#i wish i was still learning python

[gh-woah-st-v1]

girl why does coding have to make absolutely no fucking sense

[deadmomjokes]

Do you have any adventures of bean to share before you sign off for a bit? good luck with the move!

I wish I had more specific ones, but life is all blurring together at this point so I must settle for Tidbits: Moving Edition

She loves to pack stuff. I have no idea where it's coming from, but holy cow this kid. She's going to be the only reason we're completely packed and ready to go on time. Every morning, she hops in my bed and goes "Can we pack another box?" And any time we're not actively doing something, "Should we pack more boxes?" Her dad whispered to me earlier, understandably dumbfounded, "What is with the packing thing? Why is she so into this?" And she somehow heard it from the next room and merrily hopped in holding the roll of packing tape and said "I dunno, I just really like packing things." So... yeah. She's keeping us on task.

She has Plans for the drive. -First, we need to eat at Subway (she was very excited to learn she can, in fact, have Subway in moderation). -Second, we need to stay at one of the number hotels-- those being National 9, Super 8, and Motel 6. (She is bummed there's no 7 hotel.) -Third, if we successfully get a number hotel for one night, we also need to do a Red Roof Inn some other night. -Fourth, she wants to go inside a gas station and look at the maps. (She means the visitors guides and brochures that truck stops have when they're near-ish to state lines and/or tourist destinations.) -Finally, she wants to borrow my phone to take pictures. Unbeknownst to her, we are getting an old digital camera tuned up and outfitted with a child-proof case so she can have her own camera, because when she starts taking pictures it's an hours-long affair, and I kinda need my phone for GPS purposes. We're presenting her with said camera next weekend when we get the trailer, so hopefully she'll stay occupied while we do the part of packing she can't actually help with. But yeah, she knows how to set realistic, attainable goals, and I honestly think we can make these things happen for her.

She's been obsessively watching that Bluey special every day, and it Concerns me. See, she's generally quite media literate, and knows how to separate fiction from reality, and we had our big group cry about leaving our friends the first time we watched it. But. I am deeply worried that she's under the impression that we'll get all packed and ready to go and then do what Bluey's family did and decide to stay. I desperately hope not, but hoo boy, if that is the case, that's gonna be one heck of a 4-day drive. We've tried bringing it up and talking about it, but we still can't tell what's going on in that little noggin.

She is really, really sad about leaving her friends. I know that's not fun to hear, but honestly, I'm really impressed and proud of the way she's been handling it. She's come up with some great coping mechanisms all on her own: asking if we can get everyone's parents' Facebooks so we can do video calls, asking if we can do a party before she leaves so she can play with her school friends again (both yes, of course), and the one that truly floored me-- she asked if we can find "a new therapy place" when we get to where we're going. My four year old asked if she can go back to therapy, y'all. She's been 'graduated' since before Christmas, but she remembered that it helped when she was feeling anxious all the time and wants to do that again after we move. I just... Holy moly! I am so, SO proud of her for how she's so in tune with herself and her needs.

Her requests for our next housing situation have been few, but very specific. It has to let her get a pet, either a rabbit (maybe two so they can be friends), or a ball python, or both. It needs stairs so she can bumslide down them. It needs a pantry with a shelf she can reach for her snacks. And she'd really prefer if it had hard floors so we can get a fuzzy rug. We don't have it on lock yet (fingers crossed!), but the place that looks most likely meets all of these criteria.

That's all I've got for right now, because I need to go pre-plan what tomorrow morning's packing adventure is going to be so I don't have to think about it two minutes after opening my eyes.

[fellowshipofthenoodles]

hey so i need some advice about snakes. i dont have like a massive fear of them but it’s still big and makes me skin crawl a little bit. do you have any suggestions on how to get past this and improve? (same with spiders)

Hello!

So, even as a snake lover, I can understand that a fear of snakes is a normal, natural response. Same with spiders and other things that are common phobias! So for my first step, I want to stress this to you: don’t beat yourself up over it!

Next two steps are a do together thing; learn some stuff and exposure.

- If you can, find somewhere that you can be around snakes in a controlled environment. This can be places like museums, all the way to breeders, reputable pet stores, reptile enthusiasts, friends who would be patient and let you be in the room with and maybe eventually hold them when you feel comfy etc. There’s a lot of YouTube and TikTok accounts that are dedicated to things like advanced husbandry, where you can see the care that goes into caring for animals without the focus being directly on the animals themselves.

- Follow blogs on tumblr (👀👋🏻) where you can see people talking about their pets and the love they give to them. Even seeing the videos and pictures will gradually help to desensitise you. There’s tons of good reptiblrs (too many for me to remember right now sorry!) that can give you some good insight into the day to day lives of our little weird creatures.

- Once you’re comfortable enough, learn about them. Did you know that ball pythons are called that in the US because they curl into a ball when they’re spooked? When tarantulas are scared, they sometimes pull their legs over their eyes to hide them too.

Also remember: you’re way bigger and way scarier than they are!

Small snakes like hognoses will thrash around and inflate themselves and HISS and bonk themselves at you and sometimes flip themselves upside down to pretend to play dead, and that’s because you’re big and spooky.

Tarantulas will do something called “kicking hairs” where they stick their little booties up in the air and smack them with their back feet to kick specialised hair to make you leave them alone by making you itchy. That’s because you’re HUUUUGE and they’re just little guys.

While ball pythons aren’t a beginner species to keep necessarily due to their husbandry, they are a pretty good species to be introduced to as a first snake; they’re slow moving, hefty little curious creatures with the silliest puppy dog faces and well socialised balls are extremely handleable.

If for whatever reason you do get bitten by a small snake that’s a constrictor (like a ball python, or corn snake) then it’s very easy to get them off by smearing hand sanitizer on their mouths. It doesn’t hurt the snake (just tastes gross), and the bite doesn’t hurt you either too much - it feels a lot like you’ve been attacked by angry Velcro.

I hope you get past your fears, anon - please be patient with yourself! ❤️

Tonka the ball python is wishing you luck from his hide!

[hit-song-showdown]

My favorite songs of 2023

I am putting together my favorite songs released in 2023. I started off doing a project where I listened to as many new albums as I could (and recording my findings in a spreadsheet), but that project tapered off around June when my move + school year started. But even though I wasn't able to listen to every album that came out, I still came out of 2023 with some of my favorite musical projects of all time. Also as another disclaimer: I am not a professional music writer.

I am also limiting this list to 1 song per album/project.

1. Scaring the Hoes by JPEGMafia and Danny Brown. I wish I could go back and experience again what happened to my brain when I first heard this track so I could properly convey it with text. When I first saw this project was announced, I knew it would take over my life. When I heard this track before the album was released, I knew I would have to form some kind of religion around it. The reason why I'm limiting this list to one track per album is because Scaring the Hoes has 14 tracks so I wouldn't be able to fit them all (other songs I would have given the number 1 spot include Burfict!, Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up/Muddy Waters, God Loves You, and Kingdom Hearts Key). But the title track is the perfect introduction. It's less of a single and more of a thesis statement for the entire project. The production throughout this album is incredible, but STH hits different. The rhythmic, almost menacing handclaps (fun fact: those aren't handclaps--that's the sound my asscheeks make when this song comes on) and the horn sample which I can only describe as Blood Money era Tom Waitsian, it is by far my favorite beat of 2023. Combined with Danny and JPEG's charisma and the way they bounce back and forth, this song is a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart. Also I saw them live and that experience elevated a 10/10 to a 20/10 for me.

2. Prof. Aronnax' Descent into the Vast Oceans by Ahab. I started seriously listening to German nautical funeral doom metal band, Ahab around early 2022 so this was the first new release I got to experience. Even though I loved what I heard previously, nothing could have prepared me for this. The opening track is everything I want from a doom metal song. It starts out with a frantic onslaught of screaming and inhuman growls before mellowing out into a serene instrumental before the mournful vocals kick in. It really feels like the initial shock of your body slamming into the water, then having to slowly drift among the waves as your muscles give out and you're taken deeper into the depths. That's what I like about doom metal: it's music to decay to. This track (and by extension this album) hooked me from a story-telling perspective right away, which shouldn't be a surprise as it was based on Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The story presented in this album intrigued me so much that I had to read the book for myself. Then I read it again. Then I read two different translations. Now I'm working on a visual novel adaptation. I know metrics for album rankings are subjective, so I'm willing to give an album an extra bump if it gets me to read a 19th century novel at least five times in less than two months and learn Python coding. (Other tracks I would have included: the album is at its strongest as a single listening experience, but I especially enjoyed Mobilis in Mobili and Ægri Somnia).

