One of the most important things I have learned today..

online library so far:

compilations

everything here is in pdf format so you should be able to download and read it on any device. it’s slow going because i have a lot of epubs that i have to convert before uploading and the folders i’ve listed here are neither complete nor comprehensive, but it’s a start! 

Look we have records of Medieval Knights crying out in their sleep, having emotional outbursts or flinching at the sound of clashing metal. We have records of people all through history who were treated badly by people who should have loved them, and having problems knowing who to trust. We have years worth of artists putting their human pain at broken hearts and broken promises into music that makes us cry.

Yes people have been traumatized by awful things for all of history and just like them You didn’t deserve to be hurt either.

A number of years ago, I traveled to England, and it remains one of the best trips that I have ever been on. If I ever go again, then I will have to try to visit this map in the Hereford Cathedral. This cathedral dates back to the early centuries of the medieval era and contains more than two hundred documents from the the Middle Ages and earlier. In addition to a copy of the Magna Carta, the Hereford Cathedral has the Mappa Mundi. While hundreds of copies were made of this map, the copy at the cathedral is intact. With the knowledge of geography that exists today, the map has many obvious inaccuracies. However, the map is valuable for increasing our knowledge today of the medieval era. Read the article if you would like to learn more.

BOOK OF KELLS BOOK OF KELLS BOOK OF KELLS BOOK OF KELLS

Ummm byee

So I kind of hate that Putin is trying to restrict the flow of information into Russia so that he can control the narrative, so for my Russian friends, here is my guide on

How to get around internet censorship and maintain internet privacy

This will be an extremely long post 😅

Priorities

Alternative Front-Ends A frontend is the the part of a website which the user interacts with directly. To browse the contents of websites, you usually have to visit them. However, many people have made alternative privacy-respecting frontends to popular websites that allow you to see the site’s content without actually visiting the website. This helps avoid tracking, data-collection, and even countries’ attempts to ban websites. Twitter is banned in Russia right now, but using all an alternative frontend to Twitter works (according to my Russian friend).

Google Translate

Imgur

Instagram

Medium

Reddit

TikTok

Twitter

Wikipedia

YouTube

YouTube Music

If anyone knows of one of these for Tumblr please let me know. I found this site called Tumgir but it looks sketchy and unlike the rest of the ones I listed, it’s not open-source. So visit with caution, but I’m mentioning it because it might be better than nothing.

There are also these browser extensions that automatically redirect site links to the available alternatives:

Mozilla Firefox

Google Chrome

iPhone (iOS 15+) Safari

Android

Messaging / Communication

Matrix is a federated and decentralized End-to-End Encrypted (E2EE) messaging with many platforms, the most popular of which is Element. It’s like Discord, but worse. It’s getting better over time though! You can even use a a throwaway email to sign-up.

If you’re Russian you likely already know about Telegram, but MAKE SURE you’re aware that only Secret Chats are End-to-End Encrypted. So don’t say anything that would get you in trouble outside of a Secret Chat.

End Notes

China is way better at internet censorship. They’ve had years to build the infrastructure to control the flow of information online. And yet, the Chinese people still manage to “climb the wall” and find ways around this. Russia is new to this game and doesn’t have the resources China does. So I really doubt it’ll be that hard to get around their attempts to block websites. Have faith! And feel free to DM me for more info cause this post just scratches the surface for things you can do tbh.

some of my favourite vídeo essays about art history:

whose migrant mother was this? the story of the native american woman who became the face of the 1930s depression (and got almost nothing for it)

bauhaus design is everywhere, but its roots are political how even a simple choice between what font to use can be a political act

edvard munch: what a cigarette means munch + tobacco = art? (yes we’re still on the topic of art as a political weapon)

art that was never finished how great masters sometimes even didn’t finish stuff. also! the history behind the colour aquamarine

fka twigs on mary magdalene (if you like asmr you’re gonna love this)

having a coke with frank ohara (technically not art history but this video is too good for me not to mention)

video postcard: woman at her toilette a quick dive into my favourite painting of woman impressionist berthe morisot

this documentary about georgia o´keeffe (that ive seen about 10 times)

david hockney on vincent van gogh on love of nature, beauty, attention, and the art of looking (essentially a mary oliver poem in interview format!!!!)

