#i have it on paper so i need to make a cleaner version for you but we're getting there

[characterswithcolorsnamesfight]

[An anonymous spreadsheet under a street light, an ordinary evening in April]

the pollrunner emerges from the spreadsheet, covered in blood, the graphite on her hands constrating heavily with her extreme palor

she blinks owlishly, scratches her elbow while she looks around her and brandishes an iron deficient and vitamin D deficient victorious fist

"I have a bracket ! I have a complete bracket !"

the pollrunner stumbles from exhaustion and meets the floor face first, half laughing and half crying

eventually, she swoons

[Hurried footsteps. Calls and hushed conversations in the background. The far away sound of sirens as the lights fade away]

[oneshotnewbie]

Marina x daughter!reader?

Daughter works at GSMH as a trauma specialist but she takes Owens advice about possibly joining the army. Carina finds out and goes mama bear on him.

ᕚ---ᕘ

You, a trauma specialist at Grey Sloan Hospital Memorial, have tried everything to reshape your life over the past few months. Although you were satisfied with the current version of it and grew up in a stable environment in which your mothers had a harmonious marriage and were always there for you when you needed them, there was a huge lack of variety.

Already a few months ago you noticed that you felt more uncomfortable in your work and since then you have had the desire to do more with it in order to remain happy. But it was still totally unclear in your eyes how to change it. After a while, your colleague Owen Hunt noticed it too and decided to talk to you while you were restocking and reorganizing the emergency room inventory.

You listened carefully with a searching look as your experienced colleague began to talk seriously about his own experiences in the army, about the discipline, the varying challenges and the opportunities that presented themselves. He emphasizes his words with deep and clear gestures while you nodded every now and then, showing signs of uncertainty but also more obvious interest. Your work became more and more forgotten the more you listened to him and the further the conversation went, the more your interest increased and the happier you seemed to be about the new opportunity in your life.

After a few minutes of deep conversation and the army memories shared by the emergency surgeon from his time, you looked at him seriously but still with a soft smile, looking for an answer. Owen placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder and nodded encouragingly. You seemed to have already made a mental decision. Now you just had to get through the hard part of this plan- you had to tell your parents.

ᕚ---ᕘ

Days had passed when you had the conversation with Owen Hunt, and since then you could not live a minute without the thought that your life could change drastically. However, you still could not bring yourself to even begin to tell your mothers what you had planned for your future and what idea had implanted in your head. And so you hid every piece of information you had requested in your room, hoping neither Maya nor Carina saw it until you were ready to confess it to them.

But during your shift at Grey Sloan Hospital, Maya walked through your room with a vacuum cleaner and, unbeknownst to you, began cleaning it. While she was vacuuming under your bed, she came across a hidden package from Owen to you. Curious, she pulls it out and opens the already opened package. In it she found an information sheet for the army with your name on it. She stares at the paper in disbelief, her expression alternating between confusion, concern and surprise.

Maya could not believed what she was holding in her hands and her eyes filled with tears as she tried to understand why you had not told Carina or her about your decision while she pulled out her cell phone to call her wife. The blonde sat down on your bed while the phone rang, the vacuum cleaner already turned off and lying on the floor, still holding the information sheet in her hand. Her eyes were blank as she tried to get her wife on the phone. "Maya, I have two women in labor-"

“Our y/n wants to join the army,” between quiet tears and the crackling on the line, she thinks about the possible reasons that could have motivated you to take this step, and another wave of concern and anger overcomes her as she stroked the trauma surgeon's name written with a thick sharpie. "What are you talking about, bambina?" the brunette spoke up, trying to process the sudden news.

The world seemed to stand still for a moment around the two women as they struggled with the thoughts that perhaps you were about to make a big change in your life that they did not know about. "I was going to vacuum her room and then I stumbled upon a package from Owen. There are information sheets and even a registration form," Maya heard the Italian woman's deep sigh and growing annoyance, so she kept her mouth shut and listened to the noise in the background, waiting for an answer. "I will call you back Maya, I need to have a word with someone."

With these words, Carina ended the conversation with her wife and quickly ran to the emergency room. The atmosphere is tense as the brunette, with an angry expression on her face, charges at the man she had already had her sights on when the elevator doors opened. Her eyes spark with anger, Owen immediately turning around as she screamed his name, immediately recognizing the tension on her face. "Carina, what-"

"How dare you put such nonsense into my daughter's head?" the Italian woman lets out her anger with a loud outburst, stabbing her finger several times with full force into his chest. She waves her hands wildly and her voice is sharp and angry. Owen tried to answer, but she cut him off with another angry torrent of words. Her gestures become more energetic, her voice louder. "You have to know better! She does not belong in the war!"

"She wants more discipline and more variety. New opportunities. So I told her about the army, nothing more, calm down." words fly back and forth between the two as Carina screams out her frustration, disappointment and anger at Owen's actions. Her anger seems to know no bounds and she lets out all of her emotions without regard for loss. "Idiota! Come puoi essere così idiota!" (Idiot! How can you be such an idiot!)

The trauma surgeon tried to defend himself, but Carina didn't let up. She looked at him hatefully and crossed both arms over her chest. "You know what the army does to you, you yourself were plagued with PTSD, you even wanted to strangle your wife in her sleep!" the angry words hit him like lashes, and he seemed to be overwhelmed by her emotions. He tried to get her attention, but Carina was too caught up in her anger to listen.

The tension in the room reaches its peak and Owen finally becomes silent and resigned. The words dry up, but the anger is still in the air, heavy and burdensome. Carina disappears in total frustration and leaves the former soldier standing in the emergency room, all eyes on him.

[petalruesimblr]

Hello everyone! As I have gained a lot more followers since my last #Followers Gift, I'm now back again with another one. This time I'm sharing two part-time careers: Stadium Operations Staff and Plumbob Pictures Studio Tour Guide.

To ensure we're all on the same page, please take a moment to read my #psa regarding these careers, click here.

If you are interested, click on ’Keep Reading’ below for more information and pictures of the Stadium Operations Staff and Plumbob Pictures Studio Tour Guide Part-Time Careers.

Stadium Operations Staff

Download Link: Sim File Share |

Career Details:

Available for: Young Adults and Adults Available Languages: English Rabbit Hole: Stadium Uniforms: Paper boy uniform from the journalism career Packs Needed: The Sims 3 File Type: Package 📣All descriptions for the levels, tones and metrics as well as skills required, salary, uniforms and other details are provided on the pictures above.

Plumbob Pictures Studio Tour Guide

Download Link: Sim File Share |

Career Details:

Available Languages: English Uniforms: Report processor uniform from the business career Packs Needed: The Sims 3, Late Night (Movie Set RH) File Type: Package 📣All descriptions for the levels, tones and metrics as well as skills required, salary, uniforms and other details are provided on the pictures above.

Required: NRAAS Careers Mod

Known issue: The Career_Pic_s (the image that will show beside the level name in the game) will always appear dark. I have already checked the Job Centre Discord and it seems to be a common issue. There was advice to make the image white, which I did try, but it didn't look great due to my limited editing skills. So, I resorted to using two different pictures for the icons instead and have included them in the picture above for reference.

Final Notes:

I tried something different this time and placed the details of each career on the pictures above instead of using game screenshots, making it look cleaner and more organized. I had fun doing it during boring work hours but let me know still if you all prefer the game screenshots instead.

I limited both part-time careers to young adults and adults only as I don't think elders would fit them in terms of the required strength needed to be standing all day realistically in those settings.

For their uniforms, I debated whether to stick to the game uniforms, use the bouncer uniforms that came with Late Night for the stadium part-time or make custom ones for both. I decided to use the game uniforms instead for now and may come back to update these careers for the uniforms, though I don't have a set date yet for when that might be.

