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When you realize fanfic writers are just fanfic readers who couldn't find what they wanted to read 💀

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The slang term meant at the time what it does today. From Lexicon Balatronicum: A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence (1811):

living for your persuasion thoughts! can you recommend any criticism?

Thank you! I presume you're alluding to the fact that I mentioned scholarly criticism concerning Lady Russell's opinions about Captain Wentworth and his unsuitability for Anne. @kungfunurse also asked for "more on the subject of Lady R’s blind spot re: Wentworth’s sexuality." So! allow me to introduce this magnificently titled academic article:

Heydt-Stevenson maintains that Jane Austen’s dirty jokes are not “odd moments” in her novels, but rather “pleasurable and unabashed inscriptions of a sexuality that is foundational rather than incidental or anomalous.” Indeed! The fact that it still can feel weird to write the phrase “Jane Austen’s dirty jokes” has a lot to do with how her authorial reputation was managed, first by her family members and then by others, in order to accommodate Victorian sensibilities. This arguably did much to ensure Austen’s posthumous reputation and respectability. But it also means that her slyness, satirical savagery, and indeed, her dirty jokes, have been more often acknowledged by admiring critics than by her (much, much) wider audience. Forgive me if I’m preaching to the choir here.

More specifically, Heydt-Stevenson argues (based on close reading of the discussion of Wentworth’s career and other passages) that part of what Lady R. finds objectionable and “not to her taste” in Frederick Wentworth’s manners is his assertive masculinity. It’s been a while since I read Austenian scholarship more broadly, but my vague sense is that this article is far from an outlier. Heydt-Stevenson also brings up the passage -- still to come in my reread -- where Lady Russell and Anne cross paths with Wentworth in Bath. Anne, of course, notices him immediately. There follows then a passage in which Anne assumes that he must hold “fascination” for Lady Russell, who is looking straight at him, indeed “intently observing him,” but who then claims not to have seen him at all! And why does Lady R. say that she has not noticed him? She has been looking, she says, for a pair of curtains, “the handsomest and best hung of any in Bath.”

So either Lady Russell has absolutely been fascinated by Captain Wentworth and his “personal graces” as alluded to above, and is coming up with a bad excuse -- curtains to veil her thoughts from those who would see them! -- or Austen is literalizing her blind spot where Wentworth and his character are concerned, and simultaneously making a joke about Wentworth being the handsomest and best hung [man] of any in Bath. Either way... bless Jane Austen and her brilliant, filthy mind, forever and ever, amen.

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To @ahiddenpath's point: I've seen it claimed in late 18th-century texts (recall that that's when NA was written and sold: it wasn't published until later because ????) that women are, like, constitutionally incapable of loving a man spontaneously just because they esteem his good traits:

What is commonly called LOVE amongſt the women, is rather gratitude and partiality to the man who prefers any individual to the reſt of the ſex; ſuch a man ſhe often marries with little of either perſonal eſteem or affection. Indeed, without an unuſual ſhare of ſenſibility, and very peculiar good fortune, a woman in this country has very little probability of marrying for love. For love is not to begin on the part of the female, but entirely to be the conſequence of a man's attachment to her. Nature has therefore as wiſely as benevolently aſſigned to the tender ſex, a greater flexibility of taſte on this ſubject. Some agreeable qualities recommend a gentleman to common good liking, and friendſhip. In the courſe of acquaintance, he contracts an attachment. When a woman perceives it, it excites her gratitude; this riſes into preference, perhaps, at laſt advances to ſome degree of attachment, eſpecially if it meets with croſſes and difficulties; for theſe, and a ſtate of ſuſpence are very great incitements to attachment, and are the food of love in both ſexes.

— Interesting anecdotes (1794); adapted from A father's legacy to his daughters (1774)

If a woman does find that she has spontaneously fallen in love with a man who isn't actively courting her, it's supposed to be this shameful thing that she has to conceal from everybody, especially the man in question, and, if she can, even from herself:

There is another case, in which I suspect it is proper to be secret, not so much from motives of prudence, as delicacy. I mean in love matters. Though a woman has no reason to be ashamed of an attachment to a man of merit, yet nature, whose authority is superior to philosophy, has annexed a sense of shame to it. It is even long before a woman of delicacy dares avow to her own heart that she loves; and when all the subterfuges of ingenuity to conceal it from herself fail, she feels a violence done both to her pride and to her modesty. This, I should imagine, must always be the case where she is not sure of a return to her attachment. In such a situation, to lay the heart open to any person whatever, does not appear to me consistent with the perfection of female delicacy.

