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cosmic-ghost-hermit · 10 days

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Hey everyone! I have starting working with Apollo on all of my readings. Also come join my divination discord. Take what resonates and leave all that doesn't behind. Enjoy the shadow work 🩵

PILE ONE

Crystal: Smokey Quartz

Astrology: Taurus, Libra, Capricorn, Sagittarius

Vibes: 💘🌎💙🧿🩷🧠🫐🛼💎🎀♿️🏳️‍⚧️💗💦🎟️🪼🦋🌸🌷🧵💅🏽🥶🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💕🌊🛝🪬

Hello, pile one. You have a considerable rocky relationship with love. It’s pretty obvious you have been taking a major break from romance all together. Your efforts towards loving yourself have not gone unnoticed by the universe. You have slowly been building up your self confidence. Unfortunately, I also see you still long for the old relationships you used to be in. This person you are longing for has some scorpio placements. My dear when you were with them it was you who was doing all the loving. You held up a two person job by yourself. Why do you think you were so exhausted after it ended? You were doing everything for this person. It’s going to take a while for this to click in your mind just how dependant this person was on you. That’s perfectly alright. Take your time with this healing. There is no need to rush your progress. Take a deep breath and acknowledge your progress so far. You are strong and have been persevering without that person. Look at how much more peaceful it is without them. Once you have fully realized your worth I see something wonderful being your reward. I see this probably having something to do with a career you want deeply. I wish you luck on your self-love journey, friend. The universe will support you along the way.

PILE TWO

Crystal: Yooperlite

Astrology: Cancer, Gemini, Pisces, Aquarius

Vibes: 🤎💚⚰️🪚📻⏳🕰️📗🏈🍺🥜🥥🍐🪴🍂🪵🏔️🦇🧳🍀👩🏾‍🦳🍩🪲👒🇮🇪🥾🍈🍾🌰🧋🥝🟤

Hi, pile two. Welcome to your reading. You got an extra card which tells me your messages are a bit complex and should be read with nuance. Love is a daunting task to you. Your relationship with love has been heavily affected by your childhood. Your parents were not kind to you. I see you were often treated as a scapegoat. Which has convinced you that you are this awful monster who can never be forgiven. At some point it looks like you claimed this role that was forced upon you. Started wearing it as a badge of honor and playing the part along with it. I understand this perspective a lot myself. What confuses me is you are actually a really sweet and compassionate person underneath all that. You don’t like playing this mean role that you were taught to be. That’s not who you are. Until you were taught to embody the shadows of others you were as harmless as a kitten. I still think you are as harmless as a kitten to be honest. The cards tell me even when you put on this persona you are just showing off your bark. You would never bite. You can talk a big game but you hate doing it. I have some really good news my dear. You don’t have to play anymore. You can drop the act. You are completely capable of cutting out this persona and getting to know your true self. Once you accept this love will not seem as scary. You will feel more capable and vulnerable with your partners. I wish you luck in love, my friend. I’m rooting for you!

PILE THREE

Crystal: Quartz

Astrology: Virgo, Leo, Aries, Scorpio

Vibes: 🖤💛🔏🔑🌻🏁🕷️🐝😎🍯🎱🍳🌤️🌼☀️🍌🥥♟️📣🔌⚱️💣🔔🗝️⚜️♠️🎷🏆🚧

Hey there, pile three. I’m so sorry you have to feel this way. Your relationship with love is hard to describe so bare with me a bit. You are a wonderful lover. When you love someone you would do anything for them. I am not exaggerating when I say ‘anything’. When you find someone you deem worthy of loving, you will give everything you have just to see them truly cherished. However, when you deem someone unworthy of love you are just as excessive with your reaction. You will be outwardly mean to them out of a sense of justice and this sentiment unfortunately applies to yourself as well. You believe your judge of character is unbias and therefore makes you the best one for the job of delivering this justice but then you judge yourself unworthy so you treat yourself horrendously. You skip meals to spite yourself. You refuse to shower because you think you just arn’t worth the effort or time. You need to pump the breaks on that behavior and reflect a little bit. If you are capable of loving someone so deeply you would conquer any obstacle in the name of that love? IM PRETTY SURE THAT MAKES YOU LOVABLE DUDE. Perhaps, just maybe, your criteria for judging peoples character is a little more bias than you originally thought??????? And, just maybe, you justify your self-hatred with zero logical evidence. You are worthy of your own respect. I am not telling you to stop delivering justice just to be clear. I’m telling you to think a bit more about why you deem yourself unworthy of love but worthy of delivering justice to the people you hold to be unworthy. Isn’t that a little unfair? I’ll let you answer that yourself on your own time but either way. I wish you luck on your journey of self-acceptance. The universe deems you worthy and it would be healthy to start seeing that perspective.

#tarot #tarot reading #astrology #pick a crystal #pick a pile #tarot pick a card #crystals #pick a card #spirituality #shadow work #tarot shadow work #love reading #spiritual growth #spiritual awakening #spiritual journey

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pixiemage · 10 months

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I deal with ADHD on a daily basis, meaning I struggle with multiple (frustrating) things. There's one in particular that's been on my mind the most as of late: it's difficult for me to complete large tasks easily. For me, motivation, mental energy, and time are limited, and those rare moments where it all lines up so I can get shit done are often few and far between. This applies to both things I don't want to do, and things I do want to do. Even writing or cosplay construction or editing videos can become daunting tasks even though they're all fun and enjoyable hobbies of mine.

Recently, I've been trying to clean my room.

As anyone in my immediate family can tell you, this has been a big problem since I was young. My room starts clean, but then I put a few pairs of shoes by my bed, then don't have the energy to deal with the growing laundry pile, then can't find a place for the new mic stand I got for my birthday, then I start dumping jewelry on my bedside table at the end of the day when I'm tired, then - then - then. And then it builds to a disastrous tipping point and it has become this massive, incomprehensible task I have to tackle, and because my brain hates me, it's a frustrating and grueling process to even figure out where to begin.

But deadlines help (pressure helps) and I have found that working on it in the wee hours of the morning (from midnight to like 5am) is somehow a way to get my brain to focus on it. For some reason I work better then. Arguably, this isn't logical or useful every day because I need sleep and I have work, but I made MASSIVE progress two days ago by staying up way too late on a night when I finally found the drive to get shit done.

That's not really the point of this post though.

The point is that I've found that a majority of society (or maybe just the NT community in general) have a hard time seeing progress as worthwhile when completion is better.

"Did you finish your room?" "Not yet, but I dealt with that massive pile of crap on my couch! It's SO much better, and I can actually see the floor in front of my dresser now, and-" "That's not what I asked. Did you finish?" "Not yet." "The answer is no, then."

It doesn't matter how much I've done. It doesn't matter how proud I am of my partial progress. It doesn't matter that I fought tooth and nail to get to the point I'm at, because unfortunately, I haven't finished it all yet, so it's not good enough.

(And I know I have a deadline, and I know we have family coming over soon, and I know that being done is the goal, but the deadline isn't here yet. Give me time. I need time.)

I think we as a society need to award and praise ourselves more for the efforts we put in, whether we reached a finish line or not. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive for completion, because at the end of the day that's often the goal of any task. But we should also let ourselves be proud of how far we have come as long as we're doing our best. I don't see that often enough. I continuously struggle to reach that finish line, but hey, I came this far today! I didn't reach Toad so he could tell me my princess was in another castle (because god knows there's always another task), but I did hit that checkpoint, and since I've been struggling through this level for as long as I have, that's still worth celebrating in some small way. It's still worth all the coins I collected and the goons I defeated to get to this point.

Don't reprimand your kids because their hard work thus far doesn't quite live up to your standards. Applaud what they've done and then help them find the right next step so they're motivated to keep going.

It takes a lot of work to save a princess. The journey has a lot more monsters than just the dragon.

#ADHD #Actual ADHD #ADHD Experience #Executive Disfunction

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phdguides · 7 months

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7 important tips and advice every PhD student should know

PhD is considered the highest level of qualification and is not for the faint of heart. The difficulties and frustrations are real. You are constantly looking for motivation to keep up with your hectic schedule.

We understand your situation, and to assist you, we have compiled a list of seven essential tips and advice that will come in handy during your PhD journey.

These tips and advice are backed by scholars and industry experts based on their experience, and if you are in the early stages of your PhD, you will be astounded by the information.

So, without further ado, let’s get started:

Read a lot

Read, read, and read some more. This will be a very useful step in creating a research roadmap. Read as many research papers as you can on your chosen topic.

It will provide you with in-depth knowledge of your subject, what previous researchers have done, and how you can begin your own research. By reading other people’s work, you can learn what has already been done and avoid duplicating existing research.

Aside from reading old papers, remember to keep an eye out for new developments also in your field. All of this reading will help you gain a thorough understanding of your chosen subject.

Write more

When you’re reading this much, you should also be writing. Write down your progress, new discoveries, and any other important information you believe is relevant.

It is always preferable to begin writing as soon as possible. Because it will ultimately assist you in writing your thesis. Writing on a regular basis will help you hone your writing skills.

It may appear to be a daunting task, but with practice, you will notice that the quality of your research paper will improve and you will take less time to complete it.

You don’t have to write every day, but try to write at least three times a week, if not more.

Be positive

PhD research is a long and time-consuming process in which you must constantly work on finding new solutions in your field. As a result, if your research paper is not accepted or people do not support your idea, you may become demotivated.

However, keep in mind that these are all part of the process. You will not always be successful. So it’s okay if you don’t achieve your goals sometimes. Concentrate on the good things you have.

Divert your attention to topics that interest you, surround yourself with positive people, take short breaks, and engage in activities that you enjoy.

PhD may appear to be a difficult journey but believe in yourself because you will succeed and your efforts will be rewarded.

Don’t isolate yourself.

PhD candidates frequently become so engrossed in their work that they completely isolate themselves from the rest of the world. They worked hard all hours of the day and night, but the feeling of missing out never left them.

