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fictionadventurer · 2 months
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One mildly chilly day in August and suddenly I want to read every Victorian novel in existence.
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p-clodius-pulcher · 4 months
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Sexual violence and exploitation are inherent to imperialism and any discussion of imperialism that shies away from these subjects is disingenuous and flawed. I know lots of people on this site (myself included) engage with Ancient Rome and its history as a hobby, but that is not an excuse to not be aware or willing to discuss the unsavoury parts of its existence and legacy.
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theosphobia · 3 months
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Which game armour do yall think fits certain characters best...
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annafromuni · 7 months
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The Aotearoa New Zealand Readathon Part Two
Aotearoa NZ Readathon is still alive and kicking and with ten days left in February, I have a few more books to add to my list. Above, we have Cousins by Patricia Grace but I’ll actually be reading her new short story collection Bird Child and other stories which I am very excited to get my hands on. I seem to have several short story collections on my library requests list which will be a nice…
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crymeariveronceagain · 5 months
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"She's a hack," I said. "She's not even a hack. A hack can actually write a little bit." "Yeah, it's shit. I know that, but it sells. This is a business, Thelonious."
--- Erasure, by Percival Everett
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doomordestiny · 1 year
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my mcr interest has flared up again.
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madlovenovelist · 2 months
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Comments on Publishing in 2024
DISCUSSION POST: Is it worth getting traditionally published when the Publishing Houses aren’t effectively marketing you books anymore? Is self-publishing becoming the new norm? This discussion comes from a series of posts from Lili St. Crow, an author I’ve been following since I read her Strange Angel series around ten years ago. She’s been both traditionally published and self-published, and…
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davidarc · 5 months
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TCL's Tell Me Something Tuesday #TMST #9 & #LetsDiscuss2024 #5 - Find Me! - April 30, 2024.
TCL's Tell Me Something Tuesday #TMST #9 & #LetsDiscuss2024 #5 - Find Me! - April 30, 2024. Today I reveal my social media sites. Find out my answer on my #Tuesdaybookblog now! Thanks to Jen @Twimom227 for the #meme and the topic! @twimomjen
TMST is a weekly meme with optional participation hosted by Jen Twimom @ That’s What I’m Talking About. There isn’t a check in and she doesn’t have a linky (although you’ll find one at the bottom of this post for #LetsDiscuss2024). She does encourage you to leave a link to your post on her blog if you participate so she and others can find you! Jen sends out an email with the upcoming prompts…
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daniellethamasa · 5 months
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WIP Wednesday - April 17, 2024
Hey all, Sam here. Well, it has certainly been awhile since the last WIP Wednesday post popped up on this blog. I’m trying to work on getting back into a more consistent schedule, in terms of reading, writing, blogging, and just life in general. Obviously I can’t promise anything, but I’m trying to get things together. For the most part though, I think the WIP Wednesdays will be pretty easy to…
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novelstorian · 6 months
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NetGalley Has Some Exciting Titles | On The Shelf
Happy Thursday, friends!  On The Shelf is a new series on my blog where I would list the latest additions to my TBR (To-Be-Read pile)— on NetGalley, Kindle, or my physical bookshelf. I thought this would be a fun idea because I add lots of new books to my TBR/wishlist, new books that I had not heard of yet, and I love seeing what books other readers have discovered recently.  You can check out…
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It has been an astonishing 20 YEARS since Susanna Clarke first published her debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell on 8th September 2004.
To celebrate, we have planned a Readalong for old fans, those who have had it on their TBR pile for a while and haven't managed to get round to it, and for those who maybe haven't even heard of it yet.
The Readalong will start off on 2nd September 2024, with discussions taking place on the official discord for the chapters being each week. We also have groups on StoryGraph and Goodreads for those who would like to keep track in those places, which will be linked to closer to September.
We have broken the book down into chunks of roughly 70 pages per week, in the hopes that this is a fairly gentle reading pace to fit into your lives, as the book is a bit of a beast.
Please follow this blog for more information as we keep you updated!
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Kafkaesque
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Summary: On the flight back home, Spencer and Reader exchange books to read, and Spencer is surprised by your selection.
Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader
Category: Funny, fluff-ish
Content warnings: Franz Kafka (i like him but whatever)
Word count: 1k
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The team is on the jet heading back to Quantico after yet another successful case was solved. The tensions of a stressful arrest started to quell as only clusters of city light started to become their only view for the rest of the flight. Morgan has already passed out listening to music, taking up two seats for himself, while Hotch, Emily, Rossi, and J.J. stay occupied by playing poker. Their banter filled the cabin along with the sound of shuffling cards, and actual chips were exchanged instead of poker chips.
You and Spencer, on the other hand, decided this was the perfect time for reading. You had been discussing the idea of exchanging books to get each other’s opinion, since you two are the only consistent readers among your colleagues (and also because Spencer’s banned from playing poker for cheating (again)).
You only briefly got to start each other’s selection before landing, but now there was plenty of time to cross some of the short stories of Sherlock Holmes off your TBR. Considering you were reading in the same space, you expected this to be more of a challenge. Because Spencer is a fast reader. A notoriously fast reader. To the point where Hotch has prevented him from reading while questioning witnesses. The speed at which he combs through books knocks off their focus. You’ve seen it yourself, so much that it’s not as funny as it was when you started here.
Nevertheless, you explore the world of Sherlock Holmes. As you turned the pages, you marveled at the intricacies of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s storytelling. The deductive prowess of Holmes and the vivid depiction of Victorian London transport you to another time and place. Andrew Scott’s charismatic portrayal of Moriarty in the TV adaptation flickered through your mind, though you wisely kept that observation to yourself. Last time, Spencer gave a passionate lecture on the discrepancies between books and television adaptations, citing difference in attention spans, and you had no desire to open that can of worms again.
Amid the familiar hushed ambiance of the cabin, you felt a familiar sensation—the piercing gaze of someone fixated on you. It was a feeling you had grown accustomed to, whether it was the malevolent eyes of criminals from afar of the intense scrutiny across an interrogation table. You tore your attention away from the pages of your book to meet Spencer’s eyes. His expression was contemplative, yet he was less than a third through the book.
“Wanna trade already?” You asked, breaking the silence.
“No, no,” Spencer replied, his lips pursed as he continued to study you.
You raised a brow. “Any questions I could answer?”
“How did you come across him?” He held up your book, “The Complete Short Stories” by Franz Kafka.
“Oh,” you shrugged, “just those angsty high school years, you know?”
Spencer’s nose wrinkled at that. No, he, in fact, did not know what you meant. Because he wasn’t old enough to have angsty high school years. And if he did have any at all, they would have been during college—neither period of his life he cared to recall.
“You’ve seriously never picked up Franz Kafka?” You asked him. “You? Spencer Reid? The equivalent of a human encyclopedia?”
“Only some of his short stories were used for college lectures.”
“Okay.” You feigned a laugh. “So what’s the problem?”
“What was your childhood like, Y/N?”
Your face widened in shock before a sly smirk emerged. “Are you seriously profiling me because of my favorite author? That’s absurd!” The urge to playfully smack him surfaced, but the goodness of your heart made you resist (also because this isn’t your book you’re holding). “Kafka enthusiasts come in all forms, you know. Like everybody else.”
“He’s your favorite author?” Spencer chuckled, still very surprised.
You nodded. “And what about it?”
“You’re just so… happy all the time.”
You cocked your head to the side. A small laugh slipped out as you said, “Oh, I’m sorry, Dr. Reid. Should I have brought ‘The Adventures of Strawberry Shortcake’ to help maintain your image of me?”
“No! I mean…” Your shared laughter briefly interrupted his train of thought. “It’s just not what I expected from you.”
“Hm.” You settled back in your seat, opening the book to where your thumb rested between the pages. “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.” You’re ready to get back to reading, but you still look at Spencer.
His eyes sparkled, and the curiosity of something becoming more complex than intended makes his brain run for miles. “Perhaps I don’t.”
As the jet continued its steady course back to Quantico, you and Spencer settled into cozy companionship, growing more familiar with each trip. The ambiance remained peaceful, with the faint hum of the engines serving as soothing background noise for your literary exploration.
