#a very important presentation made in google slides

[velvetvessel-edits]

i made a powerpoint presentation lining out the similarities between DEATH BATTLE fans and Shippers

to any and all interested please watch

[mariacallous]

One phrase encapsulates the methodology of nonfiction master Robert Caro: Turn Every Page. The phrase is so associated with Caro that it’s the name of the recent documentary about him and of an exhibit of his archives at the New York Historical Society. To Caro it is imperative to put eyes on every line of every document relating to his subject, no matter how mind-numbing or inconvenient. He has learned that something that seems trivial can unlock a whole new understanding of an event, provide a path to an unknown source, or unravel a mystery of who was responsible for a crisis or an accomplishment. Over his career he has pored over literally millions of pages of documents: reports, transcripts, articles, legal briefs, letters (45 million in the LBJ Presidential Library alone!). Some seemed deadly dull, repetitive, or irrelevant. No matter—he’d plow through, paying full attention. Caro’s relentless page-turning has made his work iconic.

In the age of AI, however, there’s a new motto: There’s no need to turn pages at all! Not even the transcripts of your interviews. Oh, and you don’t have to pay attention at meetings, or even attend them. Nor do you need to read your mail or your colleagues’ memos. Just feed the raw material into a large language model and in an instant you’ll have a summary to scan. With OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude as our wingmen, summary reading is what now qualifies as preparedness.

LLMs love to summarize, or at least that’s what their creators set them about doing. Google now “auto-summarizes” your documents so you can “quickly parse the information that matters and prioritize where to focus.” AI will even summarize unread conversations in Google Chat! With Microsoft Copilot, if you so much as hover your cursor over an Excel spreadsheet, PDF, Word doc, or PowerPoint presentation, you’ll get it boiled down. That’s right—even the condensed bullet points of a slide deck can be cut down to the … more essential stuff? Meta also now summarizes the comments on popular posts. Zoom summarizes meetings and churns out a cheat sheet in real time. Transcription services like Otter now put summaries front and center, and the transcription itself in another tab.

Why the orgy of summarizing? At a time when we’re only beginning to figure out how to get value from LLMs, summaries are one of the most straightforward and immediately useful features available. Of course, they can contain errors or miss important points. Noted. The more serious risk is that relying too much on summaries will make us dumber.

Summaries, after all, are sketchy maps and not the territory itself. I’m reminded of the Woody Allen joke where he zipped through War and Peace in 20 minutes and concluded, “It’s about Russia.” I’m not saying that AI summaries are that vague. In fact, the reason they’re dangerous is that they’re good enough. They allow you to fake it, to proceed with some understanding of the subject. Just not a deep one.

As an example, let’s take AI-generated summaries of voice recordings, like what Otter does. As a journalist, I know that you lose something when you don’t do your own transcriptions. It’s incredibly time-consuming. But in the process you really know what your subject is saying, and not saying. You almost always find something you missed. A very close reading of a transcript might allow you to recover some of that. Having everything summarized, though, tempts you to look at only the passages of immediate interest—at the expense of unearthing treasures buried in the text.

Successful leaders have known all along the danger of such shortcuts. That’s why Jeff Bezos, when he was CEO of Amazon, banned PowerPoint from his meetings. He famously demanded that his underlings produce a meticulous memo that came to be known as a “6-pager.” Writing the 6-pager forced managers to think hard about what they were proposing, with every word critical to executing, or dooming, their pitch. The first part of a Bezos meeting is conducted in silence as everyone turns all 6 pages of the document. No summarizing allowed!

To be fair, I can entertain a counterargument to my discomfort with summaries. With no effort whatsoever, an LLM does read every page. So if you want to go beyond the summary, and you give it the proper prompts, an LLM can quickly locate the most obscure facts. Maybe one day these models will be sufficiently skilled to actually identify and surface those gems, customized to what you’re looking for. If that happens, though, we’d be even more reliant on them, and our own abilities might atrophy.

Long-term, summary mania might lead to an erosion of writing itself. If you know that no one will be reading the actual text of your emails, your documents, or your reports, why bother to take the time to dig up details that make compelling reading, or craft the prose to show your wit? You may as well outsource your writing to AI, which doesn’t mind at all if you ask it to churn out 100-page reports. No one will complain, because they’ll be using their own AI to condense the report to a bunch of bullet points. If all that happens, the collective work product of a civilization will have the quality of a third-generation Xerox.

As for Robert Caro, he’s years past his deadline on the fifth volume of his epic LBJ saga. If LLMs had been around when he began telling the president’s story almost 50 years ago—and he had actually used them and not turned so many pages—the whole cycle probably would have been long completed. But not nearly as great.

[horriblengrossstories]

If Derek did give us a phone to use.. would he send bicep pics if we asked? Does it go the same for matt? 👉👈😽

Ah....yes,my time has come to share these finally!

DEREK 📸 Sends Pics Like He’s Trying to Break the Internet (And Maybe Your Soul)

Flexing in the mirror, shirt off, serious expression.

Caption: “Bet your dumb little mutt brain can’t handle this.”

Veins on his hand gripping a steering wheel.

No caption. He knows what he’s doing.

A close-up of his face scowling.

Caption: “Don’t screenshot this.”

Photo of your toothbrush next to his.

Caption: “Look. Domestic.”

One weirdly artistic picture of a bleeding knuckle on tile. No explanation. Just vibes.

A sweaty, post-workout pic where he’s clearly out of breath.

Caption: “You like that? Then be nice.”

Occasional selfie with a rare soft smirk.

Caption: “Don’t tell anyone I sent this. I’ll kill you.”

Unhinged unsolicited d*ck pic No caption. Not even “you up.” Just full prison-level eye contact with the camera and rage in his heart. Sent at 3:47 a.m.

Screenshot of a very aggressive group chat where he’s trash-talking everyone.

Caption: “Proof I’m more fun than you.”

📱 MATT Sends Pics Like a Man Who Has a Google Calendar Color Code

Bicep pic, perfectly lit, clean background, and cropped like a fitness app promo.

Caption: “You asked. I Delivererd "

A mirror selfie in a suit. Tie slightly loosened, expression unreadable.

Caption: “Client dinner. Don’t miss me too much.”

Top-down shot of his desk: laptop, coffee, one sticky note that says “you suck <3”

Caption: “Working. Very busy. Extremely important.”

High-res portrait mode selfie with no smile.

Caption: “For your contacts. Make sure I’m the favorite.”

Pic of a blood test or bandaged hand with: “I didn’t cry. Proud of me?”

He’ll say it’s a joke. It’s not a joke.

A still from a PowerPoint slide mid-presentation with his laser pointer mid-air.

Caption: “Made this graph with love and spite.”

Security cam screengrab of him entering a building at 3AM.

Caption: “Nothing suspicious. Don’t ask.”

Headshot level pic, but it’s just his foot in an expensive shoe.

Caption: “Professional attire. Business casual foot.”

Pic of Derek pacing while yelling into the phone.

Caption: “Vibe check: it’s off the rails today.”

One time, he sends a very tasteful black-and-white photo of himself looking out a window like a sad Victorian husband.

Caption: “Thinking about you. And stocks.”

When asked for a shirtless photo, he sends a cropped LinkedIn profile banner.

Caption: “Let’s keep it professional.”

Pic of a checklist with your name on it.

Caption:“Tasks: flirted with. bullied. admired. annoyed. ✅✅✅✅”

[firstclassattorney]

OKAY KRISTOPH SO . THERE'S THIS LITTLE TALK YOU GOTTA HAVE...

