Trash Poppaea

You might know me as @suburbanbeatnik. This is my blog for pop culture and meme nonsense or anything else I find remotely interesting.

[starweaverblog]

Yes Ariadne sleeps in the t-rex hand position trust the vision 🙂‍↕️

[usergreenpixel]

Uhhh, question! Does anyone know this book? @maggiec70 ? @suburbanbeatnik ?

( @chickenmadam told me it was awful, but I am curious, as this is still review material.)

Speaking of reviews! I’m actually coming back very soon! With both “Chevalier” and “Napoleon’s Elysium”!

(Sorry, I kept being either sick or busy and almost had a depression relapse…)

[trashpoppaea]

@usergreenpixel I have heard of her! She was much reviewed on The Romance Reader back in the day. Here's a review by Meredith Moore.

And yeah, Duras is supposed to be Massena. I never read Johnson's books because... as you see, the reviews were not exactly enticing.

[trashpoppaea]

This sounds so terrible I honestly want to read this. Marshal smut here I come

[ic-napology]

Maria Walewska fans - you are required please

I know that there are some Memoirs allegedly written by her, but many here (like @suburbanbeatnik ) are skeptical and say that they weren't probably written by her.

In any case, are those the source stating that Napoleon forced himself upon her on their first encounter?

[trashpoppaea]

I really, truly need to write a post debunking Marie Walewska's so-called "memoir." Here it is:

To put it bluntly, it's a memoir, not a novel. It's written from the POV of an anonymous Polish noblewoman who supposedly met Marie in Paris in 1809-- she didn't arrive in Paris until 1810. The unnamed narrator goes on at length about Marie's beauty and gentleness, and then we segue into Marie telling our narrator about her life and times. She has a romance, described at length, with the Russian prince Suvarov's cousin, and then she meets Napoleon later, who supposedly overwhelmed her with his manliness and persistence and overwrought monologues, and then later ravished her (with more flowery euphemisms).

I don't know how anyone can take any of this seriously. This reads like a Victorian melodrama, complete with detailed framing device a la Wuthering Heights. Christine Sutherland, Marie's biographer, thinks that this "memoir" is not very accurate, because Marie allegedly narrated this to her secretary when she was sick, for the benefit of her sons. But how is this even remotely probable? Who writes detailed framing devices into sickbed memoirs?

Anyway, read it for yourselves. It's all nonsense.

ADDENDUM: This is not only a Victorian era manuscript, but this was, IMO, written after 1868, because the author of manuscript mentions "survival of the fittest," a phrase coined by Herbert Spencer in 1868, inspired by his reading of Darwin's Origin of Species. So this guy:

I think it is pretty safe to say that Marie Walewska did not invent the concept of "survival of the fittest" in 1809, the year Charles Darwin was born. Unless she was somehow a time traveler.

[trashpoppaea]

So I checked the French translation, and the term "survival of the fittest" is actually just a crap translation of the term "les droits du plus fort." This doesn't mean that this "memoir" is any less fake: it just means it might have been written before 1868.

I personally think that this was written sometime between the 1830s and the 1850s, by someone who either met Marie or who had an elderly relative who had once met her. There's no way this is real: it's still written like a novel, supposedly by an unnamed Polish noblewoman who met Marie at a party in Paris in 1809 (she did not arrive in Paris until 1810) and bangs on about her own life for seven pages before launching into Marie's alleged recollections.

To quote @frevandrest:

I am thinking of Charlotte Robespierre's memoirs where Lapponeraye def added his views and angle to the whole thing while my gal ranted about Duplays and jam. Which not to say that it was insignificant (I actually think there was a lot of politics going on) but the memoirs are def an amalgam of his 19c love for Robespierre, Charlotte's actual memories and Charlotte's apology video. This sounds like a fictional narrative based on some stuff Marie said but also with obvious political undertones (I closed my eyes and thought of Poland). Like it could be made up but I can also see her saying that because, well, she was technically cheating on her husband and it wouldn't be proper to say "yeah, I totally wanted to bang Naps". But I also feel all the scenes of actual interaction with Naps sound too Victorian melodrama to be actual memoirs. Like no way she'd write like that. imo So I can see her declaring she did it for Poland and then someone was inspired to fictionalize the actual encounter.

There could be some truth in it. The stuff about Marie's childhood or her romance with Suvarov Jr. might have something to it. But the problem with this document is that there's no clear provenance or author. And how can a memoir be remotely trusted if we don't even know who the author is-- AND many allegedly trustworthy biographers have been misleading (even if unintentionally) about the very nature of this document?

