These past few days of #DraculaDaily / #ReDracula, with Mina slooooowly vampirizing, are great. Her evil laugh!!
#DraculaDaily / #ReDracula Oct. 12: okay can we agree that Mina getting them to read the burial service for her is just fucking goth as hell. almost as goth as when Van Helsing is reading the "prayer for the dead"* while Arthur is staking Lucy.
also,
Oh, my friends, you know as well as I do, that my soul is at stake
is that a pun
* I don't know what this would be, never been to a Catholic funeral let alone know what Victorian-era practices were, but it's out of a "missal" and this was before the first Church of England missals came out, and while from today's entry Seward seems to be quite familiar with the C of E burial service, he and Quincey have to try to follow along with Van Helsing, so idk something Catholic I guess.
theses have no doubt been written on Catholicism in Dracula and in Gothic literature, but suffice it to say, i think, that by the time of Dracula it was a long-established genre tradition that Catholicism is super goth
#DraculaDaily / #ReDracula Oct. 12: okay can we agree that Mina getting them to read the burial service for her is just fucking goth as hell. almost as goth as when Van Helsing is reading the "prayer for the dead"* while Arthur is staking Lucy.
also,
Oh, my friends, you know as well as I do, that my soul is at stake
is that a pun
#DraculaDaily / #ReDracula Oct. 6: oh boy time to share the funniest fucking Dracula fanfic I've ever read, "Live Seward Reaction", inspired by these Tumblr posts (see fig. 1)
It is the events of Oct. 6, but from Dr. Seward's point of view. The voice and style are dead on. It just dials Dracula's already barely repressed homoeroticism up one (1) tiny notch. To quote one commenter, "I am giggling and kicking my feet."
![Tumblr post by dathen: "'I grasped his hand instinctively and found it as firm as a piece of steel. I think he understood my look; I hope he did.'
:3c Yeehawrker rights"
dathen screenshots vickyvicarious's added hashtags: "#jonathan harker #too bad we don't get seward's reaction to this shining display of Manhood from both of them #i feel like he's standing there watching this just flushed head to toe like. #rambling internally about them being so full of vigor and spirit and fire and heart and-"
mayhemchicken-artblog: "he is being So normal about this" [sketch of Jonathan Harker, kukri knife at his waist, holding hands with Quincey Morris, in cowboy hat. Inset: a frame saying "Live Seward Reaction" with a blushing Dr. Seward tugging at his collar, wide-eyed, something clearly having been Awakened in him]](https://status.nevillepark.ca/fileserver/01E7KXQY753BHZVT5NGAP0Z1YW/attachment/original/01K6Y19J4QT00J33TXGA69DQMX.png)
Seward meeting Mina Harker: "oh no she's hot"
Seward when Jonathan Harker turns into a silver fox overnight: "oh no he's hot"
#DraculaDaily / #ReDracula Oct. 6: oh boy time to share the funniest fucking Dracula fanfic I've ever read, "Live Seward Reaction", inspired by these Tumblr posts (see fig. 1)
It is the events of Oct. 6, but from Dr. Seward's point of view. The voice and style are dead on. It just dials Dracula's already barely repressed homoeroticism up one (1) tiny notch. To quote one commenter, "I am giggling and kicking my feet."
Dracula speculation, spoilers for 128-year-old book
#DraculaDaily thought: hold on, if Dracula has a psychic link with his victims and vice versa (as we see later in the book with Mina), how come he couldn't see through Lucy's eyes and find out there was a vampire hunter who was On To him? E.g. the garlic flowers, etc.
(Yes, Lucy does try to rip up her last letter, but I think that's more like her vampire instincts are taking over.)
Dracula speculation, spoilers for 128-year-old book, plot hole filled
Update: in the Oct. 3 entry, Dracula says to Mina before forcing her to drink his blood:
When my brain says “Come!” to you, you shall cross land or sea to do my bidding; and to that end this!’
So I believe that is what creates the psychic link between them. It never happened with Lucy presumably because she never drank Dracula's blood; she was just an ordinary victim. In Mina's case, Dracula was specifically trying to punish her and also use her against the rest of the gang.
oh it's a big one today folks!!!
Dr. Seward: [sounding more hopeless and defeated than ever] Dr. Seward's diary--
Me: [immediately hitting pause] YEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Jamey Sharp
and 1 other
boosted
Okay, I've been thinking about this, and you know what Dracula needs more of? BICYCLES.
The 1880s-1890s brought us the bicycle as we know it - double-triangle frame, inflatable tires, rear freewheel, etc. Bikes were increasingly comfortable, convenient, and easy to use - notably, for women as much as men. Even women's fashion adapted - even if you weren't one for the controversial "bloomers", you could get skirts made with extra folds in the back for comfortable pedalling. There was even a bit of a bicycle bubble as manufacturers rushed to cash in on the craze (and then when the economy took a downturn many went broke, had to merge with other businesses, etc.).
1896-97 (when Dracula was published) was the height of the 1890s bicycle craze. Bikes were dirt cheap and everywhere. (I'm imagining them scattered around like those rentable scooters.)
