world lit in fire

Fierce and quite Determined Ellis | they/them&he/him

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

A while ago someone asked about where my writing is etc. so I figured I’d make a proper pinned post with relevant links and shit. 

AO3 - fanfic, obvs. Generally:

LOTR (Boromir lives; also Grima is around getting something like a “be marginally better please” arc),

Discworld (we love one (1) queer Lord Downey and that scag Dog-Botherer),

Star Wars (Krennic and Tarkin, divorced parents fighting over the custody of their child the Death Star Defense Sphere)

Some historical fiction (Marsilio Ficino and also the infamous crack Napoleon/Wellington nonsense)

Woodford Series - for those looking for the OG Napoleon/Wellington Murder Fairy series

Personal Website for Real Writing Things (I’m a poet and short story writer (there’s gotta be a better term for that), and working on a novel or two)

Writing Tag (it’s the wild west in there) 

Like the absolute nonsense I am as a person? I’ve got a ko-fi like a cool kid

If I think of anything else to add, I will update accordingly. 

catch y’all on the flip side. 

[jstor]

The preservation of transgender history is essential to ensuring that the stories and experiences of trans people are not forgotten. The Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) has taken on the vital task of gathering and protecting this history, bringing together documents, images, and materials that reflect the rich and diverse experiences of transgender people across time and place.

By making these resources accessible, the DTA facilitates explorations of the often-hidden or erased narratives of trans communities. From personal stories to institutional records, these materials provide a window into the challenges and triumphs faced by trans individuals, while also celebrating the resilience and diversity of these communities.

Preserving this history is also about ensuring that future generations can learn, understand, and be inspired by the stories of those who came before them.

Explore more about how these efforts are safeguarding trans history, and why it matters, on JSTOR Daily.

Image: A man in drag and a man in male clothes looking into each other’s eyes, via Digital Transgender Archive.

[gatheringbones]

[“She tells us to watch for rattlesnakes and that when we encounter an animal that can hurt us, our options are: fight, flight, or freeze. Apex predators are omnivores and have lots of options. If they surmise you’ll put up a fight, they’ll likely opt for smaller prey. But if you encounter a black bear, don’t look it in the eye. Just back away slowly. If you encounter a brown bear, roll up in a ball. Either way, don’t be afraid, our mother says. Be competent. I think of the way Mother freezes around Dad, acting confident and unaffected when his anger flares. When the predator is significantly bigger than we are, we know not to fight or run. This will reduce the severity of injury. What she teaches her daughters is different from what boys are taught at the Field, so we’re not allowed to talk about what we know.”]

michelle dowd, from forager: field notes for surviving a family cult

[ellynneversweet]

Listened to a podcast on historical attitudes towards privacy yesterday that reminded me that the corridor is a relatively recent architectural feature, and it just blows my mind every time to imagine how different the way I navigate the world and imagine built environments as a 21st century westerner is from basically most of the human experience for all of history.

Obviously I’m not alone in this difference, but it is fascinating to look at media made by people who are culturally like me who take as a given things like ‘everyone in this story has a bedroom that is for their exclusive use, and they experience other people entering it uninvited (even family or people they share a home with) as a violation.’ That’s a huge aberration from the norm.

[ellynneversweet]

One point that I hadn’t picked up on before but made perfect sense in light of this setting is that a lot of historical artefacts have locks on them. Cabinets, chests, travelling desks, wardrobes, books — instead of the boundary of ‘all my things I don’t want other people to access go in a locked and closed room’ you had ‘all my things I don’t want other people to access go in their own individual locked boxes in a room everyone in my household can access.’

[sergeifyodorov]

I don't read as much fic as I used to but one "tell" for non Canadians writing us, besides the etransfer, is the units you use to describe us measuring something. I hate to tell you this but The Chart is real and it's completely subconscious. Please abide

[demotu-writes]

ETA the chart (or at least a version of it):

ETA2: we do use inches/miles in poetic ways ("he was lost in thought/miles away" or "his lips were a bare inch away").

Also, the length of a dick is in inches for SURE.

[apleasurableillusion]

I do think the funniest Canadian measurement related thing is that in Ontario we buy our milk in bags that come with 4 litres divided among 3 bags. It makes no fucking sense

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

sacred bag milk life 🙏

[stereomike]

did you ever meet/have you ever met any of your great-grandparents?

