#getting started with raspberry pi

[bibleofficial]

i just think it’s funny that raspberry pi seems to plan their releases around that of apple’s

[nexus-nebulae]

so i saw this one post talking about the PiHole adblocker thing that blocks ads directly through your network and how it makes everything load REALLY FUCKING FAST now that pages aren't trying to auction off 1500 ad spaces. and anyway just now i tried to open terraria and it was lagging a ridiculous amount for this brand new gaming computer so i checked task manager to see what the hell was eating all the memory. closed the one fandom wiki i had open and everything started running perfectly

[jerehost]

Raspberry Pi Tutorial: Getting Started with Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive Linux-based device. It also includes GPIO (general purpose input/output) pins, which enable you to explore the Internet of Things (IoT) and manage electrical components for physical computing.

Some people buy a Raspberry Pi to learn how to code, Raspberry-pi-tutorial-getting-started-with-raspberry-pi while others use it to learn how to programme electronics for real-world tasks. Because it gives you control over the process rather than depending on a closed, proprietary system, the Raspberry Pi is well-liked in the open-source community. Suppose you want to learn more about such new technologies. In that case, you can head to our IT training website Education Nest, where you can access hundreds of free materials and learning resources on this topic.

[oakstar519]

it is 3:30 in the morning and i just had a project idea. send help

[sparrows4bats]

Doctor Damian handles the medical needs of the Justice League and their children.

He is professional, competent, and kind. More importantly, he asks very few questions and is one of the few medical professionals who know how to treat metas and aliens without making them feel less than a person or some mythical saviour.

For the children and young heroes, he speaks to them like any adult. He may lecture them about ignoring his orders, but they have seen him do the same to Batman, so it doesn't feel as condescending. He keeps their secrets unless it's life threatening and doesn't judge.

He even brings in his pets on vaccination days and after big fights so they can act as therapy animals.

The doctor keeps drawers of snacks and food on hand for any who want them, and everyone who leaves his office does so with lollipops and stickers, so matter their age.

Superman especially likes the blue raspberry, and Batman gets little cow shaped stickers stuck to his cape.

Flash has to restock Damians snack drawer every time he or another member of his family empties it in a speedster snack emergency.

He is a very good doctor and the only one who can pull any JL member from duty at any time, no matter their seniority

His work and compassion earn him a fanclub.

Nightwing may be your favourite hero's favourite hero, but the entire Justice League will do just about anything for their doctor.

Damian is brought coffee after long shifts, and every hero team has his takeout orders memorised.

If he is out on the field, no one gets near him while he works on patients.

The kid heroes follow him like puppies, so Damian teaches them first aid and praises their progress in training.

Some even learn how to swordfight with the doctor.

Damian has snuck more than one into Gotham so they can volunteer at his childrens hospital like he did at that age.

Others join his siblings and hang out at his apartment when they need a safe space.

The younger heroes invite him to game nights and come to him for advice.

The older heroes treat him with more respect than Batman half the time.

Even Batman listens to his orders without question. He is the only one who can get away with lecturing the whole Bat clan without consequence.

Some newer members try to date him only to be met with a wall of protective clingy heroes with strong opinions.

One probationary member doesn't take Damians no as an answer and makes the mistake of bragging about how he will 'convince' him one way or another.

He is only alive because Black Canary caught them trying to sacrifice him to Santa Claus.

The guy is banned from League functions until he completely 200 hours of HR training and completes a pych eval.

He was not the only victim of the fan club but the one that taught the cape community a very important lesson.

Doctor Damian Wayne is to be handled extreme caution. He may have taken an oath to do no harm. His gremlins have no such mercy.

Needless to say, when Jonathan Kent realises he is in love with his best friend, he knows he will be in for the hardest fight of his life.

But Damian, who had managed to befriend even the surliest of heroes through the Alfred Pennyworth method of keeping them alive and well fed, was definitely worth it.

