bluecatwriter

[bluecatwriter]

The creature

[bluecatwriter]

yesss so glad that you updated mina talk about your feelings challenge [legendary] [impossible] fic! love it!

Thanks so much! I couldn't believe it had been so long since I'd updated it, but better late than never. Poor Mina has such a hard time expressing her feelings, and I decided to also project a bunch of my own baggage onto her, for the sake of personal catharsis. ;) Hoping to draft the next chapter soon! <3

(Referencing this fic)

[bluecatwriter]

Dracula/Johnathan, 7 (for the Kiss prompt)

Well, it took me four months, but here you go! (To all the other lovely prompts sitting in my inbox... your day will come.)

(Send me a ship and a number and I'll write a kiss.)

(All kiss ficlets here)

A Kiss… to Shut Them Up

Summary: Jonathan is exhausted from listening to Dracula's family history. 

CW: psychological abuse, physical abuse, dubious consent

~~~

Jonathan had been kneeling at Dracula's feet for well over an hour now. He couldn't even remember how he'd ended up here, whether his host had told him to or bodily moved him over; all was lost in a sleep-deprived haze. But here he was, his legs numb and staticky, his arms hanging loosely by his side, his neck craned back so he could look up at the count as he spoke. Dracula was recounting more family history, gesturing with one hand as he recounted a battle where his forefather had driven back the Turks, and caressing Jonathan's chin with his other hand, his fingers moving through the bristly beard that had been growing ever since he'd destroyed Jonathan's shaving mirror. Once or twice, Jonathan had tried to move in order to get more comfortable, and those sharp nails had dug into his skin. He'd frozen immediately; he knew from the shaving incident that he could not afford to shed any blood.

So he was sitting here instead, blearily staring at Dracula's mouth. The words blurred together in his exhaustion, and all he could think about were those red lips, the white teeth. He remembered how the women's fangs had felt against his throat, how the burning desire for them to kiss him had come over him— this was different, and yet. He felt as if his whole world was narrowing down just to that mouth, the way it curved into a smile as it spoke, the sharp redness of it beneath the white mustache, the little flicks of tongue over the teeth.

His neck hurt and his back hurt and his legs hurt and everything hurt and he wanted more than anything to get out, to escape, to move. And still Dracula droned on and on, a performance that could not be avoided.

Jonathan's eyes continued to watch the movements of that mouth, and he felt his own lips tingling.

If he leaned up right now and kissed him, would it do any good?

For a while, he resisted. Dracula had kissed him before, now too many times to count, but to return the gesture would be a betrayal to himself. He tried to focus on anything else, looking up at the high forehead, the wavy grey hair, the way his throat bobbed as he spoke. But always he was drawn back to those lips, as a more painful numbness overtook his legs, as his neck grew so stiff it felt like it would never move again. The lips were red and slightly wetted, soft and cold (his back hurt so badly, he must move)—

He didn't exactly lunge, but he moved with quick deliberation, out of Dracula's grasp, into his arms. He cut him off mid-sentence, pressing his mouth firmly against him, the sudden movement causing his legs to erupt with tingling pain and his neck to spasm.

Jonathan held the kiss, heart pounding, expecting to be shoved off even as he savored the feeling of being able to move, if only for an instant.

Firm hands grasped his body, and a moment later he was wrenched upward and set down bridal-style in Dracula's lap, their lips still locked together. The relief of being able to stretch his legs made tears spring to his eyes, and he melted into the new position, flexing his hands and arching his back to stretch it as those cold lips worked against his.

At last Dracula released him, and looked down at him with a smirk. "Impudent boy," he said fondly. He caressed Jonathan's arm, massaging out the trembling soreness. "You cannot even appreciate a story without becoming distracted."

Jonathan's tears were still trickling down his cheeks, and relief flooded him as Dracula's hand moved to his aching thigh, squeezing feeling back into it. Dracula leaned down, brushing their noses together, and his hand stilled, as if reminding Jonathan that he could be back on his knees at any moment. Jonathan was too weary to do anything but lean up for another kiss, feeling the soothing massage on his muscles resume the moment their lips touched. It was better than suffering, he thought.

He tried not to think about how familiar these kisses were starting to feel.

~~~

[bluecatwriter]

Just saw a post asking how tall people are and now I want to make it a poll. Apologies to people in the fringe height categories, you do not get specifics.