DON'T WORRY THERE'S VERY NICELY MADE SLIDES

SO! THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IF YOU DON'T WANT A CHILD IS ABSTINENCE-

(( Please imagine an entire google slides presentation my head hurts too much for me to type this all out-))

"I despise all of you with every fibre of my being. If I could, I would put you all in a room with AM from 'I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream'."

[sheriffknuckles]

hi sorry just posting my awesome google slides on why i think captain dread should die in season three of sonic prime thanks. this was made for a friend presentation night so i apologize for the extra information that yall are probably already going to know. that being said some things might look missing just because of this fact alone. ALSO SORRY FOR TEXT BEING HARD TO READ I NEVER INTENDED FOR PEOPLE TO REALLY READ THIS. sorry if theres oversimplification of things this is for ppl who dont know sonic v well

"Disclaimer: This is literally one of my absolute favorite characters of all time. He literally got me into Sonic. That being said, Captain Dread is a piece of shit. He needs to rot in hell and pay for his crimes against humanity. But also, it would make sense narratively. I’m here to explain why."

"Shatterspace counterparts are the versions of Sonic’s friends from each of the worlds. Despite having the same route person, each of the different versions of one character are vastly different. Out of Tails, Amy, and Knuckles, each of these characters get a “featured spot” in each of the shatterspaces. For example, we can conclude that Tails’ counterpart from the New Yoke City world, “Nine,” is the featured counterpart. In Boscage Maze, Amy’s counterpart “Thorn Rose” has the most important role. Leaving Knuckles’ counterpart, “Captain Dread” as the most important role in the No Place world. That being said, each counterpart is still different in their own ways."

"Each shatterspace counterpart is representative of a trait that the original character has. Ex; “Thorn Rose” is Amy’s personification of her love of nature and all things living, and how much she is willing to fight for it. (That being said, they may stray as well, seeing as they are still their own fleshed out characters.)"

"Knuckles The Echidna 101 - To understand Knuckles' counterparts, first we need to understand Knuckles. -The Guardian of Angel Island, a hidden island in the sky and the hiding place of the all-powerful “Master Emerald.” Knuckles’ duty is to guard this emerald and the island. He takes this duty very seriously, often refusing to leave the emerald unguarded.

-Knuckles grew up isolated from others like him, only having company of the fawn and flora.

-Quiet and adamant on independence. Claims to prefer to do things alone, relying on his own power.

-Very protective of the Master Emerald, generally quite wary and cautious.

-Met Sonic and Tails when he was 16, initially in the assumption that they were there to steal the Master Emerald, but was only being tricked by Eggman who’d crash-landed there after the events of Sonic 2. He eventually makes peace with them and sees them on their way.

-Knuckles eventually grows envious of Sonic’s care-free lifestyle, his ability to go “where [he] wants, when [he] wants.” Due to his duties, Knuckles feels he does not have these opportunities. He enjoys spending time with his friends, though does enjoy being alone as well."

"There are three different counterparts to Knuckles in Sonic Prime! Each are important to Knuckles as a character, so let’s go over the ones we’re not majorly focusing on briefly to get a better understanding of how these counterparts make up the characters they represent. “Knucks” is the New Yoke counterpart. He resembles the part of Knuckles that is part of the team, loyal to his friends and determined to protect them. He fights for his world, but puts his friends first. He’s the most similar personality wise to Knuckles - he’s usually very serious. “Gnarly” is the Boscage Maze counterpart. He’s Knuckles’ paranoia, his nativity, and his general distrust. “Act first, questions later.” He’s honestly just incredibly impulsive and stupid."

(sidenote - my opinions on what gnarly represents have shifted a wee since i made this, but he wasn't super relevant to my argument anyways. my b gang)

"CAPTAIN DREAD."

"What's his deal?

To put it in the basics of basics, Dread is the captain of Angel’s Voyage. When we first see him he appears to be a laid-back and quite frankly way-too-joyful captain. We learn he only likes to party, take it easy, etc - much to the disliking of his crew, who are neglected to the life of a real pirate. This is because he ship-wrecked trying to obtain a fragment of the paradox prism in this shatterspace, which he deems as the “Devil’s Lighthouse,” a mysterious treasure. After getting attacked by his old crew, he’s shown to be a coward, backing down and hiding in the fight and encouraging the same for his crew. He later straight up abandons them, needing HEAVY motivation from Sonic to come back. Only once he speaks of Dread going down in history and being known as legendary does he come back - though, he outright says, it’s not for his crew."

"He creates a plan to go back to the Devil’s Lighthouse, a bit of obsession shining though. Through the whole thing, he shows little regard to the wellbeing of his crew, even saying they’re expendable [after eventually receiving the shard]. Once he gets his hands on this shard, he goes full golem mode. He’s obsessed. He does anything to keep it in his possession. He gets violent and angry whenever it’s taken from him. There’s no stopping this mfer lemme tell ya"

"Breaking It Down

So what’s this mean for Knuckles, if Dread is supposed to represent a part of him? He seems like an asshole! Well, Dread represents the following: - Knuckles’ obsession with the Master Emerald. Guarding it. Protecting it. It’s not his, but he’ll use possessive pronouns on occasion for it. He will do anything to get the Emerald back if stolen. - His independent side. He doesn’t need anyone. He’s a loner - all he needs is himself. That’s all who he can fully trust. It’s him and the Emerald against everyone else."

"The Conflict Scene

'I get why you guys don't like me, but YOU guys should be friends!' - Sonic, speaking to Dread & Knucks

In this scene, Dread and Knucks face off. But not before respectively stating these following lines in response to Sonic.

Knucks: "Not gonna happen. I already have enough friends." Dread: "The only friend I need is me beauty."

This is a representation of Knuckles’ sides of companionship and isolation literally fighting head-to-head. To be with his friends, or to stick to his duties in guarding the master emerald - both of equal strength. This follows Knuckles’ ACTUAL inner conflicts. We know he would like to do other things that aren’t bound by duty, but he has such obligation to it. It’s hard to do anything else."

"The Importance of Death

After all of that being said and done, we know that Dread represents a part of Knuckles that struggles. It’s his sense of duty to the Master Emerald. He can’t let go of it or let himself free from it - it’s such a strong sense of self for him, but one that keeps him bound. He’s, again, said it himself. He envies the free lifestyle, and his part of himself is really only holding him back. Dread dying would represent that part of himself - the obsessive, protective emerald guardian - faded. That gives him so much more freedom, which is all that he longs for."

"But, but!! (Counterarguments)

“There’s no proof these counterparts are parallels of the cast!” There’s not any outright statement of this, but if you look at it in a more analytical perspective, it works itself out quite nicely. It’s called having an IMAGINATION. Besides, not all media spells things out for you. This is a KIDS show, of course they’re going to make it easy for the kids to digest. These kids dont know the sonic characters like I do

“Knuckles isn’t even guarding the emerald before the prism shattered” Its a kids show they don’t have time to establish all that. It’s not the focus they’re not going to DWELL on it it ain’t that deep (i say as i make it that deep)

“Sonic Prime isn’t about Knuckles!! Why would they focus on him!” Who cares hes in the series. also if you like squint there’s development for all of the main counterparts in representative of Amy and Tails, too. Nine and Thorn Rose both have their fair share of issues that can connect to their original characters!! But this aint about them"

thats all thanks

[poognthebrainbois]

🍄 🍐 and or 💬?

(All 3, let's go!)

🍄 - How did you get your system name?

Okay so technically a friend of ours thought of it.

But:

We've since extrapolated meaning from it that I will now share with you all.

