#like 3 doc tabs open and as soon as an idea hits for one i switch tabs then switch to the next and so on

[sesshy380]

I'd like to apologize in advance for the next few weeks if I seem very up/down/all over the place (more so than usual). I've caught myself on the mania/depression cycle, and unfortunately until I've gotten any form of closure, I don't foresee myself escaping the rollercoaster.

[nanowrimo]

5 Tips for Completing Your NaNoWriMo Novel Draft

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Freewrite, a 2022 NaNoWriMo sponsor, is a dedicated drafting device designed just for writers, free of distractions. Today, comedian/writer Natalie Kim and Freewrite staff member Colin Butts share a few tips for helping you reach the end of your first draft this November:

Hello from Freewrite!  We’re thrilled to be taking part in the 2022 NaNoWriMo challenge. If you’re unfamiliar, we make dedicated drafting devices for writers without the distraction—or temptation—of browsers, email, apps, or notifications so you can get into and stay in writing flow. When it is time to edit, your drafts seamlessly sync with the cloud for export into Scrivener, Final Draft, Word, Google Docs, or your software of choice.

At the core of Freewrite’s design philosophy is an encouragement to move you forward. Intentionally lacking editing capabilities, Freewrite drafting devices help writers write more, not better. In this case, quantity trumps quality.

Ok, enough about Freewrite. How about insight from 2020 NaNoWriMo participant Natalie Kim about her experience drafting her project and what tips she has for you going in:

1. Make it a ritual

For NaNoWriMo in November 2020 I committed to writing after dinner, no matter what. Once my butt sank into our cat-scratched chair, my fingers immediately danced across my Freewrite keyboard and did not stop until I hit 1000 words. A car filled with clowns could have crashed into my living room and I would continue typing.

Also, there is no question that writing on the Freewrite helped me reach 50,000+ words. Had I used my laptop to write I would have 50+ browser tabs open, searching for “JUST ONE MORE THING”.

With the Freewrite it was just me and the words.

2. Always move forward

I remember the advice an instructor in a graduate film writing class said about the first draft. He said: “Never go back and edit your first draft while you are writing it. Always move forward”. I followed his advice and I did not read what I had written. I gave it the cold shoulder and moved on.

3. Guard your mind from the noise

Try an experiment during NaNoWriMo: Refrain from consuming media like podcasts, episodic shows or mindlessly scrolling social media on your phone. 

And before you throw your sneaker at me, hear me out.

Your mind is a valuable resource that must be protected from the mediocre din of every day society. You never know where your next precious idea will appear: walking back from the coffee shop, loading the dishwasher or driving back from the mechanic. Our greatest ideas emerge when we have a clear mind; free from other people’s ideas and voices. 

4. When you’ve reached 50,000 words

In Stephen King’s book, On Writing, King says that when you finish the first rough draft you need distance from it. King believes that if you read the first draft too soon you will be tempted to tinker with it. You might think it is harmless to tinker but it ultimately results in your work looking become a loaf of bread vivisected by a toddler: a doughy, crumbly mess.

Instead give the rough draft some breathing space. Then come back to it.

5. In conclusion

Please do feel free to use the helpful advice and throw out the rest. Go forth with confidence and be steadfast with your writing. 

50,000 words, here you come!

Warmly,

@NatalieKimNYC

Don’t forget to check out Freewrite’s special discount offer for NaNoWriMo writers! 

Natalie Kim is a comedian who likes to remind everyone that we are not as different as we think we are. This summer, she was a resident of St. Nell’s Humor Writing Residency for Women and performed in clubs around New York City. She is currently working on a collection of humorous essays about being the tough-talking, loud mouth kid from Suffolk County, Long Island.

As Head of Marketing for Freewrite, Colin Butts loves hearing from creative writers about their ideas and stories in development. Helping to provide a product that removes barriers for drafting artists makes his work deeply purposeful. Colin loves to read, is starting his own first short story, and enjoys adventure travel, yoga, and video games when he’s not busy in the literary world.

[kay-elle-cee]

hello, 6, 9, and 18 for the asks

(or please select ay you haven't had yet if my sleuthing is inaccurate)

Doe, thank you! (and we both know your sleuthing is always accurate)

6. what's the hardest part of the writing process for you?

I've definitely found myself forcing myself to write at times when I'm not inspired. Sometimes I get into a groove, and sometimes I get frustrated and a little stressed if I'm working towards a deadline (which is dumb because this is all for fun and deadlines are meaningless lol)

9. what's your writing process like?

When I'm writing, I typically have at least 3 tabs open specifically just for writing. I have a Notion board set up where I keep ideas, reference pages, and my character lexicon. I typically always have Notion open in one or two tabs to reference different pages/outlines when writing in Google Docs.

If we're talking headspace, sometimes when I'm feeling really inspired the process is just like....going for it. Other times when I'm feeling a little stuck, I'll hop around in the document and write the parts I'm excited to get to, and then circle back to fill everything out at a later date. If I'm getting hung up on a particular sentence or paragraph, I'll just write something and leave myself a comment to rewrite later.

Once I'm done, I'll read it 2 or 3 times to edit. The first pass will involve some significant rewriting, usually. Addressing those comments I leave for myself, etc. The second will either go really well and I'll publish after that OR if I've rewritten a lot of the fic on my first editing pass, the second editing pass is still making tweaks for it to flow right, and the 3rd pass will be my final pass.

Basically I'm insane.