As stated above, you will need NRAAS Careers Mod for these careers to show up in the game and as long as you have the latest version of it, it should work for higher patches.

I’m not fluent in any other languages to translate so if anyone is interested in translating this career, please don’t hesitate to send me a message here or comment on this post and will let you know the details.

I have tested this career in my game, so far it is working and all scripts are showing up. All feedback is very welcome to help me learn and improve my skills so please let me know if you experience any problems on your end and I’ll do my best to sort it as soon as possible.

Credits:

Image by pikisuperstar, brgfx and macrovector on Freepik MissyHissy step-by-step tutorial Job Centre Discord

[deathdetermineslife]

this one is a bit embarrassing but uhcould you do things for when your f/o is an object like from an object show? I know this one might be tough to do so if you're unable to it's completely ok :)

no not embarrassing at all! I'll try my best!

collect items that are adjacent to what your f/o is! (for example, a salt shaker, maybe keep a little bowl of salt in your room? maybe a cute jar?)

make an Amazon wish list of the object your f/o is!

practice drawing that specific object! even better if you have one already, you can use the reference in real life and play around with the lighting.

learn the history of that object! you'll be surprised how many simple things date back to the beginning of written history!

make them out of clay or paper mache!

look up the kind of things you would need to properly clean the object that your f/o is! some metals need to be cleaned with special cleaners, for example!

if your f/o is an object that can be taken apart and put back together, maybe practice doing that!

if you have the object that your f/o is, look into the different kinds of glues that you should use to put them back together, if they happened to break.

look up what the object your f/o is has looked like throughout history! or, look at what they look like in other countries, if they happen to be different.

draw your f/o as a fancier version of themselves! some common household items have super fancy expensive counterparts that look different to their normal ones.

if you have a physical version of your f/o, take them places they otherwise wouldn't be! for example, if your f/o is an object you would find in a kitchen, take them to your living room or bedroom!

I had to look up what an object show was for this. don't be ashamed! I'm a big fan of doing whatever you want as long as it makes ppl happy and isn't a crime! objectums and ppl similar are welcome here!

[thepaintedsable]

Uh oh, who let me into a fandom again? Who left the niche within a niche door open??? Y’all should know better.

@sm-baby’s Carnival AU for The Amazing Digital Circus grabbed me by the bootstraps with??? Inspiration??? Not only have I dodged most fandoms and the motivation to draw fanart (not that I don’t want to show support; just no ideas in the noggin), but I genuinely don’t think I’ve sat down and put a non-ironic, genuine OC for a media I like on paper since my Warrior Cats/Creepypasta era. This AU didn’t just get me to sit down and make an OC that fits with the original media, but one that fits with their derivative. I saw other people doing it and it looked like so much fuunnn.

First, have standard TADC version! Either that or a player.

This is Tuus! They’re mainly based on the beanie baby dragon to fit that sweet sweet 90s theme, but generally a mixture of beloved childhood toys I have sitting on my shelf. She’s scruffy, worn, and kinda dirty looking and that’s on purpose. She’s bottom heavy, and I wanted her wings to give off the texture of that basically-plastic shiny fabric you used to see on a lot of toys.

No mouth, but a randomly appearing lizard tongue. For fun.

Tuus deals with the circus by sleeping. A lot. Too much. If you don’t need to sleep, then you don’t need to be awake. If she’s doing to be trapped in a digital hell, she might as well be catching up on her naps. And she will sleep in the worst places. Time for a digital feast? She’s on the table. Caine wants to have an adventure in the lake? Girl is at the bottom. Sleeping with the fishes fr fr. And you need to find her one day? Nowhere to be seen, probably on the roof.

It’s playing on the whole big, lazy, sleeping dragon thing that used to be in a lot of children stories I remember. But also how well loved childhood toys seem to pop up and disappear, there when you aren’t looking but gone when you are. Her name also means “Your” or “Thy.” Your dragon.

BUT AT THE CARNIVAL?

What amusement park is complete without a gift shop? What game doesn’t have a place to buy goofy digital goods? Tuus is the big lady in charge of the gift place of the Carnival! Her room is what should have been a shop of sorts, to buy whatever products that darned company would have tried to push. Cosmetics, virtual toys, digital snacks, whatever. But, uh, I don’t think anyone told them dragons don’t like to…. share. Becoming sentient did wonders for the attitude. You should be just fine if you don’t make too much noise, though! She’s a lazy lizard, and often sleeps sprawled around the place. I imagine the level would be set up like a maze, or a labyrinth. Isles and isles of things, with peaks of a tail or smoke every now and again. Toys, clothing, and even random things that shouldn’t be in there just trash the path. It’s your job not to step on anything! It’s different each time, though (a speed runner’s nightmare). One level you might get lucky and have a straight shot with a sleeping dragon, the next there might be so many things it’s physically impossible to reach any exit at all. Potentially can get out of trouble with some digital coin™, but you’ll have to have found enough hidden in the room to forgive each “damaged item.”

Here she is much, MUCH larger and far cleaner. An oversized display never meant to be bought. A collectors item far too expensive for a child. Think “I used to be a beloved toy and now I’ve been forgotten, even forgetting myself, and this is how I cope” favor VS “I have never known the touch of a person and have been trapped on this shelf only to be abandoned and have the personality of an unsocialized dog” flavor.

She has no mouth, but she bites.

I want to draw more of her :) She’s a goof.

[kingyo-konbini]

FLAT WHITE [SABO X READER]

[SUMMARY] luffy gets food poisoning, so you have to cover his shift. luckily, your night quickly becomes interesting when you meet a particular blond man. [PRONOUNS] gender neutral [GENRE] modern + coffee shop au [POV] second person [WORD COUNT] 2097 [CONTENT] first meetings | language (you call zoro an asshole but you don't actually mean it) [A/N] belongs to this one shot collection

“I’m gonna kill him.” You grumbled, angrily scrubbing your hands with soap and hot water.

“[Name]?” You looked over your shoulder, the scowl on your face a warning to whoever tried to mess with you that evening. Zoro squinted at you, nonplussed. “Why are you here?”

“Why don’t you ask your boyfriend?” You huffed, wiping your hands dry with a paper towel before chucking it into a trashcan.

“Are you talking about Sanji or Luffy?” Usopp snickered, yelping as the frothing pitcher Zoro had been cleaning hit the side of his face.

“I meant Luffy.” You glanced around the dining room, letting out a puff of air when you realized it was occupied. Lowering your voice, you grabbed the metal pitcher from the floor and shoved it back into Zoro’s hands. “Idiot apparently ate some bad leftovers and has food poisoning. Sanji called me to cover for him.”

“You’re not opening tomorrow, are you?” Usopp asked, rubbing his face. You shook your head.

“Then why’re you pitching a fit? You have a date tonight or something?” Zoro scoffed, rinsing off the pitcher once again.

“Ha ha. Very funny.” You curled your lip and began checking the fridges, seeing if any milks needed restocking. “No, I didn’t have anything planned… just didn’t wanna work tonight.”

“Then why’d you pick up the shift? I know Robin would have taken it if you didn’t.” Usopp questioned, checking his watch and grinning once he saw his shift was, indeed, about to end.

“Robin picked up Nami’s opening shift tomorrow. Apparently this boutique is having a flash sale in the morning that Nami doesn’t wanna miss.” You sighed and leaned against one of the counters, pouting as Usopp slipped out of his apron and began making his way to the back. “It’s fine, really. Just put me in a mood for a bit.”

“Well, Tuesday nights are usually pretty slow, so it should be easy.” Usopp sent you a sympathetic smile before raising a hand in parting. “See you guys later!”

You and Zoro both returned his parting words with unenthusiastic versions of your own, the two of you settling into an easy silence. There were only a couple customers: an older woman reading while enjoying what looked to be a steaming cup of tea, a stressed-out looking college student pouring over some textbooks with a cup of coffee that had long since gone cold, and a couple that seemed to be on a date, sharing a small tiramisu.

