Okay Dracula fam, some information about shorthand! This form of notation was developed in the mid- to late-nineteenth century to facilitate the recording of large amounts of information verbatim and at speed. With months of practice, a dictation shorthand writer could learn to take down 120 to 150 words per minute.
Mina and Jonathan compose some of the original documents that make up Dracula in a shorthand form, and their journals might have looked something like this:
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Though there were a variety of different shorthand systems. Hereâs âThe Lordâs Prayerâ in seven of them:
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Shorthand became a particularly valued tool for women entering the workforce at the end of the nineteenth century. As typewriters became more widely available, jobs opened up for women in dictation, often working as assistants to lawyers or doctors or as court reporters. Minaâs use of the form thus ties her not only to new media forms but also to the figure of the New Woman, whose increased mobility physically and socially was a major shift and source of cultural anxiety at the end of the nineteenth century.
HI GUYS ITS ME aren't you guys so happy i'm doing these more and clogging up your dash some more !!!! (just kidding vsb is Fucking awesome and if you don't like it. dandori issue)
so name reveal.... yes her full name is MATILDA... tillie is a nickname sad emoji
anyways... so tillie is the porky au of vsb!! and oh boy... i have some things to say about her. strap in.
so, first i'll explain a little bit about the Empire of the Mind.
the empire is a nice little fascist regime run by a certain mind alien by the name of Gyiyg (giygas au)! it is responsible for the creation of chimeras, among many many other things.
the empire's first ever project was an experiment known as the Onett Project. the onett project was a fake town within the empire's chimera laboratory that housed several of their first chimeras, those being Tessalane Starriy, Niiya Tenni (Franklin), Pollyanna Talj, Zamor Roosevelt (Twinkle), and Matilda Scarlette. these chimeras were/are all young children that were abducted from their homes as babies, alien style. the goal of the onett project was to provide a (fake) "home" for their chimeras so they wouldn't try to escape. this ultimately did not succeed, but that's a conversation for another time.
now, the thing about the empire's chimeras is that they are all humans (or, were humans, rather) that were given either Mindkin dna which gave them PSI (and we will be explaining mindkin later, don't worry), metal/robotic parts, or both. in some cases, their Magicants were also altered (brainwashing basically) (we will also be explaining magicant lore at some point! probably in the same post as mindkin maybe). the chimerization process is very painful and very violating and just. not a good experience
but the thing is, tillie was never chimerized. not like the other onett kids.
no, gyiyg saw potential in her.
she was instead chosen as his Vessel.
so, he entered her magicant and took over as her mindkin. from there, he examined her insecurities, her flaws, her weaknesses. and he used those to slowly manipulate her into becoming a perfect, empty vessel. and he used her so he could have a proper physical form.
now, i know the timeline of vsb makes no sense, but one thing that we're certain about is: the onett project took place around 45 years before the present (we do not know what year the present is). so, you may be wondering.. why are the onett kids still, well, kids?
well, that is because of a very special substance known as Silence! silence is a black liquid that manifests mainly in magicants and is EXTREMELY dangerous/toxic. this shit can and will and has and will continue to kill people. it also has amnestic properties; a large enough dose will completely erase one's most recent memories. physically, it can also stunt one's growth, though this mainly only applies to mindkin.
silence is used very prominently during chimerization. so the presence of silence in the onett chimeras (since they have mindkin dna) sorta stopped them from aging.
but, you may be thinking, tillie wasn't chimerized. so how come she's still a kid?
well, silence was used very frequently on her. every time gyiyg would use her as a vessel, he'd inject silence into her so she'd forget. this eventually built up, and along with stunting her growth, it also broke her magicant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! which is so fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mental illness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anyways all this is to say that tillie (and all the onett kids) is chronologically like 55 years old
OK THATS ALL I FEEL LIKE TYPING RN... pleaese read this it took like 3 hours to type. please
ok so... i suppose it's about time to introduce the cast. if you've been following vsb you know who they are, but, just in case you need a list...
