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elwing · 10 months
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Costume. Chitons.
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elwing · 1 year
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Ironborn fanfics I think some people could like
Yeah, I like Theon, he is my favourite, but I like his batshit crazy family too and I like Asha's collection of soy boys and I also like the mute tree hugger and I like the culture and history built around the iron islands which is, in my often misguided and biased opinion, a very conflicting and interesting (although underwritten) representation of cultural change and the challenges of progress (not always a good thing) in marginalised communities that try to cling to their heritage even if they are aware of the outdated, unjust and inconvenient aspects of it.
Add stuff (your stuff too.) if you have any good fics with less than 100 kudos on AO3 or fics that can't be found on AO3. It doesn't have to be exclusively about Ironborn characters, but it has to majorly include them.
Stuff that can be triggering is marked down in red and I tried to be careful about that. If I still forgot about anything, please let me know and I'll edit this.
Homecoming, Aeron Greyjoy Poem, Aeron x Euron, repressed memories, implied incest, implied rape
Pounds like his heart trying to crack through his ribs Pounds like the waves far over his head Pounds like his lungs when they shrieked for air But received only the caress of the sea
Pidgin of Gestures, Wex & Theon, Wex Pyke POV, character study, implied torture and rape, mentioned Ramsay
But it must have been more than a year, because his lord seems like an old man now. Bent and cowering, the hood of his cloak nearly swallows him. Only a lined and harrowed face peaks from the shadow. Chains clink around his ankles and his gloveless hands. There are fingers missing, two that Wex can see. His lord's hobbling gait indicates other injuries hidden beneath his roughspun cloak. Shock white hair toys about his face giving him a ghostly appearance. He looks like that awful white tree, Wex thinks. Those terrible northern totems carved with the anguished face of their gods.
The Fable Is Inverted, Asha x Qarl, 50 sentence prompts, rough sexual content
A thrall crosses towards him on the walk to say that lady Asha has no desire to see him this evening, and Qarl rankles that she couldn't even come to tell him herself, that she sent a servant to do her dirty work; he crushes a feather he kept from her raven under his fist, knowing it's an added slight at his expense.
A mother's love, Alannys & Theon, madness, infanticide
Theon had been gone for a week when it hit her. Balon had bastard sons. Her son was his heir now, a royal hostage in lieu of his good behavior, panic began to set into her mind as she feared that Balon would rebel again and she would lose her son and some other would replace him. And something inside her snapped. She would and could not stand for it.
Offerings, Asha & Theon, kid fic, worldbuilding, religion
Asha rolled her eyes, but resisted the temptation of saying whatever she was thinking. "And our brother had given you his flesh and bone…"  "Let's not say that yet," he whispered. "We don't know for sure." He didn't want to think yet that the last time he would ever talk to Rodrik had ended running to his room crying as his brother cursed him out of his ship because he had been too drink to Remember when he promise he could have a look.
All that I can do, Asha & Alannys, mild Asha & Theon, mild Alannys & Theon, angst, mental illness
She’d brought him back, she and Qarl, in the aftermath, but there was little left. In that way, he was of a pair with her mother, frail and bent, her filmy eyes staring at the sea from her narrow window, her hair spidery and winter white, her voice dried to a whisper. She had never been strong as Iron women must be, but it seemed to Asha that she faded more and more as the years passed, until now she was almost an afterthought. 
Smile For Me, Theon & Dagmer, past abuse
You think I was born with my jaw like this, lad? You think I shouldn't smile?" "No, I love your smile." "Exactly. Smile for me, Theon Shatterteeth." 
