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anipgarden · 11 months

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Things to Do that Aren't Related to Growing Plants

This is my second post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps!

Some of us just don’t have much luck when it comes to growing plants. Some of us simply want to aim for other ways to help that don’t involve putting on gardening gloves. Maybe you've already got a garden, but you want to do more. No problem! There’s a couple of options you can look into that’ll help attract wildlife in your area without even having to bring out any shovels!

Provide a Water Source

Oftentimes when I see ‘add a water source’ in informational articles about improving your backyard for wildlife, it’s almost always followed by an image of a gorgeous backyard pond with a waterfall and rock lining that looks expensive to set up, difficult to maintain, and overall just… not feasible for me. Arguably, not feasible for a lot of people. And that’s okay! There’s still ways to add water in your garden for all kinds of creatures to enjoy!

There’s tons of ways to create watering stations for insects like bees and butterflies. A self refilling dog bowl can work wonders! Add some stones into the receiving tray for insects to land on or use to climb out, and you’ve got a wonderful drinking spot for all kinds of insects! You can also fill a saucer or other dish with small stones and fill it, though it’ll likely need refilling daily or even several times a day during hot times.

I've seen people online use all kinds of things to make water features. Some go with terra-cotta pots, pebbles, and a cheap pump to get a small and simple fountain. Others use old tires, clay, and a hole in the ground to create an in-ground mini pond system. If all else fails, even a bucket or watertight box with a few plants in it can do the trick--though do be wary of mosquitoes if the water isn’t moving. In situations like these, a solar-powered fountain pump or bubbler are great for keeping the water moving while still making it a drinking option for wildlife (it not even more appealing for some)--and these items can be obtained fairly cheap online!

Bird baths are an option as well--a classic way to provide for birds in your area, they can be easy to find online or in a gardening store! The only downside is that a good, quality bird bath can be pricey up-front. However, a nice stone bird bath should last a long time, be easy to clean and refill, and be enjoyed by many birds! I’ve also seen tutorials on how to make your own with quickcrete! Bird baths will be a welcome sight to birds, as they provide a space for them to drink and bathe to regulate the oils in their feathers for flight and insulation. Putting a stone in the middle will also help insects to escape if they fall in, and provide a place to perch so they can get their own drink. You’ll want to change the water and clean the baths regularly--as often as once a week, if you can manage it.

If possible, it’s highly encouraged to fill and refill water features with rainwater instead of tap water. Tap water is often treated, so instead of using hoses or indoor kitchen water, collecting some rainwater is a great alternative. Collecting rainwater can be as simple as leaving cups, bins, or pots outside for awhile.

Butterflies and other creatures will also drink from mud puddles. If you can maintain an area of damp soil mixed with a small amount of salt or wood ash, this can be fantastic for them! Some plants also excel at storing water within their leaves and flowers (bromeliads come to mind), making them an excellent habitat for amphibians as well as a drinking spot for insects and birds.

Bird Feeders and Bird Houses

Some of the fancy, decorated bird feeders are expensive, but others can be pretty low-cost--I got my bird feeder from Lowe’s for around 10 dollars, and a big bag of birdseed was around another 10 dollars and has lasted several refills! If you don’t mind occasionally buying more birdseed, a single birdfeeder can do a lot to attract and support local birds! If you’re handy, have some spare wood, and have or can borrow some tools, you may even be able to find instructions online to make your own feeder. You may not even need wood to do so! Even hummingbird feeders, I’ve found, are quick to attract them, as long as you keep them stocked up on fresh sugar water in the spring and summer!

An important note with bird feeders is that you have to make sure you can clean them regularly. Otherwise, they may become a vector for disease, and we want to avoid causing harm whenever possible. Also keep an ear out and track if there’s known outbreaks of bird diseases in your area. If local birding societies and scientists are advising you take your birdfeeders down for awhile, by all means, do it!

Bird houses are naturally paired with bird feeders as biodiversity promoters for backyard spaces, and it makes sense. Having bird houses suited to birds in your area promotes them to breed, raise their young, disperse seeds, and generally engage in your surrounding environment. Setting them up takes careful selection or construction, preparation, and some patience, but sooner or later you might get some little homemakers! Keep in mind, you will need to clean your birdhouses at least once a year (if not once per brood) to make sure they’re ready and safe for birds year after year--you wouldn’t want to promote disease and parasites, after all. But they could be a valuable option for your landscape, whether you purchase one or construct your own!

Again, do make sure you're putting up the right kind of boxes for the right kinds of birds. Bluebird boxes are some I see sold most commonly, but in my area I believe they're not even all that common--a nesting box for cardinals or chickadees would be far more likely to see success here! And some birds don't even nest in boxes--robins and some other birds are more likely to use a nesting shelf, instead! Research what birds live in your area, take note of any you see around already, and pick a few target species to make homes for!

Solitary Bee Houses

A bee house or bee hotel is a fantastic way to support the solitary bees in your area! For a few dollars and some annual cleaning, you can buy a solitary bee house from most big box nurseries. Alternatively, you can make one at home, with an array of materials you may already have lying around! You can even make them so that they’ll benefit all kinds of insects, and not necessarily just bees.

Though you don’t even necessarily have to break out the hammer and nails, buy a ton of bricks, or borrow a staple gun. Making homes for tunneling bees can be as simple as drilling holes in a log and erecting it, or drilling holes in stumps and dead trees on your property. You might even attract some woodpeckers by doing this!

Providing Nesting Area

There are tons of different kinds of bees, and they all make different kinds of homes for themselves. Not all of them make big cavity hives like honey bees, or will utilize a solitary bee house. Bumblebees live in social hives underground, particularly in abandoned holes made by rodents--some others nest in abandoned bird nests, or cavities like hollow logs, spaces between rocks, compost piles, or unoccupied birdhouses. Borer, Ground, and Miner bees dig into bare, dry soil to create their nests. Sparsely-vegetated patches of soil in well-drained areas are great places to find them making their nests, so providing a similar habitat somewhere in the garden can encourage them to come! I do talk later in this document about mulching bare soil in a garden--however, leaving soil in sunny areas and south-facing slopes bare provides optimal ground nesting habitat. Some species prefer to nest at the base of plants, or loose sandy soil, or smooth-packed and flat bare ground. They’ve also been known to take advantage of soil piles, knocked over tree roots, wheel ruts in farm roads, baseball diamonds and golf course sand traps. You can create nesting ground by digging ditches or creating nesting mounds in well-drained, open, sunny areas with sandy or silty soil. However, artificially constructed ground nests may only have limited success.

Providing Alternative Pollinator Foods

Nectar and pollen aren’t the only foods sought out by some pollinators! Some species of butterflies are known to flock to overripe fruit or honey water, so setting these out can be an excellent way to provide food to wildlife. You may want to be cautious about how you set these out, otherwise it can help other wildlife, like ants or raccoons. Butterflies may also drop by to visit a sponge in a dish of lightly salted water.

Bat Houses and Boxes

Big or small, whether they support five bats or five hundred, making bat boxes and supporting local bats is a great way to boost biodiversity! Not only will they eat mosquitoes and other pest species, but you may also be able to use the guano (bat droppings) as fertilizer! Do be careful if you choose to do that though--I’ve never had the opportunity to, so do some research into how strong it is and use it accordingly.

Provide Passageway Points

If you want your area to be more accessible for creatures that can’t fly or climb fences, allowing or creating access points can be an excellent way to give them a way in and out. Holes in the bottom of walls or fences can be sheltered with plants to allow animals through.

In a somewhat similar manner, if you’re adding a water fixture, it’s important to provide animals a way to get into and out of the pond--no way in, and they can’t use the water. No way out, and they may drown. Creating a naturalistic ramp out of wood beams or sticks, or stepped platforms out of bricks, stones, or logs can do the trick.

Get or Keep Logs and Brush Piles

I’ve already mentioned logs a good handful of times so far in this post. To be used as access ramps, or as nesting areas for solitary bees. But they have value as much more than that! Logs on the ground provide shelter for all kinds of animals, especially depending on size--anything from mice, reptiles, and amphibians to things like turkey vultures and bears will use fallen logs as shelter. Inside of a decaying log, there’s a lot of humidity, so amphibians are big fans of them--meanwhile, the upper sides of them can be used as sunning platforms by things like lizards. Other animals can also use the insides of logs as nest sites and hiding places from predators too big to fit inside. Fungi, spiders, beetles, termites, ants, grubs, worms, snails, slugs, and likely much more can be found inside rotting logs, using the rotting wood as food sources or nesting places. They can then provide food for mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. They can also be regarded as a landmark or territory marker as wildlife get more familiar with your space.

So how do you get logs for cheap? Try Chip Drop! I talk about them more in a future post, but you can mark saying that you’d like logs in your drop, so they’ll give you any they have! In fact, you may even get a drop faster if you're willing to accept some logs. You may also be able to approach arborists you see working in your area and ask for logs. There may also be local online listings for people selling logs for cheap, or just trying to get rid of them. If there’s land development going on near you, you may be able to snag logs from trees they cut down to make space. Do keep in mind, you don’t need to have huge gigantic logs laying around your property to make an impact--even small logs can help a lot.

If possible, creating and leaving brush piles on the edge of your property can be a great boost to biodiversity--even if you may not see the wildlife using it. They’ll provide shelter from weather and predators, and lower portions are cool and shady for creatures to avoid the hot sun. The upper layers can be used as perch sites and nest sites for song birds, while lower layers are resting sites for amphibians and reptiles, and escape sites for many mammals. As the material decays, they also attract insects, and as such they’ll attract insect-eating animals too. As more small animals find refuse in your brush pile, their predators will be attracted to them as well. Owls, hawks, foxes, and coyotes are known to visit brush piles to hunt. Making a brush pile can be as simple as piling branches and leaves into a mound, as big or as small as you want. You can even use tree stumps or old fence posts near the base, and keep stacking on plant trimmings and fallen branches. Do note that you don’t want to do this near anything like a fire pit.

Don't forget, with all of these, your mileage may vary for any variation of reasons, so don't worry if you can't take all of even any of these actions! Even just talking about them with other people may inspire someone else to put out a bat box, or leave a few logs out for wildlife!

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about ways to get seeds and plants as cheaply as possible. For now, I hope this advice helps! Feel free to reply with any questions, success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

#biodiversity #solarpunk #environmental stewardship #gardening #outdoor gardening #(i know this is literally the Dont Gotta Garden post but these could also be excellent additions to a preexisting garden so)#ani rambles #out of queue #the biodiversity saga #here in the tags to once again emphasize your mileage may vary with all of these #my mom is scared of bats theres no way in hell shes gonna let me put up a bat box #but I have been able to put out a shallow bird bath and a little solarpowered hummingbird bath fountain #do what you can! every bit counts! You may be able to do something that I or your neighbors can't!#for example my nextdoor neighbors have literally no trees in their backyard where the hell would they put a bat box #meanwhile i have trees in my backyard but still can't put up a bat box. maybe the neighbors next to me could!#similarly brush piles are a no go for my family but someone somewhere else could set one up!#i am rambling in the tags now uh long story short do what you can don't stress about what you can't

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help-itrappedmyself · 2 months

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Danny punches a Clown Part 7

Masterpost

Danny wakes up some time later. Red and Agent A are there waiting for him in chairs on either side of his bed.

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Less tired at least.” Danny was well enough he could feel his wounds trying to heal. “Could probably use some food though.”

“I will go retrieve it for you now that you are awake.” Agent A walks out of the med area.

“You feel up to meeting a few people? They’re going to be around so you should know who they are.”

“I guess so.” Danny sits up on the bed, bringing his knees to his chest.

Red leans out past the curtain and waves some people over. When he takes his seat, a man in a blue and black suit with a mask on and someone in an all-black suit with a head covering that comes down over his eyes comes in behind him. They stay standing by the curtain.

“You met Nightwing earlier, and this is Batman.” Red introduces. Nightwing waves when Red says his name. “We all work together here.”

Danny nods.

“Hey, Danny!”Dick comes over to sit in the chair on the other side of Danny’s bed. “We have a few questions that we would like to ask you if you’re feeling up for it.”

Danny shrugs.

“Okay, well we know you haven’t been in Gotham long, where did you come from?”

Danny wonders if he tells them a different dimension if they would believe him. If they would try to send him back. “Illinois.”

Nightwing let out a short whistle. “That’s a long way Danny.”Danny snorts at that. “Did you come here by yourself?”

“Yeah.” Danny starts picking at the edges of the blankets, trying not to look anyone in the eye- not that he could, they all have some form of mask on.

“Okay. Well, we have some concerns. Don’t know if you remember what you were talking about before you went to sleep, but you said some things about being shot at a lot, by your parents and some other people.”

“What part of that is a question?” Danny leans forward and rests his cheek on his knees, watching himself pick at the blanket. He found a loose thread that he’s started twirling around his fingers.

“Can you tell us more about the people who were shooting at you? We’d like to look into them.”

Something in the tone Nightwing is using makes him sound all clinical. Like a social worker. Or a cop. It shouldn’t matter really because the people that did this to him are inaccessible unless they have some way to dimension hop.

“Doesn’t matter anymore, I’m here now.”

“What made you come here? Do you have a family member, or friends that you were meeting?”

“For real, are you a social worker? Psychologist, cop, what.” Danny looks up at him. “You brought me to a cave f and you’re all wearing masks, but you’re talking to me like I’m going to freak out or something. You can stop acting like I’m a child. I know what’s happened to me. Frankly, the fact that I’m trapped in a cave with people dressed the way you are is more concerning for me than being back on the street. So can we get on with you doing whatever you’re going to do?”

“We’re not going to do anything Danny.” Red leans towards him. “We just want to make sure you have somewhere to go.”

“I don’t.” Danny states plainly. He knows his circumstances and he can’t risk going back home for a while, shouldn’t go back at all except to grab his stuff and leave again.

The three share a few glances back and forth, having quite an in-depth silent conversation. Danny rolls his eyes and goes to stand up, they all immediately try and stop him.

“Whoa, what are you doing?” Nightwing asks.

“Where are you trying to go?” Comes from Red.

“You’re injured, you should stay in bed.” Comes from Batman.

Just then, Agent A pushes aside the curtain, walking in with a tray.

“I do hope you aren’t overwhelming the patient.” He brings the tray over, Danny straightens his legs and A situates the tray in his lap. “This boy needs to eat, and to rest. You don’t need to worry about where he’s going until he is fit to be out of bed. He’s not going anywhere until he’s improved.”

“Sir, I’m sure it’ll be fine-” Danny starts.

“Nonsense. I will not stand for it. You need proper treatment or your wounds will get infected. Now, eat or your body will not have the necessary fuel to heal.”

Danny bows his head and looks at the tray in front of him. A brought him chicken noodle soup, he starts to eat as A shepherds everyone back out and closes the curtain behind them.

“Now, I know this cannot be easy for you, being injured and alone.” A comes to sit in the chair that Red vacated. “I assure you that you have a place here at least until you are better. Even if you wish to leave now, you will not be able to get better on the streets.”

“Thank you.” Danny says. “I didn’t mean to snap at them.”

“I’m sure they will forgive you for it, you are under a lot of stress right now.”

Danny nods. “Thank you for the food. It’s amazing.”

“Of course, Mister Danny. I will be making sure you are well nourished while you are with us. Please, let me know if you have any preferences.”

“Anything that’s not alive is good for me.”

Agent A just looks at him. “You did mention something about fighting your food last night. I had thought you were talking out of a bit of delirium.”

“Oh, no that used to happen. The chemicals my parents used reanimated the food sometimes. Had to fight some hot dogs. A chicken. Our kitchen was a hazard.”

“I dare say so.” A has a very scrunched up look on his face. “Rest assured nothing of the sort has ever happened in my kitchen.”

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charles-leclerc-official · 14 days

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2024 Japan Grand Prix Race Analysis

My analysis of the 2024 Japan Grand Prix. Table of contents below detailing the order of the post. We have a lot to cover as this was an eventful race so I am not going to waste time making introductions.

Table of Contents Ferrari – Race strategy: qualifying and tyre management – Charles: his qualifying and his race – Carlos: his race – In depth data and pace analysis Mclaren – Race strategy – Tyre management/Charles – Pace VCARB – Yuki: his race – Daniel: his crash with Alex Red Bull Mercedes Williams – Logan: his race – Team car problems Stake Concluding Thoughts

Ferrari

Ferrari had Carlos start in P4 and finish P3. Charles started P8 and finished P4. They both further secured Ferrari's lead for second in the constructors as well as keeping the WDC and WCC still competitive against Red Bull.

This race highlighted some areas that need to be improved on the SF-24 but more importantly it also showed some of the massive improvements that Ferrari has made in development and that is what made this race very exciting for Ferrari fans.

Once again the Ferrari strategy was great. It would have actually been good to mid if it were not for Charles having the skill and confidence to go for the one-stop strategy. But this is another race where I don't think they could have done anything better.

As it was with the starting grid positions Charles was looking at maybe getting P7 or P6 with a 2 stop strategy. And that strategy was most likely given the track and how much deg there usually is at Suzuka.

The reason Charles made it to P4 was because of his superior driving and tyre management, and Ferrari listening to him when he said he wanted to go for the one-stop strategy. They listened and it was 100% the right call on Charles’ part.

Charles outperformed what should have been possible. If you don’t believe me just look at what Max, Lando, Oscar, Checo, Mclaren, and Red Bull are saying about his tyre management. Charles in the SF-24 was the only one who could have pulled that one-stop off. Seriously, the fact that Max didn’t think he could have done it is really all you need to know. They saw that and were genuinely impressed not only by the car but by Charles, because we saw that with Carlos he was struggling more with tyre deg and that was with a two-stop approach.

So not only was this the best strategy to maximize points for Charles this race given his starting grid position, it was also just a truly phenomenal drive from Charles himself.

And once again we are seeing incredible strides being made at the Ferrari pit wall in terms of timing and strategy. The pit stops for both drivers were on point. They listened to Charles and went with the strategy he wanted and it worked!

Everything I saw this race was so promising for the trajectory of Ferrari and Charles’ season, and beyond into 2025 and 2026.

Charles: Race, Qualifying, and Free Practice

Charles ran a truly insane race. The only reason he gained all of the positions he did was because of his choice to do the one-stop and not only that but making it work! He gained every position it was possible for him to take and then some. His tyre management on this high degredation track was borderline supernatural.

Charles pulled off zero to negative tyre degradation on both sets of his tyres. (Negative deg is when faster laps are set as the tyres age) This was without question the best tyre management performance we have seen from a driver in 2024. It is something that no other driver could pull off (either due to skill, driving style, or machinery) and that is why Charles is Ferrari.

Have I waxed on long enough about Charles and his tyres? Just wait till you get to the Mclaren section.

I also have a lot more to say about his pace and tyres in the data section.

For now let's move on to some of the questions people might have about what happened to Charles in qualifying and FP3.

Charles qualifying position was decided in free practice. I want to try to be brief, so here is a quick timeline of why Charles’ didn’t have the optimal setup for qualifying (this also applies to Carlos because both Ferrari’s underperformed in qualifying, there was a difference of 1/10th between them so it really was just a matter of the field being so tight)

Suzuka is colder during the day than any race we’ve had so far this year. With the SF-24 being so good with tyre deg that is actually a problem because it means that getting the tyres to warm up takes longer.

The loss of all of FP2 due to rain was a big blow to Ferrari and especially Charles.

Charles has been having more issues getting his qualifying settings right to manage the tyre warming issue. This is due to his personal setup choices and driving style. Being gentler on the tyres in a car with less deg is leading to him underperforming in qualifying.

