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karix · 2 years

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Conversational Design For Whatsapp

According to research from Gartner, around 70% of the global workforce will have interactions with a conversational system on a daily basis by 2022.

As a designer of such a conversational platform, you must think of it as putting a puzzle together. You must consider the technological limitations of your platform and craft what you want users to do within the space.

Bit by bit, use-case by use-case, you put the puzzle together with the end goal of creating conversations that feel natural, user-friendly, and intuitive.

In this article, we will discuss briefly how you can best use the tools available to you within the WhatsApp Business API to bring the conversation design to life.

1. Understanding your business requirements and audience

The most important step in designing a great conversational flow is defining a clear problem statement that the bot is intended to solve.

For example – “I need to design an automated customer support bot for my online shoe store.”

Once you have identified the overall problem statement, you should start to fill in the details by asking questions like

What channels are customers currently using for support queries?

What is the percentage of calls/emails/chat that customers currently use?

What are the most common complaints?

How are we generating leads currently?

How well is our website/social media working for conversions?

2. Building a bot persona (researching your buyer)

To create the persona that the bot will communicate as, you must undertake comprehensive research to understand the practical details of what your customers really want. You should go to internet forums, app store reviews, the comments section on your social media and your reviews to understand what language your customers are using and what their questions are.

If you are already using a CRM, you need to know what the average turnaround time is for currently resolving tickets. How many customer agents do you currently have, and when are they active? Once you collate this information, you can start creating a bot persona.

For example, if you are a fitness brand your average customer might be young, financially independent individuals. To cater to them, your brand persona should be that of a young, enthusiastic fitness guru rather than an old, world-weary advisor.

Use this persona to role-play conversations with your customers. You will see that there is a lot of different conversational situations that could come up and the bot must be able to deal with emotions, technical jargon, and even separate languages. It should be able to speak to the angriest and the shyest customer and guide them towards a conversion.

3. Picking the right words (affirmations, ice breakers, sign off phrases)

To keep the conversation flowing and natural, it is important that you pick the right words and phrases to move the user along their journey.

Broadly speaking, your bot persona will fall into one of these three categories

Formal (Professional, minimalistic, and helpful tone)

Casual (Friendly and helpful)

Quirky (Energetic, funny, and niche-specific)

Conversations are inherently very contextual, so consider these as guidelines and not strict rules when you are designing your bot. Let us consider a few use-cases.

1. Acknowledgement of user query

Formal response – “Definitely / Understood” Casual response – “Happy to help / Glad you asked!” Quirky response – “Gotcha / Sure thing”

2. After user information has been collected

Formal response – “Noted / Thank You” Casual response – “Perfect / All set!” Quirky response – “Okay cool / Mission accomplished”

3. When you want to collect information, engage the user and move the conversation along

Formal response – “Before we begin / Next step” Casual response – “We’re almost there / Just one more step” Quirky response – “I’d like to know you better”

4. Asking the user to wait

Formal response – “Give me a minute / One moment” Casual response – “Hang on… / Hold up a second” Quirky response – “Stay right here / On it, boss”

5. Ending the conversation

Formal response – “Happy to have helped / Is there anything else I can help with?” Casual response – “I’ll be here if you need me / You know where to find me if you need help” Quirky response – “Toodles / Twas a pleasure helping you!”

4. Choosing the right elements (QR/Buttons/Carousels/Location picker etc.)

Depending on the context and where you are in the conversation, you might pick a textual or a graphical response such as images or buttons.

Let us take a look at some of the elements you can use while designing your conversation.

1. Quick Replies

These are tappable buttons that the user can use to reply instead of typing out a whole sentence or phrase. These are extremely common and should be used to lead the user into the next phase of the conversation.

For example, for your online shoe store, you might have quick replies like “Browse Products” or “Why do I need special running shoes?”

2. Away messages

Away messages can be used to convey that you are busy or currently out of office. You can set your business hours within the WhatsApp Business API and choose to send the messages either all the time, or outside of your specified business hours.

3. Greeting messages

These are used when a user first initiates a conversation with you. These need to be representative of the vibe you want to project as a brand (business-casual/ friendly/ quirky).

To give the user an optimal experience, make sure these greetings match the overall tone you are going for and convey wit and personality.

4. List Messages

Text-only messages can devolve into a wall of text if you are using them to convey a long list of options. This is where List Messages come in to provide a quick and easy bridge for customers to move to the next step of their journey.

List messages can be used in situations where you want to present the user with several options, such as

They need to book an appointment

They need to choose specific seats for an event they are attending

Menu options depending on user input

They need to locate the closest outlet or store

5. FAQs

Adding the most commonly asked questions to your bot is a great way to ensure that most people will have their questions answered without needing to involve an actual customer service agent.

Make sure that all of the FAQ sections move the user forward naturally in the conversation. If a particular answer is too lengthy, consider creating a video or image that can convey a majority of the information.

Always begin with the end in mind and prioritize the most common use cases. Once you have your brand persona set, you should begin testing and mapping out different variations of user journeys with the bot. By testing the bot in distinct scenarios, you will be able to iron out edge cases and roadblocks.

Designing an intuitive conversational flow can mean the difference between a massively successful campaign and a mediocre one. To learn more about building memorable user experiences with WhatsApp, make sure you bookmark our blog karix.com/blog and visit regularly!

For more details click on karix.com

#whatsapp business platform #whatsapp business solution #chatbot solutions platform #chatbot automation platform #Progressive web app chat solution #whatsapp marketing automation #sms solutions #email campaign solutions #voice solutions #Rich communication Services

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tanlakarix · 2 years

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Conversational Design for WhatsApp — WhatsApp for business- Karix

According to research from Gartner, around 70% of the global workforce will have interactions with a conversational system daily by 2022.

As a designer of such a conversational platform, you must think of it as putting a puzzle together. You must consider the technological limitations of your platform and craft WhatsApp want users to do within the space.

Bit by bit, use-case by use-case, you put the puzzle together with the end goal of creating conversations that feel natural, user-friendly, and intuitive.

In this article, we will discuss briefly how you can best use the tools available to you within the WhatsApp API to bring the conversation design to life.

Understanding your business requirements and audience

The most important step in designing a great conversational flow is defining a clear problem statement that the bot is intended to solve.

For example — “I need to design an automated customer support bot for my online shoe store.”

Once you have identified the overall problem statement, you should start to fill in the details by asking questions like

What channels are customers currently using for support queries?

What percentage of calls/emails/chat customers currently use?

What are the most common complaints?

How are we generating leads currently?

How well is our website/social media working for conversions?

Building a bot persona (researching your buyer)

To create the persona that the bot will communicate as you must undertake comprehensive research to understand the practical details of what your customers really want. You should go to internet forums, app store reviews, the comments section on your social media, and your reviews to understand what language your customers are using and what their questions are.

Picking the right words (affirmations, ice breakers, sign-off phrases)

To keep the conversation flowing and natural, it is important that you pick the right words and phrases to move the user along their journey.

Broadly speaking, your bot persona will fall into one of these three categories

Formal (Professional, minimalistic, and helpful tone)

Casual (Friendly and helpful)

Quirky (Energetic, funny, and niche-specific)

Conversations are inherently very contextual, so consider these as guidelines and not strict rules when you are designing your bot. Let us consider a few use cases.

Quick Replies

For example, for your online shoe store, you might have quick replies like “Browse Products” or “Why do I need special running shoes?”

Away messages

Away messages can be used to convey that you are busy or currently out of the office. You can set your business hours within the WhatsApp Business API and choose to send the messages either all the time or outside of your specified business hours.

Greeting messages

These are used when a user first initiates a conversation with you. These need to be representative of the vibe you want to project as a brand (business-casual/ friendly/ quirky).

To give the user an optimal experience, make sure these greetings match the overall tone you are going for and convey wit and personality.

List Messages

List messages can be used in situations where you want to present the user with several options, such as

They need to book an appointment

They need to choose specific seats for an event they are attending

Menu options depending on user input

They need to locate the closest outlet or store

FAQs

Adding the most asked questions to your bot is a great way to ensure that most people will have their questions answered without needing to involve an actual customer service agent.

Make sure that all the FAQ sections move the user forward naturally in the conversation. If a particular answer is too lengthy, consider creating a video or image that can convey most of the information.

#Conversationalcommerce #whatsappbusiness #WhatsAppchatbots #WhatsAppBusinessAPI #WhatsAppmessages #WhatsAppchatbotautomated #WhatsApp Marketing #WhatsAppforbusiness

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likeawildthing · 4 years

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Not to be morbid on main, but everyone dies and people are rarely prepared for it. It’s so much easier when you know your loved one’s wishes. So even if you’re a teenager or twenty-three and healthy, I hope this helps you start thinking about end-of-life wishes, because it can happen to us all (both the dying and, rudely, being died upon).

Cremations are an affordable way to subvert the funeral industry, but going this route puts the burden of “the little things” on the family. I’ve learned a lot in the last 36 hours and wanted to pass those things that weren’t on any checklists, because the burden is on you to navigate the process.

Putting this under a cut because it’s so long (although not comprehensive). Obviously some of this is altered because COVID and some is meant to be applicable in some distant, theoretical future when we can go out to lunch again.

Before you die

Think about it, talk about it, write it down

Think about what kind of rememberance you want, if any. If it doesn’t matter, tell people that so they don’t fret about it and grieve in whatever way works best for them.

Communicate now to save your family and friends angst later.

Build an “in case of death” binder, zip drive, google doc with links, etc. Make sure your passwords are up to date so that’s not an administrative nightmare for your loved ones.

Advanced directives. Here’s a great article explaining the types of medical advanced directives and decisions to make before an accident or illness happens, including whether you want to donate your organs.