Tess Starriy- Ness AU. chimera, part Giigian, PSI user. likes women and hitting people with her baseball bat.
Yuki Tazimile- Lucas AU. not a chimera, but a PSI user nonetheless. likes sunflowers and crying in her room at 3 AM.
Mitzuki Tazimile- Claus AU. chimera, part Giigian, PSI user. former Commander of the Pigmask army. WILL kill you. likes stargazing and punching things with her platinum arm.
Zalind Rosze- Jeff AU. chimera, something user?? does she have PSI?? we don't know. i don't think she knows either. likes bazookas and geometry.
Tillie Scarlette- Porky AU. not technically a chimera, but is considered one anyway. PSI user. former Vessel of the first Emperor of the Mind, Gyiyg. likes murder and the color pink.
Franklin Tenni- Ninten AU. chimera, PSI user. hopes you don't notice i only named her that to make franklin badge jokes.
Twinkle Roosevelt- Lloyd AU. chimera. the subject of philosophical debates on whether she is technically alive or not. a bit jealous that Zalind got PSI and she didn't.
Jack Mars- Duster AU. chimera, part Giigian, PSI user. also in a band called the Runaways. likes playing the bass and drinking paint.
Madame Fassaud- Fassad AU, though you could probably guess that. chimera, mostly made of plastic. PSI user, due to being a Monarque nymph. likes capitalism and listening to electra heart without understanding the meaning of the album.
Colonel Ivory- former colonel of the Pigmask army. chimera (?). seems mean, but will cry if you compliment his cape. likes embroidery and baking.
Roj Saturn- a Saturnian. from Saturn. who speaks Saturnian. obviously. chimera, PSI user. wears a red kerchief as a hood that she sewed herself. will adopt any traumatized child she finds in the dirt. likes cinnamon scented candles and baking pies.
Codyrwin- Tillie's Mindkin. former second Emperor of the Mind, after Gyiyg was killed. annoying. hates being called Cody. would kill you, but can't use PSI. likes arcades and taking over cities.
Soline- slightly aged up Fuel AU. chimera. drummer for the Runaways. likes fire and being way too loud at 12:30 AM.
Eyes- Tess's Mindkin. cellist for the Runaways. tends to jump into situations without thinking. gives the best advice, somehow. likes adventures with his friends and killing gods.
Vittoria- Queen Mary AU. Franklin's Mindkin. violinist for the Runaways. everyone's mom. likes singing and dramatically standing on the balcony of her castle watching over the land.
Truman- a Mook. PSI user. guitarist for the Runaways. drunk all the time. not to be trusted, in the nicest way possible. likes drinking paint at home depot and seeing how many public spaces he can get kicked out of.
Telestra Starbov- the last surviving Starman. PSI user. a former general of the Pigmask army, though she doesn't like to talk about it. singer for the Runaways. likes standing very still and staring at you.
Saf Saturn- another Saturnian. from Saturn. y'know. PSI user. very sarcastic. curses too much for a Saturnian. pianist for the Runaways. likes guns and occasionally drinking paint.
Tamothy Timor- a robot created by the Pigmask army. backup singer for the Runaways. thinks he deserves his own tv show. likes using the sparkle emoji and thinking he's the most popular Runaway.
Roxanne- Mecha-Porky AU. possibly the only creature in existence who idolizes Tamothy. plays tambourine for the Runaways. has no musical talent at all but was adopted into the band after escaping from the Pigmasks. likes video games (only when she wins) and gossiping about the Pigmasks.
Bunnie Larimar- a girl from an alternate dimension. guitarist for the Runaways. no one knows about the world she comes from because she never talks about it. likes women and making bad decisions.
Love Tazimile- Yuki's Mindkin. backup singer for the Runaways. brother of Gyiyg, the former Emperor of the Mind. very sensitive, cries easily. likes dogs and flowers.