And every day we look out at the sea, Asha & Balon, family dynamics, loss
He rests his hand on her shoulder more after Theon left. They had watched from the stony crags along all of Pyke as Lord Eddard Stark had led the boy away, watched as her brother kept looking over his shoulder and rubbing the sleeve of his tunic across his face. From the wails of their lady mother just a few feet away, one might think that the Northern lord was frogmarching the ten year old to a wooden block, already drawing that monstrous sword from it's sheath and announcing that Balon Greyjoy would have no more heirs. But he isn't. He isn't killing Theon, just taking him. They watch as the foreign ships depart from the harbor and set sail, and it strikes Asha that maybe the Starks are a little Iron Born themselves, reaving Pyke and stealing the riches that were the last living boy. 
i will stay forever here, i'll wait for your love, Asha & Theon, mild Asha & Alannys, mild Asha & Balon, mild Asha & Theon
The Drowned God kisses you, child. Every time you run into the sea, he welcomes you to swim in it; to splash and play like you were nothing but a flat chested brat. When you drown, he will welcome you into his watery hall with open arms. But not - His hand tightened, fingers digging into the flesh of her cheeks when she began to struggle against him. - not your brother. His tone brooked no argument. Forget him. He may not die, but he is dead.
Hungry mild Theon & Ramsay, self-cannibalism
"They will not eat me, I eat me" he whispered into the deep dark, bursting into mad laughter, hoarse, which dated back along his throat like an explosion of sick madness. 
seaward on the waves, Theon & Jeyne, open ending, inspired by a poem, hopeful
It’s just a matter of one foot in front of the other. The waves lap at his ankles, cold and bone-chilly, resonating within him like a long-forgotten song, and he finds he still knows the words. The wind weaves strands of salt into the air and it feels like home, in a way, the beach, the sea, the water. Her hand is small and cold in his maimed one, but that, too, feels like home.
Forgotten boy, Wex & Podrik, friendship, mild violence, ableism
He forced himself to look at him as he spoke. He'd never had many friends, and those he counted as such wouldn't have counted him. He wasn't sure if Wex was his friend. They were nearly the same age, yes, but Wex seemed almost like an old man sometimes. He had the eyes of someone who had seen much more than he should have in his lifetime and he found it difficult to meet those eyes. Talk to him. He is in pain, help him forget. "Do...do you think it's true? About the dragons, I mean." Wex looked at him, seemingly unaware of his presence until now. He pursed his lips in a frown, thought for a moment, then scoffed, a dubious look apathy plastered across his sharp features.
The Northern, Qarl x Tris, minor Qarl x Asha, minor one-sided Tris x Asha, forced bonding, sexual content
“You're just a boy.” He repeats, shaking his head sympathetically. “You've never even had a woman.” “How do you know that?” Tris stammers, as Qarl's whole hand wraps around him. “How do you think?” The fact Asha doesn't treat his secrets with much reverence doesn't entirely surprise him. He just takes some comfort in the assumption she'd probably never tell anyone else.
Queen of Salt and Rock, Asha & Aeron, post-canon, character study
She realised suddenly that she was not alone anymore, and when she turned she saw a gaunt figure in torn robes by the door. The Damphair looked even worse than the last time she had seen him, at the Kingsmoot, bony and older than his years – for a moment the thought reminded her of her little brother when she had found him all those months ago, but there was an unbroken strength and determination in Aeron's eyes that had long left Theon's, even before they closed one last time.
Lord Reaver, Balon & Quellon, Balon & his brothers, pre-canon, character study
“Bless him with salt, bless him with stone, bless him with steel,” they chanted. Balon’s gaze never left his father’s body. He could sense his brothers’ presence behind him, Victarion at his right, face grave as befitting the occasion, Euron’s quirked in what might almost be a smile, and Aeron distracted, likely by the drink that was his steady companion. But he did not think long on them. His concerns were twofold: the saltstone chair, which he must claim by right of duty and honor, and a growing resentment, that he had never really been without, for the people who had put him in this position.  Greenlander dogs who sat soft and pretty in their castles, watching their gold grow unchecked by dint of others’ labors, birthing generation after generation of more lords who would slip easily into their inherited state as though it were an embroidered doublet…
remember your name (it is still the same), Theon & Drowned God, Theon & The Seven, Theon & R'hllor, magical realism, mild psychological horror
With another wracking cough, the Drowned God started his story, his voice slow and calm. “He has to remember, the young man thinks. He has to. It's important, he knows it is, but he's just barely hanging on by the tips of his fingers, so close to losing what he knows, what he loves, who he is. (But he's a liar, no one remembers him or loves him or cares about who he is.) The rats don't know his name. Neither should he. That name belonged to someone else, someone without fear, without distrust, without everything he is, has become. (He's lying again. That name is a traitor, a turncloak – a good for nothing son and leader. That name is someone – someone else – and he is nobody.) “What a gloomy story,” the man in the red robes interrupted. “Don't you know any uplifting ones?”