For a little context: we grew up with musical theatre. We were majoring in it at university. And singing has always been important in our life. So in a general sense, we knew it had to be something surrounding that. Anyway,

I can't find it but we wrote a whole thing once about how

the concept of a songbook is a collection of a performer's go-to songs for auditions and such, and how some they may know much better than others, but they're all meaningful in some way to the performer, and each song helps showcase a different aspect of that person's abilities, and shows what they value and the versatility of the person. A performer will often take out old songs that no longer fit or serve them, and add new songs that they've only recently learned, but every song was once a part of the book. And I feel the same way about our system. We're all songs in the Songbook, and some of us are very new, and some of us have seen our worst and best moments. But we're all part of the same book, and we're all important for our own reasons.

That, and we've actually met and/or gotten to know a lot of headmates through singing.

While we were at school, we used to lock ourself in a practice room in the music building and do karaoke by ourself.

Specific songs had meaning/hit hard for some headmates, who would either have picked the song for that purpose, or have come to front during the song without even realizing. It's such a surreal experience.

🍐 - Are there any nonhuman headmates (in the system)?

Yes! Several! That number actually used to be much higher.

We've got a couple vampires, a couple werewolves, a couple introjects of dnd/LARP characters that are very unique (mostly elves but also some more obscure races). Uuummm... We have various magic users? Not sure if that counts... Some fae-adjacent people. A couple pure animals (A cat, a wolf, and a bird), a demon, a couple Time Lords, aaaaand whatever the hell Yakko Warner is.

💬 - Free space! Talk about anything!

OKAY SO

A number of us/our headmates have personal Spotify playlists and/or Pinterest boards. And I would absolutely love to link them for you if you want.

Also! We made a Google Slide Presentation about each of the headmates our friends were likely to meet!

Each headmate has 4 slides.

An Introductory Slide, containing basic information like name/pronouns as well as a little blurb about who they are/what they're like, and other info like system role, indicators when fronting, and likes and dislikes (sometimes containing positive/negative triggers).

A "faceclaim" Slide (we don't usually use the word faceclaim), which is covered in mostly Picrews or personal art of the headmate, to get a sense of what they look like.

An Aesthetics Slide, compiling a lot of stuff from their Pinterest board if they have one. Outfits and aesthetics indicative of their color pallete, Pinterest quotes, things of that nature.

Aaand a Miscellaneous Slide! Most of these are just a bunch of tumblr posts that "fit the vibe". Also other various memes, or pics dreamed "not sophisticated enough" for the Aesthetics Slide.

Another key feature of these slides is that everyone's slides are their favorite color, and the Introductory Slide is typed out in a font that either matches their vibes or is similar to their handwriting.

An example (that's probably outdated) can be seen in this post (cw aro discourse).

As always, feel free to ask whatever questions you want!!! Fill that inbox!!!

Thanks for asking/reading! :)

[jermy-be-duping]

Okay, now that I have everything I could find, and without a little rat in my ear distracting me, I can finally come around to say this.

[Please excuse the three names I use when talking about this thief, also warning for mentions of zoophilia/pedophilia.]

I’ve made one mistake, besides making this blog when I said I’d never talk about them again, I should have stated how the serious zoo/pedo allegations are ALLEGED, meaning the proof we have (the screenshot of their gross video) seems to be getting new context in a recently discovered google doc sent to me by @/icanbewhateveriwant (Who I can assume is the thief themselves from what some of you have seen already, but that doesn’t matter right now.)

However, it leaves out a couple things, but I’ll let the audience form their own opinions by sharing their document, and someone else’s very old one that first(?) made one of these allegations.

Damiaya/Ellie’s doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qrHnL9v7cY025oSpier5zGRzJ8wbhMYT8U6rNJDYy-M/edit

Jeremy Star’s doc (A former victim of Damiaya’s art/identity theft): https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gDr8PcuVrCacaVwEdu5rnNj79MYxRs8j7KkP8mw2h28/mobilepresent?slide=id.p

Not only are some things missing in the thief’s document, such as the fact that their ex has confessed to all of this (Context for the animal abuse links found in a tiktok the thief accidentally posted):

Then started harassing him for months on X afterwards.

But it also completely ignores the fact that they have been expressing creepy behaviours towards other minors while pretending to be an adult. Just because they weren’t 18 yet doesn’t mean this could be easily excused or swept under the rug.

And while these are not as important as the texts, don’t get me started on the risqué things they’re been caught having in their Pinterest, X, and YouTube, since they like to deny that they were into gross things like inc*st and p*do ships. (For context on the X screenshot, Tater was Damiaya’s cat they used to post a lot, it was taken before likes were hidden)

And they straight up get the information wrong on the 12 year old oc they traced? It wasn’t “Heavily inspired” like they say it was, AND there was an actual confession of the desire to MAKE the NSFW in the screenshot itself. No one said they posted it, otherwise we would be exposing that fact as well. The date/time was cut off for the safety of the person who brought this into light. (I personally don’t know how that works, but that’s what I’ve heard.)

While the disgusting video can be ambiguous to what had actually happened, there are plenty of other things to go off of that shows just how much of a weirdo they can be, especially when it comes to s*xual harassment. I can’t prove my case of when they immediately s*xualized my character when they thought we were friends, after I tried reaching out to the thief to get their side of things, but I can show others what can be proven here. So in conclusion, I’m keeping everything up, just with the proper corrections and warnings.

I’m also only gonna focus on the traced art from now on, unless there’s more evidence of their deviance towards minors.

And now that I know they have eyes on me, I just want to say that every time the thief says they’ll leave the art community, they’ll only come back with a new name, because just like what their “friend” says, art is one of their only sources of income, scamming other artists who fall into their trap.

Thank you to the other beware admins who helped get this information out there to warn others, and for helping me by providing these images.

If you have more things you want to share, whether it’s a story of a run-in you’ve had with this thief or actual proof of their misdeeds, I suggest either leaving it in my inbox, or going to the others on Instagram (@/jeremybeware_ and @/bewareofjeremy) as they’re a lot more active than I am. Again, I just archive what they post for tumblr to see.

[beylinine]

"Make mehehru, iupp de"

Following stars, we find home

Oc ramble, lore, and other doodles below😗

The way I draw her has changed so much in the last,,, six years? But even just the past two, I never know how I want her curls to be.

When I was a wee teen, I had a project in a geography class where we had to create a nation with government, economy, and culture. Tortlia Otoki was created. Its original name and many aspects have changed since then (because I was very lol random xd back then and 'maturing' and whatnot). Anyways, a year after that project, I got into Hetalia…and of course, I personified the country I had created.

A country in the pacific made up of four islands, off the coast of South America, far southwest of Peru. Tropical climate, high and low area levels, important fishing and mining industries. I had a lot more information about specifics of the country, but the google doc i had it on died when my high school student account died and I have been trying to rebuild since then lol. I made a flag, when I had to give a presentation of the country, and a map as well but I lost the map. I’ve redesigned the flag, but trying to keep the basic idea I had back then. I do remember that I wrote that a group of Slovenians (of all people? even when Slovenia was part of the Austrian Empire by that time) ended up there (somehow?) and tried to take over in a desperate attempt in the mid 1800s, burning down an important record keeping building before being thrown into the sea or smth like that. uh.

