variant: Opt for the 'JavaScript' variant when prompted. This is the programming language you'll be using for your React application.

[ 8 ] Navigate to Project Folder: Move into the newly created project folder using the following command:

cd [your project name]

[ 9 ] Install Dependencies: Execute the command below to install the necessary dependencies for your React project (it might take a while):

npm install

[ 10 ] Run the Development Server: Start your development server with the command (the 'Local' link):

npm run dev

[ 11 ] Preview Your Project: Open the link provided in your terminal in your web browser. You're now ready to witness your React project in action!

Congratulations! You've successfully created your first React default project! You can look around the project structure like the folders and files already created for you!

BroCode's 'React Full Course for Free' 2024 >> click

React Official Website >> click

Stay tuned for the other posts I will make on this series #mini react tips~!

[smile-files]

some great bluish bakeoff stuff!

nickel later apologizes this episode; it's prompted by balloon's confrontation, but clearly nickel was in the mindset to apologize. the fact that he didn't raise the issue himself shows how he's still really afraid of how balloon would react. at the same time, though, he's acknowledging that "standing up for what [is] right" is important and good, even if it doesn't necessarily have the most beneficial outcome; notice how this not only shows how he accepts and understands balloon's anger towards him over the past few episodes (which had the consequence of losing them the challenge and getting bot eliminated), but also suitcase's anger towards him in the latter half of ii2 (which had the consequence of destroying their alliance).

in this episode, blueberry is assuming a role that has previously been taken by nickel and, more recently, silver spoon: he has placed himself at the top of the pecking order, calling all the shots, forcing everyone to roll with his punches. now everyone's in the same position balloon has been for a lot of his time in ii. silver, in throwing the chariot (:nerd emoji: actually a litter, they use the wrong word) at blueberry, is taking a stand against him -- announcing his frustration from being treated poorly.

for the longest time, balloon had "stay[ed] away from the thorns": beating around the bush, not bringing up the hard stuff, so he could maintain his positive relationship with nickel (and by extension his sense of having actually changed, which is linked with that that relationship represents) and not face his inevitable aggressive snap-back. but, though these proverbial thorns are painful, touching them helps him actually move ahead of all of that discomfort. balloon took a stand against nickel recently, which he was justified in doing, expressing his anger at nickel for both what he did and his denial of doing it -- and nickel harshly bit back about what balloon had done a while ago. balloon touched the thorn, and got the pain.

now, when nickel is yet again dancing around the problem, balloon's frustration returns. and, as silver took a stand against blueberry (which nickel supported), balloon channels his frustration and takes his own stand: technically also against blueberry, in trying to get himself and the others to the challenge before blueberry (thereby denying the domination he has imposed), but the drive itself came from nickel. he knows touching the thorns is painful, but that it's important and good. he should stand up for himself, and he does. he literally pokes himself with a thorn, and that literally sends him and the others ahead.

for the sake of this analogy/symbolic framework, it's worth noting how they are pushed forward because of the thorn, but there's still baggage: they fly through the desert only to crash, losing all of their ingredients. at this point, though, balloon's not going to let the pain of the thorn prevent him from touching it. balloon will keep standing up for himself, even if he keeps facing setbacks and pushbacks, because he knows what he deserves.

you can imagine that when balloon confronted nickel in this episode, he was expecting the same old same old: he'd say what he's mad about, and nickel would shut him down. but he doesn't. nickel listens to him. nickel lets balloon be angry at him, lets himself face the guilt he needs to feel. balloon is able to be mad at nickel without their relationship automatically going up in flames like before. and balloon is shocked! but will he forgive nickel? what'll he say? ...well, they're taken by tyler bombard before balloon could say anything...

for all this talk of the thorn, where's the blossom? well, here it is. thematic parallels indeed! recall how balloon misunderstanding "flour" as "flower" contributed to the grand slams losing the cooking challenge in ii2, which likely added fuel to the fire of nickel's hatred towards him -- now that same flower and that same misunderstanding is a representation of their friendship: it is what remains after the pain of the thorn. balloon finding value in this meager flower and presenting it to mephone at all (thereby insisting that it has value) is what wins them all the challenge. the flower and its beauty are not just a reward for the pain of the thorn, but a product of that pain.