Jon asks Damian on a date when he is sure none of the man's baby heroes can hear them. 500 feet in the air.

Jon is bewitched by the way Damian blushes as he says yes.

Jon gets to kiss him after their first dinner, heart soaring as Damian deepens it.

As the weeks go on, Jon carefully starts to integrate himself into the hangouts Damian accidentally hosts at his apartment. He brings pizza and soft drinks.

Eventually, he is invited to game nights, earning respect and admiration through Ma Kents Pies and his gaming skills.

Jon teaches the younger heroes about mastering their powers and shares stories from the supersons, much to Damians embarrassment.

Slowly, the baby hereos comes to him with their problems. Come to him for comfort or just to use him as a not so human shield from a worried Damian.

When Jon slips up at a movie night and kisses Damian in front of the kids, he expects to be tackled or shot.

What he does not expect is for the young heroes to scrunch up their faces and shout ewwwww.

"Wait, You Knew!!"

"That you and Mom are together? Obviously"

"I am not a mother!" Damian shouts indignant.

Jon laughs "You kinda are though."

"You sleep on the couch tonight." He crosses his arms and walks away from them all.

"But Dames, Noooo," Jon whines as he gets up to follow.

"Mom and Dad are fighting!" One of the kids shout with all the other voicing their agreement.

[hellenhighwater]

Okay, I'm in the research and resource-compilation stage of this Laika project. Dimensions on this are going to be specific enough that I will have to fully mock this up before I can start on the ceramic part of things (though I suppose I could work on Laika herself; we'll see). Rough dimensions on this are looking like probably 24 inches tall, 12-14 inches wide, and 6-8 inches deep.

The upper half of this piece would be relatively straightforwards, from a construction standpoint--layers of ceramic and glass to make a flickering star backdrop for Laika like the one I have in my living room clock of the world. I may do some kind of visible element of the rotating disc layer--maybe do a laser cut sheet of metal with engravings, or some kind of cloisonné with colored enamel illustrations? Doesn't really matter at this stage, that's decorative problems to be figured out later. Tech here: rotating motor, LED backlighting, and some laser cutting.

The bottom half of this is where things get thorny. Laika's capsule had a tiny, 6 inch window* that she presumably could see out of. I want to find a little silver porthole of approximately the correct size, and embed it in the front face, looking into the depths of the piece, where I'm thinking I will rig up a screen looping video footage of Laika herself (a bit limited, since there doesn't seem to be a lot of video of her; little of it in color and all of it the sort of resolution one would expect from 1957), ideally edited so it's sort of scaled like she's in the capsule. Then, screen brightness and venue light levels permitting, I think I want to try for a pepper's ghost effect, in the space between Laika and the porthole. If I can get the light levels to work, which will be tricky, I would have the pepper's ghost show a view of the earth from orbit--that wide, low, curved horizon, moving from light to day, almost like you're seeing a reflection of Laika's view, hovering transparently in front of her. This means I need to trawl the digital archives of various space programs for appropriate footage (thankfully they have TONS of free use video and photos, but there's an almost overwhelming amount to trawl through.)

I think I can get away with just using digital picture frames for my video displays, which may be easier than raspberry pi's. We'll see.

The very bottom would be the rolling reel for a tiny embedded music box, playable in the bottom corner. Details very rough still!

*at least according to my very preliminary research; books shall be arriving in the mail this week.

[amethystsoda]

this is going great 😅👍

Happy birthday to Chilchuck!! Help us celebrate by planning his party! Take a screenshot and let us know how his special day goes!

[linguisticsho]

Anti capitalist + anti consumerist + anti work master list

*originally started writing this as a reference for myself. may add more later

No buying/no spending options

Libby (books, audiobooks, magazines). you can use multiple library cards. harris county and queens allows you to sign up for a card with just your number.

