#gothic tragedy

[namedvesta]

— Euripides, The Bacchae (405 BC).

[vanalex]

Credit: abigail_larson | FB & IG

[morrisonblossom]

sid and nancy

[quirinah]

get shoveled idiot

[frankingsteinery]

all victor hateposts boil down to are "i hate victor because [he displays XYZ mental/physical illness symptom]" or "i hate victor because [he does things or reacts in a certain way because of reasons outside of his control due to his illness]"

[vvitchllng]

Laudna, voice so small and desperate begging for reassurance that Imogen still loves her, that she hasn’t lost this one thing she clings to for warmth (don’t leave me alone in the cold and dark again don’t turn on me please I can’t take it if it’s you) and Imogen reassuring her but unable to stop herself from asking why did she let this happen (we fought so hard for you why are you making me lose you to her Again), Imogen cradling her and Laudna burying her face so neither of them have to look each other in the eye and see if the other is lying to them, ohhhh we’re really in it now

[captain-lonagan]

bbc musketeers has taught me that just as comic relief can be an invaluable tool in certain stories, there's an equally powerful role that does the exact opposite job of the comic relief. the gothic enforcer? the mood killer? i dont know what to call it and i dont care, the whole gang is getting up to Shenanigans but 1/4th of the screen is occupied by a theatre trained actor giving 200% to an extremely depressed character.

[cashmere-caveman]

i love nina beinghuman so much and i wish she was in a better show w a love interest that is less of a clown bc hello. imagine u are a nurse and theres these two weirdos at ur job who everyone low key suspects are banging bc they live together and they applied to their positions together and theres a rumour that they both used to squat in the abandoned hospital wing thats down for renovations together

and one of them is like a grade a sleazy fuckboy whos v pretty and knows it but also his job is literally mopping up puke so ur pretty immune to any and all coolness he exudes bc u have seen this man scrubbing human excrement from the floors but sometimes u both go take a smoke break at the same time and he can be kind of funny when he wants so like even though hes not ur type u Get It u guess

and the other one is well. at first u think he is the one riding the coattails of his hot friend bc he is absolutely hopeless and has negative charisma somehow despite looking kind of cute and being a bumbling hopeless fool but he constantly puts his foot in his mouth and seems like kind of an ass, actually? but then u get to know him better and turns out that no the hot friend is riding His cottails bc clearly this man is employed wayyy under his skill level bc that man is absolutely sharp and intelligent and yet he is a fucking hospital porter for reasons ur not sure u want to really know, actually, but also like? that man's ass? 👀 awooga

so when the hot guy hits on u on ur next shared smokebreak on the awkward guy's behalf and sets u up for a date ur like okay. maybe i will give that man a chance maybe i was hasty in my judgements and he IS cute so like what have i got to lose here

and then u and the awkward guy get together but also the Vibes u get from him and his bestie never really stop but he says its not like that and he loves u and he knows u and he still! he still wants u after having seen u, all the parts of u that u are scared to share so this is good! this could be something really good for once in ur life u get to have this one good thing and its this man and you are happy

and then all of that somehow leads to ur sweet and clumsy boyfriend transforming into a fucking monster right in front of ur eyes and killing a man by Ripping Him To Shreds like thats a thing people do that he could do the whole time and then he infects u and ur life is over it is fucking over and except maybe its not? but yeah no these new people dont want to help u they just want to kill you and the secret third flatmate ur ex boyfriend and hot guy who apparently is a reformed mass murderer had is even deader than before and stuck in hell and its ur fault

and u try to fix it and then theres more people dead and everything sucks and ur hiding and you have to leave everything and everyone u knew behind to start a new life in wales but at least u get the roommate back and u and ur boyfriend are back together and ur pregnant! and maybe now finally u get to be a happy family for real!

