it's fun because the things that appeal to me most about the three canonical evil clones/twins of hermitcraft are similar, but they're all different.
evil x appeals to me because he is very much Just Some Guy, for all that he's an evil force of nature; when he's sympathetic, it's because he's Just Some Guy who's been shackled to the terrible fate of being "evil", but when he's a villain (like in season eight!), the things that make him villainous also aren't the supernatural aesthetics, but the ways he is also the evil of being just some guy. for all the lightning and thunder and echo of xisuma's appearance, he isn't anyone special. (xisuma is.)
helsknight appeals to me for almost the opposite reason: this isn't just some guy, this is you, explicitly, a demon that possessed your clone and possesses all the things that are bad about you, magnified. he's a mirror, inherently, in his very creation. in the stories where he's a threat, he's menacing because he's a mirror of someone we should like; in the stories where he's sympathetic, we must confront how much of ourselves are also mirrors. (what happens if you don't like what you see in those mirrors, anyway?)
empires!false is somewhere in-between; she's not a mirror but she is the result. she's learning something you'd rather have forgotten about your past, and at her most sympathetic, we feel for the way she's been cast aside so false can 'fix her', the things done to her memory. at her least sympathetic, though, she's reflecting these pains onto others; violence begets violence, and even with it missing, the past begets her. there's no looking at empires!false without seeing the echoes of what false did to her. (there's no looking at false without it either.)
............then they also all appeal to me by being ridiculous failguys but like if you want to be DRAMATIC ABOUT IT, the ways they appeal to me are like the above,
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Mem., get recipe for Mina: a food guide to Dracula Daily
Inspired by There and Snack Again (in which you eat along with the LOTR movies), this is your guide to eating and drinking along with Dracula Daily.
All under a cut because there's no way I can do this without extensive spoilers. I strongly recommend not reading this unless you already know what happens in Dracula. Also only if you're comfortable reading about alcoholic drinks - there's a lot of booze in this novel.
Let's eat!
2 May
We start with the famous paprika hendl. Google "chicken paprikash" and choose whichever recipe most strikes your fancy.
3 May
For breakfast, choose from mamaliga (cornmeal porridge, similar to grits), "impletata" (vânătă umplută - stuffed aubergine) or anything with more paprika in it.
4 May
For dinner, Jonathan has robber steak: "bits of bacon, onion, and beef, seasoned with red pepper, and strung on sticks and roasted over the fire".
5 May
Slivovitz, if you'd like it (Jonathan declines). Then, for dinner, Dracula serves up roast chicken, with some cheese, a salad and a glass or two of Tokaji wine.
6 May
"A cold breakfast" for Jonathan. In Romania a cold breakfast might include boiled eggs, telemea (sheep's cheese), franzela (bread) with assorted spreads, sliced cucumber and tomatoes, and sunculita taraneasca (sliced smoked pork). Jonathan also has "an excellent supper", but doesn't tell us what that includes.
16 May
Would it be too bleak if I suggested eating a symbolic Jelly Baby?
26 May
A glass of wine as Quincey and Jack congratulate Arthur and drown their sorrows.
18 June
There's a kind of Scottish fruit slice called "flies' graveyard". That might make a suitable snack given Renfield's meal today.
24 June
I guess a gingerbread woman, for the wolves? IDK, it turns out doing this for a horror novel is a bit grim.
8 July
Thankfully the internet has hundreds of ideas for spider-themed cakes so you can eat along with Renfield.
18 July
The voyage of the Demeter begins! Celebrate by eating like a sailor: have some salt pork, or make ship's biscuit.
20 July
Renfield has just eaten several sparrows. Provide redress by feeding birds near you, bird flu guidance permitting.
24 July
Imitate the "feet-folk" from York and Leeds by drinking some tea or eating some cured herring.
10 August
Lucy and Mina enjoy a "severe tea". There are lots of severe teas in Victorian literature, but few writers actually describe what's in it - e.g. the Churchman's shilling magazine, 1868, has a story with a severe tea "which implies coffee, tea, and muffins, with substantials". What are substantials? I have no idea, but that's what you should eat today.
11 August
Dracula has a little nibble on Lucy. I don't suggest doing this for every vampire bite in the novel, but given this one is particularly significant, how about marking the occasion with some black pudding?
30 August
No food details for a while, but in this entry, Lucy notes that she "has an appetite like a cormorant" and "Arthur says I am getting fat". Celebrate with some cake.
3 September
Van Helsing has been! And surely he wouldn't have come all the way from the Netherlands empty-handed? Acknowledge his visit with some gouda or a stroopwafel.
4 September
Eat some sugar, which Renfield has requested for his flies.
7 September
To stay in line with what the characters actually eat and drink, have a glass of port (though ideally not if you've just given blood). But for the real spirit of the day, consider a corn-on-the-cob.
9 September
Free space! Jack has "an excellent meal" but doesn't say what it is. Dig into your favourite dinner.
10 September
A sip of brandy, with which Van Helsing wets Lucy's lips.
11 September
The garlic flowers arrive. There's lots that you can make with wild garlic - personally, I like it in risotto.
17 September
A boxful of garlic flowers arrive for Lucy every day. Time to make chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. Other options for today include more black pudding (in honour of Renfield lapping up Jack's blood) or sherry.
18 September
The Zookeeper enjoys a teacake, and so shall we.
20 September
No food, but the labourers have "a stiff glass of grog". This is rum diluted with water, but you could also add lemon or lime juice, sugar, and/or cinnamon.
25 September
Nibble another Jelly Baby for the Bloofer Lady.
29 September
A lot happens in this entry, but there's not a lot of food. There are thirsty labourers, however. Maybe have a beer?
30 September
Mina makes everyone a pot of tea. Also, we don't know what they have for dinner, but they eat it at 7pm, if you'd like to time your evening meal accordingly.
1 October
More tea! Since this is being gulped down by a working man, make it builder's style - strong, sweet, lots of milk.
2 October
Jonathan visits the Aërated Bread Company. He only has a cup of tea, but you could have whatever you like best from their menu:
(source)
3 October
Dracula forces Mina to drink his blood like "a child forcing a kitten's nose into a saucer of milk". You could either have some more black pudding, or drink a glass of milk in solidarity with Mina.
15 October
The Crew of Light aren't focusing much on meals any more, but they have travelled on the Orient Express. Here's the 1887 dining car menu.
(source - I can't vouch for the accuracy of a random person on Twitter but it looks plausible)
29 October
No one is thinking of food in this bit of the novel (though Mina makes yet more tea), but as they're heading to Romania, have some sarmale. These stuffed cabbage rolls are the Romanian national dish.
31 October
Mina and Van Helsing have "a huge basket of provisions". Have a picnic in their honour, if it's warm enough where you are.
1 November
Mina and Van Helsing have "hot soup" into which the local cooks have put an extra amount of garlic. Consider having a truly extra amount of garlic with this 44-garlic-clove soup.
7 November
The Crew of Light return to Transylvania. No details of food, but in honour of their journey, I would suggest a final round of chicken paprikash, to bring us back to where it all began.
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