#final advice

[sunscreenstudies]

Dealing with Difficult Exams

It’s that time of year again where we all want to scream into the void and die! So today, let's dive into the realm of challenging tests and how we can conquer them like the resilient badass students we are! 

1️⃣ Embrace the Challenge: Instead of viewing difficult tests as roadblocks, reframe your mindset and see them as opportunities for growth. Embracing the challenge means acknowledging that success is often born out of facing and overcoming obstacles. Believe in yourself and your ability to rise above any difficulty that comes your way!

2️⃣ Preparation is Key: Proper preparation paves the way for success. Break down your study material into manageable chunks, create a study schedule, and set realistic goals. Revise important concepts, practice sample questions, and seek help from classmates or teachers if needed. By investing time in your preparation, you'll feel more confident and better equipped to tackle any test.

3️⃣ Practice Mindful Self-Care: Remember, your mental and physical well-being play a significant role in your ability to perform your best. Prioritize self-care practices that recharge and rejuvenate you. Get enough sleep, eat nutritious meals, engage in exercise or relaxation techniques, and take breaks when needed. A rested mind and body will help you maintain focus and handle stress during the test.

4️⃣ Embrace Effective Study Techniques: Experiment with various study techniques to find what works best for you. Some popular techniques include active reading, creating mind maps, using flashcards, teaching concepts to others, or joining study groups. Find your personalized study style and harness its power to master challenging concepts.

5️⃣ Cultivate a Growth Mindset: Believe in the power of growth and improvement. Don't let a difficult test define your abilities or self-worth. Instead, view it as an opportunity to learn and grow. If you stumble, use it as a chance to identify areas for improvement and adapt your study strategies. Remember, failure is merely a stepping stone towards success.

6️⃣ Seek Support and Collaboration: Don't hesitate to reach out for help when you need it. Form study groups with peers who share your academic goals. Collaborate, exchange ideas, and explain concepts to one another. By working together, you'll gain fresh perspectives and reinforce your understanding of complex topics.

7️⃣ Reflect and Learn: After the test, take time to reflect on your performance. Celebrate your accomplishments, acknowledge your efforts, and identify areas where you can improve for future tests. Self-reflection allows you to understand your strengths and weaknesses, enabling you to grow and adapt your study strategies accordingly.

And last but not least, always try to remember that facing difficult tests is an opportunity for growth and development. Believe in yourself, prepare diligently, practice self-care, and embrace a growth mindset. With perseverance and determination, you'll conquer any test that comes your way. 🌟 Keep striving for success, and never forget that you are capable of achieving great things!

[castielfucks]

theres actually no rules to transitioning and youre allowed to want contradictory things for your transition. it's fine if you only want some of the changes that come with hrt and take preventative measures for the rest (like wanting bottom growth but not body hair or vice versa). you can want to have vagina AND a dick. you can be a woman and want top surgery, or wear a packer. you can be a man and want to have a pussy. you can change your transition goals one or a million times or not have any goals at all and just take things as they come or as they feel right.

there are no rules.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

There's nothing he can't do. Yet.

(Thank you to everyone who participated in the poll!)

[writingwithfolklore]

Words to Limit in your Final Draft

(None of this advice really applies to dialogue. If it’s in your character’s voice, they can use whatever words they like!)

Suddenly

                This one usually makes people’s list for things to cut. “Suddenly, the door opened.” Turns into, “The door slammed open.”

                As always, we want to make the readers think wow that was sudden! Instead of just telling them so.

Saw/Heard + Felt

                I already explained this in my post here!

Seemed

                There’s a use for seemed in writing when your character is surprised, assuming, or guessing at something. “It seemed impossible.” “The noise seemed to travel for miles.” Etc.

                However, when guessing at someone’s emotions—or a group of people—it’s better to just describe what those people look like. So “He seemed happy” turns into, “he grinned, bouncing on his feet.”

Really/Very

                Instead of “The really big house” try, “the huge house.” Or “His hair was very dark.” Turns into “His hair was inky black.”