18. Do you only write when you’re inspired, or do you try and sit down at specific times and write no matter what?

I do try and sit down at specific times when I'm not inspired! I don't have like a set schedule, but if I know I have an arbitrary deadline I'm trying to hit (I wanted to post SNA by Sept 1, I want to post ch 2 of Restless Waves soon) I'll try and carve out time and make progress and hope the flow comes. If I'm not feeling it, I'm not feeling it though, and that's how I have an extensive character lexicon that I've barely ever used lol.

Ask me Questions! (I'm bored at the airport)

[anna-hawk]

Tumblr Writers Q & A

Tagged by the awesome @darlingshane

1) How many complete fics/oneshots do you have but haven’t published yet?

5, hopefully 6 by tomorrow. I'll be posting them soon 😉

2) How many WIPs do you have?

12, and I'm only counting the docs that already have a few paragraphs written or have a clear out line. Otherwise, it would be 20.

3) Do you take requests, write original fics, or both?

I love writing out my ideas, but that being said, I'm always happy to get requests. As I've mentioned before, though, I often don't have the time or energy for it anymore. The request would have to hit right with the mood I'm in that specific moment, and it might take a long time until I do it.

4) If you have requests how many do you actually have?

I don't know if they count as requests, but in the poll I made a couple of months ago, I left a free space for people to give me ideas/suggestions. Some of them I might actually write, so I'd say 5.

5) How many fandoms do you write for?

Currently, 4-ish: Daredevil/Punisher, Detroit: Become Human, Stranger Things, and Jon Bernthal. I'm counting my Fratt fics and my JB reader ones as different fandoms.

6) Are there any fandoms you used to write for?

The first fic I've ever posted was for the Harry Potter fandom, but I seriously doubt that I'll ever write for it again. Reading, yes. Writing, no.

Teen Wolf. I wrote one fic for it, but I've fallen out of the fandom after falling into other ones. I might go back to it someday because that OTP is still one of my favs ever.

7) Do you write for ships, reader inserts, or OC?

Mostly reader insert, but more and more ships. I love creating OCs for the stories, but not for the main character.

8) Niche fandom/Characters you write for?

I guess any smaller role or less known movies that Jon has been in like The Mute or Brax or Swaino.

9) Do you read fics as well as write them?

I do, but muuuuuuch less than I used to. I miss it, but writing has taken up most of my spare time.

10) Favorite genre to write for?

I love some good angst, but with a good dose of fluff. Hurt/comfort? It's honestly a big mix of a lot of genres.

11) What is your favorite trope (to read/write)?

Slow burn, Coffee shop (or anything food related) and Enemies to lovers. Mix them all together, and it's fanfiction heaven for me, both in reading a writing.

12) What do you do to get motivated to write?

Start writing? I don't do anything special to trigger my motivation to write. It's either there or not.

13) Is there a trope/genre you like to read, but not write?

Fantasy/historical. It's not really that I don't like/want to write them, but anything that has a bigger world building or a specific language is something “too big” for me. I like staying in modern time.

14) Any characters/fandoms you want to write for that are never requested?

I think that a lot of the people who read my fics or follow me here, mostly know me for my reader inserts. Meaning that my ship fics don't get as much attention, when it's something that I want to write more of.

15) How long have you been writing fanfiction?

I've been writing fanfiction even before I was aware that that's a thing. I wrote my first reader insert for Hugh Jackman when I was around 17. Ah, good cringy times XD. If I count that, then 18 years… Ouch! Posting, since 2018.

16) Did you read fanfiction before you started writing?

It was the only thing I did, tbh. I've always read a lot, but fanfiction took over my whole reading time. Before becoming a mom, you could find me sitting anywhere with my e-reader and making my way through who knows how many open tabs.

17) Do you only post on Tumblr, or any other sites?

I mostly post on AO3. I only post the shorter fics/drabbles here.

18) what do you personally consider the wordcounts of "Drabble", "One-Shots" and "Fics"?

Personally? I think Drabble would be anything under 1k. In my head, a one-shot is something that you post in one go, no chapters. I'm aware that some people can post a 90k fic with no chapters, and that isn't a one-shot in my head either. So, let's say, up to 20k I consider a one-shot. The rest are fics.

19) Which do you prefer to write more?

One-shots. I want there to be some plot to the story without it taking forever to get to the kissing, if you will. Yes, yes, I know that The Teacher and the Deputy makes this sound like a big ol' lie XD.

20) Are there any stories you have discontinued?

I'll say 2:

There's one that I haven't posted but planned to, before I changed my mind for reasons and stopped working on when I was nearly done.

I posted the first chapter of a reader insert with The Mute, but I doubt that I'll ever finish it.

21) What is one of your main "pet-peeves" as a writer on Tumblr?

How Tumblr works. It's not only for writers, but it's two I could think of right off the bat. I guess it still counts.

Not being able to find your posts/fics on your own blog despite knowing that you used a specific tag.

In the same line, posts don't show up when you go hunting through tags. It's a shame for new people who want to share their writing.

It's not only an issue here, but in general, the lack of engagement on fics and other content.

Longer fics that don't have a cut (I don't like super long posts and scrolling through them).

22) Do you write at a particular time of day?

Starting 8.30pm when my kids are asleep.

23) Do you listen to music or ambiance/noise to write, or do you need total silence?

I sometimes write in total silence, but generally, it's with movie soundtracks, or with no-talking ASMR.

24) Do you outline your fics at all before writing?

For drabbles, I come up with a general idea and write towards it. It's made for funny moments because I just write whatever comes to mind. For longer fics, definitely. All the time. You see me cooking? I'm actually thinking about a particular scene and how I want it to go. I overcooked pasta not too long ago because I needed to write something down on a doc on my phone before I forgot that new idea… XD

25) Do you post your writing as soon as you finish it, or do you schedule it to come out at a specific time/day?

