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Today we are enjoying the pretty man in his cream suit

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It's end of May, yall know what that means

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He was very cool outwardly, but was nervous all the same. He had evidently been schooling himself as to all sorts of little things, and remembered them; but he almost managed to sit down on his silk hat, which men don't generally do when they are cool

DESTROYED

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Dr. John Seward, post-rejection: All is woe. If I did not have work in the examination of others, my life and my mind would collapse into the void they so truly wish to be. Love for me is an illusion and so I must make do with turning the lens without, lest it see within and find the deficiencies waiting inside. Examine the Other. Examine the Other. Are you the Other?

Quincey P. Morris, post-rejection: Congrats on the proposal, Art! Want to go hang by the campfire with Dr. Goth for a toast? (We need to get some liquor in him or I think he’s going to try to physically fold himself into his phonograph horn and not come out. Again.)

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19 May - After the encounter with the weird sisters and Dracula's request for letters, meals probably aren't a pleasant affair anymore.

these are part of an animatic summarising Dracula, which you can watch here (new readers beware; it has spoilers for the entire book!)

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honeys, y’all got a big storm comin

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jonathan harker on may 12th: i witnessed with abject terror as the count descended the sheer stone wall of the castle face first as a lizard would. the unmitigated horror of the spectacle haunts my waking hours like an inescapable nightmare. this man or this thing shall surely be my undoing.

jonathan harker on may 15th: saw the old bastard do the crawling trick again and honestly fuck him it's not even that impressive i don't even care anymore i hope he falls.

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"yes the Count undressed me but" why are you so casually saying this, hold up...

It's his coping mechanism.

We've already seen Jonathan struggle with what is and is not real, and he is in real danger of losing his mind. Right now, establishing the facts is more important than the implications of those facts. He's a lawyer, he's laying out the IRAC.

On May 5th he wondered if his experiences were dream or reality, and puts down his evidences for both. When he thinks they're going around in circles he finds a way to double check his own impressions.

And then he says he is full of dreadful imaginings, that he dare not confess even to his own soul.

On May 7th he fact checks his experiences on the ride against Dracula's own accounts

On May 8th he can't see Dracula in the mirror, and then double checks to make sure - find some way to prove that it's not a trick of the light or some dark imagining. When he finds himself a prisoner he goes mad and eventually has to calm and quiet himself before he can proceed - and he once more calms himself by laying out facts. When his whole world is unbelievable his only refuge is fact. He spells out his problem - EITHER he's imagining it all OR he's going to die in here, and he can't afford to guess wrong about which it is. He needs all his wits - guarding his own sanity is his number one priority.

On May 12th he once more begins with facts - the more frightening and unreal his situation becomes the more desperately he clings to what he can prove. If he starts into conjecture he is lost, because he'll never stop, and he needs to know what's real. Dracula is already gaslighting him but Jonathan is writing down what's real as a defense against that. Even when he mistrusts his own perceptions, blackletter is immutable.

He's not saying it casually, he's saying it formally. He has to be systematic about this, he has no choice. It is vital to his sanity and survival to know if those girlies were real or a dream (or a local memory, the way Dracula suggested on the 12th). So he looks for evidence. Does what he can see now (reality) agree with his memory (which is fallible)?

Fact: his watch is unwound (he usually winds it)

Fact: his clothes are folded (not how he would have)

Fact, fact, fact - evidence, but not proof. And he needs proof. He needs to know whether his perceptions of reality are trustworthy.

Or it another way...

Issue: I have a certain set of memories around how I got into bed last night, but they are unbelievable and full of vampires

Rule: I have certain bedtime routines that I follow assiduously

Analysis: the state of my things agrees with my memories but disagrees with my typical Rule

Conclusion: the Count probably undressed me which suggests that all that stuff about vampires trying to eat me is probably true

And that's what goes in the journal. That's what needs to be written down for whoever finds his body. That's what he needs to see in plain logic, cold blackletter, to hang his confidence on going forward.

What doesn't need to be written down, because what good would it do, is

Addendum: FUCK

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16 May - The weird sisters are here!

these are part of an animatic summarising Dracula, which you can watch here (new readers beware; it has spoilers for the entire book!)

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May 15

While the Count keeps going in his lizard fashion, Jonathan got to explore a bit of the castle. It's essential to do some exercise once in a while, even on a business trip, like looking for a way to escape and pushing dead bolted doors.

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my biggest dracula movie/tv adaptation gripe is that they never. Ever. get jack seward right. and they seldom get arthur and quincey right. but nobody does jack the way he should be: young, handsome, charming, smart, deeply observant, driven by curiosity, and devoted to a fault.

the hero boys commonly feel like an afterthought by directors and screenwriters - like they're interchangeable, easily omitted or substituted, swallowed up by abraham van helsing's significance. it's really unfortunate, especially since they each feel, in the book, so lovingly created and characterized. they each have importance and i wish more people understood that.

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@ignitingthesky You're so right about Dracula's warning about safe sleep zones having videogame horror vibes

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This nocturnal existence

I am beginning to feel this nocturnal existence tell on me. It is destroying my nerve. I start at my own shadow, and am full of all sorts of horrible imaginings.

Now we see the effects of Jonathan's constant lack of regular sleep enforced by the Count.

Every night, since May 6th (now May 12th), Jonathan has been forced to keep Dracula company, because that's when Dracula is awake. And then he has to try and sleep during the day. And this will keep going for at least a month, as he's now been forced to write the letter saying he'll be staying.

As a result, Jonathan's nerves have been a wreck all week. He jumps at his own shadow, and he's starting to have nightmarish illusions while awake.

The disruption of sleep, the fact that his services are no longer needed and thus could be disposed of any day, and the enforcement to keep his own captor entertained all night long are all deeply affecting Jonathan's psyche.

Jonathan is fighting to stay alive and sane.

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What could I do but bow acceptance? It was Mr. Hawkins's interest, not mine, and I had to think of him, not myself

Well there you have it: Jonathan's entire thought process from the very beginning. People were crossing themselves and putting crucifixes on him but he was thinking of his boss and foster father, not himself.

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12 May - 🦎🦎🦎

these are part of an animatic summarising Dracula, which you can watch here (new readers beware; it has spoilers for the entire book!)