Finished a doodle i made for father’s day

the creator of mystery flesh pit had someone on reddit write a narrative on the whole flesh pit universe!! it’s called “down the rabbit hole” by hypnoticwinter and i think u can read it on epub or through ao3.

from the reddit post:

i’m in the first section of the novel and it’s actually rly compelling so far. it really fleshes out the worldbuilding in a really interesting way so it’s great for anyone who’s like, super into the lore like i am

(also OP tagged it as “LGBTQ themes” so i’m like 👀)

♪♫ Cause I long for a feeling of home
Real life, depicted in song
A loving memory
After long, home is a place where I yearn to belong ♫♪

(Pose reference in the replies.)

what to do during your pomodoro breaks

so, um hi! i know that there’s a lot of these posts out there, but somehow i never find one when i need one, so here’s one more with a collection of things to do in those breaks!

one: short breaks

i. hydrate yourself and eat!

• really important! if you don’t do both of these things, your productivity and health will diminish. 
  
• get a study snack! here’s a post by @lovegoodmd (viastudies) which lists snacks that are tasty and good for brain power!
• get a glass of water! here’s a post by @studytildawn that explains why you should drink water and how much a day! 
• here’s a self-care masterpost by @studyign which has a section on food/water. 

ii. exercise!

• tbh you don’t even need a workout app or video for this. just do x number of x exercise (i like jumping jacks and squats). 
  
• but you can also use an app like sworkit (ios & android) which has an option for 5 min. workouts!
• or you can find a video on youtube! i personally don’t know any fitness channels but i’m sure you can find some. 
• also you could just turn on your favourite song and dance to it. if you’re self-conscious about your dancing like me close the curtains hahaha

iii. find motivation to go on!

• scroll through a studyblr and look at studyspo & motivational graphics!
  
• make a small motivation wall – remind yourself of your goals, maybe how you will reward yourself, etc. 
• here are some of my favourite graphics/posts: x x x x x
• also here are some masterposts! 
• motivation by @areistotle
• feel unmotivated? by @enstudy
• watch a studytube video! studyign, nehrdist and tbhstudying are the studytube channels i regularly watch, but there’s probably many more. 

iv. tbh you don’t even have to be productive… 

• it’s your break right? do something you enjoy or just relax!
  
• watch a not-studytube video? 
• read a chapter of a book you’re reading! or even start a new book why not
• doodle! on your notes or on a scrap piece of paper. 
• write? doesn’t have to be long, maybe one of these six word stories, or google writing prompts, you’ll find so many results!!
• here’s a post on relaxation by @aurumstudies
• also you can just scroll through tumblr. it’s fine. studyblr is not going to kill you.

two: long breaks

tbh you can do all the things you can do in short breaks, but there’s a little more options! 

i. hydrate and eat!

• again, do it!!!! maybe in your long break you can even make something because you have a little more time!! 
  
• here’s my food tag, there’s food pictures but also recipes in there!
• have fun making something for you to eat after! 
• also take your time! no one is going to die if you go a little over the 15 minutes timer because you’ve decided to make something a little too complicated. 
• plus you don’t even have to eat it in your break, you can take your snack to your study space with you and eat it while rereading your notes or something. 

ii. exercise! 

• with a little more time, you can find a workout even better! 
  
• again, you can just find a video or an app. 
• i really like the 7-Minute workout app (i only found it for ios but there’s probably an equivalent for android?)
• a little related to this: take a shower! 
• if you just exercised you might feel smelly/uncomfortable/whatever after so it might be a good idea to take a shower. 
• also taking a shower really makes you feel better! baths are great too, especially with bath bombs. 

 iii. find motivation

for motivation you can basically just do the same things you can in the short breaks, so i won’t list them again hahaha. 

iv. tbh you don’t even have to be productive…

• text or call a friend! if your schedule is tight and you really can only afford to take a 15 min break, make sure to tell them that you can’t chat for a long time. 
• talk to your parents/siblings (or call them if you don’t live with them) and tell them how much you love them/appreciate them/etc. everyone loves feeling appreciated. 
• or even just update them on what you’ve been doing! rant to them about how chemistry is muddling your brain or how you just can’t seem to understand this new math concept. chances are, they’ll sympathize with you and maybe (if they’re your parents or older siblings) share some stories of their own school life. 
• put a song on and sing as loud as you can! even if you don’t think you sing well, sing. it will make you feel better. 
• bonus points if you choose a song that reflects your current emotion or mindset! my personal favourite is stressed out by twenty one pilots bahaah 
• also try opera. it’s really dramatic and you can act it out + people that are not classically trained generally can’t sing opera anyway so it’s not much of a matter of having a good voice or not!

v. misc, but productivity

if you’re really stressed about whatever exam, refer to this section. otherwise, enjoy your break. 

• work on a different subject! seriously, it refreshes your brain so much. 
  
• use a different study method for the subject you’re studying. obviously keep in mind what works and what doesn’t for you. if you know for a fact that flashcards don’t work, don’t use flashcards. 
• if your go-to study method is making mind maps, try flowcharting/making cause and effect diagrams instead. if you like re-reading your notes, make flashcards. if you usually watch videos, record yourself saying your notes and listen to the recording. 
• point is, try something else. 
• study another area of the subject. this works especially for all englobing exams, but even with unit exams you can do this. 
• if so far you’ve only studied key concepts, try finding the most important vocabulary and studying that. 
• or if unit 1.1 gives you trouble, try 1.2 and 1.3 and go back to 1.1 after. 
• watch a documentary? i don’t have netflix but i heard that there are multiple educational documentaries on various subjects on there! also you can probably find some on youtube, in addition to other educational videos. 
• come up with mnemonics for lists and vocabulary! also write them down somewhere, especially if you’re a reading/writing type of learner. 
• decorate your notes: doodle in the margins or highlight some key concepts. here’s my tag for tips on note-taking which also has some tips for decorating them!

so i hope i could help and you liked it! i know for sure that i helped myself hahaha anyway you can always leave suggestions in my ask for other masterposts or tips posts! 