I don't really schedule anything. It doesn't work for me. Except when it's for an event, of course (Spring Fling @bernthirst-events is nearly here ;)). It has happened that when I'm done with a chapter or a complete fic, I can get too eager and post it straight away. Only to realize the next day, that I've missed a lot of typos and other stupid stuff, despite editing as I write.

Tagging (if you want :D): @jessarioferebor, @gamingaquarius @neonponders, @coffeeboy900

[indipindy16]

Heyyyyy, so about that doc with the AU ideas.... (Please feed me I yearn for content)

im obsessed with the idea of monoma and aizawa being related to afo lol. you only see like 3 quirks in the whole series that are based on other quirks - what i would call ‘meta quirks,’ that would only have any function in a world of quirked people. so ofc these 3 quirks have to be related:

afo decided to have a bunch of kids, to see if he could make noumus out of them which retained their brains after being given a bunch of quirks. he impregnated a bunch of women lol, but he kept tabs on them. as soon as the kids turned 4 and presented their quirk, they would be kidnapped by the doctor and brought into the lab. most of the kids had quirks based on quirks (seeing quirks, stealing quirks, copying quirks, erasing quirks…) and are various ages. aizawa, monoma and midoriya were some of them, but aizawa got saved by his badass mother when he was still a kid, so he was already gone by the time midoriya and monoma came around. the two of them manage to escape while afo is still recovering from his fight with all might, and since monoma’s mother was killed by afo, he goes to live with midoriya and his mother. they go off the grid and run away from afo. in this au midoriya is quirkless, up until he meets all might and it goes as usual. umm could be from monoma’s pov, and include monoshin because that’s cute. basically after the sports festival, afo finds monoma again and in the summer camp they kidnap him instead of bakugou. (the reason why aizawa was never caught or taken back by afo is because he won the whole sports fest and became too famous/well protected to be easily stolen back - since monoma didn’t make the fight rounds, he’s a perfect target. afo only knew the kids by their quirks, he never actually met them, so he doesn’t realise that midoriya is one of his kids as well because mido has a quirk now.) anyway so after they kidnap monoma back, he and midoriya spill the beans to the ua faculty, aizawa has a midlife crisis over the fact that he now has younger siblings, and afo continues to be a dick who doesn’t pay child support.

just some sweets stuff as well:

Christmas cake: Japanese slang for an unmarried woman over 25 who is considered undesirable as a wife, in the same way that Christmas cakes are considered useless after Christmas Day.

Good thing for Jirou, she never cared much about being ‘desirable’ to the opposite sex anyway.

-> a momojirou story about jirou’s 26th birthday and momo reassuring her that she is the best gf ever, and that she loves her very much. pro hero gfs <3

*

like. the trope of aizawa adopting shinsou? well what about instead… hawks adopting tokoyami?? maybe he comes from a super religious family and they tried to exorcise the ‘demon’ from him, protective services put him in the foster system, and he ends up with really shitty foster families, and his quirk is considered ‘dangerous.’ but then our boy hawks swoops in and goes ‘u know what? i’m not letting my intern get disrespected like this’ and adopts him. obviously hawks is still young himself (22 i think), so he’s not very good at the whole parenting thing, but miruko helps him out. he becomes an older brother figure for tokoyami. gen found family fluff ensues

*

bEST JEANIST AS A TEENAGE FASHION ICON

thats it, thats the idea

*

HAIKYUU AU - no quirks. just volleyball

so the ua boys volleyball team is on the rocks. its been pretty much non-existent and turned to dust at this point. but, it once own the nationals.

izuku’s mum runs this second hand / antique / trinket store, and izuku helps out sometimes. one day, he finds some old sports tapes in the back and watches them - they’re of the year when ua was at nationals, and their striker, yagi toshinori, inspires izuku to play volleyball.

bakugo is on the school team and he threatens / bullies izuku not to join, so izuku has to train on his own. he learns shitty technique, but he ends up building some muscle by clearing out the beach.

izuku gets into ua, and when he goes to apply for the volleyball team, ofc bakugo picks a fight. the other first-years who join the team are todoroki, kaminari, shinsou, kirishima, and iida. there aren’t any second years - they all got expelled - but mirio and tamaki are on the team as third years, and nejirou is the team manager. their teacher sponsor is a new teacher this year, and it’s left ambiguous. there’s the whole ‘get over ur differences if u want to join’ thing, and then woohoo! team!

turns out their teacher sponsor is aizawa. he drags in the now-retired-due-to-injury yagi toshinori to be the coach. when aizawa went to ua, the volleyball team was too small to go to any tournaments - he’s determined to turn it around and let these kids live their dreams.

some ‘canon? what’s that?’ ideas:

just a really wholesome story about inko and mitsuki being besties. met in middle school or something, supported each other through everything… just gals being the best of pals...

or i mean u could make it gay, that’s always an option (and have izuku and katsuki grow up as actual bros, and actually be friendly to one another? what a shocker) - like, the two of them get sperm donors and are pregnant at the same time so the kids can be twins or something. and ofc you’d expect katsuki to be closest to mitsuki and for inko to be closest to izuku, but then to make it a TWIST add some great bonding between inko + katsuki and mitsuki + izuku!! i’ve never really seen any mitsuki + izuku bonding in stories before, so that’d be pretty cool

