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carboniteprincess · 3 years

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Warnings: 18+, Minors DNI, Canon-typical violence, mentions of blood, character death, murder, you're literally a rebel sniper, it's enemies to lovers boba is not going to be nice to you yet, love at first fist fight, I cannot stress this enough, ENEMIES TO LOVERS, he's kind of arrogant? but he's young give him time

Pairing: Boba Fett x F! Reader | 2.0k words

You're arguably the best sniper in the entire rebel alliance, with hundreds of high ranking Imperial officials on your belt. When you're given the order to kill Boba Fett, you are under the impression that this would be like any other mission. Unfortunately, he seems to have great skill of getting out of situations that aren't in his favor. Now you're on Tatooine, where your comrade Orda has lured him into discussing business in a shady restaurant under the guise of being an Imperial Commander. His luck has to run out at some point, and you intend that to be today.

Crossposted on Ao3!

Being a rebel wasn't as glamorous as you thought. You weren't conducting high-level espionage or anything of the like. Instead, your penchant for sniping was homed in on, making you one of, if not the best in the entire squad. The only flaw you had, was arrogance. Never have you let a target walk away, never have you allowed yourself into a tight spot.

You were always ahead of the enemy, so when your general gave you the order to kill Boba Fett. You assumed it would be an easy in and out job, perhaps he would've posed a threat to other members of your squad. But to you it would be simple, right? Unfortunately not.

This is your third attempt at some kind of ambush, luring him into a perfect position. Mandalorian armor had few weak points, meaning you had to meticulously spend hours figuring out where would land a good, clean blow. His neck. If angled correctly, one tilt of his helmet and it would be over. Right through the jugular, no more bounty hunter. Another imperial dog to add to your list.

If he would just turn his head, a little more to the right. Sweat beads on your forehead, eyes focused down the scope. Being a good assassin was all about your ability to linger, to wait. You're positioned on a balcony, a blind spot to the restaurant below. Your associate kept him talking under the guise of being an Imperial Commander, negotiating pay for the next rebel target. Boba Fett sits across from him, drink untouched. If you could see his face you'd swear he seemed bored. His legs wide open, leaning back nonchalantly.

Fingers clenching on the trigger, you close your left eye. It wasn't like you enjoyed your job, when this war was over you'd swore to never lift a weapon again. The Empire made you, molding you like clay into a perfect killer. A painful truth, a driving force. Your parents. Both were medical professionals, caught smuggling medication to the galaxy's poorest. Promptly executed and then you, an orphan. A street urchin, nothing more.

It wasn't long into your teens that you heard of the resistance, your heart burned with a want of revenge. So you got stronger, learned how to use a blaster, pilot and any skills that would make you useful to their cause. But you weren't a rebel, not really. You didn't care for politics, didn't even bother listening to the speeches about restoring the Republic. It didn't matter to you, but what did matter was taking out as many Imperials as you could before you die in battle or finally become numb to the anger.

Self-preservation was no concern of yours, and that made you dangerous. A loose cannon, hot-tempered, and scarily a woman. You were used to being underestimated by your peers on gender, height, birth planet…. and you were the one who gets the high-profile missions. You were the one who has the highest accuracy, years of practice which left your trigger finger calloused, and every other emotion muted.

Boba Fett had become a real thorn in your side. Threatening your record, career and possibly your sanity. His uncanny talent for escaping situations, even if all cards were against him, was exasperating. You would be lying if you didn't have some modicum of respect for him though, you were somewhat alike. Respect, no matter how great, does not destroy a death warrant.

Someday soon his luck would run out, and it would be you at the other end of the blaster. That day was today. Lips twitching into a smirk, you watch his neck turn. Bingo. You steady your rifle, pulse pounding in your ears. At last, this mission would be over. You'd become a legend, the woman who killed Boba Fett.

Bang. You take the shot, accurate as ever. A hum leaves your lips, watching him fall to the ground. Your calculations were correct, there was a weak point. Every armor has one, even Mandalorian. It was like a drug, the puzzle pieces clicking together with every fragility you discovered.

The restaurant below descends into chaos, even the bartender is panicking. All guests rushing from their tables, abandoning their meals as your associate checks the man's pulse. You stare down your scope, watching the ordeal. He gives a thumbs-up, definitely dead. A buzz in your ear alerts you to a comlink.

"He's dead. But I think you'll want to come down here." Orda replies through static. Your brow creases, what the hell could've gone wrong. Muscles twitching with irritation, you make your way through the currently uninhabited building. You were ordered to avoid collateral damage by all means necessary, a false fire alarm did the job well.

Your feet tap against the stairs as you make quick work of assessing your surroundings— if something is wrong, then it's always better safe than sorry. It seemed to be all clear, so you proceeded out the door and onto the street. This area of Mos Eisley was pretty habitable, aside from the abundance of criminal undertakings. Dust kicks as you march into the restaurant, pushing through various guests who were piling out at lightspeed.

With a gruff, you finally make it to the rooftop, an exclusive VIP spot which proved difficult to doctor identity necessary to enter. You're about to start asking what the hell could've been so important that he dragged you down here, but your eyes meet Orda's now slumped body, face down with all color residing. A frustrated sigh leaves you, he was a good man. Even worse, he was a great rebel. His heart was in it, unlike yours. He shouldn't have been the casualty here. You reach down, pulling out his identichip and stashing it in your pocket. An action that you've taken with far too many of your comrades.

Painfully you pull yourself from Orda's body, standing upright. Lingering would be a deathwish, whoever killed Orda was skilled. An impressive marksman, obviously one of Boba's accomplices who mistakenly thought he was the one that shot him. You could go over what-ifs later, right now you were going to finish the fucking job.

The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky in crimson constellations as the wind settled. Inspecting Boba's body was your primary concern, whatever Orda discovered, it cost him his life. You were determined to find out what exactly it was, from a glance it seemed like Boba Fett. With a grimace, you move his drooping head around. Concerningly heavier than expected, beskar is light and durable.

You hook your fingertips under the helmet, pulling it off and coming face to face with…. not your target. Fuck. You'd be deceived, spectacularly. Knuckles white, feeling bile in your throat threatening to explode in a cocktail of frustration and admiration. The crudely made edges of the helmet abrasive against your palm, a reminder of your failure.

Without a second thought, your balled fist comes into contact with the wall, encasing the helmet and sending tendrils of pain, a shock wave through your arm as you verbalize your confliction with a strangled scream. Orda died for nothing, you were a joke. Everything you had built, buried and locked away was floating to the surface.

But you haven't felt this alive in years. Being outsmarted, so cunningly sent a morbid thrill up your spine. You could almost laugh, had you not heard footsteps approaching. Impulsively your hand fell to your blaster, making a mental note to thank your teacher for always carrying more than one.

"Surely you didn't believe it was that easy to kill me." Before he can finish you turn, firing your blaster in his direction. Of course, his armor deflects it with ease. "I must admit, I'm impressed. Not everyone could distinguish beskar through weight alone." A snort leaves him at your feeble attempt to hold ground, looking over your pathetic secondary weapon that could barely injure an Ewok.

"Go thing I'm not everyone then." You stand, keeping your right arm extended, blaster aimed at his inner thigh. It wouldn't kill him, however it would allow ample time for escape. "You killed my friend." He's circling you now. "Who's your Intel? How did you know I'd be here?"

"You are hardly in the position to be making demands, little rebel." Another chuckle, you'd heard of him toying with his advisories before, but this was different. A teacher disciplining a student.

"You're going to kill me anyway, what's the harm." You huff, shrugging. He stops pacing, chewing over your words.

"Killing you would be a waste." That bastard. "Of my time and resources." He adds matter-of-factly.

"Orda wasn't?" You spit, voice cracking in frustration. Figuring out what made others tick was your specialty, but the lack of motivation and reason within Boba's actions is what baffled you.

"That was a favor." He sounds like you should be grateful, almost insulted that you hadn't figured it out yet even with him practically dangling the answer in front of you. Perhaps you weren't as clever as he thought.

"A—favor? How would killing my comrade benefit me!" You reply astounded, cheeks burning red, hand shaking on your blaster.

You think for a second, taking your eyes off him. Why did it take until after the kill for Orda to realize what was wrong with the body… He isn't… wouldn't…could've of… you've been double-crossed. "He wouldn't— I've spent months with him—"

"And every little thing you did, he told me." His admission is calm, you look over Orda's body, no longer do you feel remorse. Just shame. You couldn't even see betrayal under your nose.

You walk closer to him, the barrel of your blaster getting dangerously close. Nothing could stop you from finishing your mission right now, but he's letting you. Knowledge is far more appealing than rewards in the resistance.

With your grip around the handle tight, you slam it down across his helmet, your knee reaching his groin. "You're very easy to fool." A smirk replaces the look of misery on your face, it was a dangerous game to pretend to let your guard down. Your risk paid off, managing to get a shot at his thigh.

Swiftly, you press all your weight on him, knocking him back just enough to make a run for the edge of the balcony. He groans in pain, you're so close to the edge, escape almost in your grasp— when a grappling hook wraps around your ankle.

You struggle against the cold floor, doing anything you can to wriggle free from his grasp.

It's fruitless, as soon as he's in reach you're kicking him, hurtling all kinds of abuse. Your attempts to wrestle him are almost comical and in a frenzy, you grip the only thing that seems viable. His Helmet. You manage to free it, your fingers hooking under and pulling it off his head, sending it on the floor beside you. For a moment you're the one stunned, not him.

Dark curls frame his face, a beautiful border to tanned skin. His nose is prominent but compliments his features. Scars pepper his face, but he's young. Younger than you thought. You watch as his forehead crinkles in anger, hands pinning yours beside your head.

Wasting no time, you bring your head to crack his, sending him back with a kick to the stomach. Your nose pours from impact, dripping onto the floor as you clamber to your feet.

"This isn't over." You hear his voice, unmodified. You rush to the edge, peering over and assessing if you can land in one of the speeders below. He stands, trying to rush over to stop you. "Don't!"

With a wink, you throw yourself over the side. In seconds you're hurtling onto the street, watching a bare-faced Boba Fett grow smaller with each passing second. His eyes are widened in either admiration or shock for your bravery.

He eventually dares to look over and finds that you're gone. Whoever you were, he finally had a worthy opponent. He would find you again. His little rebel.

#boba fett x reader #boba fett #boba fett x female reader #the mandalorian #star wars #fic #mine #this fic is lowkey my baby #and there def will be a chapter 2 I'm just stupid and can't work ao3 #anyway #enjoy💖#I know I know I'm bad at proof reading #I try

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supercharmed-forever-mine · 3 years

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Today I will be addressing SuperCorp and some of the issues that have been floating around about fandom. And I will be saying some stuff that both is for it and could be used against it even though I am ultimately a super big supercorp fan. Like it says in the tags you're free to express your opinion but they will not be changing mine but I am always open-minded to opinions that can actually be explained and eloquently expressed (receipt's needed) and aren't just basic. Also just so what is noted I have been a part of this fandom since the first episode I have literally shipped Kara with everyone from Lucy to Cat even James.But Lena has just stuck out the most for me but I'm Equal opportunity.

Number #1, Lena's character in no way shape or form has ever been xenophobic she has never once shown any hate towards aliens her problem with Kara in season 5 Wasn't because she was an alien it was because she was a "Super" like Kara could have been a flying purple fucking octopus from the planet of shzjxfdf and Lena wouldn't have gave two fucks but no she was a "Super"but let's dig deeper on that point if we really look at why she was mad it wasn't even the whole alien aspect it was because she wasn't told and no I don't think she's entitled to it but I do think it played into the fact of a trust issue she has with the fact that people would think she would be just like Lex if she had been told Sooner. Which is disproved in 5x13 (also personal note: I also think she wouldn't have reacted half as bad if Kara had just told her that night at game night or the next day when she wanted to probably still would have been pissed but not to the same extent). But okay with that being said I do disagree with the kryptonite entrapment torture scene and basically half the s*** she did in season 5 it was shown that she truly can tap into her Luthor side and be dark when wanted but fortunately she does always return to the light and in all fairness it has been shown several times that Kara has a dark side of her own that could rival the luthors.

Number #2, I do disagree with the abuse of actresses and actors just because of a ship and or character they play don't blame them it's just a job they have I think Melissa and Katie do a beautiful job of bringing Kara and Lena's characters to life couldn't imagine anybody else playing them.

Number #3, I also will say about the reason bombarding of comments on Nicole's social media at least I saw the video via tiktok in that video was fucking hilarious I love Nia, Dreamer,and Nicole in general she's funny and beautiful and is an advocate for everything good in life and well it is normal to even ask other actors if they have the scoop on anything it does not mean we need to be bombarding them in videos on something relating to their character or their love of something a simple comment or so maybe but what I saw NO.

