#Build Your E-Learning App

[full-stackmobiledeveloper]

How Educational Mobile App Development Is Revolutionizing Online Learning in 2025

In recent years, the education sector has experienced an unprecedented digital transformation. Traditional classrooms are evolving, learning methods are changing, and mobile technology is at the forefront of it all. The rise of educational mobile app development is shaping the future of learning by making it more accessible, interactive, and personalized. By 2025, adopting mobile-first strategies will be essential.

From online learning apps to advanced AI in educational applications, today’s mobile solutions provide powerful tools that redefine how students and educators interact. This article explores the impact of e-learning mobile apps, key trends, benefits, essential features, and why now is the ideal time to invest in an educational app development company.

Why Online Learning Apps Are Leading the Future

The global demand for mobile education platforms is growing rapidly. With increased smartphone penetration and improved internet accessibility, students of all ages can now learn from anywhere at any time. Online learning apps have made this possible by offering flexible access to educational content, eliminating the need for physical classroom attendance.

Today’s students seek instant access to content that matches their pace and learning style. This demand has fueled the success of e-learning application development and mobile-based education systems worldwide.

Benefits of Educational Mobile Apps

One of the most significant advantages of e-learning mobile apps is their ability to eliminate barriers to education. With features like remote access, multilingual support, and 24/7 availability, these platforms ensure that education reaches everyone. Here are some compelling benefits:

1. Personalized Learning Experiences

Many modern apps utilize AI to deliver content tailored to each student’s performance and learning style. These personalized learning apps adapt in real-time, creating dynamic pathways that keep learners motivated.

2. Increased Student Engagement

Gamified learning, interactive quizzes, and multimedia content provide immersive experiences. This boosts student engagement and retention, making mobile apps more effective than traditional textbooks.

3. Real-Time Feedback and Analytics

With virtual learning solutions, students can receive instant feedback. Teachers can also monitor progress through built-in analytics, enabling them to address learning gaps promptly.

4. Cost-Effective Learning

Mobile learning solutions reduce costs for both institutions and learners. There’s no need for physical infrastructure or expensive printed materials; all you need is a smartphone or tablet.

Education App Development Trends in 2025

The world of EdTech app development is evolving rapidly. Here are some top trends shaping the industry in 2025:

1. Integration of AI and Machine Learning

AI is revolutionizing students' learning, from smart content recommendations to automated grading. AI in education apps helps personalize and streamline the learning process.

2.AR and VR for Immersive Learning

Augmented and virtual reality technologies are making education more interactive and hands-on. Imagine a history lesson in which students can virtually explore ancient Rome or a biology class in which they can examine 3D models of human organs.

3. Microlearning Modules

Bite-sized, topic-focused lessons are gaining popularity. The best mobile apps for online learning now offer microlearning paths, ideal for busy learners or corporate training.

4 . Voice-Enabled Interfaces

Voice search and command functionality are making mobile apps more accessible to differently-abled users and those who prefer auditory learning.

Top Features in Educational Mobile Apps

A successful educational app should prioritize user experience and learning outcomes. Here are the key features that every educational software development project should include:

User-Friendly Interface: Easy navigation and intuitive design ensure that students and teachers can use the app without confusion.

Offline Access: Essential for users in remote or low-connectivity areas.

Interactive Content: Multimedia lessons, animated videos, and gamified quizzes keep users engaged.

Push Notifications: Keep users informed about deadlines, assignments, and live classes.

Progress Tracking & Analytics: Real-time dashboards help users monitor performance, allowing educators to intervene when necessary.

The Future of Learning with Mobile Apps

The future of learning with mobile apps is not just about digital convenience; it’s about transforming the educational experience. These tools will continue to evolve into powerful learning ecosystems, connecting students, educators, and institutions in real time. Imagine smart apps that:

Predict learning outcomes using data analytics.

Offer real-time tutoring through AI-powered bots.

Utilize wearable devices to monitor student attention levels.

The potential is immense, and we are only beginning to scratch the surface.

Why Invest in E-Learning App Development in 2025?

If you're an educational institution, entrepreneur, or tech investor, now is the perfect time to partner with an educational app development company. Here’s why:

High Market Demand: The global e-learning market is expected to surpass $500 billion by 2028.

Scalability: A single app can reach thousands of students globally without physical expansion.

Long-Term ROI: Once built, apps require minimal operational costs and can generate recurring revenue through subscriptions or licensing.

By investing in e-learning app development, you're not just building a product—you’re contributing to a smarter, more connected world.

Choosing the Right Education App Developers

The success of your mobile app depends largely on the development team. Professional education app developers will understand both the technical and pedagogical needs of the app.

When selecting a development partner, look for:

A proven portfolio in educational software development

Familiarity with mobile learning solutions

Knowledge of trends in EdTech app development

Ability to integrate AI, AR/VR, and cloud-based technologies

Cost of Developing an Education Mobile App

The cost of developing an education mobile app can vary depending on factors like:

App complexity (basic, medium, advanced features)

Platform (Android, iOS, or both)

Integration of technologies (AI, AR/VR, payment gateways)

Development time and location of your team

Typically, a basic app starts from $15,000, while advanced AI-powered platforms can cost upwards of $50,000. However, with the right monetization strategy, your ROI can be substantial.

Conclusion

The shift to mobile-based education systems is no longer a trend—it's the new standard. With the increasing reliance on smartphones and digital learning, education mobile app development is crucial for staying ahead in the evolving education landscape.

From online learning apps and virtual learning solutions to personalized learning apps and AI in education apps, mobile platforms are changing how we teach and learn. As we navigate 2025 and beyond, the institutions and businesses that embrace these technologies will lead the way in delivering impactful, inclusive, and modern education experiences.

Are you ready to launch your educational app? Partner with a trusted educational app development company today and play a role in shaping the future of learning.

[strawberrysznn]

Beauty AND brains. Your knowledge is your weapon.

Let's not only be insanely beautiful but also disgustingly educated. Other than discipline and hard work, your knowledge is your weapon in this world of chaos, something that you can sharpen and use.

Where can you expand your knowledge? What areas, what topics

How can you expand your knowledge? In different circumstances and preferences such as if you're too busy or if you have a short attention span

Where can you expand your knowledge?

I DO NOT mean that you need to be an expert at everything. You don't need multiple degrees for each type of intelligence. However, if you want to sharpen your weapon, sharpen your knowledge.

These are the areas where you CAN sharpen your knowledge AND the areas where you SHOULD know the basics in:

Emotional, Communication, Morals, Ethics. Be human, and make others feel human too. Cultivate empathy, understand mental health, build your conscience, and differentiate right from wrong. Communicate frequently and effectively.

History, Culture, Politics. The world is chaotic — learn to stand your ground. Understand history, politics, corruption, culture, and the overlooked heroes. Know what shaped the past to navigate the future.

Digital Literacy. The internet is a double-edged sword. Learn to navigate it safely, protect your privacy, spot misinformation, and adapt to evolving technology.

Manners, Etiquette, Body Language. The way you present yourself matters. Respect others, read unspoken cues, and master the art of presence.

Self-Sufficiency, Life Skills, Livelihood. You won’t always have someone to rely on. Cook, clean, manage time, handle money, and adapt to life’s challenges. Be independent.

Literature, Language, Writing. Words are power. Read, write, and communicate with depth. Language shapes history, culture, and thought—use it wisely.

Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving. The world isn’t black and white. Question everything, analyze critically, recognize manipulation, and think for yourself. Don't be swayed easily by others.

Science and Math. The foundation of everything. At least know the basics, enough to understand the forces shaping the world — logic, numbers, and the universe itself.

Self-Care, Hygiene, Fitness, Health. Your body and mind are your greatest assets. Eat well, stay active, manage stress, and prioritize your well-being before it’s too late.

How can you expand your knowledge?

When you have free time When you're busy When you prefer learning visually When you have little to no attention span

You are what you consume. Now that you know what topics you can expand your knowledge on, these are what you can use / do to consume those information:

Have some free time? Do / use these

Read books, take online courses, or watch in-depth documentaries. (Example: history books, finance courses, science explainers) Engage in discussions or debates to refine your thinking. (Example: politics, ethics, critical thinking) Try hands-on learning like experiments, DIY projects, or journaling. (Example: cooking, coding, writing) Attend workshops, seminars, or community events.

Too busy? Do / use these

Listen to podcasts or audiobooks while traveling, doing tasks / work / school work, or doing chores. (Example: podcasts on Spotify / Tiktok, Youtube videos where the creator is more on speaking, audiobooks on Audible or by downloading a free e-pub format e-book online then uploading it into Google Playbooks and using the audiobook / text-to-speech format) Follow bite-sized content on social media. (Example: short educational / history Tiktok videos, digital literacy infographics, photos on Pinterest) Take advantage of apps and tools for productivity, learning, etc. (Example: budgeting apps, language-learning apps) Watch short, informative videos during breaks. (Example: TED-Ed, Ted Talks, short Tiktok videos)

Like to learn visually / by watching? Do / use these

Watch video explainers, documentaries, or animated infographics. Use apps that gamify learning. (Example: Duolingo for language, Codecademy for coding) Follow visually engaging content creators. (Example: finance charts, body language breakdowns) Make mind maps or illustrated notes to break down complex topics. (Example: self-care routines, political structures, problem-solving techniques)

Little to no attention span? Do / use these

Learn through short-form content like TikToks, reels, or infographics. Play interactive or gamified learning apps. (Example: strategy games, trivia quizzes) Follow meme-based or storytelling-style education accounts. Try hands-on, fast-paced activities. (Example: debate flash rounds, real-world problem-solving challenges, DIY experiments)

Begin small, learn the basics, take a step at a time, and start from there. Be BOTH beauty and brains. You have a weapon (your knowledge), sharpen it and use it.

[ari-ana-bel-la]

Ok, imagine this. Lewis being a father and when he is at Ferrari, his daughter is helping him with his Italian, because daughters mother is from Italy. Maybe Lewis and the Mom still being good friends and daughter always spending a few months in Italy since she has been small so that is why her Italian is so good.

Sorry, English is only my second language!

Rosso e Sole

When Lewis stepped into the Ferrari garage for the first time, clad in red from head to toe, there was a buzz in the air. Not just because of the legend now standing under the Prancing Horse emblem, but because standing beside him, a touch shorter than his shoulder, was a girl with wavy dark hair, sun-kissed skin, and greenish-brown eyes that sparkled like the Italian coast.

Her name was Yn. Sixteen, confident in her quiet way, and with an Italian lilt to her English that made the engineers smile every time she spoke.

“Papa,” she said that morning, standing just outside the hospitality suite, looking up at her dad who was clearly trying to memorize his morning briefing in Italian, “you just said the car is made of bread. You meant carbonio, not pane.”

Lewis blinked down at her. “Wait, really?”

“Veramente,” she smirked. “You said: ‘la macchina è fatta di pane.’ Which would make for a deliciously fragile car.”

He groaned. “Oh my god. Why is this language so hard?”

Yn shrugged, stepping up beside him and tapping on his tablet. “You’ve just got to stop trying to make everything so literal. Italian is a feeling, not a formula.”

Behind them, a few of the mechanics stifled chuckles. One even whispered to a colleague, “La ragazza di Hamilton è meglio di lui in italiano.”

And she was. Always had been.

Yn was born under a hot sun in Tuscany, in a small private hospital where her mother, Maria, had insisted on giving birth near her parents’ home.

Lewis had been there, holding Maria’s hand, tears falling on the baby’s blanket when Yn let out her first cry. They had been young, ambitious, wildly in love, but even then, they both knew that love alone wouldn’t be enough to build the life Yn deserved.

So when Yn was barely a year old, Maria and Lewis sat together on the terrace of Maria’s father’s home, drinking espresso while the baby slept inside, and made a decision that would shape the rest of their lives.

“We’re not going to make each other happy, not in the way we thought,” Maria had said softly.

Lewis nodded, fingers fidgeting with the sugar packet in his hand. “But we’re going to make her happy. That much, I know.”

And they did. They built something beautiful out of what they had. A friendship that turned into a lifelong alliance. Two worlds that somehow always made space for each other.

Yn grew up between two countries, two languages, two lives. When her parents had to be away—photo shoots in Paris, testing in Bahrain—she’d stay with her Nonno and Nonna in a house full of lemon trees, espresso machines, and old records of opera playing in the kitchen.

