#Wellesley Writes It

[read-write-thrive]

I wanted to get a head start on palasaki week and now I’m building out a reverse AU. why do I keep doing this to myself I can’t keep starting new stuff without finishing the old stuff 😭

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

I LOVE YOUR WORKS SO MUCH ITS INSANE RAHHH… where does one find your ‘a wolf in chase’ fic??

aww thank you! that's so kind of you to say!

I took Wolf in Chase and Pale Before the Fall down because for a time there was an iteration of them (very, very different I will say) being shopped to publishers but that is now on the back burner.

Please find the Woodford Series PDFs below (I also included the few on AO3 so you have a sense of the proper order of things):

Pale Before the Fall

Pairing: Napoleon/Wellington; Historical pairings (e.g., Wellesley/Kitty, past Napoleon/Josephine etc.) Rating: T to M(ish) Summary: After Waterloo, through a cunning lawyer and some finagling, Bonaparte manages to end up in England instead of St Helena for his final exile. Of course things don't stay quiet. There's an old murder. A stodgy Duke newly returned from France. A disintegrating marriage. And a couple of ghosts to top it all off. (and full of pretentious chapter titles and what not) Published: 2013-09-27

A Wolf in Chase

Pairing: Napoleon/Wellington; Historical pairings Rating: T to M(ish) Summary: Sequel to "Pale Before the Fall" though I don't think it's too much a necessity to have read the first one. A continuation of something like a friendship. If one may be so liberal as to call it that. Mostly, there are mysteries and a bored (former) emperor who has nothing better to do than drag a certain duke along on his adventures. Published: 2015-07-07

An argument for the wise use of blankets, or, Napoleon dislikes Canova's interpretation of him as Peacemaker (AO3)*

Pairing: Napoleon/Wellington; Historical pairings Rating: G Summary: For an anon on tumblr who requested the following: I have only one Napollington suggestion and it is anything including Napoleon being ridiculously angry about Arthur having that naked Napoleon statue in his house. Published: 2019

*I wrote a second, newer version of this fic at the request of someone on here. So that version is also on AO3 as A Kindness Interrupted. Same premise, a little more angsty. Published: 2024

Unsent Letters**

Pairing: Napoleon/Wellington; Historical pairings Rating: T(ish) Summary A child has gone missing out in the countryside. Wellington investigates. Napoleon is pissed that he's not invited along for the ride. It is a series of letters between them as shit gets weird. Published: 2018? I think?

**Note: Takes place ostensibly in the same universe as Pale and Wolf except that I also borrowed heavily from the rewrite that was being shopped around. So some characters who died in the OG are alive in this version. Treat it as an au of an au. I'll note that this is probably my favourite of the lot. Key differences: Georgiana Preston is alive, it's someone from her past who was murdered. Napoleon ended up half-dead on a river bank due to a fairy king trying to slice him open. Mary did some weird fucked up magic to heal him. Is he now like...weirdly sewn into the land? Maybe. Don't worry about it.

Wrack and Ruin (on AO3)

Pairing: Napoleon/Wellington; Historical pairings Rating: T(ish) Summary A letter from Joseph Bonaparte relating to the oft' cited and mysterious Jersey Devil brings Napoleon and an always less-than-amused Wellesley to New Jersey. Published: 2017

Usual disclaimer that these are quite old and absolutely not up to snuff compared to my current writing (I cannot emphasize this enough). But if you're interested, feel free to dive in.

[quatregats]

Okay hear me out. What if Hornblower and Lady Barbara but they're high school math olympians and also have a crazy psychosexual rivalry with each other

[chiropteracupola]

movie poster for a fic that I'm not actually writing

[no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist]

Hmm I didn’t really think about it as much the first time I read it but I have a couple of gripes about the portrayal of trans issues in Dear Wendy. And I do still love it very much and think it is a good book. I just feel a little iffy about some of it.

[ellynneversweet]

Me, dangling a fic carrot in front of my brain so I might (might) daydream it into fruition: what if Adam and Wellesley, hanging out in the early 70s shooting the shit re: PTSD management techniques and also the best way to blow up the side of a mountain.*

*Bran has to repeatedly stress that these are two seperate and entirely distinct categories of activity, please, do not blow up my territory.

[livwritesstuff]

One of Eddie’s favorite pastimes is listening to Steve’s phone conversations with their college-aged daughters.

All three of their kids are very smart – way smarter than either of them. Getting the older two into college had been a total cinch and it’s looking like it’ll be just as easy with their youngest. 

The thing is, just because their kids are goddamn brilliant doesn't absolve them from the occasional lapse in common sense. When that occurs, Steve usually gets a phone call, and those phone calls are the highlights of Eddie's day by a mile.

Steve gets a phone call this time because Moe has a doctor’s appointment that she is going to all by herself for the first time ever. 

Apparently, the paperwork is causing some strife.

“And just think,” Steve is saying idly when Eddie walks in, “You could’a gone to Wellesley College instead and had us with you for this shit.”

Eddie can’t hear Moe’s response, but he has a feeling that this comment did not go over well with their oldest daughter.

After a moment, Steve’s eyebrows fly up.

“Yeah, Moe, where it says social security number you should write your social security number…” he pauses, listening to Moe again, “You don’t know what it is? How do you not know what it is?”

“Steve, I’m begging you to put this on speaker,” Eddie laughs.

“Go get Moe’s soc card,” he hisses in return, “I don’t know it either.”

“You fuckin’ hypocrite,” he replies even as he heads for the office where they keep all that shit.

