#Manual Placement

[imporinfo]

Unlock 7X More Revenue: AdSense Auto Ads vs. Manual for Travel Blogs

Unlock 7X More Revenue: AdSense Auto Ads vs. Manual for Travel Blogs Unlock 7X More Revenue: AdSense Auto Ads vs. Manual for Travel Blogs Hey there, fellow travel bloggers and digital nomads! Are you staring at your AdSense dashboard, wondering if you’re leaving money on the table? Let’s be honest, we all are. Monetizing a travel blog is an art, and when it comes to AdSense, the age-old…

[nobodyspecialhereblog]

IT'S DONE, artfight #2. holy flip.

remind me to check the brushes again next time.

Character is Azrael and belongs to @la-di-da-la-di-dee-die

Bonus:

[trendnologies]

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[rahulacademy]

Sharing My Postman API Testing Success Story to Inspire Others

I want to share this with the hope that it may inspire others to begin their journey into the world of API testing with Postman. If you want to start your journey in Postman API testing and have a lot of doubts about where to begin, I hope my success story will guide and inspire you.

I’ll take you through my learning path: the challenges I faced, how I overcame them by using effective resources such as a step-by-step tutorial on API testing using Postman, and access to a number of free APIs to test in Postman.

Today, I am very confident in using Postman for testing and automation, and further would like to share all the tips and lessons that helped me on my way.

Why I Chose to Learn Postman API Testing

As a QA, I realized very fast that knowing Postman API Testing was not an option — it was a must-have. APIs are at the heart of all modern software systems, and testing them guarantees that programs function as intended.

Initially, I worked through manual testing techniques that were time-consuming and error-prone. I knew I needed a solution like Postman to make testing faster, more efficient, and more dependable.

But it wasn’t easy starting out; a little guidance and a flood of online resources often left me feeling lost. Many tutorials were either too complex or lacked real-world relevance. It was then that I found an excellent tutorial on using Postman for API testing that completely changed my approach.

It took very complicated Postman API Testing basics and broke them down into easy-to-digest steps and gradually went ahead to complex ideas.

How I Started: Using Postman Tutorial for Beginners

To every beginner, I recommend one thing — start with the postman tutorial for API testing for beginners. This is an excellent place for getting a sense of how one can go about doing everything from basic things:

Setting up Postman and starting with API requests.

Familiarity with different HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE.

Using Postman collections to manage your tests.

Among the very first things I learned was how to use free APIs for testing in Postman, where I could practice right away and without the need for any live projects. These APIs imitate real-life cases, which are just what one needs when beginning to work with API testing.

Examples of such APIs include open APIs for weather, false online businesses, and even imitation JSON data providers. These materials provided me the courage to explore without fear of damaging anything.

Overcoming Challenges: Learning Automation and Scripting

After becoming familiar with the fundamentals, I wanted to delve deeper into automation. I found that manual testing alone was insufficient for larger projects. That’s when I discovered an API testing Postman tutorial that focuses on automation. Here is what I learned:

Writing JavaScript programs to verify API answers.

Automate repeating tests with Postman’s capability.

Creation of environments and variables for the testing of APIs in various configurations.

It sounded overwhelming in theory, but the topics proved to be within the manageable learning curve by further decomposing them into subtopics. The tutorials that I followed included hands-on examples for each one of these topics. That helped me practice how to apply these techniques in a real project.

My Aha Moment: Putting to Practice What I Learned

The turning point in my journey occurred when I applied the knowledge I had gained to actual applications. Using the concepts I learned from a postman tutorial for API testing, I was able to:

Test live e-commerce platform REST APIs.

Automate repetitive test cases, saving hours manually.

Set up dynamic environments for staging, development, and production.

However, the most satisfying aspect was learning how to work with a free API for Postman testing, which made it relatively easy to practice and refine my skills. For example, I used public APIs to test workflows like user authentication, product search, and order placement.

Tips for a Beginner to Get Started with API Testing Using Postman

Here are some tips that worked really well for me when I took a dive to get started with Postman API testing:

Take a Good Beginning

Look out for a pretty beginner-friendly tutorial on Postman. This should have all the basics in as straightforward and simple a manner as possible. Examples with step-by-step explanations would be very impressive.

Free APIs for Practice

One of the best methods to boost confidence is to use a free API for Postman testing. Some excellent solutions are OpenWeatherMap, JSONPlaceholder, and TheCatAPI.

Learn the Fundamentals First

Before getting into automation, learn how to send requests, use various HTTP methods, and validate results.

Key Lessons I Learned Along the Way

Here are some of the main lessons that helped me a lot when learning:

Consistency is key: Even 30 minutes of Postman practice each day may bring about significant development.

Break down problems: If something appears too complicated, divide it into smaller, more manageable stages. For example, begin with basic GET queries before progressing to more sophisticated procedures.

Not skipping automation: Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, move on to automation with Postman’s excellent API testing guide. Automation not only saves time, but it also ensures that tests are consistent.

Why I Recommend Postman for API Testing

If someone is interested in software testing or development, this can truly transform their experience. Here’s why:

It is both beginner-friendly and powerful enough for advanced testing.

You can practice using a free API for testing in Postman without any restrictions.

Learning was smooth, including with the community and other resources, such as the API testing tutorial for Postman.

Following the right resources and practicing regularly turned all struggles into a success story. Now, I proudly manage large projects that include API testing, and Postman is a key component of my work toolkit.

Final Words: Your Journey to Success

If I could give you one bit of advice, it would be: don’t be frightened to start. Everyone starts somewhere, and with the correct tools and resources, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you can learn Postman API Testing. Whether you’re working through a Postman lesson for beginners or digging into automation with a postman tutorial for API testing, each step gets you closer to your objective.

Remember that the learning process isn’t about perfection. Use free APIs for testing with Postman, practice often, and keep researching. I hope that my tale motivates you to take the first step toward mastering Postman API testing and achieving your career objectives.

Originally Article Publish at:- https://shorturl.at/iBsE4

[capturousinfotech]

Why Do we Need Software Testing

Why Do we Need Software Testing

Software testing is a trying cycle to check whether the created programming item is 1) liberated from bugs for smooth usefulness and 2) meets the genuine necessities of the clients with no properties or elements missing.

Testing in the IT business

According to ANSI/IEEE 1059 norm, software testing is in fact characterized as the assessment of a product item to track down the distinctions between the current necessities and the necessary prerequisites. Through testing holes in the prerequisites, bugs/mistakes, practicality, security and execution are analyzed. In the event that you are searching for the best Software testing On the web Course, go for Capturous Infotech Foundation best preparation establishment.

For what reason do we really want software testing? Programming is the one which runs the world at this point. Assuming that we take any industry, the product is significantly included to do the primary work job. For example, in science and innovation consideration of programming should be visible in space machines, airplane, drones, and so on. In this virtual world, any industry you envision has programming items maintaining their organizations in the background. Presently we might grasp the significance of testing our recently evolved programming items. It not just reduced the expenses in the underlying stages yet additionally serves to productively run the applications to suit the business needs. There are a few other significant advantages of testing a product item which assists organizations with involving programming applications in a useful manner.

Security:

Even a typical individual needs no gamble happening in their cell phone due to the applications they use. Similarly, huge firms could do without to be inclined to dangers and perils a product item might cause. Consequently testing an item might keep away from every one of the vulnerabilities and convey a solid item.

Item quality:

Obviously when we test an item, its quality is kept up with. The nature of the item guarantees a brand's development and notoriety in the IT market.

Savvy:

Testing an item in the underlying stage will reduce the expense and furthermore be useful to convey a quality item in time.

Consumer loyalty:

Client experience is vital in this digitized world. Giving the fulfillment of utilizing a problem free item is the best consequence of testing.