balloon still hasn't responded to nickel's apology, because he hasn't had the chance to... but in disputing tyler's happiness about blueberry's death, balloon both recognizes his own attempt to change as well as nickel's: attempting that change is also a thorn, a very painful one (it literally killed blueberry), and both nickel and balloon have recognized the changes the other has tried to make and has succeeded in making. nickel is very reassured by this.

and as a final flower, a final reward for balloon's persistence in standing up for himself and what he believes in, balloon is chosen as the sole recipient of the immunity cookie -- silver spoon, someone with both a history of selfishness and a history of putting others below him, is the one to make this decision. balloon is finally being recognized, genuinely, for the changes he's made.

notably, balloon never accepts nickel's apology: no, he accepts that nickel is trying to make up for what he did. and, knowing from personal experience how hard it is to make that change and be acknowledged for making it, balloon is there to support him through it, and help him realize that he can be better -- and balloon is still on that "trek" himself, as we know balloon still has a lot of flaws to work through. they both know they have to touch the thorn, but they're all the more motivated to do so because they have a beautiful flower as well:

their genuine friendship.

...

balloon continues to be very charitable with blueberry, even as blueberry is critical of himself. nickel is also charitable -- telling blueberry to "just be nicer to people" implies that he believes that such a change is possible -- though of course he expresses this in his typical snarky way.

blueberry, though, doesn't believe that he can change, just like nickel used to. no matter how much balloon and nickel believe in him, he himself has to realize he has the capacity to improve before he can actually do it.

[nerdydaydreamer]

Chapter 2: Of Dreams and Deliverance

MASTERLIST

Summary: Plucked from her mundane life and thrust into a glass prison alongside the captured King of Dreams, Nora becomes an unlikely confidante and defiant voice in his silent torment. As a century blurs into freedom, she discovers her own impossible existence is inextricably linked to Morpheus himself, compelling them to face future challenges and rebuild his shattered realm, together.

Previous Chapter

~The Magus’s New Pawn~

The booming voice from the top of the stairs had the immediate effect of turning the air to ice. Alex and Nora froze, locked in their desperate struggle, the crowbar a heavy, useless weight between them.

Roderick Burgess did not storm down the stairs in a rage. Instead, he descended with a slow, deliberate calm that was infinitely more terrifying. His eyes, cold and assessing, took in the entire scene: his pathetic, trembling son, the defiant girl with fire in her eyes, and the iron bar she clutched. He gave a soft, dry chuckle, a sound devoid of any warmth.

He completely ignored Alex, his gaze fixed solely on Nora. “Well, well,” he said, his voice as smooth as polished marble. “It seems we have an uninvited guest in the gallery.” He glided to a stop just outside the chalk circle, gesturing towards the suspended sphere with the grand air of a collector unveiling his masterpiece.

“Do you know what you are looking at, my dear?” he asked, not waiting for an answer. “That is Morpheus. The Dream King. One of the Endless.” He practically purred the words, savoring the taste of them. “I confess, he wasn’t my intended quarry. I cast a net for his sister, Death, hoping to bargain for immortality. But he blundered into my trap instead. A far more interesting prize, I think you’ll agree. He has been my guest for ten years now, though a rather sullen and uncommunicative one.”

Roderick’s placid mask began to crack, allowing the cruel malice beneath to show through. He looked from the silent Dream King to Nora, a sneer twisting his lips. “And you,” he said, his voice losing its pleasant tone, “you feel for him. I see it in your eyes. Such a bleeding heart for a creature that is not even human.”

He took another step closer, his shadow falling over her. “Well, if you have such a bleeding heart for him, and you’re so interested in him, then you shall have a closer look.”

The shift was so sudden it was dizzying. Roderick turned his head slightly towards the two guards who had followed him down, their faces pale and impassive. “Seize her,” he commanded, his voice now flat and absolute. “Put her in with him."

