#malvolio looking bird

[aqua2fana]

Gotham Rogues Daemon Headcanons no one asked for

Because I haven’t seen anyone do this yet

Sorry this is sooooo long

Oswald Cobblepot (Penguin): An Adelie Penguin named Ottoline. The name Ottoline sounds very upperclass and means prosperity, riches, and wealth. Okay, so obviously giving Oswald a penguin sounds like a lazy pick but I actually can’t think of anything that suits him more. Penguin was born with defects that made him look different from everyone else, he would have been ridiculed throughout his childhood and people probably wouldn’t expect him to be capable of much. Yet, he built a criminal empire in Gotham city. Penguins are loud, awkward, ungraceful and flightless but they are also highly specialized to not just survive but thrive in an extremely inhospitable environment. Also despite being built like a bowling pin, penguins are still some of the best dressed birds out there which is something I feel like Oswald does to compensate for the defects others would shame him for. Penguins are durable bastards who wear tuxedos and since daemons settle in the teen years I think Penguins persona would have been built around his daemons settling as he fully embraced the symbolism behind it.

Edward Nygma (Riddler): A Fennec Fox named Ataro. The name Ataro means puzzle or upside down and also sounds like the word Atari which is the name of a game console and also comes from the Japanese word for checkmate. Foxes are sly, cunning, charming, and intelligent tricksters. Which is exactly what Riddler is. I thought a Fennec Fox would be more suitable because they are small and social with these enormous ears and I just thought that was right. I know Riddler works alone most of the time but I also think he’s capable of being gossipy and Fennecs strike me as foxes incapable of keeping a secret which is a very riddler trait because he leaves riddles that often lead to his capture.

Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow): A Raven named Malvolia. Malvolia is the feminine version of Malvolio and it literally means “ill will”. A Raven not a Crow. Corvids are very intelligent birds that are also regarded death omens and are present in horror stories and myths around the world. They are very resourceful and also often portrayed as trickster spirits in fables. What else could crane be? I specify that Mal is a Raven because I honestly like the idea of Jon having this large corvid that can make sounds like a garbage disposal that people mistake for a crow.

Selina Kyle (Catwoman): A Black Devon Rex Cat named Rakesh. Selina is a name relating to the moon so I decided to give her daemon a name relating to the moon as well. Rakesh means “lord of the full moon”. Selina is playful, sneaky and narcissistic but too aloof to have a wild cat as a daemon which is why I decided Rakesh would be domestic. I wanted something that looked a lot like a Sphinx cat because they are very playful and like a lot of attention but I also wanted the breed I picked to have fur because I think Selina is somewhat vain and her daemon would reflect that. The Devon Rex has a personality and temperament similar to Sphinx cats but they also have a very short and wavy coat and I always think of Selina as the type to have a pixie cut so it just seemed fitting. Of course he would be a black cat.

Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy): A Tarantula Hawk Wasp named Viridius. Viridius is a name that derives from the Roman word veridis meaning Green. Viridius is also thought to be the name of a pagan god of ancient Roman Britain that in modern day times is called the Green Man. I imagine people with wasp daemons to be protective, defensive, hardworking and with high standards for themselves and others. Wasps are very protective and defensive of their hive in the same way Ivy is of her plants, wasps are devoted to their cause and have a vicious sting. I also assume they would have something slightly seductive about them because of the beauty stereotype of having a “wasp waist”. Tarantula Hawks have beautiful iridescent blue bodies and orange wings, they are non aggressive unless you mess with them first and have one of the worst stings of the animal kingdom with excruciating pain lasting up to 5 minutes. Daemons are just physical representations of the human soul so I don’t think typical sexual dimorphism is always the rule which is why I think that despite being male Veridius would have a stinger.

Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn): A Sparrow named Lysander. Lysander means “liberator” which in light of the progression of Harley’s character I found fitting. I also chose it because it sounds like it could be the name of a male love interest in a romance novel. Sparrows are songbirds that don’t look like much and are probably pretty common but they are also very empathetic and known for taking care of babies that aren’t their own as well as being very devoted to their loved ones. Harley is someone who studied to be a therapist out of a genuine desire to help others and was even capable of empathizing with the joker. She is also someone who is clearly driven by an obsessive love and devotion to the people she cares for. I also think that Harley is often underestimated and her having a sparrow would reflect that perfectly.

