Like/reblog If U Are:

Essays

Here’s a (non-exhaustive) list of essays I like/find interesting/are food for thought; I’ve tried to sort them as much as possible. The starred (*) ones are those I especially love

also quick note: some of these links, especially the ones that are from books/anthologies redirect you to libgen or scihub, and if that doesn’t work for you, do message me; I’d be happy to send them across!

Literature + Writing

Godot Comes to Sarajevo - Susan Sontag

The Strangeness of Grief - V. S. Naipaul*

Memories of V. S. Naipaul - Paul Theroux*

A Rainy Day with Ruskin Bond - Mayank Austen Soofi

How Albert Camus Faced History - Adam Gopnik

Listen, Bro - Jo Livingstone

Rachel Cusk Gut-Renovates the Novel - Judith Thurman

Lost in Translation: What the First Line of “The Stranger” Should Be - Ryan Bloom

The Duke in His Domain - Truman Capote*

The Cult of Donna Tartt: Themes and Strategies in The Secret History - Ana Rita Catalão Guedes

Never Do That to a Book - Anne Fadiman*

Affecting Anger: Ideologies of Community Mobilisation in Early Hindi Novel - Rohan Chauhan*

Why I Write - George Orwell*

Rimbaud and Patti Smith: Style as Social Deviance - Carrie Jaurès Noland*

Art + Photography (+ Aesthetics)

Looking at War - Susan Sontag*

Love, sex, art, and death - Nan Goldin, David Wojnarowicz

Lyons, Szarkowski, and the Perception of Photography - Anne Wilkes Tucker

The Feminist Critique of Art History - Thalia Gouma-Peterson, Patricia Mathews

In Plato’s Cave - Susan Sontag*

On reproduction of art (Chapter 1, Ways of Seeing) - John Berger*

On nudity and women in art (Chapter 3, Ways of Seeing) - John Berger*

Kalighat Paintings  - Sharmishtha Chaudhuri

Daydreams and Fragments: On How We Retrieve Images From the Past -  Maël Renouard

Arthur Rimbaud: the Aesthetics of Intoxication - Enid Rhodes Peschel

Cities

Tragic Fable of Mumbai Mills - Gyan Prakash

Whose Bandra is it? - Dustin Silgardo*

Timur’s Registan: noblest public square in the world? - Srinath Perur

The first Starbucks coffee shop, Seattle - Colin Marshall*

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai’s iconic railway station - Srinath Perur

From London to Mumbai and Back Again: Gentrification and Public Policy in Comparative Perspective -  Andrew Harris

The Limits of “White Town” in Colonial Calcutta - Swati Chattopadhyay

The Metropolis and Mental Life - Georg Simmel

Colonial Policy and the Culture of Immigration: Citing the Social History of Varanasi - Vinod Kumar, Shiv Narayan

A Caribbean Creole Capital: Kingston, Jamaica - Coln G. Clarke (from Colonial Cities by Robert Ross, Gerard J. Telkamp

The Colonial City and the Post-Colonial World - G. A. de Bruijne

The Nowhere City - Amos Elon*

The Vertical Flâneur: Narratorial Tradecraft in the Colonial Metropolis - Paul K. Saint-Amour

Philosophy

The trolley problem problem - James Wilson

A Brief History of Death - Nir Baram

Justice as Fairness: Political not Metaphysical - John Rawls*

Should Marxists be Interested in Exploitation? - John E. Roemer

The Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief - Scott Berinato*

The Pandemic and the Crisis of Faith - Makarand Paranjape

If God Is Dead, Your Time is Everything - James Wood

Giving Up on God - Ronald Inglehart

The Limits of Consensual Decision - Douglas Rae*

The Science of “Muddling Through” - Charles Lindblom*

History

The Gruesome History of Eating Corpses as Medicine - Maria Dolan

The History of Loneliness - Jill Lepore*

The Anti-Che - Jay Nordlinger

From Tuskegee to Togo: the Problem of Freedom in the Empire of Cotton - Sven Beckert*

Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism - E. P. Thompson*

All By Myself - Martha Bailey*

The Geographical Pivot of History - H. J. Mackinder

The sea/ocean

Rim of Life - Manu Pillai

Exploring the Indian Ocean as a rich archive of history – above and below the water line - Isabel Hofmeyr, Charne Lavery