On to her. Human name is Mehehru Ulari, the ‘h’ are silent but create a kind of pause between the letters ‘Meh- eh- ru Uu-lah-rÍ . A mature, spunky woman who, even after thousands of years, works hard for the improvement of the nation and to be an example for her four siblings (yes, of course each island has its own representation. but wait, four islands and five people? those dang Slovenians,,,) . She enjoys some common things associated with Otoki: sailing, swimming, mud sliding, and handiwork using wood and clay. Archivists final boss, loves keeping track of every bit of information possible. Good thing an important archival place didn't bur- oh wait

Mehehru means star in Otokian, the stars being important for sailing which the people heavily relied on for years. Ulari is made up to two words. Ula, meaning ‘green’ or ‘nature’, and ri (sometimes spelled ril) which means ‘child of’ or ‘coming from’. Yes, there is a language. Why did I not download that goodle doc all those years ago with so much infomation ToT. what’s worse is that I definitely did download it at some point but then I lost the usb I had it in when we move dpmo. Having to create text for a language that I has only existed with a few words in my brain is aaaaaaaa but omg yess language making aaa

Anyways, that’s all I’ll share for now I guess. If anyone even sees this and wants to know more lmk lol. Next job is to work on drawings of the siblings ig,,, orz.

[francesca925]

Blog 6:Slides production and detail refinement

After the research and ideas were in place and communicated to the group, we decided to start creating the slides, and for better "synchronization" we chose the platform Google Slides.

The group members worked together to complete the PowerPoint presentation, I think it is very important is the "logic chain", each person needs to summarise their own part of the research into several modules, and following the artefacts idea generation - the group members of the idea summary and refinement --Artefact production - Artefact publicity and promotion;

Therefore, I have listed a few suggestions for the presentation on Google Slides based on the different specializations of the group members and the work they have done, and regarding the template for group presentations given by Dr. Matt on Moodle:

These include:

·the order of presentations

·fixed language at the beginning and end

· The key points to be mentioned in the presentation

· A list of group study patterns

· What each person might include in his or her presentation

Figure 9&10&11 Screenshot of Google Slides - made by myself

And for me personally, I made the following content refinements while making it:

·extracted key data and examples from all the research I have done

·collect images and short videos

·minimize text

· The unity of the background color palette and the theme of the Slide production

·Going into detail: promotional and application video sections

Below is a video I independently produced and dubbed for New Forest's publicity and promotions：

The hedgehog is introduced as the first point of view, its friends are introduced in turn, and an interesting storytelling video is created by combining the different habits of the four animals in the New Forest, and ending with - welcome to The New Forest, which attracts and guides the audience to the next step of the virtual game interface.

[angelsblogx1x]

Writing Blog

Revised Paragraph: Depression can be a very common symptom of Parkinson's disease which can greatly affect the well being of patients.

According to an academic journal, "Depression is one of the most prevalent neuropsychiatric symptoms of PD, having a variable estimated prevalence ranging from 2.7 % to 90%"( Samanta, Subhash). People that are affected by not only PD but depression can indirectly affect those in the community as it is a growing issue. Loved ones and caregivers tend to have to deal with the brute force of depression that the patients are in which means that the well being of the community is damaged and broken. When the community is affected then all those that are not affected directly become indirectly affected. Furthermore, " The majority of patients with PD...may require nursing-home care at some point of time in their disease course... [it] contributes significantly to functional disability, decreased quality of life and increased distress to caregivers" (Samanta, Rubhash). The increased care for these people affected by PD causes them to need more resources. There is a need for more caregivers and more home care facilities which means the government uses more of their resources to meet the needs of these people (causing them to lose money from their pockets). This ultimately affects taxpayers whose money goes to the government to pay for our overall needs and spending. Along with affecting loved ones it affects healthcare workers and overall it would affect government spending.

Changes: A change that I made to this paragraph was that I swapped out the quotes that I used for the Google Slides presentation and I replaced them with academic sources that I found on the school website.

Another change I made was I introduced strong ideas to this paragraph such as including why people should care about this disease (because of government spending, it's effects to the community and healthcare workers).

This sample revision I feel does reflect my growth in this course because it shows that I have learned to use more academic sources and to give strong anysis that strengthens my argument/ point. I am proud that I have begun to use more academic sources then popular sources, that I see the importance of revision, and that I have begun to expand my ideas (elaborate effectively).

I am still working on time management and forming strong thesis statement.

[photographyinlondon7]

Week 7 - Photo Blog

Presentation Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IQA6zpshkzp1tT7aesyFIBrYh9O3oN0E_DS306Pt4LU/edit?usp=sharing

Laura shot this series on film. She uses a Hasselblad 500 CM medium format camera with a Zeiss 80mm lens. This film camera allows for greater detail and a greater depth of color. This camera has greater color accuracy and allows Laura to more accurately capture the moment due to its high amount of detail. Laura prefers to shoot on film because it's “slower and more considered” which allows her to “concentrate on the process rather than being distracted by the result” (Bright) . Laura takes a lot of time getting to know her subjects. This slow process allows her subjects to feel comfortable in front of her so they then can be vulnerable with their partner. The slow process of shooting on film suits Laura as well because she enjoys the experience of getting to know her subjects and loves engaging and connecting with her subjects. 

The light is natural light from the sun. Most of the photographs appear to be taken during a cloudy day where the light appears softer due to the presence of clouds. In each frame, the couples are in the center and are the focus. All of the photos are shot from eye level or at a slight angle from below or from above; this allows the viewer to connect with the emotions of the subject and tap into their vulnerability. In each, there is movement created by the angles of the people’s bodies and the posture of the couples. When looking at the photographs, your eyes start at the face or hands of the couples and move across their bodies. Patterns are created by the repetition of circular shapes made by the couples arms and triangle shapes made by the position of the bodies, for example in the photograph of the couple in the field. The postures of the couples are really important. In each photo, the couple has a particular posture and is interacting with one another in a specific way. Their posture speaks to their comfortability and intimacy with one another and to their relationship as a couple. There are straight lines created by the horizon, by landscape in the background, and by the limbs of the subjects. There are curved lines created by the bodies of the subjects and their clothing. All of the photographs in the series have a similar muted tone to them. The slightly brighter tones come from the clothing and face and hands of the subjects. The mood of this series is romantic, intimate, young and free. This mood is created by the position of the couple and their interaction with one another as well as Pannack’s interaction with the couple through the camera. The angle of the shot and Pannack’s close proximity to the subject makes the photograph feel more intimate and personal for the viewer. 

The aperture is between f8 and f2.8 In some photographs, like the couple embracing by the water, the background is very blurry; the aperture was probably around f2.8. In the photograph of the couple lying in the field, the field is only slightly blurred, with an aperture of likely around f8. With a large aperture and a faster shutter speed, there is a medium amount of light that is let in which makes the colors appear more muted. 

This series of portraits resembles portrait paintings in several ways. The focus on the couples, their posture, and the colors of the photographs cause them to resemble paintings. Before Laura got into photography, she studied art and paintings for A-levels (Laurène ). She then went to Central Saint Martins and wanted to try something new, so she started photography. Her painting background has had a great influence on how Laura photographs. Laura explains, “I’m very much drawn to the imagery that has a painting feeling about it : I like to be delicate with the pallet of colours and light. I predominantly use natural light and I try to create an image that evokes a feeling. My method is also similar to painting as painting is quite a slow process : I only use analog which slows the process down and helps to fill layers with images and build my thoughts.” (Laurène). With the background of her photos and the muted tone of the colors, the background blends together in a way that almost resembles a painting. The slow process, like painting, allows her to take her time to create the moment thoughtful or wait for the right moment to capture. 

