#should i have a bibliography for the guide.

[jewishcissiekj]

they (me) got me in the trenches for this guide (getting information from IMDb)

[flowersfallingdown]

I have less homework this semester than last semester but gah . It is much longer/harder than last semester

[ghosts-to-reid]

Neo Gothic IV

Summary: Spencer invites you to stay with him whilst you are being targetted. The journey of emotions is one you did not expect.

A/N: IM SORRY ITS SO LATE I HAD SO MUCH WORK TO DO She isn't proofread but she is LONG so i hope you enoy!

18+ Series! Mentions of murder and death.

SPENCER REID REQUESTS ENCOURAGED AND WANTED

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 5 / Masterlist / Bibliography

Spencer hasn't left your side since he parked his car in the BAU's parking lot. A lingering gaze around the room as he guides you with a soft hand, ghosting your lower back. He sits you down on a plush chair in Hotch's office, sending Penelope to fetch tea whilst he briefs Hotch on what he thinks the next steps should be. Never straying further than 3 feet away.

Meanwhile, you were still in a state of terror induced silence.

The memeory of Spencer so methodically opening that box, his almost clinical response, as if this was a normal day for him. It scared you to death. Blinking away the image of the dead raven was nearly impossible as you stared, glazed eyes pointed to the rough grey carpet. The poems once macabre comfort, noe turned sour as the stanzas float through your mind, You'd analysed this poem to death. You know the meaning behind it, all thee knowledge you had on poe began to spin throigh your head like a whirlwhind, trying to find any other meaning in the words-

"Here." Spencer's soft voice broke you from your trance, blinking away the dryness behind your eyes, you gingerly take the tea from him, taking a small sip. Spencer is crouched before you, one hand on your knee as he casts a concerned gaze to you through a furrowed brow. Hotch had left at this point, leaving the pair of you alone whilst he organises the team.

After a moment, you finally broke the silence you had kept since your abject discovery.

"The poem... It's about love. But love of a twisted kind. One that persists after death..." Your pace began to pick up as all your previous thoughts come fourth "It's about how strong love can be, hell he climbs into her grave in the end, that's what a sepulchre is you know? a tomb. and he called me 'Sanguinary' that's bloodshed, like a lot- a lot of blood- Spencer- Oh my God, does that mean he want's to spill my blood- Oh my God"

By the end, you have begun a terror filled tyrade, with all your fear and adrenaline coming to the forefront and begging to wreck your body with stilted sobs, the threat of hyperventing . Spencer has leaned forward, grabbign the mug from your hand whilst softly shushing you. Placing his hands softly on your shoulders, he squeezes so slightly, trying to bring you back from the ledge.

"Shhhh... It's ok. We're going to figure this out. The team is going to look over everything again okay? Just breathe with me." Softly, he ran his hands downyour arms, keeping his eyes locked with yours as he took slow deep breathes with you. Eventually, your sobs have stilted, and your breath returns to a normal pace. Spencer holds your hands in his "It's going to be okay, You're safe. I promise."

"But... Where am I going to stay? My... My house is a crime scene, and I can't even go back because now i'm being targeted by some guy who liked Poe a bit too much!" Pulling your hands from his, you place your head in your hands in frustration, rubbing your temples to ease the stress headache that is threatening to pentrate your brain.

After a moment of silence, Spencer pulls your hands away from your face, oncemore holding them in his. "You can stay at my house, with me. And then we can go to work together, where you'll be safe, and then i'll be there to keep you safe, okay?" His thumb rubbed your hand softly, and after a minute of hesitation you nod. agreeing to stay with spencer seems like your safest option. A moment later, the intimate scene was interupted by Hotch, calling you to go with him. Spencer explains that now you were a target, they will need to interview you to find any possible suspects.

Spencer leaves you to go and work with Emily and Derek, Hotch guides you to an interogation room, explaining the setting is purely formality. Sitting across from the pair, you fumble with your ring nervously.

"Y/N, Is there anyone in your life that you may have noticed taking a particular intrest in you in the last 3 months? It might not be in any significant way, maybe small ways." Hotch asks, his brows furrowed with cocnern.

"Think about people in your classes, we know the unsub knows your interest in the gothic as a student, was there any faculty or students who you might have spoken to, maybe even had a study session with?" JJ's voice is soft, kind as she navigates you through the interview. Your thoughts flooded with interactions you have had the past 5 years with your classmates, any significant or not, shaking your head after a moment.

"No, I can't think of anything... I've not made many connections since... since my parents died... I moved here and went head first into my studies, I haven't particularly focused on friendships or relationships until now."

"It could be an interaction as small as you lending them notes. From what we can gather, this unsub has crafted this fantasy around you and your interests. Stalkers like this can be triggered by even the tiniest moment of kindness." Hotch gazes at you softly, calmly probing you for information. After another moment, a small memory emerges.

"There was this guy... Tyler Jones. He worked with me as a TA in my undergrad, we both study the field. He asked me out once but I said no... He didnt ask again so I forgot about it. But he was really into the gothic, almost more than me."

When you mentioned a name, JJ had Garcia run it. She quickly discovered that Tyler had been studying his masters in Texas. This revaltion shook you, and most of the team quickly moved to locate him. As the three of you went to leave, JJ held your shoulder, causing you to pause

"Where are you staying?" Her voice was kind, still carrying the soft tone that everyone seemed to be coddlying you with.

"Im staying with Spencer actually, he offered before." JJ gives you a small smile, and pats your arm softly

"I've never seen him take to someone so quickly." She smiles "He's never like this with anyone new." Confusion painted your features for a moment, and with her impressive profiling skills, she of course caught that.

"You know he's a big germaphobe right? I saw him comforting you before, do you know how long it took him to get comftorble enough for him to even give me a handshake?" She laughs lightly, causing a ghost of a smile to find your features. Spencer had never shown you any indication of that, obviously. It's doubtful you would've noticed if JJ hadn't just told you. Before the conversation could continue, Spencer joins you both

"Y/N, I'm going to take you back to my apartment. Emily and Garcia are going to yours to grab some things for you, but right now we don't need much else from you, so i convinced Hotch to let us go early, Only if that's ok with you!" He begins a ramble of his own about your options, causing you and JJ to share a look of amusment. You interupt him with a small nod of your head, and a goodbye to JJ before Spencer leads you away, gathering your things before taking you to his apartment

The car ride felt odd for some reason. Either the situation of some random psycho sending you dead birds, rife with symbolism of deadly obsession, but you chose to focus on the fact that this was odd because it was the first time you were going to Spencer's apartment, instead of yours.

The ride was relatively quiet until you had turned on the radio, settling for a station playing old rock. There was silence otherwise, but there was also no tension past the obvious, there was an ease of nature between you two.

Eventually pulling to the curb, he leads you to through the old building, and into his apartment. The place embodied Spencer, The dark green walls barley visible through the expanse of bookcases, that were still too little to hold the amount of books he owned, with the remainder littering any other surface that was possible. The ebony wood of his furniture absorbed most of the light, with Spencers solution being a small army of lamps illuminating any corners that were eclipsed. Coffee and Patchouli, the scent of old books all comforted you immediatly, and you momentarily forgot your woe in the warm embrace of the domestic life of Spencer Reid.

Guiding you to his worn leather sofa, spencer exits to make the two of you tea. The day had quickly gotten away from you, the horror of the raven, the terror of being targeted, made the hours fly by and you noticed the time was nearer to Dinner than lunch, and that reminder caused a surprisng growl to erupt from your stomach. Whipping around at the sound of a laugh, you spot Spencer holding two mugs of steaming tea, slowly moving towards the sofa

"I guess dinner is probably a good idea, considering we missed lunch in the panic" placing your mug in front of you, he takes the place beside you. Sipping from his cup whilst eyeing you, gaguing your mental state.

"We could order in? It'll be my treat, as a thank you." This was the first time you had spoken since arriving, not out of horror this time, but from simple pensive thought. Though now, you were happy to focus on Spencer, and forget about the wider world outside his door. Spencer begtins to argue with you, but you're already arguing. Eventually, he submits and allows you to order you both pizza.

Emily and Pen eventually arrive to drop off your things, only stopping by briefly before they go to track down Tyler. They give you a tight hug each, before promising to do all they can. Penelope is far more concerned than you currently are, finding solace in your situation. Silver linings on all clouds exist after all...

Settling on the couch once more, Spencer turns his head to you.

"So, I guess this throws a wrench in our date plans?" He had a sheepish demenour, he was sat in one corner, facing you, whilst you sat with your legs tucked up underneath yourself in the other. Quirking your head to side you raise a brow of inquisition

"Why does it?" Is all you state simply, confusing the man beside you

"Well, I don't think it's a good diea if you go out, the unsub could follow you, and we can't do much here..." His lips form a small line, he was clearly dissapointed by the prediciment but trying not to show it.

"Why does it have to? A date is quality time after all... Hell, we could have a date tonight if we liked." Softly speaking, you shuffle towards him, closing the small gap and placing your hand on hiS "Pizza nad a movie night, under blankets, cuddling, that sounds far better to me than a fancy restraunt."

Spencer gives you a soft smile, and thinks for a moment "I think we can do that... What do we need to do?" Shifting in your position, any fear is forgotten as you eagerly explain to Spencer the idea, get into your pyjamas, pig out on pizza, talk, joke, and watch a movie. He seems caught of guard by simplicity but eagerly agrees. Changing into pyjamas, obviously picked by Penelope, as eahc pair packed are all variations of cartoon pyjamas that had been gifted to you years ago. Of course, still beggars cant be choosers, putting on your pyjamas in the bathroom, you exit to see Spencer setting up the couch with blankets and pillows. He has a loose FBI Academy tshirt on, and plain grey joggers. The pizza is on the coffee table in front of the sofa, and eventually, Spencer turns to see you watching him. He gives you a smile.

He has turned off the lights, leaving only a lamp or two lit. The cosy enviroment has made you long forget any terror, forcing you to focus on the man in front of you.

"Did I do it right?" He asks shyly as you make your way over to him, with a smile you pull him into a hug.

"It's perfect." He pulls you closer before you break a part, sitting beside one another.

The first movie is your choice, a Hammer House of Horror retelling of Elizabeth Bathory, the Vampire Countess. Spencer enjoys telling you the historical innacuracies, but you don't bother telling him you knew this already. Enjoying his enthusiasm on the topic much more. By the end of the movie, the pair of you are hip to hip.

The second is Spencer's choice. It's a film in French, that has no english dubbing. He thinks you'd enjoy it for its horror elements, and he offers to translate it for you. He pulls you in close to him, arm around your figure as he whispers softly in your ear.

By the third movie, it is late. The pair of you debate the practicality of a third film at this hour. He reassurse you Hotch has given him leave to guard you when you worry about how early he has to wake up, and you sooth his worry at the fact you may not rest. You assure him that after the events of today, you would rather watch films with him rather than your alternative of replaying the image of that raven, and igniting your fears once more.

The third movie is a shared choice, after a few minutes of searching, you discover a new release that intrigues you both. His arm is still around you as the film plays, and there is a quiet calm. Your head is laid against his chest, and you tune into his steady heartbeat. His hands trace ghosts of symbols on your skin, causing small goosbumps to form in their wake. There is a domestic bliss in this moment, as this was the most natural position for the pair of you, that you were meant to fit perfectly under his arm like this. Like, the pair of you were the creatures that Plato had described all those years ago. A perfect pair.

