#The Jewel of the Seven Stars

[thefaeriefeatherdark]

A Bad Summary of some of the Gothic Literature I've read

The Castle of Otranto: A definitely real medieval manuscript about a very complicated inheritance crisis over a small region in Italy where in several people die, a priest shockingly has a son even though he's not supposed to, and a Santa Claus is watching from the background.

The Spider: A quirky girl causes a bunch of men commit suicide.

The Great God Pan: A quirky girl causes a bunch of men commit suicide.

Carmilla: A girl tries to create a lesbian polyamory via the only means that is obvious enough for the women she flirts with to pick up (because apparently kissing them and saying she loves them isn't), which is of course by slowly draining them of their blood so they may join her in undeath as vampires.

Olalla: A very horny, very racist Scottish guy really wants to have sex with every member of this noble family but specifically only wants to marry the one within whom the effects of inbreeding are least obvious.

The Jewel of the Seven Stars: A group of people have to deal the understandably angry ghost of an Egyptian Pharoah who is quite upset her body was stolen from it's tomb, all her stuff got taken away, and she got dragged to the hellhole that is London. Eventually her kidnapper feels a bit bad about this and decides to help her out.

Dracula: I mean everyone on the site has read this one.

Lair of the White Worm: The worst of Bram Stoker's longer form gothic works, but also the last. An Australian guy who is very excited to be there realizes that maybe England is a little haunted. Meanwhile he gets himself a wife with psychic powers, and plots against the Giant Snake who is planning to marry into wealth to escape her debts.

Phantom of the Opera: An incel decides to cause problems on purpose and also attempts desperately to woo a girl by threats of violence and his excellent singing skills. After finally managing to get her to promise to marry him by leveraging her boyfriend he realizes he's not ready for the commitment and dies. Also there's a guy called the Persian who is rad.

Frankenstein: A college student realizes he is not ready for a kid, even one he made with evil science, and spends the next decade running from his problems.

[noveeleven]

Reading the Jewel of the Seven stars by Stoker. Fifty pages in it, someone already mention an iconic kurki knife, the main character is a lawyer, he's scared to death by reverence and admiration for his crush (a gentlewoman who's also the fierce posessor of a feral cat) and he dreams of her like a lovesick teenager in the most romantic setting imaginable, some pages later enter an anxious doctor and his master (although not likable like Van Helsing still), there is a mention of Hamlet "there are more things in heaven and hell than in your philosophy", the whole thing is a detective story soon to turn supernatural. Never change Bram, never change.

[culturevulturette]

The Jewel of the Seven Stars - Bram Stoker

If you have not read this hugely underrated novel, please do yourself the favor. Fantastic book, with a palpable sense of dread and tension that builds throughout.

Jonny Quest (1964), "The Curse of Anubis"

[ashironie]

watching osp rn and their newest video mentions Bram Stoker and they talk about how a lot of the time in his books he doesn’t ever let the big supernatural threat take its true form (dracula never making it to london, queen tara never being resurrected) and i’m just thinking

Tim

Tim Stoker

Dying so he could prevent the big supernatural threat take its true form

[kjcreed]

The Jewel of Seven Stars

Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Preface

The year is 1954.

9 years after the Second World War ended. Most people in the blooming city of New York should be living pretty peacefully by now. And most of them really are...

Well, except for you... And your brother Tony for that matter. Your father was an archaeologist working to uncover the truth about the legend of Queen Nefret and the prophecy that has been engraved on the walls of her tomb which your father discovered with his team.

The only problem is that he went missing and now it's your job to find him.

But what if you unintentionally become a part of said prophecy? And what if you meet a persistent librarian and her extravagant brother along the way?

Find out how your story turns out, dear reader.

Warnings: profanity; death; guns; illegal activity

Pronouns: they/them

Disclaimer: This story is inspired by the 1999 film The Mummy, partly inspired by the book The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker and a little by the life of Queen Hatshepsut.