‘Piracy’, connectivity and seaborne power in the Middle Ages - Nikolas Jaspert (from The Sea in History)*

The Vikings and their age - Nils Blomkvist (from The Sea in History)*

Mercantile Networks, Port Cities, and “Pirate” States - Roxani Eleni Margariti

Phantom Peril in the Arctic - Robert David English, Morgan Grant Gardner*

Assorted ones on India

A departure from history: Kashmiri Pandits, 1990-2001 - Alexander Evans *

Writing Post-Orientalist Histories of the Third World - Gyan Prakash

Empire: How Colonial India Made Modern Britain - Aditya Mukherjee

Feminism and Nationalism in India, 1917-1947 - Aparna Basu

The Epic Riddle of Dating Ramayana, Mahabharata - Sunaina Kumar*

Caste and Politics: Identity Over System - Dipankar Gupta

Our worldview is Delhi based*

Sports (you’ll have to excuse the fact that it’s only cricket but what can i say, i’m indian)

‘Massa Day Done:’ Cricket as a Catalyst for West Indian Independence: 1950-1962 - John Newman*

Playing for power? rugby, Afrikaner nationalism and masculinity in South Africa, c.1900–70 - Albert Grundlingh

When Cricket Was a Symbol, Not Just a Sport - Baz Dreisinger

Cricket, caste, community, colonialism: the politics of a great game - Ramachandra Guha*

Cricket and Politics in Colonial India - Ramchandra Guha

MS Dhoni: A quiet radical who did it his way*

Music

Brega: Music and Conflict in Urban Brazil - Samuel M. Araújo

Color, Music and Conflict: A Study of Aggression in Trinidad with Reference to the Role of Traditional Music - J. D. Elder

The 1975 - ‘Notes On a Conditional Form’ review - Dan Stubbs*

Life Without Live - Rob Sheffield*

How Britney Spears Changed Pop - Rob Sheffield

Concert for Bangladesh

From “Help!” to “Helping out a Friend”: Imagining South Asia through the Beatles and the Concert for Bangladesh - Samantha Christiansen 

Gender

Clothing Behaviour as Non-verbal Resistance - Diana Crane

The Normalisation of Queer Theory - David M. Halperin

Menstruation and the Holocaust - Jo-Ann Owusu*

Women’s Suffrage the Democratic Peace - Allan Dafoe

Pink and Blue: Coloring Inside the Lines of Gender - Catherine Zuckerman*

Women’s health concerns are dismissed more, studied less - Zoanne Clack

Food

How Food-Obsessed Millennials Shape the Future of Food - Rachel A. Becker (as a non-food obsessed somewhat-millennial, this was interesting)

Colonialism’s effect on how and what we eat - Coral Lee

Tracing Europe’s influence on India’s culinary heritage - Ruth Dsouza Prabhu

Chicken Kiev: the world’s most contested ready-meal*

From Russia with mayo: the story of a Soviet super-salad*

The Politics of Pancakes - Taylor Aucoin*

How Doughnuts Fuelled the American Dream*

Pav from the Nau

A Short History of the Vada Pav - Saira Menezes

Fantasy (mostly just harry potter and lord of the rings)

Purebloods and Mudbloods: Race, Species, and Power (from The Politics of Harry Potter)

Azkaban: Discipline, Punishment, and Human Rights (from The Politics of Harry Potter)*

Good and Evil in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lengendarium - Jyrki Korpua

The Fairy Story: J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis - Colin Duriez (from Tree of Tales)*

Tolkien’s Augustinian Understanding of Good and Evil: Why The Lord of the Rings Is Not Manichean - Ralph Wood (from Tree of Tales)*

Travel

The Hidden Cost of Wildlife Tourism

Chronicles of a Writer’s 1950s Road Trip Across France - Kathleen Phelan

On the Early Women Pioneers of Trail Hiking - Gwenyth Loose

On the Mythologies of the Himalaya Mountains - Ed Douglas*

More random assorted ones

The cosmos from the wheelchair (The Economist obituaries)*

In El Salvador - Joan Didion

Scientists are unravelling the mystery of pain - Yudhijit Banerjee

Notes on Nationalism - George Orwell

Politics and the English Language - George Orwell*

What Do the Humanities Do in a Crisis? - Agnes Callard*

The Politics of Joker - Kyle Smith

Sushant Singh Rajput: The outsider - Uday Bhatia*

Credibility and Mystery - John Berger

happy reading :)