Testing Levels

Testing levels are only a program going through a testing stage to guarantee that it is mistake allowed to move into the following improvement stage.

Unit testing:

Unit testing is finished by the software engineers while coding to check whether a singular unit of the program is sans blunder.

Joining testing:

As the name proposes, coordination testing is done when individual units of the program are incorporated together. All in all, it centers around the construction and plan of the product.

Framework testing:

Here, the whole program is incorporated as programming and tried all in all. This tests every one of the elements of a program including usefulness, execution, security, compactness, and so forth.

Standards of software testing

There are a few standards kept up with while testing programming. At last, an analyzer can't continue to test the item till it gives zero mistake, which is preposterous. In this way a few standards are observed while troubleshooting the projects.

Thorough testing is absurd:

Indeed, no analyzer can rehash the testing system again and again till the program is without blunder. It will be comprehensive for both the analyzer and the program that it will quit bringing up the blunders assuming monotonous experiments are done like clockwork. In this manner in the event that the testing system depends on the gamble evaluation factor, programming can create, then, at that point, it will be simple for the testing experts to focus just on the significant elements of a program.

Imperfection Grouping:

The deformity bunching guideline expresses that the majority of the deformities are found in little modules of the program and just experienced experts can manage such unsafe modules.

Software testing Preparing Capturous Infotech is the top of the line schedule that comprises of the fundamental and fundamental ideas of industry testing strategies to teach expertness in understudies. we are effectively giving programming course classes in Software testing Course in Nagpur . Understudies who are situated in Nagpur, kindly visit the Nagpur page and get yourself signed up for our organization.

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[aysrin]

Needle Felt Siffrin Build Log: (oct 6 - nov 20, 2024)

Credits goes wholely to @insertdisc5 for creating ISAT and siffrin's design! I am just here to attempt to make cool fanart (and get more people to play isat.. my devious plans are going great so far :3) As always, this isn't a tutorial- it is just a log about how i go about approaching a sculpture and I hope this collection of resources can help others make their own sifs!!

PSA: this has some spoilers for endgame CGs/sprites on my references image board ( also might see it in the backgrounds of my process pics). And bc this is needle felting, you will see some sharp needles! beware!

my inspiration was the intro cutscene where Sif eats the star, so my main goal was to adhere to the style of ISAT as closely as possible while transfering it to 3D space. And I knew i also wanted to try making the cloak for stopmotion purposes, so my process was tailored towards having control over the fabric with wire inlaid within the cloak (more on that later).

I ended up not sticking eyebrows on top of siffrin's bangs lol but anyways, first order of business is Gather Reference! v important. pureref is free and an awesome program. I also do some sketches to visualize the pose and important details i wanted to include in the sculpt.

behold the isat wiki gallery page! tawnysoup wrote an awesome ISAT style guide that absolutely rings true in 3d space too!! adrienne made a sif hair guide here!! (sorry i couldnt find the original link, but it's on the wiki). It says ref komaeda hair so that's what i looked at, along with other adjacent hairstyles! I also like doing drawovers on in progress photos to previs shapes n stuff to get a better idea of the end result.

Also if you're like me and struggle with translating stuff into 3D space, take a look at how people make 3d models and figurines! sketchfab is also a great resource! I looked at the link botw model by Christoph Schoch here for hair ref. (I used Maya, but there's a blender version too ! you can pose characters too if your model has been rigged!)

Face:

Started off blocking out the main shapes of eyelids and iris, and then filling in the colour details in the iris and the star highlights before moving onto adding thin black outlines and eyelashes. I didn't take many in-progress photos cause i kept ripping stuff out to redo them many many times, sorry!! This eye took about 3 hrs bc i just wasn't happy with it!! Sometimes it do be the vibe to give up, go to bed and see how it looks in the morning (more often than naught, it looks fine and it was the "dont trust yourself after 9pm" speaking)

The Mouth:

Couldn't decide if i even wanted to add a mouth as per usual with all my humanoid sculptures.. but i did some drawover tests first to see what expression i liked and to try to visualize it from multiple angles. (I was also testing the placement of stars on the hat brim here)

And then I redid the mouth like 3 times cause the angle just wasn't right (this went on for about the course of a week yay!)

Hair: woe baldfrin be upon ye

I made the hair strands individually first, and then since Sif has some of the hair at the back dyed black, i covered some of the tips with black wool (manually) (I think it would go much faster if i just took a marker to it, but hahaha i love pain and detailing!! )

And then the rest of it was positioning strands with sewing pins layer by layer, always looking at it from different multiple angles- sometimes tailoring the angle or swoop of individual hair flippies. At one point I thought the back looked too cluttered, but the hat covers a lot of it anyways!! yay for hiding mistakes! (imo this is a similar process to how cosplayers style wigs, but on a smaller scale and the same level of time consuming)

As always, look to your reference for guides, and I always do a whole bunch of drawovers over in progress photos to ascertain what was working and what wasn't.

Hat:

A trick to get a super pointy tip, make another tip seperately while keeping the connection point unfelted, and then combine the two to make super pointy hat!! (this also helps if you made the hat too short and need it to be taller. ask me how i know)

The embroidery on the hat brim was done in a hoop and then invisible stitched to the felted top portion. Technically you don't need a hoop but it helps keep the fabric tension, so you avoid puckers in your embroidery. You can also use iron-on stabilizer if your fabric is loose weave or particularly thin. this is the tutorial i used for the stars embroidery! particularly the fly stitch one, french knots, and the criss-cross stitches. highly recommend needlenthread for embroidery stitches and techniques! i learned all my embroidery from this single site alone.

For fabric, I think I used a polycotton i had in my stash,, unsure of the actual fiber content bc i bought it a long time ago. I used DMC Satin floss which was nice and subtle shiny but frayed a lot so it was kind of a pain to stitch with... but keep a short thread length and perservere through it!! After the embroidery was done, I folded up the raw edges and invisible sewed it to the top portion of the hat.

General shape:

Ok general structure of the body is this: wire armature body covered with black wool -> cloak lining & wire cage -> edge of lining is invisibly sewn to the main cloak at the hem -> head

Don't be afraid to mess around with the pattern, it's essentially a pizza with a slice taken out of it to form a steep cone shape!! Use draft paper before cutting into felt to save material! (i think i made like 3 cloaks before i was happy with the shape lol).

You can also hide the seam of the cloak and collars by gently messing up the fibers of the felt with your fingers or a felting needle btw! you can also sandpaper the seams according to Sarah Spaceman in this vid (highly recommend them for their in depth cosplay/crafting builds holy smokes), though since sif cloak is at such a smol scale, I just blended the seam with my felting needle.

For the lining wire cage section, I sewed in wire around the cloak, so the main rotation point is at the top neck area under the collar. These paddles are used to keep whatever pose I need the cloak to be in for stopmotion purposes. Then after the wire is done, I invisibly sewed the lining to the cloak at the hem (same technique as the hat brim to the lining there).

In hindsight, I should've used a thinner fabric for the lining, but i only had sheer white in my stash so had to go with double felt, thus resulting in a really bulky lining but oh well!

Heels:

started with the general boot shape, then tacking on the diamond shape heel stack and also diamond shape sole bc we're committed to the bit here. I skewer the boot onto the armature which also conveniently hides the connection point into the base to keep the whole thing upright and also I can rotate the boot to tweak the angle if needed.

Pins:

I kinda just trial and error'd jewellery wire with pliers into the pin shapes. They're itty bitty!! had a whole bunch of fails before i got two nice ones. A hot tip is to use needle nose pliers and wrap the wire around the tip to get a smooth circle shape!

Base:

I smoothed out the edge of a circular wood base with a dremel, and then used wood stainer to get the black colour. It ended up kinda looking like I took a sharpie to it, but whatever.... now i have a whole ass can of black wood stainer........ I then made a rough mountain of black wool and stuck the feet armature in. And now he's standing!!