— A father's legacy to his daughters (1774)

It is one of the peculiar properties incident to the passion of love when it assails the female bosom, that, independent of the many distracting doubts which it creates, it is accompanied, on the part of the sufferer, by a most anxious wish of concealment from all; — but especially from the object for whom it is entertained.

— Frederick de Montford (1811)

Even female characters who are able to own this sentiment to themselves feel the need to struggle with the "disgrace" that is supposedly attendant upon falling in love with a man who isn't already betrothed to you:

Hence! hence! concealments—hence! each female art! A virtuous passion needs not shun the light. Is it disgrace, to virtue's power to bend, Is it disgrace, high intellect to prize? When brilliant talents all their glories lend, Is it disgrace to view with partial eyes?

— Miss Elizabeth Trefusis, Poems and Tales; 1808

though Henry was now sincerely attached to her, though he felt and delighted in all the excellencies of her character and truly loved her society, I must confess that his affection originated in nothing better than gratitude, or, in other words, that a persuasion of her partiality for him had been the only cause of giving her a serious thought.

Ahhhh, I just… I just… I get that this book wants to be as down to earth at possible, and I’m not much of romantic, so it’s not like I need Darcy-ish confessions and gestures in all my Austen novels, but THIS is really just too sad. xD From the very beginning, I was so confused about what Tilney loved in Catherine - not what set her apart, since I did get that she wasn’t supposed to be heroine’s heroine type character - but he literally only ever teased her. (And I read this internet thing the other day in which the author argued that Tilney is the best Austen man… I’m at a loss for words…)

Like, Austen is a genius just for creating Catherine to be a paragon of the average girl. And kudos, I suppose, to Austen for never making her or her life interesting in any way. But there were a couple instances - when Catherine stands up to Isabella & co over their meddling in her promise with the Tilneys, when she finally sees Isabella for who she really is - that made me think that at least, Catherine would come into independence, and then Tilney would see her for real. Well, Catherine did come into some independence, not a huge amount, but since the story takes place in under a year and it’s supposed to be realistic, I guess that’s to be expected. At least it made me like her. I really did like her by the end - that’s why I’m so pissed off that this is all we get about what Tilney sees in her, and on top of that initially it was just “he liked being liked.”

And ugh, I guess that is the point Austen is driving at, how little the real world echoes our fancies. Sometimes all a person wants in a partner is someone to validate them. I think we all want that to a degree… but honestly Tilney seems much more vapid and boring now. And I’m leaving Catherine out so let’s get to her - the reason Catherine liked Tilney was because he asked her to dance. She pinned her fancies on him. I guess it’s great that they do like each other genuinely now, in the end that’s the important part, right? It’s just “She’s a girl who actually likes me and isn’t a bitch” and “He’s the first man who asked me to dance and isn’t a dick” seems like a really low bar starting out lol especially given how little we actually see them interact. But, again, that seems to be Austen’s point.

I’m more p.o.’d than anything by Isabella’s lack of reappearance. I thought she’d throw up some Austen-worthy drama at the end, or that at least we’d get a footnote explaining what happened to her (but I suppose it’s better that we don’t, it’d just be something amazingly moralistic, this is Austen after all). I’m leaving this book kind of questioning why I got attached to these characters. Ahh!! It’s frustrating. Not bad exactly, but frustrating. Especially since all the humor that made the first half of the novel enjoyable was sapped away once Catherine went to Northanger Abbey. Almost feels like Austen never finished writing that part and just left a summary. I have no idea what kind of person Eleanor Tilney even is, so it was very hard for me to feel happy for her when she turned out to be the one character who had anything like a story-worthy tale to tell! Maybe there’s something in that though. I should research it.

This is why I don’t read novels anymore hahaahahhahaha I’m kidding hahaha but at least I can say I have no interested in ever writing a Northanger Abbey of my own!

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✨ The guide to contractions is up! ✨

it includes information about which characters use which contractions in Austen, as well as examples of every contraction I could think of from other writings in the Regency era, plus any available information about the rank & education of the person using the contraction.

Does anybody have any thoughts about 'themed' chapters of the Regency Phrase Guide?