dante and the invention of hell short film about centuries of art depicting dante’s circles of hell, my favourite works possibly ever made were inspired by his writing (sky arts documentary so it’s not your standard v. essay)

who’s afraid of modern art: vandalism, video games, and fascism about the meaning of modern art and the publics response to it, as well as a political campaign to eradicate it or moreso make an example of the so-called ‘undesirable’ nature of their art

how to make communist art on the future prospects of art for art’s sake and creativity outside of capitalist restraints

Brigsby Bear, nostalgia culture and millennial optimism a little off topic but an essay about a film that questions our need to attach our identities to our past and our childhoods in particular, questionning whether we should put our faith into recreating our old loves or creating new ones - i think its relevant based on the films perspective on art

museum theft PLEASE watch this introduction if nothing else today, it will make you cling to the edge of your seat; truly a masterpiece

the devil's historians: how modern extremists abuse the medieval past, kaufman and sturtevant

listen to me very very closely: the biblical prohibition against mixing linen and wool is the most SENSIBLE THING IN THE WORLD, do not write it off as silly, unreasonable, or unnecessary. g-d didn’t tell us not to mix linen and wool for no reason, g-d told us not to mix linen and wool together because mixing them is an affront to textiles

This is the fiercest defense of the mitzvah against shatnez I have ever seen, haredi sources included

I will sit down, right this very minute, and spin a nice linen/wool mix yarn, explicitely to affront god. Just you watch.

#handspinning #what’s god going to do about it huh?

g-d doesn’t have to do anything, you’re going to punish yourself enough just making it and then trying to wash it later 

it’s true and you should say it

I wasn’t aware that just like modest dress and “don’t eat pork”, not mixing textiles was also just a practical life rule for the time and place. Cool!

But don’t mix linen and wool is probably the most universal and timeless of the rules you mentioned - “modest dress” means somewhat different things to different cultures. Don’t eat pork could have any number of “reasons” for why it makes sense. But I don’t understand why some Jews think this particular mitzvah is “chok” (meaning roughly like…a law without a reason, or I guess some people don’t understand the reason for). ***

the prohibition of mixing linen and wool for a fabric isn’t senseless or weird! it’s completely TOTALLY logical! it’s the most logical! 

The commandment against shatnez (mixing linen and wool) is repeated:

Deut. 22:11 You shall not wear a mixture of wool and linen together.

Lev 19:19  You shall observe My statutes: You shall not crossbreed your livestock with different species. You shall not sow your field with a mixture of seeds, and a garment which has a mixture of shaatnez [linen and wool] shall not come upon you.

this is completely reasonable when you know what linen does, and what wool does. Linen wicks away moisture. Linen is lightweight, it doesn’t stretch, and it’s very durable. Linen is a bit “slippery,” it’s shiny, and it softens with age. Linen is easy to clean and repels dirt. Linen has no “memory” so once stretched, it stays that way. Linen wrinkles easily but is stiff when pressed. you can beat the crap out of linen in order to clean it. 

Wool, on the other hand – wool can repel water, meaning it works well to keep you warm in winter, but it also absorbs moisture (it can absorb up to 50% of it’s weight and still be relatively “dry’ to the touch; so like, yes it could absorb your sweat in the heat). Wool is naturally flame resistant. Wool is elastic and stretchy, and it easily interlocks with itself. It can felt. Wool has “memory” and can return more or less to its original shape. It can also shrink. But although it’s strong, it degrades in the sun, and if it stays wet for too long it mildews and rots. totally biodegradable. put that ish in a sunny bog and it’s gonzo. wool needs to be washed with delicacy. 

they perform COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY when woven, knit, or crocheted!!!!! 

these just…should not be mixed. don’t do that. why would you do that. 

___

*** FOOTNOTE: here’s my feminist drash - a bunch of ancient and medieval men read this mitzvah and were like “this doesn’t make any sense why would Hashem command us not to mix wool and linen? this is a law without reason!” because not a single one of them ever had to think about it. and that’s WHY you see some sources say it’s “chok” it doesn’t make logical sense, because it’s all men writing, men who didn’t learn to weave, who don’t know how fiber works, and who didn’t do the laundry ever in their lives.