Normally at this point when I'm done felting everything, to get a smooth finish, I'd take a small pair of scissors and carefully snip away any flyaway fibers, but this time, I just left them fluffy cause i think that's what sif would do :3c

Photoshoot:

Normally I do shoots using daylight but it was winter so the sun was nonexistent. So I broke out the home lighting setup aka dollarstore posterboard for a nice smooth background, and then hit it with the overhead Fill, side Fill 2, and Rim light, and use white paper/posterboard for bounce light if one side feels too dark. But if things are overexposed, you can move the light sources away until the harshness dims down. I'm using a Olympus mirrorless camera (handed down to me by my sibling so i dont remember the model exactly), which can connect to my phone as a remote so I can avoid shaking the camera when i take photos. Pretty nifty for stopmotion purposes! (yes my camera stand is a stack of notebooks, a tissuebox and some eva foam under the lens, don't judge me)

Stopmotion animation:

I'm still figuring stopmo out on my part, but my process was straight ahead animation ... move the cloak a cm, take a pic.... move another cm, click.... and repeat until i get a version I was happy with. My ref was the cloak animation from Gris (beautiful game btw). The 2d star animation was also done straight ahead using procreate, exported in png with a transparent background, and finally stitched together with the stopmotion footage in photoshop.

My turnarounds are also stopmotion! also secret hack, the turntable is a fidget spinner sticky tacked to a cake platter.

And i think that's all! i mainly wanted to share how I go about thinking about taking a 2d concept and moving it to 3D. I also didn't go in depth into how to actually do the needle felting bc I don't think I''d be very helpful I'm a very good teacher by telling yall to just keep stabbing until it looks right (i'm self taught for this hobby),,, if anyone wants it though, i can share a bunch of tutorials and other felters' process that helped me learn more needle felting!

Hopefully this was helpful to someone! Feel free to send asks if ya got any questions or if anything needs clarification! Or show me your works! I love seeing other people's crafts :3

here have a cookie for making it this far 🥐

[stingchronicity]

trying to retrain myself to my own camera (nikon) bc i've been using the Work Camera (canon) for so long 😭 just spent two whole hours messing with the metering & focus settings

[tthoroughfare]

trying to make your ex jealous by using ellie as a prop in your ig story hahahaha

she's been in front of your mirror for, like, ten minutes as you direct her on how to stand, how to put her arms around you. you laugh as you cycle through the pictures you'd gotten, ellie looking over your shoulder.

"ellie, these suck. you look so fucking awkward." none of them actually look like you're with a romantic prospect; it's painfully obvious it's set up, ellie craning her neck to hide her face and looking like she's petrified to touch you. you swipe onto a particular picture, zooming in on her hand. "also, in that one you can literally see your tattoo, you gotta pull your sleeve down more."

she automatically tugs at the sleeve of her hoodie, covering the ink swirling down from her wrist. "damn... yes ma'am. didn't realize it was that serious."

"well, otherwise she's gonna know it's you. and that'd be so fucking embarrassing."

she scoffs lightly. "kind of embarrassing faking photos to try and make someone jealous, anyway."

"oh, please. shut up," you retort, rolling your eyes. she'd seemed to be a little grumpy about the whole thing as soon as you asked her to do it:

"this is stupid."

"why does it have to be me? get dina to do it, she'd love this shit."

"you're so cringe."

you get back into position, gesturing at ellie. "m'kay, come back."

she shuffles closer again, hesitantly going to place her hands on your waist.

"this is why they look stupid, your hand placement's wrong." you gently grasp at her wrist, manually moving her right hand upwards and to the side, wrapping her arm further around you and allowing her fingers to rest just below your left breast. "like, you don't look like you wanna fuck me, you're just... standing there like you're at gunpoint."

"yeah, i am," she murmurs, looking down and gingerly pressing herself flush against your back. you ignore the comment, taking the back of her head and pulling it so that her chin's resting on your shoulder.

"don't worry if your face is in it, i'm probably just gonna crop it anyway," you comment as you snap another few photos, placing your hand over hers. she tries not to pay any mind to the way you subconsciously swipe your thumb across the back of her hand, the way it makes her stomach flutter.

you pivot your phone so she can see it whilst you flip through the new photos you'd taken. you're still running your fingertips over her hand, and she doesn't think you even realize you're doing it. "see, these ones are way better. they look way more realistic."

you go to take some more, and ellie hesitantly leans further in, nuzzling at your neck.

"wait, that's good," you begin. "pull your hood up, so i don't have to crop it."

blowing air out of her nose, she does as you say before returning her hand to its original position. she feels a little emboldened, borderline forgetting the whole thing is pretend as she presses a couple of tiny kisses to your neck; stopping when she feels you tense.

you pause before laughing shakily, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "method acting. nice."

ellie awkwardly laughs along, kicking herself mentally. she doesn't even know why she did it, where she mustered the balls. it was automatic.

you take a final couple, then pull away and sit cross-legged on your bed. she tugs her hood down, running a hand through her hair as she sits next to you, peering down at your phone while you flick through all of the photos.

"i think that one," you say when you stop on a particular image, pressing your thumb to the screen in emphasis. "it's hot, and you can't really tell it's you."

ellie pulls a face as she nods. "go for it."

your brow furrows as you notice her expression. "... what's with you?"

she shrugs, mouth downturning. "i don't know, i just think it's kinda stupid. why do you even want her back? she was, like... a dick to you."

"i don't want her back," you reply. "i just want her to see it and be like... 'oh, shit'."

"but, like, still... why are you even thinking about her?"

you sigh lightly, looking down at your phone. "i don't know... she fucked me over a lot, and now she's trying to act like she's doing all great and everything. just wanna give her something to feel... y'know, a little shitty over."

"fair enough," she replies half-heartedly. "i just don't even think you should care. you can do better."

you scoff. "well, it's not exactly happening for me."

she doesn't say anything back, just looks at you and shrugs, toying with her sleeve. there's a slightly uncomfortable feeling in the room as you meet her gaze, one you don't understand.

"so can i post it, or no?"

ellie's hands turn upwards in gesture. "sure."

"right," you respond, opening instagram and getting the picture up to put on your story, flicking through songs and deciding which one to add to it. she moves closer, watching as you do so.

"gotta be clairo," she remarks, to which you chuckle.

you post the photo, and resist the urge to check if your ex has viewed it every five minutes. ellie puts a silly movie on, and you actually manage to forget about it as you make commentary between yourselves, laughing along.

until your phone buzzes; dina's reacted '😂' to your story, and sent you a reply:

"that's ellie 😭😭😭😭😭 you fucking idiot"

you sit up as you open the messages, covering your mouth and scoffing. turning your phone so that ellie can see, you watch her eyes glimmer in amusement as she lets out a laugh.

"i'm taking it down," you say firmly, between giggles.

ellie raises her eyebrows, training her eyes back on the TV. "told you."

[charliemwrites]

Hybrid AU with Ragdoll!Reader and Siberian-mix!Konig

Reader is a rescued cat hybrid that Laswell's sister in law has been taking care of for the last 3 months. When she meets this little ragdoll kitty, so bright and friendly and curious, she immediately thinks of the 141. Hybrids have a lot uses in the government. Sometimes combative, sometimes therapeutic. The 141 could use a companion animal, given the close call Soap recently had and the general trauma the whole squad has.

With the kitty's permission and cooperation, they assess her as a possible therapy placement. She tests so well and so high that Laswell (again, with consent) immediately starts paperwork to place her with the 141 before even bringing it up to Price.

He's a bit skeptical at first. Even without being a combat hybrid, their jobs are high stress, very dangerous, and not very stable. But Laswell convinces him to at least meet Ragdoll.