Soulless, Aeron & Greyjoys, character study, pre-canon, Aeron x Euron, graphic depictions of violence, major character death, rape/non-con, underage
“Catch it, Urri!” He is spinning the axes as though they were mere sticks, and that is what he spent most of the summer doing, hands fumbling with driftwood that he’d carved to resemble the deadly weapons, choosing the weightier pieces to simulate the feel of steel blades and leather bindings and heavy pine handles. Aeron had fancied impressing them all with his skills, had imagined himself the envy of his brothers with his fearless and flashy fingerdance. Perhaps even old Quellon might crack a smile when he returned from war, he’d thought, his own eyes crinkling in amusement at the thought of his father’s hardened expression breaking into mirth. 
(Nameless Tumblr Drabble), Dagmer x Alannys, extramarital affair
Theon was simply too young for his father to notice, but perhaps that was best, Alannys mused sometimes, as he took more after Maron than Rodrik. Dagmer treated him as though he was his own, favored him. It warmed Alannys' heart.
The ruin of my house, Victarion & Euron, Victarion & Aeron, graphic descriptions of violence, major character death
“Aeron Greyjoy is the godliest man on the Iron Islands,” Victarion said. “No one has done more to serve our god, or to honor our ways. What crime could he have possibly committed?” Euron laughed mockingly at this too, but at close range, Victarion could see that his blue eye gleamed like ice. There was no mirth here, only cruelty and madness. 
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elwing · 1 year
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Hi here’s another list of things I’ve read that are really important to me, on the loose theme of ‘fantasy urbanism.’ I still haven’t read Dhalgren.
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. This is the most essential thing to read if you are even tangentially interested in anything about this list i think. Revelatory to me as a pulpy-literalistic fantasist.
Imaginary Cities by Darran Anderson. Inspired by the Calvino book, an enormous overview of planned or dreamed cities that were never built.
Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Gorodischer. Some of my favorite secondary-world fiction I have ever read. Short stories from the history of an empire at the ludicrous extreme of size, depth, history. The English edition was translated by Ursula K. Le Guin who is my favorite.
A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar. Beautiful book and deals with an invented setting and urban spaces with a more densely intellectual approach than I have ever seen.
Delirious New York by Rem Koolhaas. An architectural history and “retroactive manifesto” for Manhattan, but some of the most interesting bits are about Coney Island in particular. Huge futuristic conflicts underlie every modern city.
The City & the City by China Miéville. This isn’t a lot of people’s favorites of his because its fantastic elements aren’t the loudest, but it’s so smart and bewildering and develops an allegory for emergent social strata in urban spaces that is really compelling.
The Event Factory by Renee Gladman. Just finished this; it feels loose and dreamlike and engages very clearly with real feelings of exploring new spaces, radically repurposing urban environments…
Country of Ghosts by Margaret Killjoy. Not as totally concerned with cities as the rest of the list, but a really exciting and unusual example of worldbuilding from an intentionally political/utopian perspective.
Surregional Explorations by Max Cafard. The first few essays in this book deal with Surrealist and Situationist approaches to urban space and the unconscious of cities; it’s a weird jumbled book but I liked it
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elwing · 1 year
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Chinese Ethnic Minority Literature
I just finished taking an incredibly eye-opening class about Chinese ethnic minority literature. China has a thriving minority literature scene, and it's absolutely fascinating and full of interesting works, so I wanted to share some of the authors that I learned about this semester! This is, obviously, an incomplete list-- it's pretty heavily biased towards what we read about in class, and there's probably a lot I've missed!
For any authors with full works that have been translated into English, I've listed it under their names. Some other authors may also have poems or short stories published in translation online or in anthologies.