"This is the best date i've ever been on" You mutter softly, eyes still looking to the screen. Spencer looks down to you on his shoulder, a small smile gracing his lips.

"I think I can make it better though." His voice is almost a whisper, his confidence wavering slightly as he spoke. Moving to meet his gaze, you find him with a look of adoration in his eyes. Blinking, you hum in response to encourge him to continue. Slowly, he moves to meet your lips, placing a slow, chaste kiss where he lands. It is so tender, it surprises you. After the gruffness of the events of today, you welcome the tenderness of his lips, and return it best you can. The kiss lasts a few slow, passionate moments, before you break for air. The pair of you are awestruck by one another, film now forgotten as you lean in to kiss him again.

This time, the kiss was more feverish, more animalistic as your toungues meet. They begin to dance slowly before fignting for dominance. The kiss escalates, whilst you lie back in the sofa, his arms move to support himself on eitherside of your body. Your hads find his hair as one of his hands lightly traces your side.

When the two of you break oncemore, you are both short of breath. Spencer leans over you, panting lightly as he stares at your form, that same awestruck look painting his features once more.

"You're sublime." He whispers before dipping to kiss you softly again.

Spencer's words, his actions, are so careful and kind. He is calculated in a way that shows his appreciation for you rather than a want for your utility. He has worshipped you every moment he has been able to, and clearly has been for a long time. The safety and satisfaction that Spencer lends you in his pressance is made up of pure adoration for you.

Once the pair of you finally find your attention back on the film, you are both lost on the plot. It is now the early hours of the morning, and the subject of bed sharing was never brought up. But, as if it was your most natural state, he simply leads you to his bedroom, where you both fall asleep together once more, mirroring your positions from the hotel. His arm, protecitve around your waist, and you, snuggled tightly into his chest. This was a habit you were beggining to become used to.

As morning light creeped through Spencers heavy cuurtains, you stirred awake. The weight of his arm was still heavy agaisnt your waist, in the night you had turned away from him, ending up with your back perfecttly curved against his front as he snored lightly. It was the type of morning you fantasise about, the sun shining, birds twittering, yet you couldn't ignore the terror that haunted you any longer.

Last night, you had clung to the distraction of your date with Spencer. The night was everything you had dreamt of, the pair of you had talked all night about anything, and everything. But, that raven haunted the back of your mind.

Why would you be a victim? You knew from the team that stalkers psychology wasn't rational, but you had been a practical loner during your time studying. Study sessions with classmates, and maybe a casual conversation here and there, but no significant interactions besides Tyler sprung to mind. Most nights were spent alone, in obscurity in the crowd.

Then, you tried to look at yourself from a clinical perspective. What traits might draw in a gothic obbsessor to you?

A few moments passed whilst you complied this list in your mind, analysing yourself against every gothic story you knew.

A tight squeeze from behind you broke from your thoughts, as Spencer pulled you closer to him. He nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck, and a small smile found its way to your lips. Turning in his hold, your eyes met his drowsy ones, still half lidded. You utter a soft good morning, which he returns by kissing your forehead softly.

"Good morning... Have you been up long?" His voice is laced still with dreams, rough but soft.

"Not long. Just been thinking..." Keeping your voice low, you try not to break the tender moment between the two of you. He hums whilst reaching a hand softly from your side and up to your cheek.

"What about?"

"Just..." Your voice stilted, trying to find the words "Just trying to think why I might be a target... From a Gothic perspective that is... Why would I be chosen for this?"

"Maybe he saw something in you that reminded him of a story he read, or a character he liked. It wont be anything you could control though..." His hand is softly stroking yoour cheek, he is more alert now. Trying to soothe you from any worry that may be awaking with you.

"I think I figured it out..." Voice still soft, barely a whisper. You were afraid to admit it outloud, but you had figured it must be this. Spencer nods for you to continue.

"I think it's because I fit the archetype of the tragic gothic heroine. You know, the damsel in distress?" Pausing to organise your thoughts, Spencer simply waits, still softly stroking your cheek. "Im an orphan... Both my parents died when I was 19, I had to stop school for a while because of that... And now im alone, in a place where I moved without knowing a single soul. My past..." Again, another pause, your voice catches in your throat. Emotion now taking over.

A part of your past you tried not to touch was your parents death. It wasn't as if you hid it, it was just too painful a memory to recall. Tears well in your eyes as you recalln the night you discovered them, lifeless and bloody in your childhood home. Spencer moves to sit up, bringing you up with him. He cradles you in his arms as you lean softly on his legs for support. He rubs soothing circles on your arm as you gather the courage to share.

"When I was 19, I was in my second year of college... I came home for a surprise visit one weekend, and when I got home, it was empty. It was weird, my parents would be sat in the living room watching tv usually at that time, you know? So... So I called out to them. I searched the house when I didn't get a response from the. There was no sign of anything, it was like they had completely dissapered. Then I thought, You know maybe they're both in the storm sellar. My dad. H-He had turned it into a workshop, he liked to make things... He made me a great desk once, I still have it. But... But maybe I thought he wanted to show mum his new creation, so that's why they didn't hear me, you know?" Tears had began to fall, you were becoming frantic now, trying to get the facts of your parents death out before you could shy away. "I was right, they were both down there... I'll never forget the... The smell when I opened the shutters... We lived quite remote, they were quiet people, you know? So no body hearing from them wasn't strange, so when I got there... It had been 3 weeks." A loud sob broke from you and spencer pulled you closer to him, still soothing you.

"Maybe you can carry on later?" His voice softly penetrated through your own terror, but you shook your head, pulling away from him and sitting straight facing him.

"No, no I need to tell you or I never will... They were murdered. They... They had been held at gunpoint, and torutured for days..." you were trembling, but your eyes never broke from spencer's as you rushed your tale "I... The things he did... Then he killed them. He... He made my dad watch as decapitated my mother before doing the same to him. They left them like a display...." Spencer moved to hold you. You were now a wreck of shaking cries and laboured breath as you finally broke down in his arms. The man holding you was in abject shock, things beggining to make sense to him now.

The aversion to the crime scene photos wasn't due to being squeamish, it was because of the reminder of your parents. He would've also put money on the fact that your intrest in the Gothic was actually a subconcious need to find logic in your parents murder. It is after all, a historic genre of metaphorical trauma, the illustrations of mankinds sins.

"Im so sorry, angel..." He hushed you, rocking you slowly and petting your hair. He continued this motion, cardling you like a colicy child, until you finally were composed enough to continue. Eyes red and puffy, skin blotchy and red from the intensity of your cries. Almost afraid to ask, Spencer moved forward with his questions "Did they catch their killer?"

A small no was your only response "Death penalty..." was all you whispered. He took this as encouragment to further his line of questioning "Did you go to therapy?"

"Still do..."

"Where's the rest of your family?"

"It's just me, now..."

"So, how long have you bottled this up? You... You said you aren't very social, you don't date... When was the last time that you- That you let go like that?"

His question caught you off guard, but you couldn't recall the last time you had cried so hard over your parents. The thought of them was one you avoided. It only brought up memories of that storm cellar, the smell, the decay... Maggots unsettled you in a visceral way now, as did flies. You would see them in eveything, but the thought of their coporeal form was one that would rarely linger in your concious, lest the threat of their dismembered bodies haunt your mind once more. Though you loved them deeply, for your own protection you had tried to forget them in another state.

Spencer took your silence as an answer before pulling you up, he began to lead you into the living room before making quick work of getting you a glass of water. Here, you sat with him most of the day whilst he asked questions about your past, your family, your parents. You told him about how you'd grown up on the outskirts of a small town, that you were always a fan of ghost stories and would get in trouble for reading too much in lessons. Spencer was ammused by that, he was totuched to discover that your furniture in your apartment were actually pieces that your father had made, and you had brought with you. Sharing stories of holliday memories with your mother baking, even recalling the negative. Your parents arguments, the nasty things they'd say in their fury. The occasinal military style punishment you had underwent, but that also brought fourth the memories of your parents guilt, how they would show how much they'd truly love you after wards. They were imperfect, but that wasn't a problem.

Sharing wasn't only on you, Spencer shared with you his mothers condition. He told you about how he had to admit her into a home when he was just 18, The troubles he has had trying to navigate becoming the carer of the person who is meant to care for him. Tears, laughter, joy, and strife were shared between you, as you both lazed the day away, in hazy nostalgia of each others past.

In the middle of Spencer's story about his acrobatic exploits as a child, his phone rang. Excusing himself to answer, he stood a few steps away from you, just outside the door of the living room.

Moments later, he returned with a pale face. Curiosity combined with fear as you stood to walk over to him. Gingerly, you called his name.

"What happened?" He was silent for a moment, almost afraid to meet your eyes.

"Another box was delivered to your apartment today..."

Quirking a brow, you felt your heart beat quicken.

"Another raven?"

When Spencer didn't answer, and kept his eyes glued to your feet, you grew even more concerned.

"Spencer?" Your tone was impatient, but quivered still

He took a small deep breath

"It was the head of Tyler Jones."

Part 5 soon...

Tags: @pleasantwitchgarden @xamapolax @kchv

[kanagenwrites]

Hey folks. My name is Kanagen (It's pronounced Ka-na-ngen. Kana is fine.), and I'm a writer. I mostly write sci-fi with a more or less sapphic bent, and I'm not shy about putting lewd content in what I write because fuck petty moralism.

I'm active in the Human Domestication Guide writing community, where apart from being an author (see below), I'm also a Loret, which means I help maintain and update the lore of the setting, help new creators with questions about it or how to fit a story into it, and so on. All of my publicly available fiction at the moment is HDG content, but I plan on working more on my own original settings and concepts in the future.

I have a patreon, where I post my current long-form project's drafts chapter by chapter, once weekly. I also occasionally talk about my writing process. I'm hoping to expand content there in the future as well.

I don't use social media very much because I remember what the internet used to be like before walled gardens and techbros ruined it. (You kids really don't know what you're missing.) Nevertheless, the life of a freelance writer rather demands I put myself out there somehow, so here I am. Ask me questions, behold the weird stuff I reblog, and try not to get too parasocial with me. I'm just a weird lady who puts words in funny shapes.

Bibliography

Long-Form Fiction

No Gods, No Masters - A revolutionary leftist copes with the subtle differences between her own idea of the perfect world and the just-a-little-off version of it the Affini offer. First novel-length work in the Tillandsia Trilogy; highly suggested you read this before The Floret in the Mirror and especially Freedom's Ember.

The Floret in the Mirror - A mystery/thriller about identity, digitization, and impossible simulated lewdness. Content warning for amnesia resulting from traumatic brain injury as part of the setup. Sequel to No Gods, No Masters.

Freedom's Ember (ongoing) - Sixty years after the Affini conquered her world, a woman clings to her independence; sixty years after being frozen for cryogenic flight from the Affini, a woman struggles to discover who she really is when freed from her father's influence. What is freedom, and what does it mean in the context of the Compact? Sequel to No Gods, No Masters and The Floret in the Mirror, conclusion of the Tillandsia Trilogy.

Sui Generis - A martian attorney living on Earth finds adjusting to life with the Affini easier than most; she was already keeping her wife as a pet before they arrived. The real question is, where's that strange jealousy coming from?