The photographs in the series do not have a title, only a number to order the photograph in the series. However, when looking at other websites, her photographs in this series have a title of the couples’ names. This difference in titles may be because she came up with the idea for this series and started taking photos of couples while working on her previous series “Untitled”. Whilst looking at this series as a whole, it does not appear to be sequenced in an obvious way. The photographs are not sequenced by the location shot at, or the couples themselves, or the type of pose/interaction between the couple. One thing I did notice whilst looking at the whole series is that towards the end of the series, the last three photographs were shot in closer proximity to the subjects than the rest of the series. For the viewer, these photographs elicit a more emotional response as you feel more connected to the subjects and their emotions due to how close Laura was shooting the subjects. In the same way, the subjects appear to become more intimate and more connected to each other throughout the series. As the series progresses, Laura appears to be connecting with her subjects more as well. 

When photographing, Laura engages with her subjects. She approaches one person in the couple and talks to them, then talks to the other person in the couple separately before she takes their photograph. She likes to spend time with them beforehand so her subjects feel more comfortable being vulnerable with their partner. She describes young love as being very carefree and unaltered by experiences from relationships of the past. Her focus on this series was one’s first love and how your first real relationship is very open and unquestioning. She focuses on a specific time in a person’s adolescence when they experience their first love. As a series, Laura captures the naivety and beautiful simplicity of young love. 

Citations:

Bright, J. (2020) Profile - Laura Pannack. Available at: https://independent-photo.com/news/laura-pannack/ (Accessed: 10/11/23). 

Laura Pannack Young Love. Available at: https://laurapannack.com/projects/young-love/#ok (Accessed: 5/11/23).

Laura Pannack. Available at: https://palmstudios.co.uk/feature/laura-pannack/ (Accessed: 5/11/23).

Laurène (2017) Laura Pannack Interview, a young documentary photographer exploring youth. Available at: https://phototrend.fr/2017/03/laura-pannack-interview-documentary-photographer-youth/ (Accessed: 9/11/23). 

Laura Pannack: Love and its many mysteries . (2017) Available at: https://www.1854.photography/2017/12/laura-pannack-love-and-its-many-mysteries/ (Accessed: 5/11/23).

From this project, I learned more about photographer's intentions when creating a series and more about the process of creating a series. Looking at Laura's series, I could see and feel the theme of her series just by looking at the photographs. She clearly articulated the intimacy and simplicity of young love in the way she constructed her photographs. Each choice she made was intentional in some way and connected to her theme. The process of creating a series takes time and planning in order to figure out how you are going to convey your message or theme. Breaking down Laura's series helped me a lot in the creation of my own series. She talked about in her interviews that one of the hardest parts for her in working on a new project is coming up with a new idea for a series. I struggle in that same area as I find it difficult to come upon an idea that I am really passionate about and I feel is the best one to move forward with. However, this series was helpful in understanding the different ways to create a series and the different directions you can go in.

[dearhargrove]

Spring in California: Chapter Two

summary: Will's friends arrive and you find out there's more similarities between you and Jane than you could've ever imagined.

tws: none

Word count: 2,041

I'm sorry if there's horrible spacing... Google docs has a different format (or sth) and the paragraphs end up having huge spaces between them... :'(

masterlist

series masterlist

A few days after, during spring break 

Will was waiting for El, who took her sweet time getting ready with Mike, the rest of his friends talking about what they all wanted to do. 

As a surprise not only Mike but the whole group came to visit them and they would stay the whole two weeks of spring break. Expect Max. She would join them a few days after, because her mom hadn't managed to get a good flight beforehand. 

It was as if we had never moved, was one of Will's first thoughts at interacting with his friends he had missed so much. 

You were all planning to meet up with you at the spot you and Will had found a few days prior while you were showing him the important parts of Lenora Hills.

Joyce was fretting over the group of boys crowding the space while Jonathan was preparing some snacks for them to take, the radio blaring in the background. 

As promised, El had told Mike all about Will's "Crush" on you. Will was redder than his bright red shirt he wore that day. 

Now the whole group knew, which made them all the more excited to finally meet you. 

At first Will vehemently denied his growing attraction to you, but on the day you stepped up for El he acknowledged his small crush for you.

As El was doing her presentation about her hero, Will watched you fuming from where you were seated. Angela and her friends as well as the rest of the class kept on making crude jokes and Will noticed El getting more and more unsure.

She shakily held the little wooden figure that symbolized Hopper up and helplessly looked at her two friends. 

"...he made the best Eggos and," she chuckles, "we liked to watch Miami Vice on Fridays." El goes on. Will's attention adverts as he feels someone slide their foot up his leg. What? He threw the girl next to him a confused glance, putting his foot back under his desk and out of her reach. 

He missed the angry glare you directed at the girl. He looked back at the front, where El was talking about a squirrel she'd named Mr. Fibbly. 

You looked as everyone started laughing, your anger level rising. You clenched your fists and tried getting the tickling feeling in your hands to go away. This was dangerous, you couldn't lose control. You looked at Will, scowling, and saw him nodding at Jane in an encouraging way. God, he's so cute. 

Jane explained the alarm and that she'd never be scared, why she would be scared, you didn't know. Angela raised her hands and you exhaled harshly, Will turning to you. You mustered a small smile for him before looking at Angela. 

As Jane tried explaining that, yes, her dad was indeed very important you couldn't contain yourself, raising your hand. 

"My dad was in the newspaper." Jane remarked proudly. "Your local paper?" Angela laughed.  You zoned out, the ticklish feeling returning to your hands. 

"He saved lots of lives. In a mall fire. He was a hero for people." Jane stuttered before gathering herself. "And he was my hero too." 

When Angela laughed about that and kept interrupting you lost it. 

"Angela," you started, gritting your teeth. She looked at you in a fake cheerful way, waiting for you to continue. 

You leaned back against your chair, a smile on your face. "I don't think you have the right to interrupt this presentation. In fact, I think it is very rude of you and Ms. Gracy definitely prohibited this, didn't she?" Angela seethed, shaking her head. 

"I think you're wrong there, y/n." 

You pretend to think, "Hm… I don't think so." leaning forward you tilted your head before turning to the nervous teacher. 

"I think it's great and very creative that Jane chose her dad. While it was supposed to be a historical person, it was not stated we weren't allowed to choose a parent or someone we know. And while everyone chose someone famous, Jane chose her dad which I think is really personal and that makes her presentation really interesting. I think Jane's was the most interesting one so far."

You see Angela digging her fingernails into her palm, trying to say something back to you before being interrupted by Ms. Gracy.

"Well, seeing the circumstances I think y/n is absolutely right," while your teacher continued to talk about the importance of father figures etc. Jane returned to her seat next to you. 

"Thank you." she mumbled to you, her eyes still a bit glossy. "It's no problem. Tell me more about your dad later, yeah? He seems like a real hero." a big smile built on her face and you completely relaxed in your seat.

He smiled at the memory, still remembering how impressed he was by you stepping up to the most popular as well as mean girl in school. 

"Mike! El! Hurry up or we'll seriously leave without you!" Dustin called out, lisp still slightly noticeable. "Sweetie, come here and get the snacks from Jonathan, alright?" Joyce reminded him, already on the next activity. 

He went over to his older brother, packing all the brown paper bags in his backpack. "Lucas, you're carrying the water bottles! I'm already taking the food." he called and held up his hands. His friend protested, trying to push the task to Dustin. "Dude, your turn. I won rock, paper and scissors." Dustin defended. 

While they were busy bickering Mike and El finally came down the stairs hand in hand. 

"Alright, guys! Everyone ready?" Mike shouted, already making his way over to the door with everyone following behind him. 

That morning Joyce had gone with Jonathan and his friend Argyle to rent some bikes so the group of friends could travel by themselves. 