*

izuku gets hit by a villain’s quirk during a big villain attack when he’s 7, turning him part-cat. the villain dies during the attack, so they can’t erase his quirk’s effects - they’d have to surgically remove the ears and tail, or get an expensive quirk specialist in. izuku decides he likes being a nekomimi, so he keeps them and gets being part-cat officially registered as his quirk. he has better senses and agility, and he can talk to cats now i guess. also his eyes are cat eyes. he doesn’t pass the ua exam, so he goes into the general department instead, but he does really well in the sports festival and gets transferred into the hero course with shinsou. (this is all just because i need a valid excuse to make izuku have cat ears.)

some ‘future au’ ideas:

all of the pro heroes merch lines - deku’s ’t-shirt’ shirts, tokoyami’s edgy emo/goth hoodies, iida’s ingenium trainers, bakugou’s popping candy chocolate, todoroki’s own brand of scar cream, HAGAKURE’S CAMO COLLECTION OMG the possibilities are endless  

---i made hagakure’s camo for her bday drawing

(i use a strikethrough so i know which ideas i’ve used or posted anywhere. i think that once i put an idea on the internet, it’s probably free reign, so if you want to use any of these for fics or art go ahead. i’d just appreciate it is you could link back to me haha)

5 years after graduating from the General Studies department of UA, Hitoshi opened his own agency. As a private detective.

By the time he’s 25, he’s settled in and relatively comfortable with his career choice. So when his work phone rings one day and he’s still half-asleep he easily opens with, “Shinsou Detective Agency. Before you ask, I do not investigate cheating spouses or missing dogs and I do not screen potential employees for companies.” He paused. “I’ll investigate missing cats, though.”

The person on the other end took a harsh breath, like an almost-laugh, and responded gruffly, “Hm. Good to know if Jelly ever gets lost.”

-> aka shinsou is a PI and aizawa contacts him for help on a case. aizawa never sought out shinsou after the sports festival, being too busy with 1-a’s insane antics, and so shinsou went on to never become a hero. maybe he’s also a vigilante on the side? idk. anyway so yeah aizawa gives him temporary permission to use his quirk during the case. they investigate, blah blah, the point is that afterwards aizawa gets shinsou a licence and takes him on as a sidekick (the same way ingenium offered to koichi in vigilantes)

i have new ideas on the daily. this doc is just growing

keep in mind, i have given to you here only a few of the shortest ones. there are several huge paragraphs of full-au ideas (like where izuku has a quirk, and the entire story follows canon)

these are, ostensibly, ideas for fics that i never write because i’m lazy. but some of them i do end up using for art or comics, so... yeah. most of the comics i’ve posted were originally just little scripts in this doc. an example:

yamada and reformed!shirakumo are walking together, with coffees

shirakumo: so then i - oh, your phone’s wringing

(yamada’s ringtone is the nyancat song, and the contact name is ‘daddy’)

shirakumo: haha, you still call ur dad ‘daddy’? i thought you got over that in high school (taking a sip on the coffee)

yamada: (answering the phone, keeping eye contact with shirakumo) hey, shouta, what’s up?

shirakumo: (spits out coffee)

—- made this a comic on tumblr

damn this post is longer than i expected

whelp, i hope you liked it

[cloudoclock]

1 Year Later : My Sixth Form Masterpost 😊🧐

Last Summer, I decided to make a Masterpost of all the tips I gathered for people moving from year 11 to college of sixth form, as well as those who need any academic aids.

Today I decided to make a review of the  masterpost I made for sixth formers last year. I’m now going into year 13, so I’ve had time to think about what’s best for me and as a very determined student, I thought it would be a good idea to look back at what I thought I needed.

Websites and Resources

Revision world - I did not use this at all this year. The only useful thing that came out of this website was the ability to make mind maps because I always get lost when I do them by hand - although there’s many other sites for that. 2/10

Specs - Going to your exam board website and printing out your specifications are a big help because you can outline your own self study throughout the year. Keeping track is essential. This was very essential for my Media class and English Literature because they are essay based and the spec is perfect for planning. 8/10

Specimen Papers and Walkthroughs - we all know how useful practice is and finding up-to-date papers are essential for calming yourself into the exam mindset. Walkthoughs on Youtube are also great because it gives a condensed version of the exam thought process. As someone who struggled with improving my essay writing to A Level standards, specimen papers are essential to my own planning  and actually understanding how arguments are executed. 8.5/10

Powerpoints  or Prezi- this one is a bit of an odd one and does require a bit of digging. Search up “a level (subject) powepoint/presentation” and there may be a presentation from teachers on a unit from your subject. On Prezi there are loads of presentations that are easy to follow and vary in content. This was unintentionally the most useful resource for Media Studies. In my class, our teachers would set us up in groups bi-weekly and just give us an element of media to make presentations on. Luckily when you do a search along with “slideshare” there’ll be an array of student-made presentations. I don’t encourage copying but it cuts down on time spent searching for main facts. 10/10

Youtube - of course everyone’s favourite site is a useful resource. However, it is very easy to get distracted so look at specific channels and playlists. I actually didn’t use youtube too much this year, but I think it’s great for advice videos. 5/10

Emma studies - this is truly my prinatable queen annd planner life saver. She has all these free printables and layouts that you can just put in your binder and in your books to keep up with your work. However, I haven’t been journaling since COVID properly started in February, so I need to figure that out haha. *Note she hasn’t really been active in a while

Study Methods

Cornell Method - Not useful for someone like me. I did not practice this method enough because of its inefficiency and have now realised its totally useless for my style of work. I advise that you get a Skillshare and watch the entirety of Ali Abdaal’s study class or go look on his Youtube channel. The summary section is counter is a waste of space as I would probably rush it to just do it. Although the questions section is the most useful part, its more efficient to write the questions as a title and make additions after.

Colour schemes- Once again, another very very pretty add-on to notes but I stand by the rule of a MAX 3 colour scheme. I must reiterate that this is an add-on and it is best to stick to one colour pen, rather than switching between pens. 

