UPDATE: I’m delighted to say that this class now has been confirmed for Summer 2025!
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By Silvertree
Please be aware that we do not permit swap-related content on profiles or in blogs. Please post this content only in the For Sale, Swaps, and Wanted forums, or in the Wishlists topic. ~from Swapping 101 Thanks!- 5 comments
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“In particular, the researchers focused on a concept called ‘identification with all humanity.’ This…
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Happy Sunrise on the Reaping Day!
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The Dystopian Tradition
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Meet The Last Man!
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Lupercalia 2025 breakdown
Choco-Goblin Perfume Oil Coconut covered chocolate lumps, gnarly patchouli, and sweet benzoin. Pass - not usually a big chocolate fan (in my perfume), but I am interested in the white chocolate ones. (Sometimes there are exceptions though). I like Goblin but this combination doesn't sound great to me.
Choco-TKO Perfume Oil A soporific dessert: Hidcote lavender, golden hops, and vanilla bean dusted with cacao. Pass - have enough TKO in various forms.
Chocubus Perfume Oil Frozen white chocolate and the heart-stopping chill of sheared mint, fanned by caramel-touched body heat, and the diabolical sensuality of black musk, nicotiana, and sage. Interested, decant? I tried Incubus a long time ago and it's fine but I never wear it (I think it gave me nightmares or something), but this combination of notes has potential.
Horreur Choco-Tique Perfume Oil Dark chocolate, ruby cocoa, blood musk, golden honey, thick black wine, champagne grapes, tobacco flower, plum blossom, tonka bean, oakmoss, carnation, benzoin, opoponax, and sugar cane. Pass - mainly due to honey, we don't get along. Although looking at this I wonder if it smells anything like Temple Viper? It's a stretch but TV gives me grape + incense vibes, and they do share the sugar cane note.
Sea Foams Chocolate Perfume Oil White chocolate froth and marshmallow fluff cresting on an ocean wave. Don’t drink it! Interested! I really liked Supposed To Be A Pretzel, I know this isn't the same but still my mind is connecting them for some reason. Decant.
The Dark Chocolate Rider Perfume Oil Dark chocolate, leather, sweet myrrh, tobacco absolute, and black amber.
The Ruby Chocolate Rider Perfume Oil Ruby chocolate, red leather, red musk, red berries, red mosses, balsam, and passion flower cordial.
The White Chocolate Rider Perfume Oil White chocolate, frothed milk, sandalwood, and leather. Don't need any of the Riders, tried them when they first came out and they weren't for me.
White Chocolate Rabbit Perfume Oil White chocolate filled with black tea and cream, splooged with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla. Interested, I like gc White Rabbit and also the snow one, and I'd like to try this one too. Decant. Girth of Venus Cake for Breakfast Perfume Oil Peach silk, cherry fizz, pain au chocolat, and a cup of generously creamed black tea. Pass but it was close.
Erotes’ Valentine Perfume Oil Pink buttercream roses, wingbeats of pearly suede, and whorls of dark musk. Pass - for now
Mars and Venus Perfume Oil A stolen moment preserved for eternity in a gleaming amber jewel, entombed in malachite swirls of oakmoss and velvet. Pass, pretty confident on this one.
The Crimson Perfume Oil Burnished rosewood, clove cigarette smoke, oozing apple slices, and plum cashmere cushions fouled with trickles of labdanum. Pass on this one.
The Pearl Perfume Oil A salt-encrusted cocoon overflowing with almond blossoms, sweet patchouli, and dried peony petals whipped into orris butter. I feel like I have more than one thing like this already but not sure. Pass for now. Lupercalia 2025
Amoretti LXXV Perfume Oil A great and golden love: immortal, undying, infinite. A love brightly burned into the stone of eternity: golden amber and scarlet musk, black vanilla absolute, red apple, Siamese benzoin, and sweet fig. Pass, mostly because of apple, it tends to take over the whole scent on my skin and ends up smelling like shampoo.
Like the Very Gods Perfume Oil Shuddering, sweat-warmed skin gleaming with sheer musk, honeyed olive blossoms, vanilla cedar, white sandalwood, and orris butter. Pass for sure because of the honeyed part, I know it would dominate on me.
Luperci Perfume Oil This scent is for the Luperci, the Chosen of Faunus, the Brothers of the Wolf: raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk. Pass, tried before and didn't work for me.