We lost grandma for about twenty minutes yesteday because we couldn’t find the paperwork and grandpa couldn’t remember where they signed up for services. Death. Binder. Have a death binder/folder/zip drive so no one loses grandma.

Insurance.

You likely have insurance through work, so consider that. It will also expire if you leave your job.

You can usually get, with minimal fuss, a 10- or 20-year term policy with enough to cover your arrangements and debts for less than $20 a month. Death expenses are anywhere from $5-$20k, conservatively.

Talk to your auto insurance agent and score a multi-line discount.

Body snatchers.

If you want to be cremated, talk to a local crematory beforehand and give them your basic information. It can be paid out of your estate (i.e. by your family or a life insurance policy) when it happens.

Most funeral homes (I believe) require pre-payment. It’s super morbid but there are TONS of heavily discounted grave sites for sale on Craigslist if that’s the route you want to go.

Here’s a list of certified green burial sites in the US.

Donating your body to science 101.

Memorial service.

The idea of a “proper” funeral is more or less out the window, especially in the time of COVID. Celebration of life? Religious ceremony (or not)? A picnic at your favorite park? Anything goes, so figure it out now.

When my sister-in-law died, we had a celebration of life at a non-profit who donated the space and had a poker tournament with her ash tin (she lost).

Whether you have strong or no preferences, write that down to guide decision-making.

Memorials.

Traditionally people would donate money in the event of a death to a charity, foundation, or family account, or flowers to a funeral home or church.

Family accounts (like for children) are traditionally done in care of the deceased’s bank but online fundraisers are a thing.

If you have a particular charity you love, add this to your list of wishes.

Food.

Before COVID it was pretty typical for there to be some kind of meal after a funeral. Will this be a restaurant?

This is ultimately up to the family but if you have strong preferences (i.e. no church or Italian food), tell people now.

Obituary.

Writing down the basic facts of your life, hobbies, and accomplishments you want included in your obituary means your family doesn’t have to do a guessing game.

Plants, animals, stuff, etc.

Do you want your clothes to go to a specific charity?

Do you NOT want your stuff to go to a specific charity? (Goodwill is terrible!)

Who will get your car (person, donate, sell)? Want to have your record collection to go one sister? Obviously family will divvy up stuff how they like, but write down any special considerations.

Have a plan for your pets (insurance, vet info, guardianship).

Please organize and digitize your photos if they aren’t already.

If you lose someone close:

Identify the primary griever

Support that person/those people by providing feedback when solicited, running errands as needed, and running interference so they aren’t inundated with all the little things.

Notifying people

Use the phone tree method. Great Aunt M will be happy to help by calling your cousins. Your boss, coworkers and HR. Your mom’s best friend/your adoptive aunt, your mom’s bunco group.

Ask that family not put anything on social media until the principal people are informed. I found out my grandpa died on facebook!

Esp these days, set boundaries for visits (who, where, and in what capacity).

Designate one person to be the primary contact for extended family to keep the burden off the primary griever(s).

Give this persons’ information when the first phone calls are made. It also makes sense for this person to be the travel coordinator.

This person should have a good handle on family dynamics (i.e. my aunt is flying in and would drive my grandma nuts so she’s staying with Mom).

This should be their only task because it’s time consuming.

Food

When people die, people gather, even in the time of COVID. Be responsible but expect a ton of drop by food. Clean out the primary griever’s fridge in anticipaton.

Organization

Start a shared family Google doc or sheet. Consolidate to do lists, anecdotes, important contact information, questions and inquiries, etc.

Pay to have the houses of anyone hosting (gatherings, people coming in from out of town, etc.) cleaned. Or, delegate. This can be an act of service for someone who wants to help and doesn’t mind doing the work.

Find the death binder (hopefully), legal documentation, etc. Get a folder or binder for papers if one doesn’t exist. And start a shared google doc for loved ones to track everything.

Delegate

I know I have said this three times, but it’s important. If you’re a primary decision maker do not be the primary do-er. My mom is the primary decision maker so my sisters and I are doing literally everything else.

Say YES when people ask if they can help you. Look at your running list of to-dos and say yes.

Pay to have the houses of people who are hosting cleaned. It will seriously be such a life saver, or this can be an act of service for someone who wants to help.

Social media

You will need to decide what to do with a person’s social media. Do you start a tribute page? Turn their facebook (if they’re old) into a tribute page for a time? Indefinitely? Things to think about.

Thank yous

Keep a running list of people to thank after via hand-written thank you notes. The link includes guidelines on

who should receive a thank you note (gave flowers, brought food, made donations, helped with arrangements or the service(s), did readings, or went well out of their way to warm your heart or show up)

when to send them (ideally 2-3 weeks after the funeral)

here’s how to write them (it doesn’t matter if you buy fancy, ones or dollar store ones, make sure they’re hand written).

Receipts.

Don’t be the petty biatch your cousins hate, but do save significant receipts to be reimbursed by the estate. (I.e. catering hundreds of dollars of food, paying $250 for programs and thank-you cards like I just did, etc.)

Service.

You will have a million decisions to make including

what kind of service to hold, if any

where to hold it

costs

hymns, readings, and anecdotes to share

who will be pall bearers, readers, vocalists, and give eulogies

Crematories handle cremation only, not the service details.

you will need photo boards (Hobby Lobby has nice black foamcore ones) or a powerpoint (and a way to display it depending on the venue)

a guest or memorial book

a card basket,

memorial cards, possibly programs, and thank you cards

Officiants, musicians, religious institutions, etc. all need to be paid (and tipped) for their time.

If we ever wrangle this pandemic, donating funeral flowers to a nursing homes is a fantastic way to brighten residents’ days.

Obituary.

Obituaries are expected, but traditionally costly ($200-$800). As part of the publishing fee, most newspapers keep the obituary on legacy.com indefinitely.

A funeral home will assist you with this, but the burden will be on you and your loved ones if using other methods.

These take hours to write and many hands does not make light work. Keep it to 2-4 key people. Having the facts laid out will help, and so will looking at other obituaries. I read a great tip which was to write about your loved one in present tense first, then change the tense before submission.

Newspapers will update your spelling and grammar but that’s about it. Cheaper alternatives:

Death notice which gives age, date and location of death, and who is handling funeral arrangements. Our crematory put in the death notice for us because they had her body, but the requirements on this likely vary state-to-state.

Here is a place to put a free online obituary.

Plants, animals, stuff, etc.

Save the plants and pets.

Household misc. are usually not dictated by the will, except in special circumstances or contested items. Closest members will go through possessions first. Voice early if you want something in particular, but understand that you may not get it. That’s ok.

Going through someone’s life is an overwhelming process. You may be repulsed and sad and overwhelmed and amused, all at the same time.

In deciding what to keep, as I’ve now cleared out three houses, I’ve found that quality over quantity is the way to go. The sweet spot? 1-2 sentimental + useful things. My great grandmother’s thimble and juicer? Use them all the time, and I remember her lemonade.

It’s okay to throw away some keepsakes and let things get thrown out or donated, depending on the thing.

Don’t give into guilt if you don’t want the china your Aunt Karen is pressuring you into taking when she doesn’t want it either.

Legal stuff.

If someone dies, there will be all kinds of legal things you will need to do (bank accounts, utilities, debtors, education, etc.), investments or 401k, etc.

This varies too much by state and circumstance to talk about in depth but there are guides to specifically help you.

If someone you love has lost someone they love

Do not give platitudes or ask if they’re ok

Don’t expect a response from someone grieving

Do send a card! It’s so thoughtful. I keep a stack of blank condolence cards and a set of forever stamps in my closet. It doesn’t have to be a $20 card to be special.

Don’t judge someone by how they grieve

Offer specific, actionable help if you’re close enough to give it

I am going to come over and clean at 10, leave the house unlocked

I’m at the store and am going to buy cheap vodka unless you tell me what kind of wine you want

oops I got you an uber eats gift card in your gmail sorry/not sorry

Buy thank you cards with stamps as a condolence gift, depending on the person and situation

Send a plant instead of a bouquet of flowers

Make a donation in the loved one’s name if you have the funds

If the grieving person is someone super close (best friend, sister, etc.) add the date in your recurring calender so you can check up on them this day next year with a card and/or phone call

#cw death #grief #end-of-life decisions

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mattzerella-sticks · 4 years

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Before the Night Ends

Dean/Castiel, 2.1k words, post-Wedding/pre-Honeymoon

ao3

It's been a wedding for the ages. Dean and Castiel finally tied the knot, with guests flying in from all across America, Heaven, Hell - even the Empty. But everything must come to an end, and after a wonderful Roadhouse reception Dean and Cas drove off in Baby and off towards their honeymoon.

Except, it's a long drive from Kansas plains to California beaches. They stop close to midnight at a motel along the highway, to sleep, celebrate their wedding night and that it's Valentine's Day, too.

There’s a motel off Highway 70 called Angel’s Paradise, first established in the early 1900s, and last renovated in 1982. The owners back then, who remain so today, envisioned heaven as some tropical destination. That meant each room, alike in their simplicity and functionality, would be redone along these guidelines. Walls plastered with paper-print palm fronds and blooming, pink flowers. Bathrooms tiled a light blue – like waters from the clearest ocean – and little soaps shaped like shells to match the shell-patterned shower curtain. They’d have an entertainment unit housing a small television set would double as a dust collector, various ocean-themed knick-knacks cluttered atop it, ranging from homemade to store bought. A wicker table situated between two wicker chairs, a wicker dresser placed next to the entertainment unit and a wicker bed-or-beds layered by their own palm fronds, matching the walls. Finally, tying the décor together was a little (wicker) side table near the door with a plastic conch set to catch keys or loose change or cigarette ash. Given these changes, any customer might imagine they were in Florida rather then Colorado, or it was June instead of February. Especially in the crown jewel of Angel’s Paradise, the Honeymoon Suite.

