#i guess that's the victorian government for you?

[fruitdragon]

That's why historiography is so important! It's the history of the history. You need to study where and when your sources are coming from!

There's so such thing as unbiased source, especially is history since it's so often used for political agendas. Rumours get retold as fact and facts become rumours!

In one of my classes recently we've been studying the history of the "land question" or land Lords and tenant farmers on the island I'm from. Most sources completely ignore the middle class and government intersection in this time period and you want to know why??? Since they were trying to make a clear cut landlords are bad and tenants are victims, which yes can be the case, but you know what else caused the tenants a shit ton of problems? Merchants and the middle class exploiting the fact that they needed shit, wanna guess why that's not mentioned? Almost every history and account of this time period that have survived from that time period were written by the middle class merchant and government officials. The land question is taught in a clear cut 'these are the bad guys and these are the good guys' no mention of the other factors. And while I always take the tenant farmers side in this debate, whole parts of the history are ignored!

And this is just the past 400 years, Ancient history is so much of a fuck up since alot of the historical accounts of this time period are either A) Weird Gossip B) Written during the Renaissance (if we're lucky) or the Victorian Era (if we're not) or C) BOTH

How ancient history works

Dio, writing shit down: “So my friend told me a rumor he heard that Caligula tried to appoint a horse as an adviser, or something like that. I mean, that sounds fake but ok.”

A 19th century British historian: HOLY FUCK YOU GUYS GUESS WHAT CALIGULA DID

[dontwanderoff]

oh. i see why people complain about victoria's education recruitment online website now

[marzipanandminutiae]

still not over the absolutely braindead take that "if you say brutalism looks dystopian, you care more about your aesthetic than people having homes!!!!"

like

can't criticize Shein or you must want their workers to be unemployed

oh you don't like that restaurant? guess you want the people eating there to STARVE

fuck both roses AND bread; nutrient-dense gray EnergyCubes would keep you alive so wishing for a better sensory experience is basically capitalist bootlicking

(I agree that considering Soviet-era brutalist apartment buildings in the context of "shit we need housing; put something up quick" is important for those specific structures- though I think that can coexist with "wow that's ugly" -but. this person did not stop there)

[masked-disciple]

Me: Oh neato, post about how to do transportation pre-trains. That's always useful for writing.

Me, three hours later at one-thirty in the morning: It doesn't make sense for Barok and Klint to be the 'main' branch of the van Zieks line. They live too close to London and they don't do enough governing of their own state and also they don't have court titles. They're second cousins at best of the van Zieks line.

[morhath]

Oh I’m very very interested in your nonfiction book recs 👀

EDIT: ykw I'm gonna make this a little more organized

I listed a bunch in this post (the last question) but lemme see if I have any additions because I know I was kinda trying to keep it short when I wrote that. (But that being said, that post is the Top Faves Of All Time, so go for those first.)

Freaky medical shit I also liked:

The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years by Sonia Shah

The Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco by Marilyn Chase (I just read this a few weeks ago and OOUUUGGHHHHHH IT'S LITERALLY JUST. LIKE THE RESPONSE TO COVID.)

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

Political shit I also liked:

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong

The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Steven W. Thrasher

Immigrants, Evangelicals, and Politics in an Era of Demographic Change by Janelle S. Wong

History I also liked:

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle

The Hamlet Fire: A Tragic Story of Cheap Food, Cheap Government, and Cheap Lives by Bryant Simon (between those two you can tell I was on a bit of a "workplace tragedies caused by lax regulations and bad management" kick)

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore (I think everyone knows about this book, including it for completeness)

Promised the Moon: The Untold Story Of The First Women In The Space Race by Stephanie Nolen

The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan

Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke (this is nowhere near as fun and cute as you'd assume from the title)

Memoirs I also liked:

The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton (I read this before I really got into nonfiction and it was WILD, I tell people about it all the time)

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui (this one is a graphic not-novel-I-guess-memoir)

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Other:

Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood

A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by Ken Armstrong, T. Christian Miller

Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food by Lenore Newman

It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror by Joe Vallese

AND here are a few on my TBR that I'm really excited for! I decided not to categorize them because they're almost all history:

Silk and Potatoes: Contemporary Arthurian Fantasy by Adam Roberts

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J. Brown

All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks

The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara by David I. Kertzer (I am actually partway through this right now but in a bit of a dry/confusing section)

The Broadcast 41: Women and the Anti-Communist Blacklist by Carol A. Stabile

The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St Clair

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell (have just barely started this)

Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518 by John Waller

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyŏng: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea by Lady Hyegyeong

Miss Major Speaks: The Life and Times of a Black Trans Revolutionary by Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

Too Hot to Touch: The Problem of High-Level Nuclear Waste by William M. Alley, Rosemarie Alley (I'm in the middle of this but it's surprisingly, um. not exciting.)

Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion: From Reagan's Workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and Beyond by Mark Ames

Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won't Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It by Joslyn Brenton, Sinikka Elliott, Sarah Bowen

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Medieval Gentlewoman: Life in a Gentry Household in the Later Middle Ages by Ffiona Swabey

Hitler's First Victims: The Beginning of the Holocaust and One Man's Fight to End It by Timothy W. Ryback

I am soso normal and have very normal interests that are not at all grim :)

[fractiflos]

Okay, for months I have had so many fic ideas revolving around the first three holders, I've decided to put them all down here for the Three Weeks of Trioholders Event hosted by @aimportantdragoncollector, to help inspire others. Feel free to use these for the event or any future fics (or drawings), since I don't think I'll have time to write them (and I didn't want to overwhelm the ask game lol).

Cheerleader bet: The first 3 holders make a bet; losers have to wear a female cheerleader outfit. I like the idea of Yoichi winning, so he gets to see Second and Third in cheer skirts waving pompoms, but this is your fic (or art)

An AU where Yoichi works as a nurse and Second lands himself in the hospital with a gunshot wound

The 2nd and 3rd are scientific rivals forced to work together by the government to oversee the creation of an important new technology

Ichinii kindergarten AU: Second and Third love pretending to be knights and rescuing people, but Second hates having to rescue princesses because "She's not pretty enough to be a princess" until one day, Yoichi Shigaraki transfers to their school and volunteers to let them rescue him, but wants to pretend to be a princess, much to the amusement of the other boys. Oddly enough, Second has no complaints about this princess.

Deku and Bakugou's uncles both come on the same day to pick them up from preschool, bump into each other, and would you look at that Second, love at first sight is real after all. Meanwhile, Yoichi just thinks of him as a friend at first.

Deku and Todoroki are studying together, when his Uncle Yoichi walks in, with his two best friends, Second and Third, along with his cousin Hikage. Naturally, Todoroki sees the green eyes and pale hair, and immediately thinks that Hikage is Yoichi's secret lovechild. All that's left to do is figure out who's the father, Second or Third? Meanwhile, AFO catches wind that Yoichi has a secret lovechild, and assumes that the father must be All Might. (I left a lot of details out, but it's fun to see what people fill in. I submitted this as an ask, but I was super tired, so it ended up being barebones and I hated it, so I'm rewriting it here)

A modern AU where AFO has been secretly scaring off all of Yoichi's boyfriends. It's actually pretty easy as even without his quirk, he's still terrifying. Then one day, Yoichi brings a certain spiky-haired man home, and not only does he look like the rebel bad boy from every father's nightmare (very different from the previous nerdy cowards Yoichi's dated before), but none of his previous tricks can drive him off.

Genderbend! I guess this is more geared for art, but hey, who's to say our first three holders aren't unlucky enough to be hit with a genderbend quirk while out on patrol

Angel and Devil! Yoichi is an angel, the brother of the Big Guy himself (Yep, AFO gets to be God). Tired of the rules of heaven, he sneaks into hell, where he meets a pair of very interesting (read: hot) demons.

OR REVERSE: Angels, Second and Third are tired of following the overly strict rules of heaven and sneak into hell, which is ruled by Demon King All For One. There, they meet a rather attractive white-haired demon...

After a terrible incident with some hair dye, and a friend who is now on very thin ice, Second's pink hair has now been turned into a really ugly shade of orange, and he has a date in less than 48 hours (I refuse to get over his hair color)

College AU: Second and Third have been friends since they were in diapers, and are now getting physics degrees. One day, Third decides to introduce his childhood best friend to the new friend he made in art club, Yoichi Shigaraki. Then ends up having to Third-wheel as they spend the whole-time flirting

Romeo & Juliet AU. This time, it's Second & Yoichi. I mean, they're both star-crossed lovers doomed by the narrative to die, so why not?

Victorian Era! Yoichi is secretly in love with his servant(s), but is engaged to marry someone else

Second is a horror writer with writer's block. When his apartment lease is up, he decides to finally buy a house out in the countryside, thinking the nearby spooky woods will inspire him. The house tends to inspire him more, what with the random oozing, slow opening of doors, and breezes that sound like whispers. It's almost as if he's really haunted...

Yoichi is in college now and away from his strict brother. He decides to go with his roommate to a party, but his sheltered upbringing has left him woefully underprepared for the wildness of a college party and... Has he been drugged? Don't worry Yoichi, your heroes have come to save you!

Baby Izuku Midoriya is babysat by his uncles! So, while they do all sorts of fun baby things that somehow turn out to be extremely dangerous, Hisashi has a nice dinner with Inko.

Done! I hope I've managed to inspire someone.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 27 – The Word for World is Forest by Ursula LeGuin

I’ve meant to read more LeGuin for a long time – I read Wizard of Earthsea in elementary school, the Dispossessed a few years back, and several volumes worth of Omelas discourse, but that’s about it – but I’ll be honest; I only grabbed this because I was desperately sprinting through shorter books to catch up to my reading goal and someone recommended it as being reasonably-sized. That said, I’m really incredibly glad I’m did.

The book tells the story of a stable, peaceful world being violently colonized by foreigners with a sharply limited understanding of its ecology and an (at best0 utterly condescending and dismissive attitude towards the native inhabitants. Eventually, all the atrocities give rise to a violent resistance movement among the colonized and, after a dramatic change in metropolitan politics destabilizes the colonial apparatus and several massacres, they force the (surviving) colonists to surrender and leave the world behind. The book ends on a mournful note, with the idea that the violence necessary to defeat the colonists has permanently tainted indigenous society, and the near-utopian idyll of their prior lives is now lost forever.