Hoopla (music)

Kanopy (movies, tv, docs)

Anna's Archive (books, academic papers)

Tubi (movies, TV, docs)

Your local libraries

Bartering. they got facebook groups for this. if you still use that.

Low buy/low spending options

Bookbub

Dollar stores

Thrift stores

Only buy when you need/run out of it. you don't really need another damn notebook (note to self)

lowkey thinking about buying that $25 tablet from five below

Going analog

Book Outlet

Thrift Books

Thrift stores

Blank cd's and an external drive

Food

Learn. To. Cook. get a rice cooker from family dollar. some rice, sausage, chicken, ramen, eggs, frozen mixed veggies,et c etc. get some spices. you can just throw this in for 15-20 min and have a meal. do some experimenting while you at it. start looking at those big back recipes from tik tok while it's still around.

eat less shit. less fast food. less processed snacks.

TooGoodtoGo. pay about $5 to get some surprise bags from different restaurants.

Companies to boycott (if you are able to)

Amazon. you know why.

Walmart. gets tax subsidies for employees on welfare. they aint never giving them a payraise, despite their profits. anti dei

McDonald’s.

Trader Joe's. anti union.

Companies to support instead

Local.

Black owned/BIPOC. buy essentials.

...or make your own shit. read some books, watch some videos to teach you to make skin care, set up raspberry pi, whatever you wanna learn

Making money (for anticapitalist, antiwork, anticonsumerist, autistic, young, wild, free)

Writing on Medium. something i've been doing a little of.

Micro investing. invest $5 here and there to make a little money.

All in on specific niches. see where it takes you.

Qapital. an app where you can save money without having to think about it. this has helped me in a pinch.

Prolific. good way to make a little money. pays thru paypal tho.

anything you're capable of doing

Skills that could actually matter

Herbalism. make natural remedies for chronic issues.

Gardening. grow your own food and kush. (if possible)

Reading. a skill often taken for granted. read all that you can. do annotations. actually do media literacy and ask yourself why you like or don't like a movie, TV show, anime etc etc.

Archiving. with the tik tok ban coming, i've been made more aware of the importance of saving shit. download things. write info you learn down in a notebook or notion.

Self defense. hand to hand combat or a glock. even if you start with practicing with a toy gun.

Sailing the seas

just look up 'pirating' on here

[riordanness]

bad blood — [p.jackson]

pairing: percy jackson x reader

word count: 1.0K

warnings: mentions of period pains and other symptoms, etc. reader is a swiftie

There’s a knock on my cabin door, and I let out a soft groan, then call out, “Come in!”

Percy, my bestest friend in the world, sticks his messy head in. “Hey.”

“Hey, Percy,” I say softly. I’m curled up in a cocoon of blankets, pain written all over my face.

Percy studies me. “I was worried when you didn’t show up for archery. I heard from Chiron you’re skipping classes today cause you got your…” He winces slightly. “Shark thing.”

I manage a laugh. “Shark thing? You mean, shark week?”

“Yeah.” Percy shrugs. “Probably that.” He pushes the door slightly wider. “Can I come in?”

I nod. “Yeah, course.”

As he quietly shuts the door behind him and steps over to sit on the edge of my bed, I explain. “It’s not usually this bad.”

Percy nods. “Are you in pain?” His usual joking manner has softened.

“Mhm.”

He looks hesitant, and I can see in his eyes he’s trying to come up with a way to lighten my mood, to crack a joke to make me smile. “So,” he starts, “is this what that Taylor Swift song is about?”

“What?” I laugh, not because it’s funny, but because it’s so unexpected and I’m absolutely confused.

“Bad Blood, right?”

I laugh for real this time, and Percy allows himself a cheeky, triumphant smile.

“Percy, that is not what that song is about. It’s about—“ I sit up slightly and cough suddenly, then groan at the uncomfortable feeling that follows. “It’s about falling out with someone.”

“I know,” he teases, poking me on the nose playfully. “I do know some stuff about Taylor Swift, you know. Especially the 1989 album.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Oh you do, do you?”

