emmadelosnardos:

eccecorinna answered your question: Brainy types…

Currently reading some things on spiritualism, and post-WW1 Britain. good stuff.

Spiritualism! Does this have to do with ACD?

roane72 answered your question: Brainy types…

I… suddenly feel less brainy, because I’m not reading anything to educate myself right now. Or, pretty much ever, really.

Oh, Roane! I didn’t mean to make anyone feel less brainy. I think thateveryoneI come into contact with here on tumblr is brainy. But I wanted to see if anyone else has the dorkish compulsions that I do to read serious stuff for fun. :) I”m glad to see that you are better-adjusted.

thebelletristarchive answered your question: Brainy types…

This week, a text about Russian literature. I have not read any of the Russian classics & this book is a good starting place to learn more.

Oh, what is the text? I have only readAnna Karenina.I am honestly very intimidated by Dostoievski and Gogol and other Tolstoys. I wouldn’t know where to start. Let me know what you end up reading.

eldritch-horrors answered your question: Brainy types…

I always have something by Tufte sitting on my bedside table. Right now it is Envisioning Information.

Oh, Tufte’s books are so much fun to look at! Such graphic pleasure…

sophiahelix answered your question: Brainy types…

Still finishing up Eminent Victorians. Also just starting Infinite Jest, which feels like an education in itself!

What is it like to read Eminent Victorians? Can you understand the references or are they too specific to that time period? I’ve never read any David Foster Wallace but I admire your attempt to have a go at that tome…

theopoeisis answered your question: Brainy types…

Wow. Pretty much everything I read (except fanfic) tends to be nonfiction on things I’m interested in. I could do a whole bloody essay on it.

Oh, you really should write an essay on it! What kinds of things do you read?

When I finished my undergrad studies in literature, for about two years I didn’t want to read anything but non-fiction. It was as if, after studying poetry and novels and form and function, I really yearned for the ‘real’ world. I don’t make quite the same distinction now between fiction (which is real, in a different way) and non-fiction, but I am now back to reading more fiction again, probably because my academic work requires me to read psychology articles and books all day long.

pennypaperbrain replied to your post: Brainy types…

I read in Russian to improve my language skills. Currently on Anna Karenina. Admittedly I’ve stalled almost completely for some months due to health issues. I hope to get back to it soon.

That is so impressive that you are reading AK in the original! See my post above about being intimidated by Russian novelists. I hope that your health issues improve soon, or that you get a better handle on what’s going on. :)

leontinemay answered your question: Brainy types…

I’m with Roane, although I do think everything we read educates us. Also, I read The New Yorker and occasionally The Economist, so there.

Yes! Absolutely, everything we read educates us. And I wish that I were better about reading magazines — we have a subscription to the New Yorker, for pete’s sake, but usually my husband reads it, not me — and I really need to start reading The New York Times again because I feel like such an ignoramus about current events.

When it comes to Russian literature, I didn’t know where to start either Emma! And I wanted to choose a Russian novel or two and maybe some poets to read (translated into English) over the summer. I borrowed Literary Russia: A Guide to the Authors, Characters, Scenes and Streets by Rosamund Bartlett and Anna Benn from a friend and thus far it has been quite interesting. The social & political history of Russia/Soviet Union/USSR/Russia is discussed in contrast to the popular authors, persecuted authors and bureaucratically praised authors. It’s also an adept map of Russia’s geography in words. I’ll let you know what works I narrow my search down to…perhaps you might like to read some of them as well. :)

emmadelosnardos:

eldritch-horrors replied to your post: I don’t see SH going to therapy for the rest of…
In my experience, the only people I know who were able to completely kick a drug habit without recidivism quit cold turkey through a powerful act of will. It must be an internal decision. No amount of external process will compare. I’m an expert. :)

thebelletristarchive replied to your post: I don’t see SH going to therapy for the rest of…
I concur! And with addiction & other habitual patterns, individuals need to decide to stop in their own minds. Outside influences can be helpful of course, but by themselves are not enough.

Emma says: Oh dear! I didn’t mean to imply that therapy is the ONLY way to recover from an addiction. Eldritch and Belletrist both have very good points, re: change must come from within, in the end. Especially since no amount of therapy can stop a person from using a drug, or starving oneself to death, or having endless numbers of sexual partners, or any other self-destructive behavior that one may choose to engage in. BUT…in the right circumstance, with the right therapist, recovery is much easier. I’m saying this from both personal and clinical experience with addictive behaviors. And I’m obviously somewhat biased towards the usefulness of therapy, because it’s the profession that I have chosen for myself, and because it has worked well for me. But I also believe in the inherent healing capacities that each of us have, the potential for growth and change that come just with being human, and not necessarily from professional help.

