#I have stuck bits of washi tape to each of these pages like post-it notes ok

[inherhouseshewaitsdreaming]

A Dream of 2023: Techo Kaigi

Journaling became a thing for me this year. After many years of trying to get bullet journaling to work for me it finally stuck. And with that came a whole rush of other things - notebooks, pens, washi tape, a whole online community of planners, tomoe river paper, and now, to finish, a techo kaigi which shows just how deeply I’ve fallen into this journaling hole.

How did 2022 go?

When the year started I was still in my (largely failing) Leuchtturm 1917s. I’d discovered the wonders of dotted pages (I’ve used grid pages for years - everything must line up in my brain). I had a few of them where I’d tried, got a few pages in, and then failed. In particular, I really struggled with setting up the daily page only on the day vs setting up pages in advance and not using them. Then I came across a video from Plant Based Bride called BuJo 101: The Rolling Weekly. And it clicked. This method just clicked. I’d tried similar things. I’d tried very different things. But for some reason it was this very specific layout that worked for me.

I started off trying it for a few weeks in one of the failed Leuchtturm’s with the idea that, if I could stick with it, I could get a fancy journal. And I did stick with it. So I got an A5 Archer & Olive. I’d wanted to start incorporating some art and my preferred medium is watercolour. I needed something that would survive and 160 GSM seemed a good bet.

In this first journal I used the rolling monthlies and wrote down everything I wanted to record. This was my all in one journal. I carried it everywhere. I filled it really quickly. So next time I decided to try a larger journal and started on a B5 Archer & Olive.

Is one journal enough?

At this time, I started to think - wouldn’t it be easier if my collections were in their own books so I could look reference them as a whole. Especially my notes on learning to write. Oh, and a media journal seems a good idea. And maybe I should have a journal for each of my writing projects. And then another journal to index everything. And so one book became many and about halfway through the book it stopped being an all in one. This is fairly common for me. I buy a lot of notebooks! But the core part of the journal was still working. I felt a bit bad about so many books, I’ll admit. Until …

Stationery Brew

Did you know there is a whole group of stationery and journaling people who stream their journaling on Twitch? Well there is! The amazing Stationery Brew stream team was something I came across, quite by accident. And then I found even more cool things. Toastytreat inspired me to get my fountain pens back out. Kittykatcollar showed me where to buy all the cool stationery. Jasminemarieplans made me want to try memory keeping and everyone inspired me to try personal journaling. Celerymin made me want to try copy writing books (which turned out to be really useful). I could carry on forever here - finding a group of people who share your interests has been an amazing experience.

There was one common journal in particular that heavily affected my decisions for 2023. By later in the year I was now using a B5 Notebook Therapy journal (which worked better with my chosen pens and inks). I’d started doing personal journaling in this too. But a lot of people were using planners by Hobonichi. And when I looked I realised that my layouts looked a lot like the ones in those planners. So I brought a Hobonichi. Or 4.

My 2023 planner line up

Daily carry: Hobonichi Weeks Mega

As the year went on I realised that one of the major issues with a 160 GSM B5 notebook is that its big and heavy! So after a little watching of the Youtube I realised I would find a daily carry useful - a small journal I can carry everywhere. A practical planner where I can add everything as I need to. The Weeks also has a lot of blank pages at the back, so I can use this for collections (in the Bullet Journaling style) that I wanted to have with me. I can write ideas for blog posts down on the train, or add a book that someone tells me about.

Bonus feature: in the My 100 page I have written, to replace goals, a set of Achievements (think MMO achievement logs) for the year covering all the areas of my life that I want to improve on - health, some home renovation, journaling, writing, art, blogging. A goal is something you can fail. An achievement is something you get eventually.

Creative and personal journaling: Hobonichi Cousin

As the B5 journals might suggest, I fill a lot of space. I don’t do short writing very well. And the Cousin is what inspired me to buy a Hobonichi. This is where I will do personal journaling, plan my creative activities and goals. I’ll use all the washi and stickers. I’ll write notes and ideas for creative projects. I’ll put some media journaling in there too, when its more about the enjoyment of the media and not learning from the media. This is my place to splurge all the things in my brain across the page.

I have a cover (Night Flamingo) and a cover on cover (Light in the Distance), but to protect the book a little more, I added a MD Codex clear cover to the book, mostly as a defense against cats walking across my journals. And sitting on my journals. While wet. Note - you need the Codex version of the clear cover to fit a Cousin.