“Yeah, of course.” He shrugs. “You never shut up about her.”

I roll my eyes, but I can’t exactly argue with that. He isn’t wrong. Secretly, though, I’m overwhelmed by the fact that he actually knows anything about Taylor, which he probably only remembers because he wants to know, for me. My heart swells and I sit up and hug him tightly.

Percy is surprised, but after a moment wraps his arms around me. “What’s this for?” he asks with a chuckle.

“Just wanted to,” I say, my voice a little muffled by his shoulder. His dark blue hoodie smells like sea salt and that sawdust from the sword fighting arena.

“Okay.” His grip on me tightens, and he doesn’t let go even a little until I pull away and lay back down.

Percy studies me for a moment. “What do you need?”

I try for a nonchalant shrug, fighting back a groan of annoyed pain. My head throbs in my temples, my lower back aches and my cramps are horrendously bad right now. I probably need to get up and duck into the bathroom again, but I’m so, so tired.

“What will help?” Percy presses. “I don’t know much about this, but I wanna help.”

I manage a smile at him. He’s the sweetest thing in the world, and he has no idea. No idea how much I love him.

“Chocolate sometimes helps if it’s dark,” I say. “But I don’t need that. I just need to sleep, I think.”

“Chocolate, okay.” Percy reaches over and gently rubs his hand up and down my arm soothingly.

“Actually, could you do me a favour?”

“Anything.”

I gesture to the sea green coloured heat pack on my bedside table. “I need to run that up to the Big House and microwave it, but—“

Percy is on his feet in an instant. “I’ll be right back.” He scoops up the heat pack and darts out the door.

He’s back surprisingly fast. But he doesn’t only bring the heat pack back with him. In his hands is a small

plastic bag, the kind you get from the camp store when you buy things.

Percy sits back on the edge of the bed. “Here.” He hands me the warmed up pack, and I immediately place it on my lower stomach.

“Thank you, Perce,” I say weakly.

Percy grins, then digs around in his plastic bag. “And…” He pulls out a block of dark raspberry chocolate. “I didn’t want to get the plain dark, I thought that would be boring. So I got the one with pink in it, cause you like pink.”

My eyes are probably shining as I gaze at him, in awe of this boy. Doesn’t he have even a clue of how amazing he is?

“And this.” Percy isn’t done. He hands me a can of Coke, and a bag of my favourite chips. “Cause snacks.”

“Cause snacks?” I repeat, a quote I use often as a stupid excuse for things.

“Cause snacks,” he echoes, that grin plastered back onto his face.

“Percy?”

“Yeah, princess? What’s up?”

“You’re amazing.”

“Nah.” He laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he stares down at me. “I’m nothing special.”

“Yes, you are,” I insist, reaching over and grabbing his hand to squeeze it. “Genuinely, you are. You’re my best friend and… this means a lot.”

Percy half smiles, and shrugs. He twists his hand in mine so our palms are touching, then laces his fingers through mine. The pads of my fingers fit perfectly in the grooves of his knuckles. “Of course, princess. I’d do anything for you. You know that, right?”

“Yeah.” I smile. “And right back at you, okay?”

“Okay.” Percy leans over, and presses a warm kiss to my forehead. “Get some rest, okay? When you wake up, I’ll convince Chiron to let us borrow that anti-monster not-really-a-device projector thing he has stashed and we'll watch a movie.”

I laugh. “Okay.”

And as I drift off with my hand still in his, I know it deep in my heart: I love this boy.

[luulapants]

Do you have any tips to be more punk in 2025 specifically for minors?

Hey, great question! Let's take a look at our list and see what still applies and what we can flip around for you.

Cut fast fashion - Still applies! Try clothing swaps with friends.

Cut subscriptions Analyze your media consumption - Do you tend to play phone games that are psychologically manipulative? Are algorithms taking you to content that makes you upset? Track your screen time, think about what's being sold to you, and resist only consuming the media that is fed to you.

