trashpoppaea

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inspired by boop day, reblog this post if its ok for people to send you random asks and interact on your posts with no judgement. i want to talk to people.

#sure!

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imagine being exiled from rome for saying what nero did to seneca

#nero did nothing wrong #nero #nero caesar

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i am not joking we need to force teach cooking in schools. like. it is an essential thing for survival. do you know how easy it is to make things if you know even the bare bones shit about how cooking works. we need to teach teenagers how far you can take an onion and some other veggies it''s sad that people grow up not knowing how to prepare literally anything. and i'm not talking about oh this home ed class taught me how to make chicken nuggets at home i'm talking about learning the balancing of sweetness and acidity and saltiness and bitterness and shit like that and techniques and oil temperatures and how meats cook. it needs to be taught because it's literally not even that difficult and it matters so much

#food #education #reblog #reblogging for my own reference

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-- Abigail Shrier, Bad Therapy

#long post #interesting

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@usergreenpixel I have heard of her! She was much reviewed on The Romance Reader back in the day. Here's a review by Meredith Moore.

And yeah, Duras is supposed to be Massena. I never read Johnson's books because... as you see, the reviews were not exactly enticing.

Uhhh, question! Does anyone know this book? @maggiec70 ? @suburbanbeatnik ?

( @chickenmadam told me it was awful, but I am curious, as this is still review material.)

Speaking of reviews! I’m actually coming back very soon! With both “Chevalier” and “Napoleon’s Elysium”!

(Sorry, I kept being either sick or busy and almost had a depression relapse…)

#malmaison media salon #jacobin fiction convention #susan johnson #andre massena #taboo #the romance reader #meredith moore

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Hi there! I've really enjoyed your blog-- there's a lot of good information on it. In fact, I just wrote a novel set in ancient Thebes, set in 335 BCE, right before Alexander's attack. However, I'm a little scared to write the sequel, because Alex is going to show up in it as a major character. He is SO famous, and there's so many books about him, that I hardly know where to begin.

So, do you have any specific books you recommend, like any good starter bios or anything else that would be good for this specific setting? (Specifically against the destruction of Thebes and right before the invasion of Persia.)

Thank you so much!

Some Useful Bibliography on Alexander (and Thebes)

Thank you! And sorry for the delay. The queries in my inbox tend to be feast or famine. LOL

In terms of information on Alexander, I would start with the brand new Cambridge Companion to Alexander the Great, edited by Daniel Ogden. It has many of the leading scholars. On Alexander and the Greeks in particular, see my dear friend Borja Antela’s chapter. This is now what I’d consider the best intro resource on Alexander for the interested non-specialist, especially as it’s reasonably priced. The bibliography will help a lot. For Macedonia itself, Carol Thomas has Alexander and His World (which I’ve used teaching) and Carol King has Ancient Macedonia. Both are good, one-book introductions.

If you’ve not already, you’ll want to consult Mark Munn’s chapter “Thebes and Central Greece” in The Greek World in the Fourth Century, Larry Tritle, ed. Paul Cartledge also has a book Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece, but he’s a Spartan specialist. Lately, publishers have had him write on other subjects—not always to good effect, as per his book on Alexander, imo. But I’ve not read this one so can’t comment. I think Thebes is closer to his usual bailiwick.

James Romm did a book The Sacred Band., although like Cartledge Romm is all over the place. Same cautions apply. And I’ll also offer the counter-proposal that the band was not pairs of lovers, by David Leitao, "The Legend of the Sacred Band," in The Sleep of Reason by Martha Nussbaum and Juha Sihvola, eds. His view is not a homophobic diss; it’s a source problem. Plutarch is our sole source for the lovers bit, and he’s notoriously unreliable on some facts, especially when he has an ulterior message.

The more I study Plutarch, the less I trust him. LOL

Last, another friend and colleague, Jenn Finn has written a bang-up chapter on the destructions of both Thebes and Persepolis, for the upcoming collection I edited, so I got a preview. “Urbicide, Memory Sanctions, and the Perso-Macedonian Dynasty.” I’m not sure when the collection will be out, but certainly not before late 2024, and more likely 2025. She might be willing to share the draft, however, if you need it immediately. She’s at Loyola U. in Chicago. As always, Jenn does fantastic work.

