#dracula a love history

[somin-yin]

Top 5 most popular RC stories (new ranking)

KCD is in the first place again like in the previous ranking as it deserves because it's one of the best story regardless ❤️😂 Arcanum is in 2nd place, well-deserved too. I don't think DLS deserves that 3rd spot but alas. HS still being one of the most iconic stories even after ending and FINALLY Theodora makes it to a top 5, as it should ❤️

Edit: I found an explanation as to why DLS is in the top 3 and it makes a lot of sense: "Because Dracula is amongst the recommended stories when new users download RC, same thing with HS so new users read those stories first."

[anyataylorjoys]

VAN HELSING —2004, written by Stephen Sommers

[noctilionoidea]

Yeehaw it’s my favourite western character Texas man from British vampire gothic horror by famous Irish guy

[supermauswithagun]

What did Jonathan Harker see in Budapest? pt. 2

Our dear friend Jonathan returned to Budapest! Except that he is not in the condition for more sightseeing. :( This time he will only see, as follows:

an ambulance. (No victorian era gentlemen were harmed while taking this photo. This is just a demonstration where doctors of the first ambulance company of Budapest were showing off their newest equipment at the 1896 Millennium Exhibition.)

The Old Szent János Hospital. Last year I’ve made a post about how the Hospital of St. Joseph and Ste. Mary did not exist, and why I think Jonathan spent his time recovering in the Old Szent János. Basically that was the only hospital in Budapest close to the Buda Hills where nuns were tending male patients. Jonathan asking for money to pay for his hospital stay suggests that he was in the Old Szent János, since this hospital mostly admitted poor and homeless people who could not pay for their treatment. (A new and more modern hospital was under construction, but it was opened a few years after Dracula was published.)

Except that I was wrong. Some people suggested that because of poor Jonathan was rambling about vampires and such things, he could have been taken to a mental hospital, and the Lipótmező Asylum fits Sister Agatha’s description just as well. Lipótmező is also in the Buda Hills, nuns were taking care of the patients, and it resembled a sanatorium more than the Old Szent János. Despite being an asylum, Lipótmező was a state owned hospital under strict medical supervision so there were no random experimenting like our other dear friend Dr. Seward did in Carfax. Anyway, here’s a picture of the Lipótmező as well, you decide which one you prefer for your upcoming fanfics.

And of course the nuns. In case of both the Old Szent János and the Lipótmező, they’ve belonged to the Company of the Daughters of Charity. Here’s one of them with a patient in front of the New Szent János Hospital in 1938.

Sadly I did not found any photos of the interiors of said hospitals, but here we have a picture from the 1896 Millenium Exhibition, showing hospital beds and a doctor’s uniform.

And if we were talking about fanfictions, let me be a little bit overindulgent here. I just love to imagine that after their wedding, when Jonathan starts to feel better, he and Mina try to use their remaining days in Budapest to make some good memories together before [spoiler]. They should really visit the Buda Hills, and have a picnic at the Normafa.

Or, if Jonathan feels up to it, they should walk all the way to the Gloriette at the top of the János Hill.

I just want them to be happy, okay?!

Again, all the pictures are from around 1897, the year when Dracula was published (except the one with the nun).

Sources under the cut: 

1. Ambulance:  Fortepan / Budapest Főváros Levéltára. Levéltári jelzet: HU.BFL.XV.19.d.1.10.250

2. Old Szent János Hospital: postcard published around 1890.

3. Lipótmező Asylum: illustration in Vasárnapi Újság from 1895.

4. Daughters of Charity nun: Fortepan

5. Hospital furniture: Fortepan / Budapest Főváros Levéltára. Levéltári jelzet: HU.BFL.XV.19.d.1.10.180

6. Normafa: Fortepan

7. Gloriette: postcard published around 1900.

[haitianempress]

Dracula a Love Story characters and their historical counterparts

Vlad - Vlad III, also known as Vlad the Impaler and Vlad Dracula (Vlad Țepeș), was a 15th-century ruler of Wallachia, notorious for his brutal punishment methods, particularly impaling his enemies. He defended his realm from the Ottoman Empire and became a national hero in Romania.

Mehmed - Mehmed II, also known as Mehmed the Conqueror (Mehmed bin Murad), was the Ottoman Sultan who famously captured Constantinople in 1453. Historically, Mehmed II clashed with Vlad Dracula during campaigns in Wallachia, adding political depth to their enmity.

Radu - Radu III, also known as Radu the Handsome, was the younger brother of Vlad the Impaler and historically served as a ruler of Wallachia under Ottoman control. His rivalry with Vlad is well-documented, as Radu supported the Ottomans while Vlad opposed them.