Except the Suite’s current boarders were very aware of where and when they are. Probably because they have yet to see their room for the night.

Dean tucks his hands into his elbows, shivering outside the Suite while Cas fiddles with its doorknob. “Come on,” he whines, “what’s the hold-up?”

Cas pauses, turning to Dean. “Sorry,” he says, “the lady at the counter – she said they were having issues since the last occupants. Something about them breaking the lock?”

“Fuckin’ a…” Dean hisses, bouncing now. An icy wind cuts across the parking lot, Dean defenseless to it because he forwent a heavier jacket and how thin the material of his suit was. Castiel looks marginally warmer than Dean, wrapped in his trademark trench coat. Still, Dean notices how his hands tremble while holding the key. Cas’s hand flicks to the left, Dean’s gaze catching the silver band wrapped around his ring finger. One day, he may get used to it. Dean hopes he never does and can experience the same flutter of warmth rippling through his heart from seeing it. He leans into Cas, Dean dropping his head onto Cas’s shoulder. “Who do I have to pray to for this door to open?”

“No one,” Cas declares, lock clicking in time with his words, “because it’s open!”

Dean curses under breath, smiling. “Great,” he says, “let’s get in there, then – hey… hey!”

Swept off his feet, Dean falls into the loving grip of his husband. Cas places one arm at his back, supporting most of the weight, while the other arm traps Dean’s knees, keeping his legs bent and Dean unable to wriggle himself free. Cas smiles down at him, laughing.

“You think this is so funny,” Dean scowls, holding onto Cas’s tie like it were a lifeline. “You little shit –“

“Mr. Shit, Dean,” Cas interrupts, kicking the door open and striding past the threshold, “I did take your last name, after all.”

“My mistake…” He huffs, burying his head in Cas’s chest while he uses the fingers not squeezing Cas’s tie to comb the hairs at his husband’s neck. “Dean and Castiel Shit… I can see the monogramed towels already.” Dean closes his eyes, purring like a kitten while he absorbs the heat that radiates from Cas. It’s inhuman how much of a furnace he was, especially after giving up his grace to live as a human, to be human with Dean. Like always, Dean’s smile widens at the thought. He tries hiding his rapidly flushing face, but Cas tears Dean off of him. He ungraciously dumps Dean onto the bed, blue eyes betraying his cool demeanor as they glow with mirth from Dean’s startled squawking. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Going to get the bags,” he says, moving towards the door, “Why don’t you get comfortable, I’ll only be a moment.”

Dean shakes his head, situating himself better on the bed. He sits at the foot of it, toeing off his snakeskin boots and then peeling off the dark grey dress socks he wore with them. While pulling at his tie, Cas returns with their bags. He doesn’t close the door after, and a blustery chill fills the space. Goosepimples erupt in scattered bunches up and down Dean’s arms. “Close the door!” he yells, dumping the tie onto the slowly growing pile of discarded clothing. His suit jacket joins his tie and socks and boots as Cas deposits their bags by the television. He then hits the door with his elbow, shutting out the wind. Cas gestures at the closed door with a flourish and wry grin. Dean scoffs, “Ugh, who’s bright idea was it to do this in winter?”

“The same man who, on his birthday, said,” Cas drifts closer, helping Dean unbutton his shirt, “and I quote, ‘If you think you can propose to me and not expect us to get married as soon as possible, then you don’t know what you’re signing up for… buddy’.” Cas eases the shirt off Dean’s shoulders, kissing the exposed skin right above his t-shirt. “For the record,” Cas adds, whispering into his collarbone, “I expected it. It was one of the reasons why I couldn’t wait any longer.”

Dean remembers. Their family, together, celebrating Dean’s birthday. His first birthday free from Chuck’s machinations, with a cake Jack spent all day baking and presents that lined the end of the table. He held Cas’s hand as he blew out the candles, mind blank because nothing he could wish for would match the happiness he felt in that moment. He tells Cas this after he asks what he wished for. And Cas, of course, proceeds to kiss him. Cas kisses him while Eileen cut the cake, while Jack helped plate them, and while Sam clapped Dean’s shoulders in warning to reign it in. Dean pulled back, gasping, unsure how he might respond to his then-boyfriend’s passion. Then Cas asked him that all-important, heart-stopping, mind-blowing question, opened a velvet box, and Dean knew exactly what to say.

“I would’ve waited,” Dean reveals, helping Cas with his clothes as Cas guides Dean’s legs out of his slacks. “Everyone knows how long I’ve waited to tell you I love you… I would’ve waited, even if we died and we had to get married in heaven.” Dean pecks Cas’s lips, divesting him of both jackets and his button-down shirt. “I’m glad we didn’t have to, though.”

“So am I.”

They stand together in t-shirts and boxers, barely an inch of space between them. No one speaks, not that they have to, but the usually comfortable silence makes Dean nervous. His focus drifts from Cas and onto the plastic conch behind him. Then, he notices how the rest of the room is decorated. Dean giggles, “Wow… it’s, this place is…”

Cas nods. Dean needn’t say anything else. “You should’ve seen the inside,” he snickers, “the staff were wearing Hawaiian shirts and shark-tooth necklaces.”

“Hey,” Dean shoves him, “don’t diss Hawaiian shirts.” He collects his clothes and boots, bringing them over to their duffels. “I’ve got about three packed away in here, and I’m planning on buying at least a few more before our honeymoon ends.”

“Should they even be called Hawaiian shirts if we’re not in Hawaii?” Cas asks. Dean hears the mattress squeak, and guesses his husband sat on the bed. He digs through the duffel, Cas monologuing in the background. “Are they called Coloradan shirts since we’re in Colorado? If we buy them in California, won’t they be Californian Shirts? Or is it because they’re made in Hawaii, and then shipped elsewhere? Can you imagine it – shirt factories, dotting the beaches? Oh, I’d hope the workers making all these Hawaiian shirts are at least being paid a fair wage, given how popular they seem to be…”

“There’s no factories on any beaches,” Dean tells him, “and – hate to burst your bubble, angel – but I doubt Hawaiian shirt makers are paid what they deserve, regardless of where their factories are.” Cas hums in that same, sullen note he usually does when the beginning notes of Sarah McLachlan play and Dean can’t switch channels fast enough. He folds his clothes, setting them aside. Then, Dean sneaks his hand into his stack of clean boxers, finding the surprise he hid for his husband. “Hey,” Dean rises, “capitalism sucks, but we can’t let it ruin our trip.” Dean drops onto Cas’s lap, delighting in the tiny ‘oof’ that escapes from his husband. “Here,” he says, “I was saving this for later… but hell, we’re running out of time. I’d rather give it to you before the night ends than a day later.” Dean hands him an envelope, Cas’s name scrawled on the front. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“A card?” Cas asks, flipping the envelope back and forth, “Dean… you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“’Course I did…” Dean presses a kiss to Cas’s temple, ruffling his hair. “It’s Valentine’s Day… probably the first Valentine’s Day I actually wanted to celebrate in a long time, because I’ve got someone I love and want to celebrate. And sure, it’s not like we didn’t do just that… in front of all our friends and families… and a few exes… and uninvited guests –“

“The point, Dean?”

“Sorry,” Dean lays his head atop Cas’s, watching him peel away the envelope’s glue. “We’ll have tons more holidays and anniversaries to celebrate in the future… I just didn’t want our first Valentine’s Day to be overshadowed by our wedding. You mean so much to me that I’m not gonna just lump the two together like you’re some kid who was unlucky enough to be born on Christmas. You deserve it all.” Cas flips the envelope, shaking its contents free. A pair of red panties floats onto his outstretched hand. “Not just some stinkin’ card.”

Cas squeezes the panties. “Are you –?”

“About to show you how friggin’ fantastic married sex is?” Dean wrangles the panties from Cas’s fist, waving it about like a flag. “You bet. Let me slip these on and…“ He starts towards the bathroom, Cas slowly chasing him.

“You don’t have to,” his husband growls, “you can change here –“

“Cas, I won’t be long –“

“I don’t know if I can wait!”

“You’ll have to!” Dean closes the door on Cas’s face, laughing as he hears his husband bang against the door in protest. He yells for Dean, but Dean ignores him. Dean brings his hand to his face, covering his mouth with both it and the panties he carries. They smell like cherries. He forgot to tell Cas they’re edible. Cas will figure that out later.

He’ll also give Cas his real card later, as well. The one he wrote using all the words Dean was too afraid to say at the altar. Little details about the way Cas hogs all the blankets when he sleeps, and how his eyes crinkle when he smiles, and that Cas’s hugs chase away dark thoughts better than any drink might’ve. There were also bigger things he mentioned, in this card. About Cas and his unwavering faith in Dean, even at times where he didn’t deserve it. About the despair that bloomed whenever Cas left his side, a bouquet of horrid, wilted roses growing rampantly over his heart and piercing it with their thorns during those awful times it seemed their last goodbye truly was. About the love Cas inspired within Dean that changed his life, from the very beginning, from the touch of Cas’s hand on his shoulder. That simple act which broke him free from Chuck’s wheel again and again and again. Dean couldn’t say any of this in a crowded room. He doubts he can with only Cas. He already cried enough for one day. So, they’ll have sex instead. After they’ve burned through the remaining fumes that linger in their tanks, Dean will present the card, curl against Cas’s side with his head tucked underneath his husband’s chin, and listen while Cas reads how much he means to Cas.