Rewriting Notes after class - now I know the idea seems long winded and a waste of your time, but ... I now realised it is actually A WASTE OF TIME. I earnestly entreat you to watch the skillshare class I mentioned. The act of re-writing extensive notes from class is not active recall, even though the act of writing is partially benefitial. I would advise writing down key points and specific points for the exam, but not much more. Repeated exposure to these facts or ideas is much better because you do all the summarising in your head. Obviously, this is the time you can make reformed notes, but doing it for every lesson is strenuous in the long run.  The learning doesn’t take place on paper so save the environment. 

Music

My light playlist - this playlist is pretty chill and a bit of a autumn night vibe.

Reading playlist - there’s pretty good scores on here for reading sessions for a bit of a switch from the usual (I really loved this during the autumn term, especially for English)

White noise- I loved this and some exam hall sounds on youtube.

Supplies

Home Binder/ expanding file - Unfortunately, I am yet to have a system that works with binders. It really does help to have a small file to hold all your papers, but I would use online files and not print unless necessary.

Binder for lessons- For STEM, language and perhaps essay classes, I think you definitely need a place to store all that content. Make sure you declutter often!

Refill pad/ notebook- I hated my perforated books and I’m starting to grow hatred for wirebound books (maybe its the way I store them), but I like having an easy notebook on the go.

Post its/ page tabs- I personally think these are a little wasteful if you are not using them consistently. Page tabs are very good for books if you need to focus on themes, characters or as points for essays.

Planner- please, please, please get a planner. You need a planner regardless of how you do it - online, bujo or on daily memo sheets.

USB - not many people talk about having a usb, maybe because we are in the digital age of sharing. When you need to quickly open docs or powerpoints in school, or in the library or at home, no one has time to wait for google drive. I learned how important it was to have a usb in gcses and it is worth the extra effort.

Tips and advice

The jump in self discipline, workload and effort at a level is different for everyone, but it is helpful for you prepare in whatever way you can, so that the hit isn’t so scary. I got hit so hard and was giving up by November; those videos about being tired are no joke.

Your friends are not always the best people to organise study groups with. Unless you are sure, that work is going to get done, its best that you find people that you can get serious with. I still stand by this because I know not everyone has a nice study space at school and the sooner you get used to focusing alone or better yet with a teacher, the better.

If you feel yourself losing focus and even after taking a break, you’re uninterested,stop and refresh at another time or the next day. You’re brain is doing so because it cannot fit anything else in there and forcing yourself isn’t helping anyone. If you continuously burn yourself out, you will find it difficult to come back to the work because you’re constantly reminding yourself of how much of a chore it is. - I got burned out twice and never recovered. Please take care.

Ask your teachers and your head of year questions. The magic word “ucas” is going to be popping up and soon enough you’re going to be worrying about your personal statement.(Its popping up right now for me </3) If you have a query, find a time to talk with them because it is invaluable support. If you’re like me, write on a piece of paper the questions you have and meet your teacher in a free or at lunch so you can be comfortable and get down what you can. They’re a lot more understanding than I thought.

You can buy all the supplies and ask all the questions but implementing these keys are all on YOU. If you feel yourself slipping, be honest and accept it because if you keep running from it, you could seriously damage your physical and mental health. Keep a diary so you can notice patterns in your energy.

Your best is your best. Succcess is subjective blah blah blah and no one can take that from you. When you get your results, you know what you put into those exams/coursework , so you are entitled to disappointment or joy.

This took me a while to make so I appreciate any comments or reblogs. I love you random person.  If you got to this point I would appreciate it if you could follow my general account on Instgram @fairy_lierre, as I’m going to rest my studygram. Stay tuned for lots more on a level advice and life update <3

[quinquinis]

!!! "Just Another Day" was the reason I got into your works, but really, the first one of your works that I read was "Unexpected Side-effects" which!! I gotta say was absolutely amAZING-- and i didnt even realize you wrote both of these besides a nagging in my head telling me "This writing style is familiar!" Then I checked out larytello-san's work here and also found the "NeatSaviors" blog where you two come up with really interesting stories and other!! Also,,,,hhng i wanna read that WIP fully

Well, i exceeded character limit, that was fun,,, anywho!! That last part, the WIP I guess? Ahsgdsjnkkl– i wanna read it so bbaaaddd– Sib flufff,,, And I’m currently like,, i guess subscribed?? Reading?? “Lan and Hub” and im scrEAMING because seriously, the plot’s so good! And the events happening leave you wanting for more! like, i cant even, cos your stories are like one of my biggest fantasies that ive wanted to read. Plus, your Hikari sibs are absolutely adorable!!

Okay so, it took me a couple of days to figure out how to respond to a message which was split because this is the firs time it’s happened! This is like an achievement unlocked! I’m so happy! :)

I swear Lary is both good and bad. We come up with all these great ideas and yet… there’s no time to do them all. (Although, I seriously didn’t expect the cat thing to get as big as it did; that was a nice surprise). 

The document for that WIP is being worked on in Google Docs because I initially typed it up for @larytello to read while I worked on it. But I set it up for anyone who knows the link to be able to see and comment on the story. I don’t think I’ll share it just yet because I’m still trying to decide which story I’m going to start posting after Lan and Hub?.

I did write a little more for it today though:

“Netto hasn’t picked me up in days. I think… maybe I nag him too much.”“Rockman, do you like being Netto’s navi?” Haruka asked.“Of course!”“Then you only have to be yourself. Netto will come around.”Rockman hoped that Mama was right. But he couldn’t help feeling like he had messed up. Would Netto-A dreadful fear suddenly washed over him. This wasn’t his fear, a fear of not making things right. This was someone fearing for their life.Netto!“Mama! Plug me into the computer now! Netto’s- I think Netto’s in trouble!”

