Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Skylarking Uteri

This snippet is from a late Victorian medical book written by a (male) doctor.

I just love the line:

"... I am afraid the poor little uterus would be constantly skylarking from one part of the pelvis to the other."

My first thought upon reading this was that Aristotle's theory of hysteria certainly took a looonng time to die. (This was the theory that a roaming uterus was what caused women to become over-emotional (hysterical). Thus by definition only women could be hysterical. Men had no uteri to make them behave so emotionally.)

My second thought was, no wonder so many women died in childbirth, if that was the state of their gynecological knowledge.

Although, it would make for a great call-in-sick excuse:
"I'm sorry, I can't come in to work today. My uterus has gone skylarking."

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Fallout New Vegas Fan Art

Okay, so y'all know I'm a big Fallout New Vegas fangirl, right?
For the uninitiated, it's this game here:















I write derpy little fanfictions about it. (And by fanfic I mean fluff and pr0n.)

Ahem.  Moving on....

Some absolutely fantastically talented artists have honored my non-canonical little 'verse and the pair I ship with some radically awesome pieces of art.

You cannot imagine how touched and humbled I felt when I first saw these. Most of them are on dA here. But as a few aren't, I thought I'd post them here so everyone could see them and pet them and bask in the light from their general awesomeness.

First let's get you acquainted with the pair I ship. The above masterpiece is by GOBEUR
This next one is by GOBEUR as well.
Vulpes doesn't actually have a tail, of course. But isn't it adorable? :)
These next ones are on deviantArt:




Aren't they wonderful?  If you're on dA, you should watch these folks. They are total awesomesauce with a side of brilliance.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Jealous Hearts

Still waiting for the Fallout New Vegas DLC Honest Hearts.  
(Hi, I'm a PS3 owner.)

Reeaaally want to see how Zion looks. I've been to Zion IRL. And Bryce Canyon. Have to admit, after Bryce, Zion seemed a bit of a let down. Which isn't it's fault. Let me show you.


This is Bryce.


This is Zion.

The approach to Zion, as you can see, is on the floor of the canyon.

The approach to Bryce is on the top, like it is for the Grand Canyon.

Being on the top rim makes it easier to see the magnificence of the place immediately. With Zion, you just can't appreciate the full scope. You have to go do the trails and get to an overlook. Which we didn't have time to do. So I'll definitely have to go back some day.

In any case, it should be a cool setting for Honest Hearts.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

For all in a twenty mile radius...

In case you haven't seen this:


























And now, the Fallout New Vegas version:























Many thanks to Hark A Vagrant and the Fallout KinkMeme.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Letters From The Past

I'm a research fiend. I admit it. I love the hunt for obscure facts, the thrill of discovery... far more than the tedium of actually writing the stuff down. So I spend ages sorting through ephemera on tangential subjects that will never actually imbed themselves anywhere but inside my brain JUST BECAUSE that's my idea of a fun weekend.

So, I'm researching along on another book about Salem (no, there can never be too many, shut up) and I come across this. And I must share.

These are real, actual letters written by a third grade class in Salem as part of a school exercise, asking what they would like to be when they grew up. The first is fanciful, something you might expect from an 8 year-old:

This next one is from a boy with a startling grasp of the reality of being a soldier:



"Then I will come home if I am alive." That's sort of chilling to hear from a little kid.

But this last one, this one... for the consummate expression of bleak existentialist crisis, look no further:

I think this is worthy of an OMG.

Can you imagine being 8 years old and knowing the individuality of your life is meaningless? This is 1912. Women can't vote. They aren't expected to have a career - many jobs are simply not open to them. Their property is generally controlled by a father or husband. Elinor is in third grade and she already knows her future:

"I want to be married because there is nothing else to do."