iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Headed to AUSA tomorrow! SO EXCITED. If you see me, say hi! (And forgive me for being an awkward nerd.)

static.klipy.com

Agnes and Minion: I Love This Place!

ALT: Agnes and Minion: I Love This Place!

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Reposted by Elena Wicker

Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 29/09/2023

Apparently in 1779, there were these things called message balls or message shells. You hollowed out a howitzer shell, put your letter inside, and then SHOT IT AT YOUR INTENDED RECIPIENT.

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

My first print from last night next to one I just made…. Gel gettin blobby after 24 hours…

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Apparently you can do nearly a hundred if the gel bed and master are well done. (Mine are clearly not great! Ha!) They’re very sensitive to sunlight so most of the ones I’ve seen are very faded.

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Also for the trenches, they would batch print unmarked maps on the presses/litho and send them forward, and commanders could mark them up, write on them, add troops, provide directions etc. without their people having to draw all of the topography over and over.

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I just posted the finals! Gelatin printing was what you’d do in the trenches if you needed a quick map. Back at the big printing plants you could copy beautiful detailed maps using lithography!

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

And I’m now dyed a lovely shade of purple. (+ a confused Malinois).

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Place fresh paper onto the surface for a few seconds and you get a copy!

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Where do you think I learned how to do hectography? 🤣 (And don’t worry, I still collect dictionaries! 300 and counting…)

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

My hecto bed gets a 6/10… mostly worked but some of the surface came up!

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Master onto the gelatin and it leaves an impression behind…

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Duplicating this lovely hecto map of the 35th divisions movements from September 26th to October 1st 1918. (The orginal and the master I drew from it…) trumanlibrary.gov/maps/m624-map-…

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I’m finishing up an article on how the U.S. Army “photocopied” maps and orders on the Western Front! (And testing out the methods in my kitchen ha!)

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

“Hey babe, whatcha cookin?” “MAPS FOR THE MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE.”

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

So far I’ve learned that hectograph gel smells AWFUL (think burnt hair and tennis balls) and will make your significant other seriously question your cooking skills if they sniff it unaware.

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Going full mad scientist in my kitchen replicating how the U.S. Army printed orders and maps in the trenches of the Western Front… (Just a very normal research day.)

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Back online after over a year(!) Who are you all’s favorite accounts to follow that I should follow too?

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

But you sound *fancy* which is a win all in itself.

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

White smoke indicates decisions have been made, black smoke means we are setting up a working group.

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

I’ve started calling work meetings “conclaves.”

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

I did all the chores last weekend and told my husband to ignore me for a week 🤣

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Learning the hard way that if you lock yourself in to revise a book manuscript for a week, you start to go slightly batty?

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Ever wondered about where Army terminology comes from? Or how word choice affects how we understand the future of war? I was on the Breaking Doctrine podcast with the Army’s Terminologist! open.spotify.com/episode/68uG...

open.spotify.com

Episode 91 - “Words Matter”: Army Jargon, Terminology & Buzzword"

Breaking Doctrine · Episode

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Reposted by Elena Wicker

Olivia Garard @teaandtactics.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Restaging Shakepeare’s Troilus and Cressida (5.2): Diomedes to Cressida: We are currently clean on OPSEC. Overhearing them, Ulysses to Troilus [aside]: We are currently clean on OPSEC. Overhearing both, Thersites [aside]: A juggling trick - to be secretly open.

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

I found “fish” in sailor slang back to the 1700s but nothing about the army… sorry!!

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Hi! I can take a look for you, what is the term?

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Ignoring this message feels like contributing to the collapse of American community

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Political scientist here - just received the *perfect* spam text… #BowlingAlone

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

“To study history is to study humanity. And to try to foretell the future without studying history is like trying to learn to read without bothering to learn the alphabet.” Octavia Butler

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

“The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake. And if you want to fight snakes, look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.” -Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

SUBORDINATION, from an 1885 US military dictionary. “It is subordination that gives a soul and harmony to the service: it adds strength to authority, and merit to obedience; and while it secures the efficacy of command, reflects honor upon its execution.” (Insubordination not defined.)

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

Most important article of a soldier’s rations? COFFEE. For its “exhilarating and refreshing properties.” (1885)

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Trying to clarify how threads of military jargon unfurl from 1700/1800s terms like stratagem, strategical ops, stratotic, stratarithmetry, stratarithmometry, and strategos and I keep returning to these @ldfreedman.bsky.social pieces in TNSR… mandatory reading! t.co/JF8YYkodmL

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https://tnsr.org/2017/11/meaning-strategy-part-origin-story/

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

I can’t really disagree with that 🤣

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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

I’m gaining some followers so I’ll introduce myself… Hi! I talk about military jargon, terminology, and buzzwords. I research military documents and how words shape orgs, move money, and/or make everyone confused. If you’re interested in if/when/how language shapes militaries - welcome!

media.tenor.com

a man sitting at a table with the words words do matter on the table

Alt: a man sitting at a table with the words words do matter on the table

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Reposted by Elena Wicker

Kara Dixon Vuic @karadixonvuic.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Not an exhaustive list, but we're all likely exhausted.

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