#themes of repression and transgression

[v-thinks-on]

Count Dracula, sequestered away from society for his unconventional lifestyle.

Jonathan Harker, terrified of temptation.

Lucy Westenra, overflowing with the flush of life and love for all her suitors.

Mina Murray Harker, tainted by a single intimate encounter.

R.M. Renfield, seduced and thought mad.

#v thinks #Dracula #queering the classics #themes of repression and transgression #Count Dracula #Jonathan Harker #Lucy Westenra #Mina Murray Harker #RM Renfield #obviously the optimal route is for Mina to be seduced by vampire!Lucy #of course there's no lack of subtext with Lucy's suitors (and Van Helsing) but they have less of a theme of repression and transgression

[endless-ineffabilities]

I will never say that I am in love (18+)

{ alternate title: you are the love of my life }

Aemond Targaryen x f!reader

When the one-eyed prince falls, the realisation comes to him in the scent of flowers. In his nephew's laughter. In his dreams.

themes/warnings : just pure sweetness, our emotionally constipated and repressed Aemond Targaryen, he thinks some *impure* thoughts in this one (how dare he!!!), he does NOT want to even think about falling in love (what a stupid distraction, he is not weak, you all should know) - also, he is DOWN BAD for the reader.

all my other works

a/n : this is the first fic I'm writing completely in the male lead's, in this case Aemond's perspective. Complete train-of-thought type of storytelling. (also, this is not in my scheduled works, the idea came to me after watching the new promo clips for s2... never in a million eons did I ever think I would hear Ewan Mitchell utter the word "cheugy" but oh well) - Enjoy! 🖤

{ I. flowers ▪︎ II. innocence ▪︎ III. dreams }

I.

Aemond decides that he finds pleasure in your scent.

The thought comes to him as he strolls through the halls of the Red Keep. Not a strong one, not a revelation by any means. A mere inkling of something he favours.

It is innocent. It is nothing.

He had spied some flowers peeking from just beneath a window. Roses, peonies, or some other, he did not bother to truly look. He glanced them out of the corner of his eye.

And he thought of you.

You smell something rather akin to those flowers - blooming and enticing and sweet.

A simple observation, rising to him now from his memory.

That is all.

Your scent reminds him of springtime in the gardens. You are pleasant, there is no doubt, but that very sweetness can only be construed as sickly if divulged in for far too long, too often.

Besides, his icy disposition does not really take well to flowers in the spring. They are more like to whittle under his boot, and shrivel from the coldness in his gaze.

You are not for him. No.

Flowers. Sweet things. The gentleness in your voice when you call him 'my prince'. Aemond scoffs at himself as he walks on.

It is no transgression to be distracted. It is a natural thing.

You are a distraction, and Aemond decides to think of you no more.

II.

Aemond comes to Helaena's chambers to visit with his niece and nephews. It is only by coincidence that you are almost always there too.

"Prince Aemond." Your voice resembles a song in greeting him. "Queen Helaena has just left to speak with Lady Alicent, but she should return shortly."

"Hmm." You are not a lady-in-waiting to Helaena, but more of a companion, a friend. Yet you do not mind looking after Jaehaerys, Jaehaera, and Maelor when their mother is indisposed.

This is where Aemond finds you, most mornings. Were it anyone else, he might have sent them away, so that he can spend time alone with the children.

But he lets you stay, because, of course, Helaena would prefer it so. She dotes on you so dearly, Aemond has noticed.

In these instances, he lets you stay only because it is what Helaena would want. Why else?

He settles on an upholstered stool and beckons to the children. They eagerly waddle their way over to their beloved uncle.

You watch the interaction with a smile, as you always do. With your legs curled underneath you, comfortably seated on the floor a few feet in front of him.

Aemond used to pay you no mind, but increasingly it has been nagging at him that you are observing, taking him in.

It is inane to be self-conscious; there is no reason to be. He is the Prince - being perceived has been a constant all his life.

He is the Prince, and you are merely a lady companion.

But when you say things like, "They are very fortunate to have you as their uncle, my prince," it makes him feel a sense of pride. Like it is some accomplishment to be complimented by you.

He knows this. He knows he is a good uncle.

Perhaps it is just that. Vanity.

You pointing it out has nothing to do with anything.

Jaehaerys crosses the many strides it takes for him to reach you again, and he pulls at your hand.

"Come," he giggles.

"Where, sweet boy?"

"Come, come here, come here," he mumbles mostly to himself, grunting when you are unmoving and his three-year old form is unable to magically transport you as he wishes.

"Okay," you laugh once, getting on your feet with your body bent to his level, and you let him pull you to where he wants.

Which is... right next to his dearest uncle Aemond.

"There." Jaehaerys claps his hands in glee, as you curl up on the floor beside Aemond's outstretched legs.

"He has a sense of humour, that one," you grin, looking up at Aemond.

Aemond sees your expression up close and you look okay. Comely. Fine. You are not bad-looking, by any means.

You are the most beautiful lady in the court.

You are fine, just fine.

Aemond would not mind seeing your face everyday; he already sees it every night in his dreams.

And it is just fine.

"Is something the matter, my prince?"

Call him that. Do it again. Or better yet, replace prince with his name. Call him 'my Aemond'.

Aemond desires nothing more than to hear it.

Because... because he is vain. Nothing more than that. It would take a high degree of devotion for someone to utter the words 'my Aemond' to him. And who would not want to be at the end of such idolatry.

Perceive him. Worship him. Consume him.

You already consume him.

Aemond stands abruptly, and you scramble to follow suit.

"Aem... Aemond," you stammer. "I mean, forgive me... my prince, what is wrong?"

Aemond looks down. Your delicate hand is gripping his arm, the sleeve of his tunic doing nothing to mask the heat of your skin.

He is of dragon, he is of fire.

But your touch burns.

The clacking of wooden toy horses ring in the background, the children lost in their imagination.

"Nothing," Aemond clears his throat, and folds his arms behind him so your hand falls. "I am alright. I must go."

The smell of sweetness lingers in his nostrils. Your sweetness. He is growing weak.

He steps away, "I bid you farewell, my lady."

"My prince."

Call him Aemond. Call him by his name, title be damned. By the gods, call him yours.

Aemond nearly rushes out of the chambers, his gait sure and his footsteps heavy.

Tonight, in his dreams, he will finally release his foolish desires and that will be the end of it.

Behind his eyes, he will touch you and taste you and watch you crumble underneath him.

And he will be your Aemond.

That will be the climax of this passing fantasy.

III.*

Aemond has stripped down to his undergarments, supine above the silk sheets of his bed. He runs a hand over his face, and he sees you.

All the better for it, he supposes, that he gets rid of it now before it ruins him further.

It is a memory, from only one moon ago, but he sees it clear as day.

You had let your hair down that day, and it flowed freely, following the gentle breeze. Nestled in what Aemond found out to be your favourite spot in the gardens, needle and thread in your dainty fingers, you tell him that you are embroidering a veil for your dear mother.

You request for him to sit with you, and Aemond obeys.

Pleasantries are exchanged, about the weather, your duties, his training. All the while Aemond watches the contour of your lips, how it stretches back to reveal your smile when he says something that could not be the farthest from amusing, but you find it amusing anyway.

He stares you down questioningly.

You blush then, turning your focus back to your work, "Apologies, but I... I admire the way you speak, my prince. As if every word is deliberate, carefully chosen. You are intelligent, and you care what you say."

"Hmm," he said then, but now...

In his mind, he lets you know just what he wants, "Have you ever been bedded, my lady?"

You look at him in shock, of course you do. Those rosy lips part, and Aemond wonders whether your lips below possess the same shade.

In his grand chambers, Aemond lets his hand drift down, down from the planes of his stomach, to his hardened cock. He licks his lips, and imagines the softness of your own. He strokes the leaking tip with his thumb. The picture continues.

"Do you not ever wonder about the deed?" Aemond asks.

"M-my prince...I do not... I - "

"You must," he sneers. "You must, as I do, and when I do, it is you who floods my very thoughts, and consumes my very being."

"I do not know what to say."

"Say you want to kiss me."

His grip tightens, drawing down and up his cock, covering it with the milky white that has leaked from his tip. He is pained, teeth pressing down on his lower lip. He imagines your hands on him, your dress undone as you watch him come undone.

"We mustn't," you look down in shame. Your legs clench together to keep in the warmth.

"Come here, my sweetness," he leads you to sit atop him, and your work clatters to the ground.

You try to look away, try to hide just how much he is affecting you.

"Kiss me," Aemond pleads.

You comply. He slips his tongue past your lips.

Faster, wetter, he gets harder and it is unbearable. His hands are not enough, he wishes to plunge his aching member right into your soaking folds. Wishes to watch beads of his sweat fall on to you as he pounds you without mercy, his cock squelching deep inside your cunny until it is sore. If only you will ache as he does. Come as he comes.

Aemond lifts you up and the two of you end up stumbling down on the grass. He does not relent. His fingers make quick work of the strings and ribbons holding you together. Your breasts come free and he latches his mouth on one, his tongue swirling against the nipple.

"Oh Aemond!" you moan, and it is a scandal. It is everything unholy. It is every dirty thought nestled in his mind.

Soon he has you bare, your skin practically glowing under daylight. You are perfect, and you are his.

"Take me," you say, practically begging. "I want you to fill me with your cock. Fill me with your seed, my dragon prince. Please."

"My sweetness," Aemond reveals himself to you, undoing his breeches and slipping out of his tunic. How could he resist?

"Do you want me?" he asks.

"Yes."

"Say it."

"I want you, my prince," you affirm, squirming under him, you hips bucking up with desire, hopelessly attempting to rub your cunny against his skin.

"My Aemond," he corrects you. "Say it."

"I want you," you say, "my Aemond."

Aemond rubs his cock faster and faster, the thick green veins in his hand and arms straining angrily under his skin. He feels you, he sees you in his mind so clear. You are his, and he is your Aemond.

