Asmodeous1 - Things I Like, Not Always Safe For Work

You were the one that I wanted to feel the earth rotate with.

Shinji Moon, This is No Longer About You (via thequotejournals)

Books you should read because I LOVE THEM

Dedication: For @kissmybruisedknuckles who told me to make this because she’s too lazy to make one lol

1. Strange The Dreamer - Laini Taylor

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

2. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices plastered on lampposts and billboards. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within these nocturnal black-and-white striped tents awaits an utterly unique, a feast for the senses, where one can get lost in a maze of clouds, meander through a lush garden made of ice, stare in wonderment as the tattooed contortionist folds herself into a small glass box, and become deliciously tipsy from the scents of caramel and cinnamon that waft through the air.

Welcome to Le Cirque des Rêves.

3. Unwind - Neil Shusterman

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child “unwound,” whereby all of the child’s organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn’t technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state, is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

4. Cinder - Marissa Meyer

Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder’s brain interference has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it “a matter of national security,” but Cinder suspects it’s more serious than he’s letting on.

5. This Savage Song - Victoria Schwab

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

6. The Darkest Part of The Forest - Holly Black

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

7. Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard

This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

8. Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”, she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

9. Illuminae - Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

BRIEFING NOTE: Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more

10. Legend - Marie Lu

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

11. Angelfall (Penryn and the end of days) - Susan Ee

It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

12. Caraval - Stephanie Garber

Remember, it’s only a game…

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

13. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin

Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.

There is.

14. An Ember In The Ashes - Sabaa Tahir

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear. It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

15. The Darkest Minds - Alexandra Bracken

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something frightening enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that had killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they could not control.

16. The Wrath and The Dawn - Renee Ahdieh

One Life to One Dawn.

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad’s dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror once and for all.

Running down the smokey and peaty rabbit hole

How to stop procrastinating on tasks you dread doing

After embarking on a journey of creating some new daily and weekly habits this month (and managing to succeed except for that week when I was sick), I’ve finally come to understand why I really dread doing certain things.

Simply, it’s just the fact that I hate starting anything. And I mean anything. Even things I find fun. I haven’t watched a new k-drama in months just because I don’t want to start one. And I love k-dramas.

So if you’re struggling to get things done, you likely have a similar problem. It’s just getting started that’s hard. Once I’m actually in the middle of doing something, it’s fine. So here are some tips that help me get started.

Tip #1: Do something similar but simpler.

In my case, the task I dread the most everyday is writing 500 words of the first draft of my novel. Once I’m writing though, I actually have fun. Yet for some reason I put it off everyday haha

But another daily habit I’ve been working on is reading some of a book everyday. Reading is similar to writing but it’s so much easier. I don’t have as much resistance to reading so it’s easy to start.

I either read fiction or a book on the craft of writing so once I read a chapter or so of this book, I find myself more amped up for writing.

Another thing I do sometimes is just think about the story. Without actually writing anything, I start thinking about the next scene and what might happen (I haven’t planned most of this novel so I’m just writing willy-nilly basically lol) and that also usually gets me in the mood to start writing that scene.

So for you maybe this could be:

When studying a foreign language, watch some videos/tv in that language then do your actual studying.

Homework: Do the tiniest and/or most enjoyable bit of homework first then your larger, harder stuff

Chores: Start small like just picking up stuff off the floor and then get into the actual mopping, dusting etc

But there’s an important thing to keep in mind when using this tip. You have to do the simple task and the dreaded task really close together, preferably one after the other. It’s all about momentum. If you do the small task then go do something else that’s unrelated, you lose the momentum. And the whole point of doing the small task in the first place is to gain momentum! Which brings me to the next tip.

Tip #2: Momentum, momentum, momentum

Once I start being productive I’ve noticed it’s so much easier to just keep going and knock off all my tasks.

It’s actually the reason why the pomodoro method just doesn’t work for me and I’ve tried it so many times. I’m not a “take breaks in the middle” kind of person because any break halts my momentum which makes it hard to get started again.

I’m definitely a “do all the things at once then take a break for the rest of the day” kind of person, so if you’re similar this tip will work for you.

After gaining some momentum by doing a similar but simple task, just do everything in one long chain.

In my case, in the mornings, I’ll go from reading a chapter of a Korean book to writing my Korean essay thing to exercising. Reading in Korean is obviously similar to writing in Korean. But exercising doesn’t have anything in common except the fact that it’s another task on my list.

Once I’m in the “productive mood” I like to milk it and do as much as I can then take a long break when I get too tired.

You can chain anything really. The trick is to just not think about it too much. If I paused and thought “hmm do I really want to exercise right now and what exercise should I do” etc, it breaks the momentum. I just see the next task I have to do and start doing it.

Tip #3: Make it more convenient to do the task.

Increasing the convenience of doing a task will lower the barrier to entry by making it feel like the task is easier to start.

A small example from my life is that I really hate washing my face in the evening. I know it’s weird. But anyway after dinner, I turn on the water heater (otherwise the water will be freezing cold) and wash the dishes.

Well guess what? I like washing my face with warm water too. So I always think, “well while I have the water heater on, I might as well go wash my face then turn it off.”

Already having the water heater on eliminates one extra step that I’d have to do to wash my face which makes it more convenient.

This also demonstrates another example of starting with the similar but simpler task, which for me is washing the dishes.

