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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 6h

I'm conceding 😅

Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 6h

Fine! They'd be anachronistic if he's a neo-classical statue so maybe they're just lines where parts of the statue were welded together, and actually he's naked under his apron, in the style of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(... (but less provocative from the front, obvs, thanks to the apron).

The rear view of Donatello's bronze statue of David (creative commons photo by Yair Haklai ) showing him wearing only a helmet and boots.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 6h

Fine! They'd be anachronistic if he's a neo-classical statue so maybe they're just lines where parts of the statue were welded together, and actually he's naked under his apron, in the style of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(... (but less provocative from the front, obvs, thanks to the apron).

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 7h

I'm really bad at this, but I've tried to circle the lines I can see which could be interpreted as the lower seam of some shorts/cut-offs. My lines are the squiggly red ones.

The back view of Vulcan is very grey. You can see the straps of his apron across his back, and waist. Below his bottom, though, I'm seeing some lines. And then from the knee down he's got sandal straps that cross over each other down his calf.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 7h

Yes, but above the sandals which go up to about his knee, about mid-thigh, there's a thin line which I'm interpreting as the lower edge of a garment.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 7h

I think he's wearing cut-off jeans, because there's definitely a line horizontally across his leg, above the knee.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 8h

Labour really are in denial about the environment. Faced with warnings about the need to address future flooding, www.theguardian.com/environment/... their answer seems to be to rip up nature protection and focus on the extremely short-term economics.

“For too long, deprived towns and cities struggled to secure the vital money needed for flood defences due to a complicated and outdated process,” she said. “Our reforms will rip this up and help communities get back on their feet after floods by unlocking economic growth, building new homes, and creating new jobs.”

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Reposted by Laura Vivanco

RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · 14h

Red Squirrels always looking like they're about to politely interrupt

A Red Squirrel stands upright on the forest floor, tiny paws clasped neatly together as if waiting nervously to ask a question. Its wide eyes and hesitant posture give it an endearing, almost apologetic expression, as though feeling rather unsure about interrupting.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 12h

😱

Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 1d

Agree! I snort to myself every time I read Northrop Frye's comments on this (it's a long quote embedded in this post, but the whole post's about people trying to make their subjective feelings about literary quality sound objective).

Reading from the Gut

Laura Vivanco I've read some books recently which just didn't work for me because of my emotional response to them, and while I was thinking...

teachmetonight.blogspot.com

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 1d

I get irritated every single time a romance heroine (it's always the heroine) bewailing the fact that her hair has got frizzy due to humidity. As someone whose hair is naturally frizzy, I don't like this bias.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 1d

Fay Weldon was paid by Bulgari in 2000

The Bulgari Connection - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 1d

This update got very long, but maybe that means there's a higher chance of it including something you'd be interested in reading?

Most of the entries are to open-access publications, so they're free to view.

A very long list of new (and some not so new) publications about romance

The open access journal TEXT dedicated a special issue to romance/romantic fiction, under the subtitle " Trope Actually – Popular Romance" b...

teachmetonight.blogspot.com

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 2d

I can't read it either. Though I think it's The Times not The New York Times.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 2d

It's the percentage of the young people

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 3d

Just remembering this:

Hark, a vagrant: 202

www.harkavagrant.com

Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 3d

It would be probably be more of an Anne Bronte story though, rather than a Charlotte Bronte one.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 3d

To make the "seducing the hot priest" version viable as a love story, Jane would have to change St. John's mind about aspects of his theology, and somehow the author would have to have him start finding something about Jane physically attractive, which seems unlikely given his type is Rosamund.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 3d

From reading modern popular romance, I get the impression that "saving the bad boy" is v. v. popular with heterosexual women readers. And I'm guessing that plot would also have deep appeal to heterosexual men who want women to be angels/saviours/pure/do emotional work for them.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 3d

Oh, I know, I'm just thinking about most readers and which dynamics they're used to/prefer. I have the impression that Rochester sees himself as fallen (well, he is literally fallen from his horse but I mean morally) and in need of saving, and that's what's set up as being attractive by the novel.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 3d

I wonder if readers' interpretations may be shaped by whether they have a "saving the sexy Satan" orientation or a "could I seduce the hot priest" one. And if they're results orientated: "saving" a dependent Rochester would be very, very much easier for Jane than seducing St John.

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 3d

St John is a better person*, but not a better person for Jane to be married to unless she wants to devote the rest of a shortened life to doing "good works".

* I have concerns, about the colonialism and white saviour aspect of his proposed mission, but it's a long time since I read JE.