Penetralia Perfume Oil That heavenly spot where creamy, angel-pink hibiscus petals meet the pale, juicy-green pistil. Pass, for now but could change my mind. I don't really know what hibiscus smells like.
Pink Fuzzy Handcuffs Perfume Oil It’s not quite as fun when you lose the key. Pink cotton candy, candied rose, and vanilla sugar. Pass, pretty confidently. I like some sweet scents but this sounds VERY sweet.
Red Lantern Perfume Oil A tribute to the opium den cum bawdyhouses of Shanghai in the 1930’s. Golden amber, blonde tobacco, Sudanese black coconut, rich caramel, black currant, white opium and delphinium laced with a sensual blend of Asian spice. I will pass for now. I think I tried this before and didn't get alomg with it.
Rose Milk Tea Perfume Oil An impossibly sweet concoction of green tea and frothed almond milk poured over fresh rose petals and glistening tapioca pearls. Had to really think about it but I'm going to pass for now. I'm not really in the mood for rose right now. Smut Perfume Oil We are the smuttiest. Three swaggering, smutty musks sweetened with sugar and woozy with dark booze notes. Like it, but my 1 bottle is enough.
Snake Skin Perfume Oil A sinuous leather variant of BPALs Snake Oil. Have it and don't need more.
The Elephant is Slow to Mate Perfume Oil A rolling, unhurried, volcanic passion sustained by a love that is slow, shy, patient, and wise – and expressed through a scent as warm, languorous, luxuriant, and comforting as a cloak of heavy, soft red velvet: deep burgundy musk, red labdanum, smoked rose petals, opoponax, 17-year aged patchouli, blackened vanilla bean, dried black cherries, blackberries, and tobacco absolute. Have it and don't need more, although I should try it again, it has been a while.
The Serpent in the Carnations Perfume Oil Snake Oil-soaked carnation petals, spiked with a dash of clove and allspice. I have a bottle and don't need more, even if it's different this year (not sure if it is).
The Serpent in the Lilacs Perfume Oil Spring’s first lilac branches dunked in 3-year aged Snake Oil. I really just feel like I have enough SO variants.
The Serpent in the Opium Poppies Perfume Oil Snake Oil, opium tar, indigo poppy petals, plum cognac, and a dribble of laudanum. Pass but the hype is testing me.
The Serpent in the Roses Perfume Oil Snake Oil dribbling across a cluster of amber-flecked, blackened rose petals. Already have it and don't need more.
White Flowers, Red Ink, Black Paper Perfume Oil If this year’s Lupercalia fragrance collection was a book, it would be printed in blood-red ink rolled across the soft, stubborn bodies of dream-pale flowers, and stamped onto heavy black paper. We’d pass it around before the letters had a chance to dry, staining fingers with the turn of every page, marking the curious as aspiring erotes, as fellow Lupercalians. The sanguine contents of this text were made to be devoured by the eyes, the skin, the heart, and then the story continued by its readers, passed along to others. Pass on this one, not really calling to me. I'm not big on ink and paper scents, from my experience.
Womb Furie Perfume Oil An itch that needs to be scratched: Snake Oil and three types of honey. No thank you! On Lovers' Lips Coquette Red Perfume Oil A flirty strawberry-tinged rose lipstick.
Dominatrix Red Perfume Oil Latex, leather, and blood-red lipstick.
Egyptian Red Perfume Oil Cleopatra’s vibrant carmine suffused with myrrh, blue lotus absolute, cinnamon bark, elemi resin, and cassia.
Elizabethan Red Perfume Oil Orange blossom water, fig milk, clove bud, madder root, and gum arabic smeared on an ambergris-dabbed white leather glove.
Jiroft Red Perfume Oil Ground hematite and manganite pounded into vegetable waxes and scented with dates, narcissus, rosewater, and oud.
Vixen Red Perfume Oil Confidence, sensuality, glamour. Ripe black cherries, velvety red rose, and a flirtatious sparkle of pink pepper glide seamlessly through iris-touched vanilla bean wax. Don't need any of these - they just don't sound that appealing to me but I would sniff if any of them came my way (I guess that's true for just about any scent). Raunchy Hearts 2025 Aces Wild Perfume Oil A big, wet blue raspberry blown to the idea that asexual people never get off, don’t enjoy relationships, or are generally anti-sex.