Green your community self - Forget touching grass, find ways to touch dirt. Spend time outside in nature. Go for hikes, look at trees, track how plants and animals change over the seasons. You're part of the natural world, so go connect with it!

Be kind - Still applies! Try handing out more compliments.

Intervene - Still applies, and especially applies to bullies, including teachers. This can be as simple as saying, "That was a really messed up thing to say. I think you owe X an apology."

Get closer to your food - Still applies! Try packing your lunch.

Use opensource software Reject Web 2.0 - Before you try to learn Linux, people your age need to start by learning some basic computer and coding skills. My generation was given computer classes and had social media that encouraged custom coding. Yours has been deprived of this education and given prepackaged web content. Reject AI. Right click + inspect element + fuck around. Learn Raspberry Pi. Become the cyberpunk hacker you want to see in the world.

Make less trash - Still applies! If mom won't let you start a compost in the backyard, propose starting one at school!

Get involved in local school politics - Know what's going on with your school board, with school administration. Start an underground, uncensored school newspaper with the real dirt.

DIY > fashion - High school is where a lot of adults learned their bad habits about keeping up with appearance/fashion demands. Refuse to buy in now and make homemade the new cool.

Ditch Google - Still applies! And also check your app settings to see if you have apps with unnecessary permissions.

Forage - Still applies!

Volunteer - Still applies! There might be fewer opportunities for minors, but you'll never know until you ask. Don't be afraid to be the only young person at the volunteer session.

Help your neighbors classmates - Offer to study with students who are struggling. Become someone people can trust to tell if their home situation is difficult. If you have friends who don't get enough to eat at home, bring them home for dinner. Check on people.

Fix stuff - Still applies! This can be a fun activity with friends, too. Let's all hang out and see if we can fix this busted stereo!

Mix up your transit - Still applies! Is taking the bus considered lame at your school? Do it anyway.

Engage in the arts - Still applies! Pay attention to art events that your classmates are putting on. Go to the school play - or join! Stop in the art classrooms to see what people are working on.

Go to the library - Still applies, public and school libraries! Talk to the librarians - they know things. Find out if there are after school programs you can take advantage of.

Listen local - Even more local! Stop by the band room after school to listen to practice. Does someone in your school have a band? Listen to them, cheer them on! Start a band! The great thing about punk music is that you can be really, really awful and still sound punk as hell.

Buy local Barter local - Lots of young folks don't have much control over or access to money, but that doesn't mean you and your classmates can't engage in barter. Figure out what you have to offer that other people might want, and trade for stuff you want. I used to cut hair and pierce ears in exchange for weed and rides to the mall. Maybe you can sew a friend's jacket in exchange for them bringing you a homemade lunch.

Become unmarketable - Still applies! PLEASE do this.

Use cash Steal ethically - Before engaging in shoplifting, make sure you know who you're stealing from! Stealing from Walmart is morally correct. Stealing from a family-owned grocery, a local coop, or a local artist? That fucking sucks, dude. Don't do it.

Give what you can - And only what you can. We ask a godawful lot from teens. You're in school all day, you're doing extracurriculars and maybe working and doing homework. You probably don't have a lot of money. You probably don't have a lot of time. But maybe you can bring your elderly neighbor's trash cans up from the street. Find the small actions that you have space for.

Talk about wages - PLEASE! If you have a job, this applies to you even more. Why? Because the adults working at your minimum wage job probably can't afford to be rabble rousers, but what do you have to lose except your shitty part-time Panera job?? A teenager who doesn't actually need their job to live has the opportunity to be the voice of truth in any workplace.