They do introductions at the sister-in-law's house, where the kitty will be most comfortable. Ragdoll takes one sniff of him and starts purring like a little engine. He's visibly surprised, and Laswell can barely hold back her grin as the kitty climbs into his lap. They spend the rest of the afternoon discussing arrangements while his new hybrid naps because obviously he can't say no now.

Price becomes her primary handler. They move her to his barrack and give her a week to settle in, but she's not a skittish thing by any means. Wants to follow him everywhere, curls up in his bed, meows sadly at the door when he leaves her alone. It becomes clear very quickly that the usual introduction manuals are too slow for her.

Kitty meets Kyle next. Again, instant purrs. She presses her cheek into his palms, then wriggles her way closer to brush up against his cheek. Lets out a little "mrrp!" when he stutters out a pleasantly surprised, "hello there." She nibbles at the brim of his hat and grins when he gently redirects her, chirping at this fun new friend.

Two for two, Price and Kyle decide to introduce her to Simon and Johnny. They let her explore the common room first, get comfortable, and then call the other two in. Kitty watches from behind Price as Simon and Johnny enter.

Johnny is a dog hybrid with Simon as his primary handler. Price has faith that his sergeant will behave well with the new kitty, but he's not sure of what her reaction will be. Johnny's obviously, visibly excited, tail wagging, but Simon gets him to sit and wait while she makes the first move.

It takes absolutely no time at all for her to pad out from behind Price and approach. Simon goes first, offering a hand. But she barely even sniffs him before cuddling up to him, pawing curiously at his mask. He lets her, clicking his tongue when she dislodges it a bit, but then he gently nudges her towards Johnny.

His ears are perked forwards, tail still swishing. Kitty's ears are twitching, eyes big and curious. But her tail is up and curved curiously, not even a little fluffed. She gets in real close to his face, sniffs, then bumps her forehead against his chin. Which is when he loses patience and licks a big stripe up her cheek. She mews indignantly, ears going airplane mode, but thankfully doesn't swat at him.

It literally couldn't go better. She's a perfect fit.

Over the next few months she settles in with them happily, an absolute dream of a hybrid. Not very verbal, at least through human speech, but perfectly communicative and incredibly friendly.

She chirps whenever one of the 141 enters a room, has a different tone for each of them. Purrs if one of them so much as looks at her, all slow blinks and little smiles. Chitters when she sees them running outside through the windows.

Even grooming is relatively easy. She lets them brush out her floofy tail without much fuss, only trying to retreat if they catch a tangle. Readily gives up her hands to trim her claws. Even opens her mouth for them to brush off her fangs after raw meals.

She curls up with Simon on bad days, warm and purring, breathing little puffs of air against his collarbone. Lounges with Kyle after hard missions, nuzzling against him while he pets her soft ears. She spends hours upon hours in Price's office, curled up on his lap while he does paperwork or talks over the phone, kneading biscuits into his stomach.

Her friendship with Johnny is maybe the most surprising. They play wrestle just about every night, rolling around on the rough carpets in the common room and nipping at each others ears. She'll pounce on him, little teeth flashing, but almost always get bodied by his larger stature. The others will let them play until one of them - usually Johnny - gets too excited and makes the other yelp. At that point, Price or Simon will usually scoop one of the hybrids up and tsk at them for getting rough.

She's the 141's precious kitty, sweet and friendly and outgoing. The whole base knows her, though she's never far from one of her boys. And they know what it means if Ragdoll doesn't like someone.

It's rare, which is why it raises neon red flags. The first time is a new recruit that reaches to pet her without introducing himself first. She twists around on him, but usually even that would be recoverable. Except when he keeps trying to touch her, she gets a whiff of him and hisses, scrambling away.

The guy doesn't last long.

It happens again a few weeks later with a nurse meant to be giving her checkup. She gets low to the table, tail poofing up, and growls low in her throat. When the nurse rolls her eyes and tells Price to just hold his hybrid still so they can get things over with, he knows instantly that his little ragdoll was right to react that way.

With that in mind, it's no surprise that no one trusts Philip Graves when he visits their base and she takes an instant dislike to him. He introduces himself correctly, but she still hard reverses away from him, nose scrunched up. Ears back, tail fluffing up, she slips behind Price and glares from around his arm.

Problem is, Graves is used to dog hybrids. He's great with them. Kitties... not so much, even with a manual. Ends his week at the base with a couple of proper bite marks and an itchy scratch on his hand.

Given her reaction, Simon and Johnny aren't too shocked when he betrays them in Las Almas.

When a team from KorTac is scheduled for a joint assignment, the 141 is bracing for a similar reaction. Especially because they have their own cat hybrid - some big mixed breed.

Kyle even suggests keeping Ragdoll inside for initial introductions on the tarmac, but they all know that's not actually viable. Their kitty wouldn't talk to them for the rest of the day if they left her out like that.

So Price double checks that her little bell-collar is on and brings her out to meet the KorTac team.

Their cat hybrid is even bigger than expected - no wonder he's a combat placement despite being a domestic breed. He keeps his face hidden behind a big black hood with cutouts for his ears, fluffy tail slightly tangled-looking.

Price hasn't even finished introductions with the KorTac team when she makes a rolling little chur noise, bright and curious. The bigger hybrid zeros in on her instantly, ears flicking. She pads out from behind the captain and slips away before he can catch her. Any calls for her to come back are fully ignored.

She trots right up to the Austrian and mrrps again, pausing mid-step, waiting for a response. The other hybrid doesn't respond - at least he doesn't seem to.

"Sorry, kitten, but he doesn't really do the cat noises," Declan tries to tell her. But he's also ignored, and no sooner has he spoken than she's getting into the other cat's space, continuously making little "brr" noises.

And then to everyone's shock, he's bending down to greet her in return, nuzzling her cheek and forehead through the hood. She starts to purr, pressing up close, tail swishing lazily. A noise erupts from him, deep and rough, rattling in his chest. Johnny jumps and snatches at her shirt, dragging her back to the safety of their team.

She mewls sadly, arms extended to reach for him.

"He's growling, Doll," Johnny corrects, arms curling around her middle. For the first time ever she starts to wriggle. "He's too big for you to mess with."

"I... wasn't growling," the Austrian pipes up. "I apologizes if I caused alarm."

Johnny shoots him an incredulous look.

"Then what was that?" Kyle asks, confused.

"I don't... often purr."

Price takes one look at their still-wiggly kitty and the Austrian leaning towards her, as if wanting to follow, and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Shit."

[bitchfitch]

weh.

Also notes on bobbin lace so far: way easier than I thought it was going to be, Way easier on my wrists than I thought it was going to be, and a lot more confusing than I thought it was going to be.

I'm teaching myself how to make bobbin lace, rank my set up

(the safety pins on the bottom of the straws are for weight , the ones on the top are to stop it constantly unspooling, yes I did try cutting a slit in the straws it just kept shredding my thread)

[katamari-of-luv]

Every new Spamton Sweepstakes page I've found so far:

(Spoilers if you want to find them for yourself! If I missed something, feel free to add on!)

Clicking the "What's next?" link at the bottom of the main page takes you to /chapter3/, which simply reads "Not applicable." and has an ellipsis for a page title. UPDATE: Holding down the left arrow on your keyboard on this page causes the word "But..." to slide in from the right side of the screen.

Manually inputting /chapter1/ yields the same result (notably without the "But..." -- thank you rollingdanielle for pointing this out), while /chapter2/ reads "Applicable." instead. /chapter4/ has a red pixel slowly fade in at the center of the screen. Clicking that takes you to /chapter4/message/, which appears the same at first glance but actually contains several hidden links under the red pixel:

These link to one of two different six-second audio files: e.mp3 ("fading in" sound effect?) and m.mp3 ("fading out"?). I would love to hear it if anyone else finds a way to translate the "message". The placements of e's and m's don't appear to coincide with either binary or Morse code, but I could very well have missed something. Perhaps something Wingdings-related but I'm only a third of the way done with writing this post and that would be my fifth time pausing to puzzle out this one page. Maybe later.