Short Fiction

Mainspring - A Terran secret agent is captured by the Affini, trapped by artist for whom his body is a canvas, and she means to make of him her magnum opus. Wind-up doll content, and probably my most commonly cited story for "this rewired my brain"-style reactions.

Reading the Leaves - A tea-obsessed barista, an affini new to humanity, and a sweet (if awkward) romance culminating in a very raunchy ending. Entry for the HDG February Fluff Fic Jam 2024.

The Fifth Fundamental Force - This story is a silly joke. It should not be taken seriously, though many inevitably do.

Aftertaste (stalled) - A former quadrillionaire and epicure who just barely avoided domestication is tracked down by an affini culinary anthropologist who wants to use his brain to reconstruct a lost flavor using his long-buried memory - he was the last human to ever taste bluefin tuna. This fic is only sporadically updated because the stars must precisely align for my brain to be in a state to write boyliker fic. Sorry, I'm just really gay, y'all.

[transmutationisms]

i know this is like baby communist stuff but do you have any recommendations on how to approach theory? aside from like marxists dot org

sorry forgot this ask was here. i'm not sure if you mean getting into marxist theory specifically or just, how to approach dense theoretical texts that are often unwelcoming to new readers.

regarding marxism, i personally get a lot out of michael heinrich's how to read capital every time i revisit it, and his introduction to capital. david harvey also has some useful work, including a companion to marx's capital. harvey also has a lot of problems (see here to start) and tbc i'm not suggesting him or heinrich because i think you should treat them as unassailable authorities. but i find that both of them are useful for glossing and presenting many of marx's ideas in a way that makes it clearer to lay readers how they're formulated and what's at stake. if you've ever opened capital and just been like "these corn laws must be important but i'm not sure i understand why", i think companion guides like heinrich's especially can be really helpful for giving you a foothold and an idea of what to look for, how to evaluate the utility and applicability of the concepts, &c.

in general, getting into theory can definitely be intimidating but i also think it's less scary than people make it look at first. what concepts or problems or people are interesting to you? that's where you should start; you might find that you end up wanting to read the people they were responding to as well, but i think it's a common mistake to psych yourself out by trying to trace every theoretical concept back to its ultimate source (the old "reading plato so i can read kant so i can read hegel so i can read marx so i can..."). if you're baffled by a text, online is your friend; i really recommend the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, and you can poke around their articles' bibliographies. also, if you're reading something and it sucks, hit the bricks. life is short. lastly i think discussing theory is not just fun but also useful, for pushing your own understanding and gaining someone else's insights. so, if you have friends who are into this stuff or access to a reading group or something, i'd take advantage. there are definitely ways to do this online as well, although there is something to be said for buying someone a pint and a pack and having a good argument :-)

[cripplecharacters]

Hi! I'm writing a fantasy story set in a setting that focuses around 12-13 century BCE. My main character, who is not the POV character, has progressive blindness due to a genetic disorder and has lost most of his hearing in one ear due to an explosion in a battle. Given that magic exists very sparingly in this universe, and no one close to him has such powers, he uses only a cane and later, a guide animal for his blindness.

I just read through your blog and I realised it might seem a little disrespectful to not accommodate other avenues of aid, especially for his hearing loss. I wanted to ask if I should add anything else, and if so, what would be appropriate for the period?

P.S.: He is also a warrior, and he fights pretty often; is that unrealistic with the aids that are involved?

Thank you for maintaining the blogs, this has been greatly educational

Hi!

So, while we don't have a lot of commonly known resources about disability in this time period because of the in general more limited resources about it, we actually found a resource that might help you a lot!

This website is called Disability History and the Ancient World, and focuses on exactly what it says lol. To quote it: "Quite contrary to disability studies for other periods, research into this subject has just begun to develop and specialists are few." It has a huge bibliography of various research papers and articles, in various languages and about various topics. Not all of them have links, but they can be copy-pasted and then searched for and whatnot. More specifically, we found an article about deaf men in the 13th century BCE! Here's the article, and here it is in PDF form if that's easier.

For more general practical writing advice, you can play a little fast and loose with accuracy. You kind of already have, a bit, with the aids for blindness – but also with fantasy, and also because you kind of have to, in a setting we know relatively little about!

It is, however, pretty accurate that wherever people are deaf, they develop sign languages to communicate. It might not historically have been a standardized language in a widespread way, but people everywhere want to communicate. If you're being a bit anachronistic anyway, which again, is totally fine especially in a fantasy setting, you could also make it so that a braille-like language exists already; and/or a tactile sign language that's somewhat known. Those are aids that DeafBlind people use today that could translate pretty well to the setting.

As to the combat/warrior, I would say that a guide animal is much less realistic to have in combat than the cane. You also mention that his blindness is progressive, which means it might vary from battle to battle depending on how his blindness progresses and how often he has to fight.

Thank you for your question, by the way! I think we were all a bit fascinated because no one has asked us anything about this time period before.

– mod sparrow

P.S.: For historical context for anyone else other than the original asker, this time period is 1300-1101 BCE, and the numbers go 3-2-1 instead of 1-2-3 because they're counting down to 0. It's around this time that it's the Late Bronze Age and later the Late Bronze Age Collapse, the Shang Dynasty is in place in China, it's the 19th Dynasty of Egypt, and the mythological Trojan War has its symbolic dates (it might be based on a real conflict, or not, we don't know for sure).

[historicity-was-already-taken]

Hello!! I've come here with a humble request. I'm currently writing a thesis on how the situation of Jewish women and men differed during Holocaust and I've found your speech: 'Girls with Guns, Woman Commanders, and Unheeded Warnings: Women and the Holocaust' to be an amazing starting point. Could you direct me to the sources you used when preparing it? (sincere apologies if this has been answered before, and thank you!!) Have a great day ✿✿✿

First of all, thank you SO MUCH for your kind words about that piece. For anyone who doesn't know which piece we're referring to, it's this one.

So just so we're all on the same page, I'm going to approach this question like you're an upper level undergrad History major and I'm the graduate teaching assistant in charge of guiding you through this research planning process. So, before I start to give you names and titles, I'm going to pose some questions for you to consider: which European Jews are you writing about? Eastern European? Western European? Southern European? Ashkenazic? Sephardic? Polish? Greek? Dutch? Religious? Hasidic? Secular? Factory-owning class? Working class? Because gendered experiences of and responses to the Holocaust will also be shaped by nationality, religiosity, class, and region.

When you've chosen your region/niche/group, I'd recommend starting at least 100 years before the Holocaust. Like, when I was writing about German Jewish female refugees in Shanghai for my MA thesis, to understand their behavior and responses, I had to start in the 1800s to get a better idea of the historical experience, trajectory, and socialization of German Jewish women.

The post you're referring to was more about memory and its silences than it was about a specific group, so the sources for that are extremely general. Since you're still determining your scope, I'm going to give you some names of historians whose bibliographies you should explore yesterday:

-Marion Kaplan -Paula Hyman -Dalia Ofer -Zoe Waxman -Joan Ringelheim -Carol Rittner -Lenore Weitzman

And some titles to help you grasp the basics, presented in no particular order:

Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi Germany by Marion Kaplan

Writing the Holocaust: Identity, Testimony, Representation by Zoe Waxman

Different Voices: Women and the Holocaust edited by Carol Rittner

Women in the Holocaust edited by Dalia Ofer and Lenore J. Weitzman

Gender and Jewish History edited by Marion Kaplan and Deborah Dash Moore

Sexual Violence Against Jewish Women During the Holocaust edited by Sonja M. Hedgepeth and Rochelle G. Saidel [this one is rough; only use it if you are 800% sure this is the lens you want to use]

Gender and Assimilation in Modern Jewish History: The Roles and Representation of Women by Paula E. Hyman [no relation, though she is my grand-adviser]

Women in the Holocaust: A Feminist History by Zoe Waxman

I have a pretty good working knowledge of Modern Jewish European historiography, with a focus on gender, ~1700-Holocaust, so once you've narrowed your scope, let me know if I can provide additional titles/help/whatever.

[solacescastleglow]

Study Tips for Humanities Subjects

The majority of studying tips I see are for subjects where there's a lot of rote memorisation, but what about those ones where you just have to research and write? As a history student in university, all of my subjects involve very little learning through memorisation and almost entirely annotated bibliographies and essays. Where I go to university, that's how the majority of courses are run, and I've got the formula down. So, from someone with a HD/GPA of 6.4/7 (American equivalent 3.71 according to this) who has never used AI, here's some study tips for this kind of subject.

1: Reading

The first paragraph of a text and the first sentence of each paragraph should tell you what it's about. You don't have to fully read all of it, just those parts, then if you think you'll use that paragraph you can read it.

While you're reading, write down the key themes next to the citation in your essay document. That way, you'll remember where to find the references for what you're trying to say.

2: Essays

If your university is anything like mine, you usually get to choose from a list of questions to answer or make up your own question. Remember to go for something that will fit the word count (not too broad, not too narrow), and try to make it something that interests you. If you can't make one up, pick the easiest one. Don't be a hero, it just needs to get done.

Make an essay plan. Trust me it makes writing it sooo much easier. Here's an example I made of what the plan would look like for this post:

For your first draft, don't worry about how it sounds. Just get the ideas out of your head and onto the page. You can even do this with your second, third, etc. drafts. If you count the essay plan as the first draft, you can just build on it. As long as you fix it at some point, you can write informally for however much of the process you want. I find it takes way less time because I'm not just staring at the page wondering how to get it right.

Make the point you're trying to make (based off what you learned in the lectures), then find sources for it. That way you'll actually know what you're looking for in a source.

3: Citing

This one's obvious, but put the links to your sources down before you try to make it look presentable. Formatting comes later.

If you've never done an annotated bibliography before, they can be really helpful, even if they're not required. Not only is it an expanded version of the writing down key themes part of the reading section, but it helps pare down your references to only ones that are necessary. It doesn't have to be formal, and shouldn't be part of your submitted page unless required, but it's a good idea to have one for your own use.

Look up the citation guide for your faculty. I can't count how many times I got points deducted because I had errors in my referencing. Use a tool like CitationMachine if you're not sure, but actually check what it puts out because sometimes it's wrong.

4: Professors

Research your classes and find out who's teaching them before signing up to the class. Last semester I had the worst time because an archaeology professor was teaching a digital curation subject and he had no clue what he was doing. Next semester, I'm taking another digital curation subject, but the professor teaches digital curation, so it'll be so much easier. Where I live, RateMyProfessor doesn't exist, but if it does where you are, pay attention to what people have said about them.

Teaching style matters. Is your professor well prepared? Do they seem passionate about what they're teaching? It's easier to find this out early if you're taking online classes. If their teaching style doesn't gel with you, or they just don't like you for whatever reason, it's ok to drop the class. If you have to take it, adjust your expectations accordingly.

If you're making your own essay question, or really doing anything that isn't what they told you to, check with your professor first to make sure it's ok. You don't need to for the tiniest little things, but it lets them know you value their opinion and care about your academics.

If you have the same professor for multiple subjects, or multiple essays in one course, pay attention to the feedback. Some professors really like things done a certain way. Do they want you to be more specific? More analytical? Do they just really hate a particular word or phrase? Learning from your mistakes can help you not lose those points again.

