A dramatic reading of Napoleon's unhinged letter of 10 Germinal, Year IV (March 30, 1796) to Josephine.

Yes, this letter is 100% real (unlike the I'm Coming Home In Three Days, Don't Bathe one). And it just keeps getting worse 😭

Translation Source

i'm so happy that yet another native speaker shares my agonies with the T-V distinction.

"Yet in your letter of the 23rd and of the 26th Ventose, you address me as ‘Vous’. ‘Vous’ yourself! Ah! Wretched woman, how could you have written this letter? It is so cold."

This is around the time Josephine started an affair with a lieutenant back in Paris, so, uh, the vous was probably indicative. She also never seemed to have felt anything approaching the (unhinged) passion that he felt for her, so that marriage was a sad affair all round.

i feel like we as a society need to move on from giving ancient romans english accents. perhaps we can actually make an approximate reconstruction of what a roman accent would have sounded like

“Hey, uh, Ton’. We goin’ to war wit da Gauls?”

there is very little to recommend in Asterix Conquers America (1994), but it *does* feature a Roman centurion with an exaggerated Italian accent amid a sea of Romans with British accents

It is a truth universally acknowledged that it is a basic tenet of traditional cosmologies that— wait hold on a minute no this is a 2002 anthropology paper on the necessary human act of trying to collectively describe the universe, though in terms I actually take issue with personally from a cosmocritical perspective— wait here you can read the opener—

—because prior to the Enlightenment (or maybe the Renaissance, I’m never clear on what early modernists decided here) in Europe and colonial North America, and pretty commonly in times and places outside that particular sphere (ie most known times and places), people would not necessarily consider the cosmos something outside of their community’s borders anyway, and in part bc that’s observably not the case, to the point that modern physics has already had to move far past that concept you know? like Stephen Hawking said “I have changed my mind. ‘A Brief History of Time’ is written from the wrong perspective. We are not angels, who view the universe from the outside.” All for ppl to be like “nature is dying” ma’am you are nature you are an animal we are all in an ecosystem. It includes space it includes Mars and the Moon which we should know and care for too. Do you know how 11th century writer Ælfric of Eynsham defined “middle-earth”, the word Tolkien borrowed? It’s not fricking England or whatever. “All that is within the firmament is called Middle-earth. The firmament is the firm/physical/rotating heaven set with many stars. The heaven and sea and earth are called middle-earth.”

And yes we don’t do the firmament concept anymore (or “rodor”, the difficult-to-translate Old English word that I called “the firm/physical/rotating heaven”), but you have to understand that Ælfric was working with the idea that the Universe has an edge. Sort of. We currently kind of have both an edge and not an edge in 21st century cosmology. Like no one is sure of the shape of the Universe (shoutout to my friend who once asked “does it have to have a shape” you may win long-term) but the OBSERVABLE universe looks like a sphere lol. Our “firmament” has always been the limit of our observation. The firmament now is the horizon past which we cannot observe, because due to it taking a while for light, radio waves, etc to reach you, the further you look in space the further back you’re actually looking in time. And bc the universe (a BABY) is merely 13.787 (approx) billion years old, eventually you run out of time. It’s visualized like this.

Tolkien, in his novels which are probably the best synthesis of the early medieval world that you can access lmao, including yes all of Middle Earth — the real OG middle-earth of Ælfric — actually seems to have intuited this divide between the 11th century universe with an end point and the Universes that sort of drifted off into a cosmic sea, but possibly did not actually grasp it intellectually?

Idk I’m not a Tolkien scholar, I’m basing this on his reported stress over sort of creating a flat earth for his books and then making it into a planet bc it freaked him out. I think he was incorrect on several points of interpretation of early medieval texts here (flatness of earth isn’t really a common medieval idea except for That One Guy, literally Only One Known Guy Said That), but what he ended up getting RIGHT was the synthesis, the overlay, the cosmology with a firmament and a spherical planet, and the cosmology that stretches out on a sea that is not endless, but even trickier, simply undefined.