UPDATE: HOLY SHIT. This comes from convobreaker on Bluesky's very informative thread. The layout of the audio file links correspond to a QWERTY keyboard, and the m.mp3 links match up to letters that can be unscrambled to spell /chapter4/thankyou/. The page is titled "How long did it take her to smile?" and presents you with two boxes to input text and a button to confirm. Pressing it with nothing in either box or anything but a valid email address in the first displays the text "Unknown contact." Pressing it with only a valid email address in the first box gives you the hint "She never smiled?" Filling the first box with an email address and the second with anything at all replaces everything with text reading "Thank you." Presumably the correct answer will send you a response.

On that note, /chapter5/ (titled "back") sends you here:

1 is unclickable, 2 takes you to d.mp3, a six-second drum and organ loop (that I could swear I've heard before-- can anyone identify it?) (UPDATE: Thank you to vividviolence and rollingdanielle! It plays before fighting Berdly for the second and final time in the Snowgrave or Weird Route, and may imply the "Applicable/Not Applicable" text refers to whether a Weird Route is possible in a given chapter.), 3 leads to ma.mp3, a warbling sound effect that fades out towards the end, 4 takes you back to /chapter4/, and 5 is h.mp3, a short acoustic guitar-like clip. It seems like manually inputting any "chapter" pages past 5 only takes you to room-dogcheck (they don't redirect, just display the little white dog).

Upon returning to the main page, clicking the "glitches and secrets Web Ring" banner, and continuing through to the /egg/ page via the "clues" link, a new link can be found embedded in the words "secret cats". /rain/ is another of Noelle's private journal entries, regarding the time she invited Catti over to play a "sillyriffic" Cat Petters minigame together. As per usual, she reminisces on seeing things in video games nobody else is able to replicate (but suspects Kris of knowing about it this time?) The "try it yourself" text leads to a playable version of this minigame at /rarecats/. The green dancing cats bouncing around the screen award points when clicked in accordance with the rarity scale on /rain/. An "angel wing" cat causes a stained glass window to appear onscreen and fade after a few seconds. Clicking that in time brings you to /windows/, a page titled "Aren't you forgetting something?" containing many instances of the same window sprite repeated over and over.

Each window links to a different combination of the same six words. Every page except one brings you to /room-dogcheck/. The correct combination, /lostwheretheforestwouldgrow/, leads to a page titled "ROOTS" which displays a blue tree that slowly floats up and down. It plays a single somber piano note the first three times it's clicked, then sends you back to /windows/.

UPDATE: Thank you to theyloy for tipping me off to this! Clicking the tree three times actually takes you to /window/ with no S. All the windows but one are now scrambled versions of the phrase /thepoorchildren/. Clicking and dragging to "draw" on this page, titled "Therapy", for long enough eventually reveals the red tree the man who gives you eggs hides behind, and clicking that links back to /egg/.

And last but not least, there's a new clickable area in /ramb/. The red desk at the front of the swanky, inviting green room now leads to /romb/, a silent set of wooden doors with the page title "No one will shed a tear for him." Clicking on them plays a door-opening sound effect and causes the screen to go black for a moment, then this text appears:

The text cannot be highlighted, and clicking either of the empty spaces plays the ma.mp3 sound effect associated with Chapter 3 via the /chapter4/message/ page discussed earlier in the post. This is wholly conjecture, but it may be of note that the spaces appear to be the right size to contain the word "egg".

UPDATE: Thank you once again to rollingdanielle! After clicking the door, but before the text appears, you can ctrl+A to click an invisible button floating around the screen. Doing so changes the page title to "You can never defeat us!!! Let's rumble!", plays ma.mp3, and then redirects to /chapter3/. This text could possibly be used in the Lanino and Elnina fight, as the speaker refers to fighting alongside at least one other person and "rumble" could be a pun on thunderstorms.

With that, I've listed off everything I know! Again, you're welcome to reply or reblog with anything I may have missed. Just one more month and Deltarune will be Tomorrow...

[paulinkatrampolinka]

Sims 2: My cc mods list

Here is my cc mods list that i use in my game, i will share the links to the original creators. There are download links for the individual cc and my whole downloads folder.

I will keep updating this post with my mods. These mods help with making the game more beautiful and immersive ^^

Defaults

Food

Omelette

Pancake XXL

Chefs salad

Pizza

Grandmas comfort soup

Hot dog

Grocery shopping bag

Mac n cheese

Smart milk baby bottles

Toy oven food

Toddler mush

Tv dinner

Chinese food delivery

Environment/ Misc

MTS PineappleForest A Bunch Of Defaults

Book covers

Prettier Plumbob

Beddings

Maxis match lighting mod

Road replacement

Grass terrain

Trees

Better nightlife light

CAS

Skin, supernatural skin

Face templates

Eyes

Eyebrows

Makeup

Default database for clothes, hair, skin, makeup

Gameplay mods

Sims ACR (autonomous casual romance, adds risky wooho, teen wooho, birth control pill, booty call)

Pumpkin carving

Candles making

Knitting mod

Laundry

Toddler play tunnel

Tiny kids kitchen set

Faster University education

Spy crafting station (station for making poisons)

Poison mod

Drink poison and sell from inventory

No reagens needed for spells (witches can cast spells without having the ingriedients in their inventory)

Hereditary supernaturalism

Tombstone bio (will show the sim's biography on the tombstone with a new interaction "about")

Sims 3 traits

Helpful mods

Wider cas

Wider change appearance

Wider buy/plan outfits

Better Camera mod

Sims 2 RPC

Sim shadow fix

FFS "Bat box" lot debugger

Hood checker

Hack conflict detection utility (detects mod conflicts)

No corrupt death

Child ghost NPC fix

CAS makeup lag

Date stood up fix (This mod fixes the broken timer behavior for standing dates/outings up. )

Improved family tree

Rug fixes (Enables placement of rugs on Quarter Tile / Snapping off)

OMSP (enables more slots)

Maxis plant fix (all plants are now seasonal, removed excess shine)

Manual lifetime want chooser

Non-default mods

Hood deco

Sky (prettier and realistic clouds and sky)

4t2 build buy database

120+ Grass and flowers

3t2 Old mill wall ivy

3t2 Deliciously indulgent bakery

Japan inspired CC

Chinese inspired CC

Korean inspired CC

My whole Downloads folder

[crucialplayer]

Thoughts on Venus placements

!! everything is based purely on my experiences with signs, written with no other purpose than to share my observations and be unserious.

Aries Venus. View public humiliation as a flirting tactic. Will borderline call you stupid and ugly and genuinely expect people to get the hint that they’re actually very interested. Will prob ask themselves out on ur behalf. If u don't show interest immediately as they enter a room they’re done. Life is a cycle of falling in and falling out. Romance is 90 percent fucking.

Taurus venus. Like anyone who’s pretty but LOVE prob one person in a lifetime. Will have an aneurism if you try to rush them or speed up the prelude. Unbearable in their pickiness (esp with food and smells). Have deluded themselves into thinking there are people dying waiting for them to grace this earth with their love and attention. Limit freedom but act bothered when being imposed with the same limitations. 

Gemini venus. What’s there to say that hasn't been already cried out loud by the casualties of their love. Wandering eye. Don't promise much and deliver even less. Fun tease flirts, will take you on Before Sunrise style date and rot ur brain with all the talk. Like to leave people wondering. Everyone wants to try this one out at least once. Word’s been going around that a non-cheating-gemini Venus has been spotted in the wild but we’re yet to confirm the evidence. 

