#trevenbran

[trevenbran]

Bury your gays.

Then dig them back up so they can haunt the night and get even weirder with it.

#trevenbran #vampires #be weird #be gay #ghosts #zombies #monsters #teratophillia #the bloody resurrectionist #lgbtqia

[boltlightning]

#23 cat

For Norrington and sparrow

23. cat

Norrington was not, apparently, the only scruffy beast dragged aboard the Pearl; from the streets of Tortuga, he and Elizabeth both had conspired to rescue an abandoned litter of kittens, and add them to the Pearl’s new ranks. “This was not exactly the sort of bright-eyed initiative I expected when I hired you, ex-Commodore,” Jack says flatly. Norrington, with a kitten dozing draped over his arm like some sort of exotic bracelet, says, with no fear or respect as is due Jack’s rank, “Nonsense, Captain,” — sneering this word, petulant wastrel — “these are loyal members of the crew, and can take care of the rat problem.” “And I assume these rats are…literal, yes, not a metaphorical bogeyman?” Norrington smiles without teeth, scritches the purring kitten under its wretchedly adorable chin, and says nothing.

send me a prompt, get a drabble ✨

#i could have been metaphorical about this but i will never pass up a chance to push my 'james collected stray cats as a kid' agenda #thank you friend!!! #*fic #drabble game #trevenbran #pirates of the caribbean #james norrington #jack sparrow

[trevenbran]

i really love monstrous regiment. of course there is much to be said on the story's handling of gender, and indeed much has already been said on the topic. but one thing i don't see discussed much is something i picked up on my second read.

the dichotomy between Jackrum and Blouse.

on the first read through, the book was largely a comedy to me. the snark and absurdity, and of course i was too taken with Maladict's hypnotic insouciance to be paying as much attention to the themes of the book as i should have. but on the second read, the book became much more serious, and the themes of war and politics made themselves known. i also came to understand Jackrum and Blouse much better.

jackrum is not just a jolly old soldier keeping his lad's secrets and having a bit of a laugh on the side. he is a hard man, and ruthless. by real word standards, a war criminal (maybe by discworld standards too. i do not know if the disc has a geneva convention to violate.)

and Blouse is not just a clueless schoolboy in a uniform. a bit naive, and inexperienced certainly, but genuinely intelligent, and most crucially, open minded.

jackrum represents the past; tradition, the way it's always been done. he held in his mind the key to progress, but did not use it. preferring to stick to the game he knew, than to attempt to change things for the better. an authoritarian in an authoritarian institution.

Blouse on the other hand, was a force of change. he studied history, sure, and had a respect for the great generals, but he undertook those studies with a mind to innovation. he was consistently thinking outside the box and coming up with strategies that utilized the resources at his disposal (that he knew of) to their best potential rather than fall back on standard army procedure.

indeed it was this that created the most friction between him and jackrum. he refused to play by the rules, and jackrum seriously considered killing him for it. and if he had? the regiment would not have fared nearly so well, and at the end, no one would have been there to insist that they be treated as soldiers, it was Blouse that stood by them as a stalwart ally. so that when jackrum finally arrived on the scene, change was already in motion, and he had no choice but to see his lads through it safe. had their positions been reversed, jackrum would have tried to smooth things over and keep everyone in the closet.

but if jackrum hadn't been there, they wouldn't have survived at all. it was his experience and cunning that saw them through to the end, and his reputation that forced Blouse and the regiment to be taken seriously.

so it's not so simple as jackrum = bad and blouse = good. you cannot have the future without the past, and what are past battles for, if not to secure the future. jackrum lost sight of that for a while, but his little lads reminded him. so on the foundation he laid, Blouse and his soldiers brought a new day to Boragravia, as glorious as a great big fish.

#monstrous regiment #terry pratchett #trevenbran #sergeant jackrum #lieutenant blouse

[trevenbran]

wrote a fanfic for for @cupcakeshakesnake 's au. it's an AU in which most of the characters are children playing an elaborate roleplaying game, and the rest are the adults in their lives. Norrington and his lieutenants are teachers, and norrington in particular tends to work at various temp jobs during school break to the shock and amazement of his students. swann is the mayor, beckett is the local branch leader of a shipping or fishing conglomerate, davy jones is, inexplicably, still a cursed squid man.

#potc #james norrington #elizabeth swann #trevenbran #AU #harbor town AU

[trevenbran]

As I'm reading through tumblrs outrage at van Helsing failing Lucy specifically because he did not communicate his suspicions, a thought occured to me.

Helsing is stoker's self insert. And I believe that he was written 100% unironically. Oscar Wilde had just been convicted of sodomy and stoker himself was probably what we'd think of as gay. Wilde's trial had stirred up a moral panic, that in many ways made it more difficult to exist in Victorian society if you felt same sex attraction. This is how stoker believed a hero should deal with a scandalous threat; with discretion. He should always avoid saying the quiet part out loud, and by no account should he draw attention by going public with lurid details.

