#Creating Libraries

[larkbunny]

A peek through a bookshop's blackout curtains

[yourlocalabomination]

This is Hatchetfield, People go missing everyday!

[hongluboobs]

wish her happy birthday IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!!

(I made these for an assignment but I think they're neat so I will post them here <3 we may get proper Birthday Art created for that purpose later! depends on my schedule)

[heygangitstheo]

here, have a concept: ayda aguefort but her design is based off of the flaming duolingo owl image that appears when you've extended your streak

[prophetictattoo]

i did @aliengirl 's business and hobbies cas bingo and i rolled for:

the librarian, the nail artist, and the acting teacher

[stephen-stilwell]

when the stars align, do they whisper secrets about our fate, or just laugh at our choices?

[not-poignant]

Potentially an odd question, but is there a specific site or method you use for research for your writings? Researching medical/legal/similar procedures is the bane of my existence because I can never seem to find an explanation I understand well enough to then write about.

I recently caught up to Stain, and while reading it struck me how you put a lot of detail into a wide variety of topics (the medical part of Alex’s injury at the start, therapy, Alex’s eye examination, Sebastian talking about his boss trying to underpay him, among other topics) (HUGE kudos about that by the way, it adds another layer of realism) and it feels like there’s no way one person can have firsthand experience/knowledge in ALL these things unless you’ve lived an extremely varied life.

I was just hoping you might have some pointers about how to go about researching basically anything because I feel like I’ve GOT to be missing something.

No worries if you can’t/don’t want to/don’t have an answer, I just thought shooting an ask your way is worth a shot haha.

Hi anon,

Researching is its own skillset, like writing or editing, there's no one specific site to go to, to make it easier, it's more like...taking the time to learn the constellation of ever-changing sites, books, and more in order to best learn how to learn. Because that's really what it is about: Learning how to learn.

On learning how to learn (I should say, I'm not very good at teaching, so some of this stuff might not be helpful to you, please ignore it if it isn't!):

But I do have some things that I do which might help. And some that might not.

The first thing that won't really help is I have led a varied life in a way that is convenient for the content I write, lol. The medical part of Alex's injury - I've been badly injured. The eye examination - I have astigmatism and was diagnosed late and blamed for my own eyesight issues which I didn't realise were eyesight issues. I've seen over 19 therapists in over 25 years. I've talked to bosses about pay and I've had lots of friends that have too.

Tbh the things I've had to research the most in Stardew Valley have been:

The intersection of astigmatism/myopia/dyslexia treatment and the best order in which these things should happen.

Stardew Valley - literally the calendar, the schedule, liked gifts, disliked gifts, favourite meals etc. Some I know off by heart, others I don't really remember at all.

The best way to clean a house (though my mother was a professional cleaner for most of my childhood, I just wanted to revise and see if anything had changed since then)

Cleaning standards for home laboratories

The colours that sweetpea flowers come in etc.

It's always random stuff. And to be honest, a lot of this doesn't happen in much detail in the story. The colour of sweetpea flowers was for the bouquet, and I think it was one line. The best way to clean a house has accounted for very little actual writing.

Now for actual helpful stuff:

Wikipedia is your friend. My browser search bar goes straight to Wikipedia, not google. It's amazing how much Wikipedia will explain a ton of different things these days. It's true some concepts might be hard to understand, you might need to spend more time Wiki-ing / googling / using a dictionary to start understanding those concepts.

When it comes to writing trauma, for example, I've read upwards of 20+ academic books (i.e. the kind psychologists study at university or after university in postgrad) about trauma. I wouldn't expect other people to go that deep, but other folks aren't writing trauma like I am in every single story, and it's a special interest of mine. But it kind oh illustrates that I'm not going to a single site about something.

But you could get a deeper understanding by just looking at the PTSD and C-PTSD and trauma articles on Wikipedia, and slowly reading them.

The second is that medical sites can also be your friend.

The third is that Reddit is amazing for lived experiences, with a grain of salt that some people are lying for clout. But 'what treatments helped best with your dyslexia reddit' as a search phrase is going to be way more helpful than whatever AI bullshit the google search line will give you otherwise. Deep diving into reddit threads can be super helpful for stuff that I used to find out previously on personal blogs (it's amazing how much 'what's life on an oil rig like blog' used to turn up a ton of lived experiences from firsthand encounters for example). I don't use my Reddit account for anything other than research, lmao. It's a hidden gem for lived experience and human interpretation of complex issues. It can be especially helpful for legal / economic matters, but honestly, I mostly just handwave legal stuff with caveats/disclaimers. You can do an undergraduate degree in law, and a lawyer is still going to painstakingly point out all the ways you're wrong about something. It's just better to tell the lawyers in advance that you know you can't compete with their knowledge base lmao.