5: Mindset, Organisation, Routine, etc.

Know your why. Honestly, for a good couple of years there I spent every study day wondering if it was even worth it to keep going. But I love history, and I love museums, and I want to be a part of it. Your reason might be a little less self centred, or it might not (because what's wrong with that?). Either way, that drive can get you through a lot.

That being said, if it sucks that bad, you don't have to do it. You can drop the class if you need to, either for your physical health or your wellbeing. Obviously I'm not suggesting you drop out over an essay being difficult, but in my case, dropping that class with the bad professor would've been a good move. I spent too much time and effort trying to do something I hadn't really been taught how to do, and it really wasn't worth my energy. Unless it's required for your degree, don't worry too much about it.

At the beginning of the semester, look at the percentage each assignment is worth. Act accordingly. Don't put in 100% effort for a 20% assignment (unless you're getting really into it), that's a one way ticket to getting burnt out. There's literally no point spending an extra 12 hours perfecting something that's not worth at least 40%. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be done.

Find a study environment that works for you. I like to work with a buddy, whether that's my mum (who's working on her PhD) or an imaginary study group. I need to be somewhere different from where I usually hang out to get focussed (like a cafe or my desk). I need breaks, some people don't. I don't really think there's a single best way to study, as long as you're getting stuff done, it doesn't matter if it's not aesthetic or an approved method. That being said, if making it aesthetic works for you, do that.

---

And that's all I have. I'm sure there are more out there, but I've been in academia for a while now and this is what works for me. I know a lot of people are going back to school, so good luck! You got this!

[annbourbon]

Flowers inside the Cheritzverse

For the sake of this I'm gonna derail the post a bit because otherwise this is not gonna work lol we need to talk about fairies first~ fairies and flowers. Yes, the two of them are closely linked and I do not dare to make a different post for it. If we are to talk about the Wizard of Dandelion and The Cheritzverse, we need to talk about the fairy concept in general. I already talked about the magic contracts and karmic laws which in theory are not linked together irl but write do use it together, because it's kinda cool (?) but whatever~ so let's begin with the fae world. I'm not gonna delve a lot into it, just gonna touch the basics.

So 101 here~

They are not called fairies but fae. They are divided by Seelie and Unseelie Courts. And please, do not let your human thoughts think that ones are "good" and the others are "bad" or something like that. Actually, representations like that are more harmful than anything. They're not supposed to be similar or have affinity to human standards. So whatever you consider beautiful, ugly or inappropriate, it's different for them. I believe the same concept it's applied to good and bad for them. And that they have particular affinity to change if they see you want to "like them". It's fun to consider that the books of YA can't be more inaccurate sometimes *sighs* I won't try to fight those cause it's difficult to change an idea once established but, At least that's what I have gathered from the fairytales~~~~~

* Some devas are associated with fairies.

* Random fact that doesn't come on the fairy bible but~ did you know the earth has chakras too? And when connecting chakras with some powerful places (where several ley lines touch) it can create weird events.

* Water is a conductor. Always. And not only electricity but also ley lines can drift because of that.

* Seriously read about ley lines because these can be used as a method of transportation. If you want to read how would that work, you should read Kim Harrison's series, The Hollows. Which could tie my theory on how witches and fae folk and demons too btw~ can work all along the Cheritzverse. This is not exclusive on her works but it's where I have seen the idea explained in a better way. Which makes me think of several myths and stuff that has been going around for ages (big fan of supernatural and so weird series here so lol i've been studying mythology a lot.)

* Fae folk are diverse. So even if someone, yes even me, says one thing, another can say whatever and we're all free to enjoy them as we please.

So how does this ties to the Cheritzverse will you ask? Well~ that's why flowers and trees have a long and ancient culture around and even their own meanings.

Although there are versions in Greece where the Hesperides Garden contains several "sacred trees" (among those apparently it's the pomegranate. Which ties to Jaehee~ and others like The Monkey King legend in China where you can see the Garden of Immortal Peaches. it's all about paying attention to the detail to see the patterns.)

BTW I found the Fairy Bible so useful to help me in my defense and to build up how the Cheritzverse would work. Really, I wanted to create more on this but I had to cut it cause the post is so long already. For now let's delve into the language of flowers~

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From now on~ I grabbed the links, I copied/pasted and added everything I know so here till the end I'm gonna be quoting A Guide for the Flower Language and adding a lot of insights from A victorian flower dictionary, Le Langage des fleurs by de Latour (1819) and Floriography, among other notes I have. Check bibliography at the end of the post for more notes.

To make it clearer, I'm gonna quote it in bold. I'm also gonna go a bit more deeper than what the Mint Eye package and Cheritz said because I have some books and knowledge on mythology, and some knowledge (although not extensive or this post it's gonna become giantic) I have on medicine to add onto this, so be warned; this is gonna be a long post, but here we go~

Disclaimer: I'm not a medical professional. My family however has been dedicated to this for ages so I do have some knowledge on this, HOWEVER please do not take my word for this and attempt to self medicate. Thank you.

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For people who need to know only the flowers that are displayed here, in case they find another different~~

♡ Anemone ♡ Almond

♡ Bluebell ♡ Baby breath

♡ Bracken*

♡ Clivias ♡ Cactus

♡ Chrysantemum ♡ Clover

♡ Daisy ♡ Dandelion

♡ Daffodil ♡ Delphinium

♡ Daylily

♡ Eustoma/Lisianthus ♡ Forsythia

♡ Fritillaria Thunbergii ♡ Forget-me-not

♡ Geranium ♡ Gooseberry*

♡ Hyacinth ♡ Hydrangea

♡ Hypoxis Aurea ♡ Lily of the Valley

♡ Lily ♡ Lilac

♡ Mistletoe ♡ Myrtle

♡ Michaelmas Daisy ♡ Narcissus

♡ Rhondanthe (Paper Daisy)

♡ Rose ♡ Orchid

♡ Peony ♡ Pineapple

♡ Pomegranate ♡ Palm Tree* ♡ Serbian Bellflower* ♡ Sansevieria*

♡ Plumeria*

♡ Primrose (Cowslip) ♡ Tulip

♡ Weigela ♡ Willow

** Honorable mentions: Jonquil and Adonis.

* Working on this because they were late additions.

***Plumeria and bracken are mentioned by Henri during The Ssum. Henri says Plumeria means "I'm lucky to have meet you" but i will try to expand more onto it later on. I have zero knowledge on bracken.

**** Sansevieria is mentioned by Jihae in Dandelion. Thank you so much!! @cherrychipheart 😭😘 i'll be looking into it later and adding it here soon.

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A

Anemone - Forsaken, abandonation(?) Mentioned by Ray during a call. Also: Truth. Transitory. Endangered Love. Anticipation.

* Adonis is another flower related to this myth. The flower means sad memories.

Because the anemone's blossoms were thought to open on windy days and they're also short-lived, they have become a symbol of a transitory love that moves like a breath of breath wind. The original bloodred wildflowers were associated with Aphrodite upon the passing of Adonis from the earthly scene.

Then another paragraph comes like this:

These beautiful, fragile flowers come from the near East and the Mediterranean, and were first brought to Britain at the end of the 16th century [....] Their name comes from the Greek anemos, meaning 'the wind', because their delicate flowers appear to open in a gentle breeze, but are so short-lived, like a breath of wind.

Then it proceeds to describe the how the goddess was besotted with Adonis and he was fatally wounded by a wild boar and died in her arms.

She sprinkled nectar on his blood and fron that comes the anemone. Love is fleeting and doesn't last. That is what the flower represents. There's a representation in The Awakening Conscience from William Holman Hunt's 1853, where a small vase of anemones appears. Hinting that the affair will not last. Although it's not the only thing that hints that. The room is full of objects that talk of her predicament.

Although today they have more resilience, they still have the meaning of fading youth behind.

Almond blossom - Hope. (see birthday flowers down below for reference.)

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B

Baby breath - Pureness. Freedom. Innocence. Undying Love. (Usually seen and mentioned during Dandelion & Mystic Messenger) Also: Love Everlasting.

Bluebell - Humility. Also: Grief. Either the loss of a loved one or the end of an affair. Constancy. This flower is also known campanula, which depending on the location can be or not the same flower and mean Gratitude.Thankfulness.

*there's another 'bell' called harebell. This is why I prefer their scientific names. No way you can confuse them. At least ut hasn't happened to me just yet. anyways~ bellflower is gratitude, or an indiscretion, and bluebell (ironically i think they're not blue lol) mean grief. Do with this what you want lol

Bouquet of withered flowers - rejected love mentioned by Unknown in Another Story Also: Constancy. Dead leaves means sadness.

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C

Cactus - endurance (V's favorite) Also: Warmth

Clivias - Happiness, passion, kindness (Saeyoung Choi)

Also, fortitude, unyielding, modest and gentle. In many culture, clivia flowers are seen as a luck symbol for happiness, wealth and abundance, which is also one of the reasons why clivia plant is widely loved.

Chrysantemum - you're a wonderful friend, cheerfulness and rest. Condolences.

Used in funerals and placed on graves. This ritual may derive from the practice of decorating graves on All Souls’s Day, a christian holiday occurring in early November, when many blooms are difficult to find.

Red: I love. Love at first sight. Yellow: slighted love. White: Truth

The Japanese, who have made it the emblem of their emperor consider the orderly unfolding of its petals to ve symbolic of perfection. [...]

The essence of the flower is unravelled just as the truth is so often revealed: at first hidden, then brought into the light.

The flower didn't arrive Britain until 18th century. And in the 1800s the French had a craze for these flowers and a bestselling novel of the time was Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti, who drew upon a lifetime of travel for the plots of his exotic romances.

Pair with: Willow for a friend grief, gladiolus for a broken heart.

Clover - Life to come. Be mine. Think of me (if it's white)

Credits to: @cheritzheadcanonz

Where? Jiyeon gives it to us in Dandelion.

Symbolizes: luck (green). Fortune. Yellow: hope and divinity, success, romance, red: love, white: purity. Purple: royalty. pink: admiration.

Also: marriage, faithfulness and protection.

A four leaf clover is considered as a sign of extraordinary luck. In irish culture, the shamrock variant is tied to St. Patrick Day and the Holy Trinity. The clover is also a way to enhance the connection to nature.

The ancient Druids in Ireland believed that carryng a clover allowed one to detect evil spirits approaching, while carrying one in Middle Ages led people to believe they could see fairies.

Clover" has roots in Old Germanic, evolving from "Klaibron" to "clæfre" in Old English, and eventually to "clover" by the 18th century.

Trefoil" derives from Latin, with "tri" and "folium" meaning three and plant, respectively, leading to "Trifolium." It was shortened to "tri-foil" in Middle Ages Anglo-Norman French and settled as "trefoil" in Middle English.~ HelloFearless

If paired with apple blossom and dandelion, shows hope that the recipient’s wishes will come true.

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D

Daisy - not really appearing but the closest flower to V's Rhondante aka Paper Daisy.

However and just for the sake of it let's do daisies. White: innocence. A love that conquers all. Wild: I will think of it. Oxeye: Disappointment. Patience. Also: Perseverance. Childhood

Back in the day, and sometimes today too~ people used to play adivination with daisies, by picking petals one by one ~ 'he loves me, he loves me not' was and is still known. Tied to Freya in Norse mythology. Goddess of fertility, motherhood and childbirth. In Celtic tradition, daisies grew for the spirits of children who died in birth.