Yes

No, they all died (or likely died) before I was born

No, but 1 or more were/are alive during my lifetime

No, but with nuance

Voting ended on40m

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

random thought at 1 am, i wonder what napoleon would think of the eiffel tower and how much it’s become a national symbol ??

hahaha I'm not sure! I mean he would likely have opinions, being a man of strong views, but I couldn't say what they would be.

I could see him not liking the architecture but also who knows, maybe he would? Impossible to say.

[the-prairies-calling-out]

"Why do you buy books when the library is right there?"

Because publishing houses will not continue printing paper books if libraries are their only customers.

Also, I like being able to read at my leisure and generally have books at hand.

[its-the-blob]

#public libraries are good because they let people access books they might never otherwise read#private book ownership is good because it's Yours#physical books are good because they last a long time and again it's Yours#ebooks are good because you can fit a whole library into the physical space of a single book and they're cheaper to produce#audiobooks are good because they're accessible to people with eyesight or visual reading issues and leave your hands free#in conclusion: all books are good and people should enjoy them however and whenever they can#(lest it be misunderstood I agree with you completely OP I just also really like books in general and it got away from me)

YES. all books. every kind

[adibkhorram]

Yes to all this but I would like to add some extra context...

Publishers make a ton of money from selling paper books (and ebooks) to libraries. Public libraries, university libraries, K-12 school libraries...every major publisher has school and library marketing teams, school and library sales teams, school and library imprints...Libraries are a HUGE chunk of the market. Especially for children's literature, where, historically, school and library purchases accounted for around 75% of a book's earnings.

So the concerted attacks on books in schools and libraries since 2021 has had a devastating effect. Authors who used to make a living writing books that schools and libraries bought in large quantities (and then would go visit those schools and libraries to talk about books with kids) have seen their income plummet. Publishers have shuttered entire school and library imprints—one of which was 65 years old and had won every major award for children's literature multiple times. (Full disclosure they published MY award winning children's books!)

AND did you know right now the house is considering HR2616, which would ban books that have any mention of "gender ideology" from schools? That means any book written by or including trans people.

Call your reps!

[izzy-hands]

Edgin + being completely normal in his reactions to Xenk

[dionysiaproductions]

[madgirlautumn]

This is so obviously correct I can’t even think what the other answer would be.

[gcantread]

more p&p:

"I have been so fortunate as to be distinguished by the patronage of the Right Honourable Lady Catherine fucking de Bourgh"

mansfield park:

"I was quiet, but I was not fucking blind"

sense and sensibility:

"I will be fucking calm"

"Elinor went to her room, where she was free to think and be fucking wretched"

persuasion:

"And who the fuck is Admiral Croft?"

"Can we fucking retrench?"

"I am not fond of the idea of my fucking shrubberies being always approachable"

northanger abbey:

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be stupid as fuck"

lady susan:

"My dear Alicia, of what a mistake were you guilty in marrying a man of his age! Just old enough to be formal, ungovernable, and to have the gout; too old to be agreeable, too young to fucking die"

emma:

"Badly fucking done, Emma!"

and I propose that instead of one single "fuck," every time Emma mentions the character her name is changed to "Jane fucking Fairfax"

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Every line from Sir Walter Elliot could be improved if he was allowed to say "fuck"

[beardedmrbean]

[austensource]

It seems to me that a great deal of time is thrown away in pursuit of attachments that can never come to anything. Such as Mr. Ryder.

MARY BENNET and CAROLINE BINGLEY in The Other Bennet Sister, Chapter 5

[apolladay]

what language did u learn in school (before university/college)

- spanish

- french

- mandarin

- other

- none

what language did u learn in school (before university/college)

Spanish

French

Mandarin

Other

None

Voting ended onMay 24

[ghiacomo]

ENGLISH!!!! Because aparently that's just "the language of the world" and not also "a forgein language to anyone outside the anglosphere".

