The Spread Of The Black Death.

As if you did not want this to happen

fun studying tip: if you’re a procrastinator, play tom jones’s “what’s new pussycat” on repeat while writing your papers and do not turn it off until you are finished, it will motivate you to finish that essay as quickly as possible

it worries me so much that there’s been this (mostly unintentional) culture built up around coming out, to where young lgbt kids are putting themselves in danger at school and at home because they don’t want to “live a lie.” i just want to say, i came out when i was 15 and it created a lot of difficulties in my life that i could have avoided by waiting until i was older. it isolated me socially, it exposed me to homophobia from my parents, my family, my teachers, and my classmates at the most important developmental stages of my own confidence and sense of self… closeted people are not living a lie. closeted people are surviving. don’t let anyone pressure you to come out before you’re ready. don’t put yourself at risk when you don’t have to.

about periods

they’re the worst

make sure you have Comfy Clothes

heat packs/hot water bottles? absolute essentials

if you don’t have them, lying on ur stomach helps LOADS

if you’re feeling nauseous, the smell of peppermint eases the nausea. no one likes throwing up. if you don’t have an aroma diffuser, drip a few drops of peppermint oil into a cup of water, smell it if you feel like puking

chocolate !!! especially dark chocolate

hot drinks, like soup,,,,, or tea !!! hot tea is so nice during periods, and it has health benefits !!

ice cream is nice but not great for periods :( TEA IS GOOD !!!!!!

this list goes out to anyone who doesn’t have periods as well. if u know someone who has periods, know that cramps are bitches. help them out.

sometimes the nausea gets really bad, but ALWAYS REMEMBER TO EAT REFULAR MEALS. when u wanna puke eating is hard, i understand sweetie but even a snack. not eating makes the nausea worse.

if the cramps get real bad, remember to BREATHE. unclench your jaw, loosen your shoulders and neck, breathe in for 4 seconds, out for 5. repeat.

if there’s someone to rub ur back or play with your hair, ask them to !!

seriously, it feels better

periods are like small demon babies that bloat your stomach for five days and make u feel icky, you deserve someone to rub ur back for ten fucking minutes goddammit

keep hydrating. water, tea, whatevs. but hydrate.

pee regularly, change your pad/tampon regularly. REMEMBER THIS. set reminders if you need to.

play some chill music, watch a sitcom

REMEMBER THE HOT WATER BOTTLE. THAT SHIT IS A LIFESAVER

i’m lying on my stomach as i type this now and i feel the sweet warmth blossoming in my sad bloated stomach where the bad gremlin period baby is hiding

THIS GOES OUT TO PEOPLE WHO DONT’T HAVE PERIODS

THIS GOES OUT TO PEOPLE WHO DONT’T HAVE PERIODS

THIS GOES OUT TO PEOPLE WHO DONT’T HAVE PERIODS

THIS GOES OUT TO PEOPLE WHO DONT’T HAVE PERIODS

THIS GOES OUT TO PEOPLE WHO DONT’T HAVE PERIODS

THIS GOES OUT TO PEOPLE WHO DONT’T HAVE PERIODS

seriously please help us we are but sad uterus-bearing souls haunted by stupid blood babies

please

good luck ladies ily all

oh yea if you sleep a certain way (on your stomach, on your side, etc) make sure to adjust your pad so that you won’t leak

borax is good for cleaning period stains

Sometimes, when we are presenting, our bodies act completely irrationally. Sweating, stuttering, or just shutting down completely are all things I have encountered during public speaking; behaviour that is usually connected to extreme danger and fleeing behaviour. Completely unnecessary, as your teacher won’t kill you (hopefully), but trying to convince your body to be just as rational is a tough task. Turns out that this is exactly what we’re going to do. 

The basis for this (personal) advice all lies in my musical training, where posture is extremely important. Performance practice lessons have taught me one important thing: you can trick your body into thinking it’s okay, and with that, your audience. disclaimer: I have posted this information before in a slightly different way. Regard this as an updated version. Hopefully one with better spelling.

hoooooow???

Stand up and try to follow these instructions. I’m your only audience right now, so mistakes aren’t a problem. 