Think about wealthflow Resist indoctrination - Education systems are being gutted. Algorithms are feeding us misinformation. Cocomelon probably gave you ADHD or some shit - Jesus. It's a mess. Do what you can to practice critical thinking, expand your literacy, read stuff that seems boring. Start a book club or philosophy club with your friends. Ask who's profiting from a given situation. Resist knee-jerk reactions. Becoming an educated, thoughtful person is one of the greatest acts of resistance a young person today can engage in.

[ayeforscotland]

Ad | Some Humble Bundle Goodies

One for the audio engineers - The Audio Arcade bundle gives you a whole bunch of royalty-free music and SFX as well as plugins to insert in all the major game engines. Ambient tracks, environmental sounds, explosions, you name it.

Money raised goes towards Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

For those who dabble in Virtual Reality, the Upload VR Showcase with Devolver Digital has a bunch of Serious Sam VR games as well as the Talos Principle, a really solid puzzle game.

Money raised goes to Special Effect which helps people with disabilities enjoy games via accessible controllers. I've seen the stuff they do and it's honestly great.

Want to get into programming but don't know where to start? The Learn to Program bundle has a tonne of resources covering everything from HTML and CSS through to Python, C# and Ruby.

Money raised goes towards Code.org which seeks to expand participation in computing science by helping women and students of colour.

The Future Tech Innovators Toolkit is a software bundle with courses on Robotics, Electronics and programming with Raspberry Pi and Arduino.

Money raised goes towards Alzheimers Research UK.

The Home How-To Guides bundle offers a complete set of books for home improvements and projects. Want to know more about plumbing, home repair, bathrooms, wiring or carpentry? This bundle has you covered.

Money raised goes to It Gets Better, a charity that supports LGBT Youth.

Want to pick up the latest Elden Ring DLC? It's also available on the Humble Store with the key being redeemable on Steam.

[bibleofficial]

they’re flirting ❤️

i need to feel a man’s beard stubble on my neck rn immediately

[utopicwork]

Out of curiousity, how did you get into doing this sort of computer work? Especially more low level stuff. :]

How can other people get into it / what would you like to see people make in the future in this area?

- Aspiring Programmer

I was an extremely poor kid, in middle school I learned about piracy which led to me getting into FOSS software for media conversion so I could load a bunch of media onto my psp. A short time later I learned about cfw, custom firmware, for psps when I was trying to figure out how pirating games for the system worked, that led to my first hardware hacking, at the time you needed to make a "magic battery" in order to save money on hacking the system which luckily for me I was able to do with a busted battery. That was really my big start because it was so exciting to be a poor kid with access to tons of games and media all of a sudden. Since then I've been very interested in firmware work and embedded systems, though I definitely didnt know thats what it was at the time.

For getting into software/hardware hacking/programming in a similar way I'd seriously recommend getting a cheap SBC, something like a Raspberry Pi Zero or just a Raspberry Pi is a good place to start especially since there are tons of projects for those boards that you can hack on and tons of very useful programs like pi-hole which does DNS ad blocking.

As to what I'd like to see people do: more projects dealing with media on these kinds of systems, video djing, glitch art, etc, because usually you're limited to something like VLC for media.

[adafruit]

Fruit Jam RP2350B credit-card mini computer with all the fixin's 🍓🍇💾

We were catching up on a recent Hackaday hackchat with Eben Upton (https://hackaday.io/event/202122-raspberry-pi-hack-chat-with-eben-upton) and learned some fun facts: such as the DVI hack for the RP2040 was inspired by a device called the IchigoJam (https://www.hackster.io/news/ichigojam-combines-strawberry-and-raspberry-to-deliver-a-raspberry-pi-pico-powered-educational-micro-66aa5d2f6eec). We remember reading about this back when it was an LPC1114, now it uses an RP2040. Well, we're wrapping up the Metro RP2350 (https://www.adafruit.com/product/6003), and lately, we've been joking around that with DVI output and USB Host support via bit-banged PIO, you could sorta build a little stand-alone computer. Well, one pear-green-tea-fueled-afternoon later we tried our hand at designing a 'credit card sized' computer - that's 3.375" x 2.125", about the same size as a business card (https://hackaday.com/2024/05/07/the-2024-business-card-challenge-starts-now/) and turns out there's even a standard named for it: ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1 (https://www.iso.org/standard/70483.html).

