Tobias Wilson-Bates
@phdhurtbrain.bsky.social
Time Machines. Temporality. Ecology. Robots. Education. Associate Professor of 19th century British Literature.
Pinned
Bluesky isn’t about popularity, it’s about gathering all 17 William Morris lovers together in a single online location!
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single monster in possession of great loneliness, must be in want of a female with whom he can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for his being.”
November 11, 2025 at 4:05 AM
'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single monster in possession of great loneliness, must be in want of a female with whom he can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for his being.”
The great pleasure of life is in not needing to choose between them.
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(Shelley)
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(Shelley)
You can only pick one. I’m sorry.
Jane Austen or Mary Shelley
Jane Austen or Mary Shelley
November 11, 2025 at 3:41 AM
The great pleasure of life is in not needing to choose between them.
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(Shelley)
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(Shelley)
Each evening I curse myself for not buying large amounts of cookies, and each day I studiously make sure not to have cookies in the house for evening self.
November 11, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Each evening I curse myself for not buying large amounts of cookies, and each day I studiously make sure not to have cookies in the house for evening self.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
[Medieval monastery]
Abbot: Did you draw in the margins of this bible?
Me: Yeah, it's called illumination. Very fancy.
Abbot: *opens book* Is this a tree growing dicks instead of fruit?
Me: lol yeah
Abbot: Did you draw in the margins of this bible?
Me: Yeah, it's called illumination. Very fancy.
Abbot: *opens book* Is this a tree growing dicks instead of fruit?
Me: lol yeah
November 9, 2025 at 11:38 PM
[Medieval monastery]
Abbot: Did you draw in the margins of this bible?
Me: Yeah, it's called illumination. Very fancy.
Abbot: *opens book* Is this a tree growing dicks instead of fruit?
Me: lol yeah
Abbot: Did you draw in the margins of this bible?
Me: Yeah, it's called illumination. Very fancy.
Abbot: *opens book* Is this a tree growing dicks instead of fruit?
Me: lol yeah
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
I admit to having a different Victorian studies conference occupying my mind just this week, but man am I psyched for this, and deeply honored to be part of it. MVSA rules. I can’t wait.
CINCY!
CINCY!
If you or anyone you know would be interested in a GREAT Victorian studies conference in the spring, here's the CFP. Proposals due Dec 6. Especially let anyone within driving distance of Cincinnati know! The lovely @nathankhensley.bsky.social will be keynote speaker. midwestvictorian.org/conference/
Conference
“The Underground: Prohibition, Abolition, Expression”2026 Call for Papers April 10-12, 2026, hosted by Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio. Baker Street Station on the Metropolitan Railway, 1863 &#…
midwestvictorian.org
November 11, 2025 at 1:11 AM
I admit to having a different Victorian studies conference occupying my mind just this week, but man am I psyched for this, and deeply honored to be part of it. MVSA rules. I can’t wait.
CINCY!
CINCY!
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
When students get to college they generally don’t know what college is and that’s an incredible pedagogical opportunity. My freshman comp class did Morrison, Pope, Dickinson, Shakespeare, and Johnny Cash all swirled together in a frenzy of discovery. Education is what we make it.
November 10, 2025 at 11:35 PM
When students get to college they generally don’t know what college is and that’s an incredible pedagogical opportunity. My freshman comp class did Morrison, Pope, Dickinson, Shakespeare, and Johnny Cash all swirled together in a frenzy of discovery. Education is what we make it.
When students get to college they generally don’t know what college is and that’s an incredible pedagogical opportunity. My freshman comp class did Morrison, Pope, Dickinson, Shakespeare, and Johnny Cash all swirled together in a frenzy of discovery. Education is what we make it.
November 10, 2025 at 11:35 PM
When students get to college they generally don’t know what college is and that’s an incredible pedagogical opportunity. My freshman comp class did Morrison, Pope, Dickinson, Shakespeare, and Johnny Cash all swirled together in a frenzy of discovery. Education is what we make it.
I’ve seen enough. I am now fully prepared for Guillermo del Toro’s Middlemarch adaptation.
November 10, 2025 at 10:12 PM
I’ve seen enough. I am now fully prepared for Guillermo del Toro’s Middlemarch adaptation.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
L'arbre de vie, Séraphine de Senlis, 1928.
November 10, 2025 at 8:37 AM
L'arbre de vie, Séraphine de Senlis, 1928.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
I like that JCO was like “this man doesn’t read books; he has never experienced love or even fellow-feeling; not even the smallest joys are available to him; he has never even bonded with a pet” and Musk’s reply was “Not true!!!! I’ve read several books!!”
history will ultimately decide this but i think joyce carol oates might have just landed the most devastating burn in human history. like the death star trench run of posting
oh my god
November 10, 2025 at 7:55 PM
I like that JCO was like “this man doesn’t read books; he has never experienced love or even fellow-feeling; not even the smallest joys are available to him; he has never even bonded with a pet” and Musk’s reply was “Not true!!!! I’ve read several books!!”
