#maybe recovery is possible.

[oh-mother-i-cannot-weave]

being home all alone by myself really fucking sucks

[radioroxx]

hmmmm mal du pays thoughts tonight

[popsicle-stick]

What do you imagine the Drac Attack Pack look like a year or two afterwards when they a permanently changed but no longer Going Through It (and may have just possibly changed out of funerary garb)?

circa 1900

i actually can't decide if jon's hair grows back brown or stays grey/white! i think a lot of ppl like the latter, but i do like the symbolism of both.

but yeah! quincey the younger is on the way and all being said they're very happy!!!! and they look it. i think they (especially mina) take pains to make sure they, uh, come across as Normal as possible.

[elfsyellowflowerzart]

🔥

[vickyvicarious]

On October 28, Van Helsing and Jack react crushed to the news that the Czarina Catherine escaped them (Dracula apparently saw through Mina their location/plans, despite her efforts not to). Their worst fear is confirmed. Arthur is in a panic. Quincey seems to have been expecting this twist, but he's silently ready to go to the port Dracula is heading to. Jonathan is a bit less easy to read. He seemingly feels darkly hopeless but seeks the hilt of his knife.

Mina reveals, to their shock, that she's a step ahead: She has already read the Varna train schedules, including the ones to Galaz where the boat is revealed to be going.

My question is when is the most likely that she studied those, this isn't the Exeter and London locations she's studied months ago for Jonathan's work. The 25th when she woke up strong from her odd noon deep slumber? Right after the 25th? The morning of the 28th? Did she get an international/Bulgarian guide for this?

We also don't see Jonathan's reaction to her "train fiend" moment, only Arthur being baffled, Van Helsing and Jack caught by surprise. Is it possible that Jonathan already knew, or even fetched a guide per her request?

Oh, there are some good options here. And they each have slightly different implications about her state of mind, don't they?

If she looked this up after the 25th, then it would tend to rather definitively counter Van Helsing's supposition that Mina being aware of being semi-possessed/spied on by Dracula that day would "overwhelm her and make despair". Instead, that timing would strongly suggest that either she knew what had happened or at least suspected it* even if only based on the mens' reactions (this would also suggest Jack is wrong about her failing to notice things now, or at least not correct about the extent of what she misses). And though she didn't immediately inform the others (maybe she was unable to, in much the same way Renfield couldn't explain why he wanted to leave; maybe she wasn't certain and was waiting for confirmation before alarming them), Mina nonetheless did not break down. Rather, she took steps to counter Dracula's latest move.

However, if she looked this up before her noontime sleep/trance, then it leaves the question of her knowledge about Dracula definitively spying back through her unanswered. She might still have realized* or might not. But two things would be very clear if she did this preparation on arrival (15th) or at least some time before the 25th. Firstly, Mina is not in quite so deep a state of suppressed interest/activity as she may appear. Her Dracula-induced lethargy is not so extreme that it can suppress her desire to learn things and be useful, nor can it fully stop her from acting on this urge. Secondly, despite choosing herself to be left out of most plans, Mina was still acting in preparation for the eventuality that things fail somehow. It's not clear if she figured out what their plan was despite trying not to, or if she was acting just in case regardless. But she clearly wasn't just looking because she likes trains and was trying to occupy herself while waiting - she tells everyone that she did this with the idea that they may have to go to Castle Dracula at some point.

I suppose it is possible she expected this to be necessary even if the plan succeeds. There are still the vampire women at the Castle, after all. But everyone is so focused on Dracula himself that I think this is about him, not some hypothetical mopping-up of other far-off vampires after his death.

So, which of these options? Both are good, honestly. But I lean towards Mina doing this before the 25th, for a couple reasons. Firstly, her exact wording:

At home in Exeter I always used to make up the time-tables, so as to be helpful to my husband. I found it so useful sometimes, that I always make a study of the time-tables now. I knew that if anything were to take us to Castle Dracula we should go by Galatz, or at any rate through Bucharest, so I learned the times very carefully.