Thank you for typing up full explanation. I’m honestly suprised I’ve never heard of this before in the same place where I learned the in context explanation for other mitzvahs- not even in my annotated tanakh, since it’s way more universal than the other two examples I gave. By modest dress I was specfically using it as a shorthand for how Judiasm and other middle eastern cultures dictate head covering and covering most of your skin. That’s because if you haven’t invented sunscreen yet, what you want in the desert is long flowing linen exposing the least amount of your skin to the sun as possible. Headcoverings help keep sand out of your hair. Ancient cooking practices also often wouldn’t kill off the trichinosis in pork, so what people would observe was “oh shit this is the fifth guy who ate pork and then died. Gd must not want us to eat pork”. Although as time went on, it would get forgotten. So it being labeled chok makes sense, but with fabric mixing, JUST TALK TO YOUR WIVES.

honestly this is my “”””opinion”””” as to why the mitzvah makes sense but also it’s almost…a longstanding joke how easily people forget to mention what is traditionally viewed as women’s work - which is, in the ancient and late antique world, the production of textiles for clothing. (clothing is practical, a necessity, and the archaeology of women was often overlooked up until like…probably the last 100 years of scholarship)

anyways no one will mention it in an annotated tanakh because they probably haven’t realized there’s a sensible, logical explanation for it. actually, SIDE NOTE HERE: everyone who claims that the Islamic world never ever ever had human iconography in anything is wrong, we have loom weights from islamic cities that are also dolls! They have faces, cheeks, eyes, etc carved into them. loom weights that double as dollies for kids!

anyways i’ve also heard that pigs take too much to feed/care for, that they eat dead animals/are omnivores etc. but yeah, the no mixing thing is just…practical. it makes sense. no one brought this up because no one asked a community of weavers why it makes sense. 

another explanation for the pig thing is that raising them takes a lot of water. given that this is the middle east and freshwater was hard to come by, raising pigs just wasn’t economical.

There’s so many possible reasons! it’s clear that other Canaanites did raise and eat pigs — but then later it became somewhat unsustainable. The Philistines even brought pigs with them to Israel. But also maybe again the Romans, Greeks, and Crusaders brought pigs lol continually too. One of the best archaeological tells for an Israelite settlement is a lack of pig bones. They do take up a lot of water! Pigs require a TON of resources. While Israel is a desert it’s not infertile. There were certainly ways to develop rainfall irrigation and probably water storage BUT there was also a huge famine or two that would’ve made it difficult and also pigs are just….I mean they do carry trich, and they don’t ruminate.

byronesque borzois

writing morally gray characters

give them boundaries

one of the most important aspects of any morally ambiguous character is that they aren't entirely unhinged. it's unlikely a character will be willing to murder someone they love, or that they would betray someone unless they are getting something in return. any character has their limits. the goal of your plot is to push them beyond that limit, break them, and force them to stitch themselves back together.

give them a moral compass

many people misunderstand "morally gray" and confuse it for "does whatever the hell they like". possibly because one of the first lines in six of crows is "kaz brekker didn't need a reason" and kaz is bookstagram's favourite example of a morally gray protagonist. but actually, everything that kaz does through the novels only proves that he always has reasons. for absolutely everything that he does.

the difference is that it's not for the Greater Good and Evil.

morally gray characters are often selfish, but will have their own idea of what is considered right and what is considered wrong. for example, helene aquila thinks that it is wrong to disobey one's country. that doesn't mean she thinks it's right to murder, it's just what is done. so she doesn't question it.

make them justify their own actions

any morally gray character should be sympathetic, and this is achieved by having them justify their actions.

