X. P. Y.

Poems and Ramblings

[xpy-poetry]

Do not treat me as if I'm made of glass,

Marble,

Iron,

Or something other than flesh and bone.

Prometheus molded me

from the same dirt;

the same grey clay,

From which he made man.

My skin is not porcelain,

Or smooth cream;

My flesh is not succulent

Fruit or corded steel.

I am not the graceful predator

Or the gentle breeze.

I am not the martyr

Or the mother.

Treat me as I am:

Mortal flesh,

Living soul,

Woman.

Female of The Species

x.p.y. 10 May 2022

[poetbitesback]

we’re so starving. high on a mountain in my dreams there are dried strawberries that rain down in only the shape of your mouth and I reach out with shaky hands to find that they disintegrate under my too-forgetful fingers. never could I recall the way that you liked to be held, your jaw tilted just so before leaning in to meet and now I’ll never again know. perhaps it’s better to go out this way. thinking of everything we have had and could have and aching deep within myself for it all. what good is a love that cannot even leave you berry-stained? — Olivia Larson

[antigonick]

Pauline’s book recs : a MASTERPOST

Shit, it’s 2020 and I’ve updated this Behemoth again. There’s both old and new in here. If you’re having problems with links overlapping, it is most likely the app/dashboard glitching—try the permalink version, and everything should work out, even on mobile. And of course, HAVE FUN.

Ressources : where to find books online?

CLASSICAL LITERATURE (ANTIQUITY) Where should I start? The fundamental works Where should I start? The mythology-oriented works Where should I start? Mythology, but make it non-greek Where should I start? The translation edition A very touristic overview of Ancient Greek literature Different texts for Antigone Different texts for Elektra  Different texts and translations for The Odyssey

CLASSIC [? who cares] BOOKS (ALL ERAS) First things first : a few favourites And works in translation : a few more favourites Where should I start? My first classics A very touristic overview of literature reading Modern classics Reading women : a few favourites ; wait, much more Reading men : a few favourites Children literature : a few favourites ; more Experimental literature Where should I start? English and US literature  Where should I start? Modern Italian literature Where should I start? German and Austrian literature Where should I start? Russian literature Where should I start? Irish literature I’m terribly unknowledgeable about? Japanese literature Where should I start? Renaissance literature Where should I start? French literature for intermediate level Where should I start? French Medieval literature Where should I start? Victorian literature Where should I start? Contemporary literature Reading classics to children Children literature for adults (?) A bit of myth, a bit of fairy tale Short-length classics ; more here Short stories One last thing: books I don’t want to check out

POETRY First things first : a few favourites Second things second : a bunch of recs Where should I start? Poetry Learning French? Easy French poetry Lesbian French poetry Russian poetry : a few favourites Narrative poems ; much more Mystic poems Poems about separation Poems about love Poems about happiness Poems about exile Poems about poetry

DRAMA First things first : a few favourites

NON-FICTION First things first : a few favourites ; more recent On feminism (it’s old) On translation On literary analysis and adaptation  On first-level literary analysis and French movements On biographies and diaries ; more here ; and more? On writing theory and another one On art history On reader-response theory Very lacking, but on female history On witches On Sufism Literary interviews Essays

YEARLY SUMMARY Best of 2018 : Prose Summary of 2018 Best of 2017 : Fiction Best of 2017 : Poetry Best of 2016 : Fiction Best of 2016 : Poetry 2016 Summer reading list 2015 - 2016 awaited releases Best of 2015 : Fiction Best of 2015 : Poetry