Before Nora could react, the guards lunged. One wrenched the crowbar from her grasp while the other grabbed her arms, pinning them behind her back. Alex cried out, “Father, no!" but Roderick silenced him with a single, withering glare.

The guards dragged the struggling Nora towards the suspended prison. One of them moved to the back of the sphere, his hands tracing the ornate metal framework that banded the glass. He pressed a specific point on what looked like a solid scrollwork design. With a faint click, a nearly invisible seam appeared in the metal. A section of the frame swung outward, revealing itself to be a small, cleverly hidden door, its latch mechanism blending perfectly into the decorative pattern.

“No! Please!” Nora screamed, kicking and twisting, but their grip was iron. They forced her through the opening, and she stumbled into the suffocating stillness of the globe. The hidden door was swung shut, clicking back into place with a sound of chilling finality, becoming seamless once more.

Thrown into the sterile globe, Nora scrambled away from the door, her boots slipping on the smooth glass. She pressed herself into the curved wall as far from the silent, seated figure as she could get, pulling her knees tight to her chest in a primal instinct to make herself small, to disappear. The air was thin and still, and the only sound was the frantic, panicked rhythm of her own breathing.

Outside, Roderick’s attention shifted from the now-sealed prison to its primary occupant. It was then he realized the profound change. The captive’s head was still bowed, but his eyes were open, lifted, and locked directly onto his. They were twin pools of midnight and starlight, and they blazed with a cold, ancient fury that seemed to pierce straight through the glass, the chalk circle, and Roderick’s own soul. A flicker of unease, of primal fear, went through the Magus, but he swiftly buried it beneath a lifetime of arrogance.

He straightened his coat, forcing a confident smirk. “So,” he began, his voice booming slightly in the stone chamber, “the statue finally awakens. It seems the introduction of a new variable has finally garnered your attention.”

He gestured with a dismissive flick of his wrist towards Nora. “Her fate,” Roderick declared, his voice resonating with cold authority, “is now entirely in your hands. There is no food within that globe. No water. A mortal creature, as you know, is tragically fragile. She will wither. She will weaken. She will die.”

He let the words hang in the air, a poison meant to seep into the will of his prisoner.

“The choice, however, is now yours,” he continued, locking his gaze with the Endless king. “Give me what I seek. The boons I have demanded from the start—wealth, power, immortality. In return, I will release the girl before she expires. A simple transaction.”

Morpheus showed no reaction. His body remained unnervingly still, his expression unchanged. There was no nod, no flicker of concession. But the rage in his eyes was a palpable force, a silent promise of an eon of retribution.

For a solid few moments, the only sound in the entire basement was the ragged, terrified whisper of Nora’s breathing. The silence stretched, a tense standoff between a mortal tyrant and an imprisoned god.

Finally, Roderick broke the tension with a low chuckle. “Very well,” he said, pulling at his cuffs as if concluding a business meeting. “Ponder my offer. I will be back tomorrow to see if you have changed your mind.”

He turned on his heel, his imperious gaze falling upon his son, who stood frozen with horror. Without a word, Roderick backhanded Alex across the face, the sharp crack echoing in the chamber. “Upstairs,” he ordered roughly, his voice dripping with contempt. Alex flinched and scurried up the stone steps without a word.

Roderick then fixed his glare upon the two guards. “You,” he snarled, “will remain here. You will stand watch as you were meant to have been doing before. Your eyes do not leave this sphere. Understood?”

“Yes, Magus,” they answered in unison, their faces pale.

With a final, triumphant look at the glass cage, Roderick Burgess turned and ascended the stairs, plunging the basement back into its familiar gloom.

The sound of the key turning in the lock was a deafening punctuation mark on her fate. Silence crashed down, heavy and absolute. For long minutes, Nora remained huddled, a tight ball of terror pressed against the unyielding curve of the glass. The only reality was the frantic thumping of her own heart and the sight of the two impassive guards standing watch outside.

Slowly, like a drowning person breaking the surface, the initial shock receded, leaving behind the cold, horrifying clarity of her situation. She was locked in a giant glass ornament with a being of terrifying power, sentenced to die as a pawn in a madman’s game. The sheer, utter absurdity of it began to bubble up, sour and hot, from her gut.