But that won’t be until later. Now, Dean shimmies out of his boxers. He pulls the panties on, flicking the bow twice once it’s settled. “Are you ready?” Dean croons, jiggling the knob, “because it’s time to ride ‘em, cowboy!”

Cas pries the door loose, almost ripping it off its hinges as pull Dean forward into a searing kiss. Dean smiles into it, letting Cas take lead. Dean’s gift were the panties. Cas’s gift is putting in the work to get them off. Cas throws Dean onto the bed, his mouth attacking Dean’s neck. His hand trails down Dean’s side, tickling and teasing him.

He couldn’t have written a better ending to his story. Or imagine a better beginning to his next.

#dean winchester #castiel #destiel #deancas #destiel fanfic #deancas fanfic #destiel wedding

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heedra · 4 years

Note

hi! sorry if this is a broad question, but i don't know anyone else with rats to ask. i'm thinking of getting rats for the first time and i was wondering if you have any tips or like care guidelines you think are really important. ive been doing some research and ive kept mice before but i really want to make sure i give any rats i might get a good home and some information out there seems either contradictory or just flat out wrong and im terrified to accidentally mistreat them. ty for reading!

Oh geez, that’s a big question! I’m going to start with some of the things I think might be the biggest, most critical and vital differences between keeping mice and keeping rats; if you have more questions after that, feel free to shoot me another ask! 1. Two rats is an absolute minimum, regardless of whether you own males or females. People will tell you that it’s critical to own at least two rats, and they’re technically correct, but imo the ideal minimum is actually three or four. Rats are very social, just like people, and, just like a lot of people, they are happiest when they have a group of people to build relationships with. If a rat living as part of a group isn’t getting along with one of his cagemates, he has others whose attention he can go seek out, unlike with a single pair. Introducing rats can be tricky, though, especially with boys, so if you are trying to combine rats who are strangers into one social group, definitely do your research. This website has a great rundown of some of the different methods used to introduce rats. 2. Rats absolutely cannot live in a glass tank. Even if the tank is just one part of a cage that has a ventilated wire portion up top. Rat’s noses and lungs are very sensitive to urine buildup in a way mice’s aren’t, and glass tanks offer no ventilation. Rats also need a lot of vertical climbing space in a cage, relative to mice; tall, wire cages are must for this, as are a lot of climbing toys and hammocks. 3. Related to the above, rats are very prone to respiratory infections. I mention this because this is probably the most common health problem you will encounter with them, and it’s important to know the signs. A vast majority of pet rats either have or will get mycoplasmosis (a bacterial sinus infection) at some point in their lives, and while it’s usually benign at baseline, this infection flares up in the presence of poor ventilation, excess dust, or stress. If you notice that your rat is whistling or wheezing when they sniff and breathe, or that they are snorting/sneezing a lot, talk to the vet you go to for small animal health about getting them on an antibiotic. Respiratory problems are a part of life for rat ownership, and usually wont affect your animal’s quality of life, but if left untreated can develop into pneumonia. You don’t need to panic if your rat starts sneezing or wheezing; even if you’ve already treated them for those symptoms before; rats with myco often have more than one flareup throughout their life, and sometimes it will go away on its own once a rat gets settled in a clean environment or stops being stressed out, but you do want to get it checked if it persists! 4. Rats cannot eat alfalfa or timothy hay. This is an important one to keep an eye on, as, because almost all other pocket pets can eat these things, a lot of treats that contain timothy hay and alfalfa will be branded as being for all pet rodents, even when they’re not safe for rats. It’s not that these are immediately poisonous to rats, they just can’t digest them, so too much of it will inevitably cause intestinal blocks.

5. Male rats can’t eat citrus. This one is kind of debated, but I think it’s fair to err on the safe side. D-limosine, a chemical found in citrus peels, is considered to be linked to testicular cancer in rats. I’d personally suggest just avoiding citrus entirely with rats. 6. Rats need at LEAST 30 minutes a day of playtime with you, outside of their cage. Ideally, this should be closer to an hour. This is important both so that they can bond with you as their human, and so that they’re getting a source of exercise and mental stimulation that goes beyond what they can find in their cage. Set up a safe play area in your home; an enclosed bedroom, a clean bathroom, or an area fenced off by some kind of plastic barrier work well; make sure the space is free of dangerous things to eat and electrical wires. Furnish it with things the rats can climb on and hide in, leave some treats around for them to find, and make sure you’re present and keeping an eye on them! This is a great time to try and train your rats to do tricks or run obstacle courses, or to play games with them (mine really like to chase strings and tissue paper around).

7. There’s no difference in emotional, exercise, and enrichment needs between male and female rats. There’s a big myth that male rats are lazy and cuddly, while female rats are playful and active. In truth, any rat can be any combination of these things; it all comes down to individual personality. “Lazy Buck Syndrome” (the idea of male rats being couch potatoes) is more often the result of owners not providing enough for male rats to do based on this misconception, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. The one exception to this is that male rats are more prone to back-leg paralysis in their old age, and may need more ramps and sitting levels as they age. I also want to end this by plugging two rat care channels on youtube: The Rat Guru, and Emiology Both these individuals are far more experienced rat owners than I, and they both have a whole bunch of videos addressing specific rat care topics and common questions. I also love the website ratbehavior.org; it’s got great information on how rats perceive the world, and what rat behavior means, written from a biology and behavioral science perspective.

EDIT: I almost forgot a really critical one! It’s not really a “care tip that differs for mice” since the same is true for them, and I’m pretty confident I’m preaching to the choir here, but, just in case, Please avoid getting rats from the pet store, especially big box places like Petco or Petsmart! These places breed and house rats in inhumane conditions that should not be financially supported, and rats purchased at these places are going to have shorter lifespans and be much harder to socialize to humans. I recommend looking for reputable rat breeders in your area and adopting from them, or looking to your local humane society or small animal rescue for adoptable animals.

#long post #ratblogging #Anonymous

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haikyuu-philia · 4 years

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Karasuno - Airport Edition

I’ll go to bed now (it’s past midnight, whupps...) and begin with the requested prompts from the prompt list once I’m up again! So have these headcanons for now :D

Summary: The adventures of the crow boys before an eleven-hour-flight and me creating headcanons for it!

———

The whole chaos started very early on the school grounds where they met like usual for their trips, but this time it was meant to be much, much bigger. A tournament abroad had invited them to represent Japan. A solid eleven hours away by plane in Switzerland.

Sugawara, Ukai and Takeda took turns on asking the team about the presence of their passports. Every time Hinata proudly presented the bundle of important documents that his mom had prepared for him.

When they unloaded the car at the airport, Kageyama literally wanted to set the bags to their owners because ‚it would safe time‘.

After a little ruckus involving Tanaka, Noya and Kageyama (the latter had tried to set Kiyoko’s bag first) Daichi actually considered to leave behind half of the team before going through security.

As Takeda had already checked-in the whole group online, they only had to drop off their bags at the counter of the airline. There was no way in hell that Takeda would trust every student with their own ticket.

Not after they had nearly forgotten Kinoshita, who had gone to the toilet, at school earlier.

Being booked as an official group they were able to skip the regular counter and the adults took care of talking to the assistant that was meant to receive their suitcases.

Quote by the woman at the counter: „You two have such a lovely family! I wish everyone a nice vacation. Enjoy the time with your kids!“

It was that moment when Ukai questioned when he had turned from the unmotivated shopkeeper into a seemingly somewhat fatherly figure of fourteen teenagers.

When they wanted to proceed to security, Daichi nearly made everyone stand together in pairs, holding hands and not letting go until they were legally forced to:

Hinata had run off to the toilet, Tanaka and Noya were glaring at everyone that dared to look at Kiyoko or Yachi, Tsukishima wanted to leave the airport to abandon the trip, etc.

But if you believe that it got better under the supervision of the security agents, you are terribly mistaken.

Kageyama started to gloom because one of them had told him that a volleyball was not allowed as cabin luggage on an international flight.

For some unknown reason Daichi had a print of the airline guidelines with him to prove that Kageyama was indeed allowed to have the ball as his cabin luggage.

Oh god, Ennoshita realised that he would have to cover that position next year.

In the meantime Asahi nearly had a panic attack because the metal detector reacted to him in this fierce way of beeping and blinking. For a moment he already felt the handcuffs around his wrists until he was good to go after a manual check.

Something in his bag had alerted the x-ray, so Suga had to unpack its whole content to present it to the agents. Granola bars, pills for headaches and nausea, baby wipes, hand sanitizer and the list goes on. In the end everything was alright.

For the flight back to Japan there will definitely be groups in which they will go through security to have at least one (1) responsible person with everyone.

With two more hours to spare they sat down at their assigned gate, some of them visibly relieved that nothing had exploded so far. Yet again they managed to get everyone’s attention.

„Could you possibly stop acting like we are in the future? This is an airport, of course there will be planes outside“, Tsukishima remarked at the sight of the Chaos Quartett being glued to the gigantic windows.

Cue to the third years sitting together in another corner, chatting about the upcoming opportunity and their progress as a team. How the achievements and laughter always made up for the chaos.

This is an announcement for Suga and Daichi, little Hinata is waiting for you to pick him up at the souvenir store B27.

Everything else went quite well, except for that one time that Nishinoya decided to do a rolling thunder in the middle of the crowded hall in order make his way through the people and someone was about to call security on him.

Half of the team was pretty impressed with Tsukishima’s knowledge about planes that he spilled for the pure reason of making the Loud Ones shut up. The other half didn’t listen or didn’t understand anything he was talking about.

Additionally, the girls and the three remaining second years had retreated to playing UNO for nearly the whole waiting time. Kiyoko destroyed everyone with her luck of getting the special cards. At some point Ennoshita had 14 cards in only two colours to get rid off.