Cuck Me Perfume Oil A sticky-sweet love letter to the stranger (coworker? lifelong friend?) who’s been sleeping in your bed: candy cigarettes and root beer barrels.
Don’t Peek Perfume Oil Lychee tears soaking through a blindfold of opium tar.
Findom Perfume Oil An arrangement in which eros is expressed via liquid assets and cold, hard cash: shiny butterscotch and pale green vanilla mint.
U Tried Wild Perfume Oil You sure did! Here’s your participation award: a bright, sweet lemon candy lightly dusted with sugar to soothe the sting of rejection.
UNF Perfume Oil Hot, heavy slaps of dragon fruit punctuated with pink pepper whimpers and a grunt of patchouli.
Yelp Perfume Oil Make some noise if it feels good! Make some noise if it feels bad! A paper pouch of popping peach and sour cherry candy Don't need any of these. I can't afford to try a whole lot so I'm kind of glad when I can pass on a whole section. Happy for those who are getting them, though. Edit: Ok I might want to try the lemon candy one. The Seven Veils The Fifth Veil Perfume Oil Putrefaction, the veil of decay. A yellowing shroud of raw-edged Muga silk, banana-spotted with chunks of fermented fig and exuding rich, earthy puffs of mushroom dust. Pass for sure
The First Veil Perfume Oil Calcination, the black veil. A densely-ruffled carapace of peppered ambergris, sandalwood smoke, and charred silk Doesn't sound like something I would like.
The Fourth Veil Perfume Oil Conjunction, the veil of reunion. Ripples of sage-green silk covered in a mossy velvet-burnout pattern of wildflowers and slithering ivy. Probably pass, but there is some potential here. On the fence about this one.
The Second Veil Perfume Oil Dissolution, the flowing veil. A crystal-sequined torrent of lilac-wine organza soiled with trampled grapeskins, cinnabar smudges, and smears of liquid myrrh. Undecided - probably pass but I weirdly want to try it.
The Seventh Veil Perfume Oil Coagulation, the veil that lays bare. Bare skin visible through a glittering web of blood-red garnet beads strung on threads spun from filaments of pure gold. I'd like to smell this just out of curiosity but overall I think I can skip it for now.
The Sixth Veil Perfume Oil Distillation, the veil of steam. Condensation gathering in clouds of tulle, white tea, aqua vitae, rosemary liqueur, and bourbon vanilla. Same as above except I might actually look for a decant of this one.
The Third Veil Perfume Oil Separation, the veil of distinction. A tumble of pearly pale-blue chiffon shot through with slashes of white ginger and lined with ivory satin rosettes. Not sure, this is another wild card, maybe a decant? Shungas 2025 A Cluster of Red Chrysanthemums Perfume Oil Red chrysanthemum petals, guava pulp, crimson-tipped peonies, and sandalwood incense. Ok now we're talking. I can't help but think of Chrysanthemum Moon but "sandalwood incense" could turn on me. Probably a decant.
A Pause in One’s Studies Perfume Oil Luminous amber, white tea, sweet heliotrope, golden lotus petals, toasted almond blossom cream, and a smear of ink. Sounds nice but I have to be selective and this doesn't stand out a lot. I will watch reviews though. Maybe decant down the road.
A Record Book of Ships Entering the Harbor Perfume Oil Vanilla sandalwood and vanilla cream with a hint of tobacco absolute and blackcurrant bud. Sounds nice but again, does this stand out? I feel like I've smelled lots of things with these notes already. Possible decant.
Affair Between an Amorous Doctor and a Wanton Married Woman Perfume Oil Gurjum balsam, lemon peel, ginger root, and clove. Sounds a little too zingy for what I've been in the mood for lately. But I do love a good lemony scent.... have to think some more on this one
An Intriguing Observation Perfume Oil Pomegranate milk, scarlet musk, red sandalwood, frankincense, and white almond. Passing for now, I feel like I have plenty of red musk scents and it can sometimes take over.
