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Kungfunurse

@kungfunurse

Hey all - I'm Kungfunurse on AO3, Dreamwidth and Pillowfort.
I’m a fandom old from pre-LJ days, and an inveterate slash fan who's recently been sucked into the glorious trash-fire that's the Venom fandom.
But at that instant, another sensation swept through me as quick as lightning. I was conscious of the presence of the Count, and of his being as if lapped in a storm of fury. As my eyes opened involuntarily I saw his strong hand grasp the slender neck of the fair woman and with giant's power draw it back, the blue eyes transformed with fury, the white teeth champing with rage, and the fair cheeks blazing red with passion.

So this is really interesting. Jonathan seemed to almost feel Dracula's presence before he ever says anything. There's no mention of the sound of a door or window either; it's like he just appears in the room the same way the vampire ladies later vanish, passing through the window perhaps. And yet he has a sort of energy that suffuses the room. Jonathan made the comparison to a storm - maybe something like how you can almost feel the pressure change in the air before a storm.

Dracula has a presence too. Maybe it's always there but gets more intense when he is angry or actively exerting his magical abilities in some way. I just... think it's a really cool detail.

Yeah, I think there's a couple of different options here. For May 8 specifically:

  • It depends on exposure, and on May 8 Jonathan didn't notice because he wasn't attuned to it as much, since they hadn't spent much time together.
  • Maybe it's something Dracula can control to some extent, when he wants to be sneakier.
  • Jonathan was still tired and not aware enough to process it (on May 8 he mentioned that he only got a little sleep; if it was full of bad dreams he may have chalked any feeling of unease up to that lingering mood as well).
  • It becomes much more noticeable when Dracula is angry or worked up; on May 8 he was calm at first so his presence didn't feel so strong.

In general I like the idea that as Jonathan gets more used to Dracula, and simultaneously more alert/paranoid, he 'tunes in' more. It would be cool if some of his sneaking around is influenced by him having a sense of where Dracula is or isn't, even just subconsciously.

It's also interesting that Jonathan doesn't catch on the vampire ladies in the same way. But their presence seems to have a different feeling, more dreamy/hazy, and he did seem to feel a bit of that before falling asleep in this room (with his daydreams, possibly also the 'dread loneliness'), so maybe...? It could be a link to him feeling like he recognizes the fair-haired one somehow.

Also, another option for what might cause this awareness:

My best thought is actually that the May 8th encounter happens during the day

But yeah I am really digging all the genius loci elements this time around, and the idea that just being in the castle is changing Jonathan in interesting ways (I have very strong opinions on the issue of Jonathan getting drinkt, but I'll run a poll once all the reasonable options have been unlocked...)

But at that instant, another sensation swept through me as quick as lightning. I was conscious of the presence of the Count, and of his being as if lapped in a storm of fury. As my eyes opened involuntarily I saw his strong hand grasp the slender neck of the fair woman and with giant's power draw it back, the blue eyes transformed with fury, the white teeth champing with rage, and the fair cheeks blazing red with passion.

So this is really interesting. Jonathan seemed to almost feel Dracula's presence before he ever says anything. There's no mention of the sound of a door or window either; it's like he just appears in the room the same way the vampire ladies later vanish, passing through the window perhaps. And yet he has a sort of energy that suffuses the room. Jonathan made the comparison to a storm - maybe something like how you can almost feel the pressure change in the air before a storm.

Dracula has a presence too. Maybe it's always there but gets more intense when he is angry or actively exerting his magical abilities in some way. I just... think it's a really cool detail.

Yeah, I think there's a couple of different options here. For May 8 specifically:

  • It depends on exposure, and on May 8 Jonathan didn't notice because he wasn't attuned to it as much, since they hadn't spent much time together.
  • Maybe it's something Dracula can control to some extent, when he wants to be sneakier.
  • Jonathan was still tired and not aware enough to process it (on May 8 he mentioned that he only got a little sleep; if it was full of bad dreams he may have chalked any feeling of unease up to that lingering mood as well).
  • It becomes much more noticeable when Dracula is angry or worked up; on May 8 he was calm at first so his presence didn't feel so strong.

In general I like the idea that as Jonathan gets more used to Dracula, and simultaneously more alert/paranoid, he 'tunes in' more. It would be cool if some of his sneaking around is influenced by him having a sense of where Dracula is or isn't, even just subconsciously.