“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me,” she whispered, the words a rough rasp in the dead air. Her head fell back against the glass with a soft thud. “Stuck. Actually, truly, stuck.”

Her fear began to curdle into a seething, helpless rage. Her thoughts turned to Alex, the sad, sweet boy who had led her here.

“That lying piece of shit,” she seethed, her voice a low, venomous drone. “That spineless, gutless… Alex deserves to have his eyelashes plucked out with rusty tweezers, one by one. ‘I have a secret, Nora.’ No kidding you have a secret.”

Her fury then shifted to the true architect of this nightmare. “And as for Roderick Burgess,” she hissed, her eyes screwing shut in frustration, “that pompous, overstuffed windbag can go gargle rusty nails.”

She continued to mutter, a litany of inventive and explicit curses flowing from her in a steady stream. It was the only release she had, a desperate attempt to push back against the suffocating helplessness. In the middle of a particularly creative suggestion involving Roderick and a family of angry badgers, she trailed off.

Something had changed.

It wasn’t a sound. The silence was still absolute. It was a shift in the very energy of the space, a change in pressure against her skin. The ambient rage that had been a palpable force directed at the basement door had just... pivoted. The feeling of being watched, which had been a vague, background hum from the guards, was now a sharp, specific point directed straight at her.

Hesitantly, she lifted her head.

The King of Dreams had turned. His head, which had been fixed on the door in silent fury, was now angled towards her. His ancient, starlit eyes, which had been locked on his captor, were now fixed on her. He was not just looking; he was listening, his expression unreadable, his attention absolute. And Nora realized with a hot flush of mortification that she was no longer alone with her thoughts. She had an audience. 

Next Chapter

-

Thank you so much for reading! As always, comments and feedback are appreciated! 🩷

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hello! Thank you for your blog, I've found it most helpful.

Do you have any advice for writing a fantasy story set in the real world, i.e. low fantasy I believe, in dealing with the "friction" of magic intruding upon the "real" world? Magical creatures running around London seen by people, magical acts that should not be possible in the "real" world being witnessed by people, how do you deal with the friction? Do you ignore it? Or do you write it in with some sort of resolution that explains it away? Can it be a part of the story itself?

Hopefully this ask isn't completely incoherent. Thank you!

Magic vs Mundane "Friction" in Low Fantasy

When you have magic intruding into a normal world, there's bound to be some friction, though the exact nature of that friction depends on your story and the framework you've set up for magic. And, on a personal note, I think part of the fun of low fantasy is seeing how non-magical people react when magic intrudes on their world.

There are a lot of things to take into account when deciding how to handle the friction when magic intrudes in the non-magical world.

Awareness - Who has magic in this world? How common is it? How secretive is magic kept? In a world where magical traits are random and common, most non-magical people are probably aware of it because they likely know a magical person. In a story where only a certain group are magic--like the fae secretly living in the world--it's likely that fewer people are aware that magic and magical beings exist.

Governance - In some low fantasy settings, there's some sort of governance over magic, either via the magical world or the normal world, to limit its intrusion upon the everyday. There might be places and times where magic is and isn't allowed, or maybe there's a complete ban. In a place with limited or selective governance, it probably wouldn't be unusual for non-magical people to witness magic. In a place where it's highly controlled or prohibited, it would probably be unusual to witness it.

There can also be an agency that exists to downplay magical events, blaming them on a gas leak causing hallucinations, or a potent hallucinogen contaminating the water supply.

Impact - The level of friction also depends on the impact of the magic that's witnessed. If your magical character shows their non-magical friend that they can levitate feathers in the air, that's a pretty low key intrusion. Even if hundreds of people saw, it could be chalked up to some sort of "magic trick" or illusion and could be easily dismissed. But if someone's magic allowed a giant dragon to fly loose in the city wreaking havoc, an impact that big would have some pretty big friction.

Once you've fleshed out the above, you can start to think about how you want to address it. Do magical people simply avoid doing magic in sight of non-magical people? And if they do see it, there some way to make them forget? Or is magic an expected--or somewhat expected--part of everyday life, even for non-magical people?

