#only under the cut

[vickyvicarious]

There lay Lucy, seemingly just as we had seen her the night before her funeral. She was, if possible, more radiantly beautiful than ever; and I could not believe that she was dead. The lips were red, nay redder than before; and on the cheeks was a delicate bloom. "She was bitten by the vampire when she was in a trance, sleep-walking—oh, you start; you do not know that, friend John, but you shall know it all later—and in trance could he best come to take more blood. In trance she died, and in trance she is Un-Dead, too. So it is that she differ from all other. Usually when the Un-Dead sleep at home"—as he spoke he made a comprehensive sweep of his arm to designate what to a vampire was "home"—"their face show what they are, but this so sweet that was when she not Un-Dead she go back to the nothings of the common dead. There is no malign there, see, and so it make hard that I must kill her in her sleep."

Hm... Van Helsing believes that Lucy dying in a trance/sleep is why she looks so beautiful and peaceful in her coffin. Others, he thinks, would look dead and evil. But we actually do have accounts of other vampires 'sleeping', so let's compare.

There, in one of the great boxes, of which there were fifty in all, on a pile of newly dug earth, lay the Count! He was either dead or asleep, I could not say which—for the eyes were open and stony, but without the glassiness of death—and the cheeks had the warmth of life through all their pallor; the lips were as red as ever. But there was no sign of movement, no pulse, no breath, no beating of the heart.

Dracula, 25 June

There lay the Count, but looking as if his youth had been half renewed, for the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron-grey; the cheeks were fuller, and the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath; the mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which trickled from the corners of the mouth and ran over the chin and neck. Even the deep, burning eyes seemed set amongst swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches underneath were bloated. It seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with blood. He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion. [...] There was a mocking smile on the bloated face which seemed to drive me mad.

Dracula, 30 June

These are the descriptions of vampires at rest which Van Helsing has already read. And Dracula certainly presents an evil appearance in this state... but how much of the horror is really him 'showing his nature', and how much is from Jonathan reacting to it? If we look at the first example, Dracula apparently looks like he might be asleep or dead. He has flushed cheeks and red lips. These are actually completely consistent with Lucy's own appearance. The second time around, he's drunk heavily and is bloated, and that is horrifying to look at, but he also looks much healthier and younger. If not for the bloating and messy eating leaving him covered in blood, his appearance would not necessarily be super alarming. Look again at Lucy:

There lay Lucy, seemingly just as we had seen her the night before her funeral. She was, if possible, more radiantly beautiful than ever; and I could not believe that she was dead. The lips were red, nay redder than before; and on the cheeks was a delicate bloom.

Lucy, 27 September

There are two big differences between her and Dracula on the 25th. First, she has her eyes shut. This helps it look more like sleep than death, and tips the scales towards her not seeming dead. Also, she was very recently dying. She looked pale and thin, exhausted and worn when alive; at least some of the beauty emphasized here may well be in contrast to how she's looked in the last few weeks.

But otherwise, Lucy and Dracula both have flushed cheeks, red lips. They both look almost as though they're sleeping, except for the lack of breathing.

It seems to me that Van Helsing's theory about Lucy's appearance being different in death than other vampires is wrong. It's more just the contrast between eyes open/shut, healthy/ill just before, and of course the viewer's bias (Jonathan already hated and feared Dracula, everyone loved Lucy dearly).

Another spoiler comparison below the cut:

She lay in her Vampire sleep, so full of life and voluptuous beauty that I shudder as though I have come to do murder. Ah, I doubt not that in old time, when such things were, many a man who set forth to do such a task as mine, found at the last his heart fail him, and then his nerve. [...] Then I braced myself again to my horrid task, and found by wrenching away tomb-tops one other of the sisters, the other dark one. I dared not pause to look on her as I had on her sister, lest once more I should begin to be enthrall; but I go on searching until, presently, I find in a high great tomb as if made to one much beloved that other fair sister which, like Jonathan I had seen to gather herself out of the atoms of the mist. She was so fair to look on, so radiantly beautiful, so exquisitely voluptuous, that the very instinct of man in me, which calls some of my sex to love and to protect one of hers, made my head whirl with new emotion.