THEMATIC LISTS By character Works featuring Persephone Works featuring Kassandra Works featuring male protagonists written by women Works featuring the House as a character Works featuring mermaids Works featuring the femme fatale archetype Works featuring female villains Works with Nature as a character Works with supernatural entities as a human double Works with introspective characters Works with narcissistic characters Romances featuring softer male protagonists Trope : Star-crossed lovers Trope : Friends to lovers Trope : Villainous love Trope : Toxic mother figure Trope : adaptating Beauty and the Beast Trope : adaptating Bluebeard By theme LGBTQ+ (a terribly old and lacking list) Books taking place in a single building Books taking place in one House Books taking place in a high school Books about seeing into the Future Books by the sea (and the few pirates) Books set in Paris Books about girlhood Books about introspection and self-discovery Books about melancholy and sadness Books about happiness and hope Books with symbolism and atmosphere Books about moral corruption and spiritual decadence Books about sex politics and philosophy Books about the female rage Books about or taking place during World War I Books featuring suicides Poems for mothers Poems about poetry Great love stories Unusual love stories Idealised, bittersweet love ; more By genres Rewriting Greek and Roman myths Rewriting Fairy Tales ; and again Writing and rewriting Arthuriana Favourites free-to-play text-based games Gothic and neo-gothic Southern Gothic Magical realism Dystopias Young Adult Horror novels (but check the gothic instead) Crime novels Medieval historical fiction Just, like, sappy stuff

By context Beach reading Travel reading Halloween reading (spooky!) Winter reading Summer reading ; another Lockdown reading (you can still ask!) By book Books similar to The Secret History Books similar to Wuthering Heights ; again Books similar to A Grief Observed Books similar to The Brothers Karamazov Books similar to On Being Ill Books similar to Eros the Bittersweet Books similar to Dracula Excerpts similar to Dido and Aeneas parting in the Aeneid Recommended editions of Romeo and Juliet Recommended editions of Shakespeare’s Sonnets Recommended editions of Wuthering Heights Recommended translations of Tristan and Yseult Lit criticism on Dorian Gray Lit criticism on Sonnets to Orpheus Books adapted to the screen (1) Books adapted to the screen (2) By author Favourite French writers Favourite Contemporary writers What to read? By Women French writers What to read? By Anne Carson (And some prep reading for Anne Carson) What to read? By Richard Siken What to read? By Roland Barthes What to read? By Agatha Christie What to read? By E. A. Poe What to read? By Daphné du Maurier What to read? By Sylvia Plath What to read? By Priya Sarukkai Chabria What to read? By Hélène Cixous What to read? On and by Branwell Brontë If you love Anne Carson If you love Angela Carter  If you love Louise Glück  If you love Virginia Woolf  If you love Sylvia Plath  If you love Marguerite Duras If you love Emile Zola If you love Colette

[brehatano]

There are accepted revolutions, revolutions which are called revolutions; there are refused revolutions, which are called riots.

Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

[timelordhugs]

‘Statues are not the mechanism by which we understand history. We learn history through museums, through books, through television programmes. Statues are about adoration. They are about saying that this man was a great man and he did great things. That is not true. He was a slave trader and a murderer.’

- historian David Olusoga on BBC News, regarding the statue of Edward Colston being pulled down by BLM protestors in Bristol, and the “erasing history” argument used to criticise the act.

[pinkpsychodotcom-blog]

[ramonameisel]

“how hard do you have to hit a girl before she splinters into diamonds?”

— thoughts #411 | r.m

[jenny-jinya]

Short comic, while I work on something bigger on the side. It is nevertheless a very important topic. A lot of seabirds die because they eat plastic. They feed their chicks with the waste. It’s really tragic.

[violentwavesofemotion-deactivat]

“Are you aware that the word “passion” means “suffering”?”

— Victor Hugo, from a letter to Adèle Foucher written c. March 1822

[xpy-poetry]

“Plums deify!”

— Stephen King, On Writing

[xpy-poetry]

“Don’t be a muggle!”

[xpy-poetry]

“Plums deify!”

— Stephen King, On Writing

[xpy-poetry]

Collab with @blankcanvas-life

[poetbitesback]

“I have been extremely empty lately and the things that used to fill me slip right out of my cracks. Dripping onto the floor are old happinesses that I cannot pick up. Tonight, I am left wondering what happens when you go empty for so long. Questioning how to find new things to fill myself when it has always been the same. Same. Some days I hate change even though I am trying to grow. Even more so, I hate change when it feels less like a choice and more like the world is carving out the parts of me it wishes not to see.”