You find yourself engrossed in the world of Sherlock Holmes once more, relishing in the intricate puzzles and razor-sharp deductions. Andrew Scott continued to dance in your mind from time to time, a testament to the power of well-crafted adaptations (excluding season four. You never told Spencer there was a fourth season).
You were also increasingly aware of Spencer’s presence beside you. Instead of the prickling sensation of having eyes on you, his knee brushed lightly against yours, sending tingles through your body, along with zero doubt it was accidental, considering this guy hesitates to shake hands. He still took the time to look at you after some moments of reading, as if he were deducing what certain Kafka works in that book could mean to you exactly. He flipped through the pages—actually reading—like he would find the answers.
You heard him swallow. “So, uh, why is he a roach in this one?”
“Because that’s how he feels.” You knocked your knee against him this time. “Just keep reading, Spencer. We’ll discuss it after.”
You watched him bite his lips closed as he tried to suppress a smile.
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florenceafternoon · 16 days
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━。゜✿ jily fic recommendations ✿ ゜。━
I've also seen a lot of people asking for 6/7th year jily so I tried to include some. These fics explore how much they've grown in that period between the end of school and the rising tensions of war.
Of course, I've also included fics with marauders shenanigans. As always, these fics are set in the wizarding world but aren’t necessarily canon complaints.
For reference, anything in italics is taken from the summaries.
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Death and Other Inconveniences by @asteriaem
When James Potter disappeared for ten days in the middle of the spring term of their fifth year, the whole school noticed. He buried his parents in a quiet ceremony and returned to school amid outrageous rumours.
When Lily Evans disappeared for three days before the Christmas holidays in sixth year, two people noticed. She found the house packed, a nasty note from her sister, and spent the rest of the holidays sleeping rough. Both are left grieving and angry at Hogwarts over the summer, with no where else to go and war raging around them. Really, how else could it have gone?
God where do I even start? This fic is incredibly well written; everything from how well-rounded and dynamic all the characters are to the dialogue and descriptions. For everyone tired of character deformation and would like to read a long-form that explores the turbulence of adolescence coupled with grief and the uncertainties of war this fic is for you. When I say I miss old jily, I mean this exact era of characterisation.
Notes by @scriibble-fics
On an ordinary Tuesday in October of 1975, James Potter passes Lily Evans a note. She has no way of knowing it, of course, but it’s the first note of thousands that will pass between them in the years to come.
Head of House by SwissCheesePlant
The consequences of Sirius and James pretending to be boyfriends weren't supposed to come to a head during a convoluted and unnecessarily kinetic drinking game... but such is life.
As If By Magic by @annabtg
Lily Evans, Head Girl, is starting her seventh year at Hogwarts. Alongside her, Head Boy James Potter, who has always had a crush on her yet has given up all hope of winning her over. But between working together, sharing fun times with friends and getting through the darker moments that come with living in an era of war, things between them are bound to change...
Questions and Answers by lizardcookie (on ao3)
The simple question of whether or not they're dating doesn't exactly have a simple answer (seventh Year jily).
Come Together by @thequibblah
It’s difficult to say when James and Lily took the first steps to love. Perhaps they had always been walking this road, unaware of the person they were walking towards until the mist cleared. They would fall in love eventually — but we would be remiss in ignoring the hiccups along the way.
Okay so confession, I haven’t read this but it's been on my TBR for ages and everyone's been recommending me to read it. Judging by other works by the same author that I have read, I can attest that Lily and James have always been well-written so I trust that this fic is no exception.
These next few fics are all by @gigglesandfreckles-hp because Abi's characterisations are perfect and there’s just something about her writing that transports me to the scene. This woman can make me laugh and cry and worry all in under three thousand words.
roots of memory
Lily frowns slightly, mulling it over. “I’m not really sure either,” she admits. “Honestly, don’t take this personally, but I don’t remember much about you in the first couple of years. I think I was too focused on trying to figure out school and magic and everything else.”
James clutches his chest in mock offence. “I’ll act like that didn’t just irreparably damage my soul.”
crafting chemistry
“Is there something that needs to be discussed between the three of us?” Minerva prompts, her eyes narrowing sharply.