So we lost valuable time when Ferrari really needed to understand the SF-24 behavior in the colder Suzuka temps.

FP3: Charles and Carlos both got in some race sim laps, but only got to squeeze in 1 or 2 flying lap tests at the very end. Charles especially was frustrated by this. I believe that this came from not having the time to complete all of the program they had outlined to prep for qualifying and the race.

Going into qualifying Charles didn’t have enough data to guide his settings for Q1. They went with a certain setup they hadn’t gotten to fully test and it didn’t work. Which led to them having to send Charles out again in Q1 with a different setup on another set of softs to try to set a better lap in Q1.

In Q3 Charles only had 1 set of softs remaining to set his best lap. It was okay but not enough. I do think that over qualifying he did get settings better on the car and if he’d had another set of softs he might have made it up to P6 (possibly P5) the middle of the field was very close so I don’t think this qualifying placement and time was as bad as it looks. It certainly isn’t great, but compared to his teammate and the rest of the top teams it wasn’t so concerning.

So the lack of enough free practice to figure out the best qualifying setup for Charles in the colder temps is really what cost them here. I think this is why we saw Charles very frustrated at not having the time to do more flying laps during FP3 and Fred also not happy with the program they ran during all free practice sessions.

All of this does apply to Carlos as well. We’ve seen him qualify better in 2024 too so this was just a matter of the SF-24 settings on flying laps given the colder temps and the track.

This is a current issue for the SF-24, but it is something that can be developed and I think there are certain upgrades that will address this. It is better to have a car base that is too gentle on the tyres than the other way around. The SF-24 tyre treatment is a good base to work with. This weekend just highlighted areas where improvements need to be made. The unfortunate part was the loss of FP2 because that was going to be important for colder temp data gathering.

I want to once again now take the time to shut down some narratives about Ferrari's race specifically relating to Carlos' lap 46 pass on Charles:

The reason Charles and Ferrari let Carlos pass was because Carlos was on newer tyres and thus had overall faster lap times.

It’s insane to expect a team to keep the car that has faster pace behind. I could see it if it was a difference of 1/10th or something or if it was the last lap of the race, then it’s up for debate. That wasn’t the case here, Carlos with the tyres that were 10 laps newer was almost 1 second faster. Keeping him behind would have not only compromised his race but also possibly Charles’. We don’t want a car just hovering behind the other. As we heard on the radio the main concern was keeping Lando behind. As far as gaining significant placement this race goes we always knew Lando was going to be Charles' competition. If the cars were fighting over pace with this big of a discrepancy in the pace we would have seen disastrous results.

Charles knew this and this is why he let Carlos by. He was never intending to race Carlos(he literally said this in interviews after). With the way they started on the grid it was not going to be in the cards this race. Charles said as much and he isn’t upset about it.

“Carlos overtook Charles”: No, Charles let him pass because that was strategically optimal for both Ferrari drivers.

“Carlos’ pace was better”: No, he was on a completely different tyre strategy, the only reason he was faster is because he did two stints on mediums and then finished on newer hards. Charles overall race pace and tyre management was better. This is just a result of 1. Different starting positions and 2. Different tyre strategies. It’s very hard to do a driver-to driver comparison with blanket statements when they are on different strategies.

“Ferrari gave the order to switch with Sainz”: No, they just didn’t do that, I don’t know what race you were watching.

“They should have told Carlos to defend”: That would have been a bad strategy choice for both drivers. There is a lot more than current track position that goes into strategy calls.

"Ferrari strategy screwed Charles over again": No, Charles chose his strategy(and it was the right call). Ferrari did great in supporting him.

I don't understand why people want to run this narrative that we keep getting Silverstone 22' level strategy calls when that is just not happening.

Now Charles radio after the race may have sounded disappointed and in the heat of the moment he probably was. However in interviews after the race he was very happy with the car (I think he realized just what a good performance he put in) but also I think his big takeaway from this race was that Ferrari have given him a strong base to work with(finally) and he has been only saying more positive things since then.

Ferrari did amazing supporting both drivers. Especially Charles because it was his call to do the one-stop and they listened to him and supported him perfectly throughout running that strategy.

Carlos

Carlos ran a clean race. He gained the one position which is about what we'd expect from the car he was in and his starting position. His performance also gave us really good baseline data for the SF-24.

His race was mostly decided in qualifying and also the fact that Mclaren struggled far more than expected on this track. Ferrari initially thought he might have to fight Lando more for that position but Mclaren's struggle was Carlos' gain.

I also think that just this race in general from him and his driving style was really good data for the SF-24 to inform development and that is awesome!

I don't have a ton to add, it was good, got those WCC points for Ferrari and that's exactly what we want to see from him.

In Depth Data Analysis

The name of the game here is tyre wear. The SF-24 (especially in Charles' hands) has had phenomenal race pace and that is due to the fact that this car is so easy on the tyres. However Charles is the driver who has been able to pull this feature out of the car due to his driving style and tyre management skills.

We are going to look at a comparison of Charles' and Carlos' data to highlight exactly what was so interesting about Charles' pace. And then also adding in Max, because as the driver to beat he is a good benchmark(as well as showing the top performance of the RB-20)

Here is a comparison of lap times between Charles and Carlos, corrected for tyre age(because they were on different strategies)

For the medium tyre I used both their first medium stints. Carlos did two stints on mediums, I used his first stint for comparison because it means both tyres were subject to the same time of day and track temps and conditions.

Now the lap times themselves here aren’t as important. Carlos and Charles were in different spots on the track and Carlos was in much cleaner air even on that first stint. The real thing to look at is the way Charles lap time stays consistent, and even gets faster as the age of the tyres progresses, while Carlos starts off with his best speed and then gradually gets slower. Carlos’ pace here is an example of what we expect to see - as tyres age they get slower so his pace on these tyres is perfectly normal, by the time he got to lap 14 before he pitted he’d lost more than a second of pace on those tyres (which is normal and expected). Then we can then look at Charles who is getting almost the exact same lap time out of his 11 lap old mediums as the first lap. Where Carlos has lost more than a second, Charles has lost nothing. Furthermore you can see multiple instances of an increased speed on his previous laps, which indicates negative tyre degradation. This goes against general tyre wear behavior and can only be attributed to Charles’ skill in extending the pace of his tyres.

I want to add that both driver’s pace was excellent and that both their performances would not have been possible without the massive leap Ferrari has made with the SF-24 and race pace tyre degradation.

Again looking at the hards the actual lap time is not important here, Charles and Carlos were running very different strategies at this point. Charles was racing to extend the life of the tyres to pull off a one-stop and Carlos was trying to regain position near the front. What we are looking at is once again the way the lap times increase for Carlos steadily, and just don’t for Charles.

Charles once again was pulling essentially the same lap time on 11 lap old hards, while Carlos had lost a full second. The sheer consistency here is what is scaring the other teams.

I want to note here that none of this is meant to make Carlos look bad. I think his runs and tyre treatment were pretty good overall, but when your teammate is defying the laws of physics in the same car it can even make a good drive look not as great. But I have no issues with how Carlos managed, he gave a good example of what I would say is the base deg for the SF-24.

Now I want to compare Charles’ pace to Max’s, again correcting for tyre age.

This is helpful because this is where we can get a look at match-ups for the future, the strengths of the SF-24 compared to the RB20.

Here is where it gets interesting. Max on the hards was managing degradation amazingly, right on par with Charles.

The big difference is on the mediums. After 11 laps Max had lost over a full second of pace on the mediums and Charles had not.

This gap is where we are going to see big results come in from the SF-24 in the future. If I were Red Bull I’d be worried about this. And this is why they are also specifically worried about Charles, because we see that the SF-24 in Carlos hands is behaving as expected as far as tyre deg goes, the real threat based on the data is the combination of Charles Leclerc and the SF-24.

Deltas Δ

Now let's take a look at what the change in pace lap to lap looks like for Charles, Max and Carlos. Again using those first 11 laps on the mediums.

Lap deltas are the change in lap time lap-to-lap, and this is a metric that shows if a driver is keeping pace, gaining pace or losing pace. Positive numbers mean a loss of pace, negative numbers are a gain. This is calculated by the equation of (Lap time B - Lap time A = change in pace or the delta Δ) So it's just the time difference lap to lap. This is how we can take a look at the actual pace and correct for lap times (which are not important here)

On it's own this doesn't look like much, yes Charles is managing best, but Carlos is also ahead of Max. This is showing where the SF-24 is better than the RB-20. The fact that of these three drivers Max is the worst on this metric is notable.

However the impressive part of Charles' tyre deg is not in these first 11 laps. Because after these laps Max and Carlos had to pit because they were losing time and their tyres were done.

Charles kept going.

Here is what Charles' full stint on the mediums looked like.

Charles continued to achieve faster laps and negative deltas well into the life of the tyres, and that is what is setting him apart from Carlos and Max.

Not only was Charles achieving negative deltas, he was doing it more consistently as the tyres aged.

For comparison here is Carlos' and Max's data overlayed on Charles full medium stint.

While the first graph on the mediums shows that both Ferrari's were outperforming the RB20 in terms of deg(or at the very least Carlos was on a very similar delta to Max), this is where you see the difference in the drivers. Because Max and Carlos had to pit because they were rapidly losing performance on those tyres(see above time sheets) Charles was not, and he only improved. He more than doubled the life of his tyres in comparison to the other two.

This is the graph that really matters because it shows what each driver was able to do with one set of mediums. And as you can see it's not even close.

This is where you can see the impact of the negative deg over time. Compared to the normal deg we see with Max and Carlos it serves to highlight exactly how outside of the norm Charles was operating.

Charles only continued to improve well beyond the other two. That's what was insane about his tyre management.

Neither Carlos or Max were going to be able to continue their pace (hence the pit)

I feel like the data really speaks for itself. Max and Carlos are good comparisons here, Carlos is a good driver in the same car as Charles, and Max is the current top driver on the grid and is known for his tyre management.

I want to finish this section with the sentence that is chilling the blood of every other driver and TP on the grid: Charles set his fastest lap of his race on 25 lap old hards.

Mclaren

So what happened to Mclaren?

A lot of people were expecting Mclaren to be the second strongest team on this track. And qualifying certainly made it look like that might be the case. With Lando being ahead of Carlos in P3 and Oscar being ahead of Charles in P6 on the starting grid.

So why did both Mclarens get easily defeated by the Ferraris?

I think there are 2 main reasons.

The Mclaren car is not even close to the SF-24 when it comes to tyre deg, that car loses pace much faster so it just cannot fight when a Ferrari comes up behind it.

Charles 1 stop strategy really messed up the team's pit strategy with Lando.

In Mclaren’s defense no one thought anyone would be crazy enough to try a 1 stop around Suzuka, let alone have zero tyre deg on a high deg track.

They seemed to be managing their pit strategy with Lando under the assumption that Charles was going to pit twice, and I think they were very worried about an undercut in the pits (after they didn’t get away with it in Australia I think they were very keen to make sure they kept their position)

But Charles didn’t do a 2 stop strategy. He stayed out and his pace on the hards was unbelievable.

There was really no way for them to see that coming. It’s kind of hard when your main competition decides this is the weekend he’s going to challenge the laws of physics.

(And you thought I was done talking about Charles’ tyre strategy)

Here is a graph of Lando vs Carlos. That was the spot he lost, and you can see that the pit strategy is really what cost Lando the spot. Carlos came behind him on much fresher tyres and by then he'd lost the pace. He pitted too early, and that was due to Mclaren not understanding that Charles is on another level.

His pace was okay on newer tyres, but once they age the drop off was pretty bad. So the Mclaren car needs to improve in the tyre deg department if they want to see either of their drivers beat a Ferrari any time this year.

Furthermore Oscar once again struggled more because he is still the weaker of the two Mclarens when it comes to tyre deg, and on this track that really showed.

But I think the fact that Mclaren kept trying to figure out when Charles was going to pit for his second stint and then he just didn’t really threw them off and had them making some weird pit calls.

VCARB

Yuki

Yuki ran what was in my opinion the second most impressive drive of the race. He qualified P10 and finished P10. However to keep that position he pulled of some truly perfect overtakes. He was fighting to finally get that home race point. I was so excited seeing him put on that good of a show for his home fans.

In this race he became the first Japanese driver to score home race points since 2012, and that is just so exciting for Yuki and his fans. It really made that single point mean a lot. I don't think I have ever been more excited for a P10!

Yuki has really been showing what the VCARB car is capable of and it looks really promising. He seems comfortable and I think we will be seeing a lot more points from him this season.

Daniel: Crash with Albon and DNF

Going to be covering Alex and Daniel's crash this section.

On lap 1, Daniel and Alex made contact going into turn 3, resulting in both cars going off the track and ending up in the barriers. Both drivers had to retire from the race.

To me this looked like a result of crowding into that turn in the mid field with neither driver at significant fault. I don't think Daniel was trying to push Alex wide, and I also don't think that Alex mistook that corner. The FIA and stewards agree and Alex and Daniel's story of what happened make sense.

Going into the turn Daniel had the outside line, and he was trying to give room to the Aston Martin(Lance) on his inside. He didn't see Alex on his outside and his wheel made contact with Alex's front wing, causing his car to spin and pushing Alex of the line and into the gravel.

Alex thought he had the outside line to overtake and was in the process of attempting that when Daniel went to give space on the inside, this resulted in the contact and Daniel forcing him wide.

This crash really just was a result of crowding in that corner, Daniel was trying to give space to one driver and inadvertently crowded out another. There wasn't space so he was kind of in a lose-lose situation there.

I agree with the stewards that no penalty for either driver was warranted and that this was the result of midfield crowding, and some bad luck for both drivers. It wasn't a result of bad driving on either Daniel or Alex's part. Even if Daniel had seen Alex I am not sure what he could have done if he also needed to give room to Lance.

Ultimately I am glad both drivers are uninjured. Hopefully they have some better luck in future races.

Red Bull

I don't have a ton to say about Red Bull. My comparison in the Ferrari data section is what was most interesting about this race from the data standpoint.

They didn't do much, the Red Bulls started ahead and finished ahead as expected. Max and Checo both ran a really clean race. Again showing the power of the RB-20.

I will add that this was a really good race for Checo(probably his best this year), and it was nice to see him have redemption after Suzuka 2023.

Nothing terribly exciting to add. Max won again, well done Max!

Mercedes

Mercedes didn't have a great race, but considering that both their drivers DNFed in Australia it was good for the team to get some points. Lewis started in P7 and finished P9, while George started P9 and finished P7. So they swapped positions.

It seems that the Mercedes car might be better on those qualifying laps than the race pace (and even then it's qualifying has been inconsistent)

The most notable thing about Mercedes' race was when Lewis asked if he should let George pass when George came up behind him, and George did in fact make the pass. This was done simply because George's pace was better. Lewis knew this so it was best for the team.

I think that so far we have seen that the W15 is struggling in a lot of areas, and as far as drivers go George has been more comfortable in the car(could be driving style, setup, a combo of the two) than Lewis.

Both are solid drivers, and hopefully they can guide Mercedes into making improvements to the car to get them closer to top points. At this point the car Mercedes has made seems to have fallen short of expectations. Make no mistake though, Lewis and George are both drivers who are much better than the car they are in at the moment.

Williams

I covered Alex's crash with Daniel already so we are going to talk about Logan.

Logan honestly did about the best he could do in the car he had. After damaging both his front and rear wing in free practice and still using the repaired chassis from Australia his car was not in the best shape already going into the race. Additionally the Williams really struggled with grip in the rears and has been all over the place. Suzuka especially seems to have not been suited to it.

Yes on lap 41 Logan went off track into a gravel trap, but that was on a corner that had given more skilled and experienced drivers trouble this weekend so I am not going to fault him too much for that in the car he had. Better cars were having problems there too.

He did have a really strong first stint and was pulling some overtakes. Most of his positions were lost when he did get undercut by some pit stops, and then of course losing time to the gravel trap.

The win is that he finished the race and the car is intact. That may not seem like much, but given the state of things at Williams it's important.

There were some highlights for his race and I will say in terms of raw performance he has not been far off Alex this year. That car of Williams is really hindering both drivers.

Stake

Stake actually had pretty good pace overall. The car is not as bad as it has looked on paper. The main issues has been their slow pit stops (caused by incompatibility between the bolters and the tyre covers apparently) Zhou and Valtteri both showed some pretty good pace and were in positions for overtakes.

Zhou unfortunately had to retire his car due to gearbox issues.

Stake has really been a mess and we have not seen what that car can actually do in terms of performance overall, or what what their drivers are capable of in that car.

They are making attempts to address the pit stop issue and I think if they do that, then we will see both drivers picking up some P10 points at the very least.

Final Thoughts

I think we can all agree that Suzuka was the best race of the year so far from a pure racing standpoint!

Whew, that’s all I got on this race, so I will leave you with this final thought.

This race was a warning shot from Ferrari.

#lucis race analysis #japan gp 2024 #suzuka gp 2024 #formula 1 #f1 #scuderia ferrari #charles leclerc #long post #I am so serious this is a long post you've been warned #lot of good data though if you are into that <3 #thank you for reading <3

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befemininenow · 11 months

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Are you a trans girl or non-conforming and would like to try out feminine clothing? You may want to check this out.

Say you found this dress online and you really love the overall style of it. Great! If you’re like me, you would say “F it! I’ll buy the dress and I’ll wear it how I like!” and move on with your life. That should the end of this guide, right? Except, there is one little problem: not everybody thinks this way. Those who look for the best matching outfits aren’t just searching to fit their style, color, or personality. It also has to do with their body type. If you’re in that situation, this guide may help you out.

Body shape

Believe it or not, there are many different types of body shape (up to 10). However, the most common tend to be the following (in no order):

Rectangle- Even distribution on shoulders, hips, and waistline

Pear/Triangle- Wide hips, well-defined waist, small shoulders

Hourglass- Near-exact hip and shoulder measurements, thinner waistline

Inverted Triangle- Broader shoulders, narrower hips, little waist definition

Apple/Round- Broad shoulders and big bust, thin legs and hips

Many transgender women have the inverted triangle body shape due to several factors such as genetics, bone structure, and age. However, your body shape may also change over time due to a rebalancing of hormones, body fat, and even lifestyle. While you can’t change your bone structure, you can change your body definition through exercises.

Body proportion

Here is something you may find useful if you’re looking to customize your look. Body proportions are unique to every individual and play a factor on clothing and to some extent, accessories such as jewelry. For instance, you may find the skirt you bought looks either too long or short. There are a few areas where to measure your body proportions such as wrist length or neck size. But the best way to improve your dress type is by following the “golden ratio rule” of dividing your body into three:

The way this is read is you’re either one-third top, two-thirds bottom, or you’re two-thirds top, one-third bottom. Once you get more knowledge, you can go upwards even eighths! But for now, the focus is on these two outcomes.

The two-thirds top, one-third bottom words well with long dresses:

while the one-third top, two-thirds bottom works well with more casual clothing:

Body measurements

Now that we got a few problems out of our way, it’s time to figure out what measurements you have. The best way to find out is by using a mirror and a soft measuring tape for body. Measure all the crucial parts of your body, which are the waist, hips, shoulders, and bust. This will determine the type of body you have and have a better idea on what length you will need to try out your clothing of choice.

Shoe size

One thing very important about an outfit is choosing footwear. Although you can use your old Converses with your flared jeans, you’re certainly not going to use them with a ruffled dress. You’re definitely going to want heels or flats! Unfortunately, women’s shoe size are not exactly the same as men. But don’t give up! Fortunately, there are women’s size conversion charts that help you choose what shoe size you need.