She never minded. She never resented it. Because her parents never made her feel like she came second. Every reunion was filled with joy, every phone call with love. They never missed a chance to tell her she was adored.

Now at sixteen, Yn was becoming her own person—curious, witty, always carrying a journal around to sketch or write little thoughts in Italian and English. And since Lewis joined Ferrari, she had become somewhat of a celebrity in the paddock.

“Hey, principessa,” called one of the engineers as she passed the garage entrance. “Did your papa learn how to say ‘rear wing’ yet?”

“Not unless he wants to tell you about his red wine again,” she quipped, without even turning around.

That afternoon, Lewis and Yn sat together under the canopy outside the Ferrari motorhome. She was scrolling through her notes app where she’d written down a few helpful phrases for her dad to memorize before his post-qualifying interview.

“Okay,” she said, handing him her phone, “repeat after me: La macchina ha avuto un ottimo bilanciamento oggi.”

Lewis furrowed his brows. “La macchina ha avuto un ottimo... bilanc... bilanciamento... oggi.”

“Perfetto!” she grinned.

“Wait. What did I just say?”

“That the car had great balance today.”

“Right. That’s... true, I guess. We can pretend it did.”

She laughed, and then leaned over to fix his collar.

“Fans love this, you know,” Lewis murmured. “Us talking like this. Teaching me Italian. You’re becoming more famous than me.”

“Impossible,” she teased. “But they do like it. Especially when you mess up.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Papa,” she said, her tone suddenly softer. “You know I love this, right? Being here. With you. Watching you race.”

He looked at her then, his expression warm, the lines around his eyes softening. “You don’t think it’s weird? That we missed so much time together when you were younger?”

“Not weird. Just… life,” she shrugged. “I never felt unloved. Not once. And I always had Nonna and Nonno. They taught me how to cook and yell at the TV during football.”

“I owe them everything,” he whispered.

“We all do,” Yn replied.

There was a beat of silence between them before Lewis spoke again.

“Do you ever wish we’d done it differently? Your mom and me, I mean?”

Yn tilted her head thoughtfully. “Maybe. But then I wouldn’t be me, would I? I wouldn’t have grown up between London and Florence. I wouldn’t have learned to be strong, or independent. I wouldn’t have learned to miss people and still love them just the same.”

Lewis stared at her for a long moment, then pulled her into a hug. “You’re too wise for your age.”

“I read a lot of Italian poetry,” she smiled into his chest.

That Sunday, after the race, Yn stood in the paddock, holding her dad’s race suit jacket while he did interviews. As usual, she corrected his phrasing gently when he slipped up.

“No, Papa, it’s soddisfatto, not soffritto. You just said you were ‘onion-fried’ with the car’s performance.”

Somewhere nearby, a fan held up a cardboard sign that read: Yn for Italian Teacher of the Year!

Maria arrived a bit later, fresh from a photoshoot in Milan, her heels clicking on the pavement. She waved at Yn, who ran into her arms, and then the two joined Lewis for a brief chat near the motorhome.

“We’re thinking of renting a place in Rome for the summer,” Maria said. “You should come.”

Lewis raised a brow. “You mean all three of us?”

“Why not?” she shrugged. “She’s growing up. We should enjoy the time we get.”

Yn beamed. “Can we? Please?”

Lewis smiled. “Only if you promise to keep teaching me Italian.”

Maria smirked. “And maybe some fashion, too. You still can’t dress without her help.”

“Rude,” he said, but laughed.

As the three of them stood there, blending the past and the present, the paddock moved around them, fast and loud. But in that moment, Yn didn’t feel like a girl caught between two worlds. She felt exactly where she was meant to be.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♥︎♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Authors Note: Hey loves. I hope you enjoyed reading this story. My requests are always open for you!

-💚🐍

[academicfever]

A practical, step-by-step approach to break free from phone and content addiction:

The goal is to create a lifestyle that is much more attractive than going back to the void for momentary pleasure

Environment Modification

Place your phone in a different room while working/studying

Use a basic alarm clock instead of phone alarm

Create phone-free zones (bedroom, dining area)

Put your phone in grayscale mode to reduce visual appeal

Delete most engaging/addictive apps

Move remaining social apps to the last screen of your phone

Replace Addictive Behaviors Instead of reaching for your phone when:

Waking up → Do light stretching, drink water

Feeling bored → Keep a book handy, practice a hobby

Taking breaks → Go for a short walk, do quick exercises

Before bed → Read, journal, or meditate

Waiting in line → Practice mindfulness, observe surroundings

Eating → Focus on your food, practice mindful eating

#Build Healthy Digital Habits

Use app timers (set 30-minute daily limits for social apps)

Schedule specific times to check social media/content

Turn off all notifications except calls from important contacts

Install website blockers during work hours

Use "Do Not Disturb" mode more frequently

Keep your phone out of sight during tasks

#Create Meaningful Alternatives

Develop offline hobbies (drawing, writing, crafts)

Join in-person social groups/classes

Exercise regularly

Practice meditation

Spend time in nature

Learn a new skill that requires focus

#Mindset Shifts

Recognize triggers that lead to excessive phone use

Practice sitting with boredom

Focus on creating rather than consuming

Be present in social situations

Understand that you're not missing out by being offline

##Progressive Reduction Week 1: Baseline awareness - track your usage Week 2: Remove most addictive apps Week 3: Implement phone-free morning routine Week 4: Establish phone-free periods throughout day Week 5: Create new habits to replace phone use

# specific actionable steps:

Waking Up:

Stretch arms overhead while still in bed

Roll shoulders back and forward

Gentle spinal twists while lying down

Cat-cow stretches after getting up

Drink a full glass of room temperature water

Open curtains to get natural light exposure

Feeling Bored:

Keep a paperback book in your bag/desk

Have a small sketchbook and pen handy

Practice a portable hobby (origami, knitting)

Carry a puzzle book (sudoku, crosswords)

Learn finger exercises for dexterity

Practice a language using flashcards

Taking Breaks:

Walk up and down stairs

Do 5 minutes of jumping jacks or squats

Step outside for fresh air

Shoulder rolls and neck stretches

Quick cleaning task in your space

Simple breathing exercises

Before Bed:

Write three gratitude points

Plan tomorrow's tasks

Read a physical book (not e-book)

Do gentle yoga or stretching

Practice progressive muscle relaxation

Write about your day's experiences

Waiting in Line:

Notice five things you can see

Focus on four things you can feel

Listen for three distinct sounds

Observe people's expressions and body language

Practice good posture

Do subtle ankle and calf exercises

Eating:

Notice the temperature of your food

Chew each bite thoroughly (aim for 20-30 chews)

Identify different flavors and textures

Put your utensil down between bites

Sit at a proper table when possible

Express gratitude for your meal

Remember: The goal isn't to be perfect, but to gradually build these healthier habits. Start with one context (like mealtime) and build from there.

Here's how to handle those intense urges to check your phone;

#Immediate Physical Response

Take 3 deep breaths

Stand up or change your position

Clench and unclench your fists

Stretch your arms overhead

Drink a full glass of water

Walk to a different room

#The 10-Minute Rule

Tell yourself "I'll wait just 10 minutes"

Set an actual timer

Often the urge passes within this window

If it doesn't, the pause still gives you control

#Urge Surfing Technique

Acknowledge the urge without judgment

Notice where you feel it in your body

Observe how it rises and falls

Remember urges are temporary waves

They typically peak at 20-30 seconds

#Quick Alternatives

Do 10 jumping jacks

Write down what you're feeling

Look out the window and find 5 specific things

Organize something small nearby

Hum your favorite song

Stretch your fingers and hands

# Ask Yourself:

"What am I trying to avoid right now?"

"What am I actually needing in this moment?"

"Will this matter in 24 hours?"

"What could I create instead of consume?"

#Emergency Reset Options

Splash cold water on your face

Step outside briefly

Call or text a friend

Do a quick physical task

Listen to one song

Write down your current goal

Remember: Each time you resist an urge; you're building stronger neural pathways. The urge will get easier to manage with practice.

##A targeted journaling approach to redirect that "random lookup" energy into something more meaningful:

#Curiosity Journal Structure

Keep two sections:

"Questions I Want to Answer" (capture random thoughts)

"Planned Research Time" (dedicated lookup sessions)

Date each entry

Include how urgent each question feels (1-5 scale)

Note why you want to know this information

#Daily Practice Morning Brain Dump (5-10 minutes):

Write all questions floating in your mind

Add topics you might want to explore

Rate their true importance

Schedule specific research time

Evening Reflection:

Which questions still matter?

What did you learn today?

What patterns do you notice in your curiosity?

Was the information you looked up actually valuable?

#Implementation Rules

Write down every urge to look something up

Wait at least 30 minutes before researching

Batch similar questions together

Set specific research time blocks (e.g., 4-4:30 PM)

Review old questions - many become irrelevant

#Question Categories Create sections for:

Essential Knowledge (work/study related)

Personal Growth

Pure Entertainment

Practical Needs

Random Curiosity

This helps you:

See patterns in your distractions

Identify what truly matters

Transform impulse into intentional learning

Build focus and patience

[clownstillwritesfanfic]

Willy Wonka NSFW Alphabet - REUPLOADED

SFW version here

PLEASE READ: my old blog (clownwritesfanfic) was deleted when my main blog attached to it got terminated for some unknown reason. I can’t get it back so I’m reuploading everything I had saved in my notes app. Sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment, trust me, I’m devastated, but with your help I can get back to my former glory so PLEASE reblog if you like it 🙏😭

———————————————————————

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Sex with Willy isn’t too kinky so aftercare would be few and far between. Most times you’ll clean each other up and lay in bed cuddling and talking about whatever comes to mind. But for when you do get a little more “adventurous” there would be more questions of “are you alright?” “Did you have fun?” “What do you need?” And lots of praise

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Tbh Willy would probably like his brain. It is his best feature after all. How else would he be able to come up with all those good ideas for a new candy or chocolate?

On his partner, probably their brain too let’s be honest. He’d like an intelligent and creative person to keep up with him. But don’t worry if you don’t understand the more “technical” stuff. He loves to explain it all to you. As long as you’re able to give him ideas for candy or give feedback when he asks.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

It would be sweet. Let’s be honest. He’s a chocolatier and candy maker, he’s bound to have eaten a lot of his own products. It wouldn’t be candy sweet but it would be a more sweet and salty flavour.

He definitely cums a lot. Rope after rope that probably lasts 30 seconds. It’s thick too. Definitely a shooter rather than a dribbler.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

You probably think he’s got some secret sex dungeon or something but you’d be wrong.

He fantasizes about fucking you in every room of the factory tho. He’d never do it since he thinks sex should be done privately and he wouldn’t want to contaminate anything but he does think about it. Anytime you’re in the glass elevator with him, he’s thought about pressing you against the glass wall and taking you but it’s much too exposed. He wouldn’t want any of his beloved workers to see that. Plus, your body is just for him to look at.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Oh god he’s a total virgin when you first get together. He was always so focused on building his business and finding new ways to make candy that he never really felt the urge or need to do anything with anyone. Plus he doesn’t like to be touched anyway.

He had only been kissed once before and he didn’t even instigate it, he was caught off guard by it.

He isn’t a very touchy person so I’d imagine it would take a long time before you start to have sex anyway.

Once you’ve been together for a while he starts to learn your body and what you enjoy and he gets more comfortable with your touch, even craves it sometimes.

He’s not crazy good or anything and he’s always open to learning more of what you like, but he makes you feel good.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Missionary most likely. It’s a classic. He likes watching you, let’s him know how he’s doing and he can kiss your lips or neck while doing so.

If you want to “spice it up” sometimes, Doggy Style or Cowgirl is probably the best. He’s not too interested in doing anything crazy or strenuous so don’t bother buying a copy of the Kama Sutra lol

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Willy is a pretty silly guy. He’s got a childlike spirit but even then he can act like an adult. He’d take sex semi seriously, it’s very intimate and vulnerable for him but every once and a while he’ll crack a (bad) joke or find something to laugh at. It’s best if you don’t take it too seriously either.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He’s a vain person, never a hair out of place, clothes always clean and pressed. So I bet he’d take his personal hygiene very seriously as well. He wouldn’t be fully shaven, trimmed closely at the top of the base of his dick. It would probably be a little triangle.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

As said above, Willy finds sex to be very intimate so he’d be very attentive to you. He’s not good with words but he can be romantic through his actions. He just wants to make you feel good so speak up if you want something.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

He doesn’t really do it that often. Never did really. He only did it when he was younger and his hormones were going crazy but now that he’s older he doesn’t have the need to. If he ever feels in the mood he just finds you instead. If you don’t feel like it at the time or are too busy, he can wait. He doesn’t get really worked up out of no where so it won’t bother him.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

His bdsm test score would be mostly red (ifykyk) he’s just not that kinky.