3. What A Man by Debby Friday. This is a track off of Nigerian-Canadian electronic musician Debby Friday's first album Good Luck and holy shit, what a debut. This is such a well-formed project I can't believe it. I was already enjoying the album throughout the first few tracks. It brought me back to listening to 2000s club music and thinking "wow I wish I got invited to parties." But then I got to What A Man and the world screeched to a halt. I think I was posting on my main blog at the time, so anyone unfortunate enough to follow me had a chance to see my incoherent screeching in real time. This track is incredible. Debby's warm and sultry voice, the spacey production, THE ELECTRIC GUITAR? The first time the guitar kicks in, that's just a teaser for what ended up being one of my favorite music moments of the year. The electric guitar feels like an oncoming storm and Debby is standing strong before it, taking on the wind and rain as her voice becomes louder and almost yearning. Then the song builds with Debby yelling to the high heavens as the guitars wail around her before fading back down into the low bass and rhythmic breathing motif found throughout the album. This track is an experience, and the music video is gorgeous too (the picture I chose for the banner is from the video itself) and the fact that it has less than 20K views hurts me. (Other tracks I would have included: I Got It, So Hard To Tell, Let U Down)

4. Bite Back by Algiers (ft. billy woods and Backxwash). Speaking of songs that build... This is the sixth track off of Algiers' album, Shook and by this point I was already feeling pretty good about the release. I was already prepared to put the opening track, Everybody Shatter on my top 20, but when Bite Back kicked in, something changed. Here's a recreation of my initial reaction: "this sounds pretty good, I like the way this intro...is that billy woods??") Just to be transparent: billy woods' involvement would have been enough to give this an automatic top slot for me, but it helps that his verse is fantastic. His flow is slower than the introductory verse, but that only makes his lyrics stand out more. From the opening lines "One hand wash the other, they both wash the face / Centrifugal force and inertia keep everything in its place / Slowly, spinning in space, speeding, lead foot on the brakes" I knew I was in for something special. One thing I really appreciate about this track is the production. billy woods has a very steady flow with an almost menacing quality to it depending on the subject matter of the lyrics, and the beat shifts during his verse to reflect that. It sounds like it could be a billy woods beat, but it doesn't sound like one of his beats was carelessly shoved into an Algiers song. It's like the beat ebbs and flows with the artists involved. The production gets gradually more intense as billy picks up more ferocity in his delivery. A detail I really like is when billy says "claws rattling, delicate as roaches' wings," the percussion on the backing track picks up an almost rattling quality, but it doesn't sound corny or too obvious. Then billy continues, the backing track picking up even more intensity until it feels like each noise is blasting at full power...and then the tension releases and settles down with Algiers frontman, Franklin James Fisher, delivering the second verse. His delivery contrasts wonderfully with billy woods' too, with his faster, almost whispered vocals allowing the track to pick up momentum again after the previous release of tension. This track knows when to breathe and it's fantastic. But it also knows when to take the air from your lungs as Fisher goes all out with the vocals in the hook and third verse, reinstating what an absolute powerhouse vocalist he is. And just when the track is at its peak ferocity, in comes Backxwash with the steel chair! If billy and Fisher were allowing the beat to gradually shift under their performances, Backxwash grabs the song by the throat and makes it do whatever she wants. Her verse then trades off into Fisher delivering the outro, operating at full power in his delivery. This song is so well-crafted and none of the artists feel out of place. (Other tracks I would have included: Everybody Shatter, A Good Man, Irreversible Damage)

5. Billions by Caroline Polachek. As of writing this, I haven't been keeping up with other people's year end lists, but I know this album is going to make everyone else's. So I feel a bit intimidated to talk about it, but I will try. The production on this album is so good my brain can't even comprehend how it was crafted. I've seen it described as "maximalist," but that doesn't fully capture how well this album knows when to pull back and let the tracks breathe. Billions is one of the more sparse tracks compared to some of the others, but that only makes each production decision stand out more. The second time Caroline says "give me the closure," you hear a little musical sting in the background (probably some kind of synth, but at first listen I thought it was an electric guitar) which didn't show up after the first time that lyric was sung. It's that attention to detail and letting the production build on itself that makes this project incredible. And it goes without saying that Caroline is an outstanding vocalist. She sounds like a siren. It's ridiculous. (Other tracks I would have included: Welcome to My Island, I Believe, Hopedrunk Everasking)

6. The Black Seminole by Lil Yachty. Opening track off of Lil Yachty's psychedelic rock album, Let's Start Here, and what an opening track on a fantastic project. It should be clear by this point that I love songs that build, and holy shit does this song build. I first listened to this album while I was on a plane, and this track synced up with my takeoff. So while the plane was lifting off the ground and I was being pressed against my seat, Lil Yachty gave the final line before the electric guitars and the female vocalist kicked in, both wailing with equal ferocity. Top 10 music experiences of the year, but even going back to listen to that same track when I'm not on an airplane delivered the same euphoric experience. (Other tracks I would have included: Drive Me Crazy, Should I B, We Saw the Sun)

7. Xena by Skrillex and Nai Barghouti. I debated whether to put this song or Hydrate on the list, but Xena was the first track that made me fall in love with this album. With vocals by Palestinian singer, Nai Barghouti, Skrillex delivers an absolutely outstanding dubstep track. Like Billions, it's the kind of music production that makes me have to step back and fully appreciate the craft. The song is incredible at building intensity, but he also knows when to pull back to let the tension build again. And Barghouti isn't just a feature--she is the heartbeat of this song. Her voice melds with the production so well, but in a way that sounds like she's commanding it. My absolute favorite part of the song is when she starts singing in her lower register as the production turns to more naturalistic instruments. Sometimes I see electronic producers robbing their singers of their voices for the sake of cohesive production, but that isn't the case here. Nai Barghouti's voice is crisp, unique, and perfect. It's a fantastic melding of producer and vocalist that makes way more sense than it should. (Other tracks I would have included: Hydrate, Rumble, Ratata)

8. Babylon by Bus by billy woods and Kenny Segal. I already talked about billy woods, but he was a feature so this still counts. Everything I already said about billy woods' skills applies here as well, especially now that he has full control over the track. billy's flow sounds both effortless, and that he knows the perfect word to use for each line. And he uses interesting words. "Glistening waterbug on clean counter / Plague mask, gave the place a cursory glower / He ran away, I gave chase but gave up and sat on his gate for hours" I love this series of bars. He is a storyteller. And then, the beat pauses after billy's first verse, with low menacing notes, a clattering of naturalistic metallic percussion, and then the switch up??? Seriously the way the beat ramps up for SkrapKnel's verses takes the song to another level. The way the Curly Castro and PremRock pass the mic back and forth to each other is outstanding. This doesn't feel like a guest verse; this is a fully realized project. The shamelessness is even more apparent when billy takes the mic again for the final verse, but now with more ferocity in his delivery as if he's building off of the energy created by SkrapKnel. This song is masterful. "I take care of these words, Munchausen by proxy / Somehow beat the tox screen / God save the queen, but that train doesn't stop here anymore" (Other tracks I would have included: FaceTime, Year Zero, Soft Landing)

9. Drain You Empty by Cannibal Corpse. I listened to this album right around midterms and I needed it. But this was the song I kept coming back to. For one, it's fun. Obviously: it's Cannibal Corpse. But I love the way the song opens with a full minute of just blasting you before the drums, riffs, and screams really kick in. Good god the drumming on this album is so good. I absolutely love Corpsegrinder's delivery on this track. The way he shifts from bellowing growls to shrieks, the way he speeds up his delivery to match the pace of the drums, it's so good. I'm sorry I don't have a better analysis. It's fun. (Other tracks I would have included: Chaos Horrific, Overlords of Violence, Blood Blind)

10. Crossing Guard by Model/Actriz. This is a song that made me wish I went to gay clubs more. Yes, it's a killer dance song, but what draws me in is how chaotic the production is. It starts out slow and quiet, then bam! The production starts screeching at you in a glorious onslaught of noise, held together with a fantastic bassline. I love the vocalist too. He can be monotone and subtle, but he also knows how to raise his voice to match the ferocity of the production. I listened to this song countless times last year (often while crossing the street and trying not to get hit by cars), and the line "Like Germanotta, Stefani / Pull the weight from under me" will be stuck in my head forever. (Other tracks I would have included: Donkey Show, Amaranth)

[pteren]

i spent two days messing with Godot and it has been a blast

i've always wanted to make games but have never done as much of it as i wish i had. i started learning Unity earlier this year, but it was slow and painful and i ended up not touching it for several months

and then a few days ago Unity pulled some shit- and suddenly everyone is talking about open source game engines! so yesterday i installed Godot and started working through the example project in the docs and it was so much fun! i fell asleep thinking about cool things i could do with the engine. today i started my own project (a clone of the ancient Popcap gem Bookworm) and finished my goal by the end of the day. there were plenty of roadblocks but i was never stuck for very long

i might actually start designing games consistently :D

godot features i liked:

- again the follow-along project built into the documentation was lovely

- generally clearer language and interface than Unity

- objects ("scenes") are trees of nodes which inherit properties, can easily be updated, duplicated, and nested within each other

- "scenes" can be run individually, which is great for troubleshooting

- very cool signalling network to help connect different nodes and scenes and scripts together.