To find out your measurements on your own, grab at least two blank pieces of paper, a pencil or pen, and a measuring tape. Place your foot firmly forward and carefully trace around the outer area of your foot. Repeat this with your other foot. Once finished, grab your measuring tape and measure from your highest point to your lowest on both sheets. Measure the width as well. If both feet measure close to 10.5, your women’s size is a 12. However, due to a difference in manufacturing based on shoe brand, as well as shoe type like pumps, the average recommended size is at least 2 inches above your actual size. For those living in other countries that don’t use the US measuring size, I left a chart that shows all the possible measurements you may use to convert your shoe size into women’s size.

What to wear based on body type

Since not all clothing is made for everyone, it’s time to list what is considered the “ideal” clothing choices based on body type. Note that these are opinions from my source’s authors. IMO, the pictures below each suggestion are a better opinion. Your are free to choose your type of clothing.

Rounded or apple shapes fit best with monochrome colors and make the person look more “fit”.

Pear or triangle shapes look more balanced with decorative accessories on top while keeping the bottom more plain.

Rectangle shapes tend to have more volume with a waist belt while pleated pants give more volume on hips.

Hourglass shapes look best when wearing bodycon dresses and cardigans to emphasize volume in their waistline.

Inverted triangle shapes pull off the wide leg pants and fitted top combo the best.

For a much more comprehensive guide for each body type, I highly recommend reading The Concept Wardrobe’s guides. It gives more details on what to wear and how to choose the best combinations. Link is provided here: https://theconceptwardrobe.com/search?query=body+frame

Tips on what to wear

Now that you reached this point, I’m pretty sure you’re excited to try out what your heart desires. However, before you go out and buy that two-piece dress, I recommend researching and observing the type of clothing women wear today. Believe it or not, people will judge based on your way of dressing, from background to social status to age. A simple look like bodysuit and jeans may look perfect on you and blend you in with the girls, but something like a hot pink bodycon will make you stand out, and most likely not in a good way. So how would you choose something that blends you in with society, but also be comfortable at the same time? Here are some tips and pics:

Find clothing that “feels” feminine. In other words, buy clothing that “feminizes” your body, such as tops that make your shoulders look shorter, wrap dresses that make your waistline shorter, and skirts that make your hips look wider.

Find the best colors based on skin tone and hair color. For instance, try out warm colors such as orange if your skin tone is warm.

Dress sexy, but never go too revealing. Seriously, have some respect to yourself. But if you really want to go out wearing, for example, a two-piece outfit, wear one that looks stylish and flatters your body in a great way.

Use accessories that fit and blend well with your body. Large jewelry goes well with larger frame, small jewelry fits with smaller wrist, and so forth. Don’t forget the purse! It is absolutely necessary now that you’re wearing pocketless clothing. Choose one that fits your taste and needs.

Bras and undergarments are necessary to wear now. As you further into your transition, your breasts will start growing and it will become more difficult and uncomfortable going out braless. Start out with a brassiere, then move on to a fitted bra as they become bigger over time. As for down there, I would use boy briefs as they’re similar to boxers. Although HRT will cause it to shrink, it does not make it disappear. If you must hide it, use a gaff or a tuck, but do not use chastity belts (Seriously, stay away from that unless you’re really into that thing).

Optional: use waist shapers or corsets to slim down waist. Hip enlargement pads will also give your narrow hips and butt much needed volume. Breast forms can also give you an idea how big you want them in the future.

Fashion sense

But the most important part of choosing clothing as a trans girl is to wear whatever suits your taste.

For instance, are you more into the traditional and simple feminine aesthetic? Cottagecore may be for you:

But what if you’re the rebellious type that prefers to defy tradition? Well, maybe the alt-girl fashion is for you:

Maybe you’re the type that changes clothing based on season. So if you’re a summer-season type of girl, you’re definitely going for an outfit like this:

How about if you’re into the gym? Clearly your goal is to be like this:

Are you into business casual? There’s also a pic for that:

(The girl in the pic is also transgender! Her name is Suzi Hunter, better known as The Sphere Hunter.)

But we also can’t forget cosplay, either!:

(Cosplayer is Eden the Doll, a trans woman cosplayer! Picture belongs to Geo Leon.)

You’re probably the party type who loves some action:

Casual wear can also be tasteful and attractive too:

There’s so much to pic, but each style says a lot about what type of woman you are.

Where to buy clothing

If you’re interested in finding the right clothes for you, check out places that are especially gender-inclusive. As I’m based in the US, clothing stores such as Target are a good start while higher-end chains such as Nordstrom and Macy’s may have a better variety to choose from. If you’re a thrifty shopper, your local outlets, discount stores, and thrift shops have a surprising amount of great clothing for affordable prices. Although online sites like Amazon, Shein, and Zara have affordable and appealing clothing, many of these brands also have ethical concerns that overshadow their reputation. Dubbed “fast fashion”, they are a source of scrutiny among fashion fans and I would personally avoid them if possible. If you really need something affordable and new, I highly recommend purchasing through discount and thrift stores.

If you’re in need of safe undergarments, check out Urbody. They have clothing suitable for trans people, non-binary, and other identities, varying from binders to tucked leggings. They are founded by trans and non-binary people and use ethical practices and living wages for their workers. If you’re interested in checking their site out, here is the link to their page (I am not sponsored by them): https://urbody.co/

Conclusion

The whole point of this guide is to help you pick the proper clothing and accessories as a newly-out girl. I made this guide since there doesn’t seem to be many that are detailed. Keep in mind I’m still learning about female clothing as I am still in the first stages of transition myself. If anyone would like to add more info that is missing or provide any corrections, please reblog and add more helpful tips as it would help trans girls, trans women, non-binary, and anyone else that desires to wear affirming clothing. Please refrain from using any hurtful language if you’re doing so. Thank you and hugs!

Links to sources:

https://www.healthline.com/health/women-body-shapes#why-shape-fluctuates

https://www.thestylatude.com/post/the-most-common-body-shapes-for-women-and-how-to-find-out-yours

https://theconceptwardrobe.com/build-a-wardrobe/inverted-triangle-body-shape

https://www.thestylebouquet.com/2020/02/17/5-most-common-body-shapes-for-women/

https://dressedformyday.com/how-to-discover-your-body-proportions/

https://gabriellearruda.com/how-to-dress-better-female-body-shape/

https://m2fguide.com/how-to-pick-clothes-if-youre-transgender-or-crossdressing/

https://feminizationsecrets.com/mtf-clothing-tips/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHBk9v0J_WO/

https://www.transgendermap.com/social/clothing-accessories/

https://apexfoot.com/shoe-sizing-chart/

https://www.glamourboutique.com/crossdresser-fashion/guide-male-female-shoe-sizes-33255#:~:text=Minimize%20the%20chance%20of%20having,11%20in%20a%20women's%20shoe

#transgender #mtf #fashion #how to #gender affirming #trans #clothing #feminine #genderfluid #quick #guide #helpful #tips #trans woman

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ackermanbloodline · 6 months

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A/N: Thank you for sending this request in, anon! I should've probably split this up into two separate parts since it's a bit long but fuck it. I hope you enjoy! (And your English is fantastic.)

Word Count: 6.7k

Warnings: Sexual content. MDNI/18+.

* * *

Covetous Eyes - Levi Ackerman x Female Reader

cov·et·ous (adj.) /ˈkəvədəs/ having or showing a great desire to possess something belonging to someone else.

It has been happening for a few weeks now.

Captain Levi has been throwing more positive feedback than usual your way during training, way more compared to the other soldiers. Whenever he does so, he makes sure it’s subtle enough so nobody else catches it. He looks around before placing a firm fist on your shoulder with a lowered voice as a compliment drops from his mouth. While very unusual and unexpected, you keep this matter to yourself. You don’t dare to confide in your “friends” about this as you know word would spread quickly across the Scout Regiment. It always does.

Besides, the last thing you want to do is jeopardize or even risk his reputation.

Following expeditions, it seemed like his eyes always searched for yours in a sea of blood and corpses. When his icy eyes met yours, his hardened demeanor softened ever so slightly: the crinkles around his eyes ease into smooth lines, his shoulders lower, and his downward frown of a scowl relaxes into a neutral position. You aren’t sure exactly when it started or why. But you know that at least someone in the regiment potentially cared about you and your safety. The thought gave you comfort.

And what better person than Humanity’s Strongest?

You have recently been working closely with a high ranking officer of the Survey Corp to improve your combat and ODM gear skills: Lieutenant Pryce. He offered to help you with personalizing your gear to your body for maximum efficiency out in the field. He was a few years older than you, taller, even a bit handsome… But you had no time to think about stuff like that. Keeping things professional and friendly are of the utmost importance in these situations.

However, that was not on your mind at this very moment. Instead, you are focused on throwing all your weight through your wrapped fists into the dummy in front of you. Lieutenant Pryce had urged that your upper body strength needed to be improved in order for the gear to be easier to use. It is late and nobody else is up. Starting tonight, you had plans to spend at least an hour or two in the indoor training area each evening to follow the Lieutenant’s advice.

Even though you’re wearing a sports bra and shorts, you still manage to come to the cusp of overheating. As sweat lazily drips down the curve of your lower back and another down the side of your cheek, you lose yourself in the physical moment. So much so that when you feel something glide on your side, you jump out of your skin. And instinctively, you throw out a fist with no specific target.

To your horror, it is Lieutenant Pryce, holding hand over his stomach as a reaction to your punch. Your racing heartbeat immediately settles down.

“Goddamn, you nearly just gave me a heart attack,” you breathe out as you put your hands on your hips. “What’re you doing here?”

“And you just nearly gave me a bowel perforation, I guess we’re even,” he dryly jokes as he presses gently down on his abdomen, wincing slightly. “Came to check on you, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I would find you here.”

“Well, thanks, I appreciate that. But I was kind of in the zone. Do you mind?”

He chuckles, “Your transparency and commitment to the Scouts is unwavering. It’s what makes you different from the others.”

“Uh, thanks… I mean, I feel like we all should be equally dedicated to the Scouts. Otherwise why are we here?”

“Fair point. Can I help you out with your stance?”

“Sure.”

The Lieutenant stands behind you as you face the punching bag yet again. You get into your position: legs, slightly bent, hands and arms, protecting your face and upper chest. He presses his body against yours, and your eyes immediately go wide. He wraps his hands around your wrists and pulls them down slightly.

“Your core is too vulnerable, your arms should be here. Also, you should tuck your chin in more towards your chest. Spread your legs a little wider and have one step forward a bit.”

His voice is muffled in your ears as you struggle to comprehend his words. All you can concentrate on is the fact that he’s so damn close. You can feel his body heat penetrating your clothes. It makes you slightly uncomfortable. Would he be doing this to a male soldier?

“Got it?” he asks, and it snaps you out of your thoughts.

“Y-yeah,” you stutter, clearing your throat, “I think I got it. Thanks.”

“What’s going on?”

And from the shadows, Captain Levi appears, stepping toward you and Lieutenant Pryce. You swallow a thick wad of saliva that formed at the top of your throat. Out of habit, you immediately salute your superior. Lieutenant Pryce stands next to you, unfazed by the Captain’s presence.

“Was just teaching your cadet here a proper sparring form. Not sure what you’ve been teaching the soldiers, but it looks like you’ve been slacking.”

Captain Levi’s scowl slightly deepens, but only for a second before it reverts back to normal.

“Remind me again from today’s meeting, out of all that have ever existed in the Scouts, which squad has had the highest survival:titan kills ratio?”

“Yours, but—”

“Then until you climb higher in the ranks, Lieutenant, I suggest you affiliate yourself with matters that only concern you,” he turns to you. “And you—I don’t recall giving you permission to continue training at this hour. Your body needs rest.”

“Sir, I want to further master my ODM skills. Lieutenant Pryce informed me that improving my upper body strength can help achieve that goal. He met with the Section Commander earlier this afternoon and granted me special permission to continue training throughout the evenings.”

The Captain’s head turns towards the Lieutenant’s.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, sir,” you confirm.

“Then you’ve been misinformed.”

“Excuse me?”

“Let’s return to Tactical Training 101: it has virtually nothing to do with the upper body,” Captain Levi walks over toward you to point and touch various areas on your body to demonstrate his points.

You stand there awkwardly, stiff as a board.

“Performing three dimensional maneuvers is impossible without a precise technique of body weight shifting. The legs and hips are the most crucial for proper functionality as overtaxing the muscles is a legitimate possibility. This is why improving and maintaining proper lower body strength is, on the whole, integral for overall ODM gear mastery.”

The Lieutenant hesitates before shaking his head.

“I would have to disagree, Captain Levi. While that all may be true, when I trained, I emphasized upper body strength and saw a dramatic improvement in how I handled the gear. Maybe we’re missing a piece of the puzzle.”

“And how would you train? What exercises? Did you take into account that you were perhaps working your lower body as well during these workouts?”

Lieutenant Pryce is quiet as you can see the gears turning in his head. You notice a pink tinge breaking across his cheeks in embarrassment. He doesn’t speak. Captain Levi’s eyes lower at him.

“I’d recommend you break out your textbooks again to ensure you aren’t misremembering any other tactical operations. It’s one thing for you to believe these things, but you’re spewing them to others and putting those individuals at risk for equipment misuse. Equipment that’s imperative to their survival.”

It’s quiet. The tension and the air is so thick that you can practically cut it with a knife. You swallow a large, awkward lump that had formed in your throat. The Lieutenant scratches the back of his neck and turns towards you, but his eyes don’t meet yours. They remain on the dirty training floor.

“I’ll see you.”

You nod, even though he doesn’t see it. And with that, he walks away without another word, and with his head hanging low. He disappears into the corridor of darkness. Captain Levi turns to you; his tone is audibly gentler.

“If you truly wanted to improve your tactical skills, you should’ve come to me.”

“Yes, sir. I know you always have a lot going on and figured I’d start small.”

“I see. Did he make you uncomfortable?” the Captain’s eyes bore into yours. “The Lieutenant? He looked to be very close to you just now. I can have him relieved immediately.”

“What? N-” your eyebrows furrow together and you lose your composure for a split second. You take a breath and become as stoic as him once again. “That won’t be necessary, sir.”

Something flashes across the Captain’s features. Something you can’t quite define. It feels as if the world just includes him and you. Nobody and nothing else. You desperately try to read his face to get a clue as to what is going through his mind.

You fail your goal when he turns on his heel and looks over his shoulder toward you.

“Get some rest, now. That’s an order.”

* * *

Over the course of the week, you and Lieutenant Pryce are distant. At least when it comes to tactical knowledge, anyway. During training days, he’s still very friendly and cracks jokes at you. He pushes you to do your best, pushes your body just past its limit. He insists it's for your own good. But when you vomit up at least some of your breakfast most days, it’s increasingly hard to believe.

When everyone is dismissed for the day from training grounds, as the sun sets, you hear Lieutenant Pryce’s voice.

“Hey,” he says your name. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Currently every fiber of your being is begging for just a moment’s peace after a long and grueling day. You’re sweaty and starving. Parched. All you wanted right now was a shower and some sustenance. Still, you manage to crack a smile in his direction and nod.

“Sure.”

He motions for you to talk in private. You two silently walk together and settle in the corner of a quiet, long hallway.

“What’s up?”

“I was wondering… we make a pretty good team, right? You and I?”

“Yeah, I guess,” you chuckle and cross your arms over your chest. “We do alright.”

“We do. I was wondering if… you’d… maybe want to hang out sometime. Like, outside of work.”

Your heart drops to the pit of your stomach. Lieutenant Pryce is doing this. And since you have a horrible poker face, he sees your shock almost immediately.

“I-I-I mean it’s totally fine if you don’t want to,” his face heats up. “I totally get it if not. A superior asking a subordinate out is totally inappropriate. Just… forget I said anything, okay?”

“No, I…”

You often find yourself doing something you don’t want to do out of the sake of making other people feel comfortable and confident in themselves. This is no exception. Call it a character fault.

“I want to.”

“Really?”

You try to be the most convincing, “Really.”

The Lieutenant smiles, “Okay.”

* * *

A few nights later, you find yourself waiting at nighttime by the local water fountain in your nicest clothes. Since everyone has today and tomorrow off for once, the Lieutenant and you decided that this would be the perfect day to spend some time together outside of the Scouts HQ.

You look up at the moon hanging low in the clear night sky. You aren’t sure what you’re doing here or what tonight will lead to. But you remind yourself to take it one step at a time. Lieutenant Pryce is certainly not bad looking, and he is a pretty good soldier himself. A bit older, sure. But that’s not a concern to you.

Who knows. Maybe this guy is the love of your life.

Something grabs your shoulder softly and you’re up on your feet with your hands drawn toward your face in a boxing stance. You almost throw a punch out, but you manage to stop yourself. It’s the Lieutenant. With flowers in his right hand.

“Fuck me...” you swear, catching your breath and flattening your dress clothes neatly on your body. “I thought I told you to not do that.”

“Stance’s looking better.”

“Thanks.”

“You look nice,” the Lieutenant’s eyes crawl up and down your body at an agonizing pace. When he reaches the flowers toward you, your cheeks heat up. Still, you smile warmly.

“As do you. Thank you.”

“Let’s take a walk, yeah?”

“Okay.”

The night begins. You two walk in the darkness of the streets, all asleep at this hour. It’s nice. You’re so used to seeing the hustle and bustle of the daytime that you never thought of what it would be like otherwise. Despite the emptiness, the smell of fresh bread and freshly-caught fish linger in the air.

You thought that perhaps the interactions between you two would be awkward, but it’s not. Quite the opposite. There are moments of silence, yes, but they aren’t awkward. Neither of you struggle to fill that void. You walk in the quiet together.

Turns out, Lieutenant Pryce, also known as Greyson, is quite charming. He knows what to say and when. He compliments you left and right. It’s a stark contrast to the person you see dripping sweat during sparring. Almost like two different people entirely. Hours seem to pass by in a blink. When the moon reaches its peak in the sky, you two make your way back to the barracks.

Right before you two enter HQ, the Lieutenant pulls you aside and you feel his lips on yours. It’s such a quick movement that it happens faster than you can register it. Faster than you can push him away. He stands a few steps back from you with a confused look on his face.

“The hell was that?” you say, out of breath.

“A kiss,” Greyson points out obviously. “I’m sorry, was that too forward?”

“It certainly caught me off guard… why didn’t you ask first?”

“You make a good point. Just thought it might ruin the mood. May I kiss you?”

“Now that you’ve asked, yes. You may.”

Greyson smiles at you and steps toward you briskly. His lips meet yours once again and your back presses against the stone wall behind you. His hand brushes against your cheek and his thumb makes soft strokes against the skin there. Once the tip of his tongue shyly brushes against your bottom lip, you gladly let him in.

The kiss deepens and so does your breath. Your heart picks up in pace. His hand slithers to your waist and pulls your hips into his.

“What the fuck is this?”

When your eyes snap open, you’re met with the blinding light of a torch. You gasp and shield your eyes. Through the gaps of your fingers, you see him. Captain Levi.

“Captain, I-I…” you begin, but don’t know what to say.

“You. Get inside. Now.”

Nothing but the deadliest venom drips from his voice. A stark contrast of how he usually speaks to you. Your stomach drops to your feet.

“But—”

Commander Erwin’s voice is stern and surprises you.

“Follow your orders, cadet.”

You have no choice but to follow orders. Your eyes meet Greyson’s and an “I’m sorry” almost inaudibly leaves your lips.

Just an hour later, you’re lying in bed. Unable to sleep. Your hair is sopping wet from your shower and your tongue still tastes of peppermint toothpaste. Your eyes stare up into the ceiling above you as your mind replays the events that transpired this evening. Greyson’s laugh, his smile, his eyes, his lips… how he held you. You’re not used to being touched like that. It’s been a while.