However, stressing yourself may harm your health, which is ultimately detrimental to your research. So take some time to unwind. Connect with others who share your interests and have a productive discussion about your topic.

It will provide you with new perspectives and allow you to connect with people in your field.

Do an internship

An internship can provide you with valuable insight and a deeper understanding of how research is conducted in other environments and what tools are used.

An internship can help you learn a lot. You can broaden your network with other researchers and learn a lot of details. It can be a fantastic way to gain a thorough understanding of your topic.

Reach out to people.

Building a network is critical regardless of what you do. A valuable network can provide you with endless possibilities. Don’t waste the opportunity to meet a lot of influential people and industry experts during your PhD.

Create a strong network for yourself. Reach out to people and have a good conversation with them. Make the most of your opportunity, as a worthwhile network can help you not only in your career but also in your life after your PhD.

Appreciate your small wins

Many students lose interest or productivity halfway through their PhD studies. It can happen because they have unrealistic expectations of themselves.

You don’t have to make the same mistakes in your PhD. Set attainable goals. Appreciate your small victories because they are also significant. You must accept the fact that you will not always be successful. You will have failures, but they will be temporary, and with consistency, you will be able to achieve your goals.

As a result, it is critical to keep yourself motivated and productive by focusing on your progress.

Conclusion

Pursuing a PhD is a little challenging, but if you believe in yourself, you can achieve your doctorate dream. The only thing that matters is that you need to stay consistent and focused. Read a lot and try every possible method to learn about new discoveries in your field. Take advice from experts in the field, and your fellow researchers and stay motivated.

https://phdguides.org/guides/

https://phdguides.org/7-important-tips-and-advice-every-phd-student-should-know/

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canmom · 3 months

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brain operating notes

the thing with ADHD is that it's super paradoxical. I've spent the last 72 hours or so doing almost nothing but making minute tweaks to this fansub, stuff like hand tracking signs in perspective at 800% zoom. it's the 'hyperfocus', and it can feel like a superpower. only the thing is I have no control over when it kicks in and what it chooses to focus on.

I had work to be done on Friday, work I enjoy and is novel and interesting, but this fansub project just jumped into my brain and took over the wheel and said 'you will not do anything else until this is finished'.

this is why the notion of 'executive function' is useful. I think of it like a unifying thing required to both get myself to do a thing that is not particularly novel or engaging in this moment, and to stop myself doing a thing that engages the hyperfocus because I have to eat or whatever. this feels like a finite resource, that gradually replenishes over time.

of course we're all in metaphor here. I don't actually think there's a finite reserve of some substance that I can use to get me to do things that aren't immediately stimulating. but being equipped with this metaphor lets me think of it like... ok, I will let my brain just do its thing and ride the rollercoaster now, so that I can have the wherewithal to do (difficult but important thing) down the line. or, I've been really pushing myself to do stuff recently, I need to take some time to recover the reserves. how good is this model? i'm not sure. probably not great, but it is a model.

anyway things that trigger hyperfocus are a bit arbitrary but common features tend to be...

novel: a thing that I haven't done before is intrinsically exciting - as long as I have some idea of how to get going. in my previous job I'd find excuses to do stuff like 'animate in Blender' or 'hack the graph drawing tool' just to add a bit of spice to rote tasks. thankfully my current job is full of new exciting things.

a steady drip feed of small successes: a big, daunting task is hard to get started on. something that has a clear avenue for recognisable, steady progress is a lot more manageable. 'write the animation controller' is unclear. 'make another animation' feels like progress, and I know where I'm at with it, so I will tend to choose that one given the option.

urgent: if the deadline is imminent and there really is no other option but to crack on with it, the anxiety gives a force multiplier on executive function. which results in a lot of procrastination leading up to mad last minute crunch. it's a pattern that I hate, not least because it's hard to say how long anything will actually take, but is hard to shake.

social: if it is for the benefit of a friend, or I get to show off a bit, it is way easier to get going with it. is it because I am kinda lonely and any time someone wants to spend time with me it feels like I dare not refuse because who knows when they will again? is it because I love to be praised for doing an impressive thing? idk maybe. however this is double-edged because if I feel I'm making something unimpressive I will be motivated to try and make it bigger and more complex, dragging things out, which might lead to not finishing the thing at all.

you can probably kind of see how computer games are a bit of a cognitohazard. especially open-ended games that don't have a finite built-in endpoint. I've gotten better at managing that now.

there are degrees of hyperfocus. there is the maxed out 'I will not eat or sleep until I finish this' mode. there is also the 'I have a new obsession' mode, which is a bit less intense.

the other thing with hyperfocus is that it is time-limited. at some point you just burn out on it and after that it's really hard to jump back into a thing. the unfinished projects on my hard drive are in most cases things I went nuts over for a few weeks and then dropped like a hot stone. this sucks because making anything worthwhile requires sustained effort over a long period.

I've been trying meds but so far no luck. they've currently got me off the meds taking baseline measurements while they figure out what to try next. though apparently the dose of dexamfetamine they had me on is like... so low that it's not surprising I didn't feel it.

gonna have to ask them about it next time I see them. because right now this whole thing feels like a bit of a mean joke. I'm staying in London for the sake of meds that could help, because it would take upwards of a year to get into another clinic, but what's the point if they're not even giving the meds a real shot?

but if there is any chance I can get working meds, I've got to try for it, because I don't think I'll ever achieve much of anything within the limitations of adhd, at least not without finding some new mechanisms to keep me on track. (though 'if I don't do this I might lose my job/the game won't be as good as it could be' works a bit as an extrinsic motivator)

#adhd

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sweetchotimochi · 2 years

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tips for managing time (ɔ◔‿◔)ɔ ♥

Disclaimer: these tips worked for me and based on my own experiences. It’s okay if this doesn't work for you!

Lets start with some methods;

Method 1 - Bullet Journaling: This is a great way/method to manage your time! I have used this method for a long time and it really has kept me consistent with how I manage my time. It is, however, annoying to bring your bullet journal everywhere or try to write in it all the time. The problem is about how much effort you put into your “journaling”. We all see online how pretty or aesthetic bullet journaling spreads are and when we look at our own journal we stop using it because it is not pretty enough. That doesn’t matter. Instead, look at how well it can help you manage time. If not, this is totally okay. Try switching to an online platform.

Method 2 - Google Calendar/Calendar app: Another tried and true method. This helps in organizing your day. Great way to manage your time, especially because you can edit your tasks and time-block your day. It is also really good because calendars can be implemented in your computer, phone, and other devices so you can check out your tasks on the go. They also have components for tasks, reminders, events and more. I really recommend this for a lot of people because it is a game-changer, especially for people who need something easy to use for managing time. I guess the only problem for me is that I feel guilty, sometimes, if I see an empty part of my day which makes me feel unproductive. That’s totally okay! You don’t have to be busy all the time, take some time off for yourself. Nobody is productive 24/7.

Method 3 - Notion: This is all the rage nowadays, so I checked it out for myself. It is a really great way to implement aesthetics and different parts of a journal. Unlike a calendar app, you can make lists, add other parts, add calendars and many other things. Its also accessible on many sites. Unfortunately, after making everything look very aesthetic, I didn’t use this platform as much except for keeping track of my anime and books. I do also use this to keep track of my classes and planning on-the-go, but it may work for you, so try it out!

Method 4 - Diary with template/Planner: This is a great idea for people who want to use something on the go, but also easy to use and still have room for creativity. Daily, Weekly, and Monthly planners are all great ways to manage your time. The only problem is the template itself for me. Let’s say you might not be doing anything one day or slack off. Personally, seeing that one blank spot makes me feel guilty and then I can’t keep up. If you feel like you might feel like this, that's totally okay! Try managing time at your own pace, or use another method.

There are plenty of other methods out there, but these are the ones I tried. I believe everyone should use something to help manage their time, because I have yet to meet someone who remembers everything they have to do in their head. Here are some quick-fire tips:

Try writing your tasks for every day the day before: Write out your tasks the day before. It helps you plan for the future and gives you a clearer head for the next day.

Use a reward system for completing tasks: Let's say you complete something big, make a reward system for that specific task! For example, if you complete a really hard chapter and do well on the quiz, that task deserves some reward!

Keep some time for yourself each day: Even I have a hard time doing this, but keep some allocated time each day for yourself. Relax, watch some tv, do something fun and wholesome. You deserve it.

Divide up your tasks if they are really big: This is such a repeated method, however it is super effective. Let's say you are trying to study for a couple of chapters in a subject. Try dividing them up along the week into smaller tasks. It makes the whole thing as a whole less daunting.

Try color-blocking your tasks: I use color-coding to divide my tasks on google calendar. For example, things for school/work are in green, and chores are in white. I think, at a glance, it really helps you think about how the day will go.

This was a long one, I hope you’re still here. Again, these methods may not work for you, and that's okay. TLDR; Explore your methods and figure out what works best for you.

#tips for managing time #tips #studyblr #study tips #time management #productivity #studying #productivity tips #notion #google calendar #calendar #bujo #bujo tips #bullet journaling #diary #template #planners #study #studyblog

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crowbraincoin · 9 months

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Tips for ADHD Plant Parents

Let’s face it, you love plants, but it can be hard to keep them alive and thriving when you have a hard time even finding the phone in your hand while on a phone call. So what can you do?

Here are 9 tips on how to care for plants when you have ADHD.

Gif by emimonserrate on deviantart

1. Less is more

As tempting as it may be to buy a cart-load of plants–trust me I know the feeling–it’s not the brightest idea to start out with a houseplant forest. Start with a few smaller and less care-intensive plants such as a ZZ plant, Snake plant, or Spider plant. Don’t let the names fool you, these babies are just as leafy and gorgeous as their more extravagant relatives.