Paired with baby’s breath as a gift for a newborn baby.

Paired with peony and violet for an expression of childhood bliss.

Dandelion - Smiling on all. Or as Cheritz would say~ Wishes brought to you. Divination and fortune telling.

The myth behind the «Dandelion»

Okay~ so I wanted to recollect everything I could before starting on the legend:

♡ Symbol of the Sun

♡ "The Teeth of the Lion"

♡ Enjoyed by Ancient Geeks, egyptians and Romans. Even used by traditional chinese medicine for overa thousand years.

♡ One of the most nutritional vegetables you'll ever find btw!

♡ Masters of survival

♡ The roots clone when divided

♡ It can cure the liver

♡ It's diuretic

This is one of my favorite flowers, now, the mystery is that no one really knows where the myth of wishing upon dandelions comes from, sone say it can be traced back to the Celts and other to the French. Some myths say that if you blow all the seeds off a dandelion with a single breath your wish will come true but if seeds remain, then it may depend~

Others think the dandelion tells the time or the weather. From food to medicine to dye, to carry dreams and wishes, every part of the dandelion has found some utility.

Daffodil - admiration. new beginnings. regard (Rika's favorite)

The lovely golden daffodil is a welcome, heart-lifting sight, as it marks the end of winter and the beginning of a new season. It comes into full flower around Easter time, when thoughts turn towards the renewal of life and the Resurrection. It is also known as the Lent lily or the Easter lily.

* Kind reminder that Rika is Catholic and also, this is another way of hinting she's not dead.

A more sombre note might prevail in rural areas, where it was said to be unlucky to bring the flowers into the house of anyone who kept poultry because this would prevent the eggs from hatching. (...)

(...) In some places, Wales in particular, the daffodil was used in traditional practice of "flowering the graves" (...)

It is said that the connection with mournful and unlucky matters comes from the old story that the name daffodil is said to derivr from the medieval Latin affodilus abs asphodelos in Greek ~ The asphodel, the plant that grew in the meadows of the underworld.

The Greek legend of Narcissus tells of a handsome and proud hunter who upon seeing his reflection in the waters of a spring, falls in love with himself and drowns. Daffodils were born to mark his grave.

If you pair a camellia with a daffodil, it means unrequited love.

Paired with clove, for hope and change.

Paired with sweet pea to indicate giving up on an ill-suited romance.

Delphiniums - big hearted person, dignity and grace (V) Also: Happiness. Levity.

Daylily - romantic love, forget painful events from the past. It's called the flower that helps to forget sorrows. Green: harmony, growth, rebirth. (Yoosung) White: fleeting beauty. Blue: Coquetry.

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E

Eustoma - mentioned with the latin name Lisianthus when you get to ask Ray for flower meanings. Everlasting Love.

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F

Fritillaria - Persecution.

Forget Me Not - True love, love at first sight, , memories, don't forget me. Also: I will never forget you. Remembrance.

The name of this pretty and delicate flower, which enamels riverbanks and garden borders with its miniature sky-blue petals, speaks of human longing for loyalty and lastingness. Its name comes from German folk tale about a couple who, on the eve of their marriage, take a walk by the banks of the Danube. The young bride admires a cluster on the flowers, and her fiancé goes forward to pick them for her, but falls into the river. Before he is carried away by the turbulent waters, he throws the flowers at the feet of his betrothed, crying, 'Vergiss mein nicht!'

Forsythia - Anticipation, new beginnings. Its early bloom, often before many other flowers have awakened from winter slumber, signifies hope and the promise of change. This makes it a perfect emblem of the optimism and renewal that come with spring.

In traditional Chinese culture, it is revered for its resilience and bright, uplifting appearance. In Western cultures, it is often planted in memory gardens to symbolize the continuity of life and nature’s enduring cycles. Forsythia was mentioned by Rika when meeting Yoosung, she said Yoosung looks like a bouquet of these flowers.

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G

Geranium - I'm happy because of you. Also: (oak leaf): friendship. Pink: preference. Scarlet: Comfort. Consolation and melancholy. White: gracefulness.

When its flowers drop, the exposed fruit is revealed to be pointed in shape, like a crane’s bill. The Greeks noticed this resemblance to the bird and called the flower geranion, from geranos, meaning “crane”.

Scarlet geranium is a very popular bedding plant that was originally sent to Europe from South Africa back in 1609. The sailors for the Dutch East India Company would pick them cause they would last through the voyage without perishing.

Gooseberry -

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H

Hyacinth - Games and sports. Rashness. Blue: Constancy. Usually seen in MC room in Magenta. Purple: forgiveness. sorrow. White: beauty, unobtrusive loveliness. Yellow: jealousy

The hyacinth takes its name and meaning from the Greek mythology. Hyacinthus, a beautiful young man, beloved by Apollo, died during a game of discus throwing, Apollo’s discus was knocked from its course by a jealous Zephyrus, striking Hyacinthus and thus, killing him. It’s said the flowers were grown from the blood that fell from his head wound as Apollo begged his forgiveness.

Paired with olive for peace and forgiveness.

Paired with pansies to indicate you betrayal haunts you.

Hydrangea - Truth, thank you for understanding, frigidity, heartlessness, (here's my own interpretation of this flower), seen in Ray's garden.

Also: Calm, dispassion.

Hypoxis Aurea - Symbolizes health. Very appropriate for a doctor (Henri)

Belongs to the Orchid-Lily Family. From Greek, words “hypo”, meaning “below” and “oxy”, which means “sharp” or “pointed”, referring to the ovary which is pointed at the base. Also called Golden Star Grass. Native from Indo-China, Malaysia. Asia.

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L

Lily - feminity, innocence and purity. Majesty. (Jaehee) Purity of heart. Fertility. White: Purity and rebirth. Sweetness. Usually for both funerals and weddings. (Yoosung's Christmas) Pink: Love, feminity and admiration. Red: Passion. Orange: Confidence and energy. Yellow: Friendship, thankfulness and joy Purple: Royalty, elegance spirituality.

Also: False and gay (outdated: gay meaning happy)

The lily name meaning comes from the Old English lilie, from Latin lilium and from Greek leirion. Originally, we took lily from the Hebrew word “Shoshannah” (שׁוֹשַׁנָּה), which was borrowed from the Egyptians. This name became popular in almost every culture across the world. It's Italy's national flower.

Please take note that daylilies are not considered true lilies. But then again there are at least 100 species of lilies so~

**Some parts of lilies and only some variants of lilies have been used in traditional medici e and culinary dishes to treat digestive issues and skin conditions. But most of them are not, and it can be dangerous if you don't know~ so please avoid intake if you're in doubt.

Lily of the Valley - Return of Happiness. Healing heartbreak. Unconscious sweetness.

This is one of my big peeves, you'll see, daffodils and lillies unlike dandelions, are actually poisonous. Or at least, this one, it's poisonous. And here they are in Cheritz saying to us that we need to believe in MC? Do we? Is the lily of the valley true happiness, or shadows of something else lurk around?

Also called sometimes Lady’s tears. There’s a short story where it is said that the Queen of the fairies asked a group of gnomes for a drink, so they had to gather nectar from blossoms in little porcelain cups. But it was late in tha day and the gnomes were worn out, so they tried, but fell asleep. Next morningm the gnomes awoke to find fast-growing grasses had lifted the little cups out of their reach, luckily the Queen saw their plight and cast a spell so that each cup became a white flower bell and any blossom they reached for became the correct cup to choose.

Lilac - For more of my rant here~ but the meaning of this flower it's first emotions of love. Love at first sight.

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M

Mistletoe - I surmount difficulties.

On a winter’s day, when the sun is long and the shadows long, the mistletoe is revealed in all its unearthly beauty, hoisted high in the leafless trees. It appears to have no roots, no means by which it can obtain nutrients and water, and yet remains fres and green when everything around is lifeless. Surely it cannot live? And yet, against all odds, the mistletoe flourishes. Hope. (appears during Christmas DLC ofc, 😉) there's a little story on my book of fairies that talks about the fairy of the mistletoe.

Myrtle - Love. Frequently associated with Venus, the myrtle bush offered her protection while she bathed. Since ancient times it has symbolized the chief of passions, love and according to classical tradition, it has the ability to both inspire and retain that emotion.

Michaelmas Daisy - A farewell, a departure.

Michaelmas Daisies are also frequently known by their Botanical Latin name of Aster. The name ‘aster’ is from the Greek for star, and refers to the shape of the flower heads.

As Aster: Wisdom, faith, valor. Greek name for star. According to the legend, the goddess Astraea cried because there weren't enough stars in the sky. Her tears fell to earth and turned into star-shaped flowers now called Asters.

Fun fact? It's one of the Flowers of Bach. Used to relieve fever, stomach ache and apparently has some specific vibration. Absorbs the full expression of the sun's communion with the earth at an exalted vantage point of altitude.

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N

Narcissus - Self love. Narcissism. Egotism. Overconfidence. So, people tend (me included) to confuse jonquils, daffodils and narcissus. While I already talked about this, I'll talk about it again~ here you go:

BTW~ if we talk about jonquils as korean birthday flower, it would mean answer to love. While narcissisus would mean mystery lol (see birthday flowers)

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R

Rose - The meaning it's quite simple. Love. Red: Passionate love. White: happy love. A heart unacquainted with love. Worthiness. My heart is free. Loyalty, pure love, commitment (Zen/Hyun Ryu) Pink: Grace. Modesty. Infatuation, beauty. Mildness, persuasion. (Zen's Christmas.) Orange: fascination. Yellow: jealousy, infidelity. Pale peach: Modesty. Burgundy: Unconscious beauty. Purple: Enchantment.

So for example if you gift someone a yellow rose, it's supposed to be jealous love. However the meaning might change if you put other flowers around.

In the Greek myth, Chloris, the goddess of flowers is said to have turned a beautiful, dead nymph into a rose, she invited Apollo to warm the bloom, Aphodite to lend it her beauty, Dionysus to add sweet nectar and the 3 Graces to supply charm, joy and magnificence. Chloris called her the Queen of flowers.

On a high note: I never liked roses because I thought of them to be too common. However, way before they were produced in mass, roses were so rare and difficult to find, so people would hold onto the petals even as they fell and dried. So it's interesting to know that, roses were once a symbol of fragility and rare.

Rhondanthe - Romance. Rose flower. According to Wikipedia, is supposed to be the name of a Corinthians Queen in Greek mythology who attracted a great name of suitors due to her beauty. Such beauty was a blessing and a burden so she sought protection in a friend and a goddess (different mythology here~ romans) Diana. The flower comes in pink and white. But there are little to no information that I could find for now~

BTW it seems this is another flower heavily associated with Adonis and Aphrodite myth. Also called paper daisy.

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O

Orchid - Refined Beauty. Love, beauty, refinement, beautiful lady, chinese symbol for many children.

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P

Peony - Happy life, happy marriage. Bravery. Bashfulness.

Also: Anger. Shame and ostentation.

The chinese call the peony "sho yu" meaning most beautiful. The ancient Chinese believed peonies were created by the goddess of the moon to reflect her beams at night. It was also viewed as a major healing plant. And in ancient Greece it was said that nymphs could turn themselves into peonies to avoid being seen by humans.