Knock knock knock knock.

Your eyebrows raise at the unexpected noise. Maybe it’s Greyson. Quickly, you toss your feet over the edge of the bed and approach the door. When you open it, you’re standing face to face with Greyson. But he’s absolutely disheveled. His face is blotchy and there’s a cut on his eyebrow. His eyes are bloodshot and his voice is shaky.

“Hey.”

“What happened?” you ask, full of concern. “What’s going on?”

“I’m being dishonorably discharged… for being inappropriately involved with a subordinate.”

“Come in and sit down.”

Greyson gives his spiel. The Commander and the Captain were out on a late night walk themselves and after you left, Captain Levi apparently hit him across the face in a fit of rage, explaining the laceration. Then Commander Erwin pulled Greyson into his office and informed him of military policy of improper relationships between superiors and subordinates.

It constitutes an immediate dishonorable discharge.

“And… Captain Levi isn’t facing any repercussions for assaulting you? How’s that fair?”

“You and I both know that Levi and Erwin are best buddies. He isn’t going to do anything to him. And, unlike me, Levi is indispensable.”

“That’s a conflict of interest if I ever saw it,” you mutter in between clenched teeth. “Do you think it would do anything if I talked to them?”

“No; policy is policy. There’s nothing either of us can do. Believe me, I tried.”

You sigh and rub your eyes with frustration. This feels like it’s your fault. You should’ve just denied Greyson the date while you had the chance. Neither of you would be in this awkward position otherwise.

“Hey,” you feel a palm land on your knee. You look up. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”

“Not really. The Garrison won’t take you, neither will the MPs. Not with you being dishonorably discharged. You’ll probably end up working the fields or some stupid shit like that. And it’s my fault.”

Greyson shrugs.

“Who knows, maybe I’ll be better at that than fighting titans. Would be safer, too. And this is not your fault. I asked you out first, remember?”

“I guess. But in that case, it sounds like you didn’t care much for the Scouts to begin with.”

“You could say that,” he shakes his head and sighs. You sense he’s getting frustrated with you. In your head, that’s fine, because you’re not exactly impressed with him, either. “Anyway, I’m gonna go. They’re giving me a week to pack up and get out. I don’t think I’ll stay here that long. Word is gonna get out. And I’m not sure how this affects you quite yet.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Both of you get up from the edge of your bed and you two exchange a long hug as well as a goodnight. Greyson leaves and you shut the door. You lean up against it and look up at the ceiling again. A deep breath leaves your chest as you pad over to the bed again. You attempt to go to sleep, but to no avail. You toss and turn the entire night.

* * *

The next morning, you practically feel the bags hanging from under your eyes. You’re lucky if you got two hours of sleep. And today was ODM training, which means lots of physical work. You avoid Captain Levi like the fucking plague. You’re pissed at him for what happened last night. For the entire morning, you see people whispering into each other’s ears while they look inconspicuously at you. Perhaps it’s paranoia, but you’re not one to doubt yourself.

As you think about these things, it makes you accidentally misplace a grapple hook into a tree. You fall to the unforgiving gravel ground below, at least three stories high, and skid the top of your forehead in the process. Drops of red drip into the dirt in front of you as you set yourself up on your forearms.

“Are you okay?” Captain Levi appears at your side, landing smoothly from the sky. He grabs your chin and makes you look up at him. You feel a warm trail of blood make its way down the skin of your face. He looks genuinely concerned.

But then you think about what happened to Greyson and a flash of anger runs through your veins.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” you spit without thinking and rip your face from his grip. “I’m fine.”

You loop your fingers into the hand grips again and take off, leaving Captain Levi in the literal dust so you cannot hear any potential protest from him. As you soar through the air, tears fill your eyes. You make the conscious decision to remain quiet for the rest of the day.

* * *

You eat dinner alone in your room. You swiped some food from the Mess Hall earlier since your appetite at that time was nonexistent and you knew you’d be hungry later. You sit at your poorly-made desk, which is pushed up against some windows, and eat your meal in silence. You stare up at the full moon in a glitter spackled sky as you reflect on your day. You didn’t see Greyson all day, although you didn’t really expect to. Would he leave without saying goodbye? You aren’t sure. You really don’t give too much a damn about the guy, anyway.

Knock knock knock.

Speak of the devil.

You open the door and it’s not Greyson, no. It’s the last person on earth you expected. It’s Captain Levi. You don’t bother to serve him a salute. You’re still beyond pissed at him.

“Good evening,” he greets.

“Evening.”

“May I come in?”

“You may not.”

“In that case, come to my office in five. We need to have a chat.”

“Sir.”

You close the door before he can say another word. You absentmindedly slip into tomorrow’s clean uniform, which is already laid out for you. When you’re done, you make your way to the Captain’s Quarters. You knock three times and state your name.

“Come in.”

You twist the door handle open and enter swiftly, closing the heavy door behind you. You see Captain Levi at his desk. His demeanor is relaxed and laid back, so are his wardrobe choices: black slacks with a gray v-neck shirt. You don’t bother to say hello or serve him any kind of greeting. Not even a salute. You stand there and wait for him to speak.

He lets out a heavy sigh.

“It’s quite evident that this situation with Lieutenant Pryce has affected you and your performance in the field,” he begins in a calm tone, interlacing his fingers on his desk. “I called you for a one-on-one conversation to gauge the extent and nature of your relationship.”

“It wasn’t much of a relationship to begin with.”

“I see. In our interview with the Lieutenant, he seemed quite fond of you. Is this fondness mutual?”

“I mean, I guess… I didn’t really know him all that well. He was nice and took a genuine interest in my role as a cadet.”

Captain Levi gets up from his desk and approaches you. You remain unfazed when he is just inches away from your face.

“Were there any sexual relations?”

“I beg your pardon?”

The Captain’s voice has an edge to it, “Did you two have sex?”

All of a sudden, his proximity is suffocating and uncomfortable. You’re used to sergeants and other figures of authority screaming in your face… but this felt different. There’s a tension to it you can’t quite place.

“N-no… of course not.”

“No?”

“No.”

“See… I don’t quite believe you there. Want to know why?”

“Yes.”

“Because…” Captain Levi’s hand reaches out and strokes the side of your face with his thumb. You’re frozen in place and your eyes widen. “I don’t know how anybody can be alone with you… and not turn you into a little writhing mess.”

Your stomach drops to your feet. You feel an intense blush creep up on your cheeks. It all makes sense now. This is why he’s been so nice to you. Captain Levi of the Survey Corps has a crush on you. Is crush the right term here? You aren’t sure.

“Captain…?” you call out cautiously.

“Don’t play dumb when I know you’re not, cadet…” he smirks at you. “I bet that pussy is already wet for me.”

As much as you’d like to say otherwise, he’s right. The crush the Captain had on you wasn’t unrequited. You noticed his handsomeness the moment you were drafted into the Survey Corps just a year or two ago. He was the talk of everyone: women mostly talked about his looks, men mostly talked about his strength.

“I…” you struggle to form words under his intense gaze. “Captain Levi… what are you doing?”

He doesn’t verbally respond. Instead, his hands reach out and grip your waist, pulling you into him. You feel his hard-on in his slacks against your inner thigh. Desire courses through your veins and sparks your libido. His hot breath fans on the exposed skin of your neck.

“That Lieutenant genuinely thought that he had a chance with you…” he chuckles darkly and presses your hips further into his. “That’s rich. Incompetent ass.”

The Captain’s lips press against the rigid beating of your carotid and you let out a quiet moan. His lips find yours and you’re absolutely convinced that you’re dreaming. You discreetly pinch the skin of your thigh the hardest you can to get yourself to wake up.

It doesn’t work. You’re, indeed, in reality.

You kiss back. Your hands find his undercut and gently wrap little strands of his hair in between your fingers. When his tongue swipes across your lip, you open your mouth in the next kiss. He tastes like leftover wine and mint. One of his hands travels further down and grabs your ass through your uniform. And a harsh smack lands on your left asscheek. The harsh contact causes you to jump in his arms.

He pulls away.

“Come on.”

He takes you to his sleeping quarters, which is sparsely decorated and fits a minimalist aesthetic. The only light the room provides is the candles that are lit on his bedside tables. When he closes the door behind you, his lips find yours once again. He pushes you up against the nearby wall and his hands wander all over your body. They tend to linger longer on your breasts and ass.

He uses his strength to pick you up and guides your legs to wrap around his hips. He buries his face into the open section of your white button up. He inhales your scent. Clean and perfect. You work to unbutton your shirt so the Captain has more access to your chest. You pull it off your shoulders and it falls to the floor in a heap of fabric. You’re left in a bra and the Captain kisses every inch of skin he can.

He walks you two over to the bed and lays you down. The bed is firm, a bit uncomfortable, even. You’re confused when he gets up and stands at the edge of the bed at your side. His bony, veiny fingers work swiftly to remove his belt. Once that’s on the floor, his thumbs loop into the waistband of his slack and he pulls those down to his thighs. He frees his cock from his dampened black boxer briefs.

“Give me your hand.”

You do as you’re told. Once he has it, he opens your palm wide and spits into it. Your eyebrows furrow together in confusion in surprise. He lowers your hand down to his cock and closes his fingers around yours. He guides your grip up and down. It feels so good for him that you can visibly see his abs retract and expand with each ragged breath taken.

When you get a hang of the pace and tightness he wants, his touch leaves and buries itself down in your waistband. The tips of his fingers ever so softly stroke your soaked pussy. He licks his lips and his eyes snap shut. Your hips rock up to meet his touch. When you lean over and begin to suck him, Captain Levi’s nimble fingers move quicker against your clit. Both of you two moan louder as a result. Your mouth works to worship his dick like it’s the last thing you’ll ever do.

“You’ve been starving for this cock, huh?” he taunts.

“Yeah,” you mutter.

“Good. Because it’s wanted you.”

You pick up the pace even further at his words. Your fist works the part of him your mouth cannot reach at the perfect pace. Your wrist twists and turns as it slides up and down. On occasion, you stop and spit on it for more lubrication. Captain Levi’s fingers circle your entrance teasingly before pushing them in. He keeps going until they’re completely buried inside to his base knuckles.

“God, you’re so tight,” he strains when his hips begin to slightly buck into your mouth. “All for me.”

You look up at him and you bat your eyelashes a few times. With his other free hand, he pushes a few strands of hair back from your face and eyes. He captures his bottom lip in between his teeth. The sight of him in your mouth is almost enough to make him cum on the spot, but with lots of willpower and self control, he holds himself off.

You struggle to give him proper oral when he hooks his fingers upward and moves his entire arm up and down. The heel of his palm pushes into your clit. When it gets too much, you plant sloppy kisses on his hip and continue to jack him off. And shiny pearls of precum drip down from his swollen tip into your hand to make up for the absence of your mouth.

You try to match your pace on Captain Levi’s dick with his pace on your cunt but it’s impossible to keep up with. He’s going so fast, so rough. It makes your whole body shake. The most pathetic moans and squeals drop from your lips.

“Kiss me,” you nearly beg in between whines. “Please, Captain.”

He is obedient and lowers down to your lips. He gently removes your hand from his length and pins it onto the mattress below you. He doesn’t stop fingering you. Your walls clench around his fingers and he feels it. He revels in it. You wrap your arms around him and your nails dig into his back.

“You’re close, huh?”

You nod your head.

“I’m going to make this pussy cum so many times, you’ll forget the Lieutenant ever existed. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I… I understand.”

“Good,” he almost smirks victoriously. “Now… make me proud and cum all over my fingers.”

“I’m so, so close… I just… don’t stop.”

Captain Levi nods and continues the same thing as he’s been doing for the past 10 minutes. And, in doing so, he rips orgasm after orgasm out of you. When you cum, he doesn’t stop or waiver, even when you’re a squirming mess beneath him. Your heart rages in your chest as he talks you through each and every one.

“Tell me how good it feels … Let it out, it’s okay … That’s a good girl, I want you to be absolutely soaked by the time I fuck you … You’re so good to me … I know, baby, I know … Keep going, I know you can do it … That’s right, fucking take it.”

You lose count after five and you nearly want to pass out. Your legs are like jelly and lethargy pulls at your eyelids. Your pelvic floor is pulsing and throbbing. You feel fucked out already, which is a gross understatement. And you know that he isn’t close to being done yet. How much more can you take? You aren’t sure.

“Please…” you quietly beg as you try your best to grip his vein-riddled wrist at your sex. “I want you inside me.”

His dilated, dark eyes meet yours before his lips go to your ears.

“Are you sure you want that?”

His tone is so low and breathy that it sends a shiver down your spine. This simple action sparks your libido again and you feel like you can go for another 100 rounds. Your eyes pop open and you wrap an arm around his neck. In one swift movement, you manage to roll him onto the bed and straddle his waist.

The look on his face is priceless, especially when you slide him inside without any warning.

His cock slides in with a squish. He’s hard as a fucking rock. His mouth drops open and he throws his head back into your favorite pillow. His hands land on the sides of your ass. He helps aid your movements since you’re not able to ride as well as you normally can due to your exhaustion.

He looks so pretty when he’s being fucked. The long section of his undercut spread out across the pillow, his eyebrows furrowed together, eyes slightly widened, a blood blush across his cheeks.

You lean over and grab his chin while you use your other hand to steady yourself on his chest. Your tongue smoothly swipes across his lips and he groans. He flips you two so you’re on bottom once again. Before you can react or protest, he hooks both of your legs up and over his shoulders. He wants to get deeper. The deepest he’s ever been in anyone. When his balls press hard against your ass, he knows he’s accomplished that mission. When you feel his tip gently brush your cervix, you know he’s accomplished that mission.

He leans up and grips the backs of your thighs to absolutely rail you. He’s pushing into you so hard and fast that you have to use your arms to brace yourself against the headboard in order for your head to not smash against it. It’s almost animalistic, the way you two are fucking. The sound of his thighs slapping up against your ass fills your ears. It’s a sound you always love.

His cock slams up into you over and over and over again. Brushing up against that spot inside you that makes you a mess every time. You reach a hand down on your clit and rub in tight, fast circles. It makes you scream out.

“Greedy girl,” he nearly chuckles. “How foolish of me to think you had enough earlier.”

He pulls out and, like a lightning strike, pushes your hand away to make room for his face down between your thighs. His tongue makes circles around your clit and he laps you up. Every single drop of your cum and his. The same two fingers he used earlier enter you and do the same as before. When you reach that edge, he stops. He repeats this process several times.

At this point, your entire inner thigh area is just absolutely soaked in a mix of the Captain’s saliva and your cum. You grab his head and pull his face up to yours.

“Please, please Captain… please fuck me.”

“You’ve had enough, hm?” he taunts as his fingers reach down to your clit and gently smacks it a few times. It’s so sensitive and raw that it makes you wince. “You think he could’ve fucked you like this?”

“No… not in a million years.”

Captain Levi smiles victoriously.

“Smart girl.”

He reaches down to grab his cock and rubs the head over your clit up and down a few times before pushing it back inside. He buries his face in the junction where your shoulder meets your neck and snaps his hips harshly into yours. The bed creaks and squeaks while he does so. He’s fucking you hard, fast, and deep. He’s fucking you as if his life depends on it.

His mouth travels up to your ear and begins to kiss at your earlobes, occasionally sucking on them and him breathing heavily drives you wild. It sounds like he just ran a marathon.

“Captainnn, shit,” you moan out as you feel the coil inside you start to break again.

“Who’s pussy is this?”

“Yours, fuck, your pussy.”

“That’s right. Don’t you ever forget it.”

You nod your head and he props himself up using his arms to take a good look at you. Flushed cheeks, mouth agape, eyes almost closed… in his mind, you look so good. And when he looks down at where you two connect, he almost cums. The squelching of you two coming together, the glistening of his dick, your pathetic sounds. It’s too much.

When he keeps up the same rhythm, the same pace, it’s inevitable before you cum all over his cock. And it feels divine. He fucks and talks you through your orgasm once again, his cock continuing pumping in and out of you at a relentless pace. Your pelvic floor clamps onto him like it doesn’t ever want to let him go. Your pussy wraps around him so well that Captain Levi is convinced that you are made just for him.

“That’s a good girl. I need you to do that at least five more times before this night is over. I don’t care how long it takes.”

He grabs a hold of your chin and forces his thumb in your mouth for a better grip.

“You got that?”

“Mhm,” you say, half dazed from your orgasm still.

“Look at you, my pretty girl, all fucked out already…” he chuckles and his other fingers slap up against your cheek just enough to leave a little bit of a sting. “Doing so well for me.”

You come through on the Captain’s wish and cum at least six times on his cock. You’re so exhausted, you’re sweaty, your mascara is running down your cheeks, and your fingers are pruny from playing with your pussy. When you’re laying down flat on your stomach and he’s fucking you from behind, you’re completely out of energy. You lie there and take it. On occasion, his hand slaps hard on your ass.

“Shit, I’m close,” he whispers hotly against your shoulder blade. “Gonna cum on your back.”

You nod and reach a hand back to his thigh to encourage him to do so. He reaches in between your legs and circles your clit.

“Captain, I… I can’t… I can’t cum again.”

“We’ll get you there. Don’t you worry.”

Just a few minutes later, your last orgasm rips through your body. When you cum, so does the Captain, although he doesn’t stop his actions on your clit. He pulls out and continues to stroke you both at the same time. All you can register is warm spots littering your back and his moans echoing in your ears. He stills against you and stays like that for a while.

When you both come down from your highs, you fight the urge to immediately pass out for the night. But there is no way in hell that you’re sleeping on this uncomfortable bed. You prop yourself up on your forearms to start to get up but he stops you.

“Hold on,” he commands. “Let me clean you up.”

You expect him to get a towel or a washcloth. Instead, he hovers over your back and begins to clean you up with his mouth. Patiently, you wait as his tongue laps up every drop of his cum. Since there’s so much, it takes a few moments. The simple action sparks your libido once again, but you’re done for the night and don’t plan to act on it in any way.

He gently flips you over and uses his thumb and index finger to gently pry your chin so your mouth opens. From his, a combination of spit and cum drops into yours. You stick out your tongue to make sure you get it all. Some drops onto your chin and he leans over, licks it up, and kisses you. He wants to make sure you don’t miss a drop.

“Good girl,” he smirks down at you.

Captain Levi Ackerman smiling… what a sight.

“I should head out,” you motion toward the door. “Got drills in the morning.”

“Of course.”

You both get dressed and the Captain walks you to your sleeping quarters. You’re struggling to walk and you pray that by tomorrow morning you’re back to normal. In his mind, he is prideful. You won’t be thinking about that stupid Lieutenant for a long time. He knows he’s all you’ll think about for the next while.

When you get in, you glance at Captain Levi through the crack in the door.

“Have a good evening, Captain.”

“You too, get some sleep. You’re going to need it.”

He leans in and plants a kiss to your hairline.

Mine, he whispers against it.