That

                If you can take ‘that’ out of a sentence, it usually is stronger than if you don’t. “It was the best cake that she’d ever had!” turns into “It was the best cake she’d ever had!” It reads a bit less clunky.

Then

                Then can be used sometimes, but it’s one of those words that’s easy to overuse. To cut out a lot of your ‘thens’ you can replace them with “and” such as, “He left the house, then got into the car.” Turns into, “He left the house and got into the car.”

Down/Up

                “He sat down” is redundant. “He sat” means the same thing. Same with “She stood up.”

I chose the ones I find the most important, but there’s tons of other words that can be unnecessary or bog down your prose. Let me know which ones I missed! Good luck!

[zzzzzestforlife]

🎀 My That Girl Exam Success Checklist 💯

it's the day of (or before) your exam!! a gazillion thoughts may be running through your mind: should i review all my notes and flashcards one more time?? set my alarm super early to be sure to make it on time or set it super late so that i get as much sleep as possible?? let's prepare everything step by step calmly and together ☺️

The Night Before

pack your bag with everything you need — school ID, pens/pencils, erasers, rulers, calculators, extras of everything!!, brain food like nuts/chocolate, lunch, full water bottle, etc.

pick out a cute but comfy outfit — the goal is to feel as confident and laser-focused as possible!

don't skimp on your night routine — cramming does not take priority over a good night's sleep before an important day, so take care of your mind and body and trust them to take care of you too

skim the highlights/summaries/key flashcards just before bed — when you sleep, your mind is not idle! it's reorganizing and filing everything away neatly to be retrieved when you wake up, so do yourself a favor and take advantage of your mind's natural abilities!

double check your alarm — but more important than this is to go to sleep at a reasonable time that you can expect yourself to feel well-rested by the time you need to wake up, so whether you need 7, 8, 10 or more hours of sleep, go get it!! right now!! come back to this post in the morning to complete the rest of the checklist~

The Morning Of

eat breakfast(!!) — you can't think on an empty stomach!!

take your vitamins

drink water

stretch!! — get your blood flowing where it needs to go and get your energy levels up!! 💪

if you can, try not to consume anything else outside of your review materials before the exam that might confuse or preoccupy you! — sometimes it's unavoidable if it's part of your job or your other courses, so just take a quiet moment to bring your mind back to the material from time to time if necessary!

get to your exam location as early as possible you can chill and review~ (same idea as the night before, summaries, highlights, flashcards, don't get too bogged down by the details and confuse yourself at this point!)

Exam Time

arrange your desk neatly and comfortably so you can focus and find everything you need when you need it

deep breaths

one question at a time

even if it seems like you don't know or remember anything, the information will come back to you when you need it

you got this!

i believe in you 💕

[zabreus]

one thing i see a bit with disco elysium fan script is a conflation between a failed skill check and bad advice from a skill. one of the beautiful things about DE is the skills are not arbiters of truth; successful checks won’t always lead to the correct outcomes, and a skill level being too high can impair you. in that sense, a failed passive (“anti-passive” according to wiki) wouldn’t be a skill giving bad advice, but a skill failing to fulfill its duty.

(bad example ahead) so it wouldn’t be:

LOGIC [Trivial - Failure]: Stick a fork in the toaster.

but more like:

BREAD-TOASTER: You peek into the narrow opening at the top of the electric bread-toaster.

PERCEPTION: You find a slice of bread wedged between the filaments. Smoke wafts into your nostrils. It’s burning, and you seemingly have no way of retrieving it.

INTERFACING [Challenging - Success]: The metal fork you found in the cupboard. It should be both long and sturdy enough for the job.

You: Grab the fork.

INLAND EMPIRE [Medium - Success]: The tips of your fingers tingle. This seems like a very bad idea.

LOGIC [Easy - Failure]: You are uncertain of the outcome here.

1. Use the fork to fish out the toast.

2. “This is beneath me.”

3. [Half-Light - Godly 16] Establish dominance. Fuck the toaster.

[ronniaugust]

How to Write on Final Draft (without it feeling so daunting)

It's incredibly difficult to open up a Final Draft document without feeling like you're literally writing your final draft, so here's a few features you can use your advantage!