Joker: An Albino White Rat named Hilaria. Hilaria is a name of Greek origin that means cheerful. The name is derived from the same Latin root word as the English word hilarious. It was too good to pass up. Originally, I was going to give Joker a viper of some kind or maybe a spitting cobra as a reference to his acid spitting flower pin in the cartoons but daemons settle in adolescence and I think the joker was a very different person before his chemical bath. I think the original joker would have been intelligent and resourceful but also more meek and easily peer pressured. A prey animal as opposed to a snake. I think Hilaria would be an albino rat as a reference to lab rats and as a reference to the red eyes one of his cartoon designs had. Joker is unpredictable so I think it’s fitting that his daemon would be a prey animal when everyone is expecting a predator. Also, when rats are happy they do this thing where their eyes pop out a little like they’re a squeaky toy which is just perfect. Hilaria would be a particularly vicious rat though.

Jervis Tetch (Mad Hatter): A Jerboa named Darlene. Darlene means “darling” but in some sources the meaning is also “innocent child,” I also like the way it reminds me of the word Darjeeling which is a kind of tea. Intelligent but delusional and a bit of a coward a small rodent would fit him perfectly and the mad hatter was known for associating with the dormouse. However, I wanted something like a mouse but more whimsical, more fantasy like, so a Jerboa it was.

Harvey Dent (Two Face): A Black Backed Jackal named Eurydice. Eurydice was the tree nymph that married the famous musician Orpheus in Greek mythology. She died and her husband tried to rescue her from the underworld but looked back at the last second condemning her to remain a ghost. Her name means “wide justice”. Wild dogs are rebellious, loyal, protective and capable hunters all of which are traits I think Harvey exhibited while he was a DA. I picked a Jackal because of their association with Anubis which is the Egyptian god of the dead who presided over the embalming process and placed the heart of the deceased on one side of the scale and a feather on the other so that they could be judged by Osiris. This is similar to what a DA does before a judge. I picked the black backed jackal to follow the duality theme he has going on which I thought should definitely be reflected in his soul since he has DID.

Victor Fries (Mr.Freeze): A Polar Bear named Idonea. Idonea is a Norse name that means “again,” “to love,” and “to renew nature”. It is also the name a Norse goddess associated with eternal youth. Freeze is driven first and foremost by a need to cure and save his wife but he is also vengeful. Bears are known for being large, protective, vengeful and effective hunters. Polar bears are even known for hunting humans on occasion and are one the most massive land predators on earth. I think Polar bears would be slightly more domineering than other bears which I think is also fitting for Freeze. There’s also the fact that a polar bear matches his aesthetic to a t.

Eduardo Dorrance (Bane): A Jaguar named Tvora. Tvora literally means “to break,” or “to fracture”. I think people who settled with wild cats would be strong willed, driven, passionate, and powerful individuals. Jaguars are one of the strongest hunters in the world and they kill their prey by sinking their teeth directly into their targets skull. This method of killing is quick, brutal, and efficient in a way that I think translates well into Banes execution of his plans. Growing up in prison made it more likely for him to settle as something large.

Waylon Jones (Killer Croc): A Nile Crocodile named Jessamine. Jessamine means jasmine flower. Jasmine is known for its soothing properties and considering Crocs past I felt like his daemon should have a very non threatening southern belle kind of name. I also just like the idea of calling an enormous crocodile Jess. Another very obvious lazy looking pick but I think the crocodile symbolizes Waylon very well. In most of his stories he is portrayed as a sympathetic character mocked for a rare defect that makes him look like a crocodile, he is someone who can actually be very kind but is treated as a monster and behaves like one because of his cruel treatment. However, in some stories Croc is actually a very patient, cold and calculating gang leader. I think a crocodile is a median between both of these because while crocodiles can be aggressive and of course very patient and while people with reptile daemons are stereotypically cold, crocodiles are also just large lizards who want to be left alone and prefer not to have to fight anyone because they would rather be asleep, crocodiles just crave warmth. I think the symbolism of Waylon having a fuck off huge Nile crocodile with a name as sweet sounding as Jessamine is just perfect.