Cancer venus. Want to be treated like a baby but always end up babying other people. Want to please their loved ones at all times and if not met with instant appreciation become very irritated and sad. Never voice their needs properly. Expect the most distant emotionally constipated people they usually choose as their partners to be mind-readers. Cook-clean-snog love. 

Leo venus. Promise u the moon and the stars but will be too lazy to actually get them. Love themselves first and won't let you forget that. If not received naturally - will drag those compliments out of you manually. At their best great at hyping people up. Love anyone who praises them. Also kinda get attached quite fast. Get jealous and offended easily (I feel like I say this about every Leo placement but what can u do).

Virgo venus. No one can please them and with time fewer people try. Get the ick over people simply breathing. Want the most sterile of love there is. If you’re not the best at your craft or do not aspire to be WHY the fuck not??? Legit think organizing ur desk is a good substitution for letting know they have warm feelings towards you.

Libra venus. Their partner is the star of the night month year life. Choose partners that can be bragged about and envied for. Very loving never shut up about their relationship no matter the setting always find a reason to bring them up. In a relationship make concessions until they blow up.

Scorpio venus. Insanity falsely taken for being in love. Blood contract on the first date. The ones that giggle at cannibalism=love metaphors. Might just lock you up but in a romantic wayyy... Romance is NOT a joke and ANY attempt making FUN of it WILL NOT slide. Looking around might count as cheating. Also if I may I suggest never leaving them on read..) Forever and always til death do us part. 

Sagittarius venus. Often forget that they are in a relationship. Love the fun aspect of dating, but hate everything else. Need someone who constantly shakes things up and makes life interesting for them. In an ideal world, they travel around the globe and have a lot of se make meaningful connections for life. Very playful tho!

Capricorn venus. In relationships become very domestic but it takes a lot for them to actually end up in such. Love language is to cover basic necessities and feel worn out after that. Typically require to be TAUGHT on love and I know there are some people who find this an exciting quest god bless you on that journey. Prob the most rigid Venus in terms of compatibility with others imo. 

Aquarius venus. So fucking random in terms of people they crush on like I can never guess who’s gonna tingle their interest braincell this time. Normally they go for the intellectuals but once they think they’ve got too predictable with it next choice is gonna be wild. Friends with people who have a crush on them and are oblivious to it. Freeze when you get mushy or clingy with them. 

Pisces venus. Takes a village to pull them out of that one abusive dynamic they’ve been perpetually stuck in. Unironically think of themselves as smol beans. Dedicate their whole unprompted to the person they’ve had a crush on for like two days. Very very veryyyy lovey-dovey-sweet-corny, have no problem confessing their love. Likely to draw ur portrait if they like you. 

[capturousinfotech]

[simmers-against-curseforge]

About Sims 4 Mod Manager

It came to my attention a few days ago that a popular program used for sorting custom content, Sims 4 Mod Manager, is based on Overwolf software. The issue with this is that ad placements on Overwolf programs give a 20-30% cut to Overwolf directly. As stated on their website. I know it is an Overwolf program because you can find Overwolf files within it:

Personally, I do not mind un-obstructive ads on free programs as long as they are vetted by the developer, but I do not want to give Overwolf any money. So I will be kindly contacting the developer via the contacts on his website and ask he divest and use a different avenue with the ads. Maybe moving to github instead. He is also recently released a curseforge integrated app.

If you are to request the divestment, please please do so with respect as to invite people INTO the conversation and not put them in a defensive position. No one likes to listen when they are being threatened or harassed. 🤷‍♀️

I know many will be disappointed with this news as it is a great, one of a kind program, so I wanted to offer some alternative methods besides manually sorting custom content:

Sims 4 Mod Assistant: A small app used to find duplicates and mod conflicts. Also supports filtering and moving files to other folders. Available on Mod the Sims and Github.

S4Pavir: It's not that pretty, but it can be used to view, remove, and sort cc. Available on Github.

You can also use sims tray importer to sort through cc. Dress your sims in all the cc you want to remove or place build/buy items on a lot. Save the sim/lot to your library and use Sims 4 tray importer to view the list of cc used, and open its file location to delete. Available on Luniversims (.fr)

Sims 4 Studio can also be used to view, edit, and delete cc. Available here.

Let me know of any other methods you know or notify me if there are any issues with these two programs.

Hopefully there is a positive outcome with reaching out to the creator. Please be respectful and you can use my pinned post as a reference for why curseforge is a problem. 🙏

Edit:

Update on Sims 4 Mod Manager

After going through the older versions of Sims 4 mod manager I have found out that Version 1.0.9 Beta (Windows 10, 11 for me) does not have Curseforge ads. I think this is suitable option to use the mod manager without giving direct ad revenue to Overwolf/Curseforge.

When you go to the Sims 4 Mod Manager site, click other versions and scroll until you find this version. It does not have all the current features, but it works. You can uninstall your current version by searching the app in your start menu (Windows), right click and select 'uninstall', and click 'uninstall' again once you find it in the list that comes up.

(I do not have Mac, so I do not know if the later version 1.1.3 Beta, will also not have ads. If you download it please let me know.) I will update my original S4MM post with this info and also put it in a reblog so hopefully everyone can see this.)

It doesn't have the sort to subfolders option, but my way around that is to sort cc into a "moving folder" and then open your regular file explorer and cut and paste those items to your sub-folder manually. Easy peasy!

[sweetheartsofpanem]

Casual, Right? - Soft Things Survive

Previous Part

i love my two awkward little babies with attachment issues and a fear of love

warnings: refer to series masterlist

pairing(s): refer to series masterlist

word count: 3.41k

series masterlist | main masterlist

You’re not sure when it started happening.

Maybe it was the porch. Maybe it was the way he said I don’t know what this is, and didn’t run. Or maybe it was something smaller. The way he didn’t flinch when your hand brushed his. The way he didn’t stop you from leaning in.

But now, a few days later, something’s different.

Not in the big, dramatic way. He still rolls his eyes when you talk too much. You still call him sunshine just to see the muscle twitch in his jaw. He still shows up in your kitchen like it’s his, and you still steal his spoon when he’s not looking.

It’s all the same.

Except it isn’t.

Because now when he nudges your arm, his hand lingers. Now when you laugh, he looks at you like he’s trying to memorize it. And when he reaches for something behind you, he doesn’t shift away quite as fast.

You don’t talk about it. You don’t ask.

You just… try not to breathe too hard when his fingers graze your waist.

Today, he’s helping you move your kitchen table.

Not because it needs moving. You just told him it felt “off-center,” which apparently warranted a lecture on spatial reasoning and balance of power in dining arrangements.

You told him to shut up.

He grinned and said make me.

Now you’re both standing on opposite ends of the table, scooting it an inch at a time across the floor while pretending this is a normal thing two emotionally constipated people do when they’re totally fine.

Your hand slips as you readjust your grip.

He notices before you can recover, and without thinking, steps forward and steadies your wrist. His fingers wrap around yours—light, barely there.

You both freeze.

It’s not dramatic. It’s not even particularly romantic. But it’s… something.

You glance up at him.

He doesn’t move. Doesn’t smile. Just looks at you like he’s trying not to do something stupid.

So you say, “Well, that was awkward,” because you’re you.

And he snorts, lets go, and mutters, “You’re the one who forgot how hands work, honey.”

Everything snaps back into place.

Almost.

Because even after you both look away, you feel the echo of his hand on yours. Like a ghost of something that hasn’t fully taken shape yet.

The table’s barely shifted an inch by the time you both give up.

You straighten with a huff, hands on your hips. “Well. That was an extremely productive five minutes.”

Haymitch raises an eyebrow. “I moved half an inch more than you did. That’s on the record.”

“You kicked it with your boot and pretended it counted.”

He smirks. “Still moved, didn’t it?”

You roll your eyes and head for the couch, muttering, “Only because gravity took pity on us.”