Zoro set the pitcher to the side and grabbed a rag, opening one of the cabinets to pick up a bottle of glass cleaner.

“I’m gonna wipe down the windows.” He grunted, walking past you and out from behind the bar. You hummed and surveyed the area, looking to see if there was anything that needed to be done. It looked like Usopp had cleaned and tidied up pretty much everything before leaving, even replenishing the syrups. It wasn’t often that you wished for customers to show up, but you knew the oncoming hours would drag on forever if you didn’t have something to focus on.

The bell above the door rang as someone entered, eyes widening a little in surprise as your wish was granted much faster than you’d anticipated. Zoro didn’t move from the window, only looking over his shoulder to see who had entered. You missed the flash of recognition on his face as you focused on the customer, quickly moving to stand in front of the register with a smile.

“Hello! Welcome to the Thousand Sunny, how can I help you?”

He was tall, blond, and handsome. He also looked immaculately dressed, like he belonged in a different era: the top hat, the midnight blue, satin dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and the brown leather gloves that covered his hands couldn’t help but pique your interest. The scar that covered his left eye and crept down his neck and under his shirt didn’t help matters at all, and you found yourself staring.

“Ah, you’re the new hire, right?” He asked with a smile. You blinked and nodded; you had been working at the cafe for a little over a month, so you weren’t sure if you could still consider yourself the ‘new hire,’ even though it wasn’t technically incorrect. You’d never seen this man before, and you thought you’d gotten relatively acquainted with all of the regulars by then– you’d even met the maintenance man! “Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Sabo.”

He paused for a moment, as though expecting you to come to a sudden realization. You didn’t, and instead kept your polite smile on your face.  “I’m [Name], it’s nice to meet you.”

When it became obvious you had no idea who this guy was supposed to be, a light pink tint spread across his cheeks and he cleared his throat, turning his gaze to the menu. You saw Zoro looking at you incredulously, but chose to ignore him. If this guy was important, surely someone would have mentioned him to you by then, right?

“I’ll take a flat white, please.” He offered you an easy smile, and you returned it. He was easy on the eyes, and while you knew it was technically inappropriate to flirt with a customer, you couldn’t help but want to push your luck. He seemed nice, his tone was polite, and he was looking at you with something you thought you could interpret as interest.

“For here or to go?” You asked, plugging the order into the system.

“As much as I’d love to stay a little longer, I need to get back home. To go, please.”

You nodded and did your best to hide the disappointment from your face, grabbing a cup and writing his order and name on it with a sharpie. You put it off to the side and returned your attention to the screen. “Anything else?”

“Three profiteroles and a baguette, if you have any left?”

For you, I’d make them myself.

You shook your head in an attempt to dislodge the thought and glanced at the bake case next to you, zoning in on the few remaining profiteroles. You then looked over your shoulder to the wall of breads behind you, letting out a small breath of relief when you spotted a baguette.

“Of course.” You input the rest of the order and then flipped the screen, showing him the total. “Cash or card?”

“Card. please.”

You nodded, selected the option, and then went on the move, boxing the pastries before sliding the baguette into a sleeve. You placed the treats on the counter along with the receipt and flipped the screen back to you, smiling. “You’re lucky, this is the last baguette we have today.”

He returned your smile and gathered the food in his arms, quickly looking back to you. “I’d say I’m lucky for finally getting to meet the new hire, honestly. The baguette is just a plus.”

You flushed at his words and ducked your head, hiding the smile that lit up your expression. You grabbed his cup and moved to the espresso machine, preparing the espresso shot and pulling the milk from the fridge.

“Are you a regular? I’ve been here for a little more than a month, and I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

“Oh, yeah, I tend to work a lot so I don’t have many chances to stop by.” He had moved with you, looking at you from behind the counter. “I don’t think I’d count as a regular, but my brother works here, so I try to drop by when I can.”

You almost dropped the pitcher and turned to stare at Sabo, eyes wide and slightly horrified. You’d been flirting (had you been flirting? You were never really able to tell, but you thought he had been flirting with you at one point) with one of your coworker’s brother. Who could he be related to? He looked a lot like Sanji, but Sanji had never mentioned his family, like ever. You’d gotten the impression that it was a taboo subject and steered clear of it to the best of your abilities.

“O- oh? Is that so?” You stuttered, looking back at the metal pitcher in your hand. You carefully poured the milk into it, thoughts tumbling through your mind at an impressive speed. You thought you heard Zoro snicker, but you couldn’t be sure as you turned on the steam wand and the loud, shrieking sound filled the air. You took the moment to put your mind in order, fighting the blood that had rushed to your head and trying not to focus on the amused smile you could see from the corner of your eye. Once the espresso machine quieted, you cleared your throat and began to slowly pour the frothed milk into the espresso, just as you’d been taught. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember anyone mentioning any brothers.”

Sabo laughed, light and playful. “I’m not surprised, Luffy can be a bit absent-minded at times.”

It took all of your willpower to not dump the remaining milk into the cup.

“Y- you’re Luffy’s brother?” You choked out, shakily finishing the top-up and moving the pitcher to create a little design on the surface. “I… I didn’t know he had a brother.” Honestly, you hadn’t given much thought to your coworker’s personal life or family, kind of assuming he’d just spawned from the ground somewhere.

Sabo’s laugh devolved into a chuckle and he offered you a sympathetic smile. “He has two, I’m afraid.”

You placed the pitcher in the sink and wiped your hands off on your apron, heart beating rapidly in your chest. You managed to release a slight hum in acknowledgement, carefully settling the lid over the top of the drink. “That’s… cool.” You didn’t know how else to respond, setting the finished drink in front of him. A sudden thought struck you and you slapped a hand over your mouth. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry! If I’d known you were a family member, I would have given you a discount-!”

“It’s alright, I figured out you had no idea who I was pretty quickly.” Sabo cut you off, tucking the baguette under one arm and grabbing the cup with his free hand. “Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal.”

You shot a scowl over to Zoro, who was openly laughing. “Zoro! You knew! Why didn’t you say anything?” You whined, not caring that you were probably annoying the other customers in the cafe.

Zoro shrugged and smirked. “Wanted to see what would happen.”

“You asshole.” You hissed under your breath, running a hand through your hair. “I’m sorry, Sabo-san-”

“Oh, no, you don’t need to call me that.” Sabo shook his head and grinned. “Just Sabo is fine. And really, it’s okay. It was nice getting to talk to you without that connection, you know?”

You blinked. You weren't sure you knew, but you’d take what you could get.

“I- mhm.” You nodded.

“I actually came down to thank whichever poor soul had to take his shift from him. I’m glad it was you.” He beamed at you. “So, you know. Thanks. Hey, when’s your next shift?” He asked, taking a cautious sip of his drink. “Wow, this is really good.”

“Uh, tomorrow. Eleven to four.”

“I’ll have to drop by during my lunch, then.” Your racing heart somehow managed to pick up speed. “It was nice meeting you, [Name], but I have to go back and help Ace nurse Luffy back to health. I’ll see you soon, alright?”

“O- okay.” You nodded again, brain functions diminished. “It was nice meeting you too, Sabo. Have a good night.”

And with that, Sabo sent you one last blinding smile and left, nodding at Zoro as he passed. You stood, frozen in your spot as you processed what had just happened.

“Hey, [Name].” Zoro snapped his fingers in front of your face, a teasing smirk staring down at you. When had he gone back inside the bar? “You there?”

It took a second but you eventually came back to your senses, slapping Zoro’s chest with a huff. “You asshole. I hate you.”

Surprisingly enough, Zoro chose not to tease you further and instead went about putting the window cleaner away and tossing the rag who-knows where. “I’ll start on the dishes.”

