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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 12h

This chapter makes me feel like Ellen's family are really not doing a good job at explaining to her how to follow the rules and get that safety. Maybe because everyone speaks to her in the Old New York hieroglyphics/code and just expects her to get it? 🏹

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 12h

Semi-outsider Ellen is the one who clocks that the up side of all the weird rules of New York society is that they can make you "feel cared for and safe" and that she wants that sense of safety, while Newland, born to the rules, is the one chafing at them a bit. 🏹

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 12h

I'm falling behind but I need to mention that Lefferts almost ruins Countess Olenska's return to society by making a big show of moral judgment to distract his wife from noticing his latest affair. This works just as well if his affair is with a man imo. 🏹

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 2d

Haha I had no memory of him either when I saw the play! Hopefully paying too much attention to a minor character isn’t something I’ll regret

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 2d

As for Lefferts-watch, apparently he cheats on his wife excessively and his wife is so stupid she doesn't notice (my money is on she chooses not to see, which is different from being stupid). I don't think it's an unreasonable adaptive choice to assume he cheats with men instead of women. 🏹

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 2d

Haha I think Newland is a stuffed shirt with potential, and it's kind of interesting to see if he will ever realize that potential

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 2d

So I guess the big question is whether Newland will ever find a way out of his own convoluted pretensions and hypocrisies.

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 2d

Everything in Newland's mind is such a tangle. He recognizes that May's innocence is a kind of act, and is kind of bothered by the hypocrisy, but he's as hypocritical as they come. He is as conversant as anyone in the hieroglyphics of his society (as he puts it), and is a product of them.

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 2d

Newland has these shockingly feminist thoughts - women should be as free as men are, there's no honest reason women shouldn't be allowed to have sexual experiences before marriage - but also is aware that he says this because he knows no nice women would exercise those freedoms. 🏹

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 2d

ooh I'm here for a new adaptation, thanks for the news!

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 3d

It really underscores that it's more about the excess than the room itself. Wharton really has a way of description

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 4d

I thought that during this reread of Age of Innocence I'd try to pay attention to Larry Lefferts since I saw a play adaptation last spring where a reviewer was annoyed that this character was played as if gay. So far he is introduced as an authority on shoes so I don't get the critic's upset. 🏹

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 4d

I really enjoy how funny The Age of Innocence is when pointing out the million hypocricies. I particularly liked Newland "was glad that his future wife should not be restrained by false prudery from being kind (in private) to her unhappy cousin" but not in public, egads! 🏹 #InnocenceReads

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 4d

This month I'm trying to take part in a group read of Age of Innocence, so if anyone is confused by any posts I make with a 🏹 that's what's going on! I really liked Edith Wharton, so I'm excited about this :-)

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · 10d

Oh please add me to the feed for Age of Innocence!

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · Oct 5

Honestly this book makes me feel like making someone the executor of your will is like giving them a BFF friendship bracelet 😂

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · Oct 3

Good morning! After the first listen, my favorite song on the new Taylor Swift album is Elizabeth Taylor. Also, it’s hilarious that Actually Romantic is about her haters 😂

A @legxleg.bsky.social · Sep 26

Oh I'd like to be added please!

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · Sep 26

Yeah, it must cost so much. It’s absurd that the NFL doesn’t foot the bill

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · Sep 26

Yeah the idea that Taylor swift needs exposure is laughable. And she has been clear about wanting ownership of all her work for ages, this isn’t surprising. Of course she wants something out of this deal.

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Reposted by A

Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · Sep 24

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · Sep 19

I started watching the anime of Nana, a manga I loved when I was in college and have mostly forgotten, and now I'm so sucked in I'm like, forget all other shows and interests, MUST SEE NANA AND REN REUNITE. Also, so glad for serializd where I can see ep by ep reviews of other people hating Shoji

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · Sep 18

wtf that’s so messed up, I’m sorry

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · Sep 16

I can’t read only novellas but I think it could convince me to read *a* novella! lol my bar is so low

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A @legxleg.bsky.social · Sep 10

Folks who are curious about the #Clarissa2025 group read, please be advised that Lovelace continues to be an absolute trip. He wants to remove Clary's heart from her body & carry it around with him in a golden receptacle. He also wrote poetry in which he refers to her lips as "those spicy doors" ✉️

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