I had to consult a chart for this

[bluecatwriter]

ALSO when Jonathan shuts himself in his room to escape the hypnotizing Sisters, he hears a baby cry and TRIES TO GO SAVE IT Only to find the door locked. And it's the first time he writes that he broke down and wept. He hasn't wept for his death sentence, for his fear of getting devoured, his loneliness, his future, but for a peasant's child he cannot save.

And in between the terrifying moments Jonathan's actions are not portrayed as traditionally heroic on his part, it's more akin to pure human instinct to save a helpless baby who now has absolutely no one to protect it. Moreso when Jonathan already knows what will happen to the child once Dracula decides to give it to the Weird Sisters.

Jonathan has only shown huge reactions to the horros he has suffered since the final days of may, and the start of June; it was his first meeting with the Weird Sister where Jonathan passed out once he figured what the women were going to do to the crying child inside the "terrible" bag, and now today Jonathan broke down in tears after seeing the start, and aftermath of the Weird Sisters feeding orchestrated by Dracula.

And it's very on character for Jonathan too to prioritize the safety of the child instead of his own. Jonathan is implied to be an orphan who depends on the goodwill of Mr. Hawkins (the closest person he has to a father figure) for work, and opportunities to survive in victorian society, outside of the canon of the novel we can speculate that Jonathan has not so good experiences with the power imbalance that a kid without the supposed safety net of their family can only experience.

So, in Jonathan's mind he is the only responsible for the baby, and even when it's impossible to save it Jonathan still breaks down.

[bluecatwriter]

Another gem from my latest ROM visit that filled me with immeasurable glee:

Look at that little owl!! He's so goofy and cute and so dear to me and so so very clearly a LITTLE OWL (Athene Noctua) which is, of course, the species of owl that represents Athena

Look at how small that little guy is:

Athena holding a helmet and a spear, with an owl. Attributed to the Brygos Painter (c. 490–480 BC). The Metropolitan Museum of Art. And, look at these incredible further examples cute little owls in pottery:

Armed owl. Attic red-figure Anthesteria oinochoe, ca. 410–390 BC

Skyphos with Owl between two branches of olive wood. Attic red-figure pottery. Archaeological National Museum of Spain.

Attic red-figure kylix, owl between two olive branches. Found in the Mengíbar Necropolis. Archaeological National Museum of Spain.

Owl skyphos. From Most na SočI, end of the 5th century BC. Tolmin Museum.

Owl skyphos. Attic, mid-5th century BCE. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Terracotta rim fragment of a kylix. Attic, dating 480–470 BCE. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I just wanted to share these because they also always make me smile. One of my favourite things about going to the museum has always been looking at sculptures and pottery.

[bluecatwriter]

Listening to episode 3 of The Holmwood Foundation goes like

99.99% of the hour: Vampire time! Trans rights! Family squabbles! Giving the Dracula head freezer burn! Birds! :D

That last fucking line of the last fucking second: Jonathan Harker the Third, if you are responsible for one (1) fraction of the Elias Bouchard-flavored bullshit this implies, I WILL REACH THROUGH THE PHONE TO GET YOU

[bluecatwriter]

How do you think Vampire John "Bite the Hand" and Vampire John "Quincey Read Along" would get on?

Oh, goodness. XD Not well, I think. They both can read minds and try to manipulate people, but BiteTheHandVamp!John has a lot more to lose and would absolutely beat up QuinceyReadAlongVamp!John so he could steal the lancet and make his escape. If they weren't directly pitted against each other, they might tolerate each other, but I don't think BTHVJohn would be very forgiving of QRAVJohn's foibles. It's hard to get along with yourself, after all.

(Some context here and here.)

[bluecatwriter]

Wait I just realized

Maddie and Jeremy won't leave the flat before Tom gets back from errand-running because Tom promised to pick up hormone patches for Maddie! So maybe he'll get a chance to warn them after all!

The Holmwood Foundation Episode 3 thoughts!! In no particular order...

-Tom is absolutely delightful! I love that it's very clear from the beginning that he pretty much never stops performing, whether in his flirtatious banter with Henri or his sarcasm with Jeremy: it's all a persona. (Theater kids, man.) And then later we get confirmation that it's his way of dealing with everything! Jeremy and he both have their own coping mechanisms!

-JEREMY BREAKING DOWN CRYING YES.... HAHAHA YES!!!!! Sickos.jpg (I wonder how Maddie felt when she listened to the recordings and heard it.)