<six of crows spoilers ahead> if we saw kaz rip out someone's eyeball or drop someone out of a lighthouse window into a harbour without context, we'd probably think of him as completely unhinged /hyp. but the reader justifies his actions in their mind because kaz's narration justifies the action to himself: he is getting vengeance for inej. <six of crows spoilers end>

essentially, the character's narration should justify their own actions. they murdered someone? it was for revenge. they stole something? they've been starving for weeks. they lost their temper? the blow-up is the culmination of decades of internalised anger. make sure that the reader sympathises with your character by justifying their actions.

don't make them dark haired and brooding

okay okay yes i am a simp for dark-haired morally gray white boys but you know what? sometimes it'd be refreshing to see someone else be morally gray!

give me a morally ambiguous black girl or mother figure or indian character. the world has enough kaz brekkers and severin montagnet-alaires and cardan greenbriars (although i will say that i love all three of them from the bottom of my heart)

but helene aquila was a very pleasant change from all of them!

show them being Good

there is a difference between "morally gray character" and "villain whose actions are justified by the fandom" *cough* the darkling *cough* and it's really important to show that a morally gray character can be objectively good - or at least have pure intentions

for example, jude duarte murders people - Bad. but then in the next chapter, she'll go and have a picnic with her sister or try to save a human girl trapped into slavery - Good.

a morally gray character is not a character who gets a redemption arc, but rather a character whose actions blur the line between good and evil. their character development will not necessarily be going from bad to good, but going from unhinged to self-aware or from revenge-driven to loving.

Resources For Describing Physical Things

Setting

Weather

Color, Texture, & Shape

Color

Texture

Shape

Support Wordsnstuff!

HEY ARTISTS!

Do you design a lot of characters living in not-modern eras and you’re tired of combing through google for the perfect outfit references? Well I got good news for you kiddo, this website has you covered! Originally @modmad made a post about it, but her link stopped working and I managed to fix it, so here’s a new post. Basically, this is a costume rental website for plays and stage shows and what not, they have outfits for several different decades from medieval to the 1980s. LOOK AT THIS SELECTION:

OPEN ANY CATEGORY AND OH LORDY–

There’s a lot of really specific stuff in here, I design a lot of 1930s characters for my ask blog and with more chapters on the way for the game it belongs to I’m gonna be designing more, and this website is going to be an invaluable reference. I hope this can be useful to my other fellow artists as well! :)

Journals, articles, books & texts, on folklore, mythology, occult, and related -to- general anthropology, history, archaeology. 

Some good and/or interesting (or hokey) ‘examples’ included for most resources. tryin to organize & share stuff that was floating around onenote.

Journals (open access) – Folklore, Occult, etc

– History, Archaeology

Journals (limited free/sub/institution access)

Books, Texts, Images etc. – Folklore, Occult etc.

– History

Websites, Blogs – Folklore, Occult etc.

– History 

READING TIME: 6.4 minutes 

Triumphant music playing. A wild Nandini jumps in front of the green-screen, donning a red cape, and strikes a Superman pose but is blinded by about a hundred ring lights being switched on.

“Andrew, MUST you ruin my cameos?”

The redhead cameraman rolls his eyes and defends himself, “Lighting is everything.” Nandini clicks her tongue, shields her eyes with the cape (yes, she’s now Red Riding Hood) and puts on an equally blinding smile towards the camera.

“Welcome to the Conquerors’ Causerie Podcast Station! Today, I’m SET to solve every student’s mystery: productivity after school. So, if you’ll please, conquerors, put on that pirate hat (because she’s indecisive and now wants to be Captain Hook), and tune that rusty radio to our channel. Let’s SAIL!”

*The wild Nandini hops onto a chair and brandishes the cape like a sword* AHOY MATEY! ALL FORWARD!

NOTE!

Step ONE: Make a ONE TASK To-do at School.

Before getting home, decide on ONE task to work on. No, DON’T plan your entire schedule out. That’ll become a consuming task, and our mission here is to make this system as easy as possible for it to stick.

Get yourself one starting point— whether it’s a high-priority task (upcoming deadlines, assignments due tomorrow) OR a low-priority one (homework from your favourite subject, skimming couple pages of a novel). For me, it’s the commitment to write 2 paras for the latest article I’m planning. It ain’t school related, I admit, but it’s high-priority work for me, so it counts. For you, perhaps it’ll be to knock 5 problems off the weekly statistics problem set or finish 7 pages of reading for an upcoming lecture– everything works!