Paired with hyacinth and violet to apologize and ask for forgiveness.

Pair with: Foxglove as a gift for a secret admirer.

Pineapple - Cheerful welcome and warm reception. Symbol of hospitality. Good luck. I'm having a blast looking at Harry's flower cause he is definitely~ lolol

Apparently back in the day, it was really hard for European farmers to cultivate pineapples and it took them 200 years to make it work. So it became a symbol of royalty and privilege. You can read the whole story on the links, I'm not posting it because the post is getting so long~ but it's quite fascinating.

Primrose - The meaning is unconscious beauty. Winning grace. Also named as cowslip. (It seems Ray mentioned it's his favorite flower in a call.)

Pomegranate blossom - Elegance. Sanctity. Abundance. life, fertility. Eternal life. Good luck. Strength. Does anyone here remembers the myth of Persephone? I think these days it's one of our internet favorite couples lol so I won't really delve into it but~

I do want to point out the similarities between the games in the Cheritzverse and the myth. This however will be delved in another post and dropped into my References of pop culture~ masterlist I'm creating on the Cheritzverse.

Palm Tree -

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S

Serbian Bellflower - Everlasting love, gratitude, constancy. (Jumin Han)

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T

Tulip - Declaration of love. Arrogance. Perfect lover. Smile of sunshine. Joy in love and life. Yellow: Friendship, beautiful eyes (Jaehee's Christmas. Found other tulips on Harry's route but they were orange.)

A Turkish legend tells us of two lovers who longed to be together, Ferhad and Shirin, but their love is forbidden. So when Ferhad hears rumors that Shirin has taken her own life, he kills himself in order to be with her for eternity. Tulips~ symbols of his devotion, spring up where his blood is spilled.

Tulips are iconic flowers from the Netherlands, although they originally came from Persia. It became really expensive after being introduced from Turkey.

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W

Weigelas - faithfulness, grace and charm (Saeran Choi) Also: Riches. Maiden beauty.

Willow - (branches) bravery. Mourning, melancholy. Brought to Britain in the 18th century, originally from eastern Asia, usually lives by water, a trabquil slow-running river its favoured spot. Its branches are pendulous and low, and when the wind catches its leaves~ seems to be whispering sad and sorrowful things. The willow usually represents grief and sadness at the death of the lovers, remaining the same, trembling in the wind, watching the tragedy unfold. (See birthday flowers down below)

⋆ﾟ☽ *₊⋆ Birthday Flowers ⋆ ₊ﾟ☽ *⋆

There's another thing, in Korea your b-day has a flower that corresponds to the day you were born and not just to the month.

In this case:

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♡ Zen [Apr 1st] ~ Almond (Faithful Love) Also: hope

♡ Yoosung [March 12] ~ Weeping Willow (The Sadness of Love) Also: Mourning. Bravery.

♡ Saeyoung & Saeran [June 11] ~ Fritillaria Thunbergii (Charm) Also: Persecution

♡ V [Sept 9] ~ Michaelmas Daisy (Memories)

Rika [Nov 3] ~ Bryony (Rejection) Also: Be my support

♡ Jumin [Oct 5] ~ Palm Tree (Victory)

♡ Jaehee [Dec 28] ~ Pomegranate (Mature Beauty)

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♡ June [Feb 9] ~ Myrtle (Whisper of Love)

♡ Harry [Dec 20] ~ Pineapple (Absolute perfection)

♡ Teo [July 7] ~ Gooseberry (Expectations)

♡ Henri [Aug 26] ~ Hypoxis Aurea (Looking for the light)

*LMAO they definitely knew of this which means I'm on the right track! Because Harry has a pineapple tattoo e.e which also means, V is the Wizard. I mean~ at least is heavily implied since he is the one who keeps all the memories. I remember what the V told to Jumin one night during Another Story common route~ and he really went for misdirection I'll misquote but it's about the same: "Jumin is my memories/ He remembers better than me~"

Sure~ whatever you say V 🙄

**In case you're curious about your own flower go to the links~

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Final Notes:

It took me at least three weeks and I had some help to finish this post and it's not even fully finished 😭 while I don't like to post things like this, sometimes people around me have much more knowledge and can help me better. At this point it's kind of traumatic to publish it like this but please be aware I'm burned. I will keep updating. I just need to take a huge week or something because I also spent 3 days straight without sleeping because of stress so I'm posting this one and I'll edit it later on to add the stuff I didn't add yet like the mistletoe fairy and more on fairies.

I have yet to add some more from Dandelion, Nameless and The Ssum. If anyone wants to collaborate, do tag or rt with the flowers and dates of the guys of the Cheritzverse for me so I can update it with the new info. I'm already working on Harry's but it's taking me forever so any help it's welcomed and appreciated. You'll be added and credited ofc.

Tagging: @smol-grey-tea and @cherrychipheart who have been waiting for me all this time~ thank you so much♡

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Links:

♡ Part of the credit here goes to:

Megami605Sama on X

♡ Ray's Guide of the Flower Language on Amino

♡ Reddit - The flowers and their meanings from the latest CG

♡ Your Birthday Flower

♡ Pineapple hospitality

♡ Pineapple story

♡ More on Clover

♡ Hypoxis Aurea

* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊* ੈ✩‧₊˚* ੈ✩‧₊* ੈ✩‧₊˚*

Bibliography: *i'm updating this

♡ Teresa Moorey - The Fairy Bible (2008) [Pages: 15, 24, 25, 38, 46, 47, 56 - 60, 78 - 87, 90, 91.... ]

♡ A Guide for the Flower Language

♡ A victorian flower dictionary by Mandy Kirby (found it on archive.org)

♡ Le Langage des fleurs by de Latour (1819)

♡ Floriography by Jessica Roux (2020)

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Insectopedia, by Hugh Raffles

Do not judge this book by its cover! Despite what the name would suggest, this is not a comprehensive encyclopedic volume that encompasses insect knowledge related to matters like species, classification, diets, orders and general factoids. No, no, this is a different branch in the world of insect exploration. The passages, stories and analysis of 'Insectopedia' are more philosophical, anthropological (based on human society and culture) rather than locked into a box of science and research (though they do play a big part of this book). Compared to the previous literature showcase, 'Sting of the Wild', this book is far more unconventional and explores a wider range of topics, but having read it twice now, I think it offers something that very few other works can. It's one thing to outline insect facts, research, discoveries and their place in the world; it's another thing entirely to examine how insects impact the world & humanity, how humanity impacts insects, how cultures, traditions and ideas can be shaped through our hexapod friends. This book embraces the eclectic and shares it as a multitude of essays and stories that truly highlight how curiosity and fascination can develop into passions, discoveries, introspections, livelihoods and in some cases, obsessions. This collection of musings and insight is also reinforced by a citation heavy note section and bibliography and countless anecdotes across 26 chapters (named alphabetically).

In a sense, it resonates like a collection of short stories or a scientific journal publishing with a great scope of content and findings to comb through. My personal favorite chapters are the ones on 'Languages' (see Picture 5) and the 'O' chapter (not pictured), which deserves to be experienced fresh. All I'll leave you with is the name of that chapter, 'On January 8, 2008, Abdou Mahamane Was Driving through Niamey...". Both are among the longest chapters this work has to offer, but there are many more bite-sized chapters that offer stories that are short and sweet. There's little to no connectivity between each chapter and though the material may bounce back and forth wildly and some chapters barely reference insects (though nature is still an important focus), reading earlier chapters will likely reinforce appreciation for the subject material in the later sections. All that said, I think this book would be best recommended for those entering high school or university and to those who like their material dry and matter-of-fact, but also engaging (somewhat like a passionate lecture). Once again, the subject matter is the onus for a small age-gate or maturity-gate for this book, but it is a small gate. In particular, chapters C, J, Q and S are intended for more mature readers, but if you can understand and handle the subject matter, great knowledge will be your reward (for example, Chapter 'C' is 'Chernobyl', featuring a woman who examines radiation-induced insect deformities).

I know I've been somewhat vague on the exact information that can be gleamed from Insectopedia, but this is a deliberate choice. The material in this book should be read with an open mind and there shouldn't be any spoiled surprises for the journeys and insights discussed from cover to cover. If you seek examples for the type of material this book has to offer, Pictures 3-9 offer the tiniest gate to sample what Insectopedia can offer (and as prefaced at the beginning of the book, "The minuscule, a narrow gate, opens up an entire world" - Gaston Bachelard). You will not find identification guides in it nor will you find ways to distinguish one insect order from another, but it may grant some enlightenment or stir passion, discussion or a curiosity to further explore the ideas presented within and how they've evolved since the book's publishing in 2010. This may provide a great starting point for any students in need of a thesis topic! I suppose Picture 10 (presented by the Knight and a glow-in-the-dark Caterpillar) summarizes it far better than I could. I may have expected something more conventional in the beginning, I am definitely recommending this book and I'll be reading it again after I explore some of the papers within the bibliography. For me, this was the surprise of the year, and while there are times where I think it may be to eclectic (nearing "all over the place"), I was exposed to many new areas of study and I appreciate the stories and points of view I would never have heard had I stuck to only the usual material.

For additional insect literature, you may visit the Blog Resources page.

[akaessi]

Since you have an education with Scandinavian folklore, I'd be curious to hear if you have any book reccomendations on Scandinavian Folklore? It's a topic I adore but I find that sources are a bit of a struggle to dig up.

I can read English, Norwegian, Danish (and tentatively with a lot of struggling and swearing) Swedish, so don't worry too much about the dreaded language barrier too much. :>

Hello hello! Thanks for asking! Pardon the late response as well, I wanted to compile a decent list as best as possible! Apologies in advance that I couldn't find easy links for most of them.

Introductory Books:

Vaesen (2013, originally in Swedish) by Johan Egerkrams (I have an English translation by Susan Beard). A beautifully drawn catalog of common Scandinavian folklore creatures. The downside of this book is the lack of direct source quotations and/or super in-depth folkloric analysis. Still a lovely easy read to familiarize yourself with some creatures!

Scandinavian Mythology: An Annotated Bibliography (1988, English) by John Lindow. Simple guide to Scandinavian mythological terms. If I'm remembering correctly, it focuses more on Norse mythological creatures (such as gods and giants) but also features explainers for folk belief figures.

Scandinavia Folk Belief and Legend (1988, English) by Reimund Kvideland and Henning K Sehmsdorf. A very detailed (and chunky!) book that focuses on folkloric beliefs and "old wives' tales" within Scandinavia. It has a lot of citations and references to folklore catalogs, which can then be used for further reading! Also, nicely organized to focus on generalized motifs.

Grimm's Fairy Tales (original German Title: Kinder- und Hausmärchen) by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (1812, German but with widely available translations.) While not exactly specifically Scandinavian Folklore, the Grimm brothers and their folklore collections did great work within the field of Germanic folkloric studies and comparative religious/folklore studies. (And if you're a linguist too, we love love love Jacob Grimm) Anyways, there are a million versions of these tales, some very watered down but if you're looking for a chance to read them here's a link (in English and German). The site is a bit clunky and doesn't have ALL the tales. But a good portion of them are available to read. It's good to familiarize yourself with these in general because of the motif commonalities in folklore studies.