Health journal: Hobonichi Weeks

I wanted to put a bit of extra focus on my health after a bad year, so I have a separate mini journal for that. I need to track quite a few things and wanted to be able to look back on the year and see how some of the things I was trying and how well they worked. I’ve been messing around with the format for this a little, but it seems to be working so far. At least as far as encouraging me to record my health. Its not encouraging me to eat better or do more exercise. But that’s a bit much to ask of a little book.

I have a got a cover on cover on order for this. For now it doesn’t leave my desk. I think I would like a cover that lets me put both Weeks inside it.

Commonplace book: Hobonichi Journal

While i was researching the ways that people used their journals I came across a video called how i use my notebooks | hobonichi avec, commonplace by Megan Rhiannon which showed a commonplace methodology that I really liked and I adapted that a little to be my commonplace book. I liked the idea of putting it in the same cover with the Cousin, so I grabbed a Hobonichi journal and just loved it. I use a lot of sheening inks and they look amazing on the tomoe river paper. I added an MD clear cover to this too. In fact, all of my journals have one apart from the Weeks (which has the Hobonichi cover on cover instead). I really don’t trust those cats.

Writing journal: Hobonichi Journal

NaNoWriMo hit and I made my third attempt at completing this. I decided to grab a Hobonichi journal for this too. Its light to carry, its a pleasure to write in. I need as few barriers as possible for NaNo success (I need to handwrite or I get lost editing). It worked. I won NaNo for the first time this year. So I’m going to stick with this. Instead of one per project, I’ll keep one just for writing.

The smooth paper that works so well with fountain pens is ideal for this. To write, I need to be able to write quickly. The tomoe river paper allows me to do this. Its smooth and gives little resistance. But it doesn’t have the excessively slick feel of other papers like Rhodia. As I am using two of these journals, I added stickers to each to let me tell them apart without having to open them.

Bullet Journal: MD Codex

I had been planning to have no bullet journal. But then I started watching Youtube videos from CoffeeMonsterzCo and saw her mini bullet journal. This made me realize that bullet journaling could still be useful. And it can help overcome the limitation of the Hobonichi - what to do if I want to write more than a page in a given day.

This is, therefore, my ‘overflow’ journal. I’ll only use it on days where I need more space. To break down tasks, create lists to complete, record things that don’t fit in elsewhere. Or to record little notes and things that don’t quite fit elsewhere.

I was already using the MD Codex to do creative planning, so I reformatted those planning notes into a bullet journal format. I need to find something colourful to put on the front as MD journals are incredibly boring.

Work journal: Hobonichi Original

I like to keep my work notes completely separate, so I got a different journal for this. At first I was going to use an MD, but I’ve decided I really don’t like MD paper. And it will save me time to have a journal that is pre-set rather than bullet journaling.

This is the riskiest journal here. I have all sorts of trouble finding a work journal that works for me. If this fails, I’ll repurpose it and go back to a Bullet Journal approach for work.

This is the Navy cover with the Light in the Distance Cover on Cover.

And thats it. I have a couple of Stalogy notebooks kicking around - I use the half size ones for making messy notes so I can keep all my journals clear of them. And I have nearly completed Tarot Journal in another Notebook Therapy B5 to finish this year. This is the only case of ‘one-notebook-per-project’ that worked out for me. I’ve collected insights from different place and use this book as my reference instead of all the other individual ones.

[paradife-loft]

Things we learn about JGY in MDZS, in chronological order

I mentioned at one point a while back, that when the official English volumes of MDZS came out and I started doing a reread, I wanted to make a chronological catalogue of information we learn about Jin Guangyao.

I wanted to do this both for reference purposes, but also for bringing a quality of deliberation to the experience, trying to look more cleanly at how MXTX’s presentation of him unfolds throughout the novel if you aren’t coming into it already knowing a majority of his story. In particular, I think it’s very relevant to look at that presentation when coming, as I do, from a background of having watched CQL first, because the difference in story ordering (present day with integrated flashbacks, versus mostly linear and chronological) makes a big difference in what and how we learn things about him in, in what order, and therefore how his entire character comes across. (I mean, it does that for probably everybody to greater or lesser degrees, but it’s me, so my main concern is Jin Guangyao.)

So this here is the first part of that reference catalogue! It covers material found in volume 1 of the official published English translation by Seven Seas, which is also what the page numbers refer to.