- handy input system

- a very friendly custom language similar in appearance to python (although you can use C# or C++ if you prefer) which knows all the Godot lingo and can be written in the editor

- lots of helpful methods for vectors. i spent way too much time struggling with unity's vectors so this was a breath of fresh air

- tau <3

- open-source MIT license means you won't suddenly get backstabbed by a greedy company

- the rare joy of boycotting a greedy company and finding a delightful alternative which makes you forget the reason you switched in the first place

the support site seems to be under maintenance at the moment (which is unfortunate timing, as they're probably seeing a lot of new users right now). you can still see questions people asked in the past but you won't be able to ask new ones. (in the meantime you can always ask me questions and ill empathize with your confusion)

if you have any programming experience, go play around with Godot. you will not regret it

[liliths-missing-pen]

Idia With Yuu Who Wants To Learn How to Program Games

Not gonna lie this is a very self indulgent piece because my computer programming class is making me want to code but I also want to write 💀 This is my compromise here.

Notes/Warnings: Reader is Yuu, I am in the English server and wish to not know what happens in Book 6 till it comes out so artistic liberties will be taken. Also, Idia might seem a little ooc but when checking the wiki it says he gets excited and talkative when stuff he likes gets brought up so I took it and ran with it. Enjoy!

Masterlist

Before you came to Twisted Wonderland you already known how to code. Mostly just from camps that your family made you do or just out of general interest. Nonetheless you only knew the minimal to basic things, like HTML, CSS, a little bit of Javascript and Python as well C++. So to say the least there wasn’t that much you could do especially as a beginner. You’ve always seen video games or visual novels and wished you’d be able to do something like that one day but yet, you never got around to polishing skills or making yourself actually do anything to get yourself to that goal.

Jump skip to know that you are in Twisted Wonderland. You didn’t know much about this world at all, lots of things were different than your own world. The way things were done, school expectations, slang, magic. So to say, you just expected that anything you knew would be just thrown out the window one way or another. Once you met Idia though you felt more secure in your knowledge. Idia was someone who you can imagine to be the most normal in your world. He was one of those kids in your class at the back of the room, typically not speaking to anyone unless prompted. Now you may wonder, “How did the Ramshackle prefect become associated with the shut-in hermit?” Well like any other instance, Ortho.

Ortho was extremely persistent that once you expressed interest or made an off-handed comment that you knew some code and loved visual novel games, you should meet his brother. Honestly, the issue wasn’t to convince you, it was Idia that needed convincing.

Since it wasn't Idia who invited you to his dorm, he was flipping out when Ortho told him to expect you. He's heard about the notorious Ramshackle prefect who dealt with Overbolts even though they're magicless. He couldn't lie and say that he wasn't interested in you though. Not everyone was able to do that. He just wasn't sure if he could do this right now.

Once you did arrive, Ortho carried most of the conversation. Idia was trying his best to try to make conversation as well but he couldn't bring himself. It was hard to talk to a normie okay?!

Well, that's what he kept thinking after each of his failed attempts. Ortho knew what to do though, he knew his brother would have issues so he hacked into your Magicam account to learn more about you till he ran upon all the gaming and anime accounts you followed. He put to and to together and this was Ortho's plan to make you two talk normally. Once he mentioned a game he knew both you and Idia played it was the start of something great.

Idia's attitude towards you changed completely once you talked about video games and anything else he was into. Which dragged into how the game was coded and whatnot. Once you mentioned how you wanted to program your own game and your vision he was just like an over-excited child he ushered you over to his game, asking how much you knew about code and how fun it would be to create a game.

But basically, once he dragged you in it'll be very hard to leave. Your whole friendship with Idia from then on was built on the game y'all were creating together, anime and gaming. Not that you'd complain it was very to have Idia around. Just that you'd always have to start up the conversion since Idia will always second guess himself

Even once you two finish creating your game Idia would still keep you around. He'd even start being the one to invite you instead of just showing up! After helping you learn and sharpen your skills in programming by working on a game together, you'd start to help him out too! If you know anything about programming, especially C++ you know how picky it is with its writing. Whilst he's off typing quickly you start to point out to him certain things he's missing, like a semicolon on something that'll screw the whole code up.

Wholeheartedly once you make friends with Idiai from one of his special interests it's going to be hard to pull him away from you <3

[izicodes]

Anonymous ask came through | My story

I accidently deleted their ask, so I'll answer it here

Someone messaged anonymously me saying I was privileged to get the apprenticeship and that I shouldn't be sharing tips on my blog about Junior Developer roles since I’m “experienced” (I've only worked for 1 year and 5 months which my apprenticeship lasted for one year).

The anonymous person mentioned they have been studying for 6 months and still haven't found a tech job or the job they wanted. They mentioned that I shouldn't be making posts and share tips because I'm at a privalge position coming from attending an apprenticeship and I don't relate to what they're struggling with - to that I'm sorry it's been hard for you, I wouldn't wish that for anyone studying entirely on their own. please keep trying, don't give up.

But what the anonymous person doesn't know is how hard things were for me and my family for many years to even get me to where I am today.

I am privileged to be in the UK to be able attend school, privileged to get accepted into an apprenticeship after doing two exams for it but:

I come from a family who were classed as "very low income" by the government for many years and only recently we broke out of that.

I learnt HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Python on my own before the apprenticeship gave lessons on it and by then I already knew the topics.

The apprenticeship didn’t teach me Git or GitHub or how to set up VS Code or Visual Studio - I taught myself online.

I learnt SQL and C# from YouTube because the teacher was so bad at explaining things.

I only passed the two required exams for the apprenticeship after failing 3 times - which I posted about it on my blog.

I taught myself the tech I use today, the apprenticeship did was secure me a job and having a Lead Web Developer to shadow, though he had his own projects he was busy on.

When I realised the apprenticeship wasn’t going to teach me everything I needed to learn for my tech career, I joined and completed a free online night coding bootcamp from the government and studied for 16 weeks whilst having the apprenticeship and work to attend to.

All I do on my blog, my little tiny corner of the internet, is share my progress, tips through tutorials, write posts about a topic I learnt recently and share information I get from attending those career masterclasses that free for people to join in the UK. I want to help people, not to flaunt my success. I’ve failed lots of times and posted about them on here - exams, work projects and even my own personal projects.

I may not be a self-taught with no experience and suddenly got a great tech job that the anonymous messenger wanted me to, but I’m still going to share my experience and tips that might help people out their own their own coding journey (that’s why I end some of my posts with “I hope this helps someone out there”). If you’re looking for someone that is self-taught and got a successful tech job from no previous experience, I don't think I am that person for you to follow, there would be no point following my blog because I got the role through an apprenticeship - the job was not secure though as I had to pass or they would have fired me.

So, I apologise to the anonymous person who messaged me who looked at my blog and was upset with me sharing tips on coding and it seemed like I came from that specific background they wanted me to be. However, I won’t stop sharing posts, beacuse someone out there might appreciate them and if no one does, that’s 100% a-okay! My blog is also a record of my coding journey and I’m not going to stop! :D

All I do is to make my Dad proud. Through things didn't go well for him over the years, I hope that when he sees me, he's proud and felt like after everything, I was worth it.

My family consisted of a single dad with two daughters since late 2000s UK. Mother left because she didn’t want the responsibility of looking after me and my sister. My father gave up everything to solely look after us - that meant not getting a job. We were in the benefits system for years after years, only in 2021 did we end it completely, so basically two years ago. I didn’t have much growing up and I mean the bare minimum. The only games I had were The Sims 3 base game and games on my Nokia brick.

The benefits money he got, he tried to get me and my sister to a private school just for us to see what it was like, but it only lasted a year before he realised the money was not enough. Dad made me and my sister really study hard to get into an all-girls independent school - a school where you have to take exams to get in. I took those exams and got into the school in 2013. When dad saw the confirmation letter, he cried. All his hard work was paying off. That inspired him to try university out, doing computer science.

It was when I finished secondary school I got my first iPhone in 2018 from Dad as a “well done for completing your GCSEs” gift. However, I didn’t do good enough to do the subjects I wanted to go and do medicine, so I had to switch my course from Biology, Chemistry and Maths to English Language, Combined Science and Economics. I’m grateful for economics, made me understand the government and the world a bit more (and understand what the hell news was talking about most of the time)!

I was failing. Miserably. I was pressured from my school to retake the year, so my dad advised me to quit and join a community college instead. In there they let me to my 3 subjects to do Medicine at university. However, I was failing again, had health issues which lead to me having to quit school early. I never completed my A-Levels. I was stuck for months doing nothing when I decided to get a call centre job. Liked it but last for only 3 months. I was inspired to learn programming again but properly so I can get a job. I realised how hard for self-taught beginner programmers to get a job, and I knew I would be in the mix but my dad was already struggling at home and I needed money fast to help him.

