#because there is a lot of difference in creating a good environment by checking your own behaviour

[maximumzombiecreator]

It's often remarked how D&D 5e's play culture has this sort of disinterest bordering on contempt for actually knowing the rules, often even extending to the DM themselves. I've seen a lot of different ideas for why this is, but one reason I rarely see discussed is that actually, a lot of 5e's rules are not meant to be used.

Encumbrance is a great example of this. 5e contains granular weights for all the items that you might have in your inventory, and rules for how much you can carry based on your strength score, and they've set these carry capacities high enough that you should never actually need to think about them. And that's deliberate, the designers have explicitly said that they've set carrying capacity high enough that it shouldn't come up in normal play. So for a starting DM, you see all these weights, you see all the rules for how much people can carry or drag, and you've played Fallout, you know how this works. And then if you try to actually enforce that, you find that it's insanely tedious, and it basically never actually matters, so you drop it.

Foraging is the example of this that bothers me most. There's a whole system for this! A table of foraging DCs, and math for how much food you can find, and how long you can go without food, etc. But the math is set up so that a person with no survival proficiency and a +0 to WIS, in a hostile environment, will still forage enough food to be fine, and the starvation rules are so generous that even a run of bad luck is unlikely to matter. So a DM who actually tries to use these rules will quickly find that they add nothing but bookkeeping. You're rolling a bunch of checks every day of travel for something that is purpose built not to matter. And that's before you add in all the ways to trivialize or circumvent this.

These rules don't exist to be used, that is not their purpose. These rules exist because the designers were scared of the backlash to 4e, and wanted to make sure that the game had all the rules that D&D "should" have. But they didn't actually want these mechanics. They didn't want the bookkeeping, they didn't care about that style of play, but they couldn't just say, "this game isn't about that" for fear of angering traditionalists. And unfortunately the way they handled this was by putting in rules that are bad, that actively fight anyone who wants to use that style of play and act as a trap to people who take the rules in good faith.

And this means that knowing what rules are not supposed to be used is an actual skill 5e DMs develop. Part of being a good 5e DM is being able to tell the real rules that will improve your game from the fake rules that are there to placate angry forum posters. And that's just an awful position to put DMs in (especially new DMs), but it's pretty unsurprising that it creates a certain contempt for knowing the rules as written.

You should have contempt for some of the rules as written. The designers did.

[prettieinpink]

REBRANDING YOURSELF

COLLAB WITH THE HOTTIE????!!!!!!! @honeytonedhottie. LMAO NOT US PLANNING THIS IN LIKE DEC THEN RELEASING IN APRIL. I luv you so much ur my fav moot. moots who collab together, stay together. Check out her post on her page too, as usual, she makes the best points so y'all better listen.

Rebranding is a process in which you redefine who you are and how others perceive you. Each journey of rebranding yourself is personal and individual. When you rebrand yourself, you further align yourself with your higher you. This post is a guide to getting started on your journey!

UNDERSTAND YOUR CURRENT SELF.

So, take a step back and think about who you are as an individual right now. What are your values and beliefs? Does your external self reflect your inner self? Are you comfortable in your current environment?

These questions and more will help to see which aspects of your life you may need to redefine. See if there’s anything that doesn’t align with your higher self. 

After that, pick those aspects that need to be redefined. Why do you want to change this? How has this been impacting you internally/externally? Does this aspect stem from your environment or yourself? See why this aspect needs to be improved. 

DESIGNING YOUR BRAND

This is more of a fun step! So, using your aspects design how you want that specific thing to look and feel like. Avoid being vague or non-specific. Try to put in as much detail as you can for each aspect. 

If you’d prefer, you don’t have to use ‘aspects’ and instead use your life generally. This is your redesign, so do whatever is more comfortable and achievable for you.

ASPECTS

Health

Social life

Career

Hobbies

Family

Finance

Spirituality

Personal development (mindset, goals, improvement)

Self care

Culture

Well-being

Things to include

Achievable goals

How your environment looks like

How your daily life like

How you see yourself

What do you feel after

Why this is alignment within yourself? 

You can do this any way you want. The one I would recommend for redesigning your life would be a vision board, preferably a physical one. If you don’t want to do that, there are still a lot of options such as writing it down into a pretty poster, creating a playlist that will reflect your brand, creating a pretty list, or having sticky notes around your room as reminders. 

Be creative and detailed with this. You should spend at least an hour if not more trying to redesign your life/aspects.

CREATING GOALS

Goals are so important, especially when we are moving in a different direction than we were before. As we’ve got the current status of who we are and what we want to be, creating goals should be easy. 

Make your goals visible. Put a sticky note on your mirrors, put it as your laptop background, put a reminder on your phone, listen to a playlist that motivates you of your goals or anything else that will constantly remind you of your goals. 

Other than that, remember that goals have to be achievable, mindful, and flexible.

ESTABLISHING HABITS

Habits are so important to rebrand yourself. Habits make up your identity. The way you act, speak, and do daily, can subconsciously influence you to be someone who isn’t in alignment with your higher self.

 As much as it’s important to establish new habits that align with you, you have to root out the habits that are pushing you off track from achieving your goals. 

The good thing is that you can do both at the same time. Replace those old habits, with brand new ones. For example, when you open your phone first thing in the morning instead of opening up TikTok, get YouTube opened and start a 5-minute meditation to start your day.

However, just because a habit is beneficial for you, it doesn’t mean it is in alignment for you. For many people, they prefer to read books as a productive alternative for leisure, however, you may not be able to read a book and focus. In that case, you may want to watch an educational video instead. You’re still getting the benefits, but just in a different way. 

STEP FIVE: IMPLEMENTING YOUR BRAND DAILY

Think about all the little details of how this person would act, from morning until night. Embody their actions, words, aura, and vibes. This is when having a visual of your goals is good, so you can see what you need to do.

This includes no longer indulging in things your higher self wouldn’t do. Regardless of how much comfort, entertainment, or dopamine something gives you, you have to let it go if it is destroying your mind. 

I way I recommend implementing your brand daily by creating a daily routine that focuses on a different goal each day of the week. E.g:

Monday - Practicing being mindful (meditation, journaling, connecting with your religion)

Tuesday - Fitness (pilates, weightlifting, hot girl walks)

Wednesday - Socialising (going out to meet new people/connecting with old friends)

Thursday - Productivity (Schoolwork, studying, business, workplace tasks)

Friday - Self-care (taking a slow day however you’d like)

ta-daa!! thanks 4 reading. now go follow @honeytonedhottie 💕😍

[fluentmoviequoter]

Brighter, Sweeter Days

Requested Here!

Pairing: Tim Bradford x shy!fem!baker!reader

Summary: Tim comes to your bakery daily, and you try to brighten his day to get him to notice you. When he finally shows you he has noticed you, there's a lot you have to tell him.

Warnings: minor injuries, fluff!!!

Word Count: 2.4k+ words

Masterlist Directory | Tim Bradford Masterlist | Request Info/Rules

A wave of hot air greets you as you open the oven. Pulling the cookie sheet from the left side and a muffin pan from the right, you smell the intermingled brown sugar, maple, and orange. After the hot pans have been safely placed on one of your bakery’s tables, you close the oven and remove your heatproof gloves.

“I really hope you have more maple biscotti because there’s a really cute firefighter and I can’t slip him my number if we can’t fulfill his order,” your employee, Melanie, rambles as she enters the heart of the bakery.

“Just pulled some out of the oven,” you answer. “It’ll be about ten minutes before we can box them, though. Offer to throw in a dozen free cookies or a coffee traveler.”

“Yes, chef!” she calls over her shoulder.