Victor Zsasz (Zsasz): A Warthog named Boudica. Boudica means victory and is the name of a 1st century Celtic warrior queen of the Icendi tribe who rebelled against the Romans. Okay, so I know Zsasz is a serial killer and everyone would probably expect a very aggressive animal but Zsasz doesn’t kill for malicious and wrathful reasons. Zsasz was a rich and sociable dude who gambled all his money away and adopted a depressive idea of nihilism where he thinks he needs to save everyone from the meaninglessness of life by killing them. This is someone who has the delusion he is helping people. Which is why I think he would settle as something naturally non aggressive but scary looking. Pigs are smart, stubborn, and don’t care what you think of them. Warthogs in particular are rather amiable and hardy herbivores that just look scary due to their long tusks. I think this is fitting because it’s symbolic of the way people would mistake Zsasz’s violence as intentionally malicious and sadistic but Zsasz truly believes he is being benevolent and merciful to the people he kills.

FYI: if anyone wants to use these for anything feel free

[kaypeace21]

Analyzing the 5 plays in this drama club poster .From the bts pics of stranger things 4.

So... some of ya’ll know I'm going through the st s4 films given to us by the official st twitter + the films reffed in the show itself or mentioned by the Duffers in interviews .

So I decided to look at the plays mentioned here. Because even if we don't see the monologues in the show directly - the Duffers wouldn't name drop anything unless it inspired them in some way. Similar to films name dropped in the show. Tw : for some dark themes .

This is just a quick little analysis I decided to do since we probably won't get any new st content today (3/22). Nothing too deep. Just mentioning things that caught my interest especially cause these plays have a lot of narrative connections to the st s4 movies I've been watching.

Invitation to a march (Authur laurents)

Reminds me of the stancy/jancy love triangle. "A young woman is having second thoughts about doing the right thing and marrying a respectable , rich, kind, young man with good prospects.By way of a prewedding diversion, this woman becomes interested in the passionate but poor and entirely unsuitable son of a local landlord.Basically, the plot concerns the efforts of Norma Brown to choose between a conventional fiance who "puts her to sleep" but is wealthy (like what her own mother did) or go for this new-poor guy. The play is principally interested in how this youthful love triangle affects the three mothers involved (whether the kids like it or not)

12th night (Shakespeare)

 - viola (el) wrongly assumes a family member (hopper) is dead. She dresses up as a man named 'cesario'. A girl named Olivia falls for 'cesario' (violet dressed as a man). "Finally, when 'Cesario' and Sebastian (violet's twin brother: assumed to have drowned - Will) appear in the presence of Olivia there is more wonder and confusion at their physical similarity. Taking Sebastian for 'Cesario', Olivia asks him to marry her, and they are secretly married in a church. Cough if Olivia is 'straight' cause she fell for Viola (as a doppleganger dressed like her twin brother).Mike being into el who multiple characters in s1 said looked like a boy and specifically like Will is...suspish and a hint he's not straight lol. just like Olivia they're both into guys . plus, this play just has a butt load of love triangles (ugh i hated that aspect). There was also romantically coded letters (which was in the s4 films) . One character is also thrown into an insane asylum and framed as 'insane'.'Pretending that Malvolio is insane, they lock him up in a dark chamber. Feste visits him to mock his insanity'. We all know the psych hospital will be narratively important- talked about it more here.