#actaeon wip #asks #alexander the great #thebes #thebes greece #ancient greece #actaeon

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MOAR PROPAGANDA (commissioned OC edition)

Benjamin Bathurst

(admin note: even if you don't vote for him, his mysterious disappearance is a fun rabbit hole)

Propaganda: “have you SEEN him? glorious regency-dandy perfection -- that hair, that nose, those lusciously thick sideburns! he was a spy as well, and we all know that spies are magnificently fuckable… and also he disappeared mysteriously, leaving behind only a fur coat and an exciting legend! what's sexier than that!!”

Napoleon I

Propaganda:

a. “It’s the Napoleonic wars! He’s the main guy here!” b. “Everything. Just, everything.” c. “He has something wrong with him (affectionate)” d. “I don’t know how to write propaganda, so I’ll just say this: Napoleon was a cutie, a world soul, a revolutionary emperor, and a great social and legal reformer. On the subject of physical appearance and attractiveness: He could pull off any look. Whether he was wearing a general’s uniform while riding a galloping white horse or wearing a laurel wreath in the Notre-Dame Cathedral or cuddling up in a large grey coat, he was cute af. He was a short king (above average height for the time). People fainted in his presence (I’m not even kidding, this did actually happen). He went so hard they declared war on him. And that’s pretty neat. He had beautiful hands. For some reason, there are multiple sources commenting on how pretty and gorgeous his hands were. And that’s a weird but cool trait to have. He was beautiful. His eyes were very pretty. Described as both crystal-like and fiery during different instances. His smile (which you can’t really see in any painting) was supposed to be one of his most charming features. His voice was described as “musical and deep” (from the diary of Bertie Greatheed). Personally, I think he looks like a fluffy panda or a baby seal. As a person, he was a very sweet, affectionate and unusually forgiving (maybe even naively so). He was also a funny and witty person. He enjoyed telling ghost stories, singing along to opera (badly), reading reports (for fun), taking baths, gossiping with his wife, and going to the library.”

#tumblr polls #polls #napoleon bonaparte #napoleon #napoleonic sexyman tournament #come on guys #VOTE NAPS #he's so close

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Thank you @napoleonic-sexyman-tournament-- I have even sexier propaganda to share!

Here's Napoleon with Marie Walewska and Napoleon with Josephine respectively

Benjamin Bathurst

(admin note: even if you don't vote for him, his mysterious disappearance is a fun rabbit hole)

Propaganda: “have you SEEN him? glorious regency-dandy perfection -- that hair, that nose, those lusciously thick sideburns! he was a spy as well, and we all know that spies are magnificently fuckable… and also he disappeared mysteriously, leaving behind only a fur coat and an exciting legend! what's sexier than that!!”

Napoleon I

Propaganda:

a. “It’s the Napoleonic wars! He’s the main guy here!” b. “Everything. Just, everything.” c. “He has something wrong with him (affectionate)” d. “I don’t know how to write propaganda, so I’ll just say this: Napoleon was a cutie, a world soul, a revolutionary emperor, and a great social and legal reformer. On the subject of physical appearance and attractiveness: He could pull off any look. Whether he was wearing a general’s uniform while riding a galloping white horse or wearing a laurel wreath in the Notre-Dame Cathedral or cuddling up in a large grey coat, he was cute af. He was a short king (above average height for the time). People fainted in his presence (I’m not even kidding, this did actually happen). He went so hard they declared war on him. And that’s pretty neat. He had beautiful hands. For some reason, there are multiple sources commenting on how pretty and gorgeous his hands were. And that’s a weird but cool trait to have. He was beautiful. His eyes were very pretty. Described as both crystal-like and fiery during different instances. His smile (which you can’t really see in any painting) was supposed to be one of his most charming features. His voice was described as “musical and deep” (from the diary of Bertie Greatheed). Personally, I think he looks like a fluffy panda or a baby seal. As a person, he was a very sweet, affectionate and unusually forgiving (maybe even naively so). He was also a funny and witty person. He enjoyed telling ghost stories, singing along to opera (badly), reading reports (for fun), taking baths, gossiping with his wife, and going to the library.”

#napoleon #napoleon bonaparte #marie walewska #josephine beauharnais #napoleon and josephine #tumblr polls #polls #napoleonic sexyman tournament

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VOTE FOR NAPS FOR GODS SAKE !!!!