I started looking for apprenticeships even if it doesn’t pay similarliy to a full time job, it’s something to help dad. I was still of age to apply to the ones I kept seeing so I applied to a bunch. No answer. I kept learning Python and JavaScript and applied more. Then one came back saying they wanted an interview. They didn’t tell me the first interview was going to be an exam?! Last an hour and a half and then they talked to me afterwards. Got another interview with them - exam. And the last was talking to one of the partners of the company.

When I told my Dad I got the apprenticeship, he cried again. I knew he felt like I was failing left right and centre and he was a little bit losing hope on me, but for everything he’s done for me and my sister, I couldn’t let him down. And guess what my Dad did when I told him I completed my apprenticeship last month? Yep, he cried.

And I thank the gods and the universe everyday for the opportunity I was given to have done an apprenticeship because I can help my family more as I do have people here and around the world who depend on me and want me to suceed, so I will take every chance and opportunity I can get.

Dad said "If you're entitled to it, grab it. Any opportunty, grab it. You never know when it'll come back to greet you again"

[apphiarothowrites]

I’m back for no reason other than I want to share this sort of idea and I am too swamped to even begin writing

Marco doesn’t know how he ended up on the thousand sunny.

That’s a lie, logically he knows. Luffy had come up to him after the battle and asked him. Then perhaps, ask is a strong word… Luffy had catapulted into the region of his arms and twisted around him like a jungle python. Marco is not sure if he actually heard the words ‘join my crew’ as he was rapidly losing consciousness due to asphyxiation.

Then he woke up on the sunny.

God they are so fucking young. Children really, maybe that’s why he hasn’t taken off yet. Put his zoan wings to use.

Luffy scampers around the deck, laughing madly as the cook attempts to punt him in the ocean.

Everyone is so bright in this ship and it crushes his sternum while filling his lungs with air.

“Strange isn’t it.”

The clattering or bones usually indicates brooks approach but, the skeleton can be annoyingly sneaky when he wants to be.

Delicate phalanges press a cup of tea in Marco’s empty hands.

“You remember being that young?”

The blonde man stares into the amber liquid completely lost. He didn’t remember, not really. Flashes of his mother’s sash, ink stained books that seemed so large to his small hands, a foggy memory of a rocky shore.

“I think most of it was lost to time.” He shares with a wry grin.

Brook clicks his tongue? Does he still have that? “Time, time, time, time. If there ever was a god he was the one who hung the clock.” The skeleton hums. “Are you staying for Ace?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you love him.”

Marco pauses, letting the memories wash over him. The smell of smoke, the raucous laughter. “I didn’t, not yet anyway.”

The sea breeze picks up, heavy with salt.

“I used to play the violin for my husband every day.”

The skeleton is looking at some point beyond the horizon.

“Did he like the violin?”

“Not at all.”

—

The most important thing Marco has learned while travelling with the straw hats is that none of them (with exception to Jinbe and possibly Brook) have ever had any kind of sane adult to care for them.

Don’t get him wrong, bellemere seems like she was a good lady and lord knows he has visited the floating restaurant a couple times. But for the love of god if finds zoro trying to work out one more time he will have a chat with mihawk.

Honestly he’ll have a good long talk with crocodile too while he’s there, Robin seems to hold herself together with spiderwebs. Not surprising given ohara, but the whole warlords tool thing obviously made it worse.

In two weeks of sailing with the strawhats marco has a goddamn list of people. Including Zeff (marco is very very tired of the nosebleeds.)

Weirdly enough the most stable person is literally a cyborg, then again Tom was a fucking angel on earth and Marco wished he had stuck around longer to write a book on parenting.

Luffy calls him the reserve doctor.

Marco doesn’t call him captain.

“Well obviously.” Luffy had pointed out when Marco had haltingly tried to approach the conversation. “I’m not your dad.”

“But I am sailing under you aren’t I?”

“Yeah.” Brown eyes blinked at him slowly. “But I’m not your dad.”

Marco bites his tongue and wonders how long it would take to explain his very weird existence. Too long he decides and just gives a brief nod. “No, you’re not.”

—

A long time ago two children played on a rocky shore, laughing as the waves lapped at their ankles.

—

It’s slow, marco sails, flys. Leaves for weeks on end only to return in the heat of battle. He tracks down Whitey and spends a good week crying into his sisters pillow. Sanji challenges him to a duel for robins hand and he kicks the cook into the ocean. He should really talk to Zeff…. His brothers are here and there, sometimes he looks sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he joins Jinbei for meditation. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that he drinks coffee while the fish man finds inner peace.

He does end up meeting the cross guild (it’s shanks fault.) getting dragged to an “important” meeting by a yonko begging you to pretend to be his husband is.. not as ego boosting as you would think. Shanks flirts and preens and marco doesn’t even know who he’s trying to impress. (He doesn’t want to know.)

Even so.. the small movements, the way mihakw floats beside crocodiles hook. The low murmur as buggy leans into hear what the scarred man said. It makes marco believe that maybe love isn’t a one time thing (except if your shanks)

Oh god this is so long cliff notes time

Marco is kinda immortal he has a rebirth cycle and can semi remember what he has lived through

Sanji gets many seminars on respecti ‘n women

Zoro gets many seminars on “stop fighting when injured”

Luffy is luffy

The phoenix and nika are kind of drawn to eachother (not romantically but they have similar domains or something)

Tom is best dad

Brook is the straight out of jail uncle

Nami and marco are distant (she doesn’t want a dad thank you)

Dr chopper dr law and dr marco hang out

Idk bout romance in here it’s mainly found family (Cora is alive though so ya know..)

The central plot that was not conveyed at all is basically marco wanted this to be his last cycle (with his dad and stuff) but because of everything he missed his chance (idk mystic bullshit yadda yadda) so he has to learn to live again or something

Might have kizaru join the straw hats)

Idk my semi vision was

Marco - the worst mental state

The strawhats - pretty decent mental states

Marco - omfg these children need so much therapy

#GiveMarcoABreak2024

I love this, there's so much potential in everything!!! no notes, perfection

luffy takes one look at marco after the final battle and goes "is nobody gunna found-family heal that?" but doesn't wait for an answer before just straight up taking him

marco relearning what wanting to love is from these idiots while Brook slowly learns exactly how old he is is Great tho

[xpc-web-dev]

No motivation/energy , but with trying to maintain discipline.

(27/12/2022)

Hey guys. are you ok?

This last week has been draining my energy and I just don't feel like doing anything.

Studying UI/UX may seem easier than studying code, but I'm still on page -+ 56 of a 300 page book and I still have other + tutorials until I start making my own UI to code.

Why not abandon ui, you might think, right?

Because when it comes to the front-end, the satisfaction of learning it is 100% visual for me. And this year, making many mistakes in my programming studies, I enjoyed discovering the 20h skill quick acquisition technique (one day I will make a post) and I think that having my own UI will help me to be more willing and easier to break a project in tasks to do.

But I really don't have the bag to study right now.

And on the other hand, I hear a lot about going to rest that the new year is right around the corner, but the new year is just a new day.

Day 01/01 will be just another day in my life, not a milestone, you know? If I don't maintain discipline and consistency on my own, the new year won't give me that just because it's starting.

And my biggest goal in 2023 is to get a job in Tech, and that job won't happen without discipline, consistency and patience (rest too, I know)

So for these reasons I decided to start studying python just to maintain discipline in my studies.

Why yes, discipline is a difficult habit to acquire but easy to lose.

And since learning it is already part of my goals for 2023, I'll just go ahead, but it will be without pressure.

It's just to continue consistency, be productive and have fun.

As a Slytherin I really want to learn how to play the snake game uehehueuhe.

Let's see what I learn by the 01/01.

If you're out of energy like me and just want to study something so you don't lose the habit, I wish you luck and have fun.

But if you think differently, I wish you have a great rest and be well in your studies!

OBS: Let it be clear, I'M NOT ROMANTIZING NOT TO REST.

I rest, I sleep my 5/7h, I read my fanfics/comics for fun, I play with my dogs and all the rest.

I just don't want to lose a habit that was so hard to pick up for me this year.

And it will be much more for resting and having fun programming than for obligation in itself.

With that in mind,If you are reading this I wish a good day/night and drink water!

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Turtle doves; Eddie Munson x reader

*Author’s note*

Okay in light of the fact that Christmas is just one week away (and that I missed both Halloween and thanksgiving fic ideas I could’ve done), I figured now was the time to do a Christmas theme fic for this beloved metalhead who stole my heart this year. At first I was gonna do a mistletoe one but I’ve been seeing a lot of them lately but after re-watching Home alone 2 and I saw the turtledoves I thought BINGO DING DING DING DING!

Not much warning except maybe some swearing, insecure Eddie and TONS AND TONS of fluff!!! 

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@queen-paladin​

@queensdivas​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@gay-and-ready-to-cry​

_________________________________________________________

Up in Indianapolis, the city was bustling with excitement but also chaos because it was that time of the year again, Christmas time.  Hundreds among hundreds of people crammed into the stores to not only get the best deals, but also get the gift before their fellow man can.  The airports packed with families waiting for the arrival of extended family or friends.