“And stop watching The Bear before work every day,” you murmur as you check the consistency of a new whipped buttercream.

Several years ago, you opened your bakery in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, and remain shocked at how well it has done. There have been celebrities who travel hours just to try your creations based on the good word of a few locals, you’ve had to close at lunch more than once because you ran out of food, and yet you’ve only been in the front of the bakery a dozen times since opening.

You’re shy, passionate about baking, and less of a people person than most business owners, so you spend your days in the back as your dedicated employees create a friendly and welcoming environment for your customers to come in, enjoy the atmosphere, and try a delicious baked good or slow-roasted coffee.

After the morning rush, during which you make three cakes, drizzle white chocolate on your newest biscotti, and decorate sugar cookies, Melanie returns to the back of the bakery. She sighs and leans on a table.

“How’d it go?” you ask.

“Good. Seemed busier than usual, lots of law enforcement,” she explains, peeking into a mixing bowl.

“Those are scraps from cake pops,” you tell her. “Help yourself.”

“You’re an angel,” she sighs. “A walking, shy so not much into talking, angel.”

You roll your eyes and begin folding chocolate swirls into croissant dough. “And the firefighter?”

“He thought they’d love some coffee but refused to accept it without paying. So, I slipped an angel food cake and my number into his bag.”

You nod and continue working on the croissants, but when Melanie continues to watch you, you know there’s more she isn’t saying. Turning, you set aside the spatula and raise your brows.

“My psych professor moved our exam up and I can’t come in tomorrow,” she explains quickly. “I know it’s your busiest day and I’m so so sorry. I can ask around and see if Cass or somebody can cover me.”

You wave your hand and assure, “It’s okay. I’ll cover you. Good luck on your exam, okay? If you want to leave early today to study or get some rest, do that, too.”

“Now I feel worse for leaving you.”

Tim turns his alarm off and sighs. It’s his birthday, and he’s alone. Lucy insisted on bringing cupcakes, and Angela offered to take him to lunch. Tim appreciates their kindness, but it’s not quite the same as having someone to truly celebrate with, besides Kojo, who he wouldn’t trade for the world, of course.

As Tim gets ready, he asks himself what he’d want if he was in a relationship. What would they do that would make today so different? Breakfast in bed is one of the first ideas that pops into his head. So, Tim searches for bakeries that aren’t far out of his way. One five-star option appears on the list, and Tim reads the directions as he walks to his truck.

As Tim walks in, he notices how nice the bakery is. There’s a line, but it moves quickly. He scans the menu on the large chalkboard over the counter as he waits, but he knows what he wants when his eyes drop to the display case.

An employee places another plate in the case, a birthday cake-flavored mini souffle that makes Tim smile. When he reaches the register, he forgets about the cookie that caught his attention.

You take another order and glance at the line. There are two times when you’re so busy it’s hard to remember to breathe, and you’re currently between those. Though you don’t love working here with customers, you do enjoy seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they find their new favorite.

Someone in the line catches your eye. He’s wearing an LAPD shirt, and you assume he’s a higher-ranking officer. He smiles as Mitch places a birthday cake souffle in the display case, and you wonder if it’s his birthday.

“Good morning,” you greet when he reaches the register. “What can I get you today?”

He hesitates for a moment, then asks for one of your jumbo cookies and two dozen chocolate chip cookies. Glancing at the menu, he also adds coffee to his order. You press the buttons for the two dozen cookies and the coffee, but make a note to include the jumbo cookie for free.

“Mitch,” you call when he passes again. “Take over for a minute?”

“Sure thing,” he tells you.

“I’ll grab that for you now,” you tell the attractive cop, whose name you now know is Tim.

“Thanks,” he replies before stepping to the side with his coffee.

You use clean plastic tongs to place thirty chocolate chip cookies in a branded box, then pull a jumbo cookie from the warmer. It’s already boxed, so you take a marker out of a nearby drawer and write Happy Birthday with a little candle drawn beside it. If it’s not his birthday, he’ll think it was the wrong box, but either way, you hope it’ll brighten his day. With the cookies placed in a bag, you hand it over the counter and thank Tim for coming in. You hope you’ll see him again. With your tendency to work in the back and the high number of one-time customers you get, you try not to get your hopes up.

The drive to the station is spent in silence. The radio is off as Tim enjoys what he considers the best cup of coffee. His mind continues to return to you, the cute girl at the bakery, who he could tell was a little shy. Your service was great, but you didn’t quite meet anyone’s eyes or engage in small talk.

After parking in the station lot, Tim pulls his jumbo cookie from the bag. The birthday wishes make him smile, and he shakes his head as he wonders how you knew. Granted, it could have been the wrong box or something, but Tim prefers the idea that you did it special for him. The receipt is on the bottom of the box, and he pulls it away only to see that you gave him the cookie for free. Maybe it will be a good birthday, after all, he thinks.

Tim enjoys half of his cookie, then returns it to the box to save for later. Tim will most certainly be returning to the bakery because your smile and the taste of the coffee and the cookies together are pretty close to perfection.

Tim sets the cookies on a central table in the bullpen and opens the box. He can immediately tell that there are more than 24 cookies, and he shakes his head at your kindness.

“Happy birthday!” Lucy calls as she runs to his side.

“Thanks,” Tim replies, in a better mood than the last decade of birthdays combined.

“You’re back!” you cheer when Tim returns the following morning. Melanie called to tell you her exam went well, but she had to wait for the essay portion to be graded, and you invited her to rest at home one more day while she waited. So, you’re at the front again.

“I am. Thank you for the birthday note yesterday,” Tim replies, smiling. He has a gorgeous smile, you think. “How did you know?”

“I noticed you smile when the birthday cake souffle came out,” you explain softly, shrugging rather than providing more explanation.

“I really appreciate it. My coworkers loved the cookies, too.”

“I’m glad. You want to try something else today?”

Tim smiles, and you unconsciously move your fingers to the side of the register where you can include discounts and freebies.

“What do you recommend?” he inquires.

“Our maple pumpkin biscotti cupcakes are pretty well-loved. I like the chocolate swirl croissant,” you answer. “It’s new, but..”

“Then I’ll take thirty-six of those cupcakes and two of the croissants. On one condition.”

“Yes?” you ask, furrowing your brows.

“Let me pay for it this time.”

You nod once and type in the order. As Tim steps to the side, you begin helping the next customer and whisper to Mitch to give the officer a small coffee with the excuse of preparing it too soon for a pickup order.

“I’m paying for it,” Tim insists after it’s left on the counter.

You ignore him, smiling as you take another order, and Mitch gives him the bag of cupcakes.

“See you,” Tim calls as he leaves.

“Have a good day!” you call after him.

When you return to the kitchen around 10 a.m., you sigh and set out to make something you think Tim will love.

Over the next two weeks, Tim comes in daily. He gets something for the officers at this station or just a treat for himself, and on one busy morning, he says hello and orders a coffee. You look forward to seeing him each morning, finding an excuse to be at the front during his usual time. He is the kindest customer you have ever had, and you want to ask him out. Each morning, you give yourself a pep talk and get encouragement from Melanie or Mitch, then get shy and fail to tell him how you feel. So, you find a way to brighten his day and remind him you’re there and you see him. You slip him a freebie, give him a free coffee, charge him for a smaller size than what you give him, or ask him to test a new item and get back to you. If it’s not on the menu, I can’t charge you was your excuse for the last one.

As far as you can tell, he has noticed you. He comes in and immediately finds you or keeps his eyes on the kitchen door until you exit. Yet, he hasn’t said any more than you have. Eventually, one of you will say something… or so you hope.