[apolladay]

what language did u learn in school (before university/college)

- spanish

- french

- mandarin

- other

- none

what language did u learn in school (before university/college)

Spanish

French

Mandarin

Other

None

Voting ended onMay 24

[indigosfindings]

how do you pronounce the honourific "Ms." in english

"miss"

"miz"

other

unsure/see results

Voting ended onMay 21

[mortalityplays]

really good "shocking number of people are confidently objectively demonstrably completely wrong" poll

[3liza]

i am losing my fucking mind

[avocado-moon]

#we dont use honorifics in my first language so whenever i have to select options (usually for flights) im always so confused#like what is actually the difference between miss and ms#i like miss bc it sounds more historical and im a historian so

"Miss" means an unmarried woman. "Mrs." means a married woman. (both of these have origins in the word "mistress" as in "mistress of the house".)

"Ms." - prounounced MIZ, btw - is a third option popularized by gloria steinem in the 70s - mainly through her feminist magazine Ms. - which is meant to be a neutral term, usable for any and all women regardless of marital status (hence the soul destroying irony of the tags above). it gained wider general acceptance when geraldine ferraro, the first woman to be nominated as VP on a national major party ticket, started using it widely to avoid confusion, since she was married but used her maiden name professionally. eventually over the years it came into common use though i do think the brits are a little more critical of it than americans (as far as i'm aware lol)

[avocado-moon]

"obscure facts only a tumblr user would know" and it's one of the most influential institutions of second wave american feminism. PLEASE open the schools

[onbearfeet]

Hi. I'm an unmarried woman in her forties. I use Ms. and pronounce it "miz", though I don't correct people who accidentally use a soft S. I use Ms. because it's no one's business but my own whether I'm married, to a man or anyone else, and that's what Ms. means. It means fuck off, my marital status is irrelevant, just as it is for every man who uses Mr.

I've had people (usually children) ask me at work if I'm a missus or a miss. I have replied that I am a miz, full stop. And when they pressed for which one I was REALLY, I have replied, "Why? Are you going to treat me differently depending on whether there's a ring somewhere?"

That's what Ms. is for. That is its linguistic function. It says, "This is an adult woman," and nothing else. Nothing else is necessary, and in my case, nothing else is desired.

I also use miz for other women unless and until they express a preference for something else because I don't magically know everyone else's marital status when I meet them. That's a courtesy—I'm declining to assume marital status and allowing them to decide whether they wish to declare it.

Also, I've taught English and worked as an editor for twenty years. I am quite literally the grammar police. This use of Ms. is a standard construction. If you didn't learn it in school, someone failed you.

[squeeful]

“Obscure facts” Boo boo I was taught it in elementary school. One with a state standardized curriculum.

Ms. is marriage-neutral and it’s pronounced Miz. It is deliberately different from Miss.

[microcosme11]

Countess Kielmansegge sees Napoleon for the last time

(Translated)

When, on the morning of July 19th [1813], at the Marcolini Palace in the Friedchstadt suburb of Dresden, I took leave of the Emperor, whom I was never to see again, I was alone with him at one of the windows of his bedroom. He spoke at length about the future, the veil of which he was striving to lift in order to align his plans with it. Finally, he said to me, "I entrust Jérôme and his wife to you. Remain loyal to them. But as for them, never follow the impulses of your heart before consulting your reason. Stay with them, even if everyone else abandons them. I advise you to leave the Protestant religion. Become Catholic. Go to the Saint Bernard Hospice; there you will find religion in all its purity. Here is a sealed package. Keep it until I speak to you again about it. It is addressed to the Emperor of Russia. I do not forgive him for the treachery with which he has abused my good faith in all things. In this package, he will find letters in which I express my regret and the reasons we have for mutual forgiveness, since we have ceased to understand each other. But I leave to God alone the task of justifying me.”

After this, the Emperor expounded to me, in all their sublimity, his ideas on eternity, on absolute faith, and on religious prescience. When he fell silent, I spoke and said to him about the package: “What if they come to search my house?” The Emperor replied: “In that case, leave it to Providence; I entrust you to its safekeeping.” Then, after a few moments of reflection: “If you are dealing with Russians, give them the package, but only with a receipt.”

Mémoires de la comtesse de Kielmannsegge sur Napoléon I

hathitrust

I like how Napoleon babbles to her about eternity, absolute faith, etc., to which she replies, "What if they search my house?"