2. Play to your strengths…and know your weaknesses

If you know that one particular aspect of plant parenting is what’s difficult for you, try finding some plants that need less of that care. If watering on a schedule is hard for you, try getting a cactus. If keeping them in a well-lit spot is difficult, try getting a plant that requires low light (or get a plant lamp). If repotting is hard for you, try getting plants that are slow growers, or try air plants, which don’t require soil at all!

3. Give them a shower

One of the more daunting things ADHD people deal with are tasks that involve a lot of tedious work. Going around and individually watering all of your plants takes time and effort–which we ADHD folks care greatly about. So here’s what you do: Take all of the plants that you can fit in your bathtub and place them at enough distance that they won’t overshadow one another. That way they can get as much water as they need. Then all you need to do is use your shower head (a removable one works best for this) and let it rain! Not only does it make the task go much quicker, but it’s also an easy clean-up.

Pro tip: When using this method I suggest that you get a filtered showerhead, as some tap water can have minerals or chemicals in it that can cause build-up on your plants or worse, cause them to start dying.

4. Use watering bulbs

If you have plants that don’t fit into your shower, or you don’t have a shower, try out watering bulbs. They come in many different colors, sizes, shapes, and materials. Here are some that are shaped like mushrooms! When the soil dries up, the bulb releases more water to keep the soil moist. Be careful with these and do your research, though, since not all plants like constantly wet soil.

5. Spray bottles, lots of them

So many plants require a certain level of humidity and this can be hard to keep up with. I always misplace my spray bottles, so I just bought a few cheap ones and placed them wherever my plants are kept. Now when my plants are looking a little dry I can give them a spritz with one of my many spray bottles. Bonus points if you get some that are a bright color to make them stand out more!

There are some plant humidifiers that can help with this problem as well. Though that can become expensive if you have a lot of plants or you have them in various locations.

6. Keep them visible

Don’t place plants too out of the way. Make sure they’re in your everyday line of sight so that you can tell right away when they aren’t doing well. One thing rings powerfully true for those of us with ADHD, “out of sight, out of mind”. So keep your plant children in sight!

7. Make a checklist

Hear me out, I know for a lot of people with ADHD lists are the bane of our existence. However, it can really help to break down your plant care in a list format. Take one or two hours to sit and write a checklist for yourself that is easy to read and understand, and that you won’t dread looking at. Split them up based on needs, like sunlight, water, humidity, fertilizer, etc.

Pro tip: Using various plant-care apps has helped lots of people manage their plants. Plus, many of these apps have free versions or free trials. Personally, writing and having a physical checklist helps me remember but do whatever works for you to keep your plants alive!

8. Ask for help

Whether you have a few plants or a lot, it can be hard to keep up with them all on your own. There are so many times I have had to ask my housemates or partner to help with my plants. Sometimes it can be hard to remember, other times I just don’t have the energy to get to all of them. So if you can, ask for help from people around you. You may need to teach them and walk them through your process, but once they’re familiar with plant care it’ll be a breeze.

Who knows, maybe you’ll spark a love for plants in them as well!

9. Don’t get discouraged

Sometimes even with our best efforts, plants will die. It doesn’t make you a bad plant parent if you weren’t able to handle a certain feisty plant or if you got one that maybe wasn’t in the best shape, to begin with. Even if the plant died because you weren’t able to keep up with the care, give yourself some grace and take it as a challenge to do better next time.

Bonus Tip: If all else fails…

Fake plants look just as good and require no care at all — aside from the occasional dusting!

#plant parent #plant tips #houseplants #adhd tips #adhd tips and tricks #adhd hacks #plant hacks

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byyourstruly · 3 days

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Hey there, fabulous ladies! If you're tired of dreaming big but not quite hitting the mark, let me introduce you to a method that will change your life. I'm talking about a foolproof strategy that has helped me and countless other women turn our goals into reality. Ready to learn the secret? Let's dive in!

The Power of Clarity

First things first, you need to get crystal clear on what you want. Vague goals lead to vague results. Write down your goals in as much detail as possible. What exactly do you want to achieve? Why is it important to you? The clearer you are, the more focused your efforts will be. Clarity is the foundation upon which your success is built.

Break It Down

Big goals can be overwhelming, but breaking them down into smaller, manageable steps makes them achievable. Think of each step as a mini-goal. Create a roadmap with specific, actionable tasks that lead you closer to your ultimate goal. This not only makes the process less daunting but also gives you a sense of progress and accomplishment along the way.

Consistent Action

Here's the real game-changer: consistent action. It's not about grand gestures or occasional bursts of effort. It's about showing up every single day and putting in the work. Consistency builds momentum, and momentum leads to success. Even on days when motivation is low, remember that small, consistent actions compound over time.

Accountability

Find someone who can hold you accountable. This could be a friend, mentor, or even a coach. Sharing your goals and progress with someone else creates a sense of responsibility. Regular check-ins can keep you on track and provide the support and encouragement you need when things get tough.

Celebrate Milestones

Don't forget to celebrate your achievements, no matter how small they may seem. Recognizing and rewarding your progress boosts your motivation and keeps you engaged. Each milestone you reach is a testament to your hard work and dedication, so take the time to appreciate how far you've come.

Learn and Adapt

The path to achieving your goals is rarely a straight line. There will be obstacles and setbacks, but these are opportunities to learn and grow.

Be flexible and willing to adapt your approach as needed. Evaluate what's working and what isn't, and make adjustments accordingly. Resilience and adaptability are key to overcoming challenges and staying on course.

Self-Belief

Lastly, believe in yourself. Self-doubt is the biggest enemy of success.

Trust in your abilities and have faith that you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Surround yourself with positivity and affirmations that reinforce your belief in your own potential. When you believe in yourself, others will too.

Final Thoughts

Achieving your goals isn't about magic or luck-it's about having a clear vision, breaking it down into actionable steps, staying consistent, and believing in yourself. This specific method has helped me achieve things I once thought were impossible, and I know it can do the same for you.

So, ladies, it's time to stop dreaming and start doing. Choose action over attraction, and watch as you transform your goals into reality. Remember, you have the power to achieve anything you desire. Go out there and make it happen!

With determination and action,

A girl who hates to see you fail

#success #investing #branding #rich girl

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tsarisfanfiction · 1 year

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Eclipse: Chapter 12

Fandom: Trials of Apollo Rating: Teen Genre: Family/Adventure Characters: Apollo, Hades Bye bye, Asclepius... Apologies to those of you who wanted more of him in this awkward dynamic, but as necessary as he was for the plot, it would make the slow burn between Apollo and Hades even slower - and it's already glacial! - so something had to go... I have a discord server for all my fics, including this one! If you wanna chat with me or with other readers about stuff I write (or just be social in general), hop on over and say hi! <<Chapter 11

APOLLO XII

Ascent up a cliff Monsters up high and down low Go, Asclepius

Tartarus was a prison. It was not supposed to be something that could be escaped, although the hordes of monsters that broke out daily to terrorise demigods were clearly overlooked by the denizen, and it was with that knowledge plaguing the back of his mind that Apollo gripped his bow tightly as Asclepius’ hands found narrow ledges to grip and he began to pull himself up.

The last time he’d left Tartarus… Well, Apollo didn’t actually know how he’d done it. His awareness had ended as his form started to resolidify over the lip of Chaos and restarted in the safety of his twin’s palace on Olympus. He could only assume that he’d somehow been granted the strength to transport himself out, a literal ascension from the deepest depths of hell straight to the land of the gods as his status restored, but he did not know for certain, and when the time came for he and Hades to leave, Bob’s status confirmed and potentially in their company, he would have to find a way to repeat the feat.

It was not a feat his son could replicate. As impressive as Asclepius was, he was not an Olympian god and would never be a match for the power of one. He was not even at full strength, despite Apollo’s attempts at bolstering him, thanks to Tartarus’ steady drain and Orion’s active, relentless hunt. Battling his way through the exit used by the monsters straight to the Overworld had always been out of the question – Asclepius was not a warrior, and appearing in the Overworld would get Zeus’ attention immediately – but this other exit seemed just as gruelling in its own way.

Gold dripped down as Asclepius hauled himself up, looking more mortal than godly as his limbs trembled and strained. Tartarus would not let him out without a fight, and the cliff was formidable and unforgiving as it slashed into Apollo’s son’s hands on every handhold. But while Asclepius was not an Olympian, he was still a god, still a healing god, and a faint white-gold glow shimmered into existence around his hands and feet. Apollo could feel the healing aura from where he stood, slowly tilting his head further and further back as his son continued his torturous ascent.

Hesiod had said it took nine days to fall to Tartarus. Apollo had no idea how many it would take to climb out. Many, many days, no doubt, in a task that was daunting even for a god, but gods were not so easily defeated.

Most gods shied away from things like hard work, choosing to coast along on their natural prowess rather than put effort into things. They liked to enjoy themselves and their existence, and for many of them, that meant lazing around as they oversaw their domains.

Apollo had never been one to sit back and laze around – sure, a break was nice every now and again, but doing nothing was boring and he’d much rather spend the time shooting, composing, learning, or taking an active role in any of his domains. His times mortal had also pushed him into having to work hard – building the walls of Troy had not been a walk in the park without his godly strength to aid him, and the entire experience as Lester had been nothing but trial after trial, pushing him past limits he hadn’t know he could pass.

Asclepius, though, had been born mortal. He’d always had to work for things; the reason he was the superior healer despite being the weaker god was purely down to his work ethic, the way he’d pushed and pushed and pushed in his desire to be able to help as many people as possible, surpassing Apollo through a sheer single-mindedness that only a mortal-born could ever hope to achieve. Creating the Physician’s Cure had not been an easy thing, either, and while Apollo had helped him with that, when asked, the brain power and persistence had been mostly from his son.

It was a trait he saw in his children more often than he admitted to anyone, a trait that he always insisted they’d inherited from their mortal parents rather than him – persistence, and an inability to give up. No matter the trial, his children never seemed capable of giving up, of walking away and saying, “I can’t do that”. For more than a few of them, it had developed into their fatal flaw, their cause of death as they kept pushing long past the time they should have stopped.