1. Turn on dark mode

Dark mode makes it look like less of a script and more of an outline. Edit and rewrite in light mode, you will feel the difference.

2. Use speed view

Speed view gets rid of pages and page numbers and therefore you are only looking at the words you type.

3. Use focus mode

Focus mode removes the scenes, page numbers, and outlines you have at the top on the program while writing. Another way to forget about focusing on progress.

4. Make a messy beat board

Throw all your ideas onto the beat board, it should help make the document feel a bit more lived-in and less pristine.

Bonus:

5. Set a template with your formatting and use that to start every script you write

While a script format is very ridged, there are things you can do to personalize it. When you find those things, make them in a Final Draft doc (without actual writing) and save as your own template so you don't have to change all the elements every time.

[bunabi]

Sabine update: she is very small and her eyes are clear 🥰

[captain-watercress]

“He’ll kill you, you understand that, right?”

“I’m done running from monsters.”

don’t mind me just crying in the club right now

[eemiejab]

Its been so rainy this past week, and the cozy vibes gave me inspo to draw :D i still love these two sm..

also, i realized gold needed friends so i made some Stick OCs B) i just think they're so stinkin cute.

likee i want to draw sm more of them

[cowboyjen68]

This might be random and unrelated but I'm a high school senior taking my final exams which in my country determine the next 4 years of my life. it's now 4 days to the start of testing and Despite prepping well and feeling confident I woke up today to an empty mind. The mocks I took today were awful and I can't really speak to my parents about this as we aren't on speaking terms due to my grades seeing a drop before this and college apps. I'm consumed by brain fog and lack of motivation and feel completely lost on how to get back to the way I was yesterday, feeling equipped to handle this. I'm sorry...Kindly advise

Good morning. I put on my Mom flannel today so this is perfect timing. This might sound like silly advice but it is practical and tested.

Eat more protein. IF you eat meat, make it a steak. IF you don't find the most protein rich non meat product you can and have some. Drink lots of electrolights like gatorade or a pedialight hydrating drink. Having that extra brain boost can help some of that fog and lowers tension.

Put away the books and give yourself a few hours to stare at the wall, take a nap, read something fun. Walk outside if the weather allows and don't take your phone. These all can help with a reset and your brain will get back to thinking mode.

You can't control the full out come of 4 years in one day or even in a week of testing but you can focus on each day and doing the best you can. Sometimes not performing they way you really are expected to can tell you a little about your path and open opportunities that perhaps were hidden behind the goals you have been presented with thus far.

You will be okay. Rest a bit and then, get back in the saddle and do your best to focus on each task at hand as you get them.

[haunted-xander]

Baby's first kiss(ing attempt)

[altocat]

Young Sephiroth: "A soldier led by their emotions is second-rate."

Adult Sephiroth: "I WANT GENESIS I WANT ANGEAL THEY LEFT ME EVERY DAY IS AGONY I'M NOT DOING SHIT FOR SHINRA I WANT MY AMBIGUOUSLY GAY LIFE PARTNERS BACK EVERYTHING IS EXHAUSTING AND MESSED UP AND ALSO MY MOM IS AN ALIEN AND MY LIFE IS A LIE TIME TO BURN SHIT TO THE GROUND FOR FUNSIES ADJKKGDJKGDROKSRKKHDKUSBVBZE "

[danwhobrowses]

For anyone else who is gonna struggle surviving the next 3 weeks with the angsty and tense situation of Callowmoore here's a few things from the last 2 episodes that I feel were underrated and will assist in trying to keep me sane/emotionally stable: - Matching messed up hands built for holding - Fearne nervously playing with her hair as she approaches Ashton - Ashton wanted Fearne to be either the last thing they saw if they died or the first thing they saw when they succeeded - Fearne's admittance corroborates Ashley's 4SD revelation that Fearne is in love with someone in the party but doesn't know how to process the emotions - Fearne wanted Ashton to be happy, while Ashton wanted to feel whole so they would be worthy of the Hells - Ashton twice tried to lead a search for Fearne, and instantly clocking onto Chetney saying he followed Fearne - Fearne making herself look as radiant as possible before giving Ashton the cold shoulder - Ashton only rose to Chetney's provocations until he said 'You hurt Fearne' Use how you will

[chaotic-archaeologist]

Hanukkah and Finals Week

or: Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Tonight is the fifth night of Hanukkah. It also happens to be the first day of finals week at my university.