More In-Depth Books:

Old Norse Mythology-Comparative Perspectives (2017, English) with Pernille Hermann, Stephen A. Mitchell, and Jens Peter Schjødt, eds., with Amber J. Rose. 2017.  An anthology of scholarly articles focusing on discourse within the field of Scandinavian (Norse) religion and folklore studies. Lots of different authors and scholars, some with incredibly specific article focuses but others with more broad analysis and literature reviews. If you need a link, Harvard University seems to have one and it should work if I link it here.

The Norns in Old Norse Mythology (2013, English) by Karen Bek Pedersen. This book hyper-focuses on the Norns within the larger context of Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. I highly recommend this book for people who are confused by the various female supernatural figures and their various names and titles. Though it has a specific focus, it is still helpful for overall studies on dísir, nornir, vættir, etc.

Folklore in Old Norse: Old Norse in Folklore (2013, English) edited by Karen Bek Pedersen and Daniel Sävborg. A relatively short book that focuses on literary and medieval textual criticisms about current scholarly trends within the field. Very helpful for understanding scholarly trends as well as bodies of thought in the field of Scandinavian studies--which is always useful for students and newbie researchers!

Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages (2011, English) by Stephen Mitchell. This book can be helpful in its discussion about the ambiguities between folklore, religion, magic, and witchcraft within the Scandinavian context. It references a lot of primary sources as well as historical sources commenting on said primary sources. It focuses mainly on the transition between Norse paganism to Christianity in Scandinavia but still, I think this book serves as a helpful introduction to understanding how folkloric practices change throughout time for various reasons.

Additional Miscellany Sources:

Motif-Index of Folk-Literature....(6 vols. revised and expanded from 1952-1958, English) by Stith Thompson. This is the compendium for folklore studies and is one of many folklore motif catalogs. Very helpful for understanding folklore in a broader comparative context. Unfortunately, it's very hard to find copies of the volumes, at least for me, but there is a digital link here.

Old Norse Folklore: Traditional, Innovation, and Performance in Medieval Scandinavia (English, 2023 pending release) (edited?) by Stephen Mitchell. This book isn't out yet so I can't comment too much on its content! But in the field, we are waiting to read it! According to the synopsis, it is an anthological book that will feature essays (mainly theoretical) that focus on the transition of mythological and folkloric material in the medium of orality. Hopefully, this book will serve as a good guide to understanding how to connect orality theory (in broader Scandinavian lit. studies) to folkloric motif studies (in Scandinavian folklore studies).

Some Scholars I Recommend:

Pernille Hermann, PhD. Focuses a lot on memory studies and literacy in Medieval Scandinavia. Writes in English and Danish.

Karen Bek Pedersen, PhD. Focuses on in-depth discussions of fate motifs in Norse sagas and mythological texts. Also frequently focuses on female folkloric figures in Scandinavian religion. I believe she writes English and Danish.

Daniel Sävborg, PhD. Focuses on comparative literature studies and somewhat psychological looks into Norse literature and motifs. Writes in English and in Swedish.

Stephen Mitchell, PhD. Focuses on various genres of Norse/Nordic literature with interests in magic, mythology, and legends. Writes in English, I don't know if any other languages.

Thanks for the ask! Hopefully this is helpful! 🖤

Most of the books are in English, since these are the texts my classes focused on specifically and my program is taught in English. It might take me a bit longer to find (throughout my laptop files) the non-English ones we read! As always, research carefully! There are a lot of people with no academic background writing in this subject and getting popularized. And there is also a danger of people using this subject to promote false and dangerous ideologies. (ahem Nordal).

[wellnesscard]

okay. all i have to do today is finish my stupid ass literature review/bibliography which ive been postponing all week and weekend. and technically should study for stats midterm and start my computers assignment. and of course must attend the scheduled eight hours worth of classroom time. and should avoid caffeine because its finally started im getting heart palpitations everytine i drink espresso. and i am NOT IN THE MOOD for methymethy pillpills. ashwaghanda guide me through this troubled times. amen.

[edenfenixblogs]

I honestly expected to find antisemitic dogwhistles in here, but I didn’t. As for my qualifications in evaluating this: I majored in political science in college for a while (I did change my major. But that was not due to anything other than becoming disillusioned with some of the processes by which governments operate. But i did maintain a perfect 4.0 GPA in all my courses on both National and international political systems. I have also been actively learning about this conflict firsthand and in academic settings since I was seven years old and have engaged in moderated formal debates with fellow Jews as well as Muslims and non-Muslim goyim for both sides as a part of this process. Additionally, I am Jewish and pro-Palestine and am intimately affected by the conflict in Gaza. I also have family in Israel who are very frightened for their lives right now. And I have friends in Israel who are literally risking their lives to bring resources to Palestinian civilians and to protest the Likud government, Netanyahu, and the current military response from Israel.

Pros of this document: This is a very balanced, well-sourced, and thoughtful guide on how to approach discussions about war. I read through all the shortcut guides linked as well as the full-length pdf and the bibliography/works cited in order to be sure this was a reputable source worth sharing, and I find it to be credible. I find it has the intent of lowering the temperature and finding mutual humanity, and I believe the approach laid out here has the potential to achieve its goal. Some especially standout aspects of this document that show good faith intent:

Laying out the difference between ethnic cleansing and genocide. They are very similar to each other in many ways. But they differ in important ways too. What is going on in Gaza is an ethnic cleansing paired with a callous disregard for human life and civilian death. This is not a softening of language or a refusal to condemn genocide. Ethnic cleansing is terrible and an affront to humanity. There is nothing soft about it.

Clearly stating that criticizing a nation (Israel or Palestine) or its people (Israelis or Palestinians) is not OK. Ever. The actions of a nation’s military are the responsibility of its current government and not an indication of the character of the nations citizens.

Cons: Very slightly limiting. This is overall a much better document than I have seen used in this way almost anywhere else. That said, I take issue with exactly three terms they say to avoid. I don’t think they are wrong to say to avoid this words. But I think that, specifically with regard to Gaza, there is more nuance in speech with regard to the terms than the document allows for.

Terrorist/Terrorism:

There’s a lot to unpack here. First and foremost, I want to acknowledge that calling people with brown skin or people of SWANA/MENA descent or nationality who happen to be upset about a political issue is unacceptable and an act of pure racism and Islamophobia. That is not up for debate. If you share a picture/video of a brown person being upset and use that to paint them as aggressive, that is awful.

Calling brown people who disagree with you terrorists or assuming that violence against Jews in diaspora is happening because of “Muslim terrorists” is patently false and a dogwhistle that I will not tolerate on my blog. Any post I see engaging in this behavior will be blocked and reported. The vast majority of violence against diasporic Jews is not caused by Muslims (who are not all Arabs) or Arabs (who are not all Muslims). Most violence against Jews in western countries is carried out by white Christians or culturally Christian extremists.

The document is correct that most people should avoid using the term terrorist/terrorism. I think that it is very valid to air on the side of not using it.

That said, not everyone you see using the term terrorist/terrorism is uninformed and here is how you can identify a trustworthy person discussing terrorism from someone using it as a dogwhistle. I encourage you to refer to this when evaluating discussions that use this term. Because while most people are woefully uninformed on the topic, some of the most thorough insights you’ll find come from people with a working knowledge of terrorism—even though it is a nebulous term.

People using the term terrorism should be able to tell you what it means without hesitation and that definition should come with caveats and not be straightforward.

Even legitimate experts in terrorism and counter terrorism do not have a full and fixed understanding of the term. It is nebulous at best.

People using this term should be able to tell you why they insist on using the term and are aware of the potential harm of misusing it.

People who use this term should be operating with their own fixed meaning or set of tenets that cannot be redefined down the line without an explicit notice to the community with which they are engaging. For instance, if I suddenly encountered a new source or study and chose to change my definition of terrorism, I would pin that information to my blog and explicitly introduce my definition of terrorism every time I use the phrase in every interaction until a norm on my blog was established.

With all that being said, I do plan to use the term terrorist/terrorism on my blog for several reasons: I have extensively studied the subject academically, stochastic terrorism is a legitimate factor in the ongoing conflict that affects all communities in diaspora (especially, but not exclusively, diasporic Jews) and I have a clearly understood set of principles by which I define terrorism. My definition is based on academic experience and lectures and discussion with counterterrorism experts. All of these points must be met without exception in order for me to consider something terrorist in nature.

Terrorism is illegal and non-governmental. State sponsored violence exists. Israel is currently carrying out such violence. But it is not terrorism. Terrorism does not involve an official national military.

Terrorism targets civilians to achieve political goals. Activism targets political issues, education, awareness, and policy change in order to achieve its goals: This point is what distinguishes terrorism from activism in MANY cases. Harming children and civilians as a primary method of achieving any sort of political goal—even one related to a specific policy—is terrorist behavior. Legitimate activism should target policies or even politicians (for instance, removing Likud politicians and Netanyahu specifically) from office. If that activism includes causing active physical harm to any of those politicians, their families, or even those who vote for them, then that behavior has taken on aspects of terrorism and is no longer legitimate activism. I am happy to elaborate on this upon request, but this post is long enough already so I’ll cut this off here. However, even if civilians are targeted by non-governmental violence by people attempting to achieve political goals, that alone is not terrorism. That is violent political extremism. To be terrorism, it must adhere to the next and final point:

Terrorism is cell-based: While violent political extremism is unacceptable, it is not terrorism. A fundamental aspect of terrorism that makes it insidious and hard to root out is that they are not operated centrally like a government. They are instead operated by a network of decentralized cells. I won’t get too deep into this, because it could be and has been a subject of many a dissertation. But basically, if one entire cell (or group of terrorists) were wiped out, another cell from the network would arise to replace it as the primary leader of the terrorist network. (Again, this is a very simplified summary of what I mean by cell based). It’s why killing Osama Bin Laden didn’t suddenly end Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Osama was, for a time, a recognized leader of the terrorist movement and organization, but murdering him and everyone close to him only briefly destabilized the power of the those terrorist groups. Because there were other groups ready to fill the void of his absence and ultimately able to do so in a relatively short span of time. However, being violent and operating a network of cells is not terrorism in itself. Its primary goals must be political in order for it to qualify as a terrorist organization according to the definition I was taught. It is for this reason that drug rings, gangs, mafias, and smuggling rings are not terrorist organizations.

Given all that information, and despite the fact that Hamas members were legally elected to office in Palestine, Hamas is a terrorist organization. Why is this? Because Hamas won 74 of 132 seats in the 2006 Palestinian elections. At the time, the Middle East Quartet stipulated that all future Palestinian governments must be “committed to non-violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements”. These were called the Quartet principles. Since then, Hamas has engaged in state-sponsored extremist violence against Palestinians, suppressed their right to vote, repeatedly cancelled elections—none of which fits my definition of terrorism. HOWEVER, it is still bad. But the parts that make it terrorism still hold true. Hamas controls Palestine, but its near-totalitarian hold on the state is not a reflection of the will of its citizens—as the right to vote freely has been intimidated away and elections have not been held regularly or even throughout all of Palestine.

Also, there are terrorists within the Palestinian government because they are members of the Hamas terrorist organization. But the Palestinian government itself is not a terrorist organization.

