#anyways . hope everyone is having a nice afternoon i promise to stop complaining about dracula soon .

[latinozevran-archive]

tbh i immediately distrust anyone criticizing dracula for antisemitism alone and i blame the popular notion on here that vampires are inherently antisemitic. i think my favorite thing ive read abt antisemitism in vampire lore was this one paper that argues antisemitism & vampire narratives support each other rather than a linear cause and effect bc to me thats the best way to read dracula like i think the vast majority of ppl on here dont really get that u need to understand late 19th century british antisemitism specifically to unpack this. which i am far from claiming to be an expert on but am informed abt enough to say its crucial to understand the primary motive behind antisemitisms prevalence in britain at the time was xenophobia & the rise of race science which did not only apply to jews and most "antisemitic" things in the novel could just as easily be connected to xenophobia regarding others--which is where the argument abt jews/vampires in pop culture having a reciprocal relationship becomes most useful, as that allows for the acknowledgement that stokers bigotry was not limited to antisemitism without diminishing it.

and considering the whole dd thing is at the part where other stuff is arguably most prevalent i find it especially disturbing that for instance i literally havent seen a single mention in any post about stokers depiction of romani people which is more overt and severe than any antisemitic aspect of dracula like theyre literally draculas minions who help procure him children to eat want everyone to read that multiple times like both the text itself and everyones reaction to it should bother everyone. a lot. and if you know anything about jewish history i would think it requires no explanation to know that the histories of romani and jewish oppression in europe are deeply intertwined and its no service to jews to ignore it.

[themurphyzone]

Secret Santa Ch 1

Welcome to my first Christmas story in MML! I kind of wanted to do something different and give perspective to Milo’s classmates that have at least had a major supporting role. Well, two of them are fairly minor but I really love writing them anyway. You’ll see what I mean!

I was originally planning to release this story on December 1, but my impatient ass can’t wait any longer. 

Ch 1: Amanda

Amanda was about ready to throw her pen against the wall in frustration. She’d already used up half of the allotted thirty minutes in her schedule for brainstorming ideas for the Secret Santa exchange.

The paper remained devoid of any ideas, apart from a few words that had been neatly scratched out.

It was Lydia’s fault anyway for signing her up without permission. Or Melissa’s. Or both. As far as Amanda was concerned, they were equally suspicious.

What was she even supposed to give Chad? She didn’t know him that well. He was nice enough, but his attempts to prove Mr. Drako was a vampire weirded her out. And he tended to be the first to go down when Murphy’s Law struck.

In other words, he would be the hypothetical first victim in a zombie apocalypse.

Wait….

Vampires. Zombies. The paranormal.

Amanda’s brain whirred to life as she hastily sketched a bubble map. Chad liked to formulate theories and gather evidence to support them. Conspiracy theories, weird happenings, spooky stuff.

Maybe she could take a page out of his book and collect her own evidence on what he liked.

Her timer went off, and she stored the bubble map in her school folder for later. At least the history worksheet she needed to finish didn’t cause any stress.

“You are not going up to Chad and asking him for a gift idea,” Lydia said, shaking her head in disapproval. “Kinda kills the point of being a Secret Santa.”

“I’m not going to ask him what he wants outright!” Amanda complained. “All I did was dedicate four to six minutes to having a conversation where I subtly lead him into stating his interests! I made a bubble map, Lydia! I am not letting those fifteen minutes go to waste!”

Lydia blinked. “You made a bubble map. For a gift exchange.”

“Yes,” Amanda said. “I wrote down a main idea and added supporting details. I would’ve added color, but I ran out of time.”

“I know what a bubble map is,” Lydia sighed. “It’s just not gonna help me. I think I got the worst recipient of all. Are you sure you don’t want to switch with me? Nobody needs to know!”

She leaned over Amanda’s desk, grinning excitedly. Amanda edged back in her seat, keeping Lydia at arm’s length. “I don’t like doing things spontaneously. Sorry.”

Lydia groaned, backing off so Amanda could have her personal space again. “Okay. FYI, I’m probably procrastinating on this like everything else that doesn’t involve theater club.”

“Procrastinating on important things is just going to-“

“-increase anxiety and throw you down a well of endless despair,” Lydia finished. “I heard the spiel before. Like, fifty-three times now.”

Amanda allowed herself a small smile. “I didn’t know you were keeping track.”

Lydia shrugged. “I have a tally chart.”

“And you were getting on my case about the bubble map?” Amanda giggled.

Before Lydia could reply, Chad entered the classroom behind Milo and his friends. “We’ll finish this conversation some other time,” she whispered, scrambling out of the way before she could be a target within the splatter zone.

“I’m telling you, Mr. Drako doesn’t have a reflection in the mirror!” Chad exclaimed loudly. “How else do you explain the Hall of Mirrors incident at the school fair?”

Melissa rolled her eyes. “He didn’t have a reflection because the school couldn’t afford to supply the mirrors and substituted plastic wrapping instead?”

“I remember that!” Milo said. “Remember when Zack and I were wrapped in the plastic like a double burrito?”

Zack groaned. “Do you have to remind me?”

“Yes,” Melissa replied.

Amanda caught Milo’s eye, and he quickly looked away, his face slightly red. That was…odd. Usually he didn’t pass up a chance to greet her.