I already have "terms used in the Regency but no longer used today" and "terms not in use yet by the Regency." I'm thinking of adding a separate chapter on contractions, and maybe one on phrases that can be used to describe bodily reactions / emotions (like, people didn't "roll their eyes" or "raise their eyebrows" yet, but there's a lot of hand trembling and heart leaping).

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I know that lesbian is also a word that can refer to someone from the island of lesbos and when Herodotus says that a king “sent his lesbians” to do something he’s referring to soldiers from lesbos

but I can’t get the image out of my head of a king or general pointing at a city and yelling “go, my lesbians!” and then a bunch of gay women running in to burn it down

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one of the quintessential child no-nos in 19th-century literature is stealing apples from a tree. in any book intended for the edification of children, there's always some old man who relies on the sale of his apples to support himself, and there are always a bunch of scapegrace boys stealing a bagful and bringing them back home to give to the cook so they can have a pie.

now I know that part of this is probably because I'm divorced from any context in which I'm making a living from agricultural concerns. but it is a little insane to me that taking apples from a tree counts as "stealing." it is a tree. it grows from the ground. from the earth. from the physical earth that we all live on. how can you own the physical earth. please be serious.

and speaking of publicly owned land, are there no apple trees on the commons for these boys to pick from, or what?

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1850s Tumblr Dashboard Simulator

👸🏻 girlbossladyjane follow

It really makes me sick to see people giving money to penny weeklies when Franklin's expedition STILL has not been found 😭 There are good men out there trapped in unimaginable temperatures and literally all that's needed is a little more funding for another rescue mission yet all you guys seem to care about are your vulgar little stories...

🧔🏻‍♂️ queerqueg follow

the franklin expedition is dead as hell

👸🏻 girlbossladyjane follow

Disgraceful thing to say but I'd expect nothing less from a M*lville fan

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👨🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻 hartgrindisreal

Sorry for posting so much about Tom Gradgrind/James Harthouse from Hard Times lately. It turns out that I was getting arsenic poisoning from my wallpaper? Anyway I took a seaside stroll and I'm normal now. Check your walls y'all

#whyyy did i assume they were committing unlawful actions together like where did i even get that from lol #hard times isn't even that good by dickens standards tbh

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🎨 asherbrowndurand

Just painted this

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ss-arctic-girlie-deactivated18540927

RIP Napoleon... you may have been unable to conquer Alexander's Russia but you sure as hell conquered Alexander's bed

🖼️ preraphaelitebro follow

HERITAGE POST

📝 shakespearesforehead follow

How does this have less than 100k notes you could literally not avoid this post back in the 20s lol

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🌄 loyalromantic follow

poets just aren't dying young in mysterious water-related incidents like they used to :/

#as useless and degenerate as i find 'the living poets' and i'm glad we're finally moving on from them #i have to agree with op in this respect

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🎀 thefopdiaries follow

I finally got a daguerreotype of myself ^_^ Porcelain urn for scaling

📜 bartlebi-thescrivener

i think i hauve consumption

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🐋 whaler4life

They found oil in the ground??? WTF. THIS IS LITERALLY THE WORSTTTT. FUCK MY LIFE FOR REAL THIS TIME

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🌿 naturesnaturalist follow

I swear this website has 0 reading comprehension skills. Darwin NEVER claimed we "evolved" from apes like if one of you guys actually bothered to open his new book you'll see all his arguments are backed up by evidence. He actually makes a lot of sense

#sure there's nuance like i don't fully agree with all of it #but his general theory of natural selection seems pretty sound imo

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🤵🏻‍♂️ byronicherotournament follow

🙈 butchbronte follow

Of course these are the finalists lmao this website is so predictable. Anyway vote Heathcliff if you dont i'm going to assume you're a phrenologist

📖 sapphichelenburns follow

It's not problematic to acknowledge the fact that Heathcliff was a brute like he literally killed dogs in case you forgot. Anyway #rochestersweep

🙈 butchbronte follow

I love the implication here that Rochester never did anything cruel either. He literally locked his wife in the attic and lied to Jane about it 😭 like that was a pretty significant thing that happened

📖 sapphichelenburns follow

And? God forbid women do anything

#why'd you have to pit two bad bitches against each other #anyway i'm not attracted to men but still went with rochester #bc in terms of living quarters thornfield hall > wuthering heights easily

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👨🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻 hartgrindisreal

Not the Russian tsar dying immediately after hartgrind became canon

#i know dickens hasn't technically confirmed it yet but like. SOMETHING was strongly implied ok #see: my previous post #dickensposting

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👨🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻 hartgrindisreal

LORD HELP ME. THE BODY LANGUAGE. THE WAY THEY'RE LOOKING AT EACH OTHER. AHHHHHH

#this installment!!! im-- #dickensposting #i can't fucking cope #dickens wants to KILL us he wants us DEAD....