Will adjusted the backpack before getting on the bike, biting his lip in anticipation to see you. 

Riding together like this was something Will had missed the most since they'd moved. And he was glad they'd be able to do this a lot the next few days. 

-

Arriving at the small lake which was surrounded by trees and high grown grass felt magical. Hawkins did have a ton of trees, but lakes as beautiful as this one were a rarity. 

Everyone chatted loudly, teasing Will about his excitement he hadn't hidden well. 

He walked to the small rock circle where you were sitting. Your hair falling over your shoulders and an oversized colorful shirt covering the rest of you.

You smiled as you saw the group approaching, although the nervousness you were feeling nearly overpowered the excitement. 

"Hi!" you grin, making your way to Will. You hugged him shortly, his hand staying on your waist a bit longer. His friends stood around you two. You watch one of them, locks visible under his cap, push forward and take your hand in a greeting. 

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Dustin." he bowed playfully and you chuckled, doing the same. 

One after one they introduced themselves and you watch Jane stay close to one of them, Mike, with a smile. 

While the boys were chatting about a video game they just discovered you turn to Will.

"Is that her boyfriend?" you ask him. He turns to you, his hair practically glowing under the unforgiving sun. "Yep. They've been sending letters to each other basically every day." he scoffs in an amused way. 

"She seems so happy with him. I'm glad she found someone like that." you muttered, more to yourself than anyone. 

You startled when Dustin jumped up, announcing it was time for swimming. 

You giggle, also getting up. "Alright, let's go, shall we?" Will says, taking your hand and dragging you to the lake. "Oh my- stop!" you shout, laughing, "I still have my shirt on!" you stumble after Will, trying to get rid of your shirt. 

The others were already jumping in the water, clothes discarded on the rocks with your other things. Will stopped momentarily, raising an eyebrow and waiting for you to get ready. 

A blush takes over your face at his intense glance, fumbling to pull the shirt over your head. It had taken you long to decide on what to wear, but you ultimately decided on a swimsuit in your favorite color. 

You threw the shirt to the side, missing Wills stare at you. 

You took his hand and dragged him in the cool water beside you, completely forgetting about the numbers tattooed on your wrist. 

-

You were all having the time of your lives, splashing the water around while screaming and laughing. 

Jane made her way to you since she had barely had time to speak to you all day. "I'm so glad we all get along!" she smiled. You both were a bit farther to the side, a few feet away from the group so you could talk in peace. 

"Yeah. I understand now why Will was talking about them so much." a fond look crosses over your face as you watch Will trying to escape Mike's grip around his shoulders. 

"Mhm." Jane hummed in agreement. She turns to you just as you lift your arm to push your hair out of your eyes. What catches her eyes isn't the dainty white bracelet around your wrist but the dark numbers etched into your skin. 

She captures your wrist, leaning forward to see the numbers. The air grows thick and you swallow, looking around hurriedly. 

You had totally forgotten about that… usually you used your mom's makeup to cover the numbers up, but you were so excited to see all of them that you had totally forgotten. "Jane-" you started, excuse on the tip of your tongue. 

She interrupted you, lifting her wrist, an identical tattoo on her wrist, just different numbers. You gasp. Could this really be? Had you found a friend in someone that knew you better than you could've ever imagined? 

Your eyes well up as you look at your best friend. "Sister…" she says before you throw your arms around each other, tears escaping both your eyes. 

After a few seconds, maybe a minute, you pull away. "You- I'm so happy to have found you." you smile, shock still very much there. She agrees before an evil but playful smile takes over her face. "They all know. About this," she holds her wrist up. You nod, glad that you could probably tell them without much problems. 

"Let's scare them!" she grins. You nod excitedly, waiting for her to elaborate. "Lift. Me you and you me." you knew what she meant, swimming a few feet away. Since you both had been away for quite some time, the group started swimming to where you were. 

You nodded discreetly, before lifting your hand in front of you and closing your eyes for concentration. 

You felt the ticklish feeling return, and slowly started being lifted out of the water. You opened your eyes again, seeing the same happening to Jane. Blood started slowly running from your nose, once again just as Jane. You averted your glance and looked at the boys below you.

A laugh tore from you at their shocked faces. You counted to three in your head before giving a quick nod to Jane and putting her back down, her doing the same. 

You dove under the water and when you came back up the boys were basically screaming at each other. 

"No way! That's like- the coolest thing ever!" Dustin yelled. "I knew y/n was gonna be super amazing!" Lucas yelled back at Dustin before turning to you. 

Your attention on the other hand was on Will, who was looking at you with a smile as mesmerizing as the sun. You couldn't help but coo silently before coming closer to him.

"I'm glad we became friends." he said with his soothing voice and you nodded, looking down in the water and taking his hand slowly. 

"Yeah. Me too." he intertwined your fingers before turning back to your friends. Your heart was racing in your chest, because oh my God, you were finally making a move on your crush and he didn't mind! 

[cazort]

As someone for whom both spirituality and religion (having a community and an institution with its own traditions, structure, and resources, centering around spirituality and a shared value system) is important, I am really frustrated at the direction religion has gone in U.S. society.

We all know and agree that there are really deep problems with organized religion in the U.S.

What pisses me off though is that, instead of people changing and reforming the religion while keeping the good aspects of it, I see people digging in their heels behind the bad aspects while throwing out the good.

As an example, I attended a Lutheran church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, during the year I lived there. I found the church meaningful and supportive in multiple ways. The church hosted events, including contradances, and I met some friends at events hosted in the building, during a time in my life where I was having trouble meeting people. I liked the services too. The pastor would give thought-provoking sermons that I felt challenged my value system and helped me to grow. Also, the church had a rich and ancient liturgy. People would sing hymns in four-part harmony, and many of the words were very old and poetic. The archaic language made me reflect on it in a way that helped me find meaning. I appreciated it on a lot of levels. It was a rich sensory experience and a comfortable one, and it inspired a sense of awe and wonder.

But there was an unfortunate negative side to this church. The congregation, not the pastor, harbored extensive homophobia. The pastor supported same-sex marriage and would sometimes preach about the need to welcome gay people into the church and support them. A majority of people in the congregation didn't like this, so they banded together and ousted him. Then young people like me started leaving the church.

And you know what the church did? They decided that they needed to change something about the church to try to attract and retain young people.

So they changed the liturgy.

They got rid of the ancient hymns with four-part harmony, the hundreds-of-years-old structure to the liturgy, and brought in a projector and started having the service be projected on powerpoint slides.

I hated this so much. I already had to watch powerpoint presentations during business meetings and I didn't want to be exposed to more of this during my off time. I hated the new music too; it was insipid and I was bored out of my mind singing stupid praise songs. Furthermore, I had bad mental associations with the new music, because I associated it with right-wing evangelical Christianity, box churches, and cult-like campus ministry groups. I had started going to this church because it offered the combination of rich, ancient traditions, being faithfully preserved by a community, with progressive, thought-provoking theology and value systems.

First the church rejected the progressive aspects of the value system, and then they rejected the aesthetic and cultural elements of the service that I found helped me to get in touch with deeper spiritual feelings.

I also find it interesting and relevant that the homophobia did not come from the top down, but the bottom up. The church was an ELCA church, which not long after this all went down, started officially recognizing same-sex marriage, and the denomination voted to explicitly welcome gay and lesbian people as early as 1991. It was the members of the congregation that ruined things.

Some years after I had moved away, I went back on Google maps and I saw that the church had closed, and its building sold and converted to condominiums. This made me really sad.