#napoleonic-sexyman-tournament #Napoleon propaganda

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Some sketches I did of Naps over the years-- as a dashing young officer and later as a DILF. He had so many looks, so many eras. VOTE FOR NAPS

Benjamin Bathurst

(admin note: even if you don't vote for him, his mysterious disappearance is a fun rabbit hole)

Propaganda: “have you SEEN him? glorious regency-dandy perfection -- that hair, that nose, those lusciously thick sideburns! he was a spy as well, and we all know that spies are magnificently fuckable… and also he disappeared mysteriously, leaving behind only a fur coat and an exciting legend! what's sexier than that!!”

Napoleon I

Propaganda:

a. “It’s the Napoleonic wars! He’s the main guy here!” b. “Everything. Just, everything.” c. “He has something wrong with him (affectionate)” d. “I don’t know how to write propaganda, so I’ll just say this: Napoleon was a cutie, a world soul, a revolutionary emperor, and a great social and legal reformer. On the subject of physical appearance and attractiveness: He could pull off any look. Whether he was wearing a general’s uniform while riding a galloping white horse or wearing a laurel wreath in the Notre-Dame Cathedral or cuddling up in a large grey coat, he was cute af. He was a short king (above average height for the time). People fainted in his presence (I’m not even kidding, this did actually happen). He went so hard they declared war on him. And that’s pretty neat. He had beautiful hands. For some reason, there are multiple sources commenting on how pretty and gorgeous his hands were. And that’s a weird but cool trait to have. He was beautiful. His eyes were very pretty. Described as both crystal-like and fiery during different instances. His smile (which you can’t really see in any painting) was supposed to be one of his most charming features. His voice was described as “musical and deep” (from the diary of Bertie Greatheed). Personally, I think he looks like a fluffy panda or a baby seal. As a person, he was a very sweet, affectionate and unusually forgiving (maybe even naively so). He was also a funny and witty person. He enjoyed telling ghost stories, singing along to opera (badly), reading reports (for fun), taking baths, gossiping with his wife, and going to the library.”

#napoleonic sexyman tournament #tumblr polls #vote and relog guys #come on #napoleon #napoleon bonaparte #benjamin bathurst #polls

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@staff this is a TERRIBLE idea. FFS

What is this about the tumblr staff wanting to sell art data to midjourney?

An ex-colleague of mine mentioned yesterday that there may be contacts between Automattic and midjourney in that direction, but nothing is public yet and I don't have any more info. They probably won't have anything specific to share either, since they left the company weeks ago too. That being said:

I have no reason to doubt my ex-coworker word, they are a trustworthy person.

Tumblr's CEO has been absurdly enthusiastic (comically, even) about AI, and is a big fan of LLMs and 'AI' companies.

A deal with midjourney could solve tumblr financial issues (not the same company, but openAi is paying up to 5 million/year to news companies to use their content as training data... tumblr generates several orders of magnitude more content than any newspaper or any media company and it only would need a 20 to 30 million per year deal to be profitable)

So I don't have any extra info yet, but I'm keeping my ears open.

#ai art #ai #fuck ai #psa

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Benjamin Bathurst

(admin note: even if you don't vote for him, his mysterious disappearance is a fun rabbit hole)

Propaganda: “have you SEEN him? glorious regency-dandy perfection -- that hair, that nose, those lusciously thick sideburns! he was a spy as well, and we all know that spies are magnificently fuckable… and also he disappeared mysteriously, leaving behind only a fur coat and an exciting legend! what's sexier than that!!”

Napoleon I

Propaganda:

a. “It’s the Napoleonic wars! He’s the main guy here!” b. “Everything. Just, everything.” c. “He has something wrong with him (affectionate)” d. “I don’t know how to write propaganda, so I’ll just say this: Napoleon was a cutie, a world soul, a revolutionary emperor, and a great social and legal reformer. On the subject of physical appearance and attractiveness: He could pull off any look. Whether he was wearing a general’s uniform while riding a galloping white horse or wearing a laurel wreath in the Notre-Dame Cathedral or cuddling up in a large grey coat, he was cute af. He was a short king (above average height for the time). People fainted in his presence (I’m not even kidding, this did actually happen). He went so hard they declared war on him. And that’s pretty neat. He had beautiful hands. For some reason, there are multiple sources commenting on how pretty and gorgeous his hands were. And that’s a weird but cool trait to have. He was beautiful. His eyes were very pretty. Described as both crystal-like and fiery during different instances. His smile (which you can’t really see in any painting) was supposed to be one of his most charming features. His voice was described as “musical and deep” (from the diary of Bertie Greatheed). Personally, I think he looks like a fluffy panda or a baby seal. As a person, he was a very sweet, affectionate and unusually forgiving (maybe even naively so). He was also a funny and witty person. He enjoyed telling ghost stories, singing along to opera (badly), reading reports (for fun), taking baths, gossiping with his wife, and going to the library.”

