#charonnyxtides

[vickyvicarious]

Mina first being scared that Van Helsing will accuse her of being responsible for Lucy's death before meeting him and validating her guilty feelings, and then going fully into a despair on October 1st about her going to Whitby and taking a liking to the cemetery being what doomed Lucy... Makes me worry about her survivor's guilt after all this.

We never read her account on October 4 when she and Jonathan wrote down the Oct1-3 cylinders and journal entries, but I'm so curious how she felt listening to the recording about Renfield dying for her after their friendship... Maybe she took it quietly with no tears, as she's on survival mode. But once that is all over? She's prone to spiraling into guilt and feeling responsible...

I've missed a few asks on Mina's guilt, just because I've not kept up with my inbox a hundred percent. But it definitely is a consistent trait of hers and we saw hints building towards the breakdown about Lucy. She feels scared he will accuse her of being responsible for Lucy's death because she feels responsible. And even though Van Helsing never comes anywhere close to putting that on her (because why would he, she protected Lucy as much as possible), we later see Mina do it to herself. I think those thoughts were always in her mind, but when she was being active and taking steps to protect others (Jonathan) or to seek retribution (hunting Dracula) she was able to push them to the back of her mind. But as soon as Mina was left behind with nothing to do, the grief and guilt hit her full force.

And yeah, of course there was additional stress because she was being excluded, and Dracula feeding on you is probably more likely to intensify negative feelings about oneself, but like... yeah, I think that was always coming. Mina feels over-responsible for things, is prone to blaming herself, and does not take well to bad things happening when she wasn't there to stop them. So she concocts some kind of reasoning to herself where actually she could have stopped them. Even when she knows for a fact that there is nothing she could have done, I think she would still feel some guilt mixed in with her worry and grief. It's just how she thinks. Either she did something wrong, or she failed to do something right. Activity or inactivity, both her fault.

When Jonathan was lost on his business trip, Mina felt intense worry but couldn't act because she didn't know what to do. She tried not to acknowledge her terrible thoughts much because again, there was no way to act on them, and she didn't know for sure that they were true. She was actively trying not to give up hope by speaking aloud her worst fears. We saw her counseling herself to have patience, repeatedly. We didn't see much guilt here, but she was suppressing all worry, and I think if she had gotten news that he had died, then she would have instinctively blamed herself at least a little. More "why did I let him go" type blame - if she'd stopped him or at least been with him, maybe she could have saved him.

With Mr. Hawkins, Mina seems genuinely caught off guard by his death. She must have known he was ill, at least enough that he sent Jonathan on the trip in his place, but it was still a sudden death she wasn't prepared for. I don't think she would feel seriously guilty over failing to prevent it, but I could see her feeling kind of guilty that she missed the warning signs and didn't care more for him as well. Maybe she failed to notice some sign that would have at least prepared everyone better. We don't see this happen in the book, and I think it would be much less because he is older regardless and she was never 'responsible' for him in the same way, but I could see these thoughts occurring to her.

With Lucy, it's twofold. First, her death - Mina left her when Lucy seemed to be getting better. Then she was hit with the news that Lucy had died while she was away and fully occupied with caring for Jonathan. We saw her feeling worried in Whitby that she was the cause of Lucy's illness by accidentally pricking her with the pin when she went to get her in the graveyard. The sleepwalking was something Mina failed to protect her from; the illness was from something Mina did when failing to protect her. And yet she felt soothed by an apparent recovery and went off to Jonathan. Then later on, she noticed that it had been a long time since she'd gotten a letter from Lucy, but she didn't bother to come and visit her. Maybe if she had gotten a doctor things never would have gotten so bad! Maybe if she had come to visit her in London she could have shared vital information that would help the doctors save Lucy's life.

And of course, when Mina finds out what was really happening to Lucy she feels worse. Because it wasn't her pricking her with the pin that caused all this - it was something worse. She saw all the signs but dismissed them. She set Lucy up to be vulnerable in the first place by getting her to hang out in the graveyard. And so everything that followed was her fault, and when it was worst she wasn't even there to help.

Mina never blames herself for focusing on helping Jonathan when he needed it. The narrative never does either. There's never a "choose between these two who you love" situation where picking one means the other is lost. Lucy seemed better before she left, Mr. Hawkins died suddenly meaning he probably seemed better too. But while that specific aspect isn't touched on, because Mina knows down to her core that she did right in being there for Jonathan, there are plenty of other ways she can blame herself. She always wants to take action, but if something terrible happens it means she took the wrong action. Even if that means she has to go ways back before the bad things began to find it (a la hanging out in the graveyard). Or if she couldn't act, it's still her fault because they were taking action for her sake.