So! Can you guess that this book was written by an American in the early ‘70s?

But actually it was a fascinating read, if as much as a cultural artifact as as a narrative.

At it’s most basic – one of the two inciting incidents of the book is the Terran government the colonists answer to imposing a bunch of liberal reforms (ending slave labour and punitive expeditions and institutionalized rape, that sort of thing), and then ending up with the colonial establishment being split between a) those who seem honestly confused with why any of the natives have any issues with the continuing colonization, they’re being humane about it now! And b) the ones going full Rhodesian and treating being told to stop massacring people as the greatest tyranny inflicted in the history of mankind. All very authentically late-20th century.

The representation of Terran culture was an intriguing mix of futuristic and totally unchanged, as well. Earth was apparently entirely ecologically fucked and in dire need of organic materials (hence the desperate colonization drive), a prediction that hasn’t aged a day. Race exists, but the categories have gotten scrambled and rearranged, and is only at all salient in the mind of the local bloodthirsty ultracolonialist fanatic, whose sense of terran solidarity lasts exactly up until he needs people to blame (and, given the callouts to the Vietnam war that abound through the thing, not accidental that his intra-terran racism is all directed towards Asians).

Though there’s something to be said for how viscerally unpleasant the head of the villain is to be in. Closest comparison that comes to mind is the Victorian chapters of A Song of Ice and Fire? He’s a real piece of shit.

Something very modern about the conceit that men of all creeds and colours will unite around a grand shared enterprise of brutally oppressing and exploiting ET instead.

Men, specifically, because the Terran colony as we see it is basically drowning in machismo. The only women involved in the enterprise are either mail order brides or sex workers, and I don’t believe any one of them gets a name or more than a line of perfunctory dialogue anywhere in the book. Their whole purpose is, basically, to represent the possible entrenchment of colonialism by the establishment of a self-sustaining population, and then to be massacred to a woman by the Athsheans to avert just that possibility. (The book’s portrayal of warfare is pretty thoroughly unsentimental like that on all sides).

Also an interesting cultural artifact – the fact that the multiple intelligent humanoid species are explained as all actually being human, the result of some prehistoric precusor species spreading the species around different worlds who would then reunite with each other as they reach the stars. I have the strong impression that this was a pretty common trope back then, but it’s one you essentially never see in modern sci fi. Not a clue why, but interesting way tastes have changed.

The Athsheans themselves are interesting as an invented culture, with their mystical and constant dreaming and their odd gender roles, but they also are very nearly the platonic ideal of the whole ‘morally pure noble savage’ archetype. On the one hand, they – with the exception of a few very rare forms of mental illness – even have a concept of why someone might consciously choose to kill another human. They resolve most interpersonal disputes by singing at each other. They live carefully in tune with their natural surroundings, and have no need for plantations or mines or factories. And so on.

And on the other hand – they have no history. The way everyone does things and the way society is structured stretches back beyond the bounds of memory, and the entire world has basically one more-or-less-homogenus culture where every band has the same basic socio-political organization and the same theology. The one sympathetically-portrayed colonial anthropologist call them perfectly evolved for their environment and so stagnant, and one rather gets the sense that he’s supposed to be right about everything except the value judgment. And so the greatest tragedy of colonialism is shown to be the moral corruption of the Athsheans, brutalized out of their prelapsarian dream and forced to become murderous to regain their freedom. It is, honestly, a trope I don’t much care for.

(It’s an idle thought I don’t really know what to do with, but the Athshean concept of gods – dreamers who bring ideas and concepts from the dream and incarnate them in the material world – also kind of reminds me of the Innocences in Disco Elysium?)

Anyway, LeGuin still is a great writer, and this really was a fascinating read.

[mariana-oconnor]

The Bruce Partington Plans pt 1

I feel like I get this one mixed up with The Naval Treaty…

I don't hold out much hope for the police in this story as last time the entirety of Scotland Yard seemed to be experiencing the same mass delusion.

Maybe this time they'll show a little more knowledge of basic human anatomy.

In the third week of November, in the year 1895, a dense yellow fog settled down upon London. From the Monday to the Thursday I doubt whether it was ever possible from our windows in Baker Street to see the loom of the opposite houses. [...] the greasy, heavy brown swirl still drifting past us and condensing in oily drops upon the window-panes...

Victorian London sounds like such a great place to live. Honestly, the chain-smoking in the earlier story was probably still better for your lungs than the 'fresh' air on the streets. Air should, as a rule, never be 'greasy'. Unless you are actively deep-fat frying something, in which case I guess it has to be, but that doesn't mean we should like it.

Meanwhile, Holmes:

Was it Holmes who was desperate for the outside world, or Watson? One must imagine a certain amount of authorial leeway on his behalf. I can imagine being stuck inside with Sherlock Holmes on his newest 24 hour a day obession with 'the music of the Middle Ages' - bearing in mind this man does not understand circadian rhythms - Watson must have wanted to risk breathing in the grease himself.