Number #4, The William of it all well I think though his character seems like a nice gentleman he also seems to be bland as hell also I did not know he was a POC to be honest I thought he was a tan white man and we'll be doing further research on people in the future as I can learn from my ignorance also but unrelated I did not know that the woman who played Maggie was apparently just a tan white woman I thought she was of some sort of Hispanic descent but apparently not according to various things I've read on here tonight... But anyways back to William I feel like a lot of people might have perceived him as a white man therefore that might play into the whole scenario of people hate that they just want two white woman together when it proves if she was a man they wouldn't give two f**** about it whether that's true or not I don't know but mine two cents.

Number #5, I will never bash someone for being for or against a certain ship and or character and well I am allowed to certainly disagree with their opinion all opinions are valid because we all see the world a different way some see it bright and shiny and others like I'll admit myself see it through the glasses of trauma. And I think that's why we all have the opinions we do most of the time when you like a shipper character it's because you relate to them somehow even if it's the most minor thing to someone else it might be huge for you. You never know what the person on the other side of the screen is going through in those characters or ship or fanfiction might have literally saved their lives.

Sidenote: Like okay personal story I was been both mentally and sexually abused as a child so I relate to both Kara and Lena respective childhood trauma so that draws me to them. And I kind of see them both as the opposite attract trope (two side of the same coin) because well we never fully get over trauma Kara had a great support system with the Danvers whereas Lena didn't get that with the luthors I mean sure she had Lex at first but even that was only to a certain extent because of his psychopathy that was starting to manifest he couldn't perceive human emotions the same as Lena who in my opinion is just a big mushy nerd who can be a badass when needed as evident by the season 6 episodes after she's quit L-Corp she's constantly trying to help out inventing new stuff and she's wondering how Nia's suit works and it just shows that she just has a curious mind and also she looks happier even with the guilt she feels over Kara's phantom zone incident when Nia called her a part of the family that smile could lit up a city all she's ever wanted is to belong and I can relate to that therefore to her.

Number #6, I feel like this should have been addressed in earlier number but as far as sexuality goes I would want to believe Kara is pansexual because of everything I've ever read and saw I don't believe she perceived sexuality like humans do because of her Kryptonian upbringing for the first good chunk of the life. Like even though she says she's not gay in the first episode, A. It was the first episode so they didn't even know where the story was going in future seasons if they got them also that means maybe she just didn't perceive herself as the Earth's definition of gay. B. Even in the first season she made a comment about how she bought Lucy was gorgeous and hell she would date her. C. She made some comments about Irma and other woman that don't sound totally heterosexual and don't get me wrong women can admire the beauty and intelligence of other women without it being sexual but as a bisexual woman it just struck a cord in me you can tell the difference when it's coming from a straight woman mouth. Now on the subject of her and Lena strictly I do think there are instances of "queerbaiting"because just because you perceive they haven't been promised to us doesn't mean that some of us haven't picked up on things or the fact that they're simply queerbating because somehow they do hype up Kara and Lena to keep a nice chunk of the audience who ships them mainly those of the gay variety interested in the show which is also considered queerbaiting. Also the fact that they've been called sisters or family or my personal favorite "that's what friends are for"doesn't mean crap because honestly at this point the overuse of friends just sounds more like they're trying to convince themselves than us.*** Also I don't know about you but even on the basic level of things they've done I've never shown half those feelings towards my friends and the ones I have it's because I started to think of them as more than friends.

Now with Lena's sexuality no they have never shown her as anything besides straight canonically but don't get me wrong she totally sends off that college experimentation vibe especially with Andrea for some reason but that may just be me.

Number #7, my main point is let's just be kind to one another because guess what there is toxicity from every ship in a fandom there will always be shitty people on both sides and then there will be those of us who just want to see the characters together for one reason or another and yes I'm not afraid to admit that part of my reasons I want to see two gorgeous woman kiss sue me LOL.

Number #8, the conclusion of my rant is that how about we leave the hating to the ones who want to do that and the rest of us like adults or whatever your age is in the fandom that has any type of maturity behave because I truly do wish the best and in the end well I hope they end up together I'm realistic that they probably won't especially due to the CW Network motto of "homophobia and racism"because they've already broken up several good gay and interracial couples on that show. But at the end of the day my true wish is just that all of the characters end up happy and healthy.

Best of luck to all shippers out there anti and supercorp and or any other couple alike may we try to make it out of this with a modicum of sanity and even if they fail us we always have fanfiction thank you and good night.

#SuperCorp #anti supercorp #anti lena luthor #supercorp endgame #melissa benoist #katie mcgrath #william dey #supergirl #wlw ship

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adragonhoardingstories · 4 years

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Of Blood and Bonds - Chapter 5

"Father you know I respect you." Damian said and everyone at the dining table stilled as they were about to get up and leave. "But I must admit, as my brothers would say, you've majorly fucked up."

Bruce sighed. He had thought about that - had Alfred scold him for having benched Damian - for doing as Damian had said and taking out his anger about his own failures on his other children. But that didn't make this any easier.

"Damian I know you're mad I didn't tell you about your sister-"

"Oh this is not about that. Well not entirely. They are connected but this is not about Marinette alone." When no one spoke, he took it as his cue to continue.

"You saw in her files that there were some vague details about her being possessed by an akuma. Did you figure out what they are? Because I have an its not pretty. Actually, it's bad enough to warrant an intervention of the Justice League as a whole but my sister tells me that they were told not to waste the JL's time."

His youngest's face was worryingly blank. It reminded him of all the times he was set upon something and right now it seemed that his new focus was his older sister. Bruce supposed, he should be thankful that Damian's attention towards her was not of the murderous kind.

"What do you mean?" He made sure to keep his voice free from emotions.

"From what she told me, they asked for help several times until someone from the JL dismissed their problems as a prank, a joke without any investigation or anything about their claims."

Someone was going to be hearing from Batman soon.

"And what about the akumas?"

"It's enough to need more than one member of the JL. I've see a video of one of the attacks, it's...horrifying and according to Marinette it was one of the tamer ones."

"Do you have them?" His sons all looked annoyed and he knew they were probably thinking that he was letting superhero work take precedence over his family again. But that was how he worked. He didn't know what to do about the situation with Marinette but this - this could find a solution to.

"There are videos of them online."

Damian seemed to take that as his cue to get up and walk away.

"I'll play the videos in the cave."

Marinette hadn't necessarily had the best time in the last years but one thing he had definitely learned was who were her real friends and who weren't.

It was before the worst month of her life but things had already started taking a turn for the worse for her at that point.

Her so called friends all started to believe Lila over her, started to - as she now knew - emotionally blackmail her, only gave her the time of the day whenever she did something for them or to scold her for whatever she apparently did for poor Lila.

She was oh so tired and every second she wasted made her feel more guilty.

Hawkmoth had come back more enraged than ever after the Miracle Queen incident and she had done the mistake of lending the more Miraculous out.

She had given Kagami and Luka both different Miraculous for them to fight alongside her because they both have strong spirits and a good resonance with several kwamis but... let's just say that she would never forgive herself for what they had to experience because of her.

In desperation, she tried to find other holders that she hadn't used before who resonated but that...that had been a huge mistake. She almost lost more than one Miraculous that day.

She was their Guardian. And that day she vowed that she would die first before letting something happen to the Kwamis.

She was fighting alone now. Chat Noir...Chat Noir was even more pushy about revealing themselves after the the chaos that had occured. He hindered more than he helped, never showing up on time.

Things had come to head one day as she walked into class. The whole incident had involved a bunch of sheep and a ripped sketchbook - hers to be precise.

It proved to actually be a relief to let go if them. She had never realized how much their 'friendship' had been dragging her down.

I got permission to use this fic as a reference for her backstory so check it out. Thanks for that btw.

That experience proved to be helpful later when she felt like there was no one she could trust.

Apprenticeship with Master Fu had since long taught her that it was better to feel than to see. She had learnt to recognise auras rather than faces and in the end that might have been her saving grace - or well at least the start of her path back to sanity.

She had learnt to see and remember the auras of her friends rather than anything else because afterall the soul didn't lie.

After everything, well her reliance on auras had only increased.

Meeting her brothers had been amazing and even more so now that it seemed that they wanted to have a relationship with her.

But one things that bothered her were their auras.

It wasn't that they were bad - it was that they were scarred, hardened and she could basically see that they had suffered in the past.

The worst of them were probably Jason and Damian. Their auras made it very clear that they had been dipped in the Lazarus pits.

Jason...Jason's soul had been corrupted at such a point that she doubted that the pits had been used for anything less than bringing him back from the dead.

And Damian - Damian's soul seemed to have some of the pits as a foundation. She gathered that he had been dunked into the pools more than once when he was a child. There was something else in his aura too that showed that he had died not long ago too.

There was also another aura that seemed to have to have linked with both of them which made her sure of their last fates and Marinette shuddered to think what had happened to them.

She had to remind herself that the past was in the past and while she couldn't change that, she could at least help them have a better future.

So, one could say, that she was nervous for this upcoming dinner.

The dinner didn't go as expected - at all.

Firstly, they were late. All of her brothers and sister were late, very very late. Marinette was not impressed, especially give that Damian wasn't answering his phone.

But this was Gotham, the few kwamis she had brought with her reasoned, there was probably a problem and wasn't it better that were safe inside than stuck outside and hurt?

Just as she was about to say screw it and transform using the fox Miraculous to see if she could help the bats, she felt the magic around the house shift.

Marinette focused in the disturbance and closed her eyes reaching out for their auras. She soon snapped her eyes open and let a smile come on her face - she knew those auras. But why were they entering from the window?

Marinette shrugged it off and signalled the kwamis to hide while she went to greet them.

She was not ready for the sight that she came upon. Her siblings were all in a state of disarray and it looked like they were trying to be silent.

They were of course failing miserably given what seemed to be a bullet wound in Jason and a stab would in Dick and the rest of them all seemed to have been beat up to at least some degree.

"What the fuck?" Marinette felt like the situation called for her language to be excused.

They all froze in place before slowly turning to look at her.

"Uh hey." Dick or should she say Nightwing because apparently she wasn't stressed enough gave her a short wave.

She cursed and buried her face in her hands. "Of course I can't have normal siblings."

"Siblings?" Black Bat seemed suprised. She couldn't recognize her aura, Marinette decided that she must have been Cassandra.

"You must be confused ma'am." Red Robin jumped in and Marinette rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid Timothy." And then just to prove her point she point at each one of them in turn. "Jason, Dick, Damian and who I'm guessing is Cassandra."

"What makes you say that?" Tim seemed to be ever the player of words.

She sighed, knowing they wouldn't budge until she proved that she truely believed her words.

"Well, why else would you be here?"

"Uh because it was the nearest place we found to nurse our wounds and last time we checked this place was abandoned?"

"Let's say that's true. Wouldn't it make more sense for you to go a place where you could actually have access to supplies to treat your wounds? Not to mention the fact that that-" she pointed at the hole in Jason's shoulder. "-is a bullet wound and I heard no gunshot. And lastly, what a coincidence it is that Black Bat who is known to work in Hong Kong comes back to Gotham at the same time as my sister Cassandra who from what I've heard also is currently living in Hong Kong too."

No one replied.

"So do you want to continue arguing or are you idiots going to let me help you before you bleed all over my floor."

Unsurprisingly it was Damian who moved the first - it made sense, he was the one who had spent most time with her and at least had a modicum of trust in her.

He removed his mask and met her eyes. "Do you have a first-aid kit?"

She nodded. "Get in the bathroom and get those two in the tub." She nodded towards Dick and Jason. I'll bring it to you."

Marinette hurried to her bed room to find her probably over-packed first aid kit. She had brought it for herself so that in case of a bad akuma attack she could take care of her wounds - after all her cure took care of everyone else before her, she had enough scars to prove that not that she could distinguish them from those the cat had given her.

She was glad to see that they had followed her instructions. Jason and Dick were seated in her honestly huge tub and they along with the rest had made themselves comfortable, having discarded their armor.

She placed the first-aid kit down and kneeled next to Dick. She felt that the stove would in the stomach took more precedence.

Jason reached out for the kit but Marinette batted his hand away.

"You're injured, sit down quietly." She snapped and to everyone's surprise, he did as he was told.

Marinette started treating their wounds, thanking the kwamis that she had done a medical course as soon as she had realised that her wounds could not heal from the cure.

She had finally taken care of the more dangerous wounds and Marinette had enough of them squirming so she broke the silence "So, why in the world did you come here instead of going to your hyper-tech batcave with most certainly more medical facilities than my humble abode?"

She had to supress a smile as the boys looked among themselves. Finally it was Cassandra that replied.

"Did not want to miss dinner. You."

"Well you were already two hours late, you could just have sent me a text that you'd be a little more late."