You’ve slowly opened up but can’t speak more than a few sentences before you remember who you’re talking to and get shy again. Tim asks about you, how you’re doing, what your favorite menu item is, what you’ve baked recently, and you gladly listen when he tells you about himself in return. It seems like you're getting to know him, but you still want so much more.

One morning, nearly three weeks after meeting Tim, you glance at the clock again. He’s late. Or he isn’t coming. As you leave the counter and return to the kitchen, you make red velvet cupcakes for a large order and try not to think about Tim. You didn’t say anything for three weeks, there is no reason to assume that he had any real reason to come back.

Melanie enters the kitchen, and you look up hopefully, but she shakes her head.

“I’m sure he was just running late or had to go in early. He’ll be back tomorrow,” she says softly.

You shake your head and begin portioning the cake batter into muffin tins. Getting your mind off Tim will be hard; he’s consumed every one of your thoughts for nearly a month, but you have a business to focus on and more customers than the handsome sergeant who was your favorite daily customer until today.

 Several hours later, Mitch is on the phone when the chime over the door rings. You wave to him and walk out of the kitchen, then stop behind the register.

“Sorry I’m late,” Tim says.

You remain silent as you look at him. He’s wearing a bulletproof vest beneath his shirt, there’s a scrape over his eyebrow that looks recent, and the knuckles on his left hand are darkening. Based on his appearance alone, you assume he was late for a good reason.

“What can I get you?” you ask, breathless, as you move to stand behind the register. “It’s on the house.”

Tim smiles, and you have to remind yourself to listen. He orders your favorite, then places his hands on the counter and leans closer to you. You nod, then blink and ask him to repeat himself.

“Your favorite,” he says.

“How do you…”

“You told me. I remembered.”

You lick your lips before whispering, “Why?”

“The same reason I know that you hate working at the register because you’re shy and it drains your energy. You’d rather be in the back with your recipes and music than up here with customers. The reason I know you own this place but don’t advertise it because you don’t want the attention. All of that, all of you, is why I keep coming back. And I’m really hoping that those things will be why you say yes when I ask if you’ll go out with me.”

You swallow but can’t form words yet. Your answer is yes, of course, it is. When you open your mouth, though, you ask, “Are you okay?”

Tim smiles again and says, “I worked all night and could really use some of your amazing coffee.”

“You missed breakfast?”

Tim extends his arms so his hands are closer to yours and corrects, “I missed you.”

“Yes,” you whisper. “I really want to go out with you.”

Tim nods, then thanks Melanie when she sets a coffee cup on the counter beside him. He sees your number on the side and smiles, but you drop your head momentarily to avoid the embarrassment Melanie provides.

“I promise we’ll do something you’ll like,” Tim assures as his fingers brush yours.

I’ll find the courage to do anything with you, you want to say. Deciding that is more of a second date statement, you merely nod and ask Tim, “Do you actually want my favorite or is there something else you’d prefer?”

[glowettee]

🕶 she ghosted the groupchat & built an empire

hey lovelies!! ✨

so i've been thinking about this a lot lately... like how we're all constantly connected but somehow feeling more drained than ever?? and it hit me that sometimes the most revolutionary thing you can do is just... disappear for a bit??

i literally had to turn my phone off for three days last month because my creative energy was being sucked dry by all these group chats that were going nowhere. like, bestie, why am i reading 87 messages about someone's ex's cousin's new haircut when i could be building my dream life instead??

so here's my unfiltered thoughts on strategic isolation + how it literally changed everything for me...

✧ protecting your energy isn't selfish, it's essential ✧

let's be honest - we're all just walking energy fields. and every notification, every "hey girl, you free?" text, every random zoom call is either feeding your field or draining it. i started tracking my energy levels in this little pink journal (yes, elle woods style but make it productive) and noticed that certain people and activities were literally vampire-draining me.

some hard truths about protecting your time:

• not everyone deserves access to you

• "sorry, i can't" is a complete sentence

• your dreams require your full attention

• boundaries aren't mean, they're necessary

• your future self will thank you for saying no today

i started implementing what i call "ghost protocols" where i literally just... stop responding for periods of time. not forever! just long enough to recalibrate. it feels uncomfortable at first (i literally had anxiety sweats) but then something magical happens - you remember who you are without all the noise.

✧ digital detox rituals that actually work ✧

okay so everyone talks about digital detoxes but they make it sound so basic like "just turn off your phone lol" which... no. here's what actually works:

1. schedule your disappearance (sounds dramatic but it's just good planning) - i block off "ghost time" in my calendar just like i would a meeting

2. create a hyperfocus sanctuary - mine is this corner of my room with no wifi, just candles, my journal, and a vintage alarm clock. no devices allowed within 10 feet.

3. implement the 5/1/3 rule - for every 5 hours of deep work, allow 1 hour of connection, followed by 3 hours of integration time where you process what you've created

4. batch your responses - i only check messages twice daily now (12pm and 6pm) and i use templates for most replies which sounds cold but actually gives me more energy for meaningful conversations later

5. practice saying "that doesn't work for me" without explaining yourself - hardest thing i've ever done but most rewarding

✧ hyperfocus rituals that built my empire ✧

the truth that nobody tells you is that success isn't grinding 24/7... it's protecting your focus like it's the most precious resource on earth (because it literally is).

my non-negotiable focus rituals:

• morning pages but make them strategic - i write 3 pages about my vision every morning before touching my phone

• the 90/30 method - work in complete silence for 90 minutes, then take a luxurious 30 minute break (no exceptions)

• environment switching - i have different spaces for different types of work (creative work happens by the window, admin work at my desk, planning happens on the floor with a giant paper)

• sensory anchors - learned this from a few psychology articles online, stayed w/ it foreverrr -> specific scents, sounds, and tastes that tell my brain "it's empire building time" (for me it's this fancy bergamot candle + instrumental lo-fi + earl grey tea)

i know this all sounds intense but listen... while everyone was busy commenting on instagram posts and overthinking text messages, i built something real. something that matters. something that's mine.

sometimes the most rebellious thing you can do is disconnect in order to connect more deeply with your purpose. and yes, people might get annoyed when you don't respond right away. they might even talk about you in those same group chats you left. but honestly? that's just background noise when you're focused on building something meaningful.

your time is literally the only non-renewable resource you have. protect it fiercely.

xoxo, mindy 🤍

p.s. what's one conversation or obligation you could ghost this week to get closer to your dreams? i promise the world won't end... but your empire might just begin.

⋆ psst. i made a free workbook just for you. it’s soft, dark-academia, and full of real advice. get it here: deprogramming your trauma-coded ambition

[milkoomi]

₊˚⊹ ᰔ it-girl school tips ᝰ.ᐟ

a new semester is around the corner for a lot of us, and i’m seeing so many blog posts about study/school tips, and i thought i’d share a few of my own that i’ve began to implement into my own school routine that helped me succeed during the fall semester!

just to preface: i took 2, almost 3, gap years after my first year at a university. i realized i was so burnt out after high school and my mental health wasn’t where i needed it to be, so i took a very much needed break! i started back up in school earlier last year in the spring, and i am flourishing! i’ve reconnected with my love and passion for my education and i’ve eased myself back into a comfortable, but effective, routine that’s helped me succeed!

let’s begin !!

ᝰ.ᐟ find/create a good study environment

having a cozy, comfortable, and nice place to get your studying done will make your sessions so much more enjoyable! you’ll feel more motivated to get work done in a space that you feel good in! so whether it be your own space, your favorite café, or even your school’s library, having a good environment to focus on your schoolwork will increase your productivity and make you feel good about studying!

a darling mutual of mine created this post that has helpful tips on creating your desired study space - @glowettee ♡︎ i also highly recommend her page for other tips related to studying, personal growth, & just becoming that girl!