-I love that Tom doesn't really know how to do laundry (I'm surprised he even has a washer in his flat, lol). When Dracula's head started talking I got full-body shivers (impressive, considering I was out in the bright sunlight and heat). Nope nope nope nope nope nope—

-AND THEN TOM JUST PUTS THE HEAD IN THE FREEZER OMG

-Mina is so great; she has such gravitas, and she's not ready to let two kids tell her what to do.

-The bickering and the slow build-up of their backstory is so well-done... I want to re-listen to hear all the little hints dropping about The Holmwood Foundation. It really was pretty messed-up that anyone let an 11-year old and a teen anywhere near the place where they keep the undead...

-Jeremy, the mopiest man to ever mope: "I NEVER MOPE"

-Henri is great, I love how bubbly she is. If anything happens to her I swear—

-Tom chasing down Jeremy and tackling him during the phone call was so Looney Tunes, in the best possible way. But when the Sister showed up I lost my mind. Poor Mina trying to figure out the buttons to ring them in!

-Tom's and Maddie's conversation was so sweet, I love the way that his act sort of drops and he shows that he can be genuine when he's not actively putting on a performance.

-Maddie and Jeremy: *make a truce and a plan to get the head to the Foundation*

Me: Oh cool, looks like this episode isn't going to end on a cliffhanger like the last one...

Last twenty seconds of the episode: *exist*

Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

[bluecatwriter]

thank you for your contribution to the helward tag on ao3 o7

You are very welcome! We are a small fandom, but mighty. ;) This makes me think I should get around to the Helward WIPs sitting in my drafts folder...

(For some reason this only just now showed up in my inbox even though it's dated April 29th?? Weird.)

[bluecatwriter]

Lord of the Rings animated in a Cartoon Saloon inspired art style: Frodo at the Grey Havens.

[bluecatwriter]

Happy 10th birthday to the best tweet of all time.

[bluecatwriter]

no way i just saw people in tiktok comments crying screaming throwing up at the idea of aslan being a jesus figure. worsties the lion literally dies to save edmund (the sinner) and then rises from the dead. he tells the pevensies he can be found under a different name in our world. what else could this have meant

[bluecatwriter]

THE HOLMWOOD FOUNDATION CHARACTERS AS ONION HEADLINES

MADDIE:

JEREMY:

MINA:

JONATHAN:

DRACULA:

TOM

HENRI:

ARTHUR:

J3:

ELENA:

[bluecatwriter]

thinkign about characters i like being sweet and tender with each other

[bluecatwriter]

The Holmwood Foundation Episode 3 thoughts!! In no particular order...

-Tom is absolutely delightful! I love that it's very clear from the beginning that he pretty much never stops performing, whether in his flirtatious banter with Henri or his sarcasm with Jeremy: it's all a persona. (Theater kids, man.) And then later we get confirmation that it's his way of dealing with everything! Jeremy and he both have their own coping mechanisms!

-JEREMY BREAKING DOWN CRYING YES.... HAHAHA YES!!!!! Sickos.jpg (I wonder how Maddie felt when she listened to the recordings and heard it.)

-I love that Tom doesn't really know how to do laundry (I'm surprised he even has a washer in his flat, lol). When Dracula's head started talking I got full-body shivers (impressive, considering I was out in the bright sunlight and heat). Nope nope nope nope nope nope—

-AND THEN TOM JUST PUTS THE HEAD IN THE FREEZER OMG

-Mina is so great; she has such gravitas, and she's not ready to let two kids tell her what to do.

-The bickering and the slow build-up of their backstory is so well-done... I want to re-listen to hear all the little hints dropping about The Holmwood Foundation. It really was pretty messed-up that anyone let an 11-year old and a teen anywhere near the place where they keep the undead...

-Jeremy, the mopiest man to ever mope: "I NEVER MOPE"

-Henri is great, I love how bubbly she is. If anything happens to her I swear—

-Tom chasing down Jeremy and tackling him during the phone call was so Looney Tunes, in the best possible way. But when the Sister showed up I lost my mind. Poor Mina trying to figure out the buttons to ring them in!

-Tom's and Maddie's conversation was so sweet, I love the way that his act sort of drops and he shows that he can be genuine when he's not actively putting on a performance.

-Maddie and Jeremy: *make a truce and a plan to get the head to the Foundation*

Me: Oh cool, looks like this episode isn't going to end on a cliffhanger like the last one...

Last twenty seconds of the episode: *exist*

Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

[bluecatwriter]

Listened to the latest episode of The Holmwood Foundation while out for a walk, and I continue to be impressed that it can give me chills, even though the heat index was 106º (41ºC).