You huffed and turned back to the espresso machine, putting the milk back as you began to clean up.

Maybe you wouldn’t kill Luffy after all.

[allhandsondeck1]

ATTENTION ALL NON KPOP LISTENERS THAT HAVE A KPOP STAN IN YOUR LIFE!!!!! (This is a ramble)

Do you have a friend, partner, sibling, etc. that loves kpop? Is their birthday soon? Do you want to give them a bouquet, but don't know what flower to give them? I HAVE THE PERFECT THING FOR YOU! A BIAS BOUQUET!!!

Okay so along with my sister's birthday being.. literally rn (it's 1 am for me at the time of posting this), it's also right before valentines day! She's my best friend, and my sister, and she deserves a bouquet. She is obsessed with kpop. Like, can hear the first few seconds of a song and name the group, song, album, and who is singing at each moment(she scares me). She has like, a million favorite groups, so I had made a list and broooo.. I didn't even use half of the list, and the list was at least 20 or more members.. AND IT WASNT EVEN ALL OF THEM

So you can tell what my motive for this was, yeah? It's actually hella easy! I didn't take progress shots, because I got school later and didn't have the time to stop and take pictures, but here's what you need!

An editing or art app

Paper/Cardstock

lamination sheets

Wooden skewers

A foam cone

Tape

Tissue paper

Pipe cleaners (optional)

Sticky notes (optional)

Soo to start I went to pinterest and downloaded a few photos of my sister's favorite idols. You don't have to do all of them, you can do one group or just a bunch of photos of their favorite person! Whatever you want. I used the app IBISPAINTX to put them all together in different sizes, so it was easier to print and cut out and they can vary in sizes. Use whatever app or website you think works!

I basically just put them in collages like this.

I emailed them to myself and then printed them out on cardstock paper, just so they were stiffer and would last longer, but if you don't want to/don't have that, regular printer paper will work!

Jm using a digital version, just to show it(also in courtesy of the girl bc its my sister's favorite and I forgot to print her out 😭) but after they are printed, cut your idols out, just the perimeter around it!

Then, this is also optional, but I used lamination sheets over the pictures! Try and fit as many of your idols on the sheets just to save, but be careful, because you want to make sure when you cut them out, they have a small gap on the lamination, just so the lamination doesn't peel off. The lamination will just make the pictures last longer, so your person can keep them after! *the gray represents the lamination!*

Now, I bought a foam cone fromWalmart, but yoh can probably grt it at micheals or any craft store! Mine was a little small, I don't have exact dimensions cause I just guessed, but I think eying it and guessing too will do just fine! I also got some skewers, which can be found anywhere, I just found them in a drawer lol. Next thing is tape!

Youre going to take your idols and your skewers, just tape the back onto the skewer before you stick it into the foam. Now, this part is optional too, but I used some purple pipe cleaners to wrap around the skewers! I just measured the part that was stuck into the foam, then I taped the idol on after I pulled it out,and then I wrapped the pipe cleaners above the line and to the bottom of the picture, and stuck it back in

Another optional thing is to make paper hearts! I found a tutorial on YouTube to make inflatable ones! I used the skewers to poke through the top and then layer purple and pink ones. I made seven so it could start on one color and end in the same color! I made three of these pattern heart things, but you can make as many as you want! (This works well if it's for a romantic partner or for valentines day!)

Finally I just used purple and pink tissue paper to hide the cone, and taped it together to keep it in place! Here's the final product in horrible lighting

I can only name like, 5 people on this bouquet, and then the girl on my demonstration but idk how to spell her name lol

Anyways! There's a good, decently cheap present for your local kpop lover!

[vazelbeak]

Forever gonna be sad that it seems like Sloth was centered on laziness when if you do research it was so much more than that Lovesart23 covered it herself but when you read up on the sins Sloth was a very hard to define sin because of everything it encapsulated. In Dantes Inferno Vergil describes sloth as the effect of an insufficient amount of love, and in some versions its described as "an unwillingness to do what must be done." And can take this form through other vices. It also encapsulated refusing to act and keep to your word making it much more than just laziness but instead appears more along the lines of apathy and indifference.

I also find this would've fit very well with a hospital being in Sloth. I have multiple family members who have been in the medical field and worked in hospitals and they often describe it as a very labor intensive job (which contradicts the laziness idea), however due to the weight of being responsible for and sometimes losing a life, its common for doctors and nurses to actually fall into developing drinking problems and other such means to cope with this as well as develop apathy and indifference to patients with less extreme symptoms or issues overall.

The problem with the portrayal is its hard to find Blitzø funny for being mad at a nurse for not being able to read when this (unintentional or not especially with the lack of understanding the O in Blitzøs name is silent sounding like dyslexia) appears to be someone who's infact nice to Blitzø making him seem like a jerk. (And maybe don't make a joke about the r slur.)

I could see room for it being a joke Blitzø is in the waiting room and while he waits he sees other demons faking more extreme injuries to get seen sooner. When Blitzø brings this up to the nurse playing games on her phone, she tells him Loona is not nearly as urgent of a patient as the others. He can't leave of his appointment will be cancelled so Blitzø has to be smart. He sees a janitors closet left open and gets an idea. He grabs something from it it, drags Loona into the bathroom and we hear a scuffle for about 3 beats. We then cut to the nurse playing a game on her phone as Blitzø flings himself to the front desk and with ad much over the top panic he can muster shouts "oh my god!- my daughter needs help! She's caught a flesh eating bacteria from the human world and its making her skin slough off!"

We then see Loona, wrapped in toilet paper and splattered with some red liquid from the left open janitors closet.

Perhaps have them pop into the same shot asking "has anyone seen my floor cleaner?" And have Blitzo quickly dismisses it with "no.- anyways...-clears throat- Look at how much shes bleeding!" Or as the nurse comments Loona smelling like cleaning supplies in suspicion, Blitzø plays it up as "Oh god! Its turning her flesh into soap like bleach!". I think the idea of Blitzø playing up being dramatic just to get seen for a vaccine could both make fun of how doctors can be so apathetic they only pay attention to the most extreme cases, and in a way keep continuity between season 2 episode 2 by suggesting being on the sitcom set and validated gave Blitzø the confidence to believe he can act which may have been something holding him back from performing.

Blitzø and Loona then get rushed back to a room and when they take the bandages off and as a doctor walks in Blitzø jumps into action again with "Oh you must be mistaken. My daughter is just here for a hellbies shot...are you implying you don't keep track of your own patients?"

Blitzø got past the waiting room, now he just has to convince the doctor they made the mistake.

This makes the doctor think they made a mistake and with the undertone of being threatened for not keeping proper track of patient information and medical history they cave and insist they would never. Potentially this means the doctor who came in to treat Loona wasn't actually someone who administers vaccines to hellhounds but being pressured by Blitzø to do commit to doing it and that's why they struggle to handle Loona.

Really i just think you could make it a little more fitting because dulling sloth down to laziness gives a distasteful implication you think doctors are lazy which is not so much a problem as doctors growing apathetic and only treating the most urgent cases as important which is a real problem.

[not-available-for-comment]

Wastewater treatment is not achieved through a series of chemical treatments. Instead, it’s a managed natural process in which the effluent from the sewer system is filtered, aerated and then broken down by wild microbes.

Technically it doesn’t need to be aerated, but anaerobic bacteria, which don’t need oxygen, produce much stinkier byproducts during this breakdown process, so most decent-sized urban wastewater treatment plants do aerate in order to spare the neighbors. Very simple rural wastewater plants may just pump the wastewater into a lagoon—an outdoor pond, usually with a liner of some kind—and just let whatever grows in there do so.

