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Mercury Natis

@mercuryreads.bsky.social

1K followers 260 following 840 posts

Mercury/Mickey • Tolkien studies & Queer History/Theory PhD Candidate • Reformed art snob dismantling hierarchical taxonomized pedagogy • Pleasure activist • He/They • header by busymagpie • mercuryreads on twt ⚧️💖💜💙✡🍉

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · Mar 11

Hello party people! For those who don't know, I'm doing my PhD part time & work part time, but because of both phd and disability, I can't work more than I already do. Funds are very tight, so if you like what I do want want to support me, I have a few options for that! Links in the comments!

a cartoon fox is wearing sunglasses and a hat

ALT: a cartoon fox is wearing sunglasses and a hat

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Mercury Natis

Ben Miller @benwritesthings.bsky.social · 21h

Gay Studies, Queer History, Queer Theory (They/She)

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 1d

My Femme Fatale Sauron paper is in this!! Get 'em while they're hot!

Tolkien Society @tolkiensociety.org · 1d

New Tolkien Society publication!

Releasing on 25 November, "Númenor, the Mighty and Frail" includes 10 articles relating to Númenor, and its legacy. Edited by @willsherwood.bsky.social and published by @lunapress.bsky.social, it's now available to pre-order. www.tolkiensociety.org/2025/10/new-...

New Tolkien Society publication – <em>Númenor, The Mighty and Frail</em>

The Tolkien Society is pleased to announce that Númenor, the Mighty and Frail: Proceedings of The Tolkien Society Seminar 2023, the twenty-fifth book in the Peter Roe series, is now available to pre-o...

www.tolkiensociety.org

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 1d

A thing I would love to do professionally, but won't because I hate doing things like this for the asshole public: Trip Planning.

So to my friends, if you're ever super stressed about a trip and don't have time to plan for yourself, I will happily do it for you for a small fee. I'm very good at it~

Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 2d

a man with a beard is sitting on a bed with his hands outstretched and the words `` guilty ! ''

ALT: a man with a beard is sitting on a bed with his hands outstretched and the words `` guilty ! ''

media.tenor.com

Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 2d

PS: the need to understand is an enacting of a need for power and control on a very small scale. Okay, I'll stop now.

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 2d

And the IRONY of the paradox of language is that we as humans seem drawn to understanding, but we can never truly understand, and it drives us absolutely fucking crazy while also motivating generations of scientists and scholars.

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 2d

But that's a whole other thread, perhaps a whole blog post, on the paradox of queer theory. But the paradox of queer theory is intrinsically linked to the paradox of language.

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 2d

And I think about this a lot in regards to queer theory because so much of the history of queer theory is people trying to define a term in order to communicate and utilize a concept effectively, but queer is intrinsically undefinable, because it is an unstable responsive ad/verb, not a noun.

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 2d

But we also NEED to understand that our definitions are always going to be imperfect, are always going to be subjective, and never complete. Wilde was right when he wrote "to define is to limit" but we NEED to define to communicate. Hence, the paradox.

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 2d

We simplify because we need a general consensus to communicate what we're thinking and feeling, because we have unfortunately yet to develop telepathy (though I would argue that the arts are the closest we can ever get to reading another person's mind, but thats a tangent).

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 2d

Okay, so what do I mean by this? What is a word? A word is a signifier that a community has agreed on to represent a concept. We have agreed what an apple is. Except there are so many kinds of apples, so everyone imagines a different kind of apple when you say the word apple. It's a simplification.

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 2d

I'm thinking a lot about paradoxes lately, but I think the greatest paradox that everyone really should understand is that language is essential for communication, but will always be limited by the need to define and thus unable to truly communicate perfectly.

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 4d

Oh noooo I'm going to be away!! Oh damn, I've been really wanting to see this.

Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 4d

UK universities are doing it tooooo

www.npr.org/2025/09/17/n...

Most American Jews say Trump is using antisemitism as an 'excuse' to silence free speech at universities

Most Jewish Americans disapprove of the Trump administration withholding funds from colleges to address anti-Jewish sentiment, according to a new survey.

www.npr.org

Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 5d

EXACTLY

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 5d

I'm convinced that people who prefer endnotes to footnotes don't actually read endnotes. Endnotes suck so much and only exist to prevent aesthetic clutter.

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 5d

Love that, peak Halloween energy

Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 5d

I truly love getting Dracula Daily emails, even though I am not doing the read along this year. I enjoy knowing that it's currently Dracula Season, and Jonathan, Mina and the Gang are getting into shenanigans.

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 5d

Worst case scenario being needing to go back for serious revisions, but we are very nearly there for best case scenario (no revisions, everything goes well first trip).

Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 5d

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far, I'm so grateful for all of the generosity! I've now spoken to the surgeon and updated the costs, detailed to some degree in the summary. The goal has now been updated for worst-case-scenario in Spain.
Please keep sharing around, every little bit helps!

Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · Aug 27

Hey bsky friends, I need your help! I've made a GoFundMe for top surgery, which I ideally want to do early next year (funds allowing). Because I'm only able to work part-time due to disability and PhD, any little bit helps towards this goal. Please share far and wide!
gofund.me/639f4a03

Donate to Help Mercury Yeet the Teet! (or: a top surgery fundraiser), organized by Mercury Natis

Hello world, it’s me, Mickey, and this is a top surgery/elect… Mercury Natis needs your support for Help Mercury Yeet the Teet! (or: a top surgery fundraiser)

gofund.me

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Reposted by Mercury Natis

Nick Polk (he/him) @tolkienpop.substack.com · 7d

Anotha one: New Tolkien Pop! podcast with @clarelmoore.bsky.social who is a Ph.D. student at the University of Glasgow, researching disability in Tolkien’s legendarium. She gives insight into feminist and disability thought in Tolkien’s works: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

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Reposted by Mercury Natis

Prof. Dimitra Fimi @dimitrafimi.bsky.social · 7d

If you’re working on any area of fantasy and the fantastic, come and join us at Glasgow in June 2026 and do consider presenting or running a workshop! All the info you need and the full CFP is here:

fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/20...

@uofgfantasy.bsky.social @uofgartshums.bsky.social

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 8d

Erotic art in ink of the silouette of a man behind a naked woman in the middle of sex

Ink illustration of Salome with the head of John the Baptist

Ink illustration with a blue painted sky of a dragon around a castle

Ink illustration of a man and women in traditional latvian costume

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 8d

Now for Sigismunds:

A pen illustration for an unknown Oscar Wilde story, depicting greco-roman style ruins overtaken by a garden

Ink illustration of an erotic dancer bending backwards with birds on her hands, inspired by Beardsley

Ink illustration of 2 disabled injured soldiers, framed by theatre curtains, titled Winners

A framed tile with a printing of an ink drawing of a woman on a bed, experiencing erotic ecstasy

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Mercury Natis @mercuryreads.bsky.social · 8d

A painting of a redhead woman in an orientalist style, with a money

A painting in a dark palette of eve in the garden of eden, with the snake having the head of a woman with red hair, in symbolist style

A painting of a grotesque naked mermaid with a snake's bottom half, clutching onto a rock in the sea

Painting that is likely a sketch for another larger painting of a man in a toga

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