He admired and feared it in equal measure.

Right then, he admired it, and drew comfort from the knowledge, because it meant that Asclepius would make the climb. He would not fall, and even if he did, he would try again. And again. And again. As many times as it took until he was out, until he was safe, because it was something that had to be done, and Asclepius had never shied away from that.

It was difficult to tell how far up his son had managed to get; Apollo’s eyesight was keen and he could still make out every detail of Asclepius – the grimace of his lips as the cliff tore open his form anew, the determination in his brow as he pulled himself up despite the pain, the bright glow shimmering around the constantly opening and closing wounds – but the scale up of the cliffs of the Pit defied even a god’s comprehension.

Asclepius was high, but he had not yet reached the miasma of thick clouds that obscured the roof of the humungous cavern, not to mention the true start of the chute-like entrance he would need to climb out of in order to reach the Underworld safely.

His glow was increasing, too; it was no longer merely about his hands and feet, but the faintest lines of light were beginning to crisscross his skin, gleaming pale but gradually strengthening the higher he got. It wasn’t dissimilar to the bright gold Apollo recalled webbing into his form as he, impossibly, pulled himself up from Chaos, reversing the unravelling of the Progenitor, and he hoped it meant the same thing. Asclepius had not lost his divinity, had not been reverted to a mere mortal once more, but he had been pushed far, far from the domains from which he drew his power – domains he was now, slowly, edging his way towards again.

Part of him was surprised that Hades had allowed him to linger and watch his son’s ascent; he had thought that his uncle, clearly still antagonistic towards Asclepius even if he had agreed to free him from Tartarus itself, would have insisted on pushing on with their quest once Asclepius had begun his ascent. There was no benefit to the older god for them to be standing here, at the base of the exit to the Underworld, watching a younger, weaker god scramble his way arduously up (well, Apollo was watching, couldn’t not watch. Hades had turned his back the moment Asclepius’ ascent began and had not so much as glanced over his shoulder since), but Apollo was grateful for it.

He would not be able to see Asclepius all the way to the top – even his sight was not keen enough for that and could not pierce the miasma above them – but to be able to see him even part of the way up, to see that while it was a trial there were no signs that it was one his son would fail, was a great reassurance.

But Tartarus was a prison.

And Tartarus did not let its inmates leave so easily.

Apollo did not know what the flying beast was; it looked not too dissimilar to one of the Erinyes, although if it was it was not one of the Three, but another he had never known existed. That did not matter when he saw it swoop towards where Asclepius clung to the cliff, a beacon of pale light in the distant haze of the lowest reaches of the miasma, and did not stop to think any further.

With a single intent, an arrow was nocked, the fletching brushing his cheek with the lightest of kisses as his longbow reached full draw, and he let fly.

Apollo was the god of archery. He never missed.

It struck where the heart of the creature ought to have been, and a piercing cry would have rattled his eardrums were he still mortal, but while its flight faltered, it did not fall, and so he sent another.

And another.

His barrage was relentless as it swooped down on his son, claws outstretched and tearing at his chiton, his back, his skin.

Ichor poured down, but Asclepius hung on tightly and Apollo kept shooting, aiming at the muscles of the wings when fatal shots clearly weren’t working. If he couldn’t kill it, he could still down it, stop it from tearing his son apart and pulling him back down to the floor of the Pit.

His quiver, once bristling with as many arrows as it could hold, depleted down to a single arrow, and then none, forcing Apollo to slow as he had to summon each one independently – he really needed to store and carry more arrows somehow – but he kept going, kept shooting and turning the thing assaulting his son into a pincushion full of arrows

One of Asclepius’ hands lost its grip, palm slick with gold, and his whole form lurched downwards, feet scrambling to take the sudden increase in weight, and Apollo’s heart leapt up into his mouth as his son scrabbled at the cliff face desperately. The Erinys-like creature swooped in again, golden ichor falling like rain, and Apollo nocked another arrow.

It hit the creature just as it reached to pluck Asclepius from the cliff, slamming into the meat of the wing’s shoulder, and with a bone-shattering scream it lost its rhythm and crashed straight into the cliff face itself before tumbling down.

Down.

Apollo lunged forwards as it screeched and flapped tattered wings desperately but failed to catch itself. He still didn’t know for certain what creature it was – a child of Nyx, perhaps a forgotten Erinys – but that didn’t matter. It had attacked his son and that was a crime Apollo would not forgive. Hands reaching forward, grasping, he tore one wing away entirely as, with a roar of fury, he flashed, a miniature sun down where the sun had never before shone.

It didn’t even have time to screech one final time before it exploded into a shower of dust.

Above him, Asclepius flailed for the cliff again and latched onto it, clinging to it like his life depended on it. His injuries were gone, his glow a little bit brighter, and Apollo watched as he took a moment to pause, to breathe through the adrenaline, before he reached for the next handhold and continued to claw his way up the cliff.

The sound of a blade whistling behind him had him shifting part of his attention to his periphery, another arrow materialising in his hand, ready to be nocked and fired at the next threat.

He almost dropped it at the sight of Hades standing behind him, still facing away from the cliff and Asclepius but cutting swathes through an approaching horde of monsters. Nothing that Apollo could see was powerful, but they were numerous, crashing against the might of Hades like the onslaught of a never-ending waterfall.

Hades, of course, was near enough unaffected. He was one of the most powerful gods for a reason, and no rabble of regular monsters was going to even ruffle his shadow, no matter how many of them there were. He hadn’t called Apollo to assist him because he didn’t need help to handle things, but it still struck him as odd that he hadn’t even alerted him.

There was no doubt that this sudden army was because of Asclepius’ departure – the timing could be for nothing else – and while Hades had permitted his son to leave, it was Apollo who had insisted on it, and so Apollo’s fault, not that he regretted it in the slightest. With that in mind, it was a surprise that Hades had chosen to fight rather than leave it all to Apollo.

Apollo was no Big Three, but even he was enough to deal with this wave of attack alone (there was no Orion, no bane to face, in this rabble).

He let his arrow fly and it skewered through several monsters at once, exploding them all into dust near-simultaneously. Hades didn’t need his help, but it felt wrong to not do anything as they approached.

The glare his uncle sent him over his shoulder, the first time he’d looked back since Asclepius had begun his ascent, made him pause.

“Don’t waste your arrows,” Hades told him sternly, sending a sweep of darkness out with the next swing of his sword and dematerialising several more monsters without even looking at them. “I do not need assistance dealing with this. Refill your quiver and watch the skies.”

It still felt wrong to stand back and do nothing while Hades fought – while Asclepius climbed, drips of ichor staining the wall as it continued to bite into his skin – but his uncle was right; he was the archer, the ranged fighter.

And his quiver was empty.

He stepped back, giving Hades the space to fight unimpeded as he focused on his quiver, summoning as many arrows as could fit while his vision filled with the dust of dying monsters, raising up thicker and thicker until it seemed like they would meld with the clouds of miasma above them.

Not many of the monsters had wings, or seemed to think to use them, but it was almost a relief when some did take to the skies, wheeling around and attempting to get past Hades that way, even though it meant they were targeting Asclepius, who himself was getting closer and closer to the thick crimson haze above them.

Hades didn’t even bother to try stopping anything that flew past him, but Apollo’s bow was ready and nothing was of the calibre of the first attack. A single arrow was enough to vaporise anything that tried to get near his son – sometimes they lined up conveniently enough that Apollo could take out multiple with a single arrow, and sometimes they didn’t so he simply nocked several arrows at once to take out several in a single barrage.

It was a strange feeling, fighting alongside another god. Barring Artemis, of course, and memorable occasions like the horrific Typhon fight that had needed all Olympian hands on deck, Apollo tended to fight alone. His brethren didn’t assist him, and that was fine because they never wanted his assistance, either. The ease with which he fell into sync with Hades, the older god handling the melee and ground-based opponents while Apollo focused on taking down the arial threats, was weird.

Foreign.

It felt more like when he’d been Lester, fighting alongside Meg, his children, Nico and the other demigods. When he wasn’t alone, when he had someone else he could trust – when someone else trusted him.

Admittedly, Hades knew he was fighting to protect his son, that after the fuss he’d kicked up about Asclepius’ punishment he wouldn’t let anything stop his son leaving Tartarus once and for all, so it was a simple matter for Hades to leave the last line of defence to him considering the situation.

It still felt strange to face his uncle’s back and see with his own eyes that Hades never once glanced back to check what he was or wasn’t doing.

Instead, Stygian Iron flashed, a dark purple line of obliteration as monster after monster fell to the blade, not one managing to even touch the god of the dead before their existence ceased to be. Apollo’s bow sung in harmony, the string humming fiercely as it sent arrow after arrow into anything that dared fly past the line his uncle had metaphorically drawn in the glass shards beneath their feet.

Despite the battle – one-sided slaughter, really – Apollo still kept a large portion of his attention on his son as Asclepius kept scrambling up, so he noticed the instant the younger god reached where the miasma thickened into visible clouds, a glowing spec of white-gold in amongst the sea of crimson.

The monsters seemed to notice, too, throwing themselves all the more viciously – desperately – at Hades and his promise of oblivion. Larger winged things threw themselves into the sky, but they still weren’t like the first thing and Apollo downed them all long before they got in striking range of his son.

The bright speck that was his son gradually faded, the miasma concealing him from even Apollo’s keen eyes, and by the time he’d brought down another dozen or so of the winged beasts, it was smothered entirely.

No, not smothered. Smothered implied suffering, even death. Concealed, that was a better word for it. Asclepius was concealed, not just from his sight, but from the monsters’, from things down at the bottom of the Pit that had no chance of getting so high no matter how hard they tried.

It didn’t actually signify safety; Apollo knew that, knew that Asclepius’ climb was only just beginning, but he reasoned that with him concealed from the monsters and getting ever-closer to Apollo’s own domains, which were desperately reaching down as far as they could get by virtue of Apollo himself being down in the Pit, let alone the discovery of one of his children down there, the higher he got, the easier the climb would be.