but u still live w the roommates who are now also in love ? you think? she is in love in any case but ur not entirely sure abt the guy bc he has been off ever since the move and theres awful stuff on the news about this massacre and it starts to feel Not Good and he is getting erratic and also the guy ur boyfriend killed a while ago somehow got resurrected but lost his mind in the process so as a good person u decided to keep him in ur attic and treat him like ur weird uncle bc u feel responsible for this, somehow and then things start adding up and ur suspicions become more and more firm until u are sure that ur boyfriends pet ex mass murderer is in fact a pet CURRENT mass murderer and your boyfriend KNEW and he did absolutely NOTHING but at least that man is gone now. so many people are dead but at least hes gone

and then one evening it knocks on the door and hes back. hot guy is back and he is here bc he regrets everything and wants to die and u agree he Should die he is a horrible person he broke ur flamate/friends heart and made ur boyfriend complicit in one of the most horrendous crimes in recent history and also he just fucking sucks bc without him none of this would have ever happened and then he asks ur boyfriend to stab him bc he doesnt want to commit suicide by himself like the spineless creature he is and ur boyfriend agrees and u start to wonder if maybe those coworkers at the hospital years ago who spread the rumour that these two were in love were right all along and that ur boyfriend was never just ur boyfriend alone

[louisianna]

I could write an entire essay (and perhaps one day I will) on how 'Furiosa' is Gothic fiction, a Gothic romance in particular, but I just need to talk about one key aspect of the relationship between Furiosa and Jack for a minute. A lot of discussion surrounding them has been about the nature of their relationship. Most people seem to love the ambiguity, myself included, and I think looking at it through a Gothic romance lens can help us understand why it works so well.

Most Gothic romances feature a heroine who is trapped inside a literal and/or figurative domestic space by a domineering man, typically a father or husband. Poor Furiosa gets both. Dementus imprisons her in the role of daughter. Immortan Joe imprisons her in the role of wife. These are restrictive domestic roles which have been forced upon her and which she cannot freely walk away from. Gothic romance is at its best when it is exposing and critiquing the cruelty of a patriarchal society and the unfair limitations it places upon women.

Furiosa evades attention by disguising herself as a boy. When Jack realises she is actually a woman, and that she is determined to leave the Wasteland, he immediately offers to help her get to wherever she needs to go. No questions asked. And what does Jack expect in return? Absolutely nothing. The trope of a good man, with experience, skill, and social standing, selflessly assisting the heroine, is quite common in Gothic romance.

Jack's words to Furiosa are never paternalistic. They speak to one another as equals. Dementus wanted to shape Furiosa in his own image, but Jack only wants to pass on what he knows. He doesn't want her to stay his protégé or sidekick. He wants her to be able to take care of herself. Until she asks him to come with her, he has every intention of letting her go her own way, leaving him behind.

Jack never comments on Furiosa's appearance. They dress as equals. Immortan Joe put Furiosa in delicate fabrics and planned to use her body for his own selfish desires, but Jack only ever touches Furiosa for her own sake. He doesn't want to possess her. He wants to protect her. He cleans and stitches up her wounds. He will place a comforting hand on her shoulder, only for as long as it takes for her to relax beneath his touch.

It's important to remember that this is a thematic tale being told to us by a History Man, a framing device which is extremely befitting of the Gothic genre. Within this legend, Jack and Furiosa's disregard for clearly defined domestic roles draws a stark contrast to the priorities of Dementus and Immortan Joe. It serves to highlight that their dynamic is free from patriarchal dominance. Whether their relationship is sexual or platonic, romantic or familial, is irrelevent. What matters is that their relationship is based upon genuine concern, deep respect, and unwavering trust. This is the lesson of their story, and it is a lesson for all to the hear. Jack does not merely represent a good father or a good husband or a good mentor. He represents it all. His character is fluid and multi-dimensional. His relationship with Furiosa is ever-shifting and all-encompassing. This allows him to be a role model to all men. But I digress from talking about Gothic fiction!

True domestic happiness for the Gothic romance heroine is only possible once she finds a companion who treats her as a peer; a social equal who gives her the freedom to choose and define the role she wishes to have in his life. It also requires finding or creating a refuge in which the heroine is safe from male power and violence. Furiosa found a more than worthy partner in Jack. Unfortunately, they didn't succeed in reaching freedom together.

Perhaps, in a less Gothic setting than the Wasteland, putting a name to what they were wouldn't have mattered so much. As it was, "my Jack" and "my Fury" was enough.

[rapha-reads]

IWTV rewatch

Season 1 episode 2 [... After the Phantoms of Your Former Self] - part 2/3

- [Daniel] "White master, Black student, but equal in the quiet dark" - *spits out the water I just drunk* DANIEL MOLLOY THE QUEEN THAT YOU ARE. And Louis immediately answering the provocation with a slam down of his own. I am so here for the Louis/Daniel bromance, the way they can just spend hours snarking at each other. Saltmates, if you will.