#napoleonic sexyman tournament #napoleon #napoleon bonaparte #benjamin bathurst #tumblr polls #polls #the anti Napoleonic propaganda in the tags is off the charts #please read The Secret War Against Napoleon by Tim Clayton #Britain was called Perfidious Albion for a reason #I love Bathurst but I'm going to vote for Naps here

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This is important information about paint and art and spreading misinformation I think everyone should read.

...or disinformation in this case

Apparently I’ve just only been exposed to extremely biased sources on the situation. I was under the impression that Anish kapoor bought vanta black and made it so he was the only artist who could use it commercially

I figured as much. And it’s really not your fault, that’s what everybody thinks, because that is very specifically the narrative that Stewart simple propagated to the media, which worked because it launched his career. We all hate the idea of an elitist asshole gatekeeping something, especially in the name of art. But as I’m about to explain, nothing is further from the truth than that narrative.

So in order for me to explain this to people who’ve only ever heard the Stewart simple version of the story. I need to reset the narrative around Vantablack so let’s discuss the following framework.:

What Vantablack is: Vantablack is a substance made out of carbon nano tubes, originally grown in a lab and functions as the darkest synthetic material on earth. Under a microscope Vanta black looks more like shards of glass, sticking out as tubes. The original version of Vanta Black was so difficult to work with that there was no possible way it could be used outside of its original intent.

What Vantablack is not: a pigment. A paint. Vantablack is not something that you were supposed to use to paint with.

Who creates and distributes Vantablack: an engineering company named Surrey NanoSystems.

Who does not do those things: an art house. A distribution company. Any kind of company that creates and distributes pigments on a massive, artistic scale.

Who was Vantablack made for: Vanta Black was made by aerospace engineers for aerospace engineers, looking for something to coat the insides of massive NASA telescopes.

Who it was not made for: artists.

———————————-——————————————

Hopefully already just by understanding what Vantablack is, what it was made for, and who it’s made by you and other people are beginning to see what the problem is with Stuart simples narrative around Vanta black. 

But you may be wondering if Vanta black is a highly toxic unstable substance made out of carbon nano tubes by aerospace engineers for aerospace engineers, working in space, then how did we get here? well, Vanta, black 2.0, if you will was created in such a way that it could be sprayed onto substances in a certain way meaning that theoretically it could be used artistically. Surround nanosystems held an exhibition where they displayed Vanta black and when artist saw this, they were inundated with calls from artist, wanting to use it in their work. But as we’ve already established surrey nanosystems is not a distribution company. They’re an engineering company. And they made the decision that they could only work with one artist, because they simply did not have the physical ability to produce Vantablack at a scale that allowed them to work with more than one person. (To this day, vanta Black has to be distributed by a specialized robotic arm that creates it in painfully small amounts in an enclosed box that can then be given to someone in a lab. )

Enter Anish Kapoor: Anish Kapoor, at this time was already a world, renowned artist, and the creator of many public facing pieces, such as cloud gate, a.k.a. the Chicago Bean. His entire life‘s work was dedicated to how light is refracted and interplays with the void, making him not only the perfect person to be chosen because of prestige but also because his life‘s work spoke to the engineers who created Vanta black.

Now this should’ve been seen as an incredible accomplishment and honor for this Indian artist to be chosen as the soul licensor of Vantablack as this company was only able to choose one person and people were really excited about this for him and that’s where the story ends, right? Right? Right? 

Enter Stuart Semple: Stuart simple was a 25-year-old man in the UK living with his mother when she came into his room and told him about Vantablack. As an artist himself, Stewart simple wanted to try Vanta Black, and was told by the company that he could not. It was then that he discovered the only person on earth licensed to use Vantablack was Anish Kapoor. Please keep in mind that Vantablack is not a paint, and it is so difficult to work with that Anish Kapoor has only ever produced one singular piece of art with Vantablack. So like a child who has just been told by their mom that they can’t use something, Stewart simple decided to throw a hissy fit. He created a pink pigment that he conditionally said everyone could use except Anish Kapoor and then launch this pigment with the hashtag #ShareTheBlack. 