He shot down one last monster making a desperate flight for the miasma and watched as it disintegrated into dust. On the ground, Hades despatched the last of the monsters that pressed forwards and sheathed his sword as the rest turned tail and fled, apparently aware that unless he fell – and Asclepius was powerful enough that he should not – their prey was out of their reach forever, and continuing the assault against Hades would be nothing short of meaningless suicide.

Part of Apollo wanted to stay where he was, to make sure Asclepius made it all the way out with no setbacks, but he knew he couldn’t – his son had passed from his sight and time was not trackable in the Pit. He would be standing there forever, never knowing if Asclepius was still climbing or if he had made it long, long ago. And if his son fell, Apollo had already proven he could sense him across Tartarus. He would return to his son’s side immediately.

He made sure his quiver was fully stocked once more, arrows materialising until it bristled with feathers jostling against each other, and approached Hades.

“Thank you,” he said, because he couldn’t not thank his uncle for helping defend Asclepius, despite Hades’ own less than charitable feelings towards his son.

The older god made a dismissive noise. “Thank me by focusing on the reason we’re down here and not getting distracted by any other side missions,” he said. “Come.”

Without a backwards glance, Hades strode forwards, away from the cliff stained with ichor from Asclepius’ hands and feet. Apollo spared it one last look, one last silent hope that his son would manage the rest of the climb and reach the relative safety of the Underworld in one piece, before following.

He might not know the geography of Tartarus as well as Hades, but his memory was flawless and he immediately realised that Hades was striking out in a different direction to the last time.

“Why are we going a different way?” he asked, catching up with his uncle and keeping in step beside him. “Did something happen on the route?”

“I should be asking you that,” Hades returned, black flaming eyes flickering over to him and clearly looking at him. Apollo felt his eyes land on his neck, where Orion had torn a chunk of his form away, and resisted the urge to cover it with his hand. It was healed, Orion had lost their last encounter and ended up tangled in his own bowstring, and Hades did not need to know how much Apollo had struggled on his so-called ‘side mission’ to save his son.

Thankfully, Hades didn’t press him for answers, not even leaving him time to answer before continuing to talk.

“Your crossing of the river was pathetic,” his uncle told him, clearly not interested in softening the blow to his pride. “Jumping over it like a frightened rabbit like your son is not appropriate for a god of your calibre, and increasing in size is not wise in this place. We are trying not to bring attention to ourselves, as foreign a concept as that is to you, I’m sure.”

“I can be inconspicuous!” Apollo protested, and Hades snorted.

“I do not think that word means what you think it means,” he said. “Regardless,” he continued over Apollo’s outraged gape – he was the god of knowledge and poetry, of course he knew what words meant! – “while longer, this route will bring us across the rivers at their narrower points.”

Rivers.

Intellectually, Apollo knew about the five Underworld rivers which emptied out into Tartarus, but having only been faced with the Phlegethon so far, he hadn’t stopped to consider the others – or, specifically, one in particular.

Had Styx really let him off the hook for his myriad of rashly made and subsequently broken oaths? She hadn’t destroyed him when she had the chance, but it was very unlike her to allow bygones to be bygones like that. He could understand why she would impress upon him the importance of not making further rash oaths, but she had sworn to take payment when he had been out of his mind during the supplication of Trophonius’ oracle and so far, Apollo did not feel as though she had taken said payment.

His oath to Will sat heavily in the back of his mind, his first oath since re-ascension – and so soon after re-ascension. It was one he meant with every inch of his essence, one he would fight to keep, but what would Styx think of the fact that he had made another oath on her already? Would she approve, or call it rash and take it to mean that he hadn’t learned the lesson she’d tried to impress upon him at the edge of Chaos after all?

Apollo could admit that he was not looking forwards to crossing the river Styx, should it lay in their path.

“You know better than I,” he admitted out loud, and tried to stay serious and not at all like he was probing nervously as he asked, “which rivers will we need to cross to reach the prison?”

If Hades thought anything was strange about his asking, he gave no sign of it. “Between us and the prison lay four rivers,” he replied. “The first, as you’ve already seen, is the Phlegethon. After that follows the Cocytus, and then the Styx. Finally, the Lethe passes along the cliffs above the prison.”

Was it Apollo’s imagination, or had Hades paused slightly after naming the Styx?

How much did his uncle know of his latest mortal trials, anyway? He had not been in the throne room when Apollo had had his vision about his brethren watching – and betting on! – his time as Lester, and he wasn’t entirely certain the Underworld had a subscription to Hephaestus TV, either.

No, Apollo decided. It was likely that his uncle had been too busy running the Underworld to bother keeping up with his mortal grievances. He couldn’t possibly know about the potential strain in his relationship with Styx.

“Where does the Acheron run?” he asked, noting the one river absent from their route. It was not a river he was particularly grieved to be missing – he had suffered plenty of pain recently without a river god adding to it – but its absence from the vicinity of the prison seemed strange.

“In the deepest depths of Tartarus,” Hades said, and this time Apollo knew he was not imagining the pause. The way dark eyes flickered over to him accentuated it. “It flows close to the edge of Chaos.”

Ah.

Right.

Apollo had to fight the human urge to swallow nervously. “Not a place on my list of places to visit,” he forced himself to say lightly, as though he didn’t know that the one part of his trials Hades knew about was his battle with Python on that very edge of Tartarus. How close had they been to the river?

He decided he didn’t want to know. It made no difference, regardless.

“I suspected as such,” Hades observed; there was no pity in his voice, but it was not devoid of all emotion, either. Understanding danced along the edge of his tone; he knew why Apollo never wanted to return there, and if Apollo was reading his uncle correctly, it was not a place he was keen on visiting, either.

On that, at least, it appeared they were in full agreement.

True to Hades’ word, when they approached the Phlegethon (again; the river god must be furious at how many times Apollo had crossed it back and forth by now), its banks were far closer together than Apollo had seen before. That was not to say the river itself was any less vicious – if anything, it seemed more so, violent as it forced its way through the ravine – but it was passable with a brief increase in size and a simple step across.

That did not stop the flames from lashing out and coating his calves with gold which dripped down until Apollo’s healing sealed it shut and he willed his appearance clean and free of discriminatory ichor, however.

Hades passed through the flames completely unaffected, just as he had before, visually perfect as Apollo settled back into step beside him.

This far up the slope, the glass was downright vicious as they walked across it. Sharper and more jagged than ever, small specks of gold began to mark the way they’d travelled as ichor succeeded in occasionally leaving the wounds before godly healing sealed them shut again.

The idea that they were leaving a visible, tangible, trail, put Apollo on edge.

Orion was defeated, he reminded himself. All trussed up with his own bowstring and left somewhere far, far deeper down into Tartarus, where Apollo had no intentions of returning.

Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling of trepidation as he and Hades continued to trek across the uppermost reaches of the Pit’s floor, leaving the tiniest spots of gold in their wake.

Chapter 13>>

#trials of apollo #trials of apollo fanfiction #riordanverse #riordanverse fanfic #pjo apollo #pjo hades #pjo asclepius #tsari writes fanfiction #eclipse

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seaphoam-writes · 4 months

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A Father's Duty (31/?)

A Father's Duty on AO3

Summary: An encounter with a quantum fissure leaves Picard with more responsibility than he asked for, but he'll do what he always does—his duty.

Chapter 31

It’s the sound of a flute that awakens Picard the next morning.

Louis is practicing scales. Picard lays in bed and listens. He can hear the effort being put into perfecting those tricky high notes.

More air, more pressure, he thinks, and for a moment he’s Kamin again, listening to Batai’s first halting attempts at music. He hired a tutor and he regrets it now; he should have taught Batai himself, it could have been what they bonded over.

Picard gives himself a mental shake and gets out of bed, surprised, when he checks, by the late hour. With a rush of heat, he recalls the previous evening. He and Beverly kissed until they reached a natural tapering off point, and after she left, he retreated to the shower, where it took only a few firm strokes to bring himself off. Naturally, he slept quite well after that, especially with the addition of the sleep aid.

As he performs his morning routine, he relives his conversation with Beverly, mind drifting languidly from memory to memory.

“And what are your feelings for me?”

“Don’t you know?”

In her eyes, he sees that she does, in fact, understand that what he’s confessing is that he’s in love with her—that he’s been in love with her since they first met.

Picard finally laid to rest a secret he’s carried for over 20 years, a secret that’s grown progressively more and more burdensome since Beverly returned from Starfleet Medical. He always believed that revealing his secret would cause him to unravel in some way—and perhaps that would have been the case, had Beverly not disclosed a secret of her own.

“It wasn’t nothing, Jean-Luc. I have those feelings for you too.”

Before she departed, she informed him that she doesn’t want this to be a distraction, that she knows Louis is his priority and it’s his duty as a father to keep it that way. He told her that he believes himself capable of maintaining his focus on Louis regardless of what passes between them.

“But if it becomes too difficult,” he says, “I shall tell you, and we can explore our feelings even slower.”

Truthfully, he feels less distracted than he was before, as it had become near impossible to continue masking his emotions. He hadn’t realized just how much bandwidth was devoted to that one task until now.

“I can’t go back to the way things were. Can you?”

No. Not without discovering what this is. Not without discovering what they could be, given a chance.

There’s still much to navigate, but Picard’s an explorer at heart—and although he’s as daunted as he is eager, he’s certain of two things: that Louis’s wellbeing is paramount, and that both of them are as devoted to his happiness as they are to each other’s.

“You won’t lose me.”

They may discover that a romantic relationship isn’t possible for them, but if that’s a conclusion they eventually come to, he has hope that they can remain friends.

(See: Will Riker and Deanna Troi, former lovers.)

Uniform on, Picard follows the sound of a very determined C-sharp to Louis’s room. Louis startles when Picard leans in the doorway, then lowers his flute and grins. He’s dressed, his hair combed, and his bed already made.