Louis is such a Bitch, the way he decides to eat that fox in front of Daniel to remind him that "vampires are killers", and the way he lets the blood drip, when canonically vampires never waste any blood (at least in the book, that's one of the thing Lestat repeats often, a vampire's feeding is clean, no trace of blood left anywhere, but in a visual media about vampires, of course it looks better to have the blood dripping on the chin after, sometimes you gotta privilege aesthetic over function).

[Louis] "Vampires are killers, apex predators whose all-seeing eyes were meant to give them detachment, the ability to see a human life in its entirety, not with any mawkish sorrow, but with the thrilling satisfaction of being the end of that life and having a hand in the divine plan."

Yeaaah, like Daniel says, "don't expect every reader to swallow that one". Because for one thing, you don't even fully believe it, Louis, you who's about to spend several years starving yourself feeding only on rats and cats, you who just had a fox for supper instead of going hunting, you who hates feeding on humans and doesn't let even your fellow vampires witness you feeding (book canon), you who also goes during the 20th century from crisis of faith to fully atheist and uncaring about religion... Pretty words. Empty words. I'm not buying it.

"Mawkish": lacking flavor or having an unpleasant taste / exaggeratedly or childishly emotional (Merriam-Webster). Well I didn't know that word. Collins Dictionary tells me that the best translation to French would be "mièvre", and now I am loving this even more. "Mièvre" is not a very used word in French, which is a shame because it's a very pretty and very evocative word, and "mawkish" definitely gives me the same impression. Yey, I learned something new today! New word to incorporate to my vocabulary.

- I swear I'm not trying to comment every single minute of this episode, but every single minute brings something interesting. I have to stop on Louis and Lestat's conversation about languages and killing being its own language, as a multilingual person myself (I could spend hours talking linguistics, sorry not sorry):

[Lestat] "'When I first started learning English, I abhorred it. Every word felt like a doorknob falling out of my mouth. Chapeau is a hat, étoile was a star...' [Louis] 'Killin' folks ain't a second language!' [Lestat] 'But when I started dreaming in English, that's when I embraced it. And now, I have English consonants to thank for this astonishing jawline.' [Louis] 'These are nightmares I'm having, Lestat, not dreams.'"

Firstly, yeah, Lestat's right, "hat" is weird. It's chapeau in French, cappello in Italian, kapela in Greek, even quba'a in Arabic, and Arabic is not even an Indo-European language... The heck does hat come from? *resists the urge to go linguistic deep dive* Secondly, yeah, he's right, he does have an amazing jawline - taking this opportunity to bring attention to the scar on the corner of his mouth, book readers know what's up. Where was I? Ah, yeah. No, Lestat's right about a foreign language sounding weird in your mouth until you start to understand its spirit instead of only its letter - words falling out of your mind versus dreaming in that language. Been talking English for long enough that I do dream in English, and been multilingual all my life so I adapt to languages fast enough, but it's still a struggle. I'm fluent in Spanish now, but I don't dream in Spanish yet, and I sometimes feel like the word sounds wrong when it actually sounds like it should.

What it means in regard to Louis is that he's a slow learner. Gotta sound the kill one by one, taking your time, before you get to be a consummate killer. Can't learn a language in a night. Can't learn a language if you don't practice. Can't get used to killing if you don't kill, and can't survive if you don't kill, and vicious circle, doesn't kill>doesn't survive>doesn't practice>doesn't learn>doesn't survive>doesn't kill... Extremely interesting to see that Lestat IS actually teaching Louis about vampire ways, but Louis is not ready to listen yet, or, to continue the metaphor, they're not speaking the same language and they haven't learned to understand each other's language (not talking about accents obviously, but once again taking the opportunity to praise both Sam and Jacob's vocal work, between Sam's French accented drawling English and Jacob's Creole slang in NOLA and flat "standard" English in Dubai, it's a feast for the ears).

Okay, while Lestat's teaching Louis how to read minds (the Mind Gift, that book!Louis actually doesn't get in the books until very, very late on, and isn't good at, and doesn't show), wanna just say: look how giddy they are! Look how soft they are with each other! Look how fondly Louis speaks to Lestat, how fondly Lestat looks at Louis! We forget, and Louis too, but in between the misunderstandings and the drama and the anguish, they DID love each other, they DID have good times, they DID build a life with each other. It wasn't complete (and no I'm not talking about darling Claudia, I'm talking about speaking the same language), but it was good enough for quite a few years.