Those who have read the manga will find this scene familiar. I do skim over the manga events for those who haven’t read it and then go to what I like to think happened afterwards (i.e. Haruka now has to pick her boys up from the police station). 

I have two current Megaman stories I’m working on. There’s that one and then there’s another one, once again inspired by other fanfics. Mostly the ones where Lan/Netto dies and becomes a Netnavi. I’m taking advantage of the different English and Japanese names a lot in this one because Rockman is Rockman (the one we know and love) but there’s also Megman in this one who is Netto once he becomes a netnavi. 

It’s brotherly goodness because we could have a combination of Hub and Megaman or Lan/Netto and Rockman or both as navis or both in copyroids/Copybots.

I’ll give two snippets. Here’s number one, taking place right at the beginning:

“Now what? More virus busting?”

“It’s not like we can hang out with the others while you’re like that,” Rockman pointed out. Netto looked down at himself, tinted blue as he was just a consciousness uploaded to the net.

Netto would normally be synced with Rockman instead of running around as person data. However, their father had said that full synchro while Netto’s body was being operated on would be dangerous.

“I want to explore,” Netto decided. Rockman nodded, reminding his brother and Netop that they weren’t to leave the Scilab computer. “I know that. It’s fine. There’s plenty to look at here.”

Above them, their father chuckled to himself as he watched his two children roam around. It was the lightest he felt in days, although it could be the result of worry making him lightheaded. This was one of the safeguards he had in place so that he would not lose Netto.

Suddenly Netto was hit by an invisible force, like a large rubber band snapping against the back of his head. He stumbled to his knees, head stinging.

Here’s number two, taking place a page later (but I think almost a year in-story):

Hub paused as he spotted a flyer in a window. It was for a new store opening soon.

“Higsby’s Battle Chip shop?” he mused to himself. “Tab’s family won’t be happy about the competition.”

“Who cares?” Megaman commented snarkily from the PET. He pointed at another thing on the sign. “They’re going to have a Netbattle Competition.”

“I suppose you want to enter?” Hub wasn’t against that. The only question was, “as Hub and Megaman or Lan and Rock?”

“Papa’ll be mad if Rockman makes an appearance, even if it’s at a local competition. We’ll have to go in as Hub and Megaman.”

“And that’s not because you want to experience battle against other navis?”

“And it’s not because you want to try your skills against other operators?” Megaman countered.

The twins smiled at each other and laughed. Hub punched the air. “Okay, let’s do this!”

[lyncnews]

Hello readers.  I hope you're well.  This is just a quick post on some new features that have landed in Microsoft Teams as of March 9th 2017. First things first.  Since when do I blog about Teams?  Well, I've been wanting to write about Teams for a while.  I was going to wait until GA and do a full post on what Teams is once it is launched.  After that, you'll probably see many more posts on Teams alongside my usual Skype for Business related stuff and product reviews. I will say, that I have been evaluating Teams since a few minutes after it was launched into preview in November.  I'm really excited for teh future of Teams.  Especially after having a good chat with some of the product managers at a recent event.   For those that don't know, you can see what's new in Teams in the T-Bot chat in the Release Notes tab.  March 9th was one of the biggest updates I have seen and they added a ton of stuff. The below is directly from the release notes.  I have added a few comments here and there in Blue so you know it's me speaking. New compose box: ICYMI, your compose box got a complete redesign. We improved the experience behind a lot of the actions surrounding composing and editing messages. Now, you have separate icons for the following actions:

Expanding your compose box

Adding an emoji to a message

Sending a GIF

Creating and sending a custom meme or sticker

Attaching a file

Scheduling a meeting

One thing I would say is that I previously found that adding Memes and GIFs etc. was a bit hit and miss.  I'd get the spinning wheel while the app though long and hard about actually adding the thing to the chat or converstion.  Since this update, graphics are added instantly.  Nice one!

You'll find that your expanded compose box still offers all the same formatting options, but you’ve got a lot more space to play around with creating custom memes and stickers, or searching for popular or trending GIFs. Clicking the meetings icon below your compose box will take you straight to our meeting form, where you can immediately schedule a meeting with whoever you're talking to in a channel or chat. Check it out; we hope you like it! The expanded compose box is really cool.  You can really add some richness and uniqueness to your conversations by changing everything from the font type, size and colour, to adding highlights, bullet points and lists.   Another recent update added something called "Markdown".  Which, to be honest, I'd never heard of.  Apparently it was a feature in a competing product and it was added to Teams because of a public outcry.  This is where you can format text by wrapping it in certain characters.  For instance, adding an asterisk to the beginning and end of a block of text will make that block of text bold.  It also does this while you're typing do you don't have to click anywhere or use keyboard shortcuts. The reason I mentioned this feature was more to do with the fact that it was added because many people requested it.  That's interactive development!  And that is cool.   If you use Teams and want it to do more, use the feedback button.  They really do listen.

Meetings got a lot smarter.

Schedule a private meeting: Schedule a private meeting with anyone in your organization! They'll be able to join by clicking "Meetings" on the left side of the app.

Meetings have a smart new scheduling assistant: Our new scheduling assistant will let you know when all your invitees are free to meet. The scheduling assistant also provides a calendar view of the coming week that will show you when all your meeting attendees are busy or unavailable.