Selfies, oh the ridiculous amount of selfies. They somehow managed to squish everyone into one frame - Tsukishima wasn’t amused at all. And you can see it in his face.

Before anyone could get the idea to use even more ridiculous filters, the salty french fry was saved by the boarding announcement.

It took one impressively loud warning from Daichi and Ukai in absolute sync to make they stay put.

When the line had gotten smaller, they waddled towards the counter where Takeda handed them their tickets one by one - They had to return it once they had found their seats, though.

Let’s be honest, the airport crew had a lot of highlights with these boys to talk about later.

-----

Posted: April 20th | Requests: Open (Check out today’s prompt list!) | Match-ups: Closed

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu writing #haikyuu karasuno #karasuno #sawamura daichi #sugawara koushi #azumane asahi #ennoshita chikara #nishinoya yuu #tanaka ryuunosuke #Yamaguchi tadashi #tsukishima kei #kageyama tobio #hinata shouyou #Shimizu kiyoko #yachi hitoka #ukai keishin #takeda ittetsu

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the-colony-roleplay · 3 years

Photo

THE COLONY (NON-LIVEPLAY) GAMES OF MARCH 2163!!

Hey fam!

So Maddie and I have been working hard the past couple days (hence why you’ve hardly seen either of us posting on the dash) and we’re very pleased to announce that our first official Non-LivePlay Games are nearly ready! You can expect the results posted on the Games Blog in the next few hours, and in the meantime we’re just going to take a moment to give you a head’s up about what to expect when they hit the dash!

So as you all know, within the verse timeline, the games happen at the end of every month during games season (February-November), but we have never before had an effective way to track all the games in verse for which we were not doing LivePlay events. Maddie and I have now orchestrated a way to do so, which will include the victors of the games, the final points tally, a summary of events featuring some character ‘highlights’ and a very general tally of roughly how well each character performed/when they were eliminated.

Along with now being able to see more frequent, acknowledged game activity in verse, our hope is that these non-liveplay versions of the games provide enough structure to inspire plots and new character connections, as they throw your characters into situations you may not have been able to predict, but also plenty of flexibility for your own plotting! Though we have written out as many interesting highlights as we could, in many cases we do not state exactly when or how a character is eliminated, and of course, just like the LivePlay games, the highlights are only a small moment of your character’s experience in the games. So feel free to come up with any of your own head canons either on your own or with other members!

How We Got the Results

It’s important to note that nearly everything in these Games were randomly generated. We have literally run all the characters through an online program generator, that spat out random character events, mishaps, alliances and even ‘kill’ statistics. We then went through the results, selected the most interesting 20% of the content (it generates a lot of content), tweaked it all to fit the verse and game rules, and only made changes where necessary for feasibility, diversity or already established plots.

This means that all the finalists were randomly selected, and the generator even provided us with a list of specific number placements for every character, which we then simplified and used to supply you with general time frames instead, in order to leave more flexibility. Team points were then calculated based on a kill statistics report also provided by the generator.

Those of you who reached out and were the first to ‘volunteer’ your characters to be featured in the games summary, have received a bit more focus and more frequent mention, but we have mentioned every character at least once, regardless, so every member is included and should be coming out of this with some ideas to play around with! It also should be clarified that 'volunteering’ to be featured did not have an impact on how well those characters did in the games. It simply meant that we would prioritize those characters for getting more detailed mentions or character arcs, where possible.

Timeline and Plotting

As soon as the game post drops, the timeline will be moving forward to the 4th week of March (Monday-Sunday). Since this is not an explicit event, the timeline will work as it always does, in that you will be able to do threads from any time during the week, as well as in-game threads, if you wish. The games will start the morning of the last Saturday of the month (26th of March), and when the timeline moves forward, you will be permitted to explore early week plots, pre-game plots, in-game plots, or even day-after plots! NOTE: If you choose to do in-game threads, please title them accordingly for clarity’s sake on the dash. In fact, we would also recommend titling or maybe even dating any other new threads you explore in this timeframe to establish if they are pre-game or post-game. This may just help keep track of things if you plan to explore a variety of time chunks within this week.

As mentioned, use this flexibility to your advantage and look for interesting connection opportunities! There are likely some character pairings that could open doors for after-math connections, pre-game plots, and plenty of in-game options. If you do not want to write threads for in-game events, you’re also welcome to simply connect with other members and come up with head canons to fill out or compliment what is already mentioned in the summary! As long as nothing conflicts with the games post, the world is your oyster (or something less disgusting)!

Again, since this is being treated more like a plot drop than an event, there are no specific restraints on old and new threads. You may continue your old threads as long as you need, and you may start new threads anywhere within the timeline as soon as it moves forward. The only restraint that applies is the standard timeline guideline of no longer being able to post new threads from previous weeks.

Wrap Up

I think that about covers it for now, so keep your eyes peeled for the games post! As always, if you have any questions that arise about anything, don’t hesitate to reach out, we’ll be happy to help! And if you have ideas you want to explore but aren’t sure if they will fit into the verse or the game rules or anything like that, definitely feel free to run them by us!

Remember too that there are resources available to you on the Games Blog such as the Glossary and the Weaponry Page if you need any refreshers!

Hope you enjoy what we have in store for you, and happy plotting!

Much love,

Col22Mods

#col22admin #col22games #literate rp #original rp #apocalypse rp #timeline

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gluestickcherrybum · 4 years

Text

Ahoy there! I'm back with another study post °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

So if you aren't aware already, me as well as various other study bloggers are notorious for writing aesthetically pleasing handwritten notes. Notes aren’t absolutely necessary if you prefer to do without. A lot of my friends and acquaintances don’t bother with them and prefer to rely entirely on the lecture materials provided. I find that it helps me indefinitely in my studies and as a brief creative outlet which I rarely give myself the time for.

Why take Notes?

Instead of printing the lecture materials given digitally, I've taken it to re-write the lecture notes a few days prior to the lecture. Some lecturers insist their students read the material to get a grasp of the topic before the lecture and this is taking it a few steps further. They say writing something down is equivalent to reading it 7 times, meaning getting into memory this way is so much more efficient which is one of the biggest reasons I insisted myself handwrite my notes. Also writing your own notes is totally customisable to your needs, do you prefer mind maps or lists? Infographics or paragraphs? Minimalistic or colourful? It's all up to you.

Why I personally take notes

Different plants have different needs. Some need to be watered daily, some twice a day and some every other day. Some thrive in nutrient-rich soil and some prefer to sit in dry sand. Just like plants, each individual student has different needs and circumstances to thrive. For me, since I have a relatively low attention span and am a relatively slow learner, I needed the head start of reading topics beforehand to catch on with the rest. To me, with proper preparation for lectures, attending the lecture is like filling in the missing puzzle pieces. At least it should be. Also, I'm more of a visual learner, so if you're like me, then well structured, colourful and easy to read notes are not only more appealing but really help me in my studies and help me grasp topics a lot faster.

SUPPLIES

Probably the part where everyone is pumped for but I'll to simplify as well as be in-depth as possible.

Basically, you need paper and a pen. Need some colours? get some highlighters or coloured pens. Some people usually go one or the other but you can benefit from using both systematically.

What I look for in my preferred paper:

Thicker paper (120gsm) because I use markers and pens that bleed through anything less and I like my paper sturdy because I heavily reference my notes and I don't want them to get worn out as quickly (i want to actually try to use thinner paper and be gentler but not sure how much I can commit to it o(╥﹏╥)o).

Smoother paper is good if you use felt tips so they don't get damaged that quickly.

Line spacing. Its a waste of space and paper if you have small handwriting but largely spaced outlines. Not easy to find though.

Line colour. I prefer lighter lines such as light grey if possible, it just looks tidier that my writing contrasts more than with jet black lines.

Recycled or sustainably made paper. Because environment. Trees happy. Duh.

At the moment I'm a fan of loose-leaf paper because I'm not a fan of wasting notebook paper at the back (plus its even harder to get the paper features I want in notebooks unless I'm lucky) but if I were to succumb to using notebooks, I would definitely prefer thread-bound or hand-sewn over spring bound just because I think metal springs are annoying and if they're plastic, they aren't recyclable. You know me.

In conclusion, it's hard to find test pad with all of these features, you can consider printing your own notepaper if you're as picky as I am but you do you. If you can only afford flimsy see-through paper, that's alright. But make sure your supplies are appropriate for them as most of the supplies I use will bleed even on regular paper

Pens

Don't bother going all out and using fine liners or drawing pens to write notes. Get practical. Pick your poison. Smooth gel pens or dry ballpoint? Ergonomic or Budget-friendly? Disposable or refillable? My only guideline is to make sure they have waterproof ink because in any case, you need to send in an assignment last minute and have to rush through the rain without a folder you definitely want your writing to be at least legible if anything. (yes I learned this the hard way, yes illegible work will cost you a lot of marks. don't make my mistake ｡：ﾟ(｡ﾉω＼｡)ﾟ･｡

Also. Black or Blue? Studies show that writing in blue improves memory collection but black is the more neutral aesthetic. What do I do? I use black as my main colour and write keywords and important facts in blue to take advantage of its memory-enhancing properties.

My current preference: Zebra Sarasa Clip (because its made of 75% recycled plastic and is a good quality pen) with Pentel Energel refill (gel ink that dries quickly. that's all I need)

Budget-Friendly: There are good quality pen sets at the ECO shop (Malaysian dollar store) or buy disposable pens in bulk at any book store. Trust me, it saves a lot more than buying a brand new 80 cent pen every now and again. (Also including the cost of transportation to the store because when you live independently, every cent matters) It's not exactly environmentally friendly but hey, anything to cut the cost right?