We celebrate Hanukkah as the festival of lights, that time when oil that should have only lasted for a day managed to burn for eight. We fry things in oil and light candles to commemorate the miracle.

I've been thinking about this a lot.

Because the thing is—he whole reason Hanukkah is even a holiday—that the oil burning for so long was a miracle. It should not have lasted for as long as it is. Resources are not infinite.

This is also the time of year when students (and especially grad students) are expected and encouraged to burn the midnight oil and the candle from both ends.

Resources are not infinite.

Sometimes, during situations like this, I use a candle to remind myself of how much I've been working. The rules are simple: light the candle when you start working, blow it out when you're finished. Now the candle is a physical manifestation of the time you have spent working.

Maybe you see where I'm going with this.

Be kind to yourself this finals season (and be kind to your instructors and TAs). Give yourself credit for the work you put in, not just the results you achieve. And if you're really, really not in the position to get a full night's sleep, at least remember that just closing your eyes for 20 minutes to rest makes a huge difference.

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 26

PREVIOUS

Nicky can’t help but bounce his legs as they sit in the waiting room at the hospital. He’s had to leave the waiting room a couple times already because in Aaron’s effort to comfort him, and wow how far they’ve come he’s really raised Aaron to be such a thoughtful young man, the jackass has unknowingly made four more Miss Congeniality references.

This is a waiting room full of nervous families and Nicky is NOT about to be the guy who can’t stop laughing because Aaron mentioned World Peace in a snapback at Kevin.

Nicky is not going to be the one to explain FF’s jokes. He MAY already be planning a Miss Congeniality movie night. Neil, Aaron, and Kevin may not remember but ANDREW will and watching Andrew realize his friend was referencing an AMAZING movie when talking about how he took out one of the FBIs most wanted was all he wanted at the moment.

Another nurse comes in and calls out “Elias Smith?” But Wymack doesn’t get up from his seat still sipping his now lukewarm coffee. There’s been 14 different times she’s called for a ‘Smith’ family but Wymack hasn’t moved for any of them and different waiting families have gotten up to get updates and taken back to see their family members.

Maybe he wants to see Andrew’s face a little less than he wants to see FF’s right now. He has his flowers on a chair next to him and a get well soon card that he’d had Wymack also sign. He was waiting for Smith’s grandma to come to see if she wanted in on some card real estate

“Seriously, how many Smiths got stabbed yesterday?” Kevin marvels.

“At this point it’s at least 12.” Aaron remarks.

“I’m at 14 not including Smithy.” Nicky says.

“At least we’ll finally get to find out Smith’s first name.” Kevin crosses his arms and leans back heavily into the chair, “I’m hungry.” He whines.

“Yeah, at least there’s that.” Nicky agrees because not knowing FF’s name at this point made him feel like an incredibly BAD friend. Even mores than the fact that Nicky raised the man that stabbed FF last night. He turns his thoughts away from those thoughts, “You wouldn’t be hungry if you hadn’t bitched about the breakfast burritos I had us pick up.” Nicky argues.

“It was greasy! I’m already slipping on my diet after Thanksgiving and eating that pie.” Kevin argues back.

Nicky can’t help but think of Kevin as a pageant contestant in that moment.

Nicky looks heavenward for the strength not to laugh.

“Then go get something.” Aaron says from Nicky’s side, “There’s gotta be a cafeteria or something around here.” Aaron adds.

“I don’t want to go alone.” Kevin shoots back and Nicky can HEAR Aaron roll his eyes.

“Fine, whatever I need more coffee anyways. Let’s go find a cafeteria.” Aaron says getting up and Nicky looks at his cousin, “Text us if you get a room number.” He says.