Again, it all depends on what you establish and the needs of your story. Let me know if you have further questions once you flesh some of that out.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[slayerkitty]

Narrative Frameworks in Only Friends

So here we are, the finale of Only Friends and not a framework in sight. Would the last half of the show worked better in some respects if we had the frameworks come back? Would we understand more about why Boston's friends hate him? (Did they ever like him? Ray seemed to, but Mew and Cheum...)

I wish we had gotten more frameworks toward the end. I wish the voiceovers had come back for the last episode if nothing else, because I would have wanted one from each character. It would have maybe solved some of the narrative issues (re: Boston).

I also wanted to thank everyone who liked, reblogged, commented or otherwise interacted with me and these posts on a weekly basis. Your feedback, discussions and general love made watching Only Friends an amazing experience each week and reminded me why I love being in fandoms.

Shoutout to the amazing members of the Ephemerality Squad who made this ride fun and thought provoking: @lurkingshan, @waitmyturtles, @wen-kexing-apologist, @chickenstrangers, @ranchthoughts, @twig-tea, @clara-maybe-ontheroad, @distant-screaming, @thatgirl4815, @elizabethsebestianhedgehog

I've gone back and added things to earlier episodes that weren't there before, so make sure to read through the whole list! Please let me know if I missed anything - I will edit this post based on suggestions.

Frameworks:

1. Voiceovers: gives the audience specific insight into a characters thoughts and feelings; also a great way to provide exposition. It’s more of an audio than visual framework, as we don’t always see the character doing the voice-over because it plays over other scenes.

2. “Talking Heads”: The characters talk directly to the camera, interview/documentary style. We get to see exactly how they feel about a given moment because they are reacting to it at that time. Audio and visual. Homage to Love8009 (per P'Jojo).

3. Social Media (ft The Artist Formerly Known as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook): Not as insightful as the other two frameworks but does give context and a way for interaction, commentary, and exposition on a given plot. Visual. Probable homage to Together With Me, one of the first spicy BLs starring our kings, MaxTul.

(Side Note: I was re-watching some scenes from Never Let me Go and realized P'Jojo uses yellow text on the screen in it too. So maybe he just likes the yellow text or maybe it means something, idk, idk.)

Episode 1

Framework: Voiceover

Title: What’s Your Role in a Bar?

Narrator: Mew

Visual Moment: Yellow title cards listing everyone’s “roles” as well as the month and days of the week

End Credit Shot: Mew sitting on the floor in front of his fish tank

Episode 2

Framework: Talking Heads

Title: M.F.M. My Favorite Man

Narrator: Everyone

Visual Moment: The talking heads scenes; SandRay smoke kiss; Boston's dark room; Photo Boston takes of Nick post sex; Photo of RayMew from wakeboarding

Audible Moment: The songs Ray plays during his scenes with Sand

End Credit Shot: Ray driving

Episode 3

Framework: Social Media (Twitter and Instagram)

Title: What Am I to You?

Narrator: Nick and Boston

Audible Moment: The thunder rumbling ominously over everyone's bad decisions, Nick listening to the TopBoston sex audio

Visual Moment: Top's Instagram (with all of Boston's comments); Photo strip of TopBoston from their hookup in the photo booth; Photo of the Fab Four in Boston's room; Nick watching TopBoston have sex; Photo of RayMew kissing

End Credit Shot: Nick listening to TopBoston sex audio

Episode 4

Framework: Voiceover

Title: Emergency Contact

Narrator: Ray

Visual Moment: The flashback of RayMew is in 4:3 ratio (meaning it looks like recorded footage versus a memory); yellow text onscreen indicates flashback

Audible Moment: TopMew at the silent disco (both moments of silence but also them singing); SandRay listening to music at the record store

End Credit Shot: Ray driving (repeat from episode 2)

Episode 5:

Framework: Voiceover

Title: The Extra Hour

Narrator: Sand

Visual Moment: Intro and Outro are animated; black and white (made me think of the Take on Me MV by A-ha but I’m open to suggestions on what this might be referring to), "Ray o'clock/Alone o'clock" appearing onscreen in white letters (not yellow!); TopMew going Instagram official; The blind dining scene