So just do whatever you can to make doing the thing you dread more convenient like:

Lay out everything you need on your desk/work space and keep it there until you complete the task.

Open every program you’ll need on your computer and have them open until you complete the task (in my case I always have Scrivener, which I use to write my novel, open)

Lay out your exercise clothes in advance or maybe even sleep in them if you exercise in the morning.

If you workout at home like me, you can always have your exercise mat on the floor or whatever equipment you use out.

Also for exercise, plan your workouts in advance. Like I said in the previous tip, deciding what workout to do breaks momentum. I usually follow along with YouTube videos so before I go to bed I open up the YouTube video I plan on doing in the morning and just hit play when it’s time.

Tip #4: When all else fails, promise yourself a reward.

If you have a little bit of self-control, this can be an effective method for you, assuming there’s something you want.

It can be as simple as I just want to lay in bed and watch YouTube videos, which is usually the reward I give myself haha

And there’s nothing as sweet to me as lazing about completely guilt-free because I did the task. Because the thing is, I can laze about without having done the task but there will always be that tinge of guilt, the ole “I really shouldn’t be doing this right now…,” which ruins everything.

Now that I’ve experienced guilt-free lazing about, I live for it.

And this doesn’t just apply to my personal life. At work, if I’m smart and effective, I can get all my lesson planning and prep done so that I have one or two hours left before the end of the work day which means sitting at my desk watching junk. Ah yes, the highlight of my work day.

Anyway, I hope maybe these tips will help you overcome the dreaded task(s) and enjoy yourself guilt-free!

“I don’t know how it reminded me of you. I’ve taken that street home a dozen times before but today was the first time it sparked an image of us, a memory of a day so bright I can’t believe I’d forgotten about it. Must be one of those things you’re not meant to remember until you’re ready, until you stop feeling the same way about the people in it. Hardly felt like a memory to me. It was July, right before sophomore year, and we’d only been friends for a few weeks at best. You were growing your hair out. I remember the frizzy curls trying to push through despite the sweat on your forehead. July in southern California is not kind, I’ll tell you that. You were teaching me how to longboard. I was trying to learn while you were trying not to laugh, and we both did try our best, but I still ended up with skinned palms and a good bruise on one knee. Alright, you told me, new plan. So I stood on the front of the board and you planted one foot on the back, and I put my arms out like Rose and thought this is the closest thing to romance a girl can get. But it never was romantic. School started. You moved across town. And we haven’t talked in almost three years now. I said it once, but it’s true. It didn’t feel like a memory. I don’t know why I thought of you. I guess we don’t get to pick and choose the ones who stay.”

— to the boy I halfway dated 

“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right. Start where you are, and work with the tools you have and better tools will be found as you go along.”

— Napoleon Hill (via deeplifequotes)

“1. push yourself to get up before the rest of the world - start with 7am, then 6am, then 5:30am. go to the nearest hill with a big coat and a scarf and watch the sun rise. 2. push yourself to fall asleep earlier - start with 11pm, then 10pm, then 9pm. wake up in the morning feeling re-energized and comfortable. 3. erase processed food from your diet. start with no lollies, chips, biscuits, then erase pasta, rice, cereal, then bread. use the rule that if a child couldn’t identify what was in it, you don’t eat it. 4. get into the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. fry tomatoes and mushrooms in real butter and garlic, fry an egg, slice up a fresh avocado and squirt way too much lemon on it. sit and eat it and do nothing else. 5. stretch. start by reaching for the sky as hard as you can, then trying to touch your toes. roll your head. stretch your fingers. stretch everything. 6. buy a 1L water bottle. start with pushing yourself to drink the whole thing in a day, then try drinking it twice. 7. buy a beautiful diary and a beautiful black pen. write down everything you do, including dinner dates, appointments, assignments, coffees, what you need to do that day. no detail is too small. 8. strip your bed of your sheets and empty your underwear draw into the washing machine. put a massive scoop of scented fabric softener in there and wash. make your bed in full. 9. organise your room. fold all your clothes (and bag what you don’t want), clean your mirror, your laptop, vacuum the floor. light a beautiful candle. 10. have a luxurious shower with your favourite music playing. wash your hair, scrub your body, brush your teeth. lather your whole body in moisturiser, get familiar with the part between your toes, your inner thighs, the back of your neck. 11. push yourself to go for a walk. take your headphones, go to the beach and walk. smile at strangers walking the other way and be surprised how many smile back. bring your dog and observe the dog’s behaviour. realise you can learn from your dog. 12. message old friends with personal jokes. reminisce. suggest a catch up soon, even if you don’t follow through. push yourself to follow through. 14. think long and hard about what interests you. crime? sex? boarding school? long-forgotten romance etiquette? find a book about it and read it. there is a book about literally everything. 15. become the person you would ideally fall in love with. let cars merge into your lane when driving. pay double for parking tickets and leave a second one in the machine. stick your tongue out at babies. compliment people on their cute clothes. challenge yourself to not ridicule anyone for a whole day. then two. then a week. walk with a straight posture. look people in the eye. ask people about their story. talk to acquaintances so they become friends. 16. lie in the sunshine. daydream about the life you would lead if failure wasn’t a thing. open your eyes. take small steps to make it happen for you.”

Sixteen Small Steps to Happiness (via wethinkwedream)

The sign of high quality is the fact the book was banned by the government. Trash literature NEVER EVER had any troubles with the law.