“The London criminal is certainly a dull fellow,” said he in the querulous voice of the sportsman whose game has failed him.

I'm sensing a theme to all of these beginnings.

"The thief or the murderer could roam London on such a day as the tiger does the jungle, unseen until he pounces, and then evident only to his victim.”

I feel like his relentless coughing would give him away a bit. And his victim is as likely to have already keeled over from oxygen deprivation as be alive.

“Well, well! What next?” said he. “Brother Mycroft is coming round.”

Mycroft!

Actually... Mycroft, not a good idea. I doubt you have a particularly good lung capacity at this point. You spend most of your day sedentary in silence. Don't go outside Mycroft. Don't go outside!

"By the way, do you know what Mycroft is?”

So far he has been described as a train, a planet and a seal...

"You would also be right in a sense if you said that occasionally he is the British government.”

This is where that line is from. Ha. I knew it was around here somewhere. Also, even more reason for him not to venture forth into the greasy air.

"All other men are specialists, but his specialism is omniscience."

Mycroft is god, confirmed.

This does feel very much like a 'don't put all your eggs in one basket' kind of thing. Also the man has the most set routine in the whole of London. That's terrible security. The fact he hasn't been kidnapped and tortured is quite frankly madness to me.

"But Jupiter is descending to-day."

I can't decide if these are just our usual frilly narrative or if Sherlock is indeed making fat jokes this whole time. Selecting Jupiter specifically seems like a fat joke.

"The case was featureless as I remember it. The young man had apparently fallen out of the train and killed himself."

These days you would have to work pretty damn hard to fall off a train on the Tube. I know it was different back then, but imagining him trying to shimmy through the gap in one of those tube train windows is highly amusing to me. Although the purpose is not amusing, so maybe not.

“He left Woolwich suddenly on Monday night. Was last seen by his fiancee, Miss Violet Westbury..."

Another Violet to add to our ever growing collection. I've found some lists of the most popular baby names in 1870 and 1880 and apparently Violet was #100 in 1870 and #68 in 1880, then #43 in 1890, (this story is set in 1895, assuming that she's going to be somewhere around 20-25, so it is a top 100 name for the period and would have been even more common among women of that age at the time he was writing. It's still quite a high number of Violets to be knocking around. I guess ACD liked the name. It doesn't appear to be a family name, looking at his family tree I can't see a single Violet.

This is unimportant, we've just had three of them now.

"The body could only have come on the line in that way. Had it been carried down from any neighbouring street, it must have passed the station barriers, where a collector is always standing. This point seems absolutely certain.”

Were there no access tunnels in those days? I feel like I always see access tunnels to underground lines in films and TV shows. And it makes sense to have shortcuts to parts of the line that are more remote. But I don't know if they actually exist. I guess I just assumed that there would be midway access points for maintenance. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the maintenance people have to walk along the long dark tunnel to wherever they need to get to... that does see dumb, though. You'd think there would at least be something near the points. Whatever, I am probably thinking about this too much.

“The trains which traverse the lines of rail beside which the body was found are those which run from west to east, some being purely Metropolitan, and some from Willesden and outlying junctions."

Willesden Junction is now on the Bakerloo line, btw, which is one of the lines Baker Street is on. Just saying. Although the Bakerloo line wouldn't open until 1905. At this point I think it was on an overground line? idk. The Metropolitan Line was definitely open at this time, though, and Baker Street is on that one, too. Baker Street is on a lot of lines.

"...at what point he entered the train it is impossible to state.” “His ticket, of course, would show that.” “There was no ticket in his pockets.” “No ticket! Dear me, Watson, this is really very singular."

The surprise is probably due to something else entirely, but the idea that Holmes is shocked by the idea of a fare jumper amuses me.

"According to my experience it is not possible to reach the platform of a Metropolitan train without exhibiting one's ticket."

Willing to bet that was not true at all. I bet people managed it. But for the sake of the story, let us say it would be impossible for him to get on a train without a ticket. These days, of course, dropping your ticket would be a bad idea because you have to use it to get out again at the other end (if you don't just tap in and out) But then he was thrown out of a moving train, apparently, it makes sense he might lose a ticket in those circumstances. Particularly if he was holding it rather than having it in a pocket.

"He had also a check-book on the Woolwich branch of the Capital and Counties Bank. Through this his identity was established."

Once more the tried and true method of identifying someone through the name written on something in their pocket. With a cheque book I guess it's more likely that it's actually him. But there's another version of this where he's a conman who avoids paying ticket fares and has stolen someone's cheque book.

A moment later the tall and portly form of Mycroft Holmes was ushered into the room. Heavily built and massive, there was a suggestion of uncouth physical inertia in the figure, but above this unwieldy frame there was perched a head so masterful in its brow, so alert in its steel-gray, deep-set eyes, so firm in its lips, and so subtle in its play of expression, that after the first glance one forgot the gross body and remembered only the dominant mind.

Oh hai Mycroft!

Just in case you have forgotten since last time Watson described Mycroft. Or since all those comments of Sherlock's earlier, Mycroft is fat. Did you know that he's fat? But you'll immediately forget after a moment, except for how Watson will never let you forget.