So yeah. Anything sourced from this "memoir" should be treated with care. It's all self-aggrandizing, melodramatic, bodice-ripping tosh.

Here's the French version for any of those who are interested:

[ic-napology]

Maria Walewska fans - you are required please

I know that there are some Memoirs allegedly written by her, but many here (like @suburbanbeatnik ) are skeptical and say that they weren't probably written by her.

In any case, are those the source stating that Napoleon forced himself upon her on their first encounter?

[trashpoppaea]

I really, truly need to write a post debunking Marie Walewska's so-called "memoir." Here it is:

To put it bluntly, it's a memoir, not a novel. It's written from the POV of an anonymous Polish noblewoman who supposedly met Marie in Paris in 1809-- she didn't arrive in Paris until 1810. The unnamed narrator goes on at length about Marie's beauty and gentleness, and then we segue into Marie telling our narrator about her life and times. She has a romance, described at length, with the Russian prince Suvarov's cousin, and then she meets Napoleon later, who supposedly overwhelmed her with his manliness and persistence and overwrought monologues, and then later ravished her (with more flowery euphemisms).

I don't know how anyone can take any of this seriously. This reads like a Victorian melodrama, complete with detailed framing device a la Wuthering Heights. Christine Sutherland, Marie's biographer, thinks that this "memoir" is not very accurate, because Marie allegedly narrated this to her secretary when she was sick, for the benefit of her sons. But how is this even remotely probable? Who writes detailed framing devices into sickbed memoirs?

Anyway, read it for yourselves. It's all nonsense.

ADDENDUM: This is not only a Victorian era manuscript, but this was, IMO, written after 1868, because the author of manuscript mentions "survival of the fittest," a phrase coined by Herbert Spencer in 1868, inspired by his reading of Darwin's Origin of Species. So this guy:

I think it is pretty safe to say that Marie Walewska did not invent the concept of "survival of the fittest" in 1809, the year Charles Darwin was born. Unless she was somehow a time traveler.

[suburbanbeatnik]

A commission of a twenty year old Napoleon and my client’s character Margriet van Helmont, a beautiful young refugee from the Austrian Netherlands determined to uncover her father’s secrets and the people responsible for his death. This story is set in 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution.

The original sketch can be seen here.

[christinaroseandrews]

rahaeli (@rahaeli.bsky.social)

Okay, I will preface this with the GIGANTIC disclaimer that I promise I know how this looks, and I *swear* this is not personally motivated:

Hey everyone, it looks like there's some hinky stuff going on with LiveJournal in a way where it might be shutting down relatively soon -- and if not, who knows what will happen to it?

Obviously most of us aren't active users there right now, but a lot of us were active users there at some point, so... if you want to save your blog, this thread includes a few ways on how to do it, as well as a lot more detail on exactly what's going on.

(We also suggest screengrabbing or saving the page of any fics that you care about that are based there, as well as anything else you might have bookmarked.)

Just in general, as a reminder, despite what the old adage is: the internet is not forever. So back up anything you care about!

Note: edited to add screengrabs below the cut in case anyone doesn't want to click on the link.

[sweetfirebird]

Hey the US government is proposing to get rid of the Endangered Species Act. Please go comment.

(yes this entirely for corporate profit)

Cut and paste the docket number to put in your response if you remember. You can comment anonymously if you want.

The Oregon Zoo has some sample arguments you can make.

We have until December 22nd!

[simpledontmeanpeachy]

I would also like to remind you that you can simply say ‘I am opposed to these changes.’

And that ‘No.’ is a complete sentence.

Numbers matter in situations like these. Please make your opinion known. You can comment anonymously.

@markscherz, is this something you would be interested in reblogging? (Apologies if you have and I’ve not seen it.)

[uppity-hobbit]

Some items to consider:

Trump promised oil CEOs at Mar-a-lago in April 2024 to do their bidding, while asking for a $1 billion donation to his campaign. (Look up something like "trump oil ceos april 1 billion" and link to the news article of your choice -- supporting documentation). This change to the ESA is explicitly on behalf of the oil industry, it says in the docket.

The Endangered Species Act, like the Clean Water Act, are CONSERVATIVE programs signed into law by Republican president Nixon, meant to conserve the nation's unique resources and treasures for future generations.

Fossil fuel companies want to extract, profit from, and charge us for these resources.

According to several studies, bipartisan support for the ESA has remained strong among the general public for decades, despite political elites and fossil fuel industries' attempts to undermine it.

The fossil fuel industry already receives over $30 billion subsidies annually from US taxpayers, and Trump just added another $4 billion (again, look up the news source of your choice to confirm this).