“The second octave is hard,” he pronounces.

“You’ll get there,” Picard assures him. “It just takes a little more time and practice to master the high notes. Are you ready for breakfast?”

“Oui.” Louis replaces his flute in its case and sets the case on his nightstand, beside the framed photo of him and his parents. “Is Beverly coming?”

“Not for breakfast. She has some early appointments this morning. We’ll see her later.” Picard needs to discuss the RNA analysis with Louis before he brings the boy to Deanna’s office. “Will you help me set the table?”

“What are we eating?”

“What would you like to eat?”

Louis pauses striding past Picard, still standing in his bedroom doorway, to offer him a frown. “I don’t want to eat oatmeal again.”

“But oatmeal is good for you.”

His conviction is buoyed not only by Beverly’s approval of oatmeal, but the lecture she gave him about the necessity of providing a healthy diet, and how certain foods are not only important for physical growth but for helping keep Louis feeling full in between meals.

This argument is poised on the tip of his tongue, but it withers at what Louis says next.

“I ate oatmeal every day when we lived in a shuttle.”

“For every meal?”

“Data said it helped conserve power.”

The replicator can synthesize any meal, no matter the components, with all the nutrients a human requires, but the simpler the pattern, the less energy consumed.

“I didn’t know that,” Picard admits, sincerely sorry for it. “You must be sick of oatmeal.”

Beverly said Louis was underweight, but not malnourished. At what point was he no longer able to consume meals, despite his hunger? Did the other Data make allowances in those instances?

(When will Picard learn something about Louis’s life that doesn’t make him either desperately sad, or violently angry?)

“Choose whatever you wish from the replicator files,” Picard says. If the boy wants chocolate croissants for breakfast every day for the rest of his life, Picard won’t stand in his way. He deserves to experience at least that much joy, not that it could ever make up for all the rest.

To Picard’s surprise, however, Louis reproduces the breakfast they had two days ago: eggs and fried tomatoes, Lyonnaise potatoes, and lamb’s lettuce.

“I thought you’d want something sweet,” Picard comments.

Louis shakes his head, smiles unabashedly. “Non. This is better.”

Perhaps it’s the variety of flavors—or the different textures. In any case, Louis eats it all with relish, and a small part of Picard is relieved that Beverly would approve.

Later, in his ready room, Picard shifts his focus resolutely to work.

Starfleet approved his request for a week of shore leave following the conclusion of their investigation—all Enterprise personnel are to remain on board and on call until then.

That’s worrying. Picard doesn’t appreciate the use of the word “investigation” here. To prepare his senior staff for what may be a hostile inquiry, he calls Will, Data, Worf, and Geordi to his ready room and relays Starfleet’s message to them word for word. He then requests the name of every officer who witnessed Louis’s arrival or had contact with him the night he arrived in order to brace them for the same.

Not unexpectedly, Will, Data, Worf, and Geordi close ranks and—in oblique terms—offer tell whatever lies necessary to shield Louis.

“Absolutely not,” Picard growls, pinning them collectively with the harshest glower he can muster. “You will tell Starfleet the truth, no matter the cost to Louis or myself.”

Picard will protect Louis; his crew must protect themselves.

A chorus of yes sirs follow his command, but Geordi’s tone is blatantly skeptical, Will’s brazenly, insolently sarcastic, and Worf’s expression is pure rebellion.

Data refrained from responding at all, which is essentially open disagreement.

Nom de dieu. Putain de merde.

Despite the fury boiling in his veins, Picard’s voice is controlled and measured when he declares, “For fuck’s sake, gentlemen.”

Heads duck, lips are bitten to hide smiles, throats cleared.

With a sigh, Picard leans back and tosses the PADD displaying Starfleet’s message onto his desk. “We’ll revisit this at a later date.” He doesn’t have the energy for their insubordination. “You’re all dismissed.”

If in fact Starfleet does plan to question his ability to continue as captain of the Enterprise, is this what they fear? That Picard’s authority is compromised?

Is it compromised?

Or did Picard handpick a first officer willing to defy his captain’s command when he believe it’s the right thing to do? A man who is a remarkable leader in his own right, capable of inspiring the same conviction in his subordinates?

If I could go back in time—

No.

Picard strangles the thought before it can finish. Without Will Riker, Picard would still be Locutus and their galaxy would be overrun by Borg, just as Louis’s reality is.

In parting, he asks Riker to inform the crew of their upcoming shore leave, as is his privilege since it was his suggestion. Once alone, Picard then sends a very carefully worded message to Robert and Marie, informing them that he’s coming to Labarre and that he has a son, that his son lost his mother and Picard is now responsible for him, that he will relay the details in person and that he asks only for them to welcome Louis as their nephew.

By Picard’s calculations, his message will arrive in France around mid-morning, meaning that it’s feasible he could receive a reply by this evening.

A wave of anxiety crashes over him. How will Robert respond? Picard can handle his brother’s negativity, but he doesn’t want it to affect Louis.

Marie, he thinks. Because it involves an innocent child, Marie will convince Robert to behave long enough for Picard to convince him to behave, even if it requires another wrestling match. Or several bottles of wine in the conservatory.

With that, Picard must turn to a task that’s loomed over him for days: reviewing the other Data’s personal logs. They’re all uploaded and organized by stardate; all that’s left is to watch them.

It’s every bit as bleak and horrifying as he expected it would be.

The first log is recorded upon the Endeavor, where Data and Louis landed after Wolf 359. Other survivors, including survivors from the other ships that were lost, are scattered; not every escape pod from the Enterprise was scooped up by the Endeavor—some landed elsewhere, some didn’t make it at all.

Data reports that the Borg reached Earth. Captain Riker’s suicide collision damaged the Borg cube, but not enough to stop them. They received a distress call from Earth stating that it was under attack, then silence.

Assimilated, Picard thinks.

The fleet is in disarray. There’s no central leadership, allies and enemies alike are offering all Federation vessels sanctuary, even as they rally their own defenses.

Data then goes on to report that Louis was treated upon their arrival for a concussion and several broken ribs. His condition is stable, and while he’s still experiencing headaches and sensitivity to light, Dr. Kelley expects him to make a full recovery. He’s showing no signs of confusion or memory loss, as evidenced by his statement that he knows his mother is dead and that the Enterprise is gone. Data concludes that, while he’s uncertain what the future will bring, he will continue to honor Will Riker’s command to keep Louis safe.

In a display of what can only be described as sentiment, Data ends his log by asserting that Louis is all that remains of his close friends Jean-Luc and Nella Picard, and keeping Louis alive means keeping them alive as well.

Picard sits in silence and stares at the wall for several minutes afterwards. He makes himself a cup of earl grey, sips it slowly, lets it burn his throat, then he plunges on, determined to understand every horror Louis experienced after Wolf 359, because if Louis suffered then Picard wants to know why and when and for how long, no matter how uncomfortable—how sad and angry—it makes him.

He gets through 6 months’ worth of logs before learning that the Borg finally left Earth and are once again on the prowl. The threat of another attack imminent, Captain Amasov and Dr. Kelley insist that Data surrender Louis to their custody so that he can be relocated to Vulcan with the other children.

It’s Louis who resists, Louis who fights so bitterly and so ruthlessly that, for his safety, Amasov orders him put in the brig, the only place where he can neither escape nor cause any injury (to either himself or others).

“He’s 6-years-old, damn you!” Picard hisses.

No one’s there to hear him. Data’s log continues to play, and although he’s fuming, Picard is helpless to do anything but listen. The injustice is resolved by an encounter with the Borg cube, of all things. Amidst the chaos, Data frees Louis, steals a shuttle, and once again they escape.

They spend another harrowing 6 months dodging Borg attacks until they’re afforded a brief respite on Deep Space 5. There, to mark the anniversary of Wolf 359, they have a memorial for Louis’s mother. Data suggests they include his father in the memorial, but Louis insists his father’s not dead. As that is technically accurate, Data doesn’t argue.

Picard stops there. He’s mentally exhausted from the strain of staring at his computer, and emotionally exhausted from everything he learned. He lowers his head into his hands, and it’s there, some time later, that Deanna finds him.

“Captain, what is it?”

Without removing his face from his hands, Picard replies, “I just watched some of the other Data’s personal logs.”

“Do you want to talk about them?”

“Yes.” He squeezes his eyes shut, grinds his palms into them. “But not right now.”

He takes a deep breath and straightens. Deanna’s expression is creased with concern, so he does his best to force calm into his. “How did it go with Louis?”

“It went well. We played a little bit—”

“Played?” he asks sharply, then bites his tongue. “I’m sorry, Counselor, I shouldn’t have interrupted. It’s just that I haven’t observed Louis…playing. With toys, that is.”

“Do you have any toys?”

“No.”

She arches an eyebrow. “Are you opposed to Louis playing with toys?”

“No, of course not. I—”

Louis didn’t replicate any when he decorated his room. Based on what Picard now knows, he thinks it’s likely Louis hasn’t played with toys very much the past few years and probably didn’t know what to replicate.

Picard also doesn’t know what to replicate. He sighs. “After this conversation, I would very much appreciate any recommendations you might have for age-appropriate toys.”

Deanna smiles. “I have a few. The teachers you’ll speak to tomorrow can probably provide more.”

Picard blinks. “The who I’m going to what with?”

“You have an appointment to speak with the teachers responsible for Louis’s age group tomorrow.”

“I do?”

“Yes. They’ll tell you how school works—what a typical day is like for their students, what they cover in class, opportunities for advanced studies, any extracurricular options—and then you’ll be able to ask them any questions you have. You can also schedule placement tests for Louis—or even opt out of them entirely if you want to; Data could probably provide very exact records of everything Louis studied.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Picard admonishes quietly.

She just smiles at him again. “You have a lot on your plate right now. I’m only trying to help.”

He thinks he detects the slightest, most subtle suggestion that Beverly is one of the things on his plate, but for the sake of his sanity, he ignores it and says, “Thank you.”