This caught the attention of the news media, and when asked about this situation, that was previously relatively unheard of, Stuart simple, went onto describe Anish Kapoor as this tyrannical elitist who “banned“ the use of Vantablack to keep other artists from using it. But hopefully you can already see how that is Literally not true. Anish Kapoor does not make Vanta black. Anish Kapoor cannot sell Vanta black. Anish Kapoor cannot give you permission to use Vanta black. And Vanta black is not even a paint. 

But the narrative of some elitist asshole gatekeeping, a color, versus some poor, struggling artist, was so catching that tens of thousands of people on the Internet flooded Anish Kapoor‘s social media, pages to talk shit about him and to this day when Anish Kapoor is brought up, it’s always “fuck Anish Kapoor“ meanwhile Stuart has launched an entire very lucrative career around slandering and smearing Anish Kapoor when Anish Kapoor literally never did anything but be qualified enough to be the one person chosen by a company that is literally only able to work with one person at a time. 

The fact remains Stewart simple, very intentionally allows this narrative to continue because it makes him money. He has made a ton of money off of slandering Anish Kapoor as if Anish Kapoor is the reason he can’t use Vanta black when the reason he can’t use Vanta black is because no one can use Vanta black, and the only person who might be able to use it is Anish Kapoor and that is not Anish Kapoor‘s fault. 

It is not lost on me that there are racial connotations to the story as well. There are actual companies and artists in the world who have trademarks around certain colors that they do not allow other people to use in public showcases. But we really as a community allowed this white man to smear and slander an Indian artist, based entirely off of misinformation, and to this day people jump on the Internet, saying fuck Anish Kapoor because of it. Now, Anish Kapoor is not some struggling person. He is probably a multibajillionaire And doesn’t necessarily need our sympathy. But I think the story of Vantablack is a really good case study of how misinformation spreads, and how people never bother to question the framework of a story. 

#anish kapoor #stuart semple #vantablack #paint

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Good news! I've been chatting lately with Ami. She's active on Twitter and posts very very occasionally on Instagram!

and another question: does anyone know where the artist who did these wandered off to?

I saw them under aminoscribbles and tookunami, but can't seem to find them on tumblr or twitter, all the accounts or closed. there's a site selling the art on mugs and ... christmas ornaments?! where I saw a few more of the maréshals as well as other historical figures of the time.

#aminoscribbles #ami_badran #ami badran

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marat for @marat​ 

#marat #jean-paul marat #i miss you too

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Sylvia Baumgarten (aka Sylvia Halliday, Louisa Rawlings and Ena Halliday), 1933-2024

My friend Sylvia Baumgarten died on the morning of February 1rst. Our friendship began in the 1990s, when I wrote her a fan letter about one of her early Harlequin historicals, Wicked Stranger, and she wrote back a long type-written letter about her influences and research and sent me a copy of Stranger in My Arms as well. I interviewed her for my old blog in 2011-- sadly, that interview has been lost. But we also met in 2016 for dinner, and she sent me her collection of books about the French Revolution. She was a great talent, as well as witty, opinionated and immensely generous. I will miss her very much.

She graduated from Brown University in 1955, and from 1982 to 2015 wrote for a variety of publishers, including Pocket Books, Kensington Publishing Corp., Harlequin, and Diversion Books. She was also a President of the Romance Writers of America/ New York City Chapter, and her books were nominated for multiple awards. Forever Wild was a finalist for the RWA/Golden Medallion award, Best Historical Romance (1986). Stolen Spring (which I reviewed for Dear Author) received a Romantic Times nomination as Best French Historical (1988), while Promise of Summer [archive.org link] received the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award as the Best Historical Romance set in France (1989). Wicked Stranger had also been nominated for a Rita Award by the Romance Writers of America.

Baumgarten's papers are available in the Manuscripts Division of Brown University, and include press kits, book reviews, news clippings, public relations material (including photographs), interviews, correspondence about her books, and the manuscripts of Stolen Spring and Dreams So Fleeting.

She also blogged extensively about her observations and experiences selling wedding dresses at Macy's in New York.

#sylvia halliday #louisa rawlings #ena halliday #obituary post #historical romance #romancelandia #romance fiction #romance genre #brown university

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Oooooh I inspired someone!! Thank you!! <3

Based on this post from @suburbanbeatnik. There are some others that unfortunately I couldn't mention due to limited space, so I picked the most famous/the ones I liked the most.

#greece #ancient greece #greek history #history #history couples #polls #tumblr polls #I voted for Phryne and Praxiteles #Phryne is both sassy and awful (esp towards my beloved Thebes) but she amuses me #love her and Prax as a couple #art sluts forever