The seagull (Anton Chekhov-russian)

similar to how I believed s4 will show m*#even already broken up since the months between s3-4 : act 3 (s3) ends with Nina begging for one last chance to be with Trigorin before he leaves/moves away. They kiss and make plans to meet again in Moscow.And in act 4 there's a timeskip where it shows they've been broken up for a long time between acts- and its established they never actually loved eachother. Do i even have to spell out why this parallels the m*#even ending in s3? There is also a play within the play (this is common in a lot of the st films- they have plays- or a story within a story- which illustrate certain themes or emotions of the characters within said film : blackswan, children of paradise, highschool musical, Rushmore, book of Henry, welcome to marwen, never ending story, romancing the stone, wet hot American summer, etc).The play is Konstantin's latest attempt at creating a dense symbolist work. There is also alot of love triangles in the seagull. TW!: for se#ual ab*se/su*cidal thoughts/ inc*st (here and in other play segments). The seagull motif reminds me a lot of Jonathan's rabbit story.Konstantin romantically into Nina shows up to give her a gull that he has shot. Nina is confused and horrified . Trigorin sees the gull that Konstantin has shot and muses to Nina on how he could use it as a subject for a short story: "The plot for the short story: a young girl lives all her life on the shore of a lake. She loves the lake, like a gull, and she's happy and free, like a gull. But a man arrives by chance, and when he sees her, he destroys her, out of sheer boredom. Like this gull."  This immediately reminded me of jon's rabbit story and some of the movies on the s4 list . Like in forrest gump- Jenny (who is poor) was se*ually ab*sed as a very young girl by her father. As a child she runs away into a field-away from her alcoholic father yelling at her -there she prays that she can "be a bird so I can fly far far away" .

Jenny as an adult struggles with this unresolved trauma- being with ab*sive partners, doing dr*gs, and having su*cidal thoughts . She as an adult when contemplating su*icide, jokes 'you think i can fly like a bird ?' while looking down at a bridge.God-i'm worried about jonathan (Jenny was also a musician sort of like jon). In another s4 movie example ' mystic river ' :(in the 80s) a preteen baseball playing boy is r*ped by men in the woods. He later says he wishes he could become an undead monster to not feel the pain of that experience - cause quote " if I'm not human anymore maybe the pain will stop" (Will) . slightly off topic but he also has another personality, imagines a alternate word that dissappears when he turns his head. And as a less direct animal parallel to the play - the boy from the film also imagined his perpetrators as monsters and wolves to cope.In 'getout' the photographer character sees a dead deer in the woods and it represents a parent/his own childhood tra*ma relating to his past. similarly in 'prince of tides' the 2 siblings as kids were ra*ed by men. The older brother remembered it and the younger sibling developed DID (so didn't remember but she would draw wolves- as the perpetrators/villains in her picture stories she created . In the film they also had an ab*sive dad and were very poor. She also tried k*ling herself multiple times-but started to get better after remembering the source of her pain and trauma.  There is also the theme of multiple attempted su*cides in the play- and the play ends with yet another attempt- and the audience is left unaware of the artist's fate at the end of the play.

The tempest (Shakespeare)

Prospereo - (the perceived antagonist) is a wizard with monstrous looks, storm powers , and ability to create monster-dogs

He wants revenge on a man who tried ra*ing his family member & revenge on his other family member who wronged him years ago. I mean... pretty much my did theory.But in the end.Prospero decides to show his enemies the mercy that they did not show him twelve years earlier. He tells Ariel to bring the men to him, he will restore their sanity and then renounce magic forever.Prospero breaks the spell that the men are under .

Diary of a scoundrel (Alexander Ostrovsky-Russian)

-  I suppose this could loosely relate to Jonathan? Glumov, is a young man from an impoverished family lacking status seeking entrance into society's pampered class. A 19th-century Russian scoundrel must scheme his way out of his meager life in a small apartment -whatever it takes.He has a quick mind and some talent for seeing through the hypocrisies of people around him ( Jonathan does make a lot of social critiques about society). That gives him some advantages. A tale of one man's mission to finagle his way into upper-class society and find a cushy job. Set in 1874, this social comedy follows Glumov, a Russian youth who begins his ambitious ascent to social esteem. He progresses by wit, guile and rhetoric. Pitting one stupid person against another, he soon gains his ends. To reach these goals, Glumov will lie, flatter, and cater to the vanities of the wealthy. Unable to contain his disgust with his victims, Glumov decides to relieve his unvoiced satirical comments by recording his schemes in a diary. But he is tripped up by his uncle's wife, to whom he has made passionate love on his way to success. At the end of the play, his diary is stolen and his duplicity exposed, but he can nevertheless suceeds. The author is much more critical about the high society itself than about the main character, so the play keeps attracting generations of directors by opening possibilities for political criticism while also avoiding naming names of the current rulers.The play's aim was to overthrow bourgeois tradition and establish a class-conscious art called eccentricism giving a deliberately comic portrayal of reality.