Sultan Murad - Murad II was a formidable ruler who expanded Ottoman control in the Balkans and fought against various European coalitions. His campaigns laid the groundwork for the later conquests of his son, Mehmed II.

Gjerg Skanderberg - Gjergj (Gjergj Kastrioti), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanian feudal lord and military commander who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire. Skanderbeg's legacy as a defender of Christian Europe against the Ottomans is similar to how Vlad Dracula is viewed by some in Romania. Both are celebrated as national heroes who fought for independence and freedom in their respective lands.

Erzsebet (Erzsi) - Erzsébet Báthory (Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed), also known as The Blood Countess or Countess Dracula, was a Hungarian noblewoman from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, infamous for allegedly torturing and killing young girls. She is considered one of the most prolific female serial killers in history.

[fabledgalaxies]

I haven’t slept and the monster high brain rot is winning so I’m gonna say it: I don’t like what they did to Kieran in the Pride comic. He needs a different boyfriend too I don’t like Spelldon. Kieran needs someone he can be petty with.

[0rosenstern0]

Okay TIME TO GET IN

[almondcroissantsandink]

♫I love the people and the people love me / So much they restored the English monarchy! ♫

[see-arcane]

my headcanon based on the victorian marriage standards ( experienced older man marries young maiden) is that jonathan was advised by others to not marry so young and go "live his life" and fool around like it's the norm for the men of the era, first. because how else will you know how to treat your wife if you're as young and virginal as her?

but he was too demisexual to listen.

Everyone: Come now, Harker, you're a strapping young man. It's far too soon to settle down. Let alone with a mere childhood crush! Go out, explore the world of women, then come back and find yourself a tender young thing who can mind you and the children in your greybeard years. It's a man's place to wander and take his pick of the fairer sex with experience and care, after all--

Jonathan, has been in love since the day he met Mina, all of his journals for the past decade crammed with 'Mina Harker' and 'Jonathan Murray' in the margins, Lucy has been in cahoots with him for the past year as he plans the proposal date and ring hunts: I didn't catch any of that what

[schlock-luster-video]

Wishing a happy birthday to satirist and comedy film icon Mel Brooks!

[somin-yin]

Top 5 most popular RC stories in the app ❤️

KCD once again in the 1st place, it's been in the 1st place consecutively since some rankings ago ❤️ I'm happy for it because I think it's a very good story but at the same time, I'm not enjoying s3 as much as I enjoyed the previous ones. Partly because the whole family topic is not for me and also because of the forced romance with Amrit, which takes away a lot of the enjoyment. I hope it becomes interesting to me again. Arcanum is in 2nd place, deservedly so, I truly enjoyed the ending despite the things I had heard about it ❤️ Heaven's Secret is still being iconic and still in the top 5 even after ending. I'm very happy DLS is going down in the rankings, 4th place is for sure a lot more fitting than the top 3, just saying 🤷‍♀️ and I'm really happy Theodora is in the top 5 again too ❤️ tho I would put it in 3rd place if it was up to me 😂

[kinemical]

The Hays Code was a set of movie guidelines introduced in 1930 by the jesuit priest Martin Quigley. Some of the rules in these guidelines include:

No lustful kissing, kissing could only be very brief

No nudity was allowed

Queerness wasn't allowed to be depicted on screen

No glorification of crime or drugs

No sympathy for criminals. Nothing was allowed to lower the morality of the viewer, so no sympathy was allowed to be given to crime, evil, or sin

There could be no ridicule of any religion

(i think there were about 36 rules, these are only a few)

Though the Hays Code was introduced in 1930, it wouldn't be heavily forced until 1934, up until 1968. So popular films such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and Jekyll and Hyde (all 1931) are considered "Pre-Code" films.

I made this post specifically because i wanted to talk about betty boop and how the Hays Code affected her character design

This is Betty Boop's design around 1932, before the Hays code was forced upon cartoons, you can see she looks quite young, and her dress is very short, showing her garter

This is Betty Boop around 1935, they made her still look youthful but much more adult-like, and they lengthened her dress to cover her legs and gave her a much higher neckline than before. Overall making her a more modest dressed character.

Betty Boops previous design most likely broke the rules of obscenity, indecent exposure (and possibly depicting sinfulness??).

Here's a timeline of Betty Boop's character design throughout the years that i found interesting.

Correct me on any wrong information, i just really like talking about this stuff🙏🙏🙏

[m1ssnovember]

Beautiful, barbarian bloodline

[supermauswithagun]

What did Jonathan Harker see in Budapest?

Welcome to Budapest, my dear friend Jonathan Harker! :) Reading Dracula again I’ve noticed that while Jonathan was writing about taking “a little walk through the streets” the things he mentions in his diary, the splendid bridges and the traditions of Turkish rule, are quite far from the train station. So I’ve decided to follow him and try to guess what did he actually see.