(Though it can be worth looking up regional differences, because if I see another Australian writing Australian legal procedures into US law (or vice versa) I will scream - like no, Aussies, we do not have BOLOs here, we have KL04, LOTBKF and BOLF depending on your state).

A good way to start learning how to learn is to actually start outside of your stories and start with things you already love. Plug your favourite movie into Wikipedia and learn about how it was made, or what the production was like. And when you find something mildly interesting, say, about film lighting, open up those Wiki articles or plug 'film lighting process for (insert movie here)' on google, and have a look at some of the results. Learn how to learn, how to go deeper, what seems to be helpful, and what isn't. Consider making a list of articles you really enjoy - I love a website that aggregates all the different odours and flavours in the world and their chemical compounds which has been incredibly helpful for Palmarosa. The website is a bit hard to navigate, but if you plug something like 'spearmint' into the search, it'll help.

If you don't already have it, put Wikipedia on your phone. It's free / ad-free. I have my own personal server on Discord that I use to house a lot of resources (for everything, from my business, to health records, to writing resources). If you use Discord already, I highly recommend the 'private server' as a great way to aggregate everything together.

If the article formatting of online articles doesn't feel good, you can do text-to-speech, or use the little 'reader' symbol to make it more reader-friendly.

Books are also not to be underestimated for how helpful they can be (I find too many people are website focused these days, but actually, not everything can be found on websites, a lot of the best niche knowledge is still in books when it's not in lived experience tellings). Find out about your local and online libraries. A lot of people (especially younger folks) don't realise just how much information they can get access to, for free. Librarians themselves are gifts from god, who will literally help you find the books you need for whatever subject you want to learn more about, and if they don't know, they will often personally take it upon themselves to look further for you. 'I want to learn more about German composers' is - for many librarians - a very exciting question that they will want to help you with.

Outside of that, niche websites (like the odours one I mentioned), sometimes just finding sites where asking research questions gets answered. For example the free blogging site (with no ads), Dreamwidth, has a community called little_details where you can ask your niche question and people will answer and say what their expertise is in that subject. It's incredible and active enough to be super helpful. In some cases it's completely changed the course of a story.

Over time you'll also learn what's less helpful. Some articles are clearly ChatGPT written or written for ads and not accurate - so if you can get the same information corroborated at multiple sources, that will help.

And don't forget the value of just listening to people online and irl regarding their experiences. As a writer, I feel like an 'experience collector.' I like asking friends, strangers, family, etc. all kinds of questions because I think a part of my brain is always aware that something they're sharing could be a vitally grounding element in a story and it's also just interesting and people like sharing about their lives. Whether I'm asking my roommate about the process of getting a government evaluation approved, my architect friend about drug use in Australian architecture, or a friend from Bali what sort of foods he grew up with and what his comfort meal was when he felt sick, etc. Writers collect experiences, not just their own, but those of others. The greatest tools a writer can have in their toolbelt are knowing how to listen, learning how to learn (and how to love learning), and knowing what the right questions are.

None of those things can be gained with one or two websites. But they can be gained with time and curiosity, and well, that helps with your whole entire life, and not just writing. :D

[hyperpotamianarch]

So, I have probably offhandedly mentioned in the past that Ashkenazi and Sepharadi Jews had a lot of mutual influence on each other through the generations. If I didn't mention that - well, now you know. Usually, my focus for such topics is religious and halachic discussion - so you'll see me talk about Ramban and Rashba studying from the Tosafot writers, or the rabbis of Provence's admiration of Rambam - which they shared with Yemenite Jews, even if the latter group was more isolated and thus thiks influence was more pronounced. Alternatively, I could talk about Ibn Ezra's tendency to travel, and how he always corresponds with Rashi in his commentary on the Torah.

Today, however, I would like to talk about the handwriting system. You see, most every Israeli knows how to write the Hebrew so-called cursive. And while it's mostly prevalent among religious Jews, the Rashi script is known and can be readable. Why am I mentioning them side by side, you ask? Well, that's very simple. Both are handwriting scripts, for different communities: the Rashi script, despite its name, is the Sepharadi (or perhaps Italian? Though a Yemenite friend of mine writes in it as well) one, and the modern Hebrew "cursive" is the Ashkenazi one. I suppose that's kind of Ashkenormativity, but I'm not so sure of that - because of the next part. You see, the Rashi script got its name for a reason.