ᝰ.ᐟ make use of a planner

planners are essential in maintaining organization throughout the semester/school year! whether it’s a digital or physical planner, find one that’s appealing to you! find a planner that suits your aesthetic, or your desired aesthetic, and make good use of it. it’ll help you keep track of what days & times you have a certain class, important due dates, and planning out your homework schedule!

if you have a pretty plain planner, decorate it! use fun or aesthetically pleasing stickers and use fun colored pens & highlighters; just make it super personable to you!

ᝰ.ᐟ organize, organize, organize

make sure any and all paperwork for all of your courses are organized! i personally love using accordion folders because they have tabs that you can label for each class or each week of a class! having some kind of organization method will keep you and your schoolwork in check!

how to maintain organization:

as your semester progresses, it gets pretty easy to let your organization slip through the cracks and turn into a mess.

create an organized binder to store older papers from your courses! this will be useful when midterms or finals come around and you need to look back at old worksheets, handouts, etc. you can have a big binder that’s divided by different tabs dedicated to each class you’re taking or you can get different binders for each class and organize that way!

throw out anything that no longer serves you! amongst all the papers, notes, packets, there’s bound to be things that you will no longer need. toss them out, shred them, just get rid of them! the more papers you have stocked up in folders or binders, the less room you’ll have to keep track of the real important stuff

track each week of the semester! keep that syllabus handy so you can keep track of what’s going on for each week in your classes. when you reach the point of midterms, a long weekend, or even a break (like spring break) find some time to look at the past weeks & the weeks ahead and reorganize and just reset your organization of papers, notes, etc.

ᝰ.ᐟ create a checklist for your assignments

as your classes pile up, so will your homework, and it starts to get overwhelming when you start thinking about everything you have to complete for the week. creating a checklist for what needs to get done will allow you to prioritize the most important assignments, help you practice time management, and also feel satisfaction as you check off each assignment!

this helped me immensely throughout the semester. majority of my classes were 8 week courses, so everything was pretty fast paced and due dates came up a lot sooner than i thought. whenever i made a checklist for everything i needed to do, it eased a lot of my stress because i allowed myself to break down each class and the corresponding assignments & it made me realize that i didn’t have too much to do (or at least i tricked my brain into thinking that)

i made my checklist literally through my notes app on my phone, and it was so satisfying to add the little green checkmark emoji after each assignment!

ᝰ.ᐟ don’t be afraid to ask questions

any time i struggled in a class and i was too afraid/embarrassed to ask a question, i ended up doing poorly in that class and it made studying and completing assignments so much more challenging for me. so don’t be afraid to ask questions! your teachers/professors/instructors are there to help you! they’re there to answer any and all questions you might have! asking questions also just helps you understand the material better and get any clarification you might need!

the more questions you ask, the better informed you are, and the more likely you’ll succeed!

ᝰ.ᐟ use school supplies you love

having those aesthetically pleasing school supplies actually gave me so much more motivation to get work done! using stuff that you’re excited to use during your semester will make doing schoolwork & studying so much more enjoyable for you!

ᝰ.ᐟ set the mood for your study sessions

listen to a good study playlist, light a candle, set up some cozy lighting, grab your favorite drink, and just set a good, calming mood for yourself while you study! i love having lofi play softly in the background while i’m studying, and since i do most of my studying at home, i make the lighting in my room nice and dim and get my desk lamp set up. i’ll also have a cup of coffee, tea, or water near by that i can sip on!

ᝰ.ᐟ take breaks

burn-out is extremely real and you’ll quickly feel it when you spend majority of your time studying and giving yourself way less time to rest and relax.

for longer study sessions, take 20 min. breaks after each hour! i remember taking an english course when i first started college and one of the books we were required to read was one on studying tips! (i really wish i remembered what it was called, i unfortunately misplaced it) one of the things i remembered from that book was the 20 minute rule. this time slot allows you an ample amount of time to rest your mind and take a break! you can rest your eyes, scroll through your phone, stand up/stretch and grab a snack, or just step away from your study area for 20 minutes!

set a timer! let’s say you wanna work on homework for an hour & a half, set a timer and just do all the work that you can within that time. once your timer goes off, stop doing what you’re doing and set another timer with the same amount of time to go do something you enjoy or get yourself to relax!

i can’t stress this enough: please take breaks. your mental/emotional well-being should always be your top priority! you can’t do your best in school if you, yourself, are not doing the best.

𝜗𝜚 final notes 𝜗𝜚

being that girl in school is only possible when you put your best foot forward. stay on top of your self care, keep yourself organized, and come up with a routine! a good routine will get you great results!

i wish you all a great start of your upcoming semester and i know that every single one of you will flourish during it too!

live and love, babe.

sincerely, juno ⭑.ᐟ

[valar-did-me-wrong]

No ROP did not "poison the well" for other Tolkien adaptations.. you with your incessant hate & need to feel superior by being a part of the online 'in-crowd' have poisoned the well for Tolkien adaptations!

When you were (& still are) blindly hating on ROP & bullying it's fans by creating such a vile toxic online environment towards anything that isn't PJ's literal clone, did you really think that environment will remain in a vaccum?

When you were repeating & promoting rubbish talking points to make ROP look bad did you really never check that 90% of those points were coming from men who HATE women as anything but glorified furniture on screen?

NOW you complain about men hating women leads & critics hating entertainment for entertainment's sake but for some reason that same grace was never granted by you to ROP?

Your taste in entertainment is good enough but other people's is a sin towards life on earth just because you didn't like it?

How does it taste the medicine that you were prescribing for the past 2 years?

Btw I have no problem with the movie, this is not an anti-wotr post.. it's an anime movie, I've grown up loving anime & it looks gorgeous! A LOT of love & effort has obviously went into it just how it went into ROP.

It's the posts that are trying to justify their liking of wotr by disrespecting ROP that keep coming on my dash that I'm responding to here..

The utter irony of the situation tbh! You wouldn't be needing to justify enjoying shows if you had not created this environment yourself in the first place! People have different tastes, it's that simple tbh

I hope you learn from this how hate is never the answer because whatever you put out into the world comes back to find you eventually..

[tinfoil-jones]

Gravity Falls: For Your Own Good, Ch. 12

Summary: A few years after moving to Gravity Falls and having his lab built, Stanford Pines happens upon his estranged twin brother, Stanley. He mentally prepared himself to be suffocated by his brothers neediness all over again - what he wasn't prepared for was Stanley walking right past him like he didn't even notice him.

Rating: M for language, violence, and adult implications

Preface: Dialogue only, but some actions will be annotated for clarity. Cross-Posted on AO3 Here

First - Prev - Next

CH.12 

“Are you working on another one of your ‘conceptual’ death ray schematics, Fiddleford?”

“I didn’t have the easiest time with Psych as a subject because of its abstract nature, I thought that if I could connect it to something more tangible maybe I could understand it better.”

“So you made a psychology gun?”

“Conceptually, think of it more as a memory gun. Most of our memories are stored in our hippocampus and temporal lobe - if I could create a device that interacted exclusively with those structures, and only for memories…”

“You could restore them?”

“Right now I’m focusing on the opposite - destruction.”

“What, Fiddleford, we’re-.”

“Don’t blow a gasket. I’m not intending to erase any more of your brother's memories. This is reverse-engineering, in a way. If I can understand how memories can be suppressed in the first place, I could perhaps understand how to bring them back.”

“Okay…”

“I know, in your own emotionally constipated way, you’re just worried about him. I’d be worried about my family too if any of them up and forgot everything. But I promise you, I’m not trying to harm either of ya’ll.”