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⭐️ newamerican

Hi guys sorry I haven't been posting lately it's been so difficult getting to California 💀 I'm finally here now though just need to find a pickaxe and soon I'll be digging! :-) wish me luck lol

#gold #gold rush #gold rush grind #california #adventure

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the reason that Miss Bates never married is that, if she and her husband should have a son, her husband would be Mr. Bates, and her son would be... well... I shan't say...

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totally different post but I saw an author complaining about getting a bunch of negativity in their comments--they posted a lot of angst, hurt/comfort, whumpy kind of stuff, and said they hated getting comments like "this made me depressed for four months" "thanks for ripping my heart out and stomping on it" &c.--but in a way that acted like this wasn't their personal preference, but rather the commenters being oblivious or rude or something

it's just odd, like, how do you get so involved in fandom as to start writing and posting fanfiction on the Fanfiction Posting Website Du Jour, while also being apparently completely divorced from fannish idiom?

this is the kind of over-literalism I would expect from somebody eager to deride fandom as immature and overemotional and such, and selectively using fannish modes of expression (the nuances of which they do not understand) to validate that opinion

I saw a post talking about commenting habits that fanfic authors supposedly like and dislike, and was impressed to find that I personally disagreed with each and every single point that the post made

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much love to ‘i love my blorbo but they did all that’ but there should be a new category of ‘i love my blorbo but they were written by someone with transparent but unspoken biases and you gotta understand that context’

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General compliments about my prose or storytelling or whatever are just as valuable to me as comments that express strong emotion about the events of the story

I really do want to hear it if something isn't working for you, if I've used a regionalism incorrectly, whatever it is... I might not agree, but constructive criticism doesn't do any harm

I don't mind being told to "update soon." It only seems demanding or rude if you take it super literally... it just means that people are enjoying the story and want more of it. It's nice to know that people are still tuned in & wanting another chapter

I saw a post talking about commenting habits that fanfic authors supposedly like and dislike, and was impressed to find that I personally disagreed with each and every single point that the post made

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I saw a post talking about commenting habits that fanfic authors supposedly like and dislike, and was impressed to find that I personally disagreed with each and every single point that the post made

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[becoming crazed] art should physically harm you

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THE RULES and VARIETIES of FEMALE SCANDAL.

[...] I was very much delighted at an instance of this species of scandal which occurred at the tea-table one evening, while I was present, both on account of its ingenuity and its success. The conversation happened to turn upon the blooming young widow Mrs. Prim, who had been invited to the party but had disappointed them. "A slight head-ache the cause," cried one of the ladies. "Oh! no, the poor woman has been afflicted with a dropsy for some months past, and while that disease continues indeed it would be only policy to keep within doors, and not expose herself.["] "Truly I think it would," exclaimed a second, "for she must appear a complete object." "Why, I understand," said a third, "that she has got rid of the complaint lately, and recovered her shape in a most surprizing manner! Indeed, I am certain I am correct too, as I saw her in the park on Sunday, as fine and shapely a damsel as you'd wish to see."—This set the whole company upon conjecture. The married folks whispered, and the misses tittered, until eventually, with a very bad disease, poor Mrs. Prim was eased of a very good reputation!