Lily’s face betrays her first. A bright flush creeps slowly along her cheeks, blooming from her neck upward, as though her skin can’t hide the emotion simmering underneath. She keeps her eyes stubbornly trained on the far corner of the office, anywhere but James. Minerva notices James’s hand, the one that had been habitually running through his hair, freeze mid-motion, his fingers tightening slightly.
but we dream in the light (a continuation of one of my favourite fics)
“Lily Evans, we have got to stop meeting like this,” he grins.
She shakes her head, laughing. “Jesus Christ.”
James spins around dramatically. “Where?”
the dance of mischief and duty
Lily Evans is an infuriating mosaic of traits—beautiful and she knows it, captain of the House Quidditch team, and the loudest voice in nearly any room. She has this way of floating through the school, her laughter ringing out as she moves between corridors and classes, one arm usually slung around Sirius Black’s shoulder and the other gesticulating wildly as she spins tales of misadventure.
But she also sort of has a point, and that’s possibly the most infuriating part about her.
prompt: flip the script
my church offers no absolutes
She stares at him, her eyes the only ones open as the priest prays, but she can’t look away.
James Potter is here.
under the influence of loss
“Like what? You fancy me! Kiss me.”
Each time she says it, it’s like a new bruise blooms around his heart, her words pressing on all of them at once.
“I can’t!” he shouts, the frustration cracking through.
“Because I’ve been drinking?” she demands, a bitter laugh escaping her. “Your chivalry is duly noted, Potter, but I’m giving you a pass here. Just—”
“It’s not about that,” he interrupts.
You know what they say, you can tell who an author's favourite character is by how much they make them suffer
From the Edge by @maraudersftw
A three-hour-long detention. A barrage of unspilled words. A kiss that has remained unacknowledged. Until now.
That Summer by the_casual_author (on ao3)
In which James and Lily spend the summer in a house by the sea. (and fall in love in the process)
pleasant, poised, polite, professional by @ohmygodshesinsane
Lily Evans' journalism career is stagnating, and when Mumblemumps sweeps through the office, she couldn't be less pleased to be asked to cover the sports beat. James Potter, the captain of the Wimborne Wasps who is campaigning to win Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile, only seems to confirm her worst fears about athletes. Until.
If you enjoyed James' characterisation in James Potter Won't Go Quietly then you'll enjoy this
Fantasise also by @ /ohmygodshesinsane
When Lily ends up taking Veritaserum as part of one of Sirius' games, James finds that he really doesn't need to know any of the nitty-gritty details. Fate has other plans.
And James Potter also by @ /ohmygodshesinsane
The most unfortunate part about being one of the best students in the year, if you ask Lily Evans, is being forced to work alongside James Potter. The most fortunate part about being one of the best students in the year, if you ask James Potter, is getting opportunities to annoy Lily Evans. The fact of the matter is, that despite their both being talented, intelligent students with bright futures and burning competitive streaks, Lily and James will never get along. No matter how much others think they ought to.
Braid also by @ /ohmygodshesinsane
Sick and tired of revision, Lily gladly takes a distraction in the name of giving James Potter a helping hand.
Revenge Tastes Sweeter by @charmsandtealeaves
This by far had to be one of the more stupid things that Lily Evans had ever agreed to, and she’d gone along with a lot of her friends' bullshit ideas. She’d wanted to maintain her dignity in breaking up with her shit of an ex-boyfriend. However, fake dating James Potter hadn’t been in her grand plan of dignity. She’d merely been venting her frustrations to her dorm mates in the common room, she hadn’t expected advice and well… plotting. Though she should have expected better, these lot were always plotting something. Was it too late to just go with Dorcas’ “Stab him!” suggestion?
Simmer Until Ready by @kay-elle-cee
James Potter is not a healer. His is a potioneer—the Order of the Phoenix's lead potioneer, in fact. So when their top field fighter—Lily Evans—comes to him for treatment after a particularly rough mission, he helps the best way he knows how: a vial of freshly-brewed Skele-Gro and a dose of laughter.
Kels always writes the best order!jily
climb higher by penniesinthepool (on ao3)
It's been three (long) years since Lily and James have seen each other. Now, he's living out his dream playing Quidditch with Puddlemere United and she hers as an Auror.