He plunges his cock inside you, and you are left mewling and writhing as he quickens his assault.

He groans loudly. The lewd squelching of his cock turning sloppy, hasty, mindless. A few more strokes and he comes all over himself, hot white streaks decorating his torso. His silver hair in disarray on the pillows, like a broken halo. Beads of sweat falling from his temple. His mouth parted as he whispers your name.

He gives himself a few more tugs, emptying out. You would do him so much better. Touch him so well.

In his mind, he still sees it. Fragments of his memory bleeding through his fantasies. He does not know anymore what is real and what is not.

He cleans himself up with warm cloth afterward, feeling shame at his actions.

This is enough. Now he has released you from his being. The desire he holds so closely to his chest must have dissipated along with the lewd act he just committed.

"My Aemond," you whisper from behind him, wrapping your arms around his torso.

Enough. No more of such useless musings.

"I love you, Aemond."

I love you too.

🌸🌸🌸

* In III, reality is fully italicized, and his memories + fantasies are typed as normal.

this was meant to have more sections ( IV to VII )... maybe I'll come around to it eventually.

Let me know what you think of this sort of writing from Aemond's perspective!

#aemond targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen fanfiction #aemond targaryen imagine #aemond targaryen #house of the dragon #hotd #ewan mitchell

[inbarfink]

I mean, the thing that’s really amazing to me about the Rocky Horror Cult Phenomena is how much it fits with the themes of RHS. Like, Rocky Horror becoming The Midnight Movie and gaining this huge culture of callbacks and cosplay around it wasn’t like something anyone planned for or anything like that - it was a super-unexpected and strage and organically-grown thing and it just amazing how well it resonates with the movie itself. So many movies gain Fandoms that are kinda at Odds with What the Movie is Actually, so it’s really incredible that even with the Rocky Horror Fandom being what it is, it’s also so in-sync with the movie it’s based around in a strange way. 

Like, if you actually wanna think seriously about RHS, there are few major lenses of interpetation you can view it through: as a 70′s-style mockery of the 50′s, as a narrative about both the anxiety and thrill that comes with the changing times, as a Garden of Eden allegory starring a weird Reverse-God whose gospel is debauchery... but I think one of the biggest ones for me is how it is obviously a tribute to the experience of watching horror and sci-fi movies late at night - and the way these movies, however silly, can offer a sort of getaway from the restrictive, repressive environment of your everyday life. 

Like that is kinda what “Science Fiction/Double Feature” is literally about?

It’s about how much the speaker wants to watch a late-night screenings of science fiction\horror movies. And the verses are peppered with all of these vaugely sexual innuendos, it’s clear that this is at least part of why the speaker wants to go to the late night double feature picture show. Whatever it’s because sci-fi outfits allow for a bit more fanservice than your Regular Movies (”And Flash Gordon was there/In silver underwear”), or cause the thrills of the monsters can become strangely sexual (”And I really got hot\When I saw Janette Scott\Fight a Triffid that spits poison and kills”) or just for some midnight alone-time in the back row...

And in the stage version that line is usually sung by an Usherette character which kinda makes it like... it puts another layer of reality between the audience and the plot. Like, what is seen on stage isn’t a musical abstraction of Brad and Janet’s misadventure but a musical abstraction of the experience of the Usherette (and the cinema audience played by the Actual Audience) watching a horror movie starring Brad and Janet. In the Picture Show, this is replaced with just like... a lot of intentionally kitchy transitions and editing tricks to constantly remind the audience that This Is a Movie. Because regardless of the medium, Rocky Horror is in some way about the Experience of Watching Movies.

And this also comes up when the Criminologist speculates about the nature of reality - it is actually true that life is an illusion and reality is a figment of the imagination, because he is a fictional character in a movie. And Magenta’s verse in “Time Warp”

Like, I suppose literally in-universe she’s talking about her hobby of spying up on people in the castle (like she did to Janet and Rocky in ‘Touch-A-Touch-A-Touch-A-Touch Me’) but like... this is also about being The Audience? Like, the Audience watching the movie are the one who are sitting invisible in ‘another dimension’ and see everything that’s going on... and are being freed by fantasy. (and also it’s important to note that Magenta and the Usherette generally share an actress on stage, and in the Picture Show, share lips but not a voice).

I think you can very easily read Rocky Horror as being About how yeah these old horror movies are cheesy and stupid but they’re also, like, a place of escape from mainstream conservative culture, where you can allow yourself to celeberate the weird and transgressive. Even if it’s kinda bittersweet under the conditions that this transgressiveness always has to come from Monsters and Aliens, and that it was to always Obviously Be Bad, and it must be Defeated and Destroyed at the end - as both the protagonists and the audience must return to the daytime world of normalcy.

Even with Magenta kinda being the Usherette, I think the comperison between Brad and Janet and the Audience is a bit more important. They’re the one who transition from the everyday daylight world of social norms into the late-night world of transgression and release that is Frank’s Fantastic FuckCastle. I mean, that’s why they have so little agency in the plot, they are mostly just sitting back and watching the events unfold. That’s also why Brad seems to have adapted the “Dr. Frank N. Furter did nothing wrong” position by the movie’s climax (”What’s his crime?”). It’s kinda like he’s not really viewing him as a real life person within his own reality, but like a fictional villain. Which is also how Frank views himself - as we can see at the end of “I’m Going Home”. From an in-universe perspective, it seems like a delusion. but from our perspective he is 100% correct. There IS an audience of people watching that entire show unfurl and cheering for him. 

Basically yes I am saying Frank N. Furter is himself’s, Brand and Janet’s Problematic Fave

And then when Frank dies and the Servant Duo beams back to their home planet, it’s explictly not a triumphant moment. It’s not a moment of heroism or any sort of moral victory for normalcy over transgressivism. Like, Frank and Riff-Raff share a lot of the same rotten personality flaws - it’s just that Frank is confident and flamboyant about them while Riff-Raff is resentful and self-loathing. That’s part of why Columbia and Rocky had to die, to drive home the fact that Riff-Raff isn’t doing any of this out of concern for Frank’s victims or even really to go home. It’s purely about his own personal beef. And for Brad and Janet, the ending is really melancholy due to the way they have been stranded back in the ‘real world’. All of the strange characters are either dead or gone, the setting itself literally beamed off the planet. They’ve been changed by their experience, but now they’re back in this daylight world that they escaped from. Cause in the end, the Science Fiction Double Feature always ends. 

And you’ve got all of this, and then you look at Rocky Horror The Cultural  Phenomena and it’s like....... it became like the ultimate encapsulation of what it was tributing to begin with. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is THE late-night science fiction/horror movie event. Midnight Screenings carry this movie and this movie is iconic to Midnight Screenings. And it’s this place that allows you an escape from normalcy and a space to be transgressive - through shouting sexual and\or dark jokes along with everyone else in the movie theater and through being a space for experimenting with gender presentation and\or sexually provocative outfits....It really just became the extremely concentrated version of the experience it was trying to convey in the first place.

And the whole Audience Participation and Shadowcast phenomena really works to enchance the movie’s film of nonreality, which is I think Important to it. Like you know, when you’re sitting in a very rowdy movie theatre shouting profanities at the screen while a bunch of friends mimic the actors’ actions with a few cardboard props because they’ve seen the movie so many times they know them by heart - the murder and the cannibalism seems more and more unreal by emphasizing how much it’s Performance. But “Don’t Dream It, Be It” - already an in-universe Performance by the one character who knows there’s an Audience, feels just as real as ever. 

And it just, it FITS SO WELL TOGETHER, it’s amazing none of this was intentional or even predicted. It’s really just beautifully poetic that this fandom happened.

#rocky horror picture show #rocky horror show #rocky horror

[bonefall]

So what is Sparkpelt's relationship with Firestar going to be in BB rewrite since she isn't going to be Firestar but female? I'm assuming she's going to be completely different looking from cannon Sparkpelt too.

[ID: Better Bones AU's version of Sparkpelt. She is an auburn tigerclone with jagged stripes, a cream beard and mane, and raptor claws.]

BB!Sparkpelt is so different it'll make your head spin. GoodBYE Fireclone Sparkpelt, HELLO Tigerclone Sparkpelt

Also I decided that the KEY Tigerkin Family Trait is going to be raptor claws. A large index claw, and pointed talons on the back toe. They also tend to be large, tiger-themed, and have 'beards.' It's sometimes remarked that they bear a similarity to Thunderstar!

BIGGEST CHANGE, which I think is pretty well known by now, is that Sparkpelt is NOT Squirrelflight's child. Her mom was Jessy, from a brief relationship that ended in a brutal cat divorce. Squilf remains infertile, she cannot have children.

Instead, they are Mentor and Apprentice. Just as close as a parent and child.

Below the cut: Sparkpelt in,

Bramblestar's Thorns

Squirrelflight's Horror

BB!TBC and ASC setup

Bramblestar's Thorns: The AVoS-era replacement for the loss of Alderheart as a POV in that arc. Sparkpelt gets a POV alongside her brother covering her early life.

Her mother Jessy is a genius inventor. She joined during the SE, ThunderClan's Tempest, along with Fernsong and Stormcloud. Her name was briefly Sweetbright.

She had a massive fight with Brambleclaw shortly after having their children, which escalated and she wasn't willing to stay if he was going to treat her like that.

Alder was taken back to twolegplace. Bramblestar kept Sparkkit.

Spark loves her dad but...

He is an emotionally abusive person. Your relationship with a person like that is always unstable.

"He's not always like this." She wants him to be better, she blames herself for upsetting him, she loves him, he makes her feel like dirt, she doesn't want to be near him, she feels bad enforcing boundaries...

To give Bramblestar credit where it's due, however, he taught her very well about their family legacy. From Tigerstar all the way back to Oakstar, that they have a long line of pride and ambition.

