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a person asked for these a long time ago but i can’t remember who :/c

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Stuff I Learned at My Writing Workshop (That I’m Kicking Myself in the Head for Not Realizing Sooner):

-  The difference between a book that grabs you from the beginning vs. one that you’re on the fence about tossing out the window is winning your trust. It’s why it’s “easier” to read books by authors you already know, or fanfic where you’re familiar with the characters. Winning the reader’s trust as quickly as possible should be your first goal as a writer when you’re going back and editing your first draft. This can be accomplished by things like: speaking authoritatively about the subject (even if it’s utter bullshit), graceful prose, or establishing quickly in the story what it’s about. For example,“Character A had a problem. Character B didn’t love them back, so Character A was going to kidnap them so they would.” Maybe it’s not a story you want to read, but you are now firmly couched in what you signed up for in this story and the promise the author is going to deliver on before the end. 

- Characters need goals. They need goals in every moment and in every scene. Every character needs a goal in every moment and in every scene. Maybe they’re not directly pursuing that goal right this very moment but it’s probably always at the back of their mind. Romances and detective stories are the easiest to deliver on this need. Character A wants to win their love. Detective A wants to solve the case. Even when they’re having tea with grandma, their thing is at the back of their mind. Keeping your character and your story focused on this thing they want helps pull your reader along and keeps them engaged on the “So what?” and “Why are we reading this scene?” questions of why they should keep reading.

- Characters shouldn’t just have things they like, they should have obsessions. This is the one I’m kicking myself for. The scientists in Pacific Rim are eccentrically obsessed with studying their thing. Thorin in the Hobbit is obsessed with regaining his home. Katniss Everdeen is obsessed with protecting her sister. Every crazy whackadoodle fandom darling character is obsessed with something. What do they have in common? They’re intensely obsessed with the thing that they care about. We love characters who are obsessed with things beyond reason, whether it’s reclaiming their home stolen by a dragon, or building artisanal bird houses, saving your sister, or studying monsters. Everyone “likes” things, but people and characters who are obsessed with something fascinate us. Examine the characters you’re most attracted to writing in fanfic, and examine your original characters if you’re trying to build those, and figure out what are they obsessed with and how does that inform their character. That’s the thing that’s going to make readers care about them. 

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How To Feel Like A Modern Gothic Heroine

Shows to browse;

Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2006, Alice Auaa Fall/Winter 2012, Chanel Fall/Winter 2006, Ulyana Sergeenko Fall/Winter 2013, Valentino Fall 2015, Chanel Autumn/Winter 2009 RTW, Chanel Pre-Fall 2008, Valentino Fall/Winter 2016, Christian Dior Fall/Winter 2010,Tom Ford Fall/Winter 2015 RTW

Items to own;

Pendant necklace with your lovers hair in it, black velvet gloves, big gemstone rings preferably ruby, garnet or emerald, black lace lingerie, white or black wool stockings matching to your dress, hair comb with rhinestones, homemade cashmere or ribbon chokers, weird antique jewelry, dried flowers sewn into your underwear, slide chain necklaces, earrings you stole from your grandmothers funarel, pearl necklaces, lace layered skirts, half buttoned blouses, waistcoats, exaggerated collars, babydoll dresses, lace thigh bands that you can carry your dagger in, antique brooches, double breasted coats, white nightgowns

Books to read;

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Dracula by Bram Stoker, Carmilla J. Sheridan Le Fau, The Raven by Edgar Ellan Poe, If You Died Tomorrow I Would Eat Your Corpse by Wrath James White, Frankestien by Mary Shelley, Don Juan by George Byron, The Prelude by William Wordsworth, The Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, The Woman in Black by Susan Hill, Uncle Silas by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, The Bad Seed by William March, Drood by Dan Simmons

Films/TV Shows For Inspiration;

Penny Dreadful (2014-2016), Crimson Peak (2015), Dark Shadows (1966-1971), The Innocents (1961), The Others (2001), Stoker (2013), The Awakening (2011), Rebecca (1940), Cat People (1942), Hannibal (2013-2015)

Perfumes;