By the time he’s returning, Steve has the call on speaker and he hears Moe ask, “Have I ever worked as a machinist?”

“No,” Steve tells her.

“What about when I operated the ski lifts at the mountain? That’s a machine.”

“Doesn’t count.”

“Okay…have I ever had a hysterectomy?”

“That’s kind of a one and done thing, I think, and no, you haven’t.”

“Have I ever had an injury to the eye involving a metallic object?”

“Moe, you can’t be serious.”

“What if I did and I just don’t remember!” she protests.

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie shakes his head, “And these kids are supposed to be intelligent.”

Before Steve can respond to either of them, Moe says, "Wait – do you think I should have written my name as Lucy instead of Moe?"

"Uh, yeah," Steve replied, sounding utterly baffled as Eddie howled with laughter.

"Hey!" Moe protests, "This is not my fault! That's totally on you for naming me one thing and then calling me something completely different my entire fucking life!"

(And she's kind of right, Eddie can't help but think).

[genderkoolaid]

Do you mind giving a list of the transmasc artists in that sp*tify playlist, I wanna listen to transmasc artists but I hate sp*tify soooooo much

Sure! I wouldn't use spotify if I didn't have a cracked version of premium, it truly is fucking awful lmao.

I'm adding specific songs of theirs I like because I know other people also find it easier to get into an artist if they are recc'd a specific song. Also the artist bandcamp when applicable:

Dreamer Isioma / Sunset Drive + Dumb In Love With You

Tobre / FTMLOVE

Joe Stevens / Daughterson

Anjimile / Baby No More + Animal

Jake Edwards / Holy

saint hills / Lavender

Athens Boy Choir / Fagette + Tranny Got Pack

Malaika Mfalme / Good Man

Art Project / Gender Nightmare + Enemy Estrogen + Pretty boy

Miles McKenna / Boys Will Be Boys

Schmekel (and all the jewish tboys cheer) / FTM at the DMV

Skylar Kergil / Brothers

First Ever Boys / Guts + Friends Who Kiss

Mavi Phoenix / Aventura

Ryan Cassata / boy on boy

Beverly Glenn-Copeland / La Vita + People Of The Loon + Africa Calling (love his music so much. it makes me feel the same way bell hooks writing does)

Zann Foth / Hindsight Cinema

Dazey and the Scouts / Sweet Cis Teen

Saint Wellesley / Captain, Oh Captain!

Freddie Lewis / Best Dressed Ex + Bell Jar

Mal Blum / Things Still Left to Say

Dump Him / Pretty Like a Boy

Ezra Michel / I'm a Faggot I'm a Dyke

Jay Page / Invincible + Am I Here

The Oozes / Bitchboy + Ultrasound (consider donating to one of the band member's top surgery fund as well!)

Grumpster (ty anon for reccing them!) / Roots + Growing Pains

[irisbleufic]

@eidetictelekinetic, I'd like to follow up on something we keep discussing in comment threads to my Devil's Minion stories, because I've found the paper trail in my archives. There's indeed something I wrote as an undergraduate ca. 2005 that I had forgotten about that underpins a common theme (namely: Daniel and Armand wondering what might've happened if they'd met when they were young in Armand's time and place, when he was still mortal) periodically haunting the dialogue across my various unconnected stories. I'm somewhat in disbelief that I can prove this exists, and I needed a spark of joy like this in an otherwise bleak, snowed-out week.

This is a ghost story in that the work I'm discussing here was written under my deadname, but I don't tend to shy from people knowing it. Still, it's times like this when pieces resurface that I realize I block facets of my former self so thoroughly at times that I do my writing history a disservice. This felt like knocking down a wall, and I'm really startled at what's sitting covered in dust on the other side. Mindfuck your characters long enough and you might even mindfuck yourself.

In the spring of my senior year at Wellesley, I took a poetry seminar with Frank Bidart. He didn't like my work much, which was a source of amusement to me; if somebody doesn't like my writing, I just dig in and crank up the annoyance factor by being even more myself. The number of professors and editors that I've gone out of my way to irritate in my higher ed and writing careers is vaguely embarrassing at this point, but that's another story for another time.

At the same time as I was in this poetry seminar, I had also overloaded my schedule with Medieval literature seminars. I'd done that for about four consecutive semesters, actually. The Early Modern and Medieval course offerings at Wellesley, at least at that time, were so numerous that you really could do about two years solid of nothing but that type of coursework. I was fluent in French at the time, so I was able to pull some unhinged shit like reading La Chanson de Roland in Anglo-Norman with minimal dictionary assistance while reading it in English in one of the courses, and then I started haunting the used bookstores in Harvard Square and digging up volumes of lesser known Anglo-Norman ballads and fragments, and there was this one book that focused on early surviving trobairitz poetry, songs by women from that period. There was one fragment that really, really haunted me. I don't know if I still have the book, that's the one piece in the documentation chain I'm still hunting down, but I have my translation of that fragment because I found the poem I wrote around my translation. That poem got published twice after I graduated; that publication history is neat in its own right.