I suppose I notice some possible commonalities-  besides s3 critiquing the wealthy/capitalism in comedic ways . jonathan since s1 has worried about his family's finances / had some resentment toward the rich . In some of the s4 movies ‘orphan’ & ‘ girl interrupted’ someone reads their diary out loud to get at them (in girl interrupted the winona character’s diary even had critiques of her new friends).  Alot of movies also have someone (usually a teen/young adult) making a documentary about their life -which could narratively replace said diary? A few movies have a poor guy adjusting to snobby rich social circles (or being poor and then getting money)- titanic, kingsmen, karate kid, the craft , godfather,  wardogs,into the spiderverse,flashdance, and many others . And movies like wardogs has a poor-young-character do shady things to finacially support his family . There’s also that whole uncle’s wife thing- which makes me uncomfortable for obvious reasons (but I’m just thinking of Lonnie’s creepy gf who was into him). A few movies had the guy’s step mom innappropriately hit on him- orange county & you got mail. And him trying to avoid her advances. Or...not to mention ... it may be a problematic coincidence /trope. But in enter the void -the guy who needs to finacially support his sibling/ does dr*gs -hooks up with his dr*g dealing friend’s married mom (who would give him money).  Or in gilbert grape- the poor teen-who has to finacially support his siblings/single mom-has his endgame relationship be a girl his own age. But before that he h*oked up with a married woman -who would give him money. Don’s plum -young film guy-propositioned by older female film director (for dream job). Not even mentioning the other films that have the guy hooking up with toxic older women (like ‘the graduate’). Or analyze this-where the therapist accuses him of having an Oedipus complex (not touching that one... but the guy in ‘enter the void’ a 100% had one). It’s possible those movies were just- inspo for s3?  A coincidence? Or s3 was foreshadowing for this in s4- but unlike s3 it will accurately be played as wrong  and a sign of Jonathan recreating past tra*ma caused by Lonnie (cough like the photos) /being desperate for money. And not played ‘comedically’ like how it mostly was in s3. But shown as self destructive  (for Jon) and immoral on the Woman’s end. Like... Billy and Jon are character foils. Both are older siblings into rock music, with ab*sive dads who shoved them into walls. Both lose it (and beat steve to a pulp when Steve accidentally triggers their daddy issues). In s3 it’s established womanizer Billy has mommy issues, than he tries ho*king up with someone his mom’s age, and the characters ref ‘back to the future ‘ and Steve incorrectly says it’s about “alex p keaton trying to bang his mom.” This could illustrate his subconscious issues with parental figures/adults cause of Lonnie’s  possible past se*ual ab*se . One film the friend even says to the guy “you don’t have friends!” guy b: i have friends! him:  no you have acquaintances! ADMIT IT! YOU’RE AFRAID OF MEN!I mean-Jonathan liked Nancy- but he initially hooked up with her cause he wanted to prove he didn’t have ‘trust issues’ from his dad. Also it’s prob a bit of a reach (and maybe a coincidence)- but the fact Murray in the same breath compares Steve (Nancy’s then bf) and Lonnie  ... uh... if you think too long about it ... it’s very sinister .  Especially because in s3: muray tells Joyce  that despite her wanting to be with a nice guy, she’s curious about “the brute” Hopper despite him reminding her of a past “bad relationship”(aka Lonnie). Like- yeah connect some dots.  Quite a few films (other than forrest gump) also have the character who (as a kid) was  r*ped by their dad/parent-  begin to do dr*gs/be pr*miscuous as adults since they never learned to properly cope with their trauma (’girl with the dragon tattoo’,  ‘black swan’, and ‘magnolia’). Unfortunately the whole relative doing such things to kid-relatives is in at least 30+ movies. 