Start by relaxing your shoulders. Many people tense their shoulders when they’re anxious, which is a very natural reaction. However, tension in your shoulder automatically reaches through to your back and arms, and even your neck, tensing up your entire upper body. It’s confirming to your brain that yes! this is scary! Well, brain is wrong and we’re going to prove it wrong by relaxing our shoulders. Just let them hang down (make sure you don’t start leaning forward though, it should be just your shoulders). Doesn’t that immediately feel more relaxed?

Keep your feet a little bit apart, firm on the ground. This sends the message to your brain and audience that a single push will not have you fall over. Standing with your legs closely together simply isn’t as stable, and you want to radiate stability and confidence. Even if you’re feeling dizzy, this simple way of pretending will keep your feet on the ground. Literally. 

Chin up, back straight, eyes at the audience. I used to tend to look at the ground, or to lean forward. No, no no! You want to maintain an open posture, and to address the entire audience. When you do this, you’ll look more secure, and maybe you’ll even notice people will listen to you more closely. Make sure you address the entire room, and not just one spot. if you’re scared to look at faces, look at the back wall. But not just one spot, find some nice different wall spots to look at. 

What to do with your hands? I know I used to put my hands in my pocket, or fidget with something. Instead, try to talk with your hands more. When you’re using gestures, people will usually pay more attention to what you’re saying, and there’s even research that suggests it enhances understanding.

Do not hide. This is special advice to musicians, too. I used to hide behind my music stand because it was nice and safe. During public speaking it’s easy to hide behind some notes or to stand behind other people of your group, maybe. Don’t. Remember, fake the confident posture till you make it. 

When you’re finished, don’t stop pretending just yet. When people ask how it went, always say it went okay. This is so so so important! Because if you’d say “ugh it was awful!! So many things went wrong, I suck at presenting!” they’ll start thinking hmm, yeah, there were indeed some mistakes… Could have been better. Whereas if you just say it was okay or good, or even decent, they’ll hardly even question it and will most likely remember the positive aspects, as humans tend to do. 

I promise this works, at least to some extent. It may not help you get rid of anxiety right away, especially in really severe cases, but it can help you feel more at ease in front of a group. After that, you can start working on other things, such as volume, intonation, powerpoint use etc. 

Just take a few seconds before you start talking to breathe, focus on those muscles, and to follow this with an amazing presentation (and a good grade). 

You can always send me an ask for advice on public speaking! Even though I’m not a professional coach or whatever, I have overcome my speaking anxiety and maybe I can be of any help at all

Sam Wilson is so slept on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom

I know, I know, Sam is just a retired soldier with a set of wings and guns that Steve only seems to fully rely on. He definitely would lose a fight to even someone like Natasha, who doesn’t have serum, viking magic and/or full body armor.

I had that argument with my male cousin about how useful Sam is in the MCU team lineup. That he appears more sidekick than the first African-American superhero, which he is. T'Challa is the first Black/African superhero and Sam Wilson is the first African-American superhero. But don’t get me wrong I love me some Bucky. However, Sam Wilson is the underdog of the MCU and its fandom and I have a really soft spot for the underdogs of any fandom.

I marvel at the fact he is willing to go toe to toe with any villians the Avengers face, despite him only having wings, Redwing and guns. Someone reminded me Sam had only a gun when he first faced off with Hydra before he strapped on his wings to drop kick the Winter Soldier. The fact that he could do all that when he was a retired citizen; his only real training regiment he had before joining the team was jogging around the Mall before dawn after his retirement and he was able to handle his own against Hydra and the like.

I also, dont care much for the double-standards. I mean Bucky could render Steve Roger’s into an invalid and Steve and the fandom would defend his actions. But if Sam drinks the rest of the milk and Bucky wanted cereal that day, the MCU fandom going to give my guy Sam all the smoke.

Lol, the fact that Sam was hated on so hard just for not pulling up his seat cause he still ain’t forgive Bucky for nearly killing him three damn times.

Bruh, if you tried to kill me and totaled both my car and wings and all I do is not give you some legroom, you should be happy. Especially when Bucky still had kill commands in his head.

Lol, people keep forgetting Sam left his perfectly good 9 to 5 job with benefits at the Veterans Affairs to chase Bucky ass all across the world to give Steve some peace of mind. Bucky crew also need to stop hating on Sam’s legit concerns and need to don the Captain Petty cape every once in a while. Cause even though Sam is petty. He never tries to handle Bucky with kid gloves. He gives Bucky the same energy and short of telling him no and shut up, has been nothing but nice to the guy. I bet soon their on screen dynamics will mirror the flirty love/hate friendship of the actors who play them Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan.