574 notes · View notes

pinkacademiaprincess · 7 months

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Hiii I’m so sorry to bother you!, hope your day goes well <3 I just want to ask, how can I improve in maths? I’m preparing myself for the sat and I have trouble with understanding it. Any tips would be very much appreciated, thanku !! ♡

Become a Math Whiz: Acing Math Class & the SAT 📈✏️📚👩‍🏫

ty for the ask & the kind words! you are never a bother, i'm happy to help 🥰 i can def give some tips as someone who went from struggling w/ math to being good at it. and i’ve taken the SAT so i know that experience as well! i hope this helps 💗

take accountability

it’s very easy to try to shift blame & avoid taking responsibility for your grades/ performance. i used to think things like “the teacher is just bad!” or “i’m just not a math person!” but this mindset is just deflecting. some things are out of your control, like what teacher you have or preferring other subjects, but you have to step up & work hard to create your own success! remembering this will help you stay motivated and disciplined.

find your learning style

i talked about this in a previous post too, but there are different styles of learning - visual, auditory, hands-on, & reading/writing - and not all of them work for everyone. if you spend a ton of time studying and don’t see improvement or results, that’s a big sign that you’re studying wrong. a method that works for your friend or that your teacher uses might not actually be effective for you. so do some research into learning styles and study methods, and find implement strategies that work for you.

never fall behind

okay, easier said than done. but one of the biggest reasons i used to struggle is math is that i would get stuck on a concept, never fully master it, and then i’d stay behind. in math, a lot of topics build on each other. if you get stuck on a topic, it’s crucial that you figure it out asap or your confusion will snowball. you can’t build a solid structure on top of a wobbly foundation. the moment you encounter a problem area, study it until you’ve completely understood.

practice makes perfect

i try to steer clear of recommending specific study methods b/c everyone has different learning styles. but math is so dependent on problem solving & applications that you really have to master this skill in order to succeed. beyond just reviewing your notes & reading over concepts, you need to practice applying topics by solving problems. do the homework questions & do them for accuracy, even if it’s just graded for completion. find extra problems in the textbook, workbook, online, etc. redo questions from class or the hw that confused you until you can do them correctly without your notes. drill it until you can solve them AND understand how the steps work!

ask for help

i am clearly a big proponent of asking for help. in school, your teachers are gonna be one of the best resources you have. for one, they’re teachers for a reason, so even if you think they’re not too great at explaining stuff, they know the concepts. and besides that, your teachers the ones who are creating units, assigning your work, writing & grading your tests... they should be your go-to for questions. visit them during office hours or email to set up a meeting where you can discuss concepts. ask for extra practice problems, ask them to look over your work & let you know how it looks, talk through your work with them. aside from teachers, you can get help from a tutor, a classmate, whoever you can turn to. but pls don’t suffer alone! succeeding with help is still succeeding.

use the internet

so maybe your teacher truly sucks at explaining. maybe you don’t have classmates to help and can’t afford a tutor. or maybe you just wanna supplement your learning another way. i really really recommend utilizing free learning tools online!! khan academy is an obvious one for videos, practice problems, and more. you can also find tons of youtube videos explaining math topics. sometimes it helps to hear things explained another way. i also google “[math concept] practice problems” if i want extra questions to work through.

bonus: tips for SAT math

the SAT is a bit different b/c the math concepts aren’t actually too advanced. it’s all multiple choice so you don’t get to rely on partial points for showing your work. the SAT is testing your strategy & speed as much as it’s actually testing you on math concepts, so here are my best tips for that specifically:

use khan academy’s SAT prep tool - it’s free (!!!!!) and it links to your collegeboard account. it uses prior years’ SAT content so it’s very similar to the test itself. it helps you pace yourself, pinpoint your problem areas, learn & apply concepts, & track your progress. here's a screenshot from when i used it, as you can see my scores improved and i was able to ultimately get a superscore of 1450!

take practice tests - this helps you get familiar with the time constraint. khan academy has plenty!!

do a ton of SAT math practice questions - ideally, find a ton of questions used in prior SAT tests and just crank them out. the test's concepts are quite repetitive so if you just focus on the topics they usually test, you can master them

learn test-taking strategies - the SAT is multiple choice and has a tricky time constraint, so however you can save time will help. become good at using the process of elimination & other multiple choice test methods. you can find these sorts of tips online!

i hope this helps! know that you are completely capable of improving at math. i went from thinking i suck at it & doing poorly in math class to acing my calc courses & studying to enter a math-focused field. utilize your resources and figure out your best study style asap, and you WILL see improvements!

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kakiastro · 3 months

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Which area in your life will Pluto Aquarius transform? Through the houses

The houses in your birth chart represents the area in your life.

Pluto is the planet that rules over massive transformations, it tears everything down to rebuild it into something better than what you had before.

Aquarius is considered the “freedom sign” the house that Aquarius rules is the place where you will feel free. It’s also the area where you don’t follow the rules and do your own thing.

You as a person is going to be going through a massive change. Considering this is a 20 year transit, it make sense. How you view yourself now won’t be nowhere near the same in 20 years. Matter of fact, as you read this, you won’t remember this version of because it’s going to be so different. Your overall outlook is going to change, how you see those around will be different. Your physical appearance may change and I’m not talking about the natural body changes; no, I’m talking about you getting tattoos when didn’t have them before, dyeing your hair all sorts of colors, there’s a rebellious attitude towards your appearance. You’ll learn to stand up for yourself during this time as well! The 1h is the house of Aries so you’ll have ppl testing you, talk to a Pluto 1h native, they’ll know what I’m talking about LoL, but you’ll learn to stick up for yourself.

How you view and take care of your finances will be different! This can play out multiple ways; maybe you’ll learn some harsh lessons on not overspending and learning how to save. You may have struggled with your finances, and start to see a mass improvement as time go on with this transit. Are you worthy? Is the question you’ll ask your self a lot. Your self worth and how you deal with that will be a big theme for you. Pluto rules over our deepest fears, it’ll force you to look within on where did you get these insecure fears from and you’ll do lots of shadow work. Let me tell you though, once you get past your fears and know your worth!! Chile, you’ll be a bad bitch haha. This is also the physical home, you may move to a new house, or redecorating your current place.

You better speak your truth! The way you process your thoughts and communicate will go through a huge transformation! The 3h is how we talk to people, the things we constantly think about and love to discuss. With Pluto being in this house, you may take a deep dive in learning about whatever topic you’re interested in. 3h also rules over education, you’ll be wanting learn a lot of new things but you want to learn it in depth! You will get to know the depths of your mind. 3h also rules our siblings, teachers and co-workers so expect them to go through lots of changes from your point of view. You may move into a new type of neighborhood that you would’ve never expected to live in.

Chile, your whole private life is about to change. The 4h is the home but it’s the part of our life that we don’t share with others unless they’re close to you. Your home (inside) will drastically change, you may start a family (if you wish), have a family member move in with you. You may move altogether and start fresh. Your family dynamic will change as well, this isn’t always a bad thing either! Aquarius is known as a chain breaker, you may break lots of generational traumas during this time especially if you have the mother wound. The 4h represents our emotional state, Pluto is going to make you feel those emotions hunny, it’s going to a lot of deep emotions as well.

🎵Oh sweet child of mine🎵 it’s time to start healing your inner child wounds. The next 20 years, you’ll will remember what I’ll be like to be a kid and fun again! You may have been ostracized or called the weirdo kid growing up which left you some unhealed wounds. No more hiding, it’s time to express your authentic self to the world my friends! What were some of the things you liked as child? Revisit that. If you’re a creative, the world needs to see your talent, your ideas and projects can help others whether physically or through inspiration. If you have children or want too in the they can help you bring out that inner child again, hell it don’t have to be your child, it can be your niece, nephew or local neighborhood kids that can teach you to lighten up!

🎵now get this work in, working on my sh!&t!🎵 is the theme for you the next 20 years. Now let me be clear, working doesn’t always have to mean your job but just being a busy body in your everyday life! The 6h rules over our daily routines. Pluto is about to disrupt all that lol but maybe the routine you’ve been practicing isn’t healthy for you? You’ll learn what routine works for and you’ll probably have several ones throughout the years because it is a 20 years transit lol. Also your health! Pluto is about to get a lot of people with this placement a reality check when it comes to health, please take care of yourselves. Aquarius rules the nerves and ankles so stretch them and try not to let stress take you out either. I have a Pluto 6h (different sign)natally so I know this placement well. Pets! You may feel inclined to get pets that’s known as guard animals for the home. You may have co-workers(supervisors and managers)that may grow envious or jealous of you. Until you trust them then stay private.

7ħ

I just went through this transit myself and whew! It’s been a doozy! You’re going to meet people who’s going to test you, your transformation is through other people. The 7h is all close relationships so that means your family, your partner, since it’s in Aquarius, that means even strangers in person and online. You may end up with a few partners who’s going to change your whole outlook on relationships and what you want in them. You’ll meet people who’s going to want to work/collaborate with you and some may work out, some not but you’ll learn valuable lessons, Can I trust you? Is the question you’ll be asking several times. If you’re a business owner or if you want to be, you may pursue that during this transit. I started my astrology journey with this page while Pluto was in this house.

The good news is that Pluto is home here so really Pluto is just redecorating his own house lol. Your views on sex and what sex means to you may change. You may have ppl be more open when it comes to sex. Trust! Trusting others in a deep vulnerable way will be a huge theme for you. Vulnerability maybe a tough thing for you to show to people. You may have been shunned emotionally growing up. With Pluto coming back home, you will learn that not everyone is your enemy, it’s okay to open yourself up to those closest to you. Aquarius is the people sign so you’ll about to meet all sorts of people who will challenge you to trust. Your intuition, psychic gifts will also increase as well! You may have futuristic visions and dreams about the collective.

Whatever your personal beliefs or philosophies are, yeah… they’re about to go through a huge rebuild. You will go through things that’s going to change what and who you believe in. You can also still have these beliefs but will have a different view on it due to whatever situations you will be put in. You may start traveling abroad to “taboo” or “non popular” destinations. Maybe you visit a certain country where their culture is known for their funeral/death practices and you want to experience seeing one, something taboo like that. This also ties in to gaining higher knowledge about the world. You’ll want to study the underline or hidden from society parts. Maybe you’ll study a religion but from an occult lenses if that makes sense.

10h

Change in career! You may gain some power in whatever field you’re in. That power could be higher position, having stronger connections or just having the power to stand up to the higher up. People may start to feel intimidated by you even if you don’t feel intimidating. You will start to take yourself seriously and what I mean by that is you’ll start realize you will recognize you are a powerful person. You will feel empowered, people will feel empowered by you. You’re transforming into the Boss. How you manage your life will be more private, which will give you a mysterious aura.

11h

The era of networking! You will meet people who you will you can collaborate with. You may meet ppl during random times in your life. 11h is Uranus energy so you may have few new friend circles over the years. Ppl will come and go in your life. They will make you want to level up, however that may be. This is the house of wish fulfillments. You will have an intense focus on building and working on your dreams and wishes. It may come off as obsessive to a point. The 11h is also the house of collective wealth, things you’ve earned over the years finally building. How you view society as a whole especially online will be different, I think being more private online will be beneficial to you.

12h

Buy you a dream journal or get a notebook to track your dreams! Anytime a planet enters the house of the subconscious mind, expect some crazy dreams. With Pluto being the planet, expect heavy dreams. You may have prophetic dreams about the collective (people). This is a time where you explore the depths of your whole being. The 12h rules over our subconscious mind, things buried and hidden will boil to the surface. This is also the spiritual house, you may be going through lots of spiritual awakening or the new age phrase “dark night of soul” you will do lots of healing and become empowered if you do the work. 12h also rules over past lives, so Pluto will bubble up those past life traumas, karmic patterns. Your psychic gifts will strengthen, you may unlock gifts you didn’t know you had. Powerful time for you!

#astrology #astrology community #knowledge #love astrology #astro observations #advanced astrology #kakiastro #tropical astrology #pluto in aquarius #pluto astrology #Pluto Aquarius in the houses #birth chart

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plutosunshine · 1 year

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How to improve your self-esteem?

Venus in the houses

Venus is our self-esteem and values. The house Venus sits in can show us hints on how to help ourselves to build healthy strong self-esteem. Let’s go!

Venus in the 1st house

Of course, the main key here is your appearance. I don’t mean that you must be always gorgeous and pretty. However, it is very important for you to feel that you fit at least your standards. Hair and make-up play a big role. You feel more confident when you like your look. NB!! Not others, but you! Also, your self-esteem grows when you socialize and show your identity in group settings. Don’t hide all the gorgeous talents you have! You MUST show them to the world. Be assertive when it is necessary because achieving goals and being the best is the number one key to your self-confidence. One more thing: aesthetics. Since Venus is in the first house, which makes this planet rising, that means that the qualities of Venus are important to express as well. Aesthetics, art, beautiful things, music, poetry, acting, and everything where you can show your talents. Also, although the first house is ME and my identity, Venus requires peace and balance. It is not easy, but you have to find a balance between showing yourself and being on the same wavelength as others.

Venus in the 2nd house

Here Venus is in its own house. Meaning that the themes of this house are emphasized. Your self-esteem improves when you feel safe and all is set: you have a nice place to live, you have a good salary, and your surroundings are harmonious. Defining your values helps to gain self-confidence. It is totally okay to express your material desires. They make your self-esteem improve. This is the essence of the 2nd house. Save money to have a backup but don’t be strict with yourself. If you really want something, just get it! The key to your self-esteem is your well-being. When you are fed well, dressed well, and generally feel good, you are confident. Any aesthetic activity that makes you feel calm and satisfied is good. Art and other creative areas also may help you because it develops your sense of beauty and allows you to express your talents.

Venus in the 3rd house

Your self-esteem is growing when you feel that you are an interesting companion. The worst nightmare is when people call you boring. That is why sometimes you are trying too hard to attract attention. However, it is only because of your insecurities. I think the key here is to allow yourself to be outgoing and funny personality which you are. Express your interest in communication and exploration. Your self-esteem improves when you feel knowledgeable. You need to constantly receive and share some interesting information. Also, learning something will increase your self-esteem as well. It can be anything: from cooking to science. You just need new knowledge to feel your self-worth and it is okay because it is the way your Venus feels at home. Don’t be afraid to show your knowledge, and make new friends and connections. Also, writing is very good for you. For example, you can express your feelings on paper. It might help you to build a strong relationship with yourself.

Venus in the 4th house

Your self-esteem improves when you are in touch with your emotions and your subconscious needs are met. It is very important not to suppress emotions and feelings. Also, helping and understanding make you feel needed. Sometimes it is not so good thing to seek this feeling, but for Venus in the 4th house supporting and helping someone is beneficial. Every field and place where you can express your ability to FEEL will be useful. For example, psychology, astrology, volunteering, etc. Also, as you know, the 4th house = home. Meaning that you MUST have your own safe place to restore your energy resources. Decorating and cleaning are helpful for your Venus because on a subconscious level you perceive this home as welcoming and safe.

Venus in the 5th house

One word — self-expression. As simple as that, your self-esteem improves when you express yourself and your talents. If you don’t show your creativity, it will grow inside you and turn into poison. So it is so important to express that! Even if you think that the idea is stupid, please just try! Because it is not only about the result but also about the process. Also, showing others your warm and generous side will help your Venus a lot. Be yourself and don’t hide even weird and unusual sides of you because it is still you. Love yourself and respect your desires, enjoy life, and be optimistic about the world! Also, your self-esteem improves when you are the best at something. It shouldn’t be something great, it can be just a little thing that is only yours.

Venus in the 6th house

Your self-esteem improves when you build your plans and fulfill them. Yes, the 6th house here is all about working on yourself. You feel fulfilled when you follow your own rules and routines. It makes you feel like everything is in its place. Sometimes others find your little habits weird but it is who you are. Also, healthy nutrition and sport will make you feel more confident. Being healthy and put together improves your self-esteem. In addition, helping others helps you as well! The 6th house is all about service and when you help someone you feel fulfillment. It is just your essence so don’t hide it!

Venus in the 7th house

Venus here is in its own house but this placement is kind of tricky. Sometimes your self-esteem depends on your partner and you can’t find solid ground for your own personality. It can be so frustrating that you may feel even empty without a partner. However, this situation is not healthy because Venus and the 7th house are all about balance. Yes, Venus in the 7th house screams PARTNERSHIP, but you need to find balance. Give and take equally, respect each other and find harmony in this relationship. This is the main lesson for Venus in the 7th house. Your self-esteem improves when you and your partner find balance and peace in your relationship.

Venus in the 8th house

The 8th house is all about transformations so sometimes having Venus in the 8th house feels unbearable. Your self-esteem transforms constantly. Sometimes you almost don’t feel it but sometimes it breaks your heart. However, it is the essence of this placement. You need to transform yourself and the perception of your values. Life will give you a lot of critical situations that will test your values and self-confidence. Yes, this is not an easy placement to have, but this tough experience makes your self-esteem unbreakable and solid and you become wise and unstoppable.

Venus in the 9th house

Your self-esteem improves when you get new experience and share it with others. It is so important for you to explore the world and build your own philosophy in life. You need to dig deep into the definition of the word «freedom». Your self-esteem improves when you feel no pressure and when you can do whatever you want with your life. Advice-giving is so good for your Venus. You have a lot to share with others so do that! Also, any kind of exploration of other cultures is good, whether it be a new language or travel. Your self-esteem improves when you can help others using your own experience. That is why you would be a great couch!

Venus in the 10th house

Your self-esteem improves when you are the best of the best in your field. You need respect and admiration from others. However, it is important to mention the difference between dependence on someone's opinion and deserved admiration for hard work. The second case is about Venus in the 10th house. Your self-esteem improves when you work hard on your goal and it doesn’t matter how big it is. You just need to build a plan and follow it until your goal is reached. Your self-esteem NEEDS to have a goal. It can be something small but also don’t shy away from big ones!

Venus in the 11th house

Your self-esteem grows when you are not afraid to express your authentic self and show your weird sides to the world. It is extremely important not to think about the opinion of others when it comes to your self-expression and creativity. Sometimes your ideas may seem strange but it is where the real innovation lies! Your self-esteem improves when you feel that your life is fully yours and you can do whatever you want. Also, like-minded people give you confidence because you know that you are not the only one. In addition, participation in some social activities helps your Venus to feel better. For example, charity or fighting for someone's rights.

Venus in the 12th house

Your self-esteem improves when you can express your deep emotions through creativity. Whether it be music or theatre, you need to find a way to free your endless feelings. It can be something small! Also, your self-esteem improves when you help those who are in need. However, be careful! Your sweet soul sometimes doesn’t understand when people take advantage of you. Everything must be in balance. Also, you need to find a field where you can use your empathic gifts to help others. For example, psychology, astrology, therapy, etc.

#astrology observations #astrology posts #astrology community #astrology #venus #venus in the houses #astro #astro notes

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sleekswosobession · 3 months

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they’re idiots

patri guijarro x fem!reader

request: here

A/N: i love patri sm, and again naturally if my writing needs to improve just gimme a shout

TW: mentions of panic attack

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The game was won, it was a very nice win. A comfortable 9-1, and that was fine. What wasn’t fine however were the fans after the game. In one area in particular they just kept throwing shirt and anything for us players to sign. I see Patri, my girlfriend getting frustrated at everything that’s happening and it doesn’t take a genius to see how overwhelmed she is.

Over the past few weeks it seems that the hate towards her has become obscurely large. How could anyone hate her? Especially now that she’s just gone and scored two. As much as she likes to say it doesn’t bother her I know it does and I hate to see the way she loses confidence over meaningless peoples opinions.

I walk over to the section in which fans are screaming, at this point i’m not sure how we can call them fans if they act like this. Alexia and some of the others are kicking game balls into the crowd. I stand right next to Patri, placing my hand on her lower back. She looks surprised, but continues with the overwhelming amount of fans who came to watch.

Around 5 minutes later, I can’t stand to watch her practically near a panic attack. So I say goodbye to the fans and drag her into the tunnel with me, leading her toward an area where no one would be for the time being.

“Patri? Amor, can you look at me?” I whisper, touching her forearm softly. She hesitates and looks up.

It’s then that I can see how conflicted her eyes look, how they’re slightly covered in a layer of tears, how it looks like she’s struggling to breathe. I immediately know what’s wrong.