I remembered the time in my life, right out of college, where I had lived within walking distance to this church and walked to it. I remembered when it used to host contradances at night and I remember meeting my two friends who I made at those dances, who were important to me during a time in my life where I was vulnerable and had few friends. My life was hard enough even with that church. After all this stuff went down, I visited a number of other churches in the neighborhood but I didn't find another one that I liked as much. Although the church kept hosting the dances until it closed, the dance also has not been replaced. There is English Country Dancing and Scottish Country Dancing at two churches in the broader vicinity but no Contra Dancing anywhere near that neighborhood any more.

And all of this is gone and won't ever be replaced.

[entity9silvergen]

How to Track Your Gender Fluidity

Recently I made a post with a screenshot of my gender tracker and was asked how I track my gender’s fluidity. I’ve been meaning to make an instructional post on how to set up the app so I redownloaded the app on a spare phone to show you guys.

In this tutorial, I will explain how to edit the MoodFlow App to track the fluidity of gender including changes and intensity, how to keep the app locked so others cannot look at your data, and how tracking genderfluidity can help someone better understand their gender identity. I will also provide some alternatives if you cannot use this app.

This method of tracking can be used by genderfluid, genderfaun, genderfae, genderflor, gendersylph, genderflux, fluidflux, boyflux, girlflux, enbyflux, questioning individuals, or anyone else on the genderfluid spectrum. Some personalization may be necessary but this tutorial will cover it.

Step 1: Downloading

You want to start by downloading the MoodFlow App.

As you can see, it is intended to be a mood tracker but there are customizable features so you can use it to track other things. It is available for free on the App Store and Google Play.

Step 2: Account Set up

The app will ask you to create an account. You will be prompted to put in your name and birthdate. These are optional. 

Step 3: Color Palette

As part of the account set up, you will be asked to pick a color palette. You can change these later or customize them but this is the first important thing when it comes to tracking your gender. The app intends these colors to represent how you’re feeling (very bad, bad, okay, good, very good) but we will be using them to loosely represent your spectrum of gender. Later, these colors will make it easy to visually track your gender. There are five colors but it is okay if you have more than five genders. We will get to that later. They’re more like umbrellas for now. These colors will be a broad, simplified representation which gender you are experiencing on a given days. We will now look at the palettes (see below).

As a genderfaun individual, I personally use the "Default-Balance” palette (purple, purple-blue, blue, blue-green, green) to represent non-binary (purple), male (blue), agender (green), and the genders in between (purple-blue for bigender and blue-green for demigender). It is not a perfect system it works for me.

If you are a genderfae individual, I recommend the “Silver to Purple,” or “Sunset” palettes to represent how your gender varies from feminine, to neutral, to faded or whatever else.

If your fluidity covers the whole spectrum, I’d recommend “Farfalle,” “Sea and Sun,” “Pink to Blue,” “Yellows and Blues,” or “Kilimanjaro.” They have a range of masculine and feminine colors as well as some neutral grounds and mixes.

For any boyfluxes or masculine genderflux people, “Grey Means Neutral,” “By The Lake,” “Tea,” or “Into the Distance” could be used to represent the varying intensity of your gender.

For any girlfluxes or feminine genderflux people, “Raise the Lantern” or “All Pastel Everything” could be used to represent the changing intensity of your gender.

“Gray Scale Me” is a good choice for any genderflux individual with only one gender.

“Mojito,” “Outerspace,” and “Into The Distance” are good choices for people who are xenogender, agender, or just do not like the traditional “masculine vs feminine" system.

Again, you can edit these later, make a custom color palette, or you can just ignore using colors and use other features (explained later) but having a color palette to represent the range of your genderfludity is helpful. You don’t have to use these recommendations either. For me, I associate genders with their flags so I pick colors similar to those but you can do whatever feels right. Any color can represent any gender. You can also play around with it later to find whatever colors fit you best.

Step 4: Settings

When you are done setting up your account, you will open the screen to a calendar.

If you tap the three bars on the top, you will be given a sidebar where you can visit your settings.

In the settings, you can change your personal information, log in and out of your account, enable or disable notifications, and change your rating colors (the color palette).

Step 5: Personalization and Security

Within the settings, you will see the options to change your emotions & ratings, background, activities, and add a pinlock.

The background change is self-explanatory. There's a wide variety of stock images that are very nice but you can also add your own. I like using flags. If you’ve seen any of my old posts, I use a design with cats in the colors of the transflag. If you would like any wallpapers, you can ask me, you can check out r/lgbtwallpaper, just use google images, take your own photo, or use your own art.

You can use the pinlock to prevent other people from looking at your data. If you are in the closet, this can be a very useful so people don’t look at your information. Make sure you remember your pin though. 

You can also back up data here but that is something to worry about later.

You can make other changes as well depending on preference.

Step 6: Gender(s), Pronouns, Intensity, etc.

Open emotions & ratings to create your genders. You can also add genders later when you are making entries but it is easy to do here.

Here, you can rename your colors. Where it says rating, just tap the words next to it and you can change it.

To make genders, start by picking your layout. The options are grid, mix, segment, and segment #2. I personally like using segment #2. The layout will separate your genders into four categories. You cannot rename the categories (they will be labeled positive & energized, positive & calm, negative & calm, and negative & energized) so if seeing them bothers you, pick mix. For the tutorial, I am picking segment #2.

You will then see a section labeled editor. You will have the option to add emotions and remove emotions. Start by removing all of the emotions. It starts with 60 (the maximum) so this may take some time.

Once you’ve deleted all the emotions, you can add your genders. It will prompt you to name it and put it in a category (positive & energized, positive & calm, negative & calm, and negative & energized). The categories don’t affect anything but it will change the order the genders are displayed and how they will appear in the app’s analysis features. 

Since I am fluidflux and like using the segment #2 layout, I like to order them by intensity. I put libragenders and agender under positive & energized, demigenders under positive & calm, paragenders under negative & calm, and “full” genders under negative & energized. If you are not genderflux, I would recommend sorting them by feminine, masculine, neutral/ other, xenogender, unsure, etc. Again, this depends on the individual so you may want to play around with it. Here is mine:

After you create and organize all of your genders, return to your settings and scroll down to activities. Like before, delete all the activities. 

Below, there are a collection of icons. Tap one and you will be able to create an activity. I like to track what pronouns I use, the intensity of my gender, and how fluid or static my gender is. You can also add things like how you’re experiencing gender dysphoria or euphoria that day, your gender expression, and how you are presenting that day. There are many icons to choose from so pick which ones you think suit which thing best.

Step 7: Tracking Your Gender

To track your gender, exit your settings to the app’s homescreen. If you are having trouble finding it, tap the middle option on the bar on the bottom that says “Feed.” Then, in the same spot, tap the plus (+) button. You will be taken to a screen where you add your entry for the day. You should ideally add one entry per day. You need to pick a color summarizing your gender for the day and can select the individual genders you are feeling at the time. Here, you can also add or remove genders by hitting customize.

Hit continue to move to activities. Here, you can select pronouns, intensity, etc. You also have the option of adding photos or listing medication. Listing medication is helpful if you are on testosterone or estrogen and the photos are helpful if you want to remember how you are presenting that day or want to track the effects of HRT.

There is also a place to type labeled journal if you would like to write a more detailed explanation of how you’re experiencing gender or if anything noteworthy has occurred. 

By hitting customize, you can enable or disable features. A feature you can enable is tracking sleep. Sleep is tracked on a sliding scale so genderflux individuals can use this to track the intensity of their gender as well.