Hani 哈尼
Mo Du 莫獨 (b. 1963) - poems
Hui 回族
Huo Da 霍達 (b. 1945) - novels
The Jade King: History of a Chinese Muslim Family (1992)
Zhang Chengzhi 張承志 (b. 1948) -novels, short stories
The Black Steed (1990)
Korean 朝鮮族
Jin Renshun 金仁順 (b. 1970) - novels, short stories
Jin Wenxue 金文學 (b. 1962) - novels
Manchu 滿族
Duanmu Hongliang 端木蕻良 (1912-1996)
Lao She 老舍 (1899-1966) - novels, short stories, plays
Rickshaw Boy (1945, 2010)
Miao (Hmong) 苗族
He Xiaozhu 何小竹 (b. 1963) - poems, novels
Shen Congwen* 沈從文 (1902-1988) - novels, short stories
Imperfect Paradise (1995)
Border Town (2009)
Mongolian 蒙古族
Altai 阿爾泰 (b. 1949) - poems
Bao Liying 包麗英 (b. 1968) - novels
Baoyinhexige 寶音賀希格 - poems
Chen Ganglong 陳崗龍 (b. 1970) - poems
Guo Xuebo 郭雪波 (b. 1948) - novels, short stories
The Desert Wolf (1996)
Malaqinfu 瑪拉沁夫 (b. 1930)- novels
Naxi 納西族
Sha Li 沙蠡 (1953-2008) - novels
Yang Zhengwen 楊正文 (b. 1943) - novels
Qiang 羌族
Qiang Renliu 羌人六 (b. 1987) - poems
Yangzi/Yang Guoqing 羊子/楊國慶 - poems
Tibetan 藏族
Alai 阿來 (b. 1959) - novels, short stories
Red Poppies (2003)
The Song of King Gesar (2013)
Tashi Dawa 扎西達娃 (b. 1959) - novels, short stories
A Soul in Bondage: Stories from Tibet (1992)
Yangdron 央珍 (b. 1963) - novels
Uyghur 維吾爾族
Alat Asem 阿拉提·阿斯木 (b. 1958) - novels, short stories
Confessions of a Jade Lord (2019)
Wa/Va 佤族
Burao Yilu 布饒依露 - poems
Yi 彝族
Aku Wuwu 阿庫烏霧 (b. 1964) - poems, essays
Tiger Traces: Selected Nuosu and Chinese Poetry of Aku Wuwu (2006)
Coyote Traces: Aku Wuwu's Poetic Sojourn in America (2015)
Bamo Qubumo 巴莫曲佈嫫 (b. 1964) - poems, academic articles
Eni Mushasijia 俄尼·牧莎斯加 (b. 1970) - poems
Jidi Majia 吉狄馬加 (b. 1961) - poems
I, Snow Leopard (2016)
Words from the Fire: Poems by Jidi Majia (2018)
Jimu Langge 吉木狼格 (b. 1963) - poems
Lu Juan 魯娟 (b. 1982) - poems
Ma Deqing 馬德清 (1952-2013) - poems, novels
Na Zhangyuan 納張元 (b. 1966) - essays
*Shen has both Miao and Tujia ancestry, as well as Han. However, I see him listed most frequently as Miao.
More Resources on Ethnic Minority Literature:
Altaic Storytelling: The blog of translator Bruce Humes (translator of Confessions of a Jade Lord, among other works). Has a fairly broad focus, but he's written a lot about ethnic minorities.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Ethnic Literature: China has a thriving infrastructure to support the writing of and research into ethnic minority literature, and this is one of the larger institutions. I believe their research focuses more on oral traditions, but they have some information about contemporary writers as well.
Chinese Women Writers on the Environment: An anthology of eco-fiction by female ethnic minority writers.
Golden Horse Award 駿馬獎: This is an annual award for ethnic minority literature. The wikipedia link lists all the previous winners.
The Leeds Center for New Chinese Writing: Again not specific to ethnic minorities, but features several ethnic minority authors.
Paper Republic: This organization is devoted to translated Chinese writing and isn't specific to ethnic minority literature but has information about and translations of some of the writers on this list.
Poetry International: This website isn't specific to ethnic minorities or even to China, but many of the poets on this list have pages there with a few poems translated into English.
