Last year, I went skydiving in uniform. 🖖🏻🖖🏻🖖🏻

Thank you so much! And yes, the comfort is definitely coming! I actually believe that Spock would crack and make the first move. That isn't to say he would do it well, but I think he'd absolutely do it first. I like to think that he would attempt to embrace his humanity for Jim's sake, and that he would push past his severe emotional discomfort in an effort to be what he thinks Jim wants—human, emotional, romantic, sexual, etc. Whether that is or isn't the reality is a different story. For Jim's part, I think he would hold back until he was sure of Spock's comfort level, so as not to risk 'overwhelming' him by being too forward. As well, Jim is well aware that Spock will (usually) follow his lead on anything, regardless of any personal feelings about that direction. Not only is there a rank-based power imbalance between them, but Spock will do just about anything for him, and that puts Jim in a tricky position. If he made the first move, I think some part of him would always wonder whether Spock was only reciprocating because it was Jim who started it. TL;DR: I think Spock would make the first move—badly, and without any finesse—but the moment that he expressed that desire was sincere, Jim would surge forward like a damn tsunami and take the lead from there.

When I'm feeling stuck on a chapter, I do something that I call 'Chapter Napping'. I set an alarm for 30 minutes, set my phone to record audio, and then lay in bed with my two cats, just as if I were about to take a long nap. I close my eyes and picture the scene I'm having trouble with. The characters, the lines, the location, the dialogue; I force myself to be right in that moment and I play the scene out in my head. Each beat of it, from beginning to end, in as much detail as I can manage. And then, when I've got it firmly in mind, I start talking out loud. I'll spit out whatever I'm seeing, what I'm feeling, what the characters are saying—anything that stands out to me. It's almost always dialogue, but occasionally it's character motivations, or introspection, or transitional movements, or physical actions. Once I've built a bit of momentum, I'll usually let my brain loosen up and play with the scene, let myself wander around in the idea of it and test out ideas. I don't worry about how I sound, I don't worry about finishing my sentences, I don't worry about whether what I'm saying even fits the character saying it. I just dictate out whatever comes to me. (Inevitably, something I picture will rabbit hole off to different scenes/future chapters, or even a different story altogether. I say those aloud too, but I do try to reel it back in to the scene/chapter I'm having trouble with.) When my alarm goes off (or my inattentive-type ADHD ass gets bored of laying there), I save the recording, upload it to my computer, and then run it through a Speech-to-Text transcriber. ... Except, because my two cats become fucking 15lb+ demons who insistently put their assholes right up in my face when they aren't the sole focus of my attention, half of the transcript ends up being me scolding them, cooing at them, yelling at them, or otherwise mumbling nonsensically to them. The transcriber doesn't differentiate between Brainstorm Talking and Alex-Yelling-At-Her-Cats Talking. I'll usually go in and pick out what I need from it, but with how Chapter 29 is supposed to play out, it's sort of hard for me to tell this time around.

My laptop background keeping me motivated.