In the end, I am writing a fictional story about a fictional character. And in my story, Sherlock has landed in rehab, not because he wants to, but because things have come to a head in his life and he knows that he needs to change. You can bet that if Sherlock didn’t want to be in therapy, he wouldn’t be there. But in my story, he is in therapy and while he’s there, he’s smart enough to get everything he can out of it. So that’s why he’s cooperative, to the extent that Sherlock can ever be an easy patient: because he does have that strong inner drive to change. Nothing else would keep him there, not even Mycroft and all his powers…

“Inherent healing capacities”; I like that phrasing very much. Communication is very powerful; therapy being one very prominent form in today’s society because clients know that therapists ought to listen and guide to the best of their ability…and they have the time to do so because that is their job. Communication, in all its forms can be a reminder that life is full of good possibilities and that people care about each other. It is wonderful to encounter that reassurance, whether it is in fiction or reality.

roane72:

roane72:

How’s 8pm EST tomorrow for folks? Per an excellent suggestion from treesong, I’ll create a chat room and post the link. I’d love to go through the whole series this way, so if you can’t make it tomorrow, hopefully you can make the next time. :)

Reblogging for…

Oh, I can’t join in this time around…but I love the commentary that comes from rewatching Sherlock. If that’s not an indictation of an amazing series I don’t know what is, because there is something new to ponder every single time.

emmadelosnardos:

thebelletristarchive:

I’ve read my way through a bit of a fanfic marathon lately…including Pax americana by emmadelosnardos. I don’t ship Johnlock, in the sense that I cannot fathom any sort of sexual relationship between Sherlock and John in the canon or in the series. Since, however, fanfiction departs into AU…

Hi:

It’s so lovely to hear your thoughts on my fanfic, especially since it seems like you don’t normally read slash fics. I’m really curious about something you wrote:

When it comes to Sherlock & John…this story was a huge reminder of just how focused on heterosexuality and limited sex ed. is, even in democratic countries. Therefore, I think Pax americana points towards a problem in society which writers rarely mention in their work.…When Sherlock was discussing with John some of his previous experiences I thought of Robert Ross in Timothy Findley’s The Wars and then I thought how disgusting it is that such abuse could still be so prevalent. In fact, I cannot think of any other literature I’ve encountered in which this is honestly discussed. I am heterosexual and I was fortunate enough to grow up in an environment where sexual orientation was not a source for discrimination. As John would say, I think “it’s all fine” in regards to healthy, not abusive, relationships. Consenting & independent adults are, after all, consenting & independent adults.

Were you referring to Sherlock’s admission that he hadn’t always given consent for the sexual experiences that he had? It’s so interesting to me that you would pick up on this, which of course has a lot to do with how Sherlock views his own sexuality, because I don’t think that any of my other readers have brought this up.

I was thinking of Sherlock as having engaged in some less-than-ideal, or ambiguously consensual, sexual experiences because of his history as a drug user. As you may know, it’s common for drug use to lead to high-risk sex, because judgement is affected when someone is using. And it’s actually a big problem for gay men, non-consensual or risky sex, because of so many other issues that come into play for gay men — like self-confidence and stigma and the desire to be accepted and loved — that lead men to make themselves vulnerable and not use protection or not choose the best partners.

When I was working in HIV research, these issues were reported by a lot of the men who participated in our studies; the feeling that they were worthless, that they would never be loved, that they might as well take what they could get while they could get it, and the belief that they would eventually contract HIV, so why bother using protection? I’ve never seen any of these issues addressed in slash fanfiction, which to me is just further evidence of the fact that slash is written by women, for women, most of whom don’t know very much about the gay male community.

And I don’t mean to sound too critical about other slash writers — how would women know about these issues, unless they were close friends or relatives to a gay man, or if they worked in sex research or sex education? CharlieBravoWhiskey, maybe you can say more?

Belle, I’m glad you read Pax, and I’m glad you mentioned this aspect of it! It’s an important issue to think about.

I’m also glad that you liked reading about NYC. Have you ever been here?

I’ve always thought the best stories are usually those written by people who have either had the experiences they describe (which is neither feasible nor advisible most of the time!) or have understandingly discussed those experiences with others who have had them. This probably exludes most women who write about men having sex and are read by other women.

To clarify my above comment about your story and answer your question; yes, I was referring specifically to non-consensual sex. I ought to have explained in more detail, but my mind was churning out thoughts faster than I could type them down. The Robert Ross character that I mentioned was named after Oscar Wilde’s friend and supposed lover. Findley’s description of Ross’ time in the army includes a read-between-the-lines rape of Ross. While this example had nothing to do with drug use, I thought of it as a similar situation to what you hint at in Pax…isolated location, loss of awareness & control (in Ross’ case because of darkness & panic, not drugs), etc. My brain just connected the two scenarios.

Men who have sex with men are subject to a whole slew of prejudiced notions…the risk of HIV is real of course, but the exclusion from blood donation in a lot of countries if they declare recent sexual intercourse is a very flawed system because all categories of sexually active people can contract HIV (certain behaviours/situations of course increase the risk) and anyone can lie about it.

So Pax americana reminded me not only of a highly emotional text that I had read before, but also about these societal/political (what in society is not covered by politics too) topics that often are misunderstood or completely ignored, the MSM policy being one of them. I’m not sure why I’m the only one who has mentioned this, but I’m glad I did and I suppose each reader will focus upon different aspects of a story. In this case I just chose one of the most obscure ones!

Also, yes I have been to NYC! Although not recently.