Zero Waste option: Fountain Pen with a converter (not the cartridges) and glass bottles of ink refill. Yes, it sounds daunting but its zero waste if that's your cup of tea. You don't have to go all out and buy an expensive luxury fountain pen made of stainless steel, or go fancy and get a flexible nib. If you ask me, I have my eyes set on the pilot kakuno fountain pen, its simple, aesthetic and highly recommended for beginners (although not plastic-free its made out of 85% recycled plastic which is cool since I'm hoping to make a one time purchase, I won't mind it being made from plastic but that just my taste)

Coloured Pens

So I haven't been a fan of using coloured pens for a while but ill tell you I'm currently using a cheap set of coloured gel pens from Kaison just because they have cute patterns but the ink flow isn't that smooth so I should've bought something more practical. The ultimate budget-friendly option which is not only cheap but long-lasting and good quality, and ones that I’d recommend for anyone is the Papermate Kilometrico ballpoint coloured pens. So far I only know they come in five colours but they've been my favourite for years. Most people I know that disagree with me usually don't like the colour range or arent a fan of dry ink but if you aren't that picky and looking for a reliable option they're a good option, plus if you're using cheap paper, they won't bleed or anything so that's cool.

Highlighters

I love pastel highlighters. Its soft, cute, aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and some colours are better at actually highlighting words rather than their neon counterparts like green and purple. Although not the cheapest option, I doubt ill ever go back to neon highlighters ever and ill only be recommending pastel highlighters thanks.

My current preference: I'm currently using Monami Pastel Highlighters just because they were on sale with comparable prices to unbranded cheap pastel highlighters. I will never recommend commonly branded highlighters like Stabilo Boss or Zebra Mildliners because the extra pennies just aren't worth it since the unbranded kind has lived up to my standards. (also I haven't tried those branded highlighters mind you but I doubt I'm missing out on anything)

Budget-Friendly option: While Zebra Mildliners are being sold at RM5 for one and RM25 for a set, Mr DIY sells knockoff brand "BEIFA" for RM7 for a set of six which is a pretty good deal if you ask me (also there are double-sided ones with a bullet and chisel tips if you thought mildliners were the only option with those features). I've also found some rare gems, unbranded pastel highlighters hidden in common bookstores for an even cheaper price, but they're really hard to find unless the pastel highlighter trend decides to catch on. I digress.

Zero Waste option: I heard about highlighter pencils, just wooden pencils with neon colour pigments, but why get trendy when you can use any old wooden colouring pencils lying around? I don't think ill give up plastic highlighters for wooden pencils despite being a strong environmentalism advocate but there are a few options for highlighters made from recycled plastic but they either don't come in pastel colours or too pricey for my taste (yes I'm a cheapskate for crud sake)

Extras

These other things aren't exactly necessary but they add little flourishes and/or aid you in your note-taking. Not exactly an extra investment but its completely up to you

Sticky notes (or coloured memo pads) for extra notes, diagrams or equations which I like for them to stand out a bit. (Pastel over neon of course)

Washi tape to divide subchapters (but a highlighter streak does the job)

Correction tape because never will I ever use correction fluid mind you

Brush pens for headers (completely unnecessary but I don't have any other outlet to practice brush lettering so.) Recommendations: Artline Stix (chunky but super cheap, marker type not for thin paper), Pentel Fude Touch (great for beginners, small and practical, 83% recycled plastic, but will bleed on regular paper)

Alternatively, a regular black felt tip marker just to make the title stand out is good enough.

NOTE TAKING TECHNIQUES

An underrated note-taking method is the Cornell method which is frankly a systematic way to write notes in which you divide the paper into 4 sections, a place for title and date and stuff, the main body for notes, extended side margin for extra info/lecture comments/questions/subtitles and bottom quarter reserved for a summary of the notes. Some people modify this technique by omitting the summary section, depending on your needs.

Bullet points and indents. This is pretty self-explanatory, but it's pretty much notes that aren't chunky paragraphs. Easier to read, easier to register information, easier to skim through. You get the gist of it.

Highlighting system. Some people go all out with their highlighting system and designate colours to certain things such as green for vocab, orange for equations, blue for subtopics. etc. You can try this out if you want, but for me, the plethora of colour is quite distracting and not that aesthetically pleasing, but you do you.

BREAKING DOWN MY METHOD OF NOTE TAKING

My priorities to note-taking are: Easy to read, simple, decluttered and visually pleasing. For colours, I mainly use up to 4. Black pen for the main information, blue pen for keywords (or any coloured pen that matches the highlighter), one or two highlighters as a colour theme and matching sticky notes for extra info, diagrams or equations.

I assign a whole chapter to a specific colour theme, first assigning a certain highlighter colour to the first six chapters, if there are more than six chapters, I use 2 accent colours just to shake it up a bit. This makes it easier to differentiate the chapters when flipping through your notes.

So its, hand-lettered title (i do my lettering quite quickly, mind you) or all caps title in black marker. Mini banner doodle for subtitles (a simple box with a drop shadow works just fine), contrasting coloured keywords (or underlined) and highlighters just for accents like dividing subtitles or drawing boxes for extra info (that or sticky notes). I don't simplify my lecture notes, rather rewriting them in a more orderly manner and leaving a good amount of extra space here and there (or an extended margin if I use Cornell) for extra lecture notes. Also, I highlight whatever notes that my lecturer would point out as important or worth remembering. And that's pretty much it. After the lecture, I then know which parts of the notes were more vital and can then simplify those key points into flashcards which ill discuss in a different post.

Thanks for reading, I know my posts are pretty long but that's the way I like them, long but in depth. As usual, if you would like me to cover any specific topics, feel free to message me or give feedback. I hope to be able to write 2 or 3 articles a month if I can but until then, have a nice day. Study smart peeps.

ヾ(@°▽°@)ノ

#study #studyblr #studygram #studyspo #studyinspo #study inspiration #study motivation #zero waste #zerowaste #zero waste lifestyle #zero waste student #environmentalism #notes #stationery

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itsallavengers · 5 years

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Never meet your heroes

Alright. They’d gotten through the first introduction, he’d managed to make it through the lobby and up the elevator without incident, so Steve was going to say that it had gone well so far.

Now, he thought, came the tricky bit. And that was actually introducing their new colleague to the team.

He took a deep breath, hoping that no one was naked as the doors slid open.

“Okay. So seeing as you’re going to be operating as new SHIELD liaison, you’re probably gonna be seeing a lot of the inside of the tower,” Steve stepped out of the elevator with the new woman SHIELD had sent beside him, silently thankful there was no immediate chaos to be seen, and as they returned their gazes to one another Steve held up three fingers. “This means you’re gonna have to follow three important rules, for the sake of your sanity and ours.”

Her brow creased, and it wasn’t for the first time that day that Steve wondered whether Fury was making the correct decision with this woman. She seemed... easily disapproving. And serious. Steve got that, he did, especially on your first day when you were wanting to establish boundaries, but still-- he hoped that there was a bit more steel to her.

She pursed her mouth. “Captain Rogers, with all due respect, this is going to be a partnership, not a leadership.”

“I understand that, Ma’am,” he made sure to keep his voice polite as he walked her into the kitchen, “if it’d make you feel better, you can consider them more like guidelines. But I swear, they’re in your best interest.”

“Oh, are we giving grumpy-pants the house rules?” Steve ground his teeth as he turned to Clint, who’d become visible on the kitchen counter once they turned the corner. He grinned with a mouthful of cheerios. “Is this her face before or after rule one? Because it doesn’t spell good things if it’s--”

“Please ignore the homeless man who’s taken residence in our tower,” Steve said loudly, talking over Clint and blocking him from sight with his sizeable body, “he just showed up one day and refused to leave.”

“SHIELD liaison woman, don’t you think that’s workplace harassment?” Clint leaned sideways and looked at her with a deep frown, and Steve felt a Cheerio bounce off the back of his head. He made a mental note to buy nothing other than sugar-free granola from now on.

Mary Collins, said SHIELD liaison woman in question with 14 years’ worth of experience under her belt that she seemed determined to put to good use here, simply raised her eyebrow at Steve. “I think it’s warranted,” she informed him evenly, and then let herself sigh as she raised her hands. “Alright then. Give me the rules, Captain.”

Okay, that seemed like a joke of sorts. Steve could work with that. At least she wasn’t a complete buzzkill. “Alright, rule number one. No shop-talk at breakfast or dinner. We take food very seriously, and Thor starts breaking things if he gets interrupted too many times. For Tony’s bank’s sake, it’s best if you could just schedule your meetings around that.” Bruce walked through the kitchen at that point, looking like he was leaving somewhere, but he stopped to shake Mary’s hand before he left, giving her a smile and a short ‘good luck’. Steve marched ahead.

“Rule number two-- sometimes we have fights. And sometimes they get physical. I know that this might be considered unhealthy on any other working unit or team, but please consider the fact that we are all incredibly dysfunctional and emotionally maladapted.” When Mary’s eyebrows lifted again, Steve held out his hands and resisted the urge to sigh. This was the fifth Liaison they’d gotten through in the last year. Most of them barely even lasted a month before they ran. “It never results in long-lasting injury, and we tend to leave Tony out of it, but there may be occasional scraps that break out while you’re in our company. Just let us work it out of our systems and don’t get involved.”

“That’s...” Mary seemed a little lost for words. “Have you considered therapy? One-on-one and group, perhaps?”

