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Book recs, please! Three things I like in books: (a) they are written for unabashed humanities nerds; (b) the characters in them do interesting stuff; (c) an element of the fantastic. Thanks in advance!

Hello, kindred spirit! Here are some recs for you:

Sarah Caudwell’s Hilary Tamar mysteries. Absolute hilarity in a series of classics-inspired murder mysteries, starring an Oxford don of indeterminate gender and the four hapless legal professionals whom they befriend. Laws of probability cheerfully ignored.

A.S. Byatt, Possession. This book is so good. This book made me cry. Recommending this book always makes me want to reread it. It is trenchant and smart about sexism in academic institutions. It is trenchant and smart about sexism in Victorian England. It is trenchant and smart about class, which feels depressingly rare sometimes. It features intensely erotic love letters between two fictional Victorian poets. As for the fantastic: you can make up your mind about what the book says about linear time.

Andres Neuman, Traveler of the Century. Another one that plays with linear time! It takes place in an eighteenth-century German town and manages to have conversations among its characters that are simultaneously about eighteenth-century social anxieties and late twentieth-century debates about sex and gender. Brilliant. Oh and it’s about language and translation; swoon.

Jose Saramago, History of the Siege of Lisbon. Heartwarming romance! A twelfth-century siege! A hapless middle-aged copy editor! Reflections on place and identity! And a dog! Please enjoy this lovely book.

With the caveat that I’ve just read the first one and am taking an emotional recovery period before starting the second: Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles. Suave multilingual bastard swashbuckles across three nations. That’s it, that’s the book. With a lot of awesome women. And an alchemy subplot.

For somewhat lighter reading, you might try Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian, or Sean Pidgeon’s Finding Camlann. The latter is about archaeology and King Arthur; one of the antagonists is a flashy telly don; there’s an entire scene involving eighteenth-century buttons. And King Arthur!

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If one believes in God, but has learned not to pray, one offers only, in silence, one's apologies, and then asks the spirit to do what it can.

Checkmate, Dorothy Dunnett

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i don’t feel stupid i feel untextured if that makes sense. i also feel a little stupid but it’s also 1am maybe that’s why i can’t get a grip

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““It wasn’t love,” said Lymond in queer, rather desperate voice. “It was a kind of … oh God, I don’t know. Hero worship, I suppose. It’s the only oozing emotion I seem able to inspire. It leads to nothing but misery.””

— Queen’s Play (via invite-me-to-your-memories)

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went to the pittsburgh aviary yesterday and this little beast’s name is Elizabeth. the docent said she loves wheels and jewelry. Elizabeth walked up to my wheelchair & tried to eat my ring off my finger. we love a predictable queen

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Attention Whale Weekly fans: I saw some people that thought “white whales” were fictional but they are Not, and I’m not just talking about belugas. Albinism and leucistism has been recorded in over 20 species of cetacean! The most famous albino whale is a humpback named Migaloo. Look at this large impressive man!

There are also two more albino humpbacks alive currently, including a baby that we think may be Migaloo’s spawn.

There are also multiple albino orcas and dolphins, some in captivity and some in the wild.

And we recently found a white sperm whale. Just a lil baby. Look at the small man;

A teeny tiny Moby Dick. He will grow into a legendary beast someday just like his famous predecessor. I can feel it.

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pentiment

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just got asked if i was woke at my own fucking birthday dinner. i’m tired of this grandpa

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Hero of the Year 2025

I'm calling it early - I doubt anyone will beat The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde

(I sure hope I've addressed her correctly)

For the most stunning act of bravery, class, integrity, and speaking truth to power that has graced the USA in far too long.

Not a single shake in her voice as she spoke directly to one of the most vengeful, spiteful, and (unfortunately) powerful people on the planet, while also receiving glares of hate and outrage from the despicable VP and his wife.

It's not the first time she's stood up for what is right in defiance of trump's actions, but while many may speak out on it, there have been scarcely any with the backbone to follow through on the opportunity to do it to his face, and especially on live television. She had her moment, and she didn't waste it.

May she be the inspiration we all take forward with us into the turbulent times ahead.

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shoutout to everyone

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You’ve heard of “don’t monetize your hobbies”; get ready for "don’t master your hobbies".

Your hobbies are here to help you decompress and have fun. They do not have to be disciplines you toil over for expertise, unless that is something you genuinely enjoy doing.

It’s okay to enjoy language-learning without ever becoming fluent, or even conversational. It’s okay to like playing guitar even if you only know a few clumsy songs. You can read books and never finish them, bowl without ever scoring even halfway to perfect. We’re here to explore and play, and we cannot do that if we’re chasing perfection in everything we do.

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If you want to write a fantasy religion properly you should at least once in your life try converting to a new religion and study it with the same depth and immersion that you would study a language until you realize how many of the preconceived notions of your national religion (yes, you probably have one) are the barest trickle of centuries of absurdly complex discussion on the nature of things yet simultaneously they seep into and command every crack of your culture

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the thing is, i think horror needs to have a little love. it needs to have an obsession. does the parasite in your body love you? it raises you from the dead, it sustains you. this is its body. this is your body. does the haunted house feel intruded upon? is it hungry? what is hatred but adoration?

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does any one want me or not want me or feel any particular way about me at all