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

[monstergirlgang]

Monster Girl October (tarot deck) day 26: Queen Tera from The Jewel of Seven Stars as The Emperor card!

(I'm double dipping into Bram Stoker a bit with this one). The Emperor card implies power, responsibility, and the payoff of hard work. Queen Tera (aside from being a ruler) fits the card for her intelligence and planning ability to bring about her own rise from the dead through possession and murder! If you want to read it, the 1903 version has a far more compelling ending than the 1912 edit which changed it to a happy marriage ending due to controversy.

[chiropteracupola]

lot no. 249 an unreasonably good movie considering all that it is. it's got horrible cunty little oxford men. it's got homosexual undertones or possibly just homosexual Tones. it's got a mummy. it's got victorian sportswear. it's got a guy named monkhouse. it's got the guy who played lascelles in the jsamn series and he's sherlock holmes. sherlock holmes is in there.

[classics-by-night]

Queen Tera you will always, ALWAYS be famous

[sauvryn]

So I got this used book in the mail, and I was immediately pissed off by the CLEARLY AI COVER ART. I mean, come on! Look at her hands!!

When was this published??

Wait...

1999??????

*squints*

WAIT WHAT

BORIS FUCKING VALLEJO (and why is his last name misspelled??)

Okay, so I still haven't read this book, but let me just say that I *hate* living in a day and age where actually hand-painted art of a character with polydactyly is automatically sus.

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

Every now and then, you read something in an old book that reminds you that humans remain the same throughout generations:

As she was speaking a faint rattling of the door handle was heard. Instantly Miss Trelawny’s face brightened. She sprang up and went over to the door, saying as she went:

“There he is! That is my Silvio. He stands on his hind legs and rattles the door handle when he wants to come into a room.” She opened the door, speaking to the cat as though he were a baby: “Did him want his movver? Come then; but he must stay with her!” She lifted the cat, and came back with him in her arms. He was certainly a magnificent animal. A chinchilla grey Persian with long silky hair; a really lordly animal with a haughty bearing despite his gentleness; and with great paws which spread out as he placed them on the ground. Whilst she was fondling him, he suddenly gave a wriggle like an eel and slipped out of her arms. He ran across the room and stood opposite a low table on which stood the mummy of an animal, and began to mew and snarl. Miss Trelawny was after him in an instant and lifted him in her arms, kicking and struggling and wriggling to get away; but not biting or scratching, for evidently he loved his beautiful mistress. He ceased to make a noise the moment he was in her arms; in a whisper she admonished him:

“O you naughty Silvio! You have broken your parole that mother gave for you. Now, say goodnight to the gentlemen, and come away to mother’s room!” As she was speaking she held out the cat’s paw to me to shake.

--The Jewel of the Seven Stars, by Bram Stoker

[shadowcatgirl09]

I have literally spent my entire day reading 19th century fiction. Project Gutenburg is evil; it gives me too much to read.

[myfanfictiongarden]

No idea what I expected by reading The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker, probably a smaller adventure-novel, something in the vain of Indiana Jones perhaps, or even Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)- the later one especially seemed probable as the mystery there revolves around Ancient Egypt and the magical Cult of Osiris. At least I knew I did not expect the same amount of care to be given like in Dracula, nor that complexity, but what we got… made no sene at all.

Those are not characters, those are just “people” that were writen for a story about some mysticism and Egyptology, some half baked ideas on science, religion, modernity and the Old World thrown in there. Like, everybody is too quick to accept the idea that it would be cool to resurrect an ancient Egyptian Queen, just because one guy believes that is what she wanted. The main character (a barista, but our solicitor Jonathan is by miles cooler) only starts to reconsider the morality and dangers of it all some moments before the Great Experiment, but drops those doubts immediately after his “maybe already possessed by Queen Tara, a murdering lady from centuries ago” girlfriend tells him not to worry. And then they perform the ritual and the mummy just turns to ashes, and Malcom and Margaret get married in autumn, and everyone is happy because Queen Tara had a dream that didn’t come tue but feminism something.