Firestar, in these stories, was presented as someone who saved them from disgrace. By opposing Tigerstar and giving Brambleclaw power, he was a hero to them as well.

She's named after him, too. Firestar was Bramblestar's beloved mentor.

This pressure of legacy was something shared by her childhood best friend, Hollykit, child of Fallenleaf and Cinderheart.

Spark had her issues growing up, and resented Jessy massively for leaving her and taking her brother. When Alder came back because of his visions, she turned a lot of frustration onto him

Him coming back felt like she suddenly couldn't be so angry at Jessy. She had to be nice about the person who ripped her brother away, broke their family, and even turned Alder against her with how he defends her

It's not accurate or justified, but that's how this emotionally repressed teenager expresses complicated emotions.

In a moment of clarity, Bramblestar personally chose Squirrelflight as Sparkpaw's mentor. He knew that she would be the person his daughter needed, someone who would teach her to stand up for herself, and to do the right thing.

...But unfortunately most of the time Bramble does not have that level of insight. He rues this decision constantly, convinced that Squilf is intentionally turning his daughter against him.

Squirrelflight's Horror: The replacement for Squilf's Hope

This book is about Squirrelflight reconsidering her relationship with Bramble, when the Sister Situation happens. Ultimately it ends in Squilf going on trial in StarClan, less because of her 'transgressions' in life and more because of Fire Alone as an ideology being tested.

But this isn't about Squilf this is about Spark.

Similarly to canon, Hollylark suffers a horrible poisoning and passes away as their kittens are born prematurely.

Sparkpelt is shaken badly by this. They were childhood friends, they were expecting a litter, like canon she experiences postpartum depression.

Squilf wins her trial, but desperately decides she needs to get home because her apprentice can't lose a mate and a mentor at the same time.

I don't want to end this SE on the note that Sparkpelt is finally moving on from the death of Hollylark... I don't think she can "get over it" quickly the way canon implies.

In general this part of Spark's life is much more delicate. She needs more time, recovery is slower, there's a lot more pain here. But she is loved and supported through it.

BB!TBC and setup for ASC when it comes

By the time of TBC, she's finally recovering. Her relationship with her kittens has improved.

When the imposter happens, it threatens to destroy everything she had built.

She gets covered in scars from a dog attack, and is eventually exiled.

Finchpaw follows her, making a name for herself as a brave Firekin descendant who opposed a tyrant.

In this arc, a lot of Firekin act as a 'unit,' this family tends to think alike and work closely because of their shared legacy. Squilf, Spark, and Finch are in lockstep as major rebel figures.

Flamepaw is left out of this, because he chose not to follow them.

When Flame eventually rejects his name in ASC, a major contention he has is that "MOM ISN'T EVEN FIREKIN WHY DOES SHE CARE"

The answer is, that rejecting the Firekin side of himself is like killing the part of him that is Hollylark, and rejecting a family she feels accepted into and part of.

THAT SAID; I do not rewrite arcs until they are done. Details of ASC are sparse and only fragments. I need to know its conclusion before working backwards to make that conclusion stronger.

And that's BB!Sparkpelt! Very different from canon, but I love the gal.

#Better bones AU #BB!Sparkpelt

[roselightfairy]

End of Year Fic Recs!

Recommend up to 5 series or multi-chapter fics from 2023 that everyone should read (multi-year WIPs count, if the last update was in 2023).

Recommend up to 5 single chapter fics/one-shots (long or short) from 2023 that everyone should read.

Recommend up to 5 fics NOT from 2023 that everyone should read (oldies but goodies).

Recommend up to 5 of your own fics (completed or WIP) from 2023 that everyone should read.

(Thank you, @tathrin, for the tag!)

I think the fandoms here will be kind of all over the place, because I've been in three different places this year (though one of them for the majority of it, sorry about it!). I'm also really having to go through my history - being in rapid consumption mode makes one forget things here and there! Also this turned INCREDIBLY long, so putting it under a cut.

5 series or multi-chapter fics from 2023:

all that it touches to wonder by cynassa (LOTR, Legolas/Gimli) - I've been seeing this fic around for some time and finally got into the right LOTR headspace for it yesterday and it is absolutely WONDERFUL. Politics, pining, cultural exploration, letters, gifts, public spectacle . . . mmm. The kind of fic that's so good it makes me mad.

Mine to Bear by pen_ultimate (Dungeons & Daddies, Henry/Darryl (and others) - a fic that takes the cringe of early-season Darryl and leans SO HARD INTO IT that it is sometimes painful to read but so so so worth it. A no-Forgotten-Realms AU in which Darryl's desire to understand Grant's sexuality leads him to (painfully, reluctantly) explore his own. Unstoppable force (Darryl's repressed urges) meets immovable object (his own stubborn refusal to deal with them). Also this Henry portrayal (and interpretation of his relationship with Mercedes) is amazing.

Catharsis (series) by Diotima_Philosopher (Star Wars, Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan) - This series hits a very specific urge I used to look for in Legolas/Gimli fic but never quite found, and I suppose it makes sense that I'd find it here - in a relationship that is textually (or non-textually) transgressive, a story that takes it to the absolute limit of that transgression. Sometimes you want to rationalize away the taboo elements of your pairings; sometimes you want to create a situation to avoid them entirely; other times you want to push them to the limit: the notion that the relationship in question is seen as not only odd but deviant, absolutely revoltingly taboo in its society. And then just - dive into that and explore the complexity of it, the impossible situation the characters in question face, the twisting line between right and wrong. This story does that deliciously.

if you're on a mission, you've got my permission by allowaykirk (Cody/Obi-Wan, but mostly Obi-Wan/EVERYONE) - This story had me in STITCHES. The thing that struck me in watching the movies, but also mostly the Clone Wars, was how much intense chemistry Obi-Wan has with . . . everyone? But mostly with a bunch of the antagonists? This fic takes that to its logical conclusion and says, well, what if Obi-Wan is regularly sent on missions to seduce information out of various people? For the war effort, you know. The Ventress chapter in particular had me HOWLING. (And them, too.)

By a Sleep to Say We End by @katajainen (LOTR, Legolas/Gimli) - this one became multi-chap this year, and somehow even more devastating in the second one! It's frankly unfair that katajainen has the ability to hurt me like this, but also I want her to never stop doing it. Zombie apocalypse, technically, but this one deals with much more intimate interpersonal challenges in the lead-up to it. Warning for suicidal themes, but if you are okay with reading that, this hurts so so good.

Five single-chapter fics from 2023:

offer it a soul by @willowcrowned (Star Wars, Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan) - This fic ruined me. It was one of those stories that's so upsetting yet so good you're thinking about it for days after and making an absolute mess of yourself in the comments section. There is this emptiness that just echoes throughout a story that is so full - of worldbuilding, of repressed emotion, of feeling. I was a raw nerve all the way through. It's not a happy story, but it is an incredible one.

Soon Enough - by LuvEwan (Star Wars, Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan) - This fic was one of those incredible little moments that makes perfect sense within the canon but that you don't necessarily think about happening! What about people who were related to Jedi, who lost family members they never had the chance to know? And how do you deal with being a Jedi, with someone for whom this lifestyle is well known and expected, and yet you also have people you love within the system whom you also will eventually lose? This was such a quiet little moment, breathless with discomfort and pain, and I loved it.

Look Back, My Love, Look Back At Me! by @tathrin (LOTR, Legolas/Gimli) - I'm such a sucker for myth retellings with these two, and this is an Orpheus/Eurydice imagining - with a twist! I gasped at the end. Tathrin is killing it with these two this year and I'm going to have so much to catch up on when I'm back in main LOTR headspace again.

this is what it feels like, now by @thetimesinbetween (Star Wars, Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan) - Just. The most intimate, emotional, incredibly steamy smut. With feelings! And like - one of those things that acknowledges the nature of the teacher-student relationship without pretending it isn't there, but also lets that be part of the appeal rather than a detraction. I. Um. Read it.

Snowbind the Stars by katajainen (LOTR, Legolas/Gimli, Legolas & Gimli) - Love, love, love a queer-ambiguous portrayal of these two, and katajainen's prose is such a dream, as always. The loneliness of homecoming when something you never knew you needed is missing . . . but the promise of finding it again, eventually.

Five fics NOT from 2023:

Okay, this one was hard, because again - I've had a whole fandom's worth of fic to catch up on this year! It was hard to narrow it down to just five, but I'm going with some that really stuck with me:

Desert Bloom by canis_m (Star Wars, Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan) - This fic is everything I could possibly want from a Force Ghost-roommates premise, an absolute gem of a fic that is perfect in every way. Vignettes from Obi-Wan's time in the desert and his training with Qui-Gon to release his own consciousness, in which he has to reveal some of his own feelings that have lived with him all the while. I find it incredibly in-character and plausible and such a gentle, slow unfolding and healing.

Crystallize by torch (Star Wars, Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan, a very little ship implication at the end) - This is such an atmospheric fic, quiet and slow as the remote snowy world on which it takes place. It is also a fic that fully solidified my understanding of Obi-Wan's relationship with the concept of relationships, a very married-to-duty sort of thing which precludes romance as a matter of course. This fic is just a slow meander through various aspects of Jedi life and expectations, the nature of love, and the ways that a master and padawan can learn from and with one another in the most personal ways. And yes, there's a slight turn to shippiness at the end, but only in the mind of one character and not in a way that detracts from the revelations unfolding throughout the story.

A Duel With Fate by psocoptera (Star Wars, Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan) - Speaking of fics that RUIN me. This was my first understanding of what a time loop fic can look like and how it can be absolutely devastating. This story left me feeling off for days, and I mean that as a compliment. Proceed with caution, but also - guh. Do proceed, if you can. I can't even rec it well because of how good it is.