We get a less thorough description of the other vampire women, but it sounds as though they too looked both asleep rather than dead, and very beautiful. We can presume the same reddened cheeks/lips as being likely. Now, there is the caveat that they appear to have been able to exercise their hypnotic powers over Van Helsing even in this state. Perhaps that is increasing the perception of beauty. But he certainly does not seem to have been able to just tell that they're evil vampires by looking. It's only because he already knows the truth that he is able to act.

I think I personally conclude that:

Dracula's just a freak who likes to sleep with his eyes open, while most have their eyes shut

All vampires look beautiful (or at least better) when asleep, especially if they've recently fed

I also believe that the bigger difference between Lucy and the others lies not in appearance but ability. Dracula could paralyze Jonathan with his stare and was able to magically influence the wind to slam the door shut behind him when he fled. The vampire ladies were able to hypnotize Van Helsing more the longer he looked at them. Lucy, meanwhile, couldn't do anything even as Van Helsing was poking at her teeth and opening her eyelids.

You can either put this down to her being different because of her death in sleep/trance (as VH does), or discard that theory entirely and say this was simply due to her being such a young vampire (or, rather, thanks to them being so much older and more experienced). I tend toward the latter, myself. I also tend to think that very young vampires are likely to be a little more feral at the start, and so any weirdness with Lucy is more because she's brand new. But mileage can vary there.

[ink-the-artist]

Rabbits

Some bonus art, I initially started making this in a totally different art style but changed my mind about halfway through lmao, here are the parts I finished

[dunmeshistash]

Dungeon Meshi - Kobolds and Werewolfs

Translations given by a helpful anon .

Observations and TL note under the cut.

TL note by anon: * basal dog breeds: not sure how scientifically sound this is (only did a cursory search to confirm I was using the right term, because normal dictionaries only translate genshu as "purebred" and it didn't make any sense in this context ^^") but they're a number of specific breeds that are not exactly ancient but they did differentiate earlier than most other dog breeds - shiba are among these obviously.

---

A few more observations of my own:

On another version of the kobolds from daydream hour 2 (slightly different from "The complete Daydream Hour") Ryoko Kui Mentions "Jackals, African Wild Dogs or wolves" which I think its interesting.

I don't know much about DnD so I thought it was strange most Kobolds showed up as lizard people when I searched them on google and I learned that Kobolds are popularized as dogs in japan due to D&D first edition describing them as having dog faces. This was the post that first made me aware of that.

[bamsara]

Doodles I've made in art stream for future AU stuff. More major spoilers for TROD AU below

sorry :)

[lemongogo]

i just like his long hair ok 🧎

[front-facing-pokemon]

[autoraton]

same as it never was.

[secretdazedragon]

ask your local vampire lord for ambiance

[vamprisms]

pick the best horror setting

[vyxated]

[CAS BG] Triple Mirror

A little gift for those who want this and this combined. Enjoy!

Info & TOU

Don’t re-upload & claim as yours! Just link back here :)

Since there's this issue with the reflection, you won't be able to recolor the background.

Let me know if there are something I missed!

DOWNLOAD

SimFileShare / Google Drive / Patreon

// CASBG_01 - TripleMirror

Available in 2 versions and only in black/white option.

Keep only one CAS BG replacement in your Mods folder.

Previews taken with the SimpleGlo cas light.

@maxismatchccworld @sssvitlanz @public-ccfinds @alwaysfreecc

[chloesimaginationthings]

(continuation of previous ask) I looked at their blog just now and they actually might be a bot? idk tbh

Thanks to everyone who’s brought this to my attention!

I’m pretty certain @/jyedthrry6 is a bot, they were uploading commonly reposted text posts, until somehow stumbling into lifting from my account. I think the give away to em being a bot is how they’ve reposted not just my comics, but my patreon announcement images, and images I shared on ask replies, so the same cropped images just on its own

My suggestion is just to report them for spam, cause I think it is a legit spam bot who accidentally got wind of my work 🙏🏾

[vickyvicarious]

I feel myself quite wild with excitement. I suppose one ought to pity any thing so hunted as is the Count. That is just it: this Thing is not human—not even beast. To read Dr. Seward's account of poor Lucy's death, and what followed, is enough to dry up the springs of pity in one's heart.