“I trust you.”

“I’m glad to hear that, I know it ain’t easy for you.”

“Any breakthroughs during your sessions?”

“I can only possibly isolate an event happening about a year ago, but he can’t specify what type of event it was. He may have been suffocating in some way? All he could say was that he couldn’t breathe.”

“...”

“Stanford, do not go into your own head about this. What happened- whatever happened, it wasn't your fault.”

“Yes… I suppose you are right, old friend.”

“In fact, I had a question about y'all's upbringing.”

“What about it?”

“Did you two share a room growing up?”

“Yes, our home was very small because our family was low income. We shared a room until he was- until he left. Why?”

“I checked your security feed and noticed something peculiar about his sleeping pattern.”

“Were you really watching my brother sl-.”

“Don’t you start now. I sped the footage up. You spend an awful lot of time down there, right?”

“Of course, it is my laboratory after all.”

“And he sleeps a bit, you’ve noticed? Quite soundly?”

“It is not that different from when we were younger.”

“Here’s the interesting bit. The other times he sleeps - when you aren’t in the lab, he doesn’t get high quality or quantity of sleep.”

“What do you mean?”

“I expected this - he’s been in unsafe, unstable environments for the past decade. He has difficulty falling and staying asleep; he wakes up frequently throughout the night, and when he is asleep he looks like he has nightmares, because he tosses and turns, and panics himself awake sometimes.”

“I didn’t know that…”

“Of course you wouldn’t. If he falls asleep while you happen to be in the lab, it doesn’t happen. At first, I wondered if being alone put him out of ease. But one night I was down there running a few tests, and he was still waking up hyperventilating every other hour.”

“I do not understand what you’re trying to tell me.”

“Stanford, what I find most interesting about this; he does not sugarcoat that you abducted him. He has stated multiple times that he believes you are out of your mind, and that your ‘real twin’ is dead and you can’t accept that. But in spite of these things that he says, in spite of all of that; in his most vulnerable, inoffensive state, he subconsciously associates you with safety. Stan says you’re just a stranger to him, but he feels completely safe and at ease with you.”

“...”

“It may seem like we’re hitting a lot of brick walls with him, because ya’ll are just as stubborn as each other. But he remembers you, just not with his waking mind.”

“...I need to write this down in my journal.”

“I know you’re just burying your face into that thing to hide your tears.”

“I believe I have gotten ink into my eyes."

“O’ course you did.”

To be continued…

[sysmedsaresexist]

To the anon asking about my username...

There's a bit of confusion here, I'm going to answer many of your questions but I may not post the ask itself, hopefully it'll make sense :)

When I started my blog I was heavily anti endo and I specifically posted bad pro/endo takes, debunking or just laughing. To this day, most of it is still pretty hilarious. I wasn't focused on cringe, but totally crazy, out there claims that made zero sense and were flat out wrong. Check out my tags #shit endos say, #shit singlets say, and my newest tag, #shit anti endos say, I hope you have a laugh at a couple of them.

In my pinned post, you'll see the thing that started it all. A pro endo saying that sysmeds are sexist.

I would also like to know how they came to that conclusion. I'm right there with you. Also like you, I still have many issues with the pro/endo community. I believe CDDs are trauma based disorders. I post research pretty much weekly about it (check out #debunk and #research). I think endogenic plurality and CDDs are completely different things.

And you know what, my pro endo friends support me. We're all learning. I'm kind with my opinion, I'm open to talking about it, we debate, we share resources, we change our views and adjust based on new info.

This blog corrects misinformation from both sides, now. Some of it is worse than others. Antis can and do spread just as much misinformation as pro/endos.

What I would encourage you to do is start with the multiple selves theory. It actually developed right alongside Freud's theories on hysteria (which included early versions of CDDs at the time), and if Freud hadn't been such a perv, it might actually be much more well-known. It's a nonpathological theory on consciousness and philosophy. People have been describing this phenomenon for a very long time, "endogenic" is just the newest term for it. Here's a couple examples.

2015 - at any given moment in time, one or another of our subselves is in control and determines how we think and act.

1987

2012 - this one has so many links to other people talking about this theory

2023 - These results suggest that the normative principles by which agents have adapted to complex changing environments may also explain why humans have long been described as consisting of “multiple selves.”

2020

2010

Like I said, though, you can find this stuff as far back as the 50s with ease, anything older might take a bit more digging, but it's not a small or new theory.

I think an overlap in language has created a lot of confusion, but it's really not out of the realm of possibility for people to be more in tune with these parts of themselves. It's been documented for over a century outside of psychology, in other areas of research-- anthropology, philosophy.

I'm going to be honest, I don't think a single one of the headmate sale blogs are real. I think they're antis trying to start shit. Like maybe one out of every ten is actually someone misguided behind the screen.

Even CDD systems still incorrectly believe in core theory, endogenics picked it up from us and don't know any better. System resets aren't real, but there are real experiences that can FEEL like a reset-- try being patient and educating people. Ignore the others, because some people just can't be helped, and you're better off spending your time spreading good, accurate posts than arguing with people who don't want to learn anything.

I forget what I was saying.

Anyways, I'm a pro endo sysmed.

I hope you'll stick around and see what's going on.

[frodothefair]

Time for another episode of Nisilë's writing wisdom?

Time for another episode of Nisilë's writing wisdom.

Today's piece of writing advice was inspired by something I saw on a fanfiction writers' community, and, granted, what I am about to say is only my opinion, but it is a well considered one. Here goes.

If you are writing characters who speak a foreign language or exist in a bilingual environment, please, for the love of all that is good and holy, do not write entire sentences in a foreign language, and please LIMIT your use of words and phrases in that language.

Here's why.

First of all, if you don't speak said language yourself, unless you get a native speaker to help you, you run a very high risk of sounding foolish and making readers who know the language roll their eyes. Secondly, you have a good chance of annoying and confusing readers who don't know the language. Even if you include footnotes or a glossary, having to frequently check what a word means will interrupt the flow of reading, which can be destructive to the enjoyment of the piece. I recently read The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier, and it suffered from an overuse of words in Italian and Muranese. It just about made me want to throw the book against the wall, because yes, there was an extensive glossary, but I was not about to keep flipping back and forth every other page. I wasn't trying to learn Italian from the book, and I was not reading it as a scholarly work -- I was simply trying to enjoy the flow of the story, and in the end, the Italian and Muranese was not immersive; it was annoying.

Now, here's a caveat. There are some examples in published literature where the author uses a foreign language extensively and it actually aligns with their goals.

One is Leo Tolstoy -- his works have entire sentences, dialogues and even passages in French, but there is a reason for this. His target audience, the Russian aristocracy at the time, was in fact bilingual. Many spoke French better than they did their native language. In that time and place, what he was doing was perfectly fine and acceptable.

Another is Umberto Eco, who uses Latin liberally in The Name of the Rose, and explicitly refuses to provide translations. (Interestingly, you can buy a companion book called The Key to the Name of the Rose, which provides all the translations, but this book has no affiliation with the original). Now, Eco's choice was deliberate: he explained that he wanted to create an atmosphere to discombobulation and confusion for the reader. He wanted the reader to feel as if he or she was literally transported back in time to a Medieval Italian monastery. If the reader already knows Latin, that is an asset for them as a time traveler; if not, they are on their own.

But unless you are explicitly writing for a bilingual audience like Tolstoy, or trying to create an atmosphere of opacity and discombobulation like Eco, my advice stands.

Which begs the question, how do you use a foreign language to better effect?

Here's what I would suggest.