At his heels came our old friend Lestrade, of Scotland Yard—thin and austere. The gravity of both their faces foretold some weighty quest.

Oh hai Lestrade.

Love you two working together. Beautiful moment. Perfect. No notes. It's the team-up I've been waiting for.

Impressed that you both seem to be breathing properly as well.

“Surely you have heard of it? I thought everyone had heard of it.” [...] "It has been the most jealously guarded of all government secrets."

I feel like maybe they haven't heard of it because it's a jealously guarded government secret, Mycroft. Just an idea. If everyone has heard of it, it's a bloody terrible secret.

"The plans [...] are kept in an elaborate safe in a confidential office adjoining the arsenal, with burglar-proof doors and windows."

What exactly constitutes a 'burglar-proof' door or window? That sounds more like a challenge than a fact. Genuinely, don't think there is such a thing, particularly at Victorian technology levels.

Also, we know from previous stories that all anyone needs to do is wait for some clerk to take them out to make a copy, then wait a little longer for them to need a coffee break and the plans will no doubt be left unattended on a desk somewhere for you to walk in and grab.

Who wants to bet that Cadogan West was just a bit of an idiot, really? That seems to be the standard level of junior clerks in the civil service in this series.

"If you have a fancy to see your name in the next honours list—”

I find it odd that Mycroft would even suggest this when, on the whole, he knows his little brother pretty well. There's no way Sherlock would want to be on the honours list.

"The actual official guardian of the papers is the famous government expert, Sir James Walter, whose decorations and sub-titles fill two lines of a book of reference. He has grown gray in the service, is a gentleman, a favoured guest in the most exalted houses, and, above all, a man whose patriotism is beyond suspicion."

I automatically hate and suspect him.

But no vibes only facts.

“Yes; his brother, Colonel Valentine Walter, has testified to his departure from Woolwich, and Admiral Sinclair to his arrival in London; so Sir James is no longer a direct factor in the problem.”

Because we know from these stories that Colonels are the most upstanding of gentlemen.

“The senior clerk and draughtsman, Mr. Sidney Johnson. He is a man of forty, married, with five children. He is a silent, morose man, but he has, on the whole, an excellent record in the public service. He is unpopular with his colleagues, but a hard worker."

Now him, I like. 😄

No, seriously though, why do his colleagues dislike him? I feel like that is crucial information. Is it because he's a stickler for the rules, or is it because he's a creep? Or is it because he once ate someone else's lunch?

“Many circumstances could be imagined under which he would pass London Bridge. There was someone in the carriage, for example, with whom he was having an absorbing interview."

Talking to a stranger? On the Tube? No, sorry. Too unbelievable. I can accept rabbits being mistaken for humans, but this is too far.

I guess he doesn't specify that it's a stranger.

"He would naturally have made an appointment with the foreign agent and kept his evening clear. Instead of that he took two tickets for the theatre, escorted his fiancee halfway there, and then suddenly disappeared.”

Has no one in this room ever heard of spycraft? A trip to the theatre would be the perfect cover for a handover. You drop your program, someone else picks it up and hands it back to you with a few extra pages folded up inside it. Easy. Taking the fiancee makes it less suspicious. Sure, she might get caught up in things, but that's a risk you have to take. They then have the entire course of the play to sneak away and make copies/take photographs of the papers before returning them to you, perhaps in the pocket of your coat at the coat check, with a little bit of extra money tucked into your hat?

Also, it's a public place with witnesses, so the bad guy is less likely to just straight up kill you so they don't have to pay. Admittedly, if they don't pay you don't get the opportunity to directly threaten them... I don't know, I'm not a spy, but I'm sure the theatre would be a great handover spot.

“It seems to me perfectly clear,” said Lestrade. “I have no doubt at all as to what occurred. He took the papers to sell them. He saw the agent. They could not agree as to price. He started home again, but the agent went with him. In the train the agent murdered him, took the more essential papers, and threw his body from the carriage. That would account for everything, would it not?”

But why not take all the papers, Lestrade? Why bother taking the time to go through them to see which are the most important? Why leave any behind at all?

“The ticket would have shown which station was nearest the agent's house. Therefore he took it from the murdered man's pocket.”

And that would just be poor work on the foreign agent's part. Never do anything near where you live.

I was going to say 'if Mycroft could make it to Baker Street, why not just go to the scene of the crime himself?' but then I remembered that this is the London train system and therefore it is wholly inaccessible to anyone who can't or doesn't want to climb up and down fifty million steps (in 1895, especially, and still at least partially today). The sudden shock to Mycroft's system of that increase in activity, coupled with the fact he's already committed chemical warfare against his lungs by going out in the smog, would definitely shuffle him off the mortal coil. Far better if Sherlock goes, considering that apparently the entirety of Britain relies on Mycroft not dying.

[virtie333]

Writing Patterns

tagged by @soft-girl-musings. Thank you! I need to get my nerves settled before I start writing and this should help!

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

I'm going to skip the drabbles and the reposted X-File fics for this one.

Bisque: Poe Dameron walked toward the stairs that led to the front door of the old Victorian house, excitement flowing through him.