How to Grow Vegetables and Alienate People by Meggory (Star Wars, Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan) - Add me to the list of zillions of people who loved this story, but it caught me in just the right place. I've been feeling the void a lot in the last several months, downtrodden by work and expectations of life, and this fic STARTS with the premise of one character being forced to take a three-month leave of absence from work? And then getting into gardening and connecting to the world and falling in love? The most glorious escapist modern AU I've read in - maybe ever? I made @thevillainsmustache read it, too, even though it's not her ship, and now we both sigh over it regularly at home.

Into a Dozen Pieces by Temve (Star Wars (Master and Apprentice), Qui-Gon/OC, Qui-Gon/Rael) - So many canon authors love to do this thing where they imply a love interest in a character's past. Generally I don't love it, and for all my adoration for Master and Apprentice, I didn't love it there, either - but Temve took those brief mentions and spun them into an absolutely enchanting story of young gentle Qui-Gon falling head over heels for the first time and having his heart broken by the Jedi Code - but healed, at least a little, by the others within the Jedi who are there for him. Highly, highly recommend.

HA PSYCH I'm doing an unauthorized sixth! A Thing of Flesh and Shadow by MlleMusketeer (Star Wars, Qui-Gon-centric with some background relationships) - This fic is only barely not 2023, so I dunno if it counts as an "oldie," but I think everyone should read it! It's an amazing Qui-Gon AU, in which Dooku resurrects him during the Clone Wars and tries to manipulate and abuse him into becoming his new apprentice, all while Qui-Gon slowly realizes what's going on and struggles to escape. It's got gorgeous philosophy, incredibly well-written emotional and physical hurt, and I just love every second I spend in this Qui-Gon's head. I'm praying there will be more, eventually, but even if there isn't, the fic is a wonderful standalone.

And now . . . 5 of my own fics from 2023:

Only Through Surrender (Star Wars, Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan): Qui-Gon lives, and the whole timeline changes.

Lessons in Intimacy (Star Wars, Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan/OC): Exploration of Obi-Wan coming into his sexuality, and what romance and sexuality might look like in a Jedi context.

Driven to Do (Star Wars, Anakin & Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan/OC): More sexually liberated Obi-Wan and scandalized (legally married) Anakin.

Anchor (Star Wars/Clone Wars, Ahsoka/Rex): The follow up to the absolutely devastating Clone Wars finale.

The Unassisted Physical Training and Self-Defense Circle (Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan): The one in which Qui-Gon's participation in an illicit padawan fight club leaves him with a lasting physical reminder.

This was so much fun! (It also took me more than an hour to do, but I enjoyed every minute of it.) Tagging @katajainen, @deheerkonijn, @unnamedelement, and anyone else who wants to do this!

#my fic recs #my fic #star wars #lotr #legolas x gimli #qui-gon x obi-wan #dungeons and daddies #henry x darryl

[imsorryimlate]

On and off, I’ve been lurking in the main tag rather than the weekly one, because this book has truly inserted itself into my brain. And a while ago I saw something which made me Think™, and now I’ve finally gathered my thoughts enough to share them (and I was also stuck on a train for three hours today so I had time to write them down hehe).

The question was regarding how Adam, the creature, was to be understood in relation to Victor, his creator. Or well, what he was supposed to be.

Now, the most common way of talking about Adam that I’ve seen is to call him Victor’s son. The jokes about Victor being an absent father are plentiful (and I think they’re hilarious, but I know many others are tired of them). It’s quite natural that this is the interpretation that would be popular, especially since Adam straight up calls Victor his father. Victor, when he’s starting to build Adam, has a similar idea:

A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve their's.

(Vol. I, chapter 3)

He has a streak of a god complex here, he wants not just one creature but many, and want to be exalted as their creator, and their father. Much to be said, but let’s move on.

So, that’s interpretation number one: the son route. I respect that.

Now, I encountered another popular interpretation, which is that the creation of Adam is an expression of Victor’s (repressed) homosexuality. That’s interpretation number two, and I also respect that.

The second interpretation aligns a bit more with my own reading. I’ve made jokes about it, of course, about Victor being a size-queen and (a bit crass) that he’s building a “corpse sex doll”, as I told my friend.

But beyond that, there is something in the way that Victor decides to build a creature of ideal, exaggerated masculinity. 8ft tall, broad and strong, with a carefully constructed, beautiful face (and apparently with a fully functional penis, since he worries about Adam’s potential offspring). I’ve pondered it as a gender thing – Victor constructing the masculinity that he perceives himself to lack – and as “motherly concerns” for beauty (here), and as an expression of his attraction towards men.

I think both of these interpretations (Adam as son and Adam as an expression of underlying desire) are valid – separately and combined.

It’s the combination of the two that I wanted to examine.

And just for reference, I’ve written about incestuous anxieties in the novel before (here & here + whatever this was) and I’ll try to keep this brief, so I might skip over some stuff I’ve mentioned before.

Obviously, I’m painting with broad strokes here, and recognise that many things which a modern reader might balk at (such as cousin marriage) were quite common – they still are, in certain places, but there are some nuances I will deliberately “pass over” in order to have this post be somewhat coherent.

The Frankenstein family is a very closed unit. Alphonse was a good friend of Caroline’s dad, which isn’t an incestuous relation in itself, but still, there’s an imbalance there (both with regards to age and economic status), and because of the age difference one might assume that Alphonse was an “unofficial uncle” (one doesn’t have to interpret it this way, but to fit with the ~theme~ I’m going there). Therefore, the household is started with/headed by a semi-pseudoincestuous relationship.

Elizabeth and her relationship with the rest of the Frankenstein family is the most transgressive one; she’s a cousin, but raised as a sister, and later on takes the role as stepmother/wife, becoming Alphonse’s companion, while still being expected to marry Victor. She is Victor’s intended romantic partner, despite their relation and her increasingly conflicting role within the family.

Then there are the two “members of the family” who aren’t actually related to them – Justine and Clerval, who could be potential romantic partners for Victor. However, though Justine is mentioned as Victor’s favourite, she’s described as resembling Caroline a lot, which also positions her as a mother substitute. The one least attached is Clerval, but even he is folded into the Frankenstein family, with him, Victor and Elizabeth being like three siblings in Victor’s recollection of his childhood. Besides, Clerval’s father is a close friend of Alphonse’s, and one might understand him to be a similar “unofficial uncle” to Clerval as he was to Caroline. Therefore, even he could be “tainted” by family ties.

So, it’s not strange that Victor would seek a partner outside of the household… except he came from the Incest Family™, which means he decided to create his partner. His ideal partner, perhaps. Isn’t it ironic then, that his created, ideal (sexual) partner would turn around and call him ‘father’?

And that’s the thing: his family is rotting from the inside, and he can’t escape because the rot has spread to him too. And he has spread it on to his “son” – Adam expresses an attraction towards Caroline, his “grandmother”, and asks Victor to create a partner for him, which would make his partner his “sister”.

And when all these thoughts were rolling around in my head, I came across this post about how, in the show Succession, a tragedy always occurs when there’s a wedding, as if the universe is pushing back against another person entering the family. And it made me think that, in this reading, Victor’s doom isn’t just his attempt to play God or his inability to claim his creation as his own – it’s that he’s trying to escape his incestuous family, and he is completely and utterly punished for it. His actual, physical attempt at a partner separate from his family is what’s killing them. Victor’s gravest sin is that he was born into a family that’s devouring itself, and in an almost Oedipus-like tragedy, it was by trying to escape this devouring that Victor doomed them all.

#frankenstein weekly #frankenstein #incest tw #meta #i hope this makes sense hkhkkgkh #my meta

[thefiresofpompeii]

ginger snaps is obviously a ‘girl enraged’ film that focuses on the theme of literal demonisation (i.e. transformation into a folkloric monster) of female adolescence, puberty, emotional outbursts and complex sexual desires, but what goes ignored in my opinion is just how transmasc coded brigitte ‘exclusively goes by B’ ‘autistic weirdgirl fighting to construct themselves a solid identity while overshadowed by a more traditionally feminine, even if subversive in her own right, familial/best friend figure’ fitzgerald is. obviously unintentional, since the film was written in 2000 and, again, the focal point is patently not B, but she undergoes a subtle transformation of her own: to detract from this faux-academic writing style completely, the uncracked egg energy levels are off the charts. if this story was told through a literary format she’d be that amorphous narrator, the unmemorable constantly-present lens through which the reader views the protagonist (anti-villain, in this case), which is, again, for inexplicable reasons transmasculine energy. and when i say inexplicable i genuinely mean ‘based on arbitrary personal associations’. shit that you wouldn’t see me proving arguments with in an essay but works perfectly well for a 5 minute tungle microreview

something about the antidote to lycanthropy literally being named ‘monk’s hood’ i.e. a symbol of chastity and conformity, the antithesis of ginger’s wild and transgressive self-expression through fashion and sexuality after getting infected. will you remain repressed and constricted, locked up in the metaphorical bathroom (closet), do you dare to go feral, or is there a secret third way? a neutral option? a quiet refusal of the inevitable brutality of womanhood: stepping away from the female identity entirely?

the horror staple of the ‘madwoman in the attic’, which ginger embodies while being locked in the bathroom, is traditionally kept contained there by a patriarchal male figure. in this case, her jailor is brigitte. which may seem insignificant, but what is when you’re attempting a trans reading of an already feminist film

#ginger snaps #film #horror #jamie.txt

[byneddiedingo]