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He is the only one of Jin Guangshan’s many illegitimate children to be “outstanding enough” to be recognized and taken back into the family. He is the current head of the Lanling Jin clan in the present day. (page 72)

He is close personal friends with Zewu-jun, Lan Xichen, and as a result of that friendship, the Lan and Jin clans are politically close. (page 82)

His title is Lianfang-zun. He hosts Lan Xichen at Jinlintai regularly. He was the (younger) half-brother of Jin Ling’s father, and the elder half-brother of Mo Xuanyu. He sits on the “highest seat of the cultivation world” and is very politically and personally powerful - entirely unlike Mo Xuanyu. He and Lan Xichen are not simply good friends, but also sworn brothers. (page 124)

He’s the one who gave Fairy to Jin Ling as a gift. (page 222)

He and Lan Xichen had also been sworn brothers with the previous leader of the Nie clan, Nie Mingjue. The two of them now often help his younger brother, Nie Huaisang, with the many difficulties he has running his clan. (pages 225-226)

He is considered “smooth and resourceful, sharp-witted and intelligent.” His oath of brotherhood with LXC and NMJ took place during the Sunshot Campaign, when they each did praiseworthy deeds that later got them the moniker of the Venerated Triad*. (page 270) (*yes, I’m cleaning up/swapping that translation for a different one, because the official one on-page is ridiculous.)

Nie Mingjue “viciously berated” him and ordered him to leave when he stepped in to try and smooth over a diplomatic solution between him and Jin Guangshan over the matter of Xue Yang killing the Chang Clan. He ended up too terrified to say anything more, and hid behind Lan Xichen. (page 308)

Jin Guangyao inherited control of the Lanling Jin clan after his father’s death (a few years after the siege of the Burial Mounds), as well as his position of Cultivation Chief. He ushered in a new regime compared to that of his father, offering many restorative measures to their reputation, including “getting rid” of Xue Yang and any talk of remaking the Yin Tiger Seal. (page 314)

He’s the most popular character for kids to play in “Sunshot Campaign” games! (adorable <3) His background - which we don’t know yet beyond simply his being an illegitimate child - is considered “too embarrassing to speak of”, but that only helps endear him to the common people in the context of his admirable rise to power. During the Sunshot Campaign, he worked as an incredibly effective spy within the Qishan Wen clan; afterwards, he “curried favor by every means possible,” using intelligence and quick wits in all sorts of ways eventually reach his current position as Cultivation Chief. On the other hand, it seems widely-enough known as a part of his reputation that he was regularly scared of Nie Mingjue, that even the kids playing Sunshot games were well aware of it. (page 344-345)

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And that’s it! A few additional observations of these, taken as a whole:

The strong focus here, presumably in his reputation as narrator!Wei Wuxian is relating it to us, on extraordinary merit as the reason for everything about his ascension.

A strong five out of nine of these passages mentioning him either include, emphasise, or are directly about, his relationship with Lan Xichen. (And one of those remaining four is literally just “he gave Jin Ling a dog”.) - And not only is it a consistent through-line: it’s the literal second thing we learn about him.

Up through the point where Wangxian have retrieved their dismembered corpse friend’s torso from the Chang clan cemetery, we still haven’t heard any mention of Meng Shi’s occupation. The closest we get is the last section, where his background is mentioned as being very embarrassing - but it still doesn’t specify. Even in the very first mention of him, where we learn he’s an illegitimate child, and that Jin Guangshan was an infamous womanizer, nobody here and now is commenting about “son of a prostitute”. Reputation may certainly be fickle - but it’s also very clearly not worth nothing.

(For comparison, in his first couple appearances in CQL, we get, roughly in order: retainer of the Nie clan who Huaisang relies on; son of a prostitute (gossiped about); mutual heart-eyes with Lan Xichen; extremely competent and politically shrewd. Possibly also murders people and lies about it (??), but also jumps in front of a sword for Nie Mingjue.)

[workingmotivation]

you all may be wondering why people all over social media are talking about bullet journalling. What is bullet journaling and how to start bullet journalling would be your questions. But, more than that you would be asking your self why should I do bullet journalling. I have asked these questions to myself too. Below is a list of pros and cons of bullet journalling. 

The Pros of Bullet Journaling

Customisable Layout If you make a bullet journal, you can decide on how the pages are set out, from the size of each box to its position on the page. This gives you much more control and the ability to do what you actually want with it, opposed to being stuck to the guidelines set out by a regular planner. You can alter the design based on what works for you so that your planner is the most functional and suited to you that it can be. This is particularly useful if you want to customise your journal to suit being a student, as you're able to add a timetable, homework tracker, revision schedule and many other school-related pages that wouldn't otherwise be included in a regular journal or diary.