- ant

It’s sad how much of what is taught in school is useless to over 99% of the population.

There are literally math concepts taught in high school and middle school that are only used in extremely specialized fields or that are even so outdated they aren’t used anymore!

I took calculus my senior year of high school, and I really liked the way our teacher framed this on the first day of class.

He asked somebody to raise their hand and ask him when we would use calculus in our everyday life. So one student rose their hand and asked, “When are we going to use this in our everyday life?”

“NEVER!!” the teacher exclaimed. “You will never use calculus in your normal, everyday life. In fact, very few of you will use it in your professional careers either.” Then he paused. “So would you like to know why should care?”

Several us nodded.

He picked out one of the varsity football players in the class. “You practice football a lot during the week, right Tim?” asked the teacher.

“Yeah,” replied Tim. “Almost every day.”

“Do you and your teammates ever lift weights during practice?”

“Yeah. Tuesdays and Thursdays we spend a lot of practice in the weight room.”

“But why?” asked the teacher. “Is there ever going to be a play your coach tells you use during a game that requires you to bench press the other team?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then why lift weights?”

“Because it makes us stronger,” said Tim.

“Bingo!!” said the teacher. “It’s the same thing with calculus. You’re not here because you’re going to use calculus in your everyday life. You’re here because calculus is weightlifting for your brain.”

And I’ve never forgotten that.

THIS.

When it’s taught right, learning math teaches you logic and how to organize your brain, how to take a problem one step at a time and make sure every step can bear weight before you move to the next one.  Most adults don’t need to know integrals, but goddamn if I don’t wish everyone making arguments on the internet understood geometric proofs.

Scientific concepts broaden our understanding of how the world is put together, which does not mean that most adults ever really understand how light is refracted through a lens or why spinning copper wire creates electricity–and they don’t need to.  But science classes in general are meant to teach the scientific method: how to make observations and use them to draw conclusions, how to test those conclusions, how to be wrong and grow stronger from it.

History isn’t about dates and names of battles, it’s about people, patterns, things we’ve tried before and ought to learn from.  It’s about how everything is linked, how changing one circumstance can lead to changes in fifty others, cascading infinitely.  Literature is about critical thinking, pattern recognition, learning to listen to what somebody is saying and decide what it means to you, how you feel about it, and what you want to do with it.

Some facts matter: every adult should know how to read a graph, how global warming works, some of the basic themes and symbols that crop up in every piece of fiction.  But ultimately, content is less important later in life than context.

The good thing is, students who learn the content are likely to pick up at least some of the context, some of the patterns of thinking, even if they don’t realize it.  (The unfortunate thing is how the current educational system prioritizes content so much that a lot of students, and a lot of adults, don’t see the point in learning either, and teachers are overworked and held to standardize test grading scales such that it’s hard for them to emphasize patterns of thinking over rote memorization, etc etc etc, but that is a whole different discussion.)

thank u <3

hi everyone! since one of my goals was to read a lot more this summer, i wanted to talk about what i did to make reading a bigger part of my routine. i really missed reading as much as i did as a kid so i wanted to see if i could recreate that feeling

before i start, we have to consider that as adults we generally don't have as much free time & have a lot of obligations that make finding time to read a bit difficult. this post is more about using the free time that i do have for reading rather than making more free time in general. second, sometimes the barrier to reading is due to mental illness, so if you're not feeling energized enough to read, take care of yourself first before even worrying about it <3

the first step i took was to make a reading list to cut down on time looking for new books in between. this let me start a new book right after finishing another, which made me feel like i was doing a "streak" haha.

next, when i started out in the summer, i tried to stick to shorter books and work my way to bigger books. this was to give me a boost of confidence at the beginning and keep myself motivated. now i'm up to 600+ books and i feel like if i started with those, i would've given up pretty quickly. this is especially important because i don't read as often in my native language, so my reading time doubles as language learning time and i want to give myself those little victories as well

i also tried to be consistent about WHEN i read -- so for an hour when i woke up and for an hour when i go to bed at least. i have a lot of free time during the summer so this is doable for me, but again, don't stress if you can't fit two hours or more into your day. reading one page is better than reading nothing at all.

then for reading itself, i either always set a timer or had a page goal. i'm not the type to sit and read a whole book in one sitting and i like to have time to process it. if i sit and read too much, it feels like when you're chugging water but you've already had way too much, you just want to stop. so i always stopped when the timer went off / when i reached the goal. wanted to keep it enjoyable

during this time as well, i was really strict about phone use -- i could only use my phone's dictionary, but no stopping to text or anything. i really needed the focused time. i also would listen to music without lyrics, so nintendo music, classical music, lofi beats to study to, guitar covers, whatever works.

i also tried audiobooks!! a lot easier for me to follow w/ my disability and i'm glad i gave them a listen. they let me spend time at work reading as well, and since i used my library card w/ libby i didn't have to pay a cent.

and lastly: i tried as hard as possible to engage with the text, so that includes reading interviews from the author and critical works, taking notes, writing down my emotions and quotes that stood out to me, anything that could make the process more interactive. definitely heightened the experience for me!! but yeah that's it!! thank you for reading hehe. if u have other tips or ideas that were helpful to you let me know!!!