That's an angle I didn't mention above but I think it would hold true for her to an extent for both men there. Jonathan was ambitious and working hard to provide for their future, so that they could get married. It was at least in part for her that he went off to Castle Dracula. Mr. Hawkins was hiding his illness for her and Jonathan, trying to appear fine because he cared for them and didn't want to worry them. If he'd taken it easier maybe he could have lived longer, if it weren't for them...

And that holds all the more true for Renfield or anyone who explicitly dies for her sake. She can see it potentially coming with Jonathan right now as well, for example - he's willing to damn himself of love for her). And yeah, Renfield of all these people is the one she knows and loves least, but they connected when they spoke. And he chose to fight Dracula, he died for her. At least in large part. His death was such a tragic one, too... And maybe Mina could have prevented it, if only she had spoken up. If she'd been less afraid of being sent fully away, and told Jonathan and the others about her fears. Maybe he would have lived.

As you say, it's possible she wouldn't have cried. I think she might have, a little, but more out of sorrow than guilt at that time. I think, like always, the guilt in its entirety would creep up on her later in quieter moments when she has nothing to do. When she can't distract herself, when she can't act to make things right or take care of others somehow.

[isablooo]

BOTH OF THEM ARE SO

I adore their friendship

I'm so glad you like them!! 🖤

The vibe of their friendship is like... you know when you go to an event or something where you don't know anyone there and end up becoming besties for the day with the first girl you talk to and then proceed to hang out for the whole time... yeah thats jonathan and zalman

[lauralot89]

About Dracula romance with literally any other character I propose excluding Lucy. It's been done and the first Dracula's Manpain For Reincarnated Wife is about Lucy in Dan Curtis' Dracula (1974( (officially also known as Bram Stoker's Dracula), which the 1992 movie copied and just switched the love interest. Lucy's past self was called Maria. The problem is that this leaves us with only male characters and we know well that unless a film is exclusively about gayness instead of a story where the mains happen to be queer Hollywood will not do it.

I guess we could always expand the role of the lady vampires and have them come to London with Dracula. Maybe he could fall back in love with them as they all run from the Crew pursuing them.

[birdsong-warriors]

Is Scourge having a different name for a reason that will be explained in the comics?

I'm currently messing with the idea of a small comic explaining how Scorch got here and going into his origins. I've gotten a ton of questions about it. ;v;

Writing wise, I changed it to give him more connection with Firestar.

[vickyvicarious]

Shout out also to Mina for choosing to reveal her discussions with Van Helsing and their discoveries about the journal to her husband.

I bet it was not an easy choice, especially after being told by doctors, including Van Helsing, to not shock Jonathan. She had no idea how he'd react to revealing not only that she broke the seal and read her "wedding gift", but that she shared it, and that everything in it was real, every horror he experienced. But Mina took the risk at supper... And it was rewarding!

Yeah... she may have suspected it would help him, but she didn't know. The day before she was debating with herself over whether she should try and handle everything for herself so as not to bother him:

There may be a solemn duty; and if it come we must not shrink from it.... I shall be prepared. I shall get my typewriter this very hour and begin transcribing. Then we shall be ready for other eyes if required. And if it be wanted; then, perhaps, if I am ready, poor Jonathan may not be upset, for I can speak for him and never let him be troubled or worried with it at all.

I think if he had reacted badly - to the news that she'd read his diary, that it was real, that there really is a solemn duty - Mina would have tried to keep protecting him by promising that she would deal with this for him. It would have been even harder on her, but she would do it. She was prepared for that.

But happily, it didn't turn out that way. Jonathan felt validated and much more secure in his mind after she told him, and also felt renewed energy as he prepared to seek revenge/atonement. (Revenge for what Dracula has done to him. Atonement for the ways he unwillingly helped Dracula be better able to harm others.) Of course, his trauma by no means has just gone away and will surely continue to affect him in the future, but telling him was clearly the better choice.

And Mina had to tell him. She was clearly careful about it, tried to break the news gently. She emphasized her concern and the validity of his experiences, showed him Van Helsing's letter too. But she knew she had to tell him, because there clearly is a solemn duty coming, and Jonathan wanted to know if that ever happened. So she tried not to shock him, but above all she honored his wishes and was honest with him. And it helped so much.