“Eddie? Oi Eddie!” Dustin snapped Eddie out of his trance.  Eddie shook his head and looked down at his favorite (even if he thinks he’s a little shit at times) freshman member of his Hellfire club.

“What?”

“You were miles away. Thinking about (Y/n) again?” Dustin teased.  Eddie smacked the boy in the back of his head and said.

“You wish Henderson.”

“You are like bright red in the face right now.” Laughed Dustin.

“Shut your mouth Dustin. That’s your final warning.” But Dustin wasn’t wrong.  He was thinking about said girl, in fact he’s thought about her all year.

Ever since she took that study abroad program for her Animal Biology major in college, she hasn’t had much time to talk with Eddie. Letters were scarce and phone calls were even rarer.  And even though he was happy for her going all around the world studying wild animals, he wished that she wouldn’t be so far away from him all the time.

Eddie Munson and (Y/n) (L/n) had been friends since they met in the 6th grade when Eddie had his bike stolen by some asshole 8th grade jocks and (Y/n) threw sticks at them to get them to retreat. There she shared his first animal facts that chimps in the wild would throw sticks and stones at pythons to dive them away from their territory.

(Y/n) had always loved reading and learning about animals and she dreamed of one day venturing out into the world to study them and see how they behave up close.  That’s why Eddie always called her his venturous She-elf.

When she got to graduate in 84 and he didn’t, it didn’t deter their friendship.  Every weekend and holiday she visited him and would tell him all about how college has been treating her and what she’s learned that she hadn’t before.  But Eddie had been harboring a secret that not even she knew of.

Since the start of their high school years, Eddie had fallen in love with his adventurous Elf.  Not only for her looks but for her passion for what she wanted in life. Like him, she had a goal and she was reaching it, achieving it, and trying to own it.  She was indeed a darer but he feared that if he ever told her how he truly felt, he’d be holding her back.

Hell he couldn’t even graduate from High school, twice! What could he ever offer her?

“Eddie?” Dustin said trying to get his attention.  “You okay?”

“I’m fine. Just wondering what stories she has for us this year.”

“Oh yeah. I hope she brought home some cool souvenirs. Like this one time when her and her family went vacationing in Nepal and she got me this really cool face mask of an elephant. I still wear it to scare Lucas every now and then.”

“Thanks for the leverage Henderson to use against him next time he ditches us for his laundry baskets game.”

“You know I still can’t believe that you and (Y/n) know each other.”

“We do have lives outside of you Henderson, the world doesn’t always revolve around you yah know.” Soon their eyes caught sight of her plane landing and Eddie’s heart started to beat a little faster than normal. As quietly as he could, he took a deep breath before exhaling and they waited a few minutes as the passengers all began to depart the terminal gate.

Soon they spotted a young woman with (h/c) hair and prescription glasses on the bridge of her nose.  She rolled out with her carryon to see two boys holding up a sign that was decorated and spelled out: WELCOME HOME LADY TAURIEL, her D&D’s character name. She smiled and came up to them and first embraced Eddie.

“Well this is a surprise, I thought I’d have to get a cab to your trailer.”

“What and leave you in this craziness by yourself? Absolutely not.” Eddie said as they parted but they both kept their arms around each other just a little bit longer.  Dustin began to notice not only the lingering embrace they were doing, but also the look in both their eyes as they looked at each other.

“So what am I (Y/n)? Chopped liver?” asked Dustin.  The two young adults separated from each other and (Y/n) shook her head.

“You would think all the times I spent babysitting you would mellow you out Henderson, but you’ve gotten an even bigger ego than when I left.” She said.

“It’s his tone right?” Eddie asked her.  Dustin grumbled as he crossed his arms.  (Y/n) shook her head laughing as she walked over to Dustin and embraced him before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Eww! You know I hate it when you do that!”

“Whatever you little shit. Now let’s get the rest of my bags and back home. Being on a plane for over 24hrs is not as enjoyable as it sounds.”

“Right this way then, Lady Tauriel.” Eddie said with a gracious bow.  They went over to the baggage claim, gathered up all her bags and then headed on out to Eddie’s van to drive back to Hawkins.

It was a bit of a drive thanks to the traffic and the snow starting to fall, but they managed to reach Hawkins safe and sound.  After dropping Dustin back at his place, Eddie and (Y/n) finally arrived at his place.

“You sure it’s okay for me to stay here? Mrs. Henderson offered me one of the spare rooms over at their place.”

“As sweet as the old lady is, how could I live with myself knowing you’d be stuck with Henderson 24/7. Plus I know you do have something for him that he says he’s been dying to see.”

“True. It’s just….I don’t want to run you out of house and home.”

“You aren’t. Besides Wayne’s been asking about you, I swear he loves you more than he does me.”

“Shut up Munson, Wayne loves you with all his heart.”

“Yeah I know. Well let’s get inside before the snow really starts piling up. Weather man’s been saying it’ll be the heaviest snowfall in 10 years.”

“Even though I’ve grown up with Indiana weather, it’s nothing compared to Nepal, or Tibet, or even Antarctica ugh. Never will I go down there again, even if I wanna see the cute penguins. I’ll take the ones in South Africa.”

“There aren’t any penguins in Africa!” Eddie objected as he grabbed one of her suitcases as they both exited the car.

“There are too and I’ve got the pictures to prove it.”

“You do not.”

“I do so!” the two of them continued their playful banter as they unloaded the van and placed all her things in Eddie’s room.  “I’ve noticed you guys decided to do some indoor decorating this year.”

“Yeah. Wayne’s come into some really good money lately, and with some of the paid gigs the band and I have done, we decided why the hell not?”

“So it would seem my own personal Grinch finally found the Christmas spirit again ehh?” she teased as she poked his belly making him curl inward.

“I never lost it!”

“Mm-hmm.” She hummed skeptically.

“That’s it! C’mere!” he lunged at her, the two of them falling onto his bed and he proceeded to tickle her sides making her thrash around in laughter.  “You know I think I finally know where Henderson got his sass from. After all, you’ve known him longer than either Harrington or me. We have you to blame for his behavior.”

“Nohohoht mehehehe!”

“Yes you! Now admit it or the tickling continues.”

“I don’t…..stohahap! Please!”

“Nope. The begging and puppy dog eyes won’t work on me this time.” As (Y/n) continued laughing, a voice soon called out.

“Eddie? You better not be killing someone in there boy.” Eddie was forced to stop as his uncle had arrived home earlier than normal.  He got off of (Y/n) and said in a low, menacing yet playful tone,

“Saved by the old man. But don’t think you’re getting out of this just yet missy.” (Y/n) shoved him back to the bed and Eddie let her do it as she went out and said.

“Sorry Wayne. But if I had to be killed, death by tickles wouldn’t be too bad of a way to go.”

“Well as I live and breathe. Ms. (Y/n) (l/n) back from her time around the world.” (Y/n) smiled and walked over and asked Wayne.

“Permission to hug?”

“Permission granted ma’am.” The two of them embraced each other and after awhile he let her go.  “Bout time you got here, Eddie wouldn’t shut up about how many days left till you arrived.”

“Wayne!” Eddie groaned from his bedroom door. “Why are you home so early? Usually you don’t get off this early unless it’s a holiday and Christmas eve is 2 days away.”

“The weather son. Boss decided it’d be best for us to all head home so that we wouldn’t get snowed in.”

“Well that was nice of him. Oh speaking of which, I have a surprise for you Wayne.” (Y/n) said as she raced back into the bedroom and grabbed both her scrapbook and a neatly wrapped present.  “I was almost worried I wouldn’t be able to give this to you, or see your reaction when you’d open it.”

“Ain’t we supposed to open presents on Christmas though?” he asked her.

“Normally yes but this really isn’t a Christmas present. I saw it when I was in Tanzania and I thought one person had to have it.” Wayne took the box and unwrapped it before opening it up to reveal a beautifully hand-crafted and painted bowl.

The background was painted like the African sunrise with Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background and up front and center was a large African rhino (his favorite animal).

“I know it’s not a mug but it was the closest thing I could find to a cup.”

“Don’t go saying things like that, I love it. Thank you sweetie belle.” He wrapped an arm around her bringing her in for a one armed hug.

“Don’t I get a present too (Y/n)?” asked Eddie.

“Yes but you have to wait until the Christmas eve party at Steve’s. It is still happening there, right?”

“Yeah. You know Harrington.”

“Now go easy on that boy Eddie, sure he may have started off as a jerk to yah but you two really have become good friends thanks to that kid of yours.” Eddie waved it off before going to the kitchen to find himself something to eat.  “So darling, what do you think of the decorations we got up?”

“I love it. I especially like the light up penguins over there by the tree.” She said pointing to the small decorated Christmas tree and by the nightstand stood a lit up penguin lamp.