I recollect an instance of a young lady in London losing her character, through a slight cold, aided by the talents of the renowned Mrs. Tattle, so well known in the annals of scandal. Mrs. Careless, in a morning visit, mentioned that her niece Letitia, had been very ill lately, indeed so much so as to be confined for three weeks, but that she had partly recovered and would soon be abroad again. Mrs. Tattle said she felt very happy in the restoration of such an amiable girl to her usual health and spirits. After many compliments on both sides, Mrs. Careless departed, when Mrs. Tattle immediately ordered Betty to bring her cloak and bonnet, and trudged off to Mrs. Whisper, exclaiming the moment she entered the house, "have you heard the news?" "Yes," answered her friend. "How came you to hear of it so soon; it is not ten minutes since I had it from her own waiting-maid." "Ah," cried Mrs. Tattle, "but I had it from her own aunt." "Was she not an hypocritical little slut," said Mrs. Whisper, "to pretend to such chastity and religion, and so proud of my Lord too!"—"My Lord; Why I think you must be mistaken, Mrs. Whisper."—"What news do you mean?" "Hush, don't speak so loud," said Mrs. Whisper: "the news is, that my Lady Flirt is kept by my Lord, and is no more married to him than I am to poor Mr. Whisper." "Pshaw!" said Mrs. T. "that's an old affair: I have something of much more importance to tell. The beautiful Letitia Somerville is just recovered from her confinement. I had it from her aunt this moment; but whether she had a boy or a girl I could not discover; for you know it would have been a delicate question in such circumstances. Poor Mrs. Careless is almost distracted; and though the same misfortune happened to herself once, she is not the less to be pitied; for you know, my dear Mrs. Whisper, though one has committed faults in one's younger days, it is neither merciful nor generous to be always recalling them to the tip of one's tongue. In communicating the misfortune of this poor girl, I rely entirely upon your secresy; indeed, I would not have mentioned it by any means, Mrs. Whisper, had I not been perfectly aware it would go no further. No! No! Mrs. Whisper, I am not one of those wide-mouthed ladies, who publish every thing they hear. There's Mrs. Silent, who, to my knowledge, was familiar with her own footman, and yet the poor lady can never say I told it to any one from that day to this." "Oh, my dear Mrs. T.!" answered Mrs. W. "we have been many years intimate enough to confide the greatest secrets to each other without any apprehension. Indeed, as for myself, there are many affairs which I have concealed even from Mr. Whisper; for when the poor man suspected my fidelity, I often told him a secret was like a lump of lead, that always remained at the bottom, and that a woman's honour was a secret!"

"Very right, my dear," said Mrs. Tattle: "those men are impertinent fellows, but I fear I am detaining you too long: besides I have to call in Harley street, and as it is getting late, I wish you good morning."

Mrs. Tattle departed, and while she was going to Mrs. Chatter's in Harley street, with her secret, Mrs. Whisper industriously set off to spread it among her own acquaintances, calling lastly upon Mrs. Silent and Mrs. Careless, to inform them of the happy and friendly portraits which Mrs. Tattle had just been drawing.

If any suspicious circumstances are attached to the marriage of one of your female friends, or if any malicious rumour has reached you, respecting the degree of intimacy subsisting between herself and her husband before their union, remember the first time that you meet with her in company to exclaim, "My dear Mrs. Lively, how do you find yourself! I declare it is a complete age since I had the pleasure of seeing you last. How have you left all our friends in Cheltenham? On my word the waters seem to have agreed with you: I never saw you look younger in my life: indeed, my dear, you might pass for a girl of eighteen." The conversation having thus turned upon her age, you may very naturally ask in the way of discourse how long she has been married, and the answer may probably be, two years. "Lord bless me, Mrs. Lively, only two years! Why your eldest boy seems only to be four years old!" If the lady be conscious of any ill report, though she may be innocent, it is probable that this observation will cause her to blush, which will immediately confirm all present in your suspicions. If, however, the lady should not be of a blushing disposition, you must laugh heartily at the idea, and compliment the little boy on his looks. Should she be bold enough to join with you in this kind of merriment, the moment she leaves the room, you may convince the company that your notion of the circumstance was correct, by many arguments and protestations, remarking as a most undeniable proof, "Did not you observe, how she attempted to laugh it off?"

— The Scourge: or, Monthly expositor of imposture and folly. October 1, 1816. pp. 270-3.

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THE RULES and VARIETIES of FEMALE SCANDAL.

I believe it is generally admitted that the ladies are vastly superior to the other portion of mankind in the practice of insincerity in conversation, whether in the more perplexing affairs of lover or in the common occurrences of life. Indeed, whatever may be their neglect in the studies of the learned languages, or the historians of their own or other countries, we cannot but admire the assiduity and perseverance with which they cultivate this enchanting art. On a topic so congenial they display an assiduity and perseverance of investigation that would do honor to the first mathematicians and philosophers of the age. One might imagine that they were afraid the harmony of their tones, their wit, their eloquence, and their brilliant liveliness of conversation, might be entirely lost upon their admirers, if they told them the plain truth; and I cannot but fancy that those admirers do actually give them credit for falsehood since the custom was introduced. If a lady should chance to be candid, she would entertain the same hope of being believed as the fox in his declining years who declared that he intended to reform.