Also, wikipedia says the first version of the novel had a more sinister and open ending, with the possibility of Tara having taken over Margaret’s body and the question of what now?

[tomboy014]

Finally finished reading Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker

For the most part, the book is great, but the ending is... abrupt

Like, the story took us up to the climax... and then it stops. The 1912 ending is a little better, but not by much

It just

It's left me wanting

[shibachangtimes-blog]

CITIZEN SEVEN STAR V2 4-720156 Y 25 Jewels Automatic Watch in 1969

[kjcreed]

The Jewel of Seven Stars | Chapter 3

Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Series Masterlist Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Warnings: profanity; illegal transportation (again); shotgun

Pronouns: they/them

Summary: The year is 1954. 9 years after the Second World War ended. Most people in the blooming city of New York should be living pretty peacefully by now. And most of them really are... Well, except for you... And your brother Tony for that matter. Your father was an archaeologist working to uncover the truth about the legend of Queen Nefret and the prophecy that has been engraved on the walls of her tomb which your father discovered with his team. The only problem is that he went missing and now it's your job to find him. But what if you unintentionally become a part of said prophecy? And what if you meet a persistent librarian and her extravagant brother along the way?

Disclaimer: This story is inspired by the 1999 film The Mummy, partly inspired by the book The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker and a little by the life of Queen Hatshepsut.

-

“So… do we know what the first thing we’re going after is?” You heard the voice of the younger twin beside you and when you looked towards her, you watched as she matched her step with yours as the four of you walked through the streets of the port city on the small island.

“Tony and I think it’s probably a talisman of some sort.” You shrugged your shoulders a little. “You do know about the legend of Queen Nefret, right?” You inquired as you glanced at the woman beside you again. She looked strangely enchanting with the colours of the sunset reflecting on her skin. For some reason, you felt like you never wanted to take your eyes off of her.

“Yes… yes, I do.” She nodded in confirmation and looked back up at you. She really wasn’t bad to look at at all. “Well, I think that the talisman could actually be a tyet amulet…” You continue explaining your theory as you look at Pietro and Tony walking in front of you, talking about god knows what.

“The knot of Isis?” Wanda asked and you smiled to yourself at the fact that she actually knew what you meant. When you tried to explain your theory to Tony, he looked at you as if you were crazy for thinking he knew what a tyet amulet was and why it was even relevant.

“Yeah… According to the legend, Nefret was a sorceress. It would make sense for her to use objects associated with Isis… or Aset, if we want to be culturally accurate…” You trail off and look at the girl again. She looked like she was thinking about what you were saying and you could notice the exact moment it clicked for her and you couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

“Because Isis is the goddess of magic, amongst other things.” Wanda said with a proud smile and you nodded in confirmation. “Exactly.” You and Wanda looked at each other for a moment and it reminded you of the first time that you met. You got lost in your own thoughts as you looked at the girl and for Wanda, it was the same.

She felt very intrigued by you. Ever since you almost knocked her over the railing of the ship you were trespassing on. For some unknown reason, she was dying to get to know you better. She knew she was looking at you for too long now, but so were you.

She didn’t want to look away. Something about the mischief in your eyes and your unpredictable behaviour pulled her in. It was only when her brother wrapped his arm around her shoulders with a hearty laugh that she snapped out of her haze.

“Are you two nerdy nerds done nerding? Because Tony and I just found us a boat.” The blonde man said with a grin on his face, motioning to the pier you suddenly appeared to be in front of.

Both you and Wanda look away from each other to look ahead towards the sea but before you do, you think you notice something resembling a blush on the girl’s cheeks.

You notice Tony talking to an older guy who had a tobacco pipe hanging from his lips loosely. You watch them for a little while and decide to walk over to them when you see the man get irritated by what your brother is saying.

“No passengers!” You hear the man exclaim when you walk up to them. You pat your brother on his back when the man makes a shooing motion at the both of you and you drag Tony back to where you were standing with Pietro and Wanda. “What happened?” You turn to your brother with an amused smile.