“Eddie said you’d like it. In fact this was all his idea to begin with that we’d decorate the place special for you.”

“Oi Wayne! Since you’re here how’s about you cook dinner for once instead of having to do fend for yourself night!?” Eddie shouted trying to change the topic.  Wayne rolled his eyes getting the hint of what his nephew’s behavior meant while (Y/n) was left perplexed.

Did—did Eddie feel the same way as she did? Did she hear that right? Or is this just Eddie being Eddie? One thing’s for sure, she was gonna try and tough it out and admit her feelings for her best friend at the Christmas eve party and hope she doesn’t humiliate herself doing it.

Two days later and after clearing up the roads after the snow storm they had when she first arrived, the gang was all gathered at Steve’s place for the party.  Now this party was extra special to the group because throughout the entire party, each guest would present a tradition that was done with their families on Christmas day.

As per Robin’s family tradition, everyone had to come in wearing the ugliest Christmas sweater they could find.  And the first activity was Christmas musical chairs as per Wheeler tradition.  Mike decided to be the DJ and as Chuck Berry’s ‘Run Rudolph Run’ played over the speakers the rest of the gang began to circle around the chairs, and the first one to be out was Steve.

“Wait hold on that’s not fair! Munson kept stopping!”

“Just take the loss with pride Harrington.” Eddie told him. Steve rolled his eyes but took one of the chairs after everyone stood back up and the game resumed.  One by one the rest soon began to fall until the final three came down to Dustin, Eddie and (Y/n).

“Remember, third place gets this giant Hershey’s bar.” Nancy said holding out the fairly large chocolate bar.  A decent prize but it’s nothing compared to the giant family/party size M&M bag that was up for first prize.

The music started up and all three of the remaining players began to fake the other out by either pausing in front of the chairs before moving again, or trying to sit in the chairs while the music was still playing before moving on again.  The song stopped and Eddie and (Y/n) ended up being the final two.

“Aww nice try Dustin but you still get the chocolate bar.” Nancy said.

“That’s fine.” Dustin said taking (Y/n)’s chair away and as Eddie and (Y/n) stood over the final chair, they stared each other down.

“That bag of M&M’s is mine Munson.” Boasted (Y/n).

“Don’t make me laugh (L/n). You know I kill for m&m’s. The only thing you’ll be getting is the three musketeers packet.”

“Alright enough flirting you two, get to walking!” Mike groaned as he started the music back up and the two friends began to battle it out for the chair.  Once again the pair would stop in front of the chair trying to delay the other before racing around it, taunting the other to distract them from the song, until finally the song stopped and after a squabble that lasted for what felt like a minute, (Y/n) won the pot!

“Yes! Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Ha! In your face Munson I won the pot haha!” (Y/n) rejoiced as she claimed her prize, a full year supply of M&M’s while Eddie was given the three musketeers bag. Even with his wounded pride, he accepted the prize and was happy that his girl got the big prize.

The traditions continued with watching ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ and ‘How the Grinch stole Christmas’ (Sinclair tradition), playing a few Christmas songs (the Munson tradition), and acting out a chapter or two from ‘A Christmas Carol’ (a Henderson tradition).  Next up was (Y/n)’s family tradition, ‘Santa Exchange’ as the gift opening was about to happen.

“Okay let’s see. This here is for Robin.” She said holding up a beautifully wrapped gold and red box with a red bow.  Robin took her present as (Y/n) grabbed the next one when another hand reached up and grabbed a snowman packaged present bag.  She looked up to see Eddie and he said,

“Figure Santa needs a little helper?”

“Santa appreciates it, thank you.” Soon the two of them worked together passing out all the presents to everyone until they were all set up in their own areas throughout the living room.  “Okay so every year my family mixes up the order in how we each open up our presents so this year I say we go from oldest to youngest. Sound good with everyone?”

“Yep. Yeah.” Everyone answered.

“Alright, but before we start that, I want everyone to take my gift to you and open it. It’s all the same thing that I had done when I was in Japan.” Everyone went through their gifts until they found (Y/n)’s gifts and they all began opening them.

When everyone opened their gifts, it was revealed to be a traditional, authentic Japanese painting of her friends.  Not only were they in the picture, but next to them was an animal she felt like was their spirit animal.

Nancy had an crane on her picture, Steve had a dog specifically the Japanese breed Akita, Dustin had a tiger, Robin had a white cat, Lucas had a phoenix, Mike was a koi fish, and Eddie had the traditional Japanese dragon.

“I found a traditional Japanese artist and in the span of the 4 months I was there with my team filming the Japanese Alps, I asked him to do this for you guys.”

“Wow (Y/n) this is—incredible.” Robin said admiring her painting.

“Easy for you to say, I’ll bet none of you are a fish.” Mike whined to which Nancy hit her brother in the arm making him exclaim in pain.

“It’s wonderful (Y/n), thank you.” Everyone else soon thanked her for her gift and she smiled as she sat back down at her area next to Eddie.

“Now that that’s out of the way, Eddie why don’t you start us off?”

“Yes!” Eddie softly cheered as he grabbed the first gift he spotted which was from Dustin.  He opened it to reveal the new Led Zeppelin cassette.  “Ha-ha! I knew you’d come through for me Henderson!”

“You’ve only been talking about it since Halloween. But I knew you’d like it, Merry Christmas Eddie.” Eddie continued to open up his gifts and he got some more cassette tapes, some new pins for his jacket, a new red flannel, and the new D&D manual book that had recently came out.

Up next was (Y/n).  She opened the first gift that was from Steve and Robin.  She unwrapped the paper before looking at the box to reveal what exactly it was before opening it.

“Oh my god, you guys.” It was the new Panasonic VHS camcorder.

“We figure you might wanna record some of your trips instead of just taking pictures. 3 hours of film this thing can do.” Steve said.

“This must’ve costed you guys a fortune. And I knew Keith don’t pay you much.”

“Worth every penny. Besides I expect some videos of tigers with that camera next time you go to India.” Robin said pointing at her.

“Alright, it’s a deal. Thanks you guys.” Seeing that camcorder made Eddie sick to his stomach.  He wasn’t rich nor did he have enough money to buy her expensive gifts, all he had was his small little surprise that he had made for her.  But he began to second guess himself, would she even like it? His stomach continued to turn in knots as she grabbed the next gift which was a new scrapbook from Nancy.

“Figured your old one was getting full so I figured it’s time for a new one. There’s also some little stencils in there so you can decorate it as you wish.” She told her.

“Aww I love it, thanks Nancy. Okay whose next?” she hovered her hand around the remaining gifts until she picked up Dustin’s.  “Henderson’s next.” She unstapled the bag and pulled out the green paper stuffed inside and pulled out a journal that read across the cover (Y/N)’s ENCYCLOPEDIA.

“My encyclopedia?” she asked him.

“Thought it would be cool to get real animal biology from a real animal biologist. Someone who actually knows the facts and doesn’t keep editing it, I swear you’re smarter than any science book that talks about animals and how they behave and operate.”

“Is this some excuse to help you with future science homework?” she teased.

“What? No, no! No way! I just wish for you to write down what all you know and what you didn’t know before about all the animals you help document and study.”

“Well that’s sweet of you Dustin, thank you. Okay Michael, you’re up next.”

“Why must you insist on calling me that?”

“Cause I know it embarrasses you. And as your former babysitter it’s my job to embarrass you.” She opened up his gift and it was a small animal calendar.  “Alright! Now I’ll be able to see what day it is. I swear those guys don’t carry calendars with them like at all. They tally the days like cavemen in their journals. Thanks Mike, really I appreciate it.”

She then went for Lucas’ present and he got her a mini-figurine that his sister made of her character Lady Tauriel.

“Now Erica would claim she made it all herself but I was the one that bought the figurine in the first place and I told her your description of her. She painted it and that’s all.”

“It’s a team Sinclair effort and I love it. Tell your sister when you see her thank you too.” She placed her D&D character back in the container before saying. “And last but not least, Eddie—” but as she reached out for it, Eddie snatched his gift back and pocketed into his leather jacket.

“Dude what the hell? You can’t just take back your gift.” Steve said.

“Shut up Harrington!”

“Eddie what’s wrong? I want to see what you got me.” She asked him.

“No you don’t. it’s not even ready.”

“Why would you give her an incomplete gift?” Mike asked.

“Hey Mike cool it, I’m sure Eddie has a good reason. Final exams were a bitch this year so I can see why he wouldn’t have time to finish his gift.” Dustin said trying to get Mike off Eddie’s back.

“It’s nothing like that Henderson, and I can defend myself thank you very much!” but his tone was harsh.

“Geez Eddie no need to snap. I know Dustin can be a bit much but there’s no need to go that far.” Said Robin.

“Will you guys just leave me alone alright!? God this is why I hate Christmas! Everyone making a deal about presents that just end up in the trash a couple weeks if not the day after Christmas!” he soon stormed out of the room and the house echoed a loud slam from the front door.