Mina speaks of this as, firstly, something she always does now, and secondly, something she's studied carefully. Both of these suggest she didn't take this course of action thanks to any particular recent outside trigger (such as the 25th). Instead, it is a standard practice for her. She's had time to memorize the schedule. And sure, it might not take much time to memorize this schedule in particular, since she was studying for routes to a very particular destination and there aren't many options (not sure if it's one per day or just one tomorrow but either way not a lot).

Wording here aside, I think it is in general very characteristic of Mina to do this. She suffers a lot from inactivity in general. And while she can't do much to relieve it in the wait before now, some small action would be very appealing to her. It also of course corresponds with her own interests. And finally, she is linked throughout the entire book with thinking of the future. She's always making plans! So having her do this in advance of any evident need, rather than in reaction to something, is very fitting for her.

As for how she learned this schedule... I'm not sure. Jonathan's lack of surprise could definitely be because he has helped her by gathering materials of some kind, such as a guide. I doubt she has been going out on her own at all, certainly. At the same time, I could also easily buy him just not acting surprised because this is the sort of thing Mina would do. He might just be sitting there proudly thinking "That's my wife! Of course Mina has a plan to save us!" without having any prior knowledge at all. Maybe she asked hotel staff to bring her whatever materials she needed.

* I certainly think this is the case, regardless of the time she learned the train schedules. Mina has a logical enough mind to connect the dots between their long wait, her taking an unusual nap, then suddenly everyone being upset at their plan being foiled shortly afterwards. She also is very aware that she could be used against the rest of them right now. This is the reason she herself asked to be left out of things, as well as the reason she used to convince everyone that she must be brought along. The only way I buy her not realizing Dracula spied on them through her is if his magic suppressed her ability to connect those dots, as happened the first two times he drank from her. However, she clearly tells us that she feels his influence lift from her today, so I think at the least she'd be able to figure it out in retrospect.

[elvenferretots]

On one hand, I feel horribly guilty for having a couple weekends where I've committed to absolutely nothing to the point of backing out of volunteering at a local dog show.

On the other hand, I have dog sport events literally every weekend and practice or class at least twice a week throughout the entirety of October and November. I think I get a free pass for a couple weekends.

[stillfruit]

i love not knowing if i'll ever be healthy again i love all of the time i've used to move my body become nothing i love spending my adulthood wasting away year after year for various reasons baby!

[nerice]

im sorry i can't be a quirky fun disabled person i'm sorry that there's just anger

[dedbuny]

i finished reading the book ive ben goin at for like 8 months ^_^ the cute boy im talking to is a heavy reader n he has been so encouraging !!!! i feel very proud hehe i hope he will be too :3

[louisinart]

Yall I continue to have such complicated feelings about the start of season two

Mainly that it was well articulated, funny, beautiful television that provided a grounded and realistic perspective on life and heartbreak and also that was REALLY INTENSE and I would have liked a WARNING Jesus CHRIST

[omg-spy]

3-4-2023

wanna post a reminder that even tho things are hard rn, you're deserving of love <3 and if I called anyone on here a 'fat fuck' I'm sorry that's the last thing any of ya'll wanna here

[baltears]

*successfully self regulates once* 😳 IM FIXED

[champagnesupernoel]

x fucking years since ive been seeing your face

[totodiletears]

oh thank FUCK

The charging light on my laptop suddenly started constantly blinking when it usually never blinks and it turns out the laptop had decided the battery was not compatible. Battery settings under Lenovo Vantage told me as much. While it was fine using it, since it was still running on remaining battery when not plugged in, it didn't want to charge at all.

But a BIOS update fixed it.

I was SO TERRIFIED

[lilyaceofdiamonds]

Brain can you please get the fuck over being yelled at — no, scolded — in a d&d game. I would like to think about anything else today than this endless loop of Intense Indescribable Emotions thanks.

[our-inspire-verse]

Auugh i am not!! A very nice or healthy person