[vickyvicarious]

Jack Seward:

The bundle of letters relating to the purchase of the house were with the typescript. Oh, if we had only had them earlier we might have saved poor Lucy! Stop; that way madness lies!

Shout out to this part where after Jack reads Mina's typescript, he sees the receipts about the Carfax purchase and starts going down the "if only I knew if only I knew" pit... but stops himself because he knows his mind will break there.

Yeah, it's good that he knew better than to let his mind run on in that direction. Unlike Mina yesterday...

[vickyvicarious]

Mina says this on Sept 18:

Oh, it is too hard that a sweet, simple, noble, strong nature such as his—a nature which enabled him by our dear, good friend’s aid to rise from clerk to master in a few years—should be so injured that the very essence of its strength is gone.

about Jonathan in August:

I found my dear one, oh, so thin and pale and weak-looking. All the resolution has gone out of his dear eyes, and that quiet dignity which I told you was in his face has vanished. He is only a wreck of himself

If I read them correctly, Mina is lamenting, mourning the old Jonathan who left for Transylvania. He's not able to be a rock for her when she's struggling anymore. It's such a human thing to do, to miss the man she fell for... especially after so many nights waking up to hold him as he trembles in her arms. But she never will fault him for what he became, and she insists on believing in him. She has made up her mind, he will not walk in this new, unrecognizable, wrecked state without her. She's staunchly by his side.

Yes, indeed. She is mourning for the loss of his strength, his dignity, his resolution. When he left, he was at the top of his career thus far. He was full of energy and determination, he was excited for the life ahead of him. He'd just passed an important exam, he'd probably proposed to her quite recently as well too. Though understated, he had an undeniable drive and dignity. He didn't have a huge ego, and probably still got nervous about things, of course, but at the core he believed in himself and in them together.

He's not the same person anymore. This Jonathan is sapped of so much more strength than physical. He suffers from horrible nightmares. He's lost his resolve and so much of his energy, his dignity and strength. He can't support her if she needs it right now. In fact, he is in need of tremendous amounts of support from her. He's lost confidence... in his capabilities, perhaps, but most of all in his own sanity. He's afraid to face what happened to him, but it haunts him constantly, and the lack of knowledge doesn't seem to be making that go away at all. And Mina misses the way he was, is sorrowed by the loss, and is suffering herself under the burden of supporting him through this.

He's not the same person anymore. But he is and will always be her person. Never for a second does she entertain even the slightest idea of leaving him to suffer this alone. She will be with him, no matter what. She loves him, no matter what. This is undeniably very hard on her - but she does not ever blame him. She does not need or want an escape from him. She wants her own support network, so that she can better support Jonathan. She mourns what he has lost for herself, yes, but primarily for his sake, and her love for him now never wavers in the slightest.

Nor does his for her. Jonathan has lost so much, but never that. He doesn't believe in himself anymore... but he has always believed in their love, and especially in her. And she does the same:

I try to cheer him up, and my belief in him helps him to have a belief in himself.

Their trust and love and belief in one another is the bedrock which ultimately strengthens them both.

[vickyvicarious]

I find it kind of interesting that Jack who is assigned to use his bonesaw (same one used on Lucy?) on Dracula is thinking of Jonathan and his great knife on his freezing hand doing the task.

He's always been keenly fascinated by madness, and observing it and musing about it. But he's never been passionately driven by revenge I think.

Oh, I didn't spot this before otherwise I would have probably combined my replies. I talked about the first part of what you mention in my last ask. So I won't rehash all of that, just follow the link.

But as for why Jack seems so fascinated about Jonathan's revenge when previously it's been more madness which has such a hold on his thoughts... I think it comes back to one specific moment:

It interested me, even at that moment, to see, that, whilst the face of white set passion worked convulsively over the bowed head, the hands tenderly and lovingly stroked the ruffled hair.

Yeah, I know I already quoted this in the ask I said I wouldn't rehash, but I want to emphasize a particular aspect of it. It's not just Jonathan's desire for revenge that is so interesting to Jack, but it's his motivation: his love for Mina. Jack clearly admires them both individually as well as their relationship, and much like many readers of the book, he finds Jonathan's fury in the wake of Mina's attack to be really appealing. It makes him into a sort of romantic hero. This ties in perfectly with the manliness Jack earlier expected of Jonathan, and also matches the way he talks about Quincey and even Arthur at times. They're super manly and admirable, and their manhood is on best display when they give their all for the woman they love.