He follows like it’s nothing. Like this is just what you do now—trail each other from room to room like you’re not constantly pretending your hearts aren’t two startled animals waiting for the other to bolt.

You sink into your usual spot. He drops down beside you, easy and familiar, thigh brushing yours.

Neither of you shift.

Instead, you glance at him sideways. “You know, I think showing up for manual labor means you owe me something.”

He gives you a look. “Didn’t realize I was walking into a contract.”

“Should’ve read the fine print. You’re supposed to bring a peace offering.”

“What, like flowers?”

“I was gonna say baked goods, but sure, make it romantic.”

He snorts. “What would you even do with flowers? Talk to them? Name them?”

“I do talk to them. They’re great listeners.”

He looks at you out of the corner of his eye, mouth twitching. “And here I thought I was the good listener.”

You grin. “You’re decent. Bit of a flight risk.”

“Oof,” he mutters, hand to his chest like he’s been stabbed. “Harsh from the girl who lured me in with lies about table placement.”

“Worked, didn’t it?”

That makes him pause—not long, just enough to flicker.

“Yeah,” he says softly. “Guess it did.”

You blink, then recover, nudging his leg with your knee. “Don’t get sappy on me now, sunshine.”

He nudges back. “Wouldn’t dream of it, honey.”

And somehow, without discussing it, without even looking at each other, you both stay exactly where you are. Leaning slightly. Shoulders touching. Thighs pressed together.

It’s not careful. Not distant. But it’s awkward in that new way—like neither of you knows what to do with the quiet now that it’s full of something that might matter.

You don’t mean to notice it.

Really, you don’t. But it’s right there—his collar, bent awkwardly inward like it gave up halfway through the day. One side folded under, the other sticking out. Uneven. Messy.

It shouldn’t bother you.

And yet, your fingers twitch in your lap.

You glance at him. He’s not looking at you, just staring out the window like there’s something worth seeing out there.

So you reach.

It’s small. Quiet. The kind of movement no one else would notice. You shift closer—just enough—and reach up to smooth the fabric.

“Hold still,” you murmur, not even waiting for a response.

His body stills beneath your hand.

You don’t think he breathes.

You fix the collar quickly, gently folding the crease, brushing your knuckles against the side of his neck without meaning to.

It’s warm there. Softer than you expected.

You don’t linger, but you don’t pull away immediately either.

And when you finally do—hand dropping back into your lap like it didn’t just do something that felt vaguely illegal—you try to play it off.

“There. You looked like a lopsided scarecrow.”

He snorts, but his voice is quieter than usual when he says, “Careful, honey. Keep touching me like that and I might get ideas.”

Your breath stutters in your chest before you cover it with an eye roll so aggressive it might cause injury.

“Yes,” you mutter, “very romantic of me. Grooming your collar like a deranged housewife.”

He laughs—real, quiet, and maybe a little flustered.

You glance at him, expecting a smirk. A sarcastic jab. Anything familiar.

But he’s just looking at you.

Not in a way that demands anything. Not in a way that pushes.

Just… looking.

And for a second, you forget how to be casual. How to make it a joke.

So you grab the nearest throw pillow and lightly whack him in the chest.

He catches it one-handed, grin finally tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Then, quieter—lower, like it’s a warning you’re meant to ignore—he says, “Careful, I might bite.”

You freeze for half a second. Just long enough for your brain to short-circuit.

Then you scoff, trying to cover the way your pulse skips. “Is that supposed to scare me?”

He shrugs, lazy and infuriating. “Wasn’t trying to scare you.”

You narrow your eyes. “Oh, so that was flirting.”

“Took you long enough.”

“You are—” You point at him with the pillow. “—a menace.”

“Maybe,” he says, grin widening. “But I’m your menace now, aren’t I?”

Your stomach does something violent.

And you immediately launch the pillow at his face, because that is not a line you know how to handle.

He catches it with both hands this time—laughing as he drops it in his lap, like he’s already won.

You lean back into the couch, arms crossed loosely, doing your best to pretend your heart isn’t still flailing. “You really think you’re charming, don’t you?”

He shrugs, smug. “I think you’re still sitting next to me, so I must be doing something right.”

You roll your eyes, but it’s too late—he’s already gotten under your skin again. You reach for something safer, something that doesn’t feel like walking a tightrope over whatever this is becoming.

“So,” you say, keeping your voice light, “you holding up okay lately?”

It’s casual, but not empty.

He glances at you.

And for a second, all the joking slips out of his eyes.

“Yeah,” he says. “Better than I’ve been.”

You nod, looking down at your hands.

Then, quieter—more to your sleeve than to him—you say, “Good.”

He watches you for a beat. Then leans his elbow on the back of the couch like he’s about to say something flippant.

Instead, he murmurs, “You, uh… you doing okay?”

You almost lie.

Almost say yeah, I’m fine and leave it at that.

But you don’t.

“Getting there,” you say instead.

He nods, slow. Like he understands exactly what that means.

You pull the pillow into your lap, just to give your hands something to do.

And after a few seconds of silence, he mutters, a little quieter—

“Still think about the collar thing, by the way.”

You snap your head toward him. “Haymitch—”

He’s already smirking.

But it’s softer now. Less of a wall. More of a tether.

“You really can’t help yourself, can you?”

He leans back like he’s settling in for a victory lap. “What’s the fun in holding back?”

You shake your head. “You’re exhausting.”

“You say that like it’s news.”

“I say that like I haven’t spent the last twenty minutes regretting every life choice that led to letting you in my house.”

He clicks his tongue. “You wound me, honey. After everything I’ve done for your structurally unsound table.”

“That table has survived more than you have.”

He raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Bold words from someone who nearly dislocated her wrist trying to move it.”

“That was your fault. You distracted me.”

“I didn’t even do anything, I was just there.”

You glance at him. “Exactly.”

That lands—just long enough for the silence to thrum before it softens again. Not tense. Just there.

He looks away, mouth twitching. “You’re trouble.”

You lean back into the cushions. “You keep showing up for it, though.”

He hums, eyes flicking toward you. “Yeah. I do.”

You let the quiet settle between you again.

This time, it’s easier.

“You’re lucky I like you,” you mutter, mostly into your sleeve.

He doesn’t miss a beat. “I am.”

It’s so simple, so uncharacteristically sincere, that you don’t even know what to say back.

You don’t say anything else for a while.

The quiet doesn’t feel like pressure. It feels like… space. Like something breathing around you instead of pressing in.

Your shoulder’s still against his. Neither of you moved after the last round of teasing. You should’ve, probably. But now it’s been too long and moving would feel like admitting it matters.

Then he shifts slightly.

Not away—closer.

His arm comes up behind you, slow and deliberate, settling along the back of the couch. But this time… he does touch you.

Just barely.

His fingers rest against the curve of your shoulder. Light. Easy. Like he’s pretending it means nothing, even though he’s definitely not pretending anymore.

Your entire body locks up.

It’s not dramatic. It’s not possessive. It’s just his hand, there—real and steady and undeniable.

You don’t move.

You can’t.

His thumb brushes the edge of your sweater, like he’s anchoring himself there without meaning to.

Or maybe he does mean to. You don’t know anymore.

You’re not breathing right. Your pulse is way too loud in your ears. And the worst part?

He’s acting like nothing’s happening.

You glance at him, unsure if you’re about to combust or throw him out of your house.

He’s looking straight ahead, face irritatingly neutral, but you can see the way his jaw’s a little too tight. Like he’s focusing really hard on being casual. Like he knows exactly what he’s doing and is waiting to see what you’ll do about it.

“…Comfortable?” he asks, voice low and just barely smug.

You blink. “Define comfortable.”

He huffs a laugh. Doesn’t move his hand.

“Let me know if I need to shift.”