Oh man, Louis reading his family's minds, I coulda told him that's a bad idea *points to every literature with a man reader*, but also that passage in Narnia (Dawn Trader) when Lucy spies on her school friends and hear things she didn't want to read and didn't have to know. Don't have time to go search for that passage now, but Aslan tells her something like "some things really do not need be done", or sum' like that.

- Oh, hey, look. More social commentary. That white guy's gonna get eaten if he keeps patronising Louis like that. "You truly are an exceptional Negro" - hey Lou baby, can I kill him please? Lemme kill him for you. "I had let them talk to me like that so long, I had stopped hearing it" - oh, and Louis' accent is slipping here, can you hear it. Really, REALLY love how that change from book canon adds so many layers to Louis' character. Hey, have I said lately that Louis' my favourite? 'Cause Louis is my favourite. "Yes, sir. Of course, sir. Subject, verb, agreement, sir. Smile, nod, yes sir." - AWARDS FOR JACOB, all the awards for Jacob please, and my gods how much do I adore Louis, that sassy, snarky, bitchy queen. I want to have a book club with him.

"But I wasn't a man anymore. I was something else. I had powers now, and decades of rage to process, and it was both random and unfortunate, the man picked that night to dabble in fuckery." - so first, Jacob keeps on flexing his vocal skills by letting Louis slip more and more back to his original accent, and then, YES KING, get his ass, DRAIN HIM. And in a more meta way, all hails liberation movements and the process of reclaiming one's identity. Maybe not through murder, we all ain't lucky enough to be vampires, but yeah, rage is a good tool actually. Rage can lead to enormous movements that change the fabric of society for the better. Never underestimate the power of repressed rage finally expressing itself when it's yielded by clever, resourceful, empathic beings. Sorry, that was the "segregated Southern States social commentary as a mirror for 21st century's current liberation movements social commentary" minute, back to the vampires.

[Lestat] "You are a library of confusion" - first of all, Sam's delivery, with the hand gestures and the head shake, MAGNIFICENT, but also, it's Lestat starting to realize that maaaaaaybe he bit more than he can chew. Maaaaaybe.

[Louis] "'There's some things you don't get about America, Lestat.' [Lestat] 'Yes, let's have this conversation again.' [Louis] 'Colored; white. Creole; French. Queer; half-queer, mostly queer, what is it?' [Lestat] 'Non-discriminating.' [Louis] 'Complicated situation we got here is what I'm saying.'"

ICONIC. And also, maaaaan do I love that that's the road RJ and Cie decided to go with, one of the only changes I've been having issues is the time skip (from 1797 to 1910, cf. episode 1 part 1 rewatch). But this little conversation here actually warms me to it! The layers, man, the layers. Also, love that Lestat self-identifies as non-discriminating, that's so totally him about basically everything: skin color and ethnicity, sexuality and gender, species, age... Drama Queen really said "everything goes, eeeeeeverything".

- "How can I say no to you?" - awwww, Lestat is so whipped for Louis.

[Louis] "From 1912 to 1917" - oooh thanks for the time stamps. So it's been two years since he's turned, and it's on for 5 years of stability. The famous "honeymoon era".

[Louis] "I made a mountain of money, enough to retire and be buried like a pharaoh" - uuuuuh *side-eyes cautiously Queen of the Damned* let's not talk about Egyptian monarchy yet, yeah, that'll come to burn us soon enough.

Oops, the baby scene. And Louis realising he can't hold on to his family, that they're about to slip between his fingers like sand... Ow. [Grace] "I'm sure Mama would love to see you" *rapid glance* *giggles* That's siblings for "yeaaaah no, lol, Mama would definitely NOT love to see me, you crazy".

[Louis] "I no longer kill. My last victim was in the year 2000." BUT DID YOU EAT THE BABY, LOUIS. "I sit here a master of my instincts." But did you eat the baby, Louis. Slight aside, but how is this dinner still on going?? WAIT, go back a second: [Daniel] "And you know this how, you guys have a thread on 8chan?" - BENJI MENTION? I sooo want to see Benji's radio. Though if we still follow book events but on show timeline, Armand hasn't met Benji and Sybelle yet, because they're turned a decade after Daniel. Repeating myself, but RJ did say he'd adapt Prince Lestat, and Benji's one of the main players of this book, so I'm sure we'll see him, but it's going to be a while, I think.