“I’ll go talk to him.” (Y/n) said as she got up and followed after him.  After putting on her coat, boots and gloves, she followed Eddie who was leaning against his van smoking with a furrowed brow.  “You’ll catch your death of cold if you stay out here like that.”

“I’m fine. Never bothered me anyway.”

“You may have everyone convinced that you’re this stone, cold metalhead but not to me. Sure you’re a metalhead but you’re not stone cold.”

“Well you wouldn’t know considering you haven’t even been here for over a year and a half!” he snapped.  It shocked (Y/n) to hear Eddie snap at her like that but as soon as he looked at her shocked expression, he sighed heavily and stomped out his cigarette.  “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have shouted.”

“I know.” She walked up to him and took his hand between hers, not only in comfort but to warm them up.  “You wanna tell me what’s really going on in that squirrel brain of yours?”

“I don’t have a squirrel brain.”

“Yes you do. You always have a million things going through your head, and its twice as intense when you’re stressed or upset about something. So c’mon tell me. We’ve always been able to tell each other everything.” Eddie looked into her soft, gentle (e/c) and he felt his heart melt but also grow heavy into his stomach.

“Everyone else got you such amazing gifts. Gifts that’ll either help your future career or that you can personalize. Hell the Sinclair’s made your D&D character come to life, and all I got you was……this.” He took out his gift which was just a plain old small white box with a golden ribbon tied to it.

He couldn’t even look her in the eyes as he held it out to her. Once he felt her take it from his hand, he crossed his arms over his chest as his breathing grew sharper and heavier and she could see just how fast it was from the cold breath that escaped his lips and danced into the air.

She looked down at the plain white box and untied the ribbon before opening it to reveal inside two chain necklaces and attached to them were what appeared to be hand-carved wooden turtle doves.  Or that’s what they seemed to be, it was a bit mish-mashed but even with the faults in the sculpting, she knew it must’ve taken Eddie a long time to do these twice.

“They’re supposed to be turtle doves. I know they look shitty, the woodshop instructor couldn’t teach me for shit and the chain is nothing special. Just from some old chain necklaces Wayne doesn’t wear anymore so I got rid of what was on those and he helped me attach the birds to the chain.”

Tears formed in her eyes as she pulled the necklaces out of the box and held them in her palm.  She looked up at Eddie and immediately embraced him tightly, burying her face into his shoulder blades.

“What?”

“Eddie,” she released him so she could come around and cup his face which was already turning red from the cold, and even his nose was starting to go a bit red.  “This, this is the sweetest, most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me.”

“Really?” he asked insecurely.

“Really, really. And knowing that you did your best, I don’t care if the turtledoves look perfectly hand sculpted or like a woodchipper went to town on them.” They both softly laughed.  “But there is something that is wrong with this gift.” At hearing that statement, Eddie’s brief moment of happiness once again turned back to fear. He felt her take his left hand and she placed one of the turtle dove necklaces into his palm before closing it up. “You need to keep one, so that way we each have one, and that we’ll always come back to each other.”

“Each other?” he asked her.  She nodded as she slowly got closer to him whispering.

“Together forever, meleth nin.” She then took her chance and kissed her best friend/secret crush.  When she felt him tense, she feared that maybe the kiss was too much and began to pull away but it wasn’t until she felt Eddie’s arms wrap around her waist pulling her close and even lifting her up.

She was stunned but wrapped her arms tighter around Eddie’s shoulders as their kiss slowly deepened until he set her down and they separated for air.

“My Christmas wish came true this year.” She whispered lovingly.

“Agreed. I’ve only dreamed of this a thousand times since middle school. Merry Christmas Lady Tauriel.”

“Merry Christmas Lord Beren.” They smiled at each other lovingly before they hugged each other so tightly it was like their bones would pop, before they looked at each other with their noses brushing against each other’s and their lips met in another sweet kiss.

“ABOUT DAMN TIME!! I’VE BEEN SEEING YOU MAKE GOO-GOO EYES AT EACH OTHER SINCE SHE GOT HERE!!” Dustin’s voice exclaimed in the night air. Eddie rolled his eyes before bending down and grabbed a big chunk of snow and quickly raced towards Dustin.

He let out a scream before racing back inside with Eddie at his heels holding the snow patch in his hands.

“No! NO don’t you dare stuff that down my back!”

“Get over here Henderson!”

“HEY NO SNOW TRAILS IN MY HOUSE GUYS!!” (Y/n) shook her head as she went back inside and closed the door as the chaos continued with Dustin exclaiming and trying to get the snow out of his back, Steve trying to mop up the wet patch of water from said snow that had been dropped on his good carpet, and Eddie and (Y/n) sitting close to each other exchanging kisses every now and again.

[aninternetian]

A little update

Still working on CS50 python course.

After that, I'll move to their course on AI.

In the meantime, I've been thinking about personal projects as a thing to work on. It's said to be the best way of learning and it's my cheat in regards to what to do when I'm procrastinating.

Might not always work of course but worth to try.

In regards to that, I'm looking in Godot of course. Gamedev has been my approach to learning programming and I'm trying to figure out how to help teach others in that direction as well.

I've been thinking for a while to create a volunteer teaching project for free and now that idea has gone online as well so that other can contribute in volunteer teaching.

I've found some websites like that but it feels intimidating to choose someone. Maybe it doesn't have to be a volunteer teaching but something like free code camp but for game development.

Also in the meanwhile, I found something to learn godot myself

I'm really not sure where I'm going to go with this volunteer project idea but will see and update when possible.

To summarise, I'm currently a freelance instructor teaching kids from age 6 to 18 programming stuff and I wish to further teach in this direction for older adults who wants to start but unsure of where to start or how.

I've thought of being a programming coach of sorts and have tried contacting non-profit orgs but nothing so far. Might need to start my own things but also unsure where to start and what to do. May need to develop a curriculum, etc.

[aimlessarchery]

from @viridescent-lance​

"Python! Happy birthday!" Forsyth bursts into Python's room without knocking. A common occurrence, though he's tried his best to temper it lest he intrude on something he'd like to unsee. Thankfully, Python is fully clothed and actually doing something productive, sharpening the whittling knife Forsyth had gifted him for his last birthday. It makes his heart swell a little. "I hope it's been a good one thus far. I apologize for being so late..."

Forsyth's been swamped with post-mission work, be it aftermath or catch-up. He's not one to shirk his work, but if he'd finished it a little more swiftly than normal, no one will be the wiser.

"I've come to deliver you your present, and perhaps to spend some time together?" The bottle of wine is very obvious in its shape even wrapped, but at least the archer's gloves aren't immediately guessable. Forsyth does feel a little forward, but this is something he wishes to do and he will allot himself this, especially on his partner's birthday!

"Looks like you've been popular today!" Gifts are strewn about the room, a dagger, several sets of arrows...and a beautiful, luxurious bouquet. Huh. Flowers? They're tucked away unceremoniously in the back of his room, but it's a fresh bouquet. Forsyth stifles a laugh at the thought of someone gifting Python flowers, of all things.

(Well, Forsyth did get him flowers, once, didn't he? These are exceedingly expensive, though, he can tell. And yet Python's thrown them in the back to be accidentally crushed later...)

"May I ask how you happened upon those flowers?" Forsyth picks them up carefully, making certain not to crush the blooms. They really are beautiful, and their colors seem almost perfectly aligned with Forsyth's armor, of all things.

To be quite honest, Python’s not used to his birthday being such an event. The majority of the gifts he’s received have been awkwardly deposited at his desk until he can determine where to store them. In the meantime, there’s a gift from last year to tend to. The knife that Forsyth had given him—he’d used it to carve through a bear, or at least he’d thought he had. Only the goddess knows what the hell he had actually been cutting into behind the veneer of Celephais’s illusions.

Whatever it was, it had still done a number on the blade. He scrapes it across a whetstone in an smooth, even rhythm—interrupted by the sharp staccato of his door being unceremoniously thrown open. "Crivens, Fors. You ever gonna learn how to knock?" He twists toward Forsyth in his chair with a sigh, knife still in hand. A glance is spared back toward the bouquet in question. "The flowers were from Caeda. She..." His eyes move back to Forsyth, and then to the shape of the gifts in his arms. One of them is difficult to discern, but the other is quite obvious. "...Awkward story, actually. I think I'd rather tell it over a glass of something, maybe." His eyebrows raise expectantly.

[commonguttersnipe]

I don't know why, but recently I've been obsessed with the utterly contentious relationship between the babies... I mean, the Pythons and BBC higher-ups. Once you learn how they called them "nihilistic, cruel, disgusting and with a death wish" along with allowing controllers to air a documentary or a local programme about, say, pigs, instead of that week's programme, you get to understand why the boys thought they would be better treated by penguins 🐧

I think John and Michael still hate the BBC…

[innocence-wont-save-you]

[An overseer is ‘sitting’ next to the scavenger as they look at Innocence’s sleeping form.]