Candy is most likely going to be involved in one way or another on some occasions. Maybe some whip cream or chocolate sauce lol. I guess that would be considered a food kink.

If you wear those candy lingerie that look like those candy necklaces and bracelets he’d find it funny. It would probably also inspire him to make you some using his own candy (how dare you get candy from someone else) but it wouldn’t be sold. It would just be between you two.

He’s also a switch. Most of the time he’s “dominant” but he’d absolutely sub for you if you asked.

Not many crazy kinks but I can see some handcuffs and blindfolds appearing from time to time. Perhaps some feather teasing, temperature play, and edging as well.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

The bedroom is the only place he allows it to happen. He likes to keep his factory clean and sanitary and wants to keep his sex life between the two of you.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

If you start listing off new ideas for candy or new techniques he finds it really sexy and it usually gets him going.

This doesn’t necessarily turn him on but when he sees you being nice to the Oompa Loompas and laughing with him and watching their little performances, he does feel a lot of love for you. He loves knowing you adore and care for his workers as much as he does. Usually when he’s feeling that way you can expect some loving and romantic sex later that night.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

He’d never do anything that would hurt you. The most he’d do is some spanking but don’t expect your ass to be burning later. He can’t stand the thought of you being hurt by his doing, even if you promise you’d like it.

No watersports or scat. He just got used to you touching him what makes you think he’d ever do something like that?

No threesomes either. He’s monogamous and wants to keep sex between you two only.

Also you’d probably think he’d be into latex/rubber considering his gloves but he doesn’t see latex as sexy. Just aesthetically pleasing. If you wore anything latex/rubber he’d think you’d look nice but he wouldn’t be turned on by it. (I mean just think about it, all the Oompa Loompas wear latex outfits so I really doubt he would have them wear something that would turn him on. He doesn’t even want to think of them that way)

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

God, this man can give oral like crazy. At first he was ok at it but he just kept getting better and better at it.

He prefers giving but wouldn’t turn down the offer to receive.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

There are times where he can get fast and rough but for the most part he likes to take his time. He’s vulnerable during these moments so he likes to cherish it.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

He likes to take his time during intimate moments so quickies wouldn’t be much of a thing.

There was maybe one or two times where you needed him real bad before he had a meeting or something to do, so he took care of you quickly. He doesn’t mind those times but he much prefers to take his time with you.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

There was only one (1) time where you had done something outside of the bedroom.

You had given him a blowjob in the chocolate room behind some candy bushes and he only allowed it because it was at a time when he knew absolutely NO ONE would be around. He did it mostly for you but he’d prefer for it to not happen again. He did enjoy it even if his anxiety made it a little hard to get him off quickly.

You can ask him to try new things and I think he’s be open to trying them (with in reason) but he can’t guarantee it will be a reoccurring thing.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Since he likes to take his time I would say a single round could take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. That includes foreplay. I’d say he lasts about 10 minutes before he cums if you’re not edging him. He lasted much less when you first started tho.

If he’s not going to be too busy the next day then he could go for a second round.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Willy is a playful guy. I wouldn’t put it past him to have some kind of toys just for fun. Most likely to just be used on you but he wouldn’t complain if you used them on him too.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Probably a little teasing. He likes to watch you squirm and whine. He’s mischievous and playful so he likes to tease from time to time. You can tease him right back if you’d like.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

He doesn’t make much noise and if he does it’s not very loud. Nothing above a regular speaking voice. He doesn’t dirty talk much either. He will sometimes during more fast and rough sessions but most of the time he’s just enjoying your sounds.

If you’re teasing him tho, he will whine. He’s such a whiner when you tease.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

You were giving him a blowjob once and you were surprised when he came in your mouth with how he tasted sweeter than he usually did. It was so sweet in fact it felt like you were eating liquid candy.

He had figured out how to make a sugar pill that changes the flavour of cum and decided to surprise you with it.

In true inventor fashion tho, he asked for feedback on how it was almost immediately afterwards lol

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

His body is mostly naturally hairless. Smooth chest and stomach but he probably has a very faint snail trail leading to his neatly trimmed pubes.

His cock is slightly above average. 6.5 inches erect, 4.5 inches flaccid, slightly girthy, average sized balls that hang slightly

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

His drive isn’t very high. He can go a few days with out sex but if you asked he’d be down, so long as he wasn’t busy.

Since he’s always so busy he doesn’t feel the need to and if he ever did he’d just go find you but if you were busy he’d wait.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

He’s probably tired after a long, eventful day since he’s always inventing new things and overseeing a whole factory all by himself. Then if you decide to have sex at night and not a quickie then he’d be tired after that as well. However he always seems to be thinking of new ideas so even if he’s exhausted his brain is still going so he’d cuddle with you afterwards and talk about whatever is on each other’s minds until one of you falls asleep first. The other is quick to follow.

[butterflytarot]

Low-Energy Ways to Work With Nature

Whether you're chronically ill, work three jobs, or slept in an extra hour and decide it's a good day to have a lazy day, we all have days or moments where we're low-energy but still want to connect with the elements, spirits, and forces around us.

Here are some low-energy ways to connect & work with nature, categorized by the 4 elements (+ the ether)! Please enjoy and I hope this helps <3

THE EARTH

Open a window or sit outside! Yep. It's that simple. Just watch. Smile. Gaze. It's worth it ;)

Watch a documentary or nature-based movie. Even something that's loosely based on defending the earth, or something about plants or ecosystems. There are YouTube pages that make much more interesting documentaries than your typical History channel video, but there's lots of sci-fi & fantasy & adventure movies with similar themes too!

Go for a walk... or a nap, by your favorite tree.

Learn about a new plant - local or foreign - even just once a week, or once every two weeks! Just look up the picture to see the different colors it can come in, or learn about where its name comes from, or explore spiritual uses and properties. You could slowly build a tiny collection in a cute journal or your notes app if you wanted, one fact for one plant each week!

Find photos or art online of nature & mother earth that make you feel good, that resonate with you or make you feel grounded, and use it as your digital wallpapers, profile pictures, etc! Make your signature emoji a flower or tree. Share your favorite witchy artists online! Even just changing the color palette works!

Do some virtual window-shopping for earth-themed decor!

Do your nails - even if its messy! - earthen-based colors.

Sit and breathe in some fresh air. It truly does help.

If you have the time, consider getting an insect or domesticated animal as a pet, one where it wouldn't be harmful to look after them or have them indoors with you. There's plenty that can grow on their own, perhaps they just need certain temperatures, clean water, etc. Research the best one for you, and invite a bug friend or critter inside!

Wear crystal jewelry! There's no better way to connect with the earth than to care for its children, the crystals and rocks and stones that beautify our world! You don't have to do anything but buy the bracelet or snap on the necklace, some you don't even need to take off to sleep / shower (make sure you research crystal / stone / rock safety for whichever you choose, same with different metals if you get metal jewelry)!

THE WATERS

Drink a glass of water. Literally! Water is life, and we are deeply connected to it - and it is connected to everything! The best way we can connect with it, is to unify ourselves with it.

Work with water types! Whether it be floral waters (water with rose petals in it, for example) or dewdrops or rain (after a stormy night), you can observe the waters for divination, utilize it for offerings, etc!

It's as easy as dipping your fingers or toes in! Find a river, or pour some faucet water into a bowl, and sit with it. Feel it. Share space together.

Take a shower! You don't even need to wash, especially if it's just a random shower in the middle of the day and not part of your showering routine. Different temperature waters can help with different things (hot water for comfort, cold for self-reflection or divination, etc, can depend on the person), and you can even start baths if you're more of a bath person. Personally, I like to set a stool outside my bathtub, turn on the hot water, and work on a little project while I let the water hit my back or legs.

Things like cleaning up the ocean or beach can take a lot of time and energy, but an equally helpful alternative is returning things to the ocean! Seashells, sand dollars, things you took but weren't gifts - or otherwise found or received - the waters might really enjoy having back. If you can make it to the waters, consider offering these things back. If you can't, even using them with freshwater is sometimes okay - like a seashell to hold your clean sponges, or a sand dollar as decor in your fish tank.

Listen to water sounds - whether it be the songs of whales, a peaceful storm, or even just the ocean waves, it really can be peaceful and - if you close your eyes - transport you right to the dry rock on a summer day next to the glimmering streams! I recommend this video here, if it's for sleep! This video is also a recommendation of mine!

Shadow work near water! You can reflect, or just journal, take notes, write down prayers... Really, any form of writing or art (like water-color painting) near water can really help you connect with the element!

Protection with water -- protection practices are super important, but they don't always involve burning incense or throwing salt! It could involve sitting out a cup of water near a lemon you've put by your window.

Movement - whether it's just your hands or your whole body, finding a way to move like water - gentle flows, instinctual steps, whatever works to enhance your inner tranquility, focus or general energy work & intentions - can really help! Take inspiration from seaweed - firm on the ground, but still flows with the motions of the waves, like it's gliding through liquid.

If you're in an environment that's dry enough for this, and you aren't risking things like molding in your home, having a spray bottle nearby - whether it be of water, or even an ocean-like Febreeze - to just spray into the air is really useful. You can even have fun with it, spraying it above you or walking into it!

THE FIRES

Cook an easy-to-make meal!

Sit by the fire. Careful not to inhale too much smoke, or burn yourself! Even just a candle, incense or even just a lighter is useful. (MAKE SURE TO PRACTICE FIRE SAFETY!) Listen to crackles. Talk to it. Dance with it, or sing to it. Practice fire-gazing techniques (like trataka). Additionally, even oil burners (like some aromatherapy tools) can be helpful! I recommend a citrus scent, it's physically healing and citrus is often associated with summer/heat! Burning herbs may also work, depending on the herb or purpose or intentions etc.

Fire-based affirmations can really help you connect with the element! Something to get you "fired up" or get in touch with the warmth that burns inside you. Even connecting it to your body parts - like being warm-blooded - or culture/religion can be useful!

Connect with the sun. Watch the sunset/sunrise, draw a photo of the sun with its gorgeous warm colors (or a painting with a similar palette), pray to or with the sun, schedule your day with the sun's rising and falling hours, collect some sun water, etc!

Wear warm colors, or decorate your home with them. Sometimes these colors - like deep reds and cream colors paired together - created a sense of comfort, refuge, or homeliness in your space. They help you feel warm, and foster a sense of snuggling! Additionally, wearing brighter colors can really uplift your mood, boost energy levels, or just overall make you smile - especially if you like those colors! It often feels like a raw expression of yourself, so I recommend giving it a try!

This is going to sound crazy - intimacy! It can really boost your connection to fire, especially if your intentions are set to do so! This can also boost manifestation work, just be knowledgeable about this kind of magic before doing so!

Holding a warm object - stone, mug of coffee or tea, etc - can help, or even just bundling up in blankets! This is a bit harder as it's not a direct connection but it'll help you focus on connecting with the element.

BURN THINGS! Don't do anything dangerous or illegal, but burning paper or an old wedding dress might work if done appropriately ;)

Explore fire-based fae, creatures, etc. Whether it be critters that live on volcanoes, or the great phoenixes of many stories and lore, exploring their symbolism, representations, and how they feel or connect to you and your story are all great associations to get in touch with the element!

Fire-based visualization: Using light, campfires, flames, phoenixes, or similar imagery in your visualizations can really help with respectfully tapping into the energy or calling it to you, and you don't need any resources or materials to do it! If you struggle with visualization, verbalizing statements of this theme, or thinking other thoughts, work too!

THE WIND/AIR

Fly a kite or blow something (environmentally-friendly and generally safe) into the air! You can also hang something, so that you don't need to physically do anything but watch!

Whistling! Singing, humming! Breathing & self-regulation techniques! The air is often associated with communication, so scream! Write! Journal! Exist! Experience! Survive! Live!

Open a window and don't mind if it blows some papers!

Connect with smoke - like from incense or sage! Uplifting scents really help with this - something light, soft or dainty!

Let the wind blow in your hair - and don't mind the mess, it's beautiful and funky and fun!