Audrey Hepburn, James Garner, and Shirley MacLaine in The Children's Hour (William Wyler, 1961) Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner, Miriam Hopkins, Fay Bainter, Karen Balkin, Veronica Cartwright, Mimi Gibson, Debbie Moldow, Diane Mountford, William Mims, Sally Brophy, Hope Summers. Screenplay: John Michael Hayes, Lillian Hellman, based on a play by Hellman. Cinematography: Franz Planer. Art direction: Fernando Carrere. Film editing: Robert Swink. Music: Alex North. Time has not been kind to Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour, either the play or the second film adaptation. It had been filmed once before, also under the direction of William Wyler, as These Three, in 1936, only two years after it had become a Broadway sensation. At that time, the central accusation that the two schoolmistresses, Karen and Martha, were lesbians had to be changed to a heterosexual moral transgression -- that both were lovers of the same man, Dr. Joe Cardin. Despite this bowdlerization, there are many who think that the earlier movie is the better one, largely because it puts the emphasis on what Hellman said was the play's theme: "the power of a lie." In our contemporary climate, the idea that Karen and Martha might be lovers has much less power to shock, so that to our eyes, the furor that arises from a child's confused and devious accusation seems excessive. But perhaps more to the point is an artistic one: In today's LGBT community the idea that a work of fiction dealing with non-heterosexual relationships has to end in the death of one or more of its supposed transgressors has been labeled a "kill the queers syndrome." Even more recent films such as Boys Don't Cry (Kimberly Peirce, 1999) and Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005), though praised for dealing candidly with transgender characters and gay relationships, have been faulted for too easily resolving their plots by having their central characters murdered by bigots. The Children's Hour falls more blatantly into this trap with Martha's suicide, which seems not to come out of anything integral to the character but instead out of the need for a dramatic conclusion to the play and film. It's a film with good performances, though its actors sometimes have to struggle against their star personae. James Garner was so familiar as a smart aleck on the TV series Maverick that he feels a little miscast as Dr. Cardin, Karen's fiancé, who is unable to convince her that he may indeed have believed in the rumor about her relationship with Martha. Audrey Hepburn, too, carries the aura of winsome romantic comedy heroine into her performance as Karen, but is more successful at overcoming the image. Of the three leads, Shirley MacLaine is the most successful, since she doesn't have to deal with a too-precisely established screen persona, and she brings real depth to Martha's conflicts, including her simmering resentment of Karen's supposed abandonment of their plans in order to marry Joe, and her anguished recognition of her possibly repressed lesbianism. But the real standouts in the cast are the supporting players, Miriam Hopkins (who had played Martha in These Three) as the flibbertigibbet Aunt Lily and Fay Bainter, Oscar-nominated for her role as Amelia Tilford, whose credulity when her niece tells her the lie about Karen and Martha brings about the crisis. Wyler's direction is, as always, precise and professional, and the art direction of Fernando Carrere and the cinematography of Franz Planer make the primary setting, the girls school, follow the film's changes in mood, from innocent to grim.

#The Children's Hour #William Wyler #Audrey Hepburn #James Garner #Shirley MacLaine

[unitedstatesofworld]

Decoding the Psyche: The World Through Sudhir Kakar's Lens 

Introduction

When it comes to understanding the intricate dance between culture and psychology, Sudhir Kakar stands as a towering figure. Renowned for his pioneering work in psychoanalysis within the Indian context, Kakar has seamlessly woven together the threads of Western psychology and Eastern mysticism. His explorations of identity, sexuality, and spirituality have offered profound insights into the human psyche. But who exactly is Sudhir Kakar, and why is his work so significant?

The Man Behind the Insights

Early Life and Academic Pursuits

Sudhir Kakar's journey into the realm of psychoanalysis wasn't straightforward. Born in 1938 in Nainital, India, Kakar initially pursued a degree in mechanical engineering. Yet, it wasn't long before he pivoted towards psychology, a field that would eventually define his career. After obtaining his PhD from the University of Vienna, he trained in psychoanalysis under the guidance of noted analysts, gaining a deep understanding of both Freudian and Jungian theories.

Bridging Cultures

Kakar's unique position as an Indian psychoanalyst allowed him to bridge the gap between Eastern and Western psychological paradigms. He often highlighted how Western theories could not be directly transplanted into the Indian context without considering the cultural nuances. His work offered a fresh perspective, arguing that Indian society's collective and familial nature significantly influenced individual psychology.

Groundbreaking Works and Themes

The Inner World: A Psycho-Analytic Study of Childhood and Society in India

One of Kakar's seminal works, "The Inner World," delves into the psychological development of Indian children. He explores how family dynamics, social hierarchies, and religious beliefs shape the inner lives of Indian individuals. The book sheds light on the complexities of growing up in a culture where communal identity often takes precedence over individualism.

Exploring Sexuality and Gender

Kakar has extensively studied sexuality, a topic often shrouded in taboo in Indian society. In "Intimate Relations: Exploring Indian Sexuality," he navigates the intricate landscape of sexual norms, desires, and transgressions. His candid discussions challenge the traditional reticence surrounding sex, opening up conversations about the psychological implications of sexual repression and liberation.

Spirituality and Psychoanalysis

In works like "Shamans, Mystics, and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and Its Healing Traditions," Kakar examines the intersection of spirituality and mental health. He argues that Indian healing practices, often dismissed by Western medicine, hold significant psychological value. His insights into the role of gurus, shamans, and mystics reveal how spiritual guidance can complement psychological healing.

Impact on Modern Psychology

Redefining Psychoanalysis in India

Sudhir Kakar's contributions have been instrumental in redefining psychoanalysis in India. By incorporating cultural context into his analyses, he has paved the way for a more holistic understanding of mental health. His work encouraged psychologists to consider cultural background as a crucial factor in their practice, promoting a more empathetic approach to therapy.

Influence on Contemporary Thinkers

Kakar's interdisciplinary approach has influenced a generation of scholars and practitioners. His ability to blend psychoanalytic theory with cultural studies has inspired researchers to adopt a more integrated perspective. His works are frequently cited in academic circles, and his theories continue to resonate with those exploring the interplay between culture and psyche.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Who is Sudhir Kakar?

Sudhir Kakar is an Indian psychoanalyst and writer known for his work on the intersection of psychology and culture. He has authored numerous books exploring various aspects of human behavior, particularly within the Indian context.

What are some of Sudhir Kakar's notable works?

Some of Kakar's notable works include "The Inner World," "Intimate Relations," and "Shamans, Mystics, and Doctors." These books explore themes such as childhood development, sexuality, and spirituality.

How has Sudhir Kakar influenced modern psychology?

Kakar has significantly influenced modern psychology by integrating cultural context into psychoanalytic theory. His work encourages a more empathetic and holistic approach to understanding mental health, particularly in non-Western societies.

What makes Sudhir Kakar's approach unique?

Kakar's approach is unique because he combines Western psychoanalytic theory with Eastern cultural insights. This interdisciplinary method allows for a deeper understanding of how cultural factors influence psychological development and behavior.

Sudhir Kakar's Legacy

Cultural Sensitivity in Therapy

One of Kakar's lasting legacies is the emphasis on cultural sensitivity in therapeutic practices. He has shown that effective therapy must consider the client's cultural background, beliefs, and values. This approach fosters a more inclusive and understanding environment for psychological healing.

Expanding the Boundaries of Psychoanalysis

Kakar's work has expanded the boundaries of traditional psychoanalysis, incorporating elements of anthropology, sociology, and religious studies. This multidisciplinary approach has enriched the field, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the human condition.

Continuing the Conversation

Kakar's influence extends beyond his written work. He continues to engage with the academic and therapeutic communities, offering insights and guidance. His ongoing contributions ensure that the dialogue between culture and psychology remains vibrant and evolving.

Conclusion

Sudhir Kakar's work has left an indelible mark on the field of psychology. By bridging the gap between Eastern and Western perspectives, he has offered a richer, more nuanced understanding of the human psyche. His explorations into childhood, sexuality, and spirituality challenge conventional wisdom and open up new avenues for inquiry. As we continue to navigate the complexities of mental health in a globalized world, Kakar's insights remind us of the importance of cultural context in understanding ourselves and others. His legacy will undoubtedly continue to inspire and inform future generations of scholars and practitioners.

#Sudhir Kakar #psychoanalysis #psychology

[independentartistbuzz]

Folk Singer-Songwriter Dan Pallotta Releases “House on the Reservoir,” Ode to Complex Familial Relationships

Dan Pallotta is sharing his first new single since the release of his 2023 sophomore record, Winnebago Dreams. The folk singer-songwriter from Massachusetts has chosen to explore deeply personal and cathartic themes on “House on the Reservoir,” which he describes as being about his own “triangulation between [his] dad and his father.”

The acoustic guitar led track features plaintive harmonica and piano, the production’s bedrock to centre Pallotta’s emotive vocals and moving lyrics which depict a tense and repressed relationship between his father and grandfather. 

“It split me into pieces, and I sold my soul for parts, inside of that house on the reservoir.”

Pallotta explains that “House is on the Reservoir” is about “seeing that you have taken responsibility for pain, transgression, betrayal, regret and anger that never belonged to you and that were never yours to take responsibility for in the first place.”

#Spotify

[fzzr]

Meme Culture, Sex Positivity, and the Enduring Relevance of Ken Ashcorp

Ken Ashcorp is a musician who has been active on YouTube since at least 2010. I first encountered him through the third song on his channel, 20 Percent Cooler. This song is about a lesbian going out clubbing. Specifically, a lesbian pony with a blue coat and rainbow mane and tail named Rainbow Dash. This early song demonstrates a recurring feature of their music I want to explore - it uses whip-smart and punny lyrics to connect a somewhat niche pop culture object with an outlook that treats sexual energy as inherently positive and makes no apology for its queer lens. This thread runs through much of the rest of his discography, which entwines memes and sexuality with no irony whatsoever.

20 Percent Cooler was followed by years of tracks along those lines (by no means exclusively, but this is what I'm focusing on). The next track of special note is Touch Fluffy Tail, about the more-than-porn game Monster Girl Quest. The song traces out the outline of the game, mixing in both the adventure and the adult content. One lyric of note is "motherfucker I'm the straightest shota," which is a cheeky way to acknowledge that particular niche of erotica, without apology for its transgressive nature. The title and chorus reference an event in which the protagonist is overcome with his desire to touch the fluffy tail of a kitsune (leading to a bad end). There isn't even a hint of regret in the choice made - he throws himself into the choice driven by his desire heedless of consequences.