So, the poem I wrote for the seminar is really the thing I want to talk about here. I had this short 10th-11th century trobairitz ballad fragment that I translated out of Anglo-Norman, and I was very excited about it, because it was very gay. I thought, hmmm, I'll write a narrative poem about a couple of nobodies set in that time period. Who are my nobodies? I'm picturing teenagers, just a couple of boys. They can't be more than sixteen or seventeen. Where are they? I'm also taking a class on crusader states at this point in time, and I'm extremely interested in various cultural migrations in and out of Italy and Spain (the good, the bad, and the ugly). So I just go, okay, I'll have them fleeing a noble household in Italy, heading for Spain. My head's entrenched in those places thanks to a history class; it gives me something to hang onto as geographical starting and endpoints. Why are they running away? Kid attached to the noble household has fallen in love with a stonemason's apprentice from somewhere a lot further abroad; they don't speak the same language, but since when has that stopped people from falling in love? Stonemason's apprentice wants to save the kid in a bad situation in the noble household, get him out of there. Yeah, let's do that. And I'll cover just the journey, not what happens before they leave or after. And I'll show what they run into along the way, and they'll hear someone perform that piece of the song, and one of them is able to translate it for the other as they gradually learn enough pieces of common languages to communicate with each other.

This poem was never going to be long; the poems in our portfolios for this class couldn't be long. The concept work behind it was much longer than the poem itself, as was the work I put into the fragment translation. This kind of storytelling in lieu of confessional poetry was going to annoy my professor. I knew exactly what I was doing with all of this: satisfying a storytelling itch, letting myself practice translation, being the inveterate fandom writer I already was by that point, just being generally obnoxious in my early 20s. It's a living.

I wrote the poem. It got workshopped in class; classmates loved it, Frank made faces and was barely polite about it. The written feedback in it on my final portfolio called it "pseudo-medieval pastiche," and I was so happy I could've framed that shit. I put the poem away for a few years and didn't think about it. I moved to the UK and started an MA program in Medieval Studies. My poems started getting published in SF/F/Spec publications. In 2009, I learned about a call for poems for a 10th anniversary special issue of a magazine called Mythic Delirium, and something about the themed call made me remember my pain-in-the-ass, labor-of-love portfolio poem, which was called "Journeying." I submitted it.

"Journeying" was published in Mythic Delirium Issue #20, which, (in)famously, also first featured a poem by the now-disgraced Neil Gaiman called "Conjunctions." If I'm honest, it's bizarre to have that as a major point of memory in this poem's first printing. Here's how "Journeying" looks in that issue of the magazine:

The italicized portion at the end is my translation of the trobairitz ballad. It's all that survives of one particular song that happened to be written down. It always amazes me that so few lines can express so much longing across so many centuries.

Flash forward a few more years to when I learn about Erzebet YellowBoy's brilliant Papaveria Press hand-stitched limited artbook editions of poems. One of my oldest friends, Paige (@dreambreathing) and I decide to collaborate as we've done so many times before: they did a set of two watercolor illustrations for the poem conceived as a fold-out frontispiece and backplate, and we pitched it as an artbook. Papaveria said yes. In 2012, "Journeying" was released as an edition of 18 of these little books:

You never see the boys on the road or under the tree overlooking those ruins (those ruins, those fucking ruins, I forgot) until you pan in. Don't get distracted. Look closer. Imagine me, @eidetictelekinetic, getting more and more spooked every time we talk about this recurring thing in the dialogue I'm writing across stories. Why am I doing this? Why is it familiar? And by the time we get to "Guard Your Heart," why do I have the feeling it's hit peak hilarity by the time Daniel's looking at those Talamasca photographs?

This is an awfully long punch line, but it's here. I wrote it, some version of it, some version of them, in another life. And for me it was another life, too, a life with the name of a girl I now barely recognize. Who is Adrienne? I know that Adrienne wrote this poem, but I no longer know her as well as I would like. However, I do know that she gave up almost everything she had to give me what I have now, and I'm the writer that I am because of her. I carry these characters with me because of her; she's the one who first read them.

(Also, here's another shout-out to @dreambreathing not just for being one of my best friends through all of this and one of the most talented artists I've ever known, but also for being the namesake of my current biggest troublemaker in Caldera. Love you, Paige.)

[racefortheironthrone]

Someone on Twitter asked who was the British politician who has harmed the British people the most. Of course all the answers were modern politicians - the earliest suggestion was James Callaghan. Looking further back in history, who were the really bad British politicians?

In order to not answer this with a long list of "History's greatest colonialist monsters," I'm going to focus on just the ones who had a negative effect on "the British people," and in order to not answer that with a long list of "the history of English oppression of the Irish," I'm going to focus on just harm done to "the people who lived in what is currently the U.K." I am well aware that this is highly restrictive, but I don't have the time to write a complete history of Britain.

So who's on my shortlist?

Pitt the Younger. Fought the Napoleonic Wars on the backs of the poor while violently suppressing any dissent with a police state. He passed the Treason Act of 1795 to criminalize dissent, the Seditious Meetings Act of the same year to criminalize public assemblies, spied on pretty much anyone who wasn't an arch-Tory, suspended the writ of habeus corpus, and passed the Combination Act of 1799 to criminalize trade unions. In a just world, would have died on a guilottine in Trafalgar Square.

Lord Liverpool. In the wake of the Peterloo Massacre which he was absolutely responsible for, passed the Six Acts to allow the government to search people's houses for arms without a warrant, arrest and transport people for owning weapons or attending a meeting that was deemed to involve unlawful military drilling, reduced due process, shut down all public meetings that involved politics or religion, arrest and transport anyone who wrote anything that criticized the government or Christianity, and heavily tax and impose bonds on newspaper publishers. In a just world, the Cato Street Conspirators would have exercised better tradecraft and assassinated him and his entire government.

Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. Followed up his victory in the Napoleonic Wars by fighting a war against the British people. Arch Tory bastard, adamantly opposed any political Reform that would enfranchise ordinary people, and opposed Jewish emancipation while supporting Catholic emancipation. To be honest, I wish the mob had torched Apsley House with him inside when they had the chance.