“Hey, hey. Sit down on the floor with me. Come on.” I guide her making sure her back is rested against the wall. She looks straight up at the ceiling, trying to keep her tears at bay. My heart breaks a little.

“Amorcita, breathe with me. Feel my heartbeat got it?” I take her hand and place it on my heart as I start making exaggerated breathing patterns to help get her back to reality.

“There you go, just like that. You’re ok, they can’t see you. They can’t harm you. It’s just me.” I notice by her movements that she’s coming back. Something which I smile lightly at.

“Gracias” She says so lightly that I can barely hear her. All I do is smile.

We sit against the wall, no words need to be said. Until Alexia in all her glory strides down the hallway in her white fit.

“Hola.” She greets with a smile coming to stand in front of us.

“I suggest you two get back to the changing rooms. Nearly everyone is there, they sent me looking.” She then shifts her focus to my girlfriend.

“Patri, I’m sorry you have to be dealing with all of this stuff. It’s not easy. Just try not to get too worked up. Only makes it worse for yourself.”

“Thanks Ale.” She looks up at the captain who smiles before heading back to the change rooms.

“Well, we should probably go. After our showers, we’ll go back to the apartment and I’ll take your phone.” She looks at me questioningly. “So you don’t go into a spiral of bad thoughts. I know how you are. I won’t let that happen. Ok?” She nods and I pull her up heading back into the changing rooms. The girls all look happy but also worn down, I can empathise with that from all the trainings and games we’ve done.

Still there is a slight buzz in the air after the impressive win. Even if some exhaustion is the cost.

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When Patri and I arrive back home, I stick to my word and she hands me her phone reluctantly. I put both of our phones in my bedside drawer and arrive in the living room to be greeted with Patri on the couch, two glasses of water on the coffee table and one of the Hunger Games movies starting to play on the tv.

I walk over smiling and sit down on the couch cuddling into Patri who only smiles. This is a good way to end the day all things considered.

“Te amo, Patri.”

“Yo también te amo, cariño.” She kisses the top of my head, turning her focus back to the screen.

#woso #woso x reader #woso community #woso fanfics #barcelona femeni #barca femeni #patri guijarro x reader #patri guijarro #wlw #gxg

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prettieinpink · 4 months

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5K SPECIAL | CREATING YOUR OWN GARDEN𝜗𝜚

This is a guide to make your mind like your own garden flourishing with plants, flowers and butterflies. Having a good mental mindset, and being in the right state of mind is essential to being the best version of yourself.

This guide is divided into four sections: mindset, self-care, mental wellness and emotional intelligence. I hope you can take away something useful and take care of yourself! 💖

MINDSET

Your mindset can easily determine how you go through life. It influences how you feel, act, behave and your thoughts. When you have a poor mindset, it is going to be difficult to go through life, even if your life is easy.

However, once we grow and improve our minds, it is easier for us to navigate life, improve our well-being and increase our chances of success.

Before we get into mindset shifts, I want to explain how exactly you can implement them in your life. I feel like there’s so much talk about mindset, but no one exactly explains on how to implement them.

IMPLEMENTING

The first thing to implementing mindset shifts is making a conscious effort to be aware of your thoughts. If you want, practice mindful activities to improve your self-awareness of your thoughts.

You have to be able to catch a thought in its passing and whoosh it away from your mind. If you don’t whoosh it away, those simple thoughts build each time which can soon turn into the way you think.

Secondly, after increasing your awareness, identify what exactly about your thoughts or mindset you’d like to shift, and what you would like to shift to.

Thirdly, is to completely immerse yourself in that mindset shift. The mind learns through repetition, meaning that repeating it enough will make your mind learn it.

Set your mindset shift as your weekly intention, say affirmations, and prayer, read books on it, put a quote on your phone as your wallpaper, just make it so that mindset shift is constantly on your mind.

Lastly, do small actionable things that reinforce that mindset shift. I recommend you do at least one habit every day for this.

This is not the only method to implement mindset shifts, but for me, it’s the one that is highly effective. I recommend doing some research on your own, and making adjustments when needed depending on how you think.

MINDSET SHIFTS

This whole part we’ll talk about the mindset shifts I think everyone should at least try to implement in their lives if they want to improve themselves. These mindset shifts are my absolute favourites and they improved the quality of my life.

After each one, I’ll state a small habit you can incorporate that contributes to that shift.

Live your life with your highest self in mind.

This is more intentional living than an actual mindset shift, but still as important. Whatever you do throughout the day, consider if it aligns with your highest self. If not? Release it. Your highest self knows what's best for you, trust them.

At the end of the day, reflect on your daily habits, which include all habits you did today whether they were ideal or not. What habits aligned with your highest self and which didn’t? The ones that didn’t, why? How can you change or remove this habit to get closer to your highest self?

Rejection is just redirection.

As someone who has gotten rejected from the things that they wanted and felt so lost in the pursuit of fulfilment, this mindset shift saved me. You have to stop chasing the things that aren’t meant for you if life has proved it isn’t.

While I’m not saying give up after the first try, but try to step back and assess the situation. If you are qualified and ready for this thing, then why is it still not yours? Because it isn’t meant for you. God is trying to nudge you into a different path, recognise his signs.

To handle rejection better, look for the lesson(s) you’ve learnt, and the skills you grew and see if there is another area of life that you can apply them to.

Keep yourself on a pedestal.

I am worthy so much to me. It sounds like a weird sentence, but you should start treating yourself like a treasure and avoid giving out that same treatment to most people because you have your soul, which homes itself in your body. Every day, you are living through this soul and body.

So, why would you take care of someone else’s soul and body? You are never going to be the soul that lives in their body, or the body which homes their soul. Don’t neglect yourself in the priority of someone else.

Practice setting boundaries with others and recognising when someone wants more than what you’re willing.

You choose the life that you want.

You have choices and options every day to do things that will eventually have an outcome. Whether this outcome supports the vision of your dream life or not, all depends on how you choose to live your life now.

I don’t have a habit with this one but keep in mind that absolutely nothing is controlling you, and your choices are of free will. Circumstances can change, but that is why we have to adapt and be flexible.

Fear is a step to success

If you’re not scared, you’re not doing it right. Fear can hold us back, but that is why we have to twist fear into a source of motivation instead. If we were always in our comfort zone, stepping back when we feel a sliver of fear, we allow fear to dictate our life and its course.

You can’t be successful unless you do the uncomfortable. For this one, do something each day that scares you or makes you uncomfortable. It doesn’t have to be anything extreme, but simple things like exercising longer than usual or talking to someone who you wouldn’t imagine yourself with. Those little risks are so important.

Embarrassment is not a real emotion

This one is a bit controversial, but I do not believe in the concept of embarrassment. Yes, things can sometimes be awkward, but it is fully in your control if you want to feel ashamed or not. Being embarrassed only holds you back, and doesn’t allow you to live life to its fullest.

I would recommend doing a small risk every day as well, but of things that would usually feel awkward.

Progress over perfection/completion

Perfectionism which is allowed to be nurtured over time can create an avoidance mindset towards doing harder things in life. While we should strive for excellence in everything we do, we shouldn’t allow it to consume us.

(the avoidance mindset is when we put off/avoid tasks that we believe to be out of our abilities, and so that completion of the task is poor quality/not done well.)

This one is less common, but I know a few people who would not do a task if they knew it would not be fully completed in their desired time frame. However, each minute of work contributes to the results or completion of something.

Every day, do one thing that will add up to the completion of your long-term goals.

To welcome tomorrow, you have to let go of yesterday.

Living in the past makes us neglect our present self. I’m not saying forget everything that’s happened, but never allow the past to consume your mind. Acknowledge that you’ve been hurt, you’re longing or you were happier. Then, release it.

Journaling is the perfect way to stay in touch with the present. You can type it, write it, vlog, draw, or compose to journal.

Everyone has their beauty.

This one helped me a lot with comparison. I saw beauty, not as a measure or a value of someone, but rather something that everyone has uniquely and it cannot be valued. I have my sense of beauty, and you have your beauty as well. We are two different people with unique features, traits and qualities, so our ‘beauty’ can’t be measured against each other.

Define your beauty. You could be smart, feminine, book beauty or dark, flowers, creative beauty. You add your details to your beauty and never try to define someone else's.

To conclude this section, your mindset is very powerful. To achieve your goals, work on your mindset. Also, don’t try to work on more than one mindset shift at a time. Implement one fully then work on the next one. It could be overwhelming if you’re doing more than one.

SELF-CARE

The next chapter of this guide is about self-care. Self-care is important for maintaining balance in our lives and generally keeping ourselves happy. However, most people don’t understand the concept of self-care, so they just end up doing a bunch of random things and wondering why they don’t feel better.

Yes, you can coddle or pamper yourself when you want, but it is not self-care. While activities from these three things do overlap, do not confuse the terms with each other.

Self-care is simply what it says. Taking care of yourself. Taking care of yourself looks different for everyone. My idea of self-care will be different to yours.

REDEFINING SELF-CARE.

When you imagine what self-care looks like, it’s typically someone else’s definition of self-care which has been reinforced in your mind. You have to redefine your idea of self-care to match your goals, energy levels and circumstances.

Before you do, self-care is not always about taking a break. It seems that way, however, self-care can also be having the discipline to do the things that you don’t want to, but are good for you.

Here are some questions to help you redefine your self-care:

What does self-care mean to you? Does that meaning align with your current values and needs?

Do you have any negative associations or misconceptions of self-care? Why?

How do I feel in all areas of my life? (physically, mentally, spiritually, professionally). What areas need more attention and how can I improve that area(s)?

What activities bring me happiness, fulfilment and a sense of renewal?

What tasks do I have to do, which are good for me but I hesitate in completing that task?

How would I like to feel after complementing my self-care rituals?

Envision your life if it had complete balance and self-care incorporated. What habits would you be doing to support that vision?

My idea of self-care is completing all of my non-negotiables, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, taking somewhat productive breaks and talking to others daily.

THE SEVEN PILLARS OF SELF-CARE

Self-care has seven pillars, which you all need to take care of to have a balanced life. However, balanced self-care does not mean equal attention to each pillar. It means that each one is up to the same standard of self-care you’ve put for yourself. So, you need to allocate your attention appropriately.

MAJOR PILLARS

Physical - The well-being of your body.

Mental - The state of your mental health, mind and emotions.

Spiritual - The strengthening of your relationship with God while nourishing your holy spirit.

Personal - Doing things that bring you enjoyment and fulfilment + embracing your identity.

MINOR PILLARS

Social - Connecting with friends, family or even strangers.

Professional - Your work/school life.

Environment - Keeping your space clean and extracting anything that holds you back.

Major and minor do not add or take away the value each category has, it just means that major pillars may need more attention compared to the minor ones which may need less attention. Of course, you may need to focus more on a minor pillar, as self-care is individual to you.

I would’ve added a list of things that you could do for each category, but I want you to think about what you need for each instead of relying on strangers with different lives for self-care.

Maybe you need to focus on exercising and doing your hobbies more. Or you need to create a better work/life balance for yourself. It all depends on your values, needs and circumstances.

MENTAL WELLNESS

Mental wellness is the state of our cognitive, emotional and psychological functioning. When we are mentally well, we can cope better with challenges, develop a habit of having positive thoughts, and greater happiness and improve most areas of our lives overall.

There are a lot of things that contribute to our mental wellness, and I most likely won’t have everything here. Just a little disclaimer as well, it is completely normal to have a fluctuating mental state especially when we are going through unfavourable change.

DIGITAL MINDFULNESS

Social media is a huge part of our lives but is also the main factor of mental destruction. I’m not going to say delete all of your social media, but I want to introduce to you a few ways to mindfully consume and rules with managing screen time.

MINDFUL CONSUMPTION

To consume content mindfully, go onto apps intentionally and know what your purpose is when using that app. For example, if you want to find new habits that you can do, you could search on Tumblr or if you want a quick break from something stressful you can watch an episode of something on Netflix.

It doesn’t matter what the purpose exactly is, but the action of being intentional.

After you consume what you want, download images, and screenshots, and take notes or any documentation of what you found/learnt. This is more so the information is remembered/used.

Manage your notifications. You do not need notifications from every app. Except for messages and phones, I do not put notifications on my device. I believe that if something is important enough, I’ll remember to check my phone later without the help of a notification.

Only consume quality content. It is so easy to consume content that has obviously been reposted or is blatantly spreading misinformation. Only consume from people who you trust and you’ve followed/subscribed to. While yes, you can explore but be very mindful when doing so.

You should be decluttering, organising and deleting on your devices routinely. This reduces the amount of distractions on your phone and makes it more intentional. Only keep the things that align with your needs, values and goals.

DIGITAL BOUNDARIES

Have rooms or zones in the house in which you’re not allowed to use any devices or the devices you choose. For example, the bed, bathroom, office, when you’re eating at the dining table, etc.

An alternative is having a period of a day when device usage is not allowed. It could be right after you wake up, right before you go to sleep or just in the middle of the day. Either, I recommend you have a time or place in which device usage is not allowed.

While I encourage everyone to keep up with socialising with their loved ones and friends, I don’t support dropping everything just to talk to someone. E.g If somebody wants to text while you’re in the middle of a study sesh, just say you’ll talk later.

MANAGING STRESS

Stress is an unwelcome yet common feeling we all have. No matter what’s on your plate, we tend to stress a lot, especially in a society that is going so fast and makes us feel like we’re falling behind.

To manage stress, you need to be self-aware of when you feel stressed. A lot of people actually can’t recognise when they feel stressed, and I am one of those people. Instead, I rely on mental or physical signs that tell me I’m feeling stressed out.

SIGNS OF STRESS

Unusual lack of motivation or discipline

Feeling tired constantly even if haven’t done anything exhausting

Inconvenience impacts you more

Overthinking about small things

Trouble with sleeping

Low appetite

Focusing is harder

Crying or feeling tearful over small things

This is not the complete list of symptoms, but these are the things I feel/do when I feel stressed. Stress will look different for everyone, so you need to be able to create your own list of signs when you feel stressed.

CREATING A STRESS MANAGEMENT PLAN

Creating a plan helps you to be prepared to effectively address and cope with stress. It allows you to be more productive and improves mental health when you use this plan when needed.

Here are a few steps to creating your own!

Identify stress triggers. What do you dread the most? What makes you feel drained? What do you overthink about? Answer these questions to figure out what triggers your stress.

Assess your coping strategies. Notice if you have any ways of coping that are self-destructive, as this only contributes to your stress.

Choose 1-3 activities that are fun to you and are not self-destructive. These activities do not have to be productive or beneficial, but they have to make you feel relaxed and generally feel better

Choose one relaxation technique and one self-care activity. These are up to you, as we tend to neglect self-care relaxation when we’re stressed.

Optional, but have one person who you can talk to when you’re stressed. When we are stressed, we tend to look at the smaller picture but talking to someone else helps us gain a greater perspective on the matter.

PRETTIEINPINK’S EXAMPLE PLAN

(If doing something that is my stress trigger, slot a time in the day to do my plan.)

Journal about why I’m stressed

Make a cup of strawberry and mango tea

Read a nice story while drinking tea

Guided stress meditation

Eat some fruits

Another thing when creating you plan to not restrict yourself using time. Allow yourself to take as much time as needed to alleviate yourself of stress.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Being emotionally intelligent is a skill. It is the ability to understand, process and communicate emotions effectively.

There are times when we do sometimes let our emotions take over and they dictate our actions, thoughts and words. This is why we need to build this skill, to get that control over our emotions back.

Thinking before you speak is an oldie but goodie. What we say can drastically influence the current situation for better or for worse. If you think that what you might say is rude, offensive or crude, don’t say it at all.

Also, stay quiet! I am all for standing up for yourself when being disrespected, but you need to recognise when someone is trying to rile you up... They WANT a reaction out of you. Most likely to use against you. Silently exit the situation instead.

If you are someone who gets a lot of energy from big emotions like anger, dejection, sadness, and jealousy, try to channel that energy into something that requires you to have a lot of energy and is beneficial to you. Keeping that energy in until you blow up is a no-no.

Not everyone is trying to hold you back with ill intent. People’s previous experiences can influence the advice they give to you because they have your best interest at heart. They know that their method worked, which is why they’re advising it. These types of people don’t understand that there is more than one way, but they still love you.

Avoid prolonging emotions. When you’re sad, don’t listen to depressing music. When you’re angry, don’t consume ragefuel. It’s very easy in this age of consuming to amplify therefore prolonging emotions, but it holds us back. Process it, and move on.

Stop acting on a whim. Go where your heart takes you, but reflect on it and create a plan. When you do, you end up in unfavourable circumstances. The most common one is working so hard to get to a certain point, only to realise that you don’t even like it. This is why reflection is important.

Be kind even when you’re not receiving it. Kindness is only kind when we do it out of pure love instead of personal gain. Stop expecting people to be kind to you after you’ve been kind to them. Kindness is a debt-free action.

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shieldedreams · 1 year

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you’re all i see (n.s.)

summary ⇾ there are days where you’re harsh on yourself; these are the days neteyam is the most gentle with you. details ⇾ 3,081 words / neteyam sully x na’vi!reader / 🌸 comfort fluff / established relationship / gn!reader / implications to the reader’s past history of losing their parents notes ⇾ you can view this as a ‘reverse’ to this little thing i wrote for neteyam. thank you for the lovely support on my first avatar fic! ✨ [avatar masterlist]

one of the secluded areas in the forest remains two; one older, one younger–sparring, training–mimicking a situation of life and death. neytiri on one end, you on the other. baring out your training against her of accumulated hours of perseverance and determination; blood, sweat and tears–the bloody tears–to constantly improve yourself.

on one of the nearby trees, sits two mischievous lads... and two just as cheeky ladies. they hadn’t been here long, having their own training but they got here just in time to watch one of the rounds.

their sounds of admiration and gasps quietly fill the air, past the sounds of heavy breathing and grunts as you do your best to try to take neytiri down. those golden nuggets of opportunity come sparingly–having trained with her for years–but they do occur once in a while. every flip, every roll of your body on the ground, every hiss that leaves your lips when she’s just within reach but always a step ahead of you–it all accumulates to creating a chance for you to be able to come up on top.

by some grace of eywa, just as neytiri plants a kick to your chest, harshly driving your back onto the ground, you’re able to extend your leg out to swipe her ankle a second quicker before she’s able to pull it back. the split second of her losing her footing allows you to tackle her to the ground, swiftly retrieving your dagger to pin it to her neck.

in neytiri's eyes, it sparks her pride and joy. in the eyes of others, the glow of admiration is evident. in the eyes of neteyam, however, the worry only starts to grow when he sees your hands trembling.

neytiri’s senses never lie to her especially when it's being tested right in front of her face. she gapes, watching as you drop the dagger to your side with your eyes flickering away from hers. it’s like she knows what’s going on in your mind even if you don’t say it. no words needed. she carefully maneuvers you off her so she’s able to sit up properly, a hand now pillowed to your cheek as you remain kneeling beside her.

“child... you’ve done so well,” she smiles, even if you can’t see it when your eyes flutter shut as you nuzzle into her hand with a bated breath, “your parents would be so proud of you.”

“...if only i knew what i do now back then,” your voice is a mere whisper that gently rattles neytiri’s heartstrings. she makes a sound, one that makes you hush as she gives you a shake to open your eyes. when you do, that’s when a couple of stray tears fall from your eyes that she brushes away with a faint smile. she makes you lean your forehead against hers and you’re shaking.