Green jobs are one of the fastest-growing sectors in the US economy.

China has outstripped the US economically through its export of clean tech surpassing fossil fuels, and is winning the energy war by investing massively in renewables.

[cachicabra]

Organt English Translation

After two years, the English translation is completed!!

Academia.edu (always free!)

Physical Copy (for those who like to hold stuff)

Thank you to those who read it and are currently reading it.

J'ai mal fait; je pourrai faire mieux.

[suburbanbeatnik]

A sketch I did of Actaeon and Maya, the hero and heroine from ACTAEON, my time travel romance novel set in ancient and modern Greece (4th century BCE and 2004 respectively). Look, Maya even has an early 2000s digital camera!

Thanks to @margaretkart for helping to beta ACTAEON.

This is my last sketch for #classicstober2025, but I've had a good run this year. See you next year!

[suburbanbeatnik]

Gift art depicting Dionysus and Ariadne from @margaretkart's new Regency romance/Greek myth retelling set on Corfu in 1827, Το αμπέλι της θάλασσας (The Vine of the Sea)-- which might be getting an English translation soon! I'll be very excited to read it when it comes out.

Also this counts as more art for #classicstober2025!

[starweaverblog]

THIS IS AMAZING BEYOND WORDS🤩👏🏻

And yes guys it's official! My book will get translated but it's still very early in the process so when the time comes i will inform everyone

[trashpoppaea]

No problem! I'm so glad you like it!!

[starweaverblog]

why is every modern hollywood depiction of greece a fucking big ass desert 😭 im i tripping? does greece have a big fucking desert in it somewhere?

Yeah in the delulu land 🤣 The ONLY part resembling a desert fully is in Limnos island

And Limnos is on the northest part of Greece

Yes Greece has some rocky dry places but no we don't have that much to resemble a desert most of the time Greece is filled with fields of meadow, grass, mountains and forests. Oh definitely need to make this a meme:

[trashpoppaea]

The weird thing about this "trope" (if you want to call it that) is that it didn't start with Hollywood. Pasolini's Oedipus from 1967 was also filmed in Morocco, but literary depictions of Greece that I've found from the 1950s and early 1960s-- namely Henry Treece's Oedipus and even Mary Stewart's My Brother Michael-- depict a fantasized Greece that's all sand and dust and mesas.

I'm not sure where this all comes from, but it seems to me a subset of Orientalism.

[suburbanbeatnik]

May I introduce Gnaeus Cornelius Cinna Magnus and Julia Verrucia, characters from the first novel I ever wrote, way back in olden days, who still live rent-free in my head. The original ms that I wrote when I was 16 or so was basically a Regency-esque romance with togas and a tragic ending, with the two leads based verrrrrrrrrrrry loosely on Cicero and Clodia, but the action is set during the early Principate. (I have some idea how to revise this, and I might revisit this someday. Ofc the update will have a HEA.)

[suburbanbeatnik]

A sketch I drew of Kathleen O'Connor and David Thornley, the main characters from Candice Ransom's classic YA historical romance Kathleen, one of the Sunfire series, an exciting story about an Irish immigrant in the 1840s who falls in love with a rich aspiring author in Boston. It was one of my childhood favorites. I actually sent this sketch to Candice Ransom herself, and she loved it!

Kathleen is sadly OOP-- and individual copies are very expensive. However, the curious can find it on the Internet Archive.

[suburbanbeatnik]

A sketch I did of the hero and heroine from my latest time travel romance project, HUNT THE WHITE HIND. Cathy's a time traveler from the 1980s (hence the Casio wristwatch), while Father Nicolas is a Franciscan friar from the Coronado expedition in the 1540s. I've written 44k words, and I'm really happy with my progress!

However, I'm taking a break now, and working on my backlog of commissions. More new art will be posted soon!

[a-silly-poll-side-blog-yay]

you teleported to the last series you watched! will you survive?

yes

no

results

Voting ended onSep 14, 2025

[theinternetarchive]

PSA

the internet archive is getting sued for a bajillion dollars. you can voice your support for the archive and its services on change.org here or below.

Sign the Petition

Defend the Internet Archive

the actual internet archive staff are pushing for signatures, so i figured i would support. + definitely reblog if you feel so inclined.

[trashpoppaea]

Catholics of Tumblr, what do you think of the historical practice of self-mortification? specifically self-flagellation and scourging. (Please tell me your thoughts and feelings in the tags.)

I admire it. I think it should be practiced again

I admire it, but it should stay in the past

I dislike the idea of it, but the past was a different place

It horrifies me

I don’t care

Not a Catholic/show me the results

Voting ended onAug 11, 2025