the things we cherish are small indeed

you encounter a secunit for the first time.

it saves your life in a situation where no one else would have been fast, strong, agile, and composed enough to do so.

your security team is immediately more alarmed by its presence than the attack that is obvious to you as the bigger issue at the moment

they insist it's dangerous and struggle to relax enough to take their weapons off of it

then a combatbot attacks your group

somehow this secunit, much smaller than the bot, unarmored, without any heavy weaponry on its person, manages to take it down. some real jaw-dropping action, all over in less than a minute

then it leaps into a room with two combatbots and not only survives, but it gets your unconscious friend out alive

then it immediately comes to your own rescue, disabling impressive combat armor

it then is dead-set on killing your attacker who is already immobilized and harmless

clearly this is an incredibly competent and dangerous and powerful person

then miki tells you that it IS rin and you finally put it together that not only is this person competent in the field, but it is also calling all its own shots and has truly come here all on its own and volunteered its services to help and protect you without needing to be asked or ordered

so this person is incredibly competent, dangerous, powerful, AND kind, AND fiercely protective, AND reassuring, AND intelligent, AND selfless

and it's still coming up with great ideas and still thinking proactively about how it's going to face down or distract another combatbot as though there's no doubt in the world that it, still bleeding heavily, still unarmored and barely armed, is ready for another round with a terrifying machine that appears to be nothing BUT armor and weapons

so you step forward to help treat its injuries

and it jerks back a step with the single most frightened face you've ever seen, as though you had lifted your arm to inflict pain and it was helpless to stop you

behind you, even miki can read the devastating expression that's breaking your heart and says "abene won't hurt you, secunit"

where did the fearsome fighter from moments ago disappear to?

The Original Bullet Journal

A few years ago, I found out that it was not necessarily common knowledge that bullet journaling was not making your own planner in a notebook with lots of art supplies but rather a simple system designed by Ryder Carroll - a designer who grew the system over decades to assist him with his ADHD. All it requires is a notebook + pen. That's it.

[ Bullet Journal - How to Bullet Journal ]

Here's a quick 5 minute guide to the absolute basics which can be done in any kind of notebook with just a pen. This is the starting point. It's worth noting he's since updated the key some - use whichever version works for you.

[ Bullet Journal - Bullet Journal in 5 Minutes a Day (for busy people) ]

Here's what a day in the life of using a bullet journal looks like. Basically, it's helpful to check in with your bujo in the morning and evening but you don't necessarily have to thanks to how flexible the system is.

[ Bullet Journal - How I Run My Entire Life (using any notebook) ]

Here's a slightly broader view of the system and how to make sure it's serving you in particular. It's focuses on the weekly rhythms of the systems to show how reflecting can help you notice patterns and make helpful changes as you go.

[ Bullet Journal - Journaling this way increases my mental clarity ]

This video focuses on the monthly ritual. I often turn it on and follow along at the end of a month as I'm setting up my next one.

In general, if you're ever stuck with bullet journaling, I really recommend checking out what Ryder Carroll has put out first. He's very focused on keeping things simple and his channel is a decade plus gold mine of little ways to use the system to it's fullest - with nothing more than your notebook + a pen.

Check out:

Habit Tracker

Daily Dashboards

Collections and Threading

Other's Examples

Dot grid notebooks are great but if they're too expensive or not available it's totally possible to use a lined notebook. Here are some examples.

[ JashiiCorrin - Can you bullet journal in a lined notebook? ]

There's so many good tips for journaling in lined notebooks with cheaper paper. It's less minimalistic so don't feel like you have to include everything she does but it is proof that you have options if your tastes lean more artsy.

[ Claudia Spaurel - Simple and Minimalist Bullet Journal Set Up ]

Great example of what bullet journaling in a lined notebook looks like -especially with minimal supplies.

I'd personally recommend putting the monthly log on two pages when there's not enough lines for all days. It's intended as a memory keeping/jogging device so its important to have room to write in important events after the fact as well.

[ lootengstudio - bullet journal on a budget + on a lined notebook ]

Another lovely example of what you can do with minimal supplies. I think the demonstration of faux-caligraphy with a gel pen and some of the design elements she adds could be useful for people who like a little more artistic flair in their set ups.

I would caution folks the setting up lots of trackers is how people get burnt out on bullet journaling and there are simpler ways to track most things shown on the monthly log. See Ryder Carroll's habit tracker.

Easy Extras for Bullet Journals

Just because you're using a lined notebook doesn't mean you don't want it to look nice. Here are some strategies you can use with minimal supplies to decorate a given page.

[ JashiiCorrin - BULLET JOURNAL HEADERS ]

Lots of ideas of headers and fonts to use for your different spreads. Instead of fineliners and Tombows, I'd recommend a good gel pen and Crayola Super tips (I reach for these more often than my Tombows). Just make sure the gel pen goes on last where ever possible.

[ AmandaRachLee - 50 Bullet Journal Doodle Ideas! ]

A plethora of cute doodle ideas for any pages you might want to decorate. Her other videos, while not true to the bullet journal system, have lots of lovely ideas for themes and easy drawings to do.

