#cassiopeiasara

My drawing of a business card inspired by a very good Hackle nonmagical AU fanfic:

Let Loose Your Longing

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15264330

18. have you ever changed fields in your career or education?

Hah, yes, a fair bit! I have never really been the sort of person with a drive or a calling to go for a specific career and stick with it. (I got diagnosed with ADHD last year, aged 40, which in its undiagnosed and unrecognised form definitely also played into this.)

I have a degree totally unrelated to any jobs I have ever done, have changed jobs a bunch of times, and fully changed career fields three times. The most recent of those was a little under five years ago, when I took a job because circumstances meant I needed the steady income it would provide, and it seemed like something that would tide me over for six months while I looked for something closer to what I thought I actually wanted to do. Then I accidentally found out that love it. I have really grown and learned and developed in the field over the last few years, and think this might stick for a while at least. The work is interesting and challenging, the people are good, and it's for a charity whose purpose I believe in, but I also now have a lot of transferable skills in the field I'm now in if I choose to move on somewhere else.

How many books did you read this year?

I don't keep well enough track but between Libby and my memory of physical books, I read approximately 80 books this year. That's not counting ones I didn't finish.

Pretty wild considering I read 0 last year 😂

14. What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

I just want to get through what I have checked out. Director's Cut by Carlyn Greenwald, Here for the Wrong Reasons by Annabel Paulsen and Lydia Wang, and The Women's House of Detention by Hugh Ryan.

18. How many books did you buy?

I bought 15 books this year. I mostly read using my local library and Libby, but I try to buy the books that I love and find interesting/inspiring. Plus the thing about being a Black lesbian as that books about people like you aren't always popular enough to be included in library collection. So books I really wanted to read like Outdrawn by Deanna Gray or Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao or Harlem Sunset by Neksa Afia, I had to buy if I wanted to read them.

Thank you! ☕️

1) Hot coffee with cream. My ritual every morning.

2) Mint tea. Right now I’ve got the Organic Mint Fields tea bags from Republic of Tea and it’s sooooo good; I will definitely be buying a refill bag when this tin is done. I love a nice stomach-settling tea in these anxious times.

3) Black tea. My faves are Earl Grey, Lady Grey, or Irish Breakfast, with cream (or oat milk) and maybe a little honey or sugar although usually I’m lazy and just go with the milk.

4) Fragrant (floral or fruity) caffeinated teas that aren’t black tea. (This is a category in my head.) Right now I’ve got a Peach Blossom Oolong, also from Republic ofTea. I also really love their Pomegranate Green Tea.

Ada winced again as Hecate gingerly took her hand and rolled her wrist. Hecate merely hummed, but she slowed the movements, becoming gentler still.

All the gentleness in the world couldn’t stop the burning sensation racing up Ada’s arm, the searing pain in her fingertips with every shift of her hand. She pressed her lips into a hard line and tried not to make a noise.

Ada wasn’t breathing, Hecate noted. She’d gone completely rigid and still—a sure sign of how intense the pain was.

Delicately, Hecate cleared her throat, schooling her tone to absolute neutral calm, “How long were you planning on hiding this?”

“However long it took.” Ada answered, without hesitation.

Hecate glanced up at her headmistress, trying not to let her disapproval show (and failing, she could tell by the way Ada flinched in response).

“You have too much to worry about already,” Ada supplied, with a small, sad smile. “I didn’t want to unnecessarily—”

“Unnecessary is enduring pain that could be easily managed or even fully healed with a quick potion,” Hecate cut her off, quickly but not unkindly. Her expression softened further, eyebrows quirking as if she were the one in pain. “Will you…let me handle it, now?”

Ada’s heart blossomed like spring, enveloping her entire chest in a wash of comforting warmth.

“Yes,” she agreed quietly, her own smile deepening at the relief and delight in Hecate’s face. Hecate disappeared in a swirl of black skirts, and Ada sat back, feeling a measure of relief herself. It was alright. Hecate was going to take care of it, take care of her, as always. And more significantly—Hecate wanted to take care of her. The thought shouldn’t make her as giddy as it did, but then again, the potions mistress shouldn’t make her as giddy as she did, either.

Unlike her wrist, Ada’s heart couldn’t be cured with a simple potion or a quick spell. And if she were being entirely honest (a dangerous thing, when it concerned Hecate Hardbroom and the feelings she inspired), she didn’t wish to be cured.

Hecate returned with a small vial and a proud, self-satisfied smile to match. She clipped towards Ada again, fully determined to save the day.

hi!! this is shaping up to be a 24 hour ridealong fic with the 118, with an oc narrator. slots in between 7.03 and 7.04. it's a very fun exercise in realizing just how wild this show is haha.

here's a little snippet when athena first shows up!

“Hmm. Seems someone woke up with a case of feeling reckless — and stupid.” The sergeant takes notice of Nick, then, fixing him with a stare evident even through her polarized lenses. “And you are?” “Nick Belsky,” he says, sweating a little in the heat. And under her scrutiny, he’s not gonna deny it. “LA Times, doing a ridealong with the 118 today.” “Ah,” she says. “Sergeant Athena Grant, LAPD.” “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” Nick thinks he catches Nash smirking at that, just a little. “Are you expecting to arrest the man, when you get him down?” “I’ll have to question him first,” Grant says, deftly avoiding Nick’s question. “But I’m not out here endorsing people scaling palm trees in their spare time.” “Fair enough.”  Nash’s radio crackles, and between that and the “Hey, Cap, I got him!” Buckley yells from up in the basket, Nick figures that tree guy has about ten solid minutes before he’s forced to face whatever consequences the sergeant has in store for him.  If he had to guess, charges for trespassing and reckless endangerment would go high up on the list. “That’s my cue,” Grant says, sparing Nick a glance and shooting Nash a genuine smile. They must run into each other often at scenes, becoming familiar faces over the years. “See you around, Captain.” “You too, Sergeant.”  When she’s safely out of earshot, Nick asks his next question. “Would you say your station has a good working relationship with the LAPD?” “You could say that,” Nash says, and Nick doesn’t miss the way the captain’s mouth turns up in a grin.