Not long after Touch Fluffy Tail came Absolute Territory, a song about the anime trope of that name. "Absolute territory" refers to the space between the bottom of a skirt and the top of thigh high socks. The song engages deeply with the eroticism of such a character design taken to its extreme, as it brings attention to the small amount of exposed skin. The protagonist of the song is hopelessly entangled in lust, and the girl in question takes full advantage of that power over him. He isn't ashamed of this in any way, he just acknowledges the control she holds over him and lets her take the lead. In the end he recognizes that the push and pull of her teasing is as important to their pleasure as the actual sex.

Several years later he released the song I think most completely realizes this model: We're Shameless. In this one, the protagonist is picked up at a tavern by an sexually aggressive elf. The song traces through the story of a sexual encounter between them and a second elf without pretense — everyone knows what they want and what they're doing. The twist happens when first elf turns out to be a futanari. (We'll ignore the intersex fetishization there.) This is treated not as off-putting but one more thing to embrace in the pleasures of the flesh. Within We're Shameless are the lyrics that I think demonstrate the appeal of Ken Ashcorp in the smallest amount of space. In the prechorus of a song about a fantasy creature threesome that references a specific hentai artist, he references Tolkien followed immediately by a then-contemporary 4chan meme.

And I was bridal carried upstairs / And I was thinking 'bout asking her for three hairs / So here's a little secret to this / Elves are quick to recognize lewdness

Ken Ashcorp's music is still getting new views and comments to this day, not to mention providing mashup fodder (which is what led me to make this post). I see no mystery why this is the case. The music is catchy, the lyrics are fun and provocative, and most of all it is unashamed of what it is. In our sexually repressed, irony-poisoned modern zeitgeist there's something liberating about someone who lays it all out. Sex is good and sexuality is something not just to be accommodated but flaunted. Don't apologize, just be fully yourself.

So, where is Ken Ashcorp now? Still making music, if not as actively as in the past. He recently wrote the title theme for the hentai game "Hey Stranger! I Dare You To Love Me". It's unashamed, earnest, and sex positive, as always.

#sex positivity #music #original post #ken ashcorp

[ifalltopiecessbitch]

Nathaniel Hawthorne's book "The Scarlet Letter" delves into profound aspects of human existence and tackles concepts including guilt and sin. The narrative takes place in Puritan New England during the 1600s, and centers on Hester Prynne as the lead character. She faces public ridicule and displays a scarlet letter "A" on her attire, signifying her affair. The book explores the aftermath of her deeds, along with the mental challenges that the characters encounter.

A key subject presented in "The Scarlet Letter" is the notion of wrongdoing and its effects on humans. In the Puritan society, Hester's act of adultery is viewed as a serious offense, and the scarlet letter serves as a prominent symbol of her behaviour. In the course of the novel, Hawthorne employs the scarlet letter as a strong sign that depicts Hester's act of adultery. It also portrays the repressive and critical character of the public. The Scarlet Letter's presence creates a rift between Hester and the community for reminding them of her transgression.

The novel delves into the theme of guilt. Hester is burdened by the responsibility of her wrongdoing and feels bad for her behaviour. Hawthorne effectively portrays the emotional burden that guilt inflicts on Hester's persona, as she grapples with both her own inner sense and the prejudices of society. Hester's sense of wrongdoing has an impact on her relations, notably with her child Pearl, and shifts her path towards making amends and embracing herself.

In addition, "The Scarlet Letter" explores the intricate nature of moral principles and the double standard prevalent in the Puritan community. Although Hester is shamed for her behaviour, individuals including the highly respected Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, have their own sins and faults in disguise. The conflict that Dimmesdale experiences within himself due to the guilt he carries and the image he upholds as an highly regarded religious leader prompts reflection on the genuine essence of ethics and the repercussions of leading a deceitful life. Hawthorne's criticism of the Puritan society highlights its inflexible moral code and tendency to judge others. He suggests that genuine morality requires the ability for empathy and to comprehend others.

The book also delves into the subjects of discovering oneself and forming one's identity. Hawthorne explores the concept of self-evaluation and individual development by delving into Hester's character. Hester undergoes a remarkable transformation from being a disgraced figure to becoming a determined and self-reliant individual who discovers her inner self amid hardships. The scarlett letter serves as a sign of her capability to surpass conventional norms and establish her individuality.

The author's literary approach in "The Scarlet Letter" is identifided by allegorical elements, intricate symbols, and profound mental insight. By utilizing complex depictions and references, a striking and suggestive ambiance is established, completely drawing us into the oppressive Puritan community. Even today, "The Scarlet Letter" is extensively scrutinized and researched due to its analysis of universal topics and of people. The author'S skillful narrative technique and deep understanding of human nature elevate "The Scarlet Letter" as a major contribution to American literary, continuing to inspire readers of all ages.

According to Sherry E. Adams' article ''Man's Relationship to Nature and Society in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter'', One of the major themes of Nathaniel Hawthorne's book "The Scarlet Letter" concerns the intricate nature of human experience, with a focus on the interplay between people and their surroundings, both natural and social. The novel delves into the tensions that arise between personal space and the expectations placed upon us by the larger community. The book delves into the ways in which people in Puritan New England during the 17th century reconcile their relationship with the environment and fit into a critical social structure. "The Scarlet Letter" delves into the contradictions that surface when personal aspirations collide with norms. Hawthorne illustrates how nature can provide a sanctuary and serve as a representation of liberation, while society is depicted as an oppressive and critical power. The novel explores the conflicts, and results that come from the intricate balance between the dual worlds through figures such as Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl, and Hester.

[rlg102group103]

Ariana N Week 2

Marquis de Sade is central to Foucault's "A Preface to Transgression", so I'd like to analyze one of his works as a transgressional piece of literature. In his book "Justine or The Misfortunes of Virtue", you'd assume the boundaries he is overcoming and analyzing are sexual repression and taboo. However, the book is vile and filled with sexual violence and in no way makes sex out to be a virtuous thing in itself. What is he transgressing then? I believe he is crudely trying to replicate the civilization he believes to be around him. "Dans un siècle entièrement corrompu, le plus sûr est de faire comme les autres." In this way, the novel is presented as a sort of tortured reflection of what he believes everyone else is doing. Before reading his work, I assumed Sade was admired for his themes of sexual liberation but have found myself to be mistaken, gravely so considering how sexist, perverted and violent much of his work is. For Sade, liberation does not exist, only the coercion of perverse, violent men with dangerous, selfish desires. This book and Sade's work more broadly are transgressional because it is set up against the moral, social, and legal limitations/expectations that defined the post-revolution France he was living in.

[creativity-is-rebellion]

Exploring the Genre of Australian Gothic

A while back (like about a year ago) I wrote a piece about my love of the US Southern Gothic genre. Since then, and primarily because I am interested in writing a story in this vein, I have been researching the Australian Gothic genre as well.

At the moment, I have about four story ideas in the works, one which is completed but needs to be edited down, and three others where I have finished at least five chapters each. The most recent to take form will be an Australian Gothic novel.

A quick recap: The term “Gothic” refers to bleak backdrops, unseen terrors, supernatural elements, and the potentially seedy underbelly of small towns, abandoned country roads, persecution, and repressed matter that threatens to return. The plots tend to revolve around themes of anxiety, poverty, uncertainty, danger, desire, taboos, boundaries, and their transgression.

Examples of early Gothic Literature include “The Castle of Otranto” (1764) by Horace Walpole, and the entirety of Ann Radcliffe’s back catalogues. On a more recent note, Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles”, as well as the complete works of Flannery O’Connor, anything by Cormac McCarthy, The “Twilight” franchise, and “The Haunting of Hill House” all feature. 

Initially, the idea of an Australian Gothic aesthetic was unfathomable, given Australia’s lack of European History or ivy-clad ruins. Since that time however, many examples of Australian Gothic have emerged, including Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, George Miller’s Mad Max films, Albert Tucker’s 1956 painting Apocalyptic Horse, Kenneth Cook’s 1961 novel Wake in Fright, as well as Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue’s “Where the Wild Roses Grow?”

These works all belong to an Australian Gothic tradition that took root alongside colonisation. Earlier works gave Australian writers and artists a medium to examine the “dark side” of the Australian experience, including the hostility of the environment, the violence of colonisation, convicts’ experiences of exile and entrapment, settlers’ feelings of alienation, and European fears of the racial Other.

All of these experiences make for a perfect backdrop to the Gothic genre. Especially Queensland, which is sometimes known as the “Deep North,” due to it’s traditionally politically conservative leanings, crocodiles in the canals, and the pervasively racist mindset in some communities there. A far cry from its typical portrayal as a land of plenty, in works such as Marcus Clarke’s “For the Term of His Natural Life” (1874), as well as Henry Lawson’s “The Bush Undertaker” (1892), and Barbara Baynton’s “Bush Studies” (1902), Australia is painted as a menacing and claustrophobic hell. The bush is haunted by a “weird melancholy”, and the landscape imprisons and threatens.

Anxieties about Australia’s colonial past have also been explored more recently in Gothic literature and film. Kate Grenville’s “The Secret River” (2005) returns to the Gothic bush to confront the guilty legacy of colonisation. The novel traces convict William Thornhill’s determination to possess a land plot along the Hawkesbury River, and the desire, fear, and greed that lead him to participate in the massacre of its Aboriginal owners. Indigenous writers, such as Alexis Wright and Kim Scott, have also appropriated the Gothic, overturning tropes that cast Indigenous people as the monstrous Other and instead positioning colonisers as terrifying figures. I would even go so far as to insinuate that some of Tim Winton’s literary works have a Gothic bent to them (such as Dirt Music). Sometimes, the Gothic intercepts the Crime genre, in works such as 2006′s “Jindabyne,” or 2001′s “Lantana.”