[ life with hope - everything I collected for my junk journal this week ✨ 24 ideas of things you can include!! ]

This video has some great ideas of the types of things you can collect for junk/ephemera journaling. Love the fruit/veggie sticker page. All you need is some glue, glue tape, or tape to get started. You can collect things for free and paste them into your dailies or fill pages starting in the back for some added memory keeping.

[ Created and Made Studio - Stretch Your Supplies with this Amazing Play-Doh Stamping Technique! ]

Play-doh stamps are so versatile. You don't need a bunch of colors of ink, really just one will do. It's great for backgrounds on a title page or a background for pasting in ephemera. Good for memory keeping too. You can sometimes find ink pads in dollar stores.

My Thoughts

I started with a gel pen and a cheap graph paper notebook I got on sale at an office supply store 12 years ago (~$8). Use what you can find and afford to start, stretch it as far as you can and have fun doing it. Focus on the system.

I personally favor memo/A6 notebooks because I'm more likely to take them with me and have them on me when I need them. The more you use it, the more you'll get out of it.

I've gotten a lot out of printing off printables for ring planners and pasting them in when I need something I don't feel like setting it up (a proper calendar for instance). Check out Peanuts Planner Co to start.

Don't be precious with it. Perfectionism isn't a virtue, but courage is. Also it's literally just paper. Turn the page if you don't like something you made. That's life.

Remember the whole point of the bullet journal is that it's flexible. You don't have to use it every day. You can't fail at it - even if you drop off for a month or more. Sometimes it's what you need and sometimes it's not, use it as it serves you.

Any commercial cat food with am AAFCO label on it will have sufficient taurine.

Cats are obligate carnivores. A lot of people think this means they can *only* eat meat, but what it really means is that there are certain amino acids they cannot make on their own, and those amino acids are found in meat. They require meat, and in certain amounts, but that doesn't mean they can *only* easy meat and nothing else. These companies are banking on people not understanding this.

Tenna art by @9Aaaalt29 on twt

He’ll make you bread

*(people keep poiinting out that sans and stan won who are not skinny suit wearers. i am not saying they did not win. i'm saying it's the common stereotype of what a tumblr sexyman is. sans and stan winning only further proves my point that senshi can win)

Vote for him n he’ll give u free bread

Castle In The Sky (1986) Grave of the Fireflies (1988) My Neighbor Totoro (1988) Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) Only Yesterday (1991) Porco Rosso (1992) Pom Poko (1994) Whisper of the Heart (1995) Princess Mononoke (1997) My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) Spirited Away (2001) The Cat Returns (2002) Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) Tales from Earthsea (2006) Ponyo On A Cliff From The Sea (2008) The Secret World of Arrietty/The Borrower Arrietty (2010) From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)

If any of the links stop working, please let me know so I can fix it.

Then maybe...

Maybe...

ilya, all of 18 years old, is a thrillseeker who is already habitually picking up women, already living so fast that the clubs and parties and people and bodies are blending together in his memory. there's a monotony developing there and he's itching to raise the stakes: to take bigger risks, claim bigger rewards. and what could be a bigger risk than hooking up with his golden-boy hockey rival? it would take effort, but the high he'd get from pulling this off just once (and of course it would only be once) would be unlike anything else.

so he puts in the effort. the leadup to his hookup with hollander is entirely off-script for him, a deviation from the patterns and routines he's developed around sex. he premeditates it, he thinks about how good it will feel if this works, fantasizes about what might happen, and plans the joint CCM shoot. the day arrives and he feels electric, takes a real risk in the showers, feels the rush of his risk paying off when hollander says "not here" instead of "no" and, later, offers his room number.

ilya shows up at room 1410 and immediately launches into seduction: this part is more on-script, more familiar to ilya, but still heightened because it's hollander, and heightened again when he confirms it's hollander's first time with a man, and again because it turns out hollander is starving for this, devouring ilya with his eyes and his hands, all intense and urgent and wanting. it's so heady. everything up to this point has already been enough to make this night live in ilya's memory forever. they move to the bed, he tells hollander to take his clothes off and he does -

and he takes the time to fold his clothes. in the middle of a hookup. what?

i love the laugh that connor storrie does in the show at that moment. just, his whole face lit up. ilya isn't bemused, he's not making fun of hollander for doing this. he's genuinely delighted.

because this. this is something that he's never seen before. it surprises him. he is hooking up with shane hollander and this is a uniquely shane hollander thing to do and it burns into his brain. its personal and intimate, it's terribly endearing. he already knows he will remember this moment specifically, will return to it when he thinks about this night in the future, like a bookmark placed in a well-loved book.

he expected to walk away from this experience feeling exhilarated and satisfied that he pulled off a hookup with the most dangerous person he could think of. he did not expect to walk away from this with a warm, fond memory of shane hollander - not just his hockey rival in that moment, but a real, knowable man who surprised him in a way that he liked - suddenly taking up space in his mind.

i think the next time ilya has sex with someone and she carelessly drops her clothes on the floor, he thinks about hollander. thinks about how he would have never thought that was careless, before. maybe he smiles a little to himself and catches it, has to shake the memory off, feels a little bad for losing focus on the woman he's with. tells himself it won't happen again. but of course that's not how it works, and the memory only digs deeper into him. it happens again the next time, and the time after that.