Never mind that the emergent story was that a woman died because of this circumspection. Stoker genuinely believed that the other characters would react negatively if Helsing revealed the truth. And given what he likely witnessed during the trial; of perfectly civilized and friendly people turning on even loved ones if it was suspected they were gay, it's not hard to see how this particular hangup came about.

#dracula daily #trevenbran #vampires #bram stoker #oscar wilde

[trevenbran]

I dreamed I was in neverland

Captain Hook needed a break because he was 100% done with pan's bullshit, so I took over as captain of the Jolly Roger.

Turns out with a suitably strong will and a vivid imagination, you don't need pixie dust to make a ship fly. Or phase it through solid barriers. It was a joy to sail in neverland, just for sailings sake, but I was looking for something.

we were looking for a magic item and some treasure, a pocket watch or something.

And I needed permission to sail into the tribal waters, because my destination could only be accessed through a straight they gaurded.

Tiger lilly and the Victorian depiction of native americans had been replaced in my dream by a Maori cheiftaness with one eye and a huge Waka taua along with a fleet of other war canoes.

She thought it was annoying that the jolly Roger was so cumbersome compared to her own vessels, but she allowed me to sail her waters under escort. We parted ways amicably at the edge of her territory.

Eventually I found the pirate tomb where the treasure was supposedly hidden. My crew were extremely superstitious and would not help open it. So I used my will to dig through the stone with my hands. It was a sensation akin to digging through cold, sandy mud, as I forced the stone to yield with my mind.

When the seal was removed, the pirate ossuary was revealed; the only grave in neverland.

Inside, there was an old tarnished skeleton watch. It was stopped. My crew told me that winding it and starting it once again was how a pirate died. The crew member who wound it would have untill the watch wound down again to live.

Hook stepped out of the shadows then, and asked for it. When I gave it to him, he tucked it into his vest pocket and thanked me for finding it for him. I do not know when he intended to use it, if at all. Perhaps he just wanted to have it nearby.

I'll probably never know. With a sad smile, Hook thanked me, and the dream ended.

#actual dream i had #peter pan #captain hook #neverland #trevenbran #pirates

[trevenbran]

chapter three is up. the sinking of the dauntless.

'He remained at the helm as the Dauntless struggled to forge onward. Even as she settled in the water, and her timbers began to open at the seems, the Dauntless tried. By God she tried. To keep her crew safe. To see them home. The great ship crested wave after wave, striving fit to break the heart.

If spirit alone had been enough to win the day, she would have lifted into the air and carried them all to safe harbor, but it was not. A ship cannot sail without a hull, nor fly without wings, and as she crested one final wave, she faltered. Wood buckled and rigging snapped. She was breaking up.'

#potc #james norrington #fanfic #trevenbran

[trevenbran]

I want to chase a man through the moonlight.

He's wearing a white shirt, and his blood stains the linen like a rose at his breast.

#blood #eroticism of blood #trevenbran #vampires

[trevenbran]

Game Idea: Adapt Dracula Badly

so i woke up with this idea in my head. it would be a token or card based ttrpg. there would be two stacks, one for characters, one for archetypes. so you’d have Mina, or Van Helsing, or Quincy, and then you’d draw the archetypes, such as the hunter, the cowboy, and the secretary. so you’d have Mina the vampire hunter, Van Helsing the cowboy, and Quincy the secretary. then the goal would be to free form retell the story with the characters in their new rolls. maybe you have a story sheet with suggested plot beats if the player wants more structure, but if you’re playing with friends, i think it would be better if you just go round the circle going ‘yes and’ in order to build upon the story turn by turn. in keeping with the novels epistolary format, a players turn would comprise a single day. To keep it interesting, the players could all have a limited amount of currency that they could pay in to introduce twists during someone else's turn, a la the Baron Munchausen game.

still trying to figure the finer points and out what would signal the end game, but if this inspires anybody, feel free to throw in your two cents.

#dracula daily #dracula #ttrpg #games #game idea #trevenbran #adapt dracula badly

[trevenbran]

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3kOYudz8A28siKSMvnoaQ1?si=7eb7f27da7444a15

Old London Fog, or Jack the Ripper’s rippin’ mix-tape.

songs for committing murder in foggy Victorian London

this is a playlist for the book I’m writing. most gothic victorian playlists i found went a bit too heavy on the waltzes, and i wanted something a little more street level. this still has some waltz songs, but it focuses more on songs that engender dread and anticipation.

#trevenbran #vampires #dracula vibes #victorian london #playlist

[trevenbran]

“Safe and sound at home again, let the water roll boys”

the song filled the tavern, sung by hearty voices used to making themselves heard over wind and sea. The walls fairly rattled as the line was repeated, and more sailors joined in.

“Long we’ve tossed on the rolling main, now we’re safe ashore boys.” The crew of the Dauntless were rosy cheeked and boisterous, in high spirits after a successful cruise and three fat prizes. Even captain Norrington joined the song, lending his strong baritone to the chorus, and looking ten years younger as he smiled.

