Real Margaret You Fascinate Me - Tumblr Posts
Shoutout to Pulp Musicals for getting me into the writings of 17th century author Margaret Cavendish (because much like John Herschel, I have questions).
And there's definitely a lot of dated stuff, but also so much that is just fascinating and bizarre. Like, I'm still at the beginning of Balzing World, but she's already gone through a portal at the North Pole, and run into polar bear people, Fox people, goose people, and green people. So, I think I have more questions now.
At this point, I'm not even sure if the name "traveler" from Pulp Musicals is a reference to the character "Travellia" from Margaret Cavendish's book Assaulted and Pursued Chastity, or if I just really want it to be because I am obsessed with the idea of a genderfluid character in a book written in the 1600s.
A main character who cycles through names and pronouns based on current emotions/activities (Miseria, Affectionata, Travellia, ...), and makes everyone fall in love with him, regardless of gender? The found family in the ship captain that accepts her as his son? That's actually the queerest idea I've ever heard, and I'm utterly baffled that it's nearly 4 centuries old.
By the way, if anyone's interested, I wrote a whole fic explaining what happened in the original story, and my take on how it should have ended. Essentially it's set in the future and Margaret is telling this story to Samuel, like the grandpa in Princess Bride. It's mostly done now, but won't be posted to ao3 until August (for Pulp Fortnight).
At this point, I'm not even sure if the name "traveler" from Pulp Musicals is a reference to the character "Travellia" from Margaret Cavendish's book Assaulted and Pursued Chastity, or if I just really want it to be because I am obsessed with the idea of a genderfluid character in a book written in the 1600s.
A main character who cycles through names and pronouns based on current emotions/activities (Miseria, Affectionata, Travellia, ...), and makes everyone fall in love with him, regardless of gender? The found family in the ship captain that accepts her as his son? That's actually the queerest idea I've ever heard, and I'm utterly baffled that it's nearly 4 centuries old.
So I'm reading the Blazing World, and wow the Empress and the Duchess are so gay for each other. (Ignore the weird spelling, but):
"Husbands have reason to be jealous of Platonick Lovers, for they are very dangerous, as being not only intimate and close, but subtil and insinuating."
"at her first arrival, the Empress imbraced and saluted her with a spiritual kiss"
"The Empress, who loved the Duchess as her own soul"
"Your soul shall live with my soul in my body." -Empress, to the Duchess
I will admit, when I initially heard that Margaret Cavendish put an unnamed self insert into her Blazing World book, I assumed it was the Empress, but her self insert being the Empress's ("platonic") lover is even more fascinating to me.
Both of these women are married btw, although the Empress more for political reasons than anything else. The Emperor does not care what she does, and even told her to summon her "dear platonick friend" because he didn't know how to help her. As far as the Duke goes, there's a scene where both the Duchess's and Empress's souls are inside the Duke's body, and initially the Duchess is jealous, but then realizes "there can be no adultery between Platonick lovers" and is cool with it.
And I just. What was that about, Margaret? Please. You, your fictional girlfriend, your husband. What is going on in this book????
And why does the Duke's soul use she/her pronouns?
Please, I have so many questions. Not even about the hybrid animal people this time.
Hey, if you remember me ranting about a genderfluid character in one of real Margaret’s books in the 1600s, and how I was going to write a whole fic explaining what happened in the original story and my take on how it should have ended, that fic is here. For @pulpmusicalsfortnight2024 day 3 (Myth), I present to you: The Tale of Travellia. Essentially it's set in the future and Margaret is telling this story to Samuel, like the grandpa in Princess Bride. Be sure to heed the content warnings in the tags, and I hope you will enjoy. Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Great Moon Hoax - Dahan, Pulp Musicals - Dahan, Assaulted and Pursued Chastity by Margaret Cavendish Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Margaret Cavendish/Samuel Stratford, Radiant Words Characters: Margaret Cavendish, Samuel Stratford, Travellia, The Captain, awful prince, his cool aunt, queen of amity, king of amour Additional Tags: A Story Within a Story, Princess Bride Style, genderfluid protagonist, in a story written in the 1600s, I rewrote the ending though, myth, Post-Canon, Margaret is space royalty, Pulp Musicals Fortnight 2024, this one IS beta read, thank you sparrow, non-graphic mentions of attempted sexual assault and attempted suicide Summary:
Samuel Stratford lays in bed, a wet washcloth over his eyes. His glasses lay on the bedside table.
His wife Margaret sits in a chair beside him, holding his left hand in both of hers. She gazes at him with all the adoration she once held for the moon and absentmindedly runs her fingers over the smooth patches of skin between his fingers
“Tell me the story, Margaret,” he asks, “the one you’re working on.”
“Samuel,” she sighs. “It’s not-”
“Please,” he implores, and in his voice, she can feel those big dark eyes staring up at her, squeezing her heart. “Won’t you take pity on a sick man?”
“It’s not a very happy story,” she admits. “It won’t make you feel better.”
“I still want to hear it.”
And because it’s Samuel, because she would tear apart the world if it meant making him smile, because she’s already born her soul to him a thousand times over, she opens her notebook and starts to tell him the story she‘s writing, her notebook in one hand, his in the other.