“It’s not a problem, Captain. Now, would you like to go back to discussing my session with Louis?”

“Yes, please.”

“Today my goal was just to make Louis comfortable enough to talk to me about his feelings, so we just did a few puzzles together. He was open to talking as long as we discussed the present. Whenever I tried to ask him questions about the past, he started to withdraw.”

Picard clenches his abdomen against the emotions threatening a resurgence. “After what I just saw, I understand why.”

“Captain, would it be alright if I watched Data’s logs too? I’d also like to understand what he went through.”

Picard nods readily. “I’ll grant you access. What else did you learn?”

“Well, he said that at first he wasn’t certain this was real.”

“Not real?”

“He said he was afraid this was all a dream and that he would wake up and find himself back in the shuttle with Data, running from the Borg.”

“Does he still believe it’s a dream?”

“No, he said when he saw Will Riker and had that panic attack, he knew it was real.” Deanna pauses and frowns. “He is still afraid though, sir.”

“Of what?”

“Of losing this,” she says, making a gesture that Picard takes to mean the entire Enterprise. “Of losing you again. He hasn’t experienced much stability in the past three years, so he doesn’t trust that the way things are now are the way they’ll stay.”

“Again,” Picard huffs, looking away to regard the wall, “that’s understandable.”

Deanna allows him a moment of contemplative silence, then asks, “Do you want my professional opinion?”

He turns back, meets her gaze. “Yes.”

“He’ll be okay,” she says simply.

From anyone else, it would be a meaningless reassurance, but from her it means everything.

“I think that, given time, he will heal,” Deanna continues. “I can’t guarantee that he will heal completely—most likely, he will always bear some scars from what he experienced. But the truth is that a lot of people have scars, and many of them still learn to thrive in spite of them. Louis just needs you to keep doing exactly what you’re doing.”

Picard hasn’t asked her yet for counseling. He should. Now. But the request sticks in his throat, and before he can dislodge it, she says, “It’s nearly 1200 hours, by the way.”

Picard jolts and starts to stand.

Deanna copies him, but says, “Captain, can I offer you my professional opinion one more time?”

“Yes, of course.”

“You’re wrestling with a lot of different, very intense emotions right now,” she observes. “Before you go to Louis, I suggest doing whatever it is you usually do when you need to clear your head.”

He sighs in defeat, but as he can’t deny that she’s correct, he promises he will do as she says.

In one of the larger holodecks, Picard loads his favorite riding program. The mount is a spirited, chestnut mare who needs very little encouragement to run. Picard rides hard and fast for as long as he can tolerate the chill wind whipping his face, cutting like a knife through his uniform. Finally, his muscles trembling, he slows the mare to a walk and steers her back to the barn. He knows he could just get off and end the program, but the cool down is part of it, helps him calm the storm in his chest, slow his thoughts and settle them neatly in place.

In Labarre, he decides giddily, I’ll takes Louis riding.

He takes Louis to lunch at Ten Forward, listens to him talk about the puzzles he did with Deanna, the drawing he worked on in Data’s quarters that he left there because he wants to work on it more tomorrow. After they finish eating they walk to sick bay for the RNA analysis.

Outside of sick bay, Picard stops. He turns towards Louis. Curiously, Louis turns towards him.

Picard thinks of Batai, how he wonders if Batai ever truly understood how much his father loved him, how sometimes he wishes he could go back and tell him. Then he thinks about how Louis had his parents ripped from him far too soon, how he’ll never again hear them say that they love him, or that they’re proud of him…

He cups Louis’s cheeks in his hands, strokes the boy’s cheeks with his thumbs. “Je t'aime, Louis.”

I love you, and I’ll make sure you hear it every single day.

Louis’s eyes widen, then crinkle in a smile. “Je t'aime, aussi, papa.”

I love you, too.

#star trek: tng #star trek: the next generation #tng #star trek fic #tng fic #picard #captain picard #picard fic

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fantasywriter19 · 1 year

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Honourable McGonagall

The theme for March on @hp-12monthsofmagic being “Life’s a Witch,” I first wanted to do something that honors our favorite Professor McGonagall. It’s taking snippets of dialogue from the Hogwarts Mystery TLSQ “A Special Celebration of Hogwarts Teachers,” while also using a different character from my Jacob’s sibling MC, Jessamyn McPhee.

Quick backstory — Ash is American, but he and his mother moved to the UK as a support system for Jessamyn’s family. They’ve been living with them for almost two years at this point in their lives, so they’re practically like brother and sister. They both started Hogwarts together and got sorted into Slytherin.

Anyway, Ash and another character were added in partially because they can take over some side quests (so Jessamyn is an MC that isn’t magically able to do everything). But also because the creator of Ash doesn’t do any writing himself, so he’s been implemented into Jessamyn’s universe (thanks brother-in-law!).

Plus... there's an additional character shown briefly that I think everyone will recognize the name of.... :P

With that, let’s dive into this short story.

03/08/1986 — 03/10/1986

Sitting directly in front of Professor McGonagall, playing an elongated round of chess, was not something Ash would have ever expected out of having her as his presentation subject.

Second year students were required to interview their subjects and do a presentation about them in the Great Hall just one week after being given the assignment. Ash just so happened to pull the name of this year’s guest of honour, who was also his all-time favorite professor.

It was because of this that it was perhaps the only project he’d ever taken seriously.

The young Slytherin had actually compiled a list of all the questions he wanted to ask her that he felt would be important for presenting everything that she means to the school and its students. His hard efforts had not gone unnoticed by his best friend, Billingsley, who continued to take everything in his own strides. With jokes.

“C’mon, Z, you can’t change your work ethic now. We can just do a tag team presentation about what we know McGonagall doesn’t like, such as her reactions to our ‘shenanigans’ as she calls them.” The Gryffindor chortled, having also drawn her name as his subject. Of course, Billingsley was often sent to Professor McGonagall’s office for his antics, which was the only reason he figured he already knew her better than anyone.

“Are you kidding me?” Ash had asked, his ebony-toned face lightly perspiring at the thought of the daunting task ahead. “She’s supposed to be the guest of honour. The last thing I want to muck up is her reputation.”

Billingsley raised a challenging brow, “I’m sure that’s the last thing you’d be able to do with a simple presentation.”

Ash wasn’t so sure about that, but it reassured him enough to get himself to his first meeting with Professor McGonagall with minimal foot-dragging. He questioned himself even further at the sight of the chess board on her desk.

“Have I come at a bad time?” he asked, shuffling the papers in his hands nervously.

“Not at all, Mr. Z,” she replied, gesturing for him to take the seat across from her. “It’s important to me that you learn something yourself as we conduct the interviews. And that is why I have set this up.”

“A chess board?” he asked, his tone doubtful as he sat down. Setting the papers next to the chess board, his hands retreated to his lap.

With a small incline of her head, she smiled slyly, “Yes, my own personal chess set. And I must warn you, I’m quite good.”

“But what am I learning from it?”

“Chess is a game of strategy that everyone approaches differently. As you learn about me, you’ll develop your game… and I’ll learn something about you as well. You can tell a lot about a person by how they approach their chess game. Have you played?”

“I’ve been playing McNully once a week. He says it’s good strategy practice for Quidditch.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” McGonagall said frankly, folding her hands together in front of her. “But you haven’t played with me. I can assure you we all have our own tricks, styles, and strategies.”

From there, he met with her each day for a short time before dinner to play the same round of chess and ask questions. However, other than the simply obvious facts about her, he couldn’t get anything personal that no one else would ever know.

“Questions of a personal nature aren’t appropriate between a teacher and a student.”

While Ash couldn’t disagree more, he was given no room to do so. After the second round of questions and chess moves, the interviews had become something rather perplexing that he felt he couldn’t surpass, let alone the fact that he was pretty sure he was losing the game. Not that he believed he even had a shadow of a chance at beating her.

Since he couldn’t turn to his own best friend for advice — and heaven knew where Tulip and Tonks had gone off to — he went looking for Jessamyn at the Slytherin table at dinnertime. When he couldn’t find her, he stood on a free seat to scan the Great Hall only to spot two particularly blonde heads at the Hufflepuff table.

He walked over to Jessamyn and Penny, the latter of whom grinned brightly at him.

“Hi, Ash!”

He rubbed bashfully at the back of his neck, “H-hey, Penny.”

Jessamyn eyed him a moment, tilting her head as she asked, “Your presentation worrying you?”

At that point, he was too anxious to even bother asking her — like he usually did — how she always seemed to know just what he was feeling. “Yes,” he replied exasperatedly. “I feel like I have to make sure I properly honour Professor McGonagall in my presentation, but she won’t go into explicit details about herself. She says playing chess in our time together will help me learn something about life… rather than just random facts about her.”

Her eyes widened, “Of course. You would want to do her justice. What do you need from me?”

“I s’pose some forms of advice would be helpful. Who are you two interviewing?”

Penny was quick to respond, “I’m happy to be doing my presentation on Professor Snape. He’s a brilliant Potions Master! He’s been accommodating, but I haven’t been asking any extremely personal questions.” The shocked, yet disturbed, look Jessamyn and Ash sent her way either went ignored or unnoticed as she asked, “Who were you assigned, Jessamyn?”

“Professor Flitwick. Ben and I are interviewing him together to make it simpler. Though our presentations are all expected to be done solo, it helps to ask questions together and give each other pointers for our presentations later.”

“Is he able to give you any pointers, or is he as silent and nervous as always?” Ash asked with a pointed look.

“That’s not the point,” Jessamyn stomped her foot indignantly. “I’m trying to tell you that you could work with whoever else pulled her name.”

“I tried that already! Winger won’t work with anyone else, Billingsley isn’t going to do anything, and none of the other Hufflepuffs will even tell me if their subject is McGonagall.”

Jessamyn stared blankly back at him, “Well.. that is quite the predicament.”