As for the runners-up?

Bonar Law, Stanley Baldwin, and Ramsay fucking MacDonald for dropping the Geddes Axe and then subjecting British workers to twenty years of crippling austerity and repression.

[wellesleybooks]

Ria, our part time bookseller and full time student at Wellesley College made a book display. She calls it “Anything You Can Write We Can Write Better- Works by alumnae of historically women’s colleges.” It’s full of some fantastic books.

Ria's List

Wellesley College Madam Secretary - Madeleine Albright Mr. Churchill's Secretary - Susan Elia MacNeal Last Night at the Telegraph Club- Malinda Lo The Sweet Spot - Amy Poeppel Heartburn- Nora Ephron Dear Wendy- Ann Zhao Pieces of Blue- Holly Goldberg Sloan Barbara the Slut- Lauren Holmes Good Grief - E.B. Bartels We Have Always Been Who We Are- Sofia Romero Nancy Drew- Carolyn Keene (aka Harriet Stratemeyer)

Barnard College Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh The Vulnerables - Sigrid Nunez The Death of a Jaybird- Jodi M. Savage Making It in America- Rachel Slade

Smith College The Feminine Mystique- Betty Friedan The Cliffs- J. Courtney Sullivan A Tale for the Time Being- Ruth Ozeki A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara Ariel- Sylvia Plath Mastering the Art of French Cooking- Julia Child The Starless Sea-Erin Morgenstern The Babysitters Club- Ann M. Martin

Bryn Mawr Crying in H Mart- Michelle Zauner The Trouble with You- Ellen Feldman The Brightwood Code- Monica Hesse Necessary Trouble- Drew Gilpin Faust

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Chapters: 1/1 Rating: General Audiences Relationships: Napoléon I de France | Napoléon Bonaparte/Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington, mentions of past Napoleon/Josephine Characters: Napoléon I de France | Napoléon Bonaparte, Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington, Canova's Statue of Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, Napoleon's bees Additional Tags: melodramatic middle aged men, some quarreling about legacy and honour and all that, do they care for each other?? they don't know!!, are they idiots? yes, brief description of battle field violence Summary:

A request for an updated version of the Canova Statue Discussion was made on tumblr. So, have another iteration of Napoleon and Wellington discussing the arrival and location of the (in)famous Canova state of Napoleon as Mars the Peace Maker.

Arthur was attempting to be mindful. Napoleon is having none of it.

---

Obligatory Excerpt: 

The something-of-a-shock, though, is that the statue has reappeared in his life. Miserable, miserable. Horrid, horrid. Atrocious, even. But here he is, facing that ghost of his past called Empire.

The world swelters. August afternoon sun bathes the garden of his house in Woodford, merely let to him since the damnable men of the British government will not allow him the personal pride of ownership. Wellesley, one of the many damnable men on this island (there are many damnable men. Napoleon keeps a list in his head. Bertrand has them written down. Montholon has sent them all to the devil verbally), drinks his tea as a bee bumbles past them towards its hive at the back of the garden.

Napoleon has not said a word since Wellesley told him: I’ve received something you might have some views on. That statue by Canova of you as Mars the Peacemaker.

Wellesley sets his cup aside, pursing lips. ‘I don’t know what you wish me to say.’

Napoleon lifts an eyebrow. They are both in clothes of countryside gentlemen at leisure—though Napoleon is in blues and Wellesley is in green and brown. He had been out riding before coming to see the Imperial household.

‘Well?’ the cursed man prompts. ‘Don’t sulk at me—’

‘I am hardly sulking, Wellesley. I’m thinking.’

‘It was a gift from the Prince Regent.’

‘Christ’s blood, of course it was.’

‘Well I would hardly choose it myself,’ Wellesley counters. ‘Give me some sense of decorum and taste.’

Which could mean anything. Napoleon pours himself a second coffee. This is how they take tea in the garden whenever Wellesley comes up from Town: a pot of coffee, a pot of tea, they war over the cured fruits and soft bread. Afterwards, they might take a walk or go for a ride. Drive Lowe up the wall with how fast and loose they are with the Rules. Though, since the Prince of Waterloo (sneered with greatest resentment when Napoleon thinks on the nick-name) is present, Napoleon’s gaoler can hardly complain.

But today all of that is off.

These men are very normal about everything, including each other! Napoleon calls Arthur by his surname not at all out of a desire to be the most obnoxious person in England! He’s not petty nor passive aggresive!

for @lordansketil

[tlouxx]

Electromagnetism - p.4

~ ellie williams x reader

——————————————————————————

part three | part five <3

synopsis: you and ellie williams have been long time rivals. you're a physics majors at wellesley college, and you’re competing for the same spot in the prestigious dr. ramsey’s lab as ellie. suddenly neither of you can escape the other as you’re both trying to navigate your final year of college

content: college!ellie, mean!ellie, modern au, academic rivals to lovers, forced proximity, the next chapter will pick up right where this ends ;), lots of tension, ellie being flirtatious, reader and ellie finally kiss hehe

taglist: @gold-dustwomxn @skylerwhitwyo @blueberryhalfblood @elliebobellysosmelly @444na0m1 @bellswlw @mikasasbabygirl

——————————————————————————

Day 58

PHYS 208: Intermediate Electromagnetism

I haven’t spoken to Ellie since that night. Although, I can’t entirely avoid her since we have class and work together. I know Ellie and I don’t see eye to eye, but I would never ask this of her. I’ve been keeping my head down, doing my work, dodging Ellie’s attempts to talk to me. Dina thinks it might’ve been a joke since Ellie and I were already fighting, but she wasn’t there. Ellie was serious. The way she looked at me when she said it. She was desperate. The application for Dr. Ramsey’s lab is due in two weeks. I’ve actually contemplated not applying, but I’ve worked too hard to not do this. 