Aroused Demon Perfume Oil Red and black vegetal musks, pink peppercorn, lychee, wild plum, green tea, oakmoss, and matcha Not a combo I'm really interested in right now. Battledore and Shuttlecock Perfume Oil Calla lilies, green tea, peony milk, and blue lilac. Now this is something I want to try and actually have a bottle in my cart at the moment! (Edit: I got a decant to try first)
Cascade of Tissues Perfume Oil Marshmallow cream, red silk musk, pomegranate juice, and red currant. Interested in the marshmallow cream but not the red musk. Possible decant.
Celestial Beings Making Love Above the Sea Perfume Oil Eucalyptus blossom, salty foam, ambergris accord, blue spruce, white mint, lotus root, and blue musk. Sounds nice but I'm passing for now. I like aquatics but there are a couple iffy notes here.
Contest of Flowers: Iris Perfume Oil Iris, peony, and carnation petals soaked in strawberry cream and lotus milk. Has potential but I need to be strict and this doesn't quite make the cut.
Convivial Vulva Perfume Oil Cherry blossom cream, blush marshmallow, white amber, and wild pink strawberries. This has potential but I'm skipping it for now.
Couple Engaged in Intimate Acts as the Man Pours Tea Perfume Oil Jasmine tea, yuzu rice, and smoked vanilla. Decant - potential, but I also feel I have some other scents like this.
Discarded Weapons Perfume Oil Toasted rice, almond cream, champaca resin, fig, and roasted coconut meat. Again this has potential but I'm skipping for now. It sounds similar to some other things I have. I am interested in the rice note though. Possible decant at some point.
Enthusiastic Recreation Perfume Oil Vanilla-soaked sugared pear, frankincense, osmanthus blossoms, and hazelnut. This is a wild card and I can't decide.
Festival Acrobatics Perfume Oil Akebia, guava pulp, pink sandalwood, melon, green bergamot, Florentine iris, and sandalwood. Undecided, potential decant?
Gongsun Sheng Uses Magic to Cause Heavy Rain and Strong Winds Perfume Oil Ebony musk shot through with scarlet, tobacco absolute, a crack of ozone, and sandalwood-dusted rosy skin musk. Not quite what I'm looking for at the moment.
Great Pleasures for Women and Their Treasure Boxes Perfume Oil Amber incense, guava cream, almond milk, and sandalwood. Pass for now, not calling out to me.
Hazy Moon Cats Perfume Oil Sandalwood incense, dusky violet petals, mauve orris root, sweet labdanum, jasmine sambac, frankincense, and ti leaf. Not totally sure but probably pass for now. Orris can sometimes come across like baby oil on me, and it's not a deal breaker but sometimes it stomps on the other notes. In the Hallway of a Brothel Perfume Oil Lemon cream, incense smoke, and candle wax. I usually pass on waxy scents. I love the sound of lemon cream, though. Intimate Experiments During Household Activities Perfume Oil Mango cream, black cherry cordial, blackcurrant, and neroli. I'm wary of mango cream because I think it went wrong on me in the past. And cherry notes can be very sweet and strong.
Jealousy, Fingering, Masturbation Perfume Oil Green tea with mint cream, jasmine petals, lotus root, and sugared violets. This is very much the kind of thing I'm interested in right now - except the jasmine, it could take over. Maybe just a decant for now?
Lesbian Maidservants Cavorting with a Tortoiseshell Dildo Perfume Oil Polished amber and honeyed teak draped in red silk brocade and soft mosses. Not calling to me at the moment
Lingering Plum Scent in the Sleeping Chamber Perfume Oil Ume blossom and ripe black plums, clove incense, mogra, and a gentle mist of lavender and white honey. I was somewhat interested until we got to white honey, not for me.
Lu Zhishen Pulls the Weeping Willow Upside Down Perfume Oil Willow boughs tangled with strawflower, patchouli root, cypress, clary sage, vetiver, ho wood, and golden musk. Undecided, pass for now.
Michiyuki Koi No Futozao Perfume Oil Brandy-soaked pears, plum incense, and honeyed amber. Pass, not my thing. But I wish for a plum incense single note!
Onnagata Making Love at a Tea House as Mane’emon Watches While Holding a Kite Perfume Oil Orange blossom caramel, yellow tobacco flower, and sugared patchouli. Hmmm....I'm wary of the caramel, but otherwise really interested I think. Decant probably.
Playful Abalone Divers Perfume Oil Lotus petals, jasmine sambac, orris root, coconut, clove, and honey. Probably pass, mostly because of honey.