Oh my gosh this is awesome. I really enjoyed it: two of my favourite minor (in the show, but major in my heart) characters interacting together and it was wonderful. Your writing is gorgeous and I can’t wait to read more! Also once and future gay’s analysis was super interesting as well! Thanks for sharing this both of you, it made me very happy.

be good [fic]

for @once-and-future-gay​​ :)

summary: It was only after the third time that Daegal sliced a finger open on the blade of his axe that he started to wonder if Merlin’s plan for him to “learn something new” was actually intended as a punishment.

a/n: This ficlet combines the “Will gives Daegal a woodworking lesson” and “Will and Daegal address what Daegal did to Merlin” sections of @once-and-future-gay​’s headcanon post (original post here; additional thoughts by me here!)  Both of our faves interacting in one fic???  It’s more likely than you think!  

Thank you for all the fantastic fandom conversations, @once-and-future-gay​​!  I know Daegal is your favorite boy (and I know what it’s like to be super invested in a fairly niche character, lol), so here’s a little something with both our guys, for you! <3

Keep reading

To any suicidal followers I may have: This is a sign to not kill yourself. You are loved and the world is special because you are in it. Keep holding on.

Reblog this when it’s on your dash. You will save someone’s life.

This person gets how people feel about bake off. Especially British people, i know because I am a British people.

The Great British Bake Off

Nico *insane screaming*

Will *kicks down door*: WHATISITAREYOUOKAY

Nico: PAUL HOLLYWOOD JUST GAVE OUT A HANDSHAKE!

Will:

Will: Nico seriously.

Will: Who’d he give it to?!

Ooh, thanks so much! I can’t wait to get start on all these, there’s so many it’ll be a real treat!

Hiya, do you have any fairytale aus? Thanks for your work by the way, I love this blog!

Hello friend! So happy that you’re enjoying this work. The Librarian got to discover new fics on this fun theme, so this ask was a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy some of these as well.

Wolfstar Fairytale AUs

Untold Blessings by @aryastark-valarmorghulis

Magic once existed in England and has finally returned. Mr Sirius Black, a gifted magician, ventures, rash and ill-prepared, into Faerie.

Every Rose Has Its Thorns by shadow_prince

Two beasts, a lot of magic, and a rose garden.

little red riding hood and other misnomers by Someone_aka_Me

Sirius may wear a red riding cloak, but he is no Little Red Riding Hood. But that's okay, because Remus doesn't make a very good Big Bad Wolf, either.

The Kitchens by @lumosinlove

Sirius and Remus: A king and a commoner from two different worlds who will break all the rules for love.

prince Sirius and commoner werewolf Remus by Judeyjude 

“I gather you have come to slay the beast?” “Uh.” Sirius stared at the man lying on the grass. There was not a line of tension in his body, and he hadn’t dignified Sirius—Prince Sirius—with a single glance. “Er, yes. Right. The beast. Werewolf. Do you, uh, know where…it dwells?” The man snorted and turned the page of his book.

The King I Could Become by @randoyoyo

Prince Sirius of Nox has one thing he cannot stand. Or rather it should be said, one person. Prince Remus of Lupos. They had never gotten along well, though their kingdoms are close allies, but a disturbance in the lands has brought them together on a quest. They’ll be able to take down this threat…if they can survive each other’s presence first.

Snow Black -orphaned account

Sirius Black - more commonly known as Snow Black - is forced to run away from home when his father attempts to have him killed. What he doesn’t expect is to get caught up in a scheme to steal the crown from none other than Prince Lupin himself.

The Odds of Faith in the Face of Doubt by @musesfool

Remus learns to believe in the fairytale.

Grimsfall by @remus-john-lupin

There is a legend in the old city of Grimsfall that a large, black creature used to emerge from the forest at night, and anyone who met its gaze would be driven to madness before the thing dragged them into the depths of hell.

Books, Swords, and Other Things Found in Forests (A Robin Hood/Historical AU) by @alienfairyprincess-blog

The man flicked his sword to Remus’ throat with a cocky grin. “Your book or your life.” “Book.” The wolfstar/marauders Robin Hood AU nobody asked for!