End Credit Shot: Sand driving his motorcycle

Episode 6:

Framework: None

Title: Happy Fucking Birthday

Narrator: None

Audible Moment: Ray listens to the TopBoston sex audio; Mew plays the TopBoston sex audio for Top

Visual Moment: Top draws Mew sleeping/gives Mew a book of drawings he did of Mew; BostonNick selfies

End Credit Shot: Top in his bathtub alone looking angsty

Episode 7:

Framework: None

Title: After Effect

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Mew setting the drawing on fire; Boston’s sex tape; the “super zooms”

End Credit Shot: Mew sitting on the floor in front of his fish tank (repeat from episode 1)

Episode 8:

Framework: None

Title: Save Me

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Facebook party invite/everyone’s reactions to the invite; Everyone’s costumes at the party

End Credit Shot: Boston looking angsty at the hostel

Episode 9:

Framework: None

Title: The Return

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Boston’s photo of Atom; Top recording SandRay kissing;

End Credit Shot: Top in his bathtub alone looking angsty (repeat from episode 6)

Episode 10:

Framework: None

Title: Redemption

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: The “I will never leave you”/“I will never love you” neon sign; Boston’s photos of Atom; Nick’s photo as Boston’s lock screen; Boeing’s Instagram

End Credit Shot: Ray driving (repeat from episode 2 and episode 4)

Episode 11:

Framework: None

Title: Move On Move In

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Boston taking pics of NickAtom

End Credit Shot: Sand driving his motorcycle (repeat from episode 5)

Episode 12:

Framework: None

Title: Begin Again

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Yellow letters indicating the date (NYE); Framed photo of Nick; Framed photo of the Fab Four at the hostel; Mix's entrance; Begin Again montage of SandRay; Hostel sign "Only Friends Stay"

Audible Moment: Begin Again montage of SandRay

End Credit Shot: Outtakes/BTS

Tagging @sandrayy by request

Apologies to anyone I forgot!

[blackwaves]

hello! question about ur veinxiao mess- liu xiaos perspective during and the aftermath always makes it sound like he hates everything about it. but then he goes right on back to vein to do it again. how does he justify his returning to vein to himself when he obvs feels so humiliated and ashamed about it all the time? also i love this series so much i love messy complicated bdsm dynamics featuring horrible people

am currently in distracting amnts of pain so if anything is incoherent it's because i'm dying, but— hi hello omg top ten things i did not expect to see in my inbox but am delighted to see. this post + subsequent rb might useful for providing an answer, but: placing anything else underneath a cut as is my standard with veinxiao mess.

okay first & foremost none of this precisely applies to the gunplay fic (+ remix) bc veinxiao are not doing the same sex rituals there as in the rest of the series, but there are similar roots. regardless—

okay the primary answer here is like. have you ever thrown yourself at something that you complained about doing the entire time and genuinely low-key hate the process of but— on another and different level, it does feel good, so: you end up doing it again. liu xiao is 1) an unreliable narrator 2) an adrenaline junkie gambling addict 3) having a horrible time that is balanced out by the fact that on another level it does feel good. this is a contained risk that feels simultaneously awful and on some level pleasurable, and it's very crucially viewed in the framework of a game to both lx and vein— if he breaks, then it's an expected consequence of that game, and it'll be fine.

very much also involved is the fact that... the way he works about emotions to me is: dedicated system of filters where the things you don't want to be feeling gets put into the discard pile and dismissed as irrational (-> this is fundamental to how i keep writing him, at least; who knows how canon-compliant it is rip) and the rest can be kept but go through. layers. stripped a little bit, controlled. does that make sense. regardless: 1) what vein is doing is mostly taking down and dismantling those filters 2) lx is reassembling those filters as soon as vein's done and is therefore filtering away the feeling of humiliation in favor of rationalizing it as :/ well :/ expected and understandable outcome of a lost game :/ i'll do better at keeping my composure next time :/ and in favor of being at-least-mildly resentful about it