Sure, the reason's no mystery. Everyone can tell you that Rashi is written in the Rashi script. Some can even tell you that nearly all old books are written in this script - regardless of whether or not they're Sepharadi books. I honestly don't have anything grand to say here - it's simply that the first Hebrew printing presses were in Spain and Italy, and that some of the Italian Hebrew publishers were running away from the Alhambra decree, meaning they were also Sepharadi. When they wanted to differentiate the commentary from the body of the text, they used their handwriting, which had nothing to do with Rashi's handwriting. Heck, I've lately seen a manuscript written by Rambam himself during a tour in the Israeli National Library, and it was written in this script. That doesn't prove anything about Rashi, but I don't think we have his handwriting and this is enough evidence that "Cətav Rambam" is a more appropriate name for this script. Oh, and considering in Kafka's time there was no one to regulate which handwriting was used - while this is very late in relation to everything else, this post that circulated lately with his handwriting is in some degree proof that modern Hebrew "cursive" is the Ashkenazi handwriting. If an expert on manuscript pops up here and mentions old Ashkenazi manuscripts with this script it'd be great

So, yeah. That's it. Don't know how interesting this post is. Thank you for reading and everything! I totally wasn't pushed to write this after seeing Kalonymus' book in Otzar HaḤochma written in the Sepharadi handwriting! Not that it matters, since Kalonymus was well travelled and a language scholar so he/she might've known multiple scripts, or he may have written in a special Provençal script I don't know of.

[girlsdogmotif]

Bullseye

Whumpee opens the door to the bleak stairwell mentally preparing herself to climb the 14 floors, since she couldn’t get in elevators anymore without having a panic attack as soon as the doors closed. She gets about halfway to her destination before she hears a door from a few floors below her creak open. 

That’s…odd. People rarely take the stairs other than her, but she hoped someone was just using a bathroom on a different floor or something. She continued on her march up the endless spiral concrete stairs.

When she heard the footsteps of the other person climbing the stairs, she froze for barely a moment, her heart beating loud in her ears. Sure enough the footsteps stopped for a moment. 

Shit. She thought to herself and tried to calm down and pick up her leisurely pace without making it seem like she was trying to get away.

Maybe it’s just some rando and I’m just paranoid. She unconvincingly told herself as she tried not to breathe too loudly once she got to the 10th floor. 

Okay, okay. Only 4 more floors, you can do this. She repeated the mantra to herself in her head but it quickly got overrun with her panicked thoughts. Pausing for a second to try to catch her breath, she tightened the straps of her backpack that must have been full of bricks with how much it was weighing her down.

Before she started to climb, she hesitantly peaked her head over the railing to see if the person was still there and to reassure herself that she was just being paranoid and it wasn’t who she thought it was.

But sure enough, leaning casually against the railing two floors down looking up at her with an amused smirk on his face, there he was. He raised his hand in a casual wave. She quickly pulled her head back like he didn’t already see her, and almost fell on her butt but recovered by pulling herself up by the railing and practically flinging herself up the stairs. 

C’mon c’mon c’mon! Shit! Shit! Shit! Were her only thoughts as she tried to get to the 14th floor. Not that she had a plan really, she wouldn’t be safe there necessarily, but it felt better to have a goal, and anything was better than staying in this godforsaken stairwell.

Cutting through her heavy breaths and heart beating in her ears she heard his annoying sing-song voice echo up to her.

“Whuuuummmpppeeeeee–” Jesus like a fucking movie villian this guy. If she had the time or energy to spare she’d roll her eyes.

Fed up already with his mocking actions, she just looked over the railing, unable to see him under the stairs and yelled an echoing “FUCK YOU” with as much malice as she could muster. Before it even finished echoing she was sprinting up the last two flights taking the stairs 2 at a time. 

As she got to the 13th floor, she was so close! She heard the footsteps that had been floors below her a second ago, now right behind her. Stupidly, she dared to look back. 

Cursing his abnormally long legs that allowed him to take the stairs 3 at time, she wanted to call him a freakish monster but mentally filed that away for later because now didn’t seem like the right time. Instead she just yelled “SHIT!” mostly to herself, as she tried to make the last flight.

Right as she reached the landing between the 13th and 14th floor she was abruptly slammed from behind straight into the wall. Barely able to twist her body in time so she didn’t go headfirst and break her neck, she bounced off the wall with an oomph and collapsed to her hands and knees, breathing hard. 

With one final look up to the door with a 14 above it she sighed, she was so close. Her thigh muscles that were finally not holding up her weight started to shake from the exertion, soreness kicking in. Which, of course, made it even more difficult for her to remain in a somewhat upright position when she was kicked harshly in the abdomen by a familiar hiking boot.

Gasping as her body that was already desperate for air got it aggressively knocked out of her, she collapsed onto the dusty floor and tried to curl into herself. She was given a merciful moment to catch her breath before with a yelp she was suddenly yanked upwards by her backpack. 

Now almost dangling in the air by the straps of her backpack, she grunted and struggled to kick her leg, out of instinct and to get balanced, but her legs were made of gelatin. She heard her attacker chuckle lightly at her flailing. The hold on her backpack released and she was dropped back onto her feet, to which she immediately began to crumble back to the ground.