This is an interesting quote. We see here that Mina's initial instinct is excitement. She is eager for the hunt, for revenge. It's only after she admits this eagerness that she kind of checks herself and says, reluctantly, that she supposes one ought to pity anything hunted in this way. It's never anything specific to him in the slightest, and it's more a begrudging bit of guilt for her own bloodthirstiness than it is genuine feeling on his behalf.

But even then, she says probably there should be pity, but she doesn't feel it. At the very least, she doesn't want to. (Really, I think it's more she feels she should want to, but doesn't feel even the desire for pity.) Fresh off learning what happened to her best friend because of Dracula - what he directly did to her - any pity Mina might feel has dried up. She wants him dead. And she wants to be involved in making that happen.

When she steps back later then, we know just how reluctant it is. She went right up through half the meeting fully expecting and eager to be involved in this whole process. She simply read the writing on the wall and didn't want them to exclude her even further if she protested harder, but she hates hanging back to let them do the hunting.

Spoilers below cut:

And later on, when she speaks against Jonathan's fervor in the same direction, it's still not really about Dracula himself:

"Jonathan dear, and you all my true, true friends, I want you to bear something in mind through all this dreadful time. I know that you must fight—that you must destroy even as you destroyed the false Lucy so that the true Lucy might live hereafter; but it is not a work of hate. That poor soul who has wrought all this misery is the saddest case of all. Just think what will be his joy when he, too, is destroyed in his worser part that his better part may have spiritual immortality. You must be pitiful to him, too, though it may not hold your hands from his destruction." [...] "May God give him into my hand just for long enough to destroy that earthly life of him which we are aiming at. If beyond it I could send his soul for ever and ever to burning hell I would do it!" "Oh, hush! oh, hush! in the name of the good God. Don't say such things, Jonathan, my husband; or you will crush me with fear and horror. Just think, my dear—I have been thinking all this long, long day of it—that ... perhaps ... some day ... I, too, may need such pity; and that some other like you—and with equal cause for anger—may deny it to me!

She outright tells him that she's been thinking about this all day. That she is afraid someone would feel the same kind of hate towards her that she felt on Lucy's behalf, that Jonathan feels on her behalf. Mina recognizes that she may need to be killed, and is fully willing to accept that. But the idea that she will be killed and be hated while it happens, that the people who do so might want her to burn in hell, might take joy in her suffering... that's a horrible thought. Even if they have as much right as she and Jonathan do for their own revenge, even if Mina becomes a vampire and causes as much harm as Lucy ever did, or even Dracula himself... she hopes that her death could at least come at the hands of those who love her and wish her well. The real her.

None of these people will ever know the 'real' or at least original Dracula. If Van Helsing is correct about his past, the human was far from being a good person forced against his will into monstrosity the way his victims are. But even so, Mina can't help but want sympathy for the possibility of that soul trapped by a vampire for such a terribly long time. Because she would want it for herself should it ever come to that.

[serpentface]

Cold sores are thought to be best addressed by lancing the sore to remove polluted blood, washing with vinegar, applying a paste of honey + tansy + horsefat. In frequently recurring cases, it's considered best practice to also shave the face to eliminate any lingering traces of infection. This is the most psychologically devastating thing that Brakul has ever experienced in his life.

[zivazivc]

Sorry if this has already been asked before but why did the band break up? And did they break up on decent terms? Do they still talk to each other sometime?

It has been asked before, I just never answered jshfbdjcbh I'm still piecing everything together and stuff is changing or getting tweaked all the time, so I'm always super hesitant about answering these types of questions, afraid that people will take whatever I say as the final answer. So basically what I'm going to answer now will already contradict what I told some people already. And maybe in the future the story might go a little differently too (although I'm pretty satisfied with the current events)

Uhhh, get ready for a long info dump. I didn't expect I'd write this much...

Floyd basically stayed with the band for 8 years (from 14 till 22) and got pretty messed up in the process. The rest of the guys are all quite older than him so I guess I could say they were more responsible, or at least had a better understanding of their own limits (also they grew up in this kind of environment or grew up aware of it, while Floyd was oblivious and naive about all of it) and while they do get drunk and do drugs often, none of them are really dependent on them. They are also pretty good judges of character and know how to avoid trouble. Floyd on the other hand drove in with no breaks and constantly got himself in trouble that the rest (mostly Les) had to drag him out of. He also developed bipolar during this time (in my story Floyd constantly fluctuates between being saturated and being desaturated because of this) and his manic and depressive episodes started getting out of hand after his teenage years. (None of them are aware it's a mental disorder that's making him act so out of character.)