For the sake of avoiding a long and rather awkward conversation, Steve tactfully chose to ignore the question. “Rule three- possibly the most important one- is to never, ever enter Tony or Bucky’s room without giving warning. Ever. And also, just...” oh God, this was a conversation that one of those two men should be having with their new colleague, not him-- he really hated being team leader sometimes. “Get used to PDA,” he muttered eventually, “lots of it. I’d just avoid them when they’re together, honestly. And don’t get threatening with one of them when the other is present. Oh, and although the team is allowed to tease them, you’re very much not.” He turned to her, suddenly serious, because he wanted her to know this, more than any of the other rules. “I mean it. They’re happy. SHIELD don’t have any business commenting on that. We’re their friends, so we’re okay. Until you reach that status, you will politely refrain from passing comment.”

By this point, poor Mary Collins seemed utterly bewildered. Which was fair enough; outside of the tower, no one knew that Bucky Barnes and Tony Stark were an item. Bucky was still adjusting to everything, most of all himself, and so for now they were keeping it quiet. The liaison would have to know due to the simple fact that she would be spending time in their safe space at the tower, but Pepper had already drawn up enough contracts and NDAs to drown the woman as soon as she left for SHIELD again.

Steve had to hand it Mary though. She held her ground, even as Captain America glared at her. “I take it this means Barnes and Stark are a couple,” she said eventually, having processed all the information, “which I doubt will affect my job much. I, uh, will take note of the room thing, though.” She gave the smallest of flinches. “I’ve had enough trauma from sharing a dorm with my sister.”

That was a story Steve would definitely be extracting from her when she inevitably joined in on one of their team drinking sessions, and he stored the nugget away for later use. At that point, they’d entered the communal living room, where Nat was sprawled on the couch flicking through the TV, Thor was sat idly scrolling through his twitter feed, and Bucky & Tony were both sat snuggled into the loveseat in the corner of the room. Naturally, Mary’s eyes went straight for them; they’d only just finished talking about the two of them, after all.

And of course, they were being all romantic. What else was new? Tony was curled up in Bucky’s lap, the two of them talking quietly as Tony scraped his fingers through Bucky’s long hair and twisted it up at the back, tying it out of the way for him. They were almost nose to nose, lips moving in conversation that Steve couldn’t pick up on, and a moment later they watched from afar as Bucky started stroking his metal hand teasingly over Tony’s thigh, sneaking under the fabric of his dressing gown. Steve did not doubt that that was the only item of clothing that Tony was currently sporting.

He coughed loudly. “This is Mary,” he declared, and Bucky paused the feeling-up of his boyfriend in order to twist his head over to Steve, “she is our new SHIELD liaison. She does not need to see Tony’s junk during our first meeting, Buck.”

Tony pouted, as if the request was unreasonable, and it was only when Steve gave him a sharp glare that he moved; giving Bucky one last peck on the mouth before sliding off the man’s lap. He managed to save his modesty with a well-placed hand, and Steve could only silently apologise to this SHIELD agent. She had her work cut out from here on in. “I suppose I can save my junk for one man,” he agreed, turning back to Bucky for a second as he wandered over. Steve watched Bucky smile at him from the love-seat, such a soft thing.

Even when they were insufferably touchy-feely with one another, it was hard for Steve to get annoyed by it. They just made each other too damn happy, and Steve was too damn pleased for them. They deserved it, he supposed.

“Miss Collins,” Tony extended a hand and beamed at her, lax and loose and not fake at all. Steve eyed the marks on Tony’s neck, and figured there was probably a very obvious reason as to Tony’s uncharacteristically positive early-morning attitude. “What a pleasure to meet you.”

There was a dubious look given to Tony’s hand, and Steve couldn’t blame her. They had just seen Bucky a second away from giving Tony a handie, so God knows where Tony’s own had been. But it seemed she braved the contact anyway, because she took it firmly and inclined her head. “I’ve already been given the house rules,” she said with the smallest of smiles, and Tony chuckled, clasping his spare hand over hers.

“And you will also be given a very lengthy and watertight NDA that prohibits you from saying a word about mine and Mr Barnes’ relationship,” he added on, voice cheerful as he continued to shake her hand, “were you to break any of the clauses within or make my boyfriend’s face sad in any way, I will sue you for everything you own. Just so we’re clear.”

“Tony!” Steve glared at him, but Tony just smiled back, carefree-- although Steve knew him too well not to miss the smallest hint of steel in his eyes, and also be very acutely aware that Tony meant every word. He was fiercely protective of Bucky and his mental wellbeing. It had been what had driven off the last three SHIELD agents who’d rocked up to try and take Mary’s position. And Bucky had been responsible for the other two, for largely the same reason (although Clint accidentally pushing him off the roof of the tower might have been a contributing factor in one of them, Steve wasn’t too sure).

Mary eyed Tony for a second, before stepping away. “I see what you mean about avoiding the two of them” She told Steve drily, and Steve couldn’t help but grin as he gave Tony a light shove and sent him back over to Bucky, who was waiting on the loveseat. “Message received though. If I were less professional than I am, I might have been shitting my pants out of fear right about now.” Her mouth pursed again and she adjusted her glasses on her face. “Luckily, I’m a little too caught up on the fact that the God of Thunder apparently runs a stan twitter for Ariana Grande to care about being threatened by Iron Man.”

Steve followed her gaze to where she was looking over the couch. Thor appeared to be in the process of making a tweet about the injustice of ‘his queen’s’ new song not making #1 spot on Itunes. It was followed by a gif of kermit appearing to commit suicide. “He also has one for politics,” Steve attempted weakly, “I... it’s Asgardian politics, mind you, but quite informative nonetheless.”

She nodded, eyes somewhat glassy for a moment. Steve understood. You walked in the door of the Avengers Tower expecting... uh... something other than what you got, most of the time. If you caught them while they were mid-training session, you’d definitely be impressed! But- ah- any other occasion, and this was what you were more likely to get.

Iron Man and the Winter Solider canoodling on some piece of furniture, Hawkeye eating food without cutlery, Thor starting arguments with twitter stans, and Black Widow refusing to change out of her pyjamas until after midday.

Steve had accepted the fact he would never have any respect to his name ever again. Actually, he’d accepted that back in 2013 when Tony had drunkenly convinced Steve to buy several golden retrievers and then pose with them on social media. Without clothes on. The dogs had artistically covered his private parts, sure, but his image had never quite been the same.

“I’m just going to apologise in advance,” Steve told her resignedly, “you’re going to be seeing some shit. You may leave here with more trauma than you started with.”

He watched Mary adjust her bag and cock her head at him. “It takes quite a lot to shake me,” she informed him, but Steve just held out his hands to the room.

“We’re very shaky people.”

“Oh, believe me, you haven’t met my sister.” Mary’s eyes rolled and then focused on something behind Steve’s shoulder. He turned just in time to watch Bucky drape himself over Steve’s left side, fingers pinching his cheek playfully.

“Is he telling you how delinquent we all are?” Bucky asked, “is he making it out like he’s the only sensible one here?”

“Of course he is.” Oh, and now apparently Tony had joined at Steve’s other side, “although I’m betting he’s choosing not to mention that time with the Trans-Tower Long Jump Dare and the skinny-dipping incident in Central P--”

“ALRIGHT!” Steve held up his hands and clamped both of them around each friend’s mouth rapidly, feeling his cheeks flush. Mary was staring at him blankly, but Steve did not doubt that she knew where that sentence had been headed. “Alright, I think that’s enough for the introductions. Bucky, kiss Tony so that neither of you speak again.”

“Happily,” Bucky grinned and then ducked around Steve’s side, his hand curling around Tony’s waist easily. They both giggled, Tony pausing to add a final hurried “the skinny dipping was what broke the last SHIELD liaison, so good luck to you” before Bucky stuck his tongue in Tony’s mouth and silenced him. They wandered off somewhere, probably for more enthusiastic sex or whatever-- Steve had learned not to ask. Mary was just nodding to herself, over and over and over again. She seemed to be in mild shock. Steve didn’t know what to think about the fact that it was the stories of Steve’s own... less than stellar behaviour that appeared to have been a sticking point for her. Thor ran an Ariana Grande fan account, for fuck’s sake, but it was Steve doing some harmless dares that shocked her?

“I think I might have jumped into this job a little too quickly,” she stated in the end, looking at Steve and then looking down at Steve’s crotch. “I may need some time to think this over.”

“That’s fine. You’ve lasted longer than the second guy. He walked in, saw Thor and Bruce fighting naked, and then walked out again.”

A long, heavy silence followed. Then a loud splutter. “Wh... why are you always naked when these incidents occur?”

Steve just looked at her. Again, he was sure he’d used to own more self-respect than this. “If I knew, I would tell you.”

Mary didn’t speak for a while. Steve sighed. Mary copied. “I can see Mr Stark grabbing the Winter Soldier’s ass out of the corner of my eye,” she commented dazedly.

“Yeah, they do that a lot.”

“Right.” Mary blinked. “I’m going to go home and have a drink.”

“That’s understandable.”

“A big drink.”

“Again, I get it.”

A long pause. A small cough. Then, “I suppose... I’ll be in touch.”

Oh. Okay, well-- that was better than Steve had been expecting. He’d thought she might just hightail it straight out of there. With a nod, he led her back over to the elevator they’d arrived in, once more spotting Clint, still eating from the cereal box. It truly was a miracle he was as ripped as he was. That shouldn’t be possible considering the vast amounts of sugar that constantly ran through the man’s blood. “Be quiet and eat your breakfast,” he declared sharply, before the man had even opened his mouth. They did not need to regale Miss Collins with any more stories this morning.

Clint threw another Cheerio at him, but Steve saw that one, and he plucked it out of the air and popped it into his mouth without looking. Mary was still staring. “This house is a fucking nightmare.”