Pick a small number of words or short phrases in the foreign language. Keep it to a number you imagine is manageable to remember without putting in a lot of effort -- perhaps, if you've ever learned a new language, think of how many words you could comfortably remember in one sitting. What kind of words? I suggest:

greetings

exclamations of strong emotion

curses

terms of endearment

honorifics

specific terms of art or cultural concepts that are not easily translatable

You may use those words as you see fit throughout the text.

If there's a shift in the use of language that requires more words than the above, simply highlight the fact that what's being said is said in a different language. This is common in bilingual environments. I could make a separate post with examples of how to do this, but briefly, shifts in language may occur if:

a character specifically wants another to understand -- or not understand

formal vs informal communication

being emotional or feeling the need to speak more quickly

being sincere vs being disingenuous (hello, Tolstoy's use of French)

a character simply lacking the vocabulary in a specific language to discuss a certain issue, so either slipping into a different language entirely or using specific words as a "crutch" (very common for bilingual characters - their strengths and weaknesses may vary depending on the topic discussed)

@emmathefanficgal, @konartiste, other multilingual moots/followers, anything to add? I am genuinely curious.

[makingspiritualityreal]

I had an interesting conversation with my friend recently and she claims my observations were valuable and should be shared with others.

The context of the conversation was from a phenomenon that we can see on social media recently that criticizes “nice people” and says that “they don’t get what they want” while “bad people get their way”. I have seen many pseudo spiritual teachers preach something similar, but all that it does is preys on people’s anger and resentment and has nothing to do with truly figuring out the vibration of the Universe.

The Universe responds to the frequency of our true intentions and is aware of the truth in all situations, thus it can’t be tricked. And from that comes a very important realization, that being “nice” is not equal to being good.

The other important truth is that this Universe operates within a certain harmony and is not kept forever “out of check”. Thus, it is impossible to infinitely commit destructive actions with no reaction from our environment.

Most people are nice habitually, but it is an action directed at social adherence, devoid of depth of feeling. How many of us can really say that they wake up with a genuine feeling of goodness in their hearts every day, even in difficult situations? It is not only impossible, it is not required of us. If we polled a “vibrational” monthly average there are people out there with foundational goodness of character, but sadly so few of them compared to those who are simply superficially nice. And for those who radiate genuine goodness, it always ultimately comes back in some form. Those who are only “nice” on the surface but sulk about how bad life is to them are dishonest about the true motivations of their character.

The discernment about people called “bad” is necessary, because very few human beings are genuinely bad people. People are complex and have different aspects to their personality. Someone can be a very successful worker and make a lot of money but treat people in their personal life poorly, and their life will ultimately reflect that. This is the problem with the perception of “bad” behaviors - their seeming victories are short lived. You will see that while up until a certain age these kind of people have enough energy to keep repeating their mistakes, they never gain any long term payoff from their bad behavior.

To show you an example, this is the reason why totalitarian leaders ultimately fail and face opposition, because while they power they way through short term victories, they don’t achieve long term respect, as it would require a certain integrity, so the opposition they attract makes them fail.

Genuine goodness is something very fragile, hard to build and easy to shatter. It requires effort and self discipline, yet gives unique results. It is irrational to say that people who don’t work on themselves at all will get the same results as people who refine their character on a regular basis.

If you need an example to put this in perspective, think of a relationship you have with someone, that is bound by negative attachment. Most of us are born with certain difficult karmas, so we go through at least one such experience in this lifetime. You may be temporarily bound to them, you may be afraid or unable to escape them, but if someone has not been good to you, they have shattered your genuine love for them a long time ago. Love and attachment is not the same, and once good feelings between people are destroyed, you can’t really manipulate your way out of it, as deep inside a person’s heart something is irrevocably changed.

That’s why goodness and trust is so rare and so precious. Because, unlike what the modern media tries to tell us, there is really no cheat code to bypass the truth and the effort required to create something genuine. Being good is not about weakness, it’s about hard work, and few people really achieve it.

[bonnibelleangelica]

Book Cover Design Tips (With a Former Art Teacher) #3

~Colour Schemes~

Deciding what colours to use in an artwork, character design or Canva project can be very overwhelming. It’s hard to know what goes well together and there’s infinite options to choose from, how can you possible decide? Well, here’s how I began my cover in a way that kept the chaos at bay and helped me to create a gorgeous colour pallet all on my own.

First, I started with a colour i knew was going to be in the piece, my main colour. Starting here, I only changed the brightness and which way on the colour wheel the turquoise leant (more yellow or more blue). This helped me to establish the values and contrast (see Book Cover Tips #2) and carve out the general shapes.

Starting small, one step at a time, will help to identify problems in each new stage, without textures, lighting, details and visual noise getting in the way. See how little you can do and still make the piece look good, think about how messy this would be if I threw in browns and greens and everything else, without adjusting for the blue lighting. It would be a mess and I’d abandon the project.

Alright, from there, I expanded my colour range (more yellow, more blue,) and added in my character’s basic colours. Notice how blue they get all of a sudden? I added a transparent cyan layer over them to help them fit into the environment because evening light coming through leaves would wash over everything. If something in your piece is sticking out like a sore thumb, this might be your problem.

Time to start shaking things up, I have made something I like but I’m craving detail.

This took a lot of finagling, a lot of hair pulling, but using references and some more big-brain focus on the lighting physics, I figured it out. If you saw my last post, the brightness was all wrong, everything felt muddled. Remember, the first thing u make a big change to is going to seem extreme because its the only thing that’s different. Try adjusting a few more things around the page to match and see if you like where its going.

I also realised that the light beams need to be behind the characters, otherwise it washed them out and hid details. I added the beams in so they’d be brighter than everything else, so i decided to move the light behind them so they’d have a glow around them instead.

I added the top tagline for balance, using a gold underlay to give the writing depth and i added gold to their clothes, helping to tie them in. Some of the fireflies needed to go now that more detail was coming in elsewhere, but other than that, now i need to head back and add their tiny little faces… yay.

For more, click “my art tips” in the tags or visit my page!

For a love story about two very different biologists that cross paths in a post-apocalyptic world, check out Status Quo here @statusquoofficial

[what-even-is-thiss]

I’m thinking about starfield again because I haven’t had the desire to redownload it and try another playthrough. And that’s weird. Because I replay games to death. That’s basically how I consume video games. I only play a few and I replay them until I know them inside and out and then put them down until I pick them up again a few weeks or months later. It’s very rare that I don’t want to replay a game that I’ve spent a lot of time with.

I think reflecting on it if they ever make a sequel to starfield they need to commit to one thing. Just any one thing. Just pick a thing to commit to. Commit to something.

It’s like starfield doesn’t want to commit and go all the way with any one thing. Starfield isn’t saying anything. Like even more so than usual with Bethesda games.

Like why am I collecting all of these artifacts? Why am I going to the next universe? Why am I helping any of these people in this city with very few named NPCs? Why am I cataloguing all of these plants and animals? Why are these gigantic procedurally generated environments here if there’s nothing to do in them?

Bethesda was trying to make it no man’s sky and a Bethesda game and not be weird or controversial in any way. What? This is the same studio that made giant radioactive bipedal alligators native only to one amusement park.

You know the terror of coming across Swan emerging from the lake for the first time in Fallout 4? You know that oh crap moment when you realize you can kill Astrid in Skyrim? I had zero moments like that playing starfield.

They should’ve done way more with the faction they created that was a bunch of murderous zealots worshiping a giant snake. Freaky fictional cults are Bethesda’s bread and butter. They’re very good at making comically evil cults and parodies of religious extremists.