While You Were Sleeping: When Rey Dameron opened her eyes, she knew she wasn’t in her bed.

Shameless: “This is not how I thought this day was gonna go.”

Blind Faith: “Breathe!”

El Dìa de le Boda: Poe Dameron looked at his reflection in the mirror, readjusting his bow tie for what felt like the fiftieth time.

Beg, Borrow, or Steal - Part 3: When The Chronicler exited hyperspace and the giant orange ball of Yavin appeared in the viewscreen, Poe Dameron felt his whole body relax in a way it rarely ever did.

She Makes Him Laugh: The Galactic Government Solutions Conference was in its third day, and Rey Skywalker was more than ready for it to end.

Caer del Cielo: Rey Smith looked around the small plane as the people around her got settled. 

Bajo el Àrbol de Navidad: Deputy Poe Dameron sat in his patrol vehicle, a three-year old Chevy Tahoe, staring out into the snow as it fell lightly on the road in front of him

Paint It Black: “Katia?” 

Yeah, I'm not seeing much of a pattern. Which I guess is a good thing. Keep people guessing? LOL

No pressure tags: @my-secret-shame, @coneygoil, @diplomaticprincess, @reallyrallyauthor, @spacecowboyhotch, @ivystoryweaver, @randomfoggytiger, and anyone else.

Sorry if I forgot anyone or if anyone was tagged double: I'm in a post therapy let-down so I'm tired!

[alexis-royce]

2 and 8 for Mr Pages? (from the-dye-stained-socialite)

Heya! Already answered #8, so here’s 2:

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Verrrrrrry hard to pick just one. But I think that it might be that, deep down, Pages is characterized by loving scandalous stories, more than anything else. When your notability is even a little high, Pages sends you regular gifts. Like fanmail. It restricts spicy literature from the public, but it LOVES to talk about it, so if you’re unfortunate enough to be at Chapman’s while it’s about, you are going to have a government official bothering you while you’re trying to drink, asking you to have an opinion on bizarre Victorian porn.

Flabbergasted. Unhinged.

I guess it ties into something I feel strongly about with my media diet; that a good work isn’t just about structure and word choice and the rhythm of the prose. A work’s also gotta have that bit of OOMPH. Sometimes it’s a little racy, but it needn’t be, so long as it’s juicy. That little pull. Pages is a monster but it does genuinely love stories. It loves them in a horrible, abusive way, obsessed and awful and covetous and equally at home reading tabloids or printed fiction.

I like seeing things I relate to reflected back at me in a hideous funhouse mirror! Pages’ thirst to consume stories is in turns very scary and very funny to me. Just a fascinating and compelling character.

The stories encade enticingly. It is of sufficient weight to coil them as a stone in a web. I am heedful.

[willtheweaver]

I’ve always been curious about the overall lore for the animal characters of A Feather In The Forest! Is this a story world inhabited entirely by talking animal characters like Redwall, or do the talking animals share the world with humans and/or other mythical creatures like Narnia? Has this world always had talking animals throughout its history, or did they start out as regular animals and achieve sentience at some point? How closely does their society mimic real life human society? Do the different animal species try to live together in harmony ala Zootopia, or do they keep to themselves? You can decline to answer anything that’s a serious spoiler for the plot, these are just my questions that have built up from reading the snippets you’ve shared. 🙂

Buckle up, this may take a while.

First things first, there are no humans in the story. Were there any in the story world to begin with? I cannot say because that would spoil the planned sequels.

And as for the rest, you’re not too far off on your initial thoughts of it being like Redwall. From there, things get a little murky. Both the birds and foxes are sentient, but all other life within the forest behaves as they would in real life. Both communities keep an eye on the other as there is bad blood between them. In the past they had fought several wars against each other. By the time of the story, things have quieted down, and there is a Cold War mentality.

Gaining intelligence is covered in various myths and legends, but the real reason will have to remain a secret for now (spoilers). I would have to say that both Fox and bird society are anachronisms. While broadly resembling that of early Medieval Europe, I have included elements of Celtic Britain and Ireland, First Nations, and the barest elements of Victorian and Modern (Tolkien would be proud). There is a social structure, various occupations, settlements, laws, systems of government, just none of the trappings of an industrial society, such as mass production, motorized vehicles, or electricity. The economy is based on the exchange of goods and labor, with no standardized currency. So I guess the society in the story does mirror our own very well- a mix of the real with an idealized fantasy.

Well, that looks like all the major points have been addressed, so I think I’ll end this sermon.

[rottenbrainstuff]

My AI art = 1984 machine novels post went a bit viral and I have really been enjoying the discussion. I am finding it a bit surprising that there were large amounts of other people who never thought about the comparison, so I’m happy to have pointed it out. My favourite responses so far have been someone who said I broke their brain, because isn’t that just the best thing anyone can reply to your post with, and a another response saying, I guess, that we’re not allowed to talk about books if the author also had some shitty views (which are btw unrelated to the point I was making) about other things, so like. Not sure what books we’re supposed to talk about then. Victorian morality pamphlets I guess. Apparently pointing out a comparison between current events and one thing that happened in a culturally significant book (which it is, regardless of whether or not you like the book) counts as sucking the author’s dick, but like I guess what else would you expect to see on the piss-on-the-poor website lmao

It’s been fun!