“Don’t forget your old shipmates, folly-rolly-rolly-rolly-ri-i-oh.”

Groves sang out the next verse, his fellow officers tapping the time on the table or their glasses. At other tables, the regular tars thumped the beat enthusiastically against their thighs or upon tabletops, bringing stormy seas to tankards of ale and rum left untended.

The chorus rolled around again, swelling the volume until the song could be felt down to the core, reverberating through James’ chest like a living thing.

“Don’t forget your old shipmates-” James faltered in the song, unnoticed.

Don’t forget your old shipmates...

James’ perspective shifted. He was outside himself looking in. The lights seemed to dim, and the song slowed. He looked down at himself; his uniform dark and heavy, the yellow trim an impeccable corruption, a different entity from the young captain still singing, unaware of the change. His former self seemed to glow in comparison.

Slowly, he swept his gaze across the room. As he focused upon individuals, they seemed to be pulled into his reality, and they would turn to him.

The sailing master turned suddenly from his drink, his face turning blue and bloated. “the old man’s sunk us.”

The carpenter, face deathly pale with jagged splinters embedded in his side and arm. “She’s breaking up!”

Gillette, his face twisted with pain, and his leg missing below the knee. “What about Sparrow, sir?”

One by one, the men went silent as they turned to him, their fate written on their faces. The song diminished until there was but one voice left singing.

“There she lies an empty hulk, not a soul below now-” Groves stopped mid verse, his face ageing with the weight of guilt. his haunted eyes snapped to his. “He was just a boy, a child! And I let it happen!” he sobbed.

The room was quiet now, every man staring at him in in silent accusation. Only a handful still bore the flush of life, the rest where pale and gaunt. Dead.

Finally, he looked back at his other self to find him a changed man; ragged and filthy, with eyes glittering with just as much hatred as the rest.

“Surely you didn’t think it would be that easy?” he drawled with a smile as sharp as a knife.

His throat worked, but James could say nothing. He was rooted to the spot, unable to move.

Stripped of his rigid comportment, his fallen self rose from his seat with a dangerous fluidity. He held a slender shard of wood in his sword hand.

“Don’t confuse death for redemption.” he sneered. Then he struck with blinding speed, running James through. James couldn’t even scream as the stake pierced his heart.

soon:

some men have died, and some are alive,

and others sail on the sea.

potc; lord of deathly seas

#james norrington #potc #trevenbran #fanfic #and others sail on the sea #potc lord of deathly seas

[trevenbran]

A cute pic I snapped of my friend's cats Luna and Aurora. If you knew how hard it was to get them both in frame and looking at the camera at the same time, reader, you would weep. These are not elegant majestic panthers, these sisters are tiny ADHD gremlins. They shared a single brain cell between them, which Aurora ate.

I love them so much.

#cats #black cats #trevenbran #i call them the Katie cats #luna #aurora

[trevenbran]

Gods preserve us. Tumblr has discovered what a bulbous bow is.

#ever given #suez canal #sailing #shipping #bulbous bow #trevenbran

[trevenbran]

It's my birthday today! Also first contact day. I invited the vulcans but they haven't got back to me yet.

#trevenbran #birthday #vulcans #first contact day #star trek

[trevenbran]

You want to know why the United federation of planets is so advanced?

Because Starfleet puts a state of the art laboratory on nearly every ship in their fleet and then. Just. Sends them off to do whatever. The most brilliant minds humanity (and Vulcans and all other member species) have to offer given a veritable playground of equipment without having to justify funding, and only answerable to the captain, who, often as not is a big a nerd as they are.

So aside from processing whatever survey information the mission requires, and curing the occasional space plague (often overnight) they're free to just persue whatever lines of research intrigue them.

So you get bored Starfleet scientists inventing some really bizaare and groundbreaking stuff and the other empires are just left picking there jaws up off the floor.

"how? How did you do this?"

Starfleet science officer shrugs as they tweak their black hole powered vacuum cleaner.

"I had a bit of free time between a gender swapping transporter accident and another random algorithm on our ship gaining sentience. You know. Just following my passion."

#star trek #humans are weird #united federation of planets #trevenbran

[trevenbran]

Last year, I decided to get into carnivorous plants. All I'd heard was that they were really easy to kill, so I did my research. I read savage garden and started planning out a setup.

Most of the plants I wanted have a dormancy period, so I resolved to start in the spring. Now, after several months of waiting, I've finally got everything in place. Behold my terrarium!

Eventually I'm going to get some moss and put it around the fox skull for a more natural look, but for now, it's coming along really well.

#houseplants #trevenbran #carnivorous plants #venus flytrap #dionea muscipula #pitcher plant #sarracenia #sundew #drossera #cephalotus #a tiny baby cephalotus in the back #it's shy #terrarium #fox skull #bones #death mention