“He was already heading there anyway so I asked him if he could take us with him but he basically told me to fuck off.” Tony threw his arms up in frustration making you laugh a little which earned you a punch in the arm and a glare.

“Well… You know what that means…” A mischievous grin spreads across your face and Tony shoots you a warning look. “No. No way. I’m not doing that again.” He protested, shaking his head dismissively. “What are they talking about?” Wanda asked your brother with her eyebrows furrowed. “They want to sneak onto the ship.” Tony sighed and Wanda raised her eyebrows at you for confirmation and you shrugged your shoulders.

“Oh, because that worked out so well for you the last time.” Wanda commented sarcastically as she put her hands on her hips just like when you got kicked out of the inn. You couldn’t help but find her attempt at being firm rather amusing. “We made it here, did we not?” You snark back a reply with that stupid smile on your face making Wanda scoff in return.

“I dunno… It could be fun.” Pietro shrugged his shoulders and went to stand next to you, making you nudge him with your elbow as a sign of appreciation for being on your side. Wanda, however, gave him an unamused look.

“No. We’re not doing this.” Tony stood his ground and to be honest, you couldn’t really blame him. It’s not every day that you’re being shot at while swimming for your life towards an unfamiliar island.

You also knew that you didn’t have any other option. While you were walking towards Tony and the man you noticed that his ship was the only one on your side of the port and to your luck he was already headed where you needed to go.

“And what else do you want us to do, Tony?” You cross your arms over your chest and give your brother an irritated look. “I don’t know! Wait for another ship or something?”

You shook your head at your brother’s words. “We can’t waste any more time. Did you forget that our father is missing?” The determined look on your face told Tony that there was no way he would convince you otherwise so he just sighed in defeat. “Fine.” He also knew you were kind of right, but he would never admit that to your face.

“What?!” Wanda looked at the three of you bewildered that this was actually going to be your plan. “You cannot be serious-” “Sorry, Wands. Three against one.” Pietro interrupted his sister’s protests and Wanda shot you a glare in return. You gave her a playful smile before focusing your attention on her brother who leaned towards you. “So... how are we gonna do this?”

-

“Woah. What was that?” Wanda gripped her brother's clothes as the wooden floor under your feet shook a little. “That means we’re off.” You say with an excited smile and look around the small storage room you managed to sneak into while the owner wasn’t around.

You waited there for about an hour before the man finally set sail and now the four of you were crammed inside what you were sure to be the smallest room on the ship. If you could even call the man’s vehicle a ship. It was something between a ship and a boat really…

“Get comfortable because this is going to take a couple of hours…” You say, the smile not leaving your face and Wanda and Tony let out small groans of dissatisfaction.

Earlier when you got to the storage room, it was pitch black in there. Luckily you managed to find two small candles and Tony always carried a lighter in his pocket. It wasn’t much, but the dim light that illuminated the room just added to the atmosphere.

The four of you sat on the ground, surrounding the only source of light you had. You used the time you had to get to know each other a little bit better. You found out that Pietro and Wanda were originally from a small country in Central Europe called Sokovia but moved to America with their parents when they were little kids. You and Tony told them about your father and his research along with a few anecdotes from your childhood.

Tony and Pietro were engaged in a conversation about Tony’s projects and how he was working to be an electronic engineer and you were just pondering about the journey ahead of you when Wanda sat a little closer to you and pulled your dad’s book out of her satchel.

“I forgot to give you this back…” She handed you the book and you looked at it before looking back up at her. “So you’re not mad at me anymore?” Your teasing smile made Wanda annoyed a little bit but she still had to hold in a giggle threatening to escape her lips.

“I am…” She replied but you could see in her eyes that she didn’t really mean it. Annoyed? Yes. But mad? Very unlikely. “But I’m not a thief.” She tilted her chin upwards a little and you were amused, to say the least. You looked at the book before pushing it slightly away from you.