I also marvel at the fact that Sam Wilson is the only Avenger in Infinity War pt. 1, who managed to mend the most bridges after Civil War broke up our lovable boy band. I know, I know, what about Bruce and Thor. They werent involved in Civil War and so didnt need to choose sides and sadly hurt feelings. So they dont count. Sam was in the thick of it though.

Think about it… He was one of the first Avengers that turned down signing the Accords. It was his decision, he didnt just blindly follow Cap like some happy go lucky sidekick everyone labels him as. Rhodey, Natasha and Vision got into a heated debate on the validity of signing the Accords with him.

But Sam never signed up to be at the call of some entity ; especially after Steve came running to him after the curruptness of SHEILD. Sam had a life before he decided to help Steve and if he had wanted to be a soldier he’d have join Nick Fury instead of volunteering to help Steve find Bucky.

Sam knew Steve needed him more and the fact that Steve felt at ease leaving his second best friend to search for his first should mean something. Steve could have relied on anyone to help him with Bucky or come to Peggy’s funeral and he choose to take Sam because guy is loyal and Steve’s ride or die. Sam was actually the only one to ask if Steve was happy and if he ever thought of being something other than Captain America.

Sam might not be the strongest, but he definitely the bridge/mediator among the group. Tony went to Sam in Civil War at the end not just cause he knew where Bucky and Steve were going cause they could have told the other team before the fight in the airport; it was also because Tony knew Sam would at least hear him out instead of throwing insults like Scott did when they were in lockup. Sam could have said no simply because, despite fighting through PTSD and trying to save Rhodey, Tony blasted Sam when he couldnt dave him. But he didnt because Sam was the bigger man and knew Tony was in his feelings.

If Sam had been hit by the blast that Tony issued to Vision to make Sam ‘a glider’ he would have died. If that blast crippled Rhodey and he had full-bodied armor than someone with goggles, wings and light armor would have died if he hadn’t air rolled out of the way.

But Sam tried to save Rhodey cause at the end of the day they are friends. He apologized to Tony because he knows first hand how it feels to try to rescue a friend and risk lose them because you just weren’t fast enough. It happened with Riley and he never begrudge Steve for getting his best friend back 'despite the years and brainwashing’ after a fall that should have killed him. He is not like that.

Sam and Rhodey gave one of the warmest greetings letting you know clearly there was no hard feelings and that they were friends.

Vision and Sam clearly bear no ill will towards each other despite being initally on opposing sides and Vision nearly killing Sam. Sam even volunteered to support an injured Vision and was part of the rescue mission to save Vision.

Sam was the one who recruited Scott Lang. One of the same people that fought and beat him in Ant-Man, he was humble enough to see his worth and recruit him.

Bucky who have fought each other on sight because Bucky keep breaking Sam’s shit and trying to kill him, are even cool. By Infinity War, despite the frosty glare when Steve greets Bucky, Bucky and Sam have been in sync and have fought along side each other in both Civil War and Infinity Wars

Despite all the mistakes Sam and his friends have made since Civil War, Sam is the most, warm-hearted, forgiving, genuine guy on the team. He is someone who will stay loyal to you, but will voice his opinion when need be. Sam is still good with all the members of Team Captain America and not only is he still good with them, he is clearly friends with a lot of Team Iron Man in Infinity War when it is clear some can’t let bygones be bygones even with a threat like Thanos afoot.

So stop sleeping on my guy Sam Wilson. 'Cause everyone on the Avengers team serves a purpose and who wouldn’t want a ride or die in their pocket?

Writing great friendships

Some of the best chemistry/relationships in fiction exist between characters who are/become friends. Here are some tips for making friendships come alive on the page:

1. Banter

One of the most interesting aspects of fictional friendships is the way the characters interact with each other whilst important plot points are occurring.

If your characters have easy banter, teasing one another without missing a beat and managing to bounce off each other even in the toughest circumstances, it will be clear to the reader that these two are/should be good friends.

Friends know each other well. They know the other’s character so well that they can easily find something to tease each other over. However, this also means knowing which topics are off-limits.

