#Blog filler

[tmnt2k3vnproject]

turtle doodles~

[blackcoffeemania]

Roseate Whisper for this year

[thefuturistiswriting]

This is the elevator to the chiropractor's office.

[sunnimals]

[gaster-fan-47]

[dailyashleighraichu]

"Well Omni, I did it. I saved her."

@asksavel I knew I picked a good favorite character from this blog :)

Dravol's story is such a roller coaster and so brilliantly written. Excellent work, Skins. I'm glad I was here to see the end of such a wonderful story.

[askmewntwo]

Updated (actual) Joey ref!

His full ref page has been updated here

[discardead]

　···　✧✦✧　···　Royal/Lovecore Usernames

crownedrose. crowse. crownedbf. crownedgf. crwnedprince. cwnedprincess. yrmajesty. yrprince. yrprincess. yourhighnss. yourmajsty. yourhighnss. yourprinces. yourprincss. queenshrt. empressed. princelyove. princesslove. loverincess. loverince. dovelybf. dovelygf. doveprince. doveprincess. dovequeen. doveking. dovempress. dovemperor. lovepilled. lovefilled. adoreprince. adwreprince. adoreprincess. adwreprincess. adwreprinc-ss. adorempress. adoremperor. adwrempress. adwremperor. amourious. amorious. princehrt. princesshrt. empresshrt. emperorhrt. loveletts. loveydoveys. princedoveys. princssdoveys. lovecrowned. lovecrwned. crownedlover. crwnedlover. royalwdding. princerose. princssrose. loveroses. loveduchess. adoruchess. duchesshrt. lovuchess. princelyhearts. princesshearts. princess-hrts. belovedcrown. belovrince. belovrincess.

[mayhemchicken-varneyposting]

Varney the Vampire, Chapter 38: Second Thoughts

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Chillingworth and Jack Pringle are shown into Varney's parlor, where they both demand a private audience with him. Varney tells them that, since they are both here to negotiate duels, they ought to meet with him at the same time so they can hash out the logistics.

Negotiations quickly encounter a snag: Varney has not appointed a second. He explains that this is because he has no friends. Chillingworth is greatly upset by this, and nearly calls off the duel he came to negotiate. Jack Pringle proposes that Admiral Bell serve as Varney's second, an idea which certainly will create no problems. They agree to hold the duel the next morning at 7 AM, in a meadow conveniently positioned halfway between Varney's house and Bannerworth Hall, and Jack Pringle and Chillingworth depart.

As they're leaving Varney's house, Marchdale suddenly appears. He's changed his mind about leaving the area for good, and is instead sticking around on the off chance that the Bannerworths decide they need his help for anything. Chillingworth and Jack explain to him about the duel, and he tries to convince Chillingworth to let him be Henry's second instead, while Chillingworth can preside over the duel as a doctor. Chillingworth insists they get Henry's permission for this.

Chillingworth, Jack, Marchdale, Henry, and the admiral all meet up at Bannerworth Hall, and explain all the duel logistics they'd worked out. Admiral Bell grumpily agrees to be Varney's second, and Henry agrees to Marchdale's proposition.

The morning of the duel arrives, and everyone proceeds to the meeting spot. After about 20 paragraphs of narrative stalling, Varney appears, looking even more like a Spirit Halloween decoration than usual. He takes Admiral Bell to the side, to give him directions for what to do with him if he is shot.

I struggled to convince myself not to write my commentary for this chapter structured along the Hamilton song The Ten Duel Commandments, and I failed. I'm not going to cram everything under the gimmick but I think it will be a helpful framework for outlining what the hell is going on with all the dueling logistics in this chapter.

Without further ado.

#1: The Challenge (Demands Satisfaction)

The gauntlet, as of this chapter, has already been thrown down. Varney denies being a vampire, so apology is out of the question.

#2: Get A Friend, That's Your Second

Varney has failed Step 2, on account of having no friends to appoint. The musical does not account for this possibility, and it seems to thwart the characters at first. Chillingworth is very uneasy about the idea of Henry facing down a man with no second, and it isn't entirely clear to me why. Something to do with wanting to make sure they meet on equal terms. Much ado is made about fairness and abiding by decorum.

#3: Have Your Seconds Meet Face To Face

With no second on Varney's side, Step 3 has gotten all messed up. Varney initially attempts to negotiate the terms with Jack and Chillingworth directly, but Chillingworth objects to this. Strangely, once Jack has appointed Admiral Bell, who is not present, as Varney's second, Chillingworth then is willing to name a time and place for the duel on the spot.

#4: Get Some Pistols And A Doctor On Site

Marchdale's intervention takes care of this step. The question of paying Chillingworth never comes up, of course--possibly omitted for irrelevance, possibly he's just so nosy that he's willing to work for free for a chance at more juicy gossip.