- Wait, I need to relisten to that conversation:

[Daniel] "'And what about the others out there? Have they mastered theirs?' [Louis] 'Just the opposite. Most of them are slaves to the blood, exhausted from decades, centuries of hiding, giddy to increase their numbers.' [...] [Daniel] 'Is the pandemic the opening they've been waiting for?' [Louis] 'Pandemic, the unravelling of geopolitical foundations. [...] One of them, a brute in Madagascar, called it 'the great conversion'.'"

Oh, lots to say here. Lots that will spoil the books too. Because hey, y'all know what happens in Queen of the Damned, after Lestat's concert? Yepppp. Pretty sure Rolin Jones just planted the seeds of seasons 3 and 4. And served on a silver platter with delicious 21st century social commentary. I'm having the time of my life.

[Daniel] "'Well most people I know like to play a little ball in the afternoon, or maybe go down to the beach, catching a few rays.' [Louis] 'Yes. What on earth would a meth-addicted son of a coal miner in West Virginia want with eternal life?' [Daniel] 'Did you eat the baby?' [Louis] 'Or the Arab youth whose whole family were wiped from existence...' [Daniel] 'Did you eat the baby?' [Louis] '... by a Western drone? No, I'm sure you're right.'"

SHOTS FIRED. And another Benji mention! And a personal attack. And Louis being his glorious catty self. And Daniel being his glorious one-minded self. We're heading for another "outburst", lmao.

The Damek scene is just so fucking weird, I'm wheezing. Nothing to say here, just: this show is a freaking comedy. Between Louis perfecting the Little Drink but his taste of the night just passing out, and Daniel going "you might have a drinking problem" and then going back to his idea of the night, "the goddamn baby, Louis, did you fucking eat the bloody baby", this is peak humor.

Aaaaaand we need a third part, still 15 minutes to go.

episode 1 | part 1 | part 3 | episode 3 | episode 4 | episode 5 | episode 6 | episode 7

[rotinmycore]

[annariadne]

“I met a lady in the meads,

Full beautiful- a faery’s child,

Her hair was long, her foot was light,

And her eyes were wild.”

- Keats

[immediatebreakfast]

In The Ballad Of Lenore, Lenore is told that she will be taken to her and Wilhelm's marriage bed, once her ride is finished. But her rider is Death, and her marriage bed is her tomb.

In Dracula, Jonathan believes that once his ride is finished and he arrives at the castle, he will strike the deal and be able to go to Mina and marry her. But his rider is Dracula, who is to make him flesh of his flesh, and the castle his mausoleum.

It's incredible how both of their stories share the themes of death, and broken promises in such a way that connects both of their characters to the shared trait of helplessness.

Both Lenore, and Jonathan are tricked into a false sense of safety by the riders who are supposed to be holding, and protecting them for a limited time so they can meet with their loved one. But, instead their riders guide them to their graves by abusing the trust that they have handed them.

Jonathan holds onto his love for Mina as the wheels of the carriage guides him through darkness and wilderness, and Lenore holds onto her love for Wilhelm as the legs of the horse delivers her to her wedding. Both of them hoping, and hoping that their love is enough to survive the journey.

Yet, their riders are their executioners, and what can only await for them at the end of their journey is death.

[ultimateplaylistmaker]

I really only like oumasai if the endless eldritch itch of understanding and triumphing over ouma drives shuichi into the sea to drown even as Kokichi pulls in and out like the tide, not sure if he wants to drown shuichi, or set him free from this madness. Not fully realizing that even if he tried to let go, shuichi never could, and they are both sinking further down. The chasing of a truth so incomprehensibly endless that it can only bring madness, not clarity.

[crazykuroneko]

I'm not even a Loumand shipper, but some people really need to start to learn that a character can feel love for different people in different ways. Just like, you know, people in real life. Yes, Louis loves and will always love Lestat, but it doesn't mean he doesn't or can't love Armand. It's ridiculous how some people keep twisting the dialogues that make it clear that's the case. Sorry for my French, but it makes you look ridiculous and childish.

And don't get me started with people who say Claudia doesn't love Louis and Lestat just because she (very rightfully) hates them. I can't even anymore, do you, as a human, can only feel one thing for one person?

Ngl, this seriously annoys the fuck out of me, because people keep saying they want complex stories, they want complex characters. Now we have these characters who feel a lot, and you want to simplify that? No wonder IWTV writers has stopped using their Twitter account.

[deathtastegirl]

gothic metal album covers