Your voice sticks in your throat. You manage to say, “If you move I might die.”

He grins at that—quiet and satisfied—but still doesn’t look at you.

And somehow, you stay right there.

His fingers against your shoulder. Your pulse doing acrobatics. The room way too quiet for how loud everything feels.

And then—without meaning to—you shift.

It’s barely anything.

Just a lean. The smallest movement toward him. Like your body made the decision before your brain caught up.

But it’s enough.

Enough that your side settles lightly into his. Enough that your head brushes just under his jaw. Enough that he stops breathing.

You freeze.

He freezes harder.

You’re not even sure what you were doing—just leaning into the warmth, the comfort, the steady weight of him beside you—but now that you’ve done it, you realize exactly what it looks like.

Exactly what it feels like.

And neither of you knows what to do with it.

“…Well,” you say, voice higher than you meant it to be, “this feels extremely normal and not at all emotionally loaded.”

His laugh is one short breath. “Very casual. No implications whatsoever.”

“Classic platonic lean,” you add, nodding like it’ll sell the bit. “Just trying to, uh… redistribute gravity.”

“Right,” he says, eyes still fixed straight ahead. “Would hate for you to fall off the couch.”

“That’d be tragic. You’d be forced to catch me. Can’t imagine the emotional consequences.”

He hums low in his throat. “Don’t tempt me, honey.”

You immediately regret every choice you’ve ever made.

But neither of you moves.

If anything, you lean just a little more into him—so subtly it’s almost nothing. Almost.

And his fingers flex gently against your shoulder.

Not pulling you closer. Just… staying there.

Like he means it.

Like he’s choosing to.

And you sit in it—equal parts terrified and aching—wrapped in a silence thick with everything you’re both pretending not to feel.

The room is warm. Steady. Quiet.

Too quiet.

So of course that’s when the front door creaks open.

“Y/N?” Peeta’s voice calls out, too cheerful for the moment you’re currently dying in. “We brought extra bread—Katniss made me.”

You don’t move.

Haymitch doesn’t move.

Both of you stare dead ahead like prey caught in a trap.

And before you can even think to untangle yourself or breathe, Peeta steps further through the door, Katniss right behind him.

They both stop.

Completely still.

You’re leaning into Haymitch like he’s gravity. His arm’s still draped across the back of the couch, fingers casually curled around your shoulder. Your face is right there against his jaw, and neither of you has the wherewithal to even pretend it’s innocent.

There is a pause so long it becomes physical.

Katniss blinks once. Then looks at Peeta.

Peeta’s eyes widen in real time, and he immediately turns away, holding up the bag in his hand like it might ward off the atmosphere.

“Uh. We can just—yeah. We’ll drop this in the kitchen.”

“No need to stop whatever…” Katniss gestures vaguely. “…that is.”

And then they’re gone.

Kitchen-bound. Saying nothing. Making no eye contact.

The silence they leave behind is even worse than before.

You slowly turn your head to Haymitch, your face still far too close to his.

“…We are never living that down,” you whisper.

He sighs. “I’m gonna get a loaf of bread thrown at my head, aren’t I?”

“Peeta’s too polite,” you mutter. “Katniss, though…”

“She’s absolutely going to hunt me for sport.”

You sit there another second, frozen.

Then you both burst out laughing.

Awkward. Breathless. Maybe a little hysterical.

But real.

And warm.

And something neither of you is quite ready to name.

Eventually, the laughter dies down.

Kind of.

You both stay on the couch for a second longer—like maybe if you don’t move, the moment never happened. Like maybe Peeta and Katniss didn’t just walk in on you clinging to each other like some sort of emotionally-charged barnacle.

Haymitch sighs, rubbing a hand down his face. “We should probably face the music.”

You groan. “If by music you mean the sound of Peeta trying not to cry and Katniss sharpening her arrows, sure.”

He stands first, which means you have to stand, and now it’s just the two of you awkwardly rearranging your limbs like you weren’t just curled up together like a couple with unspoken feelings and extremely bad boundaries.

The kitchen is way too quiet when you walk in.

Peeta is rearranging rolls in a basket like it’s a competitive sport. Katniss is leaning against the counter, eyes narrowed, jaw clenched in a way that screams I’m not saying anything but I know everything.

“Hey,” you say, far too brightly. “Thanks for the bread.”

“Mmhm,” Peeta says, still staring at the bread like it personally betrayed him.

Katniss doesn’t answer.

You glance at Haymitch, who—naturally—says nothing and just steals a roll out of the basket like he didn’t get caught cuddling on your couch twenty seconds ago.

Katniss finally speaks.

“So.”

You brace.

She says nothing else. Just so, and lets it hang in the air like a loaded weapon.

You clear your throat. “We were, uh—just sitting. On the couch.”

“Oh yeah,” Peeta says, a little too quickly, voice about an octave higher than usual. “We saw. Very… friendly sitting.”

You turn and stare at the fridge like it might open and swallow you whole.

Haymitch chews his roll.

Loudly.

Katniss’s gaze flicks between you. “We interrupt something?”

“Nope,” Haymitch says, through a mouthful. “Just gravity redistribution.”

You elbow him.

Peeta chokes on a laugh and immediately pretends he didn’t.

The silence that follows is painful.

Katniss raises an eyebrow. “Right.”

You can feel the unsaid questions vibrating in her skull like pressure behind her eyes.

But—miraculously—she says nothing else.

Peeta clears his throat and mutters, “I’m just gonna…check our oven for something that doesn’t exist,” and promptly disappears.

Katniss follows him out of the room without another word, but not before shooting you one last look that says I will be circling back to this later.

You slump against the counter.

Haymitch leans next to you, still chewing like none of this phased him at all.

“Smooth,” you mutter.

He shrugs. “At least no one died.”

“Yet,” you say.

But you’re smiling.

And so is he.

You glance at him then—just a glance. But it sticks.

The slope of his shoulder. The familiar lines of his face in the sunlight. The way he’s standing just close enough that you could reach out. Just close enough that if you moved—just a little—you could press your forehead to his chest, let his hand settle on your back like it did on the porch, and pretend for one quiet second that this is normal. That it’s safe. That it’s allowed.

That it wouldn’t crack something open inside you you’re not sure you could put back together.

Your throat tightens.

You look away fast—too fast.

And that’s all it takes.

He tilts his head, gaze flicking down to catch your expression like he’s already figured out you’re spiraling.

“What,” he says, slow and knowing, “did I miss something?”

“Nope,” you say quickly. Too quickly. “Nothing. Didn’t miss anything. Just bread. So much bread. Peeta really outdid himself.”

He raises an eyebrow.

You refuse to meet his eyes.

“Bread,” you repeat, because your brain is malfunctioning. “Big night for carbohydrates.”

He smirks.

And you hate him a little bit for it. Mostly because he’s right, and you’re obvious, and you’re already burning alive just from the idea of touching him like that.

“You’re such a bad liar,” he murmurs, voice lower now.

You swallow. “You’re such a—” You gesture vaguely. “Person.”

It’s a miracle you don’t dissolve on the spot.

But he just smiles—soft, unreadable—and lets you flail.

You’re still trying to recover your dignity—face burning, thoughts an absolute mess—when he nudges your elbow with his.

Just once.

Light. Familiar.

Then he says, low and simple, “Come on.”

You blink.

He’s already pushing off the counter, already walking back toward the living room like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

Like none of it scared him.

Like maybe he’s not pretending either.

You hesitate for half a second.

Then you follow.

And when he drops onto the couch, you sit beside him like you never left. Like gravity just pulled you back into place.

His arm rests along the back again.

You don’t lean in this time—not yet—but you stay close enough that the warmth of him settles right under your skin.

Neither of you speaks.

You just sit there.

Like it’s normal.

Like it’s not something new trying to take shape between you.

Next Part