Hey bud, isn’t it kinda weird our friend is uh… still sleeping? Like, we should be moving out by now. I mean I know we’ve been waiting for like, six minutes, but it feels like a month! And yeah, I know you don’t understand me.

(OOC: Heyyyy so uh, sorry if it’s rude but I didn’t see a place to submit an ask on the website so I’m asking here. Is this blog ever going to be updated in the near future? If not, do you plan to still continue it or is like, irl stuff putting weight in your shoulders? I wanna join the disc and ask questions but stupid anxiety is making me not do it. If you’re still working on it or left the project, don’t feel pressured to continue, it would be selfish of me to ask that of you.

tl;dr: I kinda just want an update on the current situation Innocence Won’t Save You is in.)

OOC: YES HI HELLO I'M STILL ALIVE THANK YOU FOR ASKING ACTUALLY

Short answer: Yes there's. Shit going on in my life. Mostly school work; this has been one of my busiest quarters so far and I'm constantly swamped with work and haven't had the free time to really sit with IWSY and work out what I want/need to do.

Longer answer: Yes there is currently no way to submit on the website I am so sorry. When I said this would move off Tumblr I meant it and I was finding ways to do that, but I kept hitting roadblocks because I started learning web dev Solely for IWSY. Ultimately my progress on the javascript tutorial stalled (due to aforementioned busyness) and other people let me know that Neocities isn't... the best place to host comments locally? So that threw a wrench into the plans.

I've admittedly not written much for IWSY in the time since I announced we'd be migrating off Tumblr. In hindsight I kind of wish I'd waited a little, but I think this quarter would have done this to me regardless of if I'd wanted to migrate or not. However, I still want to work on IWSY. This project is NOT abandoned. I'm just very busy :'D in a good way though! After a bit of a rough spell, my life right now is, without exaggeration, the best it's ever been, and aside from just plain being busy, I'm also trying to enjoy being alive for once. Unfortunately it means things have been and will continue to be very, very slow here for the foreseeable future.

But I do have a small update. I gave up on trying to code comments locally, and instead found an open source commenting plugin called Isso that I'm hoping to install on the website. Actually doing so will require time I don't currently have since I. Uh. Don't know python. But if all goes well, I will have that set up at some point, and then I can get started on scene 14. I can't guarantee anything on that while this quarter is still going on unfortunately, but I will promise you all that once my summer break starts (which is in June since my school runs on a quarter system), I'll put more time and effort into this again.

If you'd like to help get the comments set up I would deeply appreciate it, but again I don't think I can see myself writing any long form creative fiction until I have the time to dedicate my mind to it, especially given what IWSY is. I'm really sorry about that, but I'm glad to hear that you're still interested in this story! So sorry about the radio silence, I really should have updated a few times since the last post I made, but thank you again for asking and reminding me to at least say something.

So TLDR, no the story isn't dead, I'm just hella busy and trying to appreciate life.

[tonto-splace]

18.02.2024 | 16:04

I've started to work on a backend project which was actually a home task for .NET Backend Dev position with aim of developing REST API. Also started to read 'An Introduction to APIs' by Brian Cooksey'(I wish I discovered this while I was still studying, clear explanation for absolute beginners) because I figured that my C# and web skills got rusty a bit since I was using Python for a long time for both Flask projects and autonomous robot development. Application works fine right now, I tested via Postman but wanna try testing via Swagger one more time to learn what it is because the company I applied was using that. I am also planning to apply JWT authentication today and we will see how it will go.

[duskforged]

artblr/writeblr (re)intro

edit 9/24/23: updated game list

hello, one and all, to my artblr/writeblr, duskforged. my interests are massively widespread and i swear i pick up more hobbies than i care to count, so this will be my catchall art blog.

my name is hesperos wingrove, i am trans + nonbinary (they/them), and i am an artist, writer, and worldbuilder, among other things.

my preferred genre is fantasy but i sometimes dabble in historical fiction and sci-fi. i also write fanfic, draw blorbos, and try my best to not cry while learning how to code python.

i am a security guard for my day job (don't ask), and studied graphic arts at a vocational center.

my links!

more about my WIPs/projects under the cut! this includes: novels, comics, fanfics, and video games. there is quite a few of them.

For color coding: purple is considered priority within the category; red is 'stuck' or 'back burner', i enjoy the idea but am not currently working on it; green is finished (rare); blue is pre-planning/plot bunny stage/not yet posted.

NOVELS

Unto Summer Kings | wip intro | arthurian legend, fantasy, historical (ish)

Arthur lives in a lull period between greater moments in history - the fall of the Roman Empire came before he was born and the future is yet unwritten...

The Vespertine | wip intro | fantasy

Aselhi is one orphan among many on the streets of Kestramore, eking out a living as a servant in a minor household. Unlike other orphans, they're one of the vespertine, an alien people who ate through the cosmic Weft separating Moia from the other realms and setting the Causeways alight....

Lodestar | wip intro | sci-fi, speculative fiction

When Lieve was young, they used to dream of visiting Earth. Now an adult, they know that is but a wish made by a foolish child. Now, they toil on the inner asteroid belt, alongside most of their peers...

Amid Wisteria | wip intro | fantasy

Having grown up on the isolated western coast of Aeros, Arêllan ve Povunra Aelisâm is only 29 years old when their mother, the Lady Matriarch Povunra, declares they will be adopted into the esteemed Llanaere family and live in the distant capital of Maêla...

Sanctuary | wip intro | fantasy

After becoming a war hero in New Ánasezan Movement, Lady Alessámira Nasánza Solsinat is a knight who has retired from fighting. Three years have passed since the old monarchy was overthrown, and Ánaseza has finally returned to something resembling contentment and peace. Unfortunately for Alessa, darkness still lurks underneath the veneer of this new nation...

COMICS

These Absent Gods (title WIP) | fantasy

Malachi was built for war - all war demons are. But they certainly weren't built for cleaving to a pact, much less one written by an idiot and enforced by the blood of an innocent. But here's what that idiot doesn't know: the one who bleeds is the one who owns the pact. Albae is just unfortunate enough to be that sacrifice.

Cracked Prophecy (title WIP) | fantasy

It was an accident, honestly! Grand Duke Hektor was supposed to be unkillable by any man, and here's Corbin, ruining the prophecy in that final battle. Now he has the enraged chosen one, Nirsaa, on his tail, and as he is lifted to new heights within their society, he realizes something about himself that no one saw coming. (or did they?)

FANFICTION

The Hanged Man | Naruto | SI/OC-insert as Hatake Sakumo

Waking up in the body of a man the day before he's supposed to die isn't the greatest thing. Especially when I know what's going to happen to his son.

The Ever-Growing Gloaming | Baldur's Gate 3 | SI/OC-insert

It all started when Vespere tripped inelegantly through the fabric between realities directly into an illithid's vessel as it split the Planes into Baldur's Gate. On one hand, they're lucky enough to survive the experience. On the other… they have a tadpole in their head, a dream visitor they don't trust, and have somehow ended up being the face of a party of absolute fucking weirdos. Oh, and what's worse, they don't even know how to get home from here. Joy.

hope is a weapon / hope is a skill | Star Wars | SI/OC-insert, outsider POV

With the addition of the small planet of Edhen to the Republic, Senator Bryn Laverne is a new player on the field. The Clone Wars have just begun, and no one is quite sure what to make of it. Except the new senator, of course.

the stars that listen | Star Wars | AU, crack-y

Tiring of the Order's treatment of his padawan, Obi-Wan takes Anakin back to Tattooine with every intention of freeing first Shmi, and then the planet as a whole. This snowballs into a desire to free the entire galaxy from slavery and other systemic woes. Obi-Wan just didn't anticipate all but stealing half the Jedi Order doing it.

Winter Wakes The Wolves | Game of Thrones | OC-insert (sorta), crack-y

They don't know how they ended up here, but each one of them knows what will happen at Harrenhal. They're desperate to change the timeline, and clearly the best way to do that... is to bring an industrial revolution to the North. (Four random people get inserted into the bodies of Brandon, Eddard, Lyanna, and Benjen Stark a month before Eddard goes to foster at the Eyrie.) Inspired by Red Pill, Blue Pill (Falling Into Wonderland) by writing_as_tracey

Trickling | MCU/Thor | time-travel, genderbending

Loki dies on the Statesman and awakes in their childhood bedroom on Asgard, centuries before the Avengers would be born. Alas, this timeline is one step to the left, and they're left in the body of a little girl - not a little boy. Inspired by the Song of the Yggdrasill by Valerie_Vancollie.

(more TBD)

GAMES

WORDLORE | fantasy/ISEKAI?

You don't know how you ended up here, but you do know that wherever this is, it isn't Earth. You suppose you're lucky you haven't died of some sort of alien disease or exploded into hives from an allergic reaction. But now you have a new cellmate, and they seem hellbent on teaching you a language you've no context for...