The Moon's Favourite Son and the Guardian of the Forest by @shaggydogstail @artymakeart

When Remus was a little boy, he used to listen to stories told by the wind which came down his chimney. When he became an adult, he travelled to the place those stories came from, a magical forest far away. There he met Sirius, so beautiful and mysterious it was like he'd stepped straight out of a story book himself, and better yet Sirius promised to grant him three wishes.

The Tale of the Prince of Caelor by bluepeony

Set in an Arcadian land of dragons, elves and magic, Sirius is a prince and Remus his lowly servant.

I think we all fancied Cedric to be honest!

harry potter fancied cedric diggory reblog if you agree

This is really cute, would seriously recommend. I utterly live writer Merlín, that’s a new headcanon of mine now.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Merlin (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin) Characters: Merlin (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin) Additional Tags: POV Merlin (Merlin), Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Writer Merlin (Merlin), Fluff, Humor, Profanity, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, they kiss, merlin is horny for arthur, idiots flirting, merlin’s unable to write Summary:

“Why? Are you offering to buy me some?” Merlin jokes, letting his mouth run free like the idiot he is (why bother with pesky things, like a brain filter) “You know what they say, a man only buys you clothes so he can take them off you.”

Merlin hears a thud behind him as he climbs the stairs and looks over his shoulder, to see Arthur straightening up, as if he stumbled or something, “You ok mate?”

This is fabulous! You’re is hilarious and I love their dynamic, especially Vale leaping from the chair like his life depends on it. Thanks so much for writing.

Hiya, could you do number 1 on the quarantine writing prompts for Silver and Vale please?

“You. Me. Quarantined for two weeks. Anything could happen.”Silver purred, leaning on the arm of Vale’s chosen armchair, well stuffed, near to the window, within arms reach of a coffee table. It was dark red.

“Yeah. I may kill you. Or we may both get sick.” Vale dryly said, he was flipping through a notebook, going over the notes of a recent case that would hopefully be going to trial when the quarantine was over. “Can I help you? You are in my light.” Silver got up, walked around the back of  the chair, dragging his fingers across Vale’s shoulders and back, Vale suppressed a shiver. He sat on the other arm.

“Is this better?”

“If you insist.” He said dryly. “Are you just here as an irritating distraction? Or do you actually have some purpose in being here?”

“This is my home.”

“Yes. You are an incredibly observant man. So you have any other shockingly new observations? Anything else that I may have missed?”

“I like this armchair.”

“I can tell. There were three strands of your hair on it when I sat down, and your slippers in front of it. I assume that the position by the window was intended for you to be able to watch the streets.” Vale said, flipping his page. “You like to know what is going on at all times and the view allows you to see who is coming to your door, and when they leave as well.”

“Anything else?”

“It was recently reupholstered, suggesting that you frequently throw yourself down onto it in a pique of melodramatic fitting.”

“Actually it was because I happen to enjoy bringing my bed partners up to this room.” Vale jumped out of the chair, stumbling over Silver’s slippers. “Oh, good lord you are gullible.” He slipped off the arm and landed over the chair. “No, you were… right the first time.” Vale had dropped his notebook in his rush to get out of the seat and Silver picked it up and held it out to him. “Thank you for the entertainment though.”

Vale snatched the notebook out of his hand. “You disgust me.”

“Would whiskey make you feel better? There’s a drinks cabinet over there.” He waved his hand toward the sideboard at the side of the doors. “If you fancy one, feel free to pour me a glass too.” Vale was going to snap back at him that he wasn't a servant, but a glass of whiskey sounded like a good idea, so he opened up the cabinet and plucked out the first bottle that he found, holding it up to examine it.

“This is good stuff.” Vale mainly said to himself as he unstoppered a bottle and splashed some into a glass.

“Of course it is.” Silver replied with an idle flutter of his fingers. “I have superb taste in alcohol, amongst other…” He watched Vale bend over to put the bottle away again. “Things.” He finished.

“I doubt you have good taste in most things.” Vale replied. He put the glass within Silver’s reach and kept the bottle in his hand. “I will give you this though. Thanks for the drink.”

“You’re welcome!” Silver called as Vale let the door shut with a thunk behind him.

This looks gorgeous!

Kai is out here straight up speaking the truth we all need.

Kai: Chillax!

Vale: That’s not a word

Kai: Sometimes the ones who deny ‘chillax’ are the ones who need to chillax the most