Personally, i would be MUCH happier if Jon had a age appropriate romance- and had not a single creepy adult near him. A few movies actually imply Lonnie gets yet another ‘new model’  replacing his gf in her 20s with a new gf- who is ‘barely l*gal” and just turned 18. so there’s that possibility as well- that she’s jonathan’s age.I just want Jonathan-happy &safe. GOD. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

[thenewnio]

The Promised Dreamland

In the land of Ætopia, ruled by King Malvolio, Adriano DeBoys is a resident of the town of Amberfell. After Malvolio threatens to shut down We Knead Dough, the bakery belonging to his mother, Annie Page, Adriano tries to help by inventing an automaton which ends up damaging much of the place. To help pay for the damages, Adriano and his friend, Ross LeBeau, plot to steal from Malvolio. Ross is initially hesitant since Malvolio is said to have a monster that he has locked away. On the night of the heist, the two boys manage to break into the castle, only to discover that the “monster” is actually a girl named Viola, apparently Malvolio‘s daughter, whom he has confined for most of her life. When she expresses her wish to be free, Adriano and Ross release her, discovering that, when the king’s guards attempt to stop them, she possesses powers over the four classical elements. The three escape the castle and return to We Knead Dough, where they decide to search for Vibrantis, a legendary paradise which appeared in Viola’s dreams. Malvolio sends his men to the bakery, forcing them to flee from Amberfell while Annie Page is captured. Malvolio then has his soldiers scour Ætopia for the trio, wanting to get Viola back. In the wilderness, the three encounter and befriend a tall, robotic flightless bird named Dustie, created by the late Dr. Feedback, who, in a holographic message left for whoever finds her creation, tells them to take care of the artificially intelligent bird. The group make their way to the town of Highlight, where news of the “theft“ of the king’s “beast” has reached the siblings Sunset and Sunrise. They attempt to take Viola, but the three escape on Dustie. Meanwhile, after interrogating Annie Page, Malvolio learns that Adriano and Ross are looking for Vibrantis and sends his men to retrieve Viola and kill the boys. However, one of the soldiers, Corin Nightwork, becomes concerned about Malvolio‘s plans. The group meet Juno, a talking field mouse, and rescue her from being executed by a fearful mob. Upon learning that she has been to Vibrantis, they convince her to lead them there. Malvolio‘s soldiers arrive, but by then the five have already left. Sunset and Sunrise overhear Corin and a fellow soldier discussing the group’s intention to reach Vibrantis, and begin following them. The quintet pass through ancient ruins depicting the Vibrantians, a race of people with elemental manipulation powers similar to Viola’s. Before they can learn more, they are interrupted by Sunset and Sunrise, who identify themselves as being of Vibrantian heritage, and try to convince Viola to come along with them, but the group distrust them and refuse. At that moment, Malvolio‘s men arrive and attempt to capture them, but they manage to cause many of the soldiers to fall from a cliff into a river as they escape into a cave leading to Vibrantis, which they find to be ruined and overgrown, yet still inhabited by a few Vibrantians, including their de-facto ruler, Queen Andromache. That night, Malvolio‘s remaining soldiers arrive in Vibrantis and attack the city. In the ensuing battle, Dustie’s vital chip is broken and Viola is captured. Sunset and Sunrise arrive too late and reveal that Viola is not Malvolio‘s daughter, but their sister; she was stolen as an infant from her birth parents, who were killed, while the siblings escaped the same fate. Andromache recalls that she possesses a replacement chip for the one that was destroyed, and they revive Dustie. With Sunset and Sunrise accompanying them, they return to Amberfell and infiltrate the castle, where they free Annie Page. Corin reveals that Malvolio intends to use Viola as the power source for a massive war machine intended to further spread his influence across Ætopia. The machine is activated, but the group manage to enter it and make their way to the core, where they free Viola. As soon as she exits the core, the machine shuts down and begins to collapse. In response, Malvolio confronts them and tries to force Viola to reenter the core, but she retaliates after Adriano reveals how she was kidnapped. Malvolio briefly overpowers them, but is incapacitated by Dustie and Juno. Dustie then sacrifices herself by holding open the machine’s exit long enough for the others to escape before it completely collapses, crushing Malvolio to death. In the aftermath, the heroes, while searching the wreckage, come across Dustie’s parts and recover her still intact chip. They rebuild her in a humanoid body, and she helps out at the restored We Knead Dough. Adriano and Viola become a couple as Andromache becomes the new, benevolent ruler of Ætopia.