Creative Outlet With most traditional planners, you simply write in any important events and to-do lists, which helps to keep you organised but can become quite monotonous. There's barely any room to be adventurous and creative with how you enter information in your planner, but the bullet journal provides a solution to this. Whether you show creativity through quotes, drawings, fonts or colours, all of this can be included in your bullet journal as well as important details and events. You can also use washi tape, stickers and coloured pens to decorate, which can actually be therapeutic and provide much more of a creative outlet for you, transforming bullet journaling into a hobby. If you're feeling stressed by school or in need of a relax, this can also be a good option for winding down and exerting your creativity elsewhere.

You Can Mix Things Up Once you get a shop-bought journal, you have to commit to that layout and style of entering your tasks. With bullet journaling, it's a completely different story. If you opt for a vertical spread one week but decide you don't like it, you can easily change it for the future. Or if you draw out a monthly overview but find that you hardly use it, you simply don't need to draw it out next month. There's also the possibility to try out new things and explore different styles of journaling, knowing that you don't have to stick with it as you can easily revert back to normal whenever you want.

Everything Is In One Place It can be hectic and unorganised to have a separate diary, notebook and calendar, as well as random notes on your phone and scrap pieces of paper. With a bullet journal, you can condense this all into one place. This means that you'll know exactly where to look for something and so will never forget a task. I've also seen quite a few people who have combined their bullet journal with a revision book or for class notes, meaning even their school work is contained in this one organised place.

It's Unique For Everyone Everyone will have different uses for their journal and things to enter, so it's only right that each journal should also be unique. You are able to find a method that is suited entirely to you, making planning much more efficient. If you're a blogger and find that regular journals don't include any place for you to plan posts, you can easily add this in. Or if you want a section to track all of your school grades, you can implement this in no time. Whatever you find works best for you can be employed so that journaling is the most efficient and enjoyable it can possibly be.

The Cons of Bullet Journaling

It's Too Time Consuming One of my main criteria for planning is that it should be quick and easy to do. Whether it's entering important dates or creating new spreads, I should be able to spend a minimal amount of time on it. This is especially important as a student, as I need to quickly and efficiently jot down any homework tasks, notes and revision before it disappears from my brain. However, I found that bullet journaling took up a lot of my time, and I couldn't enter something into my journal without either having to draw out a completely new page or spending lots of time to make sure what I was entering looked nice.

I'm a Perfectionist When I was creating my spreads, I didn't want to settle for alright. I wanted perfection and that's pretty hard to achieve. I was measuring boxes to be accurate down to the hundredth of a centimetre (this is how extreme I was going!) and constantly erasing things that didn't look quite like how I'd envisioned them. Although I was pleased with the final spreads, it took too long to get to that point and I'd always notice something that could be tweaked or altered to make it perfect. With a homemade journal like this, I was never going to get it 100% right.

Some Spreads Were Unnecessary When deciding what spreads I wanted in my bullet journal, I went a bit crazy and overboard. Some of the pages I included were a bucket list, the tracker of all the books I read and a list of things that made me happy. Although all of these were nice additions, none of them were really necessary or could've been fine just on my phone. I spent way too much time making these additional pages look nice, even though I'd hardly use them in my day-to-day life.

It's Difficult to Plan Ahead It's understandable that you won't have time initially to draw out every page and spread for the next 12 months, and this can start to become an issue. Bullet journaling was great for planning in the moment, or for that particular month which was already drawn out, but as soon as I found out the dates for a holiday next summer or important exams in the future, all of this went out the window. There's nowhere to immediately write down these things without drawing out all of the spreads between now and that moment, which I didn't want to do as there may be changes or alterations that I wanted to make in the future. For this reason, I found bullet journaling a lot harder to maintain, especially when considering long-term tasks and goals.

I Don't Have Enough to Enter Although I do have plenty of college-related tasks to keep track of, I don't really have much else apart from that. Particularly in the holidays, I could have weeks with nothing going on and so a blank journal. This was hard to accept with my bullet journal, as I'd just spent lots of time drawing out each spread only to not even use it. Considering the amount of time and effort that was put into setting it up, it just wasn't worth it for only a couple of tasks or to-do lists.