Whumper sighed deeply above her and reluctantly caught her with a practiced arm around the waist. Most likely unintentionally his arm also lifted her backpack up a few inches which pleasantly lifted the weight off her back.

“This whole thing feels completely avoidable, you know.” He said, sounding mildly exasperated but she knew that he most certainly enjoyed “this whole thing”, probably too much in fact. Before she could even scoff out a reply, he effortlessly swung her around, before pushing her back against the wall for support. She quickly got her bearings and was finally able to properly glare at him now that they were face to face, opening her mouth to shoot back before he raised his hand and interrupted her.

“And I think the ‘fuck you’ was also completely unnecessary and a bit too aggressive for my liking.” He put a hand over his heart to represent his fake hurt. Whumpee half expected him to wipe a fake tear away with this shitty performance he was giving. 

“And…” His amused smirk returned, clearly enjoying his position of control. “I think I deserve an apology.” Whumpee just continued to shoot him a bored glare. Inside however, she was fuming at him thinking he had the right to demand anything of her.

“My liking.” Pfft what an asshole. An apology? Is he fucking serious? You just threw me into a wall!. But before she could let out any of those thoughts, she schooled her expression to be one of fake reflectiveness and regret, noting that he had taken a step and a half back from her and she had a bit more space.

“Well,” Whumpee started, pushing off the wall the tiniest bit. Whumper’s cold eyes lit up for a second with a hint of excitement and disbelief. For just that millisecond moment Whumpee revelled in his stupid expression.

“F-” She barely got the first syllable out before she was slammed back into the corner by a crushing hand on her throat.

“Yeah, I thought that was too good to be true.” Whumper said with unsurprised disappointment.

“You didn’t even hear what I was gonna sa-” Whumpee tried to cough out a smart-ass comment before she was unconscious just to piss him off further. She really doesn’t have enough self-preservation huh.

Whumper's expression darkened and his other hand went to her throat and she whimpered as he slowly slid her up the wall till her feet were no longer touching the ground, and they were almost at eye level. Now being completely devoid of oxygen she desperately tried to kick at his legs but he quickly restricted her movement by pressing one of his own legs against hers. They made eye contact and Whumper soaked in the terrified look on Whumpee’s red face, the fear in her teary eyes as she tried hopelessly to get a breath in. He leaned closer and she tried to flinch away.

“One day, you won’t have to be near death for me to see that fear in your eyes.”

But what Whumper had failed to notice was that by pinning down her kicking legs he had made a very specific and painful area of his very vulnerable. Certain that her face was turning purple and she had received brain damage from her lack of oxygen, Whumpee used the last of her strength and brought her knee up with as much force as she could. 

Bullseye.

[cent-scratchnsniff]

just shy

[tau1tvec]

Is it just me, or does anyone else have these random moments where they just wanna wipe their Sims game, and start fresh?

New household, new house, new aesthetic, new everything?

[little-lanterns]

more women should do this

[cassidyleora]

Mourning Doves in Spring

acrylic on canvas

[transformersbrainrot]

Imagine: Rewind meets Optimus Prime at some point during the war and starts fanboying SUUUPER hard... NOT because that's fucking Optimus Prime or anything but because Orion Pax is a fucking LEGEND in the archivist community

[binah-beloved]

Had the late night thought of Binah deciding to listen to your heart beat to see if your alive or just to listen and then getting really emotional when she hears it cause for once someone precious to her is here alive and now safe with her alive with her

she's seen you die one too many times. stabbed. gutted. driven mad with laughter. your eyes gouged out, bones crushed by the piercing whistle of a train. even in the Library, where you've been bludgeoned and torn to pieces and burned away. Binah wakes in the middle of the night, heart beating faster than usual. a dream- a nightmare. she thought it was real, for you had died again. but no. you're here. her eyes flick over to your form, buried under the warm covers. they conceal any movement as she squints slightly in the dark. you're alive. you must be. you were alive when you curled up beside her hours ago to sleep, when she held you close and breathed in the scent of your hair

Binah leans closer, pressing her ear against your chest

there. a steady thumping, quiet and strong. she exhales slowly, eyes closing in sheer relief. her hand traces your fingers, your palm, the inside of your wrist, and there she can feel the blood flowing steadily through the veins, too. the ex-Arbiter lays there, absorbing the sound of your heart beating firmly within your ribs. a sound she intends to keep. Binah brushes her lips gently over your heart, having ripped them from enemies on numerous occasions. but this one, this heart- no, it should stay right where it is. right where it belongs. oh, how she wishes she could just keep you away from all harm. but even she cannot do the impossible, and Binah grazes her knuckles over the skin, cradling it in her hands silently

just as you hold her heart, entirely and utterly yours

[mergatroidster]

husky pups’ just hanging out at the library…

Oh lookie! the books have been detailed, and a posh chandelier is hanging now