#i have questions to answer in my inbox

[daily-odile]

AUGH I’d love to see more time looping odile if possible,,,,, how do you think she’d like; “devolve” over each of the acts as compared to Siffrin over time :O

ok im gonna be honest i did like portrait edits months ago and just never finished them. so here you go

act 3:

act 5:

[the---hermit]

how I take notes on non fiction books

I recently made a post on my study method, and decided to make a whole separate post on my note taking method. The structure of the notes I write doesn't vary too much from my lecture notes to things I might have to read. A couple of useful informations you might want to know before I start actually talking about note writing is that I am mainly focused on studying history (tho I have had other humanities exams in my degrees), and that I study for oral exams in which the material is mainly composed of non fiction books, but sometimes include articles as well as lecture notes. Somehow I have also failed to mention that I am speaking about HANDWRITTEN NOTES. I only do handwritten notes, I don't work well digitally, so keep that in mind. And with this being said brace yourselves for a very long post. The bullet points I will be making are not really in a specific order and I will be including a few pictures too.

The first step when I am working on the materials for an exam is to figure out in which order I will be reading (and writing notes) the books. This hasn't really much to do with the notes themselves, but it's important to know which of your materials is more general and what other things go more in depth, so that you don't struggle too much while studying. Another plan related thing I always do is to write down each chapter of the book I have to study on my bullet journal and how many pages it is so I can plan my studying more comfortably. If the chapters are very long, and divided in subchapters I sometimes also write those down.

The goal of the notes I write is to fully take the place of the book, so they tend to be very detailed and long. I do this because the very act of writing is part of my study method, and working on things I have written down in my own words is just much better for the type of learner I am. So basically I read the book only once, then it goes back on the shelf and I work exclusively on the notes. This means my notes need to be detailed and well organized.

My method is to read a chapter, underlining important stuff as I am reading, and then right after I am done reading I work on the notes for that chapter before moving onto the next. I do this because it makes the note writing more effortless, I am fresh with informations I just read and I basically just need to skim over what I have underlined.

On underlining, since it is so important. I underline everything I will be including in my notes, it might seem much as sometimes it consists of full paragraphs, instead of key words. But this is okay because my notes I don't just copy and paste.

To create useful notes you need to be re-elaborating the informations. You need to read, understand what you read, and be able to write it down using your own words. That way the notes will be easier to review, they will often be composed of shorter sentences, and by doing so you are also actively making writing part of your studying and not just a mindless activity.

Personally I don't work well with full pages summaries, I need the text to be visually broken into sentences/small paragraphs, and I use a lot of symbols as well as abbreviations.

Symbols and abbreviations are in a way part of your very own language when you are writing notes, you tend to develop these with time, but they are so useful. I personally use different types of arrows, all caps words, position of the text in the page, different methods of highlighting and abbreviations (usually for words that come up often like country names, for example Italy becomes ita, France becomes fr, etc.).

Your notes need to be useful for you, they don't have to necessarily be comprehensible for another person (which means you can and will fuck up sentence structure because sometimes skipping a couple of words makes the notes shorter and still understandable), and they do not have to be pretty. They should be as tidy as possible, but again that might change from person to person, I have some very messy looking notes that make total sense to me. With time you'll learn what works best for you.

I have a visual memory so as I mentioned titles, highlighters, all caps, the placement on the page and other similar things are very important in my notes. I cannot fully exapain some of these things because some definitely only make sense to me in the moment (like the words I choose to write in all caps, or the way I highlight things).

I like to have a clear chapter and subchapter break (so that in case I need to refer back to the book it's super effortless). I like to write those with a red pen, usually the chapter title is in all caps and the subchapter in coursive, but it really depends.

I use only two highlighters in each set of notes yellow for dates, and the colour I associate with the book/the subject of the book (I have synesthesia I don't make the rules when it comes to colours). This of course might change depending your preferences and on the element of your notes you want to focus on. I like to have spacific colour for dates and time periods, because of course while studying history that is a fundamental element. If you are focusing on other subjects you might want to have a specific colour for names, or other elements.

I like to leave a big side margin to add either key words (especially in lecture notes since they might be messier and jump around informations more often), or additional information in a second time (sometimes it happens, after you read another book, or attended a particular lecture you have to add a couple of sentences and I rather have a blank space that never gets used rather than no space at all for emergencies).