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elwing · 1 year
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i rearranged my playlist of french songs from the first half of the 19th century:
political songs, in chronological order
military songs, in chronological order
sea shanties 
nursery rhymes/children songs/very famous and popular tunes recycled for other songs
folk
romances
bourgeois songs (song writers, vaudevilles, etc.)
drinking songs
bawdy songs 
the oldest recorded sound (incidentally a traditional song)
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elwing · 1 year
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“I want horror lesbians” I say. “Have you seen Bly Manor/Fear Street?” you ask me. Yes I have. I don’t want a sweet sapphic love story as a ray of hope in a horror show. I want monstrous women with Hannigram-esque toxic codependency and knife play and blood over their hands. I want women who poison each other and women who haunt each other. I want lesbian monsters and lesbian vampires and lesbian serial killers. I want body horror and grotesque sapphic imagery. I want them sexual and depraved and hungry. Hope this clears it up <3
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elwing · 1 year
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Books Recs Written by Mexican Women
Here’s a continuation to this post about Hispanic Dark Academia Book Recs because I have to produce the content I want to see, I guess, and if I don’t talk about Mexican literature who the hell will. With PDFs included in both languages that took me so long to find. 
The Houseguest by Amparo Dávila: Amparo Dávila was one of Mexico’s best writers of the 20th century, and won the Xavier Villaurrutia, one of the countries biggest and most important literature annual prizes. Her writing style can be compared to Shirley Jackson’s, whom I also love. I personally recommend reading The Houseguest/El huésped, which is one of my favorite stories ever and is a horror story. The version in Spanish can be found here. 
The Body Where I Was Born by Guadalupe Nettel: Tells the intimate story about a girl who was born with vision defect and how she navigates living in Latin America in the 70s. A very acclaimed novel about identity. 
Historia de Mariquita by Guadalupe Dueñas: I couldn’t find a translation of this one, but most people that follow this blog know or are studying Spanish, so here’s the link for the short story in Spanish. 
Hurricane Season or Temporada de Huracanes by Fernanda Melchor: Also considered one of the country’s best book from the last decade, that explores violence and sexism in México centered around a supernatural event from a female perspective. Here’s the PDF in Spanish. 
Recollections of Things to Come or Los recuerdos del porvenir by Elena Garro: There was a controversy a few years back when a book about Elena Garro was re-edited and published and she was introduced as “Octavio Paz’s wife”, who was also another very important Mexican writer (as a personal note, I think his literature should be read and is very significant to Mexican identity, but it also very sexist, so be prepared for that). The outrage caused by the diminishment of this woman’s accomplishments caused a resurgence of Mexican books written by women. I really really recommend her. Here’s the PDF in Spanish. 
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elwing · 1 year
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i’m always looking for theon fic to read; please share with me niche theon fic that is set in asoiaf book canon. with niche i mean the kind of fic that has, say <100 kudos, that i won’t find by sorting by kudos. no modern aus, no show fic. preferably post ramsay or including some of that though that’s not a must. 
i’ll start:
Crow and the Sea, by emmaliza (Bran watches Theon and tries to make sense of what he sees.)
Monsters and Maidens, by SelkieWife (missing scene in ADWD where Theon meets with Abel.)
creatures lurk below the deck, by nonexistentwench (both surviving Greyjoy children are taken as hostage to Winterfell. Theon & Asha kidfic.)
Take My Hand as the Sun Descends, by MymbleHowl (set some undefined time but probably at least a decade or so in the future, Theon and Jeyne meet again. Explicit Theon/Jeyne; give it a chance even if the thought of that usually doesn’t work for you; it’s excellent.)
all us kids, knee deep in dirt, by vivacissimo (Theon succeeds in escaping the Dreadford and seeks refuge at the wall, where he meets Jon.)
the nightmare (touched its forehead to my lips), by vivacissimo (2 trauma-heavy and beautiful character study-ish pieces for Theon.)
ten steps back (one step forward), by congratsyouvegrownasoul (Theon and Jeyne after the wedding night from a Jeyne POV.)
all the lives we ever lived (and all the lives to be), by congratsyouvegrownasoul (post-everything dreamy imagination of Theon & family surviving on the Iron Islands.) 
to a better place, by loserrobin (post-ADWD Jeyne and Theon escaping, probably.)
a cold like fire, a burn without heat, by coaldustcanary (post-ADWD; a surviving Loras and Theon meet.)