#5: Duel Before The Sun Is In The Sky

Okay maybe this format is breaking down a little, this is not a point about which there is anything interesting to be said. The location they picked for the duel is a valley, so not exactly "high and dry". At this rate they are never going to get a good grade in dueling, something that is normal to want and possible to achieve.

#6: Leave A Note For Your Next Of Kin

I left it out of my summary, but Henry does spend the rest of the day "writing documents and letters of one kind and another", so he presumably was doing this.

#7: Confess Your Sins

This never comes up. I assume it's in the song to make the lyrics work.

#8: Your Last Chance To Negotiate

I believe this step is the reason Chillingworth wants Varney to have a second so badly? It does seem like there's some customs and ideas surrounding the practice of dueling that are going over my head.

The duel itself has yet to occur, so #9 and #10 are not relevant at this point. I have plenty left to say about this chapter, though, so let's abandon the musical gimmick and buckle down to some more standard commentary.

Jack Pringle makes a "sea bow" as he leaves Varney's house. I have no idea what that means. Let's see...

...No, duckduckgo, I don't think that's what he means by that.

Marchdale's back! This fucking guy. He just barely missed getting appointed as Varney's second, but he's just in time to swap places with Chillingworth, conveniently freeing him up to act as doctor for the duel. Marchdale brings up an important aspect of dueling: the nature of the practice as both honorable and scandalous. He reasons that, being a bachelor with no family attachments, he can easily leave the country following the duel, while Chillingworth's reputation as a surgeon would be ruined if he served as Henry's second. The contradictory nature of duels is fascinating to me. The duel must be conducted as secretly as possible, and the author mentions that Varney would be well within his rights to call upon legal authorities to protect him from having to fight in the duel; and yet, to not fight in a duel appears to be every bit as reputation-ruining as fighting in one. You're either a disreputable rogue or a dishonorable coward, there's no winning.

The characters keep trying to call Jack Pringle by more formal names. "Mr. Pringle" and "Mr. John Pringle" are both used. The latter is much funnier to me than it should be. Mr. John Pringle.

The admiral makes much less fuss about being appointed Varney's second than I would have expected. Jack Pringle sort of backs him into it by his insistence that he knows Admiral Bell will be a good sport, and his reasoning that someone has to do it to keep Varney from wiggling out of the duel. Not to worry, we'll get plenty of fussing later when Varney meets with his second.

The author pads an already long chapter with a LENGTHY rambling reflection on the feelings of everybody gathering at the dueling ground, the possible motivations of Varney for not wanting to duel, the reputation of the Bannerworth family, and the appearance of the scenery in the early morning light. Most of it is not important; however, you should pay attention to this passage:

It has been seen during the progress of our tale, that its action has been tolerably confined to Bannerworth Hall, its adjacent meadows, and the seat of Sir Francis Varney; the only person at any distance, knowing anything of the circumstances, or feeling any interest in them, being Mr. Chillingworth, the surgeon, who, from personal feeling, as well as from professional habit, was not likely to make a family's affairs a subject of gossip. A change, however, was at hand—a change of a most startling and alarming character to Varney—one which he might expect, yet not be well prepared for. This period of serenity was to pass away, and he was to become most alarmingly popular.

In a couple of chapters, we're going to find out what this means. An important character--possibly the second most important character in the book after Varney--is on the verge of being introduced.

Varney is not looking so good. It sounds like he didn't get a very good night's sleep.

Sir Francis Varney, who, to all appearance, had been waiting, emerged from among the trees, rolled up in his dismal-looking cloak, and, if possible, looking longer and thinner than ever he had looked before. His face wore a singular cadaverous looking aspect. His very lips were white and there was a curious, pinkish-looking circle round each of his eyes, that imparted to his whole countenance a most uninviting appearance. He turned his eyes from one to the other of those who were advancing towards him, until he saw the admiral, upon which he gave such a grim and horrible smile, that the old man exclaimed,— "I say, Jack, you lubber, there's a face for a figure head."

He's also behaving rather strangely.

Varney seemed to think, that after the smiling welcome he had given to his second, he had done quite enough; for there he stood, tall, and gaunt, and motionless, if we may except an occasional singular movement of the mouth, and a clap together of his teeth, at times, which was enough to make anybody jump to hear.

I can only assume he's making this noise:

Which, I must admit, is a pretty sick trait to give a vampire.

Next: Violence!

[tmnt2k3vnproject]

Leo doodles~

[blackcoffeemania]

Y'all still trust me based off my kin list???

[bimbosanddolls]

Went to my two-week post-injection appointment today… and left with more filler in my lips 💋

Oopsies 💖😛💅

[slavicd0ll]

me without lip filler is like an angel without it's wings ༊*·˚

[dailyashleighraichu]

pretends i still know how to draw

[askmewntwo]

Trying

[son-of-avraham]

To all the shul-goers: which filler word do you like using the most