As for illegality and violence against civilians to achieve political goals? In addition to elected government officials refusing to recognize Israel as agreed after the elections, Hamas terrorists have repeatedly been the first to break ceasefires by bombing Israeli population centers as well violently suppressing resistance within Palestine. Even on 10/7, that was a terrorist attack that illegally violated the ceasefire agreement that was brokered in May of this same year. Indeed, Hamas even violated ceasefires they initiated, negotiated, and brokered themselves as well as ceasefires negotiated and initiated by Israel and ceasefires initiated by Egypt as well as those with widespread international support and those with widespread support within The Arab League. They have even rejected offers of extended ceasefire from Israel repeatedly and with with violence, including bombs.

What about cells? Hamas is not solely operating within governments or even just the government of Palestine. There are/have been confirmed cells in Lebanon, and a variety of regional capitols—including but not limited to Doha, Qatar, and Cairo.

Their tactics include traditional military attacks (rockets, grenades, other long and short range bombs, air defense missiles, grenades, antitank missiles, etc.) as well as more personal/individual violence such as kidnapping, suicide vests, gun violence, and sexual assault. They also engage in cyber espionage and computer-based violence. And these attacks have primarily targeted individual civilians.

I will not call Hamas members “militants” because I don’t believe it serves their victims to ascribe them military-backing or legitimacy. Their desire for political outcomes is reliant completely and only on causing terror and death among their opposition.

If that means you find yourself unable to engage with my blog, so be it. And I’m sorry. I respect your boundaries and understand if the misuse of terrorist is too much of a dog whistle for you to engage with me on this. Lord knows many innocent people have been baselessly called terrorists based solely on their religion, skin color, or sympathy for Palestinian civilians. I promise to never use the term in such a manner or to demonize people I disagree with simply due to disagreement.

However, Hamas is a terrorist organization by every definition I’ve ever encountered. And I will not soften my language about Hamas and Hamas members. I also don’t believe that most Palestinians support Hamas. Palestine is not Hamas. Palestinians are not terrorists. But Hamas members are terrorists.

So that is my stance on the matter and how I will use the term on my blog. I still do not condone and will not discuss the “war on terror” as that is a separate issue from terrorism itself. I understand that this is more nuance than a typical online discussion has, so if you are not actually familiar with terrorism, I’d still endorse avoiding the word.

Defense spending: My objection to avoiding this is a lot simpler than my objection to avoiding mentioning terrorism or terrorists. Rather, considering every single discussion of defense spending as a topic we should avoid does remove some of the most important usage of the term defense spending. Again, I’m only talking about Israel/Palestine right now. I am not referring to US defense spending. Specifically, much of Israel’s defense spending is actually defense. The Iron Dome not only fires bombs (which is not defensive and is violence). It also intercepts rockets that Hamas fires into Israel and which also target civilian population centers. International aid sent to Israel does in fact support the function of intercepting rockets without any civilian casualties at all. We should be allowed to discuss this. And we should be allowed to investigate exactly how much of Israel’s military spending is actually spent on defensive rather than offensive tactics. We can’t answer those questions if we don’t talk about it. And if we don’t talk about it, it paints all rockets fired by Israel as offensive, which is false. We all deserve to know how many rockets are fired offensively vs. defensively. So, I’d say to avoid using “defense spending” as a replacement for military spending, but proceed with caution and use it sparingly when contextually appropriate.

Targeted Attacks: Like the usage of “defense spending” avoid usage of this term unless you are doing so in a specific and contextualized manner.

I agree that you should avoid terms like “surgical strike” or “enemy target” which both imply the only victims of an attack are “bad guys.” This is almost never true. Civilians are almost always killed in targeted attacks. And any discussion thereof should acknowledge this.

That said, I do think it is important to distinguish between Israel or Hamas bombing a specific target versus either force dropping bombs indiscriminately. Anyone who has been studying this conflict for more than a year knows that Hamas builds bases under Palestinian community buildings (hospitals, pre schools, libraries, etc) in order to make civilian death very difficult to avoid and then cast the Israelis as indiscriminately bombing children and injured civilians. This is a part of how Hamas terrorists use violence to achieve political goals. Additionally, Hamas terrorists also target Israeli buses and community centers when attacking. HOWEVER, it is absolutely just and correct to condemn Israel’s bombing of civilians and community buildings as well as to not allow the government to minimize the murder their bombs inflicted upon civilians during targeted attacks. Just because the attack “targets” a terrorist cell known to be hiding under a school, that does not make the bombing right or just. It does not mean there was no way to stop Hamas without it. It doesn’t even mean there is no way to kill Hamas terrorists without it. Israel has a famously skilled and respected intelligence community. Why are they not instead deploying field agents to target individual terrorists? Why do they not use field agents to arrest and try terrorists rather than just kill them? These are things that we must be able to discuss if we ever hope to reach peace between Israel and Palestine. Why would a “targeted” attack ever involve dozens of civilian deaths? We must interrogate this. We must question the efficiency and effectiveness of any system with such large targets and margins of error. “Targeted” does not mean targeted well or fairly. But it is very different than indiscriminate intentional death specifically and only to civilians. As always, nuance is key. Proceed with caution. And verify everything three times before opening your mouth on any subject here.

If you feel a little crazy looking at news coverage of Gaza or any other military operations, I HIGHLY recommend looking at the Words About War guide which provides lists of misleading phrases commonly used by governments and the media to obscure the realities of war. Sitting down with a news article with this guide and replacing things like "enemy noncombatant" with "civilians" will change the entire way you look at war news and the media as an agent of the military machine. They also have a special guide on Gaza!!

[hazamacore]

i’ve been thinking about the very true post i reblogged the other day about the focus in leftist spaces online on theory over history when the two should be entwined and how that lack of historical knowledge on the experiences of oppressed people globally is a huge contributor to, for example, the dismissing of settler colonialism & systemic antiblackness in the usa in discussing us imperialism. which is how you get ppl making flippant comments like “unlimited genocide on the usa” or “kill everyone in the usa” ETC

and so for those who aren’t sure where exactly to start in learning history: something i like to do is very simply find textbooks on any given subject and use them as a starters guide. search “[topic] history textbook” and you will probably find at least one. when deciding on which textbook to start off with, it’s good to see who it was published by, what demographic (highschoolers, university students etc) it was written for, to get an idea of the bias and depth.

textbooks are useful as a starting point because of their easy navigation, their glossaries, their suggestions for further reading, inclusion of both primary & secondary sources, historiography, the way they are written, and most importantly (imo) their bibliographies. because they are written for use by students, they also have questions & prompts for analysis to make you think & apply what you are reading

they are by no means at all your endpoint or sole resource, but textbooks generally are useful starting points for the beginning of your journey in learning about a topic

(all this emphasis because i don’t want someone to accuse me of encouraging people to read like, distorted versions of american history as told in american history textbooks for highschoolers 😭)

[hannasheehan-mlisportfolio-2024]

Reference and Instruction

Project Title: Accessibility in Small Rural Libraries

Project Description: LibGuides are digital tools used by librarians, generally for other librarians and educators, to bundle information together for a specific area of study or interest. This LibGuide was developed as a tool for other librarians who would like to make their libraries more accessible - specifically in smaller, rural libraries. This guide includes general information about disabilities, a history about the Disability Justice Movement, resources for librarians, information about accessible policy in libraries, and digital resources for patrons who struggle to access their local library in person. 

Methods: My group mates and I were interested in creating a resource for librarians in small rural libraries who would like to accommodate patrons who have disabilities, but who might lack resources to do so. Rural librarians face tremendous pressure to serve their communities, often in libraries that are understaffed in areas where patrons commute over 2 miles on average to access services. Our LibGuide felt like an opportunity to create something helpful that would not only benefit librarians, but patrons who might struggle to access services in person. Our team met weekly while doing independent research and began organizing various tabs based on the type of resources we found. 

My Role: I compiled a descriptive bibliography, researched resources available for individuals who experience barriers while accessing print and web-based materials, and consulted on appropriate language and accessible web-design for the guide.I also included a history on the DIsability Justice Movement as I felt it was useful context for the ADA, WAG (Web Accessibility Guide) and other information presented throughout the guide. 

Learning Objectives Achieved: User-Centered Services

Rational: Working together, my group mates and I learned how to create a clear and thoughtful LibGuide and gained experience making decisions on how to create an educational information environment that promotes browsing, searching and discovery. Doing so required a lot of consideration of how this tool would be accessed by patrons, how users could most easily interact with this tool, and decisions about the amount of information that should be included. This project strengthened my ability to consider the needs of patrons while collecting and presenting information in a variety of different formats for different access points.

Learning Objectives Achieved: Research.

Rationale: To create an accurate and useful guide, my group mates and I sought out sources from a variety of places while fact-checking and considering credible sources. While not much is written about this particular topic in the field as it’s so specific, there are many case studies about separate components of what we were investigating. We were able to find sources about accessibility in libraries, needs of small rural libraries, statistics about library usership in rural places throughout the US and then connect all of this research into a cohesive argument that small rural libraries could benefit from support for accessibility initiatives. 

The research for this LibGuide also necessitated sensitivity and thoughtfulness about the needs of others. While I can assess my own needs as a low vision library patron, every individual’s needs vary. This is especially true when considering potential access needs, and taking these needs out of a familiar context. We chose to create this guide because we wanted to package information together in a way that would be helpful for our target demographic. This required looking at both academic sources and journals written by librarians about the needs of institutions, but also searching for credible sources written by academics and activists within the disability community at large describing needs that aren’t being met by libraries. This resulted in a diverse array of sources, findable in our Annotated Bibliography.

The guide can be viewed here. The final paper can be read here. 

While doing this research I became personally interested in libraries and archives that house disability Histories. I created an In-Progress Bibliography of these sources that can be found here. 

[theodorobrejafmp]

Symposium - Reflection and Evaluation 2

Individual Learning Processes

I believe when you are working in the creative industry, especially in the digital area, you are constantly forced and pushed to constantly learn new things in order to stay updated. While courses and education are important for guidance, development and making connections, I consider that most of the techniques I have learned from the problems I encountered, and through the experience of working on diverse projects.

My main source of learning is through YouTube tutorials and other short courses that I bought. Whenever I hit a technical problem, I search how other people resolved it or to see if there are other techniques more efficient and with better result.

Fig.1: Using garment tutorials to reach the industry level

Previously, I was stuck in a mindset where I would keep on watching different tutorials as research. However, I have recently seen a podcast with other artists, and they were saying that tutorials should be used as a tool to resolve a problem, otherwise you would passively look at a screen without actually practising and doing the work, giving a false sense of learning.

My learning does not only resume to 3D techniques. I also try to develop on the overall creative processes such as storytelling, game design, and cinematography.

Fig.2: GDC Storytelling Presentation

Fig.3: Game Design Presentation

In addition, during the MA, the research modules helped me tremendously to learn how to do proper research and understand how do the design choices influence the viewer, and the symbolism and meaning behind each design choice.

So far, these methods helped me develop and make huge progress since I started. In the future, I want to learn from people I will work with, and have mentors in the 3D industry that would guide me professionally.

Bibliography:

Fig.2: GDC (2020) Narrative sorcery: Coherent storytelling in an open world. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZft_U4Fc-U

Fig.3: Jaies (2017) How to make a HIT indie game (story-driven) / “the formula” | the art of Game Design. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTYh-sIZfMA