Anyhow, with the extra pins of the QFN-80 RP2350B, we're able to jam a ridonkulous amount of hardware into this shape: RP2350B dual 150MHz Cortex M33 w/ PicoProbe debug port, 16 MB Flash + 8 MB PSRAM, USB type C for bootloading/USB client, Micro SD card with SPI or SDIO, DVI output on the HSTX port, I2S stereo headphone + mono speaker via the TLV320DAC3100 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/texas-instruments/tlv320dac3100irhbt/2353656), 2-port USB type A hub for both keyboard and mouse or game controllers, chunky on-off switch, Stemma QT I2C + Stemma classic JST 3-pin, EYESPI for TFT displays, 5x NeoPixels, 3x tactile switches, and a 16-pin socket header with 10 A/D GPIO + 5V/3V/GND power pins. The PSRAM will help when we want to do things like run emulations that we need to store in fast RAM access, and it will also let us use the main SRAM as the DVI video buffer.

When we get the PCBs back and assembled, what should we try running on this hardware? We're pretty sure it can run DOOM. Should that be first? :) We also need a name. Right now, we're just calling it Fruit Jam since it's inspired by the IchigoJam project.

[heartstringsbloom]

“Gosh, who knew flowers?” McQueen sighs from his spot on the ground. The entrance to Flo’s V8 reflects onto his dreamy gaze. “They smell amazing. They look amazing. Well, not as amazing as you, in either regard.”

Sally chuckles, still peering down at him over her sunglasses. “What are you on about now, kid?”

“Flowers!” He climbs to his feet, shakes his golden curls out and nothing it does for the mess of petals and twigs stuffed in there. Sally shakes her head, thinking about how long they’ll spend just picking it all out. He never seems to care. “And you. Always you. Gosh, Sal, always you—“

“Catch me.” She tilts, all playful like and smirking, into his waiting arms. “Did I just swoon? Did you just make me swoon?”

“Did I?” He leans over her upside down face, noses brushing. “I’ll always catch you.”

She rights herself and boops his nose, pulls a rose petal from his bangs and blows it back into his face. His catches it in his lips.

“First stars, now flowers? Do I need to get Doc?”

Lightning actually seems to consider it, crossing his arms over his Wizard of Oz graphic tee. Something Lizzie had given him after he first moved into town. “Is Doc gonna start interrogating me or whatever?”

“Nah.” She loops their arms as they walk inside, away from the melting sun. Sally had wasted no time in shedding her pantsuit jacket when they first stepped outside as it now hangs on her elbow. Lightning takes it from her. “Just make you move those plants you bugged him about keeping.”

“Ohh.” McQueen’s eyes widen. “Yeah, I was supposed to do that.” He sighs and shrugs, careening them towards an empty booth. “Wellll . . .”

“Hopeless.” Sally lounges across from him and picks at the menu, folding her glasses in her shirt.

“They brighten up the living room!”

“Even as they hang in front of the tv?”

“Yes.” His eyes are wide, insistent. “Tv rots the brain.”

“Doc says you’re the one hogging it most nights.”

“I’m protecting his sharp wit.” He pauses. “Nosy. You are so not allowed to come over anymore.”

Sally snorts, passing him her sunglasses when his fingers twitch. She settles on playing with the menu. “I think that’s up to Doc.”

“As part time co-inhabitant of the Hudson Household,” he presses, pointing the glasses at her, “I get to make the part time co-executive decisions.”

Sally hums. “I could go for a shake.”

He starts. “Um, the shakes are mine, thank you.”

“You can share.” She pretends not to notice his affronted noise. “Don’t be stingy, stickers.”