“you were too young back then. do not hold yourself responsible for things you cannot change,” she sighs, swallowing thickly. “what’s important now is you can protect yourself, something your parents would have definitely wanted–”

“please,” you cut her off, desperately needing to be alone and she knows of it when your body tenses up. you’ve talked about this with her before, with jake, with people you’ve come to surround yourself like the family you’ve never had but it’ll never be the same. it pains neytiri she can’t do anything about it but comfort you like her own, regardless of your relationship with her children. what she does is respect your decision and what you choose to do when these feelings got overwhelming.

“may i be dismissed?” you ask softly, sniffing as you lap your hand over hers to gently pull it away, “i just...” you take a sharp breath and exhale shakily after: "...i think i need some air.”

neytiri nods without a word, accepting your hand up when you stand on your feet. as the two of you find your footing, she remains holding onto your hand, cupping one of yours with both of hers as she plants a kiss; a silent prayer and blessing–you are our family. the moment is short-lived when she glances over your shoulder and instantly regrets it. much to her dismay, you follow her line of sight by looking over your shoulder to see four familiar looking faces that you’d rather not right now.

“y/n!” tuk waves with a huge grin, “you were so cool!” she chuckles to herself, “oh, you too, mom!”

you face forward to allow neytiri see your panicked face, more so when you hear telltales of them climbing down the trees to get to where you are. it’s like she read your mind and gives you a small nudge as she lets go of your hand. go, she whispers, moving to cover you as it kicks into your mind to start moving. you walk, then run. soon, you’re swinging on the trees and padding on branches to get as far as possible until their voices disappear.

“hey! we could’ve gone together!” lo’ak huffs, crossing his arms as they all huddle around their mother.

“is y/n okay, mother?” kiri asks, fiddling with her fingers as neytiri curls tuk against her side with one arm, the other reaching up to fix kiri’s hair, “yeah, just... wanted to get some time alone, that’s all.”

she smiles at them until she reaches one who would be the most concern. based on his silence and the way his feet itches on the ground, tail fiddling back and forth, neytiri extends an arm out to place a hand on the shoulder of–”neteyam, maybe it’ll be good to let y/n have some–”she can barely finish her sentence when he’s stubbornly brushing past her hold, feet picking up the pace until he’s climbing the trees and pinning a route in his mind to get to where you are.

past the sounds of leaves fluttering and creaks of branches, she lowers her hand to her side in vain, shaking her head.

“don’t worry, mom,” lo’ak’s the first to speak, “he’ll probably bring y/n back in time for dinner.”

kiri scoffs a laugh and gives the boy a good nudge to the head.

“hey! this is abuse!” lo’ak huffs, looking to his mother, “mom! you’re just gonna let kiri do that to me?”

neytiri sighs and only ruffles his head, then ushering all of them to–”come, let us head back.”

as they begin their walk back together, neytiri glances over her shoulder to see how her son is long gone, presumably close to reaching you better than any of them would have to begin with. it puts a smile to her face; the ease she knows well to have someone just know where you will be in your moment of need. no matter how big, or how small. she rests easy with faith knowing her son and you, will be just fine.

when his first idea doesn’t fall through, neteyam switches his course really quick to be able to decipher where you might be. it was always one out of two places. if it wasn’t up high in one specific tree (with secretly marked initials at the bottom of the trunks, masked by the bushes that circles around), then it has to be–”now, what is a pretty thing like you all alone here?”

the sounds of water flowing and quiet breathing greets him. neteyam heaves a deep sigh as he watches you stubbornly hugging your knees to your chest, back against the tree behind you that looms over the small river, eyes refusing to meet his. it’s quiet here, another location that in due time, became yours and neteyam’s to be free; to be vulnerable. another tree marked with the similar looking initials near the root of the bark.

he looks–always has to look at the carving of his initials embedded with yours. only then is he able to take his place next to you. neteyam sits so close to you that he barely leave you any room to move away. begrudgingly, you try to create distance between your body but it only elicits a huff from him. quickly, he puts an arm around your shoulders as he leans in close, pressing his forehead to the side of yours.

it’s a subdued reaction but it comes in waves. first, your shoulders inevitably relax. then, the breath you were holding in releases and he feels the way your body rises to take a deep intake of air and soon, you’re breathing comfortably. it’s as if you could never put up a front around him and he’s delighted. it shows on his face; a smile so wide it puts the moon to shame. irises sparkling that it puts the stars to fade.

ignoring the way he’s looking at you, your eyes continue to stare at the way the water flows in front of you. gently, yet, so carefree with the flowers it takes captive, moving in one direction.

“what do you want?” you mutter under your breath.

“well...” he starts off, “what you want is what i want,”

automatically, you turn your head just a little to meet with his playful gaze. your eyes squint at him, a silent what do you mean? written all over your face. the way your brows knit together in confusion, the small twitch of your lips turning into a frown. it only adds to his happiness as he starts to move with such precision and confidence. it’s as if he knows you’ll allow him to do whatever and it’s exactly that.

for someone so guarded, he’s amused with the way he’s able to put his arms around you, momentarily lifting you up to shift your position forward. it grants him the space behind you as he respectively assumes the position of leaning against the tree trunk behind both of you. then, he spreads his legs out and carefully pull you back to lean against his chest. your body untwists itself, legs stretching out, lapping between neteyam’s and you find yourself resting into him; moulding to the shape of his body.

as your head leans against one of his shoulders, your hands find purchase in his as he cocoons you in. his thumbs brush over the backs of your hands, his calm breathing against your back; your eyelids grow heavy from the comfort that his body brings but so does the weight in your heart when neteyam starts to speak.

“you were amazing out there,” he murmurs, a soft kiss pressed to the side of your head soon after.

he peeks down on you to gauge your reaction and he hates–hates how sad you look despite performing so well. it wasn’t easy going through his mother’s training. him and his siblings out of all people would know. he watches as you open your mouth to speak but you’re silencing yourself before you have the chance to say anything. it’s like there’s a mental debate going on in your mind and he senses it; he hates that as well.

“my love,” he calls for you, the desperation surfacing in between his words, more so in his actions as he squeezes your hands, “talk to me. please.”

he moves his hands from holding yours to hug you tight. both arms draped around your figure, one hand pressed to your hip, the other clutching onto your elbow as he rubs circles to soothe your erratic heart. his eyes remain on you; watching, patiently.

“i feel weak,” you whisper, “i still see them everywhere i go,” your hands are anchored onto neteyam’s forearms and he doesn’t react even when your fingers lightly dig into his skin, “it’s a constant reminder that no matter how good i am now, it’s all useless if i can’t protect those who mattered most.”

neteyam is silent but present. he nudges your head with his and it makes you turn the cheek so you can feel his chin against your forehead. he takes in a deep breath and it beckons you to do the same when you feel his lungs expanding against your back. he doesn’t use words just yet; merely comforting you with his body, his hands, his touch–with his entire being.

his hands continue to gently rub circles wherever he can reach; thumb pads against your hip and elbow, caresses along your arm and along the sides of your body. the idyllic gestures make you feel calm and it injects the kind of warmth into your body like no other.

neteyam only knows it’s time to say something when he sees how your eyes open and meet with his. the hand he has by your elbow lifts up to press against your cheek. his thumb delicately running under the bag lining your eye.

“i can’t imagine what it would be like to go through that all alone,” he sighs, shaking his head, “but now... now you can protect those who matter.” he notices your eyes wavering but you remain looking at him, “fight for those you love now. those that are with you now.”

you find yourself scoffing a laugh and the look of confusion on his face makes it all the more amusing.

“such as yourself, i suppose?” you use a hand to knock the side of his head lightly but he doesn’t react to it, only widening his smile handsomely planted on his face, “hey, i gave you the prompt but you filled in the answer,” he proudly puffs his chest out a bit, making you lean forward as he does, “if it’s me you wish to protect, i’ll be more than willing to accept.”

you try to push him away to no avail, more so when the laughter rubbles from inside your stomach at his antics that seemingly lift up the heavy weight resting on your chest. he only pulls you in tighter, refusing to let you go far. his legs start to case you in, locking you in place as he reflects your smile.

“you’re stupid,”

“yeah, but i’m your stupid,” he counters.

you roll your eyes, “sounds like something lo’ak would say,”

he deadpans, “can you please not bring up my brother when it’s our alone time?”

it only makes you laugh again and despite you teasing the life out of him, he’d rather you do that if he’s able to see how happiness radiates of your face. it’s addictive; it’s what keeps him going, fuels his determination to perform if it all means he gets to protect the smile on your face.

“if i recall, i wanted to be alone by myself,” you shift in his arms, facing him with your arms crossed in front of your chest. he shows no moves to let you go, only leaning forward to press his forehead on yours. “ah, my love, we are one remember? there is no two between us.”

you uncross your arms to place a hand on his forehead, “did you knock your head or something? you’re being awfully ridiculous today.”

“this is the price i get for being a loving boyfriend?” he scoffs, shaking his head, “you ought to be grateful.”

“i am,” you respond quickly, sitting up to hover your lips just a mere nudge away from sealing the deal. neteyam’s clearly entranced, expecting you to just kiss him already but the way you smile as his defenses are lowered grants you the ability to shoot up from his grasp. “so grateful that i’m going to run away!”

he hisses at you–with no malice, more out of instinct–as he rises to his feet and begins to chase after you. past the initial jumps and climbing up the trees to glide along the branches to full-blown swinging back home, you look over your shoulder to laugh at neteyam who’s not too far behind. his intended sourness is replaced with the sweetness of seeing you so carefree; so light-hearted as you move.

it looks much different than when he saw you running away earlier.

that makes him think that in a way, he does have the ability to make you feel better. just as you do with him. and as cheesy as it sounds, if this is the sight he gets to see, it doesn’t matter where he’s at. as long as you’re the that remains as a constant in his eyes.

((four familiar people can be seen swinging on trees with each other; spider included, this time. all of them are messing about, lightly pushing each other, challenging one or the other to climb higher! let’s see how high you can go!

their chatter quiets down when two more familiar people come along.

“y/n!” tuk exclaims as she lock gazes with you, despite hanging upside down with her knees tucked on one of the branches. she swiftly sits up with kiri’s aid, now half-jumping into your arms just as you sit on the branch next to her.

“hey, tuger,” you snort, the nickname she once thought i’m not a tiger! you can’t just mix ‘tuk’ and ‘tiger’ together! but now she grows fond of, almost expecting you to say it whenever she sees you now. you mess with her hair and allow her to clutch onto you, the same time kiri sits on your other side and nudges you by the shoulder, “you doing okay?”

you nod with an appreciative smile. having kiri felt like breathing the same air, sometimes. she empathises how you feel the most and you’re eternally grateful of her presence.

“yeah, just... had one of those moments, y’know?”

she nods, leaning against you with a hum, “mhm.”

the three of you sit quietly together on the branch, now watching the three monkeys challenging each other to swing the highest or who can do the most flips?!

surely not you, little bro.

i’m not that little! spider! back me up!

sorry, lo’ak. i have to side with the big bro on this one.

you all suck!

as you relax in the hold of those who care and love you, your eyes meet with one’s gaze who softens almost instantly upon contact. there’s this spark in neteyam’s eyes, even when his attention is divided to the people he’s currently interacting with, he never fails to show you that the second your eyes meet, he’s devoting all his attention on you.

that’s all the reminder you need that you do have people here that matter. that make you feel loved... that make you feel seen. that’s all you need.))

#neteyam x reader #neteyam sully #neteyam sully x reader #neteyam scenarios #neteyam fanfics #avatar fanfic #avatar #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #avatar scenarios #neteyam #neteyam imagines #avatar imagines #neteyam x you #neteyam x y/n

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xueyuverse · 2 months

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Links for donations to Sudan

UNHCR ACNUR: People are being forced to flee amid fighting and refugees are arriving in neighboring Chad in desperate need of help.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is on the ground assisting newly arrived refugees and providing life-saving support.

CICV: Health care could collapse at any time, despite the best efforts of Sudanese health teams, who continue to work in extremely difficult conditions, caring for injured people and providing other essential services to the population.

There are severe shortages of water, energy, food and essential medical supplies.

Sudan Relief Fund: CRISIS APPEAL: Nearly 7.1 million people displaced in Sudan. Destruction of healthcare facilities, disruption of critical healthcare services like immunizations, newborn care and availability of healthcare workers is putting many at risk of death and life-threatening complications. We need every bit of help in generating a relief fund to continue our efforts in Sudan.

Sudanese family of 8 struggling to escape the War.

Emergency response in Sudan: UNICEF continues to call for an immediate ceasefire across Sudan, and reiterates its call for all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian and human rights law – including ensuring that children are protected – and that rapid, safe, unimpeded humanitarian access to children and families in affected areas is facilitated. Without such access, critical lifesaving humanitarian support will be out of reach for millions of vulnerable children.

Despite the challenges, UNICEF and partners have provided life-saving assistance to more than 6 million children inside Sudan and in neighbouring countries, including water, health, nutrition, safe spaces and learning.

Sudan: A deepening humanitarian crisis: Sudan has plunged into a conflict of alarming scale, leaving half of the population in need of urgent assistance to survive.

This comes on top of existing challenges including economic hardship, disease outbreaks and climate-related hazards.

Families are struggling to access water, food, fuel, and other critical commodities and they need urgent help.

Be a lifeline to Migrants in need: With almost 25 million people - half the population - in need of some form of aid, the situation is particularly dire for the more than 7 million people displaced within Sudan.

Periods Don’t Stop for War! Stand with Sudanese Women and Girls: They Need Your Help Now!: SIHA Network will partner with the PNDS (Fawta Tsed Alkhana – Pad Needed, Dignity Seeded) Initiative and Sustainable Development Response Organization (SUDRO) on a campaign to collective donations and use them to buy and distribute the crucial menstrual dignity kit items Sudanese women and girls desperately need right now.

Through providing menstrual products, the risk on women and girls’ health can be decreased and their well-being can be improved.

You can also donate to MSF International here and for MSF Sudan here.

#sudan #sudan genocide #keep eyes on sudan #free sudan #donations

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one-night-story · 3 months

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I Don't Know You, But I Would Love to Meet You (Jack Hughes)

a/n: I wanted to get this not under the wire, but I can't help but feel like it a little? Which, sorry about that. this is for @writingonleaves by way of @wyattjohnston 's annual winter fic exchange! I hope you enjoy it! this was as always a fun challenge to write. title is from "We Should Be Friends" by Josh Ramsay, which is v cute. (also it's so long oh jeez)

There’s probably a certain age when you’re fairly certain you’re “too old” to be waking up on strangers couches with little memory of A) who’s couch you ended up on and B) how exactly you got there.

I don’t think I’ve quite hit that age yet, so I think I’m in the clear for the understandable confusion I woke up with as the morning sun streamed in from the floor to ceiling windows.

Shit, not only was I in an unfamiliar apartment, whoever was renting the place was clearly richer than my blood.

Good news: my phone was on the coffee table and attached to a charger, so whoever I’d crashed with was a benevolent host, which boded well for my continued situation. I checked my texts and it seems last night me had been coherent and just exhausted, seeing as I remembered to text my roommate that I wasn’t coming home saying I was crashing “with friends” and that I’d text her when I got back on campus.

Huh, promising.

It at least meant she wouldn’t send out a search party consisting of our friend group, their friends, and the National Guard. All incredibly good things for my continued health and existence.

Now, to figure out who’s apartment I’d just woken up in.

Carefully, I stretched out my legs and shifted the blankets onto my lap when I realized I at the very least had the sense to not try and sleep in jeans but had left my “nice enough to go out” t-shirt on, and scanned the area. A couple of photos on the wall of a relatively decent sized family, siblings at the bare minimum as they popped up in several photos. Rich, but a bachelor as no one with any interior design sense had popped by to huck a colored throw pillow into the mix, and that was assuming their lease didn’t allow for wall color changes.

Honestly, I was coming up empty.

None of my friends were this rich, hell if they were I feel like it would’ve come up way sooner, not to mention why the hell would they bother commuting to campus when they probably could leverage online classes and still come out with a degree.

I was just about to fashion enough of a blanket skirt to at least try and find my pants so I could start rifling through a mail stack when there was creaking coming from down the hall. Well, maybe I’d have an answer soon enough. I readjusted the blanket a little so I could look over from where I thought the creaking was coming from and was greeted by… okay calling it a familiar face might’ve been a stretch, but so would the text to my roommate saying I was staying with a friend, so somehow that was two birds with one stone.

I did recognize him, which was an improvement over my worst fear, he was a friend of a friend of a brother of a friend. Which put me at four degrees of separation, and raised my “why the fuck did I crash here” hackles, but the fact that I was on a couch and not in someone’s bed felt safe, even if it wasn’t all there yet.

He didn’t seem to be fully coherent yet, as he rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his, admittedly very pretty, hair so I tried to hold back a large laugh when he startled at seeing me sitting on his couch.

“Hi,” I said with a sheepish wave. “Sorry, I’ll get out of your hair soon enough,” I remarked. What I really needed to do was find out where the hell half-dead me had hucked my pants so I could tug them back on and then make a beeline to the nearest train station to get home.

“‘S fine, just… uh… shit, there’s no like… good way of asking this,” he mulled over.

“It’s okay, I don’t quite remember your name either,” I said, saving him the embarrassment. He laughed, and it was goofy and light, which was way too endearing for… shit did that microwave clock say 9:30 in the morning? I couldn’t help but join in with a chuckle of my own.

“Oh thank god,” he said once he stopped most of the laughter, “I didn’t want to seem like a complete asshole, but also there was no way I was going to remember it after last night.” He added.

“Yeah, I don’t remember much either, and I don’t even think I drank that much?” I said with just a dash of question in my tone, he nodded once.

“You didn’t, but I think you mentioned that you didn’t want to risk taking the train back so late.” He said. “I offered to let you crash here when you refused to let someone pay for a hotel.”

Yeah, that sure did sound like me.

“Well, thank you, I’m Sadie,” I said, and as soon as I did, he brightened like he suddenly did remember and just needed the metaphorical kick in the brainstem.

“Yes! Okay, see I thought it’d be in there,” he said with another chuckle. “I usually at least try to learn the names of the girls I bring home.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the way he chose to phrase it and even more when he very clearly winced realizing how it sounded.

“We’ll chop it up to “lack of coffee” and call no hard feelings, sound fair?” I proposed as an even solution to our silly little predicament.

“Fair, I’m Jack by the way.” he said as he came over to the couch and offered up his hand. “Nice to actually meet you Sadie,” he said.

“Nice to meet you too,” I said with a chuckle as I shook his hand with a bit of teasing vigor.

“Can I at least offer you breakfast before you sneak out in the middle of the morning?” He asked while still holding onto my hand. I thought it over, and remembered the time, and figured that… yeah I could probably stand to be held up for coffee and a minimal breakfast before jumping on the train.

“Yeah, if it’s not —“

“Don’t worry about it,” Jack was quick to cut me off. He let go of my hand and wandered back over to the kitchen and I was quick to try and figure out where the hell I’d put my pants so I wasn’t having to talk across the apartment and be perceived as rude on top of whatever else one could make assumptions about a girl who’d crashed on the couch of a guy she barely knew. After being assured that the blanket was carefully tucked around me I leaned down to check under the couch and was relieved when I found them sticking out. I carefully maneuvered my body so that I could reach under the couch, grab them and carefully bend back up onto the couch so I could put them on under the blanket. When I eventually sat back up and stood. Jack was looking at me with a look of bemusement.

“Were you…”

“No, last night me wanted to not sleep in jeans. So I must’ve haphazardly hucked them off.”

“And you managed to get them on… without getting up from under the blanket?”