— Olivia Larson

[ninasdrafts]

“Even though there’s an ocean between us, in the dead of night I swear I can hear you calling for me, your soft voice echoing over the rushing of the water. Persuading me to walk into the shallows, to dive right in and find my way back to you. I see your eyes in the sun’s reflection, and find your smile in the curves of seashells. But whenever I’m out at sea and shout for your help, it never comes. And I‘ll ask you one last time: would you also cross this ocean for me like I do for you? Not because I ask you to. Would you do it because you can’t imagine living a life with me having no part in it? Or is your mind set on wanting to watch me follow the sound of your voice every night, until you can finally drag me under and drown me in darkness?”

— siren pt. II / n.j.

[just-shower-thoughts]

Icebergs melting could be releasing deadly bacteria that have been frozen for years.

[xpy-poetry]

This is exactly what i want to think about right now,,, thank you

[just-shower-thoughts]

You can’t explain magic because as soon as you can it’s just science.

[naliya]

hi, so I read your ask about the whole USA-defined racism vs. European-defined racism, and I myself (biracial American Latina) have had qualms about the argument where black people cant be racist....... I've agreed when said black people cant be racist towards whites bc of the whole position of power thing but that they can be racist towards other poc's. how do you feel about this in terms of European racism that whites can be racially targeted/etc?

Hi,

So this post has been sitting in my askbox (with a bunch of others) for a while now, sorry for not answering earlier but I didn’t have neither the time nor the drive to write anything, I hope you will still see it. 

Now, I have struggled with how to word this and I hope I won’t be misunderstood, but the first thing I feel many americans need to understand is that their definition of racism (as being power + prejudice) simply isn’t how racism is understood almost everywhere else in the world. For us Europeans, racism is simply prejudice against someone for being different; it can be about colour, ethnicity or nationality and power plays aren’t necessarily factored in the definition of racism that we are taught even though we are well aware of their existences. This is why often Europeans will be very confused when you tell them that an entire group of people can’t be racist toward another no matter which, because according to what they have been taught on the issue all their lives, racism is simply hatred against someone else for something they were born with and can not help and as everyone is capable of hatred then everyone can be racist against anyone according to this very simple definition. 

Pulling out one of my French dictionary, this is the definition I have under “racisme”:

“n.m; 1. Idéologie fondée sur la croyance qu’il éxiste une hiérarchie entre groupes humains, les “races”; comportement inspirée par cette ideologie. 2. Attitude d’hostilité systématique à l’égard d’une catégorie déterminée de personnes.”

It means : “1. Ideology founded on the belief that there exist a hierarchy between human groups, “races”; behavior inspired by this ideology. 2. Systematic hostile attitude toward one specific category of people.” 

You can notice two things: first, nowhere is it said that it HAS to be about colourism, it only talk of “human groups” or “specific category of people” which can be about colour, or ethnicity, or nationality … etc, just as well since - and as I have explained before - “races” and “racism” are far murkier concepts in Europe than they seem to be in the USA,  colourism for instance was never the sole factor differentiating the “others” from the “same” here. And secondly, nowhere are power plays mentioned as being essential to the definition. 

About that last point, and this is where I don’t want to be misunderstood, I am NOT saying that power plays are non factors in Europe, because it is obvious that they exist; but since racism was not overall something that was institutionalized in Europe to the extent it was in the USA (no segregation well into the 60s for example), those power plays are not understood within the definition of what racism is and will often be less visible and less defined. It doesn’t mean that they are “better” and even less so that they don’t exist, in many ways it makes the problem harder to tackle, it just means that those things will express themselves differently and therefore should be approached differently and understood with the specific history and constructs they carry. If we try to fight racism in Europe with an American definition in mind, I do not think we will go anywhere because it won’t resonate the same as our history is different. 

Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that power is not a fixed thing, it is fluid and won’t be held by the same people everywhere all the time, who has power and who doesn’t lies on a number of factors which won’t be the same everywhere, it depends of where you are, of your wealth and yes, of the individual we’re talking of as well since individual racism, from person to person, exists. Insisting that the power plays existing in the USA are the default and valid everywhere is absurd, and when social justice oriented tumblr tries to argue that, this is where they lose people. For example, if you are a black American in Europe, there is 90% chance that you will be treated far better than a romani, even if they look and are white (and yes, plenty do, especially if they have been sedentary for a while and/or have married outside of their group), this doesn’t mean that you can’t suffer from anti-black sentiment as well, as (as I’ve said) racism here takes many pervasive forms but you can’t argue that the white looking romani (or the European jew, or the Slav in WE or whoever) has any significant power that somehow makes it impossible for them to be the targets of racism no matter where this racism comes from (in the case of the jews it would be a vastly problematic thing to say in fact as an overwhelming amount of antisemitism comes from the Muslim community, as uncomfortable of a fact as it is) - also, if you are latino with lighter skin there is a huge chance you will only be seen as white, period as odd as it may seem. And this is only about Europe, because those power plays are again far different and have their own structures everywhere else in the world. 

When Europeans, who do not believe and are not taught that “races” are anything but social constructs, disagree with you that white people can’t be the targets of racism they disagree for many reasons; witnessing many people who would be constructed as “white” in the US be the victims of it time and again is one of them, the fact that this “power + prejudice” definition isn’t the one they were taught is another and I think it is vital for Americans to keep that in mind before they lash out at Europeans (especially younger ones) for being confused by the American point of view on the issue. It is valid for you, no one is denying that, but it isn’t for us and it isn’t what we are taught.

[teagreens]

I feel like I’m understanding a lot of what you’re saying —- the part about a black person being treated better than a white/white passing rromani esp.

thanks loads for replying to this, it was really eye opening and I’m glad I got to see it from a point of view that belongs to someone who experiences and knows about racism in a v different way than I do. Best wishes. :)

[naliya]

Hi, I’m glad you could see it and read it. 

Though I want to expend on this point for a minute if I can bring more clarity: 

“the part about a black person being treated better than a white/white passing rromani esp.”

This is where the murkiness of “races” as constructed in Europe express itself the most, because not every black person will necessarily be treated better (though to be fair, the Romani really are treated as the bottom of the barrel in many ways, along with refugees those days) because not every black person will be treated the same; the reason for that is because Europeans do not only see colour, they also see ethnicity. 

It means that in Europe, where you are from and what are your ethnic, cultural and (yes) religious roots will matter just as much as your skin colour when it comes to the sort of treatment you will receive. Typically, it will mean that Black Americans will be better treated than people from say… Somalia, or any African country. As a general rule Black people from the Americas will be far better received than black people from Africa. Europeans do not see people as necessarily being “the same” just for sharing a skin colour as racialisation is built on more than colourism here. We did not have Jim Crow, segregation and the one drop rule, you see, but we did have the Nazis and the death camps on our continent - they were the culmination of a kind of European racialisation of human groups which didn’t start nor stop existing when they came and went; our history is different from the USA’s and this different history means different constructs.

So European do not see people as the same just for sharing a skin colour, and that includes each other. This is why prejudices which exist between different European ethnicities are not “only” xenophobia unlike what I’ve been told time and again by Americans. People do not discriminate against one another just for being “weird foreigners” but because they will see the Slavs or the European Jews or the Eastern Euros or whoever else as racially inferior. It doesn’t mean that colourism doesn’t exist in Europe, it just means that ethnic racism is also a reality here, and both of those issues are in need of solving. This is also why Europeans won’t recognize themselves and will often feel defensive when encountering the concepts of “white people” and “white culture” as discussed and pushed by Americans, because the concept of “whiteness” as meaning “everyone with a pale complexion and ‘Caucasian’ features are the same and part of a same big racial and cultural identity” just doesn’t sit well with them; it doesn’t sit well because we aren’t a whole, we have barely started getting along after millenniums of wars and hatred, the concept of an “European” identity all together is younger than my grand-parents, my parents are older than when this idea started to be widely spread and claimed, and I’ll be older than when it’ll (hopefully) become fully accepted. In Europe there isn’t only one kind of white and trust me, way too many are “the wrong kind” in the eyes plenty of others. 

Often, when Europeans try to explain those concepts to Americans, the later take it as us saying “we don’t see colour and therefore racism doesn’t exist here”, when in reality what we’re trying to say is that we don’t only see colour and it’s important that they understand that before trying to speak about our problems and trying to tell us how we should solve them.