Where’s the famous lines everyone is quoting from starfield? I’ve found none. No “I used to be an adventurer like you then I took an arrow in the knee” no “I’ve fought mudcrabs more fearsome than you” no “war never changes”

Perhaps the most memorable NPC interaction in Starfield is a) optional based on a box you check at the beginning of the game and b) Is a freaking reference to Oblivion. A game from 2006 with better writing. I’m of course talking about the adoring fan. That entire thing is a tribute to and almost carbon copy of the oblivion character and it’s the only fun NPC interaction I can remember from Starfield.

Like starfield doesn’t say anything. It doesn’t add anything. It’s not even uniquely bad. It’s just there. It’s not even an exploration game. Everywhere you go has already been settled. There’s random abandoned research stations and pirate outposts everywhere. Constellation aren’t explorers. The cataloguing you do with your scanner means nothing.

Starfield needs a direction. It needs to commit. It needs something on par with deathclaws. It needs to establish an antagonist that’s worth revisiting or being a major world event in the history of this world. The star born are just stupid to me. Just people trying to collect a bunch of rocks and go to another universe again and again and again so they can get dragon shouts or something. They’re lame. They’re disorganized. Picking sides between their different philosophies has no tangible impact on the world.

[splitsabers]

I proudly present to you:

The Splitsabers Photomode Guide!

This guide will be a look into some of my thoughts and tips for photomode in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Let's get into it!

Disclaimer: I am in no way a professional 😂 my credentials include art as a hobby and a 3-month obsession with Jedi Survivor (still learning new things every day) so this is definitely more of a beginners guide but I love talking so here ya go

Survivor is a huge game full of environments, actions, and movements. When I'm looking to take photos, I have two files: one completed on New Game+, so I have access to all cosmetics and areas (this is what I use for the saber series), and one "fresh" file where I'll play the game from 0% and have access to specific animations, storylines, environments, and scenes:

When it comes to taking actual photos, I'll just run around and play the game as normal while constantly looking for areas with good lighting, scenes, or encounters.

Sometimes I'll have a specific idea, like with the saber series, where I want to take photos in certain environments. For example, for the purple saber I wanted to go for an "outcast" look with the outfit and selected areas like the laser on the Shattered Moon, observatory, and meditation arenas in force tears. I'd go through different lightsaber stances, animations, and poses, as well as lining them up with the environment to get shots I liked.

I have a collection of places I like to go throughout the game with good lighting, encounters, or similar (rehabilitation wing my beloved).

For 90% of my photos, I place the subject in focus (typically someone's face/body, weapon, or hands) and turn down the f-stop so the environment (or sometimes the rest of a person's body) is out of focus. I like doing this because it places attention onto the subject while leaving the background in context.

You can leave details like this that enhance the photo or add weight to the photographs - we as the audience can extrapolate how certain photos relate to the meaning of a shot from what we know about the game - a picture is worth a thousand words!

You can use the environment as a framing tool, or take pictures of the beautiful environments of Survivor itself!

For posing, throughout a session I'll constantly pause and check the poses for characters I'd like to take photos of. Look at scenes from different angles to see what works! There are countless different actions in the game that can provide photo opportunities. These can be idle animations, finishers, combat engagements/attacks/stance switches, cutscenes, or character interactions!

It can take a lot of tries to get the right timing - for certain sets, I'll often reach a spot, take photos while constantly pausing and checking poses, and then quit out without saving so one-time animations (like certain combat finishers or the first BD visor interaction) can be repeated for that "perfect shot" (I'm working on collecting save files for different story points throughout the game).

When it comes to posing Cal, while idle, he'll look in the same direction the camera does (it actually took me a long time to figure this out I still feel silly sometimes for not knowing) as long as the camera is behind him; otherwise he'll look straight forward. You can use this to get him to look down, up, or to the side!

Tilt can also be a fun way to add drama to a picture or change the framing of your subject to fit your shots!

Exposure is useful for changing the whole brightness of a scene or creating better opportunities for shadows and highlights. For this photo, I had an idea for this nice strong contrasting shot where the lights would only see one side of Cal's face and make a sharp shadow. However, the light from his lightsaber illuminates the dark side (no pun intended) of his face.

To solve this, I turned the exposure way down (so the saber glow would be much weaker) and really pumped that blue light onto the strong side with spotlights to create the effect I wanted.

Spotlights are also an incredibly important in creating light that frames your photo! They can be used to define and bring attention your subject, enhance existing lighting, or create visual interest using color.

I always find my favorite photos make creative/extensive use of lighting. Certain things will interact differently with spotlights or give off light of their own - consider your environment and intended effect. Also consider how the lighting will react with your subject - for example, metal reflects light differently from cloth (I'll often use spotlights to highlight/reflect metal objects like Cal's lightsaber or BD-1), or particles may have certain effects (echo sparkles will disperse spotlights really nicely!).

Here's a before and after; good lighting can really make a scene pop!

You can use spotlights to create light sources that serve to define your subject and their key features (wait... I just realized.. is that why it's called a key light??). I'll often use a 2-light combo of yellow and white to make an "artificial sun" where natural light can't reach.

Since I post the majority of my photos in sets, when I take photos I'll often take the same photo in different color combinations of spotlights, exposures, and filters so that when I select the final photos for a set the whole "matches" and looks more cohesive together.

I personally don't do any editing on my photos third-party, but for most of my photos, I'll use the "Ryloth" filter at around 30-40% strength since I like the way it affects the saturation on colors (especially reds and oranges) and boosts the contrast a bit, although I will occasionally dip into the other filters. Of course, good graphics settings (if you can run them) can always improve the look of your photos.

As always, the #1 way to improve is practice! Learn for yourself what styles you prefer and try new things. I've taken (literally) thousands of photos and I definitely feel like I've improved by loads since I started.

If you're looking for more resources:

@animatedjen has made a lovely tutorial for portrait lighting, going over the different types of lighting in Survivor and ways to use them (💛💛)

Here's a guide by andva-ri on using a line of action - it's something I use more in my art, but I'll use this concept when I'm composing some of my more dynamic shots (love using this in combination with tilts)

Feel free to link resources of your own or to come to my inbox with any questions or advice! I'm so glad I got into this and I'd love to help other people learn, or learn something new myself <3.

Thanks for reading, and happy photographing! 📸

[nerdysweetsninja]

Zero-Waste Kitchen Diaries

The idea behind Zero-Waste Kitchen Diaries is to reduce food waste, increase sustainability, and improve the green habits inside the kitchen. The book is meant for those who wish to help the environment by cooking at home, dining sustainably, and making convenient meal choices. In the following, I will explain ten important points that matter in this trend.

1. We make sure to cook every ingredient we have on hand: Cooking with no waste asks chefs to make use of broccoli stems, beet greens, citrus peels, and herb stems. Instead of throwing them away, people discover that you can make flavorful and healthy dishes from these small parts, including soups, sauces, stir-fries, and oils.

2. Creative Leftovers: Excess food is recycled, as it’s made into different meals. Chicken already cooked for Sunday lunch turns into delicious soup, and leftover rice is fried for a different dish. It allows you to save food and at the same time, enjoy different types of meals.

3. Home Composting: You should compost things like eggshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, and fruit pits because they cannot be avoided in the kitchen. Putting organic waste in a small bin indoors or a compost pile outside turns it into beneficial soil for growing gardens or plants.

4. Make Essentials in Your Pantry: Commonly, a zero-waste kitchen includes items like self-made nut butter, broth from vegetables that were not used all at once, and sauces created from extra ripe produce. These allow you to make your own packaged foods, which lasts them longer.

5. Good Practices for Going to the Store: Making a list and shopping according to it will stop you from buying more food than necessary. When you get your produce loose and dry foods in bulk, you lower waste from packaging. Also, buying less cuts down on anything that might spoil and waste your money.