“Old trick from summer camp. Trust me, you haven’t even seen half of it.” I could get dressed pretty entirely without getting up from under the covers. When Jack still looked amused I chuckled and finished walking over to where he was in the kitchen. “What? Upstate New York gets cold in the morning in the summer.” I remarked. Jack fully laughed and again, I couldn’t help but join in.

“Oh I know, I guess I’m just used to living in houses with heating too.” He said. I simply shrugged, low tech summer camps, what could you do? I watched as Jack maneuvered around his kitchen to get the coffee going from the cautious spot of his breakfast bar, trying to not take up too much space or get in the way, no one likes multiple people in a kitchen at once, it was practically a fact. “I only have milk and sugar, I hope that’s okay?”

“It’ll be fine, I’m hardly in a position to be picky,” I said as I tried to focus on something that wasn’t the way Jack’s hair was falling that made him seem… softer? than just my brain’s logical, knee jerk reaction of him being “just some guy”. I mean, of all the people that my sleep addled brain could remember, I definitely remember that Jack was one of the better looking ones. I could feel my fingers wanting to pick at my nails and the social morays of it all was pretty much the only thing holding me back from doing so. I wanted to say something, anything, pretend for one morning that I was good at socializing. The fact that I’d managed to get through last night with enough grace and charm that I had managed to score a place to crash after the friend of a friend I came with ditched me to hook up with on of the myriad of white boys that were there that night meant this morning I was praying I had enough left to at least make it through coffee.

Jack set the Keurig off to do its thing and rifled through the cupboards to try and find… something. Honestly, while I was hoping for cereal, I would’ve settled for toast, when I heard him curse someone under his breath and went over to the fridge.

“Shit.” He muttered.

“Roommate eat you out of house and home?” I said taking a shot in the dark. Jack looked over, remembering he was making coffee for two and gave me a look that read as though I’d gotten it in one. He padded back over to the breakfast bar and leaned in conspiratorially, something I couldn’t help but meet him halfway about.

“So… I might’ve lied about breakfast. My brother was supposed to go grocery shopping yesterday after practice and it looks like he forgot.” I chuckled and opened my mouth to assure him that really, it was fine, thanks for even offering, I’ll just go; but he pressed on, “there’s a spot around the corner that does… probably better than I ever could and that includes the coffee. If you want, I could… take you there?” He proposed.

On the one hand, that was incredibly sweet and his smile was very much continuing my brain’s belief of him being endearing. Not to mention I love a good brunch spot as much as the next girly and that included a good little diner.

On the other hand, I felt gross being in yesterday’s clothes and I didn’t want to impede Jack’s ability to get on with his day. That, and the somewhat social expectation to turn down anything offered with you without an obvious way to pay back. We weren’t really friends, and we weren’t dating, so what the hell could I even do? My obvious gut reaction was to reject it, to chop it up to the fact that really, he was just being polite and there was no real reason to go with him. But then I snuck another glance at him, a little open and earnest and maybe the offer was just a genuine “let me be a good host in spite of the fact that my roommate is making that a challenge.”

“One condition,” I said and Jack nodded, “you mind if I borrow your shower? I feel super gross,” I said and Jack immediately nodded.

“Yeah, course, I’ll get you a new shirt if ya need.” He was quick to add. I smiled and thanked him as he pointed me toward where the bathroom was. It was very clear a bachelor’s bathroom, but at least they had more than one bottle of soap. So… small victories.

I was quick to wash up and thankful for the t-shirt left precariously balancing on the bathroom island that fully suggested it’d been put there without someone looking. Changing was just as fast and I came back out feeling a little less like death. I grabbed my phone and my bag from the end of the couch (ungracefully shoving my t-shirt from last night in) and met Jack where he was by the door.

The trip to ground level was mostly quiet, with both of us seemingly trying to pick and choose what to say about all of this. I didn’t want to put any sort of anything on it, hell, I was prepared to pay should need be and blow the rest of my fun money budget for the month.

And Jack hadn’t been lying when he said the place had been around the corner as, sure enough, the glass faced front of a quaint brunch place, Edison light bulbs and all, was in front of us. For a late Saturday morning, it wasn’t horrendous by any means. I predicted a twenty minute wait without reservations, but I was willing to be surprised. Jack got the door for me and I muttered a quiet thank you as we walked in. The front area was small so I suspected that this was probably a strict “reservation or get lucky on a walk in” place. I snuck a glance at Jack, but he didn’t seem to be fazed by any of it as he made his way over to the hostess and they had a quick exchange before menus were being grabbed and we were being led to a quiet little back booth, out of sight of the main windows. The hostess gave her usual spiel about the menus and our waiter being over in a few and we both thanked her for her time. As she left I finally looked over at Jack.

“What?”

“Does the owner owe you money or something?”

“No, but he is a fan,” he said. That made me tilt my head slightly but I was quick to shake it off. “Relax, I made reservations while you were showering. Got lucky that they had a last minute cancellation.” He said. Yeah, that seemed reasonable all things considered, so I let the topic drop and gave the menu a scan. There wasn’t a lot that didn’t appeal to me, so that was a good sign.

“Got any recommendations?” I asked as Jack fidgeted with his fork.

“Oh, uh… the pancakes are pretty killer. And my brother swears by their waffles. But pretty much everything’s good.” He said. I nodded and adjusted my own silverware as our waiter came over and poured water. While I was of the firm belief that brunch didn’t count as brunch without mimosas, I just ordered coffee with some of their fancier fixings. We asked for a bit more time with the menus and our waiter agreed to come back with the coffee. We fell into a silence, not quite awkward but nowhere near comfortable, and I settled on biting the bullet first.

“So why New Jersey?” I asked.

“Why New Jersey?”

“Yeah, you don’t seem like you’re from around here so why’d you move to New Jersey?”

“Work,” he answered simply. My memory of the previous night was still a swirling mess of exhaustion and bright lights and a smidge too much noise, but I think I remembered that those at the table who hadn’t been with my acquaintance group were coworkers. Must be a tight knit workplace. “You?”

“School, got a scholarship.”

“What for?”

“Creative writing, not the flashiest of degrees, but it’s what I’ve always wanted to do.” I replied.

“Working on the next Great American Novel, then?” He asked and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ah, maybe. Right now I’m fighting to try and keep my voice while meeting every professors’ wildly different expectations. It’s a… hassle.” I said. The conversation spiraled from there, breaking to order brunch, but otherwise swapping stories about his family and my schooling. What could I say, I had an odd high school experience, even by American Public School standards, and eventful friends.

By the time food came out, we’d eased up the tension by a couple points, and I only felt sort of bad when my phone vibrated insistently in my pocket. I made a gesture asking if it was chill if I got it and he nodded. I fished it out of my pocket and scanned the notification. Multiple texts from Anna, the friend I was supposed to travel home with last night, as it seems she’d finally woken up from her adventures last night. Most of them were standard, if sweet, a “did you get home”, a “sorry for ditching you”, and then finally “oh holy shit this guy is rich rich”. It was funny, and I was just about to put my phone away when I saw the last text come in.

what kind of rich as hell guy has a two bedroom? Shit, did i sleep with a married guy?

That finally got me to audibly laugh and Jack raised his eyebrow, “The friend I was supposed to get back to campus with, she just woke up and is questioning if she just became the other woman.”

“Nah, none of the guys out last night were married. What’d she look like?” He asked.

“Blonde, dark eyeliner, wearing the purple tank top,” I said. Jack then stifled a laugh.

“Ask her if the guy she went home with had poorly taken care of curls,” he said offhandedly. I did and set my phone on the table as I continued eating my brunch.

A couple minutes later my phone lit up with a notification.

yeah, that is *oddly* specific, how did you know?

“Yeah he is,”

“Oh my god,”

“What?”

“She’s at my place.”

“You’re kidding,”

“She went home with my brother, you’ve been in the same place all night,” he said and I couldn’t help but nearly double over as I started laughing. The entire reason I’d crashed was because she had ditched me and now it turns out we’d been in the same apartment the whole night.

“Oh that’s so fucking funny,” I said once I could breathe again. I shot off a text to Anna.

I’m still downtown, I’ll meet you at the train station in a half hour if you want?

deal.

I finally put my phone back in my pocket and we finished up brunch with a companionable edge. By the time the waiter came back to clear our dishes we were getting close to having to negotiate the bill.

“So…” I started to say.

“I’m paying,”

“You didn’t even—“

“I was never gonna let you pay, my mom raised me better than that.” He said.

“At least let me cover for my coffee?”

“Sadie, don’t worry about it,” he said with a tone that got me to drop it. Like I wasn’t going to be able to win this no matter how I negotiated it. As the waiter came back with the bill and Jack handed over his card I said a quiet thanks which got a grin out of him. Brain, pick a struggle, we cannot be enamored by this boy after waking up on his couch in a first meeting we can barely remember. He finished paying and we got up to leave and I did my best to keep my internal argument off my face as we did.

I managed to make it to the street corner before I was willing to confront the fact that I had to actually leave and go back to campus, and Jack had to… wait. Hang on.

The coffee had started to kick in and things were finally lining up. I knew I had to have gotten into school for some reason right?

“Oh shit,”

“What?” He asked with a tilt of his head and okay fine I’ll admit it brain he’s cute, but the realizations that my brain was finally having made it so that this was never going to happen again.

“You’re a Devils player,” I said as I smacked my own forehead and Jack started laughing.

“You only just figured that out?”

“Leave me alone, I haven’t had a full night's sleep in like a week,” I joked, still covering my face a little. Jack carefully moved me out of foot traffic and gently pulled my hands away from my face.

“Is that a deal breaker?” He asked.

“What?”

“Me being a hockey player?”

“What, why?”

“Well, I thought that went well all things considered and I was gonna ask for your number to hopefully do dinner sometime.” He said with a soft smile, letting his hand fall into mine. I thought it over, between the fact that he was indeed cute, that he was nice, and funny, and asking with such an expression that seemed that, if he wasn’t trying to convince me he was cool and at least a little normal, he’d be rocking on his heels about; and the mere fact that he took me out to brunch after offering to let me crash on his couch. It was pretty much enough in the category of good signs that I was inclined to say:

“It’s not a deal breaker,” and he grinned a little wider, “besides I was going to ask for your number anyway. I have to get your shirt back somehow.” I chuckled.

“Ah, keep it, I can always buy a new one.” He joked. I passed over my phone and he put his contact in before quickly texting himself and passing it back. I chuckled at his contact photo, a terribly taken close up of him, and saw that I had a text from Anna that she was at the station already.

“I guess I’ll talk to you to figure out scheduling?” I proposed with just a hint of awkwardness.

“Yeah, I gotta check with my brother about some things and what have you.”

“Okay,” I said with a little chuckle of disbelief. “Thanks for brunch, by the way.” I said.

“Thank you for agreeing and not sneaking out in the middle of the morning,” he replied with a bit of a chuckle that lit up his face. There was no good way to leave this, with a promise of something stronger, but still uneasy about what one's dynamic is in the now, “can I give you a hug?” He asked.

Oh thank god.

“Yeah, yes,” I said with a stumbled out laugh as he matched it before giving me a friendly “see you around” style hug. We parted with a half wave and I started making my way back to the train station.

I made it with a bit of a light jog as Anna dragged me in the direction of the platform so we could catch the train just pulling into the station. We quickly collapsed into seats before she finally turned to me.

“So… who's this?” She asked tugging on the sleeve of the clearly borrowed t-shirt.

“The guy who’s couch I crashed on last night. I made a comment about feeling gross about being in last night's clothes that he lent me a t-shirt.” Lent, gave, I wasn’t certain I wanted to broach that topic with Anna yet. Roommate first, acquaintances second. “How ‘bout you? Did you at least get coffee?”

“Yeah, he made a comment about his roommate being out so we ordered breakfast at his place, he was so nice.” She gushed. I watched as the realization crossed her face, “wait you said you’d tell me how you knew what he looked like when we met up,” she lightly wacked my arm with the back of her hand, “spill.”

I laughed and rubbed the back of my neck, “I was at breakfast with his roommate. Also known as his brother.” I said.

“Shut up! No fucking way,” she said with a laugh. We were getting looks from a few commuters in our immediate area and I tried to quiet her down. “That’s too funny,” she said in a slightly quieter tone. “Are you seeing him again?”

“Are you?” I countered.

“Maybe, he gave me his number, but I’m not certain.” She said, “Now tell me you coward,”

“Maybe,” I countered and she groaned at my dramatics.

“Insufferable, you fink.” She joked. I grinned a little as we continued some small talk before I agreed to let her rest on my shoulder until we got to the campus’ stop.

I fished my phone out and figured that I should probably try and organize a date huh?

#winter fic exchange #nhl imagine #jack hughes imagine #nhl fanfiction

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slayingfiction · 1 year

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Questions to ask your alpha/beta readers

I thought I would put together a master list of all the questions to ask your alpha and beta reader to help you improve your story.

You can choose to ask questions every chapter, every few chapters or after the whole book. This list of questions will be more generic and all encompassing for you to tailor to your needs.

Reminder: Beta readers typically receive a completed and polished version of your story. They give feedback on any last improvements based on the reader’s perspective. Alpha readers read your story or manuscript before it’s completed, usually a rough draft. Alpha readers are best if they also have some writing experience to give reader and writer feedback.

Choose some of the following questions to ask your readers:

Start:

When did you first feel the story was truly starting?

Do you like how the story started? If not, why?

Do you find characters were introduced slow enough to learn them all?

Did you find settings, different languages, and cultural differences were introduced slowly enough to not be confusing or overwhelming?

Were there any moments you found yourself going back over old exposition just to understand what was happening?

When, if at all, did you find yourself being pulled into the book?

Did the first sentence grab your attention?

Did the first few pages draw you into the story?

Did you find the opening paragraph/page interesting enough to continue reading?

Characters:

What do you like about the MC? What don’t you like? Can you name at least one relatable trait between yourself and the MC?

How did you feel about the character(s)’s growth from the start to finish of the story? Did you find there was enough? Was it believable?

Are the MC’s motivations and goals clear and strong enough?

Did you feel the MC’s fears, hopes, excitement, passions, etc.?

Did you get confused between the characters?

Were the characters believable?

Are there any characters you wish were more interesting? Why and how?

Do you feel each supporting character had their own motivations and contributed to the plot?

Are there any characters that seem cliché, underdeveloped, or stereotypical? If so, why?

Were the character relationships believable?

Did the romantic relationships build naturally, or did it feel forced?

Are there any character names that were too difficult to read or sounded too similar to others?

Were there any parts where the characters seemed to be acting out of character?

Who was your favorite character?

Which character, if any, did you wish was more present?

Which character do you care for the least?

What are your thoughts/feelings on the MC’s character arc?

Do you feel like the antagonists and/or villain is just as fleshed out and relatable as the MC?

If you had to remove one character, who would it be, and why?

Which character would you like to meet, and why?

Did you hope or dread any character relationships?

Are there any characters you found annoying and frustrating?

What are your general thoughts and feelings about the MC or supporting characters?

Which character did you find least developed?

Plot:

Which moments in the book did you find the most suspenseful?

Were there any moments in the book you found boring, lagging, or uneventful and unnecessary?

Did you find the pacing to suit the story well? Are there any areas you found moved too fast or too slow?

Was there ever a time you felt like you weren’t excited or intrigued enough to want to continue?

Did you find any plot holes? Any discrepancies in timeline, characters, descriptions, or other details?

Were there any scenes you found did not further the plot at all?

Are there any scenes or events you found to be too long or too short?

Did you find all explanations and revelations came out naturally and at appropriate times?

What was your favourite scene in the book? Why?

What was your least favourite scene in the book? Why?

Are there any chapters you found lacked conflict?

Did the action scenes make sense as you read them? Did you understand how they came to that action scene (or did they feel random)?

Where there any moments or scenes that made you feel emotional? Happy, sad, cringy and disgusted, etc.

Do you find the plot moved logically and naturally between scenes and chapters?

Are there any moments you felt detached or pulled out of the story? When and why?

Are there any events or scenes you found confusing? Either what was happening or how the characters came to that point?

Where you surprised by the plot twist?

Settings:

Which setting in the book was the clearest for you to visualize? Which do you remember the best?

Did you find the setting interesting, with vivid and real description?

Were there any scenes you thought lacked description?

Were there any moments you thought there was too much exposition, or not enough?

Did you find there were moments you didn’t know where the characters were unless stated?

Do you find the culture and historical events are realistic and add depth to the story?

Is there any exposition you found unnecessary? Are there any moments you wish you had more exposition?

Did all technology and science, or magic, make sense or seem believable?

Was there ever too much or too little description?

Dialogue:

Did you find that each character had their own personal voice when speaking?

Are there times where you couldn’t figure out who was talking solely based on how they spoke?

Is there any dialogue that sounded unnatural?

Could you see what the characters were doing and where they were while talking?

Was there any dialogue that seemed to not fit well with the story?

Was there any dialogue that you thought had too much exposition or explanation?

Did you find the dialogue kept your interest?

Ending:

Did you find the ending to be satisfying and emotionally fulfilling?

Are there any questions you had left after the story ended? (Mostly for stand-alone)

What did you hate most about the ending?

Did you find the ending believable?

Did you feel the tension building to the climax?

Was the climax worth the read, or did it feel weak?

Do you feel the ending came on naturally, or did it feel forced or rushed?

Did the book feel too short or too long?

General:

Were there parts where you found yourself skimming?

Which parts of the story did you find it easy to put the book down?

At what moment did you decide you wanted to finish the book? (If not DNF)

What are some of your favourite lines/quotes from the book?

Do you have any predictions for what you think will come next? (Good for chapters or end of book)

Is there something you hope will happen?

Is there anything you hoped would happen and was sad when it didn’t?

Did you find the map and glossary helpful? Is there anything you think would be beneficial to add, such as terms or names?

Are there any moments or scenes you found ethically and socially problematic and unacceptable.

Were there any moments in the story that made you stop and think?

Were you able to identify the story themes? Did you find the themes well developed throughout the story?

Did you think about the story when you weren’t reading it? If so, what were your thoughts?

Were there times during the story where you felt description was told instead of shown?

Does this book make you feel the same as other books in the genre when reading?

Is there anything you really enjoy from this genre that you found lacking in this story?

Did you find the story kept your attention with enough action, conflict, intrigue, and tension?

Do you find the story or writing style like other books you have read?

Are there any moments you found confusing, irritating, annoying or frustrating?

Are there any moments in the story you thought, “this could/would never happen”?

Did you have any questions after reading the book?

What are your general thoughts and feelings about the story?

Is there anything you wish there was more or less of?

What do you think were the best/ strongest aspects of this book?

What do you think were the worst/ weakest aspects of this books?

How would you describe this book to a friend?

Would you recommend this story to someone?

How likely/ eager are you to read the next book in the series?

Chapter specific

On a scale from 1-5, how much did you enjoy this chapter?

On a scale from 1-5, how eager are you to read the next chapter?

What predictions do you have for the next chapter?

What do you hope will happen next?

Please keeping in mind: Don't let another writer tell you what to change or how they would write it. You are the writer, and any changes are your decision. This feedback is only to give you an idea on which areas to improve.

*Alpha and Beta readers should be readers in the same genre that you write. People who mostly read mystery will not be good a/b readers for a romance novelist, or any mismatch. If you write romance, find a/b readers who love to read romance. Otherwise, any advice they give may not be as valuable or useful as you hope.*

If you have other questions you think would be useful to ask your readers, message me or add them in the comments so our list is comprehensive.

Happy Writing!

#writing community #writing advice #beta reader #alpha reader #writing reference #long post #creative writing #tumblr writers #writing tips #writer #female writers #wip stuff #writblr #fiction #writing process

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