Watching the sky or listening to the wind. It is patient, and the world bustles by - but not just people on the street or water pushing by rocks, it's also daisies and leaves letting loose into the air, and the cold caress of the wind on your jawbone as the night gets cold or the day gets warm.

Mindful listening - it really does help! Even if its silence, even if its loud! It helps you feel the air, and space, around you, and really get in touch with yourself, your community, and the element around you at the same time!

Bird-watching, cloud-watching, leaf-watching, storm-watching! Whether it be finding creative shapes, admiring beauty, or practicing divination, simply observing is worth the try!

Breathe intentions or prayers. Whether it's the classic "inhale beauty, exhale bullshit" or simply putting the energy, prayer or intentions of a desire of yours into your breath as you exhale, it's worth it for some people. Some people believe that their god, or their creator, is breath itself - representing life - and so each breath you take is in their creator's name and carries power.

Lunar work! Connecting with the moon - an energy in & of itself - is made possible thanks to the atmosphere, thanks to air. Be grateful for all the ways air sneaks into our lives and connects us with one another, and work with other elements in a way that keeps you tied to it.

THE (A)ETHER (SPIRIT, OR SPIRITUAL WORLD)

Explore open spaces. Whether it be crowded or empty, finding a way to resonate with both stillness and movement at the same time can be really powerful. I recommend going somewhere alive in one capacity or another - like bustling people, or just strong winds in the grass blades - and just existing with it. Eventually, you can also try meditation, pondering or self-reflection (even as deep as shadow work), or speaking to the nature spirits around you if they're friendly!

Energy work, in all honesty, can be very tiring - duh, it takes energy. However, even something as simple as calling an energy force to hang out with you, giving a gift or offering, or collecting the paraphernalia of your favorite or most beloved force (such as the ether but others like love, void or divinity too), can really help you connect with the ether in general!

Connect with sound energy - like meditative videos, sound healing techniques, or even just music!

Learn about spirit communication - you don't even need to start, and offerings or tools are not required! Alternatively, learn about different spirits - you could do types like fae and angels, or practices like psychopomp work! This is usually easily accessible somewhere online. You could do some good research, or just talk to others on social media about their beliefs and perspectives and knowledge!

Practice being aware of the energy & world around you, as well as yourself!

Intuition! Enhance your intuition. This can be done with things like tarot, but to preserve energy, even online "intuition tests" or evaluations help - like ones where you see a black and white photo, guess the color of the item it pictures, and then see if you're correct or not!

If you're experienced enough, mantra work might be for you! You can learn about it here.

Create an altar - whether it be for a deity/spirit, or just a space for your workings! It really helps centralize energy and get you feeling the vibes!

Floating and flying visualization - basically as it sounds! Practice visualizations of floating or flying. Be careful if doing this before sleeping - for some people it helps them drift off peacefully into a good rest, but for others it sparks that feeling of being lifted up and then falling down into your bed (among other similar feelings that may be scary for you). I also don't recommend it if you're sensitive to themes of death or grief. However, even doing it during the day can both be powerful and calming.

Get an aura reading! See what color your spirit form is, and what that color may be associated with! You don't have to learn this practice or develop this ability in order to do it, you could easily find someone else - online, even - who can perform this service for you!

Thank you!

I hope this was helpful and that you enjoyed!

Don't hesitate to comment any questions.

Have a good day / night!

[neodymiumcuilz]

Dont ignore Palestinians trying to get help on this app, keep donating and fighting.

Some of y'all REALLY piss me tf off. You swear up and down that Palestinians trying to get help are a scam, o lying because you are selfish and don't want to help or donate to them, so you jump on to that excuse - how do you guys sleep at night? Like GOD FORBID someone who dosent speak English as their first language copy and pastes messages, GOD FORBID someone tries to get help from THE ACTIVE GENOCIDE in people's dms/asks/comments ( keep in mind, if it wasn't in your face people would forget they exist and stop donating/sharing ). It feels horrible that so many people just scroll, and don't care that they are asking for help. It's seriously so easy to just reblog a fundraiser, or make a quick donation - you guys will just keep coming up with excuses until you die, it's actually impressive the lengths some go to.

But imagine living in a tent, with no essential supplies, with no resources like water, food or anything to burn, no proper shelter. Imagine sleeping amidst insects and on a damp ground, ridden with disease and infections. Palestinians have been subject to the most horrible and degrading conditions for the past months now. How will parents care for their children?

@mahmoudayyads is DOCUMENTED HERE. Their family consists of 43 MEMBERS.

Thats 43 people that need food, water, a place to sleep, money to evacuate, money for health/hygiene. Imagine how worried you would be about your family members in the escalating violence?

" Life in Gaza, often there, turned us into an endless nightmare, with hopes hanging by a thread. We do not suffer now, and soon teach us to-morrow. And you know when this war will end!!! We have everything beautiful, and we are about to lose more. We face cruel abuses, a dark future for our lives, indecision, poverty and pain. But there is a glimmer of hope with your help and generous donations. The weight is to leave Gaza, build a new life, and rise from the rubble. Every small donation can speak big. So I strive through your donations.. So I strive through your donations. Exiting at a time when the individual pays huge sums of money ranging between ($5,000 and $10,000) per person. My family and I urgently need to get out of Gaza so that we do not lose our lives, and we also need to rebuild our lives again, so that we can rise up and return to how we were. New home, opening project. "

€13,420/€55,000 RAISED

@wasimhourani6 IS VETTED (#290) BY @gazavetters, and DOCUMENTED HERE.

" Hello, I'm Wasim from Gaza, I'm 20 years old, my family consists of 6 members (my father, mother, sister and 2 brothers), we had a new beautiful and quiet house...we also had a beautiful life, I finished high school and joined Al-Azhar University in the engineering department...but the dream did not last and the war broke out...my university was destroyed and everything was completely destroyed. And I'm not completing my studies now because l'm unable to pay the university fees through e-learning. "

Please send your support to @wasimhourani6

$29,642/$40,000 RAISED

[kimyoonmiauthor]

How to save on groceries (since they are about to go up under the tariff system)

So you may not know this, but the majority of your groceries are imported, particularly meats and many vegetables. So if you were one of the people in the US that voted for the orange one, then you voted for higher grocery bills. Oh, yipee.

Given that, how do you protect yourself from the deregulation...

Make a List

No, seriously, make a list. Stick to the list. If you need an app, there are free apps for that.

2. Don't shop at big supermarket stores (or minimize) because...

There is a trick they pull where they re-shelve everything every few months so what you thought was down aisle one is now down aisle 5, and sometimes they shift shit on you, so if you think the honey is next to the tea, the baking aisle, it's suddenly next to the breads where you go WTF.

It drives me up the wall as an ND. But the rest of you non-NDs, who weren't observant enough for this... it's time to punish those grocery stores and stick to your list or minimize shopping there so you don't fall into the psychological torture game. And BTW, if you are one of those suckers in one of those studies, stick to your fucking list. Especially if you're in a game scenario and then note to the fucking researchers that a game scenario isn't very realistic compared to if one is spending their own money.

3. Participate in community gardens especially with communal areas.

But but I'm disabled and need mobility aids. The community gardens I've been to take that into account and you can help by doing the little shit that no one else wants to do, like making labels for the plants that no one bothers to label. (Who is doing that right now? I am.)

Or teach how to harvest. Or learn how to make greens in pots for yourself. Or help us unload all of the excess food we get at the end of the season. Or help us get rid of the blackberry vines by making baskets. You DO NOT have to kneel in the dirt. And who knows, if you own a house, maybe you'll find some people to help build you a disability friendly garden. You have no idea how much people love to share their knowledge.

But I have a black thumb. Come for that, then. You know what gardeners love, love to talk about for hours? How their garden is growing. And then diagnose why your garden is going wrong. They will talk your ear off about it. Gardeners will turn that black thumb yellow, then maybe green.

But I want eggs... You know that some community gardens have chickens? You know what chickens produce? Eggs. Feed the chickens. Get some eggs. Be great for people in wheelchairs also. I mean, fuck, what's cooler than feeding some chickens and maybe getting some eggs? Pet the chicken? Maybe.

4. Garden at home

But I live in an apartment

The most expensive thing is the lights. You have to look for high spectrum and high lumens. The LEDs with a hood are better and the high lumen light bulbs are better.

This will set you back about 50-70 dollars for a set of 6. The light bulbs are cheaper, but are more concentrated on area of spread. ~$16 for one 4060 Lumens. $10 for the fixture. 2600 Lumens light bulb is ~30 dollars for a set of 6

~22 for the fixtures, a set of 2. Take note that red lights are better for fruit. Yellow lights are better for leaf growth. White lights will help with stem growth.

However, 50-70 dollars +maybe a 30-50 dollar shelf shoved in a corner somewhere +cost of plants, etc is much cheaper than dealing with E. Coli in your effing spinach.

But I'm disabled

Hydroponic gardening might do well if you have allergies.

If not, allergies and mobility issues instead, you can get a box planter for about 30 bucks, plant some herbs. I'd consider also lettuce, spinach and leafy greens. They are easy to plant indoors.

If you want to plan for the apocalypse.... consider sweet potatoes.

The containers are movable and can be put at eye level.

I have mint, rosemary, sage, scallions, lettuce, basil, thyme.

Sometimes looking at something green will lift your mood.

Most leafy greens are dead easy to grow in apartments. And you know where I got the materials for all of them, save the lettuce? lol grocery store, and the community garden. I literally am growing basil and sweet potato from leftover stems from the community garden! But you could also do it from grocery store materials too. They sell like for 4 bucks, a rooted herb pack. Separate the roots and done.

I mean, when you don't even have to pay for the plants, you know you're doing well.

[novella-november]

This isn't going to be another "you hate fanfiction!!" because very obviously you do not, but it is prompted by the discussion of branching out into original work, since it's something I often struggle with when trying to make that jump. Do you or any of your followers have any good resources on beginner worldbuilding? I really struggle with it.

Thank you!

If you check out my post where I made a "Prep Calendar" for Outline October (Which is a November-prep alternative/ supplement to Ominous October, the spooky short story event), I actually made a rather rough calendar outline of how to go about world building in advance for November;

The basic first steps for me are usually just three things:

Who are your characters

What kind of world do they live in (aka setting)

Whats your main plot/conflict?

To start worldbuilding at its lowest level, start with number one and work your way up; figure out what kind of character you'd like to write, where they live, and go from there!

Here is the prep calendar I threw together in MS paint, I definitely reccomend downloading it on desktop to actually zoom in to see what all it says lol.

And as a bonus, I will even make a fun, silly little exercise for anyone who'd like to get some practice in!

If you want to join in, grab a pen and pencil, or open up your favorite note-taking app :D

Here we go....!

Let's start out by saying that my basic concept for a character is *spins mental wheel of random ideas*....... a talking deer! 1) So now that I have decided that I want a talking deer character, now I have to decide: A) do *all*deer talk? B) Do *all* animals? C) Or is it just this one singular deer who is special? 2) If it *is* just this one singular deer who can talk, are they: D) otherwise a perfectly normal deer who just happens to be able to talk? E) Can they talk because they used to be human? F) Can they talk because they used to be an Alien or encountered Alien Tech (scifi) ? G) Can they talk because they used to be a Magical Creature or ran into a Magical Spell (fantasy) ? 3) Now you get to decide, mostly if you chose A or B from #1 but also useful for C : H) Is your story a more personal nature documentary, with realistic interactions between predators and prey? I) Is your story going to be a unique world where deer have built a society with technology and know how to defend themselves from predators? J) Is your story a unique world where all animals can talk and are equally sentient, therefore predators are revered as gods or keepers of the dead, who bring all back to the circle of life and prevent the spread of illness and disease, with older animals proudly going "to the wolves" to give their life to their brethren who consecrate the bones of the dead and keep resources plentiful? K) Or are predators the monsters in the dark, the teeth that bite, the slavering jaws that kill to live and *cannot live any other way*, so has learned not to regret? L) Or even, predators who feed from the already-dead when they can, and eat their fill of berries, nuts and fruits when they cannot, because they do not wish to take the lives of others for their own sake?

*clears throat* ahem. Drama done (can you see why I love worldbuilding) ,

go ahead and pick a letter from each of the above options, and jot them down on your paper or note-taking app.

You now have: A basic character, their backstory, and a basic setting!