Step 8: Viewing Your Gender

You can best view your gender from the homescreen/ the feed. Any entries from that day will be shown at the top. By tapping it, you have the option of editing it if you would like to change something later. I would recommend not deleting genders from your entry if your gender changes during the day and instead indicating in some way that it changed.

You can scroll down to see the calendar for that month. Each day will be highlighted with the color you choose that day, making it easy to see any patterns. This is why we choose colors representing masculinity, femininity, neutrality, etc rather than having colors represent individual genders.

On the bottom bar, you can tap calendar to see other months’ data.

The journal section is the place to write down any detailed entries. The insight section will provide some analysis of your entries. 

The most useful data is at the top. It will display the oscillation of your gender and the spread over an adjustable period of time based on color.

Below, it will also show how many times you selected a specific gender, pronoun, intensity, etc.

Step 9: More Personalization

Everyone’s gender is different. You may need to edit this further to fit your fluidity. Some people have less than five genders they are fluid between so each color could represent one gender, some people may want different colors to represent different umbrellas of gender, and more. 

If you are multigender/ experience more than one gender at a time, it can be kind of difficult figuring out how to add an entry for that. Adding more genders and activities can make it more detailed. It just depends how specific you want your tracker to be.

Just play around with it and figure out what is right for you.

Step 10: Why Tracking Your Gender Is Helpful

Pretty much every trans person has those self-doubt moments and people on the genderfluid spectrum often experience that to a greater degree. I think we all know that feeling when your gender changes and you wonder “What if I’ve been this the whole time?” Very scary, especially if you’re just beginning to figure yourself out or if you’ve already come out.

Tracking your gender helps with that feeling. By having something physical you can look at that proves your gender really was a different one in the past and you weren’t faking or deceiving yourself.

You can see my tracking from 2021 above. I started a new gender tracker this year. In 2020, my gender was actually male (blue) most of the time and my gender would change in some way every few days. As you can see, I was non-binary or bigender for pretty much all of January this year and flipped to libramasculine on the final day. That is very unusual for me so if I was not tracking my gender, I wouldn’t know my gender fluidity was following an abnormal pattern and I likely would have doubted myself a lot and questioned if I was ever really a boy.

If you are questioning your gender identity, a tracker can be helpful because it is more reliable than your memory, assuming you don’t delete anything. There is less room for doubt if you are looking at evidence you really did experience something. And, if you are questioning the fluidity of your gender, the same thing applies.

Of course, someone who is not genderfluid can try this and if you later realize you are not genderfluid despite having varied data on a tracker, that is okay as well. This is a helpful tool but it is not for everyone and ultimately you are the best judge of your identity.

If you cannot use this app, you can also use a calendar or planner. If you are in the closet, marking each day with a colored highlighter isn’t that suspicious. You can also write down the genders you experience on different days and such. You could also try using a period tracker but that may be more difficult since you usually cannot change the settings and symptoms on those.

Anyway, I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you end up using this. Feel free to ask questions to me privately or in the comments or share this post with others. Have fun tracking your gender guys, gals, and non-binary pals!

[devious-little-milkmaiden]

My process for writing a story outline.

Hello, fellow exhausted, drinking-coffee-at-2-pm writers! Do you struggle with writing an outline? Do you wish somebody would just bonk your head and make you write an outline that is neat, detailed, and creative? Well, look no further! I am going to share with you all an outline template that I have created. I am not going to pretend like this is the best outline method ever made, or that it is absolutely 100% fool-proof (sorry, no head-bonking today), but this is a method that I have developed that has worked for me, and may work for you, too. Also, it makes me look forward to writing my outline :).

Most outlines are started on a Google doc, or word document, or a piece of paper. But, I use Google Slides (or Powerpoint) instead. I like using slides because it allows me to focus on a specific event or detail at a time, instead of just looking at an entrie document as a whole. Anyways, here are my steps to creating an outline, using Google Slides, Powerpoint, or any other slide program.

1. Find a slide theme that fits with the theme of your story.

This step is totally optional, but one way that I find helps me get into the writing zone is a slide theme that fits with the aesthetic of my story. For example, I am using this theme for a romance story in which the main character has depression and the love interest has a bright, sunny, cheerful personality. The blue and gold sort of reflect that. It's small, but it really is quite helpful. SlidesCarnival and SlidesGo are two really great websites for finding free Google Slides and Powerpoint presentation themes.

2. Label your slides with the title of your story, the settings, the exposition, rising action, climax(es), falling action, and resolution.

You know this thing?

Put everything you would put in those boxes into slides. I like to use the section header to label the exposition, rising action, falling action, etc.

3. Within their appropriate sections, detail the different events that happen in your story.

Put the events that are part of the rising action under the rising action title, put the events that are part of the falling action under the falling action section, etc.

Here is an example from a horror story I am writing:

Here is one of the events that happens in the exposition, and some important details that are part of the event. You can also include quotes of things you want the characters to say, memes, images, whatever. It's your outline, kiddo.

4. Create character profiles.

I like to give each of my important characters three slides: One for important details of things they do or how they are described in the story, one for their character profile (facts about them, when they were born, when they died, their occupation, etc.) and one for a moodboard. The moodboard is optional, but I like to create a series of pictures that remind me of the character and fit in with their aesthetic. This is also optional, but I like to create what I think the character would look like in picrew or a drawing. It helps me to visualize the character. Specifically, I use this picrew. It's very diverse, has a somewhat realistic art style, and lets you make fantasy characters. Credit to BAYDEWS on picrew.

Here is an example of a character profile I made for the love interest in a romance story I am writing:

Character Details:

Character Profile:

Character Moodboard:

All my character profiles follow this template:

Born:

Died:

Appearance:

Clothing:

Job:

Personal Relationships:

Psychological Description:

You can omit anything that isn't relevant to the character.

Conclusion: You don't have to have it all figured out, little bro. In fact, most of the time, when I start an outline, it's filled with question marks where the title should be, the character's names, the setting, etc. Using an outline helps me to be organized and keep track of my ideas and what's happening in the story. If you would like to see an entire example of a story outline, here is an outline based on the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I hope this post helped someone, and happy writing!

[weltenwellen]

hi! i guess this will sound like a silly question, but as a uni student, do you prefer to take notes on a notebook, loose leaf, or the gadgets (laptop/iPad)? as in which one is the comfiest way for you?

No, it's not a silly question at all. During my bachelor, pre Covid, I took my notes hand written on single papers. But it was very messy for studying for the exams then because all my notes were super important but sometimes I could not remember anymore what I wanted to express there :)) Plus, I could sometimes not match a note to the right part of the Power Point presentation when studying later & that really made me mad after a while. And all the lectures were online and I had to put all the information together for studying later in the semester. So it was an imperfect process but it was mine so I went with it for a while. I thought then the best method was having a iPad Pro, downloading the material or the presentation of each lecture and writing your notes immediate on the slides or on the material. And then later you can go over everything & it's all online and you can write a final summary for studying. But I always need to write things down repeatedly anyway and visualise everything so for studying I always made a summary on my laptop and then wrote another one on larger pieces of paper and / or on my whiteboard.

For my master I had all my lectures online and then I felt less pressure to keep up & I started taking notes on google docs but that was mostly so I could share notes and all my stuff with my now best friend and we could add to the other's stuff and I like that you can make comments on paragraphs or sentences and you can interact on it. And additionally I had time to screenshot stuff from lectures and paste it in there. And there I also learned to better note down specific slides to my notes :)) (I am not a fast learner 🦥) So for productivity I like what I've done in my master's program but what felt most comfortable and mine were hand written notes. I hope that is an understandable and satisfying answer for you ☺️