They're happy. But fate (and annoying friends) works in funny ways, sometimes, and through a series of chance meetings, they begin to wonder if maybe, just maybe, they could be happier. My take on what would maybe happen in a universe where James wasn't Head Boy, taken to the extreme.
after O.W.L.s by @juniperpyre
a short snippet of James Potter's and Lily Evans' thoughts after their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L., and before the altercation with Severus Snape changes everything.
It was so close to going a better way
Haley's characterisations are always on point
”Just” Partners by @petalsthefish
James asks Lily what they are after a series of long and hidden snogs in dark corridors.
tied to you by @jjameslily
Lily’s foot sank into the damp earth as she stepped closer to the water’s edge. The lake mirrored the starry sky above, but something else caught her eye – a shape in the reflection.
James my sweet summer child, thank you for looking after her
Love for the Summer by @missgryffin
It's the summer after sixth year, Lily Evans is realizing she fancies James Potter, and James has Sirius Black's motorbike to thank for getting Lily out of the friend zone.
of hearts and keys by the_crownless_queen (on ao3)
In a world where magic means everyone can see your soul, Lily Evans wonders what it would feel like for someone she loves to open her heart.
Seven Years and Seventy More by surlybobbies (on ao3)
When James walked into the 7th year Gryffindor boys’ dormitory a few moonstruck minutes later, he found Sirius lying in bed with his hands folded across his stomach. “Been with Evans, then?” he asked, without lifting his head. There was a distinct note of disapproval in his voice.
James froze in the act of unwinding the scarf from his neck. “Er, yeah.”
“She doing well?” Remus asked from his bed, the closest one to the door. He had a book open on his lap but had lifted his gaze when James came in. His stare was steady and pleasant, but there was a sharpness behind it that put James on the defensive.
(James has some news.)
This Town Is Fake But You're The Real Thing by @tedwardremus
Teen radio star Lily Evans works for a show on the wizarding wireless network called, The Marauders. The teen soap drama stars James Potter as an arrogant school jock and centers on the secret adventures of his friends in the forbidden forest as illegal animagus and a werewolf. The show's antagonist, played by Severus Snape, left after a scandal, and now Lily has a romantic storyline with James in the final season of the show. Basically, her life is a disaster.
Prophecy by Alohaemora (on ao3)
Faint rays of sunlight began to filter into the nursery from the pink-red sky outside, the morning song of robins and thrushes lilting as all of Sirius's worst fears manifested before him, devastating in their might.
"Fuck," he whispered. A horrible, painful lump swelled in his throat, clawing, stinging. "Fucking hell."
The corners of Lily's lips trembled. "James didn't know how to tell you."
Not quite a jily fic but I wanted to share
not as smart as you think you are (or how to fall in love in 7 months) by Squidge_06 (on ao3)
Lily Evans has spent the past 6 years excelling at school and hating James Potter. Both these facts converge suddenly at the beginning of her 7th year when she’s confronted with a less than perfect grade and a Transfiguration tutor who is the very last person she wants to see.
That same person might just turn out to be a whole lot more complicated and just a little more wonderful than she could ever have imagined.
Meeting the Potters by FloreatCastellum (on ao3)
It's always a risk, introducing your parents to your girlfriend. Most people don't have to worry about whether or not their mother is going to be in handcuffs, though.
Mistle-Wow by LiveLaughLoveToRead (on ao3)
Lily and James Potters’ love was fiery, filled with passion, tragedy, and love. It was not a fast ignition of a flame that proceeded to burn bright. No, it was a flame that was lit on the Hogwarts Express before anyone had joined the compartment. It burned brighter as their years progressed, and it was lit ablaze in their seventh year. It burned until the day they died.
Or an incident that would have had Madam Pince seething (if they were caught)
Simple Math by yallofthemwitches (on ao3)
Remus notices something is off about James and Lily at the Prefect's meeting.
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annafromuni · 2 months
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My Physical TBR List for the rest of 2024
I mentioned at the beginning of the year that I had a lot of books on my bookshelf that I hadn’t read yet or wanted to reread, and I donned these as my physical TBR. Six months later, what progress have I made? Pile 1: The Rereads I have made a dent in this pile as I’m rereading the YA fantasy on my shelves to see if I still want to keep them. I admit, the dent isn’t as big as I’d hoped, as my…
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Anguish and despair had penetrated into the core of my heart; I bore a hell within me which nothing could extinguish.
--- Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley.
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a-kind-of-merry-war · 3 months
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will you please give us examples of resources to look at if we want to learn more about the concept of gender and maybe even transness in Medieval Europe? thanks!
whooooo boy right, there's a lot! I wanna start this by saying that I am very much not an expert, and I only have access to stuff I can find for free and the handful of books I can afford to buy second hand. Most of my research has been around gender as it relates to transness and GNC people. I am absolutely missing stuff, or have forgotten stuff, or simply lack the know-how to find stuff.
There's a few bits I've got on a TBR but haven't read yet - some I've included and some I haven't, depending on the source and how established it is.
Also: this is medieval Europe. The way pronouns are used to describe people don't really align with modern views of sex and gender. Also be aware of old-fashioned language use (for example, some texts talk about "hermaphrodites"). Remember that the way we talk about gender and trans identities is far different to how we even spoke about it 20 years ago.
So with that out of the way... I am chucking this under a read more, because it's long:
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GENDER
Medieval ideas around gender were different to how we now think about it. The Hippocratic view of gender saw gender as a sort of wet/dry, cold/hot spectrum upon which men were at one end and women the other (and in the middle were intersex people). The male body was seen as hot and dry, and the female as cold and wet. The cold, wetness is what made women try to seek out heat from guys. A lot comes down to humors rather than genitals - if you're hot and dry, that innately means you grow a penis, because the heat sorta forces it out. So the marker is that penis = man, but you only have that penis in the first place because of your hot, dry humor.
Some people believed the vagina was an inverted penis - as in, the penis turned outside in. Some schools of thought believed that both men and women produced "seed", and that both were needed for conception. These thoughts and ideas shifted around a lot.
The Hippocratic view shifted towards Aristotelian ideas around the 12th Century, where the male/female divide was a lot stronger. There were also surgeons throughout all these periods who sought to "correct" intersex genitalia with surgery (how little things change).
This podcast (I've linked to a transcript, because I have more time to read than listen to things) with Dr Eleanor Janega is super interesting. In fact, I'd recommend reading her whole blog, which is fascinating. She also has a book out (but I've not read it so I can't give a yay or nay on that one)
The Meanings of Sex Difference in the Middle Ages by Joan Cadden seems to be a good source on this, but I've not read it so I can't vouch for it 100%.
I've listed below some real people who could fit into our modern interpretation of transness, and the fact that all of these people were only "outed" when arrested or at their death makes me think that there were probably a lot more people at the time who would also fit into this category. It does feel (to me, a layman) that you could rock up in a new town and go "hello I'm Jeff the Man" and people would just accept that.
It's also important to note that the majority of sources I've found are about people we could define as trans men (FTM). I've only found one person who could be described as a trans woman. If anyone out there has more sources for trans women, I'd love to hear them - specifically in medieval Europe/England.
There's also a big discussion to be had around the idea of women dressing as men to achieve a goal. People love getting into arguments about it. My general rule is that if someone lived as X gender, and was forcibly outed against their will or at death, then I feel we can more safely assume that their experience maps more closely onto a trans narrative than it does one of a woman taking on the "disguise" of a man.
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TRANS & GNC ACADEMIA
Here's some of the sources I've been using that examine medievalism through a trans or trans-adjacent lens.
Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography, Alicia Spencer-Hall & Blake Gutt - a deep dive/collection of essays about medieval religious figures/saints through a trans lens, specifically about cross-dressing figures. Really fascinating, and available on open access.
How to be a Man, Though Female: Changing Sex in Medieval Romance, Angela Jane Weisl - goes into detail about medieval texts in which characters change their sex.
Transgender Genealogy in Tristan de Nanteuil, Blake Gutt - trans theory in the story Tristan de Nanteuil.
Trans Historical: Gender Plurality before the Modern, edited by Greta LaFleur, Masha Raskolnikov & Anna Kłosowska - A great big examination into trans history/gender. I desperately want this book.