…

I’m dreading walking into another class and having to endure more time spent with her. I sit at the back of my room and rest my head on the desk. I’ve been neglecting sleep lately in order to keep up with school work. I only raise my head when I hear my professor speak. 

“Since midterms are quickly approaching, I have made study groups for you all.” I internally groan. 

“You will make a study guide for the midterm and submit it to me. The group assignments will be on my desk after class.” 

My foot anxiously taps against the floor. I was hoping the professor might let us out early. My eyes can’t stop catching the time, but it doesn’t seem to go any faster. When her powerpoint comes to an end, she reminds us to check our study group assignment. 

Ellie cuts in front of me in line. I know she wants a reaction out of me, but I’m not giving her what she wants. She reads the paper on the desk in front of her. I try to make out what it says, before I can she faces me.  “Well, would you look at that? We’re partners.”

… 

“I don’t want to work with Ellie.”

“And why is that?” My professor closes her laptop. I struggle to gather the words to describe years of my relationship with Ellie leading up to this. 

“We.. We uh just don't get along.” I rub the back of my neck feeling awkward having to ask this. I don’t feel ready to confront Ellie just yet.

“It’s just one assignment. I’m sure you’ll both find a way to make it work.”

I try to protest one more time. She scoots me out of her office with that as her final answer. Maybe she’s right. It’s just one assignment. I’ve avoided her for a month.

I don't think I can avoid her anymore.

2:57 P.M

Well, when do you want to work on this?

E: My place after class?

Sure. 

E: It’s a date ;)

…

“So.. How do you think it’ll go tonight?” Dina sits on my bed writing a paper for her class. I haven’t been able to gather the courage to walk to Ellie’s apartment quite yet. 

“Hopefully quick. It’s not like both of us aren't capable.” 

“Why don’t you ask her about it.” 

I honestly don’t know why I haven’t just asked why she doesn’t want me to apply. On some level, it feels like a betrayal. Yes, we compete with each other. Yes, we fight. But this could be life-changing for me or for Ellie. I have to at least try to do this.

“I don’t know. I’m scared of what she’ll say. We both know how important this could be for a career in physics, research, academia. I find it hard to believe she’d want me to flat out not apply.” 

“Even if you don’t want to hear her answer, I think you deserve to know. Maybe she has a good reason.” 

…

I knock on Ellie’s door. The anticipation is killing me as I wait for her to answer. She opens the door. “Hi.” 

“Hi.” I stand there for a few seconds longer twiddling with the ring on my thumb. 

“Come in. I won't bite.” She smirks and pulls the door open wider. I haven’t spoken to her since the last time I was here. Butterflies are swirling around my stomach. I tell myself I’m just nervous to be around her again. I walk in after Ellie and shut the door behind me. She leads me back to her room. 

Her desk is full of textbooks, art supplies, and little trinkets. My hand traces the edge of her books. Her walls are lined with art and her bed is unmade. I had her pinned as more of a type A with a super organized room. I guess we're all full of surprises. 

The silence is permeating the air, and I desperately need to fill it. “Where do you want to start on the outline?” Ellie sits on her bed getting comfortable. 

“You can take chapters 1-3, and I’ll do 4-7.” 

… 

We fall into a more comfortable silence this time. We’ve been working on the assignment with no end in sight. After two and a half hours, I’ve barely scratched the surface of what we need to cover. Ellie flops back on her bed sighing. 

“How far have you gotten? My brain feels fried.” 

“My brain is also fried. I’ve barely gotten through chapter one.” My eyes feel strained from looking at the computer screen for so long. 

“Want to take a break?” She smiles at me, and I nod back at her. 

… 

Ellie leads me out onto the balcony. She planted a couple of snacks in front of us. The familiar scenery brings back the tension of before. Ellie and I sit on the couch together looking up at the dusky sky. Being out here again with Ellie so near to me, I remember the way she shifted her body to lean in closer, I could almost feel the heat of her touch. I remember how her perfume stuck to me for hours afterward and all I could think about was Ellie Williams. God I was pissed at her. I am pissed at her. 

“It’s uh-a nice night out here.” I smile at Ellie not knowing what else to say. The fluttering in my stomach is coming back with a vengeance. 

“I’m glad you’re finally talking to me again.” She sets down her drink and her arm stretches out behind me. I feel the urge to sink into her. 

“I guess I didn’t need to give you the cold shoulder. Sorry about that.” Her fingers lightly stroke up and down my arm. I like her touch more than I thought I would. 

“I understand why you did it. I do have a good reason for asking..” She trails off her sentence and faces me. 

“Okay.” I inch closer to her until only a small gap remains. “I’m listening.”

“I told my interviewer for grad school that I already had the position.” 

“Oh my god, Ellie… Why would you do that?” I raise my voice unintentionally. How could she be so stupid. Now I know why she looked so desperate. If they find out she lied about this they could rescind her offer.

“Because I’m an arrogant piece of shit who underestimated you. It was before the semester started. and then you got a 100 in quantum mechanics…” Her demeanor softens.

“I freaked out. I thought I would get it no problem. Then suddenly you’re around me all the time and- I’m.. uh struggling to get my shit together.” 

Now that I know, I can’t say I wouldn’t have done what Ellie did. I don't know if I forgive her just yet, but I wish I would have listened to her sooner.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t know what you want me to do Ellie. You know I have to apply.” Ellie reaches out and puts her hand on my knee and her eyes meet mine. 