Bad Blood and Burned Castles, by agiaoftyrosh (a Domeric/Theon where a survived & non-evil Domeric comes back early and takes charge of the Dreadfort over Ramsay, inheriting the captive Theon.)
The Light in Me Will Guide You Home, by libraryseraph (Asha&Theon post-ADWD hurt/comfort bath scene.)
The Price of Loyalty, by Alley_Skywalker (good/effective inversion of Theon/Robb guilt.)
I Wait, Staring At The Northern Star (I’m Afraid It Won’t Lead Me Anywhere), by GlassBeatles (post-ADWD Theon and Palla meeting, exteremely uncomfortable.)
the hand that feeds, by fleshfeel (a thramsay meaning a graphic depiction of Ramsay’s abuse of Theon; disgusting and does good things about power and perception.)
Good news and bad news, by zmeischa (interesting little post-ADWD Theon/Margaery crack I wished to learn more about.)
Take Me Under by Mis_Shapes (for something more light-hearted, a Patrek/Theon during Theon’s two weeks of happiness in his sad life.)
Madman in the Snows, by Florentium (post-ADWD Theon/Satin scene with feelings.)
Between Two Lungs, by Attaining (another post-ADWD pre-Theon/Satin.)
I know my kingdom awaits, by nonexistentwench (still updating longfic kidfic AU where Theon escapes Winterfell and comes back to the Iron Islands.) 
indulging in a little self-plug: A Righteous Quest (Jeyne and Theon get rescued by Brienne and Pod) & An Envoy’s Journey (sent to take Moat Cailin for Ramsay Theon finds Trist Botley there)
please add more! as you can see from this selection i like uncomfy gen the most, but i’m open to really all scenarios & ships & ratings. just make sure it’s a) set in book canon b) has less than 100 kudos. thank you!!
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elwing · 1 year
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cannot stop thinking abt the paris review’s essay series on the history & significance of certain colours, hue’s hue:
Periwinkle, the Color of Poison, Modernism, and Dusk
Eau de Nil, the Light-Green Color of Egypt-Obsessed Europe
Marian Blue, the Color of Angels, Virgins, and Other Untouchable Things
Incarnadine, the Bloody Red of Fashionable Cosmetics and Shakespearean Poetics
Jonquil, the Light Yellow of Early Flowers, Mad Painters, and Dust Bowl–Era Pottery
Scheele’s Green, the Color of Fake Foliage and Death
Lilac, the Color of Half Mourning, Doomed Hotels, and Fashionable Feelings
Hooker’s Green: The Color of Apple Trees and Envy
Blaze Orange, the Color of Fear, Warnings, and the Artificial
Chartreuse, the Color of Elixirs, Flappers, and Alternate Realities
Living Coral, the Brutal Hue of Climate Change and Brand New iPhones
Mustard, the Color of Millennial Candidates, Problematic Lattes, and Aboriginal Paintings
Russet, the Color of Peasants, Fox Fur, and Penance
Verdigris: The Color of Oxidation, Statues, and Impermanence
(also, tag yourselves, i’m russet)
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elwing · 1 year
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Varied polychrome reconstructions of Statue of Thalia, Greek Muse of Comedy. 2nd BCE, Delos. Reconstructions by the Liebieghaus Polychromy Research Project.
(read more)
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elwing · 2 years
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As it’s Mid-Autumn Festival, here is a science fiction take on the legend of Chang E from my favourite Southeast Asian Chinese author, Zen Cho.
This short story is free to read at the link!
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elwing · 2 years
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great interview, highly recommend
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elwing · 2 years
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youtube
this one was very fun
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elwing · 2 years
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elwing · 2 years
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Radio plays
Can you recommend any sources for radio plays? In the late 80s, there was a show called LA Dramatique de Minuit. Monday through Friday from 11:30 PM to midnight. Each week two actors would perform 5 different half-hour radio plays. One each night. I loved that show when I was studying in France. Is there anything like that now accessible via the internet?