Clothes Make the Man, Female Cross Dressing in Medieval Europe, Valerie R. Hotchkiss (book, no online source available) - Another look into women dressing as men and gender inversion.
The Shape of Sex, Leah DeVun (book) - A history of nonbinary sex, 200 - 1400BC. Not read this one yet but it's on my TBR.
In fact, I'd recommend all of Leah DeVun's work, which I'm currently making my way through. I'm currently reading Mapping the Borders of Sex.
The Third Gender and Aelfric's Lives of Saints, Rhonda L. McDaniel - An examination into the idea of a "third gender" in monastic life based around chastity and spiritualism
Erecting Sex: Hermaphrodites and the Medieval Science of Surgery, Leah DeVun - an essay about "corrective" surgery on intersex individuals in the 13th/14th centuries. (I've not fully read this one yet but the topic is relevant)
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TRANS FIGURES
Joseph/Hildegund (died 1188) - A monk who, upon his death, was discovered to have a vagina/breasts.
Eleanor Rykener (1394) - A (likely) trans sex worker arrested in 1394 (and another source that isn't wiki)
Katherina Hetzeldorfer (killed 1477) - An early record of a "woman" being executed for female sodomy. Katherina dressed and presented as a man, and some scholars read them as a trans man.
Marinos/Marina the Monk (5th Cent) - A monk who was born a woman and lived as a man in a monastery. Marinos was accused of getting a local innkeeper's daughter pregnant. Their "true sex" was discovered upon their death.
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ROMANCES* & GENDER
If you're interested in the idea of gender presentation and trans-adjacent stories, I very much recommend taking a look at some contemporary sources. I've tried to take a sort of neutral approach to pronouns for these descriptions, but it's hard to marry the medieval and modern ideas of sex and gender! The titles are all links.
*Romances here means Chivalric Romances: prose/verse narratives about chivalry, often with fantastic elements. Not, like, falling in love Romances.
Le Roman de Silence (13th Cent) - in order to ensure inheritance, a couple raise their daughter as a boy. The baby is called Silence/Silentius/Silentia. The poem features the forces of Nature and Nurture, who argue about Silence's "true" gender - Nature claims they're a girl, and Nurture claims they're a boy. Silence has a variety of adventures, largely referred to in the text as a man with he/him pronouns, and at the end their "true gender" is discovered and, as a woman, they marry the king.
Yde et Olive (15th Cent) - to avoid being married to their own father, Yde, a woman, disguises themselves as a man and becomes a knight. They end up in Rome, where the king marries them to their daughter, Olive. After a couple of weeks, Yde tells Olive about their "true gender", but the conversation is overheard. The King demands Yde bathe with him to prove they are a man. An angel intervenes and transforms Yde's body into that of a man.
Iphis and Ianthe (Greek/Roman myth, but also in Ovid's Metamorphois, which first came to England in the 15th Cent) - Telethusa is due to give birth, but her husband tells her that if the baby is a girl he'll have it killed. When she gives birth to a girl, she disguises the baby as a boy. Eventually, Iphis is engaged to Ianthe. (Incidentally, this is also a really early example of same-sex romance, as Iphis struggles with their love for Ianthe "as a woman"). Before the wedding, Iphis and Telethusa pray at the temple of Isis, who transforms Iphis into a man.
Tristan de Nanteuil (11th/12th Cent) - from the Chanson de geste, after his alleged death, Tristan's wife, Blanchandin/e, disguises themselves as a Knight. Clarinde, a sultan's daughter, falls in love with them. Blanchandin manages to hide their "true sex", but when Clarinde demands they bathe with her to prove they are a man they flee into the woods. There, they meet an angel who asks if they want to be transformed into a man. Blanchandin accepts and he is turned into a man for the rest of the poem. (Incidentally the angel gives him a giant cock. Yes, the text specifies this).
Le Livre de la mutation de fortune (1403) - written in the first person by Christine de Pizan, the poem describes how the narrator is transformed by Fortune into a man after the death of their husband during a storm at sea. They maintain that 13 years after the event, they are still living as a man. (They also mention Tiresias, a Greek mythological figure who was a man transformed into a woman for seven years).
Okay, for now - that's about all I can think of. Happy reading!
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