Poison by Christian Dior, Jasmin Noir by Bvlgari, Lolita Lempicka by Lolita Lempicka, Une Rose by Frederic Malle, Rose Noir by Byredo, De Profundis by Serge Lutens, Noir de Noir by Tom Ford, Velvet Rose & Oud by Jo Malone London, Elizabethan Rose by Penhaligons

Lifestyle;

Listen to Bach, Debussy and Prokofiev, discover antique stores by yourself, write letters to your loved ones, drink jasmine tea in mornings wine or whiskey in evenings, visit your art galleries, take pleasure from your alone time, try to write poetry in 2 am with candlelight and proudly fail,decorate your room with scented candles, empty perfume bottles, music boxes and miniature statues, use pressed flowers as bookmarkers, read in trains, grow red roses, wake up to watch sunrise then go to sleep again, hymn to yourself when you’re alone, buy second hand books, put essential oils in your bath, take walks in nature with a friend and talk about literature for hours, spend hours in your local library

Makeup & hairstyle;

do lovelies curls at the end of your hair, use dark red lipstick, pixie cuts, create messy buns with curls, let your hair dance with wind and clips it with your antique hairclip, put your mascara under your bottom lashes more to make it look like dolly, don’t cover up your dark circles, do loose ponytails with ribbons

Inspired by @roseate-angel ’s posts

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😌💅icylangdon’s fic recs!💅😌

so since today is my birthday and i recently hit 1.5k, i decided i’d do something special and make a fic rec list!! 💅😌y’all gotta check out everything by these writers, bc they’re so fucking talented!! *all these fics are smut! that’s pretty much all i read sooo

Beg- by @katiekitty261

a kinky, nasty smut if i ever saw one. if ur into some serious degradation shit, you’ll love this one. dom!michael. you’ll definitely notice a trend of those kinds of fics in this rec list lmao

Hell- by @langdvn

one of my favorite smuts in existence!! it’s not toooo kinky, but it has that perfect amount of dirty talk to make it extra hot lmao

Indecorous- by @langdvn

some more kinky goodness! dom!long haired!michael. so fuckin hot lol

Soul Radiation (2)- by @lanawintrs

holy ever loving shit, i NEVER get tired of this fic. dubcon, dom!long haired!michael, and rough sex w a bomb ass plot, what more can i say? 

and It Felt like a Kiss- by @lanawintrs

bondage + young!michael langdon = a surprisingly hot combination lmfao. 

Ripe- by @wroteclassicaly

who else would u wanna lose ur virginity to besides michael langdon? this writing is not only hot, but stupidly beautiful. check it outttt

Fiercely Vigilant- by @wroteclassicaly

some rough, jealous sex with long haired michael. what more could u possibly want?

Pleaser- by @langdonsgun

in which michael langdon is a priest….. ya we’re all goin to hell LMFAO

The Touch pt 4- by @ritualmichael

slightly dom!michael, beautifully written, and hot as fuck.

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#inspiration

RE-PROGRAMMING YOUR MINDSET FOR SUCCESS

I feel like I have to share my pathway towards success with you because I spent all my life considering success as the very end of the journey when in reality you can have it all along the way. And I think that understanding this is fundamental, not only for your studies but also for your everyday life.

I’ll start by showing you a little example. During my long stay in Cartagena I had the occasion to do a few salsa dance lessons with some of my friends (yeah cliché I know) and as I was listening to the salsa teacher I kept telling myself that I was too rigid and not coordinated at all and that I’d look terrible dancing.

When we had to practice the moves I couldn’t keep up with the rhythm and honestly, I was a mess. The teacher even came to me to tell me that I was thinking too much about the moves!!

In that very moment, I thought: “ok Margot, now think you’re a latina goddess, you’re sexy and you’re a born-to-be a dancer”. As soon as I started telling this to myself, my moves completely improved. They got so much better that I was the only one in the group who was able to perform all the moves correctly on the first try.