From three-ish questions from a basic idea, you can spawn multiple possibilities, each of which can branch off into their own unique iterations!

Here's a few more, if you'd like to continue the exercise as further practice:

What is your deer's name?

What do they look like / what kind of deer are they? (deer of various species are found over almost the entire world, so there is tons of variety! :D )

What kind of world do they live in?

How do they interact with humans?

*are* there humans in your story?

What kind of zany or terrifying adventures would your talking deer and a human go on?

What kind of adventures would your talking deer go on with other deer or other animals?

How does your deer get along with other species?

Do they have friends from other species?

Do they have rivals from other species?

Do they have *sworn enemies* from other species?

Do they have a *love interest* from another species?

etc!

I am hoping this game/exercise is helpful, my brain being both autistic and ADHD means I am, at the drop of a hat, ready to start spouting more and more ideas sparked from a single concept at any given moment!

And yes, if you did this exercise, please feel free to use your deer character in a story, draw art of your deer character, etc!

If this exercise was helpful to you or fun, please feel free to tag any deer creations with "NovellaDeer" , I'd love to see them!

You can easily adapt this exercise to any story concept you need to worldbuild; pick what basic idea you have for a main character, and start asking yourself questions about them and their circumstances, and let yourself come up with multiple, contradicting answers for each question; the more the merrier!

After you've decided which starting answers you like the most, you can work your way down the list, asking follow-up questions, and before you know it you will have your very own original character :D

And do not feel like you need to keep your character exactly the way they start out as; characters evolve over time, and you may find yourself changing their "base" character to suit your story or to suit your tastes as you get more experienced with writing and world building!

[thesirencult]

ICY DIARIES 💎 2 : NEVER JUDGE A BOOK'S ENDING BY ITS FIRST CHAPTER

On this episode of "Icy Diaries" we will explore the dynamic of personal timelines, divine timing and why you shouldn't listen to the "gurus".

Back when I was in highschool I used to share a desk with a girl named Marie. Most people wanted to leave our small hometown and move two hours away, to the big city. Everyone was obsessed with leaving and never coming back until their success could make people jealous on a cliché highschool reunion.

Marie though was different. She decided to stay in our hometown and focus on herself. She was always very overweight and never had a boyfriend. Once we were talking about first kisses and she confessed to me that she had not even held hands with a boy, let alone kissed one.

She also didn't know what career she wanted to follow, even though she was a straight-As student, highly emotionally intelligent and very tech savvy and intelligent.

Marie was a late bloomer.

A few years passed, C*VID hit and I decided to visit my hometown.

I got off the train and I started walking towards my childhood home, thinking of warm cups of cocoa and waffles.

As I turned the corner I saw a long haired brunette in tight gym clothes getting off the passenger side of a Porsche. Her man was holding the door open, waiting for her to get off the car.

Looking my way she smiled and waved. I immediately recognized that warm smile and those caring brown eyes ! It was Marie !!!

Turns out, Marie trusted her path and didn't listen to others around her urging her to go to the big city. She worked part time jobs and started attending an online European university program that she could afford without going into debt. For 4 years she had worked on building lucrative online businesses and had founded several projects along the way, even selling a couple of e-commerce stores and a SaaS web app. She had tried moving to the city and had been accepted to a good school but she didn't want to burden her family. People made fun of her for not leaving the town and said that she was scared to get out of her comfort zone ! Who knew !

One day she decided to hit the gym and she became friends with her mentor (a story for another day) and a guy who went to our middle school but switched to a different highschool. He didn't leave our hometown too. His family owned a business and he decided that he wanted to learn the ins and outs of it to take over at some point. It was a very very lucrative venture. Like in the MILLIONS. I learnt that they were planning on getting married and moving in together in their home.

I would have never imagined these two together, but seeing them now side by side something clicked in me :

It all happens for a reason, at the right time.

The story above, portrays to me the importance of following your heart.

I know that many people tell you to suck it up and go cold. Sometimes we need that. Other times though, we need to trust the journey.

Marie never seemed like the type of person who could build businesses. She kept private. Marie played the game right though.

She didn't go after the BIG city sharks. She opted for her small town boy who kept her satisfied. Because that's what she wanted.

She didn't force it and she made the best she could with the tools she had.

Now she can enjoy her life, just at 25, while other classmates of ours are slaving away in corporate offices to pay off college debt.

That was the right decision for her.

Each one of us is on their personal journey. Your timeline is yours. It's not your mama's, neighbour's or friend's. If you can utilise a cheat code don't make it harder just to feel like a victim.

You won't get a prize for suffering.

After my meeting with Marie I started seeing life differently. I decided that I would never let anyone shame me for my choices. Your inner voice holds the answers, you just need to listen.

I always wanted to follow my passion for astrology and helping people to reach their highest potential. Actually Marie was one of the first people I analysed the chart of. She was super chill and open minded from the start. I'm very happy that she let her light shine to the world, in her own way.

You are a queen and you are always on time 💋

[full-stackmobiledeveloper]

How Educational Mobile App Development Is Revolutionizing Online Learning in 2025Ready to shape the future of learning? Partner with our expert educational app developers and launch your innovative e-learning solution today!Discover how educational mobile app development is transforming online learning in 2025 with AI, AR/VR, and personalized solutions. Start building your EdTech app now!

[wolfliving]

Pebble the wearable back from a long death

I started working on Pebble in 2008 to create the product of my dreams. Smartwatches didn’t exist, so I set out to build one. I’m extraordinarily happy I was able to help bring Pebble to life, alongside the core team and community. The company behind it failed but millions of Pebbles in the world kept going, many of them still to this day.

I wear my Pebble every day. It's been great (and I'm astounded it’s lasted 10 years!), but the time has come for new hardware.

You’d imagine that smartwatches have evolved considerably since 2012. I've tried every single smart watch out there, but none do it for me. No one makes a smartwatch with the core set of features I want:

Always-on e-paper screen (it’s reflective rather than emissive. Sunlight readable. Glanceable. Not distracting to others like a bright wrist)

Long battery life (one less thing to charge. It’s annoying to need extra cables when traveling)

Simple and beautiful user experience around a core set of features I use regularly (telling time, notifications, music control, alarms, weather, calendar, sleep/step tracking)

Buttons! (to play/pause/skip music on my phone without looking at the screen)

Hackable (apparently you can’t even write your own watchfaces for Apple Watch? That is wild. There were >16k watchfaces on the Pebble appstore!)

Over the years, we’ve thought about making a new smartwatch. Manufacturing hardware for a product like Pebble is infinitely easier now than 10 years ago. There are plenty of capable factories and Bluetooth chips are cheaper, more powerful and energy efficient.

The challenge has always been, at its heart, software. It’s the beautifully designed, fun, quirky operating system (OS) that makes Pebble a Pebble.

Today’s big news - Google has open sourced PebbleOS!

PebbleOS took dozens of engineers working over 4 years to build, alongside our fantastic product and QA teams. Reproducing that for new hardware would take a long time. 

Instead, we took a more direct route - I asked friends at Google (which bought Fitbit, which had bought Pebble’s IP) if they could open source PebbleOS. They said yes! Over the last year, a team inside Google (including some amazing ex-Pebblers turned Googlers) has been working on this. And today is the day - the source code for PebbleOS is now available at github.com/google/pebble (see their blog post).

Thank you, Google and Rebble! I can't stress how thankful I am to Rebble and Google, in general and to a few Googlers specifically, for putting in tremendous effort over the last year to make this happen. You've helped keep the dream alive by making it possible for anyone to use, fork and improve PebbleOS. The Rebble team has also done a ton of work over the years to continue supporting Pebble software, appstore and community. Thank you!

In addition to PebbleOS, we’ve been supporting development of Cobble, an open source Pebble-compatible app for iOS (soon) and Android (works great today, it’s my daily driver).

We’re bringing Pebble back!

I had really, really, really hoped that someone else would come along and build a Pebble replacement. But no one has. So… a small team and I are diving back into the world of hardware to bring Pebble back!

This time round, we’re keeping things simple. Lessons were learned last time! I’m building a small, narrowly focused company to make these watches. I don’t envision raising money from investors, or hiring a big team. The emphasis is on sustainability. I want to keep making cool gadgets and keep Pebble going long into the future.

The new watch we’re building basically has the same specs and features as Pebble, though with some fun new stuff as well 😉 It runs open source PebbleOS, and it’s compatible with all Pebble apps and watchfaces. If you had a Pebble and loved it…this is the smartwatch for you.

More info to come soon! Follow the fun with @ericmigi and @pebble.

Are you like me?

Do you have a hole in your heart (and on your wrist) that hasn't been filled by any other smartwatch? 

Sign up to be the first to get one at rePebble.com. 

Eric Migicovsky

Pebble Founder

FAQ

When can I buy one?

As soon as we nail down the product specifications and get a firm idea of the production timeline, we'll share it with everyone on the list and invite people to order.

Will it be exactly like Pebble?

Yes. In almost every way. 

Aren’t you the guy who screwed this up last time?

Yes, the one and only. I think I’ve learned some valuable lessons. 

[rigelmejo]

Comprehensible Input Study Plans

If anyone would like to go on a Comprehensible Input/Automatic Language Acquisition/Direct Method journey with me, I have got a list of resources for you! This list is basically going to be: if I was studying a language primarily through comprehensible input, this is the resources I would try in roughly this order.

Japanese:

1. Glossika Japanese Old audio course. Teaches approximately 2000-3000 words (the course has around 3000 sentences but I think some sentences have no new words). Course seems to be a few hundred hours (150-300 hours I'm going to estimate), and lets say 300-600 hours if you repeat audio files to re-listen and study. This is "audio flashcards" materials so sentences are given in japanese then english then japanese. They are "comprehensible input" in that you can completely understand the sentences, but they do teach using english. Also, Glossika courses are easier if you have some basic grammar knowledge first as the course does not explain word order, verb endings, conjugations, particles etc.

2. Comprehensible Japanese youtube channel. If you are a total beginner, I would recommend this resource first and go through a LOT of the material. Then use something like Glossika Japanese old audio courses, some japanese anki sentences deck's audio files, some textbook with a few thousand word's audio files, to study 2000-3000 common words.

3. ***While doing step 1 and 2, I would recommend beginning study of the writing system. Look up some app for "learn hiragana and katakana mnemonics" and study for a few weeks until you're roughly familiar with hiragana and katakana, as afterward you will read them so much you'll learn them more firmly. Look up japanese kanji radicals and read through a table, it should take a few hours or less. Understand that all kanji are built with those radicals (so maybe think of radicals as letters and kanji as the 'word' piece). Learn that kana (hiragana and katakana) stand for syllables, and have no meaning besides sound. Anything can be spelled with kana. Hiragana are usually for japanese words, particles, and conjugation. Katakana are usually for foreign words. Kanji are symbols that stand for a word (or a piece of a word like "airport" is air-port, 2 kanji may build a word). Kanji have various pronunciations depending on the word they are building. Hiragana often attach to the end of kanji words to spell out the conjugations. Look up "mnemonics" if you've never used them before so you can learn how to use them: they are stories you make up to help remember the pronunciation, meaning, or 'radical building blocks' of a new word. For studying kanji there are many options, I personally recommend finding one that includes mnemonics. As a total beginner I recommend: Learn Japanese Today by Len Walsh. It is easy to read in a couple weeks, it's mnemonics/explanations include pronunciation and meaning, it's a good introduction and you can find it free in a ton of libraries/e-libraries. I also recommend the books on japaneseaudiolessons.com if you want mnemonics provided for meaning AND pronunciations, and reading practice, but be aware they are in depth and dense reads. Many people will recommend Heisig Remember the Kanji... and I recommend it with one caveat: do NOT wait to continue your studies until you finish Heisig. If you use Heisig's book, keep studying japanese with other materials at the same time. I wasted 2 years on Heisig's books because they didn't include any actual pronunciations or vocabulary, so I waited to learn real words. You should start learning new words ASAP. I personally recommend you look up what mnemonics are, look up kanji radicals and practice making up some stories to remember them, then start learning real words and making up mnemonics to remember the new kanji words as you learn them (or going to kanji.koohi.com and using someone else's mnemonics story to remember). Mejo's bare minimum advice: read an explanation on radicals (2 hours), read an article explaining japan's writing system (2 hours), cram through a hiragana katakana free mnemonics app with quizzes for 2 weeks, look up mnemonics for kanji and learn how to make the mnemonic stories yourself, cram through Read Japanese Today for 2 weeks, proceed to learn kanji as part of words normally. If you are struggling a lot with remembering kanji words or written words in general, I recommend you check out the "SRS" section further down.