The subgenre of Tasmanian Gothic (see the works of Richard Flanagan and Rohan Wilson) often reveals anxieties about the colonial genocide of Aboriginal people, and present-day environmental degradation. For example, the extinct Tasmanian Tiger haunts Tasmania’s landscape in the 2011 Daniel Nettheim film “The Hunter,” based on the 1999 novel by Julia Leigh. There is also “The Nightingale” (2018), where Clare, a young Irish convict, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness and is bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence the man committed against her family. On the way, she enlists the services of Aboriginal tracker Billy, who is marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.

The Australian Gothic genre increasingly finds new sits to play out its terrors as well, constantly reinventing itself. Australian Gothic increasingly finds new sites to play out its terrors. In Jennifer Kent’s 2014 film “The Babadook,” the Gothic moves into the urban, domestic space of an Adelaide terrace house where a mother and child are terrorised when the horrifying “Babadook” emerges from a child’s pop-up book. The film has been read as an exploration of grief and the terrors of childhood and parenting, demonstrating Australian Gothic’s ability to tackle diverse topics.

Tropical and subtropical Australia have also been portrayed as “Gothic” in the novels of Janette Turner Hospital and Thea Astley, and in the recent Netflix series “Tidelands” in which supernatural sirens inhabit the waters off the Queensland coast. 

As literary scholars David Punter and Glennis Byron have observed, the Gothic genre flourishes most at times of upheaval. It allows us to share fears, subvert norms, and point towards what might be overlooked in our history and culture. The COVID-19 pandemic, the rise in housing prices, and social justice issues such as poverty and increasing homelessness, when interwoven with the key Gothic elements mentioned previously, could also provide extra creative fodder for this genre. Gothic will remain a popular mode for Australian writers, filmmakers, and other artists as long as anxieties about the colonial past, race, gender, and difference remain with us. Some of these elements are unfortunately universal and eternal (there will always be some sort of difference between individuals), so it could be concluded that the Gothic genre will remain around forever. I can’t wait to finish my book.

(P.S.A.: I took all of the above photos in Montville, which is part of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Very atmospheric, imo).

#gothic novels #gothic genre #australian gothic #writers #aspiring writer #writers and poets #writers on tumblr #writing my novel #just write #writer things #just writer things #creativityisrebellion

[dearorpheus]

What themes make up the Gothic and horror genre, in your opinion? :o

i do view them as seperate even tho the horror genre as we know it today is the direct offspring of the gothic writers of the 19th century (mary shelley, poe, stevenson, i’ll slot lovecraft in here etc etc). 

gothic literature is preoccupied with interiority, haunted locations and bodies, psychogeography, the grotesque, uncanny, undead and sublime. it’s ruminative and exploratory and very centrally focused on transgressing the boundaries imposed on the writers of the time. with stoker’s dracula, charlotte brontë’s jane eyre, radcliffe, lewis, daphne du maurier, all the way through to contemporary gothic works such as those of angela carter and shirley jackson, they’re all emblematic of repressed desires, sexuality and/or cultural fears. this somewhat explains the popularity of the vampire, revenant and mystery other. 

where gothic literature mythologises these ideas, horror renders them in all their splendour and interacts with them directly. allegory in horror is more explicit, i think, and very actively nurtures a space for character transformation. this is esp poignant/fun/notable in the body horror and transcendental horror subgenres.  i think a common misconception is that all horror should be scary, but that’s not the intention. horror, in my mind, should create some measure of unease in the viewer—visceral, subliminal, personal, it doesn’t matter. even the more schlocky, garish, hack and slash-type horror films have something to say; sometimes that’s just to galvanise the viewer into acknowledging the unnerving enticement of spilt blood and guts. 

if you’re interested in a more theoretical, scholarly approach to the question you’ve posed i would recommend noël carroll’s philosophy of horror which i downloaded for free here

#asks #horror #the gothic imagination

[thevampireofbrighton]

"The Vampiric Woman and Her Lady," First Chapter

Greetings,

In the coming year, I will set upon writing a thesis on female representation in vampire literature. I have already completed a first draft of the chapter in which I discuss J.S. LeFanu's "Carmilla" and thought I should share it here. Apologies for any formatting errors, I am slowly relearning how to use Tumblr.

The Vampiric Woman and Her Lady

Carmilla and Laura in LeFanu’s “Carmilla”

Carmilla and Laura each represent opposing paradigms of femininity with Carmilla’s brand being active while Laura’s is passive; however, rather than punishing Carmilla for her transgressions against Victorian ideals of femininity and rewarding Laura for upholding them, the story punishes both women simply for existing as females. Carmilla’s agency poses as much of a threat to Victorian society as Laura’s innocence and passivity. 

Carmilla

J.S. LeFanu’s Carmilla uses the titular character Carmilla to express concerns regarding women and their position in society. Carmilla’s perversion of motherhood, her status as non-English, and the ways she wields her femininity and sexuality are a product of her agency. Her agency threatens Victorian society because it contradicts the societal ideal of passive femininity devoid of desire; however, despite her villainy, Carmilla’s agency makes her a compelling figure for modern female readers because of the control she has over her body and her life. 

The way Carmilla undermines motherhood plays on Victorian fears of bad mothers abusing their power while exploring a sexual relationship in which a woman holds the power to dominate her partner. When Laura first encounters Carmilla, Carmilla appears as a maternal figure shortly after the death of Laura’s real mother. LeFanu writes, “She caressed me with her hands, and lay down beside me on the bed, and drew me towards her, smiling; I felt immediately delightfully soothed, and fell asleep again” (LeFanu, 277). Carmilla’s position as a pseudo-mother to young Laura means that she possesses power over Laura. When Carmilla bites Laura’s “breast” in order to feed on her, she takes advantage of the power given to her and uses it selfishly (LeFanu, 277). This act of selfish abuse of power stokes Victorian fears of women taking the power given to them and using it for themselves as opposed to their families. Additionally, because Carmilla feeds from Laura’s breast, she reverses the image of the mother breastfeeding the child thereby turning a wholesome image into one that is perversely sexual. Motherhood is a place of ultimate power over another individual, and so sexualizing that power exemplifies the fear of female sexual power and authority. 

 In addition to bad motherhood, the initial scene between Laura and Carmilla explores themes of female sexual awakening which bolsters the Victorian sentiment that female sexuality is inherently perverted. When Laura—now nineteen—and Carmilla meet formally for the first time and discuss the “dream” they shared, Carmilla says, “I was aroused by a scream; you were sitting up screaming” (LeFanu, 288). Laura’s screams roused Carmilla from her slumber, but, as William Veeder points out in his article Carmilla: The Arts of Repression,  “the surface meaning of being awakened by Laura's cry carries also the suggestion that suffering, particularly female suffering, arouses Carmilla sexually” (201). For a woman to say “I am into Y sexually” is still fairly taboo, but it was all the more so in the Victorian era. 

Carmilla wields her feminine appearance with intent and takes advantage of the virtues others project onto her because of her appearance. Her awareness of how to use her femininity to advance her goals is hugely threatening to Victorian society which relies on women remaining powerless. At the beginning of the story, Laura is expecting a visit from General Spielsdorf and his daughter, Bertha; however, Laura’s father informs her that he’s received a letter from the General detailing Bertha’s death. We later learn that Carmilla was responsible and that the General knew this when he wrote the letter. He writes of Carmilla, “I thought I was receiving into my house innocence, gaiety, a charming companion for my lost Bertha” (LeFanu, 280).  The General cannot fathom a woman as anything deeper than her appearance, and Carmilla uses that to gain access to Bertha. Her ability to squeeze power, however malicious, from her feminine appearance was radically terrifying considering Victorian women were meant to be “pure” and ignorant of their own beauty. 

However, Carmilla’s ability to deceive others lies not only in her appearance but also in her performance of femininity. The General regales of meeting Carmilla and her mother at a masquerade ball. As if it were not enough that Carmilla is deceitful, she also makes her victims like her thus preying further on others’ treatment of women. The General goes on to say, “Millarca became very intimate with us… I liked her nature more and more every minute” (LeFanu, 325). Not only does Carmilla use the General’s conception of femininity against him, but she charms him into actually liking her. Her manipulation of the General demonstrates the invisible threat women pose. In a society that views women as fragile and incapable of evil, any woman can subvert that view and use it to her advantage. 

Carmilla’s unmarked appearance subverts the notion that evil can be plainly observed and thus avoided, which plays into the not-uniquely-Victorian fear of being endangered without knowing it. She is repeatedly described as various degrees of “beautiful” by Laura which subverts the fairy-tale notion of evil being present in the form of some physical mark or ugliness (LeFanu, 290). This suggests a failure of not only conventional knowledge but also of superstition to warn Carmilla’s victims of her true nature before it is too late. Even the General says Carmilla is “very pretty,” but in his next sentence refers to her as a “fiend” implying that her exterior beauty disguises her nature (LeFanu, 280). The form she takes while feeding on her victims is that of  “a sooty black animal that resemble[s] a monstrous cat” (LeFanu, 304). When he meets Carmilla at a masquerade ball, he says “She wore no mask” perhaps because the body she inhabits—that of a beautiful young woman—is itself a mask (LeFanu, 319). On the surface, the is nothing suspicious about Carmilla which is why she is such a threat: her femininity disguises her monstrosity.

Carmilla also weaponizes traditional aspects of Victorian femininity to disguise her physical strength, which emphasizes the threat of unknown evils. The feminine disguise Carmilla dons extends to the way she carries herself, which Laura describes as “languid” (LeFanu, 290). She plays up her adherence to Victorian feminine ideals that women should be “tubercular” and waifish. She disguises her strength by appearing to be exhausted by even the simplest of actions, which makes her vampiric strength all the more threatening—because it is thoroughly unexpected. Later, when the General attempts to apprehend Carmilla, she grabs ahold of his wrist. He does not expect Carmilla to be capable of physically besting him and when “The slender hand of [Carmilla] closed like a vice of steel on the General’s wrist…”, he is shocked (LeFanu, 339). The paradox that her hand is both “slender” and “like a vice of steel” exemplifies how much more threatening the unexpected and unknown are. It is one thing to know one should be afraid, but it is infinitely more dangerous to be in the presence of a monster and not even know it. Carmilla wields her sexuality with similar self-awareness. 