Floyd was becoming miserable because of this and all of his problems pilling up, and started blaming Les for the way he was. Les never argued this which only fueled Floyd to blame him more. In the end he was getting so frustrated and irritable that Floyd constantly tried starting arguments with him, even putting him down and getting aggressive at times because Les gets very unresponsive and closed off during personal conversations (guy is a giant onion of suppressed trauma that Floyd is hellbent on peeling open).

Eventually there was one fight too many, terrible things were said, some objects flew through the air, and Floyd walked out (or Hed kicked him out, I haven't decided yet) with the promise of going home and never seeing them again.

So, yeah, it was very messy and Floyd was the primary asshole, even though he's not really to blame either...

But Floyd didn't make it home (was too scared to sneak through Bergen Town to get to the tree (i don't think i can judge him for that either)) and he just returned to the reckless lifestyle, this time without anyone being there to keep him safe. So if he was messed up before, this is the time period where he got absolutely fucked up. This is also when he got heavily addicted to sour worms. And when he chronically slept around (half the time just to get offered free worms or have somewhere to sleep, other times because he was having manic episodes and was feeling hypersexual). (This is also potentially the period when he had the two eggs with that techno troll, but I'm still thinking if I want that to be canon to the story or not.) During this time he also grew to become very anxious and his self-confidence went to shit when he was being himself.

Then after about three years of that, he bumped into Les at some party. He wanted to dodge him out of shame but Les grabbed his arm and manhandled him outside to talk. Floyd felt like shit about the way they had split up and tried apologizing for all the stuff he had said and done to Les, but Les wasn't having any of that because he wasn't angry at Floyd, he was just worried about him. Les is also insanely empathetic like Floyd, and he knew that Floyd never really meant any of it, and that he was just looking for an outlet when he was hurting. Also he does think he is to blame for the way Floyd ended up.

Les wanted to know why he didn't go home like he had said (because that was the only reason Les had even let him walk out in the first place). A few exchanged words later and Floyd broke down telling him all the awful things he'd done, and Les promised to help him, feeling insanely guilty. Floyd wondered if he was allowed back in the band but Les made it clear that the band wasn't good for him and that he was never taking him back. Instead Les helped him go though rehab. I don't think trolls have those institutions (or at least not many are aware of them or how they work (I'm sorry but I refuse to believe the Trolls world has internet and cellphones, Mountrageons can keep that for themselves lol)), so it was more or less just Les finding Floyd a job and his own place to stay in the middle of bumfuck nowhere where he had no option but to detox, and constantly checking up on him to make sure he was doing okay. During this time they grew pretty close again. Or maybe the better term would be that Les slowly started putting his walls down again.

Hed needed a while to warm up to Floyd again. He's almost as protective of Les as Les is of him, and he resented Floyd for the way he had treated him.

Flea is pretty phlegmatic when it comes to any sort of arguing or drama. He was casual about seeing Floyd again, they were never super close anyway.

And Liv, she left the band when she and Hed broke up (haven't decided if that happened before or after Floyd left), so Floyd didn't get to see her again after bumping into Les at the party. And I haven't thought yet if they'd ever meet again somewhere later in life. But if they did, I think they'd both be happy to see each other.

Anyway...

Floyd managed to detox and successfully kept the job for about a year, but then he became manic again and messed it all up. After that he returned to his nomadic lifestyle, but he never fell as hard as those three years again. In my story Floyd's life is a constant cycle of getting his life together and fucking it up and booking to the next place. And he and Les are trapped in a never-ending cat and mouse game where they're both trying to fix each other.

So, uh, Les and Floyd are still very close and see each other somewhat often...

(sometimes monthly, sometimes yearly)

Yeah...

I am so fucking obsessed with them I'm gonna hurl. Please take this song before I combust:

[sysig]

For Requestober, Req.1

Scri dressed as an angel, Edgar dressed as a demon. It would be fun to see the roles swaped regarding costumes!

Day 3 - Angel and Devil('s Advocate)

[whaliiwatching]

memes in defiance of valentine’s day

(blood & artistic nudity under readmore)