4. Look up a pronunciation guide, on youtube or any site with audio. Listen to it, should take a few hours. This is just to help you get used to the syllables and features you'll hear. You may want to hear some explanations of pitch tone at this point. I'll be real with you: I'm intermediate and still don't really understand pitch tone much. So I figure the sooner you hear about it, the more time you'll have to start figuring it out than I did. My obviously amateur advice (but it worked for me): do your best to pronounce new words the way they sound in japanese (sort of the way English puts stress on words "BLACKbird, old-FASHioned, underSTAND"). Try your best to pronounce as you hear the word, and move on. If you notice later you're making errors, correct them then. As a beginner, do not PAUSE your learning out of fear you will make mistakes or miss something. I feel that can be one of the biggest hurdles in learning a language: dwelling on how to perfectly do something before moving on, and so you never move on, and never learn more. It's better to move forward and learn new things everyday then to HALT all progress out of fear you're doing something imperfectly. So yeah... be aware of features like pitch tone, but also understand it's okay if it takes you a while to hear it, to understand what it means, to correct your mistakes. And this applies to anything in language learning.

5. Japanese Graded Readers: you can search the web for graded readers of various levels. I would recommend starting with the free Tofugu graded readers (they can be found here). The Tofugu books are very easy to start, make sense from context, and can help you feel much more comfortable reading in japanese. If you would like a more textbook approach, I like the following two books: Reading Japanese by Eleanor Harz Jorden and Hamako Ito Chaplin (this book goes slow and very in depth if you want a lot of beginner reading practice), A Japanese Reader: Graded Lessons for Mastering the Written Language (Tuttle Language Library) by Roy Andrew Miller (this book goes fast and it's dense but it will prepare you for reading newspapers and literature). White Rabbit Press has some graded readers. Satori Reader app I highly recommend from early-beginner to intermediate but not ready for real novels yet.

6. Immersion with material for native speakers! Get yourself a translator app downloaded on your phone (I like imabi and while it's subpar I like Google Translate to quickly speak in new words when I'm watching anime). Get an on screen reader OCR translation app if you plan to read a lot of manga (I use Ichigo Manga Translator because it's free). Bilingualmanga.net is a good place to start if you want to read manga, they provide english translations of the japanese and you can copy/paste the japanese text into translator apps. Animelon.com has dual subtitles and click-word lookup if you like watching anime. Parallel translations of books app by Kursx is great for reading novels (it has Text To Speech, click translations of words, parallel translations of sentences) you will need to import txt/epub files if you use this app (annas-archive.org is a good place to find those). If you already have a favorite eReader app (I use Moon+ Reader) then know that most reader apps already have built in click-translation features and text to speech audio. If you use Kindle, kindle has click translations (and if you use Android Talkback accessibility tool it will text-to-speech read kindle books aloud). Amazon Kindle app is probably the easiest place to purchase japanese ebooks and manga. I highly recommend when you start immersion: start with easier materials where you understand the main idea of scenes without word lookups or with minimal keyword lookups. So materials you've seen/read before, slice of life daily stuff where most words are common etc. Also I recommend always watching/reading in japanese primarily before turning on things like dual subtitles or parallel translations: basically at least TRY to understand the japanese before leaning on another language. You want to get used to being primarily in japanese.

7. ***A note on SRS: I go through this more down below in the Chinese section, so please skip down to that. In short: SRS can be a great way to push through that "beginner hump" where you feel you will never learn the language, ASAP. At least, if you can get yourself to reliably do 30 minutes+ per day of SRS regularly. My suggestion for you if you're struggling to go from study materials, to immersion in content for native speakers? Pick SOME SRS study resource for japanese that teaches 2000 words or more. Start it and focus on studying new materials, review OPTIONAL only if you completed 1 or more new sections per day (so study at least 20+ new words per day before doing reviews, cut reviews if you have limited study time). If you're a crammer like me, do 50-200 new words/sentences per day and only review if you have time after that. It should take you approximately 4 weeks on a cram schedule (so 1-2 hours of study per day) to study 2000 words. After that, you can do reviews for another 1-2 months if you want of the 2000 words OR you can jump directly into immersion at that point. That plan will get you from upper-beginner (you know 500-1000 words from comprehensible input, graded readers, audio flashcards, but immersion feels exhausting and you can't understand anything) who just CANNOT handle any immersion, to able to study from immersion primarily, in about 1-3 months. Yes it's 1-3 months of studying 1+ hour a day in flashcards... so you need to be able to concentrate on getting through flashcards. But it will push you over the hump. This is what I did after 2 years of japanese study where I knew 500-1000 words and felt hopeless as an "eternal beginner": I crammed through 2000 cards of Nukemarine's Lets Learn Japanese memrise decks for 3 months. Then I tried to read manga and lookup words: to my surprise I could actually follow a manga plot main idea by just looking up some keywords! I tried playing Kingdom Hearts: and likewise realized I could now play with just some keyword lookups here and there every 3-5 minutes (given I was already familiar with the english version of the game). It made immersion possible for me to do. Once immersion was possible, I continued reviews by immersing and seeing words I'd studied before, and continued learning by guessing new words from context in immersion and looking up words every 5ish minutes or when they looked like key words for main idea understanding. I personally recommend Nukemarine's Lets Learn Japanese SRS decks, as I feel getting through parts 1-6 will make immersion possible (that's what i did) and then the other parts are well structured to help you get the words needed to read novels/watch more complex shows. Nukemarine's decks also has combine sentences, audio and text, new vocabulary, kanji, and grammar points. So if you only have 1 resource you use? It covers the key areas. If you like another SRS course more, use that instead. The main thing is find something teaching AT LEAST 2000 words and get through studying NEW words quickly. Part of the eternal "beginner hump" is people thinking japanese is hard, and taking years studying 300 kanji or 500 words, when the sooner they increase vocabulary the sooner immersion material will become accessible.

(Fun little things: Genki textbooks cover vocabulary immensely slowly in my opinion and I wish each book had at least 2000 words, since they're meant to cover 1 year in college each and typical language introduction books for OTHER languages usually cover 2000 words at minimum... which is doubly annoying because with few cognates, you need more basic vocabulary in japanese to start reading/watching compared to a language like French where with 500 common words and cognates to rely on you can start reading nonfiction...which is what I did. Whereas I NEEDED at least 1000 japanese vocabulary words to start reading anything in japanese. Be aware that a lot of japanese learner material is paced slower than some other languages - like french and spanish - because the writer thinks it's more difficult. the problem is... the lower amount of content per chapter/lesson means less learned per minute... and then japanese is going to take thousands of hours more to learn than a similar language to yours already, so slow learning material is extra frustrating to me. When you run into learning material that presents information slowly? Either find a different learning material, or push through it faster than the learning material recommends. Since Genki 1 and 2 only teach 1700 total... I'd suggest getting through both textbooks in under a year, at least studying their vocabulary sections in under a year. Or get a 2000+ word anki deck and get through it in 3 months lol. A typical Teach Yourself introduction book teaches 2000 words, and certainly expects the student to learn those words at least vaguely in under a year. So personally... I think it's a good idea to push yourself to learn at least that many words in japanese ASAP. If you're a beginner, aim for 1 year (and if it takes longer for some reason that's okay). If you've been studying japanese for years, like I was, and still stuck in the beginner rut? Cram 2000 common words NOW. Go find a word list, an SRS anki deck, get glossika japanese audio files, Something, and get vaguely familiar with a few thousand common words now. Aim to get through the words in 4 months or less, then start immersing (or start intermediate level textbooks/courses if you prefer studying that way, or both).

Chinese:

1. Go through a pronunciation guide (2 weeks or less) like the dongchinese one here. Anything with audio. Look up tone explanation guides on youtube, including on tone sandhi, and then look up a few tone trainer quizzes online and do them every once in a while. All of pronunciation beginner study may take 1 month or less. You're getting used to hearing tones, recognizing tones, recognizing language features, and getting used to pinyin pronunciation.

2. Look up how the chinese writing system works. This may take a few hours to a week. Read a few articles that explain hanzi, that explain and show a table of the radicals and how they combine to build hanzi, how often a hanzi is built of a pronunciation component and meaning component from radicals. The main thing is to learn that hanzi usually are pronounced one way, are a piece of a word (or whole word), and a limited amount of radicals build hanzi (sort of like letters build to make a word). Understanding radicals build hanzi will help you break down new hanzi you see into recognizable radical components. Look up mnemonics if you've never used them before: they are stories you make up to help remember a word or hanzi's meaning, pronunciation, and radicals. Mnemonics can be useful later when learning hanzi, so it's important to know how to make them yourself if you want to use mnemonics later.

3. Hanzi study: you will do this alongside whatever else you do early on. You can use anki flashcard decks for studying hanzi (I recommend searching "chinese hanzi mnemonics anki deck" or "chinese hanzi mnemonics memrise" or whatever app you use with "mnemonics"). I personally mostly relied on a book which had pre-made mnemonics for 800 hanzi, and it gave me a solid foundation. (My FAVORITE chinese study book, it indirectly is also how kanji in japanese got eons easier for me, I love it intensely more than Heisig lol: Tuttle Learning Chinese Characters: (HSK Levels 1 -3) A Revolutionary New Way to Learn and Remember the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters). I simply read through the book for 2 months. After that I just learned new words regularly (through comprehensible input, graded readers, SRS decks of common words/sentences), and made up my own mnemonic stories when I had a hard time remembering a new hanzi. I recommend that if possible you find a hanzi resource that provides pronunciation, meaning, and example words. And that the resource includes mnemonics if they help you remember things better. I recommend using an SRS program if you like using SRS apps, and if that study method works well for you. You will likely be studying hanzi or words with a focus on remembering their hanzi for at least 6 months, possibly 1-2 years, so it's okay to take 1-2 months to search for resources and then decide on using something you really like using. I also recommend getting a hanzi resource that teaches AT LEAST 2000 hanzi, ideally all hanzi on the HSK (but the HSK recently changed so just do the best you can), and at minimum you're going to want to learn around 1000 hanzi (roughly the amount on HSK 4 which is when immersion starts to feel possible). The exception: the book I heavily relied on only taught 800 hanzi, but it gave me a strategy to further study new hanzi as I encountered them later in words... so that book in combination with any vocabulary resource and you should smoothly be able to learn over 1000 hanzi in the first 6 months. I learned about 2000 hanzi in the first 6 months using that book for 800, and then Ben Whatley 1000 Common Chinese Words and Ben Whatley 2000 Common Chinese Words in memrise. It personally helped me to learn a majority of hanzi in the context of words. The memrise decks I spent 4 weeks cramming through, then continued reviewing the words by running into them during immersion. Alternatives: Chinese Spoonfed Anki deck has words in sentences, theres a LOT of anki decks specifically for learning hanzi with mnemonics and I think all are fine if they have audio pronunciation and meaning (and ideally example words).

4. ***Optional: read through a grammar guide summary. This is not part of comprehensible input method, but I did it and it helped me so I figured I'd mention it. I simply read through all the lessons on this site (without doing the exercises) and it took me about 3 weeks.

5. Start Comprehensible Input learning materials. You can start immediately, or after 1-2 months of preparing with the materials above. Comprehensible Chinese is a good youtube channel to start with.

6. Graded Readers. These can be started soon after starting to learn new words with comprehensible input lessons (like Comprehensible Chinese youtube). Mandarin Companion graded readers start at only 50 words so a total beginner could start there, then just gradually read the higher level graded readers until you are reading the highest unique word count graded readers Mandarin Companion has. After that, I recommend downloading Pleco app (***which you will use a lot for other things too), and browsing the graded readers offered for sale on Pleco. They're often 2 dollars for individual stories to 20 dollars for collections of stories/long stories, and reading them in Pleco you have click-translations, text to speech, extensive dictionary entries, and mtl parallel text translations of passages. Some of the graded readers you can buy on Pleco go up to 2000+ unique words, after which you are certainly ready to move to immersion with novels for native speakers. If you want to move to immersion ASAP, I would recommend using graded readers that go up to 800-1500 unique words (I used Mandarin Companion 800 word graded readers and Sinolingua 1500 word graded readers) then going to Heavenly Companion's site (*more details later) and starting with novels for native speakers that start at 1000-1500 unique words.

