rachelfoleyisntdead:

leon kennedy go to therapy challenge

mf-d000m:

(via zfyn)

thesungod:

i have criticism for holly black but the way her books in the Faerie land always start with the male protagonist tricking the reader and posing as the classic YA toxic shady love interest, only for the female character to progressively reveal herself as worse than him and scary toxic fucked up violent vengeful killing-biting-gnarling with something deeply wrong within her… nothing but revolutionary.

ofstarsandmoonlightt:

Me, reading The Stolen Heir: I will protect Suren at all costs!

Holly Black, writing that ending: But can you protect her from Jude?

Me, visibly sweating: Well…

slightlyrebelliouswriter23:

literally everyone in Elfhame with the bridle

books-and-draws-eclectic:

SPOILERS FOR THE STOLEN HEIR

Cardan in The Wicked King

“The three of you have one solution to every problem. Murder. No key fits every lock.” Cardan gives us all a stern look, holding up a long-fingered hand with my stolen ruby ring still on one finger. “Someone tries to betray the High King, murder. Someone gives you a harsh look, murder. Someone disrespects you, murder. Someone ruins your laundry, murder.”

Oak in The Stolen Heir

“Kill her while you can,” says the old general softly. He sounds regretful but also resigned.

“That’s your answer to everything,” Oak says.

eddiemunsonsmiddlefingers:

Got another long one for ye ADHD friends courtesy of @sapphirecobalt-1

Most of my academic work involves reading and writing papers so my studying/note taking has developed to suit those needs. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of advice to offer when it comes to studying for something like a chemistry exam where specific information needs to be memorized (though I could certainly do some nosing around and offer thoughts on what I think might work).

With that said! Here ya go. Study and note taking thoughts from an adult with ADHD:

Lecture notes:

• I handwrite my notes. I used to use notebooks, but now I use 3x5 index cards (blank/lineless, numbered in case I drop them) because they waste less paper, force me to be concise, and are easily replaced/reordered if I want to do that. If I forget my book/cards, I write in the front cover or margins of my textbook, on the back of printed articles, or I borrow paper from a classmate. One time I took notes on my forearm.
• I never type my notes; in my experience it is actually better to take no notes at all and then summarize from what I remember later than it is to open my laptop in class for any reason.
• My notes are usually just a bullet list of lecture topics and how they relate. If I can get a lecture outline ahead of time to help me visualize the structure it’s helpful, but it isn’t necessary for success.
• I include my own thoughts/interpretations/questions with my lecture notes. In fact, I make a point of doing so, because it helps me process and internalize what I’m learning. However, I draw a box around them so I don’t mistake them for lecture material.
• Within a day or two of lecture I transcribe my notes, sans personal thoughts, into a Google Doc. I usually offer to take notes for a classmate or two at the beginning of term because it gives me external incentive to a) take notes and b) transcribe them in a timely fashion.
• Once I’m done transcribing, I close the Doc and never open it again. (I’m not joking.) I have found that typing them out noticeably reinforces what I learned, but reviewing them in that format does nothing for me.
• The thoughts and questions I had during lecture go onto their own notecards (one for each), with a line indicating where and how I had that thought. If they’re related to something I’ve already studied or thought about, I’ll put my new card with the existing card it’s related to. I’ll talk about my indexing system later on.
• When I’m reviewing for midterms or lectures, I’ll read through my physical cards rather than the Doc. I may or may not add new thought cards as I go.

Studying:

• I learned the hard way not to study where I play, which means I don’t do homework on my desktop. I don’t even do homework in the same ROOM as my desktop. Ideally, I go to the school library and study there, but if that isn’t possible I’ll sit at my dining room table or on the porch.
• Something about trying to read on a computer screen (or even a tablet) completely destroys my ability to pay attention / retain what I’m learning, so I print out assigned articles and rent or buy textbooks. Yes, I am aware this is terrible for the environment; one of the items on my ‘to do’ list is finding a solution to this problem.
• My school has a 10 week term, so I have 10 folders. At the start of term, I put all my week 1 readings in the “week 1” folder, all of week 2 in week 2, etc. This means I only need to carry one folder around, and always know where to find xyz reading when I inevitably need to refer to it later. This doesn’t work for classes with textbooks, obviously; for those, I’ll include a single sheet with class name + assigned pages so I remember to read them.
• At the end of term I take them all out and put them in an indexed binder so I can find them again when I need them (because chances are strong I will, given I’m taking classes super-focused on my specific area of interest), then reuse the folders for the next term.
• I use the library to a potentially excessive degree. I study there, I walk through the stacks when I’m bored, I check out and read physical books to support my arguments in my papers, I talk to the librarians about what I’m studying to gain new insight…it’s an infinitely useful resource AND it’s inherently soothing to be there.
• I write and doodle all over the stuff I print out and books that I own / are rented with a 'writing okay’ clause. (I ended up purchasing a textbook I’d originally rented because I wrote “FUCK THIS SHIT WITH A BASEBALL BAT” in Sharpie up and down the margins of every page in a specific chapter. They would have accepted the return (no really, I’ve seen worse in rentals), but I rather treasure that memory, tbh.)
• I also abuse the shit out of highlighters. I TRY to focus on the important points, but the thing is, I don’t actually expect my highlights to be useful later. That’s not why I use them. I do it because it keeps my brain on what I’m reading in the moment that I’m reading it, and saves my fingers from being chewed into oblivion.
• I use 3x5 cards to note down the stuff that I do want to reference later, exactly the same as I do for lecture notes. I try to rephrase because again, processing aid, but sometimes I’ll just write down exactly what the author said, in quotes. Either way I include the title, author, and page # on every card.
• If I have my own thoughts about something I read I’ll write all over the reading as I mentioned, but I’ll also put them on their own cards, just as I do with my lecture thoughts. I always include the inspiring source, even if what I have to say includes no part of the source material, because I may not remember later and a) I may have misinterpreted what I read and b) plagiarism is bad.
• New cards based on written (or video) source material are numbered chronologically. Personal thought cards added in later (from lecture or readings) have the related card’s number + a letter. (So existing card 3 may have thought cards labeled 3A, 3B, 3C; if I have an additional thought related to 3C I would label it 3C.1, etc.) This is a fairly clunky adaptation of the zettelkasten method, which I’m hoping to fully adopt as I move into writing my thesis this year. It’s like an analog wiki of your own brain and the entire concept fascinates me. Basically I have a rapidly growing collection of interconnected thoughts and resources at my fingertips when I’m writing papers and it’s been world-changing.
• I love music, but if I’m having trouble concentrating then music makes it worse, not better…even if there are no lyrics. This pisses me off to literally no end! However, it’s inarguable that turning my music completely off is the only reason I finished one of my finals by the deadline last term.
• A lot of academic writing is incredibly dull to read, and it can require herculean effort to stay on task even when I’m interested in the subject matter. I have had some success with reading only the first sentence of each paragraph in a reading, then going back and reading the whole thing. This sort of…mentally prepares me…for what’s ahead in a way that a summary or abstract cannot.
• The Pomodoro method also helps with dull readings; 10 minutes on one reading, stop, 10 minutes on another, stop, 10 minutes on a third, stop, 5 minute break, 10 more minutes on the first. Etc. If you do this, I’d recommend setting a bunch of timers ahead of time. Otherwise, every time you go to reset the timer you run the risk of being distracted by app notifications.
• If I’m getting antsy and thinking about going home / getting food / checking social media when it isn’t a break time, I try simply moving to a different table before I give up entirely. Sometimes I’m just tired of sitting still, so that slight shift is all I really need to get back into it.
• I will put my phone in my backpack, zip it up, and put it under my table if I’m struggling to drag myself away from it. I also avoid opening my laptop until/unless I absolutely must.
• If I’m really struggling to focus on writing a paper, I’ll sign out of all my social media accounts and delete Discord off my laptop. It’s easy enough to get back in when I’m done, but not SO easy that they remain an immediate distraction.
• In direct contradiction to everything I’ve said about electronics being distracting: I’ve found that posting on Tumblr about what I’m up to / need to do / should be doing actually helps me get shit done—as long as I’m not doing that INSTEAD of studying. I suspect it loops back to the same external accountability thing that offering to take notes for my classmates gives me.

Okay. That was a lot. I’m happy to go into more detail about anything y'all have questions about!

silvermoon424:

Trying to negotiate with my ADHD and depression-having ass to do basic tasks like I’m navigating a hostage situation

dxmxuse:

A few things ive been doing recently that help manage my adhd

Not sure if this will help anyone but i’ve made a list of things ive been working really hard to do to help manage my adhd and general inability to be a functional adult:

• Make reminder posters! Get on canva and create personalized posters to put around your room/house to help remind you to do daily things like take your meds, feed pets, take out trash, etc.
• Keep a junk notebook! Anything you think of that cant do immediately write it down. If its important it’ll help you remember it, if not it saves you from getting distracted or making impulsive decisions. (This is especially helpful if you tend to get distracted when studying!)
• CLEAN AS YOU GO! Whether its taking a cup out of your room every time you leave or washing each dish immediately after use. If you can develop this habit it keeps your space so much cleaner!
• Have two laundry bins: one for worn but not dirty things and one for dirty things. It limits what ends up on your floor!
• Make use of bins. I have several around my apartment that I use for things that dont have a home. Once those bins are full, I go through them and discard or find a permanent home for them.
• Don’t study/work at home. Even if it means buying a $5 coffee just so you can sit in a spot and effectively work, its much better than getting so behind on tasks you get overwhelmed.

It takes some work to develop habits and im far from perfect with all of these, but if I can do these things even 3 days a week it makes a huge difference!