“Some help you are,” he sneered irritably, his tone causing her to brazenly stick her tongue out. Leave it to Jessamyn to be able to immediately solve everyone else’s problems but his.

Penny straightened up, “I could find out which of my housemates is doing their project on McGonagall if you like.”

Ash smiled gratefully, “Thanks Penny, but I doubt even if you did that they’d be willing to work with me…. No, I think I’m alone.”

As Penny nodded in understanding, Jessamyn hummed thoughtfully and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “What’s it like playing with McGonagall?”

“Well… when we’re playing, it’s like she can read my every move,” he sighed. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose. I wonder if I should just —“

A presence standing behind him, shadowing his entire body, made Ash pause and look over his shoulder. Snape, even as his and Jessamyn’s Head of House, was… decidedly not their favorite professor at Hogwarts.

He imperiously looked down on him with his ever present sneer, “What Minerva McGonagall respects more than anything, Z, is people who don’t quit. She and I have that in common. I suggest you stop whining and wallowing… and rise to the occasion. Lest you embarrass our entire House by failing to make a proper presentation for our honoured professor.”

And, with that, he swept away. His cloak already floating slightly above the ground behind him as though he hadn’t even stopped to give such an offhand comment.

Ash scowled, “Well, that sounded like a threat.”

When he looked at Penny’s and Jessamyn’s faces, however, they were both open-mouthed with awe.

“What?” he asked.

“To me,” Jessamyn stated slowly, “that sounded like an attempt to motivate you… like he actually.. believes in you.”

His eyebrows furrowed in thought, “You think so?” Her nod only prompted him to turn to Penny, “What do you think?”

But Penny was no longer focused on them. She grabbed her bag from beside her and rummaged through it, pulling out ink and parchment paper. “Respect people who don’t quit,” she muttered under her breath on repeat until she found her quill and began writing it out.

Jessamyn smirked, pointing her thumb at Penny as she told him, “I think you’ve already lost the topic Snape gave you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ash sat across from Professor McGonagall again the following day, still at a loss for how to continue forward. And the sour look that had just crossed her features wasn’t making his nerves any less strung.

“So, how am I doing?” he asked.

Expression still contorted, she replied, “I must say I’m surprised by your most recent move.”

“Why?”

“That was to be my question. You moved your rook, then clearly just sacrificed your pawn… did you not?”

“Well, yeah…” he admitted. “But I’ve learnt sometimes it takes sacrifice to get what you want.”

“And what exactly do you want in this moment?”

“I…” Ash paused to think further about how he wanted to respond. The last thing he wanted was for anything to offend her, however it seemed like he’d already done so with his sacrificial move. “I just want to understand you better. And seeing your strategies through this game has been… exciting, to say the least.”

His response, thankfully, gave her cause to smile warmly. “A kind goal. And a worthy one. I applaud you for coming right out and saying it. Though I’m still perplexed. Is your strategy to lose to learn more about me? Because that would be quite disappointing.”

“I just —” he tried to find a reason to retort, but she couldn’t have been more right. “It’s true. I’ve been trying to find out more about you, but I haven’t been able to think of a topic to suit you. I sacrificed the pawn to see how you might expo — expleet — ex —“

“Exploit?” she offered.

“That’s it, thanks,” he nodded appreciatively. “And, in a sense, I suppose it does give me something to work with. You saw the sacrifice clear as day, but you didn’t go after it. That means Hogwarts’ guest of honour is, as you should be, honourable…. Because I stopped playing at my best, you didn’t want to make your best moves anymore. Honestly, I envy how easily you did that.”

Though her smile widened as he explained, her lips took a downturn at his final sentence, “Nothing in life worth earning comes easily…”

“It does seem that way sometimes though. You’re so skilled with Transfiguration. When you’re teaching us a new spell, you always cast it so naturally flawless. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be that skilled, too. Or if I have what it takes…”

“To wonder is to waste time. Only through action can one find the answer within.”

“But to sacrifice is not the right action?” he asked curiously.

She shook her head, “Mr. Z… our choices can affect who we are. Every move you make during our chess game has ramifications… And the choices you make very soon… will determine exactly what you’ll say at your presentation, and how I’ll be represented.

“Sacrifice in a game of chess, or in life, while it may help you get the outcome you desire, should only be a last resort. And even then, I would never recommend such a decision. You have much to learn about the journey of life, but I hope that from here on you understand this lesson I am imparting to you.”

“I do, I think,” Ash replied slowly. “Don’t sacrifice unless it’s necessary.”

“No more needless sacrifice,” she reiterated.

“I understand,” he nodded. And he rather appreciated her point of view on it, as it added even more to what he needed for a proper presentation. She was more than honourable — she wanted to win against an opponent only when they could perform at their best. There was no doubt in his mind that he was still going to lose, but he could at least lose gracefully.

McGonagall nodded back in mild satisfaction. “Promise me you’ll do your best. Now, consider your next move wisely.”

“Of course, Professor.”

#ash z #jessamyn mcphee #penny haywood #severus snape #hp12mom #mcgonagall #minerva mcgonagall #harry potter fandom #hogwarts mystery #life’s a witch #billingsley #yes I had to give billingsley a place in my hogwarts mystery world #we always hear about him but NEVER see him

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acostaplumbingsolution · 2 years

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Installing A Garbage Disposal: The Only Way To Dispose Of Things In One Piece

With many companies making an effort to improve the installation process for their customers, these extra steps in installation are often unnoticed. In this article, a healthcare agency captures some of the more difficult installations that it faces on a regular basis and shares their suggestions for what patients should know before garbage disposals installation. Before you have garbage disposal installed make sure you know all the hard work that goes into installing one!

Why install a garbage disposal?

There are many reasons to install a garbage disposal. First and foremost, it’s the only way to dispose of things in one piece. Imagine trying to chop up a steak with a knife and fork. It would be impossible. The same goes for disposing of food in one piece with other methods such as composting or recycling. Second, a garbage disposal wastes less energy than other disposal methods. Third, a garbage disposal doesn’t create odor problems like composting or aerobic digestion can. Finally, a garbage disposal saves you time because it takes care of the disposal for you.

Garbage disposal installation kits

Garbage disposal installation kits come with all the necessary hardware to install a garbage disposal project. They include items like bolts, washers, nylock nuts, and even angle iron if you're working on a particularly tight space. There are two main types of garbage disposal installation kits: professional and do-it-yourself. Professional installation kits are typically more expensive but include items like an accurate depth gauge and detailed instructions. If you're confident in your DIY skills, you can install your own garbage disposal without a kit by following these general tips: Measure the height and width of your sink before starting , and consult the manufacturer's instructions to determine the correct size of garbage disposal drain pipe.

Install a garbage disposal the right way

Installing a garbage disposal the right way is key to ensuring that your drain stays clear and your home stays healthy. Here are four tips for installing a garbage disposal the right way:

1. Get Your Estimate: Before you purchase a garbage disposal, get an estimate from a professional. This will help ensure that you're getting the best value for your money.

2. Drain Cleaning: Before you install your new garbage disposal, consider draining and cleaning your drain in both the sink and bathtub area. This will help reduce the chances of water backing up into your drainage system and flooding your home.

3. Clear The Blockage: A clogged garbage disposal can cause hours-long backup periods in your sink, making it difficult to clean and causing odors. Clear all obstructions from around the drain with a plunger before installation to avoid future issues.

4. Check Your Sink Drainage: After installation, check your sink's drainage to make sure everything is flowing smoothly. If there are any problems or blockages, call a professional to correct them before they become larger problems that require more complex repair work or replacement parts.

Conclusion

Installing a garbage disposal can be a daunting task, but it's one that is well worth it in the end. By following these simple steps, you will be able to install your garbage disposal with ease and dispose of all of your food waste in one piece! Be sure to read through the entire direction before starting so that you don't run into any trouble along the way. Thank you for reading and we hope you find this guide helpful.

#leaking toilet tank #Emergency plumbing #plumbers in katy tx #toilet installation #how to unclog shower drain

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phdguides · 7 months

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7 important tips and advice every PhD student should know

We understand your situation, and to assist you, we have compiled a list of seven essential tips and advice that will come in handy during your PhD journey.

These tips and advice are backed by scholars and industry experts based on their experience, and if you are in the early stages of your PhD, you will be astounded by the information.

So, without further ado, let’s get started:

Read a lot

Read, read, and read some more. This will be a very useful step in creating a research roadmap. Read as many research papers as you can on your chosen topic.

Aside from reading old papers, remember to keep an eye out for new developments also in your field. All of this reading will help you gain a thorough understanding of your chosen subject.

Write more

When you’re reading this much, you should also be writing. Write down your progress, new discoveries, and any other important information you believe is relevant.

It is always preferable to begin writing as soon as possible. Because it will ultimately assist you in writing your thesis. Writing on a regular basis will help you hone your writing skills.

It may appear to be a daunting task, but with practice, you will notice that the quality of your research paper will improve and you will take less time to complete it.

You don’t have to write every day, but try to write at least three times a week, if not more.

Be positive

However, keep in mind that these are all part of the process. You will not always be successful. So it’s okay if you don’t achieve your goals sometimes. Concentrate on the good things you have.

Divert your attention to topics that interest you, surround yourself with positive people, take short breaks, and engage in activities that you enjoy.

PhD may appear to be a difficult journey but believe in yourself because you will succeed and your efforts will be rewarded.

Don’t isolate yourself.

It will provide you with new perspectives and allow you to connect with people in your field.

Do an internship

An internship can provide you with valuable insight and a deeper understanding of how research is conducted in other environments and what tools are used.

An internship can help you learn a lot. You can broaden your network with other researchers and learn a lot of details. It can be a fantastic way to gain a thorough understanding of your topic.

Reach out to people.

Appreciate your small wins

Many students lose interest or productivity halfway through their PhD studies. It can happen because they have unrealistic expectations of themselves.

As a result, it is critical to keep yourself motivated and productive by focusing on your progress.

Conclusion

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