As the wastewater is breaking down, it separates into a layer of muck (sludge) and a layer of cleaner water. Large wastewater treatment plants have a series of stages with clearer and cleaner water emerging from each one. Small plants may have a series of lagoons or just one. The more stuff you have in your wastewater that’s not poop (say maybe you accept discharge from a local factory, or there’s a restaurant district with a lot of food waste in their greywater), the longer and harder it is to treat.

Discharge from wastewater treatment plants to natural water bodies is heavily regulated and monitored for quality. In the US, it’s regulated by the EPA, and they take it seriously. The finishing step involves testing your discharge to make sure it’s within your approved discharge limits. This is the only step where a chemical treatment is commonly added: a little chlorine, to kill off the last of your microbes. But some plants use constructed wetlands or sand filters instead. If they do apply chlorine, they also have to take it back out before releasing the water, so that they don’t upset the ecosystem the water will be released to.

(If you have wastewater that’s mostly human waste and a correctly sized plant, you shouldn’t technically need this step. The microbes should be slowly precipitating out of the water along with the sludge. But things like high volume, cold temperatures, and complex effluent can make those benchmarks hard to hit without a finishing step.)

MORE COOL STUFF ABOUT WASTEWATER:

DID YOU KNOW? Potassium, an important component in fertilizer, is actually mined out of the earth? Did you know potassium deposits are running low? DID YOU KNOW POTASSIUM IS A WASTEWATER BYPRODUCT!?

DID YOU KNOW? Some large plants can trap and clean methane from their wastewater and use it for power?

DID YOU KNOW? The precipitated sludge can be further treated and used for fertilizer? I particularly liked the plant that was using it to fertilize fast-growing trees for the paper trade.

DID YOU KNOW? Many wastewater plant operators have a protective—if sometimes frustrated—relationship with their microbes, which they call “the bugs”, and include not just bacteria but also other microorganisms like algae and daphnia. The bugs are the workhorses of the wastewater plant: if their ecosystem becomes imbalanced, everyone’s job gets harder. I doubt they’d appreciate this, but in my mind, wastewater treatment operators are microbe herders. Though I suppose thinking of them as bog technicians is also accurate.

This has been the short version of my “wastewater treatment is fricking awesome” rant. I generalized a lot but the gist is still true. You asked for something cool, behold: Wastewater treatment, first wonder of man’s interface with nature.

tell me something cool

[vgrc-llc]

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[justactgaussian]

I have these pens I really, really like.

For some (to me) unfathomable reason, they have made a limited edition Naruto themed set:

I am considering using them to take notes in meetings at my very serious and professional office job. But I already own functionally identical pens, so I find it hard to justify buying these just to confuse my colleagues. Especially since I've never actually watched Naruto (and have no desire to do so).

My friends would like help convincing me to do it anyway, so:

Since I can't help myself, my propaganda for the pens in general is under the cut.

+ They're erasable, in my experience more so than pencils. Just wait for the ink to dry a little first (~5 seconds is usually fine)

They're called Frixion Clicker, made by Pilot

+ No need for a separate eraser, they have a non-eroding rubber tip for that. It's precise enough to erase single letters in the middle of a word. Do make sure to keep it clean from graphite and other inks, so that doesn't smudge the paper

+ You can buy refills for them

+ The ink dries fast. I never get smudges on my hands

+ They come in 13 different colours and three line thicknesses

+ If you don't like clicky ball point pens, there's also capped pens, fine liners, markers and highlighters with the same type of erasable ink. I use the last two for drawing battle maps during DnD sessions

+ If you like clicky pens, they're great! Satisfying, nice and sharp sound, if a little loud. 8/10

+ I once managed to convince 5 people to buy them with just a single very short demonstration. They all still use them

+ I like the grip. They were the main writing utensil me and my study group used in university, and none of us had problems using them for hours at a time. There's also a fancy metal version for the same type refills if you prefer that

- They are advertised as being erased by friction, which is sort of true. The friction is just a way to generate heat, which turns the ink colourless. Don't put a hot plate on the paper

- Supposedly, the ink can also regain its colour if exposed to something cold enough (under -12°C). I have never tried this

+ You can use the heat thing to your advantage. The hot plate method is good for erasing a lot at once (I used it to clean my textbooks before reselling them)

- Erasing in the same spot several times can discolour the paper some. I still find it cleaner than using a pencil in the same manner

- Erasable pens should not be used for signatures, hand written exams or other official documents

[neil-gaiman]

Hi, I am a french reader, I just discovered Sandman, which I love, and I have a question about the colors in the restored publication of the serie. In the original publications, the colors were flashy and psychedelic but in the new ones, they are more "realistic", less wild in a sense. Is there a reason for this change ? Were you unsatisfied with the coloring of the first publications ?

It was a combination of things:

The biggest one was the very white glossy paper in the books was very different to the newsprint that the colouring was designed for. The original colouring was a lot more restrained, because it sank into and was absorbed into newsprint. It became "flashy, psychedelic and wild" because it wasn't meant to look like that.

Part of it was that the early colouring, especially in the Sam Kieth issues, especially once it was printed much heavier than intended, hid art details.

Part of it was consistency. We were going to have to recolour the early issues from scratch, to make the colour suitable for modern printing, and to create digital versions of the art. (Basically Sandman colouring was pre-digital until issue 49. I'm fairly sure that Worlds' End on were done on computers, although Danny Vozzo was still colouring by hand, with "Android Images" doing the color separations, and they were done for whiter paper, so they weren't going to need to be recoloured.) So it seemed wiser to let Danny Vozzo go in and just... colour it. He'd coloured over 50 issues of Sandman, and he knew what he was doing.

In my blog in 2006, I was asked:

Dear Neil, the new coloring for the new Absolute Sandman looks great. I have a couple of questions regarding it: 1) Who's supervising the new coloring, and who's doing the coloring? 2) Were the new reproductions made from the orignal inks/art? 3) Do you feel that the new coloring better represents your original vision, the artist's original vision? is it a matter of technology? 4) will the Absulote Sandman be your "Artist's definitive version" in terms of coloring? and I replied: 1) Danny Vozzo is doing Sandmans 1-8, 17 and 18. Lee Loughridge is doing The Doll's House (9-16). It's being supervised by Karen Berger, Absolute editor Scott Nybakken, and me. And I'm signing off on every panel. 2) No. Most of that stuff was sold 17 years ago. We got a few pages, although the most useful thing was a cache we found in my attic of photocopies I was sent for proofing purposes, and some of the artists had clean photocopies of some pages. There are only a couple of pages now, in Sandman 16, where the black line leaves something to be desired. I bet the originals will surface as soon as Absolute Sandman Volume 1 comes out. 3) Yes, to all three. The original technology means that with every new printing on cleaner paper with sharper inks, it looks worse. There was never the time or the money to fix anything in the old days, and stuff simply went out as it was, sometimes to the detriment of the story. As things went on, we got to computerise the colour, and the technology gradually made things better. Compare Preludes and Nocturnes to The Kindly Ones, just from a standpoint of colour and you'll see what I mean. 4) I very much hope so. Maybe in 30 years the technology will have advanced to the point where we have to do it again, but probably it won't.

....

I hope that helps. If you want to see the artwork uncoloured, it's in The Annotated Sandman...

[lovelypeasantjellyfish]

I feel her hold and her voice and her face - Chapter 6

A/N: More fluff because I am procrastinating the 'big talk', but I think it fits well with the rest of the story. 

Title is from the song 'It's You, It's Me, It's Us' by Reinairy. Go listen to it.

Pairing: Lady Dimitrescu x Reader

Summary: A new routine takes hold.

Warnings/Tags: None (that I know of, please let me know if I need to add anything)

Words: 2282   AO3 Link   Chapters: One Two Three Four Five Six

Translations: Draga mea - My dear Cel mic - Little one Dragă - Dear Dulcea mea - My sweet

---

And so you fall into a comfortable routine.