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
Ok ok Northanger Abbey is a masterpiece. I have abandoned my previous condescension towards this novel. I was a sad little shatter-brained creature before but now I have had a change of feelings and spirits and am in perfect felicity.
I am going through it finishing re-reading Northanger Abbey today to teach it this week (for the first time, mind you). I had just had enough of this silly business but now the romance is over, I’m crying and laughing on literally each page. The writer you are Jane Austen.
November 10, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Ok ok Northanger Abbey is a masterpiece. I have abandoned my previous condescension towards this novel. I was a sad little shatter-brained creature before but now I have had a change of feelings and spirits and am in perfect felicity.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
Regardless of how you feel about the new Frankenstein adaptation, I think we can all agree it is a rousing success at producing meme-content, and, in that alone, is well worth existing.
November 10, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Regardless of how you feel about the new Frankenstein adaptation, I think we can all agree it is a rousing success at producing meme-content, and, in that alone, is well worth existing.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
*me, trying to get the school to pay for food and drinks at events
November 10, 2025 at 2:49 PM
*me, trying to get the school to pay for food and drinks at events
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
I want Oscar Isaac to play a different version of the Victor Frankenstein character every three years for the rest of his life
November 10, 2025 at 3:00 PM
I want Oscar Isaac to play a different version of the Victor Frankenstein character every three years for the rest of his life
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
“You must create a meme for me, with which I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being.”
November 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
“You must create a meme for me, with which I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being.”
Regardless of how you feel about the new Frankenstein adaptation, I think we can all agree it is a rousing success at producing meme-content, and, in that alone, is well worth existing.
November 10, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Regardless of how you feel about the new Frankenstein adaptation, I think we can all agree it is a rousing success at producing meme-content, and, in that alone, is well worth existing.
I want Oscar Isaac to play a different version of the Victor Frankenstein character every three years for the rest of his life
November 10, 2025 at 3:00 PM
I want Oscar Isaac to play a different version of the Victor Frankenstein character every three years for the rest of his life
*me, trying to get the school to pay for food and drinks at events
November 10, 2025 at 2:49 PM
*me, trying to get the school to pay for food and drinks at events
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
A good way to rid one's self of a sense of discomfort is to do something. That uneasy, dissatisfied feeling is actual force vibrating out of order; it may be turned to practical account by giving proper expression to its creative character.
-William Morris (advising you touch grass)
-William Morris (advising you touch grass)
November 10, 2025 at 12:53 PM
A good way to rid one's self of a sense of discomfort is to do something. That uneasy, dissatisfied feeling is actual force vibrating out of order; it may be turned to practical account by giving proper expression to its creative character.
-William Morris (advising you touch grass)
-William Morris (advising you touch grass)
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
Wrote about Waymo's co-CEO acknowledging that even she thinks traffic violence is inevitable, what's wrong with aiming for "fewer" road deaths rather than demanding zero, and the way automobility limits our imagination and our empathy.
The False 'Trolley Problem' At the Heart of the Autonomous Vehicle Debate — Streetsblog USA
Waymo said it has a "plan" for when one of the company's cars kills someone. But we should be planning for a world when no car kills anyone — autonomous or not.
usa.streetsblog.org
November 10, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Wrote about Waymo's co-CEO acknowledging that even she thinks traffic violence is inevitable, what's wrong with aiming for "fewer" road deaths rather than demanding zero, and the way automobility limits our imagination and our empathy.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
Apart from the desire to produce beautiful things, the leading passion of my life has been and is hatred of modern civilization.
-William Morris
-William Morris
November 10, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Apart from the desire to produce beautiful things, the leading passion of my life has been and is hatred of modern civilization.
-William Morris
-William Morris
A good way to rid one's self of a sense of discomfort is to do something. That uneasy, dissatisfied feeling is actual force vibrating out of order; it may be turned to practical account by giving proper expression to its creative character.
-William Morris (advising you touch grass)
-William Morris (advising you touch grass)
November 10, 2025 at 12:53 PM
A good way to rid one's self of a sense of discomfort is to do something. That uneasy, dissatisfied feeling is actual force vibrating out of order; it may be turned to practical account by giving proper expression to its creative character.
-William Morris (advising you touch grass)
-William Morris (advising you touch grass)
Apart from the desire to produce beautiful things, the leading passion of my life has been and is hatred of modern civilization.
-William Morris
-William Morris
November 10, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Apart from the desire to produce beautiful things, the leading passion of my life has been and is hatred of modern civilization.
-William Morris
-William Morris
Random opinion that if they had simply stopped after Season 1, Westworld would be considered one of the best shows in television history
November 10, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Random opinion that if they had simply stopped after Season 1, Westworld would be considered one of the best shows in television history
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
Authentic science fiction knows the backbone of all science is resource accumulation.
November 9, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Authentic science fiction knows the backbone of all science is resource accumulation.