[draculalive]

Dr. Seward's Diary.

1 October. -- I am puzzled afresh about Renfield. His moods change so rapidly that I find it difficult to keep touch of them, and as they always mean something more than his own well-being, they form a more than interesting study. This morning, when I went to see him after his repulse of Van Helsing, his manner was that of a man commanding destiny. He was, in fact, commanding destiny -- subjectively. He did not really care for any of the things of mere earth; he was in the clouds and looked down on all the weaknesses and wants of us poor mortals. I thought I would improve the occasion and learn something, so I asked him:---

"What about the flies these times?" He smiled on me in quite a superior sort of way -- such a smile as would have become the face of Malvolio -- as he answered me:---

"The fly, my dear sir, has one striking feature; its wings are typical of the aërial powers of the psychic faculties. The ancients did well when they typified the soul as a butterfly!"

I thought I would push his analogy to its utmost logically, so I said quickly:---

"Oh, it is a soul you are after now, is it?" His madness foiled his reason, and a puzzled look spread over his face as, shaking his head with a decision which I had but seldom seen in him, he said:---

"Oh, no, oh no! I want no souls. Life is all I want." Here he brightened up; "I am pretty indifferent about it at present. Life is all right; I have all I want. You must get a new patient, doctor, if you wish to study zoöphagy!"

This puzzled me a little, so I drew him on:---

"Then you command life; you are a god, I suppose?" He smiled with an ineffably benign superiority.

"Oh no! Far be it from me to arrogate to myself the attributes of the Deity. I am not even concerned in His especially spiritual doings. If I may state my intellectual position I am, so far as concerns things purely terrestrial, somewhat in the position which Enoch occupied spiritually!" This was a poser to me. I could not at the moment recall Enoch's appositeness; so I had to ask a simple question, though I felt that by so doing I was lowering myself in the eyes of the lunatic:---

"And why with Enoch?"

"Because he walked with God." I could not see the analogy, but did not like to admit it; so I harked back to what he had denied:---

"So you don't care about life and you don't want souls. Why not?" I put my question quickly and somewhat sternly, on purpose to disconcert him. The effort succeeded; for an instant he unconsciously relapsed into his old servile manner, bent low before me, and actually fawned upon me as he replied:---

"I don't want any souls, indeed, indeed! I don't. I couldn't use them if I had them; they would be no manner of use to me. I couldn't eat them or -- -- " He suddenly stopped and the old cunning look spread over his face, like a wind-sweep on the surface of the water. "And doctor, as to life, what is it after all? When you've got all you require, and you know that you will never want, that is all. I have friends -- good friends -- like you, Dr. Seward"; this was said with a leer of inexpressible cunning. "I know that I shall never lack the means of life!"

I think that through the cloudiness of his insanity he saw some antagonism in me, for he at once fell back on the last refuge of such as he -- a dogged silence. After a short time I saw that for the present it was useless to speak to him. He was sulky, and so I came away.

Later in the day he sent for me. Ordinarily I would not have come without special reason, but just at present I am so interested in him that I would gladly make an effort. Besides, I am glad to have anything to help to pass the time. Harker is out, following up clues; and so are Lord Godalming and Quincey. Van Helsing sits in my study poring over the record prepared by the Harkers; he seems to think that by accurate knowledge of all details he will light upon some clue. He does not wish to be disturbed in the work, without cause. I would have taken him with me to see the patient, only I thought that after his last repulse he might not care to go again. There was also another reason: Renfield might not speak so freely before a third person as when he and I were alone.

I found him sitting out in the middle of the floor on his stool, a pose which is generally indicative of some mental energy on his part. When I came in, he said at once, as though the question had been waiting on his lips:---

"What about souls?" It was evident then that my surmise had been correct. Unconscious cerebration was doing its work, even with the lunatic. I determined to have the matter out. "What about them yourself?" I asked. He did not reply for a moment but looked all round him, and up and down, as though he expected to find some inspiration for an answer.