(The post wasn’t about this, but I’ve also been happy to see people replying with the connection between TikTok speak and doublespeak. Absolutely another great comparison. The thing that really upsets me about the TikTok speak is that it’s not even being enforced by the evil government as part of a plan for control, this is just stupid advertising bullshit and people freely choosing to censor themselves without thinking critically about why. Maybe that’s something interesting to think about. In 1984 so much of the control is presented as active oppression. It feels like in real life people are perfectly happy to oppress themselves!)

[penelopecruzcoded]

Some early Victorian reviewers complained about how Wuthering Heights dealt with violence and immorality. One called it "a compound of vulgar depravity and unnatural horrors".[14]

how do i recreate this in modern day

maybe instead of how i should ask myself why

why do i want to be the jack of my timeline (when i so obviously would never be able to handle that)

like, sure, jack is my creation so maybe deep down inside of me somewhere there is a little jack too, but he's very tiny and small and all the other parts would be terrified at the prospect of notoriety of any kind (especially in this day and age when you can't have notoriety without somebody wanting to cancel you, which isn't the same thing because one can be fun for the recipient and the other tiring and nauseating)

like i can't wait to get the bandaid ripped off and get 'cancelled' for something so i can have that experience and not have the fear

though, if you think about it, i've already experienced this in a smaller scale in a specific arena lmao and nothing happened and we continued to give zero fucks

but i guess it's different when it's not your internet semi-anonymous alias catching heat and when it's you, the person, the legal identity, the government name

but it's really something i should get used to i feel because people will always have opinions, and the sooner they start having opinions about me and my work, the better? idk idk.

idk why i'm writing in line breaks instead of like normal but it feels right

people who don't ever end up putting out anything struggle with these thoughts ad nauseam. the people who do put out things, don't. or maybe they did and got over it. idk.

should look into it more.

[marzipanandminutiae]

which country are you talking about? i know burkini’s were banned years ago in france. and at the moment, abayas were just banned and any loose maxi dress/skirt is subject to the same restrictions (a student was sent home for wearing a maxi t shirt dress and was told it needed to have a higher slit or be tighter to not be considered banned). where were burkinis recently banned?

I meant the previous French law, but oh my god, that's even worse. I can't find any English-language media about the girl sent home over a maxi t-shirt dress, but I did find an article about a girl who was sent home for wearing an ankle-length, A-line black skirt. three guesses what religion she was, and the first two don't count. despite outcry on social media, by people of many religions, the school refused to back down. a similar case in the UK was not backed by an actual law and the school relented, thank heaven

what I'd just like to know is, is this EVER enforced on white and/or non-Muslim women? like, if a white historical costumer took her Victorian bathing costume to a beach in France, would she be ordered to strip down? apparently French men have been required to wear only briefs or very tight swim shorts to public pools since 1903, due to "hygiene concerns;" is that enforced with the same fervor as burkini bans?

(UPDATE: apparently the rule for men IS enforced...causing problems for trans men, and any man who wants to wear a swim shirt for body image, sun protection, or simple comfort reasons. yikes)

it's horrifically discriminatory as it stands now, and frankly a terrifying precedent for all women. again, this establishes that a fucking government can make women and adolescent girls display their bodies, by law. it's something where I want to acknowledge the clear racism/religious bias of the law in France, and also how disturbing the underlying misogyny should be to all women

[cagesings]

b.enjamin barker/swee.ney todd.

needless to say, johanna’s view of her biological father is a very, very poor one. as you can guess, turpin wouldn’t tell her the truth. can’t have her knowing that he ripped her family apart. in canon, what she was told about her father is that he was a brute and a thief. she does not know what he stole or anything else. since she was raised by turpin ( “pious vulture of the law” ), she doesn’t look at it in a very positive light and she doesn’t want to. she doesn’t want to consider the fact that maybe he stole to feed her family. yes she is well aware of the fact that turpin is a corrupt judge, however to think that maybe her father was innocent and he had him arrested is simply too much for her to consider. that means he took so much more from her than she initially thought. 

after canon, she ever figures it out. she doesn’t know what she looked like as a baby so she can’t go off the photograph. the victorian government at the time didn’t issue birth certificates. johanna has no idea who her father is. he died in botany bay in australia. he was a bad man. the end. 

however feelings get much more complicated in modern verses ( hawkins verse and modern verse ). she knows who her father is and she hates it. johanna already knows about how bad of a man turpin is. to find out that her biological father was worse than the criminal she always took him for? he’s a serial killer. he almost killed her. johanna had to watch as her own father murdered her abusive guardian. feelings about turpin’s murder is it’s own meta in itself, but she didn’t want to witness that. when the police figure out who exactly s.weeney t.odd was, she has to live with the fact that they’re both barkers. this man killed several people of varying innocence. what stands out to her is the fact that he could’ve made more of their family. more fathers going missing and their wives having to deal with the consequences. even bamford has a young daughter. what’s going to happen to her? the rest of their families?