When Jack is fantasizing about Jonathan getting revenge on Dracula, I think a key detail is that he isn't just driven by revenge for himself. He is driven by protective love, and that's really narratively satisfying. Now, granted, we don't exactly see Jack dismiss other revenge stories (or even encounter them) to say definitively that this isn't something he would be into regardless. But I do think we have enough moments of him specifically admiring the Harkers' relationship and Jonathan's eagerness to get Dracula (which, remember, only became so overtly vengeful after Mina suffered, not for his own experiences in the castle) that we can conclude it is the romance angle specifically which appeals to him so very much. Partly it is just him being a fan, but I think also the idea of the lover being able to defeat the threat and personally free his love from the evil threatening to encompass her is a cathartic idea after what happened with Lucy. Arthur was able to 'free' her, yes, but only when it was too late to save her. There wasn't really a happily ever after, and Jack wants one for this couple. And he wants Jonathan to be a super manly romantic hero while achieving it, because he likes those.

[lauralot89]

"I almost envy mother sometimes for her knowledge when she can talk to people whilst I have to sit by like a dumb animal and smile a stereotyped smile till I find myself blushing at being an incarnate lie. And it is so silly and childish to blush and without reason too."

Lucy Westenrna my dear, you good? Girl??

I know this part of Lucy's letter got removed on publication but there's a lot to unpack

Yeah, there's a lot. Poor Lucy.

[wheresjonno2023-complete]

@barghesthowls additionally writes:

#apparently Milan since the 1800s under Austrian patronage #became the major South European rail focus for business and passenger movements

@burekstation writes:

Fashionable straw hat for the sun, heat makes brain fevers worse clearly

@anony-geist writes:

#Richard-Ginori porcelain was apparently established in the 18th century

@coolshitlikefanart writes:

some gelato and some pasta. shoes probably

@anony-geist writes elsewhere:

What about these red shoes

@the-golliest-gee-williker writes:

He needs a loooooot of clothes after dracula stole it all. He's been in the same clothes for like two weeks. He also needs some more paper so he can keep sending emails. And some cookbooks for Mina!

@charonnyxtides writes:

Saw this turn of the century poster. Man could use a hat and a striped shirt. Has he been wearing the same shirt for months.

Man's gonna splurge in Milan with them 14th century coins he looted from the aristocrat he shanked in his own home. We're perfect bribing ground by the by.

Okay everyone I'm gonna need a bribing shopping list for our boy once he gets to Milan. Make all the other girls in the Gothic Heroine Support Group swoon with jealousy. No more Lizard Fashion it's time for Dolce & Gabana. If we haven't found him by this time next week, we can at least send him off in the direction of Lyons better dressed than Dorian Gray

[rebloggingrexan]

#We don't know about them in the entries #But I bet they are the ones holding the whole group together right now

At the Varna port hotel's continental breakfast buffet

Van Helsing and Jack: *in cahoots, cahooting*

Jonathan: *prowling*

Mina: *disassociating*

Art and Quincey:

[the-haiku-bot]

She’s stressed out of her

mind, afraid, confused, mourning,

with no family.

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

Can't imagine being Mina right now.

Arriving to her anticipated vacation, only to realise that her childhood friend is sick. Her condition is in fact worsening.

She's tasked by the mother to be her keeper. Her sleep schedule is ruined and it affects her nerves.

She makes a new friend while trying to distract herself from the fear of losing Jonathan. He's found dead.

A dead captain steering an empty ship arrives, making her even more worried about Jonathan's fate. She attends two funerals in a row.

And the same night after an extremely taxing day, she risks her life to save Lucy from a monster. She has to hide Lucy and her own nudity from a drunk local. She can't tell anyone.

She's stressed out of her mind, afraid, confused, mourning, with no family.

She's just a girl.

[rebloggingrexan]

I can't yet decide if the way Seward uses the term My Friend for his patient is similar or different from the way Dracula does for his quote unquote guest. Both of them could be doing it because they see the other in a condescending way, power imbalance aside. Though Dracula does it directly to Jonathan, maybe to further lure him into a sense of comfort when he arrives VS the scary outdoors and then for gaslighting, but Seward does it only in private on his own phonograph so far, so there's no ultirior motive there.