“All the strawberries in the world are mine.”

“Brat,” she chuckles. “Love you.”

“Love you too, sky-heart.”

His kisses her knuckles as Flo glides over.

“Hey, sweetie-pies!”

McQueen beams. “Hi, Flo.”

“Hi, baby-pop.” She pinches his cheek and returns to her notepad.

“What can I get y’all?”

“Strawberry milkshake,” Sally blurts before Lightning can move. He looks as if he’ll scream.

“You traitor!”

“Aw, I got you, honey!” Flo jots some things down. “You know I have enough strawberries to fill a second fridge. You won’t even worry about it.”

Sally opens her arms and McQueen reluctantly switches sides to sink into them. Their fingers tangle up.

“You deserve all the strawberries.” Sally kisses his crown. “I deserve even more.”

“Oh, ha-ha,” he sighs as Flo moves onto the next table. “Can’t believe you.”

“I’m sorry,” Sally murmurs, not the least bit so. “I’ll give you the cherry on top.”

Carefully he looks up at her, eyes full of something that makes her heart shift. It’s a look they’ve come to share, just between the two of them.

“You’re my cherry on top.”

A smile breaks across her face.

“That’s so cheesy.”

He blows raspberries into her neck and she giggles, swatting at him til their lips meet in the frenzy. They slow then, and his hand cups her face as she lays on his shoulder, and she remembers all over again that this is just wonderful.

Sweet are they.

Flo returns with two milkshakes and a couple of maple donuts for Sally (Lightning prefers sour cream donuts, Sally still wonders how such a thing tastes, and Flo is going to finish that recipe this week, much to Lightning’s delight). McQueen reaches for a shake, eyes the other longingly, then eyes Sally curiously when she doesn’t go for it.

She shakes her head fondly. “They’re yours.”

His eyes widen. “But . . . You said—“

“I was messing with you, stickers.” She smiles at how he sticks his tongue out at her. “You know I don’t like dairy so close to dinner time.”

“I’m gonna be on a massive sugar high, you know.” He sticks a straw in each one, pulls them together and sips both at the same time. Little beast.

“Oh I know. You’re spending the night at Doc’s, remember?”

He snickers. “I’m telling.”

He will, yeah. And Doc’ll drop the sugary speedster at her doorstep at probably 2am or so, wordless in his irritation. Sally expects it by now. As should Doc.

She feels Lightning’s fingers reunite with her own beneath the table. He feeds her a cherry and she kisses his fingertips one by one with her maple-coated lips, eyes in his until he drifts to the setting sun. She squeezes his hand and he squeezes back, twice.

Sweet are they.

[alpaca-clouds]

Frankly, I start to wonder, why the streaming providers bother with the entire "home network IP" thing, given that everyone who knows just a little bit about computers can easily circumvent it.

When HBO Max started in the US, it was not available outside of the US. (It is still not available in Germany.) Still, for the first year I was using it. How? If you guess VPN you are not fully wrong. But not quite. A friend of mine set up one of his old laptops in his home, set up a VPN, and I used it as a Remote Computer to access HBO Max from Germany.

Now Disney did the entire "home network only" for streaming, and I... Well, you guessed it. I set up a computer in my home network for remote access and tada.

Sure, you need somewhat good internet (so if you are in rural America it might not work out) for this to work, but if you have good internet... Eh. It is easy.

Also, if you do not have a collection of backup laptops like you average IT worker (honestly, I need a way to sell my 6 old laptops that are littering my apartment), you might need to get a Raspberri Pi to pull this off. But frankly...

Really, fuck the streamers. Because to me the question is never "Do I share this with friends or do I force everyone to get their own ones?" but "Do I share this with friends, or should I just move to pirating?" Frankly, the only reason that I am not pirating right now is mainly that I respect my palls working in the industry too much. But frankly, with how shitty the streamers are treating them, my patience with the streamers is very, very low. Just saying.