*
Nuits noires - France Inter (2010s): detective stories (45mn)
Playlist Fictions enfantines - France Inter (2010-)
57, rue de Varenne - France Inter (2014/2020, 5 seasons): the daily life of a prime minister (24mn)
Signé Furax - RTF/Europe 1 (50s): Detectives Black and White fight against an evil genius, the dreaded criminal Edmond Furax, as well as a shadowy organization, the "Babus" (8mn)
Bons baisers de partout (60s/70s, from the same people) parody of spy/James Bond movies (60mn)
Les maîtres du mystère - France Inter (52/65): adaptation of spooky stories - Christie, Doyle, Poe, etc. (55mn) then turned into Mystère mystère (50mn) and L'heure du mystère (55mn) in 65/74.
Le mystérieux Docteur Cornélius - France Culture (77/78): the clash of two characters and antagonistic conceptions of the world: one, the debonair French scientist Prosper Bondonnat, whose research is directed with the sole aim of adding a stone to the "radiant edifice of modernity", the other, by the evil Dr. Cornelius Kramm, an American plastic surgeon, inventor of "carnoplasty" (a process that allows giving an individual the appearance of another), obsessed with power and money. (29mn)
youtube
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elwing · 2 years
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Gown with cape by Mariano Fortuny, 1910
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elwing · 2 years
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You will misunderstand the economic history of white supremacy in America if you’re under the impression that convict labor (the “except as punishment for a crime” bit of the 13th Amendment) was how the plantation economy of the South continued after the official abolition of slavery. It mainly wasn’t. Convict labor was always only a relatively small sector of the Southern economy. 
The vast majority of freed slaves became sharecroppers and tenant farmers on white-owned land. This was the real basis of the continuation of the slave-based Southern agrarian economy. And though many of the most egregious elements of slavery were now mostly gone (the whip, the overseers, the legal inability to leave), the basic slave-plantation economy was still intact as these black farm laborers now basically worked for the same “wages” as they had as slaves. Landowners would sell a few basic living essentials like food, clothing, and heating oil to the laborers on credit, and at harvest time, the sharecroppers’ or tenant farmers’ “earnings” from their crop would be used to pay off their debt to the landowner, usually leaving them at zero, or even still in the red, indebted to the landowner. From a financial standpoint, this was hardly any different than slaves working and receiving zero wages besides those same basic living essentials from the slave master.
Forced convict labor existed in all of this, and was used to keep many black people involved in more obvious slavery (complete with the chains, the overseers, and even the whip), but the convict-leasing system and the state-run plantations run by prison labor did not constitute the majority of the Southern economy, neither in terms of the percentage of the population involved nor in economic output.
To this day, prison labor in the US only constitutes a small fraction of the economy, and is not in any way profitable. The companies that use prison labor are able to profit because they don’t have to pay any of the living costs of the prisoners, nor the costs of incarcerating them, as the state pays for all that. The amount of money the state has to spend incarcerating people dwarfs the amount of revenue there is to be gained from exploiting prison labor. It is generally a net loss for the overall economy. Even in cases where the state saves money by using cheap prison labor to replace expensive free labor (like California’s firefighters), this is simply them attempting to recoup some of the cost they spend incarcerating those workers in the first place. Whether the state uses prisoners as firefighters or not, it costs them the same amount of money to lock those people up, it’s a sunk cost. So they figure they might as well try to save some money on their fire-fighting budget by employing prisoners at $2 an hour instead of free labor at $40/hr.
Prison labor cannot in any way be described as the basis of the US economy, and it cannot grow to become one either. It is unproductive. Incarceration loses more revenue than it generates. The prison-industrial complex is a parasitic tumor on the economy. It does not constitute the economic logic of white supremacy. The US carceral system needs to be understood as an apparatus of state terror, not of economic production. Its purpose is to discipline and intimidate, not to produce. Its purpose in the structure of white supremacy in America is not for the exploitation of black labor. If that were its purpose, it does so incredibly inefficiently, spending more money than it earns. Its purpose in the structure of white supremacy is for terrorizing and disciplining the black population, breaking urban black political power, and strengthening rural political representation. 
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