What I want to tell you with this story is : you won’t go anywhere as long as you keep a negative mindset. The second you switch your mindset and you turn it into something positive, a little miracle happen. Just as me being able to perform good dance moves (and trust me that this one is really a true miracle :)

Now, I know it’s easy to say but I really want you to understand this because it’ll change your life like it changed mine : whatever you think about, you become.

The minute you start filling your brain with useless thoughts like “I’m not enough of this”, “I wish I had this”, “I wish I looked like that”, “I’m too fat to wear that”, “I have no self-control”, “I’m bad at maths”, etc. well guess what : you’ll still be bad at maths, you’ll stay sad and in months from now you’ll be stuck in the same place.

Here are some bits of advice about what you should be doing instead. Notice that this post is inspired by Gabrielle Bernstein’s book “The Universe has your Back” and also by other inspiring video’s I watched in the past few months :) 

Focus on your goal and imagine how you’re gonna achieve it, how you’re gonna feel and how proud you will be. Make it as clear as possible. Write it down in your journal if you want. Visualize every single detail. If your goal isn’t clear, it’s ok! You can still think about how you can improve your life or how you can work on just loving yourself more. And don’t be afraid to think big.

Practice positive affirmations. This one will be hard in the beginning because we all are used to focus on the things we don’t have, or the habits we want to get rid of, but we never pay attention to what we already have or why we really want success. Instead of thinking “I want to stop biting my nails so I won’t be ashamed of them” think “I’ll be so proud of myself if I stop biting my nails and I’ll feel more confident!”. Trust me, it makes ALL the difference.

Practice gratitude. You have no idea about the positive impact it has. If you struggle with this, try to make a list of at least 5 things you are grateful for every night before going to bed. Write it in a journal or just think about it for a moment. There’s no “wrong” way to practice gratitude. You can be grateful for the pizza you had today, or your cat. It just has to be positive.

Get some inspiration. Read a new book or look for some videos that inspire you. Get closer to people you admire. Inspiration is so important because it allows you to get a better view of what you want to become. I really started changing my mindset the first time I read “You Are a Badass” by Jen Sincero. It has been so eye-opening to me that I started practicing more and more positive actions ! I also found TED Talks to be really helpful for me!! 

Judge less. I know, we’re all humans. We all judge and it’s totally normal to do so. However, we can modify our judgment towards a lot of situations : whenever you notice yourself judging something or someone, take a step back and think why you are doing so, it’ll help you to see clearer and you’ll let more space for love. You don’t know what’s behind the people you’re judging and it doesn’t help you to reach your goal. Use this energy to work on yourself instead.

Stop comparing yourself. Don’t stop because you think you’ll never be enough. You don’t know what the others are going through, you don’t even know what they are thinking. I remember in my first med school year that I was constantly focusing on what the others were doing and comparing it to what I was working on instead. I spent so much energy doing so instead of studying that it made me fail my exams. And you know what the funniest part is? That the people I valued better than me failed their exams too. This definitely changed my vision! The next year I only focused on myself and on my own study methods and I passed all my exams :) 

Start where you are and celebrate small victories : you’ve been feeling like crap and all you did was taking a shower? It’s fine. You took care of yourself. Be happy about it. Be grateful to be able to do so. Don’t wait for the right moment to start something because the truth is that there’s no right moment and that you’ll never really be ready. Success is more about the journey than the destination. Always remember that.

Stay true to yourself. Don’t seek perfection but start loving every part of yourself instead. Don’t apologize for being authentic because it will allow you to understand what truly matters to you in every situation. Being your own self will also help you focus on your goal and not letting distractions around. You’ll gain confidence as you’ll know what works best for you and you’ll be able to let go of negative things in your life.

Also, don’t apologize for your success and your abundance. You are worth it. You’ve always been. 

I hope these tips will help you to reach your goals! You deserve to be happy and successful!

Margot X

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Editing  & Proofreading Cheat Sheet

– A lot of questions I receive revolve around editing and proofreading, so I decided to make an extensive guide to editing your own writing. I collaborated with some amazing friends on this post so this is dedicated to them as well as all of you. I hope you find it useful. Enjoy!