Mr. Tattle, in the comedy of Love for Love, instructing a young lady in the forms of courtship, desired her to deny that she loved him, "else he should not care a fig for her in a moment." And to the question "what, must I lie then?" he answers, "yes, if you will be well-bred: all well-bred persons lie; besides, you are a woman. You should never speak what you think; your words must contradict your thoughts, but your actions may contradict your words. So when I ask you if you can love me, you must say no! But you must love me too. If I tell you that you are handsome, you must deny it, and say I flatter you: but you must think yourself more charming than I speak you, and like me for the beauty which I say you have, as much as if I had it myself. If I ask you to kiss me, you must be angry, but must not refuse me: if I ask you for more, you must be more angry but more complying; and as soon as ever I make you say you'll cry out, you must be sure to hold your tongue."

The origin of this inclination to deceit, so prevalent among ladies in love affairs, puzzled me extremely, until the other day in turning over the leaves of that celebrated work, the history of Joseph Andrews, I met with the following passage;

"Thou wilt not (says Fielding) be angry with the beautiful creatures, when thou hast considered that at the age of seven or something earlier, Miss is instructed by her mother that Master is a very monstrous kind of animal, who, if she suffers him to come too near her, will eat her up and grind her to pieces; that so far from kissing and toying with [him] of her own accord, she must not admit him to kiss or toy with her; and lastly, she must never have any affection towards him, for if she should, all her friends in petticoats would esteem her a traitress, point at her, and hunt her out of their society. These impressions being first received, are further and deeper inculcated by their school-mistresses and companions, so that by the age of ten, they have contracted such a dread of the above-mentioned monster, that whenever they see him, they fly from him as the innocent hare doth from the greyhound. Hence to the age of fourteen or fifteen they entertain a mighty antipathy to Master. They resolve, and frequently profess, that they never will have any commerce with him, and entertain fond hopes of passing their lives out of his reach: of the possibility of which they have so visible an example in their good maiden aunt. But when they arrive at this period, and have now passed their second climacteric, when their wisdom grown riper begins to see a little further, and almost daily falling in Master's way, to apprehend the difficulty of keeping out of it; and when they observe him to look at them often, and sometimes very eagerly and earnestly too, (for the monster seldom takes notice of them till at this age) they then begin to think of their danger, and as they perceive they cannot easily avoid him, the wiser part begin to think of providing by other means for their security. They endeavour by all the methods they can invent, to render themselves so amiable in his eyes, that he may have no inclination to hurt them: in which they generally succeed so well, that his eyes by frequent languishing soon lessen their idea of his fierceness, and so far abate their fears, that they venture to parley with him: and when they perceive him so different from what he hath been described, all gentleness, softness, kindness, tenderness, and fondness, their dreadful apprehensions vanish in a moment, and now (it being usual in the human mind to skip from one extreme to its opposite, as easily, and almost as suddenly, as a bird from one bough to another) love instantly succeeds to fear; but as it happens to persons, who have in their infancy been thoroughly frightened with certain no-persons called ghosts, that they retain their dread of those beings after they are convinced there are no such things: so these young ladies, though they no longer apprehend devouring, cannot so entirely shake off all that hath been instilled into them. They still entertain the idea of that censure which was so strongly imprinted on their tender minds, to which the declarations of abhorrence they every day fear from their companions, greatly contribute. To avoid this censure, therefore, is now their only care: for which purpose, they still pretend the same aversion to the monster, and the more they love him, the more ardently they counterfeit the antipathy. By the continual and constant practice of which deceit on others, they at length impose on themselves, and really believe they hate what they love."

— The Scourge: or, Monthly expositor of imposture and folly. October 1, 1816. p. 266-8.

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best traits to give your characters

passively suicidal

premature ejaculation

erectile dysfunction

vaginismus

cries during sex

cries after sex

hates sex

actively suicidal

full bush AND hairy pits

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like there are things about heterosexuality you can only learn by taking the fantasies that grow up around it to support it, compensate for it, mythologize it, naturalize it, justify it, enjoy it, luxuriate in it, play with it, make sense of it, cope with it, make an escape valve for resentment against it. insert any social process here. and of course those fantasies are often pretty boring. in the mean sexual fantasy is an area of mental life that is as tedious and repetitive as it is fascinating and endless. but the very recursive nature is where meaning lies!