Gothenburg

I've recently returned from a trip to Gothenburg, Sweden (a place I fell in love with) and I've got many more posts on the way now I'm home!

First I just wanted to share some of the cool things we stumbled across, and prove that traces of the Gothic unexpectedly everywhere... 

*evil villain laugh*

First up is some 'cliff art' of Death and the Maiden (because that's totally a thing over there) because romance is not dead.  Speaking of romance, there are many vintage clothes stores in Gothenburg, one of which I found a rail of lace and satin ballgowns which looked like Sleeping Beauty's wardrobe.  I died and went to Disney heaven.

We also found a Steampunk bar which was full of old brass trinkets, clocks and cogs, weird sepia photographs, and victoriana armchairs.  There was a big iron spiral staircase in the centre which was horrible to try and manoeuvre whilst carrying cocktails.  The cocktails themselves had THE best names: 'elixir of mystery' and 'the dark forest' were our favourites.  I've never had a steaming, frothing drink before but I'm now left with bitter disappointment that all my beverages aren't as sassy. 

Slottsskogen is a giant Park just south of the centre that was so vast that we were pretty surprised when we turned a corner and discovered seals, moose and baby deer.  Whilst not overtly Gothic I think just the sheer size of this place with its dark watery ponds, partially frozen and eerily glassy, meant we did feel quite in the wilderness at times and very far from the city.  We felt the same visiting the Southern archipelago.  Some of the islands had no inhabitants at all so you're just wandering around a ghost town with little wooden fishing shacks.  It was incredibly quiet and unlike anywhere we've been before.  We looked out over the water and you can see fish rising and splashing in the distance- which did nothing for my fear of the water, knowing I'd be getting a boat back with the sea monsters beneath me! 

Basically, I loved Gothenburg.  It was beautiful and quirky and not at all what I expected, I even found a Kawaii shop! 

Sweden, till next time...

Vampire Knight

Started watching a new anime after hearing such great things about it; Vampire Knight.  I will update further once I've enjoyed a few more episodes! 

The sympathetic vampire as a character will be interesting to explore through the character of Zero, who lost his parents in a vampire attack four years previous to the start of the series.  Zero's resentment of the "beasts" is understandable, and yet very early on we are given hints that there is more of the beast in Zero than he would care to reveal... 

His 'sister', Yuki, (both child victims taken in by Vampire Hunter/Headmaster Kaien after being attacked by vampires) has an entirely different view of vampires.  Yuki's was saved by the vampire, Kaname, so her loyalty to him is immediately demonstrated however, she also spends much of her time 'crushing' on him.

The vampires are already alluring; their eyes glow red when about to feed, however this feels more like it recalls the Romantic vampire's hypnotic powers than signalling a terrifying monstrous attack.  The night school students are also in almost identical uniforms to the day students, except theirs are white, and in a pleasantly quirky contrast it is the human day students dressed in black.  I quite like this move away from the black-clad vamp - even in The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural it is common place to dress the vampire in black leather or a brooding amount of metal chains.  Understandably this styling aligns them (or tries to) with an appropriation of 'goth' culture and indicate their 'dark' character but I am quite refreshed by Vampire Knight's preppy vampire denied to us in Twilight.  Much like Pam's Walmart sweatsuit, the vampire is as threatening in mundane clothing because their clothing gives nothing away about their identity.    It is comical to imagine a vampire (ala Dracula) in a school uniform but maybe that's how modern vampires want us to react, to laugh when really we should run...