First thing first, Jonathan’s train most likely had arrived to the Eastern Railway Station, where most of the Vienna trains had arrived and from where all the trains to Klausenburg (Kolozsvár / Cluj Napoca) had departed. 

Then, if Jonathan walked all the way to the Danube, he definitely could see some of “the most western of splendid bridges”, like the Franz Joseph Bridge (today’s Liberty Bridge). Or maybe not. The Franz Joseph Bridge were opened in 1896 so if Jonathan visited Budapest before Dracula was pulished he most likely saw the bridge being constructed, an impressive sight nonetheless.

Or the Chain Bridge (with the Royal Palace on the Castle Hill in the background). It takes almost an hour to walk from the Eastern Station to either of the bridges, so Jonathan did not walk a little, he did walk a lot. And if he wanted to see everything else he wrote about, he had to walk even more!

You see, funny thing is, all “the traditions of Turkish rule” are on the Buda or the west side of the Danube, which means that Jonathan’s beautiful description of leaving the West and entering the East is not correct at all. But if he wandered to the western side of the river, he definitely could see some buildings dating back to the Ottoman era, like the Rudas Baths, an original turkish bathhouse still in use. (Okay, this picture is from the 1960s, but the Rudas Baths still looks like this.)

All he could see on the eastern side of the city was some moorish style architecture from the 19th century, like the Great Synagogue of Pest, which is an extremely beautiful building, but it has nothing to do with the Turks.

All in all, if Jonathan could see all of this and got back to the station in time to catch his train, he is quite the champion of city walking!  Or maybe he just took the tram. All of the photos above (except the one of the Rudas Baths) are from around 1897, the year Dracula was first published.

Sources (because I’m a good dutiful librarian):

Eastern Railway Station:  Fortepan / Budapest Főváros Levéltára. Levéltári jelzet: HU.BFL.XV.19.d.1.08.034

Liberty Bridge:  Fortepan / Budapest Főváros Levéltára. Levéltári jelzet: HU.BFL.XV.19.d.1.08.107

Chain Bridge: Fortepan / Budapest Főváros Levéltára. Levéltári jelzet: HU.BFL.XV.19.d.1.08.078

Rudas Baths: Fortepan / Budapest Főváros Levéltára. Levéltári jelzet: HU_BFL_XV_19_c_11

Great Synagogue:  Fortepan / Budapest Főváros Levéltára. Levéltári jelzet: HU.BFL.XV.19.d.1.07.137

[cthulhubert]

"Scarf/veil worn over the elbows" - like Aqua in Konosuba? Yeah, what is that? Seems tonbe associated with holy/divine characters, so maybe it's referencing some religious art?

In reference to my tags on this post.

They don't always seem to draw her with it, so for a minute I thought you were talking about those detached sleeves, LOL

But yes, exactly!

I actually had a dream, and while it was tangential, one element was an ancient aliens esque theory, that angels/gods were real beings, because of the consistency of this sash/stole/shawl/ribbon thing shown in art across the world.

Unfortunately for the theorists in my dream, we actually know pretty well how it went.

The ancient Romans just really liked showing deities framed by a billowing garment, "Velificatio ... represents 'vigorous movement,' an epiphany, or 'the vault of heaven,' often appearing with celestial, weather, or sea deities."

The etymology is roughly "setting sail", and Pliny the Elder describes a wind god as "Making a sail of her garment."

I sometimes call it a veil because well, the Japanese version is always really diaphanous, but as you can see in the wikipedia article, it's sometimes associated with initiations into mystery religions, where it's related to the veil or shroud Romans would put over their dead, so removing it symbolized rebirth, and (stretching a little here) it billowing around someone showed them as near but aside from death.

It's shown a lot of ways (there's this little known painting called Birth of Venus from the 15th century, check out Zephyrus in it), but, well, here's Neptune from the 3rd century:

Familiar, huh?

Art meets silk road, and a sash becomes really popular in depictions of celestial, flying apsaras:

I think this guy's from 500ce or so.

The cloth itself doesn't really have a name, but in Japan the tennin (lit, heavenly people, analogous to angels) wear hagoromo (feathered rainment) that they sometimes need to fly.

Here's a guy doing a selkie to one. "Marry me or you'll never return to the heavens."

As you can see, a hagoromo (center) includes this exact windy sash, but there's also more to it.

I don't really have a conclusion, but thanks for the ask, prompting me to retrace my path learning about it.

[hooked-on-elvis]

Let's laugh a little bit with our boy, friends.

My favorite is Elvis turning into Dracula onstage while he signs "Little Darling" (8:18). Like... LOL, man! I knew it!