It's also interesting that Jonathan doesn't catch on the vampire ladies in the same way. But their presence seems to have a different feeling, more dreamy/hazy, and he did seem to feel a bit of that before falling asleep in this room (with his daydreams, possibly also the 'dread loneliness'), so maybe...? It could be a link to him feeling like he recognizes the fair-haired one somehow.

Also, another option for what might cause this awareness:

Hi there! My wifi is down so I’m on my porch listening to S&S (as one does) and we’ve reached Willoughby’s letter. You know, the one ghost written by Ms Grey. I suspect I’m missing some subtext. Marianne and Elenor are both so outraged by some of the lines, especially “the lock of hair, which you so obligingly bestowed on me”, and I have to wonder: is W implying Marianne was doing the modern equivalent of giving him her panties? Or nude pics? By pretending she thrust the “unwanted” hair onto him instead of acknowledging that he asked her for it, is he essentially slut shaming her? Where on the scale of “the kind of girl you don’t bring home to mother” do his insults to her fall? Or am I infusing too much modern perspective into it and they’re just outraged that he led her on and then dumped her? As always, thank you for your insightful Austen commentary and I hope you have a nice evening.

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Looking at these lines:

nor could she have supposed Willoughby capable of departing so far from the appearance of every honourable and delicate feeling—so far from the common decorum of a gentleman, as to send a letter so impudently cruel: a letter which, instead of bringing with his desire of a release any professions of regret, acknowledged no breach of faith, denied all peculiar affection whatever—a letter of which every line was an insult, and which proclaimed its writer to be deep in hardened villainy.

And this:

 ‘The lock of hair, (repeating it from the letter,) which you so obligingly bestowed on me’—That is unpardonable. Willoughby, where was your heart when you wrote those words? Oh, barbarously insolent!—Elinor, can he be justified?”

It seems to me that the problem is that Willoughby is re-writing history, shoving all the blame on Marianne when his actions clearly led her on. After all, we all know what actually happened:

"...and he seemed to be begging something of her, and presently he took up her scissors and cut off a long lock of her hair, for it was all tumbled down her back; and he kissed it, and folded it up in a piece of white paper; and put it into his pocket-book.”

I don't think this has to do with slut shaming per se, though hair was a common gift between lovers/engaged people, it has more to do with him making her look like she's been the one pursuing him. Like she was stalking him and forcing love tokens on him against his will. It feels almost like setting up his denial at a breach of promise trial, "No, I didn't do anything, she liked me but I was just friendly."

However, women are supposed to kind of follow a man's lead when it comes to love, never declaring themselves first (that is the problem with Amelia in Lovers' Vows as shown in Mansfield Park). So setting Marianne up as the pursuer and himself as an unwilling persuee probably is an attack or insult of some kind. I don't think it would be as bad as unsolicited nudes, it may just make her sound desperate or too flirty.

That's my read at least. Maybe @an-extraordinary-fate would have some thoughts. She is a Sense & Sensibility expert.

Also, thank you!

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Chris Pine as Edgin Darvis and Michelle Rodriguez as Holga Kilgore in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

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I always associated the Three Ladies of Castle Dracula in my mind as ‘Brides of Dracula’ because pop-culture osmosis and/or adults around me specifically referencing Hammer Films, even if that isn’t accurate to the text. 

Still, with Dracula being a representation of inversions of the ‘natural order’, we have here a ‘til death do us part’ in which he’s Still Single but he hasn’t let go of his other possessions. He’s a warlord, boyar, master of all, and they’re part of what he owns. He doesn’t just treat employees and guests as property to do with as he wishes, but also the women he apparently once loved. Love and possession are apparently the same thing to him. Messed up.

Given the descriptions of the women, two of them seem to be at least locals, or of the same cultural background as Dracula himself (he did go into great excited detail about his history and his empire before, and the strength of his people, so it wouldn’t be that odd for him to be wife-shopping in the European region he conquered). 

On the other hand, we have a woman described in a more Victorian style of beauty, and Johnathan has a ‘dreamy fear’ that he kind of recognises this third woman, the blonde woman. What if he does recognise her, from posters from music halls or theatres that he would have seen as a child? What if this third bride is a famous Englishwoman? An actress or performer who went missing on some tour decades ago? Hence the odd recognition he can’t place - she was a celebrity, and her pictures were around, but a young Johnathan would have no association with her because she was just before his time.