"Didn't want to take chance."

Marinette smiled up at her. "Well I'm done, come on, I'll get you some clothes to change into."

"I don't think you'll have anything that will fit us."

"I'm a designer." She called over her shoulder. "I always have spares. Anyways, Cassandra-"

"Cass."

"Right, well Cass come with me, we're about the same size, you can take something of mine."

She led Cass to her bedroom and guided her to her wardrobe while she picked something for the boys.

She totally hadn't hoped to see her siblings during this trip and had this made something for them. Nope. Absolutely not.

She handed each of them their clothes. "Choose a room if you want, I have more than enough of them, then come down, I'm re-heating the food."

She smiled at Damian as he came down the stairs. "I tried my hand at some Arabic food. I hope you like it."

The boy looked awed. He walked to her and gave her a hug. "You're my new favourite sibling." Marinette laughed and pressed a kiss in his hair. "I love you too little brother."

She heard the disbelieving whisper of Demon Spawn? And looked up to see the rest.

She squeezed Damian's shoulder one last time before she pulled away, guiding him to sit down.

"Well dig in. You must be famished after your fight."

They did exactly that and soon were making their appreciation known.

"It's the first time I've attempted Arabic food, I don't know if I got the spices right.*

"It's delicious Pixie Pop. Don't worry.*

"Todd's right Mari. I haven't eaten anything this good since I came to Gotham."

"Really? Alfred didn't immediately dote on you and cook you all the food you wanted. "

He looked uncomfortable. "I was a difficult child back then."

"Was?" Jason snorted while Dick elbowed him.

Casssandra intervened. "You good at cleaning wounds. Hands stable."

"Yes well unfortunately it's not the first time I've had to do this."

"How come?"

"Did Damian tell you about the akuma attacks?" They nodded. "Well, Paris had since adapted to handle the akuma attacks. A lot of people have taken medical courses for extensive first aid to be able to help the unfortunate victims of an akuma."

"I thought that your superhero reversed all the damage."

"Well yeah. But Ladybug was insistent to make it clear that they couldn't bank everything on her. If she's taken down, everything's lost."

"This has been going for how many years. How do you still trust that hero?"

"And for how many years have the Joker been spreading his terror?" She asked drily and saw several of them recoil - Jason and Tim especially.

"Ladybug is doing all that she can only get so far with Chat Noir around."

"Chat Noir? I thought that he was her partner?"

"He's supposed to be but we'll these days he causes more trouble than he stops. People hope he doesn't show up because the battles are always over quicker when he's not there." She could see that they wanted to ask more but number one she didn't want to talk about Chat Noir and number two she felt like if she continued talking, she would slip up and say something she shouldn't know and the risk of them catching it was greater since they were themselves heroes.

"And anyways, Hawkmoth only comes out in a blue moon and that's only when he has a lot of faith in his plans."

"So there are a lot of these akuma attacks?"

"I guess it's kind of become a daily event by this point. People plan stuff taking it into consideration and if we're unlucky, there will be more than one in a day."

"So what type of akumas are there?"

"It depends really over what you've been akumatized. We've had a Pharaon, a Mime, Mr Pigeon and Mr Rat as well as Syren in the first year."

"Those seem like... interesting characters." Jason said.

"Wait until you hear this." Marinette snorted. "We had a Batman knock-off once, Owlman - he had his own electronic butler and everything."

The bats shared a look before they all bursted out laughing at once.

How could they not, imagining Bruce's face upon learning of this?

"You need to tell us this story."

Marinette was more than eager to comply.

It's too long so I'm gonna reblog the rest

#MLB X DC #torture #mentions of rape #lila salt #adrien salt #maribat #platonic daminette

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vanquisher2099 · 5 years

Text

Part One: A Waitress Walks Into a Bar

Jennifer Stock woke up grumpy, which was nothing new. She was exhausted, because she’d had to work overtime the day before and she’d need to work overtime today too if she wanted to make rent. It didn’t help that her bed was barely held together and the mattress was, at a conservative estimate, at least twenty years old. The apartment had provided furniture, but it was clearly the same furniture it had provided its first tenant when the building opened decades ago, and everything seemed to have a patina of grime on it that Jennifer, at least, had never been able to get rid of.

The center of the apartment’s single room was dominated by a table which seemed to function as a place to eat as well as a place to keep an old analog computer setup, from a time when a computer meant a separate box connected to various peripherals. Jennifer activated the monitor just long enough to scan the news (which was mostly concerned with the anniversary of the agricultural scandal four years ago) before shutting it back off and making her way to the kitchen area to rummage through mostly empty cabinets in an effort to find something she could call breakfast. That turned out to be a half bag of chips and a cup of coffee which, at least, was relatively warm.

A quick shower later and she was out the door, headed for the diner to serve coffee and fried foods to the other people unfortunate enough to be awake at five in the morning. The diner, which was in the midst of its third redesign (it had started as a 1990s retro coffee shop, shifted to a sci-fi inspired Diner of the Future look, and was now deep in what passed for ‘modern’ design, meaning that it was a lot of stainless steel surfaces and natural lighting), was predictably empty, as the early morning rush didn’t really start until six. Jennifer was okay with this, of course, because it gave her an hour or so to actually finish waking up.

There was, of course, the usual crap from the manager, who had put quite a lot of his life into the upkeep of this place and would be damned if he saw it lack for anything. He also had a thoroughly annoying habit of ending most sentences with a “hmmm?” as if everything he said was a rhetorical question. “Jennifer, I noticed your tables’ condiment caddies have gotten a little disorganized, hmmm?” “Jennifer, table four seems like they want to speak to you, hmmm?”

Jennifer, for her part, ignored it and occasionally flipped him off when he wasn’t looking. It gave her a modicum of satisfaction, and her fellow employee, a young dark-haired woman named Clarissa, seemed to think it was hilarious. Like most service industry jobs, small acts of rebellion were often necessary in order to maintain sanity during a torrent of requests from customers convince they were right in all things (because they’d been told so by the sign on the wall that promised they were), even when they most definitely were not. Jennifer liked some of the regulars just fine, but it was the people passing through that tended to give her the most trouble – people who weren’t interested in taking time to realize their server was a human, and maybe worthy of the minimum amount of respect humans should get. Or worse, the ones who didn’t realize (or care to realize) the difference between being polite and being flirtatious. Unfortunately, customer service frowned on the practice of breaking fingers.

It was, in short, another perfectly boring day – the sort of workday that feels just slightly too long than it should, where the body is convinced it’s worked for twelve hours about four hours in. Jennifer finally took her lunch break, which meant (for her) walking down the street to a different café that at least had an outdoor patio where she could sit in relative silence and begin mustering the necessary strength of will to go through another four hours of waiting tables. That was, at any rate, her plan until she was rudely interrupted by someone sitting down directly across from her. Jennifer was not easily startled, and merely looked up with a raised eyebrow.

“Normally,” she said mildly, “People ask before they sit down at a table that is clearly occupied. It’s considered polite.”

The intruder, an old man wearing a suit and an amused expression, did not appear to feel any particular chagrin for his rudeness. “You’re a difficult woman to find, Miss Stock. Were you aware of that?”

Jennifer snorted. “You know my name, so I’m sure even a cursory search on the net would make me shockingly easy to locate.”

“Ah yes, but knowing your name – that’s the real trick, isn’t it? You have so many of them.”

“I have two, assigned at birth by my parents, just like everyone else.”

This got a laugh from the old man. “Ah yes, of course. The esteemed Mr. and Mrs. Stock, who nobody seems to remember, even though they’ve got quite the comprehensive history – houses, birth certificates, parents of their own, even – going all the way back to their ancestors from the 1900s. A most notable family if they existed, which I think we’re both well-aware of that they didn’t.”

“That’ll come as a surprise to them,” Jennifer said evenly. “Dad will probably take it pretty hard.”

“You’re committed to the bit, I’ll give you that.” The old man said, still smiling in a way Jennifer was beginning to find infuriating. “But no matter – I’m not here to debate whether or not your name is really Jennifer Stock, or if it’s Theresa Cunningham, or maybe Elise Karter, or whatever other name you’ve used in the last three years. I, certainly, am not paid to care who you claim to be. I was paid for a very simple task, which, if you’ll permit me just a moment, I shall complete now.”

It would have taken a very observant eye to see Jennifer’s body tense slightly, preparing to spring into action. The old man possessed, as it turned out, a very observant eye. He raised his hands gently. “Now now, there’s no need for that. I was paid to deliver a message, and, if you’ll permit me to reach very slowly and deliberately into my jacket here, I shall slide it across the table to you – face down, of course. After that, you never see me again, nobody in this café gets dragged into any kind of collateral damage situation, and you remain a simple waitress in a small town. Does that sound agreeable to you?”

The slight tension in Jennifer’s posture relaxed, and she shrugged. “Well, I have no idea who you think I am, but if there’s no dissuading you, feel free to pass on whatever message you think it is I’m supposed to get. Make it fast though – my lunch break’s almost over.”

With, as promised, a slow and deliberate motion, the old man reached into his pocket and withdrew a small piece of paper which he placed on the table and slid over to Jennifer. Then, with an equally slow and deliberate motion, he stood from the table and nodded in parting. “There, that was rather easy, don’t you think? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I too have other business matters that I must see to today. Goodbye, Miss Stock.”

Jennifer, for her part, nodded back and watched the old man slowly make his way down the street. When he was out of sight, she looked down at the message with an expression that was half-curious, half-annoyed. With a huff, she stuck the note in her pocket without reading it, paid for her lunch, and headed back to the diner for the rest of her shift. If she seemed to be a little more terse than usual, her boss didn’t notice. After the shift was finally over and Jennifer headed for her car, Clarissa waved her down to ask for a ride, and Jennifer, unable to think of a reason not to, acquiesced.

“Hey,” Clarissa said, with all the subtlety of the young, “You seemed kind of pissed after lunch today. Something happen?”

Jennifer sighed. “I ran into some old man who claimed we knew each other. The whole thing was awkward and uncomfortable.”

“Sounds like it. Who did he think you were?”

“No idea. He just kept trying to make conversation and I just wanted to be left alone. He got the hint eventually, but it kind of ruined my lunch break, you know?” Jennifer sighed. “Guess I should count myself lucky he didn’t get violent or anything.”

Clarissa took this all in and nodded agreement. As Jennifer pulled over in front of Clarissa’s building, she suddenly seemed to remember something. “Hey, some of my friends and I were planning a get-together later this week. You wanna come along?”

It was difficult to tell, Jennifer thought, whether Clarissa was just being polite, or if she genuinely was making some kind of overture of friendship, and both possibilities filled her with a low sort of anxiety. Either way, a little socialization would probably do her some good. Jennifer grinned. “Yeah, I think I do!”

Clarissa seemed delighted. “It’s a date! I’ll text you the details as soon as I’ve got ‘em, okay?” She bounded out of the car and headed into her building before Jennifer had the chance to change her mind. Jennifer spent the few minutes it took to drive to her own house torn between feeling pleased with herself for being social and wondering if she’d made a mistake. She only remembered the note in her pocket when it fell out as she was changing out of her work clothes, and it brought a decisive end to much of any thinking about future parties.

The note, as it turned out, was handwritten in a small, difficult-to-parse script, perhaps as a way of displaying its authenticity. Certainly, Jennifer thought wryly, it would offend a forger to write so sloppily. The note consisted of two sentences. The first read, “You could have told me.” The second, “She’s still looking for you.” At the bottom of the note were two letters which served as the signature: M.M.

“Well.” Jennifer said, to nobody in particular. Then, after a moment, “Fuck.”

Part Two

Prologue

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colorofinsanity · 5 years

Text

Sandalwood

Maybe trigger warning, themes of PTSD.

“Come now, Systina.” the faerie purred. “You and I were made for each other! Together we could propel our kingdoms into further greatness.” His grip tightened on her wrist, a small action that kept Morgan pinned and betrayed his kind smile and soft speech.

“I don’t need your greatness.” Morgan retorted, trying to twist out of his grasp. “And if you continue to annoy me, I might do something violent…”

A taunting expression appeared on the faerie’s face. He took pleasure in Morgan’s obvious discomfort, though was unheeding of the steel in her eye and the venom in her threat. He pulled her wrist, forcing her to lean closer to him, nearly unbalancing her from her seat.

“Don’t be rude, Systina. You wouldn’t dare to defy a god, would you? Especially when he’s been so kind as to offer a place at his side…”

Morgan scoffed, a flash of anger riling up. It took much of her dwindling willpower not to strike at the faerie. Violence was forbidden at this convention of fae monarchs. Morgan, personally, did not want to offend the King that hosted them, as she held great respect for him.

The faerie before her, though, was undeserving of any sort of that respect.