“Will do.” Nicky agrees.

Then it was two.

It’s about five minutes before, “David Wymack?”

Nicky’s head shoots to Wymack and he sees the smug amusement on their coach’s face.

That motherfucker.

Nicky followed Wymack up to the doctor in question. “How’s he doing?” Wymack asks.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about…” The doctor says and Nicky feels his stomach sink into his toes.

***

Neil has NEVER been more relieved to be out of a car and that includes the ones Lola had him in (though that might be because being out of those cars meant he was closer to his death by way of Nathan).

Granny Smith had not spoken a word unprompted since they had climbed into the car. Granny Smith had the exact same expressionless face as her grandson did but it is only now that Neil realizes that there was always some hint of emotion on FF’s face. Neil wasn’t great at knowing exactly what those emotions were but they were there.

Granny Smith’s rage was pretty hard to miss.

“I think she knows.” Andrew had said with his hands white knuckled at 10 and 2.

“How could she?” Neil questions. “Smith’s phone fell in that toilet before he got stabbed.” He says but he can feel the anger and can feel it directed towards them.

She had seemed so nice with Paul!

Though Paul didn’t have anything to do with her grandson getting stabbed. Neil could understand how that might sour any niceness.

Neil and Andrew had pulled into the parking lot and it was only then that Granny Smith leaned forward and pointed towards the entrance.

Words weren’t really necessary then.

Before Neil could even try and trudge through offering to bring her bag to her the woman was out of the back of the Maserati and through the sliding doors of the hospital.

“Maybe…maybe she’s just like that? Smith likes to sit in silence too?” Neil tries but Andrew doesn’t say anything as he turns the Maserati into the parking lot to find a space.

They walked in only to find the receptionist looking confusedly at Granny Smith as the woman spoke in rapid Polish but was getting nowhere.

Neil watched as Andrew squared his shoulders and walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned around she the fear and anger shown through in her expression. Neil could understand in a way. FF was her grandson and considering the fact that FF had likely gotten his interest in languages from learning Polish from her?

They’re probably close.

Neil is pretty sure that normal close family members worry like this.

Almost positive.

He may not have the best examples in his own life but he has watched enough television and enough movies to start to see what might be considered normal!

Really!

Anyways…

Andrew points towards the doors that would lead them towards the elevator that they could take up to the waiting room.

Neil watches as Granny Smith visibly struggles before nodding. Andrew holds out his hand and she stares at it before Andrew points at her bag.

She blinks, looking taken aback.

“I can carry it.” He offers.

It’s a few moments of looking between Andrew’s face and his hand before she hands over her bag.

Andrew puts it over his shoulder and the three of them silently made their way up. The elevator ride was slightly less excruciating than the car ride but only just.

They got off and saw Nicky, Wymack, and a Doctor.

“…so he may not wake up.” Neil hears and watches as Andrew’s shoulders go instantly tense and Neil feels his own heart jump into his throat.

Then Nicky laughs.

“Of course he’s sleepy!” Nicky throws his head back.

“Yes, he had a high level of cortisol, that’s the stress hormone, in his blood. He should wake up either late today or early tomorrow though.” The Doctor says.

“Oh thank GOD.” Nicky says with a relieved slump to his shoulders, “You really gotta work on how you start conversations like this Doc! I thought you were going to tell me Smithy died not that he’s just going to sleep like the dead for at least 18 more hours!” Nicky exclaims before his gaze slides off of the Doctor and onto their group. “Oh!” Nicky moves past the Doctor and stops in front of them. “You must be Smithy’s grandma!” He says and offers his hand like the sweet respectable young man that Nicky absolutely isn’t.

“Nicky, she doesn’t-“

“Ty musisz być Nicky! Jesteś taki przystojny, tak jak powiedział mój kurczaczek.” Granny Smith knocks his hand away and pinches his cheek. Nicky visibly melts at the warm tonę even if he doesn’t know what is being said to him.

“Oh!” Nicky says, “I hope I don’t butcher this, Dziękuję! Uwielbiałem Pani ciasto!” He says haltingly before pausing, “Nazywa go Pani swoim kurczakiem? Jakie to słodkie!” he says but this time his enthusiasm has the language come out more smoothly.