The creeping days are filled with cleaning, just like before. Forgotten rooms pass through your hands to mirror their counterparts in the main parts of the castle, or, at the very least, a cleaner version of their past selves. There was much to do, and you were grateful for that, the repetitive motion of swiping damp cloth across dust kept the thundering in your chest at bay, even if it grew day by day.

You work alone, save for the few flies you see here and there, and it isn’t uncommon for the only people you see to be when you take your meals in the dining halls. The other maids don’t seem to question why they no longer see you coming from Lady Dimitrescu’s wing of the castle during the day, and you try not to question why the list in your seat every morning assigned you to rooms and hallways that you sometimes had to ask Marcia to find.

Thus, when you find a letter with your Lady’s handwriting singing praises of love, you do the same. You put it back in the drawer and dust the rest of the room, replacing the white sheets that covered the furniture and closing the doors to the bedchamber. You try to erase the painting of the maiden from your mind, this one was all cheekbones and bright eyes, standing in a field of flowers above the dresser.

You try not to think too much about how the artist’s signature matches the one in the letter.

In the nights, you sit on your bed, sweeping dust off your fresh uniform, listening, waiting for three knocks. One of the Misses is always close behind as you prepare your Lady's tea, and flies flutter around as you make your way back to your room in the dark. Daniela hovers close, eyes flicking back and forth in the dark. Cassandra strays a bit further, often strides ahead no matter how you try to match her pace, but she stops often, waiting for you to catch up. Bela floats behind you, her gaze seemingly boring holes into your back; you had turned once, bravery or stupidity spurring you to do so, only to find her glancing behind her. She turned quickly, silently motioning for you to keep walking when she caught you staring.

Your Lady is less surprised to see you the second night, an eyebrow arched as she leaned to the side, looking for something behind you, but her daughters always disappeared when you reach the door to the study. By the fourth night of this little routine, the papers in Lady Dimitrescu’s hands are discarded onto the desk and swiftly replaced by a cup of tea, and then forgotten as your hands take its former place; well, that was not always true, it had been your cheeks that one day, her strong hands lightly squeezing and caressing the flesh until the letter was the furthest thing from your mind.

The night after the first, well, every night really, you had thought of ways to broach the subject with your Lady, but the deepened lines around her mouth and bags under her eyes stop you each time, so you held your tongue, always promising yourself that you would talk to her when she was less stressed; you knew your place.

The words almost come out one night, when you offered to massage Lady Dimitrescu’s hands, having noticed how she would sometimes flex her fingers and wrist before taking the offered cup of tea, but you held back the words, trying not to think about how your hands were dry and calloused under your Lady’s own soft skin, instead focusing on kneading the muscle under your fingers and helping to slide her gloves back on when you were done. The words fall away completely when she leans down to brush her lips against your forehead. You had looked up to her in surprise, and she trailed her fingers down your cheek, pausing slightly at your jaw.

Still, Lady Dimitrescu declines when you offer to warm her up or clean the room, as she does every night; but she always smiles at you in a way that you had never seen her do before, and everything in your head is quiet when you walk back to your room.

Although if you were being perfectly honest, the fear of adding to your Lady’s worries was not the sole reason why you kept putting off talking to her about your diminishing place in the castle; you knew she was working herself even harder than before because of Mother Miranda's presence in the castle, even though you had not caught even a glimpse of the priestess since her arrival. A part of you was afraid of breaking the routine that you had settled into with Lady Dimitrescu, the night had quickly become your favourite part of your day and you would not know what to do with yourself if it went away.

If the other maids noticed your nightly outings, they don’t say anything. Your relationships with them had improved somewhat, moving from silence and back to pleasantries and casual conversations. Anita would now make small talk with you as she got ready to head to the showers, and Marcia took the time to explain where certain rooms were when you asked her in the mornings; the other maids no longer paused their conversations when you happened to pass by them, sometimes asking you to help them with some of their chores.

All in all, it was a routine that you did not mind.

- - -

The routine breaks the first night Mother Miranda leaves the castle.

Lady Dimitrescu is not hunched over her desk or frowning at papers in her hands when you enter. In fact, when you nudge open the door with your foot like you had done every night for the past month, she is standing by the window, pale smoke drifting from between her lips as she turns to look at you.

“Ah, y/n, right on time.” She smiles at you, teeth glinting in the moonlight, the brightest you’ve seen her look in this particular room.

A few strides and she crosses the room, plucking the tray out of your hands. You don’t see where she puts it down because the instant your hands are free, the room tilts and they’re grasping at the fabric of Lady Dimitrescu’s dress as she lifts you effortlessly.

You gasp, not used to being so high above the ground. Her signature black hat bumps slightly against the top of your head, she squeezes you, pressing you against her in a tight embrace, not so much that it hurt but enough for you to know that her arms were solid muscle.

You cannot help but giggle as she spins with you in her arms, the room a dizzy blur and her chest shaking beneath you as she laughs, deep and welcoming. The room still spins slightly when she stops, but the grin on her face is as clear as the feeling of her hands in yours from the first night.

“In a good mood, My Lady?” you ask, both relieved and amused by the sight of your Lady finally looking relaxed and somewhat carefree.

An affirmative hum answers your question, and you swear her eyes flash a vibrant gold.

“Hmmm, it would be better if it wasn’t so cold, wouldn’t it, draga mea?” she asks, a smile still on her face as she looks into your eyes.

Picking up on what she was insinuating, your heart leaps, “Would you like me to warm you up, My Lady?”

“Always, my dear.”

You could drown in the deep velvet of her voice in that moment.

Your arms sling around her neck as she begins to adjust you, bridal style, you realise with a blush when she carries you out of the study, the scent of her perfume making your head swim once more as she bends to pass through the doorway.

Lady Dimitrescu brings you to her chambers, gently depositing you in her lap as she sits at her vanity. You remain in her lap, leaning back against her and watching as she takes off her hat, gloves, and jewellery before massaging cold cream into her skin. Your eyes meet in the mirror, and she smiles down at you, making your heart flutter and your face heat up.

This doesn’t go unnoticed by your Lady, who chuckles and taps the side of your thigh twice, the unspoken signal for you to get down.

“Wait here, I have to wash this off,” she says, standing.

“Yes, My Lady.”

She disappears into the adjoining bathroom, leaving you to look around.

You don’t get a chance to do so, however, as a cloud briefly blocks the moonlight streaming from the windows, plunging the room into near-total darkness, save for the slight orange glow of the dying embers in the fireplace. Puzzled, you make your way to the fireplace and add kindling along with a few fresh logs, poking at the flames until there was a steady roar. Pleased with the light and added warmth, you finally look around the grand room.

Her bedchambers were neater than the study, that was for sure, but it was still nowhere as tidy as it usually was: empty wine glasses could be spotted on almost every surface, there was even one on the ground next to the bed, where the bedside table was littered with various tea cups that you remember bringing to the study over the past week. Even the bed looked like it had been made in a hurry, with its crumpled sheets.

You frown, it was unusual for Lady Dimitrescu to allow her chambers to get this messy, or let the fire get this close to dying. Perhaps the flu that had been going around had taken out more maids than you thought. But there wasn’t much you could do about that right now, you are about to start gathering the copious glasses from around the room when a large hand lands on your shoulder.

You jump slightly, turning around to face Lady Dimitrescu, now dressed in the same nightgown from when you had shown up in the middle of the night.

“Restless, aren’t you, pet?” she asks with a lilt in her voice.

You can’t tell if the heat on your face is from embarrassment or the fire that was slowly warming the room.

“I’m sorry, My Lady.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, cel mic. Now go change, I imagine that uniform of yours cannot be very comfortable to sleep in,” she says, handing you a similarly coloured bundle of fabric and ushering you towards the doorway she emerged from.