“I am just as much a god as you.” Morgan hissed, rising from her seat to tower over her tormentor. “Do you claim the Vanir lesser than the Tuatha? Or do you only claim I am lesser than you?”

Morgan’s wrist became hot as iron, burning the faerie’s hand with dragon fire. He recoiled out of his stool, releasing her with a suppressed yelp.

The faerie’s behavior was one thing; an enormous thing, to be sure, but it was his perfume that really set Morgan off. She was overly sensitive to such smells to begin with, but the sickening sweetness of it filled her sinuses, recalling unwanted memories of blinding light and burning cold.

“Why you-” growled the offending faerie. He raised an arm as if to strike her. Blue flames crackled at Morgan’s fingertips. No one had noticed yet, but it seemed the convention was quickly spiraling into chaos.

“Is there a problem?” asked a deep, level voice that was welcome to Morgan’s ears. A knight serving under their host inserted himself between Morgan and the faerie, a six by four wall of black armor and intimidation. Even better, it was a knight Morgan knew.

“It seems your company is unwelcome,” the knight continued, “It would bring my lord great pain if Lady Systina was distressed.”

The faerie glowered. For all his entitlement, he seemed unwilling to defy the knight, and by proxy their host.

“This isn’t over, Systina.” the faerie threatened over his shoulder, turning away and taking his leave.

Given the moment to think, Morgan took a shuddering breath. Her hands were shaking, she realized. She pushed her hair out of her face, trying to regain a modicum of calm.

“I… ah, thank you, Sable.” She spoke to the knight, trying to force her voice to be clear and level. It didn’t work.

“Are you alright, Milady?” Sable asked, turning to her. “I did not think it characteristic of you to lose composure so easily.”

“Oh. Yes, I am… I’m just… useless with this sort of thing.” Morgan gestured vaguely. “I can handle all the usual flirting, but taken to this level…” She gave a short mirthless laugh. “It brings, ah, bad memories…”

A mixed look of sympathy and disgust crossed Sable’s face.

“I see. Then I will not pry, Milady. But tell me. Who is that faerie? I will report him to my master. I assure you, he will not tolerate this harassment.”

“The idiot thing is,” Morgan sighed, “that bastard hasn’t had the decency to give me his name. But then, if he did, I would curse him blind. I know he is of the Tuatha de Dannan, if that helps at all.”

“...Yes. That helps.” Sable spoke slowly, committing the faerie’s face to memory. Such an amoral creature had no place in the world his master meant to build.

A silence passed between them. Morgan did not notice it as much, preoccupied by the jagged thought and memories she tried to avoid. She crossed her arms in an attempt to still her shaking hands. A hissing hatred seethed in her chest.

“Fae like him are no better than the humans we abandoned.” she hissed to herself. Sable gave a slight nod, almost in agreement.

“I… hah… sorry.” Morgan said, shaking herself back to reality. “Thank you, Sable. Truly. I might have done something incredibly inconvenient if you hadn’t shown up.”

The perfume of the faerie still lingered. It was making her dizzy. She had to leave. For her own sanity, at least.

“Think nothing of it, milady.” Sable nodded. “I am only carrying out my duties.”

The silence between them dragged out long enough to be awkward. Just as Morgan was about to make her excuses to leave, she heard a clatter of heeled shoes. Looking past Sable’s shoulder, Morgan met the gaze of Mahri, a retainer of hers. An unconscious sigh of relief fluttered in her chest.

Mahri swayed through the crowd with a self-satisfied smirk resting on her face. She managed to look like she owned the place, despite definitely being the youngest faerie present. However, as she neared Morgan, her cocky expression melted off her face as it became clear how uncomfortable Morgan was. Mahri’s pace quickened toward her.

Morgan took the few steps around Sable to meet her.

“Ah, Mahri.” she greeted in a half-baked facade of normalcy. She got unexpectedly close to Mahri, taking her arm as though she were some kind of gentleman. Mahri was taken totally aback, unused to such familiar treatment.

“Master? What’s wrong?” Mahri asked, flashing a dirty look at Sable.

“No, it’s not him, Firebird. Just… stay close, please.”Morgan begged softly.

Sable took a moment to observe Mahri.

“If you find yourself in good company, Lady Systina, then I shall take my leave.”

“Yes.” Morgan nodded. “Thank you, Sable.”

With a small bow of his head, Sable disappeared into the dense crowd.

Mahri, usually, would have tracked him as he left, but she was distracted by the faerie at her side.

“Master, you are trembling.” Mahri made the observation bluntly, unable to quite process what she was seeing. Morgan was folded in on herself, her posture small and hidden. Her hands gripped Mahri’s forearm, their bodies mere inches apart.

Mahri didn’t recognize the emotion in her chest nor the expression on her face. She was such a young flame, but already she missed the days when lust and pride were the only things she needed to understand. But today, Morgan needed someone by her side, and Mahri was the only one available.

Mahri, with no small amount of hesitance, pulled Morgan nearer to her. Their arms linked, Mahri played the role of escort, taking Morgan from the crowd with all the great dignity she could muster.

Morgan felt dizzy, unsteady on her feet, the memory of the smell of his perfume enough to make her ill. Mahri, the flare of dragonfire she was, smelled near obnoxiously of ozone, which is why Morgan couldn’t seem to get close enough. The smell of fire burned her lungs and sinuses, purging them of the ghosts of cologne. Mahri’s fire was the smell of home, of her kin and of comfort. It scorched away all else.

Mahri guided Morgan from the crowd, out of the hall and into the gardens. The cool night wind also did a great deal to chase away the offending scent.

They walked a ways down the path, until the sounds of the gathered fae faded. It was here that Mahri stopped, needing answers and explanations. Anything to relive the damned heaviness in her chest.

“Master.” she began strongly, but a soon as the address was out, hesitance creeped in by way of the rock in her chest. “Master, please....” she tried again, the word unfamiliar to her. It stung her tongue. “Tell me what is wrong.”

Morgan’s shoulders were slumped in, her spine curved forward. Her hair covered her face, but Mahri could still see Morgan’s glassy and unfocused gaze. Mahri wanted to shake her, but… something told her that wouldn’t help.

Somewhere, in the back of Morgan’s mind, she knew she was shut down. She knew she should come back to reality, that Mahri was worried about her, that she was acting strange…

But she couldn’t just turn back on. She wished she could. How could she be brought so low, by someone so insignificant? How could someone so easily bring her back to those white rooms and cold touches? To that smell that heralded the coming of her torturer…

It was cold out here. Morgan loved the cold. The night air. It was too cold. So cold it burned. It blistered and blackened and-

Mahri had pulled away from Morgan and held her at arm’s reach, but with a yelp Morgan closed the gap between them, her fingers digging into both Mahri’s arms.

Mahri stumbled back at the sudden burst of sound and panicked movement, shock written across her face. She regained her balance, gingerly holding Morgan without making too much contact.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Morgan muttered. “Bad dreams, bad memories. Sorry. Sorry, I…”

With a shaky breath, Morgan pulled back. Mahri released her, but didn’t allow her to stray too far. Now Morgan had scared her.

“I… ha… sorry…” Morgan pushed her hair out of her face with shaking hands. It was not lost on her what effect her episode was having on her poor vassel. She had never been exposed to this side of Morgan, and Morgan would have preferred if she had never found out.

“Sorry, sorry.” Morgan mumbled again. She wanted to back away further, but at the same time couldn’t bear the thought. For now, Mahri’s ozone and warmth were the only anchors she had to reality. She didn’t want to part from that, and she especially didn’t want anyone inside to see this. To see what wounds the Queen Systina bore.

“Sorry.” Morgan said once more, gaining more of a handle on herself. She could feel Mahri’s distress growing, and immediately felt the need to put her at ease.

“I’m… I’m okay now.” Morgan said. It was a lie, but… “I’ll be okay. I just… I need a minute.”

“Master, you have to tell me what’s wrong.” Mahri’s voice was level, her face was less so. “Are you ill? Should I find Lord Vath?”

“Yes… or…” Yes, Vath knew better how to handle Morgan’s episodes. However, if Mahri was sent to find him, Morgan would be left on her own. “No, no, just… ah… can you… walk me to our room? Then look for him.”

Morgan swallowed hard, unwilling to make eye contact with Mahri.

“I, uh… I shouldn’t be left alone.” she went on. “I’m sorry, Firebird, I just… I can’t talk about it. Not now. I… I’ll explain later. I promise.”

Mahri sighed, trying to force the weight in her chest to dispel in that breath. Her master had given her an order. That she could deal with.

Mahri laced Morgan’s arm though hers, carrying all the dignity that Systina’s escort ought to have.

“Then let us go, my Queen.”

#creative writing #Fantasy #original character #dragon #faerie #celtic folklore #norse folklore

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heartslogos · 3 years

Text

the declassified texts of the inquisition's elite [182]

(929): Wakes up in a cold sweat at 3am, 136 unread messages and the preview on the notification is "I JUST GOT TO THE INCEST PART"

(814): I'm dying of laughter, but I'm also just dying

(814): Send help

“I am imploring you all to understand time differences,” Mahanon says as soon as the call connects.

“New scandal just dropped, fuck time differences,” Herah replies. “Gaspard’s fucking ruined. Three of his top aides are implicated, and there’s solid evidence to get his chief of staff thrown in prison for at least twenty years, minimum. Did you read the texts?”

“No. The text preview was Trevelyan saying she woke up at three in the morning with one hundred and thirty six unread messages. Do you think that I, being woken up at one in the morning and seeing that from her would care to unpack the rest of it?” Mahanon sighs. “WHy did you call me?”

“New scandal just dropped,” Herah repeats, “Fuck time differences. Besides. It’s not like you were actually sleeping.”

“I was.”

“Are you dying?”

“Get to the point.”

“The point is that Orlais is about to enter full on crisis mode. They’ve got a royal directly in the line of fire to a very, very, very scathing journalistic blitz. Gaspard’s people got fuckin’ cocky. Poor guy. He’s been doing political acrobatics for months now, ever since Briala and Celene started going at it, trying to stay relevant. He’s just lost any chance he has of getting significant numbers in the Orlesian Parliament.”

“I don’t care. Why did you call me? You’re childish excitement at watching a man crash and burn couldn’t wait until it was a decent hour where I am?”

“Spies and saboteurs don’t sleep.”

“I do.”

“You’re dying.”

“If I say yes will you let me go back to sleep?”

“No. I’ll get your sister on the phone.”

“Try it. I dare you. Interrupt her sleep and see how poorly that goes. She almost broke my arm once when I tried waking her up because our house was on fire.”

“Are we talking about the same Ellana?”

“I only have the one sister. Thank the gods. The world wouldn’t be able to survive a second. Get to the point, Adaar.”

“The point, you grumpy spoil sport, is that our work in Orlais is going to double, maybe triple for the next few months. All sorts of shit is going to be coming out of the woodworks for us to snatch up. A lot of people are going to be running for cover and trying to find scape goats before their asses can get set on fire. It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel. How are you not excited?”

“I don’t care about any of these people and I’m tired. I’ve been running around Antiva all day, and most of the night, doing my job. As we all should be. I’ve got to canvas an area the size of Skyhold’s base three hours from now and I’ve got to set up four dead drops. Get back to me when you have something relevant.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Before you hang up — “

“What?”

“Leliana’s just dropped some mission briefs in the coded mailbox. Check them real quick and call dibs before all the good ones are taken. I’m looking out for your best interest here. You’re welcome, you cranky sourpuss.”

“Laughing gas,” Stitches says, “It’s just laughing gas. He’ll be fine as soon as it wears off. I’m more concerned about the blood loss.”

“Oh, you and me both,” Krem replies. “I figure that should go without saying. Also Grim’s face looks purple.”

“Lack of air due to laughing. He’s actually fine,” Stitches waves a hand. “We’ve got enough blood for transfusions. Now. This is the part where I ask you if I should ask about the details of what the fuck happened. And this is the part where you very, very carefully weight the importance of every detail against my ongoing sanity and ability to look at any of you with a modicum of respect.”

“Is how I answer going to change how well you treat poor Grim over there? Our possible runaway prince? What ever happened to your doctors code? The something something oath.”

“Oh, I’ll treat him. It’ll change nothing about how I treat him, medically speaking. But in terms of how I look at him as a person? It could be a whole world of difference.”

“You’ve been with us for years, Stitches,” Krem says, “At this point if you have any respect for us left I’d be surprised. I mean. Surely you know we’re fuckin’ stupid by now.”

“And yet, every time I think you lot can’t pull off something even dumber than the last stunt, you find new and creative ways to prove me wrong. So. What was it this time?”

“Chase through a lab,” Krem says, “Do not worry about it. Aside from the laughing gas there wasn’t anything else — well. There shouldn’t have been. The gas was the only residue we could find at the time, aside from Grim’s blood being all over the place. Made for one helluva image, I gotta say. Grim giggling on the floor and covered in his own blood.”