Know The Difference: Editing vs. Proofreading

Editing is about the content, proofreading is about the technical detail and accuracy. Once you know the difference and you separate the two into different tasks, going through and actually doing it will seem less daunting. Deciding which to tacking first depends on what you’re like when you edit, but if you struggling with focusing on actually improving the content because you get distracted by grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, then proofreading first may be a good idea. 

Be Intentional With Your Vocabulary

Avoid adverbs

Be frugal with unique adjectives

Only use dialogue tags when absolutely necessary

Be mindful of overused words

Take the time to find the right words

The words you choose can make all the difference so pay special attention to them.

Just Keep Snipping

A basic rule to editing that people often forget it, if it doesn’t serve a purpose, you should cut it out. A short book that is amazing all the way through is better than a long book that is redundant. Don’t worry about leaving your readers in the dark or not having enough content. As you edit, you’ll find ways and places in which to input more information.

Flow & Rhythm

This is the part where you make sure the writing itself sounds how you want it to. It’s important to read your writing aloud during this stage. Some things to pay attention to regarding flow and rhythm:

sentence length/variation

sentence structure

syllables and how they fit together

how your writing sounds out loud

Eloquence

Say it once and say it clearly. Redundancy bores readers so quickly, so when putting information forward, be clear, concise, and don’t add fluff. You don’t need to write a whole paragraph about how a character feels in a situation. It’s important to give the reader just enough to read between the lines.

Grammar

Common Grammar Mistakes To Look For

Subject-verb agreement errors

Sentence Fragments

Missing Comma After Introductory Element

Misusing The Apostrophe With “Its”

No Comma In A Compound Sentence

Misplaced Or Dangling Modifier

Vague Pronoun Reference

Wrong Word Usage

Run-On Sentence

Superfluous Commas

Lack Of Parallel Structure

Sentence Sprawl

Comma Splice

Colon Mistakes

Split Infinitives

List from here x {Explains these further and more in depth}

Improper Use of Phrases

“could have” not “could of”

“My friends and I” not “me and my friends” {If you take away “my friends” or “I”, or one of the nouns in a sentence in general, the sentence should still make sense}

“I couldn’t care less” not “I could care less”. This should be a no-brainer.

etc.. I could go on.

Familiarize yourself with these common mistakes and avoid making them at all costs. It’s also helpful to have someone read over it and let you know when they find issues with phrases you used. Please be attentive to these mistakes because making them can destroy your credibility as a writer.

Utilize The Senses

If you’re describing something in your writing, you should be slipping in words and little details that appeal to the reader’s senses, When editing, look for opportunities to slip in how a place smells, how a food tastes, how something feels to the touch, etc. It’s unbelievable how much this enhances your story.

Punctuation & Format

Punctuation Rules In English

the period (or full stop in British English)

the comma

the exclamation mark

the question mark

the colon

the semicolon

the quotation mark

the apostrophe

the hyphen and the dash

parentheses and brackets

Source x

When proofreading and marking up your manuscript, it can save a lot of time and energy if you use marks instead of actually write out everything, so here is a little chart I found that may be useful to you:

Other Things To Look Out For

Make sure you know who is talking

Keep tense consistent

Vary the tone from scene to scene

Run-on sentences

Inconsistencies in story details

Plot holes

Causes and effects of events are explained

Facts and technical details {Make sure you’ve researched them well}

Deviations from established background (know your story really really well and make sure your reader does too)

General Tips

Go in assuming that your work is full of errors. Maybe it’s not, but it’s better to be prepared for the worst and solve the issues now rather than when it’s too late

DO NOT BE SENTIMENTAL. Yes, easier said than done, but it’s possible. 

Make the text less recognizable to yourself in order to catch details you may not otherwise.

Print out your manuscript and physically write out the changes.

Read your writing out loud. Sometimes writing looks like it makes sense, but in reality sounds wrong. 

Do it in short periods over time so that you don’t inevitably get lazy with paying attention to little details

Keep in mind that editing usually takes longer than actually writing the draft because it is less fluid and requires more thought and problem solving.

Don’t rely on spelling and/or grammar checking software; they’re not always correct and can easily misinterpret what you’re trying to get across. 