He did get that and he was like ok so the Dwarf and the Elf are in love so one switches from one cosmos to another to see the Sea.

Now THAT is a cosmology not beyond society but within it, hot damn.

In Celebration of Madame Petit’s final chapter: 

Takao Shigeru x Mori Kaoru

((note: this is a rough translation of the full interview.  And while the focus is Madame Petit, Mori-sensei goes into behind the scenes about Emma and Otoyomegatari.)) 

Keep reading

ROY MUSTANG, YOU CLEVER BEAST.

Riza: “That’s horrible.”

I know you’re all waiting for content from the guidebooks, and I’ve admittedly been extremely slow with my translations. I’m going to be honest, I don’t think I’ll be finishing them any time soon- I’ve been working on translating another project, as well as my usual art and writing, and a cosplay I’ve got a month to make, and all in all the FMA guidebooks somehow wound up low on my priority list.

But I don’t want to just leave you guys hanging, so I’ll share what I’ve learned so far:

My will. To my friends (excerpt) [Pushkin, 1815]

Tomorrow I would like to die; That realm of wonders fascinates me, Oblivion’s quiet shore awaits me, And so my merry shade shall fly… A long farewell to charm and beauty, To earthly joys of life and love! Come close, my friends, assure me of Your heartfelt reverence and duty! — Your singer is prepared to die. — Must not the moon, as dusk is falling, Cast patterned shrouds of white to lie On thick grass, and in gardens sprawling? By drowsy streams, on that dark shore That marks the long path where I’m going, Why don’t we drink a toast once more, Raise glasses full to overflowing?

Elegy (My mad and merry years of dissolution…) [Pushkin, 1830]

My mad and merry years of dissolution Sit heavy on me, cloud my constitution. But, like fine wine — the griefs of days gone past Intensify with age; they hold me fast. My path is bleak. Each effort, each emotion Submerges me in that rough, turbid ocean.

But, friends, I’m not quite ready to be gone; I want to live, to think, to suffer on; And I believe I’ll still know sweet sensations Among the griefs, the cares, the tribulations: When harmonies intoxicate my ears, And fictions leave me drowning in my tears; And maybe — as dusk falls for me, meanwhile Bright love will bless my passing with a smile.

[I thought these made for a fascinating contrast. The first is an excerpt from a longer poem, where teenage Pushkin goes on to bequeath a bunch of intangible things to his friends: lyre, indolence, heart, memories of happier days; “and my verses, I give to oblivion”.]

Found at Sonas Haute Coture, IndoWestern Men’s Sherwani

@meganwhalenturner not quite a fennel-embroidered floor-length coat, but perhaps sufficient to console a sulking Gen?

A phenomenally enameled silver Swept-hilt Rapier, Germany, ca. 1606, housed at the Staaliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.

Little gryphletts I have been selling on my deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/nybird They are all based on existing birds.

@the-happyhollyday

I’m loving these mini B&W portraits….I have just recently been introduced to sketching on toned paper, and I am loving it. These characters are inspired by one of the best book series of all time, the Queen’s Thief. More portraits to come in this series. #meganwhalenturner #queensthief #queensthiefseries #thethief #epicbooks #fiction #attolia #eugenides #annacastro #annacastroart #tonedgreypaper #charcoal #graphite #prismacolorwhite #drawing #portrait #rimlighting #fineart #handdrawn #pencilart #artist #artistsoninstagram #instaart #booklover

Thick as Thieves: conversations from the international chat server of the gods

THEThief started a conversation with WiseImmakuk and StrongEnnikar

THEThief: hey one of my guys is going to be in your area for a while, can you look out for him

WiseImmakuk: Oh no. Absolutely not.

StrongEnnikar: your worshippers are all assholes 

WiseImmakuk: The last time one of them came to Ianna-Ir, she seduced a princess, stole priceless statues from the royal museum, and brought the marketplace to a stop for three days by releasing all the animals.