“Delightful,” Stitches deadpans, “But can you tell me any details pertinent to his medical treatment?”

“Well, Stitches. Aside from the fact that he was giggly and turning weird shades in the face and was surrounded in a pool of his own blood? No. I can’t.”

“Wonderful. Get out,” Stitches gestures towards the door.

“Your bedside manner somehow got worse,” Krem grumbles, “I can’t stick around to make sure Grim’s alright?”

“Come back in a few hours when the our emergency room isn’t swamped,” Stitches replies. “I’ve got to go. Grim’s going to be fine. They’re setting up the transfusions now. He’ll be good to go as soon as we confirm his toxicology report. Based on what you’ve said and what we’ve already checked it shouldn’t come back with anything unusual. So. Unless you’ve got anything else? No? Alright. Excellent. Bye.”

“Love it when you get snippy, Stitches,” Krem says as Stitches shoves him towards the exit, “You should be like this all the time. That’s a real Charger attitude.”

“It’s a I-haven’t-had-a-break-in-five-hours attitude,” Stitches replies, “My eyes feel like sand paper right now.”

#heartsfic #gather your party and venture forth

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krakenator · 6 years

Photo

IMPORTANT LESSONS LEARNED

I was aware conceptually that Phim and Najmah would try to out-compete each other to be the most upsetting/morbid/unsettling person in the room, but didn’t fully realize the real and hilarious extent of it until now

On that note, I went into this knowing frenemies Josh and Najmah would be each others direct and polar opposite, but throwing Phim in as an extreme Goth to Josh’s extreme Prep is. I’m reeling? I always envisioned those two as more similar than different

Maybe Phim is what you get when those two fuse. An extremely friendly extrovert who’s doing her absolute best to fuck with and creep you out

Phim and Parminder are the total opposites you don’t realize are total opposites because they are both the aggressively outgoing sunshine people of their teams

The fact that this chart ended up being really, actually balanced in distribution definitely flies in the face of my surface predictions of “the entire goth section of the chart is going to be a crowded clusterfuck”

Best friends Penny and Ryan stand at exact opposites on the Jock-Nerd axis and I think that’s beautiful

The Chatterjee twins are preps, Deepesh is just the nerdier one by far

Zach and Flint opposing each other as the equal and opposite Prep-Jock and Goth-Nerd doesn’t come as a shock, but somehow Mira and Deepesh existing as polar opposite Jock-Goth and Nerd-Prep has me reeling with this previously unknowable truth of the universe

Meanwhile, Mira and Flint as opposite Goth-types makes absolute sense, but never have I ever? Thought about Zach and Deepesh interactions beyond “they sure do end up in the same room at some point”. I don’t know yet what I’m going to do with this information but it’s gonna be baller

The resident multi-skilled jackass-of-all-trades ends up being the exact perfect balance of all axes and, honestly, what did I expect out of William

Mira’s team is exclusively Goth-Nerd except for Zach, the solitary prep. Zach is also the only other Jock, because Mira’s world is only right when she’s able to beat 97% of the people around her in a fist-fight

tbh I think you kind of have to be at least a little Goth to deal with Mira on the regular. Zach’s just continuing to be the exception to every rule that’s out there

Cynder evidently has some kind of Goth-ban in effect, and honestly. Understandable, have a great day. There’s only room for one(1) Goth-Jock on the team because the last one decided she wanted to kill her

The glaring exception is Najmah, fellow Goth but a Jock over her dead body. As her bestie she is allowed to stay, permanent vibe that says she will murder the people around her be damned. This Goth restriction is honestly the for the best as far as everyone else’s sake and sanity is concerned

Of course, this means that all of Cynder’s other friends and colleagues are at least part-prep by default, which is hysterical to me

Mira’s favorite people trend Goth-Nerd, and Cynder’s Prep-Nerd. They both favor nerds, which flies directly in the face of both of them making actual, canonical statements that nerds are Fucking Losers they don’t associate with on sheer moral principle

Hold on, this needs sources

“I don’t make friends with nerds,” Cynder @Ryan, who is indisputably her favorite of the junior team (to his confusion, denial, and fear)

“Hey nerd gimme your fucking lunch money” Mira’s affectionate attitude @Flint and @Ryan every day of every year

Cynder, Levesque, and Austin all falling into this weirdly symmatrical ‘intermediate’ space makes sense in a “they’re already a disaster trio” sense, but absolutely none in that they’re also a trio with no concept of “toning things down”

Even weirder is Heather completes the ‘intermediate’ square, which says interesting and frightening things for her being incorporated into the dynamic somehow

There’s some interesting Gender Distributions here

All Goths are girls except for Flint

Meanwhile, all Prep-Jocks are guys, but all Goth-Jocks are girls

All Nerd extremists are dudes

This just in: magic users cannot be jocks, i repeat, magic users are apparently never jocks. All magicians are FUCKIN NERDS

So we’ve talked quadrants, we’ve talked opposing corners, we’ve talked the ‘intermediate’ square, let’s talk the edges of the square

Ultra-Jock meetup is a terrible idea that produces a spawn rate of 6 terrible ideas a minute. Zach and Mira together present a modicum of restraint, but Penelope presiding as Jock Overlord of the interaction means they come up with those 6 ideas a minute and execute twelve of them at once every five minutes

The Ultra-Prep gathering gives off such good vibes honestly, but kind of on the condition that Josh, Prep Overlord, is present to supervise

Ultra-Nerd edge is literally just 3 dudes getting excited over a Thing and talking over each other relentlessly as they proceed to motor-mouth and infodump, but it’s a state that only happens because Nerd Overlord Ryan is there. Deepesh and Flint wouldn’t start talking to each other on their own without that kind of catalyst

You’d think the Ultra-Jock edge would be the needlessly antagonistic and competitive group, but it’s the Ultra-Goths instead. It’s rapid-fire teaming up and splitting up amongst each other to roast the rest of the group

Important question: do Hogwarts houses factor into this

It doesn’t look like people are particularly grouped by Hogwarts houses, except for the Hufflepuffs, which is weird. They’re ALL Prep-Jocks

The Ravenclaws are all predictably grouped on the Nerd side, but not as extremely as you might think. Ryan’s of course the stereotype here, but Parminder and Phim are far more strongly Prep and Goth respectively than Nerd, and Will as mentioned is perfectly balanced and the closest any of them get to vaguely Jock-like

Slytherin’s spread pretty well across the map, save for the Hufflepuff-reserved Prep-Jock space. 3/5 ARE on the Goth side, however

Sure, 2/3 of the Gryffindors are found in the Jock quadrant, but Flint’s sitting pretty in his extremist Nerd-Goth corner so

#ocs #mira #flint #zach #cynder #josh #najmah #will #ryan #penny #deepesh #parminder #levesque #austin #heather #phim

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the-wish-box · 7 years

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RUBBING THE LOSS IN YOUR FACE: Why From Two Perspectives

For the sake of this article, I am using abbreviations. Primary Victim: The true victim: PV Primary Abuser: The true abuser: PA Secondary Abuser/Victim: SAV

The con worked! When a PA attains victory over their victim, rubbing the loss in their victim’s face. Remember, even when they are “happy”, deep down within the PA, their misery continues, becoming a confusing admixture of elation at the injury of the PV, and their continual perpetual sense of rage, anger- outward and inner. This serves a dual purpose: victory over the PV and the now victimization of the SAV. I’ll get to the reasoning a SAV becomes a Secondary Abuser in the later portion of this article. To list:

Concerning the PV: 1) It is imperative they hurt the PV. Only through the pain and torment of the PV does a PA attain a modicum of “happiness”. 2) To assert dominance over the PV. 3) The PA knows very well, the PV will be provoked to fight back, turning the PV into the Abuser so the PA can declare their “sob story to the world” and gain sympathy from other sources, rallying those sources to the side of the PA. 4) To further isolate the PV, to ensure the PV does not expose them. 5) If the PV moves toward exposure- the PA will do anything and everything to drive the PV to suicide. An outspoken PV cannot be kept alive as the PV not only can destroy the PA’s newly gained network of “disciples”- often plied with either gifts (bribes) or insincere flattery. 7) To ensure that the PV and the SAV now loathe each other, taking the focus off the PA so they can keep the facade up.

Concerning the SAV: 1) To assert dominance over the SAV. The SAV uses this as a method of control over the SAV, further distancing the PV and SAV. The SAV is THEIR territory, this is akin to a dog “peeing on THEIR turf”. I’ve heard this term enough to know what it means. 2) To cut off communication between and ensure the SAV and PV do NOT compare notes as this could spell ultimate doom for the PA. This has happened. I saved, hopefully my first SAV. 3) To increase the anger and rage of the SAV and “turn” them against the PV. A PA CAN’T do all the legwork alone. It gets exhausting! The PA NEEDS a partner in the future furthering of their cons and schemes. 4) To manufacture chaos and confusion, both for the SAV and the PV- another scheme of turning the two against each other. 5) In reality, a PA HATES and DETESTS a SAV, as before the victory, the SAV was a GOOD person before the “conversion” as well as the PV. Often times covertly abusing the SAV behind their back as they cannot very well cannot come to know this. The “game” would be up and the PA would ultimately lose their control.

In other instances, the PA, knowing VERY well, or out of “fear” of the PV, knowing an outspoken, honest and truthful victim WILL call them out. That cannot happen as there may be witnesses who will rally to the side of the PV and will seek to comfort the PV for their collapse into tears. It is INTEGRAL the PA absolutely demolishes any and all support. The “victory” will be declared by proxies, or as I have come to call them “Agents of the System”, as my solo crusade is similar to the “Matrix: Revolutions”. It’s also my way of creating a sense of disassociation from them as a method of protection of my sanity. As extensions of the PA, sometimes they can only experience “second hand victory” over the PV. Another reason the use of proxies are used is due to the fact the PA knows VERY WELL the PV is a mirror to them, albeit a very negative mirror. Strong PVs shine a light into the tainted soul of a PA, and the PA must experience a “catharsis” of their internal toxicity, yet the catharsis is temporary. A PA is a never ending abyss of toxicity. A PA cannot endure looking in the mirror as they will see themselves for who they are and not the facade they present. PAs always eschew internal examination. Others are always to blame, especially the PV.

In my experience in the past three years, the Agents of the System were once good people. I always endeavor to treat them with dignity and respect. They have the right to make a living and be with their families. They will wake up one day, free of the toxicity they have been fed. NEVER believe the SAV has ANY ROLE in the shenanagains Agents of the System as being part of the SAV's mindset. The Agents are a sole creation of the PA

Concerning the PV’s attitude towards the SAV: do NEVER EVER EVER bear resentment towards the SAV- they are NOT to blame. Both the PV and the SAV are good people deliberately and hopefully turned against each other. Eventually the facade drops and the PA exposes themselves unwittingly. They ALWAYS do, though a little assistance from the PV never hurts… unless it is too dangerous. In situations such as those, seek hope and prayer. I’ve seen enough miracles to know that they DO and WILL occur! Choose hope over bitterness! The PA WANTS you to be bitter! Never give a PA what they want, only endeavor to keep shining the light into the murkiness of their toxic abyss. and they will eventually suffocate in their own toxicity.

Hope never dies! Love, Katrina

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arabellaflynn · 4 years

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I find it ironic, in a I-want-to-punch-something sort of way, that people whose entire public speaking career is based on explaining why "just say no to drugs" is unreasonable and will always fail are first and loudest to shame people who don't "just say no to parties".

If you:

were outraged when the response to the AIDS pandemic was 'well this wouldn't be a problem if those queers would just stop fucking, they're doing it to themselves'

derided "abstinence-only" sex education for assuming that if you just don't tell people how to do it safely, they won't dare do it at all

are aghast at the rationalization that sex work is outlawed because otherwise people (read: men) will spend all their money doing anything that moves, and then bring home horrible diseases to their pure, innocent womenfolk

campaign against people who criminalize drugs on the grounds that drugs are a death sentence, and if they're not you'll inevitably murder someone to get them

and still rail on Twitter against people who are starting to hold small socially-distance picnics, outside and with masks on, after three months virtually housebound, then you are a flaming goddamned hypocrite, and you need to shut the fuck up.

Socialization is a basic human need. This is why there is a sustained campaign against solitary confinement in prisons. Many experts contend that American prisons fail to respect basic human rights because of their use of it.

Physical contact is also a basic human need. It does not stop being a basic human need even if it carries the risk of infection. Once upon a time, we were very proud of ourselves for inventing infant incubators, and with them the concept of the NICU, or neonatal intensive care unit. We could stick premature babies into a little plastic box that met all of their physical needs without exposing them to the potentially dangerous world outside. Many of these babies died anyway, from what was called "failure to thrive". Despite being fed, oxygenated, and protected from pathogens, they just... didn't live. Not being touched damages people in concrete ways.