“I know. I’m sorry for asking. I gotta clean up my mess by myself.” 

… 

Ellie and I head back inside to continue working on the assignment. I go to return to my spot on her rug. 

“You know you’re allowed to sit at my desk or you can sit on the bed with me. We might be working for a while longer.” 

“Oh, are you sure? I don’t want to intrude on your space.” 

She scoots over and pats the spot next to her. I gather my laptop off the floor and sit at the edge of her bed. I feel embarrassed about the way I was feeling outside. Leaning into her touch. Yearning for more. It’s just a lapse in judgment. I was just feeling flustered because we haven't really spoken since we fought. At least that's why I think I’m flustered. 

…

We continued working on the assignment in silence for a while. It’s starting to get late, and my eyes are feeling heavier than before. It's 12:03 A.M. when I look over at Ellie. I think she’s starting to feel tired too. Her hair falls in front of her face and she tucks it behind her ear. I blush knowing she just caught me staring at her.  

“Um. I think I might call it a night and go home.” Ellie shuts her laptop and rubs her eyes. 

“You can stay if you want.” She moves over and starts to close the gap between us. The beat in my chest is rapidly intensifying as the space between us lessens. 

“Oh, uh I don’t know if I should.” I could move away from Ellie right now, but I can’t or maybe I don't want to. The force between us feels magnetic like I can’t make myself stay away from her. Her face is lit up softly by the string lights in her room.

“It’s a long walk for you back.” Her hand makes its way onto my thigh. Her calloused fingers make goosebumps prickle up spine. “I was just thinking we could work on it again in the morning. It’d be safer if you stayed here.” 

“Okay, I’ll stay.” 

…

Ellie brings me a pair of pants to change into. I can’t believe I just agreed to spend the night here. “Thanks. Where’s your bathroom?” 

Ellie laughs. “I won’t look. You can change here.” 

“Ellie, c’mon.” She covers her eyes with her hands. Not wanting to protest more, I changed into the pants she gave me.

She hops onto her bed. I’m suddenly unsure if I’m supposed to get into bed with her or not. Maybe I should just sit on the floor. I’d never live it down if I climbed into bed with Ellie Williams when that's not what she was insinuating. This whole situation is confusing me. We haven’t spoken in a month, and now I’m spending the night and wearing her clothes. I hate that I don’t hate this. God, what is wrong with me? 

I can feel Ellie staring at me as I stand still unsure of my next move. “Um, you can sleep in my bed if you want to. I won’t make you sleep on the floor.”  She fumbles her words. This is uncharted territory for both of us. “Obviously, unless that's what you’d prefer I don’t want to overstep any boundaries.” 

I shouldn’t. 

“Seems like you want me to sleep in your bed Ellie. I think you missed me.” 

Ellie pulls me onto her bed with her. She’s stronger than I thought she’d be. Her thinly lined shirt gives way to her muscles underneath. I find myself on top of her staring at her beneath me. Her hands find my hips, but immediately toss me to the side of the bed. 

“Maybe I did miss you. Is that so bad?” 

Ellie wraps her arms around me pulling me in closer. I can’t help but savor her touch. 

“No, It’s not so bad.” 

The desire burns through me clouding my judgment. I shakily grasp Ellie’s hair and pull her in to kiss me. At first soft, terrified she may not want to kiss me back.

Ellie’s hands wander to my hips pulling me against hers leaving no question of her aching for me. Years of pent up desire bursting out all at once. Her touch feels like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Our bodies pressed together furiously.

She kisses me like she’s needed me all her life with fervor and lust. Her hands wander up my shirt and I don’t stop her. Her lips are soft but rough against my own. She kisses down my neck making me feel weak to her touch. A suppressed moan escapes my lips. God, I need her so badly. Her lips return to mine hungry for more.

My phone rings in the background making us pull apart suddenly. “Um, I should get that.”

… 

“It was Dina. She was worried I hadn’t made it home.”

“Oh, I see.” Ellie sits up in bed. I would’ve thought I'd feel regret for kissing Ellie but I don’t. I feel like it’s unlocked a part of me that’s been missing. 

“Is it okay if I still-“ She lifts up the covers. 

“Oh my god, just get back in.” I laugh and get back into bed with Ellie. This is not how I saw this ending.

[voidindividual]

A while ago I made a post about a Temeraire fic I might write. I have since started doing so and have decided to let the two tumblr people who might see this post decide wether or not I will continue it. So here, have the shitty text I have written so far: After a long campaign Laurence has had enough of being ordered around by people who clearly had no care for the lives of dragons, by people who had ordered the genocide of all of Europe’s dragons. He had made himself a tool of the admiralty to atone for his treason. But Temeraire was right. He had done the right thing in delivering the cure to Napoleon. But he was still a man in service to his country, even though it had forsaken him, even though he had been offered wealth and security by the very man who was now raiding his homeland, the country to which he had sworn an oath. And now was the time to act upon that oath. He had requested a private audience with Wellesley, which had been begrudgingly granted to him. After being led inside by two marines and quickly completing the proper greetings, Laurence decided to bring his point straight across. “While you have so far successfully led Britain's armies during this invasion, I am afraid that you have quite outlived your use now.”