I honestly mentioned everything that came to mind right away, but since note writing is now basically a mindless skill I have been practicing for years I surely forgot about something. I might end up adding to this post in the future or write another one. My note-writing method has also changed a lot thought the years from high school to university, it's a skill I have been perfecting for the past decade. This to say that depending on what you are working on things might change, and by experimenting with different things you might find out things that work very well for you. If you have any questions on specific things I didn't mention or that wen't clear my inbox is always open and I am more than happy to help.

Since this post is already very very long I am adding the pictures below the cut

Example of a page of notes before and after highlighting

Example of symbols and structure of the notes and the way I highlight things (in which you'll hopefully be able to understand my handwriting, and in which there might be some spelling errors but alas that often happens in my real notes as well so if there are any it's for the sake of accuracy lmao). If I end up adding informations on the margins I always use a pen of a different color so I can tell which informations I got from what source (ex. main notes from lecture, colorful notes from additional article).

Example of messier notes in which the main text in black are the notes I took during lectures and the additional colorful text was added while writing the materials (I rarely do this, it usually happens when the lectures follow a book precisely, which happens when we have to study books or summaries written by the professor). As you can see I often use post it notes to add more writing space, and sometime I even use them to create visually separated sections. If I end up adding some drawings I also usually like to have them on post it notes so they stand out more (and if you are wondering why the hell would an history student need drawings it's usually either because I need a map or a region/state to mark things out, or when studying for archaeology exams I often needed visual references, for example to identify different types of vases or decorations).

[a-dragons-journal]

How exactly is being otherkin any different than being transracial by idea? I’m not pro-transracial, but I can’t really formulate an argument on where the difference is and why one is okay while the other isn’t

The difference, in my opinion at least, basically comes down to the fact that race and ethnicity are things other real people deal with and which have big cultural impact for a lot of people; species is not. You can't hurt theriform wolves by identifying as a wolf because wolves are not people and are not aware of any of this. Dragons may be people depending on the dragon, but they don't exist physically in this world to have an opinion. You can, however, hurt people of color by identifying as transethnicity and approaching it in a disrespectful way.

And I say it that way because if I'm honest, transethnicity is one of those transIDs where I'm... a little torn on it. I can understand the feelings and experiences they're describing, but I struggle to find a way to engage with the idea of being transethnicity that isn't going to wind up being racist in one way or another. And while I haven't exactly spent a ton of time in radqueer/transID spaces, when I've gone into their tags and such to do a little research on them, I have overwhelmingly seen transethnicity people being kind of if not extremely racist about it. The experiences are not inherently harmful, but it's really easy to slide into engaging with those experiences in a way that's harmful.

And yet... in this community we have, for example, fictionkin whose fictotypes are a different race than them all the time, and sometimes that's very important to who their fictotype is and how they view the world. And that works out fine. I think the primary difference is that fictionkin are generally expected to acknowledge that they're not a part of that group in the present and can't speak on the group's issues or experiences as if they were, whereas the minute you put a trans- label onto the word, the expectation is that you should be treating a trans[x] person as if they're [x]. (And if it's not, then... why are you calling it trans- anything to begin with when that's what trans- means in an identity context?)

So, I do genuinely believe that they're having these experiences, but... idk, there has to be a better way to frame and engage with those experiences. I don't know what that is, but it's got to be out there somewhere, though it may not be a one-size-fits-all answer. (And maybe there's a transID community out there that's found it, I don't know.)

Anyway, open invitation for POC to give their thoughts on this, since they've probably got better-constructed ones than me; if I'm honest, I haven't spent all that much time thinking about this issue. I think about it on and off here and there when it comes up and then it gives me a headache so I move on.

[sylviaknightingale]

Does your oc have a love interest?

*Coughs* Well… ? It’s possible, and perhaps mutual ☺️

[whumpinthepot]

In a kind and respectful manner, can I ask what peoples aversion to BBU content is? I am curious, since I see a lot of intro posts that don’t prefer the trope.

[starflungwaddledee]

Gimme that GOOD shit girlie 💅✨ (Starstruck x Galacta knight)

✧˖°. give up what you love, before it does you in .°˖✧

[a2zillustration]

The desire to draw these two again but without the motivation to make something more than one of these little charts (oops)

Thank you Valc0 for making the sheet!

[defiledtomb]

There's a story about a healer MC and Leith on my Patreon now, a concept slice of something I hope to develop while I get my bearings together after leaving my partner in the middle of the night, and find an apartment before it gets too cold to live in the vacation house I'm in right now. Once I have the funds to move, I will also get my stationary PC back, which means I can get back to finalizing ouroboros book 1!