Self-isolation has not just become scientific advice for minimizing risk. It has been framed as a moral imperative. This is all kinds of fucked up. It means no one's allowed to talk about it. There is widespread condemnation for people who voice a desire to get a goddamned haircut. I'm sure there are some cockwombles who really do think haircuts are a human right, the same way there are cockwombles out there who think the Earth is a flattened disk secretly ruled by reptilian aliens, but most of them aren't. It's just that when they voice that they need to have some sort of contact with other humans for the sake of mental health, they're informed that they're selfish monsters for caring about their own emotional well-being. So instead they're appealing to the social contract, which says they're supposed to stay groomed. You can't fault me for grooming! You all told me to do this! This has nothing to do with my feelings, which I have been repeatedly informed are wrong!

I don't know if it's ever occurred to any of these people that, while the BLM movement has garnered ideological support because frankly they're right, but would never have gotten this many people marching in the streets had it not been the only way to meet a need for in-person socialization that does not get you vilified. Fucking of course people are out there with you; the same people who screech that they're a mass murderer for visiting a friend when the lockdown orders ended are lauding them for for masking up and sitting in infinitely closer quarters with thousands of others in the goddamn streets for their pet cause.

[Don't get me wrong. Black Lives Matter is a cause I believe in. We're a little overdue for a revolution here. Capitalism-as-government blows, too, for that matter. But don't pretend that the psychological basis behind the recruitment is any different than the alt-right. You get from passive social-media support to active marching radicalization by appealing to the blatantly disenfranchised, and giving them moral permission to do something they want to do anyway, and resent being shamed for. BLM has the upper hand here, because expressing your frustration through protests is objectively better than doing it by lynching people, but we are all human beings, and we all fundamentally work the same.]

If you would like a little bit of sanity, some people have started to see a modicum of sense. If nothing else, continuing to savage anyone who does anything less than isolate themselves at home 100% of the time is going to royally fuck up any kind of contact tracing program you try to run. If you treat people like criminals for socializing, they're going to deny the ever-loving fuck out of having done it, and then you will have no idea who else might need to be tested. Making it outright illegal would just force you to waste time and effort busting hair salons like speakeasies.

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williamlwolf89 · 4 years

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Working From Home? 14 Sanity-Saving Tools (+ 35 Pro Tips)

Working from home is the dream for many.

For others, having to work from home is a nightmare — a paradigm shift brought on by a career change, personal tragedy, or the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

But dream or nightmare, a full-time switch or a temporary one, work-from-home jobs present unique challenges.

And to help you face those challenges, we’re going to teach you what you need to know. No fluff, no filler — just the necessities.

In This Guide: 9 Essentials for Your Home Office // 5 Apps You Need to Work Remotely // 35 Tips for Remote Workers (From Pros Who Do It Everyday)

Let’s dive in.

Note: There are quite a few referral links in this post, which means we’ll get a small commission if you use them to grab any of the tools or apps we discuss. However, there’s no extra cost to you. We appreciate your support.

5 Home Office Essentials (+ 4 to Consider)

There’s overlap between what you “need to do your job” in an office environment and what you need to do it remotely.

For example, you don’t need me to point out you need a chair. Or a Keurig, since you no longer swing by your favorite coffee shop on the way to work.

But there are items that matter more when you work from home, and they’re things that can make or break you as a remote worker.

Things like…

1. A Dedicated Workspace (Preferably One With a Door)

When you’re telecommuting for the first time, it’s tempting to pick up your laptop, plop down on the couch, and go about your workday.

But unless you’re living alone (and, honestly, even then), this is a mistake.

I should know — it’s precisely what I used to do. I was so happy to be working from home, I made our living room my home office.

“Why would I want to be hidden away on the other side of the house?” I asked my wife. “Being able to see you and the girls is one of the biggest perks of working from home.”

The problem?

It’s difficult to focus on work when you’re setting up shop in the same room your family members are using to dance to the “Frozen” soundtrack.

It’s a lesson I learned the hard way, but to achieve a healthy work-life balance, you have to separate your two worlds. And to do that, you have to be able to get away.

What Do We Recommend?

Pick a room with a door. A room you aren’t using for anything else is ideal, but commandeering a bedroom during the day will work too.

If a closed-off space for your home office isn’t an option, choose an area offering at least a modicum of privacy. This could be your dining room table, your kitchen counter, or the tiny nook under the stairs your kids haven’t yet discovered.

What’s the Cost?

Unless your significant other or roommate “makes you pay” in some way, claiming an area as your home office is free.

2. Headphones (Especially if There’s No Door)

If you used to work in a cubicle, or shared an office with a loud eater, you already know a good pair of headphones are worth their weight in gold.

Working remotely may mean you no longer have co-workers nearby to distract you, but it doesn’t mean you’re free from distractions.

A good headset will help keep outside noises at bay; plus, if you have a job where you’re on a lot of video conference calls, they’re a must-have item anyway.

What Do We Recommend?

Sony’s WH-1000XM3 ($278), the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 ($399), and Apple’s AirPods Pro ($249) are popular — but pricey — options, and they each have built-in microphones for making calls.

If you need something more budget-friendly, Anker’s Soundcore Life Q20 receives high marks from reviewers on Amazon. And, if needed, those old earbuds that came with your phone can work in a pinch.

What’s the Cost?

Anker’s Q20 costs $60. Those old earbuds are free (if you don’t count what you paid for the phone).

3. A Mac or Windows PC (But Not a Chromebook)

Most likely, you already have a laptop. Maybe you bought it yourself, or maybe it’s one issued to you by your employer.

But if you’re in the market for one, and you’re working remotely, take my advice:

Don’t buy a Chromebook (unless it’s your backup).

Three months before I started working at Smart Blogger, I bought a new laptop — a beautiful, shiny Google Pixelbook.

I loved it (and still do). But I wouldn’t have bought it had I known I was weeks away from a new career where I’d be working remotely.

Working from home meant using the Pixelbook for video conferencing, file sharing, and task management. For some apps and tools (Slack, Zoom), it was more than up for the challenge. For others (like GoToWebinar), it wasn’t.

Unless you have complete control over the tools your remote team members use to work together, having a Chromebook as your daily driver is a risk.

What Do We Recommend?

Stick with Windows or Mac for your primary work computer.

What’s the Cost?

The new Macbook Air and Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 both retail for $999. You can find Windows laptops from Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Acer for less (and more).

4. Strong Wi-Fi

When you work in a typical office, Internet connection is rarely a concern.

Small business or large, your employer has a plan that probably costs a small fortune. You go to work, do various online activities for 8 hours, and go home. Everything just works.

But when you work from home, you’re not using your employer’s wi-fi. You’re using yours.

Even if your employer reimburses you, it’s still your wi-fi service — and it probably doesn’t cost a small fortune. If you’re like most, you’re using the cheapest plan your ISP (Internet Service Provider) offers that lets you stream Hulu or Netflix without buffering.

That’s fine if you’re literally watching “Parks & Rec” for the seventh time. But when your job relies on you having fast and reliable Internet access, you may need more.

What Do We Recommend?

The speed and reliability of your wi-fi depends on a number of factors, but we’ll focus on three: your ISP plan, your modem, and your router.

Wi-Fi Plan:

Choose the best plan you can afford. If your employer reimburses you, get the highest plan they’ll allow. If all the plans suck, find a new ISP.

Modem:

If you rent your modem from your ISP, see if you’re eligible for an upgrade. Even better? Stop renting and buy a top-quality modem online (that’s what I did). You’ll get better performance, and you’ll save money in the long run.

Note: If you go this route, make sure you choose a modem that’s compatible with your ISP. Their website will be able to provide you a list.

Router:

To ensure your designated home office isn’t in a “dead zone,” a “mesh” wi-fi system can be a life saver. Personally, I opted for Google Nest WiFi in my home, but the Netgear Orbi is a solid option too. It gives you 4,500 square feet of coverage, and it received solid marks in Ry Crist’s CNET review.

What’s the Cost?

Wi-Fi plans vary.

Modems will cost anywhere from $50 to several hundred dollars. Mesh wi-fi systems come in all shapes and sizes, but the two we discussed — Netgear Orbi and Google Nest WiFi — cost $196 and $239, respectively.

5. A Second Monitor

If you’re used to having a dual-monitor setup at work, switching to a single monitor is one of the hardest adjustments when you’re working from home.

Now, if working remotely is your new normal, you may decide to buy a monitor (or two) for your home office. But in the meantime, there’s a chance you already have a second screen at your disposal:

Your iPad.

If you have a Mac using macOS Catalina, you can use “Sidecar” to turn your iPad into a second display. And if you have a Windows PC (or an older Mac), you can use the Duet Display app.

What Do We Recommend?

Working at home doesn’t mean having to live without dual monitors. If you know you’ll be working from home permanently, find a new monitor on Amazon that fits your budget. Or, if you already own an iPad, double its usefulness by turning it into a second display.

What’s the Cost?

Cheap monitors start around $100.

Sidecar is included if you’re using a compatible Mac. The Duet Display app costs $9.99.

An iPad, if you already own it, is free. Otherwise, new iPads start around $279.

Home Office Gear: 4 More to Consider

The previous five items were pretty universal. If you’re working from home, there’s an excellent chance they were relevant to you and your situation.

These next four are a bit more niche, so we’ll run through them quickly:

6. A Standing Desk

In an office environment, there are meetings to walk to, TPS reports to shred, and water coolers to gossip around.

You don’t have those when you’re working from home, which is why many remote employees find themselves sitting for too many hours during the day.

It’s little wonder then why, when providing their expert tips (see below) for this post, two different members of the Smart Blogger team recommended standing desks to our readers.

And a third, yours truly, used a standing desk to write the words you’re reading right now:

Standing desks aren’t for everyone. But, they might be for you. You can learn more about them and their history in this write-up from Art of Manliness.

7. Ergonomic Keyboard 8. Ergonomic (Vertical) Mouse 9. Blue-Light Blocking Glasses

Many remote workers find themselves spending more time — not less — in front of their computers.

Meetings are now virtual…

You’re no longer in a coworking space where you’re snagged by colleagues for “two-second” conversations when you’re on your way to the bathroom…

As a result, a majority of your workday, if not all of it, is now spent staring at your computer screen, typing away on your keyboard, and mousing away with your mouse.

The result?

Strained eyes and sore wrists.

Until I started working from home, I never experienced these ailments. But thankfully, after doing some research, I was able to find tools to help me combat them.

Switching to the Logitech MX Vertical Wireless Mouse solved my wrist pain. Blue Light Blocking Glasses from Swanwick helped my eye strain.

And if I decide to try an ergonomic keyword, Julia McCoy of Content Hacker has great things to say about the Kinesis Freestyle2.

If you find yourself struggling, give these a look.

5 Apps & Software for Working Remotely

There are lots of apps out there for remote workers. That’s why most “how to work from home” guides inundate you with dozens and dozens of tools that all sound the same and, more or less, do the same things.

It can be overwhelming. And confusing.

So, let’s keep things simple…

The apps and software you need to work from home can be grouped into just five categories. We’ll start with the one you’re probably most familiar with:

1. Video Chat Software

Next to eliminating their daily commute, the thing most people enjoy about remote jobs is “no more meetings.”

Yeah, about that.

While physically sitting next to co-workers might be a thing of the past when you’re remote working, video conferencing is common for many work-at-home jobs.

Plus, let’s face it:

You need social interaction when you’re working from home. You need face-to-face time. Otherwise, eventually, you’ll go stir-crazy.

The video chat app you use — Zoom, Microsoft’s Skype for Business, Google Hangouts — will be decided by your employer or project manager.

Knowing how to use your particular video calls app can save your sanity (and save you from possible embarrassment), so here are tutorials for each:

Zoom Video Tutorials

Getting Started with Skype

Hangouts Help

What Do We Recommend?

We primarily use Zoom for video calls at Smart Blogger. You don’t have to create an account or download any software to use it, which makes it very user friendly. If you have sway over the video chat software your team uses, Zoom is a good choice.

What’s the Cost?

A personal Zoom account is free, and you can host a meeting with up to 100 participants for up to 40 minutes. If you need more, their paid plans start at $14.99 a month.

2. File Sharing Software

Sharing files with colleagues used to be easy. Just save everything to your company’s LAN (local area network) and, boom, you’re done.

But unless your employer has a VPN server, sharing files while you’re working from home is a bit trickier.

Thankfully, we all have access to cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. A full-featured collaboration tool like Confluence from Atlassian can work, too, by letting you attach files to pages.

Just like with video chat software, the file sharing app your team uses will be decided by your employer. Here are guides to help you learn the ins and outs of each:

Google Drive cheat sheet

Dropbox video tutorials

OneDrive video training

Manage Files (Confluence)

What Do We Recommend?