It is only when you enter the large adjoining bathroom do you realise she had passed you the matching robe to her nightgown. The warmth on your face deepens, spreading as you shed your uniform and put on the robe; it was much too large for you, the sleeves ending at your knees, and the hem of the robe pooled around your feet, but the way the silky fabric enveloped you in the intoxicating scent of roses, lavender, and white musk was well worth it, even when you almost slip as you exit the room.

Lady Dimitrescu is sitting at the vanity when you enter, she turns, the grin from earlier reemerging as she looks you up and down.

You avoid her gaze and make your way towards her with warm cheeks as she lets out a hum of approval. “Allow me, My Lady,” you say, taking the hairbrush from her hand. Lady Dimitrescu’s hair is wonderfully soft, and you take care to not let the thin bristles catch on any tangles, slowly brushing each one of them out. They still hold a slight curl when you were done, not able to resist, you gently twirl a lock around your fingers, admiring the way it looked.

Letting go, you look at the mirror; Lady Dimitrescu’s eyes were closed, her breathing slow and even, you almost think she had fallen asleep when one eye opens, finding yours in the reflection.

“That was rather relaxing, dragă, thank you,” she says, stifling a yawn. “Now,” she continues, standing, “I think it’s time to go to sleep.”

Scooping you up in her arms before you could react, the brush is removed from your hand and placed somewhere on the vanity in one swift motion. Your arms wrap around her neck on instinct, soft curls brushing against your hands; with your chests pressed together in this position, you could feel her heart beating against yours, could she feel it too?

The trip from the vanity to the bed seemed much longer than the few steps that it took Lady Dimitrescu to cross the room. She somehow manages to pull back the covers and climb into bed while holding onto you, tucking the blanket around the both of you.

Her arms wrap around you tightly, holding you close. Your hand rests on her waist, face buried in her neck, nuzzling her as she hums.

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, dulcea mea,” she whispers, her lips caressing your forehead.

“I’ve missed you too, My Lady.”

“Alcina.”

“Hmm?”

“My name,” she continues, her voice barely audible over the fireplace in the distance, entrusting you with a secret honour, “is Alcina.”

You can’t help the smile on your face, “I’ve missed you too, Alcina,” you whisper against her skin, sighing contently as she pulls you closer and places a soft kiss on your forehead.

[outforawalkb1tch]

How to Adult from a neurodiverse perspective. Some tips might also be helpful for anyone with mental illness that makes adulting harder.

It's going to be hard but try to stick to a certain area when cleaning instead zip zooming around doing things here and there. It's going to be a lot more satisfying to have one thing done fully then multiple things partially done.

Go to an area in your home and put away x many things that are in the wrong area.

If I'm having an especially hard time staying on one task I'll either tell myself ok I'm gonna wash the dishes (or whatever task it is for you) for x many more minutes or x many songs before I take a short break.

I try my best to make cleaning tasks more game like like I'm not just picking up dirty laundry off the floor into the basket I'm playing laundry basket ball! Making little games like this for cleaning will help make cleaning fun and something you want to do.

Make sure your breaks are actually short put a timer on your phone if you need to.

If you can't take a shower or bath for whatever reason get two washcloths. Get one washcloth wet and soapy, wash yourself. Get the other washcloth just wet and go over yourself again. I would do this a lot coming home super late from visiting family and my mom would call this a rag bath.

Try your best to fold your clothes out of the dryer to avoid wrinkles so that no matter what your wearing you'll look better put together.

If you struggle with this I suggest getting a clothes steamer its like an iron except theres no ironing board to set up and all that jazz that comes with a regular iron. Just fill this baby up with water and use on your clothes while they're hanging and watch the wrinkles go away.

If your having a hard time washing your clothes all together get a fabric fabreze and spray it on your clothes. This isn't a replacement for washing them but it certainly helps the smell if you're stuggling to get your laundry done. Make sure its fabric though regular fabreze won't help your clothes as well.

If you have delicates that your afraid the dryer might ruin let them air dry by hanging them on the shower curtain rack. Or if you have the room to do so invest in something like this:

Make your bed every day. This is just a good habbit to be in. Along with that make sure to freshen your sheets at least once every 2 months. Having more than one pair of sheets also helps with this because even if you can't get to washing your current sheets you could always just replace them with a different clean sheets and get around to cleaning the other sheets some other time.

Vitamins are great just generally but especially helpful if your sensory issues make it hard to eat certain healthy foods.

When making important phone calls make sure you already have a pen and paper so you can write down things you need to remember on the spot, instead of either scrambling for a pen and paper or thinking you'll remember then forget. Also sometimes it is good to have a bullet point list if you need to remember what exactly to say to this person istead of going uhhh umm and such.

When someone tells you an important date for something write it down right afterwards. Writing it right on the calendar were I can see it works better than using the calendar on my phone for myself as I usually forget about it until the day of if its just on my phone whereas if its on my paper calendar I see it a lot since I check my calendar a lot but this might be opposite for you so do whichever one works better

If you have long hair learn cute hairstyles other than just a messy bun. Its fun to switch it up from braids to pigtails to spacebuns or whatever. I'm putting this as a tip because I have long hair and whenever I am having a bad hair day, my hair is greasy or just do not have the energy to properly do my hair I would always opt for the messy bun. But you know what ? That gets boring and there's no age limit on braids or whatever no matter whatever other people state. Plus imo braids hide greasy hair better than buns.

Remember to clean your skin, but also being to harsh with rubbing your face with the cleaner or picking at your face can actually cause more problems! You want your face to not be too oily but also not too dry.

You can tell if your getting enough water by your pee color if its clear or really light yellow your doing good on keeping yourself hydrated if its yellow or darker you need some more water.

Contrary to popular belief/s coffee and cigarettes are not breakfast, and they cost as much as a real breakfast would. Please eat real food instead of bean and sugar soup and nicotine.

Make a budget, ask for help if needed as budget making can be kinda confusing, but make a budget and stick to it. This one has made my life so much better. Be the "crazy" coupon lady if you need to be to stick to it. Be a stickler with the lights and water if you need to be to stick to it.

Speaking of budget the dollar store and the generic grocery store version of things are your friends. The dollar store is a go to for kitchen stuff, cleaning stuff, snacks, some self grooming stuff, and even some of there frozen food and pantry food is pretty decent. They also have plenty of other stuff so honestly if I need anything I usually check there first before another store. Whatever they don't have that I need I can usually find a generic cheaper brand at the grocery store and most the time its absolutely no different than the big brands!

Buy clothes that fit NOW. Don't waste money on clothes that are smaller for inspiration for losing weight. (Or vice versa if you're trying to gain weight) Its important to have fashionable clothes that fit you at the weight you are now because if you don't you'll be stuck in boring sweats and sad because of it. I know. I've been there.

[sunscreenstudies]

How to Read a Novel in Your Target Language

Watch the video here!

Or click the ‘keep reading’ button to read a transcript!

Choose Your Book. A lot of people swear by children's books, but honestly, as long as you know you'll enjoy the story, then any book is fine! Preferably it should be a book that you've read before, just so you'll know the context and general story, cause this is super helpful when it comes to learning new words. Choose whatever book you like, whether that is children's books or classics or thrillers. Personally, I like to start with "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and then move onto the Harry Potter series! If you don't want to buy books or prefer to learn things online, then you can throw a book name followed by 'PDF' into Google, and chances are you'll find it! Websites like Gutenberg are also good places to start!

Find Your Translator. This can be a second version of the book in your native language, a bilingual book, a dictionary, a theasurus, or even Google Translate! For complete beginners, I suggest finding a bilingual book on Amazon or The Book Depository. For upper beginners, having two copies (one in your native, one in your target) is good translation practice. For intermediate/advanced/risk-takers, then getting a book entirely in a foreign language and using an online dictionary is the best option!