THEThief: thanks! youll love him

StrongEnnikar: do you listen to the words people speak to you?

THEThief: not really

THEThief: trust me, youll really like this one. hes all earnest 

[some time later]

StrongEnnikar: oh no

StrongEnnikar: oh no they ARE good. together

WiseImmakuk: Are you seeing- oh, yes, you are.

WiseImmakuk: It still might not work out. A not-quite-chance meeting in a hallway doesn’t always pan out, even if the potential is there.

WiseImmakuk: Crap, Kamet is wandering. I’m going to go down and prod him in the right direction.

StrongEnnikar: What will you tell him?

WiseImmakuk: I’ll make something up. 

StrongEnnikar: “Wine merchant”, really?

WiseImmakuk: Shut up. He bought it.

StrongEnnikar: brb, I’ll make sure they don’t get caught at the docks

WiseImmakuk: Did you just connive to get the players to show the one about Amet’s chariot, just to match the name of their boat?

WiseImmakuk: You did. I saw it. 

StrongEnnikar: shh, I just want them to know they’re going to be okay, if they make the effort. I don’t think they’ll actually notice

i’ve spent the last two months at work listening to megan whalen turner’s queen’s thief series and consequently doodling highly impractical character designs for some of my faves during my lunch breaks. it’s been a while since i’ve been able to design anything that wasnt for animation or comics, so i went a little overboard and had a lot of fun. anyway! read these books! they’ve captured my heart and soul and my friends are sick of hearing me talk about them!

People aren’t the only ones with vivid imaginations

THAT DOG HAS SOME OPINIONS ON HER OWNERS’ HINGES!!! xD

“OIL UR HINGES U FOOLISH WEIRD DOGS”

My dog hates the squeaky door

aligments as things my professors have said and done this year

Lawful Good: did a little dance in the middle of class to show us the meter a particular Greek poem was in

Neutral Good: posted topically relevant linguistics lolcats for every Phonetics/Phonology unit

Chaotic Good: “You can email it to me. It’s due at midnight but that’s my birthday so I’ll be out drinking. I’m probably gonna be crying and dancing at midnight so you might get a few extra hours to turn it in.”

Lawful Neutral: ten minute lecture on the archaelogical importance of licking the specimens, in a linguistics class

True Neutral: [upon being asked when a handout had been given] “oh, I don’t remember when things happen”

Chaotic Neutral: “I encourage you to use ‘was like’ in papers you plan to publish and see if you can sneak it past the editors, then let me know what happens.”

Lawful Evil: put LATE WORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED in bold on the syllabus, proceeded to take an incredibly laissez-faire approach to deadlines in both receiving and returning work (“next week…ish”)

Neutral Evil: “What is the big daddy of sound change? Assimilation is the big daddy of sound change.”

Chaotic Evil: “I really think ancient Egyptian was a pidgin. [dramatic pause] that’s why there are so many birds in it.”

The reason that I love redemption arcs so much is because, on a very bone-deep level, I struggle with the concept as it applies to myself. And not because the things I’ve done have been too terrible to forgive but because, at first glance, I don’t seem to have done anything very bad at all. And there’s something that is so terrifying about having your good qualities on the surface and something about being loved for your qualities and never in spite of them that can mess with your head because you know, in your heart, that those qualities are not who you are, at least not all of who you are, that you’re capable of really ugly, terrible things and that you’ve done them too. but no one ever sees them because you hide them.

and  if you’re just loved for the good you do- that isn’t you, that isn’t all of you and that you know you sometimes do out of fear or pride or just so that your sense of self doesn’t entirely crumble- then are you really loved for you? redemption arcs are stories where a character isn’t loved for their actions but in spite of them. they are loved in a way which doesn’t excuse the harm they have done- the whole point is that they are called to do better- but which is truly, shockingly unconditional. the whole point is that the narrative loves them enough to redeem them even though, looking at them through the lens of their actions, there is nothing to love.

and idk i just need that in my life really badly.