We use Google Drive at Smart Blogger. It works on Windows, Mac, and ChromeOS (plus Android and iOS). And, if you use Gmail, you’re likely already familiar with it.

Just make sure you understand how permissions work in Google Drive before sharing folders with your colleagues.

What’s the Cost?

A free Google Drive account comes with your Gmail address, and with it you get you 15 GB of cloud storage. But for sharing files as a virtual team, you should look into one of Google’s paid options. You can get a G Suite Business account for $12 per user each month, and it comes with unlimited Google Drive storage.

3. Task & Project Management Software

You may already be familiar with Kanban boards, integrated master schedules, and the like. Your team may already be using them.

But now that you’re working remotely, you’ll likely be leaning on them more and more.

Project management apps like Asana, monday.com, and Trello help virtual teams stay on track. And even if your team isn’t, there’s no reason you can’t use them to manage your own tasks.

What Do We Recommend?

Start Blogger uses Asana to manage our projects. However, several team members, including yours truly, also use Trello to track individual tasks.

What’s the Cost?

Both Asana and Trello offer free plans, which work great if your team is small (or if you’re using them alone). If you have a larger team, or you need more features:

Asana Premium is $10.99 per user (per month)

Trello Business is $9.99 per user (per month)

monday.com’s plans start at $39 per month (for 5 users)

4. Chat App for Team Interaction

You might be on opposite sides of your city, state, or country (or even the world), but your virtual team still needs to shoot the breeze and interact with each other.

(And no, emailing the entire office isn’t an option. Don’t be that person.)

Chat apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Hangouts Chat let you and your colleagues build comradery and stay engaged even though you’re miles apart.

In the remote worker’s toolkit, they’re a must-have tool. If you’ve never used them before, here are guides to help you get started:

Top 5 tips for getting started in Slack

Microsoft Teams video training

Get started with Hangouts Chat

What Do We Recommend?

Slack is the tool we use to interact with each other at Smart Blogger, and it’s difficult to imagine working from home without it.

What’s the Cost?

You can get a lot of mileage out of the free version of Slack. If you need to upgrade, paid plans start at $6.67 (and that’s for your entire team).

Microsoft Teams is included in Office 365. The Business Essentials plan is $5 per user each month, while the Business Premium plan is $12.50.

Google Hangouts Chat comes with a G Suite Business account. The Basic plan costs $6 per user each month.

5. Time Management App (to Help You Keep it All Straight)

Yeah, this one is a bit of a cheat.

You don’t have to be working from hope to benefit from a good time management tool.

But, trust me, when you’re working remotely, having one is vital.

Remote work can be deceptive. You think you’ll have all this extra time now that you’re no longer having to commute, do your hair, put on pants, what have you. Then five o’clock rolls around, and you’re suddenly wondering why you didn’t get more accomplished.

Try as you might, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is going to be tricky when you work at home. Laundry, personal errands, and playing with the kids will creep into your workday.

For increased productivity, and to keep all the balls you’re juggling from falling, an app like Todoist or Things can work wonders for your various to-do lists.

What Do We Recommend?

I’ve used Todoist for years. It’s easy to use, it’s packed with features, and it’s available on every major platform and device.

What’s the Cost?

The free version of Todoist gives you 80 projects and up to 5 people per project. If you need more, their paid plans start at only $3 per user each month.

If you don’t like the idea of recurring fees, and you’re an Apple user, give Things a look. The app has a one-time $9.99 fee for iPhone/Apple Watch, a one-time $19.99 fee for iPad, and a one-time $49.99 fee for Mac.

How to Work From Home: 35 Tips for Remote Workers (From Pros Who Do It Everyday)

Now for the fun part.

I reached out to some of my colleagues at Smart Blogger and asked them for their best “work from home” tips.

Here’s what they had to say:

1. If you’re single, having a pet really helps with feeling isolated

At Smart Blogger, nearly everyone has a dog or cat to keep them company throughout the day. We also bond over stories about our pets.

2. Schedule time to hang out with friends

Whether it’s a phone call or getting together for happy hour, I always try to have at least two or three “connection points” scheduled each week. For me, it’s usually other entrepreneurs, because I feel like they are the only people who “get” me, but the point is to be a bit more proactive with your social life. There’s a lot less serendipitous hanging out when you’re working from home.

3. Get an air purifier

I recently added an air purifier to my office, and I was shocked at how much it helped with my allergies and even the overall smell of the house.

— Jon Morrow Founder & CEO WFH Experience: 15 Years

4. Set clear boundaries on your time, tasks, and calls

This is one of the first and fuzziest challenges for most people. When you’re working, you’re working, not doing household chores or cooking. Strive to start and end your day at the same times, with a little flex because you can. Tell family and friends you’ll get back to them after work.

5. Shut off audio notifications on everything — phone, social media and email

Put your phone in sleep mode. Use the controls built in to your devices to silence them during your work hours so you’re not distracted. This will also help train those insistent family members and friends who “only need two mintues” that turns into 20 to leave a message. Be prepared for complaints.

6. Set ‘focus time’ when you shut off every form of online communication to work

I coined the term “go dark” at Smart Blogger so I could have several uninterrupted hours to work. I closed out of all programs and set a smiling dark moon face for my “status” in Slack. Works like gangbusters.

7. Use a focus music app with the Pomodoro technique

I use a Focus@Will, a personalized focus music app, but there are many others. My “Pomodoro” sweet spot is 50 minutes, so I set the app with my choice of music for 50 minutes with my coffee and water on my desk and everything else shut off. I’ve trained myself that when the music is on all I can do is work. It’s actually quite enjoyable to have that deep focus time. With breaks of 15-20 minutes between sessions, I can do three or four highly productive sessions in a row.

8. Don’t try to squeeze in household tasks

Other than unavoidable visits from the pest control guy and delivery or repair folks, forget multi-tasking. The distraction from a household task as mundane as laundry will kill your concentration.

9. Get, or create, a standing desk

My first standing desk was stacked cardboard boxes and a hunk of wood. It will save your back, legs and other parts. I upgraded to a height adjustable desk. Don’t neglect ergonomics for even a short period.

10. Don’t eat at your desk

Build in those short breaks from the beginning and eat outside when you can.

11. Wear blue light blocking glasses

This recent upgrade has saved my eyes from feeling fried at the end of the day. Use monitor apps like f.lux that adjust the color balance of your monitor throughout the day.

— Marsha Stopa Senior Instructor WFH Experience: 15 Years

12. Start the day with three important goals

It’s a commonly given piece of advice but it works for me. I write (or type) three work goals under the heading “What would make today awesome?” (I write down some personal goals too.) Not only does it focus you during the day but it also helps you recognize a good day. Sometimes I’ll feel like I didn’t have a great day, but then see that I got my three things done and realize it was better than I thought. And that’s a good feeling to end on.

13. Link healthy habits to fixed points in your day

I wanted to hydrate better and found it fairly easy to start the day with a large glass of water. That became an automatic habit within a week or so. However, I found it harder to keep drinking water later in the day. Now I attach it to other “cues” during the day. For instance, I have another glass of water just before walking my dog Cooper in the afternoon.

14. Extend productive working sessions a little past the point of comfort

If you’ve been “in the zone” on a challenging task but feel yourself flagging, push yourself to do another 10 minutes. I find this gives me an extra boost of motivation/energy and I’m probably still more productive in the tail end of focus time than I would be starting from scratch later.

15. Get a standing desk. And a standing mat. (But sit sometimes too)

Standing desks are great but they’re tough on your feet and knees if you don’t have a proper mat to stand on. Also, standing all day is arguably not much better than sitting all day, so vary things a little. I try to do at least a couple of short sessions sitting at my desk on my laptop. Ergonomically it’s not great, but I don’t do it for hours on end and it breaks up the standing.

16. Vary your equipment

My first career was as a software developer and wrote so much code that I gave myself carpal tunnel syndrome before that was even really a thing. At one point I even had a special foot pedal that worked as a shift key to relieve the strain on my pinky finger! I’m not a coder any more but still suffer from time to time and not just from typing — sometimes end the day with a bad case of “trackpad hand” from too many hours using too limited a range of movement. So sometimes I’ll switch to a regular mouse for a couple of days to change the gestures just a little.

17. Get a gaming monitor (but not for gaming)

After years of using a regular 16:9 monitor I recently upgraded to an “ultrawide” 21:9. Being able to have two or even three full page apps open side-by-side has made a noticeable difference to my productivity.

— Glen Long Chief Operating Officer WFH Experience: 10 Years

18. Learn to recognize when your most productive time is

I work best first thing in the morning and then late at night. During the day there are enough distractions for me to easily lose focus, so unless there’s an urgent problem to solve, I give myself space to do other things mid day.

Experiment with times during the day to see when you feel more productive and energized to do your work. It may surprise you.

Discovering that you are unproductive during certain hours also allows you to give yourself a break at those times, instead of stressing out about “not getting enough done”.

Bonus: If you work with international clients, you may find that your “odd” hours might fit nicely with their “on” hours for communication and appointments. 🙂

— Tim Gary Tech Wizard WFH Experience: 15 Years

19. Stretch and move around

Sitting or even standing in roughly the same place for several hours a day is not something your body will be thanking you for. Sitting for long periods is rough on your back and your behind, while standing is tough on your legs. Take breaks to stretch and move around. Getting your muscles and joints moving in a variety of ways can help prevent repetitive motion injuries like carpal tunnel.

20. Set boundaries with friends and family

Your work is important. Your time is important. It can be difficult for friends and family to understand that just because you work from home, doesn’t mean you aren’t working.

Make sure you set very clear boundaries with your friends and family about what your work hours are and whether or not you can be available to them during that time. You can set rules on what types of interactions are allowable during your working hours and what types of interactions must remain outside of your working hours.

This will help keep your working hours calmer, less chaotic, and more focused.

21. Have a separate space for work

Whether that means an actual home office, a section of your dining room or just a separate workspace on your computer, have a space for work that is separate from the rest of your life.

A separate space makes it easier for your brain to transition from working time, to non-working time. I use separate internet browsers for work and my personal hobbies. This way once my work day is done, I close everything that involves work — tabs, apps, etc. and if I use my computer after work all work stuff is safely tucked away out of sight.

22. Learn a bit about lighting

I’m not a photographer or videographer so lighting isn’t something I ever gave much thought to, but if you are going to have meetings with clients that may involve video it will be in your best interest to learn the very basics about lighting.

If you’re on a video meeting and there is more light behind you than in front of you, you’re going to show up on camera as quite a shadowy figure. Making sure your lit properly helps people see you better and makes the experience more comfortable for everyone involved.

Unless you’re going for a mysterious look…

— Jenn Arman Business Operations Manager WFH Experience: 10 Years

23. Create separate user profiles for your internet browser

If you use the same laptop/computer for both work and rummaging through the Internet on your offtime, you should create separate user profiles on your browser — especially if you, like me, tend to leave a lot of tabs open.

I have a separate profile for private use, for Smart Blogger tasks and for working on my own blog. When I need to start work, I open my Smarty Blogger browser, and it automatically opens the pages I need on a daily basis. Every other page that I frequently use, but don’t need all the time is bookmarked, so they’re only a click away.

24. Get out and catch some sun

When you work from home, you need to remind yourself to get out every now and again to catch some vitamin D. I had a period of a few months where I was spending all daylight hours inside, and frankly, it’s depressing. Take a break to go out for a short walk. It honestly helps keep you sane.

25. Have a routine, but be flexible

When you work from home, it can be harder to beat the procrastination monster. Having a steady routine can help you with this though.

Set a time at which you start each day. If you have a number of recurring tasks, tackle them in the same order. This will help prevent you from procrastinating on which task to start first.

On the other hand, while it’s good to have a routine, don’t forget that flexibility is one of the main perks of the job. You don’t have to be overly rigid. It’s okay to have a day where you start a little later, or you move one of your tasks to the end of the day, because you’re just not in the mood for it.

— Robert van Tongeren Instructor WFH Experience: 6 Years

26. Take mental breaks

Take a break every hour or so to disengage from your work and allow your brain to have a little playtime. Stick your earbuds in, go outside for 5-10 mins, breath, take in the surroundings and allow your mind to think of anything but your work tasks. Think of it as like taking a break between sets in a workout. I often find problems easier to solve, solutions will pop into my head after having a mental break.

27. Have a mobility/stretching routine

Sitting in the same position for hours can wreak havoc on your body, a good place to start is with a book called Deskbound: Standing up to a Sitting World by Kelly Starrett.

28. Level up your skills

Always look how you can improve and add more value for your clients. Ask yourself: How can I be better at my job, what skills do I need to learn or improve? How can I raise myself to a higher level?