(^ this fic gets to him so badly because he doesn't understand what's getting to him there; he usually knows where the gaps in his shields are. when vein is poking at them, at least)

significant to me forever is like. vein's being very careful about it, and they're on equal ground (and equally dangerous to one another) outside of this. vein's being a nightmare + pushing and/or crossing boundaries on purpose, but he also generally has more of a grasp on where lx's limits are than lx himself does (-> nightmare btw. worst sub in the world, would "haha i don't have limits, you can do what you want <3" you and genuinely believe it) and is doing this for fun, not bc he wants to do actual dmg, therefore is keeping a careful eye on those limits. it's not a liability bc it's simply not how vein works when he is looking to cause actual dmg and bc he's weirdly responsible about making sure lx is like. fine. in the aftermath. which is to say— lx would be reacting very differently if it were someone else. but he does, actually, trust vein for this, so.

[blogbyrajesh]

Why Every Student Should Participate in a Hackathon

In today’s fast-paced digital world, the ability to solve problems creatively is just as important as technical skills. This is where a hackathon shines. Whether you're a developer, designer, or business-minded thinker, a hackathon gives you a unique platform to showcase your talent, build new skills, and contribute to innovative projects—often in just 48 hours.

If you're a student, participating in a hackathon might just be the smartest decision you can make for your personal and professional growth.

What is a Hackathon?

A hackathon is a collaborative event where teams work together intensively over a short period—usually one to three days—to build a project from scratch. While coding is a central part, modern hackathons welcome all kinds of talents: UI/UX designers, content creators, marketers, and product thinkers.

Hackathons often come with themes—like sustainability, mental health, AI, fintech, or social impact—which help guide participants to build projects around real-world challenges.

The Student Advantage: Why Join a Hackathon?

If you’re still in college or university, here are a few solid reasons to sign up for your first hackathon:

1. Learn by Doing

A hackathon is one of the best places to learn hands-on. You’ll get to apply classroom theories to real-world projects, often learning more in one weekend than in an entire semester. You’ll also pick up new tools, technologies, and frameworks on the go.

2. Build Your Resume and Portfolio

Participation in a hackathon instantly boosts your resume. Employers love to see initiative, teamwork, and problem-solving skills—all of which are demonstrated by joining a hackathon. If you create something impactful, it could even become a long-term project or startup idea.

3. Network with Industry Experts

Many hackathons feature mentors from top companies and industries. This is your chance to ask questions, get feedback, and even connect with potential recruiters. Some companies even hire interns or offer job interviews during or after the event.

4. Win Prizes and Scholarships

While not the main goal, many hackathons offer cash prizes, internships, tech gadgets, and free software licenses. Some also provide travel scholarships or job offers to outstanding teams.

5. Collaborate and Build Friendships

You’ll work closely with peers from different departments or even universities. Hackathons foster a spirit of teamwork and trust—and you may just walk away with lifelong friends or co-founders.

How to Prepare for Your First Hackathon

Pick your tools early: Whether it's Python, React, Figma, or Firebase, be comfortable with at least one or two tools.

Form a balanced team: Find people with different strengths—developers, designers, and storytellers.

Have a problem-first mindset: Instead of jumping into building, understand the user and the issue deeply.

Practice your pitch: Your idea might be amazing, but if you can’t explain it well in 2-3 minutes, judges may miss its value.

Stay open-minded: Hackathons are chaotic and dynamic. Be ready to learn, adapt, and pivot.

Choosing the Right Hackathon as a Student

There are thousands of hackathons held worldwide every year—on campuses, online, or hosted by organizations. Look for events that welcome beginners and provide mentorship. Sites like Devpost, MLH (Major League Hacking), HackerEarth, and local student communities are great places to start.

Also consider themed hackathons like:

Education hackathons for building student-focused tools

Green tech hackathons for solving climate problems

AI hackathons for machine learning enthusiasts

Conclusion

A hackathon is more than just an event—it’s an experience. It pushes your limits, grows your skills, and opens up new opportunities. As a student, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. So step out of the classroom and into the hackathon arena. You might just discover your next passion, your dream job, or the idea that changes the world.