Plume of Incense Perfume Oil Tendrils of sandalwood, agarwood, and cypress incense, moss silk, calla lilies, and yellow amber. There was a time I would have jumped on this but now I feel like I have lots of incense scents already. Might possibly want a decant but maybe pass?
Radiant Entanglement Perfume Oil Dragonfruit, honeyed hibiscus, fuchsia orchid, and white tea. I'm just not sure, but it has potential. Possible decant. It sure sounds pretty and joyful..something I need right now!
Rapturous Spouses and Curious Cat Perfume Oil Lemon blossom, neroli, white honey, Himalayan cedar, ylang ylang, white frankincense, and a fuzzy purr of musky amber. Probably pass because of white honey.
Scarlet Blossoms Perfume Oil Beeswax, white tea, amber-warmed skin musk, cherry juice, wild plum, and a cascade of cherry and plum blossoms dipped in silky red musk. Several notes here can go wrong. Safe pass for me.
The First Tea Ceremony of the Year Perfume Oil Matcha tea and nerikiri. I think I just am not crazy about matcha in my perfume. I already have the matcha cheesecake Beaver Moon and that is enough for me.
The Fox Spirit’s Jest Perfume Oil Russet musk, red silk, rose chypre, wildflower honey, and patchouli root. Definitely a safe pass for me, too much red and I don't like honey notes for the most part. Shunga HG 2025
Annual Events of the Vagina Hair Gloss Pine needle, crushed grass, jasmine absolute, and juniper.
Chart of the Muscles of the Hand Hair Gloss Toasted almond cream, white musk, and hazelnut sandalwood.
Diver Combing her Hair Hair Gloss Salt-dusted lilac and lavender petals splashed by sea water.
Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge Hair Gloss Cream accord, amber, teak, and lotus blossom.
The Harbor of Love on the Island of Women Hair Gloss White tea, cherry rose petals, marshmallow, frothed cream, and amber. Diver Combing is the only one I'm mildly interested in but I don't need any more Hair gloss.
Why You Should Read Dark Academia
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On my latest “Looking Back on Genre History” segment on the StarShipSofa podcast (Episode 750), I…
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On my latest “Looking Back at Genre History” segment on the StarShipSofa podcast (Episode 748), I…
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2024 Wrap-Up: Talks
Why You Should Read The Last Man by Mary Shelley
Why You Should Read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
“A Fortnight in the Wilderness” with Alexis de Tocqueville
“Missing Students & Their Fictional Afterlives: True Crime, Crime Fiction, and Dark Academia" (presented at the Popular Culture Research Network’s “Guilty Pleasures: Examining Crime in Popular Culture” conference). View this presentation here.
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2024 Wrap-Up: Podcasts
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2024 Wrap-Up: Publications
An essay, “‘Lifting Old Curses’: The mirror dance of The Flowers of Vashnoi and The Mountains of Mourning” in Short But Concentrated #2: a second essay symposium on the works of Lois McMaster Bujold, edited by @unamccormack. New in Paperback in 2024 (previously published in hardback & ebook in 2023):
Two books, Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier and Star Wars: Essays Exploring a Galaxy Far, Far Away, both co-edited with Emily Strand.
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Revisiting Frankenstein
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Why You Should Read The Last Man by Mary Shelley
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Dark Academia Works Inspired by True Crime Cases?
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Paula Welden and Missing Students
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Bertha Mellish and the Missing Student
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Measurements
feet
length - 9”
width around ball of foot - 9”
ankle - 9.5” hand
from tip of longest finger to wrist - 6.25”
width without thumb - 7”
width with thumb - 8.25” arm
wrist - 7”
wrist to elbow crease - 8”
widest part of arm - 11.5” head
22” around shoe size - big kids 4, womens 6.5 pants - size medium or a 10-12. I love joggers and pj pants!
tops - women's 2X or unisex large in tees; generally a size large or xl in tops, have a 38 C bust and a thick middle so go loose or big vs fitted please!
Ring size 6, 7 or 8 necklace size 17” to long, link opera length or longer to double or triple up bracelet a 7.25 fits perfect but I can wear larger; love bangles esp, and cuffs
The Last Dangerous Visions
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Just a reminder that these great dystopian works were meant to be warnings, not suggestions.
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“Men love a prop so well, that they will lean on a pointed poisoned spear…”
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