In my awesome fantasy, I've taken the characters from this book and made them more appealing to ME, as one does. So I'll describe them now

the main character is Vanderdecken jr, he's very outgoing and also becomes the first mate on all ships he travels with, except one time when he became the captain but ok ANYWAY,

I'm not sure what this illustration is for, if it's for Marryats book or not or something else I haven't checked. but this is how I see Vanderdecken jr in my head anyhow... I LOVE ITTTTT so much... so much

in the book, Vanderdecken befriends the second mate at one of the many ships he travels with, he's called Krantz and becomes Vanderdeckens closest friend. iirc he's Romanian, he has a crazy fucked up backstory about a stepmother who is a werewolf but let's not get into that now. in my head Krantz is very timid and laid back, but still executes his duties with confidence and courage. he's also Vanderdeckens bf bc they literally go through HELL together and just get closer with every hardship they overcome. they both realise they're in love but have to be secretive bc they're stuck at sea unsure if it can get them killed if it would become common knowledge among the sailors

at one point they get separated when the evil captain aboard one of the ships decides Vanderdecken gets to be captain over his own ship while Krantz gets stuck with the evil captain...

I forgot his name in the book but I'll call him Daland bc that's the name of the captain in wagners opera which I'll talk about soon

in "the celebration of the peace of Münster" (1648) all I can see is Vanderdecken jr shaking hands with the evil captain Daland who has Krantz (yellow) by his side...

I love it so much.... I used this painting as reference when I came up w my versions of the characters

the last character ill talk about (there are more but they're not necessary here) is Vanderdecken sr. I forgot his first name too BUT he's the dad of vanderdecken Jr. he's very impulsive and thinks maybe a little too greatly about himself.. he was struck down by god himself as we know and in my head, as time goes on, the image of their ghostly ship is a rarer and rarer sight to the living man. the periods between the sighting of the dutchman gets longer, the consequences of the bad luck it brings gets more devastating but most importantly, the dutchman starts to rot away, the crew looks more and more like morbid sea creatures, and the chance for salvation gets slimmer and slimmer..

I really really love old illustrations and to me it's a crucial part to the charm of classic lit. I'm adding 2 absolutely GORGEOUS illustrations from my copy of this book, unfortunately my camera won't do it complete justice but its OK for now..

before I start talking about the opera, there is one part in this book which has stuck with me ever since I read it... Vanderdecken and Krantz end up on a raft after another heartcrushing scene. they search for land for a few days until they arrive to a desolate island. what happens there in the book I won't say bc I emotionally can't handle it so I'll say what happens in my head instead, upon arrival they immediately rush to a fresh waterstream and cool down their sunburnt skin and wash the dirty clothes etc etc. there's alot of harmless animals and beautiful and nourishing plants so they decide to stay to recover. days turns to weeks, weeks turns to months. they both find it very peaceful, at this point the thought of the dutchman has been dug down deep and his poor poor dad won't be thought of ever again. I NEED THEM TO BE HAPPY OK. they're living their best lives robinson crusoe style. I call the island Eden bc it's like gods gift to them for giving up on his damned dad or something...

OK THE OPERA NOW!

Wagners opera "Der fliegende Holländer" was written around the same time Marryat wrote his book which is kinda insane to me. but anyway, I could go into VERY deep detail here but I'll try my best to keep it short

So the story of this opera is COMPLETELY uninteresting to me, what I care about is the music and the mood its conveying.

I have a few pieces in it which I've given its own scenario based on how it makes me feel or what I imagine while listening to it. so I'd describe it like an extension to my fantasies about Marryats book

for example, in the opera there is a choir of women, and to me they're angels singing to Vanderdeckens (jr) crew to cheer them during their hardships. Since I don't know German I don't understand anything of what they're singing so it's easy to apply my own meaning😇😇😇 I have other examples too but that would be a separate post I think

I've come to associate the voices of the opera characters to MY characters,

René Kollo (is playing a character called Erik) but to me he's the voice of Vanderdecken jr.

Werner Krenn (playing Steuermann) is Krantz

Martti Talvela (playing captain Daland) is the evil captain, also named Daland to me

Norman Bailey (playing Dutchman) is Vanderdecken sr.

ALSO my playlist for all of this....

LASTLY, I want to show my art of the characters,

also some stuff from 2023..

OK THATS ALL !

ok so,

this is a reprise of "steuermann laß die wacht" which sounds way more happy and hopeful, and then this absolute nightmare starts RIGHT AFTER IT

LOVE the anxiety in this, the piccolo(?) resembling the wind piercing through the rig, you can literally sense the dark clouds hanging above and pressing down from the sky, see the waves aggressively whipping onto the hull, washing over the deck, feel the water drops hitting your face???

the sailors sound as if they're almost fearing for steuermanns life in the storm (in my head, krantz who've been forced by the evil captain/daland to stand at the helm. this because daland understood krantz is in collusion with vanderdecken to defeat him and take over his ship. as punishment, daland orders krantz to always stand at the helm forcing him to steer them through the unruly storm. with vanderdecken as captain on his own ship, he's unable to give krantz any support.