She mentally filed ‘wonder what’s up with Milo’ under lunchtime. She had a goal, and she needed to seize this perfect opportunity.

“Chad, how exactly do you know so much about vampires that you’d accuse one of the nicest teachers in the school of being one?” Amanda asked. Everyone stared at her.

Amanda wanted to curl up in the back of the school closet and waste away in the darkness among all the cobwebs and dust bunnies. Did that sound accusatory? That totally sounded less accusatory in her head.

“Easy. My vampire blog requires a lot of research into vampire lore.” Chad replied. “You know, traditional ones like Dracula to more modern portrayals. That sort of thing.”

“Now that sounds like something I have to follow!” Milo exclaimed, pulling out his phone. “What’s the name?”

“Transylvaniaterrors.com,” Chad said. “It’s a forum dedicated to everything paranormal. My blog is-“

Milo held up a hand. “Could you write that on a piece of paper? Sorry, my wi-fi cut out.”

“I’m not getting a signal either,” Melissa said, checking her phone.

Screams erupted from the hallway, followed by the sound of stampeding feet. Melissa shoved Zack in the direction of the door. Zack glared at her, carefully opening the door by a hair.

He shut it again after a few seconds.

“They’re panicking over the wi-fi,” Zack said as he pushed his back against the door as several loud thuds echoed from it. “Gonna need a blockade over here!”

Milo, Chad, and Lydia quickly pushed the teacher’s desk in front of the door. Amanda opened the window, preparing the escape route in case the desk plan didn’t work.

Thankfully, the desk held the door in place just fine.

Unfortunately, third period would probably be delayed for a while. Hopefully the situation didn’t extend into fourth period.

Amanda collapsed on her bed, exhausted. The wi-fi hadn’t come back until the last twenty minutes of the school day, which rendered her Wednesday schedule obsolete. She grabbed a nearby planner and a blue pen, too wiped to properly color-code the box.

She scribbled in ‘Expect Principal Milder to go on a five to seven minute lecture about rampaging in the school hallway during announcements’ under Thursday.

She would think about Chad’s present on Friday once she gave herself enough time to recover from a messed up schedule.

Her inspiration came the next day, when a cabinet in Mr. Drako’s classroom almost fell on top of Chad, revealing dozens of vampire teeth.

Everyone in the class looked at Mr. Drako for an explanation. He shrugged. “My ex-wife worked at an arcade and had a lot of these fake vampire teeth lying around. They’re actually pretty good things to toss into children’s Halloween baskets. Glow in the dark too!”

“I think I’m turning! I’m sorry guys! Tell my turtles I love them! The sun is slowly sucking away at my being!” Chad hissed.

Melissa leaned over and plucked one off his shoulder. “Chad, you’re not a vampire,” she said, shaking her head.

Chad slowly opened his eyes. “I’m not?”

Zack held his phone. “Chad, do you see yourself in the camera?”

His eyes widened. “Stop making me feel better! The undead is my realm now!”

Melissa rolled her eyes. “Tilt the camera down. It’s pointed to the ceiling. There. I see you. You are not a vampire. Can we get back to the lesson now?”

Chad sighed in relief.

While Mr. Drako flipped through his slides to figure out where they’d left off, Amanda took the opportunity to write ‘go to discount bookstore’ in the Saturday afternoon slot.

Unfortunately, Lydia’s idea of helping Amanda decide on a book turned out to be making her read the summaries of YA vampire novels and choose one. While they were all within her price range, she doubted Chad would be interested in poorly written romance.

Besides, she figured he was more into the lore.

“Early Evening?” Lydia suggested, holding up a thick book with a black cover. “Maybe not. The prose really isn’t for everyone.”

Amanda wrinkled her nose. “Definitely not pile.”

“That’s the only pile we have so far,” Lydia sighed, setting Early Evening on top of a stack of five books.

Amanda groaned, regretting not doing any research into vampire books beforehand. “We’re doing it my way now,” she said. “We’ll just put everything on the cart and see if there’s a mythology or paranormal section.”

It took two minutes for Amanda to organize the books in an order that satisfied her. Lydia leaned against the table with her elbow, checking her phone.

“Need help with your gift?” Amanda asked, setting the books into the cart.

“No!” Lydia exclaimed. “I don’t need help! I totally have ideas and I have every intention on following through on at least one of them!”

Amanda raised an eyebrow. “Whose name did you draw anyway?”

“Bradley! I drew Bradley of all people!” Lydia hissed. “He’s going to hate what I get him.”

“I don’t think he will,” Amanda said.

“He hates everything that isn’t a bolted self-serve ice cream machine or people who aren’t named Melissa,” Lydia complained.

Amanda shrugged. “Okay, we’ll figure yours out after this. Just help me find a book for now.”

The paranormal section was two aisles over from the YA novels, and appeared a lot more promising to Amanda.

After five minutes, she selected a rather compact book that held information about vampires and similar creatures from different cultures around the world. “Good choice,” Lydia grinned. “Chad’s definitely gonna love it. Unlike Bradley anyway.”

Amanda nodded. “I hope so. And if he doesn’t like the book, at least he’ll be nice about it.”

“And now you’re just rubbing it in.”