“You can hold onto it if you want.” You say and give her a more sincere smile this time. She was a little taken aback by your offer but accepted it nonetheless. “Thank you.” Her voice was quieter than before and she looked away from you a small smile grazing her lips.

You noticed she had a really nice smile. The girl was very pretty overall but her smile might be your favourite feature of hers yet. You got lost in the way the light from the candle reflected in her greenish eyes and it took you a moment to reply to her. “It’s no problem. I have the whole thing pretty much memorised…” You shrug your shoulders nonchalantly. “Wow… I didn’t know you were such a nerd about dad’s stuff.” You heard the teasing voice of your brother making you groan a little.

“I’m not! I was just bored in the house sometimes…” You tried to defend yourself even though you knew your brother wasn’t really buying it. “Oh dad would’ve loved to see this.” Tony nudges you and you roll your eyes. “Shut up, Tony.” Your cheeks were starting to have a faint red tint to them and you could feel it. That’s why you tried to change the subject as quickly as you could. Wanda thought it was amusing and kind of adorable.

“Can I look at the map from the book real quick?” The fond smile that was playing on Wanda’s lips fell as soon as those words left your mouth. You notice the girl exchange a worried look with her brother and it makes you furrow your eyebrows while you look between the two of them. “What?” You quirked your eyebrow at the twins.

“Well… Uh… We…” Pietro’s stammering induced an unpleasant feeling in the pit of your stomach. “We… kinda burned it.” You and Tony looked at each other with wide eyes before you turned to the twins with unbelieving looks. “You what?!” Your voice was a couple of octaves higher than normal and you stood up from your spot on the ground.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” You couldn’t believe what you just heard. The only thing that could actually lead you to your lost father was gone. Burned to a crisp. Just like that. Sure… You somewhat remembered the locations that were marked on the map… But what if you’re wrong? And this whole thing goes to shit?

“Y/N… You need to calm down…” The voice of your brother stopped you from spiralling for a moment. “Calm down?” You snap back at your brother and Wanda and Pietro exchange worried glances. “Just sit down before-” Your brother was cut off by the sound of the door opening and a shotgun being loaded. You froze in place and slowly turned around only to be faced with the owner of the boat pointing a shotgun at your stomach. “Fuck…”

-

“Easy there, cowboy.” You say with your hands up as the man shoves you forward with his shotgun. “You want to get shot in head?” He said with a foreign accent, probably Spanish if you had to guess, as he raised the weapon at you.

You feel someone step on your foot making you wince and when you look to your side you see Tony giving you a pointed look. “Sorry, sorry.” You tell the man quickly and look back at him.

“I say no passengers. You not speak English?” You and your companions were huddled together with your arms raised, the man holding you at gunpoint on the deck of his ship.

“We’re really sorry, but we needed to get to Isla de Los Despiertos. We’re looking for my father and we had no other choice.” You explain. Your voice is a little shaky from nervousness since you could be shot dead any second.

The man slowly lowers his weapon and tilts his head at you. “So you not tourists?” He inquires. You and your companions exchange confused glances at the question. When you don’t reply, the man raises the shotgun again, making you become alarmed once again. “No! No, no. We’re not tourists!” You respond quickly and the man squints his eyes at the four of you, scanning you from head to toe.

You breathe out a sigh of relief when the man lowers his gun with a grumble. “I hate tourists.” Wanda and Pietro look at each other in amusement as they hear him exclaim. The man puts his gun down and crosses his arms over his chest as he looks at you again.

“Why you want to go to Isla de Los Despiertos?” He quirked an eyebrow at the four of you. It was Wanda who spoke up this time. “We are searching for an amulet… it should be somewhere in the ruins of Amfazar.” She explained, remembering the name on that little piece of the burned map. You were a little surprised by how confident her tone of voice was. You liked this side of her.

The man stared at her for a long moment before he suddenly burst out laughing. And it lasted for a while. He only stopped once he noticed that the rest of you weren’t as amused as he was. He looked back at you and his eyes widened slightly.

“Oh… You serious?”