“I...” Steve tried to think of a way to defend his team. “Yeah,” he admitted, when nothing sprang to mind. He pressed the button for the lobby and then stepped out, giving her his best smile. He noticed her hands were clutching very tightly to her bag, which held nothing other than the file on SHIELD regulations and protocols that she had been supposed to get the team together and go through before leaving.

Steve figured they weren’t quite ready for that yet, though. Her rules could not help her here.

“Have a safe journey!” He called out to her as the doors slid shut, waving cheerily. She didn’t respond, but her hand tightened around the bag, and as soon as she was gone from sight Steve took the time to groan. Loudly. “I hate all of you!”

“You just hate the fact you haven’t got any sense of shame any more, Captain,” Clint informed him, pointing the cereal box in his direction as Steve walked through. He sulkily snatched a handful of Cheerios from the box and shoved them into his mouth, choosing to ignore Clint’s words. He was headed for the living room, but at that moment Nat and Thor traipsed out of it, looking equally as sulky as they too went for the Cheerios and grabbed handfuls.

“Don’t go in there,” Nat said mutinously, “they’ve started canoodling again.”

“Loudly,” Thor added.

Steve looked between them all, and then leaned back against the fridge. They fought monsters on a biweekly basis. They’d been through hell together- survived torture, mind control, death and everything in between. They were Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, in every sense of the word, and there was nothing that they would not do for each other.

“If they get bodily fluids on the couch, I’m throwing them both off the tower without hesitation,” Steve ground out, folding his arms over his chest.

“Larry Erikson-style!” Clint whooped, and Nat smacked him over the head instantly.

“You said that was an accident.”

“It was! Mostly. I mean-- it wasn’t my fault that he was trying to get me to sign documents while I was in the middle of playing water-tennis with Thor. I won’t do it to Mary though, she seems nice.”

Steve listened to the three of them being to argue over the merits of throwing a liaison off the tower once they got annoying, and he didn’t bother trying to tell them that was a bad idea. He just ducked down into the bottom cupboard and grabbed Thor’s Asgardian mead, pouring a generous serving into his cup of tea.

If Mary got to drink after being around the Avengers for five minutes, Steve figured he’d earned this, considering he’d been around them for five years at this point. He was fairly sure he’d lost a good 80% of his sanity in that time.

Ah, well, he thought as he watched Thor clap him on the back and tell him that his butt looked terrific in the new sweatpants he was wearing-- you win some, you lose some. And he thought he might have won more than he’d lost.

Just about.

Kofi

#this very chaotic i just got an idea in my headf woghgfdkjbfbnf #steve rogers #winteriron #buckytony #itsallavengers writes

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likeawildthing · 5 years

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in terms of design advice, any ideas for a broke college student apartment room? 💕💕

college is a weird time because you are kind of a grown up but also definitely not! and your interests and tastes will change so rapidly in the next few years. so honestly it’s a great time to experiment and be creative. this advice all depends on your particular space, but in any small space everything that can be double duty, should be double duty (night stand is also a tv tray/laptop tray, art is also bulletin board or jewelry holder), the more uses you can get out of something, the better! going vertical on the walls where you can get away with it is amazing. here are a few easy and cheap ways to upgrade and some basic design principles:

take this design quiz to find out your style (plug in a fake email) and then google or pinterest away. you’ll see repeat themes (for ex. major bohemian trend is macrame, which easily DIYable, or MCM is all about legs and clean profiles). maybe that would be fun post - to highlight different styles and trends. but here are some upgrades that translate to any design style for cheap:

PLANTS

don’t go to a nursery and drop a hundred dollars you don’t have. a plant or two or three you really love will change the vibe of the whole space, and give you something to take care of, which is ofc good for your mental health. tips for getting plants and planters on the cheap!

think of a relative or friend who already has houseplants and ask for free ones next time they’re splitting. i literally did my entire garden this way in my first place.

look on like FB marketplace or whatever your swap site is because people are often selling plants or cuttings for a discount.

i have literally split the cost of a plant with a friend and then split it in half, like a baby before Solomon

pothos plants of any kind are easy to take care of and can split into smaller plants pretty regularly.

succulents are usually a few dollars at the store and everyone loves them! start with one simple succulent.

herbs! if you get herb garden seeds or plants you literally make what you eat!

if you have pets, make sure they are pet friendly.

i do not spend a lot of $$ on planters! i use terra cotta because 1. they’re cheap as hell and 2. cute! some of my favorite planters are terra cotta pots kristina painted for me! you can also thrift pots, which i would encourage, or reuse food containers by putting small holes in the bottom.

create hanging plants by making yarn macrame holders! youtube is your friend on this! you can get a ceiling hook for like $3 if it’s a solid ceiling (drywall) and super easy to patch up when it’s time to leave.

ART

function + form. something organic that you can change out inspiration or art, like a cork or inspiration board (look on like a varage sale or in a thrift store for this). you can get four12x12 cork boards from target for $7 and create something like this from two of them, which is in and of itself a piece of art (and you can take it down w/out damaging walls)

other cheap things i have done for art:

calendar or magazine pages in thrifted frames (my favorite cheap tricks is to get matte black or white craft paint for $1.25 from wm or target and paint a bunch of odd frames to unify them)

a picture ledge like this from ikea is your best friend because you can interchange the art to be whatever you want!

embroidery hoop fabric bulletin boards

seriously, posters are cool. get a cheap poster online and hang it with washi tape. it’s not precious. if you want something more grown up, try to thrift a frame for it for cheap. if you don’t like the color of the frame, paint it! if you can’t hang something heavy like this on the wall, use command velcro strips OR set it on top of a dresser or bookcase and lean it against the wall.

i love tassels and buntings. just google either of those and you’ll get thousands of cheap ideas. in my last bedroom i just had a bunting i cut and made over my bed and it acted like a bedframe and i loved it.

just free prints from the internet hung up with little clips like this ($2 from target) or bulky push pins – those holes are so easy to patch!

when my kids were little until two weeks ago i had an entire wall covered with their artwork. i’m saying maybe go to the thrift store, get some ugly canvases with your friends, and have a painting party. everyone brings a $4 thing of acrylic paint and a brush and have a party. good memories + new art for everyone. swap at the end!

pictures! actually print out those pictures and tape them to the wall with washi tape. you can also do something like this with push pins for as big or small as you want to make it (i have this in my living room

here’s a proper primer on the 7 elements of design, but you can skip that and go here if you want!

BALANCE

white space and focal points. in the same way that you need to break up one massive wall of text into digestible paragraphs, you also need to break up the focus in your room. a FOCAL POINT is a statement area in your room (i.e. the window, over your bed, your desk) that your eye is drawn to, and where you want your eye to be drawn to. ideally rooms should have ONE focal point (that’s like the adverb room for writing) but in a dorm apartment, that isn’t practical because it HAS to be multifunction. the important takeaway is that white space on your walls is okay, and important. it gives you a soft space to land, visually, which is important in making you feel more relaxed and even productive.

groupings – grouping like with like makes great sense organizationally AND design wise. a collection of postcards will look amazing on the wall together rather than spread around the room.

LAYERS

adding layers can make a space feel luxurious – curtains, rugs, extra throw pillows or an extra blanket on your bed or chair. plants are great for this, but fabrics and baskets can add another layer. these can be pricey so i would a. raid your mom’s house if that’s an option and ask if she needs ‘x’ rug or curtains anymore. you can also thrift curtains for cheapppp or even look for clearance fabric – once you wash the curtains they really are safe to use. clearance frabric can be hemmed without being sewn and hung with curtain rings if you need to. and $5 tension rods can work as a curtain rod inside a window frame if needed. i could do a whole post on this but a cheap rug next to your bed and something soft on a window can do wonders! dude i have also bought cheap cotton weave cloth from walmart and used rit dye to make turqoise curtains and i loved for years. see also: RIT DYE

so decorative pillows are expensive as HELL but regular, cheap pillows are like $4. i get cheap fabric or thrift fabric and sew my own, which you could do by hand, really, and use the pillow stuffing to make it. ikea also sells great cheap pillow covers!

COLOR

gosh there are no hard and fast rule here but here is a great primer series on color theory for design that you can translate to your room

simplifying a color palette will feel more calming to you, and so will using cool colors like blues and greens. but again, no hard and fast rules. repeat a color or element (shape, pattern) throughout a room 3x (ex. i have a blue rug and that same blueish tone is in a chair and also on a bookshelf. they don’t have to be the same blue, just color family, and it makes it all seem more intentional)

HOW TO DO IT CHEAPLY

buy secondhand. there are entire thrift makeover and upcycle youtube channels that are amazing! same for diy blogs.

reuse and repurpose what you have. i turned a dvd player box into a toy oven for my kids and they used it as a play kitchen for four years. my bookshelf that stores our games in my living room was $12 from salvation army - i just painted it and added casters for $15. my dresser was a thrift from the REstore, a habitat for humanity store. my end tables are actually butcher block pieces that were in my dad’s factory for forty years. i love bringing old things back to a different life. and you don’t always need a ton of tools to do it.

barter and trade. i traded a one of my kid’s dressers for the hutch that holds our toiletries outside of our upstairs bathrooms.

sell and repurchase something that works for you. i sold my old bookshelves on fb marketplace and bought another that actually works better. this isn’t applicable to everyone!

make muffins for someone in exchange for their sewing skills or knowledge. i’m teaching my friend to sew right now! libraries often have classes and such to learn new skills.

OK so i have rambled enough. i could ramble more. i hope this gets you started and if you have more specific or follow up questions, on this or organization side of things, let me know! remember these are all just guidelines and the most important thing is having a space you love, that makes you feel comfortable and that you’re proud of and happy in. comparing yourself to others isn’t always the best and you can make it a space you love no matter where you are.

#linds dispenses hack job design advice #Anonymous #dorm room #design

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