But Dracula had to get the idea to take over London (and then England) from somewhere. What if his new foreign bride wouldn’t stop talking about The Empire Where The Sun Never Sets, and possessive, obsessive Dracula went ‘I want that, too’?

Also, when the women come across Johnathan sleeping, the agreement of who to kiss him first is very quick. ‘Yours is the right’. What if she gets first dibs not because she’s Dracula’s current favourite or best or strongest wife/consort, but because Johnathan is her fellow Englishman? That she misses home so much, and her homesickness has been tainted by her vampirism that she just needs a little taste of home, no matter what that means? And her ‘sisters’ recognise that, and give her the right to kiss first, before they drain him dry?

man i know i went on about quantum leap already but i just watched the episode where Sam (cis male) body hops into Samantha (cis female, presumably) and it is. SO trans. this episode came out in the 90s and just. the fact that everyone is calling sam by a name that's ALMOST right but not? the fact that all the scenes with him in a dress aren't played for comedy, but to showcase his discomfort? the fact that he's constantly trying to cover up as much of his body as possible out of dysphoria? the way he tells another character that nothing matters except being able to live the way she wants???

the fact that the final few moments explicitly namedrop Christine Jorgensen, only for sam to say "no, i didn't say i was a man, i said i am a man" and the trans man subtext smashes through all plausible deniability as he points to the way he walks and way he feels to Prove his masculinity despite very much still being in a Female Body???????

any trans discussion at all in a tv show from the 90s is already great, but the fact that it's very clearly talking about trans MEN, who are often completely forgotten about by the media, is just. chef's kiss.

and once again the episode brilliantly uses the fact that we the audience never see Samantha except in mirrors, we just see Sam, a man, who is visibly uncomfortable when all the people around him are staring at his chest or pantomiming curves we can't see or calling him "sweetheart" and "beautiful." it makes it impossible to say "oh well you don't pass, with a body like that you should expect these things" when it just looks like a regular dude getting harassed and emasculated. for such a silly campy show, there's some genius stuff here.

F.D.A. Ends Ban on Blood Donations From Gay and Bisexual Men

“Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized recommendations for assessing blood donor eligibility using a set of individual risk-based questions to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted HIV. These questions will be the same for every donor, regardless of sexual orientation, sex or gender.”

“This policy eliminates time-based deferrals and screening questions specific to men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with MSM. Under the final guidance issued today, all prospective blood donors will answer a series of individual, risk-based questions to determine eligibility. All prospective donors who report having a new sexual partner, or more than one sexual partner in the past three months, and anal sex in the past three months, would be deferred to reduce the likelihood of donations by individuals with new or recent HIV infection who may be in the window period for detection of HIV by nucleic acid testing.”

Trying to impress cats and failing is universal 

It’s extremely important that I tell you all that this seal is doing the ‘banana pose,’ something seals do when they are feeling particularly happy and relaxed. This seal, looking directly at the cat, is absolutely overwhelmed with Good Vibes, something we can all related to.

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what in the name of bisexual awakening is going on here on this day [ID. An illustration and a detail close up of two characters: a woman with unnaturally pale skin and a form-fitting Victorian ballgown crouches over Jonathan Harker, a young man with light brown skin and dark brown hair, as he reclines on a fainting couch. He has a noticeable shaving scar on his left cheek and stubble on his chin. He wears a white collared shirt with braces and a black necktie hangs loose around his neck. The woman bares her fangs above Jonathan’s exposed neck and her blonde hair flows back behind her. Jonathan looks out under his eyelashes with a look of both distress and longing. End ID.]

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So George Soros dumped all of his Tesla stock, and the first thing Elon Musk does is start whining and boosting the posts of other white nationalists.

Weird how Elon Musk, the white South African billionaire who got his start from exploitative emerald mines, keeps amplifying the tweets of antisemites and anti-Black racists, huh?

Anyway, one thing that enduring Donald Trump for four years has taught me: whenever Elon starts making waves on Twitter, we should always start looking for whatever it is that he’s really trying to distract us from.

For example:

The U.S. territory asked Manhattan federal court Judge Jed Rakoff in the filing to allow it to serve Musk with the subpoena with Tesla's registered agent.

That subpoena demands Musk turn over any documents showing communication involving him, JPMorgan and Epstein, as well as "all Documents reflecting or regarding Epstein's involvement in human trafficking and/or his procurement of girls or women for consensual sex."