6. Sustainable Storage: You can wrap food using beeswax wraps, put it in glass containers, use silicone lids, and choose cloth produce bags instead. They save food better than plastic bags and support those who want to live plastic-free.

7. You can make a lot of food at once and store it for later by ‘batch cooking’ and ‘meal planning: Having a larger quantity of meals means you won’t have so much waste when using ingredients. In addition, it cuts down on wasted food, allows you to handle your time better, and helps you watch your portion sizes.

8. Checking your Fridge & Pantry: Checking the contents of the fridge means you won’t buy unnecessary items, use what you have first, and notice what may need to be used quickly.

9. Educational Content: It usually involves providing facts about food wastage, sharing ways to be eco-friendly, and giving useful tips. It makes more people mindful and interested in changing what they eat at home.

10. Community Engagement Through Zero-Waste Kitchen Diaries, people network, post about their experiences in the kitchen, and spur others to take part in this movement.

[hiringjournal]

Interview Questions to Ask When Hiring a .NET Developer

The success of your enterprise or web apps can be significantly impacted by your choice of .NET developer. Making the correct decision during interviews is crucial because .NET is a powerful framework that is utilized in a variety of industries, including finance and e-commerce. Dot Net engineers that are not only familiar with the framework but also have the ability to precisely and clearly apply it to real-world business problems are sought after by many software businesses.

These essential questions will assist you in evaluating candidates' technical proficiency, coding style, and compatibility with your development team as you get ready to interview them for your upcoming project.

Assessing Technical Skills, Experience, and Real-World Problem Solving

What experience do you have with the .NET ecosystem?

To find out how well the candidate understands .NET Core, ASP.NET MVC, Web API, and associated tools, start with a general question. Seek answers that discuss actual projects and real-world applications rather than only theory.

Follow-up: What version of .NET are you using right now, and how do you manage updates in real-world settings?

Experience with more recent versions, such as .NET 6 or .NET 8, can result in fewer compatibility problems and improved performance when hiring Dot Net developers.

How do you manage dependency injection in .NET applications?

One essential component of the scalable .NET design is dependency injection. An excellent applicant will discuss built-in frameworks, how they register services, and how they enhance modularity and testability.

Can you explain the difference between synchronous and asynchronous programming in .NET?

Performance is enhanced by asynchronous programming, particularly in microservices and backend APIs. Seek a concise description and examples that make use of Task, ConfigureAwait, or async/await.

Advice: When hiring backend developers, candidates who are aware of async patterns are more likely to create apps that are more efficient.

What tools do you use for debugging and performance monitoring?

Skilled developers know how to optimize code in addition to writing it. Check for references to Postman, Application Insights, Visual Studio tools, or profiling tools such as dotTrace.

This demonstrates the developer's capacity to manage problems with live production and optimize performance.

How do you write unit and integration tests for your .NET applications?

Enterprise apps require testing. A trustworthy developer should be knowledgeable about test coverage, mocking frameworks, and tools like xUnit, NUnit, or MSTest.

Hiring engineers with strong testing practices helps tech organizations avoid expensive errors later on when delivering goods on short notice.

Describe a time you optimized a poorly performing .NET application.

This practical question evaluates communication and problem-solving abilities. Seek solutions that involve database query optimization, code modification, or profiling.

Are you familiar with cloud deployment for .NET apps?

Now that a lot of apps are hosted on AWS or Azure, find out how they handle cloud environments. Seek expertise in CI/CD pipelines, containers, or Azure App Services.

This is particularly crucial if you want to work with Dot Net developers to create scalable, long-term solutions.

Final Thoughts

You may learn more about a developer's thought process, problem-solving techniques, and ability to operate under pressure via a well-structured interview. These questions provide a useful method to confidently assess applicants if you intend to hire Dot Net developers for intricate or high-volume projects.

The ideal .NET hire for expanding tech organizations does more than just write code; they create the framework around which your products are built.

[oathbreakerapologist]

How Ghost felt in a world of kindness and love. I imagine he hasn't experienced much simple kindness in the past, how did he feel about it, was he surprised?

I always wonder what his relationship with Tav would be like, where they met, what greetings and kisses he had?😊What would he notice in another person as an advantage and what would push him away?

Thanks for the questions!! :)) These were really fun to answer—

You're absolutely right that Ghost hadn't experienced much kindness in the first several decades of his life. His formative environments, the drow city of Menzoberranzan and then the Temple of Bhaal, were both violently hierarchical social scenes in which your average person went about their interactions primarily intending to (1) survive and (2) increase their own status. It was deeply unintuitive to him that among, well, regular folk, most social interactions weren't understood in those terms.

So it was disorienting, but it was also just nice in a way he couldn't have anticipated. He'd never really had a reason to care about integrating into society at large, so he'd never had a reason to do anything other than exactly what he wanted to do to other people. When, for the first time, others treated him with warmth, openness, and kindness, it gave him a reason to want to remain in the company of those others, because for the first time, they had something to offer him that he actually wanted. Companionship and closeness—emotional and otherwise—felt good, and chasing that pleasure was enough of a reason to behave himself in a way that others would accept.

(As an aside, given the way that simply being exposed to human kindness was such a powerful influence on his ability to control himself, it's no wonder that Bhaal created Ghost amongst the drow—had he had the benefit of tolerance from others from a young age, who knows how differently Ghost would have turned out. His upbringing in a cruel and antagonistic social system inculcated in him the perfect sort of antisociality to turn his sadistic hedonism into constant violence.)

It was so fun to think about your second question!! I hadn't thought much about him as a companion before, but it was really interesting to go down this little rabbit hole; I'll probably make a longer post (probably with a bit of art—now I want to draw some Ghost kiss animations) on this soon!! But for now, here's a couple preliminary thoughts on Ghost as a companion:

I think that you'd find him on the nautiloid, strapped down to a table and bearing just-barely-healed wounds from recent vivisection. He'd be disoriented at first, having been brain-injured by Orin then experimented on by Kressa Bonedaughter before he was released into the "care" of the mindflayers and their thralls, but he'd seem to become cheerful in the company of others rather quickly. Succeeding an Insight check might let you know that he made up the name "Ghost" on the spot when asked what you should call him, but if pressed about it, he'd swear he didn't remember any other name.

He's quite chatty, and he'd have a lot of passive banter lines. Some of his greetings would be:

Approval: Low/Neutral "Hm? I wasn't listening. Give it another try?" "Would you look at that? Something's brought this one over again. Go on, tell me what's on your mind."

Approval: Fair/Good "You're back. That's good. I get so bored when you're gone." "It's a pleasure to kill at your service. In service of our goals, I mean."

Approval: High "I'm a knife in your hand." "Please, tell me what to do."

Romance: Flirting "I smell blood on your skin—you haven't been getting into fights without me, have you?" "Sometimes I think you remind me of someone. I'm not really sure who, though." "Hm, look who's coming back to me again."

Romance: Partnered "If I were to be slain, my bones would crawl out from my rotting flesh to follow you." "My beating heart." "Won't you come closer? I crave your scent."

You'd get approval from him by behaving assertively (either for good or for evil), and he'd disapprove of actions that show uncertainty or hesitance. Cruel, sadistic acts would also earn approval, but so would actions that show particularly powerful care for others. Essentially, Ghost would be drawn to characters whose behavior tended towards the extremes of violence or compassion (or both). He'd also respond in a very negative way towards attempts to manipulate, intimidate, or otherwise control him.

Thanks again for the questions!!! I'm definitely going to have more to say on the Ghost as a companion thing soon ;)