29. Stay balanced

Have activities outside of work that you can constantly get better at and that are a natural expression of who you are. This helps keep you balanced. If I’m always working and serving others I end up feeling like a robot who has no time for myself.

— Curt Levey Customer Support Specialist WFH Experience: 4 Years

30. Communicate constantly to friends & family about your work schedule

Working remotely means that your schedule is often more flexible than your friends who work in an office — or are retired. I had to learn to set very clear boundaries: just because I’m at home in front of a computer, that doesn’t mean I can just pick up to go to a lunch date or attend a rehearsal at 2 in the afternoon.

Now that I’ve been working remotely for 10 years, most of my friends get it. But I still have to be clear about it from time to time, and especially when I’m visiting friends or family.

— Felicity Fields Operations Manager WFH Experience: 6 Years

31. Prioritize YOU time on your calendar

It’s so easy to let your calendar get jammed packed and even when you get up from your desk “at the end of the day”, it’s so easy to get sucked back into your workspace — because it’s just right there! So, in order to ensure that you leave time for yourself, to stretch, go for a walk, meditate or anything else that nurtures YOU, it’s critical to prioritize yourself by putting your self-care on your calendar before the calendar gets booked up.

32. Be sure to meal prep

Secondarily, because the above is true, and the community lunchroom isn’t a thing, it’s super easy to neglect eating healthy and it’s super simple to just ‘grab a bite’ which becomes anything handy, VS anything healthy. I mean the kitchen is just right there, right?! So making sure you meal-prep will enable you to ‘grab a bite’ in between all those meetings, but it will be a healthy bite, and your body and energy level will thank you. Besides, it’s easy to let the pounds creep up when you’re wearing yoga pants instead of ‘work clothes’ so it’s a nice way to treat yourself (and your waistline!) nicely. 🙂

— Patricia Sweeney Marketing Wizard WFH Experience: 14 Years

33. Enjoy the days you can work in pajamas, but don’t overuse them

Working in your pjs is one of the great perks of working from home, but it shouldn’t be your go to outfit. Put some time in your morning routine to get yourself prepared for “the office”. It will help you be more productive on your projects and improve your mood by setting the stage for a good day.

34. Make your home office somewhere you enjoy spending time

When you work in a standard office you’re often encouraged to personalize the space so you can feel comfortable. Do the same for your home office. Don’t let it get too cluttered. Make sure you have plenty of light. Splurge on a heater or ergonomic desk setup. Plants, diffusers, pictures, and music will keep you more energized in your workspace.

— Laurie Pillman Executive Assistant to the CEO WFH Experience: 5 Years

And here’s one from me:

35. Make sure you check in (and check out)

The thing I struggle with most as a remote worker is separating “work life” from “home life.” Even with a dedicated office space, it’s easy for my two worlds to blend.

What’s helped me is visualizing one of those old-school “time clocks” people used back in the day.

“Clock in” and it’s work time. I listen to Jon’s latest podcast episode, edit a draft from one of our writers, send an outreach email, etc.

“Clock out” and I focus on my personal life. I’ll look at my daughter’s homework, go over healthcare paperwork with my wife, do the dishes, etc.

Whichever world I’m in, I try to give it my complete and undivided attention.

— Kevin J. Duncan Editor-in-Chief WFH Experience: 1 Amazing Year

I Love Working From Home. How About You?

We’re the lucky ones, you know.

No long commute? Getting to set our own schedules? Working mere feet away from our loved ones? It’s a blessing, a gift from God.

Even though it’s easy to get lost in deadlines, drafts to edit, and emails to read, I pray I never forget how fortunate I am to be doing what I do.

Savor these moments. Wrap your arms around them. Because it doesn’t matter if you’re a freelancer getting paid to write, an independent contractor, a data entry specialist, or a part-time customer service representative for a call center, working from home is a special experience. You’re getting to do what many people dream about doing.

Let me know if this guide was helpful by leaving a comment below. And, if there’s a tool or tip we missed, please don’t hesitate to share it.

Stay safe out there, folks.

About the Author: When he’s not busy telling waitresses, baristas, and anyone else who crosses his path that Jon Morrow once said he was in the top 1% of bloggers, Kevin J. Duncan is Smart Blogger’s Editor in Chief.

The post Working From Home? 14 Sanity-Saving Tools (+ 35 Pro Tips) appeared first on Smart Blogger.

from SEO and SM Tips https://smartblogger.com/working-from-home/

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sarahburness · 5 years

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10 Signs You’re Being True to Yourself

“The most confused we ever get is when we try to convince our heads of something that we know in our hearts is a lie.” ~Karen Moning

It’s painful and stressful to feel like you’re living a lie. Like you’re hiding how you really feel, saying what you think other people want to hear, and doing things you don’t actually want to do—just because you think you’re supposed to.

But sometimes we don’t recognize we’re doing this. We just know we feel off, or something feels wrong, and we’re not sure how to change it.

It makes sense that a lot of us struggle with being true to ourselves.

From when we’re young, we’re taught to be good, fall in line, and avoid making any waves—to lower our voices, do as we’re told, and quit our crying (or they’ll give us something to cry about).

And most of us don’t get the opportunity to foster or follow our curiosity. Instead, we learn all the same things as our peers, at the exact same time; and we live a life consumed by the mastery of these things, our bodies restless from long hours of seated study and our minds overwhelmed with memorized facts that leave very little room for free thinking.

To make things even worse, we learn to compare our accomplishments and progress—often, at things we don’t even really care about—to those of everyone around us. So we learn it’s more important to appear successful in relation to others than to feel excited or fulfilled within ourselves.

This was my experience both growing up and in my twenties. A people-pleaser who was always looking to prove that I mattered, I was like a chameleon, and I constantly felt paralyzed about which choices to make because all I knew was that they needed to be impressive.

I never knew what I really thought or felt because I was too busy suffocating my mind with fears and numbing my emotions to develop even a modicum of self-awareness.

This meant I had no idea what I needed. I only knew I didn’t feel seen or heard. I felt like no one really knew me. But how could they when I didn’t even know myself?

I know I’ve made a lot of progress with this over the years, and I have a mile-long list of unconventional choices to back that up, and a number of authentic, fulfilling relationships. But I’ve recently recognized some areas where I’ve shape-shifted in an attempt to please others, and in some cases, without even realizing it.

I don’t want to be the kind of person who panders to popular opinion or lets other people dictate my choices. I don’t want to waste even one minute trying to be good enough for others instead of doing what feels good to me.

I want to make my own rules, live on my own terms, and be bold, wild, and free.

This means peeling away the layers of fear and conditioning and being true to what I believe is right. But it’s hard to do this, because sometimes those layers are pretty heavy, or so transparent we don’t even realize they’re there.

With this in mind, I decided to create this reminder of what it looks and feels like to be true to myself so I can refer back to it if ever I think I’ve lost my way.

If you also value authenticity and freedom over conformity and approval, perhaps this will be useful to you too.

You know you’re being true to yourself if….

1. You’re honest with yourself about what you think, feel, want, and need.

You understand that you have to be honest with yourself before you can be honest with anyone else. This means you make space in your life to connect with yourself, perhaps through meditation, journaling, or time in nature.

This also means you face the harsh realities you may be tempted to avoid. You’re self-aware when faced with hard choices—like whether or not to leave a relationship that doesn’t feel right—so you can get to the root of your fear.

You might not always do this right away, or easily, but you’re willing to ask yourself the tough questions most of us spend our lives avoiding: Why am I doing this? What am I getting from this? And what would serve me better?

2. You freely share your thoughts and feelings.

Even if you’re afraid of judgment or tempted to lie just to keep the peace, you push yourself to speak up when you have something that needs to be said.

And you refuse to stuff your feelings down just to make other people feel comfortable. You’re willing to risk feeling vulnerable and embarrassed because you know that your feelings are valid, and that sharing them is the key to healing what’s hurting or fixing what isn’t working.

3. You honor your needs and say no to requests that conflict with them.

You know what you need to feel physically, mentally, and emotionally balanced, and you prioritize those things, even if this means saying no to other people.

Sure, you might sometimes make sacrifices, but you understand it’s not selfish to honor your needs and make them a priority.

You also know your needs don’t have to look like anyone else’s. It’s irrelevant to you if someone else can function on four hours of sleep, work around the clock, or pack their schedule with social engagements. You do what’s right for you and take care good care of yourself because you recognize you’re the only one who can

4. Some people like you, some people don’t, and you’re okay with that.

Though you may wish, at times, you could please everyone—because it feels a lot safer to receive validation than disapproval—you understand that being disliked by some is a natural byproduct of being genuine.

This doesn’t mean you justify being rude and disrespectful because hey, you’re just being yourself! It just means you know you’re not for everyone; you’d rather be disliked for who you are than liked for who you’re not; and you understand the only way to find “your tribe” is to weed out the ones who belong in someone else’s.

5. You surround yourself with people who respect and support you just as you are.

You understand that the people around you affect you, so you surround yourself with people who respect and support you, which motivates you to continue being true to yourself.

You may have people in your life who don’t do these things, but if you do, you understand their issues with you are just that—their issues. And you set boundaries with them so that they don’t get in your head and convince you there’s something wrong with you or your choices.

6. You focus more on your own values than what society deems acceptable.

You’ve read the script for a socially acceptable life—climb the corporate ladder, have a lavish wedding, buy a house, and make some babies—but you’ve seriously questioned whether this is right for you. Maybe it is, but if you go this route, it’s because this plan aligns with your own values, not because it’s what you’re supposed to do.

You know your values are your compass in life, and that they change over time. So you check in with yourself regularly to be sure you’re living a life that doesn’t just look good on paper but also feels good in your heart.

7. You listen to your intuition and trust that you know what’s best for yourself.

You not only do you hear the voice inside that says, “Nope, not right for you,” you trust it. Because you’ve spent a lot of time learning to distinguish between the voice of truth and fear, you recognize the difference between holding yourself back and waiting for what feels right.

You might not always make this distinction immediately, and you might sometimes be swayed by well-meaning people who want to protect you from the risks of thinking outside the box. But eventually, you tune out the noise and hone in on the only voice that truly knows what’s best for you.

8. You do what feels right for you, even if that means risking approval from the people around you.

Not only do you trust that you know what’s best for you, you do it. Even if it’s not a popular choice. Even if people question your judgment, vision, or sanity. You recognize that no one else is living your life, and no one else has to live with the consequences of your choices, so you make them for you and let the chips fall where they may when it comes to public perception.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have everything you want in life. It just means you hear the beat of your own drum, even if it’s silent like a dog whistle to everyone else, and you march to it—maybe slowly or awkwardly, but with your freak flag raised high.

9. You allow yourself to change your mind if you recognize you made a choice that wasn’t right for you.

You may feel embarrassed to admit you’re changing directions, but you do it anyway because you’d rather risk being judged than accept a reality that just plain feels wrong for you.

Whether it’s a move that you realize you made for the wrong reasons, a job that isn’t what you expected, or a commitment you know you can’t honor in good conscience, you find the courage to say, “This isn’t right, so I’m going to make another change.”

10. You allow yourself to evolve and let go of what you’ve outgrown.

This is probably the hardest one of all because it’s not just about being true to yourself; it’s also about letting go. It’s about recognizing when something has run its course and being brave enough to end the chapter, even if you don’t know yet what’s coming next. Even if the void feels dark and scary.

But you, you recognize that the void can also feel light and thrilling. That empty space isn’t always a bad thing because it’s the breeding ground for new possibilities—for fulfillment, excitement, passion, and joy. And you’re more interested in seeing who else you can be and what else you can do than languishing forever in a comfortable life that now feels like someone else’s.

—

As with all things in life, we each exist on a spectrum. Every last one of us lives in the grey area, so odds are you do some of these things, some of the time, and probably never perfectly. And you may go through periods when you do few or none of these things, without even realizing you’ve slipped.

That’s how it’s been for me. I’ve gone through phases when I’ve felt completely in alignment and other times when I’ve gotten lost. I’ve had times when I’ve felt so overwhelmed by conflicting wants, needs, and beliefs—my own and other people’s—that I’ve shut down and lost touch with myself.

It happens to all of us. And that’s okay. The important thing is that we keep coming home to ourselves and we eventually ask ourselves the hard questions that decide the kind of lives we lead: What am I hiding? What am I lying about, and why? And what truth would set me free?

About Lori Deschene

Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha. She’s also the author of Tiny Buddha’s Gratitude Journal and other books and co-founder of Recreate Your Life Story, an online course that helps you let go of the past and live a life you love. An avid film lover, she recently finished writing her first feature screenplay and is fundraising to get it made now. To get daily wisdom in your inbox, join the Tiny Buddha list here.

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from Tiny Buddha https://tinybuddha.com/blog/10-signs-youre-being-true-to-yourself/

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