"I don't want any souls!" he said in a feeble, apologetic way. The matter seemed preying on his mind, and so I determined to use it -- to "be cruel only to be kind." So I said:---

"You like life, and you want life?"

"Oh yes! but that is all right; you needn't worry about that!"

"But," I asked, "how are we to get the life without getting the soul also?" This seemed to puzzle him, so I followed it up:---

"A nice time you'll have some time when you're flying out there, with the souls of thousands of flies and spiders and birds and cats buzzing and twittering and miauing all round you. You've got their lives, you know, and you must put up with their souls!" Something seemed to affect his imagination, for he put his fingers to his ears and shut his eyes, screwing them up tightly just as a small boy does when his face is being soaped. There was something pathetic in it that touched me; it also gave me a lesson, for it seemed that before me was a child -- only a child, though the features were worn, and the stubble on the jaws was white. It was evident that he was undergoing some process of mental disturbance, and, knowing how his past moods had interpreted things seemingly foreign to himself, I thought I would enter into his mind as well as I could and go with him. The first step was to restore confidence, so I asked him, speaking pretty loud so that he would hear me through his closed ears:---

"Would you like some sugar to get your flies round again?" He seemed to wake up all at once, and shook his head. With a laugh he replied:---

"Not much! flies are poor things, after all!" After a pause he added, "But I don't want their souls buzzing round me, all the same."

"Or spiders?" I went on.

"Blow spiders! What's the use of spiders? There isn't anything in them to eat or" -- he stopped suddenly, as though reminded of a forbidden topic.

"So, so!" I thought to myself, "this is the second time he has suddenly stopped at the word 'drink'; what does it mean?" Renfield seemed himself aware of having made a lapse, for he hurried on, as though to distract my attention from it:---

"I don't take any stock at all in such matters. 'Rats and mice and such small deer,' as Shakespeare has it, 'chicken-feed of the larder' they might be called. I'm past all that sort of nonsense. You might as well ask a man to eat molecules with a pair of chop-sticks, as to try to interest me about the lesser carnivora, when I know of what is before me."

"I see," I said. "You want big things that you can make your teeth meet in? How would you like to breakfast on elephant?"

"What ridiculous nonsense you are talking!" He was getting too wide awake, so I thought I would press him hard. "I wonder," I said reflectively, "what an elephant's soul is like!"

The effect I desired was obtained, for he at once fell from his high-horse and became a child again.

"I don't want an elephant's soul, or any soul at all!" he said. For a few moments he sat despondently. Suddenly he jumped to his feet, with his eyes blazing and all the signs of intense cerebral excitement. "To hell with you and your souls!" he shouted. "Why do you plague me about souls? Haven't I got enough to worry, and pain, and distract me already, without thinking of souls!" He looked so hostile that I thought he was in for another homicidal fit, so I blew my whistle. The instant, however, that I did so he became calm, and said apologetically:---

"Forgive me, Doctor; I forgot myself. You do not need any help. I am so worried in my mind that I am apt to be irritable. If you only knew the problem I have to face, and that I am working out, you would pity, and tolerate, and pardon me. Pray do not put me in a strait-waistcoat. I want to think and I cannot think freely when my body is confined. I am sure you will understand!" He had evidently self-control; so when the attendants came I told them not to mind, and they withdrew. Renfield watched them go; when the door was closed he said, with considerable dignity and sweetness:---

"Dr. Seward, you have been very considerate towards me. Believe me that I am very, very grateful to you!" I thought it well to leave him in this mood, and so I came away. There is certainly something to ponder over in this man's state. Several points seem to make what the American interviewer calls "a story," if one could only get them in proper order. Here they are:---

Will not mention "drinking."

Fears the thought of being burdened with the "soul" of anything.

Has no dread of wanting "life" in the future.

Despises the meaner forms of life altogether, though he dreads being haunted by their souls.

Logically all these things point one way! he has assurance of some kind that he will acquire some higher life. He dreads the consequence -- the burden of a soul. Then it is a human life he looks to!

And the assurance -- ?

Merciful God! the Count has been to him, and there is some new scheme of terror afoot!