Gathering Your Supplies. There are three things that I always have no matter what I'm reading. The book (obv.), a pencil with an eraser, and sticky notes. If you don't want to use pencil, then a pen works just as well, but personally I find pencil a lot cleaner and easier to use (and also cause i make a lot of mistakes and pencil is the quickest to correct). If you don't want to use sticky notes, then you can use paper, your phone, or even just put the  new vocab straight into Quizlet if that's what you prefer!

Reading: Part One: Read the entire page first. Do not stop to look up words, do not stop to underline anything, just open the book and read the first page (or chapter, depending on your language level!). From that you should understand a few words, get the general context, etc. If you don't or you're a beginner, that's perfectly okay too, we're all learning here! Once you've read the page/chapter, try to explain what you just read to yourself. If you're upper beginner and onwards, try to explain what you read in your target language. For example, if you read a complicated sentence in German, try to explain that sentence in simple German. This will quickly let you know what areas of a language/vocab that you are missing. If you're a beginner, then don't stress, just explain it in your native language!

Reading: Part Two: After you've read the entire page, it's time to go through it paragraph by paragraph. Read the first paragraph, again try to explain to yourself what's happening, and then (and only then) do you pick up your pencil/pen/phone and underline the words that you do not know. Read the paragraph a second time. Now it's time to translate.

Reading: Part Three: If you have a bilingual book, try and figure out which target-language-words correspond to which native-language-words. If you have a second copy of the novel, then do the same (but remember that font/page size/etc. are going to be different so the paragraph's might be one different pages!). If you don't have the book in your native language, then get the dictionary/theasurus/translating app that you use and look up what the words mean. Once you translate a word, write it's translation down on the side margin of your book. You can write the translation directly above the word if you like, but personally I think this is bad for learning in the long run. The best way to learn is to reread the same book over and over again, and over time you should (hopefully) improve. Unfortunately, however, your brain will still want to take the easy way out, so if you have the translation written above a word, you're automatically going to read it, even if you eventually learn what the word means. Writing the translations in the side margin allows you to read a paragraph entirely in your target language, and if you still don't know what a particular word means, then you can always jump across to the side and see it's translation.

Reading: Part Four: Once you've written the translations of words you don't know on the margin (or wherever you choose), then it's time to write them out again on a sticky note (or paper, or notes app, or Quizlet, etc.). Write a list of words in your target language on the left side of the sticky note, and write the translations on the right side. I prefer using sticky notes, because once a sticky note is full, I can stick it on a blank page at the back of the book, fold it in half, and label what page the vocab came from. It's super helpful to have all the new words in one place! From here, I can all the vocab into Quizlet which is tens times easier than having to reread every single page trying to find all the underlined words and their translations.

Reading: Part Five: (Last step I swear) Once everything's roughly understandable, you're going to read the paragraph one final time. Try to remember the words translations (or if you can't that's fine too!) and glance across at the translations if you don't know! It's super super super important that you don't translate every. single. word. You should understand the general context of the piece before translating anything, and when you do find a word that you have to translate, try to figure out what it means first. For some languages, I know that this isn't possible, but for others, such as German, it's very possible. (e.g. Riesenschlange: Riesen = Large, Schlange = Snake, Riesenschlange = Big Snake (or, a Boa Constrictor)). If you're not learning a logical language, try to guess based on context, based on images/drawings/anything you can use, and only translate as a last resort.

Moving On: Once you've that done, move onto the second paragraph, then the third, fourth, etc. At the end of every chapter I like to quiz myself on vocab, on context, etc. to make sure that I did understand what I just read. But like I said, you don't need to understand every single little word, just as long as you get the general idea, you're doing pretty great! If there are words that you're never going to use (e.g. Riesenschlange) then of course you don't have to learn it; only learn what you feel you need to know! Also, congratulate yourself! You did it! This method might seem time consuming, but it's surprisingly quick once you get into it (and also I've completely overexplained it here) and hopefully it will help you the way that it's helped me!

[museswithinx]

Random prompt: Ronnie and momma’s boy, Emmett, at any Christmastime in the timeline

The house was mostly empty today as Sidney was off with her adopt-o-cousins and Erin was having a little one-on-one daddy/daughter day with Eric. It was just her and Emmett with a few hours to themselves. It was rare she got her own one-on-one time with her babies so she was always grateful for these days when she could spend a little individual time with each.

“What cha’ reading there, little man?” Ronnie asks upon finding Emmett in the living room by the fire place. As he lifted the book to show her the cover, she smiled at his choice. “Ah, The Grinch. We know quite a few of those, don’t we?” She jokes, earning a little giggle from him. “That’s one of my favorites, you know. You can never go wrong with Dr. Seuss.”

As into the book as he was a moment ago though, he seemed to want her full attention now as he sat up eagerly to hear what plans she had for them today (and he knew she had them). “So the school is having a fun little Christmas fair today with arts and crafts and games and all that. I even heard that Santa might drop by. Would you like to go check it out?” His excitement was all the response she needed as she stood. “Alright. Go get your shoes and coat on. I’ll grab my keys.”

A short drive later, they were at McKinley Elementary. Heading to the gym with her son’s hand in hers, the entire place was decked out for the occasion with different craft and game areas set up throughout. 

“What do you want to do first?” She asks him before he starts tugging her toward one of the craft stations. The sign read “Christmas Candy Pots” and it allowed the kids to paint and decorate a small clay pot and fill it with whatever candy they desired. It was an adorable DIY gift idea. “Oh, how cute!” She exclaims before handing Emmett two pots, one for each of his sisters, and sitting with him at one of the tables set up. “So what are you thinking? Should we do a little reindeer pot for Erin and a snowman for Sidney?” 

As he nodded, Ronnie squeezed out some paint onto a paper plate for him and handed him a brush before doing the same for herself. The first one they worked on together was for Erin which was painted brown before she helped him glue two googly eyes, a red pom pom nose, and some pipe cleaners shaped to be antlers. She let him pick out which candies he wanted to fill it with for his twin sister before they moved onto Sidney’s snowman.

“They’re beautiful, sweetheart. Your sisters will absolutely love these!” She commended him as he proudly showed her the two finished products. “Lets get these all boxed up and wrapped and then we can figure out something for your daddy, yeah?” Getting some boxes and wrapping paper from the station attendant, she helped Emmett wrap each one before she put them in her bag for safe keeping and moved onto the next thing.

For Eric, her son decided he wanted to make him an ornament. More specifically a picture ornament because “daddy loves mommy” and he thought he’d like that best. “He’ll love that,” she agreed as she helped him put together a wreath ornament with red and green pom poms and some ribbon for the bow. For the center, she gave him a picture of her and Eric from their first Christmas together as a married couple to glue on. Once it was dried, she helped him box and wrap that as well.

The next few hours were spent like that. They decorated some sugar cookies together, they played pin the nose on the snowman and reindeer antler toss. He even made a few friends with some of the other kids there while playing a Christmas version of musical chairs. It was all smiles and laughs and there was no greater joy for Ronnie than seeing her children happy.

Ending the day on a high, Ronnie brought him over to meet Santa before they would leave. “Be sure to thank him after,” she told her son before giving him an encouraging pat forward as his turn came to sit on his lap. Emmett was so radiant with happiness as he gave Santa his list and hugged him before they snapped a photo and he received a small gift from the bag at Santa’s side. Smiling as her son returned to her, she took him by the hand again and gave Santa a little wave before they headed out to the car.

“Did you have fun?” She asked him as she got him all buckled in. He confirmed that he did and she smiled at that. Mission accomplished. “Here. You can open this one when we get home.” She told him as she gave him the gift from Santa to hold, which made him even happier if that were possible. 

Making doubly sure he was all strapped in, Ronnie closed the door and climbed into the front to start the car. “When we get home, I’ll make us some hot cocoa and we can finish out the day with a movie. How’s that sound?”