he killed her mother. yes, he didn’t know it was her and yes, the detectives and police have ruled that. but he still did it. he still almost killed her. the only time johanna interacts with her father, he is too blinded by rage and a thirst for revenge that he doesn’t take a moment and consider that anthony was bringing her here. she didn’t know lucy at all, but she has idolized her despite thinking she was dead for her entire life. and he killed her. even if she was only told the worst about her mother and prayed every night that turpin was wrong about her, she can’t forgive her mother’s killer. 

once the media picked up on such a romantically tragic tale, they began to harass her about it the moment any information leaked about johanna. she is trying to move on. she’s married. her name isn’t even the same anymore. she wants to get a job and travel and leave the past behind. her father only becomes more of a burden when people ask her about it. when people ask her about trauma she barely even discusses with anthony. sweeney is a weight she has to just lug around. 

above all though, she feels betrayed and abandoned. johanna feels horribly guilty about it when she tells herself she should feel more guilty on her father’s and guardian’s behalves. she knows that her own father chose to seek his revenge, chose to kill people, over reuniting with her. perhaps, it would be impossible, yet she snuck around with anthony for all that time. she wouldn’t be against sneaking behind her guardian’s back and meeting with her biological father, even if it would take some time for her to accept that. johanna is already incredibly emotionally vulnerable. knowing her own father chose something as horrible as he chose over her, crushes her. did he ever love her? 

if benjamin/sweeney had lived, i can’t say she would make any attempt to form a relationship with him. johanna never wanted a father. turpin was supposed to fill that role in her life and look at where it got her. she wanted a mother, yes. there wasn’t really anyone who could be that figure in her life. yet the universe gave her a father and she’s nothing but ashamed of him.  

[charlesandmartine]

Saturday 1st July 2023

Happy Canada Day

This day recalls 156 years since in 1867 when the US beneath them appeared to be gaining in influence, three great chunks of administrations decided to come together under one all embracing banner, Canada instead of BNA (British North America). Until 1982 it was called Dominion Day, but I guess that might mean different things to different people so it was changed again. Originally it was Anniversary of Confederation Day. Well that sounds exceedingly Victorian and stuffy. Legislation, passed by the British Parliament, created Canada as a new, domestically self-governing federation, consisting of the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec, on July 1, 1867, although it looks like BC didn't chip in their tuppence ha'pence until 1871. Further to this, a royal decree in 1868 requests all Her Majesty's Canadian subjects should celebrate on 1st July. It all seems very complicated and how Queen Vic kept up with it from thousands of miles away in London, goodness only knows. Well anyway from what we have seen so far is that Canadians are intending a right knees up and joining in with the spirit of the thing. Flags are up, schools are off and all the RVs (recreational vehicles) are on the road heading for the lakes and coast.

Now Lonely Planet does not brim over with excitement vis-a-vis Salmon Arm. It struggles to find any preoccupation for a tourist who has strayed this far off the beaten and has probably little sympathy if he did.

As the day progressed and expectations were high, the picture that comes to mind is rather that of a damp squib. There was a small hiatus along the main road in downtown Salmon Arm. A group of enthusiastic Canadian citizens were agitated about something. Canada maple leaf flags were abundant and there were placards regarding rights either to be in the LGBT community or possibly not to be as such. Honk if you agree. Hmm, not actually being exactly clear on the subject we deferred.

That being the only incident involving flags etc we proceeded down to the wharf on Sushwap Lake for a little Canada Day preamble. Well be careful who you talk to. We met an elderly Canadian and his elderly oriental wife on the jetty who surprisingly appeared a little anti Canadian and did somewhat confirm the Lonely Planet guide's summation of Salmon Arm; there's not much here. On reflection he came up with a couple of suggestions for us to occupy our time here with. Go to Herald Provincial Park he said. Also you might walk alongside the lake in the other direction. With no other suggestions we did just that. Sadly, all the other revellers went as well. In the middle of nowhere this place was too! We ate our sandwiches, looked forlornly around for somewhere to get a drink, gave up and drove 20km back to Salmon Arm to do number two on the long list of two. This was entirely agreeable. We strolled in the searing sun along the lakeside path which weaved around what was in effect breeding grounds for birds and waterfowl. We saw Red Winged Blackbirds, Clark's Grebe and Western Grebe among others. Loads of Canada Geese of course (in their correct home locality). It was like being in Slimbridge. Following the course of the lake was the main line railway. Amazing freight trains that I calculated to be 1.5km in length rumbled by!

On returning to town we went to search for the celebrations commemorating such an important day. Well, perhaps there'll be more tomorrow? The town was dead, no parties where we are staying, couldn't even find a pub for a beer, nothing....

We had our own celebration; bottle of Canadian SB and sausage egg fried rice.

ps It is said that one should drink a Caesar and eat chicken wings to celebrate Canada Day. We couldn't find anywhere open to even try this aspect of support for the event!

pps This is a stunningly beautiful country. The danger is not to be blinded by repetition of seeing too many lakes, mountains and waterfalls.

ppps Tomorrow we are on the road again, further into the mountains to a place called Golden. Lonely Planet seems a little undecided about this, but we are very optimistic.