If you want to write a good, healthy friendship, your characters shouldn’t use humour/sarcasm as a way to hurt the other. It should be good-natured and understood as such from both sides.

Different friendships will have different types of chemistry. Some friends may tease each other with facial expressions. Others may already anticipate a snarky remark and counter it before it’s been spoken. Others will have physical ways of goofing around. 

Some friends might not tease each other at all. Banter isn’t necessary; it’s just a good way to make your characters come alive and make their friendship one that is loved by readers.

What’s important is chemistry - the way they automatically react to each other.

Think Sam and Dean in Supernatural or Juliette and Kenji in the Shatter Me series.

2. Mutual support 

Unless you purposefully want to write an unhealthy/toxic friendship, your characters should both be supportive of the other. 

This means that, even if one is the MC and the other the side-kick, both should be cognisant of the other’s feelings and problems, and should be considerate in this regard.

Few things will make your MC as likable as remembering to check in and be there for their best friend even when they are in the thick of a crisis.

You need to show your characters being vulnerable in front of each other and being supportive in ways that are tailored to the needs of each friend.

So, if one of the characters really responds to physical comfort, the other should know to give hugs/rub their back when they’re not feeling well. Similarly, if one of them doesn’t like being touched and responds to material comfort, have the other bring them ice cream and join them for a movie marathon. Whatever works for your characters.

What gets me every time is when a character is falling apart and won’t listen to/be consoled by anyone but their best friend (but this is just personal preference).

3. Knowing the other’s past/family life

This really only applies to characters who have been friends for quite a while.

Good friends know each other’s backstory - the highs and lows and mundane details. They know they layout of their family home and they probably know their family members well.

Friends will often talk about these things, only having to mention a few words for the other to know what they’re talking about i.e. “The ‘09 Thanksgiving disaster” or “You know how Uncle Fred is”

This will instantly make it clear that your characters are close and have come a long way together. 

Perhaps there are issues at home/trauma from the past that the other character will immediately understand. So, if one character appears with a black eye, their friend might know that the father was probably drunk the night before and got violent. Or if the character has a nightmare, the friend might know that it was about childhood abuse etc.

This can also apply to good things i.e. if one of the characters gets a nice note in their lunchbox, the other might know that their grandma is in town.

Whatever works for your story should be used to indicate the level of unspoken understanding the friends have.

4. Being protective

Few things will make your readers love a friendship more than the friends being fiercely protective of each other (in a healthy, non-territorial way).

Has someone hurt one of the characters? The other should be furious and want to exact revenge. Does someone say something demeaning to one of the friends? The other should defend them immediately and vehemently.

This can also take on a humorous twist if one of the characters starts dating someone. The friend can make extra sure that said date is sincere and promise to exact vengeance if their friend is hurt.

This can also be a great plot device, since it could explain why the MC’s best friend joins the quest/goes along on the journey. Perhaps this is the main plot point: a character seeking to protect/avenge their friend.

If you want to go in a toxic direction, this can be taken too far i.e. a friend who never lets the other spend time with anyone else/stalks the other/is patronising etc.

5.  Common interest(s)

Even if the two characters are vastly different, there should be something that keeps them together besides loyalty.

This is especially important for characters who become friends throughout the course of the novel.

This doesn’t have to mean that both of them go hiking every weekend or want to become pilots one day. It could be something small, like a love of cheesy movies or a shared taste in music. Maybe they both enjoy silence/don’t like other people. Maybe they are both social justice warriors, but for different causes. 

This could also be common characteristics instead of interests. Perhaps both are very ambitious/funny/social.

There should just be some factor that ignited the friendship and brings the two of them together.

This doesn’t necessarily have to be a big part of your story, but you should at least have it mentioned to make the friendship appear more authentic.

Reblog if you found these tips useful. Comment if you would like a Part 2. Follow me for similar content.

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homophobes are not allowed to use computers because the inventor of the computer was gay

i cant believe its daylight savings time and i havent seen the “hello its me your cousin oskaar from iceland” video on my dash yet you are all slackers

Behold,

Hell

HELLO I REGRET NOTHING

N I N E FELIX LAUGH COMPILATIONS IN THE BACKGROUND AND @metademon’s LOVELY ART