Wellesley’s face went through a variety of emotions in a moment, finally settling on indignation.“Do you honestly think that a singular convicted traitor alone can overthrow the admiralty? This is a new low, even for you Laurence.” Wellesley said, his voice thrumming with anger, “You cannot seriously expect me to surrender myself to you.” “I am not asking,” Laurence said calmly” merely stating the facts. You are surrounded and outmatched. There needn’t be any unnecessary bloodshed. Lay down your arms and you may return to your estate in peace, where you will live out the war without any further troubles.” While he did not expect Wellesley to comply, he truly hoped he would. He was a good man and a capable leader. Under different circumstances they might even have been friends, but they weren’t. Thus he was forced to do what no truly honorable man would ever have considered. He could already feel the disapproval of his father of not only having committed treason once, then winding his way out of his rightful punishment and keeping his head, thus enabling him to continue his line of unspeakable acts. He was quite sure he could never again schon his face at Wollaton Hall.

“Outmatched?” Wellesley sounded honestly surprised to find Laurence thinking himself in a superior position whilst all evidence pointed to the contrary, “By you? At a moment's notice I can call upon several marines to come to my aid, while you are quite by yourself, without any help or weapon, asking me to lay down my arms? I will do no such thing.” 

The next words that Laurence spoke were inevitable and yet he had hoped it wouldn’t have to come to this. When he spoke, he sounded disappointed. “I hoped that you would be able to see reason, but I see now that if you would have been able to, you had seen it long ago. Then, I am afraid, you leave me no choice.” His voice, trained from years of use aboard a ship’s deck during a storm and on dragonback whilst traveling at previously unfelt speeds, bellowed out a singular word, which for Wellesley meant doom. The realization had only struck him at that moment. Laurence was no fool, he would never have come without Backup. And indeed he had. Backup in the form of a twenty-ton dragon who was, at that very moment, tearing off the roof of the building they were conversing in. 

[dailyanarchistposts]

Histories of colonisation ought to be remembered, including the horrors and atrocities, but also the endurance and empowerment found in trenchant resistance and the fight for sovereignty, writes Radhika Reddy.

India and Aotearoa are both grappling with decolonisation. In this ongoing struggle to wrest free from the legacies of colonialism, each society can learn from the other.

A recent piece published by The Spinoff uncovered some of these lessons, but in my view gave a rather disempowering view of both Māori and Indian experiences. It emphasised tragedy, brutality and suffering, but overlooked trenchant resistance efforts seeking sovereignty, where we might find the most useful stories to exchange.

Common ground

The previous article began with common ground, but only focused on Māori and Hindu ecological values, so let’s broaden the picture with some Indian traditions beyond Hinduism, and decolonising Māori values.

Papatūānuku and Kaitiakitanga: Khalifa, Amana (from Islam)

An “ethos of living in harmony in nature” is found in Islam, India’s second-largest religion. The Quranic approach is based on Khalifa and Amana (trusteeship of nature) in which humans have guardianship over nature, to appreciate and care for it, pass it unspoiled to future generations, and manage sustainably.

Manaakitanga: Seva (from Sikhism)

A spirit of hospitality pointedly appears in the centuries-old Sikh tradition of Guru Ka Langar (communal meal), an act of Seva (selfless service). Langar serves food freely and equally to all-comers, regardless of religion, caste, wealth, gender or age, overcoming divisions exploited by colonialism.

Tino rangatiratanga: Swaraj (from secularism)

Māori notions of self-government and Gandhi’s credo of Swaraj (self-rule) share an essence of seeking self-determination, with social structures and values separate from colonial interference.

Besides principles, there are common experiences and episodes of resistance shared in history:

Parihaka

The events of Parihaka came long before India’s independence movement gained momentum, but the spirit of non-violent resistance echoes across centuries, possibly having influenced Gandhi.

Redcoats

British regiments frequently rotated through India and New Zealand. Waves of veterans, after plundering India or suppressing its rebellions, came to fight the New Zealand Wars, or left to police India. British statues as well as town, street and suburb names across Aotearoa are familiar to students of Indian history — Empress Victoria, Governor-General Auckland, Colonel then Commander-in-Chief Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington), and places like Bombay or Khyber Pass. These are connected histories.

Lessons India has to offer for Māori

Among decolonisation projects, India’s imperfect story of independence still has interesting lessons.

Non-violent resistance works

Māori have led non-violent resistance in Aotearoa for generations, from Parihaka to Ihumātao, and may find the example of India’s liberation a hopeful landmark victory in global history.

The practice of Indian non-violent resistance continues to this day, as protests rage against likely unconstitutional policies such as the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens, with assemblies, marches, sit-ins, and art, despite state violence.

Coexistence

Although India ejected British occupation and suffers internal divisions, there is still a firm thread running through the ages demonstrating coexistence between different cultures.

Look to chapters in history like the peaceful inclusion of Muslims in South India since the seventh century, the religious tolerance of Akbar in the 16th century, the joint Hindu-Muslim Indian Rebellion of 1857, and the secular Indian constitution. They contrast with divisive ideologies like Hindutva founder V.D Savarkar’s two-nation theory that promoted a dominant Hindu nation. The daily lives of many Indians today embody inter-cultural acceptance, the norm across much of the country, most of the time.

Whereas Aotearoa may not return its settler society for a full refund, multicultural coexistence is possible.

Overcoming divide-and-rule

Whether it was the East India Companies or the British Raj, a small minority of power brokers ran the show — infamously, 35 staff in an East India Company office. They relied on divide-and-rule, recruiting vast numbers of Indian foot soldiers (Sepoys) to do the hard work. But a highly-leveraged organisational arrangement is weak to united resistance (like Kotahitanga). Today it appears in gig economies or the criminal justice industry, which pit marginalised people against each other.