Whatever is it is, here are the two criterias:

Step TWO: Start When You Get Home.

THIS is where everyone goes wrong. You CANNOT let yourself slack when you get home. For the system to be a success, this is key! The star on the X-Mas tree! The daddy cherry on the daddy pie! (Edit: we need therapy. I know, sex therapy?? … yes I’m leaving)

If you need to, mentally prepare yourself for 30 mins of work as you’re coming back home. Just ½ an hour! You won’t die if you don’t eat or shower immediately, but your productivity sure will.

Soldier, understand. Here’s why: When you’re back home from school, you’re at your weakest. Temptation levels are at an all-time high and your brain’s like “Um HELLO CHILD? We already did 8 hours of shit school, time for vacation.” If you can overcome this, everything else will be smooth. Just do half an hour of work!

DON’T let yourself slack. Am I being a parental disaster here? Maybe. But just trust me, kiddos, and buckle up for one pomodoro session.

Step THREE: Bare Necessities

(I made a pun!) 30 mins of work done—the foundation for today’s success now laid—you’re allowed a nice 45 min chunk to indulge in the following 3 necessities, GO:

Fair warning: This ain’t fun time, so stop reading that smut in the bathroom. The aim of this quarter is to refresh & prime yourself for the marathon of hustle coming up (‘course it’s coming, why you surprised honey, this is team conquer) and not slack and fall into a rut. So dare I say it: WiFi isn’t allowed.

I sympathize with the entire population of Gen-Z wailing and unsubscribing, so here’s an alternative to protect your productivity— Switch off the WiFi. But keep a 20 min YouTube video and your favourite playlists downloaded. Use that instead.

Now quick, the clock’s ticking!

That’s the student’s version of Eat, Pray, Love. (… when you plug self-help books for free, WHERE ARE MY SPONSORS)

Step FOUR: Soldier, Begin the March!

Now, warrior! You’ve must sit down at your desk, and face your biggest fears. Invest the next 2 hours in getting high quality, high priority work crossed off. For me, this usually turns out to be readings, prepping for upcoming exams and doing maths (I’m trying to turn math into a habit this year, and this turns out to be the perfect time to work without distractions).

Couple restrictions: (I know y'all wanna suffocate me with a smelly sock)

Step FIVE: Take A Mid-evening Break.

You’ve earned a major break! And so have I, because I’m writing this during mine! (Nobody cares but I’mma brag anyway.) Most folks prefer a lunch break, but please allow me to introduce— the Mid-Evening Break.

Here are the guidelines for a mid-evening break:

+ Allocate an entire hour (or 1½ hour, depending on how accomplished you feel).

+ Couple productive things to do, which might’ve slipped off your schedule due to an accumulation of work:

+ Some fun things to do, to rejuvenate:

Personal Example: Most days, I start off by writing a bit of a post, throw in a quick workout, and watch a few videos. I’ll end with checking socials and maybe replying to some messages.

Step SIX: Rinse and Repeat.

Round two! Obviously, don’t overworking yourself, but working on lighter projects for 1-2 hours after the break sounds cool. These include getting started on upcoming projects, working on a hobby, learning a skill, getting future readings for lectures done. Again, work in chunks, and take breaks as and when required.

Remember to stop working at a decent time, then go enjoy your entertainment without guilt! Also get to bed reasonably soon! Be kind, do good!

ALTERNATIVE:

For Those Keeping Minutes, Here’s The Recap:

:) Thanks for joining the Conquerors’ Causerie Podcast! Try this out— and lemme know how it goes, #team conquer, ayo. Productivity is a routine, it doesn’t magically happen one sunny day. So give this shit a try!

🌿 The End Card For Love & Plugging

Thanks for dropping by! New posts come out every Thursday, and so do my wins, journal entries, philo rants & photos of my plant babies throughout the week, so follow me if you’re into conquering life. I promise to be your loudest cheer woman. ✧

Sending you love and good energy, talk soon.

— Nandini 💌 (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

✨ TAGLIST:

Thank you to these folks for supporting my content! I love you, hope y'all are doing well. ⬇

Keep reading