One reason that literary scholars have proposed for why very early sections of Dracula read like a travel narrative is that the novel as a whole functions as a narrative of âreverse colonization.â Stephen Arata argues in âThe Occidental Tourist,â for example, that Dracula is preoccupied with anxieties about Britainâs imperial decline and guilt over the violence of British colonization. Arata points out that Stokerâs decision to place Draculaâs castle in the Carpathians ties it explicitly to cycles of imperial occupation and decay. And while Harkerâs journal reenacts many of the tropes and conventions of the Western tourist narrative as he journeys into the âEastâ toward Dracula, when he arrives, he finds Dracula to be more than his fair rival: not only in colonizing action (as he plots his move into the heart of England) but also colonizing knowledge (as an âOccidentalistâ scholar, Dracula learns the ins and outs of English and London so well that he can eventually - and terrifyingly - âpassâ as English).
HI GUYS i'm sorry it's taken so long to do another one of these explanation posts đđ i promise i haven't forgotten to do these i'm just. lazy,
ANYWAYS So... Yuki!
yuki is the lucas au of vsb. she and her family (her mothers lilliana and truly, and her twin sister mitzuki) once lived in tazmily village. however, one day, lilli's old angel (the mindkin bound to her magicant), cyclamen, went missing. lilli then left tazmily with the intention of finding her. but, she never returned. mitzi, in a rage, also left tazmily not long after to find lilli. she did not return either.
then, one day, tazmily was invaded by a strange army. everyone was forced to evacuate. and yuki decided she had to be brave. she went out in search of lilli and mitzi, and to find out more about this strange army.
well, she was found by oya eventually, and then season 1 happened. and don't worry. we'll be explaining the seasons eventually.
and that's pretty much all the basic backstory!!
i might add more to this, i might not... we'll see !! TEEHEeEHEE
i am v curious and couldnt findt his in ur blog but what even is the story of this???? I want to know what im following before i follow u... and eye dee kay whats going on!!!
hearts xoxo, đ anon
hi there!!! so the story of vsb is a bit hard to explain⌠i think both of us mods will have to answer this tbh.
(just a warning for everyone: if you do not know anything/much about the mother series this entire blog will not make sense at all)
so, the most basic explanation i can give is, venus star bynding centers around a group of characters who have had their lives impacted in some way by the Empire of the Mind, an empire run by Gyiyg, a member of a species known as Mindkin.
many of these characters are chimeras, which are a special kind of experiment created by the empire! chimeras, in vsb, are a mix of human, mindkin, and sometimes other species, as well as mechanical/robotic parts.
now, i could go into way way way way way way way way way more detail than that! and i probably will someday! but thatâs the most basic plot outline. if youâd like to know any specific characterâs story, send us an ask about em! i promise there is so so so much more to this. but i just donât even know where to start. thatâs how much there is. đ
so my intro post was sorta just a very brief thing just so you guys can know all the names. we're gonna start posting about each character in A LOT more detail. (shoot us an ask or message if there's anyone in particular you'd like us to talk about next!!) and i'd like to start with possibly my favorite vsb character... mitzi!! doc, ya might have to help me out with this one...
so, let's start with some backstory.
mitzi functions as the claus au in vsb. she used to be, well, a normal kid. she lived in tazmily village in the vortex with her twin sister yuki (lucas) and her moms lilliana (hinawa) and truly (flint). one day, lilli went missing and was presumed dead (how she died/what happened to her is a WHOLE DIFFERENT conversation... we'll get into that eventually). mitzi, in her rage, went out to try to find lilli's killers. but she never returned. she was captured by the newly-formed empire of the mind (will get into the details of the empire in a future post). she was identified as a reincarnation, which means she is able to pull the needles (will get into that later as well... i have a LOT to tell you guys about), and promptly turned into a chimera ("chimerized" is the term i use for that). she became the Commander, a ruthless force to be reckoned with. for many years she was the empire's puppet.
but she was freed from her mind control by oya, and she nearly died by lightstriking herself. yes i cried while writing that scene.
so that's pretty much all the backstory, now i'd like to get into the analysis. which i will do later. probably tomorrow at this point.