7. Aim for trying to learn 3000 common words (you can aim for at least 1000 if you're desperate to move on to immersion). Glossika Chinese old course audio is an audio flashcard option to learn 2000-3000 words (audio flashcards teach with chinese sentences then english translation so you can comprehend what is said). The sentences are around 300 hours, then more hourse depending on how much you re-listen to study. Chinese Spoonfed Anki audio files are another good option (have around 7000 sentences, 19 hours, I imagine the sentences teach at least 4000 words). You could use these kinds of resources as a supplement to Comprehensible Input youtube videos and Graded Readers, to keep growing your vocabulary and reviewing things you've learned. (You may have noticed at this point, I'm offering 3 lesson options: videos on youtube, audio flashcards, and graded readers. Depending on the study activity you like best, you may find yourself relying more heavily on one of these 3 and that's fine. Just aim to keep increasing your vocabulary no matter what you rely more on - so if you use youtube videos be aware you may need supplemental vocabulary exposure, and aim to get some listening AND reading practice - so if you use audio flashcards primarily then try to get some transcripts and read along occasionally or anki/memrise companion flashcards to read or turn on chinese subtitles on Comprehensible Chinese when you do occassionally do a video instead of audio flashcards. If you read graded readers mostly, try to listen along to the audiobook or text-to-speech sometimes so you get some listening practice).

8. ***Optional: SRS. Spaced Repetition Study. I did not use SRS much, but I did cram study this way for around 4 weeks in the first 6 months of studying chinese, because it really helped me get vague recognition of 2000 common words in written form ASAP. If you can focus on flashcards/flashcard apps for 30 minutes to 1 hour regularly, this is possibly the fastest way to get vaguely familiar with new vocabulary so you can make immersion doable and easier ASAP. For japanese and chinese in particular, SRS may be the route to go if you feel you "cannot get over the beginner hump." If you are not using graded readers much, you may need some kind of SRS study to get reading practice in and review of written form of words. (You can actually do SRS study with paper flashcards you make or a printed out wordlist you read through or a wordlist website you have open on the computer, all SRS really is amounts to studying the least amount of repetitions you'd need to review information right before you forget it... something like study today, then tomorrow, then in 3 days, then in 1 week, then in 2 weeks, then in a month, then in 2 months, then in 4 months etc). I recommend Chinese Spoonfed Anki deck for chinese since it's got thousands of words, grammar examples, audio, text, and it's a solid foundation to jump to immersion from. I used "2000 common HSK words" deck on memrise, it had no sentences, just audio and text, it worked fine for me and took 1 month to cram through. This is my advice for people who want to get over the endless "beginner hump" or who like me want to immerse ASAP and get past learner materials. It can also be found up in the japanese section. Cram! If you've done hundreds of hours listening to Comprehensible Chinese, audio flashcards, and reading graded readers, but still find immersion too hard or still find you have not learned over 1000 words? Or find you're really struggling with hanzi recognition? Look up an SRS app like anki or memrise, look up an SRS course (again I'd say just use anything with 2000+ words and audio and text, like Chinese Spoonfed anki deck). Do the SRS app 1-2 hours a day for 2 weeks, prioritizing studying 50-200 new words per day. Only do reviews if you have time at the end, after getting through your 50-200 new words goal daily. At the end of 2 weeks you'll het through 1000 words, then spend 2 weeks getting through the backlog of reviews. Then for 2 weeks go through 50-200 new words daily again, 1-2 hours per day, skip reviews unless you have time. After those 2 weeks you'll have gotten through all 2000 words. Take another 2 weeks to do reviews now if you wish (or just skip it). It will take approximately 1-3 months to get through 2000 common words and have a vague familiarity with them. At that point, you can start immersing and stop SRS app usage (unless you like SRS apps, in which case you might want to transition to 10-30 minutes daily with 5-20 new words daily and no more so you don't get overwhelmed). This is how I get vague familiarity with a few thousand common words ASAP. Once there's vague familiarity, when you immerse you might look up those words and 'review' them a few more times by looking them up until they stick in your memory, but they won't be totally unfamiliar. And you will NEED them to understand the immersion content, so your brain will try to remember them quickly since they're needed daily and used daily in immersion. The SRS apps also work well for drilling hanzi when you're trying to learn the first 1000 common hanzi or so. If you find nothing else is helping you get vaguely familiar with hanzi recognition, try an SRS app of 2000+ common hanzi with mnemonics for a couple months.

(***A small warning: a lot of apps "use SRS for their study cards" but how fast you go through new words depends on the app. If you're trying to get vague familiarity with a lot of words quickly, either pick an app that doesn't take you more than 1 hour to get through 50+ words, OR honestly pick a regular word list or a bare bones Anki deck where you know you can easily read through 100 words in 1 hour). One thing that slowed me down a LOT is apps where I'd see 20 new words an hour... I could watch literally any show as a beginner and get exposed to 20 new words in less time. I try to avoid picking resources that slow down my exposure to stuff to learn.

9. Immersion time! If you're extremely tolerant of ambiguity and/or like looking words up, you can immerse as SOON as you can follow the main idea of a scene with just the help of looking up 1-2 keywords for meaning per scene (or without looking up anything). Think about how you felt when reading your first Graded Reader: it probably had more words than you actually knew yet, so it felt HARD, but you could at least follow the main idea of what was going on. And if you couldn't follow the main idea, you could get by on just looking up 1-5 unknown words per page to understand the main idea. And by the end of the graded reader, you didn't need to look up any words to grasp the main idea. If it was a rather easy graded reader, you might even have understood almost everything including most details without any word lookups by the end of the book. That's the feeling you want to get with your immersion materials, at least ideally. And after a few months of immersion, once you've learned more words and gotten comfortable "understanding what you already studied" then some easier immersion materials should feel like a graded reader used to feel. The first few months of immersion I'd recommend picking easier material: shows/books with few unique words (ideally less unique words than you know so if you know 2000 words then picking a kid's book with 1000 unique words), shows you've seen before in your native language (so you can guess what the words mean because you know what happens in those scenes), books based on shows you've seen, books for kids, reading summaries before watching/reading something (so you have prior context to guess what words mean because you know what should be happening). At first, you will have to learn how to "understand what you already studied" so you'll be practicing understanding words you know at speaking speed, in the grammar of actual sentences, reading words you maybe haven't read much, listening to words you maybe haven't listened to much, getting used to accents and emotion and background noise, getting used to understanding stuff you've studied QUICKLY because its all so much quicker than in learning materials. It will feel hard, stick with it for a few months, and eventually you can tolerate immersing for longer time periods and get better at immediately understanding stuff you already studied. At that point, you can gradually start picking more difficult and challenging immersion material.

***If you find immersion INTENSELY difficult and you can NOT understand the main idea, even when you look up key words, or you notice you need to look up like 20 key words per 5 minutes to even guess the main idea? Even after a few months of trying to immerse and see if it gets easier? You may benefit from going to study more words. If you don't like ambiguity and get frustrated by only vaguely understanding things, you'll probably be the kind of person who prefers to study more words BEFORE immersing. I would recommend a. cram studying 2000-3000 words in some SRS app or audio flashcard course like glossika (and if you have time and energy you may even wish to cram study 5000-7000 words... but if it's been over 5 months, you may just be avoiding immersion and hoping Ever More Vocabulary will make it easier... it won't at a certain point. You have to practice immersion eventually for immersion to get easier). b. Reading a LOT of graded readers. Graded readers will feel the most like immersion, because they force you to read a LOT all in the target language. Read increasingly difficult graded readers, so for chinese this is where you'd read 5+ 2000 word graded readers. Practice reading graded readers without relying on word lookups and attempt to grasp the meaning from context, so you can practice skills you'll need in immersion in an easier enviornment. Try to read graded readers through multiple times, attempting to read FASTER the second and third times, to practice comprehending things you have learned faster... this skill is needed for immersion, and practicing it now will make immersion easier. Listen to audiobooks/text to speech OF graded readers, and listen repeatedly until you comprehend most of what you hear. Graded readers in particular will help you both increase vocabulary AND develop the skills you'll be using and relying on a lot in immersion like: learning new words from context, parsing sentences, following audio at spoken speed (if reading along to an audiobook), getting a feel for how difficult a material is to you and if you personally can comprehend enough to learn new words from context alone or if you personally need to look up some key words (and how to identify key words for understanding quickly then move on), being engaged with only the target language for several minutes to an hour without much of another language to rely on.

For chinese, I recommend the Heavenly Path site to find immersion materials if you don't know where to start. You can start with their stuff recommended "Newcomer" with immersion materials that are around unique word counts of 1000, so they should be the most easy to transition into after doing some graded readers and studying 1000-3000 words. In particular I recommed starting with 秃秃大王 if you can read an 800 unique word Mandarin Companion graded reader, or a 1000-2000 unique word sinolingua graded reader. It is excellent for a beginner, it's not too long so you'll be able to finish it in a few days to a month (I think it took me 3 weeks of 30 minutes per day). After 秃秃大王, the other Newcomer recommendations should feel doable to you, and then from there just progressively pick slightly harder novels with slightly higher unique word counts when you're no longer running into as many new words as you wish to. Apps like Pleco (in free version you can copy-paste text into it's Clipboard Reader section, in paid you can import files) and Readibu (copy-paste in a website page to read the webnovel in the app, or find webnovels in Readibu's recommendations) let you read webnovels and click-translate words. Pleco has a ton of other features (and is a great free dictionary app so I suggest downloading it). Parallel translations of books app by Kursx is another good app for reading chinese novels, you'll need to import the novel files though. All reader apps have click-translate and text to speech tools like Moon+ Reader, Kindle, Kybook Reader, so if you have a favorite eReader app you can probably just open chinese epubs or txt files in your preferred app. I use Microsoft Edge for nothing else, but its Read Along tool has the most natural sounding text to speech I've ever heard, if you want to listen to text as you read. All web browsers have click-translate tools (sometimes you need Google Translate installed as an app on your phone, then just hold down any word/sentence you want a translation of when on a web browser and you'll have a Translate option). So honestly, any web browser and webnovel link and you'll be all set to read with click-translations and text to speech. If you like manhua, Bilibili Comics app has english and chinese versions of comics so you can read manhua in chinese, then read the english versions if you want to look up a particular word or check your understanding of the plot. If you like shows, youtube has a ton of free cdramas, often with chinese subtitles, so you can pause shows to see words and then go to a translation app of your choice (Pleco, DeepL, BaiduTranslate, Google Translate) and look up words. LingoTube is a free app where you can open youtube videos and get dual subtitles, audio line replay, click-translations of words.

[ezonebusinesssetupdubai]

Top Online Business Ideas to Consider in 2025

Dubai's dynamic business environment offers numerous online opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs. Here are some of the top online business ideas to consider in 2025:

E-commerce Store: Launch an online platform to sell products directly to consumers. With the UAE's e-commerce market projected to reach $9.2 billion by 2026, there's significant potential here. Focus on a specific niche, obtain the necessary e-commerce license, and develop a user-friendly website. Partnering with reliable delivery services and implementing effective marketing strategies will be crucial.

Dropshipping Business: Manage an online store without holding inventory. When a customer makes a purchase, the order is forwarded to a supplier who ships the product directly to the customer. This model reduces upfront costs and is gaining popularity globally.

Digital Marketing Agency: Offer services like social media management, SEO, and content creation to help businesses enhance their online presence. As companies increasingly recognize the importance of digital marketing, there's a growing demand for such expertise.

Online Education and Tutoring: Provide virtual classes or tutoring sessions in subjects you're knowledgeable about. The rise of online learning platforms has made education more accessible, and there's a consistent demand for quality instructors.

Content Creation and Blogging: Create engaging content through blogs, videos, or podcasts. Monetize your content via advertising, sponsorships, or affiliate marketing. Building a loyal audience can lead to significant revenue opportunities.

Affiliate Marketing: Promote products or services from other companies and earn a commission for each sale made through your referral. This model is cost-effective and can be lucrative with the right strategy.

App Development: Develop mobile or web applications to meet specific user needs. With the increasing reliance on digital solutions, innovative apps can gain rapid popularity.

Virtual Assistant Services: Offer administrative support to businesses or individuals remotely. Tasks can range from managing emails to scheduling appointments, providing flexibility for both parties.