I'll also say that I haven't done a lot in meetings thus far.  For one, meetings with internal staff that are using Teams isn't as important as meetings that mix internal and external people.  So far, all I've done is tested scheduling meetings to see what was possible.  I also hit the join button in one that was actually a Skype for Business meeting and it just launched the meeting in SfB.  As soon as the doors are opened to external participants, I am sure this will change, and I'll use it more. Bots now work in teams!

New Bots tab in your team page: You might have noticed there's a new tab in your team view. The Bots tab gives you a list of all the bots that have been added to that team. It's also the place to go if you want to discover new bots or get started creating a custom bot or tab!

Brand new bot gallery: We built a new bot gallery that will show you a list of all the bots that are currently available in Microsoft Teams. Alongside the Bots tab, the bot gallery is also the place to go when you want to find out which bots have already been added to one of your teams.

Discover bots via search: To see a list of all available bots, just click on the search bar at the top of the app and then select "Discover bots". Click on a bot to start a one-on-one chat or click "Add" to add it to a team.

Add a bot using an @mention: To add a bot to a channel, just type '@' in your compose box, then select "Add a bot".

Custom bots: Now, you can quickly and easily integrate an external service with one of your teams by adding a custom bot! Established and aspiring developers can sideload a bot or tab or even create a custom bot using a call back URL. Just head to the new Bots tab and click the links at the bottom right to get started.

The inclusion of more bots is cool.  However I urge some caution here.  If you add a Bot, it pops up to say what access the Bot has.   This bot has the following permissions: 

Receive messages and data that I provide to it. 

Send me messages and notifications. 

Receive messages and data that team members provide to it in a channel. 

Send messages and notifications in a channel. 

Access my profile information such as my name, email address, company name, and preferred language. 

Access this team's information such as team name, channel list and roster (including team member's names and email addresses) - and use this to contact them​.

Some of it I understand.  For instance, sending and receiving messages.  You need that to chat with a Bot.  The last one, I think, requires some caution.  The Bot can access team info, channel list, members etc.  What does the Bot company do with this informantion?  If anyone cares to comment here, I welcome it. Public teams are here: With public teams, anyone can search for, view, and join your team! This means that when anyone from your organization clicks through "Add a team", they'll see a collection of public teams that they can browse and join. If you want to create a new public team, you'll be able to choose 'public' or 'private' settings for your team privacy as you go through the steps of creating a new team. Public teams is pretty cool.  This could be used for a lot of things.  I think of this as an internal social media network.   Check out the new Notes tab: We've reimagined the way you collaborate. The Notes tab is a great place for you to draft or edit documents and communicate in real time. It's a full-fledged text editor that lets you @mention teammates right on the page, leave comments when you're editing someone else's work, or respond to feedback! This is like a blank online Word document that you can work on with other people.  You can also @mention people in the doc.  Not sure about this just yet.  But it must have a use or it wouldn't be in there. Even more new tabs: We've been quietly adding new options to the tab gallery so you can connect all your favorite external services. Now, you can add a tab to integrate services like Zendesk, Asana, and more. Head over to the desktop app to see what's available. The tab gallery is getting bigger and bigger every day.  And I expect this to get a log bigger over time.  One cool recent addition is the ability to pin a Website.  Now you can add a website you (or your team) access frequently as a tab in a channel.  Another one I like is adding an Office document as a tab.  The cool thing is that the document is open in the tab.

Feeds got a makeover: We've redesigned your Activity feed so it's more transparent and gives you more control over what you see. Click on the Activity icon on the left side of the app; you'll be taken right to your feed. You'll be able to filter your feed by notification type (if you just want to check your mentions, replies, likes, or news from channels you follow). You also have the option of opening Team activity (which will show you all the latest news from your favorite channels) or My activity (which will give you a list of all the actions you've performed recently in Microsoft Teams). Hope you like it!  Email integration with Microsoft Teams: You can now post a forwarded email to a channel in Microsoft Teams, thanks to channel email addresses. Click on the "Get email address" option in your channel menu to start sending emails to a channel. Once an email is forwarded, you can have a conversation about it directly in the channel (FYI, any comments or messages that are posted in a channel about an email will only be visible from Microsoft Teams). You'll also have the option of restricting who can send emails to a channel. I tested this as soon as I saw it.  You hit the 3 dots next to the channel name and click on get email address.

You have some control over who can email the channel.  Everyone, internal only or by domain which is cool.  I sent a message from an external domain and it arrived as a conversation.  Sadly, my reply from within the chat (see the reply button) never arrived.

The message arrives directly in the conversation tab, but the EML file is also uploaded to Teams so you can open it using Outlook and respond directly.  I think the reply button is a better idea personally, but it's a start. Microsoft Teams will show up in apps view: If you've got the right license, Microsoft Teams will now show up in your apps view for your desktop (when you press the Windows key) along with all your other Office 365 web apps. This must be for when you have your Office 365 Apps in your start menu, which I don't.  This coincides with the Teams app showing up as a "waffle" tile in the Office 365 Portal page. T-Bot speaks French: Pour nos utilisateurs francophones, nous sommes heureux d'annoncer que le contenu de T-bot et de l'aide prend désormais en charge le français. Vous êtes le bienvenu :) Translation: "For our French speaking users, we are happy to announce that T-bot and Help content now supports French. You're welcome :)" I don't speak French, but for those that do, this is cool. Accessibility improvements: We take accessibility seriously, and we’re very proud of our continued commitment to making our product a great experience for users of all abilities. With that in mind, we've been hard at work improving accessibility across Microsoft Teams. Please don't hesitate to get in touch should you have concerns or comments! Improvements in your Files tab: The Files tab has a new look and feel! Now, there's an action bar that includes an option to open the SharePoint site for your team. Additionally, you can get links to folders so you can easily share files within Teams. All very cool! I thought I would leave you with one last thing I just found.  You know I love a Keyboard Shortcut.  So I thought it was cool to have a list right in the app.  This is going to be an expanding list for sure, as they add more features.  But this is what you get right now.  As soon as there is an SDK for Teams, I'll work on porting StatusKey to work with Teams too!