If you want, you can join any paid tier to access the story, and watch the story unfold each week, see where I take it. If you join the $10 tier, there's a backlog of ouro smut to read too! >:3

Thank you to anyone who helps me through this tough time, through Kofi or Patreon or by just being here. You're in my heart locket forever.

[dailyhtfboards]

Day 109

Today’s board is:

Ya know Handy looks really weird in this board, I don’t know why they drew him like that /silly

(From TV episode 12C Junk in the Trunk)

[sunnimint]

Hi. I AM VERY MUCH ALIVE.

I know I promised to pick up my fics but then I disappeared again. A lot has been happening in my life. I do apologize for that, I didn't mean to suddenly go quiet, I'll try my best to get back in the groove of writing.

Please be patient ✨️

[blondeaxolotl]

Want to say I'm very sorry to people who send me asks and I don't end up answering them!! I promise you I do see them, it's just that I get new asks almost everyday so it's very hard to keep track of and answer them before it gets overwhelming.

Not to mention for some asks they take time because I either want to respond with a drawing, or a long yap (sometimes both even), or it even might just take me a while to think of how to answer them. If I could, I'd answer all of them at once, but sadly I'm one person who gets busy every now and then. I promise you I love all the asks you guys send me, I love reading them, whether they be just simple questions or full on rambles about things you guys wanted to share with me, I love them all.

But yeah- I'm very sorry for not answering your ask if you sent one, I swear I do plan to, it just might take a while for me to do so. But I pinkie promise that I do appreciate it a whole lot, and I thank you for taking your time in sending one, lots of love!! 💜

[god-syndicate-if]

How are the ROs in bed?

Riley: Keeps to their side, curled up. They prefer the side against the wall. If you cuddle them they'll really enjoy it but they'd have to really REALLY want to cuddle just to float the idea by you. You'll have to initiate it most times.

Franco: Has an arm under you, pulling you in tight, 100% drooling on you.

Verne: Cold. As in temperature. In the winter it's hell to sleep next to them because you're not going to get warm. They typically have an arm slung around you at most. Not a huge cuddler.

Mitch: Full on spooning, you're not going to be able to get out of cuddling him. Typically he's holding you by the waist/hips.

Sigourney: Cuddler as well, but is going to wrap her arms around your neck/chest.

Dame: Will be face to face with you, hugging through the night. They're a kicker though, so watch out.

Rebel: Does not cuddle. She'll allow it to happen for a little while and will even enjoy it, but as soon as it feels even 1% restricting she's moving away.

I know I'm being cheeky here, but I'm going to avoid more NSF/W questions for now. Some of them are fun and quick, but I think questions like these are better to be discovered by reading!

[awesomebutunpractical]

I am in a highly agitated state and if I don't Connect with someone creatively, I will gnaw my way out of my own living room through the floor boards.

[attleboy]

Who dya think Pomni would've bitten?

well when i was drawing it i wasn't thinking of anyone specific... so it can be whoever you want!

however... let's go through the suspects

jax would definitely bully someone into a violent rage... no need to explain that one i think

caine and kinger might unintentionally startle pomni into attacking, but i think they're a little too... uh. weird for it to be all that climactic? caine would just go "BAD!! BAD POMNI!!" and spritz her with a spray bottle until she let go, meanwhile kinger probably wouldn't even notice until pomni had already stopped...

gangle and zooble probably wouldn't be bitten just because they'd avoid a high-strung pomni. gangle out of fear, and zooble because they're not stupid enough to poke a ticking time bomb

and for ragatha... i'm just gonna leave this other anon's idea here because... yeah

definitely unintentional on both sides, but isn't that where the best tragedy lies?

[spacerangersam]

Thought I might give out a little heads up to some other folks wanting top surgery who, like me, have an asymmetrical chest. Obviously, it is a case by case thing, but I had (ah! so weird to talk in past tense about it) very asymmetrical breasts, (I think one doctor I saw estimated there was about a 2 cup size difference between left and right) and because of that, told me I probably wouldn't have those two perfect symmetrical scars on you see on some folks. In fact, I believe I ended up needing to have one big scar rather than two. I personally don't mind, but just a thing to keep in mind that all those pics of perfect scars you see online might not be the outcome you get. Your doctor will of course talk about it with you beforehand, and your surgeon will also inform you what they need to do for the best outcome on the day, but thought I'd say this since I haven't really seen anyone talk about what might happen if you're very asymmetrical