Granny Smith seems to light up even more. “Czyż nie?”

“Nicky, since when did you know Polish?” Andrew asks brows raised slightly in shock.

“What? You two aren’t the only ones who decided to learn a cute foreign language so you could have secret couple conversations.” Nicky huffs frowning at the two of them, “Erik’s company has an office in Poland, he thinks it might be fun to try living there for a while so we’ve been learning the last year and a half.” Nicky says, “Smithy’s been such a huge help on it too!” He adds.

Neil opens his mouth, thinks about it, and closes it.

That’s fair.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

NEXT

EDIT: 6/8/23: Thanks @shirlai​ for fixing my janky Polish for Nicky!

@i-have-three-feelings @blep-23 @dreamerking27 @fuckyeahjeanmoreau @belodensetdust @rainbowpineapplebottle @yarn-ace @iwouldlikesometea @lily-s-world @obscureshipsandchips @booklover242 @whataboutmyfries @sahturnos @pluto-pepsi @dreamerthinker @passinhosdetartaruga @leftunknownheart @aro-manita-muscaria @hologramsaredead @Chaoticgremlinswishtheycouldbeme @tntwme @tayspots @nick-scar @crazy-fangirl2524 @blue-jos10 @stabbyfoxandrew @splishsplashyouropinionistrash @sammichly @the-broken-pen @bitchesdoweknowu @very-small-flower @ghostlyboiii @its-a-paxycab @bisexual-genderfluid-fan @cheesecookie @theoneandonlylostsock @foxsoulcourt @blueleys @adverbialstarlight @elia-nna @can-i-just-stay-in-the-corner @nikodiangel @foxandcrow-inatrenchcoat @hallucinatedjosten @satanic-foxhole-court @vexingcosmos @chalilodimun @insectsgetcooked @angry-kid-with-no-money @queer-crows @lillyndra @themundanemudperson @readertodeath @apileofpillows @mortalsbowbeforeme @hellomynameismoo @next-level-mess @youreonlylow @interstellarfig @notprocrastinatingatalltoday @percyjacksonfan3 @queenofcrazy27 @bsmr261 @ghostlyscares @spencellio @adinthedarkroom @harpymoth @sufferingjustalilbit @anxietymoss @oddgreyhound @ohno-myhyperfixation-itsbroken @ken22789 @atiredvampire @isoldescorner @not--a--pipedream​ @azure-wing @bushbees  @roonilwazlib-main @crumplelush @foldedaces-paperbirds​ @thesenseinnonsense​ @let-tyrants-fear @ketchupandfries​ @legowerewolf​ @deadlydodos​ @but-we-respect-his-craft​ @cariniqe @zanypersonapricotbiscuit​ @lesbian-blackbeard​ @lesbiansupernatural​ @silvermasquerade​ @thepeachfuzz​ @minniemariex​ @kazoo-the-demjin​ @gaypomegranate​ @ji-nk-ies​ @neilimfinejosten​ @omgrubelangel​ @itsyouitsmeorpheuseurydice​ @percabethotplove​ @cozyrosykay​ @foxyatlas​

The requests to be added to the tag list keep being spread out across a few different areas. If I missed you please just ask again in the replies I promise I just missed you.

As stated before if you’re up here and I spelled it right but you didn’t get a notification there might be something switched around in your settings that won’t let me tag you properly?

Also if anyone fluent in Polish wants to correct me on any of the Polish wants to correct me / sends smoother Polish please do! I am just using Google Translate for GS.

Translations:

Ty musisz być Nicky! Jesteś taki przystojny, tak jak powiedział mój kurczaczek. = “You must be Nicky! You're so handsome, just like my chicken said.”

“Dziękuję! Uwielbiałem Pani ciasto!” = “Thank you! I loved your pie!”

“Nazywa go Pani swoim kurczakiem? Jakie to słodkie!” = “You call him your chicken? That’s so cute!”

“Czyż nie?” = “Isn’t it?”