Self-government is not always good government

Today’s India shows how things can get wobbly even 70 years after independence, as a homegrown blood-and-soil movement undermines equality and reproduces colonial hierarchies atop a diverse society.

Take the word “decolonisation”. It probably looks straightforward, but it is a co-opted term in India. In the name of decolonisation, the Hindutva movement promotes discriminatory reforms, such as ending affirmative action for lower-caste people, and passing the exclusionary Citizenship Amendment Act.

There are regions under Indian rule seeking greater autonomy or Azaadi (freedom) today – resisting occupation by a central Indian state, as Assam endures detention centres, and Kashmir a militarised siege.

It takes eternal vigilance to protect hard-won sovereignty from sabotage.

What India can learn from Māori

Colonialism is now

It is tempting to think colonialism must belong only to museums and history books. But settler-colonial societies still persist. In Aotearoa, settlers may have settled but the nation remains unsettled. As Treaty negotiations, claims and protests unfold, Indians can reflect on how the colonial legacy is fed by continuous re-colonisation – a risk India is prone to, not from Britain, but from, say, supremacists within.

Indians in Aotearoa can also respond by allying with Māori in decolonisation efforts.

Overcoming casteism and anti-indigeneity

While there is no comparing two complex societies, there are still parallels between the institutional discrimination that Māori have endured, and the discrimination against Dalit, Other Backward Class, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Adivasi (indigenous) people. As Indians in Aotearoa can find solidarity with Māori in undoing colonial oppression, so too can India find equality for its systematically disadvantaged classes.

Protecting taonga like language

While India is blessed with a diversity of cultures, a tendency to homogenise society with one language and identity sometimes rears its head. Whether under well-meaning secularism, or Hindutva rule, language imposition threatens diversity. South Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada are spoken by large minorities but are often in tension with a Hindi regime pushed by central governments. The experience of Te Reo Māori shows the value in preserving languages, and the perils of erasure.

Common struggles

Supremacism

Whether it is white supremacy or Hindu supremacy (sharing traits like Islamophobia), countering dangerous ideologies is vital to fulfill the egalitarian promise of the constitutions of both Aotearoa and India.

Climate change

A global challenge like climate change demands a variety of solutions, but most importantly by centering indigenous people in decision-making — something Aotearoa has yet to fully embrace. For all the “harmony with nature” embedded in dominant Indian cultures such as Hinduism, the ruling BJP government has much to answer for when it comes to emissions, environmental degradation and deregulation.

Feminism, LGBT and disability equality

Achieving equality for women, non-binary, LGBT and disabled people in India and Aotearoa is an ongoing struggle. Threats like sexual abuse, domestic violence, inadequate healthcare, colourism, repressive gender roles, limited autonomy, inaccessiblity, and economic inequality, are common concerns.

Patriarchal British norms echo in Indian laws, as with Section 377 that criminalised homosexuality until recently. Despite decriminalisation in 2018, there is not yet recognition of same-sex or gender-diverse marriage, protection against discrimination, or adequate healthcare. Trans Indians are targeted by the new Transgender Persons Act which sanctions second-class treatment — for instance, it provides for lower sentences in cases of violent crimes against trans women. The new Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens especially threaten women, non-binary, LGBT and disabled people.

In Aotearoa, amendments to laws like the Birth, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Bill, letting trans people more easily update birth certificates, still face transphobic opposition. Abortion decriminalisation remains under consideration. Māori may be worst affected by settler-colonial sexism, homophobia, transphobia and ableism.

These are signs that our societies have a long way to go, to enact systemic reforms, and to lift the veil of everyday shame and silence surrounding marginalised lives in our cultures.

Remembering

Histories of colonisation ought to be remembered, including the horrors and atrocities, but also the endurance and empowerment found in resistance. The previous Spinoff article proposed a museum dedicated to New Zealand colonisation, and praised changes to the curriculum teaching New Zealand history in all schools.

Both of these are laudable goals, but must be conducted with care to avoid the kind of revisionism seen in India under Hindutva rule. Any museum of New Zealand colonisation should seek to share with all New Zealanders the narratives Māori have learned and developed, to centre Māori self-determination and agency, and to emphasise coexistence under a Treaty framework that respects Tino Rangatiratanga.

[river-gale]

4 for Kite, River, and January, 21 for River and January

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

omg...

Kite: i would put him in a cute slice of life romance anime. my man needs a BREAK. it wouldn't be a modern au or anything, he'd still be an early 19th century naval captain, but plot points would be stuff like "someone anonymously left a box of chocolates on kite's desk on valentine's day" and "someone has a crush on wellesley." he would also be the main character. shoujo protagonist missouri kite.

River: i want to let them loose on a locked room murder mystery. i think it would be enrichment for them, especially if they could solve some kind of code. also, detectives are hot

January: i want him to be someone's cool mentor in a ballet coming-of-age story! i think it would be good for him. this would be happening concurrently with river's murder mystery so they'd be like video calling at the end of every day and exchanging news. january's news would be that his pupil was finally gaining confidence and river's would be that someone got violently murdered. you see the vision

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

River: ok this is embarrassing but probably predictable. i love using them as an excuse to share whatever interesting language and/or electrical engineering fact i've recently learned. this is 60% of why i like writing mars house fics so much. it's like a trojan horse situation where the wooden horse is cute scifi romance and the akhaians inside are my infinite supply of fun facts about grammar and etymology. sorry

January: honestly i think he's got a hilarious sense of humor and mildly bitchy streak and it's always fun to try and write that. for mars house fic as a whole, the struggle is writing people who are smarter and funnier than me