Online Consulting: Leverage your expertise in a particular field to offer consulting services online. Whether it's business strategy, health, or finance, many are willing to pay for professional advice.

Graphic Design Services: Provide design solutions for logos, marketing materials, or websites. As businesses aim to stand out visually, skilled graphic designers are in high demand.

Social Media Influencer: Build a strong presence on platforms like Instagram or YouTube. With a substantial following, you can collaborate with brands for promotions and sponsorships.

Online Fitness Coaching: Offer virtual fitness classes or personalized training plans. The health and wellness industry continues to thrive, and many prefer the convenience of online sessions.

Stock Photography: Capture high-quality images and sell them on stock photography websites. Businesses and creators constantly seek quality visuals for their projects.

Handmade Crafts Online Store: Sell handmade items like jewelry, art, or home decor through an online platform. There's a market for unique, handcrafted products that can't be found in mass production.

Subscription Box Service: Curate and deliver boxes of niche products to subscribers regularly. This model has gained traction in various industries, from beauty products to gourmet foods.

Language Translation Services: Provide translation services for documents, websites, or media content. In a globalized world, effective communication across languages is essential.

Online Travel Agency: Assist clients in planning and booking their travel experiences. With the resurgence of travel, personalized planning services are valuable.

Virtual Event Planning: Organize and manage online events, from webinars to virtual conferences. As virtual events become more common, skilled planners are needed to ensure their success.

Print on Demand: Design custom apparel or merchandise and partner with suppliers who print and ship items as orders come in. This reduces the need for inventory and allows for creative flexibility.

Online Real Estate Brokerage: Facilitate property transactions through a digital platform. With the real estate market's evolution, online brokerages offer convenience to buyers and sellers.

Embarking on an online business in Dubai offers numerous advantages, including a strategic location, supportive government policies, and a tech-savvy population.

By selecting the right niche and implementing effective strategies, you can build a successful venture in this thriving market.

[theblogvibe]

VFX Era: Your Future Begins with Graphic Designing Course in Kanpur

VFX Era is redefining creative education in Uttar Pradesh through its comprehensive graphic designing course in Kanpur. Combining artistic training with career-readiness, this course equips learners with both the vision and the tools to become successful design professionals. Whether you're a recent school graduate or a mid-career switcher, VFX Era has built a design ecosystem that blends theory, practice, and professional mentorship.

What makes VFX Era unique is its complete learning cycle. From learning tools like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to understanding brand identity, visual storytelling, and user interface design, students are nurtured into becoming designers who solve real-world problems.

Why VFX Era's Graphic Designing Course in Kanpur Is the Ideal Starting Point

The growing demand for visual content across industries has created a need for trained graphic designers who are not just tool-users but thinkers and creators. VFX Era’s graphic designing course in Kanpur is designed to meet this demand with a practical, future-focused approach. Here, you don’t just learn how to use design software — you learn how to build brands, shape user experiences, and communicate visually.

From logos and brochures to social media content and website layouts, students work on real-time projects that mirror the needs of businesses today. This course doesn’t just prepare you to enter the industry—it prepares you to stand out in it.

The VFX Era Learning Philosophy: Creative, Practical, Professional

At the core of VFX Era’s teaching model is a blend of hands-on practice and conceptual clarity. The course aims to empower students with skills that are instantly applicable in the job market:

Understanding how design solves business problems

Translating ideas into visual campaigns

Creating cross-platform consistency for brand visuals

The course also introduces students to design systems and workflows that are used by professionals in advertising agencies, startups, eCommerce platforms, and global brands.

Course Structure: From Fundamentals to Industry-Level Mastery

Here’s a breakdown of what the curriculum covers:

Design Principles: Color theory, visual hierarchy, composition

Image Editing: Retouching and visual manipulation using Adobe Photoshop

Vector Graphics: Logo and icon creation using Illustrator and CorelDRAW

Typography: The art of readable and brand-oriented text design

Layout and Publishing: Flyers, posters, banners, and social media creatives

UI/UX Basics: Designing for websites and mobile apps

Brand Identity Projects: Packaging, logo kits, visual guidelines

In addition to these, students also receive special training in:

Freelancing and client handling

Building an online design portfolio

Content design for social media platforms

Basics of animation and motion graphics

Project-Based Learning at VFX Era

Every module is accompanied by a project. This means by the end of the course, each student has an impressive portfolio that includes:

Company logos

Product packaging

Event banners

Ad creatives

Website UI samples

Infographics and visual resumes

Students also receive reviews on their projects, just like in real agency settings. These critiques from mentors help learners understand what employers and clients expect.

Career Pathways After a Graphic Designing Course in Kanpur

The beauty of a graphic designing career is its versatility. After completing this course, you can work in:

Digital Marketing Agencies

Media and News Companies

Corporate Design Teams

Freelance Marketplaces

Startups and E-commerce Brands

You can also specialize in:

Branding Design

Social Media Content

Web Graphics

Packaging Design

Presentation & Pitch Deck Design

And if you want to scale further, combining your design skills with digital marketing or front-end development knowledge creates a competitive profile for roles like UI Designer or Digital Content Strategist.

The Role of Mentors in Your Creative Growth

Unlike self-paced online tutorials, the VFX Era experience is guided by mentors. These are industry professionals who:

Review your design drafts

Provide actionable feedback

Teach shortcuts and design hacks

Guide you on pricing, pitching, and professionalism

This mentorship accelerates learning, builds confidence, and prepares students for freelance gigs or full-time jobs.

The Power of Design in Kanpur’s Business Ecosystem

Kanpur is no longer just an industrial city. With the digital boom, local businesses are investing in branding, social presence, and customer engagement. From cafés and real estate firms to coaching centers and eCommerce brands, every business needs visual design.

As a certified designer from VFX Era, you can help these brands:

Build recognition through visual identity

Enhance online reach through engaging content

Improve customer retention through consistent visuals

And the best part? You can do all this while working from home or even as a part-time freelancer.

Expand Your Horizons: Combine Graphic Designing with Digital Marketing & Web Development

VFX Era doesn’t just stop at design. For students who want to expand their skillset, the institute also offers:

A full-fledged digital marketing course in Kanpur, where students learn SEO, PPC, email campaigns, and influencer marketing.

A practical web development course in Kanpur, covering HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and responsive design to build fast, beautiful websites.

By learning how your designs can integrate with marketing and web technologies, you’ll stand out as a full-stack creative professional.

Portfolio Building and Career Support

The course ends with a powerful capstone project and a complete review of the student’s portfolio. But VFX Era goes a step further by helping students:

Create Behance and Dribbble profiles

Draft a winning freelance pitch

Appear for mock interviews and client meetings

Build a design CV and pitch deck

Get referrals to freelance clients and agencies

This comprehensive support ensures you don’t just complete a course—you start a new career.

Final Thoughts: Why VFX Era Is the Top Choice for Graphic Designing Course in Kanpur

There are many ways to learn graphic design, but only VFX Era combines:

Experienced mentors

Real-world projects

Personalized feedback

Industry connections

Career-focused curriculum

That’s why it has become the most trusted name for anyone looking to become a designer in Kanpur.

Address: 117/H1/368 Pandu Nagar Neer Cheer Chauraha, Pandu Nagar, Kakadeo, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh 208005 Contact: 063904 67467 Website: https://vfxera.com

If you’ve ever wanted to build a creative career, launch your own brand, or work in design globally — your journey starts here. Join the graphic designing course in Kanpur at VFX Era and unlock your true creative potential.

[visionaryvogues03]

How Beginners Can Use Investing Apps to Start Building Wealth?

Stock trading has been on the rise for quite some time now, especially among youngsters. The youth are on the constant lookout for newer investing apps which make their job easy. E-commerce apps that provide investing services have also surged to impeccable heights & made wealth for a significant number of individuals. There’s no fixed formula for investing in the stock market. A well-structured portfolio & strategic investments can take you to quite wealthy distances. 

For C-suite executives, startup entrepreneurs, and managers, understanding how investing apps empower users is essential—not only for personal financial growth but also to stay informed about technological advancements in the financial sector. This article explores how beginners can leverage investing apps to start building wealth effectively and strategically.

The Game-Changing Impact of Investment Platforms

The rise of investing apps has eliminated traditional barriers such as high fees, complicated processes, and the necessity for financial advisors. These apps have democratized investing through features such as:

Low or No Commission Fees – Many platforms offer commission-free trades, making investing more affordable.

Fractional Shares – Users can invest in small portions of high-priced stocks, allowing broader access to valuable assets.

Automated Portfolio Management – Robo-advisors create customized portfolios based on individual risk tolerance and financial goals.

Educational Resources – Built-in learning materials help beginners understand market trends and investment strategies.

User-Friendly Interfaces – Simple navigation, real-time analytics, and personalized recommendations make investing more intuitive.

By incorporating these features, investment platforms make financial markets more inclusive, giving users the ability to take charge of their financial futures.

Steps for Beginners to Start Investing

1. Define Your Investment Goals

Before selecting an investing app, users should determine their financial objectives. Are they investing for retirement, wealth accumulation, or short-term financial gains? Identifying goals helps in choosing appropriate investment strategies and risk levels.

2. Choose the Right Investing App

Different investment platforms cater to various investor needs:

Stock Trading Apps (e.g., Robinhood, Webull) – Best for hands-on trading.

Robo-Advisors (e.g., Betterment, Wealthfront) – Ideal for automated, long-term investing.

Micro-Investing Apps (e.g., Acorns, Stash) – Suitable for those starting with small amounts.

Social Investing Apps (e.g., eToro, Public) – Allow users to follow and replicate expert traders.

Cryptocurrency Apps (e.g., Coinbase, Binance) – For those looking to diversify into digital assets.

3. Start Small and Diversify

Beginners should avoid placing all their funds into a single stock or asset class. A diversified portfolio—including stocks, ETFs, bonds, and real estate—helps manage risk. Many investing apps provide guidance on asset allocation to optimize investment strategies.

4. Utilize Automated Investment Tools

Features such as recurring deposits and robo-advisors enable users to invest consistently without the need for active monitoring. Automation removes emotional biases and encourages disciplined investment habits.

5. Continuously Learn and Adapt

While investing apps simplify the investment process, continuous learning is crucial. Staying updated on financial news, market trends, and portfolio performance enhances decision-making and long-term success.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Mobile Trading Apps

1. Emotional Decision-Making

Market fluctuations can trigger impulsive buying or selling. It is vital to maintain a long-term perspective rather than reacting to short-term volatility.

2. Overtrading

Many beginners engage in excessive trading due to the accessibility of investing apps. Frequent transactions can lead to unnecessary fees and market timing errors, ultimately reducing profits.

3. Ignoring Fees and Hidden Costs

Although many platforms offer commission-free trading, other charges such as fund expense ratios and premium account fees can accumulate. Users should evaluate costs before committing to an app.

4. Failing to Rebalance Portfolios

Market changes can impact asset allocation over time. Regularly reviewing and adjusting investment portfolios ensures alignment with financial goals and risk tolerance.

5. Neglecting Tax Implications

Investing comes with tax obligations, including capital gains taxes. Some trading applications provide tax-loss harvesting features, which can help users optimize their tax liabilities and maximize returns.

The Future of Investing Apps in Wealth-Building

With advancements in AI, blockchain technology, and machine learning, the next generation of investing apps will offer even more personalized, intelligent, and secure solutions. Features such as AI-driven financial advisors, real-time risk assessment, and decentralized finance (DeFi) integration are set to redefine digital investing.

Furthermore, stock market apps are expanding to include more asset classes, such as real estate crowdfunding, private equity, and alternative investments, broadening opportunities for investors.

For business leaders and entrepreneurs, staying ahead of these trends is crucial. Whether using investing apps for personal wealth-building or incorporating fintech innovations into business strategies, digital investment tools present vast opportunities for financial growth.

Conclusion

The accessibility and convenience of trading applications have transformed the investment landscape, allowing beginners to build wealth with minimal capital and financial expertise. By defining clear financial goals, selecting the right platform, diversifying assets, and committing to continuous learning, users can effectively manage their financial future.

As investing apps continue to innovate, they will play an increasingly crucial role in shaping financial markets and fostering inclusive investment opportunities. The democratization of finance through trading portfolio ensures that wealth-building is no longer limited to a select few. With the right strategies and tools, anyone can participate in the financial markets and work toward a prosperous future.

Uncover the latest trends and insights with our articles on Visionary Vogues