The autonomy with which Carmilla wields her sexuality threatens the heteronormative status-quo in which women are forbidden to be sexual and, because much of her power is derived from her sexuality, she exemplifies how much damage a sexually empowered woman can do to her society. Carmilla’s sexual power terrifies Victorian sensibilities which reject all notions of female sexuality. In his article Carmilla: The Arts of Repression, William Veeder writes, “Social theorists as well as novelists realized that orthodox attitudes toward sexual purity had caused a dangerous split between conscious and unconscious” (198). The Victorian model of sexuality taught women to consciously deny their sexual desires, but failed to eliminate them on the unconscious level thus creating the “dangerous split” Veeder refers to between the conscious and the unconscious. Because Carmilla is aware of her sexuality and pursues her desires actively, she resolves this tension created by the Victorians. Carmilla herself says “... love is always selfish; the more ardent, the more selfish” (LeFanu, 302). Carmilla is not ashamed of her “selfish” pleasure-seeking and, in fact, she asserts that love has always been in some ways a “selfish” act; the more pleasurable and passionate, the more selfish it is. The idea that a woman can be selfish in love and sex is taboo even today, but Carmilla has exemplified it since the Victorian era. One cannot be a selfish lover without first being sexually empowered and, despite her villainy, Carmilla’s selfishness is somewhat feminist. 

Perhaps the most plainly transgressive characteristic of Carmilla is her explicit and undeniable lesbianism, which she uses to ensnare her victims; however, the fact that Carmilla is so reliably able to capture the attention and affections of young girls indicates a cultural paranoia that within all women, a dormant lesbian lies in wait. Laura describes her first romantic encounter with Carmilla saying, “It was like the ardour of a lover… and with gloating eyes she drew me near to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses…” (LeFanu, 292). The words Laura uses to set the scene are erotic and reflect the confident intention behind Carmilla’s actions. Carmilla’s eyes do not just gaze passively, they “gloat” at the accomplishment of her goal. Likewise, Carmilla is the one doing drawing Laura in and kissing her. Additionally, Laura does not shy away from feminizing Carmilla during their sexual encounter as Laura repeats the words “she” and “her” thus admitting to committing an act of queerness. However, after her encounter with Carmilla, Laura remarks, “What if a boyish lover had found his way into the house, and sought to prosecute his suit in masquerade…” (293). Laura attempts to deny that she participated in a sexual encounter without a man’s involvement and that she enjoyed such an act. Laura, as a good English girl, cannot possibly be queer, because to be queer means that she cannot also be good. Herein lies the panic Carmilla’s lesbianism awakens. She draws queerness out of her victims. Just as Carmilla entraps her victims by making them aware of their queerness, the queer female reader is entrapped by her sexual enjoyment of the story.

The fact that a self-assured, sexually empowered woman who derived her identity from a source outside of motherhood was so terrifying that it warranted a monster to embody those fears lead to the creation of a character who would go on to define an entire genre of lesbian media is satisfyingly ironic. Carmilla embodies Victorian fears about what women are capable of when given agency of their reproduction, sexuality, and performance of their femininity. The things she does are monstrous because she is a woman doing them and not because she is a vampire. LeFanu uses Carmilla’s vampirism as a symbol of deviant femininity. 

Laura

Although the narrative depicts Carmilla’s agency as monstrous, it is not much kinder to Laura’s stagnance. Laura, as the point of view character, lacks knowledge of herself which Carmilla takes advantage of. Before Carmilla’s arrival, she is said to be bored and lonely. Throughout the story, her father and the General consistently fail to protect her and, being a woman, Laura is incapable of protecting herself. Where Carmilla represents the threats of active femininity, Laura represents the dangers inherent to passive femininity. 

Laura’s loneliness allows Carmilla to corrupt her, thus the narrative warns of the dangers inherent to feminine idleness. LeFanu introduces the reader to Laura by emphasizing how lonely she is by having her say, “I have said that this is a very lonely place… The nearest inhabited village is about seven of your English miles to the left” (LeFanu, 275). The emphasis placed on her physical isolation sets up a relationship between her loneliness and the events of the story. Upon learning of the delay facing the General and Bertha, Laura says, “I was more disappointed than a young lady living in a town, or a bustling neighbourhood can possibly imagine” (LeFanu, 279). Laura places herself in contrast with those who live around others which emphasizes how special an occasion receiving company is for her. Her physical isolation produces social isolation which makes Bertha’s delay, and eventual death, all the more dispiriting for Laura. So, when Laura sees Carmilla at the scene of the carriage crash, she immediately asks her father to invite Carmilla to stay with them saying, “Oh! Papa pray ask her to stay with us – it would be so delightful” (LeFanu, 283). Laura sees a friend in Carmilla, something which she so desperately wants. Laura’s loneliness grants Carmilla access to another victim. 

In addition to her loneliness, Laura lacks knowledge of herself,  creating a void for Carmilla to fill, thus her docile brand of Victorian femininity is what allows the monster in. Laura does not get a name until page 312 which creates a vacuum where Laura’s self-identity should be (Veeder, 199). Laura is empty, so when she encounters a being like Carmilla who wishes to fill Laura’s emptiness with herself, Laura stands no chance against Carmilla. Carmilla tells her, “You are mine, you shall be mine, and you and I are one forever” and Laura is left “trembling” (LeFanu, 192). She replies, “I do not know myself when you look so and talk so” (LeFanu, 192). Laura has no means by which to resist Carmilla’s invasion because she does not have a sense of self to brace against Carmilla. After Laura is bitten and becomes ill she says, “Dim thoughts of death began to open, and an idea that I was slowly sinking took gentle, and, somehow, not unwelcome possession of me” (LeFanu, 307). At this point, Carmilla’s vampirism has quite literally infected Laura and slowly consumes her. Laura’s admission that her sinking is “not unwelcome” indicates that she has surrendered herself to Carmilla. Additionally, her ideas take “possession” over her which echos her lack of agency as she does not even control her own thoughts, rather, they control her. Despite her performance of the compliant brand of Victorian femininity, which contrasts sharply with Carmilla, Laura still receives blame for the events of the narrative. 

Laura’s father constantly fails to inform her of her dangerous situation which emphasizes women’s infant-like dependency on men to protect them. Laura’s father keeps news of Bertha’s death from her saying, “I quite forgotten I had not told you,” which indicates that his failure to communicate arose from his sheer incompetence (LeFanu, 279). However, when Laura is sick and dying of a vampire bite, he outright refuses to answer her questions regarding her own diagnosis saying, “[there is] Nothing [wrong]; you must not plague me with questions… you are not to trouble your head about it” (LeFanu, 315). In this instance, his failure to communicate is rooted in his desire to keep Laura in a state of blissful ignorance. He does this knowing that when the General did the very same to Bertha, she died (LeFanu, 280). Additionally, his characterization of Laura’s questions as “plague[ing]” him is a condemnation of Laura’s attempt to understand her own body (LeFanu, 315). If her father had told her that the doctor believed Laura had been bitten by a vampire, he could have provided her with the information she needed to catch Carmilla out and put a stop to her schemes earlier. But, because of his gross incompetence, he fails to do so. His failure embodies the fear that without competent men around them at all times, women will be helpless against any and all threats because they are naturally incapable of fending for themselves.

Both Laura’s father and the General are emasculated by their failure to protect Laura which genders their incompetence as feminine and forces Laura to assume the role of protector. Laura describes her father as an “invalid” and explains that she does not want to tell him about her encounter with Carmilla because she “was afraid of alarming him,” which links his physical state to his incompetence in protecting his daughter (LeFanu, 305). Additionally, in having to take her father’s invalidism into account, Laura is put in the position of protector which reverses the Victorian standard of women as fragile and men having to accommodate them. The consequences of her failure as a protector emphasize her natural unsuitedness to the role because of her gender. The General also fails twice to protect his charge and slay Carmilla: once as she preys on Bertha and once as she preys on Laura (LeFanu, 332). Veeder writes of this failure, “The male agent is only an onlooker, cut off from his manly sword, circumscribed by the vaginal crevice, impotent before the phallically swelling vampire” (205). The General’s failure to perform his protective duties not only emasculates him but also emphasizes Carmilla’s ability to take on a masculine role despite being a woman. In this schema, the General, like Laura’s father, becomes an invalid and his incompetence is feminized. 

Despite performing her femininity to a Victorian standard, Laura receives blame for her circumstances. This highlights that, as fearful as Victorians were of female agency, they were just as afraid of female passivity. Laura’s femininity is dangerous because it makes her the weakest link in her social chain and forces others to bear the responsibility for her safety. 

Conclusion

While Carmilla and Laura have diametrically opposing versions of femininity, the narrative punishes both of them simultaneously for existing as women. Carmilla’s deviancy matters less than her female status and Laura’s innocence matters less than hers. Carmilla is a story about the threats womanhood poses to the woman herself and those around her. 

Works Cited

LeFanu, Joseph S. “Carmilla.” Best Ghost Stories of J.S. LeFanu, edited by E F Bleiler, Dover, New York, NY, 1964, pp. 274–339. 

Veeder, William. “Carmilla: The Arts of Repression.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language , vol. 22, no. 2, 1980, pp. 197–223. JSTOR, https://doi.org/0040-4691/80/020197-27$02.15. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. 

#vampire #carmilla #gothic #gothic literature #le fanu #victorian gothic #irish gothic #vampire literature #vampire scholar #vampire studies #women's studies #lesbian vampires #victorian lesbians #lgbt literary history