As always, I thank you for reading. If this or any other post has been useful to you please take a moment to share.  Comments are welcome.  

[cloudoclock]

(Sixth Form) studylife Masterpost

Hey everyone, today I decided to make a masterpost for those going into sixth form. I, myself am in the transition between year 11 and sixth form/college and as a very determined student, I thought it would be a good idea to place all my collated tips and resources in one place. 

Websites and Resources

Revision world - this is the best place for summaries and guides across all exam boards for most sixth form courses. 

Specs - Going to your exam board website and priniting out your specifications are a big help because you can outline your own self study throughout the year. Keeping track is essential.

Specimen Papers and Walkthroughs - we all know how useful practice is and finding up-to-date papers are essential for calming yourself into the exam mindset. Walkthoughs on youtube are also great because it gives a condensed version of exam thought process.

Powerpoints  or Prezi- this one is a bit of an odd one and does require a bit of digging. Search up “a level (subject) powepoint/presentation” and there may be a presentation from random teachers on a unit from your subject. On Prezi there are loads of presentations that are easy to follow and vary in content.

Youtube - of course everyone’s favourite site is a useful resource. However, once you click on a video, its so easy to use the excuse of watching one more video that just happens to be totally irrelevant to your revision but pops up at the time. I suggest using the filter and search for playlists of the topic you are looking for if you want to keep it short and save whatever you watch into a playlist for later.

Emma studies - this is truly my prinatable queen annd planner life saver. She has all these free printables and layouts that you can just put in your binder and in your books to keep up with your work.

Study Methods

Cornell Method - I have been using this style of note-taking ever since summer started and I can honestly say it helps. Having the clear space to outline exam questions that may correspond with your notes, is great for quick run throughs because you can then retain memory in a more substantial way.

Colour schemes- this may be just because I am a typical studyblr but having some sort of code and theme to work with, is great for organisation. You don’t need to buy fancy brushpens for your titles or paint your notes with highlighter so it looks pretty. This could be  just using a black pen for notes, a green pen for corrections or revision additions and a blue pen for unit outlines. As a visual learner, it is important that my work stands out as well as it being important that its not too cluttered. Find a balance.

Rewriting Notes after class - now I know the idea seems long winded and a waste of your time, but its actually essential for the fast past environment in sixth form. I learned from GCSEs that you really do have to make an effort throughout the year so that you don’t have time pressure on to of exam stress. What you write down in class really is not a reflection of what you absorbed in that lesson. By going through lesson notes and understanding it in your own time is the basis of revision. At a level, there honestly isn’t time for putting off things, unless it is for your well-being. Starting early also doesn’t guaruntee it will be easy.

Music

My light playlist - this playlist is pretty chill and a bit of a autumn night vibe.

Reading playlist - there’s pretty good scores on here for reading sessions for a bit of a switch from the usual…

Lofi playlist- because its cool (^O^)

White noise- if music distracts you and you still need that bit of sound to keep you sane while you study.

Supplies

Home Binder/ expanding file - depending on however many subjects you took, you should have a file for each of them and it should be a place where you can keep it all in units.

Binder for lessons- this should be the binder you take to school and transfer notes in and out of for every subject so you have what you NEED when you need it.

Refill pad/ notebook- I would suggest getting book with perforated pages so you can swap around work to their allocated “home” or using a5 notebooks for each subject if you really want it that way.

Post its/ page tabs- these are great for reading holy grails if you do english literature like me and you’re constantly reading. Small, tidy and useful

Planner- please, please, please get a planner. Organisation is your best friend and keeping a planner on you is a good way to make yourself aware of plans and scheduled work sessions.

USB - not many people talk about having a usb, maybe because we are in the digital age of sharing. When you need to quickly open docs or powerpoints in school, or in the library or at home, no one has time to wait for google drive. I learned how important it was to have a usb in gcses and it is worth the extra effort.

Tips and advice

The jump in self discipline, workload and effort at a level is different for everyone, but it is helpful for you prepare in whatever way you can, so that the hit isn’t so scary.

Your friends are not always the best people to organise study groups with. Unless you are sure, that work is going to get done , its best that you find people that you can get serious with.

If you feel yourself losing focus and even after taking a break, you’re uninteressted,stop and refresh at another time or the next day. If you continuosly burn yourslef out, you wll find it diffiult to come back to the work becaause you’re constanlty reminding yourself of how much of a chore it is.

Ask your teachers and your head of year questions. The magic word “ucas” is going to be popping up and soon enough you’re going to be worrying about your personal statement. If you have a query, find a time to talk with them because it is invaluable support. If you’re like me, write on a piece of paper the questions you have and meet your teacher in a free or at lunch so you can be comfortable and get down what you can.

You can buy all the supplies and ask all the questions but implemting these keys are all on YOU. If you feel yourself slipping, be honest and accept it because if you keep running from it, you could seriously damage your physical and mental health. Keep a diary so you can notice patterns in your energy.

Your best is your best. Succcess is subjective and no one can take that from you. When you get your results, you know what you put into those exams/coursework , so you are entitled to disappointment or joy.

This took me a while to make so I appreciate any comments or reblogs. I love you random person.  You can follow my studygram too @solarsafestudy because I share a liitle bit more of myself on there <3