Check for a single error at a time. It may be time consuming and tedious but it’s more effective than the alternative.

Give yourself time and read slowly through it multiple times

Split up large chunks of text to make it easier to handle. Don’t go through your whole manuscript page by page as if you were just reading it as a book. Go chapter by chapter or scene by scene or even sentence by sentence.

If something seems off, investigate it. Don’t take a chance and leave it be. If you’re stumped, highlight it and have someone else look over it.

Have a strategy. Maybe not at first, especially if you don’t extensively edit your work regularly, but with time you’ll find what works for you and what doesn’t. Create your own system and use it to save yourself some time and confusion.

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Mod Intro: MendaxTheUser

Hey, friends! This is MendaxTheUser the second mod odor the strawberry moon tales zine! Sorry it took so long for me to introduce myself. I'm a bit shy *heheheh* it's my first time modding a zine so be gentle with me.

I'm really excited to working on this project because it combines the three things that I love most: fantasy, comics, and QTPOC!!

Growing up I've always had a special place in my heart for fantasy and comics but it's been a space that's largely white dominated so while I loved these stories I never saw myself in them. I'm hoping with this zine we can contribute and further the growing conversation about representation in our media and in this case fantasy and comics!

I encourage those who share those same feelings to definitely apply and join on this journey!!! I'm so nervous!!

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In case anyone is having a bad night:

Here is the fudgiest brownie in a mug recipe I’ve found

Here are some fun sites

Here is a master post of Adventure Time episodes and comics

Here is a master post of movies including Disney and Studio Ghibli

Here is a master post of other master posts to TV shows and movies

*tucks you in with fuzzy blanket* *pats your head*

You’ll be okay, friend <3

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hello! precalculus is a pretty interesting class if you put your mind to it, and i found some great resources for it so i thought i would share! also, since trigonometry is part of this subject, that’s included too!

khanacademy

purplemath

precalc dictionary!

math forum

mathbff

course notes

notes by topic

amazing formula sheet

sparknotes: math

edX course!!

math study tips

video lessons

ucl instructional videos

quadratic formula song

math professor quotes

+ trig specific

khanacademy!

course notes

how to learn trig

great formula sheet

interactive unit circle

trig identities hexagon

basic trig + graphing

identities and equations

unit circle song!

more masterposts!!

algebra

AP chemistry

AP world history

studyblr-ing

the Everything Book

the pomodoro method

how to use flashcards

how to use sticky notes

welcome to high school

tiny study spaces

what’s in a pencil case

i hope this was of help to you! keep shining like the star you are and remember to be awesome today!!

- Aza

#math

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Milk in a cookie cup

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Cookie in a milk cup.

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Planning Your Cosplay panel, as given at SacAnime Winter 2017

Ever wanted to cosplay someone, but had no idea how to begin? Join cosplayer fabrickind to learn about how to take that first step! Topics covered will include costume choice, breaking down the parts of a costume, buying vs. making, researching materials and methods, and budgeting time and money.

This is just the bare bones of the panel, as many of the examples were elaborated on in-person, and it is just the slides, not any of my notes. It is not meant to be exhaustive or definitive, and is just meant for general advice and suggestion purposes only. If anyone has feedback they would like to give, feel free to do so. That said, I hope that people find this information useful.

Here is a link to a pdf of the presentation. You may download for personal use, but please do not alter the presentation, repost without permission, or do any sort of other unauthorized use. (If you have a question about how you can use this presentation, please send me a message with your question and we can work it out. I promise I’m not scary. ;]) Feel free to reblog this post as much as you want, though. I do these panels and post them because I want the information to be shared.

I hope someone finds this helpful! :]

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Hoy, en el #Cosplay De La Semana:

Mary Rihter interpretando a Alucard del videojuego Castlevania Symphony Of The Night.

Este es probablemente uno de los cosplay mejor elaborados que haya visto, y la señorita bajo el mismo queda perfecta para la galanura y belleza del hijo de Drácula.

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connecting with a fictional character like

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He loves it when we set fire to food and then sing about it. Happy Birthday, to a good old dog.