In this part of the novel, when the gang are navigating London trying to find where Dracula's stashed all his dirt boxes, at least some of them should be bicycling. The very sporty Arthur, at least, should be able to ride a bike (and he probably owns some fancy expensive ones). Part of the plot should hinge on Dracula needing to quickly get somewhere during the day (when he can't transform into a bat, etc.) but he has to take a cab and there's traffic but a couple of the gang are on bicycles and can quickly detour and make it to a place before Dracula does. Or he thinks he'll get away free and clear but they biked so they show up way sooner than he expected. Or he's trying to pursue them by day but he doesn't know how to ride a bike because why would he.
I think bicycles would really be a great addition to Dracula's famous juxtaposition of modern technology and myths from time immemorial, and help make the setting feel distinctly 1890s.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Okay, I've been thinking about this, and you know what Dracula needs more of? BICYCLES.
The 1880s-1890s brought us the bicycle as we know it - double-triangle frame, inflatable tires, rear freewheel, etc. Bikes were increasingly comfortable, convenient, and easy to use - notably, for women as much as men. Even women's fashion adapted - even if you weren't one for the controversial "bloomers", you could get skirts made with extra folds in the back for comfortable pedalling. There was even a bit of a bicycle bubble as manufacturers rushed to cash in on the craze (and then when the economy took a downturn many went broke, had to merge with other businesses, etc.).
1896-97 (when Dracula was published) was the height of the 1890s bicycle craze. Bikes were dirt cheap and everywhere. (I'm imagining them scattered around like those rentable scooters.)
In this part of the novel, when the gang are navigating London trying to find where Dracula's stashed all his dirt boxes, at least some of them should be bicycling. The very sporty Arthur, at least, should be able to ride a bike (and he probably owns some fancy expensive ones). Part of the plot should hinge on Dracula needing to quickly get somewhere during the day (when he can't transform into a bat, etc.) but he has to take a cab and there's traffic but a couple of the gang are on bicycles and can quickly detour and make it to a place before Dracula does. Or he thinks he'll get away free and clear but they biked so they show up way sooner than he expected. Or he's trying to pursue them by day but he doesn't know how to ride a bike because why would he.
I think bicycles would really be a great addition to Dracula's famous juxtaposition of modern technology and myths from time immemorial, and help make the setting feel distinctly 1890s.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Dracula Daily, spoilers for 128-year-old book
I love the moment of realization: "Merciful God! The Count has been to him!"
Yesterday's #DraculaDaily / #ReDracula: love how Seward gets one (1) good night of sleep and is immediately like "nm van helsing's losing it"
[Clip from Re: Dracula] Dr. Seward (Jonathan Sims): [with horror] "The tomb in the day-time, and when wreathed with fresh flowers, had looked grim and gruesome enough; but now, some days afterwards, when the flowers hung lank and dead, their whites turning to rust and their greens to browns; when the spider and the beetle had resumed their accustomed dominance; when time-discoloured stone, and dust-encrusted mortar, and rusty, dank iron, and tarnished brass, and clouded silver-plating gave back the feeble glimmer of a candle, the effect was more miserable and sordid than could have been imagined. It conveyed irresistibly the idea that life—animal life—was not the only thing which could pass away."
[Clip from visual novel Slay the Princess] The Narrator (Jonathan Sims): [perkily] "If the Princess lives here, slaying her is probably doing her a favour."
Dracula speculation, spoilers for 128-year-old book
#DraculaDaily thought: hold on, if Dracula has a psychic link with his victims and vice versa (as we see later in the book with Mina), how come he couldn't see through Lucy's eyes and find out there was a vampire hunter who was On To him? E.g. the garlic flowers, etc.
(Yes, Lucy does try to rip up her last letter, but I think that's more like her vampire instincts are taking over.)
So how about today's #DraculaDaily / #ReDracula entry?! For me this was absolutely the "oh okay, this is why they hired you" moment for Seward's VA (Jonathan Sims). This is how it went last year:
Seward: [exhausted and in utter despair] Dr. Seward's diary, 20 September. Only resolution and habit can let me make an entry tonight—
Me: [enthusiastic horror podcast listener, knowing it's about to get good] jason-momoa-lawn-chair.gif OH HELL YEAH LET'S GOOOO
Seward: [almost on the verge of tears] —I am too miserable, too low spirited, too sick of the world and all in it, including life itself, that I would not care if I heard this moment the flapping of the wings of the angel of death—
Me: …well shit now I feel like a jerk. I actually feel bad for the guy.—Wait, what? *record scratch*
I actually had to rewind a bit and re-listen to catch the part where I somehow went from "hell yeah, he's going through The Horrors" to "poor guy, he's going through The Horrors"
also, Van Helsing Tell Literally Anyone What's Going On Challenge 1897: Difficulty Level: FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE
#DraculaDaily #ReDracula Sept. 17: Oh this one's easily one of the best. The cheerful beginning, Renfield jumpscare, sleep deprivation, the awful, fatal mistakes, the encroaching sense of dread and helplessness!
@span publicdomainrev #DraculaDaily relevant!
Anke
boosted
In honour of #DraculaDaily here's some garlic flowers I saw today!