-

Author's Note

Heyo! Back at it again with another chapter I hope you enjoy. Thank you so much for the likes, reblogs and positive comments on this series, dear reader! Isla de Los Despiertos is supposed to translate to Isle of The Awakened from Spanish, just to clear things up... You'll hopefully find out what that means in the next chapter :)

Thank you for reading and see you again soon!

Series Masterlist Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2

[venusinmyrrh]

You said you love a good fashion doc- do you have any more to recommend?

Designers and tastemakers

Very Ralph (2019). The preeminent American designer of our time, one of the very few who can stand toe to toe with the titans of Paris and Milan. To call Ralph Lauren's work "sportswear" is to call the Sistine Chapel "kind of a big painting".

Halston (2019). Speaking of going head to head with Paris, Halston did it first. Skip Ultrasuede-- this is a much better doc about the king of American 70s disco glam.

McQueen (2018). When people talk about fashion as an art form, chances are they're thinking of Alexander McQueen. Worth watching for the pulse-pounding runway shows alone.

Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist (2018). Obviously you already know about this one, but it's gotta go on any comprehensive list. Without Vivienne Westwood, punk would have been nothing but a handful of noisy assholes.

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (2011). My icon, my north star, my personal hero. The empress of taste and high priestess of personal style. Watch this doc whenever you need encouragement to do and wear whatever the hell you want.

The Gospel According to André (2017). Diana Vreeland's protegé and a godfather of style in his own right. If it happened in fashion in the last fifty years, André Leon Talley was there for it.

Lagerfeld Confidential (2007). I have a high tolerance for difficult and unpleasant people as long as I like their work. Your mileage may vary, but Karl Lagerfeld's immaculate, relentless taste cannot be denied.

Institutions and events

The First Monday in May (2016). Witness all the hustle, bustle, savvy, and stress that goes into planning the Met gala!

The September Issue (2009). Same as the above, but for the famous September issue of Vogue. Watch this to learn who Grace Coddington is.

Dior and I (2014). How do haute couture collections get made? In 8 weeks from start to finish, I guess, if you're Raf Simons during his first season at the House of Dior. A documentary and a thriller.

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's (2013). No matter what other retailers might want you to think, Bergdorf Goodman is the last great department store. A portrait, already halfway to a time capsule, of what luxury shopping used to be.

Peripheral, but may be of interest

Nose (2021). The passionate, delicate art of perfume creation for the House of Dior. The French landscapes where they source their materials will make you swoon.

Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story (2017). As the makeup artist to pretty much every single icon of the 80s and 90s, Kevyn Aucoin invented the image of that era as much as any designer.

Fabergé: A Life of Its Own (2014). Come for the dazzling jewels and sumptuous objets d'art; stay to find out how this illustrious name ended up on hair care products in the 70s.

Crazy About Tiffany's (2016). Another luxury jeweler whose name alone is the stuff dreams are made on.

Bill Cunningham New York (2010). The original street style photographer, since before "street style" was even a thing. A love letter to curiosity, and a testament to the power of taking an interest in the world around us.

Still on my watchlist

Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams (2020). Directed by Luca Guadagnino, which is enough to put this Ferragamo doc at the top of my list.

Advanced Style (2014). Portraits of seven women aged 62-95 with truly fab personal style. Top Letterboxd review is seething about how out of touch they are with the real world, which means I am probably gonna love it.

Suited (2016). A study of gender through clothing in modern culture.

Dries (2017). A year-- and four collections-- in the life of Dries Van Noten, who, interestingly, doesn't see the point of clothes that people can't buy to wear, and so does not do couture.

Yellow is Forbidden (2018). This doc about Guo Pei appears to use her career as a framework to understand the gatekeeping of global culture by the West. Dope as hell, if it can pull it off.

American Style (2019). The political, social, and economic history of America through its fashion. Another one that could be really awesome if done with insight and panache.

Quant (2021). She may share the credit for inventing the miniskirt with two other people, but it cannot be argued that Mary Quant invented 1960s Swinging London. And for that we say thank you Dame Mary.